Node and a wireless sensor network comprising the node

Abstract

A computer-implemented method to generate or receive, process and transmit information packets in a node that is in a network with embedded devices using at least one of heterogeneous data formats and protocols at different network layers. The method includes, for each packet, steps of dynamically determining and selecting by the node one or more of a plurality of protocols for processing the packet in the node based on protocol rules that specify when a protocol can be used; and activating by the node at runtime the one or more selected protocols for processing the packet. At least two different protocols of the plurality of protocols are selectable and activateable by the node for processing two different packets for the same network layer. A node configured to perform the method.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A node able to generate or receive, process and transmit information packets in a network with embedded devices using at least one of heterogeneous data formats and protocols at different network layers,
 wherein for each information packet the node is configured to:
 dynamically determine and select one or more of a plurality of protocols for processing the packet in the node based on protocol rules that specify when a protocol can be used; and 
 activate at runtime the one or more selected protocols for processing the packet, and 
   wherein at least two different protocols of the plurality of protocols are selectable and activateable by the node for processing two different packets for the same network layer.   
     
     
         2 . The node according to  claim 1 , comprising an information interaction specification module configured to specify the interaction with the generated or received information packets. 
     
     
         3 . The node according to  claim 2 , wherein the information interaction specification module comprises an information facade containing information descriptors for each type of information packet, the information facade being configured to interpret content of the generated or received information packets based on the information decriptors. 
     
     
         4 . The node according to  claim 3 , wherein the information facade is further configured to generate a protocol independent information container. 
     
     
         5 . The node according to  claim 4 , wherein the protocol independent information container contains generated or received information of plural protocols and/or network layers having a same destination or next hop information attribute. 
     
     
         6 . The node according to  claim 4 , further comprising an information container converter configured to convert an information container thereby removing overhead of at least one of plural protocols and layers from the information container thereto using the information descriptors. 
     
     
         7 . The node according to  claim 1 , further comprising a single queue for protocol independent storage of the generated or received information packets. 
     
     
         8 . The node according to  claim 7 , further comprising a queue manager that handles information stored in the queue based on quality of service. 
     
     
         9 . The node according to  claim 1 , further comprising a protocol selector configured to plug-in and select a protocol. 
     
     
         10 . The node according to  claim 9 , wherein the protocol selector comprises memory for storage of protocol rules that specify when a selected protocol can be used. 
     
     
         11 . The node according to  claim 10 , wherein, for each generated or received information packet, the protocol selector is further configured to:
 count for each protocol in the memory an amount of the protocol rules that is satisfied by the packet, and   select the one or more protocols for processing the packet as the one or more protocols with a highest amount of satisfied protocol rules.   
     
     
         12 . The node according to  claim 1 , wherein the node is configured to associate plural communication interfaces of the node with a single Medium Access Control or MAC protocol. 
     
     
         13 . A wireless sensor network comprising one or more nodes as recited in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . A computer-implemented method to generate or receive, process and transmit information packets in a node that is in a network with embedded devices using at least one of heterogeneous data formats and protocols at different network layers, the method comprising:
 for each packet:
 dynamically determining and selecting by the node one or more of a plurality of protocols for processing the packet in the node based on protocol rules that specify when a protocol can be used; and 
 activating by the node at runtime the one or more selected protocols for processing the packet, 
   wherein at least two different protocols of the plurality of protocols are selectable and activateable by the node for processing two different packets for the same network layer.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 14 , further comprising specifying by an information interaction specification module interaction with each of the generated or received information packets. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 15 , further comprising interpreting by an information facade of the information interaction specification module content of the generated or received information packets based on information descriptors for each type of information. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 16 , further comprising generating by the information facade a protocol independent information container. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 17 , wherein the protocol independent information container contains generated or received information of plural protocols and/or network layers having a same destination or next hop information attribute. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 17 , further comprising converting an information container by an information container converter by removing overhead of at least one of plural protocols and layers from the information container using the information descriptors. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 14 , further comprising storing the generated or received information of the packets independent of the protocol in a single queue. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 20 , wherein a queue manager handles the information stored in the single queue based on quality of service. 
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 14 , further comprising plugging-in and selecting a protocol by a protocol selector. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 22 , further comprising determining by the protocol selector when a protocol is usable based on protocol rules stored in a memory of the protocol selector. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 23 , wherein dynamically determining and selecting the one or more protocols comprises:
 for each packet:
 counting by the protocol selector for each protocol in the memory an amount of the protocol rules that is satisfied by the packet, and 
 selecting by the protocol selector the one or more protocols for processing the packet as the one or more protocols with a highest amount of satisfied protocol rules. 
   
     
     
         25 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 14 , further comprising associating by the node plural communication interfaces of the node with a single Medium Access Control or MAC protocol. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-implemented method according to  claim 14 , wherein dynamically determining and selecting the one or more protocols for processing the packet comprises checking if the packet has an attribute matching a filter added by a protocol during protocol registration.