Peer-to-peer building automation system without knowledge being required of network topology

摘要

An automation system without any of the devices in the system being required to have knowledge of each other or of the topology of the network. The automation system comprises sensor nodes and actor nodes. The sensor nodes transmit information via a wireless network based on changes that are sensed by the sensors, such as a button being pushed or motion being detected. The actor nodes detect the information that is transmitted over the wireless network and control appliance functions based on the information detected. After the sensor and actor nodes are initialized, the sensor nodes transmit packets into the network based on changes that are detected in their environment. Meanwhile, the actor nodes monitor the network for packets that contain information of scenes that are relevant to each node. Based on the information contained in each such packet, the node acts on the information by controlling its appliance function.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
storing, by a first actor node, a first plurality of initialized tuples into a memory, each initialized tuple comprising a composite indication, wherein at least some of the composite indications in the first plurality are also stored into a memory by a second actor node that is physically distinct from the first actor node; monitoring, by the first actor node, a plurality of wirelessly-transmitted packets for one or more tuples in the first plurality of initialized tuples, wherein the transmitted packets originate at one or more sensor nodes, and wherein each packet comprises a transmitted tuple; discarding, by the first actor node, a packet in the plurality of transmitted packets being monitored, as a result of the transmitted tuple in the packet corresponding to a tuple that has been already acted upon by the first actor node; and acting, by the first actor node, on the transmitted tuple in a packet that is undiscarded by the first actor node; wherein the acting occurs without the first actor node being addressed by and without the first actor node addressing the second actor node or the one or more sensor nodes.