Opportunistic information forwarding using wireless terminals in the internet-of-things

摘要

A capability for opportunistic forwarding of information using a wireless terminal is presented. An energy limited node includes a wake-up circuit configured to detect a wake-up signal from a wireless terminal where the wake-up signal includes a modulated waveform signal, and a communication module configured to switch, based on a control signal generated by the wake-up circuit, from a sleep mode in which the communication module is not operable to communicate with the wireless terminal to an active mode in which the communication module is operable to communicate with the wireless terminal. A wireless terminal includes a first wireless communication interface configured for communication with a device using a wireless communication protocol, a second wireless communication interface configured for wireless communication with a wireless access node of a wireless network, and a processor configured to support opportunistic forwarding of information between the device and the wireless access node of the wireless network.

主权项

1. A method for use by an energy limited node, comprising:
detecting, at a wake-up circuit of the energy limited node, a wake-up signal from a wireless terminal, the wake-up signal comprising a modulated waveform signal, the wake-up signal comprising a sequence of frames of a short-range wireless communication protocol, wherein the frames include respective preambles to provide thereby a sequence of preambles; producing, by the wake-up circuit of the energy limited node based on the sequence of preambles, a preamble sequence waveform; and generating, by the wake-up circuit of the energy limited node based on detection of the wake-up signal based on the preamble sequence waveform, a control signal configured to cause a communication module of the energy limited node to switch from a sleep mode in which the communication module is not operable to communicate with the wireless terminal to an active mode in which the communication module is operable to communicate with the wireless terminal.