MESH GATEWAY NETWORK AND METHOD

Abstract

The invention relates to a forest fire early detection system comprising a mesh gateway network having a network server, a plurality of first gateways, a second gateway and a plurality of end devices, wherein the first gateway communicates directly with other gateways and end devices of the mesh gateway network only and the second gateway communicates with the network server, and a corresponding method for performing forest fire early detection.

Claims

1. Forest fire early detection system (10) comprising a mesh gateway network (1) with a network server (NS), several first gateways (G1), a second gateway (G2) and multiple end devices (ED), characterised in that the first gateway (G1) communicates directly only with other gateways (G1, G2) and end devices (ED) of the mesh gateway network (1) and the second gateway (G2) communicates with the network server (NS).

2. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 1 characterised in that the mesh gateway network (1) comprises an LPWAN.

3. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 2 characterised in that the mesh gateway network (1) comprises a LoRaWAN.

4. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that the second gateway (G2) has a communication port that provides an Internet connection (IP) with the network server (NS).

5. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that the end devices (ED) and/or the first gateways (G1) have a self-sufficient power supply (E), whereas the self-sufficient energy supply (E) comprises an energy storage device (ES) and/or energy conversion device (EK).

6. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that the end devices (ED) and the first gateways (G1) are operated off-grid.

7. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that the first gateways (G1) have an ACK signal generation unit (ACK), whereas the ACK signal generation unit (ACK) comprises a processor and a memory.

8. Forest fire early detection system according to claim 1, characterised in that the first gateways (G1) of the mesh gateway network (1) are front-end gateways (FGD) and/or the second gateway (G2) is a border gateway (BGD).

9. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 8, characterised in that the first gateway (G1) has the ACK signal generation unit (ACK).

10. Forest fire early detection system (10) according to claim 8, characterised in that the first gateway (G1) has a first front-end gateway communication port (K1) for communication with an end device (ED) and a second front-end gateway communication port (K2) for communication with another first gateway (G1) and/or a second gateway (G2).

11. An early forest fire detection system (10) according to claims 8, characterised in that each first gateway (G1) is suitable for wireless point-to-point communication with a plurality of end devices (ED) using single-hop (FSK) LoRa or FSK using the LoRaWAN protocol.

12. An early forest fire detection system (10) according to claim 8, characterised in that the first gateway (G1) and the second gateway (G2) are combined with a plurality of mesh gateway devices (MGD) and at least one of the mesh gateway devices (MGD) does not have a direct IP connection (IP).

13. An early forest fire detection system (10) according to claim 10, characterised in that the second gateway (G2) is intended to communicate with the network server (NS) via a standard IP connection and using the LoRaWAN protocol, whereas the second gateway (G2) has a first border gateway communication port (K3) for communication with a network server (NS) and a second border gateway communication port (K2) for communication with a first gateway (G1).

14. An early forest fire detection system (10) according to claim 8, characterised in that a first gateway (G1) is integrated with a second gateway (G2) in a mesh gateway (MGD).

15. An early forest fire detection system (10) according to claim 8, characterised in that the mesh gateway network (1) is a multi-hop wireless network.

16. Method for the early detection of a forest fire with the steps Detection of a forest fire from an end device (ED) Generation of a signal in an end device (ED) Sending the signal from the end device to a first gateway (G1) Receiving the signal on the first gateway (G1) Forwarding the signal from the first gateway (G1) to a second gateway (G2) Receiving the signal on the second gateway (G2) Forwarding the signal from the second gateway (G2) to a network server (NS).

17. Method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that an ACK signal (S-ACK) is generated by the first gateway (G1), whereas the ACK signal (S-ACK) is sent from the first gateway (G1) to the end device (ED), whereas the ACK signal (S-ACK) is sent from the first gateway (G1) to the end device (ED) via a single-hop connection.

18. A method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that the message is sent from the end device (ED) to the first gateway (G1) via a single-hop connection.

19. A method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that the first gateway (G1) forwards the message to a second gateway (G2) and/or the network server (NS).

20. A method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that the ACK signal (S-ACK) is generated and/or sent by a front-end gateway (FGD).

21. A method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that the sending of the message from the end device (ED) and the reception of the message on the second gateway (G2) takes place via different communication channels.

22. A method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that the sending of the message from the first gateway (G1) and the sending of the message from the second gateway (G2) to the network server (NS) is done via different communication channels whereas

23. A method for early detection of a forest fire according to claim 16, characterised in that and the sending of the message from the first gateway (G1) the reception of the message on the network server (NS) takes place via different communication channels.

Description

[0051] Examples of embodiments of the forest fire early detection system according to the invention and of the method according to the invention for the early detection of a forest fire are shown schematically in simplified form in the drawings and are explained in more detail in the following description.

[0052] Showing:

[0053] FIG. 1 Forest fire early detection system

[0054] FIG. 2 Detailed view of the forest fire early detection system according to the invention

[0055] FIG. 3 Detailed view of a LoRaWAN communication network of the forest fire early detection system according to the invention

[0056] FIG. 4 a-c Examples of the end device

[0057] FIG. 5 a-c Example of the gateway

[0058] FIG. 6 a-c Example of the border gateway

[0059] FIG. 7 Standard LoRa communication network

[0060] FIG. 8 Embodiment of the invention in the LoRaWAN network

[0061] FIG. 9 Alternative embodiment of the invention in the LoRaWAN network.

[0062] An example of a forest fire early detection system 10 according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The forest fire early detection system 10 has a mesh gateway network 1 that uses the technology of a LoRaWAN network. The LoRaWAN network has a star-shaped architecture in which message packets are exchanged between the sensors ED and a central Internet network server NS by means of gateways. The forest fire early detection system 10 has a plurality of sensors ED connected to gateways G via a single-hop connection FSK. The gateways G1 are typically front-end gateways FGD. The front-end gateways FGD are connected to each other and partly to border gateways G2. A border gateway G2 can also be combined with a front-end gateway FGD to form a mesh gateway device MDG in one device. The border gateways G2 are connected to the internet network server NS, either via a wired connection WN or via a wireless connection using internet protocol IP.

[0063] The front-end gateways FGD and the border gateways G2 are connected to each other via a meshed multi-hop communication network MHF, so that a front-end gateway FGD does not require a direct connection to the Internet network server NS. This achieves a range extension of LoRaWAN networks by interposing a multi-hop network by means of frontend gateways FGD, thus achieving full comptability to the LoRaWAN specification.

[0064] A detailed view of a forest fire early detection system 10 according to the invention is shown in FIG. 2. The forest fire early detection system 10 has a plurality of end devices ED equipped with sensors, with eight end devices ED each communicating with a gateway G1 via a single-hop connection FSK. The gateways G1 are front-end gateways FGD. The front-end gateways FGD are connected to each other and to border gateways G2. The border gateways G2 are connected to the internet network server NS, either via a wired connection WN or via a wireless connection using internet protocol IP.

[0065] FIG. 3 shows a detailed view of the forest fire early detection system 10 according to the invention, whereby ACK signals S-ACK are exchanged. The forest fire early detection system 10 has a plurality of sensors ED connected to a gateway G1 via a single-hop connection FSK. Two sensors ED are connected to two gateways G1 each. In contrast to the previous embodiment example (FIG. 2), here an ACK signal is sent to the sensors ED by the gateway G1 connected to the sensor ED after the gateway G1 has received a message from the sensor ED. The ACK signal may be a signal for the sensor ED to close a download receive time window and enter monitoring mode. The front-end gateways FGD are connected to each other and to border gateways G2. The border gateways G2 are connected to the internet network server NS via internet protocol IP.

[0066] FIG. 4 shows three variants of an example of an end device ED. The end device ED is a sensor for detecting a forest fire. In order to be able to install and operate the sensor ED in inhospitable and especially rural areas far away from energy supply, the sensor ED is equipped with a self-sufficient energy supply E. In the simplest case, the energy supply E is a battery which can also be recharged. In the simplest case, the energy supply E is a battery, which can also be rechargeable (FIG. 4 a). However, it is also possible to use capacitors (FIG. 4 c), especially supercapacitors. The use of solar cells (FIG. 4 b) is somewhat more complex and cost-intensive, but offers a very long service life of the sensor ED. In addition to the energy conversion EK by the solar cell, a memory ES and power electronics are also arranged in the sensor ED. Furthermore, a sensor ED has the actual sensor unit S (FIG. 4 a, b), which detects a forest fire, e.g. by means of optical and/or electronic processes. The sensor unit S can also be of two-stage design (FIG. 4 c). The sensor ED additionally has the communication port K1. By means of the communication port K1, messages of the end device ED, in particular measurement data, are sent as a data packet wirelessly by means of a single-hop connection FSK via LoRa (chirp frequency spread modulation) or frequency modulation to a gateway G1, FGD, MDG. All the above-mentioned components are arranged in a housing for protection against the effects of weather.

[0067] Three variants of an implementation example of a first gateway G1 are shown in FIG. 5. The gateway G1 is a front-end gateway FGD, which can also be designed as a mesh gateway. Like a sensor ED, the gateway G1 also has a self-sufficient energy supply E by means of e.g. batteries or capacitors (FIG. 5 a, b); an energy supply by means of energy conversion EK by a solar cell and additional memory ES (FIG. 5 c) is also possible. The gateway G1 has the communication port K1. By means of the communication port K1, messages from the end device ED, in particular measurement data, are received wirelessly as a data packet by the gateway G1 by means of a single-hop connection FSK via LoRa (circular frequency spread modulation) or frequency modulation. In addition, the ACK signal generated in the ACK generation unit ACK is sent to the end device ED (FIG. 5 b).

[0068] FIG. 6 shows three variants of an example of a border gateway G2. The border gateway G1 also has a self-sufficient energy supply E by means of e.g. batteries, capacitors or energy conversion EK by a solar cell and additional storage ES (FIG. 6 b, c); an energy supply by means of a mains connection P is also possible (FIG. 6 a). By means of the communication port K2, the gateway G2 communicates with other gateways G1, FGD, MGD via a multi-hop communication network MHF. The border gateway G2 is connected to the internet network server NS by means of the communication port K3. In the version of the border gateway G2 as a mesh gateway, the gateway G1/G2 (FIG. 6 c) has the communication port K1 with which messages from the end device ED, in particular measurement data, are received as data packets wirelessly by means of a single-hop connection FSK via LoRa (circular frequency spread modulation) or frequency modulation. In addition, the ACK signal generated in the ACK generation unit ACK is sent to the end device ED.

[0069] FIG. 7 schematically shows an embodiment of the LoRaWAN network 1 in which the forest fire early detection system 10 according to the invention is integrated. The front-end gateways FGD and border gateways G2 described in FIGS. 5 a-c and 6 a-c are combined in one device. These mesh gateways MDGn consist of a combination of the front-end gateways FGDn and the border gateways G2. The mesh gateways MDGn communicate with each other by means of multi-hop communication network MHF and at least one mesh gateway MDG is connected to the network server NS via the standard internet protocol IP over a cable connection WN. A mesh gateway MDGn sends an ACK signal ACK to the end device EDn that sent the message after receiving a message from a ned EDn. This ensures that the end device EDn does not receive a timeout. Likewise, the end device EDn does not have to have a permanently active download receive window and therefore does not have to be constantly active. The power consumption is reduced and the operating time of the end devices EDn is increased.

[0070] FIG. 8 schematically shows another embodiment of the LoRaWAN network 1 in which the forest fire early detection system 10 according to the invention is integrated. The network 1 has a plurality of sensors ED connected to gateways G via a single-hop connection FSK. The gateways G1 are typically front-end gateways FGD. The front-end gateways FGD are connected to each other and partly to border gateways G2. A border gateway G2 can also be combined with a front-end gateway FGD to form a mesh gateway device MDG in one device. The border gateways G2 are connected to the internet network server NS via a wireless connection using internet protocol IP. The front-end gateways FGD and the border gateways G2 are connected to each other via a meshed multi-hop communication network MHF, so that a front-end gateway FGD does not need a direct connection to the internet network server NS. This achieves a range extension of LoRaWAN networks by interconnecting a multi-hop network by means of front-end gateways FGD, thus achieving full compatibility with the LoRaWAN specification.

[0071] FIG. 9 schematically shows another embodiment of the LoRaWAN network 1 in which the forest fire early detection system 10 according to the invention is integrated. Front-end gateways FGD and border gateways G2 are combined in one device. These mesh gateways MDGn consist of a combination of the front-end gateways FGDn and the boundary gateways BGDn. The mesh gateways MDGn communicate with each other via multi-hop communication network MHF and at least one mesh gateway MDG is connected to the network server NS via the standard internet protocol IP.

REFERENCE LIST

[0072] 1 Mesh gateway network

[0073] 10 Forest fire early detection system

[0074] ED, EDn1 End devices/sensors

[0075] G1 Gateway

[0076] G2 Border gateway

[0077] NS Internet network server

[0078] IP Internet Protocol

[0079] FGD, FGDn Front-end gateways

[0080] MHF Multi-hop communication network

[0081] MDG, MDGn Mesh gateways

[0082] FSK FSK modulation

[0083] WN Wired connection

[0084] S Memory

[0085] E Energy supply

[0086] ES Energy storage

[0087] EK Energy conversion

[0088] K1 Communication port to the end device

[0089] K2 Communication port to the gateway

[0090] K3 Communication port to the Internet network server

[0091] ACK ACK signal generation unit

[0092] S-ACK ACK signal

[0093] W Forest

[0094] P Power/mains connection