Patent ID: 8600443

Claim:
A sensor network system comprising a plurality of node devices each having a sensor array and known position information, the node devices being connected with each other in a network via predetermined propagation paths by using a predetermined communication protocol, the sensor network system collecting data measured at each of the node devices so as to be aggregated into one base station by using a time-synchronized sensor network system, wherein each of the node devices comprises: a sensor array configured to arrange a plurality of sensors in an array form; a direction estimation processor part that operates when detecting a signal from a predetermined signal source received by the sensor array on the basis of the signal, to transmit a detected message to the base station and to estimate an arrival direction angle of the signal and transmit an angle estimation value to the base station, and is activated in response to an activation message at a time of detecting a signal received via a predetermined number of hops from other node devices to estimate an arrival direction angle of the signal and transmit an angle estimation value to the base station; and a communication processor part that performs an emphasizing process on a signal from a predetermined signal source received by the sensor array for each of the node devices belonging to a cluster designated by the base station in correspondence with the speech source, and transmits a signal that has undergone the emphasizing process to the base station, wherein the base station calculates a position of the signal source on the basis of the angle estimation value of the signal from each of the node devices and position information of each of the node devices, designates a node device located nearest to the signal source as a cluster head node device, and transmits information of the position of the signal source and the designated cluster head node device to each of the node devices, thereby clustering each of the node devices located within the number of hops from the cluster head node device as a node device belonging to each cluster, and wherein each of the node devices performs an emphasizing process on the signal from the predetermined signal source received by the sensor array for each of the node devices belonging to the cluster designated by the base station in correspondence with the speech source, and transmits the signal that has undergone the emphasizing process to the base station.