Patent Grant
10564613
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of wireless and wired lighting control systems. Generally, the system provides a solution for wirelessly controlling indoor and/or outdoor lighting luminaires or fixtures. The system includes wireless devices that receive signals from various sensors and other control devices and respond by taking appropriate action to control, for example, the light output of light fixtures. These wireless devices communicate with each other via a radio module (RM) embedded in each device. A controlling user interface (UI) can be deployed to monitor and control the system's wireless devices via web-based communication provided by a web server module that can communicate wirelessly with the system's wireless devices. The UI can include web pages that reside on a web server accessible by a standard web browser. Such a web browser can run on one or more computers connected to the web server. Connection to the web server can be wireless or wired through, for example: (1) a local area network, or (2) the internet by, for example, local or remote access to the internet, or (3) both.
2. Discussion of the Background of the Invention
The use of wireless control is one of the most exciting frontiers in lighting control, offering significant potential benefits over traditional wired solutions for both existing buildings and new construction. In a typical wired lighting controls system, control signals are sent (either one-way or both ways) using low-voltage communications wires. In a wireless system, devices communicate through the air utilizing radio frequency (RF) waves without the need for communications wiring. Wireless solutions substantially reduce the installed cost of lighting controls by negating the need for expensive dedicated control communications wiring.
Over the past decade, major advancements have been made that have significantly enhanced the capability and reliability of RF communications of all kinds. These advancements have made it feasible for control manufacturers to economically deploy RF wireless control strategies to overcome barriers related to hardwired control systems.
Use of RF wireless controls for both residential and commercial applications continues to grow. It is generally accepted that with the new technologies now available, RF wireless controls will become more widely adopted in commercial applications.
As the cost of energy continues to escalate, the value of highly tuned and capable lighting solutions, which capitalize on both energy efficient lighting fixtures and aggressive energy saving control strategies, will continue to grow. The use of RF wireless control strategies will enable deployment of control strategies not possible or economically prohibitive using traditional wired control techniques.
There are various conventional systems and methods for monitoring and controlling remote wireless communication devices including sensors or actuators employed in the lighting industry. Such conventional wireless communication devices are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,870,080, 7,167,777, 7,346,433, and 7,812,543, and U.S. Published Patent Applications Pub. Nos. 2008/0097782, 2010/0007289, 2010/0280677, and 2010/0301781.
There are numerous examples of conventional systems where laptop computers, servers or workstations connected to the Internet or an intranet (such as a wide area network, a local area network or a series of linked, local networks) control remote wireless devices by means of local gateways that broadcast commands to remote wireless devices. Such conventional systems and methods are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,028,522, 6,218,953, 6,430,268, 6,437,692, 6,891,838, 6,914,893, 7,053,767, 7,103,511, 7,468,661, 7,650,425, 7,697,492, 7,978,059, and U.S. Published Patent Applications Pub. Nos. 2005/0201397, 2009/0243840, 2010/0194582, and 2010/0312881.
Typically, wireless communications in these conventional systems are achieved by local gateways designed to “broadcast” commands to wireless devices, and by wireless devices that “broadcast” responses or other information. When “broadcast,” the information is transmitted or re-transmitted indiscriminately to all wireless devices within the range of the broadcast. Thus, such wireless communications employ conventional protocols and message formats where all wireless transmissions (such as commands or responses) include fields identifying a wireless device that the message is addressed “To,” the wireless device the message is addressed “From,” and the content of the message.
That is, without the “From” information, data contained in a broadcast response cannot be matched to the wireless device actually providing the data. Accordingly, in conventional systems, responses broadcast from a wireless device (by either direct transmission to a local gateway, or re-transmission by other wireless devices in the network) must include the wireless device's “From” information.
Drawbacks of such conventional communication protocols and message formats include: (1) a longer message structure, which may result in greater likelihood of transmission errors in a wireless communication; (2) a more complicated communication protocol, which may require mapping of communication paths between local gateways and wireless devices to ensure efficient delivery of commands and responses; (3) need for additional processing capability in wireless devices to ensure proper transmission and re-transmission of responses, which may increase the cost of deploying and maintaining the system; and (4) limited capability to associate sensors with actuators, which inhibits flexibility to deploy and commission wireless devices, sensors or actuators to monitor and control lighting in selectively defined locations within a three-dimensional space or volume.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and provide at least the advantages described below.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a lighting control system including a wireless, distributed, secure, peer-to-peer, self organizing and self healing mesh network of actuators, which include fixture control modules, and system inputs, which include occupancy/vacancy sensors, daylight sensors and switch stations.
According to an exemplary implementation of an embodiment of the present invention, the system provides control for indoor and outdoor lighting applications.
An exemplary implementation of an embodiment of the present invention provides a system capable of turning lighting loads on/off as well as full range dimming of dimmable lighting loads.
In another exemplary implementation of an embodiment of the present invention, a system provides plug and play support for occupancy sensors, daylight sensors and switch stations. An exemplary system will automatically and intelligently respond to connected devices to provide the most energy efficient operation.
In yet another exemplary implementation of an embodiment of the present invention, a system is accessible remotely from a local network or the Internet using any standard Internet browser. An exemplary system does not require any special client side computer software to be installed for accessibility.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a system including a luminaires for illuminating a space, actuators respectively associated with the luminaires to selectively control illumination output by the respective luminaires, input modules, each configured to process information associated with the space and to communicate results of their processing to the actuators, a wireless access point, and a controller. In an exemplary implementation, each of the input modules and actuators is associated with identifiers each indicative of a control perimeter within the space, each of the actuators controls illumination output by the respective luminaires based on the results of processing by those of the input modules associated with the same identifier as the actuators. In yet another exemplary implementation, the controller communicates via the access point with the actuators and input modules to associate identifiers with each of the actuators and input modules.
Yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling lighting including configuring luminaires for illuminating a space, associating actuators with the luminaires, each of the actuators selectively controlling illumination output by at least one of said luminaires, configuring input modules to process information associated with the space and to communicate results of their processing to the actuators, associating input modules with identifiers indicative of a control perimeter within the space, associating the actuators with the identifiers, wirelessly communicating results of the processing by the input modules to actuators that have the same identifier as the input modules, respectively, and controlling illumination output of the luminaires associated with the actuators based on the wirelessly communicated results of the processing by the respective input modules.
In an exemplary implementation of certain embodiments of the present invention the space where the lighting is to be controlled is defined by a plurality of areas, each of the areas comprising a plurality of zones, each of the zones comprises a plurality of groups. Accordingly, control perimeters to facilitate flexible lighting control within the space can be associated with one of the areas, one of the zones, and at least one of the groups, and identifiers associated with system's input modules and actuators comprise information indicative of said one of the areas, said one of the zones, and said at least one of the groups.
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, embodiments of the present invention are shown in schematic detail.
The matters defined in the description such as a detailed construction and elements are nothing but the ones provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Also, well-known functions or constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below in the context of commercial application (e.g., office buildings, outdoor parking lots and parking garages). Such exemplary implementations are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is defined in the appended claims.
Certain terms of art that may be used in the description have commonly accepted definitions as noted below:
AES-128—Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit encryption key
DHCP—Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DNS—Domain Name Server
FCC—Federal Communications Commission
HTTPS—Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
IC—Industry Canada
ISM Band—Industrial, Scientific and Medical radio frequency band
MAC—Media Access Control
RF—Radio Frequency
SNAP—Synapse Network Appliance Protocol
SPST—Single Pole, Single Throw
SSL—Secure Sockets Layer
TCP/IP—Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a system comprising wireless, distributed and intelligent lighting control devices including but not limited to control modules with ON/OFF and full range dimming capabilities, and system input devices including but not limited to occupancy/vacancy sensors, daylight sensors and manual switch stations.
As further illustrated in
A system according to an exemplary implementation of the present invention has an architecture that utilizes SNAP to create a peer-to-peer, self-organizing and self-healing mesh network infrastructure where wireless devices form nodes of the mesh network. Such a system does not require a master controller/coordinator or master node devices for proper system operation. Instead, all nodes are capable of communicating with each other without the need of such single point of failure devices. This allows efficient setup and communication over fairly wide areas without the need for high powered wireless transmitters since the mesh nodes receive and retransmit messages
As illustrated in the example of
In the exemplary implementation of a self-organizing system, the mesh network of devices can be built automatically without the need to manually set device addresses via dials, DIP switches or other means. An exemplary implementation of s self-healing system provides system devices within the mesh network that automatically reroute messages around a failed device (see, for example
In an exemplary embodiment of a system according to the present invention, the system's architecture facilitates data transmission between wireless devices over the 900 MHz (902 MHz-928 MHz) ISM RF band with a supported RF range of, for example, 300 ft. between wireless devices. Such a system may use, for example, SNAP communication protocol to transmit/receive and negotiate messaging among wireless devices. The system may also utilize, for example, spread spectrum frequency hopping to facilitate robust communication and prevent the unauthorized interception of messages over the air and to comply with FCC requirements.
In an exemplary implementation, a system according to an embodiment of the present invention can secure all messages. For example, when transmitting over the air, each wireless device of the system can use AES-128 security cipher to encrypt and decrypt messages. A secure HTTPS/SSL protocol may be used when, for example, users access the system via an Internet browser.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention as described in more detail below, a system includes input devices deployed in a three-dimensional space or volume to monitor and communicate changes such as occupancy, daylight levels and manual switch input. To implement lighting control strategies, exemplary system architecture facilitates the association of such system's input devices to the system's control modules, which may include actuators to control, for example, lighting within the space.
According to yet another exemplary implementation, a system is configured for accessed from a local network or the Internet using any standard Internet browser and includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to configure, control, monitor and/or schedule individual devices or groups of devices of the system. System devices may also be capable of having their firmware updated or upgraded over the air, i.e., wirelessly via RF.
A wireless lighting control system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in a block diagram of
In the example of
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, system 100 has a wireless server module including AP 120 to facilitate web-based commissioning and monitoring of system 100, particularly its actuators and sensors. As illustrated in the example of
The UI can include web pages that reside on a web server accessible by a standard web browser. Such a web browser can run on one or more computers 122 and/or 124 connected to the web server. Connection to the web server can be wired or wireless communication 134 through, for example: (1) a local area network 136, or (2) the Internet 138 by, for example, local or remote access to the Internet, or (3) both.
As illustrated in
Sensors 204 and 206 can be deployed within a space, such as inside a building, to monitor changes such as occupancy/vacancy or daylight in certain portions of the space or the entire space as desired and based on, for example, size and configuration of the space, as well as, for example, range and/or sensitivity of the sensors. In an exemplary implementation, sensors can also receive input from users to set their operational parameters such as sensitivity or timing as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,640,143 and 5,699,243, the entire disclosures of both of these patents being incorporated herein by reference. In an exemplary implementation, the function of these sensors is to monitor a portion or all of the space for changes and communicate the changes they perceive over the system's wireless mesh network.
According to an exemplary implementation, the sensors are not responsible for the implementation of the system's lighting control strategy, and the control strategies are the responsibility of the actuators including wireless devices 108, 110 or 112.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, sensors of a wireless lighting control system are associated with actuators using an area/zone/group assignment strategy which can be indicative of, for example, a three-dimensional control perimeter within a three-dimensional space or volume. That is, actuators that are assigned to a certain control perimeter(s) (as defined by the area/zone/group assignment) use information only from those sensors programmed to participate in the same control perimeter(s) (as defined by the area/zone/group assignment).
For example, a system implementing such assignment strategy can be deployed in a facility or building comprising a plurality of areas, zones and groups. An advantageous, non-limiting exemplary implementation may define one facility/64 areas/64 zones/16 groups. Each sensor and actuator may be programmed to participate in only one area and zone 230, 240, and 250. On the other hand, each sensor or actuator may be assigned to one or all of the available groups within the area/zone.
For example, a facility may constitute a building, an area may be defined as a floor of the building, a zone 230, 240, and 250 may be defined as one or more rooms or locations on the floor, and a group controls the assignments of sensors and actuators within the zone.
In the example of
Fixture modules 316 and 318 also receive information from occupancy sensor 306 likewise programmed to participate in area 1, zone 1, and group 1 (control perimeter 340). On the other hand, fixture modules 320 and 322 also receive information from ambient light sensor 308 likewise programmed to participate in area 1, zone 1, and group 2 (control perimeter 350). Therefore, fixture modules 316 and 318 are programmed to actuate associated fixture lights based on information only from the two occupancy sensors 304 and 306, and a switch 310, while fixture modules 320 and 322 are programmed to actuate associated fixture lights based on information only from occupancy sensor 304, switch 310 and an ambient light sensor 308.
In an exemplary implementation of the embodiments of the present invention, fixture modules 320 and 322 can be programmed with an information processing algorithm. For example, in accordance with such an algorithm, fixture modules 320 and 322 actuate (turn on or off) associated lights based on a set of rules that take into account motion detected by sensor 304, light level sensed by sensor 308, and position of switch 310. An exemplary set of rules of an information processing algorithm programmed in fixture modules 320 and 322 may include the following: if motion is detected by sensor 304 turn the lights on, unless ambient light detected by sensor 308 is above a threshold level, then keep the light off, unless ON command is received from switch 310, then turn the lights on.
As further illustrated in the example of
According to an exemplary implementation, area, zone and group assignments, as well as information processing algorithms, may be programmed directly into system sensors and actuators via a commissioning tool such as a computer.
The following is a detailed description of exemplary implementations of system actuators including OFMs, IFMs and SPs that can use SNAP to participate in a secure, peer-to-peer, self-organizing and self-healing mesh network and to transmit/receive and negotiate messaging between wireless devices using, for example, SNAP communication protocol.
On-Fixture Module (OFM)
Referring to a block diagram of
An OFM 400 can, for example, mount to a conventional controlled outdoor lighting fixture 406 via a NEMA GTL receptacle interface commonly used for the connection of a twist-lock photocell controller. An exemplary implementation of an OFM 400 in a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention supports universal input voltage 402 (120-347 VAC, 50/60 Hz) and includes, for example, a SPST relay 404 for On/Off control of a load 406. An OFM 400 can be compatible with incandescent, magnetic and electronic lighting loads 406 including LED drivers. In an exemplary implementation, OFM 400 implements zero arc point switching circuitry and programming in control block 410 of the type described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,642, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, to preserve contact life of relay 404.
Referring to
An exemplary OFM 500 is a self-contained intelligent wireless control module that provides on/off lighting control for outdoor lighting fixture(s) 502 based on, for example, any one or combination of preloaded schedules programmed into microcontroller 512, RF commands via radio module 514, and/or the light available based on information from photo cell 510. OFM 500 can include an internal power conversion module 522 that provides low voltage power to, for example, microcontroller 512, photocell 510 and RM 514. In a system according to embodiments of the present invention, each OFM can be individually controlled or grouped with other wireless devices, and communicates via RF to other devices within the system's self-healing mesh network.
When attached to a fixture 502, the OFM 500 can provide the following exemplary non-limiting functionality.
1. On/off control of the fixture can be implemented using, for example, a relay 516 that closes to complete the power circuit or opens to interrupt the flow of current to the light fixture 502.
2. Monitoring of the controlled fixture 502 for diagnostic and informational purpose is performed, for example, in OFM 500 containing sensors (not shown) that can measure current, voltage and temperature of the fixture being controlled.
In-Fixture Module (IFM)
Referring to block diagram of
Referring to
IFM 700 can communicate wirelessly via RM 708 with other devices within the system's wireless self-organizing and self-healing mesh network. IMF 700 includes, for example, a programmable microcontroller 710 powered by a power conversion module 722, which (as in the case of an OFM) converts high voltage from AC source 718 to a suitable DC voltage to power microcontroller 710 and RM 708.
Smart Pack (SP)
Referring to
In addition, referring to
As illustrated in the example of
In addition, in an exemplary implementation as illustrated in
The following is a more detailed description of system sensors according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. As discussed above with reference to
In the example of
It should be noted that, while wired sensor module 1300 does not have a built-in wireless communication capability such as that of wireless sensor module 1200, in an exemplary advantageous implementation of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention, when module 1300 is connected to an SP 900 (see
Exemplary implementations of OS, DS, SW and RM components are described in more detail as follows.
Occupancy Sensors (OS)
OS can be, for example, a ceiling mount or a wall mount sensor that includes, for example ultrasonic (US) and passive infrared (PIR) technologies individually or in combination, to turn lighting on and off based on occupancy. OS sensors may also include adaptive sensitivity and timing technologies as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,640,143 and 5,699,243, which would make such sensors' adjustments automatic.
In an exemplary implementation, OS can operate in one of two modes, “vacancy” or “occupancy,” where, for example, when set to vacancy OS can, while in the occupied mode, transmit an occupied message with an indication that the sensor has been programmed for the vacancy mode of operation. When, for example, set to occupancy, OS can while in the occupied mode, transmit an occupied message with an indication that the sensor has been programmed for the occupancy mode of operation.
OS can be configured to transmit a status update (Occupied or Unoccupied) to its assigned area/zone/group(s), for example, once every minute.
In an exemplary implementation, in order for devices controlled by the occupancy sensors to be protected from being left in the occupied state in the event that an occupancy sensor goes off line while it is in the occupied state, such devices can monitor the occupied message and upon the absence of an occupied message for more than certain period of time, for example, two minutes, assume the space is no longer occupied and take appropriate action as determined by its control algorithms.
In an exemplary implementation, in order to allow devices returning from a power outage or coming on line for the first time to know if they are or are not controlled by an OS, the OS can transmit an unoccupied message, for example once every minute, while the space is unoccupied.
Daylight Sensors (DS)
In an exemplary implementation, DS measure outdoor light, ambient light or daylight levels and send the information to, for example, an SP or an IFM, which then performs switching or dimming functions taking into account the light level information provided by DS.
Switches (SW)
SW provide manual control within the system, and include an on/off switch, a General-A/V switch for switching between general lighting and audio/video (A/V) lighting, a High/Low/Off switch for High/Low lighting control, an On/Raise/Lower/Off switch, a Raise/Lower switch, a Timed On switch and a 4-button Preset switch. In an exemplary implementation, SWs are wires sensor modules (see
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Radio Module (RM)
In exemplary implementations, RM provides the wireless communication infrastructure upon which the system platform according to an embodiment of the present invention can be based. The OFM, IFM, SP and wireless system sensors all have RMs inside of them as illustrated in the examples of
In an exemplary non-limiting implementation, the module itself is approximately one inch square and one quarter inch thick. It can have legs like a Dual In-Line Package (DIP) integrated circuit and can be soldered to or socketed on an additional carrier board. The RM provides communication and the carrier board provides the appropriate device functionality, such as relay control or dimming. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the RM is not a stand-alone device and is attached to, for example, a carrier board.
In an exemplary implementation, RM includes a microprocessor, radio, and antenna matching network. An external antenna connector may or may not be populated, depending on the required functionality of the module. The initial frequency range of the radio can be, for example, 902 MHz to 928 MHz, but this can be changed with some antenna matching component and firmware modifications. The radio can use frequency hopping across channels, for example 75 channels, within the range to avoid collisions with other devices that may be broadcasting at interfering frequencies.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a system (as illustrated for example in
Wireless Access Point (AP)
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, AP is a web-based device for commissioning and monitoring devices within the system's wireless mesh network. The AP provides a graphical user interface for scheduling and controlling individual devices or groups of devices enabled within the system. In an exemplary implementation, the AP instantiates an embedded web server that can be accessed via a standard web browser. An interface to the AP could be a point to point connection directly to a PC, or through the “web” as illustrated in the example of AP 120 in
In an exemplary implementation, AP is a stand-alone device that is used to control and communicate with the IFM and OFM. It may include, for example, an embedded microprocessor with external SDRAM and flash memory, an 10/100 MBit Ethernet interface with Power over Ethernet (PoE) capability, and a Radio Module with external antenna. For example, a version of the Linux operating system may run on the processor. As illustrated in the example of
In an exemplary implementation, AP instantiates control and status functions via the web pages that are resident on the server. Users can communicate with the AP via any standard Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome. A benefit of this exemplary approach is that no additional client software needs to be installed on the user's PC. For example, many of the control and status functions can use GUI paradigms, such as drag and drop, hierarchical folders, tabs and graphical calendar scheduling, familiar to Internet browser users.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, some of the functions that can be made available when employing an AP are as follows:
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to have more than one AP in a given system. It is also possible that at any given time information on AP will change and will have to be relayed to another AP. This can be achieved by, for example, an AP broadcasting a message to the other AP(s) indicating a configuration change when necessary. Each AP then updates its configuration database to maintain coherency across the system.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, actuators that include switching components (for example, SW) can use falling-edge zero-cross detection for two purposes beyond the relay activation to ensure switching on zero-crossing of an AC waveform. For example, by synchronizing the voltage zero-cross and current zero-cross to the same timer, the differences in their occurrence equates to lead/lag time, which can be used by user software to measure power factor. Also, the measured period can be used to calculate a quarter cycle and take peak magnitude readings at a later interrupt. An example of a zero cross detector circuit 1500 with AC voltage magnitude sense output 1510 to monitor voltage for power measurements is illustrated in
According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention the wireless communication between the wireless devices and/or nodes (OFM, IFM and SP) of the system is described with reference to an exemplary implementation of a system communication protocol that provides five classes or types of messages that are transmitted amongst nodes in the mesh network of the wireless lighting control system including: Broadcast, Area, Zone, Group, and Unicast messages. The messages transmitted among the nodes include information for addressing the messages to the nodes, message type and payload, as well as other messaging features.
According to an exemplary implementation, the underlying mesh network protocol can utilize SNAP to create a peer-to-peer, self-organizing and self-healing mesh network infrastructure. In such an exemplary implementation, as illustrated in a conceptual diagram of
According to an exemplary implementation of the present invention, a communication protocol is implemented for transmitting messages amongst nodes in the system's wireless control network with the following features: multi-hop (multi-radius) mesh, auto-forming network; no required coordinator; unique network identifiers for each node via MAC addresses; and no single point of failure. In particular, according to an exemplary embodiment, by utilizing SNAP in the underlying mesh network, a coordinator is not required for transmitting messages amongst nodes in the system's mesh network. That is, messages can be transmitted from one node to other node(s), utilizing unique network identifiers for each node defined by area/zone/group association as described above.
An AP can be used in an exemplary system to provide access to the system's network from a local network or the Internet, as illustrated for example in
As explained above, an exemplary implementation of a system according to the present invention may include one or more of the following components:
The OFMs, IFMs and SPs are wireless components that enable wireless communication between OS, DS and SW. That is, in a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the wireless components are “nodes” within a wireless mesh network configured as peers to each other that can also act as repeaters that forward messages to other wireless components that are out of range of the device(s) originating the message. Such a capability provides a network of virtually unlimited geographic size, which makes systems according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention well-suited for large or multi-level office buildings.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wireless communication between system's wireless components including OFMs, IFMs, SPs and AP is governed by a message protocol whose salient features are discussed below in detail for illustrative purposes and to facilitate a more complete understanding of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, general packet format for wireless communication among the system's wireless components is shown in Table 1 below.
The exemplary message structure includes a Destination Address in bytes 1-4 (the “To” address) but intentionally omits the source (“From”) address field. Messages according to the exemplary protocol may be Unicast, Multicast or Broadcast.
For example, Unicast messages are used to communicate from the AP to a single node (constituted by, for example, an OFM, IFM or SP). In this case, the destination MAC Address of the node is filled out, but the Area, Zone and Group Configuration Parameter Bytes are not used. If information is to be returned in the response from the single node, the address of the AP is loaded in the data field (bytes 13-16).
An example of a Unicast message is shown in Table 2 below (in the example, this message is used to retrieve the current Voltage Magnitude reading at a Node).
The response to this message is shown in Table 3 below. The destination address field is populated with the address of the AP that requested the information. The return data is in the data field. However, there is no source “From” address anywhere in the response packet. That is, according to an exemplary implementation, the AP keeps track of requests and matches responses to requests within its internal database.
The Node Find Message is an example of a message that can either be Multicast or Broadcast. In both cases, bytes 1-4 are set to 0xFFFF. The data field, contained in bytes 13-16 is set to the source MAC address of the Access Point. If the message is a Broadcast message, bytes 5-8 are also set to 0xFFFF. This indicates that the message should be acted upon by all devices. If the message is a Multicast message, the Area, Zone and Group fields are populated. Devices that are set to the corresponding Area, Zone and Group respond to this type of message.
In an exemplary implementation, the Node Finding message, as illustrated in Table 4 below, can be used by participants during network discovery to identify what nodes are within range. Because the targets are not known at start, it should be sent as a broadcast or area/zone/group-cast format only.
The response to the Node Find Message is the Who Am I Response, as illustrated in the example of Table 5 below. Independent of whether the original Node Find Message was addressed to all nodes (Broadcast) or a subset of the nodes (Multicast), the response is always Unicast. Each node sends a response back to the AP that sent out the message. The destination address field is populated with the address of the AP. The return data includes the Node's “From” address and area/zone/group configuration parameters, but does not include any sensor data.
In an exemplary implementation, a generic response to a Node Find Message contains information about the sender for forming a network topology.
As noted above, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, system components can be arranged as illustrated in
In an exemplary implementation of a message protocol according to the present invention, messages transmitted among the OFM, IFM, SP and AP do not have a “From” address field, only the “To” address field. Messages transmitted from AP to OFM, IFM, and SP include “Node Find” and “Get Information” messages. Messages transmitted from the OFM, IFP and SP to the AP include “Who Am I Response” and “Information Response” messages.
For example, the “Node Find” message from the AP to the node(s) can be Broadcast for reply by all node(s), or Multicast for reply by certain node(s), and includes AP's “From” address in the message, but no sensor data. In reply to the “Node Find” message, each of the addressed node(s) sends a “Who Am I Response” message that includes the node's From address and configuration parameters, but does not have any sensor data.
On the other hand, according to yet another exemplary implementation, the “Get Information” messages from the AP are always Unicast for reply by a specific node (e.g., an AP with a connected OS) and include the AP's “From” address in the message, but no data from OS. In reply to the “Get Information” message, the specific node sends an “Information Response” message that has the OS data (for the OS associated with the node), but does not have the node's “From” address because the AP knows which node it asked to send the information.
The following table summarizes the differences in these exemplary implementations:
Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions, and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but is defined by the following claims, along with their full scope of equivalents.
This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/415,721 filed Nov. 19, 2010, and Ser. No. 61/527,058 filed Aug. 24, 2011, the disclosures of both of which (including all attachments filed therewith on Nov. 19, 2010 and Aug. 24, 2011, respectively) are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
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