Patent Grant
11412599
This application is the U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2019/071752, filed on Aug. 13, 2019, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 18190663.7, filed on Aug. 24, 2018. These applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to an electronic device for transmitting a sensor signal
The invention further relates to a method of transmitting a sensor signal.
The invention also relates to a computer program product enabling a computer system to perform such a method.
More and more sensor devices are being used as part of lighting systems, as they enable automatically switching the light to a desired setting based on a detected input. Sensor devices are getting more advanced, often combining multiple sensor modalities. For example, the Philips Hue Motion Sensor comprises an integrated light sensor, temperature and PIR sensor. This enables the implementation of smarter functions.
A sensor device that combines multiple modalities is also disclosed in US 2016/0345406 A1. The path light control device disclosed in the patent document can include a processor, light source and any combination of ambient light sensors, passive infrared sensors, accelerometers and compass sensors. In one embodiment, the orientation of the sensor is determined, a degree of sensor function in such orientation is determined and sensor operation is disabled when the detected orientation indicates the data of the sensor is not applicable for proper device control.
Sensor devices are not only used as part of lighting systems, but also for other applications, e.g. security. Each application typically uses its own sensor devices. This results in many sensor devices being installed in homes and offices, which increases power consumption and decreases the buildings' aesthetics.
It is a first object of the invention to provide an electronic device, which can be used to reduce the number of sensor devices that is needed for a certain set of applications.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a method of transmitting a sensor signal, which can be used to reduce the number of sensor devices that is needed for a certain set of applications.
In a first aspect of the invention, the electronic device comprises at least one processor configured to receive a sensor signal from an electromagnetic radiation sensor, determine an orientation of said electromagnetic radiation sensor based on said sensor signal or based on an orientation signal received from an orientation sensor comprised in said electromagnetic radiation sensor, and if said electromagnetic sensor is oriented in a first orientation, transmit said sensor signal to a first device or application of a plurality of devices or applications, and if said electromagnetic sensor is oriented in a second orientation, transmit said sensor signal to a second device or application of said plurality of devices or applications. Said first device or application may be a lighting control device or application and said second device or application may be a device or application different from a lighting control device or application, for example.
The inventors have recognized that it is beneficial to allow a single electromagnetic radiation sensor to be used for multiple applications and that rotating a sensor device comprising the sensor (and thereby rotating the sensor itself) is a very intuitive way of switching between applications. The different applications may run on a single device or on a plurality of devices. The sensor signal is transmitted to one of the plurality of devices or applications in dependence on the orientation of the sensor. The orientation of the electromagnetic radiation sensor may be determined by a component that has the same orientation as this sensor. If the electromagnetic radiation sensor is not able to move (e.g. rotate) within the device in which it is incorporated, then the orientation of this sensor is the same as the orientation of this device.
Said first device or application may be a node in a lighting network and said second device or application may be configured to render on-screen information in dependence on said sensor signal. For example, said first device or application may be configured to control a light, e.g. turn on and/or off the light, in dependence on the sensor signal. Said second device or application may be configured to perform sleep monitoring, baby monitoring, security monitoring, people counting, pet monitoring, and/or health monitoring, for example. Rendering of on-screen information is beneficial for many applications other than light control applications and some of these other applications may also be able to advantageously benefit from sensor input.
Said second device or application may be configured to cause a speaker and/or a display to render textual information. Rendering of textual information is beneficial for many applications other than light control applications and some of these other applications may also be able to advantageously benefit from sensor input. The textual information may comprise an alert that motion or a person has been detected (e.g. for security monitoring) or that sound has been detected (e.g. for security or baby monitoring) or information on sleep states, for example. Textual information may be rendered via the speaker by using voice synthesis or by using a set of recorded voice messages, for example. The speaker and/or the display me be part of the second device or part of a different device.
Said at least one processor may be configured to determine a user identity and transmit said sensor signal to one of said plurality of devices or applications further in dependence on said user identity. This allows different sensor modes to be configured for different users. For example, one user may want to use a lighting control application and a baby monitoring application, while another user may want to use a lighting control application and a security monitoring application.
Said at least one processor may be configured to determine said orientation from an orientation signal received from an orientation sensor in a device which further comprises said electromagnetic radiation sensor, e.g. a sensor device. The use of a separate orientation sensor is especially beneficial for certain types of electromagnetic radiation sensors, e.g. an RF sensor or a microwave senor.
Said at least one processor may be configured to determine said orientation from said sensor signal. If the electromagnetic radiation sensor is a camera, for example, then a separate orientation sensor may not be necessary.
Said electronic device may comprise said electromagnetic radiation sensor. In other words, said electronic device may be a sensor device. Implementing the invention in a sensor device allows the invention to be used with lighting systems that do not use a bridge, for example. A bridge is a central hub acting as a bridge between user devices and lights.
Said electronic device may have a plurality of support surfaces, said orientation indicating on which of said plurality of support surfaces said sensor device is resting.
Said at least one processor may be configured to receive said sensor signal from a sensor device. Implementing the invention in a bridge instead of in the sensor device allows the sensor device to be simpler.
In a second aspect of the invention, a system comprises such an electronic device, e.g. a bridge, and a sensor device with a plurality of support surfaces, said orientation indicating on which of said plurality of support surfaces said sensor device is resting. It is typically easiest to distinguish between different orientations if the sensor device has different support surfaces. Since there is normally no doubt about the support surface on which the sensor device is resting, there is normally no doubt about the orientation of the sensor device in this case.
In a third aspect of the invention, the method comprises receiving a sensor signal from an electromagnetic radiation sensor, determining an orientation of said electromagnetic radiation sensor based on said sensor signal or based on an orientation signal received from an orientation sensor comprised in said electromagnetic radiation sensor, and if said electromagnetic sensor is oriented in a first orientation, transmitting said sensor signal to a first device or application of a plurality of devices or applications, and if said electromagnetic sensor is oriented in a second orientation, transmitting said sensor signal to a second device or application of said plurality of devices or applications. Said method may be performed by software running on a programmable device. This software may be provided as a computer program product. Moreover, a computer program for carrying out the methods described herein, as well as a non-transitory computer readable storage-medium storing the computer program are provided. A computer program may, for example, be downloaded by or uploaded to an existing device or be stored upon manufacturing of these systems.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores at least one software code portion, the software code portion, when executed or processed by a computer, being configured to perform executable operations comprising: receiving a sensor signal from an electromagnetic radiation sensor, determining an orientation of said electromagnetic radiation sensor, and transmitting said sensor signal to one of a plurality of devices or applications in dependence on said determined orientation, said plurality of devices or applications comprising a first device or application and a second device or application.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a device, a method or a computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit”, “module” or “system.” Functions described in this disclosure may be implemented as an algorithm executed by a processor/microprocessor of a computer. Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied, e.g., stored, thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to, the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store, a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber, cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java™, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor, in particular a microprocessor or a central processing unit (CPU), of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of devices, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be further elucidated, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:
Corresponding elements in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numeral.
The sensor device 1 comprises a processor 5, a transceiver 7, a memory 9, an electromagnetic radiation sensor 3 and an orientation sensor 4. The processor 5 is configured to receive a sensor signal from the electromagnetic radiation sensor 3, determine an orientation of the electromagnetic radiation sensor 3, and transmit the sensor signal to one of a plurality of devices or applications in dependence on the determined orientation. The processor is configured to, if said electromagnetic sensor is oriented in a first orientation, transmit said sensor signal to a first device or application, and, if said electromagnetic sensor is oriented in a second orientation, transmit said sensor signal to a second device or application. In the embodiment of
The plurality of devices or applications comprises a first device or application and a second device or application. In the example of
In the example of
The security monitoring and people counting applications, and thus the Internet server 19 on which they are running, are configured to cause a speaker and/or a display of the mobile device 18 to render the textual information, e.g. by transmitting a chat message to the mobile device 18 or by transmitting data to an app running on the mobile device 18, which forms the client part of the application. The textual information may comprise an alert that motion or a person has been detected or the number of persons that have been counted, for example. In addition to or instead of for a security monitoring application and/or for a people counting application, the sensor device 1 may be used for a sleep monitoring application and/or a baby monitoring application.
In the embodiment of the sensor device 1 shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment of
The plurality of devices or applications comprises a first device or application and a second device or application. In the example of
In the embodiment of the bridge 23 shown in
The transceiver 27 may use one or more communication technologies to communicate with the wireless LAN access point 15, e.g. Ethernet. In an alternative embodiment, multiple transceivers are used instead of a single transceiver. In the embodiment shown in
In a different embodiment, the processor 5 or the processor 25 is configured to determine a user identity and transmit the sensor signal to one of the plurality of devices or applications further in dependence on the user identity. For example, a first orientation of the sensor may be associated with a lighting control device or application for all users, while a second orientation of the sensor may be associated with a security device or application for one user and with a baby monitoring device or application for another user.
The sensor device 1, the sensor device 31 or another sensor device for use with the invention may have a plurality of support surfaces. This is shown in
When the sensor device 41 rests on the front surface, the sensor 43 is obstructed and cannot be used. In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
The bridge 23 transmits the sensor signal to a light device 53 if the orientation of the sensor 43 is the first orientation. The light device 53 determines from the sensor signal if a person has been detected and turns the light source 55 on if a person has been detected. The bridge 23 transmits the sensor signal to a security application on the Internet server 19 if the orientation of the sensor 43 is the second orientation and to a people counting application on the Internet server 19 if the orientation of the sensor 43 is the fourth orientation. The bridge 23 may determine the orientation from the sensor signal or from an orientation signal received from the sensor device 41.
If the invention is implemented in the sensor device 41, the sensor device 41 transmits the sensor signal from the sensor 43 to the bridge 13 of
In the example of
For instance, the following behavior may depend on the orientation:
what events or objects are detected (e.g. human presence, motion, people identification, activity)
what sensors are active (e.g. PIR only, PIR+microphone, PIR+camera etc.)
what actions are associated with the detected sensor events (e.g. light on, or light+music on)
what response the system should give/what mode the system should be set to (e.g., activating a scene, activating presence mimicking, sending a push notification to the user)
motion sensitivity (e.g. various orientations associated with various sensitivity settings)
time-out functions (e.g. switch off after no motion for 5 minutes or 15 minutes)
As a first example, different modes may be configured for day and night. The Philips Hue system currently offers the opportunity for the user to set up a day and night mode in which day behavior or night behavior is selected automatically based on time. However, since the user may not always go to bed at the same time, nor wake up at the same time, it would require endless adjustment of these times to fit the schedule of the user, or it can lead to frustration. By assigning one side of the sensor device to the ‘day’ behavior and the other side of the sensor device to the ‘night’ behavior, the user remains in control of what behavior is active and can easily switch. Furthermore, this could be taken as input for other components in the system as well. If the user rotates the sensor device to the night mode this could for instance directly activate ‘go to sleep’ settings and dim the lights down gradually over time. Additionally, when the user rotates back to the ‘day’ mode, this may activate wake up settings and for example switch on energizing light in the bathroom.
As a second example, the behavior in a living room may be adjusted in similar manner. One side of the sensor device could be associated with a ‘functional’ light mode for use during the day and another side of the sensor device could be associated with a ‘decorative’ light mode for during the evening. In the functional light mode, the light is bright and quickly responds to the user's motion. In the decorative light mode, the light contains more colors and it may take longer for the sensor to switch lights off, or the lights may not even switch off at all.
A first embodiment of the method of the invention is shown in
As shown in
The memory elements 304 may include one or more physical memory devices such as, for example, local memory 308 and one or more bulk storage devices 310. The local memory may refer to random access memory or other non-persistent memory device(s) generally used during actual execution of the program code. A bulk storage device may be implemented as a hard drive or other persistent data storage device. The processing system 300 may also include one or more cache memories (not shown) that provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the quantity of times program code must be retrieved from the bulk storage device 310 during execution. The processing system 300 may also be able to use memory elements of another processing system, e.g. if the processing system 300 is part of a cloud-computing platform.
Input/output (I/O) devices depicted as an input device 312 and an output device 314 optionally can be coupled to the data processing system. Examples of input devices may include, but are not limited to, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a microphone (e.g. for voice and/or speech recognition), or the like. Examples of output devices may include, but are not limited to, a monitor or a display, speakers, or the like. Input and/or output devices may be coupled to the data processing system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.
In an embodiment, the input and the output devices may be implemented as a combined input/output device (illustrated in
A network adapter 316 may also be coupled to the data processing system to enable it to become coupled to other systems, computer systems, remote network devices, and/or remote storage devices through intervening private or public networks. The network adapter may comprise a data receiver for receiving data that is transmitted by said systems, devices and/or networks to the data processing system 300, and a data transmitter for transmitting data from the data processing system 300 to said systems, devices and/or networks. Modems, cable modems, and Ethernet cards are examples of different types of network adapter that may be used with the data processing system 300.
As pictured in
Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a program product for use with a computer system, where the program(s) of the program product define functions of the embodiments (including the methods described herein). In one embodiment, the program(s) can be contained on a variety of non-transitory computer-readable storage media, where, as used herein, the expression “non-transitory computer readable storage media” comprises all computer-readable media, with the sole exception being a transitory, propagating signal. In another embodiment, the program(s) can be contained on a variety of transitory computer-readable storage media. Illustrative computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to: (i) non-writable storage media (e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such as CD-ROM disks readable by a CD-ROM drive, ROM chips or any type of solid-state non-volatile semiconductor memory) on which information is permanently stored; and (ii) writable storage media (e.g., flash memory, floppy disks within a diskette drive or hard-disk drive or any type of solid-state random-access semiconductor memory) on which alterable information is stored. The computer program may be run on the processor 302 described herein.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the implementations in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles and some practical applications of the present invention, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the present invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18190663 | Aug 2018 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2019/071752 | 8/13/2019 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2020/038783 | 2/27/2020 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210329765 A1 | Oct 2021 | US |
