The disclosure relates generally to building control systems that include wall modules and more particularly to wall modules that enable close field communication.
A variety of building control systems are known, and enable control of a variety of building systems such as HVAC systems, security systems, lighting systems and the like. Many of these systems employ wall modules that communicate with a building management system, with at least some of the logic operating the building management system being located remotely from the wall module(s). There is a desire for building occupants, particularly commercial building occupants, to gain remote access to information and/or features of the building management system in a secure manner.
The disclosure pertains to building control systems that include wall modules for controlling features of the building control system. In an example, the disclosure pertains to a wall module for use in a building control system. The wall module includes a wall module controller and a first communications module operatively coupled to the wall module controller for establishing wired (or wireless) communication with a remote building controller, and for receiving instructions and/or data from the remote building controller and for sending instructions and/or data to the remote building controller via the established wired communication. The wall module further includes a second communications module operatively coupled to the wall module controller for establishing short range wireless communication having a communication range of less than, for example, 60 feet with a portable handheld device, and for receiving instructions from the portable handheld device and for sending data to the portable handheld device via the establishing short range wireless communication.
The preceding summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the features of the present disclosure and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the disclosure can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.
The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of the following description of various illustrative embodiments of the disclosure in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
While the disclosure is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the disclosure to the particular illustrative embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
The following description should be read with reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views. The description and drawings show several examples that are meant to be illustrative of the claimed disclosure.
The wall module 12 may, in some cases, directly control the building component 14 by providing one or more wired or wireless control signals to the building component 14. In some embodiments, however, the wall module 12 communicates with a building controller 16 (shown in phantom), which in turn controls the building component 14. For example, in the case of an HVAC system, the wall module 12 may include a thermometer such that the wall module can display a current temperature, and/or in some cases a temperature set point. In some cases, the wall module 12 may include a user interface that permits a user to change a temperature set point, or to simply turn the building component 14 on and off. In some embodiments, the wall module 12 may obtain and/or display information received from the building component 14 and/or the building controller 16. In some cases, the building controller 16 may send data to and receive data from a remote server 18 via a gateway 19. The gateway 19 may provide an interface between a Wide Area Network (WAN) 21 and a Local Area Network (LAN) 23. In some cases, the remote server 18 may be responsible for controlling a number of building controllers 16 within one or more buildings, and/or may provide remote access to the building controller(s) 16 via the WAN 21.
While a single wall module 12 is illustrated in
In
In some cases, the remote server 18 may securely communicate with the building controller 16 via the WAN 21, which can in turn securely communicate with the building controller 16 and/or wall module 12. As noted above, because of the short range communication between the handheld device 22 and the wall module 12, it will be appreciated that the handheld device 22 would need to be relatively close (e.g. about 60 feet or less) to the wall module 12 in order to communication with the wall module 12. Accordingly, someone at a location that is further from the wall module 12 than the short nominal communication range (e.g. 80 feet) would not be able to communicate with the wall module and access building control system 10 using a mobile device 22.
Illustrative but non-limiting examples of short range communications protocols include one or more wireless communication protocols such as ZigBee, REDLINKâ˘, Bluetooth, WiFi, IrDA, dedicated short range communication (DSRC), EnOcean, and/or any other suitable common or proprietary wireless protocol, as desired. In some embodiments, the handheld device 22 may be configured to communicate with the wall module 12 via one or more of these short range communications protocols.
In some instances, as illustrated, the wall module 12 may include a first communications module 26 that is operatively coupled to the wall module controller 24 in order to establish communication with a remote building controller 16 via a first communications protocol for receiving instructions and/or data from the remote building controller 16 and for sending instructions and/or data to the remote building controller 16. In some embodiments, the first communications module 26 is configured to establish wired communication with the remote building controller 16, and for receiving instructions and/or data from the remote building controller 16 and for sending instructions and/or data to the remote building controller 16 via the established wired communication. In some embodiments, the first communications module 26 is configured to establish wireless communication with the remote building controller 16, and for receiving instructions and/or data from the remote building controller 16 and for sending instructions and/or data to the remote building controller 16 via the established wireless communication.
The wall module 12 may, as illustrated, also include a second communications module 28 that is operatively coupled to the wall module controller 24 for establishing communication with the portable handheld device 22 via a second communications protocol different from the first communications protocol in order to receive instructions from the portable handheld device 22 and/or to send data to the portable handheld device 22. In some embodiments, the second communications module 28 may be configured to establish short range wireless communication having a nominal communication range of, for example less than 60 feet, with the portable handheld device 22, and for receiving instructions from the portable handheld device 22 and for sending data to the portable handheld device 22 via the establishing short range wireless communication.
As discussed with respect to
In some instances, the second communications module may be a wired communication module, and the individual 20 may plug-in the handheld device 22 to a communications port on the wall module 12. For example, the individual 20 may plug the handheld device 22 into a USB communications port on the wall module 12 to establish wired communication with the wall module 12 over the wired connections. The handheld device 22 may then securely access building control information from the remote building controller 16.
In some embodiments, the wall module controller 24 is programmed or otherwise configured to direct one or more instructions received from the portable handheld device 22 via the second communications module 28 to the remote building controller 16 via the first communications module 26. Examples of such instructions may include changing a set point such as a temperature set point, or changing from heating to cooling and vice versa, requesting access to and/or display of certain building control information, parameters, and/or settings of the remote building controller 16, changing certain building control information, parameters, and/or settings of the remote building controller 16 and/or wall module 12, and/or any other suitable instructions. In some cases, the wall module controller 24 is programmed or otherwise configured to direct at least some data received from the remote building controller 16 via the first communications module 26 to the portable handheld device 22 via the second communications module 28. In some embodiments, the wall module controller 24 is further programmed or otherwise configured to provide one or more control signals to one or more building components 14.
As seen at block 32, building control information is communicated between the wall module and a portable handheld device over a second communications network. In some cases, the building control information communicated between the wall module and the portable handheld device includes data received from the building controller via the first communications network. In some embodiments, the second communications network includes a short range wireless communications protocol having a nominal communication range that is, for example less than 60 feet, such that an individual using the handheld device can communicate directly with the wall module over the second communications network.
As seen at block 32, building control information is communicated between the wall module and a portable handheld device over a second communications network. In some cases, the building control information communicated between the wall module and the portable handheld device includes data received from the building controller via the first communications network. In some embodiments, the second communications network includes a short range wireless communications protocol having a nominal communication range that is, for example less than 60 feet, such that an individual using the handheld device can communicate directly with the wall module over the second communications network.
In some cases, and as generally indicated at block 34, the method may further include providing one or more control signals from the wall module to one or more components of the building control system, sometimes based on communications received from the handheld device and/or the building controller. In some embodiments, the one or more components of the building control system includes one or more of an HVAC component, a lighting component and a security system component.
The disclosure should not be considered limited to the particular examples described above. Various modifications, equivalent processes, as well as numerous structures to which the disclosure can be applicable will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art upon review of the instant specification.