Lighting-based sensing and reporting

Abstract

A light fixture includes a sensor such as an audio, temperature, or vibration sensor positioned to sense a possible emergency condition in an environment illuminated by a light source that receives electrical power through a power line from a remote power source. A controller in the light fixture receives a sensing result from the sensor and controls brightness from the light source so that the electrical power drawn through the power line varies in a manner that encodes the sensing result. A remote reporting unit connected to the power line can measure the power drawn, decode the sensing result, and report the sensing result through a network such as the Internet to a target such as an emergency response system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.