Radio-frequency lighting control system with occupancy sensing

A sensor system for controlling a lighting load located within a room, said system comprising:

• an RF-responsive light control device for turning on and turning off said lighting load;
• and
• at least first and second spaced occupancy sensors disposed to monitor occupancy in different areas of said room, each of said first and second sensors transmitting first and second respective occupied and vacant RF signals to said light control device in response to the sensing of a respective presence or absence of an occupant in said room;
• wherein said light control device turns on said lighting load in response to receiving an occupied RF signal from either of said first or second sensors, and turns off said lighting load in response to receiving a vacant RF signal from both of said sensors.

A load control system for controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the load control system comprising:

• a load control device adapted to be coupled in series electrical connection between the AC power source and the electrical load for control of the amount of power delivered to the electrical load, the load control device operable to receive wireless control signals and to control the amount of power delivered to the electrical load in response to the wireless control signals;
• and
• two occupancy sensors, each operable to independently detect an occupancy condition in the space and to transmit an occupied wireless control signal to the load control device in response to detecting the occupancy condition, the occupancy sensors further operable to transmit a vacant wireless control signal to the load control device in response to detecting a vacancy condition in the space;
• wherein the load control device enables the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to receiving the occupied wireless control signal from at least one of the occupancy sensors, and ceases the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to receiving vacant control signals from both of the occupancy sensors.

A method of controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing two occupancy sensors in the space;
• detecting by one of the occupancy sensors an occupancy condition in the space;
• transmitting by one of the occupancy sensors an occupied wireless control signal in response to the step of detecting the occupancy condition;
• receiving the occupied wireless control signal from at least one of the occupancy sensors;
• enabling the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to the step of receiving the occupied wireless control signal from at least one of the occupancy sensors;
• detecting by one of the occupancy sensors a vacancy condition in the space;
• transmitting by one of the occupancy sensors a vacant wireless control signal in response to the step of detecting a vacancy condition in the space;
• receiving vacant control signals from both of the occupancy sensors;
• and
• ceasing the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to the step of receiving vacant control signals from both of the occupancy sensors.

A process of controlling a lighting load in a room dependent upon the occupancy or vacancy of the room, said process comprising the steps of:

• providing first and second spaced occupancy sensors mounted within said room;
• monitoring by said first and second occupancy sensors for the presence of one or more persons in said room;
• transmitting by said first and second occupancy sensors respective RF signals including occupancy or vacancy information with an identifier of the respective sensor producing such information;
• receiving said RF signals by a load control device;
• turning on by said load control device said lighting load in response to receiving an occupied RF output signal from either said first or said second sensor;
• and
• turning off by said load control device said lighting load in response to receiving vacant RF signals from both of said first and second sensors.

A load control system for controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the load control system comprising:

• a load control device adapted to be coupled in series electrical connection between the AC power source and the electrical load for control of the amount of power delivered to the electrical load, the load control device operable to receive wireless control signals and to control the amount of power delivered to the electrical load in response to the wireless control signals;
• and
• an occupancy sensor operable to detect an occupancy condition in the space and to transmit a first wireless control signal to the load control device in response to detecting the occupancy condition, the load control device operable to enable the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to the first wireless control signal, the occupancy sensor further operable to transmit a second wireless control signal to the load control device in response to detecting a continued occupancy condition in the space;
• wherein the load control device is operable to determine that no wireless control signals have been received from the occupancy sensor for the length of a predetermined timeout period and to subsequently cease the delivery of power to the electrical load.

A method of controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an occupancy sensor in the space;
• detecting by the occupancy sensor an occupancy condition in the space;
• transmitting by the occupancy sensor a first wireless control signal in response to the step of detecting the occupancy condition;
• enabling the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to the first wireless control signal;
• detecting by the occupancy sensor a continued occupancy condition in the space;
• transmitting by the occupancy sensor a second wireless control signal in response to the step of detecting a continued occupancy condition in the space;
• determining that no wireless control signals have been received from the occupancy sensor for the length of a predetermined timeout period;
• and
• ceasing the delivery of power to the electrical load in response to the step of determining that no wireless control signals have been received.

A wall or ceiling mounted occupancy sensor comprising:

• at least one battery;
• a controller coupled to said battery;
• a PIR occupancy detector for sensing the presence or absence of an occupant in a room, said occupancy detector circuit coupled to said controller and delivering occupancy or vacancy information to said controller;
• an RF transmitter coupled to said battery and said controller for transmitting an RF signal containing information related to the presence or absence of an occupant in said room;
• an ambient light detector coupled to said controller, such that said controller compares the level of ambient light within the area to an ambient light threshold, whereby said RF signal transmitted by said RF transmitter is modified in accordance with the comparison of said level of ambient light within the area and said ambient light threshold;
• and
• an enclosure housing containing said battery, said controller, and said PIR detector, said RF transmitter, and said ambient light detector, said housing having mounting structure for mounting said sensor to a wall or ceiling surface of a room.

A load control system for controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the load control system comprising:

• a load control device adapted to be coupled in series electrical connection between the AC power source and the electrical load for control of the amount of power delivered to the electrical load, the load control device operable to receive wireless control signals and to control the amount of power delivered to the electrical load in response to the wireless control signals;
• and
• an occupancy sensor comprising an occupancy detector for detecting an occupancy condition in the space and an ambient light level detector for measuring the ambient light level in the space;
• wherein the occupancy sensor compares the ambient light level to an ambient light level threshold, transmits a first predetermined wireless control signal to the load control device in response to determining that the ambient light level is less than the threshold, and transmits a second predetermined wireless control signal to in response to determining that the ambient light level is greater than the threshold.

A load control system for controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the load control system comprising:

• a load control device adapted to be coupled in series electrical connection between the AC power source and the electrical load for control of the amount of power delivered to the electrical load, the load control device operable to receive wireless control signals and to control the amount of power delivered to the electrical load in response to the wireless control signals;
• an occupancy sensor comprising an occupancy detector circuit for generating an occupancy control signal representative of an occupancy condition in the space, a controller responsive to the occupancy control signal, and a wireless transmitter operable to transmit the wireless control signals, the controller operable to determine whether the occupancy condition is presently occurring in the space based upon each of a plurality of occupancy criteria and to generate a result for each of the determinations of the occupancy condition at each of the plurality of occupancy criteria, the occupancy sensor operable to transmit to the load control device each of the results of the determinations of the occupancy condition at each of the plurality of occupancy criteria;
• wherein the load control device is characterized by a predetermined one of the plurality of occupancy criteria, the load control device operable to select one of the results of each of the determinations of the occupancy condition at each of the plurality of occupancy criteria based upon the predetermined one of the plurality of occupancy criteria, the load control device operable to control the amount of power delivered to the electrical load in response to the selected results of the determination of the occupancy condition.

A method of controlling the amount of power delivered from an AC power source to an electrical load provided in a space, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating an occupancy control signal representative of an occupancy condition in the space;
• determining whether the occupancy condition is presently occurring in the space based upon each of a plurality of occupancy criteria;
• generating a result for each of the determinations of the occupancy condition at each of the plurality of occupancy criteria;
• transmitting each of the results of the determinations of the occupancy condition at each of the plurality of occupancy criteria;
• selecting one of the results of each of the determinations of the occupancy condition at each of the plurality of occupancy criteria based upon a predetermined one of the plurality of occupancy criteria;
• and
• controlling the amount of power delivered to the electrical load in response to the step of selecting one of the results.