Auto-discovery of neighbor relationships and lighting installation self-mapping via visual light communication

A system, comprising:

• a data communication network;
• a plurality of lighting devices, each lighting device comprising:
• a communication interface coupled to the data communication network and configured to enable communication via the data communication network;
• a light source configured to produce visible light for general illumination of a space;
• a processor coupled to the light source and the communication interface, the processor configured to:
• manage operation of the light source to also transmit data via visible light communication;
• and
• communicate via the communication interface and the data communication network;
• and
• a sensor coupled to the processor, the sensor configured to:
• receive data via visible light communication;
• and
• deliver the received data to the processor;
• and
• a management function coupled to the data communication network, wherein:
• each processor of a respective lighting device is further configured to implement functions, including functions to:
• via the visible light communication, repeatedly transmit a data packet identifying the respective lighting device;
• receive, from each of some number of other lighting devices, a data packet count, each data packet count representing how many data packets identifying the respective lighting device are received by a single other lighting device via visible light communication;
• generate, based on the received data packet counts, a neighbor table defining neighbor relationships between the respective lighting device and one or more other lighting devices;
• and
• send the generated neighbor table to the management function;
• and
• the management function is configured to implement functions, including functions to:
• receive, from each respective lighting device, the neighbor table for the respective lighting device;
• create, based at least in part on the received neighbor tables, a logical map of the plurality of lighting devices;
• create a lighting system configuration in order to manage the plurality of lighting devices installed within the space, based at least in part on the created logical map;
• and
• store the created lighting system configuration.