Illumination control network
AssigneeIDEAL Industries Lighting LLC
InventorW. Olin Sibert
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Abstract
The present invention addresses the problem of providing illumination in a manner that is energy efficient and intelligent. In particular, the present invention uses distributed processing across a network of illuminators to control the illumination for a given environment. The network controls the illumination level and pattern in response to light, sound, and motion. The network may also be trained according to uploaded software behavior modules, and subsets of the network may be organized into groups for illumination control and maintenance reporting.
Claims21
A lighting system comprising a plurality of illuminators displaced relative to each other, each of plural illuminators comprising:
- a light source;
- a sensor;
- a communications interface communicating with other illuminators in a network;
- a processor responsive to the sensor, the processor controlling the illuminator;
- the processors of plural illuminators configured to make illumination decisions through distributed processing across the network based on information exchange among the illuminators through the communication interfaces;
- and
- a plurality of radio-frequency gateways that allow isolated portions of the system to communicate with each other.
A lighting system comprising a plurality of illuminators displaced relative to each other, each of plural illuminators comprising:
- a light source;
- a sensor;
- a communications interface communicating with other illuminators in a network;
- and
- a processor responsive to the sensor, the processor controlling the illuminator;
- the processors of plural illuminators configured to make illumination decisions through distributed processing across the network based on information exchange among the illuminators through the communication interfaces, wherein the processors forming the distributed network make lighting decisions according to a polling algorithm.
A method for providing illumination comprising:
- at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface;
- processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions;
- and
- using radio-frequency gateways that allow isolated portions of the distributed network to communicate with each other.
A method for providing illumination comprising:
- at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface;
- and
- processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing across the distributed network makes lighting decisions according to a polling algorithm.
A method for providing illumination comprising:
- at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface;
- and
- processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing comprises using a clock to control the timing of lighting decisions across the network.
A method for providing illumination comprising:
- at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface;
- and
- processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing comprises responding to instructions for reduced emission at an illuminator by controlling emissions by neighboring illuminators to produce patterns of illumination.
A method for providing illumination comprising:
- at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface;
- and
- processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing comprises learning reactions to stimuli according to a training set.
An illuminator comprising:
- an LED light source;
- at least one motion sensor;
- a wireless communication interface;
- and
- processing circuitry coupled to the LED light source, the at least one motion sensor, and the wireless communication interface;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processing circuitry and storing instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to:
- determine an occupancy state of an area;
- during a time when the area is not expected to be occupied, monitor the at least one motion sensor using a first detection threshold;
- during a time when the area is expected to be occupied, monitor the at least one motion sensor using a second detection threshold, which is different from the first detection threshold;
- and
- control light emitted by the LED light source based on occupancy of the area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.