Load control system responsive to the location of an occupant and/or mobile device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10599174-B2
Application number	US-201615230263-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 5, 2016
Priority date	Aug 5, 2015
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

A load control system for controlling an electrical load in a space of a building occupied by an occupant may include a controller configured to determine the location of the occupant, and a load control device configured to automatically control the electrical load in response to the location of the occupant. The load control system may include a mobile device adapted to be located on or immediately adjacent the occupant and configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. The load control device may be configured to automatically control the electrical load when the mobile device is located in the space. The load control system may further comprise an occupancy sensor and the load control device may automatically control the electrical load when the occupancy sensor indicates that the space is occupied and the mobile device is located in the space.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A load control system for controlling an electrical load, the load control system comprising:
a beacon transmitting device configured to transmit a beacon signal including a unique identifier; and
a mobile device configured to:
receive the beacon signal and determine a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the beacon signal;
virtually link to the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device if the RSSI of the beacon signal is greater than a first threshold;
receive a location-based control element according to the unique identifier of the beacon signal to which the mobile device is virtually linked, wherein the location-based control element comprises a user-selectable control level that is displayed to a user to enable control of the electrical load via a user input of the user-selectable control level of the location-based control element and
transmit a message for controlling the electrical load in response to receiving the user input of the user-selectable control level of the location-based control element;

wherein the mobile device is configured to virtually unlink from the beacon signal to which the mobile device is virtually linked if the RSSI of the beacon signal drops below a second threshold less than the first threshold.

2. The load control system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a system controller configured to determine a location of the mobile device.

3. The load control system of claim 2 , wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit the unique identifier to the system controller, and the system controller is configured to determine the location of the mobile device based on the unique identifier.

4. The load control system of claim 2 , wherein the system controller is configured to transmit the location-based control element associated with the determined location to the mobile device.

5. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device comprises a visual display and is configured to display the location-based control element on the visual display to enable the control of the electrical load via the user input received at the mobile device.

6. The load control system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a load control device configured to control the electrical load in response to receiving the message indicating the user input of the user-selectable control level of the location-based control element.

7. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the location-based control element is associated with at least one of a name of a location of the mobile device, a scene near the location of the mobile device, or a zone near the location of the mobile device.

8. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to receive beacon signals from a plurality of control devices and to determine RSSIs of the received beacon signals.

9. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is configured to determine that the unique identifier of the beacon signal is a favorite beacon identifier by storing the unique identifier of the beacon signal in memory.

10. The load control system of claim 9 , wherein the mobile device is configured to virtually link to the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device if the RSSI of the beacon signal is greater than the first threshold and the unique identifier of the beacon signal is the favorite beacon identifier.

11. The load control system of claim 10 , wherein the mobile device is configured to virtually link to the beacon signal that has the favorite beacon identifier when the RSSI of the beacon signal is less than an RSSI of one other received beacon signal.

12. The load control system of claim 8 , wherein the mobile device is configured to virtually link to the beacon signal having a highest RSSI of the RSSI of the received beacon signals.

13. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein, when the mobile device has virtually linked to the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device, other mobile devices are prevented from virtually linking to the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device.

14. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold is a fixed level.

15. The load control system of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold is a dynamic level.

16. A method for controlling an electrical load, the method comprising:
receiving a beacon signal of a beacon transmitting device, wherein the beacon signal includes a unique identifier;
determining a received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the beacon signal;
virtually linking to the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device if the RSSI of the beacon signal is greater than a first threshold;
receiving a location-based control element according to the unique identifier of the beacon signal to which a mobile device is virtually linked, wherein the location-based control element comprises a user-selectable control level that is displayed to a user to enable control of the electrical load via a user input of the user-selectable control level of the location-based control element
transmitting a message for controlling the electrical load in response to receiving the user input of the user-selectable control level of the location-based control element; and
virtually unlinking from the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device based on the RSSI of the beacon signal dropping below a second threshold that is less than the first threshold.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
transmitting the unique identifier to a system controller; and
determining a location of a mobile device based on the unique identifier.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
transmitting the location-based control element associated with the determined location to the mobile device.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
displaying the location-based control element on a visual display to enable the control of the electrical load via the user input.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
controlling the electrical load in response to receiving the message indicating the user input of the user-selectable control level of the location-based control element.

21. The method of claim 16 , wherein the location-based control element is associated with at least one of a name of a location of the mobile device, a scene near a location of the mobile device, or a zone near the location of the mobile device.

22. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
receiving beacon signals from a plurality of control devices; and
determining RSSIs of the received beacon signals.

23. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining that the unique identifier of the beacon signal is a favorite beacon identifier by storing the unique identifier of the beacon signal.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:
virtually linking to the beacon signal of the beacon transmitting device if the RSSI of the beacon signal is greater than the first threshold and the unique identifier of the beacon signal is the favorite beacon identifier.

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising:
virtually linking to the beacon signal that has the favorite beacon identifier when the RSSI of the beacon signal is less than an RSSI of one other received beacon signal.

26. The method of claim 22 , further comprising:
virtually linking to the beacon signal having

Assignees

• Lutron Tech Co Llc

Inventors

• Baker Rhodes B
• Camden Richard S
• Kumar Sanjeev

Classifications

• H04L12/2803

  Home automation networks · CPC title

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04W4/33

  for indoor environments, e.g. buildings · CPC title

• G05F1/66 Primary

  Regulating electric power · CPC title

• H05B47/19

  via wireless transmission · CPC title