Lighting system for illuminating an environment and a method of starting an installation of a program on a programmable controller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9497836-B2
Application number	US-201414436201-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2014
Priority date	Jun 4, 2013
Publication date	Nov 15, 2016
Grant date	Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

A lighting system ( 100 ) for illuminating an environment and a method of starting the installation of a program on a programmable controller of a lighting module are provided. The lighting system ( 100 ) comprises a particular lighting module ( 110 ), a neighboring lighting module ( 120 ) and an installation decision generator ( 112 ). A portion of the environment is illuminated by both lighting modules ( 110, 120 ). Both lighting modules ( 110, 120 ) have a programmable controller ( 114, 124 ) and may receive a program via a network interface for installation on the programmable controller ( 114, 124 ). The installation decision generator ( 112 ) decides whether the installation of the program on the particular lighting module ( 110 ) may start, based on operational information as to whether the light emission capabilities of the neighboring lighting module ( 120 ) enable illumination of the portion of the environment to be sufficiently close to a desired illumination of the portion.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lighting system for illuminating an environment, the lighting system comprising:
a plurality of lighting modules, each of the lighting modules comprising a light source for emitting light, a programmable controller for controlling an operation of the light source and a network interface for communicating with other lighting modules and devices of the lighting system via a network, each of the lighting modules being configured to receive a program for the respective programmable controller via the network interface and each of the lighting modules being configured to install the program on the respective programmable controller in dependence on a program installation decision, the plurality of lighting modules comprising a particular lighting module and at least one neighboring lighting module that is arranged to illuminate together with the particular lighting module a portion of the environment; and
an installation decision generator for generating the program installation decision to start installation of the program on the programmable controller of the particular lighting module, the installation decision generator being configured to obtain operational information relating to a light emission operation of the neighboring lighting module, wherein the installation decision generator is configured to base the program installation decision on information, comprising the obtained operational information, to enable illumination of the portion of the environment to be within a pre-determined range or threshold of a desired illumination (Imin) of the portion of the environment during the period of time that the program is being installed.

2. The lighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting system comprises a command generator for generating a light emission adaptation command for the neighboring lighting module, wherein the generated light emission adaptation command indicates a desired change of the light emission of the neighboring lighting module to compensate for a light emission level of the particular lighting module during the installation of the program so as to enable the illumination of the portion of the environment to be within the pre-determined range or threshold of the desired illumination (Imin) of the portion of the environment during the period of time that the program is being installed.

3. The lighting system according to claim 2 , wherein the installation decision generator and the command generator are coupled to each other and the installation decision generator and the command generator are configured to share the operational information and to cooperate in generating the program installation decision and in generating the adaptation command to enable the illumination of the portion of the environment to be within the pre-determined range or threshold of the desired illumination (Imin) of the portion of the environment during the period of time that the program is being installed.

4. The lighting system according to claim 2 , wherein
the particular lighting module comprises the command generator and the particular lighting module is configured to communicate the generated light emission adaptation command via the respective network interface of the particular lighting module to the neighboring lighting module.

5. The lighting system according to claim 2 , wherein the command generator is configured to obtain or store data about a light emission of the particular lighting module during the installation of the program, the command generator is configured to obtain or store information about the desired illumination (Imin) of the portion of the environment, and the command generator is configured to calculate how much the illumination of the portion of the environment deviates from the desired illumination (Imin) of the portion of the environment when the particular lighting module is installing the program, wherein the calculated deviation is used to generate the indicated desired change of the light emission adaptation command.

6. The lighting system according to claim 2 , wherein the lighting system comprises a central unit configured to communicate the generated program installation decision to the particular lighting module and wherein the central unit comprises the command generator and the central unit is configured to communicate the generated light emission adaptation command via a corresponding network interface of the central unit to the neighboring lighting module.

7. The lighting system according to claim 2 , wherein the neighboring lighting module comprises the command generator.

8. The lighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the particular lighting module comprises the installation decision generator.

9. The lighting system according to claim 8 , wherein the neighboring lighting module comprises another installation decision generator, and each of said installation decision generators generates the program installation decision to start the installation of the program on the respective programmable controller of the respective lighting module on which the respective installation decision generator is installed.

10. The lighting system according to claim 9 , wherein the respective installation decision generators of the particular lighting module and of the neighboring lighting module are configured to communicate with each other via the respective network interfaces of the particular lighting module and of the neighboring lighting module, wherein the installation decision generator of the particular lighting module is configured to send a decision message to the neighboring lighting module when the program installation decision is generated, wherein the installation decision generator of the neighboring lighting module is configured to receive the decision message, and wherein the installation decision generator of the neighboring lighting module is configured to postpone, when the decision message is received, the generation of a respective program installation decision for the neighboring lighting module.

11. The lighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting system comprises a central unit, wherein the central unit comprises a corresponding network interface for communicating with at least the plurality of lighting modules via the network and comprises the installation decision generator, and wherein the central unit is configured to communicate the generated program installation decision via the corresponding network interface to the particular lighting module.

12. The lighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the operational information comprises information which relates to a capability of the neighboring lighting module to change an amount of light emitted by the respective light source of the neighboring lighting module compared to an actual light emission by the light source of the neighboring lighting module at the moment in time that the operational information is obtained by the installation decision generator, and wherein the installation decision generator is configured to generate the program installation decision only when the operational information indicates that the neighboring lighting module is able to compensate a light emission of the particular lighting module during the installation the program.

13. The lighting system according to claim 1 , the lighting system comprising a desired illumination determinator for determining the desired illumination of the portion of the environment,
wherein
at least one of the particular lighting module or the neighboring lighting module comprises an occupancy sensor for sensing whether people are present in an

Assignees

• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Vangeel Jurgen Mario
• Coopmans Markus Wilhelmus Maria
• Rietman Wijnand Johannes
• Van Beurden John André

Classifications

• H05B47/175

  by remote control · CPC title

• H05B37/0245

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H05B37/0227

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H05B37/029 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H05B47/10 Primary

  Controlling the light source · CPC title