Systems and methods for networking consumer devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9762437-B2
Application number	US-201313943816-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2013
Priority date	Jul 17, 2012
Publication date	Sep 12, 2017
Grant date	Sep 12, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for enrolling nodes into an ad hoc network associated with a multi-roomed structure. Nodes within the ad hoc network comprise a communication module configured to communicate with the ad hoc network using at least one of room-limited communications and room-transparent communications.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for enrolling nodes into an ad hoc network associated with a multi-roomed structure, each node comprising a communication module configured to communicate with the ad hoc network using at least one of room-limited communications and room-transparent communications, the method comprising:
transmitting by a first node in the ad hoc network a first room-limited communication;
determining at a second node in the ad hoc network whether the first room-limited communication was received;
when the first room-limited communication was received, segmenting the first and second nodes into a single room in a room list stored in memory; and
receiving stock keeping unit (SKU) numbers from at least one of the first and second nodes in the ad hoc network.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
measuring at the second node in the ad hoc network an ambient condition.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the measuring the ambient condition is initiated by a room-transparent communication received by the second node, wherein the measured ambient condition is an ambient lighting level.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first room-limited communication is an acoustic signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first room-limited communication is an optical signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first room-limited communication is imperceptible to a human.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second node comprises a sensor, and wherein a signal generated by the sensor is represents an ambient lighting level at the first node.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first node comprises a lighting product and wherein transmitting the first room-limited communication comprises modulating the output of the lighting product at a frequency.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining whether the first room-limited communication was received at the second node comprises detecting by a sensor at the first node the output of the lighting product at the frequency.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
transmitting by a third node in the ad hoc network a second room-limited communication;
determining at the first node in the ad hoc network whether the second room-limited communication was received; and
when the second room-limited communication was received at the first node, segmenting the third node into a room list in which the first node is segmented.

11. The method of claim 10 , comprising:
determining at the second node in the ad hoc network whether the second room-limited communication was received; and
when the second room-limited communication was received at the second node, segmenting the third node into a room list in which the second node is segmented.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ad hoc network comprises a bridge node in communication with the first and second nodes, wherein the bridge node is in communication with an external communications network.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
transmitting node data from the first node to the bridge node using room-transparent communications.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the node data comprises at least one of SKU number, a network address, a bar code, and a presumed identity.

15. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving SKU numbers from each of a plurality of nodes in the ad hoc network; and
defining at least one circuit based on the received SKU numbers.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second nodes are in communication via room-transparent communication signals.

17. A method for enrolling nodes into an ad hoc network associated with a multi-roomed structure, each node comprising a communication module configured to communicate with the ad hoc network using at least one of room-limited communications and room-transparent communications, the method comprising:
transmitting by a first node in the ad hoc network a first room-limited communication;
determining at a second node in the ad hoc network whether the first room-limited communication was received;
when the first room-limited communication was received, segmenting the first and second nodes into a single room in a room list stored in memory;
receiving stock keeping unit (SKU) numbers from at least two of the nodes in the ad hoc network; and
defining at least one circuit based on the received SKU numbers.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the SKU numbers are received via room-transparent communications.

19. A method for enrolling nodes into an ad hoc network associated with a multi-roomed structure, each node comprising a communication module, the method comprising:
instructing, through wireless communications, a first node in the ad hoc network to transmit a room-limited communication;
receiving from a second node an indication of whether the first room-limited communication was received by the second node; and
when the first room-limited communication was received by the second node, segmenting the first and second nodes into a single room in a room list stored in memory.

20. The method of claim 19 , comprising:
instructing, through wireless communications, the second node in the ad hoc network to measure an ambient lighting level.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the wireless communications are room-transparent communications.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the transmitted room-limited communication is an optical communication.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the optical communication is generated by a lighting product at the first second node.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the optical communication is imperceptible to a human eye.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the wireless communications comprises room-limited communication, wherein the method comprises:
determining the state of a physical object based on the room-limited communications.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the physical object is a door positioned between the first node and the second node, and the state is one of an open state and a closed state.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the physical object is a mobile node.

28. A system, comprising:
an ad hoc network comprising a plurality of nodes, the plurality of nodes comprising a bridge node, a first node and a second node, wherein each of the first and second node each comprise a communication module configured to communicate using at least one of a room-limited communications and room-transparent communications, wherein the bridge node comprising a controller and memory, wherein the controller is configured to:
instruct, through wireless communications, the first node in the ad hoc network to measure an ambient lighting level;
instruct, through wireless communications, the second node in the ad hoc network to transmit a room-limited communication;
receive from the first node an indication of whether the first room-limited communication was received by the first node; and
when the first room-limited communication was received by the first node, segment the first and second nodes into a single room in a room list stored in the memory.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Apte Raj B
• Paulson Christopher
• Hasenoehrl Erik John

Classifications

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L12/2827 Primary

  Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality · CPC title

• H04W40/246

  Connectivity information discovery · CPC title

• H04L41/0806 Primary

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title