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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9806810-B2
Application number	US-201514607590-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2015
Priority date	Jan 28, 2015
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

Networked intelligent lighting devices may utilize visual light communication to perform autonomous neighbor discovery, for example, as part of a map generation process. Individually, each intelligent lighting device within an installation transmits a series of packets via visual light communication for receipt by one or more of the other intelligent lighting devices. Receiving intelligent lighting devices record the number of received packets from each transmitter. Records of numbers of received packets are conveyed via a data communication network to a centralized process. The centralized process utilizes the conveyed records to determine neighbor relationships between lighting devices, for example to generate a map of devices as located within the installation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. 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.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the function to generate the neighbor table further includes functions to:
calculate, based on a data packet count representing how many data packets identifying the respective lighting device are received by the lighting device, a baseline for the lighting device;
select a neighbor threshold; and
determine, for each of the other lighting devices, whether the respective other lighting device is a neighbor of the respective lighting device based on:
the received data packet count representing how many data packets identifying the respective lighting device are received by the respective other lighting device;
the calculated baseline; and
the selected neighbor threshold, further wherein:
the baseline calculation function utilizes the formula bLD i =LD i Mrx i /LD i Mtx i ; and
the respective other lighting device is a neighbor of the respective lighting device when the formula PR j Mrx i >bLD i *n % is true, wherein:
i and j are integers;
LD i is the i th respective lighting device;
PR j is the j th respective other lighting device;
Mtx is a transmitted data packet count;
Mrx is received data packet count;
bLD i is the baseline for the i th respective lighting device;
LD i Mrx i is received data packet count representing how many data packets identifying the i th respective lighting device are received by the i th respective lighting device;
LD i Mtx i is the transmitted data packet count for the i th respective lighting device;
PR j Mrx i is received data packet count representing how many data packets identifying the i th respective lighting device are received by the j th respective other lighting device; and
n is the selected neighbor threshold.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the logical map creation function further includes functions to:
based on the received neighbor tables, identify a logical location for each lighting device relative to one or more other lighting devices, wherein the logical location is a logical sub-network grouping between the lighting device and the one or more other lighting devices; and
upon a number of indeterminate locations of lighting devices exceeding an allowable maximum and until the number of indeterminate locations of lighting devices is within the allowable maximum, repeatedly:
for each lighting device, request an updated neighbor table based on a newly selected neighbor threshold;
based on the updated neighbor tables, identify the logical location for each lighting device relative in relation to one or more other lighting devices; and

create the logical map depicting the identified location for each lighting device.

Assignees

• Abl Ip Holding Llc

Inventors

• Raj Rashmi K
• Rogers Jason
• Maher Hampton B
• White Sean P

Classifications

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04B10/40

  Transceivers · CPC title

• H04B10/116 Primary

  Visible light communication · CPC title

• H04B10/1149

  Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information · CPC title

• H05B47/196

  characterised by user interface arrangements · CPC title