TW201440575A - Lighting system control and synthetic event generation - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for the control of lighting systems at individual light-fixture, local, regional, and larger-geographical-area levels that also distribute electrical power to consumers. One implementation comprises a hierarchical lighting-control system including an automated network-control center that may control up to many millions of individual lighting fixtures and lighting elements, regional routers interconnected to the network-control center or network-control centers by public communications networks, each of which controls hundreds to thousands of individual light fixtures, and light-management units, interconnected to regional routers by radio-frequency communications and/or power-line communications, each of which controls components within a lighting fixture, including lighting elements, drivers, sensors, and other devices. Systems and methods of using synthetic events for calibration and control of lighting systems are also described.

Description

Lighting system control and synthetic event generation

This application claims US Provisional Application No. 61/750,425 and March 12, 2013, entitled "Lighting System Control and Synthetic Event Generation", dated January 9, 2013. U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/795,848, entitled "Lighting System Control and Synthetic Event Generation", U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/795,848, May 2012 Part of the continuation of U.S. Application No. 13/471,257, entitled "Method and System for Electric-Power Distribution", filed on the 14th, U.S. Application Serial No. 13/471,257 U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/485,552, entitled "Method and System for Electric-Power Distribution," filed on May 12, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference. The full content of the above two applications will be combined. This application claims priority to US Provisional Application No. 61/750,425, filed on Jan. 9, 2013, entitled &quot Ways to incorporate its full content.

In addition, this application is also related to the following: US application No. 13/_, _, entitled "LIGHT BALANCING", which was filed on March 12, 2013, which claims to be January 9, 2013 Priority is given to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/750,435, entitled "LIGHT BALANCING", which was filed on March 12, 2013 and entitled "LIGHT HARVESTING" US application No. 13/_, _, the case claims to be submitted on January 9, 2013 and titled "Reverse Light Capture (INVERSE LIGHT) Priority of US Provisional Application No. 61/750,443 to HARVESTING); and the method and system for power distribution and irrigation control (METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC-POWER DISTRIBUTION AND) US Application No. 13/_,_ of IRRIGATION CONTROL), which claims to be submitted on January 9, 2013 and entitled "Methods and Systems for Power Distribution and Irrigation Control (METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC-POWER) Priority of US Provisional Application No. 61/750,455 to DISTRIBUTION AND IRRIGATION CONTROL); and US Application entitled "LIGHTING AND INTEGRATED FIXTURE CONTROL", which was filed on March 12, 2013 and entitled "LIGHTING AND INTEGRATED FIXTURE CONTROL" Case No. 13/_, __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ right. This document incorporates the entire contents of the above application by reference.

The present application relates to the control and monitoring of unique lighting elements positioned in local, regional, and large geographic areas, lighting elements associated with unique fixtures, and automated control systems for any size lighting fixture group In particular, LED-based lighting, and in particular, the present application relates to automatic lighting control systems that additionally distribute power to consumers.

Lighting systems used for public roads, main roads, and facilities (private and commercial facilities, including factories; office complexes; schools, universities, and other such institutions; and other public and private facilities) must pay for large amounts of energy And annual financial resources, which include funds for the addition, operation, maintenance, and management of lighting equipment. Because of the increasing cost of energy, the city, the local government, and the state government are declining due to taxation, and because of the cost constraints associated with a variety of different businesses and institutions, and the addition, repair, and maintenance. Funding for operations, operations, and management of lighting systems continues to decline under increasing supervision. Therefore, almost all agencies and government agencies involved in the addition, operation, maintenance, and management of lighting systems are looking for improved methods and systems for the control of lighting fixtures to reduce management and maintenance. And operating costs.

The present disclosure relates to the main techniques for controlling lighting systems in a particular lighting fixture, local, regional, and large geographic area, which also distributes power to consumers. The lighting elements used for this purpose can be of any type, and the obvious examples are LED, incandescent, or High-Intensity-Discharge (HID) type lighting. The lighting fixtures can also include drivers, sensors, and other devices/devices. The reference to "LED" will include any type of light-emitting diode comprising an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) and a structure or material comprising the same, one of which includes a class lighting control system, Includes: an automated network control center that can control up to millions of unique lighting fixtures and lighting components; multiple regional routers that are interconnected to the or the network control center via a public communication network, Each of these routers controls hundreds to thousands of unique lighting fixtures; and a plurality of light management units that are interconnected to regional routers by radio frequency communication and/or power line communication, the light management units Each of them will control devices within a lighting fixture that includes lighting components, LED luminaire drivers, sensors, and other devices.

102‧‧‧Street Light Fixture

103‧‧‧Street Light Fixture

104‧‧‧ Street Light Fixture

110‧‧‧ vertical column

112‧‧‧arm or bracket

114‧‧‧Lighting unit

116‧‧‧Photocell Switcher

200‧‧‧ Location of the lighting fixture

202‧‧‧Management

204‧‧‧Operating structures

206‧‧‧Laboratory buildings

207‧‧‧Laboratory buildings

208‧‧‧Laboratory buildings

210‧‧‧Parking

211‧‧ ‧ parking lot

212‧‧‧Parking

214‧‧‧Lighting fixture

224‧‧‧Lighting fixture

225‧‧‧Lighting fixture

226‧‧‧Lighting fixture

230‧‧‧Lighting fixture

302‧‧‧Network Control Center

304‧‧‧Routing device

305‧‧‧Routing device

306‧‧‧Routing device

307‧‧‧Routing device

308‧‧‧Routing device

309‧‧‧Routing device

310‧‧‧Routing device

320‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

321‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

322‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridged Lighting Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

323‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridged Lighting Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

324‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

325‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

326‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

327‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Lighting Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

328‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

329‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

330‧‧‧RF (Energy-Energy) Bridged Lighting Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

331‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridged Lighting Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

332‧‧‧ Radio Frequency (RF) Enable Bridging Fixture Management Unit (LMU)

340‧‧‧ dotted line

350‧‧‧ router

352‧‧‧Lighting fixture

353‧‧‧Lighting fixture

354‧‧‧Lighting fixture

355‧‧‧Lighting fixture

356‧‧‧Lighting fixture

357‧‧‧Lighting fixture

358‧‧‧Lighting fixture

359‧‧‧Lighting fixture

360‧‧‧Power line

362‧‧‧Transformer

364‧‧‧Power line

370‧‧‧Hive Phone

402‧‧‧ group

404‧‧‧ minor roads

406‧‧‧ group

408‧‧‧ group

410‧‧‧ group

412‧‧‧ group

602‧‧‧Network Control Center

603‧‧‧Associated database management server

605‧‧‧Web server

606‧‧‧Web server

607‧‧‧Web server

610‧‧‧ router

611‧‧‧ router

612‧‧‧ router

613‧‧‧ router

616‧‧‧Internet

618‧‧‧RF transmitter

620‧‧‧Web-based network control center user interface

622‧‧‧Personal computer or workstation

630‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

631‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

632‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

633‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

634‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

635‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

636‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

637‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

638‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

639‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

702‧‧‧RF antenna

704‧‧‧Wireless communication chip or chipset

706‧‧‧Power line communication chip or chipset

707‧‧‧ Noise Filter

708‧‧‧CPU

709‧‧‧Internal power supply

710‧‧‧Optical coupling isolation unit

712‧‧‧ dimming circuit

714‧‧‧Digital to analog circuits

716‧‧‧Switching relay

802‧‧‧Local Network Communication Controller and 埠

804‧‧‧Communication devices

806‧‧‧Communication devices

902‧‧‧ID

904‧‧‧Command identifier or code

906‧‧‧Information

2002‧‧‧Microprocessor

2004‧‧‧Optically coupled isolation device

2006‧‧‧Switching Relay Sub-Device

2008‧‧‧Internal power supply sub-device

2010‧‧‧Electrometer sub-device

2012‧‧‧AC power line

2013‧‧‧AC power line

2102‧‧‧Microprocessor

2104‧‧‧ class interrupt signal

2105‧‧‧ class interrupt signal

2106‧‧‧Relay signal

2108‧‧‧ Signal

2110‧‧‧ Signal

2112‧‧‧Signal line

2114‧‧‧Signal line

2115‧‧‧Signal line

2116‧‧‧Signal line

2118‧‧‧ Signal Line

2120‧‧‧Internal DC power

2122‧‧‧ Grounding

2202‧‧‧Optical cable

2302‧‧‧Relay signal

2304‧‧‧Solenoid switch or solenoid-like switchgear

2402‧‧‧Input AC power

2403‧‧‧Input AC power

2404‧‧‧Rectifiers and transformers

2406‧‧‧Internal DC output

2408‧‧‧ capacitor

2502‧‧‧ integrated circuit

2504‧‧‧SPI bus interface

2602‧‧‧Sensor or monitoring device

2604‧‧‧ class interrupt input

2702‧‧‧ wafer

2704‧‧‧Anode

2705‧‧‧ cavity

2706‧‧‧ cathode

2802‧‧‧LED device

2804‧‧‧p-n junction

2806‧‧‧ hole

2808‧‧‧Electronics

2810‧‧‧Block area

2812‧‧‧ voltage

3002‧‧‧Street lighting

3004‧‧‧ mask

3006‧‧‧LED components

3008‧‧‧LED component array

3010‧‧‧Shell

3012‧‧‧Fin

3014‧‧‧Type ring clamp

3102‧‧‧LED

3104‧‧‧Input AC power

3106‧‧‧Fixed Frequency Pulse Width Modulation Controller Integrated Circuit

3402‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU/LED-based luminaire driver

3406‧‧‧Switching relay

3408‧‧‧LED driver output sub-device

3410‧‧‧LED driver

3412‧‧‧LED array

3502‧‧‧Lighting fixture

3504‧‧‧Automatic Information Service Station

3506‧‧‧Power distribution unit

3602‧‧‧Information Structure

3604‧‧‧Information Structure

3605‧‧‧Information Structure

3608‧‧‧Information Service Station Management Module

3610‧‧‧Power Distribution Unit Management Module

3702‧‧‧Associated forms or other data structures

3704‧‧‧Associated forms or other data structures

3706‧‧‧Power Distribution Module

3708‧‧‧Payment and Checkout Module

3710‧‧‧Customer Management Module

3900‧‧‧Synthetic event generation system

3901‧‧‧Lighting elements

3902‧‧‧Lighting control system

3904‧‧‧ Event Synthesizer

3906‧‧‧Place Manager

3908‧‧‧Sensor

Figure 1 shows a portion of a conventional lighting system observed in a parking lot, in major roads and roads, as well as in industrial locations, in school facilities, and in office complexes.

The moderately sized industrial or commercial location shown in Figure 2 has an associated lighting fixture location.

The schematics shown in Figures 3A through B are used for lighting system control.

Figure 4 illustrates the grouping of unique lighting fixtures using the same industrial site layout shown in Figure 2 to facilitate automatic control as achievable with the lighting control system.

The display shown in Fig. 5 is for the display schedule of the automatic control of each group of lighting fixtures shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 6 provides a general architecture for an automated class lighting control system.

Figure 7 provides a block diagram of a radio frequency enabled light management unit.

Figure 8 provides a block diagram of a stand-alone routing device.

The communication between the router, the radio frequency enabled optical management unit, and the end point light management unit shown in FIG.

Figure 10 shows the division of 256 possible command codes into four subsets.

Figure 11 shows the type of data stored in each light management unit.

Figures 12A through B are for the data managed by the router for all of the different light management units or optical fixtures managed by a router.

Figure 13 shows the various commands used in the router-to-light management unit communication.

Figures 14A through N show the contents of the various commands and responses discussed above with reference to Figure 13.

15 to 18 provide flow control diagrams for the control functions of a light management unit.

Figure 19 provides a state transition diagram of a router user interface.

Figure 20 is a block diagram of an RF-enabled LMU.

21A-E provide additional illustrations of microprocessor devices for RF enabled LMUs.

Figure 22 provides a circuit diagram of a portion of an optical coupling-insulating sub-device of an RF-enabled LMU.

Figure 23 provides a circuit diagram of a switched relay device for an RF enabled LMU.

Figure 24 provides a circuit diagram of an internal power supply device of an RF enabled LMU.

25A-C provide circuit diagrams of an energy meter device for an RF enabled LMU.

Figure 26 provides a circuit diagram of circuitry for interconnecting the output of a sensor or monitoring device to an interrupt input such as a microprocessor.

The features of the LED-based lighting elements are shown in Figures 27-29.

Figure 30 shows an LED-based street lighting fixture.

One of the types shown in Figures 31 through 33 is a constant-output-current LED lamp driver.

Figure 34 shows an RF-enabled LMU/LED-based luminaire driver module.

Figure 35 shows an example of a lighting system that has been described so far.

Figure 36 shows the specific enhancements made to the data stored in each LMU and the LMU enhancements made to provide power distribution.

Figure 37 shows an enhancement of stored data and functions in a router and/or network control center.

Figures 38A through C are representative power distribution transactions.

The system shown in Figure 39 is used to synthesize the event generation system.

The method shown in Fig. 40 is a method of synthesizing an event generating system.

There are many different types of lighting fixtures, lighting components or fixtures, and lighting applications. Figure 1 shows a portion of a conventional lighting system observed in a parking lot, in major roads and roads, and in industrial locations, in school facilities, and in office complexes. Such lighting systems typically utilize streetlight fixtures, such as streetlight fixtures 102-104 in FIG. Each street light fixture includes a rigid vertical column 110 and an arm or bracket 112 that the internal power line is routed through, which together support one or more lighting units 114. Each lighting unit typically includes one or more lighting elements and associated electrical ballasts that limit the voltage drop across the lighting elements and the current drawn by the lighting elements and buffer voltage and/or current surges and shaping inputs. Voltage or current to provide a well-defined output voltage or current to drive the lighting elements. Many different types of lighting components are currently used, including light-emitting diode (LED) panels, inductive lighting, or small fluorescent components, high-pressure sodium lighting components, mercury halogen lighting components, incandescent lighting components, and other types of lighting components. . A series of lighting fixtures are often interconnected in a common electrical path within a utility grid. Lighting fixtures are often controlled by photocell switcher 116, which turns on the lighting elements during dark periods in response to ambient illumination and/or lack of ambient illumination and turns off the lighting elements when sufficient ambient daylight is available.

Even medium-sized industrial, commercial, educational, and other facilities often use a large number of lighting fixtures to achieve a variety of different purposes. The moderately sized industrial or commercial location shown in Figure 2 has an associated lighting fixture location. The industrial site shown in Fig. 2 includes a management building 202, an operating building 204, three laboratory buildings 206 to 208, and three parking lots 210 to 212. The position of the illumination fixture is shown in the figure as a fully filled disc, for example, a fully filled disc 214. Specific lighting fixtures are positioned in the road, for example, lighting fixtures 220, and can be used to illuminate roads and bright portions of buildings adjacent to the road, building entrances, walkways, and other parts of the building and the environment surrounding the road. This type of lighting provides safety to the operator and pedestrian of the motor vehicle and can address specific safety concerns. Other lighting fixtures (including dual-arm lighting fixtures 224 to 226) illuminate the parking lot and are primarily intended for the convenience and security of the parking lot user. Other lighting fixtures (including lighting fixtures around laboratory buildings 206 through 208, which include lighting fixtures 230) are primarily intended for high security construction and safety in and around the area.

Even simple lighting systems still have many problems associated with them, for example, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The photocell control of the lighting fixture is relatively simplistic, which provides 100% power during the dark period and does not provide any power to the lighting fixture during periods of sufficient ambient light. Therefore, lighting is primarily controlled according to the length of the day, not the facilities and the needs of the personnel working and passing through the facility. The photovoltaic cell and photovoltaic cell control circuitry may malfunction, causing the illumination fixture to be constantly turned on, thereby substantially reducing the practical length of the illumination component and substantially increasing the energy consumption of the illumination fixture. As discussed with reference to Figure 2, various different lighting fixtures within a facility can be used for different purposes, and therefore, the best system, if possible, can be controlled according to different scheduling and lighting intensity requirements. However, current lighting systems often lack effective means to differentially operate lighting fixtures and lighting components therein. For these and many other reasons, the manufacturers and sellers of lighting fixtures and lighting systems, the organizations and organizations responsible for adding, operating, maintaining, and managing lighting systems, and the people who will ultimately enjoy the benefits of the lighting system are continually An improved system for controlling the lighting system is sought to provide illumination in a cost-effective manner to meet different lighting needs and requirements.

As discussed above, the current unique lighting fixtures in lighting systems are typically controlled by photovoltaic cells, and multiple groups of electrically interconnected lighting fixtures can be used with timers. And other simple control techniques are subject to additional control at the circuit level. Currently, the lighting system does not provide the control flexibility and precision needed to optimize the control of the lighting system, based on the unique lighting fixture at a particular time. Provides the required illumination intensity, monitors the output of the lighting fixture, device failure, and other operational features, as well as providing local area, regional, and larger geographic area control to control the lighting system. Conversely, the examples of lighting systems described herein provide precise illumination fixtures in local, regional, and large geographic areas via automated control systems, public communication networks (including the Internet), RF communications, and power line communications. Control, no matter what the electrical connection topology is. Thus, the examples of illumination systems described herein provide resilient, scheduled, and controlled operation of the illumination fixture, which is fine-grained to the unique illumination elements within the unique illumination fixture and up to any given number of illumination fixtures, which may Contains millions of lighting fixtures scattered throughout a large geographic area. In addition, the examples of the illumination system described herein provide illumination components and illumination fixtures by elastic control of the light management unit, embedded fixtures of the illumination fixture, and two-way communication between the light management unit, the router, and the network control center. And automatic monitoring of the environment around the lighting fixture. An example of a lighting system as described herein provides control of an active device included in a lighting fixture that includes automatically activating a heating element, a fault correction circuitry, and the like by a staged control system representative of an example of a lighting system described herein. Class local function.

The schematics shown in Figures 3A through B are used for lighting system control. According to this example, the lighting system control is implemented in a hierarchical manner, with a top-level network control center 302 communicating directly with the plurality of routing devices 304-310, each routing device then with one or more radio frequencies within the unique fixture ( Radio-Frequency, RF) enables the communication of Lightning-Fiture-Management Unit (LMU) 320 to 332. The lighting fixture management unit controls the operation of the lighting fixture and then communicates with the specific lighting fixture through power line communication. One or more end-to-end LMU communications within. In some examples, in addition to power line communication, RF communication or hard-wired communication protocols (for example, universal serial bus) can be used, or power line communication can be replaced by RF communication or hard-wired communication protocols. In general, the network control center communicates with the router through network communication (including the Internet). However, in addition to the network communication number, in an alternative example, the network control center can also use cellular telephone network communication, radio frequency communication, and other types of communication. The router will communicate via RF, power line communication, and Alternative types of communication are used to communicate with the LMU. In a specific example of the illumination system described herein, the RF-enabled bridged LMU utilizes radio frequency communication to communicate with the router, and the bridged LMU communicates with the additional end-point LMU via power line communication.

Each router (e.g., router 304) is associated with a number of unique lighting fixtures containing LMUs, such as lighting fixtures in the area enclosed by dashed lines 340 in Figures 3A-B, which communicate with the router to control These lighting fixtures. The router then communicates with a network control center 302 that provides centralized automatic control of all lighting fixtures controlled by all routers that communicate with the network control center. In one example of the illumination system described herein, there are four layers within the controller class: (1) a centralized network control center 302; (2) a plurality of routing devices 304-310; (3) RF-enabled Bridging the LMU; and (4) additional end-to-end LMUs that communicate with the RF-enabled bridging LMU via power line communication. An additional class layer may be included in an alternative example of the illumination system described herein such that, for example, multiple network control centers may communicate with a higher level central control system for controlling oversized geographic areas. Alternatively, a plurality of geographically separated network control centers can be implemented to interact as a decentralized network control center. Note that the lighting fixtures that are controlled via a particular router (eg, lighting fixtures in the area enclosed by dashed lines 340) are not necessarily geographically different from the lighting fixtures controlled by another router. The LMU contained within the unique lighting fixture provides policy-driven, unique, and automatic control of each of the one or more lighting elements within the lighting fixture, providing manual control of the lighting components, receiving and processing from sensing Information and control of various active devices within the lighting fixture. Up to 1,000 or more LMUs can communicate with a special routing device, export data to a special routing device, and receive policy commands and data from a special routing device; and the network control center can be up to 1,000 or More routing device communications, receiving data from up to 1,000 or more routing devices, and exporting policy commands to up to 1,000 or more routing devices. Therefore, the network control center can provide automatic control of one million or more unique lighting fixtures.

The example of the lighting system described herein allows for manual control of the unique interface from the user interface provided by the routing device and the user interface provided by the network control center. Unique lighting elements within the lighting fixture; however, manual control is both tedious and error prone. An automated lighting control system representative of an example of a lighting system described herein is capable of logically aggregating a plurality of unique lighting fixtures into a variety of different lighting fixtures for control purposes. Figure 4 illustrates the grouping of unique lighting fixtures using the same exemplary industrial site layout shown in Figure 2 to facilitate automatic control achievable by the lighting control system as described herein. As shown in Figure 1, the various lighting fixtures (e.g., fully filled discs 220) shown in the fully filled discs are combined into 11 different control groups. The lighting fixtures (including the lighting fixtures 220) in a common main road are grouped together into a first group 402, labeled as group number "1." The lighting fixtures behind the administrative building 202 and the operating building 204 in a smaller road 404 and large parking lot 212 are divided into two groups: (1) group 2 (406 in Figure 4); and (2) group 3 (picture 408 in 4). By dividing the lighting fixtures into two groups, alternating lights in the road and parking lot are alternately activated on different days, thereby reducing energy consumption and extending the operational life of the lighting elements. Alternatively, all of these lighting elements can be combined in a single group and operated at a lower light intensity output for the same purpose. Similarly, the dual-arm lighting elements in the parking lot 212 are also divided into two groups 410 and 412. In each of the two-armed lighting fixtures, only the lighting elements on the single arm will be turned on for a given day. The size of the group can be as small as a unique lighting fixture, for example, groups 6 and 7 (4 and 22 in Figure 4); or even as small as the unique lighting elements within the lighting fixture. This hierarchical, automatically controlled illumination can be reasonably scaled according to the examples of illumination systems described herein to control all lighting fixtures throughout the country or the entire continent.

The class implementation of the automatic lighting control system, which represents one example of the illumination system described herein, provides both zooming capability and communication flexibility. In one example, Figure 3B shows a portion of a lighting control system that uses several different types of communication methods. In FIG. 3B, a router 350 manages the LMUs within eight different lighting fixtures 352-359. The lighting fixtures are divided into two distinct groups, including: first groups 352 through 355 interconnected in series by a first power line 360 from transformer 362; and second groups 356 through 359, which borrow The second power lines 364 from the transformer 362 are interconnected in series. Two sets of lighting fixtures are connected to a single power line. Transformer 362 does not separate two sets of lighting fixtures. All LMUs in the lighting fixture use only power line communication to communicate directly with the router. However, power line communication cannot bridge transformer 362 and its various It has an electrical grid device. Although two routers can be used, each group of lighting fixtures uses one router and each line is interconnected to its individual lighting fixture cluster using power line communication; however, dual router implementation involves connection and location restrictions on the router, routers Non-essential replication of features and higher costs. Instead, the router 350 communicates with the RF enabled bridge LMU within each of the lighting fixtures 354 and 358 by radio frequency communication in accordance with various examples of lighting systems described herein. Each 1U-enabled bridged LMU utilizes power line communication to communicate with the remaining lighting fixtures in the lighting fixture cluster in which the bridged LMU is located. The bridged LMUs act as local LMUs within a lighting fixture and also serve as a communication bridge through which the end-point LMUs in each group can receive messages from the router 350 and transmit messages to the router 350. Therefore, RF communication and RF-enabled bridging LMUs provide a cost-effective and flexible way to bridge transformers with other power line communication interrupting devices of an electrical system. In addition, each LMU can include a cellular telephone communication circuitry for direct communication between the LMU and a cellular telephone 370. A cellular phone can act as a router for a router or as a special, localized router for maintenance personnel to manually control an LMU during various monitoring and maintenance activities.

In a particular example of the illumination system described herein, the LMU controls the operation of the lighting elements within the lighting fixture based on the internally stored schedule. The display shown in Fig. 5 is for the display schedule of the automatic control of each group of lighting fixtures shown in Fig. 4. Scheduling can be displayed in a variety of ways by router and network control center user interface routines, allowing authorized users to interactively define, modify, and delete schedules. As shown in Figure 5, a schedule of illumination element operation within the illumination fixture for each of the 11 clusters shown in Figure 4 of a particular day is provided. Each bar (e.g., bar 502) represents a schedule of lighting element operation within a particular group of lighting fixtures based on the time of day. In a particular example of the illumination system described herein, all of the illumination fixtures (including all of the illumination elements within the illumination fixtures) are assigned to multiple groups; and in an alternative to the illumination system described herein, the features within the illumination fixture are unique Lighting elements can be assigned to multiple groups separately. The time of day increases from 12:00 a.m. 504 on the left hand edge of the bar to 12:00 p.m. 506 on the right hand edge of the bar. The shaded area within the crossbar (e.g., shaded area 508 in crossbar 502) indicates when the lighting element should be turned on. The height of the shaded area indicates the level at which the lighting element should be turned on. For example, the shaded area 510 in the bar 1 represents the illumination within the lighting fixture of cluster 1. The component should be turned on between 12:00 am and 2:00 am to 50 percent of the maximum intensity; and the right hand portion of the shaded zone 508 indicates that the lighting components in the lighting fixture within cluster 1 should start at 6:30 pm It is turned on to maximum intensity until late at night.

In addition, event-driven or sensor-driven operational features of each group can also be defined. For example, in Figure 5, a small horizontal strip (e.g., horizontal strip 514) indicates how the lighting elements should be operated when various different events occur. For example, the horizontal strip 514 indicates that if the photocell output transitions from on to off (which indicates that the ambient illumination is sufficiently increased such that the photocell signal output threshold is erroneous), when it has been turned on to 50% or more of the maximum intensity, The lights should be operated for an additional 15 minutes at 50 percent of the maximum light intensity output, indicated by the shaded bar 316, and then closed. The operational characteristics of the photocell turn-on event are designated to indicate a transition from sufficient illumination to darkness; operational characteristics of the input signal from a motion sensor are designated to indicate motion within the area of a lighting fixture. The operational characteristics of many additional events can be specified, as well as the operational characteristics of additional controllable devices and functions including the activation of heating elements for snow removal and de-icing, various fault recovery and fault-tolerant transfer systems, and other such devices and functions. Can also be specified.

There are many different ways to specify lighting element operation and when providing different operational features represented by different horizontal strips in each of the groups shown in Figure 5, which in turn represent encoded operational schedules and event related operational instructions. Many different considerations. For example, turning on a lighting element in response to a photocell shutdown event is meaningless. The small shaded strip 516 within the horizontal strip 514 means that the light has been turned on to greater than 50% of the maximum light intensity, and the lighting element should be reduced to 50% of the maximum light intensity for a short period of time before fully shutting down. Time period. Thus, the combination of the time-increasing large horizontal strip 502 and the smaller horizontal strip 514 can specify that at any point in time, the light should be turned on to the current time schedule strip and the shorter horizontal strip corresponding to the photocell shutdown event. The minimum power level shown in . However, in other cases, the lights may need to be turned on to the current time schedule bar and the maximum power level shown in the shorter horizontal bars corresponding to different types of events. In general, the final operational characteristics of a lighting fixture (implemented by the LMU installed in the lighting fixture) can be defined by any Boolean value and relational operator representation or a short literal translation script or computer program. Sensor input The number is based and based on the stored time-based schedule and the stored operational characteristics associated with the particular event, to calculate the extent to which the lighting element should be turned on at any particular point in time.

Figure 6 provides a general architecture for an automated class lighting control system that represents one of the examples of lighting systems described herein. The large area control system runs a number of lighting fixtures within a large geographic area through an automated control program operating within the network control center 602. In addition to the control program, the network control center also includes one or more associated database management servers 603 or other types of data storage systems and multiple network servers or other interface servo systems 605-607. Together, they form a network control center for a decentralized automatic lighting control system. The network control center network server sends servo lighting system control information to the plurality of routers 610 through 613 via the Internet 616 or via the RF transmitter 618. In addition, the network control center can also provide a web-based network control center user interface 620 through a personal computer or workstation 622 interconnected by the Internet or the regional network and the network control center. In a particular example of a lighting system described herein, the network control center can provide functionality similar to that provided by a unique router, including the ability to monitor the status of a unique LMU, define multiple groups, define and correct schedules, and manually control lighting. Fixtures, and other such tasks that are implemented on a local basis that can be provided via a user interface provided by a router. In addition, the network control center can provide additional functions not provided at the router level, including computational and complex analysis programs that monitor and analyze various features of the lighting system in a very large geographic area, including power consumption, maintenance Status, and other such characteristics.

The routers can be implemented in software running on a laptop or personal computer, such as router 611; can be stand-alone devices, such as routers 610 and 612; or can be stand-alone associated with a personal computer or workstation The device, such as router 613 in Figure 6, wherein the stand-alone router displays the user interface provided to the user. The router communicates with the RF-enabled LMUs 630-640 via wireless communication (which includes IEEE 802.15 (Zigbee) communication), and the RF-enabled LMUs can control a particular lighting fixture and act as an additional end-point between the LMUs. Bridges that communicate with the LMU via power line communication, including the Echelon Power Line (ANSI/EIA 709.1-A). Specific examples of lighting systems described herein In the middle, the router can communicate with the LMU through power line communication, for example, router 612 and LMU 633 in FIG. In still further examples of the illumination system described herein, other types of communication may be utilized between the network control center and the router, between the router and the bridged LMU or the end-point LMU, and between the bridged LMU and the end-point LMU. Exchange information. A variety of different chipsets and circuitry can be added to LMUs, routers, and network control center devices to enable additional types of communication paths.

Both the bridged LMU and the end-point LMU control the operation of the lighting elements within the lighting fixture and collect data via various types of sensors installed in the lighting fixture. Both types of LMUs autonomously control lighting fixture operations based on schedules downloaded from the router and network control center to the LMU or built-in scheduled schedules at the time of manufacture; however, they can also be received in response to the receiver Commands with the Network Control Center to directly control the operational characteristics of the lighting fixture. The schedules and other control commands stored in the LMU can be arbitrarily modified by the user interacting with the user interface provided by the router and the network control center. While in many applications, the control functions of the LMU are an important part of the automatic lighting system control functions provided by the examples of lighting systems described herein; however, in many other applications, the monitoring functions provided by the LMU are significant or more Great meaning. The LMU architecture is used to connect many different sensor inputs to the LMU. In addition to the voltage and power sensors typically included in the LMU, the sensor inputs also include motion sensor inputs, chemical detection sensors. Inputs, temperature sensing inputs, atmospheric pressure sensing inputs, audio and video signal inputs, and many other types of sensor inputs. The response of the LMU to each of the different types of input signals can be configured by the user via a user interface provided by the router and the network control center. These various types of sensor inputs can be used primarily to provide effective control of the operation of the lighting system, and in certain cases, to provide a wider variety of different types at the local, regional, and large geographic level levels. Monitoring task. For example, LMU sensing can be used for security surveillance, for monitoring traffic patterns and detecting impending traffic congestion, for intelligent control of traffic signals, for monitoring local and regional meteorological conditions, for detection Measuring potential hazards (including shootings, explosions, release of toxic chemicals into the environment, fires, events caused by earthquakes, and many other types of events), and monitoring these events in real time will benefit the city, local government, and region. The government, as well as many other institutions.

Figure 7 provides a block diagram of a radio frequency enabled light management unit. The RF enabled LMU includes: an RF antenna 702; a wireless communication chip or chipset 704 for wirelessly receiving and transmitting commands and response packets; and a power line communication chip or chipset 706 for power line reception and transmission commands And a response packet; a noise filter 707 that filters the noise in the power line connection; a CPU 708 and associated memory for running the internal control program, which collects and stores the data, according to the stored Information and stored programs to control lighting component operation, and transfer packets from RF to PL communications and from PL to RF communications; an internal power supply to convert AC input power to DC internal power for supply The DC power is supplied to the digital device; an optically coupled isolation unit 710 is configured to isolate the CPU from the power surge; and a dimming circuit 712 is provided for adjusting the digital pulse width of the electrical output to the illumination component for providing an output current range To operate a particular type of lighting element in a range of light intensity output; a digit to analog circuit 714 that provides a controlled voltage output to the lighting element or Its device; and a switching relay 716 for controlling the supply of power to various devices or devices (including ballasts) within a lighting fixture.

Figure 8 provides a block diagram of a stand-alone routing device. The stand-alone routing device includes many of the same components included in the RF-enabled LMU as shown in FIG. 7, adding a regional network communication controller and 802 and other communication devices 804 and 806, which allow the single-model The router is interconnected with a personal computer or workstation for displaying a user interface.

The communication between the router, the radio frequency enabled optical management unit, and the end point light management unit shown in FIG. Commands and responses are encoded in the RF communication, including packets between seven and 56 bytes. An RF communication protocol is a command/response protocol that allows a router to send commands to and receive responses from RF-enabled LMUs, and it allows RF-enabled LMUs to send commands to and receive commands from routers. Response. Broadcast messages and one-way messages will also be provided. Each command or response packet contains a six-bit tuple ID 902, a single-byte tuple identifier or code 904, and a data 906 between zero and 49 bytes. The ID 902 is used to identify a particular LMU or RF enabled LMU from the LMU communicating with the router. The commands and responses are encapsulated in a power line communication application packet for passage through the ladder power line The agreement uses power line communication for communication.

Figure 10 shows the division of 256 possible command codes into four subsets. In Figure 10, the central horizontal line 1002 contains 256 different possible command codes that can be represented by a one-tuple command code field within the communication packet for RF communication and PL communication. The even-numbered command code corresponds to the command, and the odd-numbered command code corresponds to the response, and the response value of a special command is one greater than the value of the command code of the special command. The command code and response code of the router-to-end LMU command have a lower value code, which is represented as a code value above the horizontal dotted line 1004. The router-to-bridge LMU command has a higher value command code, represented by a command code below the horizontal dashed line 1004. Therefore, a bridged LMU can immediately determine from the command code whether the command received from a router should be processed by the bridged LMU to locally control a lighting fixture, or should be transmitted to the downstream LMU through the PL communication. Similarly, the end-point LMU-to-router command has a lower numbered command code and bridges the LMU to the router command with a higher numbered command code. Any special command code, for example, command code "0" 1006, may correspond to a router to LMU command or to an LMU to router command. These routers and LMUs are able to distinguish between these different commands because the router only receives LMU to router commands, while the LMU only receives router to LMU commands.

Figure 11 shows the type of data stored in each light management unit. Each LMU stores information 1102 through 1105 for each of a fixed number of lighting elements; a plurality of group identifiers 1112 that identify the group to which the LMU is assigned; various input/output device descriptors 1114; various events Each state 1116; and a schedule 1118 that includes up to some maximum number of operational instructions. Each set of information used to describe a particular lighting element (eg, information "0" 1102 describing the lighting element) includes a light bulb state 1120 having a bit to indicate whether the lighting element is turned "on" or "off" 1121, and A field is used to indicate the extent to which the light is turned on based on the maximum light intensity output of the light. In addition, the total number of hours of operation of the lighting element 1124, the total number of operating hours of the ballast associated with the lighting element 1126, the number of power-on events associated with the lighting element 1128, and various additional types of information are also stored. . Information about the lighting fixture 1108 includes: current power consumption 1130; current or instantaneous voltage 1132 across the lighting fixture; current drawn by the lighting fixture 1134; the lighting fixture Cumulative energy used 1136; indicates whether a special alert, other sensor input, or other input signal is a useful or inactive flag 1138; and indicates whether the special relay and other output devices are active or inactive. Group flag 140. The lighting fixture information also includes an integrated light state 1142 that indicates whether any of the light components associated with the lighting fixture are on or off. Status bit 1110 includes a variety of different bit flags to indicate various types of problems, including revocation events, sensor failures, communication failures, non-existent stored data for controlling the operation of lighting elements, And other such events and features. The I/O Device Descriptor 1114 provides a description of the meaning of each of the various input signals that can be monitored by the LMU. Each operational command within schedule 1118 includes a date indicator 1150, a start time 1152, an end time 1154, and a lightbulb status 1156 associated with the instruction, and a group ID 1158 representing the group to which the instruction is to be applied.

Figures 12A through B are for the data managed by the router for all of the different light management units or optical fixtures managed by a router. A set of associated database tables is provided in Figures 12A-B to indicate the type of information retained by a router regarding the LMUs managed by the router. Of course, any number of different database architectures can be designed to store and manage router information in an alternative to the lighting system described herein. The associated table shown in Figures 12A-B is intended to provide an exemplary database architecture to illustrate the type of material stored in a router. The associated table of the exemplary architecture includes: (1) device type 1202, which lists various types of devices within a lighting control system, including internal components and lighting components of the lighting fixture, and LMUs, routers, and other devices; 2) address 1204, which contains various addresses referring to other tables; (3) manufacturer 1206, which contains information relating to the manufacturer of the particular device; (4) maintainer 1208, which contains and is responsible for servicing the automatic lighting control Information about various maintenance individuals or institutions of the system's devices; (5) Manager 1210, which contains information about various management agencies or individual managers who manage part of the lighting control system; (6) additional forms to describe responsibility An individual or institution that supplies power, supplies various other services, and other such individuals and institutions not shown in Figures 12A-B; (7) device 1212 that stores detailed information relating to particular devices within the lighting control system; (8) Electrical 1214, which stores the detailed electrical characteristics of the special system components, each of which refers to the column in the device table; (9) software 1216, which stores the special system Detailed features of the software, which The columns in the reference device table are listed; (10) the machine 1218, which stores the detailed mechanical features of the special system device, wherein each column refers to the column in the device table; (11) contains (Contains) 1220, the storage composition a plurality of pairs of device IDs of the "contained" relationship, wherein the first device ID in the pair of device IDs identifies a device that includes the device identified by the second device ID in the pair of device IDs; (12) Management (Manages) 1222, a "management" relationship between the storage devices; and (13) a group 1224 containing information about the groups of LMUs defined for the router.

In the exemplary data architecture illustrated in Figures 12A-B, the device type table 1202 contains an ID/description pair that describes each of the different types of devices in the automated lighting system. These IDs or identifiers are used in the CT ID row of device table 1212. The address table 1204, the manufacturer table 1206, the maintainer table 1208, and the columns included in the manager table 1210 provide a description of the address in the case of the address table, as well as the manufacturer form, the maintainer form, and A description of the individual or institution is provided in the case of the manager form. Each entry in device table 1212 describes a different device within the automated lighting system. Each device is identified by an identifier or ID in the first row 1230 of the device table. Each device has a type that is recognized by the device type identifier included in the second row 1232. Each device has a manufacturer identified by the manufacturer ID in the third row 1234 of the device table, where the manufacturer ID is the manufacturer identifier provided in the first row 1236 of the manufacturer table 1206. The device will be additionally described below: warranty information in rows 1240 and 1242; installation date in row 1244; sequence number in row 1246; rows 1248, 1250, and electrical tables, software in additional rows not shown in Figure 12A Tables, and reference columns in other tables; and GPS locations in row 1252. Many other types of information can be included in the extra lines used to describe the device. Electrical form 1214 describes various electronic features of a device, including: predicted lifetime in row 1254; cumulative runtime of the device in row 1256; power-on event associated with the device in row 1258; and rows 1260, 1262 And various thresholds in the extra rows not shown in Figure 12B to trigger events associated with a device. In one example, row 1260 includes an operational time alarm that specifies that the lighting control system should take specific actions when the cumulative operating hours are equal to or greater than the threshold shown in row 1260. The software table 1216 and the mechanical table 1218 contain software devices and mechanical devices. Item characteristics. Each group in the group table 1224 is described by: ID in line 1270; name in line 1272; lines 1274, 1276, additional lines not shown in Figure 12B, and associated managers of the group, maintenance And the various IDs of other service providers; the device ID of row 1278 and a group of associated routers; and the current schedule of the group in unstructured row 1280.

The information stored in the exemplary data schema shown in Figures 12A-B allows for many different types of queries generated by user interface routines executed on a router or network data center. For example, if the user interface provided by the router wants to find all the light poles or optical fixtures in the Supermall parking lot group, the router user interface routine can execute the following SQL query to provide the identified number of the lamp post. And GPS coordinates:

In a specific example of the illumination system described herein, a database stored locally in the router or stored in a database management system and accessible by the router through the network control center may be added or updated when the data is added or updated. Automatic trigger generation The message that the router sent to the LMU. In other examples of illumination systems described herein, the user interface routines can perform queries via the user interface in response to user input to update the database and, when appropriate, simultaneously generate commands to be transmitted to the LMU. In a particular case, a separate, asynchronous router routine can periodically compare the contents of the database with information stored in the LMU to ensure that the information content of the LMU reflects the information stored in the database. In general, information other than the presence of the LMU (which includes status, runtime characteristics, sensor definitions, and other such information) is also stored in the router's database.

The router will perform LMU control via a command interface. Figure 13 shows the various commands used in the router-to-light management unit communication. The commands include: (1) setting a time command, which is set to match the time stored by an LMU; and (2) defining a group command, which sets an entry in the group list to which the LMU belongs (1112 in FIG. 11); 3) Define schedule commands that are used to define schedules stored within the LMU; (4) Define input/output commands that define various sensor devices and associated events within the LMU; (5) Force bulbs a state that allows a user interacting with the router via the user interface, or, in an alternative example, a user interacting with the cellular phone to manually operate a lighting unit via the LMU; (6) a return status command, Let the router request status information from the LMU; (7) report the status command response, several forms of which are used to respond to the reward status command received by the LMU; (8) an event command that will report the event and which can be sent by any unit (9) setting an operation time command that allows the router to set various electrical characteristics of the devices within the illumination fixture retained by the LMU; (10) define a bulb feature command that allows the router to store illumination within the LMU that manages the lighting elements Component Special lamp features; (11) firmware update command that allows an LMU to prepare to receive firmware updates; (12) backdoor commands for debugging commands to retrieve data from the LMU; and (13) add/remove A command that notifies a bridged LMU to add or delete an end-point LMU in the power line network of the bridged LMU. Figures 14A through N show the contents of the various commands and responses discussed above with reference to Figure 13. The table for describing the data fields of the message provided in Figures 14A through N is fairly clear and will not be discussed further herein.

15 to 18 provide flow control diagrams for the control functions of a light management unit. Figure 15 provides a control flow chart of an LMU event handler, which will respond An event born in a LMU. The event handler will wait for the next event to occur in step 1502, and then determine which event occurred and respond to the event in the conditional statement group, for example, in wait for conditional statement 1504 following step 1502. The event handler will continue to operate in the LMU. When an asynchronous sensor event occurs, for example, when an output signal from a photovoltaic cell changes from on to off or from off to on, as determined in step 1504, the event descriptor for the event is in the event table. Found (1116 in Figure 11) and updated. When a timer expires indicating that it is time to check that the event descriptor is supplied to various events in the event table (1116 in FIG. 11), the event routine is called in step 1508. When the event corresponds to storing an incoming message queue to a foreign message queue, as determined in step 1510, then the call processing command routine is received in step 1512. When the event corresponds to storing an outgoing message queue to an outgoing message queue, as determined in step 1514, then the call processing outgoing command routine is processed in step 1518. When the event represents a timer for controlling the periodic check of the stored operational schedule, as judged in step 1520, then the check schedule routine is called in step 1522. The default event handler that is called in step 1524 will handle any of the various events that may occur. The events explicitly handled in Figure 15 are only a set of exemplary events that are used to explain the overall functionality of the LMU event handler.

Figure 16 provides a control flow diagram for the check event routine called in step 1508 of Figure 15. In the for-loop of steps 1602 through 1608, each event descriptor in the event descriptor table (1116 in Figure 11) within an LMU is discussed. If the event is described as being useful, or if it occurs recently compared to the processing, then, in general, a message for reporting the event will be queued to an outgoing message in step 1604. Columns, and when a partial action is approved, as determined in step 1605, the event is processed locally in step 1606. After the message queue is stored and partially processed, the event status is reset in step 1607. Other types of events can be reported but not processed locally. Other types of events can be reported back to the router and processed locally. For example, a temperature sensor event may cause a local activation or cancellation of a heating element to locally control the temperature.

Figure 17 provides the "received" call in step 1512 of Figure 15. Process control command "normal control flow chart. The next command will be unloaded from the foreign command queue in step 1702. When the command is a command to retrieve information, as determined in step 1704, then in step 1706, the appropriate information is retrieved from the information stored by the LMU and incorporated into the queue for storage. An outgoing message is listed in the response message. When the message queue is stored in the outgoing message queue, a queue of non-depletion events occurs in step 1708. When the command is a store information command, as determined in step 1708, then in step 1710, the information received in the command is stored in the appropriate data structure within the LMU. When acknowledgment is required, as determined in step 1712, an acknowledgment message is prepared in step 1714 and stored in the queue for the outgoing message. When the command causes a local action, as determined in step 1716, then the local action is performed in step 1718, and when the message is required to be acknowledged, as determined in step 1720, then the acknowledgement message It is prepared in step 1714 and stored in a queue. When the command queue is depleted, as judged in step 1722, then the routine ends. Otherwise, control returns to step 1702 to unload the queue to store the next received command.

Figure 18 provides a control flow diagram for the "Check Schedule" routine called in step 1522 of Figure 15. In the for-loop of steps 1802 to 1810, each entry in the schedule (1118 in Fig. 11) partially stored in the LMU is discussed. In step 1803, the current time is compared to the start time and end time of the currently discussed schedule. When the current time falls within the range specified by the start time entry and the end time entry of the currently discussed schedule event or entry, then, in the inner for-loop of steps 1805 to 1809, the LMU Each lighting element within the controlled lighting fixture is discussed. When the currently discussed lighting component falls within the group whose scheduling entry is legal, such as comparing the group ID of the scheduling entry and the group ID of the lighting component, then when the current lighting component output is different When the schedule is specified, in step 1808, the LMU changes the output of the illumination element to the output specified in the schedule by changing the voltage or current output of the illumination element.

Figure 19 provides a state transition diagram of a router user interface. When a user interacts with the router via a user interface, the router initially displays a first page 1902. Users may wish to view material, update and correct data, or manually control One or more LMUs are made, and in a particular example of a lighting system described herein, one of the three types of interactions can be selected and authorized to be executed via one or more authorization pages 1904 through 1906 These types of actions. The user may need to provide a password, pass a finger through the fingerprint reader, and provide other information to authorize the user to perform such and other types of tasks by interacting with the user interface. Various web pages can be viewed or corrected by the user: the group defined for the LMU and the association of the LMU with the group; the calendar schedule of the desired lighting operation; and the information related to the devices contained in the lighting fixture and lighting fixture And information related to the position of the fixture, including the ability to view the position of the fixture stacked on the map or a photo image of the area containing the LMUs. There are a number of different possible user interfaces that can be designed to provide interactive control of the LMU and the lighting fixtures managed by a particular router. The same user interface can be provided at the network control center level.

20 through 26 provide additional illustration of the radio frequency enabled light management unit (RF enabled LMU) discussed above in connection with FIG. Figure 20 is a block diagram of an RF-enabled LMU, which represents one of the examples of the illumination system described herein, similar to the block diagram shown in Figure 7, and the sub-devices, circuit diagrams thereof are provided in Figures 21A-26. Additional details and dotted lines. The circuit diagrams provided in Figures 21A through 26 include additional descriptions of the sub-devices shown below by the dashed rectangles in Figure 20: (1) microprocessor 2002; (2) optically coupled isolation sub-device 2004; (3) switched relay Sub-device 2006; (4) internal power supply sub-device 2008; and (5) meter sub-device 2010. The meter sub-device 2010 is an electric meter implemented by an integrated circuit that monitors the amount of power used by lamps that receive power via the AC power lines 2012 to 2013. The software routine within the RF-enabled LMU queries the meter sub-device 2010, typically at regular intervals and/or upon receipt of a request from a router or network control center to monitor the RF-enabled LMU. The amount of power used to manage the luminaire and return the amount of power to the router or network control center.

21A-E provide additional illustrations of a microprocessor device (2002 in Figure 20) of an RF enabled LMU. Microprocessor 2102 includes a plurality of pins coupled to external signal lines that provide an interface between the microprocessor and other RF-enabled LMU devices. In Figures 21A-E, the numbers of the pins are from 1 to 32. Class interrupt signals 2104 through 2105 are various sensors or monitors of the RF enabled LMU Input to pins 12 and 13. The microprocessor outputs a relay signal 2106 to the switching relay device (2006 in Figure 20) for interrupting the connection of the luminaire to the AC power source. The microprocessor receives a signal 2108 from a thermistor temperature sensor to monitor the temperature within the optical fixture housing in which the RF enabled LMU is located. A group of signals 2110 provides a Universal-Asynchronous-Receiver-Transmitter (UART) interface to the wireless module (704 in Figure 7) and another group of signal lines 2112 to provide an interface to the power line communication module ( 706) in Figure 7. The signal lines 2114 to 2115 provide a clock input to the microprocessor, and the signal line 2116 group implements a Serial-Peripheral-Interface (SPI) bus interface to the meter device (2010 in Figure 20). Another group of signal lines 2118 performs a pulse width modulation output. A number of pins connect the microprocessor to internal DC power 2120 and to ground 2122. The microprocessor 2102 includes: a flash memory for storing a software program for performing control and communication functions of the RF-enabled LMU; and a conventional processor sub-device including a register, an arithmetic unit and a logic unit, and Other such sub-devices. Any of a variety of different microprocessors can be used in the RF-enabled LMU.

Figure 22 provides a circuit diagram of a portion of an optical coupling-insulating sub-device (2004 in Figure 20) of an RF-enabled LMU. The input and output lines are electrically isolated from each other by an optical connection 2202, and a light-emitting diode (LED) and an optical diode respectively convert the electronic signal into an optical signal and convert the optical signal back to the electronic signal.

Figure 23 provides a circuit diagram of the switched relay device of the RF enabled LMU (2006 in Figure 20). When the relay signal 2302 is de-asserted, a solenoid switch or solenoid-like switch device 2304 interconnects the input AC power conductor to the output AC power. However, when the relay signal 2302 is determined by the microprocessor (2101 in Figures 21A-E), the solenoid decouples the input AC power line from the output AC power line, thereby interrupting the connection of the luminaire to the main input power line. The default state of the luminaire is connected to the microprocessor before it is determined that the microprocessor and the microprocessor resident software control program in the RF-enabled LMU are controlling the optical fixture. These ACs are input to the main power line. Therefore, before the initialization of the microprocessor and control program, and whenever the microprocessor and/or control program cannot actively control the photo folder When the device is equipped, the luminaire is directly connected to the main power lines. As discussed above, the luminaire can be disconnected from the main power lines under the control of the RF-enabled LMU as a result of commands received from a router or network control center.

Figure 24 provides a circuit diagram of an internal power supply device (2008 in Figure 20) of an RF enabled LMU. The input AC power 2402 through 2403 is rectified and lowered by a rectifier and transformer 2404 to produce a five volt internal DC output 2406. The output power signal is stabilized via a stabilizing circuitry and device that includes a capacitor 2408.

25A through C provide circuit diagrams of an electric meter device (2010 in Fig. 20) of an RF enabled LMU. The meter is implemented as an integrated circuit 2502 that interfaces to the microprocessor via the SPI bus interface 2504 discussed above with reference to Figures 21A-E.

26 provides a circuit diagram of circuitry for interconnecting the output of a sensor or monitoring device 2602 to an interrupt input 2604, such as a microprocessor. The output signal 2604 is asserted when the voltage drop across the sensor-output signal line is greater than a threshold.

Area lighting based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (including street lighting) quickly becomes a better lighting technology in many applications, including street lighting applications, for a number of reasons. LED-based luminaires provide energy efficiencies that are significantly greater than those of incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lighting components, and other lighting component technologies. LED-based luminaires are implemented and controlled to produce output light having the desired spectral characteristics that output light of a particular wavelength or range of wavelengths, unlike many other types of lighting elements. LED-based luminaires can be turned on and off quickly and reach full brightness in the microsecond-level time period. Outputs from LED-based luminaires can be easily controlled by pulse width modulation or by controlling the current input of the LED-based luminaire, allowing for precise dimming. LED-based luminaires tend to fail over time and do not suddenly fail like incandescent lighting elements or fluorescent lighting elements. LED-based luminaires have a lifespan that is 2 to 10 times longer than other types of luminaires. LED-based luminaires are generally more durable than other types of illuminating components and are more resistant to shock and other types of mechanical damage. For these and other reasons, LED-based luminaires are predicted to overwhelm other types of lighting components in street lighting applications during the next five to ten years.

However, although there are many advantages, LED-based lamps still have specific shortcomings. The point, which contains a non-linear current-to-voltage response, requires careful adjustment of the voltage and current supplied to the LED-based luminaire. In addition, LED-based luminaires are also relatively temperature sensitive. For these and other reasons, RF-enabled LMU control for LED-based luminaires provides advantages over LED-based luminaires that are greater than those provided for conventional types of luminaires. For example, an RF-enabled LMU can include an electricity meter and an output lumen sensor to help automatically monitor the LED-based luminaire output to determine when an LED-based luminaire needs to be replaced. In the case of conventional types of lighting elements that can suddenly fail, it is relatively easy for the service personnel to identify the failed lighting elements. Conversely, because LED-based luminaires are progressively failing, monitoring by the RF-enabled LMU can monitor and detect faulty LED-based luminaires by providing a more reliable automated system than monitoring by maintenance personnel. In addition, the RF-enabled LMU is able to monitor the temperature within the lighting fixture at relatively frequent intervals and automatically reduce the power output to the fixture while taking other improvements to ensure that the temperature-sensitive LED-based fixture remains at the optimum temperature. Within the scope.

The features of the LED-based lighting elements are shown in Figures 27-29. Figure 27 shows a typical small LED lighting device. The LED source is a relatively small semiconductor material wafer 2702 that is applied across the anode 2704 element to the cathode 2706 element to the potential of the illumination device across the wafer. In general, a semiconductor wafer 2702 is embedded in a reflective cavity 2705 for directing light outwardly in a direction representative of the solid angle defined by the reflective cavity. In higher power LEDs, the semiconductor wafer is significantly larger in size and is typically mounted to a metal substrate to provide greater heat removal in the larger semiconductor wafer.

Figure 28 illustrates the principle of LED operation. The semiconductor crystals that make up the illumination elements of LED device 2802 have different dopings to create a p-n junction 2804. The p-side of the crystal contains an excess of positively charged carriers or holes, such as holes 2806; and the n-side of the semiconductor contains an excess of negatively charged carriers or electrons, such as electrons 2808. A shallow barrier region 2810 is formed at the interface 2804 between the p-port and the n-port of the semiconductor crystal, in which electrons diffuse from the n-side to the p-side, and the holes diffuse from the p-side to the n-side. The barrier region represents a small potential energy barrier to block the flow of current. However, when a voltage 2812 is supplied across the semiconductor in the forward direction, as shown in Figure 28, referred to as "forward bias", the barrier is easily overcome and current flows across the p-n surface. Reverse the polarity of the voltage source, called "reverse bias," which induces current to flow through the semiconductor in the reverse direction; however, when a reverse current is allowed to increase beyond a critical reverse current, sufficient heat will It is created to destroy the semiconductor lattice and permanently disable the device. The unevenly doped semiconductor crystals that implement the p-n junction constitute the basic functional unit of many devices of modern electronic systems, including diodes, transistors, and other devices. In the case of a light-emitting diode (LED), when the semiconductor wafer is forward biased and current flows through the pn junction, the electrons are released during the process of the excited electrons binding to the hole. Light of a particular wavelength is converted to a lower energy level.

Figure 29 shows the current vs. voltage curve for a typical LED. When 0V is applied across the LED 2902, no current flows through the LED. The forward bias of the LED produces a small initial current that increases exponentially beyond a critical forward bias voltage 2904. The reverse bias of the LED produces an exponential increase in reverse current that exceeds a collapse voltage threshold of 2906. When an applied forward bias voltage exceeds the threshold voltage 2904 in Figure 29, the LED will illuminate. However, the operational applied voltage range that can illuminate without a sufficient amount of current to destroy the semiconductor crystal lattice is rather narrow. In other words, as shown in FIG. 29, the current referenced by an LED is highly nonlinear, and in the exponential region of the current with respect to the voltage curve, even if the applied voltage is increased, the foot is induced in the device. The current is destroyed to destroy the device. For this reason, unlike the incandescent and fluorescent elements, the control of the voltage or current output to the LED-based luminaire needs to be relatively accurate. LED-based area lighting fixtures typically employ LED driver devices that rectify input AC power and output constant voltage or constant current DC power to the luminaire.

Figure 30 shows an LED-based street lighting fixture. The LED-based street lighting fixture 3002 shown in the figures is reversed from the normal mounting alignment, and includes a transparent mask 3004, which is emitted by LED elements (eg, LED elements 3006) in an array of LED elements 3008. A transparent mask 3004 is used to illuminate an area. The LED-based street lighting fixture includes a generally metallic housing 3010 having a plurality of fin-like projections, such as fins 3012, to aid in thermal removal of the LED array. The LED-based street lighting fixture can also include an LED driver that acts as a constant voltage or constant current source for the LED array. The input power and signal lines pass through a type of loop clamp 3014 that also acts as a mechanical coupling for the optical clamp bracket. An alternative type In LED-based street lighting fixtures, the LED driver can be placed in a device of a light fixture, rather than within the fixture housing shown in Figure 30, and are interdigitated by winding through the loop clamps Connect to the LED array.

There are many types of LED drivers available on the market. One of the popular LED drivers used in certain street lighting applications will output a constant current of 0.70 A from an input voltage between 100V and 277V. The LED driver includes thermal protection circuitry and is resistant to ongoing open and short circuit events in the LED array. The LED driver was placed in a long rectangular envelope weighing less than three pounds and having a dimension of about 21 cm x 59 cm x 37 cm.

One of the types shown in Figures 31 through 33 is a constant-output-current LED lamp driver. Figure 31 shows an LED lamp driver. The LED lamp driver utilizes a fixed frequency pulse width modulation controller integrated circuit 3106 to drive a string or series of LEDs 3102 based on input AC power 3104. Figure 32 provides a functional block diagram of the integrated circuit (3106 in Figure 31) of the LED lamp driver. Figure 33 provides a functional block diagram of the integrated circuit (3106 in Figure 31) within the LED lamp driver.

Figure 34 shows an RF-enabled LMU/LED-based luminaire driver module. As shown in FIG. 34, the RF-enabled LMU/LED-based luminaire driver 3402 includes the RF-enabled LMU devices 702, 704, 708, 710, 707, 709, and 716 discussed above with respect to FIG. 7 and an additional switch. The relay 3406, the LED driver output sub-device 3408, and an LED driver 3410 rectify and stabilize the input AC power to produce a constant current DC output to an LED array 3412. The additional switched relay 3406 is controlled in exactly the same manner as the switched relay 716 to ensure that the RF enabled LMU does not actively control the optical fixture in the default mode prior to initialization of the RF enabled LMU software. The LED driver has an input signal to drive light output from the LED array in addition to the input AC power during the time period.

The LED driver enhances the RF-enabled LMU to solve the problem that the power factor of the LED driver coupled to one or more luminaires is typically not 1.0, as is the desire to extract the minimum current from the main power with the maximum light output, but usually Far less than one. When the power factor is 1.0, the waveform of the voltage will match the waveform of the current in the load, and the visual power The apparent power (which is calculated as the product of the voltage drop across the load and the current through the load) is equal to the power consumed within the load and eventually dissipates into the environment and becomes hot, called real power ( Real power). Linear loads with only net resistive characteristics typically have a power factor of 1.0. Conversely, a linear load with reactive characteristics will store a certain amount of energy due to the capacitance or inductance in the load and release the stored energy back to the main power during each AC cycle. Therefore, the apparent power supplied to the load exceeds the real power consumed by the load. Nonlinear loads, including rectifiers and pulse width modulation based dimming circuits, alter the voltage and current waveforms in a complex manner and can result in power coefficients well below 1.0. The LED driver includes both a rectifier and a pulse width modulated dimming circuit, and therefore represents a non-linear load having a power factor well below 1.0.

The problem with a power factor below one is that the current drawn by the load from the main power supply is greater than the current actually used to generate power within the load. Although the excess current is not used in the load and is sent back to the power supply via the main power; however, the higher current drawn by the load causes higher power loss during transmission, so the power supply often uses A higher rate to charge to supply power to a device with a low power factor. Therefore, for maximum cost and energy efficiency, LED drivers incorporated into an LED driver-enhanced RF-enabled LMU require additional circuitry and circuit components to enhance the LED driver-enhanced RF-enabled LMU and LED driver-enhanced RF Enable the power factor of the LMU controlled luminaire to a value as close as possible to 1. The power factor of a reactive, linear load can also be increased by counteracting the inductance in the load with a negative or negative capacitance in a load with an additional capacitive inductance, called "passive power factor correction." The power factor of a non-linear load can be increased by using an active circuit device (which includes a boost converter, a buck converter, or a buck-boost converter), called "active power coefficient correction." Depending on the particular implementation of the LED driver included in an LED driver enhanced RF-enabled LMU, the LED driver enhances the RF-enabled LMU requiring additional active power factor correction devices and, in certain cases, may also be used Additional passive power factor correction device. In general, loads with a power factor between 0.95 and 1.0 do not have higher cost requirements due to the power supply, and therefore, the LED drivers enhance the RF-enabled LMU to have a value equal to or greater than 0.95. Excess power factor. An additional problem with LED drivers is that when the dimming circuitry is active, the power factor may be reduced because pulse width modulation causes additional harmonics in the voltage/current waveform. Thus, a preferred LED driver enhanced RF enabled LMU includes dynamic power factor correction that dynamically adjusts and corrects the changing power factor of the LED driver and coupled luminaire as the luminaire dimming changes.

Incorporating LED drivers into RF-enabled LMUs provides a single device solution to control LED-based luminaires. For many reasons, the type of centralized monitoring and control of optical fixtures achieved by RF-enabled LMUs is particularly desirable in LED-based street light fixtures. LED drivers and LED-based luminaires have a narrow range of operating parameters, including a narrow operating temperature range and relatively stringent requirements for input voltage and input current due to the non-linear relationship of LED lighting components. When a particular type of temperature monitoring and control circuitry can be included in the LED driver, the RF-enabled LMU provides centralized, remote monitoring of the second layer of parameters and local and remote control of the illumination fixture. In order to minimize and / or eliminate LED driver damage conditions and LED array damage conditions. As discussed above, RF-enabled LMU control can be used to accurately monitor the power consumption and light output of LED-based luminaires to automatically and remotely determine when the luminaire needs maintenance and replacement. Furthermore, integrating the RF-enabled LMU and LED features together in a single module simplifies the design and manufacture of the optical fixture device and reduces the cost of the optical fixture.

The automatic lighting control system described above is a complex, very durable dispensing system for distributing light to customer facilities and areas. As discussed above, the automatic lighting control system includes: one or more network control centers; a plurality of routers; and a plurality of LMUs located within the unique optical fixture that control the operation of the lighting components and replace the routers and networks The control center collects sensor data and other information from the area where the optical fixtures are located. All of this highly interconnected and centrally managed infrastructure can be used for many additional purposes as discussed above, including environmental sensing, security monitoring, traffic flow analysis, and other such uses.

With the rapid increase in petrochemical fuel prices and the decline in the availability of fossil fuels, there has been a steady investment in research and development of electric vehicles. Important car manufacturers have developed and marketed practical electronic vehicles with a reasonable range of driving, fully utilizing them The stored electrical energy is operated. However, the potential limitations of the widespread acceptance of electric vehicles involve the current challenges encountered by electric vehicle owners, including recharging their electric vehicles while traveling and where they live. Electricity is available in almost every inhabited area of the world; however, convenient sockets for recharging electric vehicles are not widely available. Not only does the need for a convenient power distribution unit in a location accessible to the driver, but also a complete infrastructure to provide power distribution monitoring, and the need to trade before the electric vehicle can be conveniently recharged.

The automatic lighting control system described above is uniquely located geographically and commercially to provide a popular and convenient power distribution for recharging electric vehicles. First, because the LMU has been conveniently placed near streets, parking lots, and other areas accessible to vehicles, and because the LMUs receive, monitor, meter, and distribute power, the automatic lighting control system is already in the electric vehicle. Distribute electricity at every location where driving is potentially needed. Secondly, because the automatic lighting control system has been physically interconnected by a practical communication system and provides communication facilities to transmit information to a geographically accessible location of the vehicle and to receive data from a geographically accessible location of the vehicle, the automatic The lighting control system infrastructure can be modified to provide full power distribution for recharging electric vehicles.

Figure 35 shows an example of a lighting system that has been described so far. As shown in Figure 35, a lighting fixture 3502 is controlled by the automatic lighting control system described above and has been incorporated into an automated kiosk 3504 (consisting with various existing automated interfaces, including ATM machines). , ticket vending machines, and other such automated machines) to enhance power distribution to provide a trading interface for electric vehicle driving. In addition, a number of street accessible or car park accessible power distribution units (eg, power distribution unit 3506) may be electronically coupled to the LMU control function and an external power supply that supplies power to the lighting fixture. The LMU control function can be easily adapted to turn on, off, and meter power delivered via each of the power distribution units. In addition, the network control center(s) and the database management system and control functions in the routers can be easily adapted to provide power distribution transactions, control power distribution via local automated information service stations, and concentrate Payment and checkout.

Figure 36 shows the data stored in each LMU. Specific enhancements to the line and LMU enhancements to provide power distribution. The LMU creates and retains a data structure 3602 for describing the automated information service station and data structures 3604 through 3605 for describing each of the power distribution units. These data structures are identical to the data structures shown in Figure 11, which store information related to fixtures and fixtures. In addition, the LMU is further enhanced to include an information service station management module 3608 and a power distribution unit management module 3610 for automatically controlling the information service station (3504 in FIG. 35) and each power distribution unit (FIG. 35). 3506).

Figure 37 shows an enhancement of stored data and functions in a router and/or network control center. Such enhancements include an associated form or other data structure 3702 that is stored to describe the power distribution customer and an associated form or other data structure 3704 that is used to describe the unique power distribution transaction. The routers and/or network control centers further include an additional power distribution module 3706, a payment and checkout module 3708, and a customer management module 3710. The stored information in the additional modules can be used for customer bookings for credit distribution, credit card authentication and verification, transaction management and automatic payments, and instant control for automated information service stations and power distribution transactions.

Figures 38A through C are representative power distribution transactions. These patterns are divided into three rows: the left row 3802 corresponds to the client/automatic information service station; the middle row 3804 corresponds to the LMU control function; and the right row 3806 corresponds to the router/control center function. Referring to Figure 38A, when a customer enters a transaction initiation input to the automated information service station (usually by pressing a button or touching the screen as shown by the information service station display), the transaction is initiated in step 3810. . When receiving the customer input, in step 3811, the information service station transmits a start signal to the information service station management module in the LMU. The information service station management module receives the start signal in step 3812 and begins collecting the data needed to perform the power distribution transaction. In steps 3813 to 3814, the information service station management module transmits various data input screens or instructions for the information service station to display various input request screens, and the information service station displays the input request screens and receives Proper customer input. Once the information service station management module has collected the information needed to perform the power distribution transaction, the information service station management module prepares a transaction start message in step 3815 and transmits the message to a router or Network Control Center. The router or network control center will receive the payment in step 3816. An easy start message; in step 3617, a credit card authorization service is utilized to authorize the transaction, comparing the input information with the information stored in the customer's associated form (3702 in Figure 37), and by other such Means; and in step 3818, the authorization and fueling permission message is returned to the LMU. In step 3819, the LMU receives the authorization from a fuel supply permission message, and in steps 3820 to 3821, the display of the fuel supply command and the monitoring of the fuel supply process and power distribution are performed by the information displayed by the information service station. Metering and monitoring, as well as other types of testing and monitoring.

Referring now to Figure 38B, once the customer has initiated the recharging of the electric vehicle in step 3822 and the power distribution unit and the LMU have cooperated in steps 3823 and 3824 to monitor and complete the power distribution operation, a fuel supply completion signal will be in step 3825. Generated (generated by interaction between the customer and the information service station; generated by the LMU sensing cable disconnection, charging completion, or other event; or by some other means), resulting in a transmission in step 3826 The fuel supply completion signal is sent to the LMU. In step 3827, the LMU will receive the fuel supply completion signal, and in step 3828, the LMU will prepare a power distribution transaction completion message to be sent to the router and/or the network control center. In step 3829, the router and/or network control center receives the transaction completion message, updates the transaction table and other stored database information, and returns an acknowledgement message to the LMU in step 3831. In step 3832, the LMU will receive the acknowledgement message and proceed to Figure 38C where any final command and acknowledgement message is transmitted to the automated information service station. In step 3834, the automated information service station displays the final instructions and the acknowledgement message, and reinitializes the information service station display in step 3835 to prepare for another power distribution transaction.

In general, the automated information service station is capable of simultaneously performing as many power distribution transactions as the power distribution unit associated with the LMU. The power distribution units can include extendable wires having one or more adapters that are compatible with the electric vehicle. In many examples of the illumination system described herein, the power distribution unit can be controlled (by input to a customer of the information service station and possibly by a sensor within the power distribution unit) for output compatible with the electric vehicle A special voltage and current. Many different additional types of power distribution units, automated information service stations, and other automated systems for implementing power distribution transactions can also be designed to be an alternative to the lighting systems described herein.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a system or apparatus for generating a lighting event can be used with a lighting control system or incorporated into a lighting control system, for example, as shown in Figures 3A through 38C. Said.

A lighting control system in accordance with the present disclosure is capable of responding to such events as motion, alerting, daylight detection, and the like. The sensor can be used to forward information about the events (eg, daylight and motion detection; safety, weather, and traffic monitoring; and dangerous event detection, etc.) to a lighting control system to monitor such Events can provide benefits to interested parties. For example, a daylight sensor can be used to detect light levels, which can represent night or day, dusk or dawn, and send appropriate event commands to the lighting control system. Other sensors can operate in the same way to transfer information to the lighting control system.

As discussed earlier, various types of sensor inputs can be used in a variety of local, regional, and large geographic area levels, in addition to being primarily useful for providing effective control of lighting system operation. Different types of monitoring tasks. For example, as shown in Figure 5, a small horizontal strip (e.g., horizontal strip 514) indicates how the lighting elements should be operated when various different events occur.

Although these sensors are practical, they are also prone to failure. The sensors may cause an event to be undetected by the sensor and then not forwarded to the lighting control system. Therefore, various problems may occur, such as wasting resources, not controlling specific events, and the jigs fail to operate properly.

To address these issues, an event synthesizer can be used in place of or in place of the sensor to provide the necessary commands/signals (corresponding to one that can be received as one of the output signals from one or more sensors) Or more special "events") to the lighting control system. An event synthesizer can be used for diagnostic purposes and can introduce stimulation into the illumination system, which is then processed by the system. This event synthesizer can be implemented in software, hardware, and/or firmware, and can be positioned at any location and introduce input (eg, a synthetic event) at any suitable point or portion of the lighting system. For example, a site manager, or any other unit or device connected to a control network (function) of a lighting system, can be configured or configured to include functionality as an event synthesizer. The event synthesizer can calculate when an event may occur. For example, what happened Daylight events at specific times can be calculated based on detailed information on sunrise and sunset at a given location, for example, in a sunrise/sunset calculator or table for a particular geographic location, which will be incorporated Time zone, latitude and longitude, daylight savings, and similar details/parameters. Using this event synthesizer and the resulting events can be more flexible in the lighting control system. For example, if a sensor is blocked by an object, or if the weather is dark, if the eclipse occurs, or if the sensor fails, the event synthesizer can transfer information about the time of the daylight event for transmission to An illumination fixture has occurred for an event and thus controls various devices and functions of the illumination system. This event synthesis can also be used, alternatively or alternatively, for calibration and/or performance testing of the lighting system.

The system 3900 for synthesizing event generation is shown in FIG. 39, comprising: an event synthesizer 3904 for synthesizing an event; and a lighting control system 3902. The lighting fixture control system 3902 can include one or more lighting elements 3901, for example, as previously described and illustrated in Figures 3A-38C. The lighting elements 3901 can comprise LED-based lighting elements or any other lighting elements. In some examples, the lighting elements 3901 can be replaced with any electronic device, such as a motor component, a fan component, or a home appliance component. A lighting fixture management unit can be incorporated with the lighting fixture. For example, one or more radio frequency (RF) enabled bridged lighting fixture management units (LMUs) 320-332 can be used as shown in Figures 3A-B. As shown above, event synthesizer 3904 can be used to calculate that an event has occurred. When it is calculated that the event has occurred, the event synthesizer 3904 can then generate a synthetic event corresponding to the event that has been calculated to occur (for example, by an appropriate output signal, for example, to indicate the observed ambient light) The level of the signal). The event synthesizer 3904 can then send a signal (corresponding to the composite event) to the lighting control system 3902, which then responds to the composite event as if the event had actually occurred.

Continuing with the operation, the lighting control system 3902 can process the signal from the event synthesizer 3904 as if it were received from a sensor, for example, a photosensor/meter in the form of a photodiode. For example, in the case of daylight detection, event synthesizer 3904 calculates when daylight (or lack of daylight) occurs and sends a signal to lighting control system 3902. As mentioned previously, the event synthesizer 3904 can use a predetermined database, for example, a given location and sunrise time and day for a given date. Fall time chart or electronic storage form. Upon receiving the composite event from event synthesizer 3904, illumination control system 3902 will then behave as if a real daylight sensor detected the event and then respond to the composite event. This response may include controlling the lighting fixture 3901 according to a predefined program, as previously described with respect to Figure 6 and described for a given LMU via a router.

The event synthesizer 3904 can be located in a venue manager 3906, or can be arranged to have any other device attached to the lighting control system 3902. For example, event synthesizer 3904 can be placed at the far end. The event synthesizer 3904, which is placed remotely, directly sends the synthetic event information to the lighting fixture 3901 associated with the lighting control system 3902. Optionally, event synthesizer 3904, located remotely, can send synthetic event information to venue manager 3906 (which can be integrated or remote from a particular lighting/lighting fixture (eg, 3901)), which in turn will post the information Transfer to the lighting control system 3902.

In other embodiments, the system 3900 for synthetic event generation may include one or more real sensors as shown at 3908 and one or more synthetic event generators as shown at 3904 (or event synthesis) Various combinations of devices. For example, as discussed above, if the sensor 3908 has a problem that cannot detect an event, the event synthesizer 3904 can act as a backup to the sensor 3908 and generate a corresponding signal for input to the lighting control system 3902. In some examples, because of the operational relationship of the system 3900 for synthesizing event generation, the system 3900 can generate events that simulate daylight sensors, motion sensors, temperature sensors, etc. without having to There are real sensors in system 3900. For example, daylight hours are calculated to synthesize daylight or night events. These events are exactly the same as their actual counterparts, and the system 3900 responds accordingly.

Figure 39 also illustrates another aspect of the present technology, that is, direct communication with a target or desired illumination fixture 3901. The event synthesizer 3904, shown remotely in the figures, can be part of a wireless communication device (e.g., a device used by a maintenance technician). Through this direct communication, various commands can be sent to the lighting fixture 3901, which can respond to such commands. The commands can include location information related to the target lighting fixture. The response of the lighting fixture 3901 will be monitored by the venue manager 3906, which itself will respond to the action of the lighting fixture 3901 (or lack of action). Take action. Any type of communication link and/or protocol can be used to communicate directly with the lighting fixture 3901. Infrared (IR) communication can be used in an exemplary embodiment. For example, a technician holding a wireless communication device conveniently adjacent to a target illumination fixture 3901 can send a command (for example, by IR communication) to the special illumination fixture 3901 for the fixture to take the desired The action is part of a diagnostic or maintenance procedure.

The present disclosure also relates to methods of utilizing the system generated by the synthetic event and/or methods of generating the synthetic event itself. These methods are performed using the system generated by the above synthetic event: the event synthesizer is used to calculate an event that has occurred (or should have occurred, for example, at a particular time, a special date, a special geographic location); A composite event that computes an event that has occurred; and sends a signal from the event synthesizer to the lighting control system to respond to the synthetic event as if the event had occurred. These methods can be used for any type of event as shown above, and are not limited to the above.

For example, as shown in FIG. 40, the method of controlling the output of a lighting fixture with a system for synthesizing event generation may begin with the calculation of an event from step 4001, for example, at a particular geographic location, at the end of daylight for a particular date ( That is, sunset). The location manager can determine whether a sunrise or sunset has occurred based on a data table of sunrise time and sunset time on any day of the year. If the incident has not occurred, no action will be taken. If the event occurs, the event synthesizer will generate the composite event in step 4002. In the case where the event is sunset, the event synthesizer generates a synthetic sunset event in the form of a signal or message. This synthetic event is then sent to the lighting control system in step 4003. Upon receiving the composite event, the lighting control system will respond as if the event (i.e., sunset) has actually occurred. In this case, the lighting control system can respond, for example, by turning on or increasing the output of one or more of the illuminations under its control.

This method can be used to maintain a lighting system. For example, instead of letting the venue manager calculate whether an event has occurred in step 4001, the maintenance technician can trigger a synthetic event to test the performance of the lighting system as in step 4002.

In step 4003 of Figure 40, the generated synthetic event is then sent to the lighting system as a signal or message. In an example, these synthetic things The signal of the device can be transmitted by an infrared (IR) communication link between the synthetic event generator (for example, held by a technician) and a particular illumination to be tested. The technician then looks at the response of the lighting system, for example, when it starts lighting, or the intensity of the lighting after it is activated. The technician can then act accordingly.

The invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments; however, the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate a variety of modifications. For example, a wide variety of different hardware configurations and designs can be used to implement end-to-end LMUs, bridged LMUs, routers, network control centers, and/or composite event generators. As discussed above, many of the various communication methods can be used by introducing appropriate chipsets, circuitry, and logic support in the network control center hardware, router hardware, and LMU hardware. Communication between the hierarchical device layers in an illumination control system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As discussed above, the LMU will be configured to accommodate many different types of sensor devices and to control many types of local electronic devices and electromechanical devices, such as heating elements, motors that control video cameras, and the like. Devices and devices. The software and logic of LMUs, routers, and network control centers can be changed by changing any of a number of different execution parameters (including stylized languages, operating system platforms, control structures, data structures, modular organizations, and others). Such parameters) are performed in many different ways. The router and network control center user interface can be designed to provide many different types of auto-lighting system control and monitoring functions. The illuminating fixture operation can be controlled by scheduling, by specifying operational characteristics following a particular event; capable of being controlled via manual control of the user interface; and capable of each of the class-type automated lighting system control systems representative of embodiments of the present invention A different layer is controlled by the program, which contains program control by a unique LMU in a relatively autonomous manner. Further, any appropriate communication protocol can be used for the communication described herein, and is not limited to any particular standard communication protocol. Also, although various examples of sensors are provided herein (for example, photodiodes); however, other suitable functionally equivalent sensors can be used within the scope of the present disclosure.

For the purposes of explanation, the foregoing description uses specific terminology in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without necessarily requiring a precise detail. Before the specific embodiment of the invention has been proposed The explanations are for the purpose of explanation and explanation. They do not exhaustive or limit the intent of the invention in the form of a plate. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments have been shown and described in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments of the invention . The scope of the invention is intended to be defined by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

602‧‧‧Network Control Center

603‧‧‧Associated database management server

605‧‧‧Web server

606‧‧‧Web server

607‧‧‧Web server

610‧‧‧ router

611‧‧‧ router

612‧‧‧ router

613‧‧‧ router

616‧‧‧Internet

618‧‧‧RF transmitter

620‧‧‧Web-based network control center user interface

622‧‧‧Personal computer or workstation

630‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

631‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

632‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

633‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

634‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

635‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

636‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

637‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

638‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

639‧‧‧RF-enabled LMU

Claims (33)

A system for synthesizing event generation, comprising: an event synthesizer for synthesizing an event; and a lighting control system comprising: a lighting fixture comprising one or more lighting elements; and a lighting fixture a management unit that is incorporated with the lighting fixture; wherein the event synthesizer is configured to calculate an event that has occurred, to generate a composite event corresponding to an event that has been calculated, and to send a signal to the lighting control system Used to indicate that the lighting control system should respond to the synthetic event as if the event had occurred. The system of claim 1, wherein the lighting element is a lighting element based on a light emitting diode. The system of claim 1, wherein the lighting fixture management unit includes a light fixture, and stores control information and status information to control the lighting fixture containing the lighting fixture management unit according to the stored control information. The intensity of light emitted by the lighting element. The system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor for sensing the event. A system according to claim 4, wherein the sensor is a daylight sensor, a motion sensor or a temperature sensor. According to the system of claim 1, wherein the event is at least one of the group consisting of: daylight detection, motion detection, security surveillance, weather monitoring, traffic monitoring, and dangerous event detection. According to the system of claim 1, wherein the event is daylight detection. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal transmitted by the event synthesizer to the lighting control system is transmitted through a venue manager. A system according to claim 8 wherein the event synthesizer is located in the venue manager. According to the system of claim 1, wherein the event synthesizer sends the The signal of the lighting control system is sent directly from the event synthesizer to the lighting control system. The system of claim 1, wherein the lighting control system is configured to calculate that the event has occurred based on stored stored operating characteristics associated with the time schedule or associated with the event. The system of claim 1, wherein the event synthesizer is configured to transmit the signal to the lighting control system via a power line protocol. The system of claim 1, wherein the lighting fixture management unit is configured to: receive an identifier of the event from the event synthesizer; and correct the response in response to the received identifier of the event Light intensity of at least one of the one or more lighting elements. The system of claim 1, wherein the lighting fixture management unit comprises a radio frequency enabled lighting fixture management unit. The system of claim 14, wherein the radio frequency enabled lighting fixture management unit comprises an electric meter device, wherein the electric meter device is an electric meter implemented by an integrated circuit that monitors a power usage of the one or more lighting elements, And wherein the software routine in the radio frequency enabled lighting fixture management unit queries the meter device at regular time intervals. The system of claim 14, wherein the radio frequency enabled lighting fixture management unit comprises a microprocessor device comprising a plurality of pins coupled to an external signal line for use in the microprocessor An interface is provided between the device and other components of the RF enabled illumination fixture management unit. The system of claim 16 wherein the microprocessor device is configured to cause the one or more illumination to be interrupted in response to an interrupt signal received by at least one of the plurality of pins At least one of the components is coupled to a power source, and wherein the power source includes an AC power source or a DC power source. The system of claim 16 wherein the one or more lighting elements are directly connected to a power source if the microprocessor device is unable to control the lighting control system. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more lighting elements is disconnected from the power source in response to executing a software code on the microprocessor device. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more lighting elements comprise one or more light emitting diode (LED) luminaires, and wherein the event comprises an optimum operation of the LED luminaires Temperature within the temperature range. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a power connection line for supplying power to the one or more lighting elements via a power source, wherein the lighting control system is further configured to The amount of power that is delivered to the electronic device through the power source is metered. A system according to claim 21, wherein the electronic device is an electric vehicle. A non-transitory machine readable medium for controlling an output of a lighting fixture for a system for synthesizing event generation, the system for synthesizing event generation comprising: an event synthesizer for synthesizing an event; A lighting control system comprising: a lighting fixture comprising one or more lighting elements; and a lighting fixture management unit incorporating the lighting fixture; the machine readable medium including machine instructions for: The event synthesizer is used to calculate an event that has occurred based on the preset information, and a signal is sent from the event synthesizer to the lighting control system for signaling that the event has occurred. A method for controlling an output of a lighting fixture for a system for synthesizing event generation, the system for synthesizing event generation comprising: an event synthesizer for synthesizing an event; and a lighting control system comprising: a lighting fixture comprising one or more lighting elements; and a lighting fixture management unit incorporating the lighting fixture; the method comprising: utilizing the event synthesizer to calculate an event that has occurred based on preset information, And sending a signal from the event synthesizer to the lighting control system for signaling the matter Pieces have already happened. The method of claim 24, wherein the lighting element is a lighting element based on a light emitting diode. The method of claim 24, wherein the lighting fixture management unit comprises a lamp driver, the method further comprising the steps of: storing control information and status information to control the management of the lighting fixture according to the stored control information The intensity of light emitted by the illumination elements within the unit's lighting fixture. The method of claim 24, further comprising a sensor for sensing the event. The method of claim 27, wherein the sensor is a daylight sensor, a motion sensor, or a temperature sensor. The method of claim 24, wherein the event is at least one of the group consisting of: daylight detection, motion detection, security surveillance, weather monitoring, traffic monitoring, and dangerous event detection. The method of claim 29, wherein the event is daylight detection. The method of claim 24, wherein in the step of transmitting the signal by the event synthesizer to the lighting control system, the signal is sent to a venue manager before being sent to the lighting control system. The method of claim 31, wherein the event synthesizer is located in the venue manager. The method of claim 24, wherein the signal sent by the event synthesizer to the lighting control system is sent directly from the event synthesizer to the lighting control system.