AU2006261375B2

AU2006261375B2 - Determination of the bus address of a subscriber in an illuminating bus system

Info

Publication number: AU2006261375B2
Application number: AU2006261375A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Kears; Geoff Wallhead
Original assignee: Tridonicatco GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Tridonicatco GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2005-06-17
Filing date: 2006-05-09
Publication date: 2010-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-09
Also published as: WO2006136236A1; PL2282612T3; DE102005028206A1; EP2282612A2; AU2006261375A1; EP2282612B1; DE102005028206B4; PL1891838T3; EP1891838A1; CN101213879A; EP2282612A3; CN101213879B; EP1891838B1

Description

1 Determination of the bus address of a participant in an illumination bus system The present invention relates entirely generally to the 5 determination of the bus address which was assigned to a participant in an illumination bus system by the manufacturer or also subsequently via a bus. In the last few years ever more systems have been 10 developed in the field of illumination technology and building technology with which various illumination means operating devices (but also other actuators or sensors) can be connected with each other via a bus system. An example of such a standardized bus system is 15 the industry standard DALI. Upon the installation or change of such a bus system a newly joining participant (operating devices, actuators, sensors, such as for example daylight 20 sensors and movement detectors) must normally be assigned an operating address. This operating address may differ from an address in the device, possibly provided by the manufacturer. 25 It is known that the bus participants assign addresses to themselves, within a defined reserved address range, for example in the manner of random selection, triggered by a corresponding command from a central bus station. Since the bus address allocation to the bus 30 participants is not the central point of the present invention, reference is directed to the appropriate known methods.

2 In any event an operating address is assigned to each bus participant after conclusion of the address allocation process, or each bus participant has assigned itself an address from the defined address 5 reserve range. To be able now, in the subsequent actual operation of the lighting installation controlled by means of the bus system, to proceed purposively, it must be determined what the operating address of each connected bus participant is. 10 In this regard, various methods are already known from the state of the art. In accordance with EP 639 938 Al, for address 15 assignment the lamp is taken out of a luminaire so that there is effected in the next step address allocation, carried out by a central station, to this manipulated device. 20 It is known from WO 01/33914 Al that the light level of a connected lamp is modulated to show that an address allocation to this operating device is presently being effected. 25 Of course it is also possible to use an address predetermined by the manufacturer and to indicate this externally for example by means of stickers or like, as is known from EP 1 480 495 A2 and EP 1 513 376 Al. However, such addresses predetermined by the 30 manufacturer are too inflexible for further requirements on the bus.

3 In any event, the determination of the assigned addresses, upon setting up or upon changing of an installed bus system, takes up much time, since an operator must go physically to each connected bus 5 participant, in order then on the spot to check the address allocation, usually visually. Of course this installation step is particularly arduous if the bus participants are distributed widely in a building or if applicable over several buildings. This is precisely the 10 case with so-called emergency lighting devices, which, battery supplied, are thus to ensure a defined emergency illumination upon failure of a mains voltage supply and which are normally distributed, particularly widely spaced from one another over buildings. If, thus, in particular 15 in the case of emergency lighting devices, the installer must move over wide ranges of the installation area, then at least the determination of the allocated address should be accomplished as speedily as possible. 20 Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that. any or all of these 25 matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application. 30 Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or 35 step, or group of elements, integers or steps. 12161601.doc 4 Even when in the following the invention is described with reference to illumination means operating devices having a data bus interface, it is still to be understood that the invention equally concerns bus participants of an 5 illumination bus system such as for example sensors (daylight detection, movement detectors etc.) or actuators (electric Venetian blinds etc.), to which an address can be assigned. 10 In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for the determination of the bus address of a bus participant in an illumination bus system of an illumination means operating device having a data bus interface, 15 wherein the bus address in coded form is reproduced by further optical and/or acoustic signallers of the operating device, the further optical and/or acoustic signallers being provided beyond the illumination means to be operated. 20 The signallers may in particular be light-emitting diodes. It is particularly advantageous for a coding if the light emitting diodes have different colours, so that the bus 25 address to be reproduced can be coded by means of the different colours. In particular a plurality of optical and/or visual signallers can be used to reproduce in coded manner the 30 bus address in a defined number system, such as for example in the binary or decimal number system. 1216160_.doc 5 Reproducing the bus address via the optical and/or acoustic signallers can in particular be effected in response to an incoming command from a connected data bus. 5 The allocation of the bus address can be carried out in a manner known in itself from a central station via the data bus and the bus interface of the bus participant (operating device). 10 A further aspect of the present invention relates to a method for the determination of the bus address of at least one participant connected to a data bus in an illumination bus system, in particular of an 15 illumination means operating device. Thereby, via the data bus, first an operating address is issued or allocated. After that, an identification command of a central station is effected via the data bus to the participant. In response to this identification command 20 the participant reproduces the bus address by means of optical and/or acoustic signallers in coded manner. In the case of an operating device for illumination means the acoustic and/or optical signallers are provided in addition to the illumination means to be operated at 25 the operating device. The allocation of addresses and/or the address reproduction can be carried out by a user from a terminal in accordance with the TCP/IP standard. Thus 30 in this case the terminal issues signals in accordance with the TCP/IP standard, which can be put to use likewise on a defined bus standard, such as for example 6 the DALI industry standard, before they are transmitted to the connected bus participants. Otherwise, the optical and/or acoustic signallers can 5 assume functions going beyond the bus address reproduction. For example, they can indicate conditions of the operating device, the connected illumination means and/or applied supply voltages. 10 The invention also relates to an electronic control unit, such as a microprocessor or an ASIC for a bus participant, which is configured to support such a method. 15 The invention also relates to a bus participant device, in particular an operating device for illumination means, such as for example electronic ballasts for gas discharge lamps, which is configured to support such a method. 20 The operating device may in particular be an emergency light operating device for an illumination means. Completely generally, the invention also relates to the 25 use of in particular multi-coloured light emitting diodes of a bus participant, which also have the function of a status indicator, for coded reproduction of a bus address of the bus participant. 30 Further features, advantages, characteristics will now be explained with reference to an embodiment and with reference to the accompanying Figures of the drawings.

7 Fig. 1 thereby shows an illumination system in accordance with the invention having an HF ballast as well as a battery supplied emergency lighting module, 5 and Fig. 2 shows a combined TCP-IP and DALI network, that can be employed for the allocation of addresses and determination of the bus addresses in accordance with 10 the present invention. There is shown in Fig. 1 an electronic ballast 1 for which controls and operates a gas-discharge lamp 2 as a connected illumination means. As mentioned, this 15 electronic ballast 1 represents only an example of an operating device for illumination means. In known manner the ballast 1 is connected with a mains supply voltage (L, N). 20 If the mains voltage supply L, N fails, an emergency lighting module 3 must assume control of the operation of either the same illumination means 2 or a specifically provided emergency lighting means 4. 25 The emergency lighting module 3 also is supplied with the mains voltage L, N. This mains voltage supply serves for charging an autonomous voltage supply, in the illustrated example a battery 5, which automatically takes over voltage supply upon failure of 30 the mains voltage supply and the actual activation of the emergency lighting module 3. Further, via these connections L, N of the emergency lighting module a failure of the mains supply is also detected, which 8 makes a rapid switching over to the emergency lighting operation necessary. The emergency lighting module 3 is bus-capable in that 5 it has an interface for a digital data bus Dl, D2, to which for example a data bus in accordance with the DALI standard, well known in itself from the state of the art, can be connected. There may be provided a single wire bus or also a multiple wire bus. Of course 10 the DALI standard represents only an example for the protocol employed. The emergency lighting module 3 has optical and/or acoustic signallers. Preferably there are employed 15 optical signallers 6, 7 which are provided also for the indication of other conditions of the emergency lighting module 3, the connected illumination means 4 and/or the voltage supply LN in the emergency lighting module 3. However, there can also be provided 20 signallers which serve solely the purpose of address reproduction. In particular as optical signallers there come into question, as illustrated, different-coloured optical 25 signallers, in particular different-coloured LEDs 6, 7. Further, in the case of acoustic and optical signallers there may be effected a coding via the duration of the signal, that is in the sense of a Morse coding. 30 Further, on the emergency lighting module 3 there may be provided an optional test switch 8, upon activation of which the emergency lighting module executes 3 9 defined functions and in particular upon activation of which the emergency lighting module 3 carries out a visual and/or acoustic reproduction of an operating address allocated thereto or self-assigned. 5 In the present it will now be assumed that the emergency lighting module 3 (which, as said, represents only an example of a digital bus-capable bus participant) already has a bus address. This bus 10 address may in principle already have been implemented by the manufacturer. However, the invention relates in particular to scenarios in which the bus address allocation is effected starting from a central station via the connected DALI bus. 15 In response to a manual or a digital command the emergency lighting module 3 is caused to inform a user located in the vicinity of the bus address therein, visually and/or acoustically. Manually, as mentioned, 20 this process can be triggered also directly at the emergency lighting module 3, for example via the test switch 8. It is particularly advantageous if one or possibly also all connected bus participants are instructed by the bus central station to reproduce 25 their bus addresses acoustically and/or visually. When all participants are instructed to reproduce their bus address, a 'broadcast' command is often spoken of. In the following as an example there will be described 30 to the reproduction of the address in a visual manner with the employment of different coloured LEDs 6, 7.

10 The imminent reproduction of the address can be indicated by means of an independent visual signal. Accordingly, the address present can be reproduced by 5 the different coloured LEDs 6, 7 coded in a number system. Thereby, each colour can present a position in the number system, for example the binary system or the decimal numbering system (the colour coding can if applicable be for example combined with other codings 10 such as for example the duration of "flashing" in the sense of a message in Morse code. For example the flashing twice of a red diode can be interpreted as value "2", whilst the single flashing of 15 a "green" diode can be interpreted as the value "10" in the case of the example of the decimal numbering system. Thus the user must merely by hand, or also if applicable with use of a corresponding detection tool (manual counter or optical sensor for the automatic 20 decoding of the bus address), note the number of flashings of the corresponding visual illumination means and then weight this with the value of the appropriate place of the number system. 25 Since in digital bus systems operating addresses are normally binary coded, of course a binary coded reproduction of the operating address is also then of a great advantage. 30 It can be that the actual illumination means (for example fluorescent lamp(s)) are automatically switched off or at least dimmed by their associated operating device (for example electronic ballast) during the 11 addressing phase, in order during the addressing phase not to interfere with the diodes which serve for condition indication, for example for reproducing their address. With this, the visual diode signal can thus be 5 detected better. Beyond this the actual illumination means are conserved by this measure, which is particularly of advantage with emergency illumination, for which lamp operation 10 is not regulated for lamp conservation. In Fig. 2 it is schematically illustrated that a terminal 11 can be made available for the user, for corresponding programming of the illumination bus 15 system (for example a DALI bus system) generally designated by 10, that communicates with a network in accordance with the TCP/IP Internet Protocol standard 12. A converter 9 serves to convert the commands incoming via the TCP/IP network 12 for example to the 20 DALI standard, in order then to control the different bus participants of the illumination bus system 10, for example to cause them to reproduce their assigned bus address. 25 An emergency lighting, as a participant of the illumination bus system 10, is designated by 13.

Claims

1. Method for the determination of the bus address of a bus participant in an illumination bus system of an 5 illumination means operating device having a data bus interface, wherein the bus address in coded form is reproduced by further optical and/or acoustic signallers of the operating device, the further optical and/or acoustic 10 signallers being provided beyond the illumination means to be operated.

2. Method according to claims 1, in which the signallers are light-emitting diodes. 15

3. Method according to claim 2, in which light-emitting diodes of different colour are used and the bus address is coded by means of the different colour. 20

4. Method in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, in which a plurality of optical and/or visual signallers reproduce the bus address in a defined number system in coded manner. 25

5. Method according to claim 4, in which the bus address is coded in accordance with the binary or decimal number system.

6. Method in accordance with any one of the preceding 30 claims, in which the operating device reproduces the bus address, triggered by a command incoming via a connected data bus.

7. Method in accordance with any one of the preceding 35 claims, in which the allocation of the bus address is 13 effected from a central station via a data bus and the bus interface fo the operating device.

8. Method for the determination of the bus address of at 5 least one participant, connected to a data bus, in an illumination bus system, in particular of an illumination means operating device, having the following steps: -allocation of an operating address to the operating device via the data bus, 10 -sending of an identification command via the data bus to the operating device, visual and/or acoustic, coded reproduction of the bus address by the operating device by means of optical and/or acoustic signallers which are provided in addition to the 15 illumination means to be operated by the operating device.

9. Method according to claim 8, in which the allocation of addresses and/or the address reproduction is initiated from a terminal in accordance with the TCP/IP standard and 20 a conversion to a defined bus standard, in particular the DALI standard, is effected.

10. Method in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, in which the visual and/or acoustic signallers 25 indicate conditions of the operating device and/or of the connected illumination means and/or of applied supply voltages.

11. Method for the determination of the bus address of a 30 bus participant in an illumination bus system, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. Electronic control unit for a bus participant, in 35 particular of an operating device, which is configured to 14 support a method in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.

13. Control unit according to claim 12, which is a 5 microprocessor or an ASIC.

14. Bus participant, in particular operating device for illumination means, which is configured to support a method in accordance with any of claims 1 to 10. 10

15. Operating device according to claim 11, wherein, it is a emergency lighting operating device.

16. Operating device according to any one of claims 14 or 15 15, wherein, it is an electronic ballast.

17. Use of light-emitting diodes of a bus participant, in particular of an illumination means operating device, which are provided for status display, for the coded 20 reproduction of a bus address of the bus participant.