BR112017016253B1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING OCCUPANCY LOCATION - Google Patents

Abstract

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING OCCUPANCY LOCATION. The present invention relates to an approach for determining the occupancy of a space passively with smart devices (300), where the smart device (300) detects a beacon (270a) associated with a room or area in a building.

Description

Field of Invention

[001] This application relates to the field of building systems and, more particularly, the tracking of individuals within a building.

Background

[002] Building automation systems encompass a wide variety of systems that help in monitoring and controlling various aspects of the building's operation. Building automation systems (which may also be referred to herein as "building control systems") include property security systems, fire safety systems, lighting systems, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ("HVAC" systems). ). Lighting systems and HVAC systems are sometimes referred to as "environmental control systems" because these systems control environmental conditions within the building. A single installation may include multiple building automation systems (e.g., a security system, a fire system, and an environmental control system). Multiple building automation systems can be organized separately from each other or as a single system with a plurality of subsystems that are controlled by a common control station or server. The common control station or server may be contained within the building or remote from the building, depending on the implementation.

[003] The elements of a building automation system can be widely dispersed throughout a facility or campus. For example, an HVAC system includes temperature sensors and ventilation damping controls, as well as other elements that are located in virtually every area of a facility or campus. Likewise, a security system may have intrusion detection, motion sensors, and alarm actuators dispersed throughout an entire building or campus. Likewise, fire safety systems include smoke alarms and manual pulls dispersed throughout the facility or campus. Different areas of a building automation system can have different environmental settings based on the usage and personal tastes of the people in those areas, such as offices and conference rooms.

[004] Building automation systems typically have one or more centralized control stations at which system data can be monitored and at which various aspects of the system's operation can be controlled and/or monitored. The control station typically includes a computer or server with processing equipment, data storage equipment, and a user interface. To enable monitoring and control of dispersed control system elements, building automation systems often employ multi-level communication networks to communicate operational and/or alarm information between operational elements such as sensors and actuators, and the centralized control station.

[005] An example of a building automation system control station is the Apogee® Insight® workstation, available from Siemens Industry, Inc., Building Technologies Division, of Buffalo Grove, IL ("Siemens" ), which can be used with the Apogee® building automation system, also available from Siemens. In this system, several control stations connected via Ethernet or another type of network can be distributed across one or more construction sites, each with the ability to monitor and control the operation of the system.

[006] The typical building automation system (including those using Apogee® Insight® Workstation) has a plurality of field panels that are in communication with the central control station. While the central control station is generally used to make modifications and/or changes to one or more of the various components of the building automation system, a field panel may also be operational to allow certain modifications and/or changes to one or more system parameters. This usually includes changes in parameters such as temperature and lighting and/or similar parameters.

[007] The central control station and field panels are in communication with various field devices, also known as "points". Field devices are typically in communication with building automation system field panels and are operational to measure, monitor and/or control various parameters of the building automation system.

[008] Exemplary field devices include lights, thermostats, damp actuators, alarms, HVAC devices, sprinkler systems, speakers, door locks and various other field devices, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art. These field devices receive control signals from the central control station and/or field panels. Consequently, building automation systems are capable of controlling various aspects of building operation by controlling field devices.

[009] It is desirable to adjust the controls of a building and/or area in a building automation system based on the users that are present in the building and/or area. There have been several attempts to determine this, but each attempt suffers from a series of problems. For example, using Wi-Fi signals to triangulate users' positions relies on infrastructure that is expensive to maintain and is often not maintained by those in charge of the building automation system (BAS). Global positioning system (GPS) signals can be used to determine when a user enters or leaves certain virtual perimeter zones, but because satellite signals are too weak to penetrate buildings, they cannot be used to identify a exact location indoors. GPS is also quite power intensive, which warns users to disable it if they are running it on a smart device. QR codes associated with specific locations can be scanned by mobile devices that can communicate with a BAS server, but this solution requires explicit participation from users. Simple occupancy sensors can be used to identify whether people are located in a room or area, but the data acquired is typically limited to whether it is occupied or unoccupied.

[010] Bluetooth® beacon signals have been used to trigger actions in response to the location of an individual smart device (on the individual smart device or on a nearby device). Typically, this triggered action is for marketing purposes and seeks to make the user aware of a sale or event. The use of such known approaches would not be desirable as a user would not want to be notified whenever a building automation system is affected by the user's smart device when in a meeting or conference. Since current Bluetooth beacon applications are aimed at a single-user experience, a room with multiple smart devices where each can indicate a different desired environmental setting requires a different approach to a single-user marketing experience.

[011] What is needed in the art is an approach that identifies the occupancy of a room or area, together with additional data associated with the people present, while having a minimal impact on the user.

SUMMARY

[012] According to one embodiment of the disclosure, a passive indoor location tracking approach for building automation systems. Users can be passively tracked in a building or area using an application run by a processor on a mobile computing device (smart device). The mobile computing device receives a beacon signal transmission from a beacon located in a room or area served by the building automation system. The beacon signal has a beacon code associated with a particular beacon in the building automation system. The mobile computing device communicates with the building automation system and transmits a received beacon code, where the building automation system identifies the location of the mobile computing device based on knowing which beacon the mobile computing device is on. next.

[013] The characteristics and advantages described above, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the following detailed description and attached drawings. Although it is desirable to provide an interface system for a building network that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features, the teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodiments that fall within the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[014] Figure 1 is an exemplary topology diagram for a building automation system that has an environmental control access panel;

[015] Figure 2 shows an exemplary block diagram of a building automation system of the building network of Figure 1;

[016] Figure 3 shows an exemplary internal block diagram of a field panel of the building automation system of Figure 2 with several beacons;

[017] Figure 4 represents an exemplary block diagram of a beacon of Figure 3 according to an exemplary implementation;

[018] Figure 5 shows an internal block diagram of an exemplary mobile computing device 300 of Figure 1;

[019] Figure 6 illustrates a flow diagram of the operation of the mobile beacon application on the mobile computing device of Figure 5; It is

[020] Figure 7 illustrates a flow diagram of the server's operation upon receiving a message from the mobile computing device of Figure 5 that has a coded alphanumeric sequence associated with the beacon of Figure 3.

DESCRIPTION

[021] An exemplary approach for passive indoor occupancy detection and people location tracking in a building automation system is presented. In the example, a user may have a smart device that receives a beacon signal from one or more of a plurality of beacons that are distributed throughout a building that has the building automation system and that transmits a message to a server of the system. of building automation for occupancy detection and location tracking processing in association with building automation system control applications (such as comfort control and energy management of a building room or space). As described in one embodiment, smart devices communicate with the beacons via Bluetooth® (e.g., a first protocol) and communicate with a BAS server or field panel via WI-FI or wireless interface over 3G/4G ( a second protocol) to transmit a message that identifies the detected beacon and the user of the smart device for occupancy detection and location tracking processing in accordance with the invention.

[022] With reference to Figure 1, an exemplary topology diagram for a building automation system approach is shown. The building wide area network 55 may include a plurality of systems and components in wired or wireless communication. The building wide area network 55 may connect a plurality of networked building automation systems (BAS) 100 and may be accessed through an environmental control access panel 250. The BAS 100 may further include access to a device A data storage system comprising a building information database 210 and a user database 220. Software for communicating environmental and other data to the BAS 100 may be stored on the mobile computing device 300 (also commonly referred to as a smart device) that has a user interface 340 and/or the building automation system 100. As will be explained herein, the occupancy location system (OLS) 200 may allow the BAS 100 to passively adopt the user location data, together with the environmental data associated with the user location data.

[023] In the following pages, the general arrangement of an exemplary building automation system 100 configured for use with the OLS 200 is first explained. Subsequently, the general operation of the mobile computing device 300 with the OLS 200 will be described. The general operation of the OLS 200 in the BAS 100 is discussed after describing the building automation system (BAS) 100, OLS 200, and the mobile computing device 300.

Building Automation System

[024] In the exemplary embodiment of Figure 1, the building automation system 100 includes a building information database 210, user database 220, closed circuit television system 130, a property security system 140, a fire alarm system 150 and an environmental control system 160, environmental access panel 250 and OLS 200 that are coupled via a building wide area network 55. In Figure 2, a block diagram of the system of an exemplary building automation system (BAS) 100 within a building 99. The building automation system 100 is represented as a distributed building system that provides control functions for any of a plurality of building operations, Such as environmental control, property security, life or fire safety, industrial control and/or similar. An example of a BAS is the Apogee® building automation system available from Siemens Industry, Inc., Building Technologies Division, Buffalo Grove, IL. The Apogee® building automation system allows the configuration and/or change of various system controls, generally as provided below. Although a brief description of an exemplary BAS is provided in the paragraphs below, it should be appreciated that the building automation system 100 described herein is only one exemplary form or configuration of a building automation system.

[025] With particular reference to Figure 2, the building automation system 100 includes at least one control system for supervision or workstation 102, the client workstations 103a - 103c, the server 104, a plurality of panels of field devices represented by field panels 106a and 106b, and a plurality of controllers represented by controllers 108a - 108e. However, it will be appreciated that wide varieties of BAS architectures can be used.

[026] Each of controllers 108a - 108e represents one of a plurality of localized standard building control subsystems, such as space temperature control subsystems, lighting control subsystems, or the like. Controllers suitable for building control subsystems include, for example, the Terminal Equipment Controller (TEC) model available from Siemens Industry, Inc., Building Technologies Division, Buffalo Grove, IL. To control its associated subsystems, each controller 108a-108e connects to one or more field devices, such as sensors or actuators, shown by way of example in Figure 2 as the sensor 109a connected to the controller 108a and the actuator 109b connected to controller 108b.

[027] Typically, a controller such as controller 108a affects control of a subsystem based on detected conditions and desired setpoint conditions. The controller controls the operation of one or more field devices to attempt to bring the detected condition to the desired setpoint condition. By way of example, consider a temperature control subsystem that is controlled by controller 108a, where actuator 109b is connected to an air conditioning humidifier and sensor 109a is an ambient temperature sensor. If the detected temperature provided by sensor 109a is not equal to a desired temperature set point, then controller 108a may further open or close the air humidifier via actuator 109b to attempt to bring the temperature closer to the desired set point. Note that in the BAS information 100, sensor, actuator and setpoint may be shared between controllers 108a-108e, field panels 106a and 106b, workstation 102 and any other elements on/or connected to the BAS 100.

[028] To facilitate sharing of such information, groups of subsystems, such as those connected to controllers 108a and 108b, are generally organized into floor-level networks or field-level networks ("FLNs") and generally interface with field panel 106a. The FLN data network 110a is a low-level data network that may suitably employ any suitable proprietary protocol or open protocol. Subsystems 108c, 108d, and 108e, together with field panel 106b, are similarly connected via another low-level FLN data network 110b. Again, it should be appreciated that wide varieties of FLN architectures can be used.

[029] Field panels 106a and 106b are also connected via building level network ("BLN") 112 to supervisory control system/workstation 102 and server 104. Field panels 106a and 106b thereby coordinate communication of data and control signals between subsystems 108a - 108e and supervisory control system/workstation 102 and server 104. Additionally, one or more of field panels 106a, 106b may be in communication direct and control field devices, such as ventilation humidification controllers or similar. To this end, as shown in Figure 2, the field panel 106a is operatively linked to one or more field devices, shown, for example, as a sensor 109c and an actuator 109d.

[030] The workstation (server in other implementations) 102 provides general control and monitoring of the BAS 100 and includes a user interface. The workstation 102 further acts as a BAS data server that exchanges data with various elements of the BAS 100. The BAS data server can also exchange data with the server 104. The BAS data server 102 allows access to data from the BAS system for various applications. Such applications may be run on workstation 102 or other supervisory computers (not shown).

[031] With continued reference to Figure 2, workstation 102 is operative to accept user modifications, changes, changes and/or the like. This is generally accomplished through a user interface of workstation 102. Workstation 102 is operable to, among other things, affect or change operational data from field panels 106a, 106b, as well as other components of the BAS 100. Field panels 106a and 106b utilize data and/or instructions from workstation 102 to make control of their respective controllers possible.

[032] Workstation 102 is also operational for searching or querying field panels 106a and 106b to collect data. Workstation 102 processes data received from field panels 106a and 106b, including trend data. Information and/or data is thus collected from field panels 106a and 106b in connection with research, query or otherwise, which workstation 102 stores, records and/or processes for various uses. To this end, field panels 106a and 106b are operative to accept user modifications, alterations, alterations and/or the like.

[033] Workstation 102 also preferably maintains a database associated with each field panel 106a and 106b along with data on the location of beacons 270. The database maintains operational and configuration data for the field panel and associated beacons 270. Server 104 stores historical data, trend data, error data, system configuration data, graphical data, and other BAS system information as appropriate.

[034] The management level network (MLN) 113 may connect to other supervisory computers and/or servers, internet gateways, or other network gateways to other external devices, as well as additional network managers (which, in turn, connect to more subsystems through additional low-level data networks). The workstation 102 may function as a supervisory computer that uses the MLN 113 to communicate BAS data to and from other elements in the MLN 113. The MLN 113 may suitably include an Ethernet or similar wired network and may use TCP/IP , BACnet and/or other protocols that support high-speed data communications.

[035] Figure 2 also shows that the BAS 100 may include a field panel 106b which is shown in Figure 2 as a cabinet that contains the building information database 210, the user database 220 and the panel environmental access device 250 and coupled to one or more beacons 270. As described in further detail herein, the mobile computing device 300 is configured to communicate wirelessly with the beacons via a first peer-to-peer or peer-to-peer protocol. network (e.g. Bluetooth®) and the BAS 100 via a second network protocol such as Wi-Fi, 3G/4G cellular or Bluetooth®, to give just a few examples.

[036] Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the field panel 106b of Figure 2. It should be appreciated that the embodiment of the field panel 106b is only an exemplary embodiment of a field panel in a BAS 100 with beacons 270. As such, the exemplary embodiment of field panel 106b of Figure 3 is a generic representation of all shapes or configurations of field panels that are operative in the manner set forth herein.

[037] The field panel 106b of Figure 3 includes a housing, cabinet or the like 114 that is configured in a typical manner for a building automation system field panel. The field panel 106b includes processing/logic circuits 122, memory 124, a power module 126, a user interface 128, an I/O module 134, a BAS network communications module 136, a WI-FI server 130 and a beacon module 302.

[038] The processing circuit/logic 122 is operational, configured and/or adapted to operate the field panel 106b including the features, functionality, characteristics and/or the like as described herein. To this end, processing circuitry logic 122 is operatively linked to all of the field panel elements 106a described below. Processing circuitry/logic 122 is typically under the control of program instructions or programming software or firmware contained in instruction area 142 of memory 124, explained in more detail below. In addition to storing instructions 142 , the memory also stores data 152 for use by the BAS 100 .

[039] The field panel 106b also includes a power module 126 that is operative, adapted and/or configured to supply appropriate electricity to the field panel 106b (i.e., the various components of the field panel). The power module 126 may operate on standard 120 volt AC electricity, but may alternatively operate on other AC voltages or include DC power fed by a battery or batteries.

[040] An input/output (I/O) module 134 is also provided on field panel 106b.

[041] I/O module 134 includes one or more input/output circuits that communicate directly with terminal control system devices such as actuators and sensors. Thus, for example, I/O module 134 includes analog input circuitry for receiving analog sensor signals from sensor 109a, and includes analog output circuitry for providing analog actuator signals to actuator 109b. The I/O module 134 typically includes several such input and output circuits.

[042] Field panel 106b further includes a BAS network communication module 136. Network communication module 136 allows communication of controllers 108c and 108e, as well as other components in FLN 110b, and, in addition, allows communication with the workstation 102, other field panels (e.g., field panel 106a), and other components on the BLN 112. To this end, the BAS network communication module 136 includes a first port (which may suitably be a standard RS485 port circuit) that is connected to the FLN 110b and a second port (which can also be a standard RS-485 port circuit) that is connected to the BLN 112.

[043] Field panel 106b can be accessed locally. To facilitate local access, field panel 106b includes an interactive user interface 128. Using user interface 128, the user can control data collection from devices such as sensor 109a and actuator 109b. The user interface 128 of the field panel 106b includes devices that display data and receive input data. These devices may be devices that are permanently affixed to the field panel 106b or portable and mobile. The user interface 128 may also suitably include an LCD or similar type screen and a keyboard. The user interface 128 is operative, configured and/or adapted to both change and display information about the field panel 106b, such as status information and/or other data relating to the operation, functioning and/or modifications or changes to the field panel 106b. field 106b.

[044] As mentioned above, memory 124 includes various programs that can be executed by processing/logic circuitry 122. In particular, memory 124 of Figure 3 includes a BAS application 144 and OLS 146. The BAS application 144 includes applications conventional devices configured to control the field panel 106b of the BAS 100 in order to control and monitor multiple field devices 109a-n of the BAS 100. Consequently, execution of the BAS application 144 by the processing circuit/logic 122 results in control signals being sent to field devices 109a-n via I/O module 134 of field panel 106b. Execution of the base application 144 also results in the processor 122 receiving status signals and other data signals from various field devices 109a-n and storing associated data in memory 124. In one embodiment, the BAS application 144 may be provided by software Apogee® Insight® BAS control software available commercially from Siemens Industry, Inc. or other BAS control software.

[045] In addition to instructions 142, memory 124 may also include data 152.

[046] Data 152 includes records 154, graphical views 156, a room database 158, a user database 162, and an equipment database 164. Records 154 include current and historical data stored by the control panel. field 106b in association with the control and operation of field devices 109a-n. For example, records 154 may include current and historical temperature information in a particular room of building 99, as provided by a thermistor or other temperature sensor within the room. Registers 154 in memory may also include various setpoints and control data for field devices 109, which may be preinstalled in memory 124 or provided by the user through user interface 128. Registers 154 may also include other information related to the control and operation of the 100 BAS and OLS 146 application, including statistics, registration, licensing, and historical information.

[047] In one embodiment, the beacon module 302 may be coupled to one or more beacons 270a-270n as reflected in the dashed lines in Figure 3. In this embodiment, the OLS application 146 through the beacon module 302 communicates with the beacons 270a- 270n and configures the data that is transmitted by the respective beacon. The OLS application 146 through the beacon module 302 can also verify the operation of the beacons by periodically pinging the beacon. If an error is detected in the operation of the beacon, a failure indication may be generated and reported via server 104. The identification of each beacon 270 (the "beacon identifier") and the location of each beacon 270 may be automatically configured using the room database 158 and the equipment database 164 located in memory 124. In other configurations, each beacon 270 may be configured manually and the respective beacon identifier and location stored in the equipment database 164 and the room database 158. In yet another implementation, each beacon 270 may be manually configured or downloaded with data that is repeatedly transmitted independently from the field panel 106b and manually configured in the building information database 210. In any manual configuration , the respective beacon 270 may be independent of the BAS 100 with only information associated with the respective beacon (i.e., beacon identifier and location) stored in the BAS database (i.e., beacon 270A of Figure 4 without network interface 404). It is also possible in some implementations that the beacons 270 may be co-located with other devices, such as smoke detectors, temperature monitors, or other sensors or BAS devices. While the field panel 106b has been explained in the previous embodiment, it will be recognized that these components may be maintained in other locations in association with the BAS 100.

[048] Returning to Figure 4, an exemplary block diagram 400 of a beacon 270a is represented according to an example implementation. The beacon 270a may have a processor 402 coupled with a network interface 404 (network transmitter/receiver), memory 406, and Bluetooth® interface 408. The processor 402 may be a microprocessor, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit ( ASIC) and/or micro-controller. Memory 406 may be further divided into program memory 412 and data memory 416. In some implementations, a sensor 411 may be coupled to processor 402 and provide additional information via Bluetooth® interface 408, such as temperature, humidity, amount of lighting , etc. The processor can execute machine-readable instructions stored in program memory 412 that allows communication via network interface 404 with the BAS 100 (field panel 106b). The processor may also execute instructions from program memory 412 and data memory 416 that result in the Bluetooth® interface 408 to continuously transmit predetermined data (beacon identifier 417) in a wireless beacon signal (also referred to herein as "beacon transmission"). goal"). The Bluetooth® interface 408 can implement the Bluetooth® 4.0 version of Bluetooth®. The power supply 410 may be power transmission via Ethernet if the network interface 404 is an power transmission interface via Ethernet and is present. If the beacon 270A is a stand-alone device, the power source 410 may be a battery. The data may be transmitted in a continuous beacon signal stream or periodically transmitted beacon signal. The data that is normally transmitted by the beacon 270A is a sequence of alphanumeric characters that is capable of being derived from the beacon signal received by any Bluetooth device, even if that device is not specifically paired with the receiving device. The alphanumeric sequence that corresponds to or defines a respective beacon identifier is stored in association with a construction location of the respective beacon in the building information database 210.

Mobile Computing Device

[049] A mobile computing device may be provided by any mobile or smart device capable of being carried by a human, and which receives the beacon signal and transmits a second signal to the BAS 100. Referring now to Figure 5, An internal block diagram of a mobile computer or smart device 300 is shown. The mobile computing device 300 includes a Bluetooth® module 350 that is capable of receiving the beacon transmission from a beacon, such as the beacon 270a. It is preferred that the device is Bluetooth 4.0 enabled due to the low energy benefits of this version of Bluetooth®. Exemplary mobile computing devices include personal digital assistants, smart phones, and portable personal computers (e.g., Droid®, iOS iPhone®, iPod®, lPod Touch®, lPad®, etc.).

[050] The mobile computing device 300 of Figure 5 includes an enclosure, box, or the like 308 that is configured in a manner typical for a mobile computing device. The mobile computing device 300 includes processing/logic circuits 310, a memory 320, a power module 330, a user interface 340, Bluetooth® module 350, Wi-Fi module 360, and 3G/4G module 370 all positioned within the box 308. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the embodiment of mobile computing device 300 is only an exemplary embodiment of a mobile computing device configured to communicate with the BAS 100 via a wireless network and may include other components not shown. to avoid obscuring aspects of the present invention.

[051] The processing circuit/logic 310 is operational, configured and/or adapted to operate the mobile computing device 300 including the features, functionality, characteristics and/or the like as described herein. To this end, the processing circuit/logic 310 is coupled to the elements of the mobile computing device 300 described below. Processing circuitry/logic 310 is typically under the control of program instructions or programming software or firmware for applications, such as a mobile beacon application 322 contained in memory 320, explained in more detail below. In addition to storing program instructions, memory 320 also stores registers 324 and message formats 325 for use in communicating with the BAS 100.

[052] The mobile computing device 300 also includes a power module 330 that is operative, adapted and/or configured to supply appropriate electricity to the mobile computing device 300 (i.e., the various components of the mobile computing device).

[053] Power module 330 is generally DC current fed by a battery or batteries.

[054] The mobile computing device 300 further includes a user interface 340.

[055] User interface 340 allows mobile computing device 300 to present information to the user and also allows the user to enter data into mobile computing device 300.

[056] Accordingly, user interface 340 can be configured to drive a touch screen, keyboard, buttons, speaker, microphone, or any other standard user interface device.

[057] A Bluetooth® module 350 may also be provided in the mobile computing device 300.

[058] The Bluetooth® 350 module can be configured by software or an application to receive and transmit Bluetooth® encoded data. Bluetooth® is the standard communication protocol with the Bluetooth® Core Specification version 4.0 (called Bluetooth® Smart) and was adopted until June 30, 2010. Includes Classic Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® High Speed, and Bluetooth® Low Energy protocols . High Speed Bluetooth® is based on Wi-Fi and Classic Bluetooth® is comprised of legacy Bluetooth® protocols. Memory 320 includes various programs that can be executed by processing/logic circuitry 310 (which may include a processor). In particular, the memory 320 in the mobile communication device 300 of Figure 5 includes a mobile beacon application 322. The mobile beacon application 322 may be configured to facilitate receipt of a beacon signal and associated data via the Bluetooth® module 350 and transmitting data to the BAS 100 via a Wi-Fi network connection. A user's smart device/mobile device 300 does not need to be previously identified in the BAS 100 or the OLS 200. A user can obtain the mobile application from beacon 322 through a corresponding mobile application electronic store or locally where it is made available by the owner or operator of the BAS 100.

[059] The operation of the mobile beacon application 322 will be explained in more detail below.

[060] In addition to the instructions of the mobile beacon application 322, the memory 320 of the mobile computing device 300 also includes data. The data may include records 324 of current and historical data relating to the operation of the mobile computing device 300. For example, the records 324 may include user identification information that identifies the mobile computing device 300. The records 324 may also include data current and historical beacons received on the mobile computing device 300.

Operation of the Beacon Mobile Application

[061] Referring now to Figure 6, a flow diagram 600 of the operation of the mobile beacon application 322, Figure 5, is depicted. The Bluetooth® receiver located in the Bluetooth™ module 350 receives the beacon signal from the beacon in step 602 when the smart device having the Beacon Mobile App is brought within a predetermined transmission range of a respective beacon 270 in the building under the control of the BAS 100. The beacon signal pulse contains an alphanumeric sequence. The Bluetooth® signal pulse associated with the beacon is decoded and the alphanumeric sequence is extracted in step 604. The smart device 300 encodes a message 325 containing the alphanumeric sequence that corresponds to or includes the beacon identifier 417 (which may be stored in memory 320 ) along with a user identifier in a format that can be transmitted to the BAS 100 in step 606. In step 608, the encoded message is transmitted to the BAS 100 using a transmitter over a wireless network. For example, transmission can be done over a Wi-Fi network or 3G/4G networks. The beacon mobile application 322 may run in the background on the smart device 300. Transmission of the alphanumeric sequence from the smart device 300 to the BAS 100 may occur periodically, such as when the alphanumeric number of a new beacon has been received via a beacon signal and decoded at the smart device 300. The OLS 200 receives the beacon ID and the user ID from the smart device 300. The OLS 200 is capable of determining that more than one device associated with the same user has transmitted the beacon identifier. beacon 417 and tracks/registers the user being at the location associated with the beacon identifier.

[062] Returning to Figure 7, a flow diagram 700 of the operation of the server 104 in receiving a message with a coded alphanumeric sequence associated with the beacon is represented. Server 104 receives a message from mobile computing device 300 (commonly referred to as a "smart device"), where the message includes an encoded alphanumeric string associated with the beacon in step 702. The alphanumeric string associated with the beacon is extracted from the message received from the beacon. in step 704. The server then accesses the building information database 210 using the alphanumeric string to identify the location (room or area) of the beacon in step 706. The message from the smart device 300 to the server 104 may also contain information user identities that identify the smart device 300 and an associated user identity that may be stored in the user database 220.

[063] Beacon location 270 and user information may be accessed/looked up in separate databases (210 and 220) or other implementations may have one or more lookup tables (as shown in Table 1) or other structures of data. The database or table can be accessed to identify the location of the beacon and the smart device user. In other implementations, additional information may be exchanged between the server 104 and the smart device 300 associated with the location of the smart device 300 in step 708. In other implementations, additional information such as temperature, amount of light and/or sound in the room or area, or information stored in the beacon mobile application 322 on the smart device 300 may also be passed to the server 104 along with the alphanumeric sequence associated with the beacon.

[064] One or more databases or other data structures can be used to associate or group rooms, beacons and users in the OLS 200 system. In Table 1, an example table that contains a list of locations, beacons and users currently in these places is represented. More than one beacon may be employed to cover a room or area in a building. As user IDs and associated beacon identifiers 417 are received into the OLS 200, the users may be associated with a location in the data structure or database. Thus, the occupancy of a room or area is identifiable depending on the location of the users.

TABLE 1 Occupancy Location System

[065] In operation, the OLS 200 has a server 106b that receives information from multiple smart devices 300 that are running the mobile beacon application directly or through communication received from the field panel 106b. In other implementations, the server may reside on a central server such as 104 that supports at least one BAS 100. With multiple beacons placed throughout an area or building transmitting their alpha-numeric sequences (beacon identifiers) which are received by devices smart devices, the location of each smart device can be identified along with associated users. The information can be used by the BAS to make adjustments to systems based on occupancy, such as adjusting HVAC systems based on the number of people in the room in which the beacon identifier(s) were received and transmitted by the respective devices. smart devices, such as the 300 smart device, carried by each person and adjusting protection systems based on people's location in the building. Types of adjustments that can be made include; air treatment (heat or air conditioning, air movement, humidity) and lighting. Thus, identifying multiple smart devices with a beacon identifier is used to tune a BAS, rather than an individual smart device triggering content from that device or a local device near the smart device.

[066] The previous detailed description of one or more embodiments of the passive indoor location tracking approach has been presented here by way of example only and not limitation. It will be recognized that there are advantages to certain individual features and functions described herein that may be obtained without incorporating other features and functions described herein. Furthermore, it will be recognized that various alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements of the above-described embodiments and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined in many other different embodiments, systems or applications. Currently, unexpected or unforeseen alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements can be made later by those skilled in the art that are also intended to be covered by the invention.

Claims (15)

1. Occupancy location determination system (200), characterized by the fact that it comprises, a) at least one beacon (400) located in a room or area served by a building automation system (BAS) (100), the beacon (400) having a transmitter (408) configured to transmit a beacon signal with a beacon identifier (417), wherein the beacon signal is a first protocol signal; b1) an appropriate receiver (130) to be located in a building automation system (BAS) (100), the receiver (130) configured to receive the beacon identifier (417) and a user identifier (325) in a message from a mobile computing device (300) that is encoded in a second signal protocol; b2) the mobile computing device (300) including a processor (310) and a transmitter (360), in the sense that it responds to receiving the signal from the beacon, the processor (310) in the mobile computing device (300) is configured to causing the transmitter (360) in the mobile computing device (300) to communicate to the receiver (130) the message that includes the identification of the mobile computing device (300) and the beacon identifier (417) encoded in a second protocol signal, wherein the beacon identifier (417) is associated with an area within the BAS (100); c) a controller (122) which is coupled to the receiver (130) and which is suitable for being connected to a database (152) in the BAS (100), the controller (122) is configured to identify the location of the beacon ( 400) and a number of users at the location accessing the database (152) with the beacon identifier (417) and the user identifier (325); and d) the controller (122) being configured to adjust the at least one parameter associated with the BAS (100) in response to the number of users at the location, where the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with the air conditioning. 2. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the first protocol signal is a Bluetooth® signal and the second protocol signal is a Wi-Fi signal. 3. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized in that the beacon comprises a sensor (411) to provide additional information such as temperature, humidity and amount of lighting through the transmitter (408). 4. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the beacon identifier (417) is an alphanumeric sequence. 5. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the beacon (400) is coupled to the BAS (100) via a network interface (404). 6. System (200) according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that the network interface (404) provides power to the beacon (400). 7. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with lighting. 8. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that there are several beacons (400) configured to cover the room or area in the building. 9. System (200) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the beacon (400) includes a controller (402), the transmitter (360) coupled to the controller (122), and a sensor (411) coupled with the transmitter (360) and controller (122) suitable for being located in the BAS (100). 10. Method of determining occupancy location, characterized by the fact that it comprises: a) transmitting into a beacon (400) located in a room or area served by a building automation system (BAS) (100), by a transmitter ( 408) a beacon signal having a beacon identifier (417), wherein the beacon signal is a first protocol signal; b1) receiving at a receiver (130) in the building automation system (BAS) (100) the beacon identifier (417) and a user identifier (325) in a message from the mobile computing device (300) that is encoded in a second signal protocol; b2) the mobile computing device (300), including a processor (310) and a transmitter (360), wherein the processor in the mobile computing device (300) is configured to cause the transmitter (360) in the mobile computing device (300) to mobile computing (300) communicates to the receiver the message that includes the identification of the mobile computing device (300) and the beacon identifier (417) encoded in the second protocol signal, where the beacon identifier (417) is associated with an area within the BAS (100); c) identifying (706) a location of the beacon (270) in the BAS (100) with a controller (122) that is coupled to the receiver and a database (152) and a number of users at the location when accessing the base data (152) with the beacon identifier (417) and the user identifier (325); and adjusting with the controller (122) at least one parameter associated with the BAS (100) in response to the number of users at the location, wherein the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with the air conditioning. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the transmission of the first protocol signal is the transmission of a Bluetooth® signal. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the second protocol signal is receiving a Wi-Fi signal. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with lighting. 14. Method according to claim 10, characterized by the fact that the beacon (400) is coupled to the BAS (100) through a network interface (404) and the method includes receiving power through the network interface (404 ) in the goal (400). 15. The method of claim 14, wherein it includes records (324) in the mobile computing device (300), records (324) that store current and historical data received in the mobile computing device (300), and data current and historical information relating to the operation of the mobile computing device (300).