EP2949078A1

EP2949078A1 - Method for establishing a wireless link between a first device and a second device

Info

Publication number: EP2949078A1
Application number: EP14701216.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jacob SØRENSEN
Original assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Current assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Priority date: 2013-01-24
Filing date: 2014-01-24
Publication date: 2015-12-02
Also published as: WO2014114760A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a second device for establishing a wireless link. The method comprises reading a first code on a first device by means of a first capturing part on a third device. The first code comprises first identifying information of the first device. The method furthermore comprises operating a first emitter of the third device in accordance with at least part of the first code, thereby transmitting the first identifying information to the second device via a first receiving part of the second device. The method furthermore comprises utilizing the first identifying in- formation for establishing the wireless link between the first device and the second device.

Description

Method for establishing a wireless link between a first device and a second device

The present invention relates to a method for establishing a wireless link between a first device, such as a first electronic device, and a second device, such as a second electronic device, by utilizing a third device. The term "wireless link" may refer to utilization within the radio frequency (RF) band for communication.

In a particular embodiment, the invention re- lates to a method for establishing a wireless link be^¬ tween a first electronic device and a second electronic device, wherein the first electronic device is provided with an optoelectronically readable code and the second electronic device is provided with a bidirectional LED. The first electronic device and the second electronic de^¬ vice may in particular be used in a building management system for control of building functions such as for example lighting, heating, ventilation etc. By means of such a building management system luminaries, heating equipment, air conditioning devices, electrically movable window blinds and similar may be controlled. The first electronic device and the second electronic device may also be used in a lighting control system that particu^¬ larly forms part of a building management system.

Even though the present disclosure mainly ad^¬ dresses lighting control system it is the intension that the present invention may also be suitable for systems within other areas, such as any of the above-mentioned areas .

Before the electronic devices of a lighting control system or a building management system, respec^¬ tively, can be used by an end-user, wireless links need to be established between at least some of the electronic devices during configuration to realize the functionality requested by the end-user. That is for electronic device adapted for wireless communication. The employed elec^¬ tronic devices are typically sensors and actuators, for example buttons or switches. Other examples, which may or may not be incorporated with any of the aforementioned examples, are dimmers and/or on/off actuators. An em^¬ ployed electronic device may be both a sensor and an ac- tuator. Each electronic device typically comprises unique identifying information such as e.g. a numeric serial number that should only be known to the particular building management system/lighting control system it belongs to after configuration. I.e. control of the electronic device by an alien lighting control system or an alien building management system that uses similar electronic devices and is for example installed in the house next door should not be possible.

Establishing wireless links between the vari- ous electronic devices of a lighting control system is usually achieved as follows. Each electronic device is usually provided with a configuration push button and an indicator LED (light emitting diode) . The configuration push button and the indicator LED act as human machine interfaces for establishing wireless links between the various electronic devices of the lighting control sys^¬ tem. Linking two electronic devices is achieved by push^¬ ing the configuration push button on a first electronic device, e.g. a sensor, and then pushing the configuration push button on the second electronic device, which the first electronic device shall be linked to, thereby ex^¬ changing unique identifiers. The indicator LED then indi^¬ cates successful linking. The second electronic device may for instance be an actuator.

However, in the time between pushing the configuration push button on the first electronic device and pushing the configuration push button on the second electronic device, i.e. before successful linking of the two electronic devices, the connection is open and other electronic devices might be included in the linking ses^¬ sion by accident, which are however not wanted in the system/installation. This might for example happen when several distinct lighting control systems shall be in^¬ stalled in an apartment house, with several installers configuring wireless links at the same time. Unfortu^¬ nately, testing of the configured lighting control system might not reveal the accidentally included electronic de^¬ vices. Nevertheless, during daily operation of the light^¬ ing control system unintended activation of some of its electronic devices might occur due to the accidentally included electronic devices.

Hence, with the known solution the lighting control system is insecure in that unwanted electronic devices might join the wireless network and thus the lighting control system by accident during configuration (also referred to as commissioning) . Such unwanted elec- tronic devices might add unwanted functionality to the lighting control system and hence impair its operation, for example by light devices being switched on or off at unwanted times. The light devices, which may be switched on or off at unwanted times, may be referred to as light actuators.

Furthermore, the more electronic devices the lighting control system or the building management sys^¬ tem, respectively, comprises (i.e. the larger the system is), the more complex their configuration becomes. This increasing complexity makes it more difficult for the re^¬ sponsible installer to keep track of the entire linking process, i.e. which electronic devices have actually been linked ("what is linked to what") , because the only indi^¬ cation for the installer is the status of the indicator LED of each electronic device. For instance, an indicator LED may only indicate whether a link is in progress or has ended, and, accordingly, does maybe not indicate "what is linked to what".

Moreover, when using today' s electronic de- vices of a lighting control system in stand-alone mode, i.e. without a dedicated controller device to control their operation, configuration of the wireless links and of operation mode ( s ) /functionality can get rather compli^¬ cated with the number of electronic devices within one installation increasing.

Providing a specifically designed, unique linking tool for performing the linking process is not a viable option as it would increase the total costs for the installation of the building management sys^¬ tem/lighting control system for the end-user. Furthermore, such a unique linking tool is easily lost or mis- placed. Hence, if later on changes would need to be made to the installed building management system/lighting control system, the unique linking tool might not be avail^¬ able anymore, much to the end-user's and installer's an^¬ noyance .

It is an object of the invention to provide a method for establishing a wireless link between a first electronic device and a second electronic device of a building management system, in particular a lighting control system, by which unintended linking of (unwanted) electronic devices to the system can be avoided. It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for establishing a wireless link between a first electronic device and a second electronic device of a building man^¬ agement system, in particular a lighting control system, by which electronic devices even of large and/or compli^¬ cated systems can be linked in an easy and user-friendly way, also when electronic devices shall be operated in stand-alone mode. In order to implement the above and still further objects of the invention, which will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, the follow^¬ ing is provided. According to a first aspect of the present invention a method for establishing a wireless link between a first device and a second device by utilizing a third device is provided. The first device is provided with a first code that includes first identifying infor^¬ mation of the first device. The third device is provided with a first emitter adapted for emitting a first signal by light or sound. The third device is furthermore pro^¬ vided with a first capturing part adapted for reading the first code. The second device is provided with a first receiving part adapted for receiving the first signal. The method comprises reading the first code by means of the first capturing part. The method comprises operating the first emitter in accordance with at least part of the first code, thereby transmitting the first identifying information to the second device via the first receiving part. The method comprises utilizing the first identify- ing information for establishing the wireless link between the first device and the second device.

By transmission of the first identifying information as described above the risk of establishing an undesired wireless link, e.g. with another device where a wireless link is being established e.g. in a neighbouring house or room is reduced since e.g. a wall between neighbouring houses or rooms may hinder or dampen light and/or sound from a similar commissioning taking place next door or next room.

Furthermore, by using light or sound for the first signal it may be possible to direct the orienta^¬ tion/direction of the first signal towards the second de^¬ vice .

The first code may comprise an optoelectroni- cally readable code, such as a barcode, in particular a data matrix code.

The first embodiment may comprise converting the read first code into a first binary code, wherein the operating of the first emitter comprises operating the first emitter in accordance with the first binary code, thereby transmitting the first binary code to the second device via the first receiving part, and utilizing the first binary code for establishing the wireless link between the first device and the second device.

The operating of the first emitter may furthermore be carried out in accordance with further con- figuration data for the second device. The further con^¬ figuration data is described further below.

The first device and the second device may be used in a building management system, in particular a lighting control system.

The first device may be a sensor or a switch and/or the second device is an actuator.

The third device may be situated at the vi^¬ cinity of the first device when reading the first code and may be at the vicinity of the second device when op- erating the first emitter. This may improve reception of the light or sound signal from the first emitter.

The first emitter may be a first light emit^¬ ter and the first receiving part may be a first light sensor .

The second device may comprise a bidirec^¬ tional LED. The bidirectional LED may comprise the first light sensor.

The first capturing part may comprise a first camera. Alternatively, the first capturing part may com- prise a barcode reader.

The third device may be a mobile phone.

The mobile phone may comprise conversion means for the converting of the read first code.

The first light emitter may be a flash asso- ciated with the first camera or another camera of the mo^¬ bile phone.

The mobile phone may comprise a first screen, and the first screen may comprise the first light emit^¬ ter .

According to a second aspect of the inven^¬ tion, a second device suitable for establishing a wire- less link with a first device by utilizing a third device is provided. The second device comprises a first receiv^¬ ing part adapted for receiving a first signal from a first emitter of the third device. The first emitter is adapted for emitting the first signal by light or sound. The first signal comprises first identifying information of the first device. The second device is adapted for es^¬ tablishing the wireless link with the first device by utilizing the first identifying information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention a method for establishing a wireless link between a first electronic device and a second electronic device is provided, wherein the first electronic device has an optoelectronically readable code, such as for ex^¬ ample a data matrix barcode, and the second electronic device has a bidirectional LED (light emitting diode) . The method of the invention may comprise the steps of reading the optoelectronically readable code of the first electronic device by means of a camera of a mobile phone, converting the read code into a binary code by conversion means implemented on the mobile phone and operating the flash of the mobile phone in accordance with the binary code, thereby transmitting the binary code to the bidi- rectional LED of the second electronic device, thereby establishing the link between the first electronic device and the second electronic device. The optoelectronically readable code serves for identifying an electronic de^¬ vice, i.e. the optoelectronically readable code comprises identifying information by which the first electronic device can be identified. The optoelectronically readable code and the binary code it is converted into, respec^¬ tively, represent a unique identifier of and for the first electronic device.

The flash of the mobile phone is in particu^¬ lar given by a LED flash. The directional LED of the second electronic device is understood as an LED that is able not only to emit light but also to be operated in reverse current mode as a photodetector/photodiode that generates an electrical output signal when light is de^¬ tected. Use of LEDs as photodiodes has e.g. been de- scribed in the paper TR2003-35 "Very Low-Cost Sensing and Communication Using Bidirectional LEDs" by Dietz, P., Ye- razunis, W., and Leigh, D., from Mitsubishi Electric Re^¬ search Laboratories, July 2003 (obtainable via

http://www.merl.com/papers/docs/TR2003-35.pdf). Using the flash of a mobile phone for communication has been described e.g. in "FlashLight: Optical Communication be^¬ tween Mobile Phones and Interactive Tabletops" by Hessel- mann, T., Henze, N., and Boll, S., Proceedings of the ITS' 10 ACM International Conference on Interactive Table- tops and Surfaces, pp. 135-138, New York, USA, 2010.

The optoelectronically readable code of the first electronic device is preferably given by a barcode (confer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode), in partic^¬ ular a data matrix code.

The method of the invention may advantageous^¬ ly make use of a mobile phone with a built-in camera and a flash, which is readily available on the market and is owned by almost any end-user and installer. The method of the invention furthermore makes use of the human machine interfaces that are already available on the electronic devices of a building management system/lighting control system, namely of the optoelectronically readable codes and the bidirectional LEDs of the employed electronic de^¬ vices. Hence, application of the method of the invention does not add further costs to the electronic devices that shall be linked. According to the method of invention the mobile phone is used to communicate the optoelectronical^¬ ly readable codes between the electronic devices to be linked. Thus, interference from other electronic devices that shall not be linked to the building management sys^¬ tem/lighting control system is advantageously avoided. A high level of security can thus be achieved. Furthermore, the method of the invention is very cost-efficient as on^¬ ly a mobile phone is required for performing the method of the invention, with no changes/no redesign of the electronic devices to be linked being required.

Moreover, as a standard mobile phone with camera and flash is employed in the method of the inven^¬ tion for linking, no specifically designed, unique link^¬ ing tool is required and no additional costs are in^¬ curred, while maintaining a high level of flexibility for the end-user/installer. As such a standard mobile phone nowadays constitutes an everyday commodity for the end- user/installer, risk of misplacement or loss is small, i.e. the mobile phone is easily accessible as linking tool. Also, in case of loss or misplacement the mobile phone is easily replaced, as every standard mobile phone with camera and flash may be used.

Thus, with the method of the invention the risk of unintended linking of electronic devices to a building management system/lighting control system can be eliminated or at least reduced. Unintended linking might impair functionality of the system. Furthermore, with the method of the invention the electronic devices even of larger building management systems/lighting control systems can be easily linked, this also being the case for larger stand-alone installations. Moreover, in case a pre-configuration without electrical power on the elec^¬ trical devices of the building management system/lighting control system is required, this can simply be achieved by the method of the invention through linking of its electrical devices for example to a controller device.

Further advantageous features and applica^¬ tions of the invention can be found in the claims and in the dependent items, as well as in the following descrip^¬ tion of the drawings illustrating the invention. In the drawings like reference signs designate the same or simi^¬ lar components throughout the several figures of which: Fig. 1 schematically shows in Figures la), lb) and lc) steps of and devices used in an embodiment of a method of the invention, and

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart illustrating the steps of an embodiment of a method of the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 depict an embodiment of a me^¬ thod of the invention. In a first step, an optoelectronically readable code 1 of a first electronic device 2 is read by a camera 3 of a mobile phone 4 (see Figure la) and Figure 2: step 21), i.e. a picture of the optoelec^¬ tronically readable code 1 is made by the camera 3. The first electronic device 2 may for example be given by a wireless sensor or a wireless push button. As shown in Figure 1, the optoelectronically readable code 1 may e.g. be given by a data matrix code. The optoelectronically readable code 1 may be provided on a sticker that is at^¬ tached to the first electronic device 2. Alternatively, the optoelectronically readable code may be provided with the first device in any other way, such as on a packing list provided with the first device. Furthermore, the op^¬ toelectronically readable code 1 may be beneath a cover of the first electronic device, the cover being removed to gain access to the optoelectronically readable code 1.

After the optoelectronically readable code 1 has been read by the mobile phone 4, it is converted into a binary code by conversion means 5 that are implemented on the mobile phone 4 (see Figure lb) ) . The binary code represents a unique identifier in form of a bit pattern that can be understood by a second electronic device 7 that shall be linked to the first electronic device 2. The second electronic device 7 may for example be a wire^¬ less actuator. The conversion means 5 are preferably giv^¬ en by an application program (short: app) implemented on the mobile phone 4.

Reading of the optoelectronically readable code 1 preferably comprises the step of retrieving iden- tifying information from the read optoelectronically readable code 1 (Figure 2: step 22) . Reading of the opto^¬ electronically readable code 1 by means of the camera 3 and retrieving the identifying information from it (Fig- ure 2: steps 21 and 22), may be achieved by an applica^¬ tion program 23 that is installed on the mobile phone 4 and that can be downloaded from the internet, such as for example the apps "Qrafter" and "i-nigma" or similar. The retrieved identifying information may then be used by the conversion means 5 to create the binary code, i.e. the optoelectronically readable code 1 may be converted to the binary code by converting its identifying information to binary code (Figure 2: step 24) . The binary code into which the electronically readable code 1 or its identify- ing information, respectively, is converted by the con^¬ version means 5 may be a non-return-to-zero (NRZ) line code (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-return-to-zero) .

The LED flash 6 of the mobile phone 4 is then operated in accordance with the created binary code, i.e. the flashing/blinking sequence of the LED flash 6 corre^¬ sponds to the created binary code, thereby transmitting the binary code to the bidirectional LED 8 of the second electronic device 7 (Figure 2: step 25) . For this, the end-user/installer may point the LED flash 6 of the mo- bile phone towards the bidirectional LED 8 that typically forms part of the human-machine-interface of the second electronic device 7. The maximum transfer rate for trans^¬ mitting the binary code may be approximately 20 bits per second. With successful transmittal of the binary code to the second electronic device 7 a link between the first electronic device 2 and the second electronic device 7 has been established, the binary code preferably being stored in the second electronic device 7 (Figure 2: step 26) .

If required, the second electronic device 7 may be set into configuration mode before transmittal of the binary code by pressing/pushing an existing configu- ration push button that may be hidden under a user push button. Pressing the configuration push button causes the bidirectional LED 8 of the human-machine-interface of the second electronic device 7 to switch from operating as an indicator to operating as a sensor in form of a

photodetector in order to receive the binary code. The bidirectional LED is operated in reverse current mode to act as photodetector. Depending on the design of the second electronic device 7 the switching of operation of the bidirectional LED 8 might differ or might not be neces^¬ sary, for example in case of the bidirectional LED 8 be^¬ ing able to simultaneously operate as indicator and photodetector or to switch operation mode autonomously.

Conversion of the optoelectronically readable code 1 (or its identifying information, respectively) into the binary code and operating the LED flash 6 in accordance with the binary code can be realized in one ap^¬ plication program 27 (see Figure 2) running on the mobile phone 4, i.e. the conversion means 5 may form part of the application program 27 that can also drive the LED flash 6.

When generating the binary code from the optoelectronically readable code, in particular its identi^¬ fying information (step 24 of Figure 2), further configu- ration data for the second electronic device 7 may be taken into account and integrated into the binary code. This further configuration data may relate to the set^¬ ting/adjusting of the second electronic device 7 and to its functionality. In particular, the configuration data may comprise setup data, data defining functionality of the second electronic device 2, and data defining one or more advanced features of the second electronic device 7. In the state of the art the configuration of the second electronic device 2 in accordance with such configuration data would typically require a complex and expensive hu^¬ man-machine-interface/controller (usually with an LCD screen, several buttons etc.) . Such a complex and expen- sive human-machine-interface can advantageously be avoided with the method of the invention by including such configuration data into the binary sequence that is transmitted to the second electronic device 7 by means of the flash 6 of the mobile phone 4. With the invention the functions of such a known complex and expensive human- machine-interface/controller are cost-efficiently realized by a mobile phone 4.

The method of the invention can advanta^¬ geously also be used to link and configure non-wireless electronic devices that may be operated in stand-alone mode such as timers (for example 24 h times) and movement detectors, which however according to the state of the art would require a complex and expensive human-machine- interface/controller for setup. Advantageously such a complex human-machine-interface/controller can be avoided with the method of the invention.

Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied according to a method according to any of the pre^¬ ceding items:

1. A method for establishing a wireless link between a first electronic device (2) and a second elec^¬ tronic device (7), wherein the first electronic device (2) is provided with an optoelectronically readable code (1) and the second electronic device (7) is provided with a bidirectional LED (8), characterized by the following steps :

- reading the optoelectronically readable code (1) of the first electronic device (2) by means of a camera (3) of a mobile phone (4),

- converting the read code (1) into a binary code by conversion means (5) implemented on the mobile phone ( 4 ) , and

- operating the flash (6) of the mobile phone (4) in accordance with the binary code, thereby transmit- ting the binary code to the bidirectional LED (8) of the second electronic device (7) to link the second elec^¬ tronic device (7) to the first electronic device (2) .

2. The method according to item 1, wherein the optoelectronically readable code (1) of the first electronic device (2) is given by a barcode, in particu^¬ lar a data matrix code.

3. The method according to item 1 or 2, wherein reading of the optoelectronically readable code (1) comprises retrieving identifying information from the read optoelectronically readable code, the identifying information then being converted into the binary code by the conversion means (5) of the mobile phone (4) .

4. The method according to one of the preced^¬ ing items, wherein the binary code comprises further configuration data for the second electronic device (7) .

5. The method according to one of the preced^¬ ing items, wherein the first electronic device (2) and the second electronic device (7) are used in a building management system, in particular a lighting control system.

6. The method according to item 5, wherein the first electronic device (2) is a sensor or a switch and/or the second electronic device (7) is an actuator.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a wireless link between a first device and a second device by utilizing a third device, the first device being provided with a first code that includes first identifying information of the first device, the third device being provided with a first emitter adapted for emitting a first signal by light or sound, the third device furthermore being pro^¬ vided with a first capturing part adapted for reading the first code, and the second device being provided with a first receiving part adapted for receiving the first sig^¬ nal, the method comprising:

- reading the first code by means of the first capturing part,

- operating the first emitter in accordance with at least part of the first code, thereby transmit^¬ ting the first identifying information to the second device via the first receiving part, and

- utilizing the first identifying information for establishing the wireless link between the first device and the second device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first code comprises an optoelectronically readable code, such as a barcode, in particular a data matrix code .

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising converting the read first code into a first bi^¬ nary code, wherein the operating of the first emitter comprises operating the first emitter in accordance with the first binary code, thereby transmitting the first bi^¬ nary code to the second device via the first receiving part, and utilizing the first binary code for establishing the wireless link between the first device and the second device.

4. The method according to any of the preced ing claims, wherein the operating of the first emitter furthermore is carried out in accordance with further configuration data for the second device.

5. The method according to any of the preced ing claims, wherein the first device and the second de^¬ vice are used in a building management system, in particular a lighting control system.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first device is a sensor or a switch and/or the sec^¬ ond device is an actuator.

7. The method according to any of the preced ing claims, wherein the third device is situated at the vicinity of the first device when reading the first code and is at the vicinity of the second device when operat^¬ ing the first emitter.

8. The method according to any of the preced ing claims, wherein the first emitter is a first light emitter and the first receiving part is a first light sensor .

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the second device comprises a bidirectional LED, the bidirectional LED comprising the first light sensor.

10. The method according to any of the pre^¬ ceding claims, when depending on claim 2, wherein the first capturing part comprises a first camera.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the third device is a mobile phone.

12. The method according to claim 11, when depending on claim 3, wherein the mobile phone comprises conversion means for the converting of the read first code .

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, when depending on claim 8 or 9, wherein the first light emitter is a flash associated with the first camera or another camera of the mobile phone.

14. The method according to claim 11 or 12, when depending on claim 8 or 9, wherein the mobile phone comprises a first screen, the first screen comprising the first light emitter.

15. A second device suitable for establishing a wireless link with a first device by utilizing a third device,

the second device comprising a first receiv^¬ ing part adapted for receiving a first signal from a first emitter of the third device, the first emitter be^¬ ing adapted for emitting the first signal by light or sound, the first signal comprising first identifying in^¬ formation of the first device,

the second device being adapted for estab^¬ lishing the wireless link with the first device by util^¬ izing the first identifying information.