EP4207124A1 - Sicherheitsüberwachungssysteme - Google Patents

Sicherheitsüberwachungssysteme Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4207124A1
EP4207124A1 EP21218147.3A EP21218147A EP4207124A1 EP 4207124 A1 EP4207124 A1 EP 4207124A1 EP 21218147 A EP21218147 A EP 21218147A EP 4207124 A1 EP4207124 A1 EP 4207124A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
zone
location
zones
sensing
security monitoring
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP21218147.3A
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Nicholas J. HAckett
Julien PIEDBOIS
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Verisure SARL
Original Assignee
Verisure SARL
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Verisure SARL filed Critical Verisure SARL
Priority to EP21218147.3A priority Critical patent/EP4207124A1/de
Priority to AU2022426639A priority patent/AU2022426639A1/en
Priority to IL313977A priority patent/IL313977A/en
Priority to MX2024008112A priority patent/MX2024008112A/es
Priority to PCT/EP2022/087907 priority patent/WO2023126414A1/en
Publication of EP4207124A1 publication Critical patent/EP4207124A1/de
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B25/00—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
    • G08B25/008—Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
    • G08B13/18—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength
    • G08B13/189—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems
    • G08B13/194—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems
    • G08B13/196—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems using television cameras
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
    • G08B13/22—Electrical actuation
    • G08B13/24—Electrical actuation by interference with electromagnetic field distribution
    • G08B13/2491—Intrusion detection systems, i.e. where the body of an intruder causes the interference with the electromagnetic field

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to security monitoring systems for premises.
  • Security monitoring systems for premises are typically arranged, when armed, to provide some kind of alarm signal if a "break-in" is detected at the premises protected by the system. Detection of a "break-in” may be through the triggering of a sensor at a perimeter of the premises, for example a sensor arranged to detect the opening of a door or window, or by the triggering of a sensor within the premises that implies human presence within the premises. The triggering of a sensor signifying a "break-in” is referred to as an alarm event.
  • security monitoring systems are also used to provide a feeling of comfort and security to occupants of the premises when they are at home - by providing an armed state that is commonly referred to as “armed at home” or "secure perimeter".
  • armed at home state The idea behind the armed at home state is that by monitoring the protected perimeter of the premises, occupants can be warned in the event that an attempt is made to enter the premises while they are inside - often the scariest prospect for many homeowners.
  • monitoring is limited to the monitoring of the protected perimeter of the premises, although in some instances motion detection may still be turned on for rooms or zones of the house which are generally not visited by legitimate occupants of the premises when the armed at home setting is used.
  • Wi-Fi Sensing is the subject of a standardisation program led by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA).
  • WBA Wireless Broadband Alliance
  • Wi-Fi Sensing entitled “Wi-Fi Sensing A New Technology Emerges” which includes the following explanation of the technology's background: "In Wi-Fi Sensing, radio information obtained during signal processing is used to detect environmental changes caused by motion of objects, pets and people.
  • the primary information extracted from the radio for Wi-Fi Sensing is the channel frequency response and/or the received signal strength. Computing this quantity is a typical function of any Wi-Fi receiver, as it enables a mechanism to compensate for the distortion introduced by the wireless channel. Wi-Fi Sensing builds upon these mechanisms, allowing any Wi-Fi device perform sensing and learn about changes in the environment.
  • Wi-Fi sensing can be used to sense the environment and detect motion.
  • Network providers can utilize information made available through sensing to provide a new set of services to customers.
  • Hardware original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and chipset vendors can add Wi-Fi sensing as a feature to differentiate products. Advances in signal processing and feature extraction algorithms produce even more detailed information. As Wi-Fi sensing technology matures, new and more complex use cases are enabled.”. The paper also provides quite a detailed overview of how the technology works and how it may be deployed, and the reader is directed to this paper as useful background for understanding the present invention.
  • the WBA's standardisation program arose from developments made by several companies who realised that radio transmissions of many kinds, not just Wi-Fi, could potentially be used to detect presence - and even gestures, biometrics, and possibly even be used for identification of individuals.
  • Origin Wireless who have patents and applications on wireless motion monitoring and object tracking using broadcasting (not just based on Wi-Fi signals), with priority dates as early as December 2012 - e.g. see US10,374, 863 "event recognition based on a wireless signal” and US10, 742, 475 "object tracking and sensing using broadcasting”; Aerial Technologies, who have patents and applications with priority dates as early as May 2015 - e.g.
  • the characteristics of the communication channels experienced by the various wireless signals are first determined for a steady state condition (for example for an unoccupied space), and this background state will be disturbed by the presence and movement of any sizeable object within the monitored space due to changes in the reflection, scattering, and diffraction experienced by the wireless signals. These perturbations result in detectable changes in the wireless signals received by one or more of the wireless devices.
  • Some of the approaches are closely allied with RADAR, but many propose the use of Channel State Information (CSI) or some variant thereof, RSSI measurement, etc.
  • CSI Channel State Information
  • Embodiments of the present invention derive from the inventors' insight that enhanced security can be provided by a security monitoring system in an armed at home state through a different approach to using presence sensing - largely irrespective of the type of presence sensing used.
  • a security monitoring system installation in a location, the location having a perimeter, the perimeter enclosing a first zone and a second zone distinct from the first zone, and one or more third zones adjacent the second zone and intermediate along a possible human route between the first and second zones, the second zone being accessible on a possible human route within the perimeter only via at least one of the one or more third zones;
  • the security monitoring system including a sensing arrangement to detect human presence within the perimeter and the system having an armed at home state in which it is so configured that, in the event that: at a first instant human presence is detected in the first zone but not in any of the second or third zones; and subsequently, at a second instant, human presence is detected in the second zone without presence having been detected in any of the one or more third zones in the interval between the first and second instants; an alert is raised.
  • a zone is adjacent the second zone only if a person can pass from the zone into the second zone without needing to pass through a further zone.
  • a security monitoring system installation in a location the location having a perimeter
  • the system including a sensing arrangement to detect human presence within a monitored area within the perimeter, the monitored area comprising a plurality of monitored zones, at least one pair of the monitored zones being remote from each other, each remote pair consisting of a first and a second of the monitored zones, human passage between the first and second zones of a pair that are remote from each other only being possible, within the premises, via at least one intermediate zone that is adjacent the second zone of the pair, and the system having an armed at home state in which it is so configured that, in the event that: at a first instant human presence is detected in the first remote zone of the pair but not in any of the second or intermediate zones of the pair; and subsequently, at a second instant, human presence is detected in the second zone of the pair without presence having been detected in any of the one or more intermediate zones of the pair in the interval between the first and second instants; an alert is raised.
  • a PIR detector or other optical or line-of-sight sensor may be used to detect (or infer) presence in the third zone (e.g. a mix of line of sight and radio-based sensing), rather than requiring radio-based sensing in all three zones (first, second, and intermediate).
  • sensing in the first and second zones may be done by different systems, even if these are both radio-based.
  • the sensing arrangement to detect human presence within the perimeter may comprise a plurality of line-of-sight detectors, for example PIR detectors or other optical detectors.
  • the monitored area may include a monitored zone that comprises multiple rooms, some at least of the rooms being linked by means of a hall, landing or walkway, at least one line-of-sight detector of the sensing arrangement being provided to monitor the hall, landing or walkway, and optionally some at least of the multiple rooms do not contain line-of-sight detectors.
  • the sensing arrangement to detect human presence within the perimeter may comprise a radio-based system that is configured to sense presence and location based on detecting perturbations of radio signals.
  • the radio-based system may be configured to process communication signals received from one or more radio transmitters operating according to one or more communication standards or protocols.
  • Installations according to the second aspect may further comprise a control unit wherein the control unit includes a radio receiver of the radio-based presence and location sensing system.
  • the control unit is configured to process radio signals to derive location and presence data in respect of monitored zones.
  • the sensing arrangement to detect human presence uses changes in channel state information or received signal strength in determining presence.
  • control unit may function as an access point of a radio network whose signals are used by the radio-based presence and location sensing system, and optionally the radio network is a Wi-Fi network.
  • the sensing arrangement to detect human presence within the perimeter may further comprise one or more line of sight detectors, for example PIR detectors.
  • a control unit for a security monitoring system for premises comprising a processor, a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and a set of instructions stored in the memory which when executed by the processor cause the control unit to: determine an alert condition after entering an armed at home single occupancy mode, by determining the location of an occupant within the premises; storing the determined location as a current location of the occupant; receiving sensing data; determining a new location based on the sensing data comparing the new location with the stored current location; if the new location is neither the same as the stored current location nor a location adjacent the stored current location, raising an alert; if the new location is the same as the stored current location or is a location adjacent the stored current location, setting the new location as the current location of the occupant.
  • a control unit may further comprise a radio transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to derive the received sensing data from radio signals received by the transceiver.
  • the processor may be configured to determine location based on signals received from one or remote nodes of the security monitoring system, the one or more remote nodes including at least one line-of-sight presence detector.
  • the processor may be configured to raise an alert in the event that received sensing data reveal human presence at more than one location, and hence the presence of more than one person, within the premises
  • the real time, always on nature of the systems and methods according to embodiments of the invention allows for an always on armed home experience that follows you around (especially for solo occupants).
  • the central unit can have sensors automatically swap in and out of alarm triggering.
  • the sensors will always report events (like motion), but the central unit will fuse these data together with real time presence to determine if it should act on it or not.
  • a fourth aspect there is provided a method of detecting an intrusion in premises protected by a security monitoring system installation, the premises having a perimeter, the perimeter enclosing a first zone and a second zone, and one or more third zones adjacent the second zone and intermediate along a possible human route between the first and second zones, the second zone being accessible on a possible human route within the perimeter only via at least one of the one or more third zones;
  • a method of detecting an intrusion in premises protected by a security monitoring system installation the premises having a perimeter and a monitored area within the perimeter, the monitored area comprising a plurality of monitored zones, at least one pair of the monitored zones being remote from each other, each remote pair consisting of a first and a second of the monitored zones, human passage between the first and second zones of a pair that are remote from each other only being possible, within the premises, via at least one intermediate zone that is adjacent the second zone of the pair: the method comprising monitoring the monitored area to detect human presence; at a first instant detecting human presence in the first remote zone of the pair but not in any of the second or intermediate zones of the pair; and at a second instant, after a time interval detecting human presence in the second zone of the pair; and determining an alert condition if presence was detected in none of the one or more intermediate zones of the pair in the time interval between the first and second instants.
  • a method of detecting an intrusion in premises protected by a security monitoring system installation comprising: entering an armed at home single occupancy mode; determining the location of an occupant within the premises; storing the determined location as a current location of the occupant; receiving sensing data; determining a new location based on the sensing data comparing the new location with the stored current location; if the new location is neither the same as the stored current location nor a location adjacent the stored current location, raising an alert; if the new location is the same as the stored current location or is a location adjacent the stored current location, setting the new location as the current location of the occupant.
  • a seventh aspect there is provided a method of detecting an intrusion in premises protected by a security monitoring system installation the method comprising: entering an armed at home single occupancy mode; determining the location of an occupant within the premises based on received sensing data; storing the determined location as a current location of the occupant; receiving new sensing data relating to the location of an occupant; determining a new location based on the new sensing data comparing the new location with the stored current location; if the new location is neither the same as the stored current location nor a location adjacent the stored current location, raising an alert; if the new location is the same as the stored current location or is a location adjacent the stored current location, setting the new location as the current location of the occupant.
  • the invention has particular, but not exclusive application to security monitoring systems for domestic premises.
  • Figure 1 shows schematically a security monitoring system installation 100 in a location, in this case a dwelling, having a perimeter.
  • the dwelling is a semi-detached or terraced house with a shared (party) wall to the left of the figure, a front wall or façade 102 including a front door 104 that serves as the main entrance to the premises, a side wall and a rear wall (here shown as staggered).
  • the figure shows just one floor of the dwelling, in this instance a ground floor, which accommodates what may be termed the living space - as opposed to the sleeping space which is provided on one or more other (upper) floors accessed via stairway 105.
  • the living space includes an entrance hall 106, onto which the front door 104 opens, off which are a rear living room 108, a front dining room 110, and a rear kitchen 112.
  • the kitchen 112 includes the back door 114 of the premises.
  • the front 104 and back 114 doors are each provided with a sensor arrangement 116 that is triggered by the opening of the relevant door - for example, a sensor arrangement 116 including a magnetically triggered sensor such as a reed relay or a magnetometer.
  • the living room 108 is provided with glazed doors 118, which may be in the style of "French Windows” or the like, which permit access to a rear garden, but which are not intended, or used, for regular access to the interior of the premises. Consequently, these glazed doors 118 are preferably provided with bolts or similar security fasteners on their inner side - so that they cannot readily be opened from outside when the bolts are secured. These doors 118 may not be provided with any sensing arrangement to detect their opening (to reduce the cost of installing the security monitoring system). Similarly, windows 120 to the kitchen 112 and dining room 110 may also not be provided with any sensing arrangement to detect their opening - again as a means of reducing the cost of installing the security monitoring system.
  • the security monitoring system includes a controller or central unit 122 which is operatively coupled to the door opening sensors 116 and any other sensors of the system preferably wirelessly using radio frequency (RF) communication rather than via a wired connection.
  • the central unit 122 is operatively connected, for example via a wired and/or wireless Internet connection, to a remote monitoring station 200 to which alarm events are communicated for review and for appropriate intervention or other action to be taken - and preferably the remote monitoring station 200 (also referred to as a central monitoring station, CMS, given that one such station typically supports several or many security monitoring installations) is staffed by human operatives who can for example review images, video, and/or sound files, plus other alert types and details, in order to decide whether to deploy private security staff, law enforcement agents, a fire brigade, or medical staff such as paramedics or an ambulance - as well as optionally reporting events and situations to one or more individuals associated with the security monitoring system (e.g. a householder or owner).
  • RF radio frequency
  • the security monitoring system also includes one or more motion sensors, such as a PIR sensor.
  • motion sensors 124 are shown as being installed in each of the rooms (108, 110, 112), and in the hall 106, with another motion sensor optionally being provided to monitor the stairs 105 that lead to the upper floor(s).
  • the security monitoring system includes at least one camera 126, preferably a video camera with an associated (integral or separate) motion sensor, activation of which may cause the camera (or the motion sensor) to report an event to the central unit.
  • the central unit 122 may or may not instruct the camera 126 to transmit images (still or video) to the central unit for onward reporting to the CMS 200.
  • the security monitoring system also includes a user interface or control panel 128 in the hall 106 fairly close to the front door 104.
  • This control panel 128 is provided so that a user can arm and disarm the security monitoring system using either a code or PIN (e.g. a 4 or 6 digit PIN) or a token (using e.g. RFID, NFC, BTLE, technology or the like).
  • the control panel may also be used to set the security monitoring system to an armed at home state, optionally directly from an armed away state.
  • the control panel 128 preferably includes a visual display, such as a screen (optionally a touch sensitive display) to provide users with system information, status updates, event reports, and even possibly face to face communication with personnel in the central monitoring station (for which purpose the control panel 128 may have a built in video camera and optionally lighting).
  • a visual display such as a screen (optionally a touch sensitive display) to provide users with system information, status updates, event reports, and even possibly face to face communication with personnel in the central monitoring station (for which purpose the control panel 128 may have a built in video camera and optionally lighting).
  • a disarm node 130 typically a rather simpler device - known as a disarm node 130, may be provided to enable a user to disarm or arm the system, again optionally using a PIN, code, or dongle/device.
  • Such a disarm node 130 may include one or more indicator lights, featuring e.g.
  • the disarm node includes both an audio source (e.g. one or more loudspeakers and optionally an alarm sounder) and a microphone so that a user can talk with a CMS operator if needs be.
  • the control panel 128 and disarm node 130 are preferably provided with at least one radio transceiver for communication with the control unit 122, as well as having at least built in autonomous power supplies (e.g. each having a battery power supply).
  • the various nodes of the security monitoring system are preferably battery powered and communicate using RF transceivers that consume little power (hence, not relying on Wi-Fi, 802.11... protocols, as these tend to be very power hungry) and that typically rely on radio frequencies in approved ISM frequency bands - such as between 860 and 900 MHZ
  • the relevant sensor 116, 124 may be configured to report a sensed event to the central unit 122 irrespective of the arm state of the security monitoring system, but the central unit 122 will disregard such reported events when the system is disarmed.
  • event notifications from perimeter sensors in the illustrated example the door opening sensors 116 on the front 104 and back 114 doors, but typically also including one or more sensors to detect the opening of a window 120
  • internal movement or presence sensors typically result in the central unit 122 determining an alarm event which may be reported to the central monitoring station.
  • the security monitoring system also has a second armed state in which only the security of the perimeter is monitored - so that only events reported by one or other of the door sensors 116 (or window sensors if present) count as potential alarm events to be reported by the central unit 122 to the central monitoring station - and this may be termed the "armed at home" state.
  • the armed at home state is intended to be used when the premises are occupied.
  • the central unit 122 will routinely be arranged not to request any internal (video) camera to share images with the central unit 122 - so that user privacy is maintained.
  • armed at home state There may be more than one variant of the armed at home state - so that, for example during the daytime only the perimeter may be monitored, but at night (or upon the occupants retiring to bed) the system may be set to an armed at home (night) state in which movement within the living accommodation can also give rise to an alarm event potentially to be reported to the CMS 200 (including images from any camera within the monitored zone)- but the triggering of any movement sensors for the sleeping accommodation will not give rise to alarm events.
  • embodiments of the present invention derive from the inventors' insight that enhanced security can be provided in an armed at home state through a different approach to presence sensing.
  • the security monitoring system may be configured to provide the user with the option to go straight into the armed at home state from the armed away state, or may require the user first to disarm the system, and then to select the (or one of two or more) armed at home state.
  • the user then starts work in the kitchen (zone 3) preparing a meal.
  • the presence of the person preparing the meal in the kitchen is detected by the zone 3 presence detector (in this case the PIR sensor 124 in the kitchen).
  • the zone 3 presence detector in this case the PIR sensor 124 in the kitchen.
  • the person moves around the kitchen, his or her presence continues to be detected by the relevant PIR sensor.
  • the central unit is aware of presence in Zone 3 and also, due to the lack of signals from the presence sensors in zones 1, 2, and 4, the absence of presence in those other zones.
  • zone 1 the French windows 118 having unintentionally been left unlocked or locked but not bolted.
  • the presence of the intruder in zone 1, the living room 108 is detected, for example by means of a PIR sensor 124 in the living room 108, and the central unit 122 is informed of this development.
  • the central unit 122 is aware of the (previous and continuing) presence in zone 3 but is also aware that between the last presence update (e.g. as the result of movement being detected in the kitchen) in respect of zone 3 and the new presence report in zone 1 there has been no presence reported for zone 2.
  • the central unit 122 can therefore deduce that an intruder is present and raise an alarm with the CMS - and optionally with one or more local alarm indicator (alarm sounder, flashing lights, etc.) to warn the person who is already legitimately present.
  • the relevant door sensor 116 will be triggered before a new presence is detected.
  • the central unit 122 will therefore cause a challenge or warning to be issued - for example, by means of the control unit 128 (if entrance is via the front door) or by means of the disarm node 130 (if entrance is via the back door) to the person entering that the system is armed and will need to be disarmed (by entering a code at a user interface 128 or 130, or by presenting a dongle or token to a reader 128 or 130) within a predetermined disarm period in order to avoid an alarm event being raised with the CMS 200. If the person entering through the accepted entrance point is authorised, they will be able to disarm the system, but otherwise an alarm event will be raised - as is conventional.
  • the central unit will therefore receive a presence update from zone 2 before receiving a presence update from any of the other zones (1, 4, or 5), but having previously been aware of presence in zone 3, a new report of presence in zone 2 does not constitute an alarm event, and therefore the central unit does not report the change to the CMS 200.
  • the central unit 122 of the security monitoring system is preferably configured by an engineer when the system is first installed so that the various zones within the premises are defined, each typically based on the relevant presence detector, and the possible zone sequences are also defined.
  • the installation engineer can be provided with an appropriate app on a smart phone or other device which can communicate with the central unit, typically via a supplier back-end server, the app preferably having a graphical interface which allows the engineer either to couple the various zones into allowable sequences or to specify any sequences that are not allowed.
  • every allowable sequence moves from a zone other than zone 2 into zone 2. But it will be recognised that other room arrangements, especially those in which some rooms have multiple entry/exit points, may make possible numerous alternative routes between different zones or different rooms.
  • the central unit 122 is preferably configured in an armed at home state to maintain a presence state for each monitored zone of the premises, so that presence state information is available for each zone.
  • the system does not need to be able to "see” an occupant in a zone to be aware of their presence, as long as the system is so configured that it is impossible for a person to move from one zone to another undetected.
  • the system also copes with multiple "authorised" occupants being present simultaneously without needing to count the occupants and without needing to be told the number of occupants. So, for example, suppose that a parent and child come home and enter through the front door.
  • the security monitoring system If the security monitoring system is armed it will need to be disarmed, and then set to armed at home (or if allowed, transitioned directly from armed away to armed at home). If the armed at home setting is chosen from the control panel 128 in the hall, presence can be inferred from the disarming/arming activity at the control panel, as well as established by activation of the hall motion/presence sensor. If the parent and child both go into the kitchen, their arrival in the kitchen will be detected by the kitchen presence sensor. But suppose that the child wants to go to their bedroom while the parent remains in the kitchen, then the kitchen presence sensor will continue to be triggered by the presence of the parent while first the hall motion sensor and then the stair motion sensor are triggered.
  • the system can infer that someone has gone upstairs - and is no longer on the stairs, because the stair presence sensor is no longer being triggered and also because the sensed presence sequence was hall - stairs- absent, rather than hall-stairs-hall (as it would have been if, for example, the child had mounted the stairs to retrieve something left on the stairs.
  • the system can store an "upstairs" status in the event of such a hall-stairs-absent sequence. Then, if subsequently the system detects a new presence on the stairs followed by the detection of presence in the hall, no alarm may be triggered. But, the system may still be configured to trigger an alarm in the event of a new presence on the stairs that doesn't follow on from detection of presence in the hall if no hall-stairs-absent sequence has been detected since the system was put into the armed at home status.
  • system may be configured to operate on the basis that if the system was in the armed away status shortly before being put into the armed at home status, it may be considered safe to assume that no intruder is lurking on an upper floor.
  • the likelihood is so low that an alarm event is not triggered in the event that presence is detected on the stairs when no presence has been detected in the hall. If the threat of a break in on an upper floor is significant, then preferably at least one motion/presence detector is provided on the relevant upper floor.
  • a single zone may also include more than one room or may include part where presence can be monitored and part where presence cannot be monitored. Examples of such a situation is illustrated in Figure 2.
  • Figure 2 corresponds very closely with Figure 1 , but includes architectural features that mean that some zones have parts where presence cannot be monitored by the presence sensor allocated to the relevant zone.
  • the kitchen, zone 3 now includes a walk-in pantry 212 (for the storage of food, wine, kitchen equipment, etc.) which can only be entered via a door that opens into the kitchen. If someone enters the pantry, they must do so from the kitchen, and the presence sensor 124 for the kitchen will detect their presence until they enter the pantry. Once inside the pantry 212, the person is no longer visible to the kitchen presence sensor 124.
  • the central unit 122 In the armed at home state previously described, where the occupant has been working in the kitchen, the central unit 122 is aware of presence in the kitchen up until the point that the user enters the pantry. The kitchen presence sensor will then stop sending "presence detected” signals to the central unit, but the central unit will also not receive any signal from the back door sensor 116, nor from the hall presence sensor. Eventually, the person will emerge from the pantry, once again triggering the kitchen presence sensor. No alarm condition exists because the central unit 122 has a record (i.e. the central unit 122 "knows") of the last detected presence having been in zone 3 (the kitchen). But if, while the cook is in the pantry, an intruder enters the living room , zone 1,via the French windows 118 as before, the central unit 122 will trigger an alarm because the zone presence sequence Zone 3- Zone 1 is not permitted.
  • a similar situation may arise with the user entering the cloakroom 222 illustrated as being installed under the stairs 105, and accessible only from the hall 106 (zone 2).
  • the hall presence sensor 124 is capable of detecting human presence of anyone in the hall itself, the understairs cloakroom is not “seen” by the sensor, so that when someone enters the cloakroom from the hall, the central unit is aware of presence in zone 2 but then ceases to receive updated "presence detected" reports from the hall presence sensor. But as long as no presence is detected in any of the other zones, and as long as the sensor 116 for the front door doesn't report a door opening event, the central unit still has a record of "last reported presence" as being zone 2. Thus, when the person emerges into the hall 106 from the cloakroom, the central unit sees no change in presence location, and no alarm is raised.
  • the central unit may be programmed to take account of the fact that the pantry represents an "invisible" portion of zone 2 - in that if the central unit receives a report of presence in zone 2 and then, without receiving a door open event report from front door sensor 116, receives no presence report from any of zones 1, 3, 4, or 5, within a predetermined interval, the central unit assumes unseen user presence in zone 2.
  • the central unit can be arranged to trigger an alarm event if an intruder enters the living room while someone is in the cloakroom (assuming that the system is in the relevant "armed at home” setting) because in effect we have an unallowable zone transition.
  • an intruder enters the living room while someone is in the cloakroom (assuming that the system is in the relevant "armed at home” setting) because in effect we have an unallowable zone transition.
  • Clearly such a situation may require more careful positioning and targeting of presence detectors, as well as appropriate extra programming of the central unit, but it may avoid the need to provide an extra presence sensor in or for the cloakroom (which would be a possible alternative) to make the cloakroom a further zone.
  • the turning on of a light within the cloakroom may be taken as an indication of presence in the cloakroom, although in practice that may only work reliably as an indication of the cloakroom being entered - as the light may inadvertently be left on - although again, as anyone leaving the cloakroom should be detected by the hall presence detector, the person will again be seen by the central unit as having emerged into zone 2.
  • Complications may arise if there are zone areas (such as the pantry or cloakroom) or zones (e.g. upstairs) where presence cannot be detected, and we have multiple "authorised" occupants, because one of multiple occupants in a given zone may enter a hidden area of the zone (e.g. enter the pantry from the kitchen) while the other occupant leaves the kitchen for the living room, via the hall. When the person leaves the pantry they will once again be seen as present in the kitchen - which may trigger an alarm if the other occupant is by now in the living room.
  • zone areas such as the pantry or cloakroom
  • zones e.g. upstairs
  • the central unit may be further configured to use data from the radio-based location sensing arrangement to perform people counting, and optionally to use determine the presence of one or more intruders based on a detected change in the people count when the system is in the nocturnal armed mode.
  • data from the radio-based location sensing arrangement to perform people counting
  • determine the presence of one or more intruders based on a detected change in the people count when the system is in the nocturnal armed mode.
  • US2020/0302187A1 assigned to Origin Wireless, can be used to count occupants and determine their locations in installations, systems and methods according to embodiments of the invention
  • premises or dwellings with fewer zones and/or fewer rooms may be protected in the same way but with fewer presence sensors - generally just one such sensor per zone.
  • steps are preferably taken in situations where animals (e.g. pets) or machines (automated fans, robot vacuum cleaners, or other machines that may trigger a kind of motion sensor used in the installation) can be expected to move within or between monitored zones.
  • animals e.g. pets
  • machines automated fans, robot vacuum cleaners, or other machines that may trigger a kind of motion sensor used in the installation
  • PIRs So called “smart" PIRs exist which can distinguish between pets and humans, and these may also distinguish between humans and things like robot vacuum cleaners.
  • Machine learning or other AI-assisted systems may also be used to discriminate between pets and humans, and between humans and non-humanoid robots (and currently the incidence of humanoid robots in the domestic setting is extremely rare).
  • a security monitoring system to trigger alarm events, in an armed at home setting, based on impermissible zone sequences may provide enhanced security without necessarily needing to install additional perimeter sensors.
  • security monitoring systems rely exclusively or almost exclusively on perimeter sensors (typically just for doors, windows and the like) to detect alarm events.
  • security monitoring systems according to embodiments of the present invention are capable of detecting further alarm conditions based on presence detection rather than relying on detecting breaches in a secured perimeter.
  • Figures 3A and 3B show schematically a three-storey building or dwelling (which may be a subset of a larger building) which illustrates an application of embodiments of the invention.
  • Figure 3A is a schematic floor plan of one floor (here the ground floor, for example), showing an arrangement of rooms 301 - 306 that are linked by a common access corridor or hallway 307. It can be assumed that each of the rooms 301-306 has a door, but these are omitted for clarity.
  • the hallway has a line-of-sight movement (presence) sensor 308, which may conveniently be ceiling mounted so that the sensor can detect any human presence in the hallway 307.
  • the hallway 307 leads to stairs 105 that lead to the first floor 310. Above the stairs 105 is mounted another presence sensor 309 which is arranged to detect any human presence on the stairs 105.
  • the layout of each of the other floors may be assumed to be the same, although clearly a different disposition of rooms around the common hallway can be provided.
  • the ground floor has front and back doors 104 and 114, together with a control unit 128 adjacent the front door, and a disarm node 116 in the kitchen 304 adjacent the back door 114.
  • a central unit 122 of a security monitoring system according to an embodiment of the invention, which may correspond generally to the system described with reference to Figure 1 , is provided in one of the rooms 306.
  • the motion (presence) sensor 308 in the hall 307 will detect the presence and movement of anyone in the hall 307, including anyone emerging from any of the rooms 301-306.
  • the ground floor hallway constitutes a monitored zone of which the rooms 301-306 are concealed areas.
  • anyone using the stairs 105 to access the first floor 310 will enter a second zone, monitored by the stair movement/presence sensor 309.
  • radio-based sensing that can be used as an alternative (or complement) to line-of-sight sensing such as PIRS, and such an approach may have the benefit of enabling presence sensing in all or most of the rooms on any given floor without the need to provide a line-of-sight sensor in each room in respect of which presence sensing is required. But the arrangement illustrated here can still provide usefully enhanced security in armed at home states, particularly for armed at home sole occupancy, while using a low device count and hence reduced installation costs.
  • Figure 3C is a schematic floorplan showing premises having another kind of room/zone arrangement in which there are two independent, non-overlapping, routes between a pair of zones (here, zones 1 and 4).
  • a room 1 has two doors, 350, 351, the latter of which opens onto a second room, room 2, which has a further door 352 which opens into a third room, room 3, which has a further door that opens into a further room, room 6.
  • the other door, 350, in the first room opens onto a corridor off which are two rooms, rooms 4 and 5.
  • the corridor has a door 357 that opens into room 6, which itself has an external door 356 which provides external access into the premises.
  • Each of the rooms has a window 120, and room 1 also includes a French window 118.
  • the premises has a central unit 122 which provides a security monitoring system for the premises, and to which several line-of-sight presence/movement sensors 370, 372, 373, 376, and 377, in zones 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are wirelessly coupled along with the door sensor 116, and control unit 128, which are both associated with the external entrance door 356. It can be seen that there are two exits from zone 1, one which opens into the corridor that leads to zone 4, and the other of which leads into zone 2 which in turn leads into zone 3 and thence into zone 4. Thus, each of zones is adjacent two other zones and there are two exits from every zone.
  • the central unit 122 can track the movement of the occupant(s) through the various zones provided by the presence/movement sensors. If someone passes from zone 5 into room 4 or room 5, the central unit will continue to record their presence in zone 5 until their presence is detected by either sensor 370 or sensor 374 after once again having been detected by sensor 375.
  • the security monitoring system holds a single current location, e.g. in zone 1, there are two adjacent zones - in this case zone 2 and zone 5, and two remote zones, in this case zones 3 and 6.
  • next presence report received is for one of the adjacent zones no alert is raised unless the system is in armed at home single occupancy and presence continues to be detected in zone 1 - which would indicate presence of at least two people. But if the next presence report received is for a remote zone, the system will raise an alert - for example reporting an event to the central monitoring station and optionally providing an alert (local and/or pushed) to warn the existing occupants of the premises of the detection of a suspected intruder in a named zone or room.
  • FIG 4 is a schematic drawing showing in more detail features of the gateway or central unit 122 of Figures 1 and 2 .
  • the gateway 122 includes a first transceiver 430 coupled to the first antenna 480, and optionally a second transceiver 432 coupled to a second antenna 482.
  • the transceivers 430 and 432 can each both transmit and receive, but a transceiver cannot both transmit and receive at the same time.
  • the transceivers 430, 432 each operate in half duplex.
  • a transceiver will use the same frequency to transmit and receive (although of course if the two transceivers are to operate simultaneously but in opposite modes, they will operate on different frequencies).
  • the transceivers 430, 432 may be arranged such that one transceiver 430 uses a first frequency for transmit and receive and the second transceiver 432 uses the same first frequency for transmit and receive, i.e. the transceivers are arranged to operate in a diversity-like arrangement.
  • the second transceiver may, depending on configuration, be arranged to use a second frequency for transmit and/or receive.
  • the transceivers 430 and 432 are coupled to a controller 450 by a bus.
  • the controller 450 is also connected to a network interface 460 by means of which the controller 450 may be provided with a wired connection to the Internet and hence to the monitoring centre 200.
  • the controller 450 is also coupled to a memory 470 which may store data received from the various nodes of the installation for example event data, sounds, images and video data.
  • the central unit 122 also includes a crystal oscillator 451, which is preferably a temperature controlled or oven-controlled crystal oscillator. This is used for system clocking and also frequency control of the transceivers.
  • the gateway 122 includes a power supply 362 which is coupled to a domestic mains supply, from which the gateway 122 generally derives power, and a backup battery pack 464 which provides power to the gateway in the event of failure of the mains power supply.
  • the central unit 122 also includes a Wi-Fi transceiver 440, and associated antenna arrangement 442, which may be used for communication with any of the nodes that is Wi-Fi enabled.
  • the Wi-Fi enabled node may be a remote control or control panel that may for example be located close to the main entrance to the building (e.g., control panel 128 or disarm node 130) to enable the occupier to arm or disarm the system from near the main entrance, or it may for example be an image-capture device such as a video camera (e.g. camera 126).
  • PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
  • a third antenna 484 and associated ISM transceiver 434 may be provided, for example for communication with the monitoring centre 200 over, for example, the European 863MHz to 870MHz frequency band.
  • the third transceiver 434 may be a Sigfox transceiver configured to use the Sigfox network to contact the central monitoring station especially in the event that jamming of other radio channels is detected.
  • the first 430 and second 432 transceivers may both be tuneable ISM devices, operating for example in the European 863MHz to 870MHz frequency band or in the 915MHz band (which may span 902-928MHz or 915-928MHZ depending upon the country). In particular, both of these devices may be tuned, i.e. may be tuneable, to the frequencies within the regulatorily agreed sub-bands within this defined frequency band.
  • the first transceiver and the second transceiver if present, may have different tuning ranges and optionally there is some overlap between these ranges.
  • a radio (or wireless) signal as used herein refers to a signal transmitted from a radio transmitter and received by a radio receiver, wherein the radio transmitter and radio receiver operate according to a standard or protocol. Such standards include, but are not limited to, IEEE 802.11.
  • radio transmitters and receivers may operate in non-telecommunications or Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) spectral regions without departing from the scope of the invention.
  • ISM Industrial, Scientific and Medical
  • radio signals to probe the zone or zones of interest, and to analyse and extract statistics from these signals, in particular looking at the physical layer and/or data link layer such as MAC address measurements that expose the frequency response of a radio channel (e.g., CSI or RSSI measurements).
  • CSI CSI or RSSI measurements
  • These measurements are processed to detect anomalies and variations over time, and in particular to detect changes signifying the entrance of a person and/or movement of a person within a monitored zone.
  • the zone(s) to be monitored need to be covered sufficiently by radio signals, but the sources of the radio signals may either already be present before a monitoring system is established - for example from the plurality of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capable devices that are now dotted around the typical home or office, or the sources may be added specifically to establish a monitoring system.
  • radio-based presence detection system Often some established (i.e., already located or installed) radio devices are supplemented by some extra devices added as part of establishing a radio-based presence detection system.
  • devices preinstalled or specifically added
  • Wi-Fi access points Wi-Fi routers
  • smart speakers Wi-Fi repeaters
  • video cameras and video doorbells smart bulbs, etc.
  • the monitoring network between radio devices that are essentially static (i.e., that remain in the same position for extended periods) rather than relying on devices that are repeatedly moved - such as smart phones, headphones, laptops, and tablet devices. It is not strictly speaking essential for all the devices whose signals are used by the monitoring system to be part of the same network - for example, signals from Wi-Fi access points of neighbouring premises could be used as part of a monitoring system in different premises. Again, a primary consideration is the stability of the signals from the signal sources that are used. Wi-Fi access points provided by broadband routers are seldom moved and rarely turned off, consequently they can generally be relied upon as a stable signal source - even if they are in properties neighbouring the property containing the zone or zones to be monitored.
  • FIG. 5 The idea is illustrated very schematically in Figure 5 , here with an installation 500 including just a single source (or illuminator) 502 and just a single receiver 504, for simplicity, although in practice there will typically be multiple sources (illuminators) and sometimes plural receivers.
  • the installation 500 has been established to monitor a monitored zone 506.
  • FIG 5A we see that in steady state, and in the absence of a person, radio signals are transmitted from the source 502, spread through the monitored zone 506, and are received by the receiver 504.
  • the changed pattern of signals received by the receiver enables the presence of the intruder to be detected by a presence monitoring algorithm that is supplied with information derived from the received signals. It will be appreciated that the nature and extent of the perturbation of the signals passing from the source 502 to the receiver 504 is likely to change as the intruder 508 enters, passes through, and leaves the monitored area 506, and that this applies also to reflected, refracted, and attenuated signals. These changes may enable the location of a person within the zone, and their speed of movement, to be determined.
  • signals that are received from an illuminator device (or from more than one illuminator device) after having passed through a monitored space (or volume), have in effect been filtered by the environment to which they have been exposed.
  • the monitored volume as a filter having a transfer coefficient, and we can see that a received signal is at least in part defined by the properties, or channel response, of the wireless channel through which is propagated. If the environment provided by the monitored volume changes, for example by the addition of a person, then the transfer coefficient of the filter, and the channel response or properties, will also change.
  • the changes in the transfer coefficient, and in the channel response, consequent on the change in the environment of the monitored space, can be detected and quantified by analysing radio signals received by the wireless sensing receiver(s). Both the introduction of an object, e.g. a person, into the monitored space and movement of that object within the monitored space will change the environment and hence change the effective transfer coefficient and the channel response.
  • an object e.g. a person
  • the radio-based sensing system can be trained by establishing a base setting in which the monitored zone is unoccupied, which is then labelled as unoccupied for example using a smartphone app or the like, and then training occupied states by a person entering, standing, and then walking through each of the zones one by one. Presence at different locations in each of the zones may be captured and labelled in the system in the same way. This process may be repeated with two people, and then optionally with more people. In essence, this is a supervised machine learning approach, but other approaches to training may be used.
  • the system may need to be retrained for the base setting if bulky furniture (or if a large metal objects) is added to or moved within the monitored space, because these can be expected to change the propagation properties of the relevant zone/space.
  • the data for unoccupied states is preferably retained within a database of "unoccupied" states, even when there are changes to the arrangement of furniture etc. It may not be necessary to retrain for the occupied states, if the system can determine a delta function between the previous base state and the new one, because the delta function may also be applicable in occupied states. But if not, it may be sufficient to retrain only a subset of the occupied states previously learnt.
  • the system may also be configured to self-learn to accommodate changes in the characteristics of the zones when unoccupied, and to add newly determined unoccupied state data to the database.
  • FIG. 5 example uses just a single source (illuminator) and a single receiver, as already mentioned often multiple sources (illuminators) will be used in order to achieve satisfactory coverage of the zone or zones to be monitored. Multiple zones may be monitored by a single receiver through the use of multiple strategically placed sources, but each zone, or some zones of multiples may have a dedicate receiver that does not serve other zones. Likewise, a radio signal source (illuminator) may provide illuminating signals for a single monitored zone or for multiple monitored zones.
  • a presence monitoring system (and a security monitoring system including such a presence monitoring system) may use mesh network arrangement, for example a Wi-Fi mesh network, in which multiple devices act as receivers for illuminating signals - either for a single monitored zone or for multiple monitored zones.
  • mesh network arrangement for example a Wi-Fi mesh network, in which multiple devices act as receivers for illuminating signals - either for a single monitored zone or for multiple monitored zones.
  • FIG 6 corresponds closely to Figure 1 but in this embodiment radio-based presence detection is used instead of relying on zone-specific presence detection as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 .
  • the radio-based presence sensing which may conveniently be based on the monitoring of Wi-Fi signals, and which for convenience we will refer to as WFS, is here performed by the central unit 122 which operates as a Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) and which serves as a Wi-Fi sensing receiver.
  • AP Wi-Fi Access Point
  • the Figure shows the presence of various radio transceivers that are used to provide radio-based presence detection in place of the conventional presence/movement detectors 124 that were used in each of the interior zones of the premises of the Figure 1 embodiment.
  • Wi-Fi stations For example, the whole ground floor of the premises
  • WFS effectively covers the whole area of interest (for example, the whole ground floor of the premises)
  • STAs Wi-Fi stations
  • WFS illuminators so that Wi-Fi signals received at the central unit AP 122 traverse the whole area of interest.
  • Wi-Fi transceivers are quite power hungry, we will generally want the STAs used as WFS illuminators to be mains powered (but preferably also with some back-up power supply such as an internal battery power source) rather than solely battery powered.
  • a battery powered (video) camera such as 126 might be replaced by a mains powered equivalent 626
  • battery powered control unit 128 may be replaced by a mains powered equivalent 628 that is Wi-Fi capable (although the control unit may still use something other than Wi-Fi to communicate with the central unit).
  • Wi-Fi capable devices such as smart plugs, smart bulbs, Wi-Fi range extenders (for example of the type that simply plug in to a socket of the mains electricity supply), to provide a Wi-Fi network that covers the whole of the area of interest.
  • the central unit AP 122 preferably works in infrastructure mode in conjunction with the various other Wi-Fi stations (STAs) to form either an infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) or, in conjunction with another AP connected to the same Local Area Network as the central unit 122 - such as broadband router 600, to provide an Extended Service Set (ESS).
  • STAs Wi-Fi stations
  • BSS infrastructure Basic Service Set
  • ESS Extended Service Set
  • the central unit AP 122 provides just a BSS and not an ESS, and that only the central unit AP 122 serves as a Wi-Fi sensing receiver.
  • Some or all of the STAs in the BSS act as illuminators to provide signals which the CU 122 analyses in order to perform WFS.
  • these other STAs include the broadband router 600 in the dining room, the control unit 628 and a Wi-Fi-enabled camera 626 in the hall, and optionally the disarm node 130 in the kitchen.
  • both the Wi-Fi enabled camera and the disarm node 130 are fed with power from a mains electricity supply as well as having an autonomous internal power supply.
  • both the kitchen and the living room are provided with an STA in the form of for example a "smart plug" 610, 612.
  • the disarm node 130 may not be configured as a Wi-Fi STA but instead some other Wi-Fi STA device may be installed to suitably extend WFS coverage within the kitchen and the living room - for example, a Wi-Fi range extender or smart plug or the like which is plugged into a conveniently located power socket.
  • control unit 122 (or more generally the security monitoring system, given that some entity other than the central unit may be responsible for determining presence and location of presence) is configured, when in an armed at home state, to use the radio-based presence sensing to detect and locate presence within the monitored area(s). So, as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 , when an occupant comes home to the premises and puts the system into an armed at home state, the central unit starts to sense presence and the location of presence. As a first step, the system may infer presence in the hall, zone 2, if the occupant used the control panel 128 to put the system into the armed at home state. Similarly, if the system is put into the armed at home state using the disarm node 130 in the kitchen, the system may infer presence in the kitchen.
  • the system (typically the central unit) records, e.g. in a database, the location (e.g. the relevant zone identifier) and time of the inferred presence.
  • the system e.g. central unit
  • the system will start to receive information data from the radio-based presence sensing arrangement relating to detected presence and these data will be processed to determine the location(s) (e.g. zone identifier(s)) of any human presence and also preferably information data relating to the person count in each zone determined to be occupied.
  • the location(s) e.g. zone identifier(s)
  • the system will detect the arrival of the person in the kitchen as well as detecting their exit from the hall. These data, and their timings, are recorded in the database.
  • the system e.g the central unit
  • the system is aware that there is presence in the monitored area, and that this presence is of one person in zone 3 (the kitchen).
  • zone 3 the kitchen
  • the system e.g. central unit
  • the system e.g. central unit
  • the arrival of the intruder in the monitored area will be detected by the radio-based sensing arrangement and the system (e.g. central unit) will now be aware that there is human presence in zone 1, but that this presence has been detected without any presence having been detected in zone 2 since presence was last detected in zone 1.
  • the system is therefore able to determine that the person present in zone 1 is not the person who was previously known to be in zone 3.
  • the system can therefore raise an alarm - either by signalling the remote central monitoring station, or by pushing a notification to the authorised user(s) of the system e.g. by sending a message to a back end server of the security monitoring system, or by triggering an audible alarm at the premises (optionally via a voiced announcement from one or both of the control panel 128 or the disarm node 130), or some combination of these.
  • the message pushed to the (devices of the) authorised and/or that sent to the remote monitoring station 200 may specify that the alert has been triggered by an unexplained presence in zone 1 (the living room) while presence had been/was detected in zone 3, without any presence having been detected in zone 2 before the detected presence in zone 1.
  • FIG. 6 only illustrates a single floor of premises, but it will be appreciated that if it is desired to provide a WFS capability for other floors of the premises it will be necessary to ensure suitable Wi-Fi network coverage those floors, typically by providing a corresponding access point and a plurality of Wi-Fi STAs for each floor - although sometimes useful WFS capability can be achieved between floors. Understandably, attenuation of signals within a building is critically dependent upon the type of construction and the materials used, and these factors need to be considered when designing and installing a WFS system.
  • Figure 7 corresponds generally to Figure 2 , and includes a pantry 712 in zone 3, and a cloakroom 722 in zone 2, but this time the installation is configured, like the installation of Figure 6 , to use radio-based sensing such as Wi-Fi sensing.
  • a Wi-Fi extender 700 is here shown as present in the pantry, but is primarily provided to improve the radio signal coverage of the monitored area. Instead of providing a radio-sensing component such as the Wi-Fi extender in the pantry 712, the component may be located in the adjacent corner of the dining room or adjacently in the kitchen.
  • one line of sight presence detector, 124 is shown as included in the system of Figure 7 - in this case to detect anyone ascending or descending the stairs 105, and hence to detect transitions between stairs (zone 5) and upstairs (and vice versa), installations according to the invention may instead rely solely upon radio-based presence and location sensing, or may use line of sight (e.g. PIR) sensing only in conjunction with, or as part of, a camera (e.g. a video camera) .
  • radio-based presence sensing coverage for the upper floor(s) of the premises may require the installation of another WFS receiver on (each of) the upper floor(s), possibly together with one or more illuminator device per floor.
  • FIG 8 corresponds generally to Figure 4 but shows schematically details of a central unit 122 configured to perform radio-channel based sensing, in this example WFS.
  • the controller 350 is configured to run a WFS software agent 800, which may be stored in memory 370.
  • the WFS software agent 800 uses WFS radio APIs in the Wi-Fi transceiver 340 to interact with the Wi-Fi radio, the APIs enabling extraction of desired channel environment measurement information and provides the ability to assert any related controls to configure WFS features. This behaviour will be described in more detail shortly.
  • the sensing application on the CU will report a presence state change when the appropriate thresholds are triggered, along with the address of the device whose received data triggered the algorithm.
  • the WFS agent provides a monitoring system which enables the security monitoring system to detect presence and movement in a monitored space, without the necessity to use line of sight motion detectors, and thus to provide alarm indications based on unacceptable presence sequences - i.e. presence detected in a zone without presence first having been detected in an adjacent zone.
  • Two zones are considered to be adjacent only if a person can pass between them without needing to pass through a distinct third zone. That is, two zones are adjacent if a person can pass directly between them without needing to pass through a third, intermediate, zone.
  • a security monitoring system installation in a location having a perimeter, the perimeter enclosing a first zone and a second zone distinct from the first zone, the second zone being accessible from within the perimeter only via one or more third zones intermediate the first and second zones;
  • the security monitoring system including a sensing arrangement to detect human presence within the perimeter and the system having an armed at home state in which it is so configured that, in the event that: at a first instant human presence is detected in the first zone but not in any of the second or third zones; and subsequently, at a second instant, human presence is detected in the second zone without presence having been detected in the third zone in the interval between the first and second instants; an alert is raised.
  • this functionality can be provided on an access point, e.g. a Wi-Fi access point, AP such as router 300, of the premises, with the AP configured to report the result of presence detection to the central unit 122.
  • a Wi-Fi range extender could instead be used as sensing master for its connected nodes, but would be configured to report to the central unit 122 which would be the overall master in terms of reporting the "alarm”.
  • WFS works, and how WFS can be integrated into a security monitoring system, and in particular how WFS can be integrated into a central unit of a security monitoring system.
  • Wi-Fi Sensing can be performed with any Wi-Fi device and can be used on any available communication path. Each communication path between two devices gives the chance to extract information about the surrounding environment. Wi-Fi sensing is based on an ability to estimate the wireless channel and hence the surrounding environment. Because Wi-Fi networks comprise many devices spread throughout a geographical area, they are well suited to exploiting these devices' transmissions in effect to provide a radar system. Depending on the number of devices, the radar system may be monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic. In monostatic WFS, a single device measures its own transmitted Wi-Fi signals. In bistatic WFS, the receiver and transmitter are two different devices (for instance, an AP and a STA in infrastructure mode). In multistatic WFS, the received signals from multiple Wi-Fi transmitters are used to learn about a shared environment.
  • At least one Wi-Fi transmitter and one Wi-Fi receiver are required to perform WFS measurements, and these can be located in the same device (to create a kind of monostatic radar) or in different devices.
  • the measurement is always performed by a Wi-Fi Sensing-enabled receiver on the Wi-Fi signal transmitted by a transmitter, and which may or may not originate from a Wi-Fi sensing-capable device.
  • the device that transmits the signal that is used for measurements is called the "illuminator," as its transmissions enable collection of information about the channel - that is, it illuminates the channel.
  • Wi-Fi Sensing measurements are recognised - Passive, Triggered, Invoked, and Pushed, and these depend upon what triggers the illuminator device to transmit a Wi-Fi signal.
  • the agent improves the usefulness of the standard beacon interval by using optimised timings.
  • WFS In passive mode, WFS relies on transmissions that are part of regular Wi-Fi communication.
  • the Wi-Fi Sensing receiver(s) rely only on transmissions between itself and the illuminator device(s). Passive transmissions do not introduce overhead, but the Wi-Fi sensing device lacks control over the rate of transmissions, transmission characteristics (bandwidth, number of antennas, use of beamforming), or environmental measurements.
  • Invoked measurement involves utilizing a packet transmission that is in response to a packet received from the Wi-Fi Sensing receiver device.
  • a transmission is initiated by the illuminator device for measurement.
  • a pushed transmission can be either a unicast or a multicast/broadcast message.
  • Multicast/broadcast messages can be used for measurements by multiple WFS receivers simultaneously if the devices are not in power-save mode.
  • Triggered transmissions introduce overhead because additional over-the-air transmissions are required. Pushed transmissions introduce less overhead compared to invoked transmissions, because the exchange is unidirectional rather than bidirectional. Triggered transmissions allow for a system to control both the rate and occurrence of measurements.
  • a WFS network is made up of one or more WFS illuminators and one or more WFS receivers.
  • a WFS system is made up of three main components and that are present in Wi-Fi Sensing illuminators and receivers:
  • a WFS system can be built based on existing Wi-Fi standards, hardware, software and infrastructure.
  • the fundamental component required to enable Wi-Fi sensing on the radio is the interface to enable control and extraction of periodic channel or environmental measurement data. Regardless of device type, operating band or Wi-Fi generation, the core APIs to enable Wi-Fi sensing are similar, as the required data and control are common.
  • the WFS software Agent can reside on any Wi-Fi device; for example, in the infrastructure mode, the agent may reside on the AP, in which case channel measurements from all the STAs associated with the AP can be collected.
  • the software agent may also be located on a STA. But in the security management system applications this would mean that the STA would either need to be the controller of the security management system (e.g. the CU), or would have to be reporting to the controller of the security management system (e.g. the CU). Generally, we therefore prefer to run the software agent on the CU, and given that the CU is conveniently also an access point, it makes sense for us to run the software agent on the CU acting as AP rather than merely as an STA.
  • the WFS software Agent uses the WFS radio APIs to interact with the Wi-Fi radio, the APIs enabling extraction of desired channel environment measurement information, and providing the ability to assert any related controls to configure WFS features.
  • the WFS Agent has two main subsystems: Configuration and Control; and a Sensing Algorithm.
  • the Configuration and Control subsystem interact with the radio, using a standard set of APIs.
  • the Configuration and Control subsystem performs tasks including sensing capability identification, pushed illumination coordination, and radio measurement configuration.
  • the sensing algorithm subsystem includes intelligence needed to extract the desired features from the radio measurement data and may differ according to the desired sensing application.
  • the WFS software Agent is needed on any sensing receiver, but is merely optional on an illuminator- only being required if the illuminator also acts as a receiver. If included on an illuminator, only the configuration and control subsystem is needed. By having the agent on the illuminator, additional enhancements are enabled, including sensing capability identification and co-ordinated pushed illumination. If the illuminator is not running an agent, it is still technically able to participate in the sensing network, but only the most basic features that currently exist in Wi-Fi standards will be supported.
  • the WFS software Agent processes and analyses the channel measurement information and makes sensing decisions, such as detecting motion. This information is then shared with the application layer via the Wi-Fi Sensing agent I/O interface. As well as interfacing with the radio and the application layer, the Wi-Fi Sensing agent also interfaces with the existing Wi-Fi services on the system. This interface is necessary for the agent to provide feedback for sensing optimizations that can be used in radio resource management decisions, such as band steering or AP selection requests.
  • the application layer of a WFS system creates the sensing service and in effect presents the information to the end user (in our case to the security management system).
  • the application layer can potentially reside on any networked device: in some embodiments of the present invention it will reside in the central unit 122 along with the WFS agent, but in other embodiments the application layer may exist in an external server or even in the central monitoring station. We prefer, however, to provide the application layer on the central unit to avoid potential problems with signalling delays (for example due to accidental or deliberate network interruption) between the central unit (or other WFS receiver) and a remotely located entity.
  • the application layer receives input from one or multiple Wi-Fi sensing software agents.
  • a typical Wi-Fi home network follows one of two common deployment scenarios.
  • the first consists of a single AP that serves as the internet gateway for all the devices in the house.
  • the second consists of multiple APs forming an ESS and extending coverage throughout the home.
  • the Wi-Fi Sensing receiver may be the AP and/or other devices in the network. Not all the devices in a home deployment need to be Wi-Fi Sensing capable.
  • Wi-Fi Sensing can be deployed in all types of Wi-Fi networks and topologies, operating in different frequency bands (2.4, 5, 6, and 60 GHz) and different bandwidths.
  • the sensing resolution and performance depends on the use case requirements. In general, it is enhanced with the increase in the number of participating devices and higher bandwidths.
  • Applications that require lower resolutions and longer range, such as home monitoring, can be deployed using Wi-Fi networks operating in 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
  • Applications that require higher resolutions and lower range, such as gesture recognition require 60GHz Wi-Fi networks.
  • Radio resource management (RRM) events such as AP and/or band steering, should be conducted in coordination with the Wi-Fi Sensing agent/operation.
  • the devices involved with Wi-Fi Sensing will depend upon the deployment environment and the specific use case.
  • the sensing measurements also need to be processed by the device with enough computation power.
  • the coordination of sensing, including participating devices, is a role particularly suited to an AP.
  • the central unit of a security monitoring system will have ample processing power, as well as being able to function as an AP, to handle this task efficiently and speedily.
  • Wi-Fi networks The nature of Wi-Fi networks is such that it should be possible able to add additional Wi-Fi sensing capable devices to the network to enhance accuracy, coverage and/or localization.
  • additional devices do not necessarily need to be Wi-Fi Sensing capable or dedicated Wi-Fi sensing devices to participate; however, optionally they may also identify their Wi-Fi sensing capabilities and supported features to the AP.
  • Internet of Things (IoT) devices for home deployment can typically also be used as part of a WFS installation supporting a WFS-enabled security monitoring system: example include Wi-Fi controllable plugs and sockets, light bulbs, thermostats, smart speakers, and video door bells.
  • Wi-Fi Sensing agent may elect not to make use of that device.
  • WFS for a security monitoring system may be run over a dedicated Wi-Fi network, the premises having at least one other Wi-Fi network for other purposes. But for reasons of simplicity and economy it may often be preferred to operate a single Wi-Fi network to serve all a household's (or small business's) needs including WFS for a security monitoring service. If a single-network solution is adopted, performance degradation due to airtime usage and sensing overhead must be minimized and hence Wi-Fi transactions required for conducting sensing measurements and sensing management and processing must be optimized for efficiency.
  • At least one network device executes the sensing software, or Wi-Fi Sensing Agent.
  • the Wi-Fi Sensing agent is typically placed on the AP, but it can be placed on any STA (although, as previously mentioned, we prefer to run the Wi-Fi Sensing agent on the AP).
  • the Wi-Fi Sensing agent should discover the device and its sensing capabilities. Depending on the capabilities of the device, its role in the Wi-Fi sensing network would be determined. If the new device is another Wi-Fi Sensing-capable AP, then coordination among the agents is required.
  • the WFS agent needs to have a mechanism to determine which devices are capable and needs to participate in the sensing for each application on a device-specific basis.
  • a WFS agent also needs to be capable of configuring the radio for measurements and triggering transmissions on a periodic basis for sensing measurements, and to enable/disable measurements or adjust configuration parameters for Wi-Fi sensing-capable devices.
  • the Wi-Fi Sensing agent is also able to request specific radio resource management operations, such as AP or band steering.
  • the WFS agent is also preferably able to detect and process specific sensing events and communicate the relevant information to the application layer (e.g., the security monitoring system) for specific handling and user presentation.
  • Interference can be caused by other Wi-Fi devices operating in the same band, which causes cochannel interference, or in an adjacent channel, which causes adjacent channel interference. It can also be caused by non-W-Fi devices, which can be other communication systems or unintentional transmissions that create electromagnetic noise in the band. Interference can impact Wi-Fi Sensing performance in two ways. Firstly, it may interfere with the sensing transmissions and thereby reduce the number of measurements made in a given time interval. As such, it introduces jitter in time instants during which the measurements are made. Secondly channel-state measurements may capture the impact of transient interference, such as for a non-Wi-Fi device, as opposed to motion in the environment.
  • Wireless systems deploy various techniques to avoid or reduce the impact of interference, and these techniques also help to improve WFS performance. These techniques aim at maximizing the reuse of spectrum, while minimizing the overlap of spectrum used by nearby networks: for example, Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA); Auto Channel Selection (ACS); optimized RF planning; (e.g., non-overlapping channels and use of reduced channel width when applicable), and power control.
  • DCA Dynamic Channel Allocation
  • ACS Auto Channel Selection
  • optimized RF planning e.g., non-overlapping channels and use of reduced channel width when applicable
  • increasing the number of illuminators may result in a higher sensing performance: with more transmitters that are located sufficiently apart from one another, motion in a larger area can be detected; when motion is detected using transmissions on one or more transmitters, information is provided that can be used to determine localization of the motion; and sensing accuracy is improved with a higher number of measurements taken across a larger number of transmitters in most scenarios.
  • the IEEE 802.11a preamble is useful for Wi-Fi Sensing.
  • the preamble contains a short training field (STF), a guard interval and a long training field (LTF).
  • STF is used for signal detection, automatic gain control (AGC), coarse frequency adjustment and timing synchronization.
  • AGC automatic gain control
  • LTF is used for fine frequency adjustment and channel estimation. Since only 52 subcarriers are present, the channel estimation will consist of 52 frequency points.
  • Newer OFDM PHY versions (HT/VHT/HE) maintain the IEEE 802.11a preamble for backward compatibility and refer to it as the legacy preamble.
  • the legacy preamble spans a 20MHz bandwidth and consists of a legacy STF (L-STF) and legacy LTF (L-LTF).
  • HT/VHT/HE OFDM PHY versions
  • HT/VHT/HE introduce wider channel bandwidths (up to 160MHz) for backward compatibility
  • the legacy preamble is duplicated on each 20MHz channel. This allows the receiver to compute 52, 104, 208 or 416 valid L-LTF frequency points, which represent the channel estimation between the two devices.
  • MIMO training fields present in HT, VHT and HE LTFs.
  • the MIMO fields are modulated using the full bandwidth (20MHz to 160MHz) and are traditionally used by the receiver to estimate the mapping between the constellation outputs and the receive chains. Since these fields span the full bandwidth, they provide more frequency points. For example, a 20MHz L-LTF contains 52 subcarriers, while a 20MHz HT/VHT-LTF contains 56 subcarriers.
  • the latest introduction of the HE PHY has the potential to enhance Wi-Fi Sensing. In addition to enabling operation in the 6GHz spectrum, the HE PHY has increased the number of subcarriers per 20MHz bandwidth by 4x, which effectively allows for better object resolution.
  • the IEEE 802.11ad amendment defines a Directional-Multi-Gigabit (DMG) PHY for operation in the 60GHz band. While there are three different modulation schemes (Control, Single-Carrier and OFDM) defined, Control and the Single Carrier PHY are the primary PHY used in 802.11ad (and is also part of the subsequent 802.11ay amendment). Regardless of the modulation scheme, every packet starts with a preamble that consists of a short training field (STF) and a channel estimation field (CEF). The STF is used for timing estimation and AGC adjustment. CEF is used for channel estimation.
  • STF short training field
  • CEF channel estimation field
  • the necessary channel estimation for Wi-Fi Sensing is available following successful reception and processing of the preamble of a packet and can be provided to the higher layers.
  • the wide channel bandwidth available in 802.11ad/ay can significantly improve the performance of Wi-Fi Sensing in terms of the resolution; however, the limited communication range in 60GHz band restricts the sensing range and coverage.
  • the central unit of a security monitoring system may relay instead on frequency bands with longer range, sufficient to cover the majority of households.
  • the use of the 60GHz band may be attractive and therefore embodiments of the invention may use this band for WFS.
  • the MAC layer mechanisms may be used to obtain information about the connected devices and the roles they play in Wi-Fi sensing.
  • the MAC layer also initiates and drives transmissions required for channel estimation among the devices in the Wi-Fi Sensing network.
  • the first is identifying the devices and the channel estimation mapped to the physical environment between any two devices.
  • an STA is identified by a 48-bit MAC address.
  • a MAC address is sufficient identification for STAs associated with a Wi-Fi network; however, if the association is lost during the lifetime of the application, then randomized MAC addresses may be used. In this case, a different or more involved mechanism would be required to identify each STA. This identification must match the corresponding channel estimate measurement obtained from the PHY.
  • the second is identifying the device network role and its connection type, such as whether it is an AP or an STA, or whether it is part of a mesh or a P2P connection. This information is used by the Wi-Fi Sensing agent to decide the best method for conducting measurements.
  • the third aspect is the identification of WFS device capabilities, such as sensing capabilities, supported measurement rate, and the availability and willingness of the device to participate in sensing measurements. This information is required from all devices in the network for the Wi-Fi Sensing agent to select devices participating in the sensing measurements.
  • NDP null data packet
  • ACK ACK
  • Another example of how an invoked measurement can be triggered is by use of the implicit unidirectional beamforming procedure, first defined in the IEEE 802.11n standard. In this procedure, an STA requests beamforming training by sending a MAC frame with the training request (TRQ) bit set to 1. This triggers the receiving device to send an NDP announcement, followed by an NDP to illuminate the channel.
  • TRQ training request
  • a transmission is triggered by the illuminator to be received by one or multiple Wi-Fi Sensing receivers.
  • Beacon frames are an example of using existing MAC packet exchanges for pushed measurements.
  • either the AP or STA may take the role of sensing receiver; additionally, there may be multiple sensing receivers required to support the application. Moreover, there may be multiple illuminators involved in the measurements. MAC layer coordination is used to coordinate the sensing transmissions among the illuminators and the sensing receivers in an efficient way. MAC layer scheduling may also be used to enable periodic measurements on which some use cases rely. Coordination and scheduling at the MAC layer should enable different options for conducting sensing measurements among multiple illuminators and sensing receivers, with minimal added overhead, while accounting for the power save state of the devices.
  • the WFS agent has an interface to pass the WFS control information to the radio and extract the measurement data.
  • the interface should be PHY agnostic and is, therefore, defined in a generic manner and extendable to cover different radio driver implementations, including drivers from different chipset vendors. Definition of a standard interface/API enables radio firmware and driver developers to ensure compliance and enables reuse of components or common codes, which may be placed into a library. Most Wi-Fi drivers are based on either the wireless-extensions framework or the more recent and actively developed cfg80211 / nl80211 framework. As the system integration components are largely provided, these frameworks enable Wi-Fi driver developers to focus on the hardware aspects of the driver.
  • the WFS interface should provide the WFS agent with STA identification and enable the WFS agent to track the physical device in the network (i.e., the AP to which it is connected), as well as the device's capability and availability to participate in the measurements.
  • the WFS agent requires control of the STAs that will participate in the sensing measurements, as well as what measurement type (passive vs triggered) will be performed.
  • the WFS interface should provide such control, either on a global system scale or on a per STA basis so that the WFS agent can conduct WFS measurements in the most efficient manner.
  • the measurement rate is typically decided by the WFS agent, and the interface should support its control. However, to provide the lowest jitter and best efficiency possible, it is best to rely on the MAC layer for scheduling.
  • WFS applications may have different measurement parameter requirements (bandwidth, antenna configuration, etc.). The configuration of measurement parameters allows the application to obtain only the data it requires to maintain efficiency.
  • the measurement parameters should be configurable independently for each STA.
  • the WFS interface should be flexible enough for the radio to specify whether the data payload is in time-domain or frequency-domain, the numerical format, etc. By having this knowledge, the Wi-Fi Sensing agent can correctly interpret the data.
  • the system may be configured to define a location based on the location of a terminal used to transition the security monitoring system from the armed away state to an armed at home state. For example, consider the arrangement of Figures 1 , 2 , 6 and 7 , depending upon whether the control panel in the hall or the disarm node in the kitchen is used, the system may store the hall (zone two) or the kitchen (zone three) as a first location which we store as the current location until the position location system associated with the security monitoring system provides a new location report. If the system doesn't derive a location from the place where the system was put into the armed at home state, then it may determine a current location based on a first report from the position location system.
  • the system is preferably configured to try to locate and, in effect, track the various occupants of the premises. If the system was put into the armed at home state from an armed away state, or with little delay (e.g. a minute or less) from the detected entering of the premises, then the system may assume that the premises are empty except for the zone or zones around the point of entry - whose location the system can derive from the identity and hence location of the sensor that detected the opening of an external entrance door. This can be used to provide a single initial or current presence location which is then updated and/or supplemented based on presence reports in respect of other zones.
  • the system is also aware of the identities of zones where for example line of sight presence sensing may not always provide a presence signal in respect of an occupant, for example as is the case in respect of the pantry and cloakroom of Figures 2 and 7 .
  • the system may be configured to maintain a current presence for the relevant zone at least until a presence report is received from an adjacent zone. And if the system considers it possible that there are multiple occupants in a zone where line of sight detection has blind spots, then that zone may be retained as a current zone at least until the relevant number of occupants have been detected in or passing through adjacent zones.
  • the system may also be configured to learn typical durations for how long people spend in the different zones, optionally correlated with time-of-day, day of week, holidays, and even occupant's calendars. Based on the zones in respect of which current locations are stored, the arrival of a new presence indication is checked against all stored current locations, and if the new presence indication is in respect of a zone which is neither a stored current location nor a location adjacent such a stored current location, this suggests the arrival of an intruder and hence the system may treat this as an alert condition. For example, reporting the alert, and the relevant conditions, to the central monitoring station and optionally providing a warning (e.g.
  • a voiced warning of the presence of an apparent intruder in a specified zone or room to occupants of the premises through for example the control panel in the hall and the disarm node in the kitchen, as well as for example, through any smart speakers or the like to which the central unit of the security monitoring system has access through an appropriate radio channel.
  • the new location does not equal the current location, we check whether the new location is an adjacent location (that is, adjacent to the location that is stored as the current location). If it is an adjacent location, the new location becomes the current location, and no alert is raised. But if the new location is neither the current location nor an adjacent location, it is a remote location, and an alert is raised.
  • the system e.g. the central unit 122, knows that there should only be a single occupant, then the detection of a second presence through for example the triggering of motion or presence sensing in two zones simultaneously or almost simultaneously signifies the arrival of a second occupant, and that should itself result in an alert being raised.
  • the system can raise an alert when two or more people are detected based, for example, of the simultaneous detection of presence in two or more remote zones (care needs to be taken, or system adjustments made if for example line of sight presence detection in two or more adjacent zones can be triggered simultaneously or quasi simultaneously, e.g., a matter of a few seconds apart, by a single occupant: if the sensing arrangement is such that this situation cannot occur, then an alert may sensibly be raised in the event that simultaneous presence or quasi simultaneous presence is detected in adjacent zones.
  • a monitored door e.g. an external door with a door opening sensor, such as a magnetic sensor
  • the door may have been opened from outside or from inside.
  • the control panel or disarm node will provide the audible and/or visual reminder of the need to check in (e.g., enter an appropriate code or present an appropriate token) to prevent an alarm event being reported to the central monitoring station. If the security monitoring system allows an armed at home state to be entered directly from the armed away state, the new entrant may try to effect such a change, not noticing that the current state is already an armed at home state.
  • the system is preferably configured to provide an audible warning, e.g.
  • the system may also be configured to invite the new entrant to enter an armed at home multiple-occupant state. If the new entrant declines (e.g. doesn't perform the action(s) required to enter the armed at home multiple-occupant state), the system may be completely disarmed or, more preferably is put into an armed at home state which continues to monitor the perimeter by which no longer monitors presence within the perimeter. Of course, the new entrant should be given the option to select an appropriate armed state, other than the armed at home single occupant state.
  • the new entrant needs to be warned against setting the armed at home single-occupant status - on the basis that someone is already home.
  • This warning again preferably provided at least audibly, may only be provided in the event that the new entrant tries to select this option, or the warning may be provided upon the new entrant entering their code (or a common system code) or presenting a dongle.
  • a person entering through an allowed entry point may be somebody other than an authorised person, in which case they will presumably be unable to provide either a disarm code or a disarm dongle.
  • the security monitoring system is thus preferably configured in the armed at home single-occupant state (just as it is from the armed away state) to contact the central monitoring station with a report of an alarm condition. But if such an entry occurs when the system is in an armed at home state, then preferably the system is configured also to provide a warning to existing occupant(s) of the premises that an entrance has been effected via, for example, the front door or the back door, so that they may themselves exit the premises for safety.
  • Such warnings may be provided audibly via a disarm node or control panel remote from the door that was used to effect entrance, and the system may also be configured to push notifications to user devices, such as smart phones, etc. of authorised occupants warning them of the intrusion.
  • Pushing such warnings to all authorised users of the system means that there is a good likelihood of warning the authorised occupant currently in the premises, as well as providing warnings to other family members, etc. so that they may take appropriate action.
  • the central unit of the security monitoring system will also send an alarm indication to the central monitoring station where a human operator may become involved, for example viewing video footage from the premises, and possibly involving security personnel or the local police, et cetera.
  • the idea of providing an armed at home single-occupant state can usefully be considered an example of enabling a user to arm the security monitoring system appropriately, while providing enhanced security - since it means that the system is armed to respond to the threat signified by the detection of more than one person.
  • the option, which might be presented as the default or first-choice option, of an armed at home single-occupant state provides not only greater security - by triggering an alarm event if two or occupants are detected, even though no perimeter breach has been detected.
  • the system is preferably configured to provide a user arming the system with an easy option to increase the number of occupants in the armed at home mode, to take account of the presence of friends, family members, etc.
  • the system may be configured to provide a, preferably, voiced prompt such as "You've chosen the single-occupant mode. Is that correct, or do you need to adjust the number of people?", with the further option to enable the user to use a dedicated button (physical or virtual - such as on a touchscreen), keypad or touchscreen (or even a voice interface to allow the user to voice a command - such as "increase the people count to two") to increase the number of occupants to match the number present.
  • a dedicated button physical or virtual - such as on a touchscreen
  • keypad or touchscreen or even a voice interface to allow the user to voice a command - such as "increase the people count to two"
  • This approach is also applicable to occupant counts other than one.
  • the system could be configured to default to "family” or “gang” with the count appropriate to the size of the family (e. g three or four) or the number of flatmates or whatever.
  • the system would preferably be configured to provide a, preferably, voiced prompt such as "You've chosen the family- mode with three occupants.
  • the security monitoring system includes perimeter sensors for windows or for doors that are not principal entrances, it will typically be configured to raise an alert or alarm in the event that one of these sensors is triggered while the perimeter is being monitored (armed away or armed at home). But with knowledge of the location of a single occupant, or possibly of all occupants, we can consider whether such a perimeter sensor is triggered in a current or adjacent location - and if so possibly label any alert sent to the central monitoring station that the breaching of the monitored perimeter is likely to be occupant activity - and also to provide some sort of warning to the occupant, so they need to check-in at the control unit or at a disarm node to confirm that they opened the relevant door or window.
  • the system could tailor the interval for the occupant to provide at disarm code or a disarm dongle, based on the relative location (i.e. walking distance) between the location of the opened window and the nearest control panel or disarm node. If no code or token is provided, the opening of the door or window is treated as an alarm event.
  • the security monitoring system can immediately treat the breach as an alarm event and report it as such to the central monitoring station, as well as preferably also providing a warning, such as a local voiced alert to the premises occupant.
  • FIG. 9 is a flowchart that illustrates the possible operation of a security monitoring system, and in particular the operation of a central unit of such a system, in an armed at home single occupancy mode.
  • the process starts at 1000, and the first step at 1010 involves setting the security monitoring system in an armed at home single occupancy mode. This operation may be performed at a control unit, such as 128 or 628, or at a disarm node 130, or even at the central unit 122.
  • the system may, at 1020, use the known location of the relevant node to determine the current location of the occupant (e.g zone 2 for 128 or 628, or zone 3 for 130). This location is stored 1030 as the user's current location. But if the system cannot establish a location based on the arming of the system then a current location is not determined until, at step 1040, the system receives a location report from the presence location system. At 1050 the system checks to see whether a current location is already stored. If no current location was previously stored, then this new location report is used to determine a current location and this is stored as the current location at 1060.
  • the system may, at 1020, use the known location of the relevant node to determine the current location of the occupant (e.g zone 2 for 128 or 628, or zone 3 for 130). This location is stored 1030 as the user's current location. But if the system cannot establish a location based on the arming of the system then a current location is not determined until, at step 1040, the system
  • the system compares the newly reported location with the current location: if the newly reported location matches the current location or is a location adjacent the current location, the newly reported location is stored as the current location.
  • the current location is not updated, but a time stamp associated with the current location may be updated based on the time stamp of the newly reported location.
  • it is preferable for the system e.g.
  • the central unit 122) to associate a time stamp with the stored current location, and it can be useful to store not only a timestamp in respect of the most recent location update but also, when a new location report is for the stored current location, it may be useful to track (record) the duration of the stay in that location (e.g. the location pendency).
  • Stored location pendencies can, for example, be compared with past pendency durations for the relevant zone - and may for example be used to trigger an alert if the pendency significantly exceeds regular pendency durations.
  • the normal pendency in a cloakroom or toilet may be 3 to 9 minutes, so that a pendency of more than 12 or 15 minutes may indicate that the person in the cloakroom has collapsed or is in difficulty.
  • the system could flag an alert to the central monitoring station and/or to a list of users/contacts stored by the system (e.g. in the memory of the central unit) and push notifications could be sent to these contacts.
  • This same monitored pendency idea is also applicable to the multiple occupancy armed at home mode - and in that case the system is preferable configured to trigger a voiced announcement to the effect that someone may be in difficulty in an identified zone (e.g. the downstairs cloakroom).
  • the system is supplied with transit times between the permitted points of entry and the remote zones, and between the various arming points and their remote zones (clearly, the concept of remote zones is based on a point of reference, and hence what constitutes a remote zone depends upon the reference zone or starting point).
  • the system may also be configured to learn and store route sequences and timings, based on the behaviours of the usual occupants - since young children and the elderly are likely to move through premises, and between zones, at very different. These data may be used by the security monitoring system (e.g. the controller 122) to categorise detected movement patterns and hence behaviours as more or less likely to indicate an event or condition that should be reported to the central monitoring station or trigger an alert or an alarm.
  • the security monitoring system e.g. the controller 122
  • step 1070 Whether or not the process of step 1070 results in the reporting of an alert or not, the process preferably continues 1110 with a return to step 1040.
  • the system continues to receive and assess new location reports to look for intrusion events. This continuing monitoring is useful in the event of an intrusion since it enables the movements, and hence current location, of the intruder to be tracked and reported to the central monitoring station. Personnel in the central monitoring station can hence use this information to guide the police or other security personnel who may be sent to attend the premises in response to the detected intrusion.

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EP21218147.3A 2021-12-29 2021-12-29 Sicherheitsüberwachungssysteme Pending EP4207124A1 (de)

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