WO2020123646A1

WO2020123646A1 - Device, system, and method for controlling illumination of bottle

Info

Publication number: WO2020123646A1
Application number: PCT/US2019/065719
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leighton Makoto Ige
Original assignee: Sky Capital Technology Limited
Priority date: 2018-12-12
Filing date: 2019-12-11
Publication date: 2020-06-18

Abstract

A device, system and method for controlling the illumination of vessels arranged for display. Vessels may feature illumination elements and be controlled locally by processing elements attached to the vessels, but timing and coordination of the vessels is handled at row controllers configured to specifically manage the interplay between illuminating vessels.

Description

DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ILLUMINATION OF BOTTLE

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent

Application No. 62/778,430 filed December 12, 2018 and entitled“Device, System, and Method for Controlling Illumination of Botle” by Ige the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The market for packaging liquor botles and other alcoholic beverages is a competitive one in which distinct brands wish to showcase their marks and attract notice from patrons of a club or store in order to sell product. In darkly lit clubs or stores with low lighting, it can be difficult to read a label, or otherwise a product may not stand out among the other botles that are featured on a shelf.

[0003] To draw atention to a particular botle or row of botles in low light situations, some brands have utilized LEDs disposed in the punt of a botle or electroluminescent (EL) elements placed on the labels.

[0004] EL solutions are limited in that they are often restricted to a single configuration which may not be changed once a label has been affixed to a botle. EL labels are also limited in color ranges due to the properties of the material used to manufacture the EL elements. Furthermore, EL elements cannot blink rapidly, or change color, and they suffer from performance degradation over time.

[0005] Some under-botle LED solutions are problematic because they are limited in what information they can display and how they can display it because of the desire to use simple electronics. Although more complicated electronics may be placed under a botle to drive a complex display, the complex electronics may be expensive, such that it could not be installed on every bottle without significantly increasing the cost of the solution.

[0006] A prior application by Ige (US App . No. 16/053,114, herein incorporated by reference) discloses the use of a modular control unit connected to a label on a bottle to create desired lighting effects. In the previously disclosed system, LED lights are used with the ability to change colors and modular control units with custom computing allows for flexibility of programming of the module.

[0007] However, the flexibility of LEDs requires careful coordination of signaling and sophisticated control from an application with a user interface, as well as the ability to surmount other user interface challenges that may be present in environments where the module is present. For example, in a densely populated nightclub, interference from other signals may present challenges in terms of reception of signals due to device interference and multipath interference. Additionally, while conducting business in a nightclub, items may be displaced, or lost, or users of a system may not have adequate time to make full use of a fully customizable interface in order to take advantage of the range of features of modular system. Proposed are technical solutions to the interference and interface problems.

[0008] Additionally, providing multiple bottles in a row or in a matrix was proposed in the prior application. However, these systems can have complex timing issues and other interface problems. Certain technical features and solutions discussed herein provide for features that can be implemented to optimize the use of rows and arrays of bottles using the LED labels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To promote communication of information to modular control units, a smart controller is provided that is able to handle the complete logic of operating various modular control units across a single club. The smart controller may have its own user interface elements but also may be operated through connection with an application on a mobile computing device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer.

[0010] The smart controller may also be configured with communication protocols that allow for reliable communication within an environment that includes dense wireless signal traffic. To achieve this, the smart controller transmits redundant lighting commands to modular control units and includes command sequence data with the redundant lighting commands information, thereby allowing modular control units to identify whether a particular received command has been previously received or used.

[0011] Additionally, the smart controller may be connected to row controllers. Row controllers are communication units that may be serially connected to one another, each of which may be connected to a series of lighting units (or wall brackets). Row controllers and their respective lighting units are utilized to form an array of lighting units, allowing for the creation of a coordinated display on the connected lighting units. Row controllers are configured to calculate or sense their position within the series of row controllers on which they are connected. Each row controller may further be configured to calculate or sense the number of lighting units connected to it. In this way, a series of row controllers may be configured to adapt their display to multiple configurations without requiring substantial programming by an end user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 shows various aspects of a modular label system in accordance with one embodiment.

[0013] FIG. 2 shows various aspects of the bottle harness in accordance with another embodiment. [0014] FIG. 3 shows a functional diagram of components within the modular control unit control unit in accordance with another embodiment.

[0015] FIG. 4 shows various aspects of the control unit housing in accordance with another embodiment.

[0016] FIG. 5 shows various aspects of a system in which multiple modular control units are deployed in multiple locations equipped with smart transmitters.

[0017] FIG. 6 shows a functional diagram of the components within a smart transmitter.

[0018] FIG. 7 shows various aspects of a system in which multiple modular control units are deployed in a location equipped with a smart transmitter and a repeater.

[0019] FIG. 8 shows various aspects of a smart transmitter in communication with a row controller and wall brackets.

[0020] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram depicting one embodiment of a process for coordinating display on wall brackets being controlled by smart transmitter and a row controller.

[0021] FIG. 10 shows various aspects of a smart transmitter in communication with multiple row controller and wall brackets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] In one embodiment of a proposed system, two types of bottles are provided. A first bottle type is equipped with a wireless-enabled modular control unit (MCU or Module) and is also referred to as a Modular Bottle. In one embodiments, the Modular Bottle is a bottle type with an MCU has an LED label that has a customizable LED display (typically multiple LEDs disposed at the bottom of a label, but other patters and distributions of LEDs are possible) and an attached bottle harness to receive the MCU. A second bottle type, also called a Serial Bottle, is also fitted with an LED label with a customizable LED display and a bottle harness but the bottle harness is directly wired to a serial connection that is connected to a row controller. Row controllers are discussed in further detail below.

[0023] In one embodiment, the LED labels may be constructed and lit so as to prominently display a brand or create other lighting effects, including when lit in combination with other bottles. In one embodiment the MCU is reusable in nature - it may be attached to a bottle harness that is specifically designed for a particular bottle style or shape. Further, custom harnesses may be designed to adapt the geometry of one style of bottle to a geometry that is appropriately sized and configured to receive a standard-sized modular control unit that may be used across multiple bottle types.

[0024] Multiple MCUs may communicate with one another using either proprietary or commonly used communication protocols to coordinate display. Further, MCUs may be reprogrammed or further controlled by a master control device after they have been deployed. Programming of an MCU to respond to a master control device may be achieved in multiple ways, for example, programming the MCU unit with master control device information prior to delivery at a vendor premises, programming the MCU by broadcasting program instructions to MCUs by a master control device, or programming the MCU by writing information to the MCU each time it interfaces with a charging station that is specific to a premises and master control device.

[0025] Various sensors and programs may be included in the MCU to provide a rich feature set for operators to utilize. For example, the MCUs may be responsive to environmental factors including light, sound, and motion. Other programming may be utilized to cause lighting effects independent of environmental conditions, such as timed effects and choregraphed scenes, some of which may be responsive to events such as the purchase of an item or multiple items on the premises.

[0026] In one embodiment, the bottle harness includes a microcontroller which is equipped to store information such as information about the bottle type (Modular Bottle vs Serial Bottle) as well as a group code which can be used to coordinate display patterns in a particular premises such as a nightclub.

[0027] In one embodiment of the invention, a thin (approx. 1-1.5mm) piece of translucent plastic is designed in the shape of a traditional wine label to be placed on a bottle 10. One such embodiment is shown in FIG. 1, where label, 12, may be attached to the bottle using a strong adhesive. Label 12 contains LEDs 14, 16, 18, disposed evenly across the bottom edge of the label. The label is coupled to an MCU 20 that is stored substantially in the punt of bottle 10. The connection to MCU is with thin wiring 22. In one embodiment, wires 22 are a flexible printed circuit (FPC).

[0028] Although only three LEDs are shown, any number of LEDs may be utilized.

Other configurations for placement of LEDs are also possible, such as behind label 12, staggered distribution across the label, and/or along other edges of label 12. Label 12 may be wirelessly connected to modular control unit 20. When the modular control unit 20 directs the LEDs wirelessly, label 12 may be powered by batteries stored within label 12 or may be powered by an inductive power signal originating from modular control unit 20.

[0029] Label 12 may be connected by wire to harness 30. Harness 30 is situated inside the punt of bottle 10 and may be composed of a plastic material. Harness 30 is preferably mounted to bottle 10 using an adhesive, but may also be secured using other means, such as a press-fit or through design of the punt to securely hold the harness with snap fitting. As depicted in FIG. 2, harness 30 is designed to receive MCU 20 such that MCU 20 is removably attached to harness 30 with conductive elements creating electrical connection between the MCU and the harness. In an embodiment in which label 12 is directly connected via wire to the MCU, harness 30 contains an aperture for the male end of the connector from the MCU to the label. In one embodiment, the interface between MCU 20 and harness 30 is water-tight (using an O- ring or the like) to allow for the electronics to function while the bottle is submerged in water. Accordingly, in one embodiment MCU is water-resistant.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, MCU 20 is preferably comprised of power circuitry to power both LED label 12 and MCU 20. MCU 20 further comprises a processor 22. The MCU may further comprise a communication device 24 (e.g., an RF or other EM transmitter and receiver) for communicating with a master controller. MCU 20 may also communicate with other modular control units. Processor 22 may have internal memory or may additionally be connected to external memory 23. Similarly, transmitter/receiver 24 may be packaged within processor 22. Processor 22 is also connected to battery 26 and charging I/O port. Processor 22 may also be connected to RFID reader 29 which may be utilized in reading RFID information from a harness or other item. Charging I/O port may also be connected directly to battery 26 to enable charging of battery 26.

[0031] In one embodiment, MCU 20 is designed to fit fully in the punt of a typical wine bottle. In other embodiments, the MCU may be designed to sit underneath the bottle so that it extends beyond the bottom surface of the bottle while still attaching to the harness. As depicted in FIG. 4, in a particular embodiment, the MCU is conical in shape, approximately 3 cm tall and 4 cm wide at the base, although other smaller configurations are possible. In another embodiment, MCU 20 may attach to the bottom of a bottle with a punt that is shallower than a typical champagne bottle. In one such embodiment, a harness may be used as an adapter to create an interface that allows for control module 20 to be used on bottles with punts of different geometry. In another such embodiment, a harness may be used that allows for additional LED lighting elements to illuminate a bottle with LEDs disposed along the top of the harness or the MCU. In one embodiment, a harness may be designed to interface with a flat-bottomed bottle.

[0032] Microprocessor 22 of MCU 20 is configured to control the brightness and color of the LEDs on the label 12. Where LEDs 14-18 are connected directly to the modular control unit, the LEDs are driven by voltages output by microprocessor 22. In other embodiments, for example, when the label is connected to the control unit wirelessly, the label may include additional logic to receive power commands from the MCU.

[0033] In another embodiment, other small electronics may be attached to the label.

For example, piezoelectric speakers may be used such that sound may be played through the labels.

[0034] Processor 22 is preferably a reprogrammable microprocessor chip such as a

Nordic nRF52832 Bluetooth® Microcontroller. Processor 22 is connected to memory 23 and is further connected to battery 26 which may be a lithium ion or other battery suitable for powering microprocessor and driving LEDs. In one embodiment, processor 22 and LEDs are powered using commonly available low-cost commercial batters such as‘AAA’ batteries. Processor 22 may be reprogrammed over the air or may be reprogrammed using battery charging unit (not shown) which connects to charging I/O port 28. Battery charging unit may be wall powered and able to connect to a server system via a wired or wireless network connection such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth® or ZigBee. Processor 22 is also connected to transceiver 24. Transceiver 24 may communicate with other modular control units using a propriety communications protocol or using another commercially available protocol such as NFC, Bluetooth®, Zigbee, or Wi-Fi. In an alternative embodiment, MCU 20 may not be equipped with a transceiver and instead may be preprogrammed with any required light driving instructions. In an alternative embodiment, MCU elements such as memory 23 and transceiver 24 are incorporated into processor 22. [0035] As depicted in FIG. 5, in one embodiment, a multitude of MCUs (501, 502, 503,

511, 512, 513, 521, 522, 523) may be deployed in differing premises (500, 510, 520) which are geographically proximate to one another. MCUs each listen over their radio transceiver (typically Bluetooth®) for packets that are intended for the premises in which they are located based on a broadcast channel (e.g., MCUs 501, 502, and 503 listen for packets intended for premises 500 based upon a broadcast channel that is assigned to the premises). Packets are encrypted and contain various information including a version number, a secret key, a sequence number, a broadcast group, a broadcast channel, an LED program number, a brightness indicator, and other data payload information (e.g., color information).

[0036] A broadcast channel is used typically to differentiate between different clubs.

This prevents clubs from using bottles/MCUs from another club or controlling the bottles/MCUs of a nearby club, for example. Meanwhile, the broadcast group allows control of subsets of MCUs, for example, a club may wish to actuate the lights on only the bottles which are for sale, only the lights for bottles on a wall, only the lights for bottles in a row, or perhaps different customizable groups. For example, all of the bottles sold to a single table might have a customized group number and those bottles could then be subject to individualized control.

[0037] The sequence number included in the packet allows for an MCU to know whether a broadcast command is being heard for the first time or is a repeat of a command heard in the past. In one embodiment, a packet number is ignored if a sequence number is the same as the prior received packet. In another embodiment, a packet is ignored if a sequence number does not match an anticipated next sequence number or set of possible sequence numbers.

[0038] When an MCU is turned to an on state after being in an off state, after a boot period (in one embodiment, five minutes) the MCU will transmit the serial number of either the attached harness or the MCU’s serial number or both. It will then continue to transmit the serial number information (of either the attached harness, the MCU, or both) at a predetermined interval (for example, every 15 minutes). Such transmission may continue indefinitely (until the MCU receives a command to stop transmitting serial information or until the unit is turned off) or for a predetermined number of transmissions (e.g., 100 transmissions).

[0039] Inside each premises (500, 510, 520) is a smart transmitter (504, 514, 524) configured to transmit broadcast signals over an assigned broadcast channel. Although MCUs may be configured to listen for the broadcast signals, such listening may be restricted to certain listening windows. Due to interference conditions possible in a nightclub environment and to ensure that a command is received during the listening window of an MCU, commands are sent repeatedly by the smart transmitter (in one embodiment, 50 times) at certain intervals (for example, once every 20ms). Repetition of commands sent by smart transmitters helps to ensure that that commands are received by all desired MCUs.

[0040] As depicted in FIG. 6, smart transmitter 600 has a processor 601, display 602, antenna 603, USB connections 604, communications module 605 with a Bluetooth® radio transceiver, an amplifier, a Wi-Fi radio transceiver, Ethernet capabilities, a SIM card, and a cellular modem. In certain embodiments, communications module may have a subset of the radio elements listed (e.g., communications module may lack a SIM card and cellular modem but may be equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® radio transceivers. Smart transmitter 600 further includes memory 606.

[0041] In certain situations, it is advantageous to have a transmitter which controls the

MCUs act as an amplifier, where all control logic resides in a handheld computer. However, in a nightclub environment, the handheld computer may easily be lost. Further, it may be difficult for an employee to focus time and energy on using a lighting application. Furthermore, high turnover or other issues with employees may make training employees difficult. In part to solve these problems, logic for control of the system may be transferred to the dedicated smart transmitter. In one embodiment, the smart transmitter is a custom-made device that contains its own user interface for communicating with MCUs. A handheld computer may still interact with the smart transmitter to act as a user interface, but substantial control and UI functions are stored on the smart transmitter such that no additional handheld computers are required to handle communication with MCUs. The smart transmitter may be preprogrammed with various bottle sequences and choreography so that a user may simply select preprogrammed options and smart transmitter will connect to all appropriate MCUs and coordinate lighting activities.

[0042] In one embodiment, smart transmitter may be configured to additionally operate as an HTTP server so that users may interact with the smart transmitter through a web interface. In such a situation, smart transmitter may set up a hierarchy of control systems. For example, smart transmitter may first be controlled by a Bluetooth® controller nearby, and then by a remote connection to a web server if no Bluetooth® control mechanisms are detected. Alternatively, a remote connection to the web server may take priority over a Bluetooth® connection.

[0043] The display of smart transmitter is preferably an OLED display to provide flexible display opportunities. It may show current status of the system, such as whether an effect is being performed, how long a current activity has been running, or other relevant information, such as how many broadcast groups are being used, how many MCUs are being controlled, or other system details.

[0044] Referring now to FIG. 7, while in many cases smart transmitter may be equipped with an amplifier to send a signal strong enough for an entire nightclub, in substantially larger night clubs, a repeater may be used. For example, in premises 700, smart transmitter 704 is able to communicate with MCUs 701, 702, and 703, but unable to reach MCUs 706, 707, and 708. Repeater 705 is able to receive signals from smart transmitter 704 and repeat signals so that they may be received by MCUs 706, 707, and 708. In one embodiment, a repeater has a processor, and listens for packets that are intended for the system and retransmits them. Similar to MCUs, the repeater looks for sequence numbers in the packets to determine whether it should repeat a received packet, or whether it should ignore that packet as having been previously received and retransmitted by the repeater. Repeater may act to only repeat packets actually received, or to repeat each packet received containing a unique sequence number up to a predetermined number of time (e.g., repeating packets with a particular sequence number 50 times for a period of Is), or may use other timing as desired. In one embodiment Repeater is equipped with a transmitter and receiver, preferably a Bluetooth® transmitter and receiver.

[0045] Referring now to FIG. 8, smart controller 801 is connected to row controller

802. Row controller 802 is a system element that has a wireless transmitter/receiver which is connected by wire to a row of multiple Serial Bottles containing wall brackets (803-808). Wall brackets are bottle harnesses which are connected to Serial Bottles. Specifically, wall brackets are controllers for labels that have a UART connection and connect serially, although other connection types may be used. Row controller 802 may receive a command from smart transmitter 801 but optionally may also receive commands from another transmission device (e.g. a portable computer or a repeater). After receipt of a command at row controller 802, row controller then sends commands to the connected wall brackets (803-808). Wall brackets are connected serially and once an individual wall bracket receives a command it is configured to transmit that command to the next wall bracket that is serially connected. A particularly long series of wall brackets may have a transmission delay for certain effects that is undesirable, so in certain embodiments the wall bracket will begin transmitting instructions to the next serially connected wall bracket even before it is able to process the instruction itself. In another embodiment, a row controller may send delay instructions for individual bottles along the row in order to enable the brackets to execute their command simultaneously. Notably, row controllers may perform significant processing, pre-rendering and calculating the state of every bottle in its row. In one embodiment, row controller 802 is configured to determine how many wall brackets are connected to the row controller.

[0046] Referring now to FIG. 9, in one embodiment at step 901, a signal is sent from a smart controller to a row controller which is a master row controller. At step 902, master row controller may optionally transmit a command from the smart controller to additional row controllers connected to the master row controller. At step 903 master row controller determines the desired timing instructions for the wall brackets connected to the master row controller over a UART interface. At step 904 the master row controller sends the lighting commands to the UART connected wall brackets. At step 905, connected wall brackets receive the lighting commands, and at step 906, wall brackets execute commands received from the row controller.

[0047] Referring now to FIG. 10, a series of row controllers (1002, 1003, 1004) can be connected to one another to make a wall 1000, i.e., a large array of bottles. Row controllers are connected via a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) connection to bottles (1002a, 1002b, 1002c, 1003a, 1003b, 1003c, etc.). In a fully wired system where a row controller (1002) is connected by wire to a smart transmitter 1001, row controller 1002 is designated as the master row controller because it is the row controller directly connected to smart transmitter 1001. Row controller is configured with logic to recognize it is the master row controller because it has its input connected and receives its commands directly from the smart controller. Master row controller can then pass that information to slave row controllers (in FIG. 10, slave row controllers 1003 and 1004). Slave row controllers are configured with logic in order to keep track of their vertical position in order to know where they are in the video array. The last slave row controller in an array is not connected to another slave row controller but instead only has a single connection to a slave row controller above it. [0048] Row controllers may have various modes of operation. In one embodiment, the row controllers operate entirely wirelessly using Bluetooth® protocol. A row controller may receive commands over Bluetooth® and send commands to other row controllers over Bluetooth®. Row controllers then may control bottles in a wired or wireless manner. In another embodiment, row controllers are serially connected to one another over wire and a wireless connection from a single smart controller initiates commands to a master row controller which passes commands over USB. In another embodiment, a master row controller may be connected to the smart transmitter over USB (or another wired connection type). In this embodiment the row controllers operate entirely by wire allowing for faster data rates. A fully wired system is also beneficial because the array is able to handle more data than if individual bottles and MCUs were assigned to a location (e.g. because of addressing and interference limitations). Although row controllers may be connected over wire via USB, various other connection and communication protocols can be used, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.

[0049] Fonts may be programmed into the smart transmitter which can then transmit written messages to be displayed on wall 1000 which translates the font to display on the serial bottles/wall brackets which comprise the wall. Wall 1000 may also display video or images if they are of the appropriate size. Row controllers are equipped with both UART connections (to pass information to other wall brackets) and USB connections that can be used to connect to other row controllers, although other means of connection between the row controllers and between wall brackets are possible.

[0050] Each element (row controller, MCU, smart transmitter) within the system is configured to authenticates the source of received signals upon initial introduction to the system. In this manner, the elements do not need to authenticate individual packets, instead relying on packet source information, although individual packets must still be decrypted. [0051] In another embodiment of the proposed system, NFC functionality of row controllers and modules may be used to allow individuals to register row controllers and modules with a personal handheld computing device. When using the personal handheld computing device, an application is used to allow the end user to register the device and then the end user may use the handheld computing device to control the registered row controllers or modules with their own custom display of information or lighting effects.

[0052] Smart transmitters may have other features, including the ability to push software and firmware updates to MCUs and row controllers.

[0053] A mobile application (“app”) running on a portable computer may optionally be used with the system to interface with the smart transmitter. The app reads from smart transmitter current system mode, current effects, current mode, or other system statistics. The app is configured to show a graphical representation of various embodiments of the Modular Bottles and Serial Bottles employed in the system. In one embodiment, substantially the same code which is embedded in the MCUs is used to show effects on graphical representations of the bottles appearing in the app. In this way, smart transmitter can communicate to the app the commands it is sending to the MCUs and Row Controllers, and the App may present a more accurate representation of the current state of the system. The portable computer with the app is preferably a smartphone or tablet equipped with Bluetooth® capabilities and has an application installed that enables portable computer to communicate with smart transmitter.

[0054] The coordination of different groups within the system using group codes may allow for the operation of different groups with different timing. For example, wave effects on a particular row may require different effects for individual bottles, which may require custom timing instructions addressed to grouped bottles. Group information should all be stored within the Smart Controller so as to achieve a desirable visual effect without the need for interaction or programming via an application. In one embodiment, a smart controller may be configured to coordinate the display on multiple arrays of bottles in different areas of a single room.

[0055] The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitation should be understood therefrom. While the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments and several alternative embodiments, which embodiments have been set forth in considerable detail for the purposes of making a complete disclosure of the invention, such embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting or represent an exhaustive enumeration of all aspects of the invention. The scope of the invention therefore shall be defined solely by the claims. Further, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from the spirit and the principles of the invention. It should be appreciated that the present invention is capable of being embodied in other forms without departing from its essential characteristics.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A system for providing an expandable array of illuminated items, the system comprising:

a master control unit comprising a processor, a memory, and a transceiver;

a plurality of row controllers connected to said master control unit, each of said plurality of row controllers comprising a processor and a memory;

a first plurality of lighting modules connected to a first row controller of said plurality of row controllers;

a second plurality of lighting modules connected to a second row controller of said plurality of row controller;

wherein said first row controller of said plurality row controllers is configured to perform the steps of:

receiving lighting instructions from said master control unit;

calculating a first row lighting command based upon said lighting instructions and the number of lighting modules included in said first plurality of lighting modules;

transmitting said first row lighting command to said first plurality of lighting modules; and

transmitting at least a subset of said lighting instructions to said second row controller of said plurality of row controllers;

wherein said second row controller of said plurality of row controllers is configured to perform the steps of:

receiving said subset of said lighting instructions from said first row controller of said plurality of row controllers;

calculating a second row lighting command based upon said lighting instructions and the number of lighting modules included in said second plurality of lighting modules;

transmitting said second row lighting command to said second plurality of lighting modules; and

determining whether to transmit said subset of said lighting instructions to a third row controller of said plurality of row controllers.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said first row lighting command includes a timing offset for each lighting module in said first plurality of lighting modules.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said calculating of said second row lighting command is further based upon the position of said second row controller relative to said first row controller.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein each of said lighting modules comprises a processor and a label affixed to a bottle.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of said row controllers is configured to determine its serial position with respect to other row controllers.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said master control unit is configured to communicate wirelessly with said first row controller of said plurality of row controllers.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said master control unit is further configured to transmit modular lighting instructions wirelessly with a plurality of modular control units connected to LED labels.

8 The system of claim 7 where, wherein said master control unit is further configured to receive instructions from an application installed on a personal computing device.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein said modular lighting instructions comprise a group code and a first sequence number, said group code corresponding to at least one of said plurality of modular control units.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said master control unit is configured to repeatedly transmit said modular lighting instructions with said first sequence number.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said master control unit is further configured to transmit modular lighting instructions with a second sequence number.

12. The system of claim 5, wherein each of said row controllers is configured to determine the number of lighting modules connected to said row controller.

13. A row controller for sending and receiving lighting instructions, the row controller comprising:

a receiver configured to receive lighting commands from a master instruction source; a lighting communication bus connected to a plurality of lighting modules;

a column communication bus configured for connection to a plurality of additional row controllers; and

a processor configured to:

determine whether additional row controllers are connected to said column communication bus;

determine, if additional row controllers are connected to said column communication bus, a position of said row controller with respect to said additional row controllers on said column communication bus;

determine a quantity of lighting modules in said plurality of lighting modules connected to said lighting communication bus; and

calculate lighting command offsets based upon said lighting commands and said quantity of lighting modules.

14. The row controller of claim 13, wherein said lighting commands offsets are further based upon said position of said row controller on said column communication bus.

15. The row controller of claim 14, wherein said row controller is further configured to transmit said lighting command offsets and said lighting commands to said lighting modules over said lighting communication bus.

16. The row controller of claim 15, wherein said row controller is further configured to transmit said lighting commands to at least one additional row controller over said column communication bus.

17. A method of communicating lighting instructions, the method comprising:

receiving a set of master lighting instructions from a master control unit at a first row controller connected to a first plurality of lighting modules;

determining, by said row controller, the number of lighting modules contained in said first plurality of lighting modules;

creating, by said first row controller, a first row lighting command based upon said master lighting instructions and the number of lighting modules included in said first plurality of lighting modules;

transmitting said first row lighting command to said first plurality of lighting modules; and transmitting, by said first row controller, at least a subset of said master lighting instructions to a second row controller;

wherein said subset of said master lighting instructions is based upon the number of additional row controllers connected to said first row controller.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said first row lighting command created by said row controller includes timing instructions for each of said lighting modules in said first plurality of lighting modules.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting, by a master control unit, wireless lighting instructions to a plurality of wireless modular control unit connected to LED labels.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said wireless lighting instructions include a sequence number and a group code.