Occupancy system and method for detecting presence of individuals in a plurality of defined areas or rooms
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring occupancy of one or more pre-defined areas, comprising:
- a scanning subsystem for wirelessly scanning a pre-defined area, using a short range wireless communications protocol,to detect a presence of one or more wireless personal electronic devices (PEDs) associated with one or more individuals present in the pre-defined area, each of the PEDs also using the short range wireless communications protocol to radiate wireless signals that are detected by the scanning subsystem;
a data analysis/processing subsystem for analyzing data generated by the scanning subsystem relating to detected PEDs in the pre-defined area;
a notification subsystem for analyzing the information relating to an occupancy level of the pre-defined area;
further comprising at least one pressure sensitive structure used in the pre-defined area and positioned where chairs are expected to be present,the pressure sensitive structure configured to transmit at least one of a wired or wireless signal indicating when a sensed threshold force is detected on a chair,the wired or wireless signal being used by the data analysis/processing subsystem to verify detection of at least one individual in the predefined area and to distinguish from a situationwhere an implement having a weight less than a weight of an individual, and thus below the threshold, has been set on the chair; and
a passive infrared sensing system for detecting the presence of an individual in the predefined area, andgenerating a signal in accordance therewith which is used by the data analysis/processing subsystem,along with the signal generated by the pressure sensitive structure, to verify the presence of an individual in the predefined area; and
wherein the data analysis/processing subsystem comprises a cloud based subsystem.
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a system for monitoring occupancy of one or more pre-defined areas. The system has a scanning subsystem for wirelessly scanning a pre-defined area, using a short range wireless communications protocol, to detect a presence of one or more wireless personal electronic devices (PEDs) associated with one or more individuals present in the pre-defined area. Each of the PEDs also use the short range wireless communications protocol to radiate wireless signals that are detected by the scanning subsystem. A data analysis/processing subsystem analyzes data generated by the scanning subsystem relating to detected PEDs in the pre-defined area. A notification subsystem analyzes the information relating to an occupancy level of the pre-defined area.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring occupancy of one or more pre-defined areas, comprising:
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a scanning subsystem for wirelessly scanning a pre-defined area, using a short range wireless communications protocol, to detect a presence of one or more wireless personal electronic devices (PEDs) associated with one or more individuals present in the pre-defined area, each of the PEDs also using the short range wireless communications protocol to radiate wireless signals that are detected by the scanning subsystem; a data analysis/processing subsystem for analyzing data generated by the scanning subsystem relating to detected PEDs in the pre-defined area; a notification subsystem for analyzing the information relating to an occupancy level of the pre-defined area; further comprising at least one pressure sensitive structure used in the pre-defined area and positioned where chairs are expected to be present, the pressure sensitive structure configured to transmit at least one of a wired or wireless signal indicating when a sensed threshold force is detected on a chair, the wired or wireless signal being used by the data analysis/processing subsystem to verify detection of at least one individual in the predefined area and to distinguish from a situation where an implement having a weight less than a weight of an individual, and thus below the threshold, has been set on the chair; and a passive infrared sensing system for detecting the presence of an individual in the predefined area, and generating a signal in accordance therewith which is used by the data analysis/processing subsystem, along with the signal generated by the pressure sensitive structure, to verify the presence of an individual in the predefined area; and wherein the data analysis/processing subsystem comprises a cloud based subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for monitoring occupancy a plurality of pre-defined areas, comprising:
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a scanning subsystem for wirelessly scanning each of the pre-defined areas, using a short range wireless communications protocol, to detect a presence of one or more wireless personal electronic devices (PEDs) associated with one or more individuals present in each of the pre-defined areas, each of the PEDs also using the short range wireless communications protocol to radiate wireless signals that are detected by the scanning subsystem; a cloud based data analysis/processing subsystem for analyzing data received wirelessly from the scanning subsystem relating to detected PEDs in the pre-defined areas; at least one pressure sensitive structure used in the pre-defined area and positioned where chairs are expected to be present, the pressure sensitive structure transmitting at least one of a wired or wireless signal received by the scanning subsystem indicating when a sensed threshold force is detected on a chair, the wired or wireless signal being used by the data analysis/processing subsystem to verify detection of at least one individual in the predefined area and to distinguish from a situation where an implement having a weight less than a weight of an individual, and thus below the threshold, has been set on the chair; a passive infrared sensing system for detecting the presence of an individual in the predefined area, and generating a signal in accordance therewith which is used by the data analysis/processing subsystem along with the signal from the pressure sensitive structure to verify the presence of an individual at the predefined area; a local area network (LAN) in communication with the scanning subsystem for assisting in providing the data to the cloud based data analysis/processing subsystem; and a notification subsystem for analyzing the information relating to an occupancy level in each one of the pre-defined areas. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for monitoring occupancy of one or more pre-defined areas, comprising:
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using a scanning subsystem to wirelessly scan a pre-defined area, using a short range wireless communications protocol, to detect a presence of one or more wireless personal electronic devices (PEDs) associated with one or more individuals present in the pre-defined area, each of the PEDs also using the short range wireless communications protocol to radiate wireless signals that are detected by the scanning subsystem; using at least one pressure sensitive structure in the pre-defined area and positioned where chairs are expected to be present, the pressure sensitive structure operating to transmit at least one of a wired or wireless signal indicating when a sensed threshold force is detected on a chair, the wired or wireless signal being received by the scanning subsystem and used to help verify detection of at least one individual in the predefined area and to distinguish from a situation where an implement having a weight less than a weight of an individual, and thus below the threshold, has been set on the chair; using a passive infrared sensing system the detect the presence of an individual in the predefined area, and to generate a signal in accordance therewith; using a data analysis/processing subsystem to analyze data generated by the scanning subsystem relating to detected PEDs in the pre-defined area, as well data represented by the wired or wireless signals transmitted from the pressure sensitive structure and signals from the passive infrared sensing system; and using a notification subsystem to analyze the information relating to an occupancy level of the pre-defined area; wherein the operation of using a data analysis/processing subsystem comprises using a cloud based data analysis/processing subsystem to wirelessly scan a pre-defined area; and the operation of using a notification subsystem comprises using a cloud based notification subsystem.
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Specification