Method and apparatus for automation and alarm architecture

• US 10,084,638 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2015
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Tyco Safety Products Canada Limited (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Breed, Jason A., Bucsa, Andrei, Hill, Greg
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky, Moustafa M
• Application Number:
  US14/824,175
• Publication Number:
  US 20160050264A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,140 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/006 Alarm destination chosen according to type of event, e.g. in case of fire phone the fire service, in case of medical emergency phone the ambulance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data

Abstract

A method and system architecture for automation and alarm systems is provided. The system architecture is hierarchically organized, allowing devices to process system data differently at different levels of the hierarchy. Moreover, different devices at the same level of the hierarchy may employ different or custom configurations, allowing for context-dependent algorithms to be deployed in the system. The configuration of each device in the system is defined by a set of rules, filters, thresholds, and other criteria, which are pushed to a device from other devices in the hierarchy. Accordingly, the configuration of each device is dynamically updated as information is learned about the context in which the device is deployed, and as more advanced algorithms and configurations are developed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a gateway entity comprising a processor, input data from a primary sensor communicatively coupled to the gateway entity;

determining, using the processor of the gateway entity, whether to process the data locally at the gateway entity or to forward the data to another device communicatively coupled to the gateway entity, wherein the other device includes processing logic for processing the input data that is different from processing logic applied by the gateway entity; and

if the processor determines that the input data should be processed locally, the processor processes the data, generates an action to be taken in response to the input data,

if the action is a configuration update, the processor generates a configuration update that changes a manner in which the sensor processes future data, and forwards the configuration update to the primary sensor,

if the action is not a configuration update, the processor forwards the action to an output device communicatively coupled to the gateway entity, or

if the processor determines that the input data should not be processed locally, the gateway entity forwards the input data to the other device, receives an action to be taken in response to the input data from the other device, and forwards the action to the output device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting supplemental data from a secondary sensor distinct from the primary sensor, wherein processing the input data is performed based, at least in part, on the supplemental data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor is present in a monitored zone, and the output device to which the action is sent is present in an external zone that is distinct from the monitored zone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor of the gateway entity aggregates a plurality of input data from a plurality of sensors to generate aggregated data, and processing the input data comprises processing the aggregated data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining is performed by applying a filter to the input data.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a detector for generating input data;

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing;

an identifier of a connected device that is capable of processing the input data, and

processing logic for processing the input data locally at the apparatus, wherein the connected device stores connected device processing logic for processing the input data, and the processing logic stored on the apparatus is different than the connected device processing logic;

a communication interface communicatively coupled to the connected device, the communication interface is configured to receive a configuration update from the connected device; and

a processor configured to;

determine whether to process the input data locally at the apparatus,

process the input data locally using the processor when the processor determines that the input data should be processed locally, or forward the input data to the connected device when the processor determines that the data should not be processed locally at the apparatus, and

apply the configuration update to change a manner in which the processor processes future data from the detector.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a detector for generating input data;

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing;

an identifier of a connected device that is capable of processing the input data, and

processing logic for processing the input data locally at the apparatus, wherein the connected device stores connected device processing logic for processing the input data, and the processing logic stored on the apparatus is different than the connected device processing logic;

a communication interface communicatively coupled to the connected device; and

a processor configured to;

determine whether to process the input data locally at the apparatus, and

process the input data locally using the processor when the processor determines that the input data should be processed locally,

determine that a result of the processing triggers an action or

determine that a result of the processing does not trigger an action but comes within a predefined tolerance of triggering the action, and

forward the input data to the connected device for further processing in response to the determination,

or forward the input data to the connected device when the processor determines that the data should not be processed locally at the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus and the connected device are parts of an architecture arranged into a hierarchy having at least two levels, and the connected device is either:

another device at a same level of the hierarchy as the apparatus and having specialized processing logic for processing the input data, or

is at a higher level of the hierarchy as compared to the apparatus.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a status update in response to processing the input data, and the communication interface forwards the status update to the connected device to change a status or a monitoring state of an architecture comprising the apparatus and the connected device.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein:

the input data is processed locally at the apparatus, and the processor makes a determination that a result of the processing triggers an action by an output device, and

the processor generates a trigger for the output device in response to the determination.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a communication interface communicatively coupled to a sensor for receiving input data from the sensor;

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing;

an identifier of a cloud processing device capable of processing the input data, and

processing logic for processing the input data locally at the apparatus; and

a processor configured to;

determine whether to process the input data locally at the apparatus or forward the input data to the cloud processing device,

process the input data locally by applying the processor logic when the processor determines that the input data should be processed locally, or forward the input data to the cloud processing device when the processor determines that the input data should be processed at the cloud processing device, and

generate a configuration update in response to the input data, the configuration update changing a manner in which the sensor processes future data; and

the communication interface to forward the configuration update to the sensor.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:

the processing logic stored on the storage medium of the apparatus is different than sensor processing logic stored on the sensor from which the data is received.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing logic stored on the storage medium causes a different action to be taken in response to the data compared to the sensor processing logic.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a communication interface communicatively coupled to a sensor for receiving input data from the sensor;

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing;

an identifier of a cloud processing device capable of processing the input data, and

processing logic for processing the input data locally at the apparatus; and

a processor configured to;

determine whether to process the input data locally at the apparatus or forward the input data to the cloud processing device, and

process the input data locally by applying the processor logic when the processor determines that the input data should be processed locally, or forward the input data to the cloud processing device when the processor determines that the input data should be processed at the cloud processing device; and

the communication interface configured to;

receive a configuration update from the cloud processing device, the configuration update changing a manner in which the sensor processes future data; and

forward the configuration update to the sensor.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

the processing logic stored on the storage medium of the apparatus is different than cloud processing logic stored the cloud processing device to which the data is forwarded.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processing logic stored on the storage medium causes a different action to be taken in response to the data compared to the cloud processing logic.