Alarm signaling technology

• US 10,282,974 B1
• Filed: 05/21/2018
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Trundle, Stephen Scott, Slavin, Alison Jane, Martin, Jean-Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phung
• Application Number:
  US15/984,971
• Time in Patent Office: 351 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/005 Alarm destination chosen according to a hierarchy of available destinations, e.g. if hospital does not answer send to police station
• 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: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/02 Monitoring continuously signalling or alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/046 prevention of tampering with detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/185 Signal analysis techniques for reducing or preventing false alarms or for enhancing the reliability of the system

Abstract

Techniques are described for handling an event where a control panel or an alarm signaling device is tampered with or destroyed by a disablement tactic, e.g., a “crash and smash intrusion.”

Claims

1. A server comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of an alarm system;

determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring; and

handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system,

wherein handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system comprises;

dynamically setting an escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system; and

handling alarm signal escrowing and alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system using the dynamically set escrow period.

2. The server of claim 1, wherein dynamically setting the escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system comprises setting a relatively short escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively high signal quality and setting a relatively long escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively low signal quality.

3. The server of claim 1:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises measuring signal strength for alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an average or median signal strength for alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

4. The server of claim 1:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises measuring latency of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an average or median latency of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

5. The server of claim 1:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises measuring signal to noise ratio of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an average or median signal to noise ratio of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

6. The server of claim 1:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises tracking whether alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system result in communication errors; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an error rate of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

7. The server of claim 1, wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining one or more alarm signaling quality statistics for a particular number of outlier signaling events for alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

8. The server of claim 1, wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining one or more alarm signaling quality statistics for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring.

9. A server comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of an alarm system;

determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring; and

handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system,

wherein handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system comprises;

requiring exchange of pinging communications before issuing an alarm system destruction signal based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively low signal quality; and

allowing the alarm system destruction signal to be issued without requiring exchange of pinging communications based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively high signal quality.

10. A method comprising:

monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of an alarm system;

determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring; and

handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system,

wherein handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system comprises;

dynamically setting an escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system; and

handling alarm signal escrowing and alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system using the dynamically set escrow period.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein dynamically setting the escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system comprises setting a relatively short escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively high signal quality and setting a relatively long escrow period for alarm signals from the at least one component of the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively low signal quality.

12. The method of claim 10:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises measuring signal strength for alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an average or median signal strength for alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

13. The method of claim 10:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises measuring latency of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an average or median latency of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

14. The method of claim 10:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises measuring signal to noise ratio of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an average or median signal to noise ratio of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

15. The method of claim 10:

wherein monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of the alarm system comprises tracking whether alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system result in communication errors; and

wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining an error rate of alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining one or more alarm signaling quality statistics for a particular number of outlier signaling events for alarm signals received from the at least one component of the alarm system.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring comprises determining one or more alarm signaling quality statistics for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring.

18. A method comprising:

monitoring alarm signaling quality for alarm signals received from at least one component of an alarm system;

determining alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system based on the monitoring; and

handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system,

wherein handling alarm system destruction detection for the alarm system based on the determined alarm signaling quality for the at least one component of the alarm system comprises;

requiring exchange of pinging communications before issuing an alarm system destruction signal based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively low signal quality; and

allowing the alarm system destruction signal to be issued without requiring exchange of pinging communications based on the determined alarm signaling quality being a relatively high signal quality.