Monitoring smart devices on a wireless mesh communication network

• US 10,522,014 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2018
• Issued: 12/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sensormatic Electronics LLC (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Sensormatic Electronics LLC (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Renkis, Martin A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Holder, Anner N
• Application Number:
  US16/215,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20190114886A1
• Time in Patent Office: 386 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19619 Details of casing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19621 Portable camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1966 Wireless systems, other than telephone systems, used to communicate with a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19663 Surveillance related processing done local to the camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19673 Addition of time stamp, i.e. time metadata, to video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1968 Interfaces for setting up or customising the system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19682 Graphic User Interface [GUI] presenting system data to the user, e.g. information on a screen helping a user interacting with an alarm system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A surveillance system and method with at least one wireless input capture device ICD(s) and a corresponding digital input recorder (DIR) and/or another ICD, including the steps of providing the base system; at least one user accessing the DIR via user interface either directly or remotely; the DIR and/or ICD searching for signal from the ICD(s) and establishing communication with them, and the system providing for input capture and data transmission prioritization, thereby providing a secure surveillance system having wireless communication for monitoring a target environment with prioritization capabilities.

Claims

1. A device for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory having instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform operations comprising;

wirelessly communicating with electronic devices configured to automatically communicate directly with one another via a local network, the electronic devices including a first electronic device and a second electronic device;

controlling operation of one or more of the electronic devices based on one or more signals from a remote server device;

receiving environmental data from the first electronic device; and

automatically controlling, based on the received environmental data, at least one of settings, activities, or functionality of the second electronic device.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the local network is a mesh network, and wherein the operations further comprise managing communications between the electronic devices to maintain the mesh network.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the electronic devices further include a third electronic device, wherein each of the first electronic device, the second electronic device, and the third electronic device is configured to directly communication with one another;

and the operations further include identifying each of the first electronic device, the second electronic device, and the third electronic device.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory is further configured to cause the device to make available, via a non-mesh network, data from one or more of the electronic devices.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more of the electronic devices are configured to capture live video.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein one of the electronic devices is a camera, and wherein the operations further include causing a notification to be sent to a user in response to an event detected by the camera.

7. A method comprising:

automatically controlling operation of wireless electronic devices, wherein each of the wireless electronic devices is programmed to communicate via a wireless mesh network, wherein each wireless electronic device includes one or more sensors configured to capture data, at least one processor, a memory, and a transmitter; and

receiving data from at least one of the wireless electronic devices; and

controlling at least one of the other wireless electronic devices based on at least a portion of the received data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein one or more of the wireless electronic devices detect a temperature, moisture, sound, and/or presence of one or more chemicals.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the received data is transmitted via a mesh network managed by a local base station in direct communication with one or more of the wireless electronic devices, wherein the local base station is programmed to locally manage settings, activities, and/or functionality of at least one of the wireless electronic devices.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the wireless electronic devices automatically communicate with one another via a wireless mesh network according to a mesh protocol.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising establishing communication channels between the wireless electronic devices to form at least a portion of the wireless mesh network.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending one or more images to a remote viewing device based on detection of an event or input by at least one of the wireless electronic devices, wherein the remote viewing device is configured to inform an operator associated with the remote viewing device that the event or input was detected.

13. A system for wireless communication, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory having instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to;

wirelessly communicate with electronic devices configured to automatically communicate wirelessly via a mesh network;

automatically control at least one of the electronic devices based on one or more events detected by one of the electronic devices; and

directly communicate with one or more of the electronic devices to receive environmental data transmitted via the mesh network and independent of any remote server device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the electronic devices are configured to cross-communicate based on relative positions between the electronic devices.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory is further configured to cause the system to communicate directly with at least one of the electronic devices that receives the environmental data and automatically transmits the received environmental data to a device with the one or more processors and memory.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the electronic devices is a digital input device that includes the one or more processors and the memory, and wherein the digital input device is programmed to enable remote viewing of the environmental data.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory has instructions that are executable to cause a notification to be sent indicating detection of at least one of an event or input based on the environmental data.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory has instructions further configured to coordinate operation of the electronic devices based on the received environmental data.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the electronic devices are wireless input capture devices.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the memory having instructions is further configured to cause the system to send the environmental data via a wide area network to a remote server.