Network master for wireless fluorescent lamp lighting control networks
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- (a) receiving onto a device first wireless communications from a first occupancy detector, wherein the first wireless communications include first information received from a first plurality of fluorescent lamp starter units, and wherein the first wireless communications are transmitted from the first occupancy detector in accordance with a first wireless protocol;
(b) receiving onto the device second wireless communications from a second occupancy detector, wherein the second wireless communications include second information received from a second plurality of fluorescent lamp starter units, and wherein the second wireless communications are transmitted from the second occupancy detector in accordance with the first wireless protocol;
(c) storing the first information and the second information on the device; and
(d) transmitting the first and second information from the device using a second wireless protocol.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system involves a plurality of RF-enabled occupancy detectors. Each occupancy detector communicates with and controls an associated plurality of RF-enabled fluorescent lamp starter units. A network master has an RF transceiver used to communicate with the occupancy detectors using a first protocol, thereby retrieving status information from the starter units. The network master also has a second RF transceiver for communicating directly with a cellular telephone using a second protocol. A user can use the cellular telephone to control and interact with the lighting system through the network master, and/or to retrieve status information from the network master. The network master automatically generates and sends email alerts to the user by sending the alerts to an email server. The email server forwards the emails to the cellular telephone via a cellular telephone network. Alerts may, for example, indicate a low battery voltage condition or that a lamp needs replacement.
31 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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(a) receiving onto a device first wireless communications from a first occupancy detector, wherein the first wireless communications include first information received from a first plurality of fluorescent lamp starter units, and wherein the first wireless communications are transmitted from the first occupancy detector in accordance with a first wireless protocol; (b) receiving onto the device second wireless communications from a second occupancy detector, wherein the second wireless communications include second information received from a second plurality of fluorescent lamp starter units, and wherein the second wireless communications are transmitted from the second occupancy detector in accordance with the first wireless protocol; (c) storing the first information and the second information on the device; and (d) transmitting the first and second information from the device using a second wireless protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A device comprising:
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an amount of memory; a first Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver that receives RF communications from a plurality of RF-enabled occupancy detectors, wherein status information received from the plurality of RF-enabled occupancy detectors via the RF communications is stored in the amount of memory, and wherein the RF communications received from the RF-enabled occupancy detectors are communicated in accordance with a first RF communication protocol; and a second RF transceiver that transmits RF communications directly to a wireless mobile communication device, wherein the RF communications include the status information, and wherein the RF communications transmitted are communicated in accordance with a second RF communication protocol. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A device comprising:
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means for receiving first RF communications from a plurality of RF-enabled occupancy detectors, wherein status information received from the plurality of RF-enabled occupancy detectors via the first RF communications is stored in a memory on the device, and wherein the first RF communications received from the RF-enabled occupancy detectors are communicated in accordance with a first wireless protocol; and means for transmitting second RF communications directly from the device to a wireless mobile communication device, wherein the second RF communications transmitted to the wireless mobile communication device include the status information, wherein the second RF communications are communicated in accordance with a second wireless protocol, and wherein the second wireless protocol is not a cellular telephone protocol used by the wireless mobile communication device to communicate voice information to any cellular telephone network. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification