APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING EMERGENCY OVERRIDE OF INFORMATIONAL DISPLAYS

• US 20120119921A1
• Filed: 11/12/2010
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Simplexgrinnell LP (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Farley, Daniel G., Farley, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,723,681 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/691.6
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/005 with transmission via computer network

Abstract

Various embodiments are generally directed to a system and method for providing emergency override of informational displays in an emergency notification system. An embodiment may include an emergency detection module coupled to a display override module. The display override module may be coupled to a third-party display driver. When an emergency condition is detected, the emergency detection module may use the display override module to override any display messages from the third-party display module in order to display an emergency display message. In an embodiment, the display override module may be a switch box. In another embodiment, the display override module may be a RSS feed subscribed to by the third-party display driver. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an emergency detection module configured to monitor for and detect an emergency condition and to generate an emergency display message in response thereto; and

a display override module, coupled to a third-party display driver, configured to receive the emergency display message from the emergency detection module, and cause the emergency display message to be displayed on a third-party display.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the emergency detection module comprises:

an emergency communication panel to detect an emergency; and

a computer coupled to the emergency communication panel to receive information about an emergency detected by the emergency communication panel.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the display override module comprises:

a really simple syndication (RSS) feed generated by the computer in response to an emergency detected by the and wherein the third-party display driver is subscribed to read the RSS feed and drive the third-party display according to the RSS feed.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the display override module comprises:

a switch coupled to the emergency detection module and the third-party display driver, wherein the display override module switches a display source of the third-party display from the third-party display driver to the emergency detection module.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the display override module comprises:

a really simple syndication (RSS) feed generated by the emergency detection module, and wherein the third-party display driver is subscribed to read the RSS feed and drive the third-party display according to the RSS feed.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the emergency display message is one of:

a text message, an audio message, a video message, or an image.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the emergency detection module generates the emergency display message by retrieving a stored message according to a type of emergency condition.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

detecting an emergency condition at an emergency detection module;

generating an emergency display message; and

overriding a third-party display driver to display the emergency display message on a third-party display.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein overriding the third-party display driver comprises:

changing a switch box that is coupled to the third-party display from receiving a third-party display message from the third-party display driver to receiving the emergency display message from the emergency detection module.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein overriding the third-party display driver comprises:

subscribing the third-party display driver to a really simple syndication (RSS) feed generated by the emergency detection module; and

publishing the emergency display messages as the RSS feed.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising monitoring, using the emergency detection module, whether the RSS feed has a subscriber.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising generating an alert message if no subscriber of the RSS feed is detected during monitoring.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein detecting an emergency condition comprises at least one of:

detecting an emergency with a sensor coupled to the emergency detection module;

or

receiving a notification of an emergency condition from an outside source.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the emergency display message comprises at least one:

of a text message, an audio message, a video message, or an image.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

monitoring for an error condition that would prevent overriding the third-party display driver; and

generating an alert when an error condition occurs.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein generating the emergency display message comprises retrieving the emergency display message from a computer-readable storage medium according to a type of emergency condition detected.

17. A machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed enable a computing system to:

receive a notification of an emergency condition;

generate an emergency display message; and

override a third-party display driver to display the emergency display message on a third-party display.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions to override the third-party display driver comprise instructions to change a switch box that is coupled to the third-party display from receiving a third-party display message from the third-party display driver to receiving the emergency display message.

19. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions to override the third-party display driver comprise instructions to publish the emergency display messages as an RSS feed;

wherein the third-party display driver is subscribed to the RSS feed.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising instructions to:

monitor for an error condition that would prevent overriding the third-party display driver; and

generate an alert when an error condition occurs.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the instructions to generate the emergency display message comprise instructions to:

retrieve the emergency display message from a computer-readable storage medium according to a type of emergency condition detected.