UTILITY GRID WIRELESS NODE WITH POWERED EMERGENCY DEVICE
First Claim
1. A wireless node for repeating wireless communications in an environment having an external power source, the wireless node comprising:
- a power terminal for coupling to the external power source;
a powered emergency device (PED) housing at least partially housing a powered emergency device coupled to the power terminal, wherein the power emergency device at least one of conveys audio information, conveys visual information, and provides illumination to an area outside of the PED housing; and
a repeater within the PED housing and coupled to the power terminal, the repeater including;
an antenna, anda repeater controller coupled to the antenna, wherein the repeater controller receives wireless communications from a first device via the antenna, and repeats the wireless communications to a second device via the antenna.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless node that bridges a wireless communications gap between a first wireless device, such as a smart meter, and a wireless network, such as a smart grid network, by repeating wireless communications received by the wireless node. The wireless node is integrated with another powered device common to buildings to provide a clandestine improvement to wireless communications. Additionally, the wireless node may effect testing of the powered device and provide results of the test wirelessly to remote devices. The wireless node may take the form of an exit sign, an emergency light, a speaker, and a combination of one or more of these devices. The wireless node may also track power consumption of the repeater portion of the wireless node to provide billing credit to power consumers.
21 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A wireless node for repeating wireless communications in an environment having an external power source, the wireless node comprising:
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a power terminal for coupling to the external power source; a powered emergency device (PED) housing at least partially housing a powered emergency device coupled to the power terminal, wherein the power emergency device at least one of conveys audio information, conveys visual information, and provides illumination to an area outside of the PED housing; and a repeater within the PED housing and coupled to the power terminal, the repeater including; an antenna, and a repeater controller coupled to the antenna, wherein the repeater controller receives wireless communications from a first device via the antenna, and repeats the wireless communications to a second device via the antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of repeating wireless communications from a wireless device to a wireless access point with a wireless node, the wireless node including a powered emergency device (PED) housing with a powered emergency device, a power terminal for coupling to an external power source, an AC/DC converter, a battery, and a repeater including an antenna and a repeater controller, wherein the repeater is within the PED housing, the method comprising:
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receiving, from the external power supply, AC power at the power terminal; converting the AC power to DC power with the AC/DC converter, supplying the DC power to the repeater controller and to the powered emergency device; receiving, via the antenna, wireless communications from the wireless device; outputting, via the antenna, the wireless communications to the wireless access point; detecting a power outage of the external power source; supplying DC power from the battery to the powered emergency device; and controlling the powered emergency device to at least one of convey audio information, convey visual information, and provide illumination to an area outside of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of installing a wireless node in a smart grid communications network comprising:
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positioning a smart grid meter, including a wireless communication module, outside of wireless communication range of a smart grid wireless access point; positioning the wireless node within wireless communication range of both the smart grid wireless access point and the smart grid meter, wherein the wireless node includes a housing, a power terminal for coupling to an external power source, an AC/DC converter, a battery, a repeater including an antenna and a repeater controller, and a powered emergency device, wherein the power terminal, the AC/DC converter, the battery, the repeater, and the powered emergency device are within the housing; and wherein the wireless node receives wireless communications from the smart grid meter via an antenna, and repeats the wireless communications to the wireless access point via the antenna. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification