REMOTELY ADJUSTABLE SOLID-STATE LAMP

• US 20130293112A1
• Filed: 05/01/2013
• Published: 11/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Express Imaging Systems, LLC
• Original Assignee: Express Imaging Systems, LLC
• Inventors: Reed, William G., DeGraff, Dale H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,204,523 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 315/131
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/105 in response to determined parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/11 by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/16 by timing means
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/1965 using handheld communication devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a remotely adjustable lighting system. The lighting system includes a luminaire including one or more solid-state light systems and a non-line-of-sight wireless transceiver. The output intensity of the solid-state light systems is adjustable. The non-line-of-sight transceiver in the luminaire can receive one or more non-line-of-sight wireless signals transmitted by a transceiver in a general purpose handheld computing device. Instructions and data including configuration and output intensity adjustments may be communicated between the general purpose handheld computing device and the luminaire via one or more non-line-of-sight wireless signals.

Claims

1. A general purpose handheld computing device, comprising:

at least one antenna;

at least one transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna to provide wireless, non-line-of-sight communications with at least one luminaire having at least one solid-state light source;

at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver;

at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium that stores processor executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to cause the at least one transceiver to wirelessly transmit non-line-of-sight signals to the at least one luminaire encoding at least one of commands or data that cause at least one of;

an adjustment of a level of illumination provided by the at least one luminaire;

an adjustment of a real time clock of the at least one luminaire;

a daylight savings time change date to be set;

a time to be set to adjust a level of illumination provide by the at least one luminaire;

an adjustment of an ambient condition trigger value which indicates an ambient condition which triggers an adjustment in a level of illumination provided by the luminaire;

or

a retrieval of luminaire specific information.

2. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein to cause an adjustment in a level of illumination provided by the at least one luminaire the instructions include at least one command to turn at least one solid-state light source of the luminaire ON or OFF.

3. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein to cause the adjustment of a real time clock of the at least one luminaire the at least one processor causes the transceiver to transmit at least one of a date, a current time, and/or a time zone of installation of the luminaire.

4. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 3 wherein the instructions cause the handheld computing device to collect information from an external source to adjust the real time clock of the luminaire.

5. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 4 wherein the external source that the handheld computing device collects information from is one of a cellular communications network or a Wi-Fi server, or a global position system.

6. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the general purpose handheld computing device to pair with a respective transceiver of a single luminaire at a time.

7. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the general purpose handheld computing device to pair with a respective transceiver of each of a plurality of luminaires concurrently.

8. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 which takes the form of a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook or laptop computer and wherein the transceiver is at least one of a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth transceiver.

9. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to provide an interface that allows selection of a single one of a plurality of luminaires within range of the transceiver.

10. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to provide an interface that allows selection of at least two of a plurality of luminaires for concurrent operation when the selected luminaires are within range of the transceiver.

11. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to provide a user interface that allows selection of at least two of a plurality of luminaires to each send a same command.

12. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 11 wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to cause the transmitter to transmit commands to each of the selected luminaires as the general purpose handheld computing device comes within range of the respective luminaires.

13. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to cause the transmitter to transmit commands that cause a firmware of the luminaire to be updated.

14. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor tracks time and the instructions cause the at least one processor to cause the transmitter to transmit commands to selected ones of the luminaires at defined times.

15. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to encrypt communications to the at least one luminaire and to decrypt communications from the at least one luminaire.

16. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a global positioning transceiver that produces location information indicative of a present location of the general purpose handheld computing device, and wherein the at least one processor stores geographic location information logically associated with a set of luminaire specific information.

17. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 16 wherein:

the at least one processor stores the geographic location information logically associated with luminaire specific information in the form of a map of a lighting system.

18. The general purpose handheld computing device of claim 1 wherein, responsive to a retrieval of luminaire specific information, the general purpose handheld computing device receives at least one of a functional state of an ambient light sensor, an indication indicative of a presently configured dimming power level, a luminaire specific unique identifier, a length of time the luminaire has been in service, or an indication of an operating condition state.

19. A method of operation of a general purpose handheld computing device which includes at least one antenna, at least one transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna, a number of user input elements, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, the number of user input elements, and at least one non-transitory storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores processor executable instructions, the method comprising:

creating a first group logical association between two or more luminaires to form a first set from all available luminaires for common configuration of the two or more luminaires in the first set;

transmitting signals via the transceiver, the signals to include configuration information to the luminaires in the first set of luminaires; and

responsive to successful receipt of the configuration information by a luminaire within the first set, receiving via the transceiver a unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

responsive to the receipt of the unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire, determining via the processor the luminaires within in the first set that have received the configuration information; and

repeating the transmitting signals via the transceiver, the signals to include configuration information to the luminaires in the first set of luminaires until either of receipt of the transmitting signals which include configuration information by all of the luminaires in the first set or loss of the transmitting signal by all of the luminaires in the first set.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining via the processor a subset of luminaires of the first group which are within a communications range of the general purpose handheld computing device at a first time;

transmitting signals via the transceiver only to the subset of luminaires of the first group, the signal to include configuration information; and

transmitting via the transceiver to other luminaires of the first group as the other luminaires fall within the communications range of the general purpose handheld computing device at a second time, as a relative position of the general purpose handheld computing device changes with respect to the other luminaires.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein transmitting signals to the luminaires in the first group includes transmitting signals to all luminaires in the first subset concurrently.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein transmitting signals to the luminaires in the first group includes transmitting signals only to luminaires in the first group that are currently within range of the general purpose handheld computing device.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

responsive to the receipt of the unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire, identifying other luminaires of the first group that have not yet received the configuration information.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

responsive to the identification of the other luminaires of the first group that have not yet received the configuration information, transmitting configuration information to the other luminaires within the first group identified as not yet having received the configuration information.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

retrieving the configuration information from each of the luminaires within the first group;

comparing the retrieved configuration information with the current configuration loaded into the memory of the general purpose handheld computing device; and

transmitting the current configuration from the memory of the general purpose handheld computing device to each of the luminaires within the first group identified as having configuration information different from the current configuration information.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

displaying via the processor, the subset of luminaires on a map displayed on the general purpose handheld computing device, the display of each of the luminaires on the map spatially corresponding to a selective physical positioning of each of the luminaires within the subset of luminaires.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

responsive to the receipt via the transceiver of the unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire, visually indicating on the map those luminaires having received configuration information.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

identifying a single luminaire to receive the current configuration information responsive to an input provided to the general purpose handheld computing device.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of luminaires to receive the current configuration information responsive to an input provided to the general purpose handheld computing device.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

determining via the processor one or more geographic locations placing the greatest number of luminaires within the subset in range of the general purpose handheld computing device; and

providing a visual indication of the one or more geographic locations on the map displayed on the general purpose handheld computing device.

32. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

determining via the processor a minimum number of geographic locations to place all of the luminaires in the subset in range of the general purpose handheld computing device; and

providing a visual indication of the geographic locations on the map displayed on the general purpose handheld computing device.

33. A method of operation of a general purpose handheld computing device which includes at least one antenna, at least one transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna, a number of user input elements, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, the number of user input elements, and at least one non-transitory storage medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and which stores processor executable instructions, the method comprising:

creating a first group logical association between two or more luminaires which form a first set of all available luminaires for common configuration of the two or more luminaires in the first set;

creating a second group logical association between two or more luminaires which form a second set of all available luminaires for common configuration of the two or more luminaires in the second set, the second set not coextensive with the first set;

transmitting signals via the transceiver, the signals to include configuration information to the luminaires in the first set of luminaires; and

transmitting signals via the transceiver, the signals to include configuration information to the luminaires in the second set of luminaires.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein:

transmitting signals to the luminaires in the first group includes transmitting signals to all luminaires in the first set concurrently; and

transmitting signals to the luminaires in the second group includes transmitting signals to all luminaires in the second set concurrently.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein:

transmitting signals to the luminaires in the first group includes transmitting signals only to luminaires in the first set that are currently within range of the general purpose handheld computing device; and

transmitting signals to the luminaires in the second group includes transmitting signals only to luminaires in the second set that are currently within range of the general purpose handheld computing device.

36. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

determining via the processor a first subset of luminaires of the first group which are within a communications range of the general purpose handheld computing device at a first time;

determining via the processor a second subset of luminaires of the second group which are within the communications range of the general purpose handheld computing device at the first time;

transmitting signals via the transceiver, the signals to include configuration information only to the first subset of luminaires;

transmitting signals via the transceiver, the signals to include configuration information only to the second subset of luminaires;

transmitting to other luminaires of the first set as the other luminaires fall within the communications range of the general purpose handheld computing device at a second time, as a relative position of the general purpose handheld computing device changes with respect to the other luminaires in the first set; and

transmitting to other luminaires of the second set as the other luminaires fall within the communications range of the general purpose handheld computing device at the second time, as the relative position of the general purpose handheld computing device changes with respect to the other luminaires in the second set.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

responsive to successful receipt of the configuration information by a luminaire within the first set, receiving via the transceiver a unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire;

responsive to successful receipt of the configuration information by a luminaire within the second set, receiving via the transceiver a unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire;

responsive to the receipt of the unique acknowledgement message from the luminaire within the first set, identifying via the processor other luminaires of the first group that have not yet received the configuration information; and

responsive to the receipt of the unique acknowledgement message from the luminaire within the second set, identifying via the processor other luminaires of the second group that have not yet received the configuration information.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

transmitting configuration information via the transceiver to the other luminaires within the first group identified as not yet having received the configuration information; and

transmitting configuration information via the transceiver to the other luminaires within the second group identified as not yet having received the configuration information.

39. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

responsive to the receipt of the unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire in the first group, determining the luminaires within in the first set that have received the configuration information;

responsive to the receipt of the unique acknowledgement message broadcast by the luminaire in the second group, determining the luminaires within in the second set that have received the configuration information;

repeating the transmitting signals which include configuration information to the luminaires in the first set of luminaires until either of receipt of the transmitting signals which include configuration information by all of the luminaires in the first set or loss of the transmitting signal by all of the luminaires in the first set; and

repeating the transmitting signals which include configuration information to the luminaires in the first set of luminaires until either of receipt of the transmitting signals which include configuration information by all of the luminaires in the second set or loss of the transmitting signal by all of the luminaires in the second set.

40. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

displaying the subset of luminaires within the first group on a map displayed on the general purpose handheld computing device, the map spatially corresponding to the physical positioning of each of the first set of luminaires; and

displaying the subset of luminaires within the second group on a map displayed on the general purpose handheld computing device, the map spatially corresponding to the physical positioning of each of the second set of luminaires.

41. A handheld device to control a plurality of luminaires, each having a solid-state light source, the device comprising:

a housing;

at least one user operable actuator carried by the housing;

at least one antenna carried by the housing;

at least one transmitter received in the housing, and communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna to provide wireless, non-line-of-sight communications to each of the luminaires; and

at least one controller received in the housing and communicatively coupled to the at least one transmitter and operable responsive to user actuation of the at least one actuator to cause the transmitter to transmit signals via the non-line-of-sight communications, the signals to cause the luminaires to at least one of;

turn on or turn off the solid state light source if the luminaires are within wireless range of the device.

42. The handheld device of claim 41 wherein the controller is a processor and further comprising at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium received in the housing to store at least one instruction communicable via the at least one transmitter to each of the plurality of luminaires.

43. The handheld device of claim 42 wherein the at least one instruction includes an adjustment of a level of illumination provided by each of the plurality of luminaires.

44. The handheld device of claim 41, further comprising a security feature communicable via the transmitter to each of the plurality of luminaires.

45. The handheld device of claim 44 wherein the security feature includes at least one of:

a code associated with the user of the handheld device;

a code uniquely associated with each of the plurality of luminaires;

a code commonly associated with the plurality of luminaires; and

a code associated with a geographic location of each of the plurality of luminaires.

46. The handheld device of claim 41, further comprising:

at least one receiver communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna to receive wireless, non-line-of-sight communications from each of the plurality of luminaires.

47. The handheld device of claim 46, further comprising at least one non-transitory processor-readable medium to store at least a portion of the wireless, non-line-of-sight communications received by the at least one receiver.

48. The handheld device of claim 41 wherein the transmitter is compliant with at least one of a Bluetooth protocol or an IEEE 802.11 protocol.

49. A method of operating a handheld device to control a plurality of luminaires, the handheld device including a housing, at least one user operable actuator carried by the housing, at least one antenna carried by the housing, at least one transmitter received in the housing and communicatively coupled to the at least one antenna to provide wireless, non-line-of-sight communications to each of the luminaires, and at least one controller received in the housing and communicatively coupled to the at least one transmitter, comprising:

responsive to actuation of the at least one actuator, transmitting at least one signal via the non-line-of-sight communications to each of the luminaires within range of the device;

wherein the at least one signal causes each luminaire to at least one of;

turn on a solid state light source within the respective luminaire and turn off the solid state light source within the respective luminaire.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein transmitting the at least one signal to each of the luminaires within range of the device comprises:

forming a non-line-of-sight wireless communication between the handheld device and at least one of the luminaires;

transmitting via the non-line-of-sight wireless connection the at least one signal to the at least one luminaire; and

closing the non-line-of-sight wireless communication between the handheld device and the at least one luminaire.

51. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

responsive to actuation of the at least one actuator, transmitting a security feature to at least one of the luminaires, the security feature including at least one of;

a code associated with the user of the handheld device;

a code uniquely associated with each of the luminaires;

a code commonly associated with the all of the luminaires; and

a code associated with a geographic location of each of the luminaires.

52. The method of claim 50 wherein the at least one luminaire provides a visual indication responsive to forming the non-line-of-sight wireless connection with the handheld device.

53. The method of claim 50 wherein the at least one luminaire provides a visual indication responsive to closing the non-line-of-sight wireless connection with the handheld device.