METHOD FOR SYNERGISTIC OCCUPANCY SENSING IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATES

• US 20140107846A1
• Filed: 02/08/2013
• Published: 04/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Li, Du
• Granted Patent: US 9,703,274 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/275
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/10 Occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/04 Systems determining presence of a target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/86 Combinations of sonar systems with lidar systems; Combinations of sonar systems with systems not using wave reflection
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0252 Radio frequency fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method to synergistically sense occupancy inside a building. A coarse-grained sensor in the building generates a coarse data indicating a user is in a large area including a control zone. A fine-grained sensor in the building generates a fine data indicating the user is in a small area. The fine data is more accurate but less reliable than the coarse data. The method to improve energy efficiency by generating an actuation plan for the control zone. The method includes receiving the coarse data and the fine data, normalizing the coarse data and the fine data, checking for an overlap between the large area and the small area, calculating a change in occupancy in the control zone based on the normalized coarse data if there is no overlap and based on the normalized fine data if there is overlap, and generating the actuation plan based on the change in occupancy.

Claims

1. A method executed by a computer system implementing a building automation system, the building automation system to synergistically sense occupancy inside a building, where the building includes a plurality of control zones, a coarse-grained sensor, and a fine-grained sensor, where the coarse-grained sensor generates a coarse data indicating that a user is in a large area of the building, where the large area includes a control zone in the plurality of control zones and is larger than the control zone, where the fine-grained sensor generates a fine data indicating that the user is in a small area of the building, where the small area is equal in size to or smaller than the control zone, and where the fine data is more accurate but less reliable than the coarse data, the method to improve energy efficiency in the building by generating an actuation plan for the control zone based on the coarse data and the fine data, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the coarse data from the coarse-grained sensor;

receiving the fine data from the fine-grained sensor;

normalizing the coarse data into a normalized coarse data;

normalizing the fine data into a normalized fine data, wherein the normalized coarse data and the normalized fine data have a common format;

checking for an overlap between the large area of the building and the small area of the building;

calculating a change in occupancy in the control zone based on the normalized coarse data in response to finding that there is no overlap;

calculating the change in occupancy in the control zone based on the normalized fine data in response to finding that there is overlap; and

generating the actuation plan for the control zone based on the change in occupancy in the control zone.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving an area-ID based on a sensor-ID that is included in the coarse data or the fine data;

setting the area-ID for the normalized coarse data or the normalized fine data; and

retrieving a spatial relationship data based on the area-ID, wherein the spatial relationship data indicates a relationship between two areas in the building.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving a user-ID based on a device-ID that is included in the coarse data or the fine data; and

setting the user-ID for the normalized coarse data or the normalized fine data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

determining that the user is in an area smaller than the small area based on the overlap between the large area and the small area.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

checking whether the control zone changed from an unoccupied status to an occupied status; and

causing an auto-on device in the control zone to turn on.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

checking whether the control zone changed from an occupied status to an unoccupied status; and

causing an auto-off device in the control zone to turn off.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

waiting for a preset amount of time before causing the auto-off device to turn off.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

setting a number of area occupants for at least one of the normalized coarse data and the normalized fine data based on at least one of the coarse data and the fine data; and

determining a number of zone occupants in the control zone based on the number of area occupants.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

checking whether the number of zone occupants in the control zone has reached a preset threshold; and

causing a resource to be allocated to a device in the control zone.

10. A computer system implementing a building automation system, the building automation system to synergistically sense occupancy inside a building, wherein the building includes a plurality of control zones, a coarse-grained sensor, and a fine-grained sensor, wherein the coarse-grained sensor generates a coarse data indicating that a user is in a large area of the building, wherein the large area includes a control zone in the plurality of control zones and is larger than the control zone, wherein the fine-grained sensor generates a fine data indicating that the user is in a small area of the building, wherein the small area is equal in size to or smaller than the control zone, and wherein the fine data is more accurate but less reliable than the coarse data, the computer system to improve energy efficiency in the building by generating an actuation plan for the control zone based on the coarse data and the fine data, the computer system comprising:

a transceiver port configured to receive the coarse data from the coarse-grained sensor, and to receive the fine data from the fine-grained sensor; and

a computer processor coupled to the transceiver port and configured to execute a normalizing module and a synergistic control module,

the normalizing module configured to normalize the coarse data into a normalized coarse data, and to normalize the fine data into a normalized fine data, wherein the normalized coarse data and the normalized fine data have a common format, and

the synergistic control module configured to check for an overlap between the large area of the building and the small area of the building, to calculate a change in occupancy in the control zone based on the normalized coarse data in response to finding that there is no overlap, to calculate the change in occupancy in the control zone based on the normalized fine data in response to finding that there is overlap, and to generate the actuation plan for the control zone based on the change in occupancy in the control zone.

11. The computer system of claim 10, further comprising:

a storage device coupled to the computer processor and configured to store a building data storage,

the building data storage configured to store a sensor-ID with a corresponding area-ID, and to store a spatial relationship data, wherein the spatial relationship data indicates a relationship between two areas in the building,

wherein the normalizing module is further configured to retrieve the area-ID from the building data storage based on the sensor-ID that is included in the coarse data or the fine data, to set the area-ID for the normalized coarse data or the normalized fine data, and to retrieve the spatial relationship data based on the area-ID.

12. The computer system of claim 10, further comprising:

a storage device coupled to the computer processor and configured to store a user data storage,

the user data storage configured to store a device-ID with a corresponding user-ID,

wherein the normalizing module is further configured to retrieve the user-ID from the user data storage based on the device-ID that is included in the coarse data or the fine data, and to set the user-ID for the normalized coarse data or the normalized fine data.

13. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the synergistic control module is further configured to determine that the user is in an area smaller than the small area based on the overlap between the large area and the small area.

14. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the synergistic control module is further configured to check whether the control zone changed from an unoccupied status to an occupied status, and to cause an auto-on device in the control zone to turn on.

15. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the synergistic control module is further configured to check whether the control zone changed from an occupied status to an unoccupied status, and to cause an auto-off device in the control zone to turn off.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the synergistic control module is further configured to wait for a preset amount of time before causing the auto-off device to turn off.

17. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the normalizing module is further configured to set a number of area occupants for at least one of the normalized coarse data and the normalized fine data based on at least one of the coarse data and the fine data, and to determine a number of zone occupants in the control zone based on the number of area occupants.

18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the synergistic control module is further configured to check whether the number of zone occupants in the control zone has reached a preset threshold, and to cause a resource to be allocated to a device in the control zone.