ENTRY TECHNOLOGY FOR BUILDING AUTOMATION

• US 20140210590A1
• Filed: 01/30/2013
• Published: 07/31/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Generac Power Systems Incorporated (Generac Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Castro, Rodrigo C., Majd, Mahdad, Rotta, Thiago C., Leito, Breno H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,196,103 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.52
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/73 responsive to movement or presence of persons or objects
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00563 using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/22 in combination with an identity check of the pass holder
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2816 Controlling appliance services of a home automation network by calling their functionalities arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station; in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00

Abstract

A computer system accesses identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people. Roles are stored and associating ones of the roles are associated with ones of the people. Rules are stored, wherein each rule is configured to define one of the roles or people and define a condition and an action. The computer system receives from a device at an entryway, biometric data for a person. A named person is indicated for the received biometric data by the identity data accessed by the computer system. The computer system selects a rule corresponding to the identified person or to one of the defined roles for the identified person. The computer system performs the defined action for the selected rule when a current condition satisfies the defined condition for the selected rule.

Claims

1. A method for managing an entryway for a building, the method comprising:

accessing, by a computer system, identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people;

storing roles and associating ones of the roles with ones of the people;

storing rules, wherein each rule is configured to define one of the roles or people and define a condition and an action;

receiving, by the computer system from a device at the entryway, biometric data for a person;

identifying a named person indicated for the received biometric data by the identity data accessed by the computer system;

selecting, by the computer system, a rule corresponding to the identified person or to one of the defined roles for the identified person; and

performing, by the computer system, the defined action for the selected rule when a current condition satisfies the defined condition for the selected rule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to define that presence of a person in the building is a condition for the rule and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting whether a person is present in the building responsive to a sensor in the building.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein storing a rule comprises storing an announcement rule configured to define a predetermined time interval during a predetermined day of the week as a condition for the rule, to define a named person, and to define an announcement action for announcing instructions to a visitor at the entryway for the predetermined time interval during the predetermined day of the week, wherein the method further comprises:

performing the defined announcement action by the computer system transmitting the instructions to an audio speaker device at the entryway responsive to selecting the announcement rule.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to define at least a first condition that determines when the rule is active and a second condition that determines when the rule is invoked when the rule is active.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to be active by default and to be inactive only when configured with a non-default condition.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people comprises:

accessing, by the computer system via a network, a database of a service provider defining names, biometric data and roles for respective people acting as agents of the service provider.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people comprises local identity data and remote identity data, wherein the computer system accesses the identity data responsive to the computer system receiving biometric data for a person from the device at the entryway, and wherein for identifying a named person indicated for the received biometric data the computer system accesses the remote identity data when the local identity data does not identify a named person for the received biometric data.

8. A system for managing an entryway for a building, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a computer-readable storage media connected to the at least one computing processor, wherein the computer-readable storage media has stored thereon a program for a rule-and-role-based smart doorbell program controlling the at least one processor, and wherein the at least one processor is operative with the program to execute the program to;

access, by the system, identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people;

store roles and associating ones of the roles with ones of the people;

store rules, wherein each rule is configured to define one of the roles or people and define a condition and an action;

receive, by the system from a device at the entryway, biometric data for a person;

identify a named person indicated for the received biometric data by the identity data accessed by the system;

select, by the system, a rule corresponding to the identified person or to one of the defined roles for the identified person; and

perform, by the system, the defined action for the selected rule when a current condition satisfies the defined condition for the selected rule.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to define that presence of a person in the building is a condition for the rule and wherein the at least one processor is operative with the program to execute the program to:

detect whether a person is present in the building responsive to a sensor in the building.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein storing a rule comprises storing an announcement rule configured to define a predetermined time interval during a predetermined day of the week as a condition for the rule, to define a named person, and to define an announcement action for announcing instructions to a visitor at the entryway for the predetermined time interval during the predetermined day of the week, wherein the at least one processor is operative with the program to execute the program to:

perform the defined announcement action by the system transmitting the instructions to an audio speaker device at the entryway responsive to selecting the announcement rule.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to define at least a first condition that determines when the rule is active and a second condition that determines when the rule is invoked when the rule is active.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein accessing identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people comprises:

accessing, by the system via a network, a database of a service provider defining names, biometric data and roles for respective people acting as agents of the service provider.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people comprises local identity data and remote identity data, wherein the system accesses the identity data responsive to the system receiving biometric data for a person from the device at the entryway, and wherein for identifying a named person indicated for the received biometric data the system accesses the remote identity data when the local identity data does not identify a named person for the received biometric data.

14. A computer program product for managing an entryway for a building, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium; and

computer-readable program code embodied in the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable program code is configured to cause a computer system to;

access identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people;

store roles and associating ones of the roles with ones of the people;

store rules, wherein each rule is configured to define one of the roles or people and define a condition and an action;

receive, by the computer system from a device at the entryway, biometric data for a person;

identify a named person indicated for the received biometric data by the identity data accessed by the computer system;

select, by the computer system, a rule corresponding to the identified person or to one of the defined roles for the identified person; and

perform, by the computer system, the defined action for the selected rule when a current condition satisfies the defined condition for the selected rule.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to define that presence of a person in the building is a condition for the rule and wherein the computer-readable program code is configured to cause the computer system to:

detect whether a person is present in the building responsive to a sensor in the building.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein storing a rule comprises storing an announcement rule configured to define a predetermined time interval during a predetermined day of the week as a condition for the rule, to define a named person, and to define an announcement action for announcing instructions to a visitor at the entryway for the predetermined time interval during the predetermined day of the week, wherein the computer-readable program code is configured to cause the computer system to:

perform the defined announcement action by the system transmitting the instructions to an audio speaker device at the entryway responsive to selecting the announcement rule.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to define at least a first condition that determines when the rule is active and a second condition that determines when the rule is invoked when the rule is active.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein storing a rule comprises storing a rule configured to be active by default and to be inactive only when configured with a non-default condition.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein accessing the identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people comprises accessing a database of a service provider defining names, biometric data and roles for respective people acting as agents of the service provider.

20. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the identity data providing unique biometric identifications and associated names for respective people comprises local identity data and remote identity data, wherein accessing the identity data is responsive to the system receiving biometric data for a person from the device at the entryway, and wherein for identifying a named person indicated for the received biometric data the computer-readable program code is configured to cause the computer system to access the remote identity data when the local identity data does not identify a named person for the received biometric data.