METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING A HAZARD ALARM SIGNAL
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting a pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm and in response thereto sending an alert signal to a home security panel for notification to a remote monitoring station, comprising:
- a detection device for converting said pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm to an analog signal;
a filter for attenuating frequencies outside a frequency range of the pattern warning signal for providing a filtered, analog signal;
an analog-to-digital converter for receiving the filtered, analog signal and providing a digital output comprising first digital values and second digital values;
a buffer memory for storing a number of said first and second digital values as they are produced by the analog-to-digital converter;
a memory device for storing processor-executable instructions and at least one temporal pattern characteristic associated with a first temporal pattern;
a processor coupled to the memory device for executing the processor-executable instructions that causes the apparatus to;
perform a number of evaluations of at least some of the digital values stored in the buffer memory to determine when a predetermined number or percentage of the first digital values exceed a predetermined threshold number, indicating an energy within a passband of the filter, or to determine when a predetermined number or percentage of the first digital values falls below a second predetermined threshold number or percentage, indicating a lack of energy within the passband of the filter;
compare a result of the evaluations to the at least one temporal pattern characteristic; and
transmit an alarm signal to the home security panel when the result substantially matches the at least one temporal pattern characteristic.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for detecting a pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm. In one embodiment, a buffer memory is used to store filtered, digitized information from an audio or optical detection device. A processor evaluates the information in the buffer memory to determine when a long lull time occurs between energy peaks present in a sampling of information from the analog-to-digital converter. The results are compared to at least one temporal pattern characteristic to determine if the hazard alarm has detected a hazardous condition.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting a pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm and in response thereto sending an alert signal to a home security panel for notification to a remote monitoring station, comprising:
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a detection device for converting said pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm to an analog signal; a filter for attenuating frequencies outside a frequency range of the pattern warning signal for providing a filtered, analog signal; an analog-to-digital converter for receiving the filtered, analog signal and providing a digital output comprising first digital values and second digital values; a buffer memory for storing a number of said first and second digital values as they are produced by the analog-to-digital converter; a memory device for storing processor-executable instructions and at least one temporal pattern characteristic associated with a first temporal pattern; a processor coupled to the memory device for executing the processor-executable instructions that causes the apparatus to; perform a number of evaluations of at least some of the digital values stored in the buffer memory to determine when a predetermined number or percentage of the first digital values exceed a predetermined threshold number, indicating an energy within a passband of the filter, or to determine when a predetermined number or percentage of the first digital values falls below a second predetermined threshold number or percentage, indicating a lack of energy within the passband of the filter; compare a result of the evaluations to the at least one temporal pattern characteristic; and transmit an alarm signal to the home security panel when the result substantially matches the at least one temporal pattern characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for detecting a pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm and in response thereto sending an alert signal to a home security panel for notification to a remote monitoring station, comprising:
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a detection device for converting said pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm to an analog signal; a filter for attenuating frequencies outside a frequency range of the pattern warning signal and for providing a filtered, analog signal; an analog-to-digital converter for receiving the filtered, analog signal and providing a digital output stream comprising first digital values and second digital values; a memory device for storing processor-executable instructions and a long lull time period associated with a first temporal pattern; a processor coupled to the memory device for executing the processor-executable instructions that causes the apparatus to; determine a first time when the digital output stream transitions from a high state to a low state and then to a high state; determine a duration of the low state; compare the duration of the low state to the long lull time period; and determine that a pattern warning signal is present if the duration of the low state is equal to the long lull time period. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for detecting a pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm and in response thereto sending an alert signal to a home security panel for notification to a remote monitoring station, comprising:
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a detection device for converting said pattern warning signal from a hazard alarm to an analog signal; a filter for attenuating frequencies outside a frequency range of the pattern warning signal and for providing a filtered, analog signal; an analog-to-digital converter for receiving the filtered, analog signal and providing a digital output stream comprising first digital values and second digital values; a memory device for storing processor-executable instructions and a temporal pattern period associated with a first temporal pattern; a processor coupled to the memory device for executing the processor-executable instructions that causes the apparatus to; determine a first time when the digital output stream transitions from the first digital value to the second digital value and then to the first digital value; determine a second time when the digital output stream transitions from the first digital value to the second digital value and then to the first digital value; determine a time difference between the second time and the first time; compare the time difference to the temporal pattern period; and determine that a pattern warning signal is present if the time difference matches the temporal pattern period. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification