SECURITY AND FIRST-RESPONDER EMERGENCY LIGHTING SYSTEM

• US 20140340222A1
• Filed: 05/19/2014
• Published: 11/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Networked Emergency Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Networked Emergency Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Thornton, Barry, Cohen, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 9,959,717 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.17
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/062 indicating emergency exits
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/066 guiding along a path, e.g. evacuation path lighting strip
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

A network system in a building complex linking different locations together and facilitating information and data exchange and access, includes ‘N’ number of autonomous nodes for receiving, processing, and storing sensory data collected by one or more sensors relating to an environment in ‘N’ number of regions within the building complex. The nodes are configured to communicate and share sensory data among the ‘N’ number of nodes and to generate a dynamic virtual map of the building complex environment that is accessible by users having access to the network.

Claims

1. A node for use in a building network emergency system, comprising:

a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors configured to collect a plurality of types of building environment data;

an emergency light system, comprising illumination lighting and alert lighting;

an audio loudspeaker;

one or more media inputs;

one or more media outputs;

a wireless local network transceiver adapted and configured for communicating with one or more other nodes of the building network emergency system;

a computer operatively coupled to the plurality of sensors, the emergency light system, the audio loudspeaker, the one or more media inputs, the one or media outputs, and the wireless local network transceiver, the computer comprising a processor operatively coupled to a memory,

wherein the memory comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node;

to store building data in the memory as local building data, wherein building data comprises at least one of building environment data collected by the plurality of sensors and media input data acquired by the one or more media inputs;

to transmit the local building data and local node identification data to at least one neighbor node via the wireless local network transceiver, wherein the neighbor node is one of one or more other nodes of the building network emergency system; and

to receive and store in the memory remote building data and node identification data from the neighbor node via the wireless local network transceiver, wherein the remote building data comprises local building data of another node of the building network emergency system.

2. The node of claim 1 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to create a building node map comprising node identification data and building data for each neighbor node within range of the wireless local network transceiver.

3. The node of claim 2 wherein the building node map comprises node identification data and building data for at least one node of the building network emergency system that is outside the range of the wireless local network transceiver.

4. The node of claim 3 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to receive and store in the memory remote building data and node identification data from each node comprised in the building node map.

5. The node of claim 4 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to receive and store in memory updated building data from at least one other node.

6. The node of claim 5 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to update the building node map with the updated building data.

7. The node of claim 1 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to trigger an alarm modality based on the value of a building datum.

8. The node of claim 7 wherein the alarm modality comprises the sending of emails, SMS text messages, the activation of the node resident audio enunciators, blinking the nodes lighting, sending machine activations codes via radio to a building resident BACnet protocol, any electronically activated Human Interface Device.

9. The node of claim 1 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to transmit updated local building data to at least one neighbor node after a change in the local building data.

10. The node of claim 1 wherein the node is configured to be operatively coupled to an interface terminal.

11. The node of claim 10 wherein the interface terminal is configured to be operatively coupled to the node via the wireless local network transceiver, another local wireless network, a wired local network, another local network, a public communications network, or a point-to-point connection.

12. The node of claim 10 wherein the node is operatively coupled to the interface terminal via an Ethernet connection.

13. The node of claim 10 wherein the node is operatively coupled to the interface terminal via an internet connection.

14. The node of claim 10 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to provide one or more interface modalities to the interface terminal.

15. The node of claim 14 wherein the one or more interface modalities comprise a first responder interface modality, a security interface modality, a management interface modality, or an administrative interface modality.

16. The node of claim 10 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to transmit to the interface terminal local building data, remote building data, or building reference data stored in the memory.

17. The node of claim 10 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to transmit to the interface terminal the building node map.

18. The node of claim 10 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to receive an audio signal from the interface terminal and broadcast the audio signal via the loudspeaker.

19. The node of claim 1 wherein the one or more emergency response functions comprise controlling the emergency light system and/or an emergency sound system.

20. The node of claim 19 wherein the emergency sound system comprises broadcasting via the audio loudspeaker a radio message, audio media input from another node, or a prerecorded message stored in memory.

21. The node of claim 1 wherein the alert lighting system comprises color LED signage lights.

22. The node of claim 1 wherein the wireless local network transceiver is configured to transmit and receive signals over an IEEE 802.11 network.

23. The node of claim 1 wherein the node communicates with the one or more other nodes of the building network emergency system over a wireless local network.

24. The node of claim 23 in which the wireless local network is an IEEE 802.11 network.

25. The node of claim 23 in which the wireless local network further comprises a private network.

26. The node of claim 25 wherein the node exchanges building data with the one or more other nodes of the building network emergency system over the private network.

27. The node of claim 26 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to use encryption and/or network protocols incompatible with public access for communications over the private network.

28. The node of claim 23 the wireless local network comprises at least one node in a first building and at least one node in a second building, the second building being different from the first building.

29. The node of claim 1 wherein the wireless local network transceiver is operatively coupled to one or more antennas.

30. The node of claim 29 wherein one or more of the antennas are configured to operate as a Wi-Fi Hot Spot.

31. The node of claim 29 wherein one or more of the antennas are configured to have a range greater than 100 meters.

32. The node of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more sensors selected from the group consisting of:

light level sensor;

smoke detector;

carbon monoxide sensor;

carbon dioxide sensor;

nitrogen oxide sensor;

hydrocarbon vapor sensor;

temperature sensor;

infrared level sensor; and

motion sensor.

33. The node of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of building environment data comprise two or more types of building environment data from selected from the group consisting of:

ambient visible light;

airborne particulate density;

carbon monoxide;

carbon dioxide;

nitrogen oxide;

hydrocarbon vapor;

relative humidity;

ambient temperature;

infrared light energy;

vibratory audio;

acceleration;

motion;

battery charge; and

mains power supply.

34. The node of claim 1 wherein the one or more media inputs comprise a camera, touchscreen, keyboard, keypad, and/or or a microphone.

35. The node of claim 1 wherein the one or more media inputs comprise a camera.

36. The node of claim 35 wherein the node further comprises a positioning system for the camera.

37. The node of claim 1 wherein the one or more media inputs comprise two or more microphone elements and the node further comprises phase adjustment between the two or more microphone elements to remotely steer the directional sensitivity of the audio sensors.

38. The node of claim 1 wherein the one or more media inputs comprise a camera and the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to stream image data from the camera to an interface terminal or to another node.

39. The node of claim 1 wherein the one or more media outputs comprise a display screen.

40. The node of claim 39 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to display on the display screen local building data, remote building data, or building reference data stored in the memory.

41. The node of claim 39 wherein the display screen displays node identification information.

42. The node of claim 39 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to receive and display on the display screen image data streamed from another node.

43. The node of claim 39 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to receive and display on the display screen information or data from an interface terminal.

44. The node of claim 1 further comprising a mount for mounting the node to a building.

45. The node of claim 1 wherein the node is operatively coupled to a primary building alarm system.

46. The node of claim 1 wherein the memory further comprises instructions which when performed by the processor cause the node to perform one or more emergency response functions.

47. The node of claim 1 wherein one or more components are modular.

48. The mode of claim 47 wherein one or more of the sensors are modular.

49. The node of claim 1 further comprising a backup power supply.

50. A network system in a building complex linking different locations together and facilitating information and data exchange and access, comprising:

‘

N’

number of autonomous nodes for receiving, processing, and storing sensory data collected by one or more sensors relating to an environment in ‘

N’

number of regions within the building complex, each of the nodes comprising;

a processor and memory for receiving, transmitting, and storing the data related to the building complex environment; and

one or more radio transceiver modules for transmitting and receiving data signals with other network nodes,

wherein the nodes are configured to communicate and share sensory data among the ‘

N’

number of nodes and to generate a dynamic virtual map of the building complex environment that is accessible by users having access to the network.

51. The network system of claim 50, wherein the nodes receive, process and store sensory data over a period of time, and thereby periodically rebuild the dynamic virtual map based on updated sensory data.

52. The network system of claim 50, wherein ‘

N’

number of nodes within wireless range of each other automatically configure a system area network and share storage resources.

53. The network system of claim 50, wherein each of the nodes receives sensory data relating to internal and external conditions relative to itself.

54. The network system of claim 50, wherein the sensors are configured to detect temperature, light levels, airborne particulate density, hydrocarbon levels, audio, or video.

55. The network system of claim 50, wherein the autonomous nodes are configured to communicate and share historical sensory data and generate a predictive virtual map of the building complex environment.

56. The network system of claim 50, wherein the autonomous nodes are configured to continually store sensory data received from other nodes.

57. The network system of claim 50, further comprising encryption and message authentication coding for accessing the autonomous nodes.

58. The network system of claim 50, wherein the autonomous nodes are configured to function as Wi-Fi hotspots for public use.

59. The network system of claim 50, wherein each node further comprises one or more media inputs and outputs.

60. The network system of claim 50, wherein each node further comprises a lighting system to illuminate a local area.

61. A method of monitoring an internal building environment, comprising:

providing a network of ‘

N’

number of autonomous nodes for receiving, processing, and storing sensory data collected by one or more sensors relating to an environment in ‘

N’

number of regions within the building;

collecting and processing, using a processor and memory, sensory data at each of an ‘

N’

number of nodes throughout the building;

transmitting and receiving, using processors and memory of the nodes, collected sensory data among each of the ‘

N’

number of nodes; and

storing the sensory data and generating a dynamic virtual map of the building environment.

62. The method of claim 61, further comprising maintaining a running log of events associated with each node.

63. The method of claim 61, wherein each node prioritizes connections with other nodes in order of signal strength.

64. The method of claim 61 further comprising defining mutual rules of connection and responsibility among the ‘

N’

number of modes.

65. The method of claim 61, further comprising transmitting information related to the dynamic virtual map to a user having access to the network.

66. An emergency lighting unit comprising:

a lighting system to illuminate a local area;

a lighting system to attract the human eye to its location;

a battery power supply connected to charger from the building mains power;

a detector-activator to activate the unit when the mains power fails;

a computer functioning as a network router, server and file management system coupled to the radio transceiver module(s);

a non-volatile memory system coupled to the computer for data of media storage; and

an array of sensors.

67. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66, comprising a first antenna coupled to the first radio transceiver module, for receiving and transmitting IEEE 802.11 radio protocol.

68. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66, comprising a second antenna coupled to the second radio transceiver module, for receiving and transmitting IEEE 802.11 radio protocol.

69. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66, comprising a third antenna coupled to the third radio transceiver module, for receiving and transmitting an alternative radio protocol.

70. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66, comprising a shared antenna coupled to the fourth radio transceiver module, for receiving and transmitting a Bluetooth protocol.

71. The emergency lighting unit of claim 68, wherein the first antenna is configured to operate as a Wi-Fi Hot Spot.

72. The emergency lighting unit of claim 68, wherein the second antenna is configured to operate as a IEEE 802.11 long distance (>

100 meter) network link.

73. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 wherein the power source is internal batteries.

74. The emergency lighting unit of claim 73 wherein the batteries have a computer based management system permitting the charging of the batteries from any external power source.

75. The emergency lighting unit of claim 74 wherein the batteries have a computer based management system permitting the charging of the batteries from any external DC power source.

76. The emergency lighting unit of claim 75 wherein the batteries have a computer based management system permitting the charging of the batteries from any external DC power source that can provide a voltage greater than or equal to 3 volts or less than or equal to 300 volts.

77. The emergency lighting unit of claim 74 wherein the batteries have a computer based management system permitting the charging of the batteries from any external AC power source providing direct current source of 3 to 300 volts Direct Current to 5000 hertz of Pulse or Alternating current.

78. The emergency lighting unit of claim 77 wherein the batteries have a computer based management system permitting the charging of the batteries from any external AC power source providing a pulse or alternating current less than 5000 Hz.

79. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a video camera configured to transmit an image over the radio system.

80. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a microphone configured to transmit audio from the unit over the radio system.

81. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a loudspeaker configured to disperse local audio from the radio system.

82. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a loudspeaker configured to disperse local audio from internal storage.

83. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a light level sensor configured to send data from the radio system.

84. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a carbon monoxide sensor configured to send data from the radio system.

85. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a carbon dioxide sensor configured to send data from the radio system.

86. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a nitrogen oxide sensor configured to send data from the radio system.

87. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a temperature sensor configured to send data from the radio system.

88. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a infra-red level sensor configured to send data from the radio system.

89. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 with a pan and tilt camera positioning system.

90. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 containing software that manages and delivers files from contained storage via Wi-Fi via external browser.

91. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 containing software that manages and delivers video from the camera via Wi-Fi through a browsers.

92. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 containing software that manages and delivers video from the microphone via Wi-Fi through a browsers.

93. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 containing software that evaluates the changes in sensor data over time to trigger specified alarm modalities.

94. The emergency lighting unit of claim 66 containing software that computes the shortest routes between units for assured radio communications.