USER INTERFACE CONFIGURATION FOR ALARM SYSTEMS

• US 20150154855A1
• Filed: 12/03/2013
• Published: 06/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Piccolo, Joseph III, Fox, Mary Winna, Alexandrov, Kirill, Boisclair, J. R. Mario, McEvoy, Dennis A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,842,486 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/18 Prevention or correction of operating errors G08B29/02, G08B29/12 take precedence

Abstract

System and method for establishing configuration parameters for a comprehensive user interface of an alarm system. An exemplary embodiment of a configuration system in accordance with the present disclosure includes a plurality of alarm system workstations, each alarm system workstation having a set of configuration parameters associated therewith, a client workstation, and a user interface broker operatively connected to each of the alarm system workstations and the client workstation, wherein the user interface broker is configured to aggregate data from the alarm system workstations and to present such aggregated data at the client workstation using the comprehensive user interface. The user interface broker is further configured to facilitate designation of one of the alarm system workstations as a main workstation, whereupon the configuration parameters of the designated main workstation are applied to the comprehensive user interface.

Claims

1. A configuration system for establishing configuration parameters for a comprehensive user interface in an alarm system, the configuration system comprising:

a plurality of alarm system workstations, each alarm system workstation having a set of configuration parameters associated therewith;

a client workstation; and

a user interface broker operatively connected to each of the alarm system workstations and the client workstation, the user interface broker configured to aggregate data from the alarm system workstations and to present said aggregated data at the client workstation using the comprehensive user interface, the user interface broker further configured to enable designation of one of the alarm system workstations as a main workstation such that the set of configuration parameters of the designated main workstation are applied to the comprehensive user interface.

2. The configuration system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the set of configuration parameters associated with a first one of the plurality of alarm system workstations is different from the set of configuration parameters associated with a second one of the plurality of alarm system workstations.

3. The configuration system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the user interface broker is configured to provide a list of ones of the plurality of alarm system workstations connected thereto along with a selection tool for allowing an operator to designate one of the listed alarm system workstations as the main workstation.

4. The configuration system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the user interface broker is configured to derive the configuration parameters of the designated main workstation from a configuration tool residing on the designated main workstation.

5. The configuration system in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of alarm system workstations is connected to a plurality of alarm system points via a respective alarm panel.

6. A method for establishing configuration parameters for a comprehensive user interface of an alarm system, the method comprising:

designating one of a plurality of alarm system workstations as a main workstation; and

applying configuration parameters associated with the designated main workstation to the comprehensive user interface.

7. The method in accordance with claim 6, further comprising identifying the plurality of alarm system workstations for interface via a user interface broker.

8. The method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the user interface broker aggregates data from the plurality of alarm system workstations for presentation via the comprehensive user interface.

9. The method in accordance with claim 6, further comprising providing a list of the plurality of alarm system workstations along with a selection tool for designating one of the plurality of alarm system workstations as the main workstation.

10. The method in accordance with claim 6, further comprising presenting the comprehensive user interface at a client workstation.

11. A configuration system for establishing configuration parameters for a comprehensive user interface of an alarm system, the configuration system comprising:

a plurality of alarm system workstations, each alarm system workstation having a configuration add-on for facilitating selection of one or more categories of configuration parameters for application to the comprehensive user interface;

a client workstation; and

a user interface broker operatively connected to each of the alarm system workstations and the client workstation, the user interface broker configured to aggregate data from the alarm system workstations and to present the aggregated data at the client workstation using the comprehensive user interface, the user interface broker further configured to enable specification of an ordered sequence of the alarm system workstations, wherein the ordered sequence is used by the user interface broker to determine which of the selected configuration parameter categories are applied to the comprehensive user interface.

12. The configuration system in accordance with claim 11, wherein the user interface broker is configured to apply configuration parameters to the comprehensive user interface, wherein the applied configuration parameters are associated with the selected configuration parameter categories in the ordered sequence.

13. The configuration system in accordance with claim 12, wherein the user interface broker is configured to apply configuration parameters associated with the selected configuration parameter categories of subsequent alarm system workstations in the ordered sequence for configuration parameter categories that were not selected in the configuration add-on of the first alarm system workstation in the ordered sequence.

14. The configuration system in accordance with claim 11, wherein the user interface broker is configured to provide a list of the alarm system workstations connected thereto along with a tool for enabling an operator to specify an ordered sequence of the alarm system workstations.

15. The configuration system in accordance with claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of alarm system workstations is connected to a plurality of alarm system points via a respective alarm panel.

16. A method for establishing configuration parameters for a comprehensive user interface of an alarm system, the method comprising:

selecting categories of configuration parameters at each of a plurality of alarm system workstations for application to the comprehensive user interface;

specifying an ordered sequence of the alarm system workstations; and

using the ordered sequence of alarm system workstations to determine which of the selected configuration parameter categories are applied to the comprehensive user interface.

17. The method in accordance with claim 16, further comprising identifying the plurality of alarm system workstations for interface via a user interface broker.

18. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the user interface broker aggregates data from the plurality of alarm system workstations for presentation via the comprehensive user interface.

19. The method in accordance with claim 16, further comprising providing a list of the alarm system workstations along with a tool for allowing an operator to specify an ordered sequence of the alarm system workstations.

20. The method in accordance with claim 16, wherein using the ordered sequence of alarm system workstations to determine which of the selected configuration parameter categories are applied to the comprehensive user interface comprises:

determining whether any configuration parameter categories of a first of the plurality of alarm system workstations in the ordered sequence are selected as being visible to the user interface broker and applying configuration parameters associated with the selected categories to the comprehensive user interface; and

for configuration parameter categories of the first alarm system workstation in the ordered sequence that were not selected for visibility to the user interface broker, determining whether any such configuration parameter categories of a subsequent alarm system workstation in the ordered sequence are selected for visibility to the user interface broker, and applying configuration parameters associated with the categories to the comprehensive user interface.