SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND USING OCCUPANT LOCATION IN A BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20150312696A1
• Filed: 04/28/2014
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Ribbich, Joseph R., Jilek, John S., Petersen, Dana S., Bykowski, Ryan J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,918,180 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Systems and methods for using occupant location in a building management system are provided. A plurality of wireless emitters are provided at various locations in a building. Each of the wireless emitters broadcasts a different emitter identifier. Mobile devices in the building run an application which causes the mobile devices to detect and report, to the building management system, an emitter identifier associated with a nearby wireless emitter. The building management system uses the reported emitter identifier to determine a building zone in which the mobile device is located. The building management system provides information to the mobile device based on the location of the mobile device in the building. In some embodiments, the information includes a user interface for monitoring and/or controlling the building zone in which the mobile device is located.

Claims

1. A method for providing a location-based user interface to a mobile device in a building management system, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of wireless emitters in a building, wherein each of the wireless emitters is located at a different position in the building and is associated with a different emitter identifier;

receiving, at a processing circuit of the building management system, a request for a user interface for presentation on a mobile device, the request comprising an emitter identifier associated with one of the plurality of wireless emitters detected by the mobile device;

using the emitter identifier to select, by the processing circuit, a user interface for a building zone associated with the emitter identifier; and

providing the selected user interface to the mobile device, the selected user interface comprising display data related to the building zone associated with the emitter identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein using the emitter identifier to select a user interface comprises:

using the emitter identifier to determine a building zone in which the mobile device is located; and

selecting the user interface associated with the building zone in which the mobile device is located.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device actively detects a wireless signal from one or more of the plurality of wireless emitters, the wireless signal comprising the emitter identifier;

wherein the request for the user interface is made by an application executing on the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a local control interface for the building zone associated with the emitter identifier, the local control interface comprising an interface option for controlling a variable state or condition of the building zone associated with the emitter identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises display data based on a variable state or condition of the building zone associated with the emitter identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit selects the user interface from a plurality of user interfaces, wherein each of the plurality of user interfaces is associated with a different building zone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for a user interface comprises at least one of a mobile device identifier and a user identifier;

wherein the user interface provided to the mobile device is selected, by the processing circuit, based on at least one of the mobile device identifier and the user identifier.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying building equipment in the building zone associated with the emitter identifier;

wherein the user interface comprises an equipment maintenance history for the building equipment in the building zone associated with the emitter identifier.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein using the emitter identifier to select a user interface comprises:

using the emitter identifier to determine whether the mobile device is located in a same building zone in which a particular piece of machinery is located; and

selecting a user interface which allows control over the piece of machinery based on a result of the determination.

10. A method for providing location-based information to a mobile device in a building management system, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of wireless emitters in a building, wherein each of the wireless emitters is located at a different position in the building and is associated with a different emitter identifier;

receiving, at a processing circuit of the building management system, a data communication from a mobile device, the data communication comprising an emitter identifier associated with one of the plurality of wireless emitters detected by the mobile device;

using the emitter identifier to determine, by the processing circuit, a building zone in which the mobile device is located; and

providing information to the mobile device based on the building zone in which the mobile device is located.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the mobile device actively detects a wireless signal from one or more of the plurality of wireless emitters, the wireless signal comprising the emitter identifier;

wherein the mobile device reports the detected emitter identifier to the processing circuit of the building management system.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the information provided to the mobile device comprises directions from the building zone in which the mobile device is located to another building zone within the building.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the information provided to the mobile device comprises a map of an interior of the building indicating a location of the mobile device on the map.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the information provided to the mobile device comprises at least one of a location-based alert and a location-based notification.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving, at the processing circuit, at least one of a mobile device identifier and a user identifier associated with the mobile device;

wherein the information provided to the mobile device is based on at least one of the mobile device identifier and the user identifier.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

using a history of emitter identifiers received from the mobile device to determine a history of building zones in which the mobile device has been located at different times;

storing a location history for the mobile device, the location history comprising an indication of the history of building zones in which the mobile device has been located.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the information provided to the mobile device is a user interface for selecting a building zone from the history of building zones in which the mobile device has been located.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving, at the processing circuit, a request for a user interface for presentation on the mobile device;

wherein the information provided to the mobile device is a user interface for the building zone in which the user device is located.

19. A method for providing location-based control in a building management system, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of wireless emitters in a building, wherein each of the wireless emitters is located at a different position in the building and is associated with a different emitter identifier;

receiving, at a processing circuit of the building management system, a data communication from a mobile device, the data communication comprising an emitter identifier associated with one of the plurality of wireless emitters detected by the mobile device and at least one of a user identifier and a device identifier associated with the mobile device;

using the emitter identifier to determine, by the processing circuit, a building zone in which the mobile device is located;

using at least one of the user identifier and the device identifier to identify, by the processing circuit, a user associated with the mobile device; and

controlling a variable state or condition of the building zone in which the mobile device is located based on an identity of the user associated with the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

using emitter identifiers received from a plurality of mobile devices to estimate a number of occupants in a building zone; and

controlling a variable state or condition of each of the building zone based on the estimated number of occupants in the building zone.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

reporting the estimated number of occupants in the building zone to at least one of security personnel and emergency personnel via a user interface device.