SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SERVER BASED CONTROL

• US 20180034912A1
• Filed: 09/27/2017
• Published: 02/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: May Patents Ltd.
• Original Assignee: May Patents Ltd.
• Inventors: BINDER, Yehuda, MAYTAL, Benjamin
• Granted Patent: US 10,868,867 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/00 Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator fittings acting on two or more sub-units B60W30/14; speedometers G01P; systems or devices for controlling speed in general G05D13/00 ; in traffic anti-collision system for road vehicles G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 31/18 including a device to audibly, visibly, or otherwise signal the existence of unusual or unintended speed to the driver of the vehicle devices primarily intended for indicating speed to other traffic B60Q1/54
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/11 Passenger cars; Automobiles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/12 Motorcycles, Trikes; Quads; Scooters
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/126 Scooters
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/13 Bicycles; Tricycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/30 Railway vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/40 Special vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/50 Aeroplanes, Helicopters
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/90 Vehicles comprising electric prime movers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2240/00 Transportation facility access, e.g. fares, tolls or parking
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/02 Registering or indicating working or idle time only
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A system and method in a building or vehicle for an actuator operation in response to a sensor according to a control logic, the system comprising a router or a gateway communicating with a device associated with the sensor and a device associated with the actuator over in-building or in-vehicle networks, and an external Internet-connected control server associated with the control logic implementing a PID closed linear control loop and communicating with the router over external network for controlling the in-building or in-vehicle phenomenon. The sensor may be a microphone or a camera, and the system may include voice or image processing as part of the control logic. A redundancy is used by using multiple sensors or actuators, or by using multiple data paths over the building or vehicle internal or external communication. The networks may be wired or wireless, and may be BAN, PAN, LAN, WAN, or home networks.

Claims

1. A device for use with a single wire pair in a vehicle, the wire pair concurrently carrying DC power and bi-directional digital data signals that is carried over a frequency band above and distinct from the DC power using Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), the device comprising:

a connector for connecting to the wire pair;

a power/data splitter having first, second and third ports, wherein the digital data signal is passed only between the first and second ports, and the DC power signal is passed only between the first and third ports, and wherein the first port is connected to the connector;

a software and a processor for executing the software;

a transceiver coupled between the processor and the second port for transmitting digital data to, and receiving digital data from, the wire pair via the connector;

a sensor for sensing a first phenomenon in the vehicle, the sensor having an output coupled for transmitting to the processor a value responsive to the first phenomenon; and

a single enclosure mountable in the vehicle for housing the connector, the power/data splitter, the processor, and the transceiver ,

wherein the transceiver and the processor are coupled to the third port for being powered from the DC power via the connector, and wherein the device is operative to transmit the value to the wire pair via the connector.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the single enclosure further comprises the sensor.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is external to the single enclosure, or wherein the sensor is mountable in the vehicle.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor outputs an analog signal, and the device further comprising an Analog to Digital (A/D) converter coupled between the sensor and the processor for converting the analog signal to a digital data.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the power/data splitter comprises an High Pass Filter (HPF) between the first and second ports and a Low Pass Filter (LPF) between the first and third ports.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the HPF comprises two capacitors.

7. The device according to claim 5, wherein the LPF or the HPF comprises an inductor or two coupled inductors.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein the two coupled inductors form a transformer.

9. The device according to claim 5, wherein the power/data splitter comprising a transformer and a capacitor connected to the transformer windings.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the DC power and digital data signals are carried substantially according to IEEE 802.3af-2003 or IEEE 802.3at-2009 standards.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the DC power signal level is at least 44 Volts.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein the data rate over the wire pair is above 100 Mb/s or 1 Gb/s.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is adapted for travelling on land.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is adapted for travelling on water, or is airborne.

15. The device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is one out of a bicycle, a car, a motorcycle, a train, a ship, an aircraft, a boat, a spacecraft, a boat, a submarine, a dirigible, an electric scooter, a subway, a train, a trolleybus, a tram, a sailboat, a yacht, and an airplane.

16. A vehicle comprising the device according to claim 1.

17. An Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in the vehicle comprising the device according to claim 1.

18. The device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an automobile, and wherein the device comprises an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), an Engine Control Unit (ECU), a Transmission Control Unit (TCU), an Anti-Lock Braking Device (ABS), or Body Control Modules (BCM).

19. The device according to claim 1, further for use with parking help, cruise control, lane keeping, road sign recognition, surveillance, speed limit warning, restricted entries, and pull-over commands, travel information, cooperative adaptive cruise control, cooperative forward collision warning, intersection collision avoidance, approaching emergency vehicle warning, vehicle safety inspection, transit or emergency vehicle signal priority, electronic parking payments, commercial vehicle clearance and safety inspections, in-vehicle signing, rollover warning, probe data collection, highway-rail intersection warning, or electronic toll collection, the device is further integrated with, or being part of, a vehicular communication device used for improved safety, traffic flow control, traffic reporting, or traffic management.

20. The device according to claim 1, wherein the communication over the single wire pair is according to, or based on, Control Area Network (CAN) or Local Interconnect Network (LIN).

21. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a piezoelectric sensor that includes single crystal material or a piezoelectric ceramics and uses a transverse, longitudinal, or shear effect mode of the piezoelectric effect.

22. The device according to claim 1, further comprising multiple sensors arranged as a directional sensor array operative to estimate the number, magnitude, frequency, Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA), distance, or speed of the phenomenon impinging the sensor array.

23. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a thermoelectric sensor that responds to a temperature or to a temperature gradient of an object using conduction, convection, or radiation, and wherein the thermoelectric sensor consists of, or comprises, a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) thermistor, a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) thermistor, a thermocouple, a quartz crystal, or a Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD).

24. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor consists of, or comprises, a nanosensor, a crystal, or a semiconductor, or wherein:

the sensor is an ultrasonic based, the sensor is an eddy-current sensor, the sensor is a proximity sensor, the sensor is a bulk or surface acoustic sensor, or the sensor is an atmospheric or an environmental sensor.

25. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a radiation sensor that responds to radioactivity, nuclear radiation, alpha particles, beta particles, or gamma rays, and is based on gas ionization.

26. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a photoelectric sensor that responds to a visible or an invisible light, the invisible light is infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays, or gamma rays, and wherein the photoelectric sensor is based on the photoelectric or photovoltaic effect, and consists of, or comprises, a semiconductor component that consists of, or comprises, a photodiode, a phototransistor, or a solar cell.

27. The device according to claim 26, wherein the photoelectric sensor is based on Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) element.

28. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a photosensitive image sensor array comprising multiple photoelectric sensors, for capturing an image and producing electronic image information representing the image, and the device further comprising one or more optical lens for focusing the received light and to guide the image, and wherein the image sensor is disposed approximately at an image focal point plane of the one or more optical lens for properly capturing the image.

29. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is an electrochemical sensor that responds to an object chemical structure, properties, composition, or reactions.

30. The device according to claim 29, wherein the electrochemical sensor is a pH meter or a gas sensor responding to a presence of radon, hydrogen, oxygen, or Carbon-Monoxide (CO), or wherein the electrochemical sensor is based on optical detection or on ionization and is a smoke, a flame, or a fire detector, or is responsive to combustible, flammable, or toxic gas.

31. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is an electroacoustic sensor that responds to an audible or inaudible sound.

32. The device according to claim 31, wherein the electroacoustic sensor is an omnidirectional, unidirectional, or bidirectional microphone that is based on the sensing the incident sound based motion of a diaphragm or a ribbon, and the microphone consists of, or comprising, a condenser, an electret, a dynamic, a ribbon, a carbon, or a piezoelectric microphone.

33. The device according to claim 1, further being part of, or connectable to, a network via the wire pair, and wherein the device is addressable in the network using a digital address uniquely identifying the device in the network.

34. The device according to claim 33, wherein the digital address is a MAC layer address that is MAC-48, EUI-48, or EUI-64 address type.

35. The device according to claim 33, wherein the digital address is a layer 3 address and is static or dynamic IP address that is IPv4 or IPv6 type address.

36. The device according to claim 33, wherein the digital address is autonomously assigned or is assigned by another device via a communication interface using DHCP.

37. The device according to claim 33, wherein the network is a frame based network, and wherein the wire pair consists of, or comprises, an Unshielded Twisted wire Pair (UTP).

38. The device according to claim 37, wherein the frame based network is according to, based on, or compatible with, Ethernet or IEEE 802.3-2008 standard.

39. The device according to claim 38, wherein the frame based network is according to, based on, or compatible with, 10Base-T, 100Base-T, 100Base-TX, 100Base-T2, 100Base-T4, 1000Base-T, 1000Base-TX, 10GBase-CX4, or 10GBase-T.

40. The device according to claim 1, wherein the communication over the wire-pair is full duplex.

41. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an actuator that affects a second phenomenon in response to an actuator command, the actuator is coupled to the receive actuator command from the processor.

42. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is coupled to be powered from the DC power signal.

43. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator command is responsive to the sensor output value.

44. The device according to claim 41, wherein the single enclosure further comprises the actuator.

45. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is external to the single enclosure.

46. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is mountable in the vehicle.

47. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is operative to affect the second phenomenon inside the vehicle.

48. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is operative to affect the second phenomenon external to the vehicle, or associated with surroundings around the vehicle.

49. The device according to claim 41, wherein the second phenomenon is the same as the first phenomenon.

50. The device according to claim 49, further operative for affecting a control loop for controlling the phenomenon, and wherein the control loop is a closed linear control loop where the sensor value serves as a feedback to command the actuator based of the loop deviation from a setpoint or a reference value.

51. The device according to claim 50, wherein the closed control loop is a proportional-based, an integral-based, a derivative-based, or a Proportional, Integral, and Derivative (PID) based control loop, wherein the control loop uses feed-forward, Bistable, Bang-Bang, Hysteretic, or fuzzy logic based control.

52. The device according to claim 50, wherein the control loop involves randomness based on random numbers;

and the device further comprises a random number generator for generating random numbers, and wherein the random number generator is hardware-based using thermal noise, shot noise, nuclear decaying radiation, photoelectric effect, or quantum phenomena, or wherein the random number generator is software-based and executes an algorithm for generating pseudo-random numbers.

53. The device according to claim 50, wherein the setpoint is fixed, set by a user, or is time dependent.

54. The device according to claim 50, further comprising an additional sensor responsive to a phenomenon distinct from the first phenomenon, and wherein the setpoint is dependent upon the output of the additional sensor.

55. The device according to claim 41, further comprising an electrically actuated switch coupled for switching power to the actuator from the DC power, and wherein the electrically actuated switch coupled to the processor and is actuated in response to the actuator command.

56. The device according to claim 55, wherein the electrically actuated switch is ‘

normally open’

type, ‘

normally closed’

type, or a changeover switch, wherein the electrically actuated switch is ‘

make-before-break’

or ‘

break-before-make’

type, or wherein the electrically actuated switch have two or more poles or two or more throws, and the contacts of the first electrically actuated switch are arranged as a Single-Pole-Double-Throw (SPDT), Double-Pole-Double-Throw (DPDT), Double-Pole-Single-Throw (DPST), or Single-Pole-Changeover (SPCO).

57. The device according to claim 55, wherein the electrically actuated switch is a latching or non-latching type relay, and the relay is a solenoid-based electromagnetic relay that is a reed relay, wherein the relay is solid-state or semiconductor based, or wherein the relay is a Solid State Relay (SSR).

58. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is a light source that emits visible or non-visible light for illumination or indication, the non-visible light is infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays, or gamma rays, and wherein the light source is an electric light source for converting electrical energy into light.

59. The device according to claim 58, wherein the electric light source consists of, or comprises, a lamp, an incandescent lamp, a gas discharge lamp, a fluorescent lamp, a Solid-State Lighting (SSL), a Light Emitting Diode (LED), an Organic LED (OLED), a polymer LED (PLED), or a laser diode.

60. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is a motion actuator that causes linear or rotary motion, and the device further comprising a conversion mechanism for respectfully converting to rotary or linear motion based on a screw, a wheel and axle, or a cam.

61. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is a sounder for converting an electrical energy to omnidirectional, unidirectional, or bidirectional pattern emitted, audible or inaudible, sound waves.

62. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is a motion actuator that causes linear or rotary motion, and the device further comprising a conversion mechanism for respectfully converting to rotary or linear motion based on a screw, a wheel and axle, or a cam.

63. The device according to claim 62, wherein the motion actuator is an electrical motor.

64. The device according to claim 63, wherein the electrical motor is a brushed, a brushless, or an uncommutated DC motor, or wherein the DC motor is a stepper motor that is a Permanent Magnet (PM) motor, a Variable reluctance (VR) motor, or a hybrid synchronous stepper.

65. The device according to claim 63, wherein the electrical motor is an AC motor that is an induction motor, a synchronous motor, or an eddy current motor, and wherein the AC motor is a single-phase AC induction motor, a two-phase AC servo motor, or a three-phase AC synchronous motor, and the AC motor is a split-phase motor, a capacitor-start motor, or a Permanent-Split Capacitor (PSC) motor.

66. The device according to claim 62, wherein the motion actuator is a linear hydraulic actuator, a linear pneumatic actuator, a linear induction electric motor (LIM), or a Linear Synchronous electric Motor (LSM).

67. The device according to claim 62, wherein the motion actuator is based on a piezoelectric motor, a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) motor, a Squiggle motor, an ultrasonic motor, or a micro- or nanometer comb-drive capacitive actuator, a Dielectric or Ionic based Electroactive Polymers (EAPs) actuator, a solenoid, a thermal bimorph, or a piezoelectric unimorph actuator.

68. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is a compressor or a pump and is operative to move, force, or compress liquid, gas or slurry, and the actuator.

69. The device according to claim 41, wherein the actuator is an electric thermoelectric actuator and is a heater or a cooler, operative for affecting the temperature of a solid, a liquid, or a gas object, and is coupled to the object by conduction, convection, force convention, thermal radiation, or by the transfer of energy by phase changes.

70. The device according to claim 69, wherein the thermoelectric actuator is a cooler based on a heat pump driving a refrigeration cycle using a compressor-based electric motor, or wherein the thermoelectric actuator is an electric heater that is a resistance heater or a dielectric heater.