INDOOR LOCATION SERVICES USING A DISTRIBUTED LIGHTING NETWORK

• US 20180098201A1
• Filed: 12/05/2017
• Published: 04/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IDEAL Industries Lighting, LLC (Ideal Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: CREE Incorporated (Wolfspeed, Inc.)
• Inventors: Torello, Jeff, Guarino, Collin
• Granted Patent: US 10,671,826 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/84 for distance determination by phase measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20216 Image averaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/50 using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00016 using a wired telecommunication network or a data transmission bus
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00022 using wireless data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00028 involving the use of Internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2213/10 using simultaneously two or more different transmission means
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• 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: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/175 by remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/199 Commissioning of light sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/246 the system involving the remote operation of lamps or lighting equipment
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/124 : using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 : using wireless data transmission

Abstract

A method includes the steps of obtaining distance measurements between a device and a number of lighting fixtures, processing the distance measurements to assign coordinates to each one of the lighting fixtures, and facilitating registration of the coordinates of a subset of the lighting fixtures to obtain registered coordinates for all of the lighting fixtures. The coordinates indicate a relative location of each one of the lighting fixtures with respect to one another. The registered coordinates indicate a location of each lighting fixture in a desired coordinate space. Accordingly, a location of a lighting fixture within a desired coordinate space can be easily obtained, which may enable significant additional functionality of the lighting fixture.

Claims

1. A distributed lighting network comprising:

a plurality of lighting fixtures each of which has a known location in an indoor space and is configured to emit a wireless beacon signal, wherein the wireless beacon signal identifies the lighting fixture from which it is emitted and indicates a distance between a receiver of the wireless beacon signal and the lighting fixture from which the wireless beacon signal is emitted; and

an indoor location services module configured to;

receive information about each wireless beacon signal received by a mobile device; and

determine a location of the mobile device in the indoor space based on the information about each wireless beacon signal received by the mobile device and the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

2. The distributed lighting network of claim 1 wherein the information about each wireless beacon signal received by the mobile device indicates the lighting fixture from which the wireless beacon signal was emitted and a distance between the mobile device and the lighting fixture from which the wireless beacon signal was emitted.

3. The distributed lighting network of claim 1 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to:

determine directions from the location of the mobile device to a destination in the indoor space; and

communicate the directions to the mobile device.

4. The distributed lighting network of claim 1 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to determine the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures in the indoor space by:

obtaining a first set of distance measurements between each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures using a first measurement method;

obtaining a second set of distance measurements between each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures using a second measurement method, which is different from the first measurement method; and

processing the first set of distance measurements and the second set of distance measurements to assign relative coordinates to each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures, wherein the relative coordinates indicate a relative location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures with respect to one another.

5. The distributed lighting network of claim 4 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to facilitate generation of a graphical representation of the indoor space based on the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

6. The distributed lighting network of claim 4 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to determine the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures in the indoor space by:

facilitating registration of the relative coordinates assigned to a subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures to obtain registered coordinates for the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

interpolating registered coordinates for the relative coordinates of the ones of the plurality of lighting fixtures not in the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

7. The distributed lighting network of claim 4 wherein the first measurement method comprises:

emitting a modulated light signal from a first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

detecting an intensity of the modulated light signal by at least a second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures to determine a distance between the first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures and at least the second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

8. The distributed lighting network of claim 7 wherein the second measurement method comprises:

emitting an acoustic signal from the first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

detecting an intensity of the acoustic signal by at least the second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures to determine the distance between the first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures and at least the second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

9. The distributed lighting network of claim 8 wherein the indoor location services module is further configured to determine the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures in the indoor space by:

facilitating the registration of the relative coordinates assigned to a subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures to obtain registered coordinates for the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

interpolating registered coordinates for the ones of the plurality of lighting fixtures not in the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

10. The distributed lighting network of claim 4 wherein the indoor location services module is configured to periodically determine the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures in the indoor space such that changes in the indoor space are automatically detected.

11. A method comprising:

providing a wireless beacon signal from a plurality of lighting fixtures each of which has a known location in an indoor space, wherein the wireless beacon signal identifies the lighting fixture from which it is emitted and indicates a distance between a receiver of the wireless beacon signal and the lighting fixture from which the wireless beacon signal is emitted;

receiving information about each wireless beacon signal received by a mobile device; and

determining a location of the mobile device in the indoor space based on the information about each wireless beacon signal received by the mobile device and the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the information about each wireless beacon signal received by the mobile device indicates the lighting fixture from which the wireless beacon signal was emitted and a distance between the mobile device and the lighting fixture from which the wireless beacon signal was emitted.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

determining directions from the location of the mobile device to a destination in the indoor space; and

communicating the directions to the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures by:

obtaining a first set of distance measurements between each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures using a first measurement method;

obtaining a second set of distance measurements between each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures using a second measurement method, which is different form the first measurement method; and

processing the first set of distance measurements and the second set of distance measurements to assign relative coordinates to each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures, wherein the relative coordinates indicate a relative location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures with respect to one another.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising generating a graphical representation of the indoor space based on the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein determining the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures further comprises:

facilitating registration of the relative coordinates assigned to a subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures to obtain registered coordinates for the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

interpolating registered coordinates for the relative coordinates of the ones of the plurality of lighting fixtures not in the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the first measurement method comprises:

emitting a modulated light signal from a first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

detecting an intensity of the modulated light signal by at least a second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures to determine a distance between the first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures and at least the second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the second measurement method comprises:

emitting an acoustic signal from the first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

detecting an intensity of the acoustic signal by at least the second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures to determine a distance between the first one of the plurality of lighting fixtures and at least the second one of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein determining the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures further comprises:

facilitating registration of the coordinates assigned to a subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures to obtain registered coordinates for the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures; and

interpolating registered coordinates for the ones of the plurality of lighting fixtures not in the subset of the plurality of lighting fixtures.

20. The method of claim 14 further comprising periodically determining the known location of each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures in the indoor space such that changes in the indoor space are automatically detected.