Apparatus, system and method for wide area networking to control sports lighting

• US 7,209,958 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2001
• Issued: 04/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Musco Corporation
• Original Assignee: Musco Corporation
• Inventors: Crookham, Joe P., Rivera, Antonio
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng; David Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/951,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20020044045A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,049 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• 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: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A system for using a wide-area communication network, e.g. the Internet, as a conduit to communicate to and from the location of sports filed lighting, to control operation of the lighting, or monitor the lighting or other events at the location.

Claims

1. A system for remote control of one or more sports lights located at a sports field, the system comprising:

a plurality of high powered, high intensity discharge (HID) sports field light banks having a plurality of HID lights and located proximate the sports field;

an electronic control unit electrically connected to and adapted to control one or more operational functions of the high powered, HID sports field lights;

a base station transceiver electrically connected to the electronic control unit for receiving and transmitting wireless wide area network communication signals, the wireless wide area network communication signals having a band with substantially greater than a cellular network control channel;

a point of presence transceiver communicatively connected to an wide area network for relaying the wide area network communication signals to and from the base station transceiver; and

a control central remote from the electronic control unit and communicatively connected to the wide area network for originating operational function commands of the high powered, HID sports field lights and communicating the commands to the base station transceiver through the wide area network.

2. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 1 further comprising a data base communicatively connected to the control central for storing and communicating data to the control central.

3. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 2 wherein the data is scoring and related sports data.

4. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 1 further comprising one or more sensors electrically connected to the electronic control unit.

5. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 4 wherein the control unit and the base station transceiver are used for receiving signals from the sensors, processing the signals into status information, and sending the status information to the control central.

6. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 1 further comprising one or more subscriber units located remotely from the base station transceiver and the control central, the subscriber units for sending and receiving wide area network communication signals through the base station transceiver to or from the wide area network, allowing subscribers using the subscriber unit to have access to an Internet network.

7. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 6 wherein the wide area network communication signals between the base station transceiver and the subscriber units are last mile communications.

8. The system for remote control of one or more sports lights of claim 6 wherein the wide area network communication signals between the base station transceiver and the subscriber units are Internet packet communication signals.

9. A method of control of high power, high intensity discharge (HID) sports field lighting comprising the steps of:

originating an operational function command to control a function of the HID lighting;

converting the operational function command into an wide area network communication signal;

sending the wide area network communication signal through a wide area network to a point of presence transceiver;

transmitting the wide area network communication signal via wireless waves, wherein the communication signal has a band with substantially greater than a cellular network control channel;

receiving the wireless waves with a base station transceiver that is geographically remote from the point of presence transceiver;

converting the received wireless waves into the operational function command;

sending the operational function command to a control unit;

interpreting the operational function command; and

performing desired operation of the operational function command to control one or more functions of the HID lighting.

10. The method of control of high power, high intensity discharge (HID) sports field lighting of claim 9 further comprising corresponding with a data base.

11. The method of control of high power, high intensity discharge (HID) sports field lighting of claim 9 further comprising connecting one or more subscriber units to an Internet network through the base station transceiver.

12. The method of control of high power, high intensity discharge (HID) sports field lighting of claim 9 further comprising controlling a scoring unit using the control unit.

13. The method of control of high power, high intensity discharge (HID) sports field lighting of claim 9 further comprising operating a relay device with the control unit to perform a function of the HID lighting.