Software controlled access control door controller

• US 7,583,188 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2004
• Issued: 09/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ingersoll-Rand Nexia Intelligence, LLC (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Ingersoll-Rand Company (Trane Technologies plc)
• Inventors: Sawhney, Suresh Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Tai T
• Application Number:
  US11/574,070
• Publication Number:
  US 20080094171A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,790 Days
• Field of Search: 340/507, 340/506, 340/514, 340/519, 340/572.1, 340/572.4, 340/572.8, 340/5.5, 340/5.61, 340/5.64, 709/219, 709/220
• US Class Current: 340/507
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration

Abstract

The present invention is an access control door controller which utilizes three relays, 16 alarm inputs, tamper switch, a Weigand reader, a RS 232 reader and a IP core module to enable access control alarm monitoring, inter locking of doors and/or energy management for a room with the help of a software. The present invention utilizes a distributed communication (peer to peer) thus creating a door access controller System network with a truly distributed intelligence permitting exchange of information between all controllers which may be situated in a single site or over multiple sites connected on a common network. The full system can be configured on the widely used TCP/IP network thus avoiding the need for extensive wiring traditionally required for Access Control System. The controller, with its associated software can support multiple types of readers and can directly interface IP cameras for an integrated TCP/IP based Access Control/CCTV Solution.

Claims

1. An access control system that controls access to a plurality of areas by controlling a door associated with each area, the access control system comprising:

a server;

a plurality of devices, each device operable to sense a signal and output an alarm signal in response to the sensed signal;

a first reader positioned adjacent a first door and operable to receive first data from a first user at a first time;

a second reader positioned adjacent a second door and operable to receive second data from a second user at a second time; and

an access control door controller including;

a processor operable to run software;

a plurality of alarm inputs each alarm input operable to receive the alarm signal from a corresponding one of the plurality of devices;

a first data port operable to receive the first data and forward the first data to the processor at a third time;

a second data port operable to receive the second data and forward the second data to the processor at a fourth time;

a communication module operable to communicate with the server; and

a plurality of relays, each relay operable to receive an instruction signal from the processor, based at least partially on the first data and the second data, and each relay further operable to send an actuation signal in response to the instruction signal.

2. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of relays are operable to interlock a plurality of doors.

3. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of relays are operable to interlock at least two of a plurality of doors and operable to separately control at least one of the plurality of doors.

4. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of relays is operable to control a temperature of a room.

5. The access control system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices is a camera and the access control door controller is further operable to receive video from the camera.

6. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the software is operable to receive each of the alarm signals, process the received alarm signals into archive data, and communicate the archive data to the server.

7. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the first data port is further operable to send third data to the first reader, and wherein the second data port is only operable to receive data.

8. The access control system of claim 7, wherein the first data port is an RS 232 port and the second data port is a Weigand reader.

9. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the first time and the second time are substantially equal.

10. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the third time and the fourth time are substantially equal.

11. The access control system of claim 1, wherein access control door controller further includes a transmitter, the transmitter operable to communicate wirelessly with the server.

12. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the software is operable to function on a plurality of operating systems.

13. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the software is operable to function with a plurality of databases.

14. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the communication module is a TCP/IP core module and the TCP/IP core module is operable to communicate with the server over a local area network connection.

15. The access control system of claim 1, wherein the access control door controller further includes a power supply module operable to supply a first voltage to the access control door controller and a second voltage that is different from the first voltage to at least one of the plurality of devices.

16. The access control system of claim 1, further including a first locking mechanism positioned adjacent the first door and a second locking mechanism positioned adjacent the second door, and wherein the plurality of relays includes a first relay operable to send a first actuation signal to the first locking mechanism to control access to the first door, and a second relay operable to send a second actuation signal to the second locking mechanism to control access to the second door.

17. An access control door controller configured to retrofit to a security system in a building that includes a control server, a first identification reader positioned adjacent a first access point, a second identification reader positioned adjacent a second access point, and a plurality of monitoring devices, the access control door controller comprising:

a processor configured to run software, the processor including a memory that stores user data;

a plurality of inputs each input configured to receive an information signal from one of the plurality of monitoring devices and forward the information signal to the processor;

a first data port configured to receive a first identification signal from the first identification reader and forward the first identification signal to the processor at a first time;

a second data port configured to receive a second identification signal from the second identification reader and forward the second identification signal to the processor at a second time, the processor configured to receive the first and second identification signals and compare the first and second identification signals to the user data to make an access decision and output a first actuation signal and a second actuation signal based at least partially on the comparison, the processor also configured to produce an update message and transmit the update message wirelessly to the control server;

a first relay configured to receive the first actuation signal and forward the first actuation signal to a first locking mechanism positioned adjacent the first access point to control user access thereto;

a second relay configured to receive the second actuation signal and forward the second actuation signal to a second locking mechanism positioned adjacent the second access point to control user access thereto; and

a wireless communication module configured to receive the update message from the processor and wirelessly transmit the update message to the control server.

18. The access control door controller of claim 17, further including a power supply module configured to receive an AC power from a main power source and convert the AC power into a first DC power at a first voltage and a second DC power at a second voltage that is different from the first voltage, the power supply module configured to supply the first DC power and the second DC power to the access control door controller.

19. The access control door controller of claim 18, wherein the access control door controller provides the first DC power to the first identification reader and the second identification reader, and the second DC power to the plurality of monitoring devices.

20. The access control door controller of claim 17, wherein the first data port is an RS 232 port, and the second data port is a Wiegand reader.

21. The access control door controller of claim 17, further comprising a third relay, and wherein the processor is configured to output a third actuation signal based on the access decision, the third relay configured to receive the third actuation signal and forward the third actuation signal to a third locking mechanism positioned adjacent a third access point such that user access to the third access point is controlled by one of the first identification signal and the second identification signal.