Noise detector in a light bulb

• US 8,422,889 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2010
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Greenwave Reality, Pte Ltd. (Greenwave Reality, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jonsson, Karl
• Primary Examiner(s): SINGH, DALZID E
• Application Number:
  US12/883,596
• Publication Number:
  US 20120070153A1
• Time in Patent Office: 943 Days
• Field of Search: 398/172, 398/115, 398/132, 398/133, 398/182, 398/201, 315/312, 315/318, 315/307, 315/360, 315/291, 315/297, 315/169.1
• US Class Current: 398/172
• CPC Class Codes: F21K 9/232 specially adapted for generating an essentially omnidirectional light distribution, e.g. with a glass bulb
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/0442 activated by means of a sensor, e.g. motion or photodetectors
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/0471 the sensor detecting the proximity, the presence or the movement of an object or a person
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 33/0076 Safety or security signalisation, e.g. smoke or burglar alarms, earthquake detectors; Self-defence devices
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/20 Speech recognition techniques specially adapted for robustness in adverse environments, e.g. in noise, of stress induced speech G10L21/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 Visible light communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality

Abstract

Noise may be received through a microphone included in a lighting apparatus. The noise may then be analyzed to determine if a human being may have been the source of the noise, and a message sent over a network alerting other devices that a human-caused noise was detected.

Claims

1. A lighting apparatus comprising:

a visible light source capable of outputting 25 lumens or more of luminous flux;

a controller comprising a data transmitter;

an acoustic energy detector with an output, wherein the output is communicatively coupled to the controller; and

structure to couple the visible light source with the controller;

wherein the controller is configured to;

perform speech recognition on acoustic energy received by the acoustic energy detector;

determine that a human being caused the acoustic energy if a word is recognized;

create a message based on the recognized word;

send the message through the data transmitter in response to the determination that the acoustic energy received by the acoustic energy detector was caused by the human being.

2. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the visible light source comprises at least one LED.

3. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data transmitter is communicatively coupled to an antenna and the data transmitter modulates a radio frequency carrier and the modulated carrier is transmitted from the antenna.

4. The lighting apparatus of claim 3, wherein the data transmitter participates in a wireless mesh network.

5. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data transmitter modulates a carrier and the modulated carrier is coupled to a power line.

6. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller further comprises circuitry to control an on-off state of the visible light source.

7. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the acoustic energy detector is a microphone, and the message comprises a representation of the acoustic energy received by the microphone.

8. The lighting apparatus of claim 7, wherein said representation comprises a compressed rendition of the acoustic energy received by the microphone.

9. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the structure comprises:

electrical contacts for connecting to an external power source;

a circuit board, at least the controller mounted on the circuit board;

a shell that is attached to the base and contains the circuit board, the visible light source, and the acoustic energy detector, the shell allowing the 25 lumens or more of luminous flux from the visible light source to emerge from the shell and allowing acoustic energy from outside the shell to be received by the acoustic energy detector.

10. A method for detecting noise in a room, the method comprising:

receiving acoustic energy at a lighting apparatus;

analyzing the acoustic energy by performing speech recognition on the acoustic energy;

determining that a human being caused the acoustic energy if a word is recognized;

creating a message based on the recognized word; and

sending the message from the lighting apparatus over a network in response to receiving the acoustic energy if the analysis determines that the acoustic energy was caused by the human being.

11. The method claim 10, wherein the analyzing of the acoustic energy further comprises:

measuring an amplitude and a duration of the acoustic energy; and

determining if the message should be sent based, at least in part, on the amplitude and the duration of the acoustic energy.

12. The method claim 10, wherein the analyzing of the acoustic energy further comprises:

measuring frequency content of the acoustic energy; and

determining if the message should be sent based, at least in part, on the frequency content of the acoustic energy.

13. A lighting fixture comprising:

a socket with electrical contacts to accept a separate visible light source;

a controller comprising a data transmitter;

an acoustic energy detector with an output, wherein the output is communicatively coupled to the controller; and

structure to couple the socket with the controller;

wherein the controller is configured to;

perform speech recognition on acoustic energy received by the acoustic energy detector;

determine that a human being caused the acoustic energy if a word is recognized;

create a message based on the recognized word;

send the message through the data transmitter in response to the determination that the acoustic energy received by the acoustic energy detector was caused by the human being.

14. The lighting fixture of claim 13, wherein the data transmitter is communicatively coupled to an antenna and the data transmitter modulates a radio frequency carrier and the modulated carrier is transmitted from the antenna.

15. The lighting fixture of claim 14, wherein the data transmitter participates in a wireless mesh network.

16. The lighting fixture of claim 13, wherein the data transmitter modulates a carrier and the modulated carrier is coupled to a power line.

17. The lighting fixture of claim 13, wherein the controller further comprises circuitry to control an on-off state of electrical power to the electrical contacts of the socket.

18. The lighting fixture of claim 13, wherein the acoustic energy detector is a microphone, and the message comprises a representation of the acoustic energy received by the microphone.

19. The lighting fixture of claim 18, wherein said representation comprises a compressed rendition of the acoustic energy received by the microphone.

20. A light bulb comprising:

at least one LED with a total combined visible light output of at least 25 lumens;

a microphone having an output;

a base with an electrical power connection;

a shell connected to the base, the shell at least partially transparent to visible light, capable of allowing acoustic energy from outside the shell to be received by the microphone, and containing the at least one LED, the microphone and a controller; and

the controller comprising;

(a) a processor;

(b) a radio frequency transceiver capable of connecting to a radio frequency network;

(c) circuitry configured to utilize commands received from the radio frequency network to control an on-off state of the at least one visible light LED;

(d) an input communicatively coupled to the output of the microphone; and

(e) a non-transitory processor readable storage medium, the non-transitory processor readable storage medium communicatively coupled to the processor and having processor readable program code suitable for execution on the processor embodied therewith, the processor readable program code comprising;

processor readable program code configured to receive data from the microphone representing acoustic energy received by the microphone;

processor readable program code configured to perform speech recognition on said data;

processor readable program code configured to create a message based on a recognized word; and

processor readable program code configured to send the message from the light bulb over the radio frequency network in response to receiving said data if at least one word is recognized.

21. The light bulb of claim 20 wherein said circuitry is further configured to utilize the commands received from the radio frequency network to control a color temperature of the total combined light output of the at least one visible light LED.