Building security system

• US 9,214,080 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2014
• Issued: 12/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Holdings LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Poder, James
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US14/511,906
• Publication Number:
  US 20150091722A1
• Time in Patent Office: 431 Days
• Field of Search: 340/517, 340/3.1, 340/506, 340/511, 340/521, 340/539.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2491 Intrusion detection systems, i.e. where the body of an intruder causes the interference with the electromagnetic field
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/00 Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/002 Generating a prealarm to the central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253

Abstract

A security system that can be used in a home, office, or other building in order to generate alarms or take other actions depending on conditions within the building. The security system may rely on sensors within the building which sense various conditions and collect other data. The information learned from the sensors can be communicated to a location outside the building for processing, such as, but not limited to, processing associated with a need to instigate an alarm.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device at a first location, first data indicative of an alarm condition at a second location;

determining that the first data indicates a need to activate an alarm at the second location; and

after receiving the first data and responsive to determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location, verifying the need to activate the alarm based on second data previously received by the computing device from the second location.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location; and

prior to determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location, receiving the second data from a device at the second location and storing the second data at the first location,

wherein verifying the need to activate the alarm based on the second data comprises verifying the need to activate the alarm based on the second data stored at the first location.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location; and

prior to determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location, receiving the second data from a device at the second location and storing the second data at a third location different from the first location and the second location,

wherein verifying the need to activate the alarm based on the second data comprises verifying the need to activate the alarm based on the second data stored at the third location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data and the second data are generated by a sensor at the second location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data is generated by a first sensor at the second location, and wherein the second data is generated by a second sensor at the second location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor comprise two of the following:

an audio sensor, a video camera, a temperature sensor, an air quality sensor, and a presence sensor.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to verifying the need to activate the alarm, transmitting an instruction to the second location to activate the alarm.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to verifying the need to activate the alarm, performing at least one of the following;

transmitting an instruction to a third location to activate the alarm at the second location, and

transmitting a message to the third location notifying a user at the third location of the alarm condition at the second location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the first data indicates the need to activate the alarm at the second location comprises determining that the first data indicates the need to activate an alarm based on monitoring criteria associated with one of one or more of elder monitoring, video monitoring, audio monitoring, medical monitoring, and energy management.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data indicative of the alarm condition comprises data from a presence sensor at the second location, and wherein verifying the need to activate the alarm based on the second data previously received by the computing device comprises:

retrieving a video received from a video recording device at the second location; and

verifying the need to activate the alarm using the video received from the video recording device at the second location.

11. A method comprising:

sending, by a computing device, first data that indicates an alarm condition sensed by a first sensor at a location and second data sensed by a second sensor at the location and associated with the alarm condition;

receiving an instruction to activate an alarm at the location, wherein the instruction is based on a determination that the second data sensed by the second sensor verifies the first data that indicates the alarm condition; and

in response to receiving the instruction, activating the alarm at the location.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

in response to sending third data, receiving an instruction to vary a parameter of the alarm, wherein the parameter comprises one or more of a scope, a duration, and an intensity.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first data and the second data correspond to the alarm condition at a first time, and the third data corresponds to the alarm condition at a second time later than the first time.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor comprise two of the following:

an audio sensor, a video camera, a temperature sensor, an air quality sensor, and a presence sensor.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the location comprises a first location, and wherein the first data and the second data are sent by the computing device to a second location, and wherein the instruction to activate the alarm is received from a third location different from the first location and the second location.

16. A method comprising:

in response to a computing device at a first location receiving first data indicative of an alarm condition at a second location and determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location, verifying a need to activate an alarm at the second location based on second data previously received by the computing device from the second location; and

in response to verifying the need to activate the alarm at the second location, transmitting an instruction to activate the alarm.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

prior to determining that the computing device has lost communication with the second location, receiving the second data from a device at the second location and storing the second data at the first location.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

in response to receiving third data after transmitting the instruction to activate the alarm, transmitting an instruction to vary a parameter of the alarm, wherein the parameter comprises one or more of a scope, a duration, and an intensity.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first data and the second data correspond to an alarm event at a first time, and the third data corresponds to the alarm event at a second time later than the first time.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the first data comprises data from a first sensor at the second location, wherein the second data comprises data from a second sensor at the second location, and wherein third data comprises data from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor at the second location.