Passive indoor occupancy detection and location tracking

• US 9,516,474 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2015
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Industry Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Finnerty, Shaun, Pawlowski, Michael, Friedenberger, James, Devine, Kerri
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US14/616,370
• Publication Number:
  US 20160234649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

An approach to determine occupancy of a space passively with smart devices, where the smart device detects a beacon associated with a room or area in a building.

Claims

1. An occupancy location system, comprising:

a beacon having a transmitter that transmits a beacon signal having a beacon identifier, where the beacon signal is a first protocol signal;

a processor in a smart device in communication with a first receiver that receives the beacon signal that includes the associated beacon identifier, and incorporates a smart device identification and the beacon identifier in a message;

a transmitter coupled to the processor that formats the message for transmission to a server, where the beacon identifier is associated with an area within a building automation system (BAS);

a receiver in the building automation system (BAS) that receives the message, where the message is encoded in a second protocol signal; and

the server that is coupled to the receiver and a database in the BAS that identifies a user location by accessing the database with the beacon identifier and the smart device identification, wherein the server adjusts at least one parameter associated with the BAS in response to the user location, where the at least one parameter is a parameter associated with air conditioning.

2. The occupancy location system of claim 1, wherein the first receiver is a Bluetooth®

receiver.

3. The occupancy location system of claim 1, where the beacon identifier is a plurality of alpha-numeric characters.

4. An occupancy location system, comprising:

a beacon including;

a controller;

a transmitter coupled to the controller, wherein the transmitter transmits a beacon signal with an associated beacon identifier, where the beacon signal is a first protocol signal; and

a sensor coupled with the transmitter and the controller in a building automation system (BAS);

a receiver in the building automation system (BAS) that receives a message from a smart device, where the message is encoded in a second protocol signal and includes the beacon identifier and a user identifier;

a server that is coupled to the receiver and a database in the BAS that identifies a user location by accessing the database with the beacon identifier and the user identifier;

wherein the server adjusts at least one parameter associated with the BAS in response to the user location, where the at least one parameter is a parameter associated with air conditioning.

5. The occupancy location device of claim 4, where the transmitter is a Bluetooth®

transmitter.

6. A system of occupancy location determination, comprising:

a beacon having a transmitter that transmits a beacon signal having a beacon identifier, where the beacon signal is a first protocol signal;

a receiver in a building automation system (BAS) that receives the beacon identifier and a user identifier in a message from a smart device that is encoded in a second protocol signal; and

a controller that is coupled to the receiver and a database in the BAS that identifies the user location by accessing the database with the beacon identifier and the user identifier, wherein the controller adjusts at least one parameter associated with the BAS in response to the user location, where the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with air conditioning.

7. The system of claim 6, where the first protocol signal is a Bluetooth®

signal.

8. The system of claim 6, where the second protocol signal is a WiFi signal.

9. The system of claim 6, where the beacon identifier is an alpha-numeric string.

10. The system of claim 6, where the beacon is coupled to the BAS by a network interface.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the network interface provides power for the beacon.

12. The system of claim 6, where the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with lighting.

13. A method of occupancy location determination, comprising:

transmitting at a beacon by a transmitter a beacon signal having a beacon identifier, where the beacon signal is a first protocol signal;

receiving at a receiver in a building automation system (BAS) the beacon identifier and a user identifier in a message from a smart device that is encoded in a second protocol signal;

identifying the user location in the BAS with a controller that is coupled to the receiver and a database by accessing the database with the beacon identifier and the user identifier; and

adjusting with the controller at least one parameter associated with the BAS in response to the user location, where the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with air conditioning.

14. The method of claim 13, where the transmitting of the first protocol signal is transmitting a Bluetooth®

signal.

15. The method of claim 13, where receiving the second protocol signal is receiving a WiFi signal.

16. The method of claim 13, where the at least one parameter includes a parameter associated with lighting.

17. The method of claim 13, where the beacon is coupled to the BAS by a network interface.

18. The method of claim 17, including receiving power via the network interface at the beacon.