Methods for using state machines
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a smoke sensor state machine of a hazard detection system, the hazard detection system comprising a smoke sensor, a processor, and an alarm, the method comprising:
- receiving smoke data values from the smoke sensor;
receiving a hush event command; and
transitioning among a plurality of states based on the received smoke data values, the received hush event command, and a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions comprises a plurality of different smoke thresholds, and wherein, for each state transition, the transitioning comprises comparing the smoke data values to one of the different smoke thresholds.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for using multi-criteria state machines to manage alarming states and pre-alarming states of a hazard detection system are described herein. The multi-criteria state machines can include one or more sensor state machines that can control the alarming states and one or more system state machines that can control the pre-alarming states. Each state machine can transition among any one of its states based on sensor data values, hush events, and transition conditions. The transition conditions can define how a state machine transitions from one state to another. The hazard detection system can use a dual processor arrangement to execute the multi-criteria state machines according to various embodiments. The dual processor arrangement can enable the hazard detection system to manage the alarming and pre-alarming states in a manner that promotes minimal power usage while simultaneously promoting reliability in hazard detection and alarming functionality.
27 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for controlling a smoke sensor state machine of a hazard detection system, the hazard detection system comprising a smoke sensor, a processor, and an alarm, the method comprising:
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receiving smoke data values from the smoke sensor; receiving a hush event command; and transitioning among a plurality of states based on the received smoke data values, the received hush event command, and a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions comprises a plurality of different smoke thresholds, and wherein, for each state transition, the transitioning comprises comparing the smoke data values to one of the different smoke thresholds. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for controlling a carbon monoxide sensor state machine of a hazard detection system, the hazard detection system comprising a carbon monoxide sensor, a processor, and an alarm, the method comprising:
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receiving carbon monoxide (“
CO”
) data values from the carbon monoxide sensor;managing a plurality of CO time buckets by selectively adding and subtracting time units to at least one of the buckets based on the received CO data values, wherein each CO time bucket comprises a time unit quantity, and wherein a time unit is added to at least one of the CO time buckets when the CO data value is one of equal to and greater than an implementation level associated with that at least one CO time bucket and a time unit is subtracted from at least one of the CO time buckets when the CO data value is less than a fraction of the implementation level associated with that at least one CO time bucket; and transitioning among a plurality of states based on the received CO data values and a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions comprises an alarm time threshold for each CO time bucket. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for controlling a heat sensor state machine of a hazard detection system, the hazard detection system comprising at least one heat sensor, a processor, and an alarm, the method comprising:
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receiving raw heat data values from the at least one heat sensor; using an acceleration function to convert the raw heat data values into scaled heat data values; receiving a hush event command; and transitioning among a plurality of states based on the scaled heat data values, the received hush event command, and a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions comprises a plurality of different heat thresholds, and wherein, for each state transition, the transitioning comprises comparing the scaled data values to one of the different heat thresholds. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for selecting an adjustable alarm threshold from a plurality of different thresholds, wherein the selected adjustable alarm threshold is a transition condition of a state machine, the method comprising:
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receiving sensor data values from at least two sensors; selecting the adjustable alarm threshold from one of the plurality of different thresholds by applying selection criteria to the received sensor data values; and using the selected adjustable alarm threshold in the transition condition of the state machine. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification