Method for detecting, recognizing, and automatic disarming of an alarm control unit, and alarm system suitable for its use

• US 9,728,072 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2015
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Radio Systemes Ingenierie Video Technologies
• Original Assignee: Radio Systemes Ingenierie Video Technologies
• Inventors: Reibel, Jean-Michel
• Primary Examiner(s): Trieu, Van
• Application Number:
  US14/923,805
• Publication Number:
  US 20160133120A1
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/181 due to failing power supply
• 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

Abstract

A method and system for detecting, recognizing, and automatic disarming of an alarm control unit (3) for monitoring a secure space that is closed by at least one door, the system including the control unit (3), at least one autonomous detection and identification assembly including a proximity transmitter/receiver (4b) and at least one detection sensor (5b) making it possible to detect an opening of the door and/or a passage through the latter, and at least one active wireless communication portable medium (6) including an identification code. The method includes, following detection, in the armed state of the control unit, controlling the activation of the transmitter/receiver to activate it, then to deactivate it, after a predetermined time t0, to put it on standby and, in the disarmed state, to keep it on standby.

Claims

1. A method for detecting, recognizing, and automatic disarming of an alarm control unit for monitoring a secure space comprising at least one access opening that is closed by a door, using an alarm system comprising, on the one hand, the alarm control unit that comprises a main central processing unit and a main communication module and is supplied by an autonomous main power source or by the grid;

on the other hand, at least one autonomous detection and identification assembly that is connected operationally to the control unit and that is associated with the door or with one of the doors, the or each assembly comprising one or two secondary central processing units, a proximity transmitter/receiver capable of being activated or put on standby, at least one detection sensor able to detect an opening of the associated door and/or a passage through the latter, one or two secondary communication modules making possible the communication with the control unit and one or two secondary power sources making possible the power autonomy of the or of each assembly; and

still on the other hand, at least one active wireless communication portable medium comprising a wireless communication chip, such as a Bluetooth chip preferably of low power, and a memory containing an identifier, the or each activated proximity transmitter/receiver being able to establish a wireless communication with the or each chip to make possible the identification of the portable medium and the recognition of its identifier by the control unit that is designed, depending on whether the identifier is recognized or not, automatically to be disarmed or to trigger an alarm procedure,

the method, based on a configuration where the or each proximity transmitter/receiver is in the standby state and where the control unit is in the armed or disarmed state, for the or each door in question, comprising performing the following consecutive steps a/ and b/;

a/ automatically detecting, using the detection sensor(s), an opening of the door and/or a passage through the the door,

b/ following said detection, depending on the arming state, armed or disarmed, of the control unit;

in the armed state;

i/ controlling the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver in question to put the proximity transmitter/receiver automatically in the activated state enabling it to communicate wirelessly with the portable medium in question over a predetermined time t0,

ii/ in the presence of the portable medium or of one of the portable media in the radio frequency communication field of the activated proximity transmitter/receiver, establishing the corresponding wireless communication to make possible the identification of the portable medium in question,

iii/ transmitting the identifier of the portable medium that is thus present to the control unit that, depending on the recognition status of the identifier, performs either, when it is valid, the procedure for disarming the system or, in the absence of a valid identifier, the alarm procedure, optionally after an entry timing delay,

iv/ in the absence of a recognized portable medium, controlling, at the expiration of the predetermined time t0, the deactivation of the thus activated proximity transmitter/receiver to put the proximity transmitter/receiver automatically in the standby state,

in the disarmed state;

v/ automatically keeping the proximity transmitter/receiver in the standby state by acting directly or indirectly on the proximity transmitter/receiver.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, based on the system where, on the one hand, the or each assembly comprises a detector/reader incorporating the secondary central processing unit, the secondary wireless communication module, the proximity transmitter/receiver, the detection sensor(s) and the secondary power source, the secondary central processing unit of the or of each assembly being designed to be able to control, following a detection by the detection sensor(s), the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver of the same assembly and, on the other hand, the main central processing unit of the control unit is designed to send to the secondary central processing unit of the or of each assembly an information signal representing or reflecting the arming state, armed or disarmed, of the control unit, the method comprising:

prior to step b/, sending, to the secondary central processing unit of the or of each detector/reader, the information signal representing the arming state of the control unit to inform the secondary central processing unit of the arming state of the control unit,

in step b/ i/, controlling from the secondary central processing unit the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, based on the system where the main central processing unit of the control unit is designed to be able to control the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver of the or of each assembly and where the or each assembly comprises, on the one hand, of a reader incorporating the proximity transmitter/receiver, one of the two secondary central processing units, one of the two secondary communication modules and one of the two secondary power sources and, on the other hand, a detector incorporating the other secondary central unit, the other secondary communication module, the detection sensor(s) and the other secondary power source, the method comprising:

in step a/, sending to the control unit, from the detector, a signal representing the detection performed by the detection sensor(s) of said detector,

in step b/ i/, controlling, from the control unit, the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver.

4. The method according to claim 1, which comprises in step b/ iv/, controlling the deactivation of the proximity transmitter/receiver from the or one of the secondary central processing units of the same assembly.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit comprises a memory containing the list of valid identifiers relative to the portable media and wherein the method comprises controlling, using the system, in response to the arming of the control unit in the armed state, prior to step a/, the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver of the or of each assembly, automatically to put the or each proximity transmitter/receiver in the activated state during a predetermined time so as to detect the possible presence of a portable medium that is authorized in the secure space, then in controlling, after a predetermined time, the deactivation of the or of each activated proximity transmitter/receiver to a standby state, and in the case of such a presence, temporarily suppressing the portable medium in the list of valid identifiers stored in the control unit until it is next disarmed.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in the armed state and in the activated state of the or of each proximity transmitter/receiver, using the or each portable medium designed to transmit periodically, according to a predetermined timing with a cycle of time t1, a signaling message indicating its presence, said signaling message being transmitted for each cycle on one or more transmitting channels each repeating said message, preferably three channels, the use of the or of each transmitting channel by the or each proximity transmitter/receiver being performed over the predetermined time t0, the method comprising:

defining the predetermined time t0 of the activated state of the or of each proximity transmitter/receiver in relation to the time t1 of the cycle so that the predetermined time t0 is strictly greater than the time t1 of the cycle.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, in the case where the signaling message is transmitted on at least two transmitting channels that are used consecutively in a predetermined order by the or each proximity transmitter/receiver and where no communication has been established in the first transmitting channel used, the method comprises using consecutively the other transmitting channel(s) until a communication is established or until the last transmitting channel has been used by the or each proximity transmitter/receiver.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the timing is defined so that the time t1 of the cycle is greater than 0.7 second and less than 5 seconds.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the timing is defined so that the time t1 of the cycle is greater than 1.5 second and less than 3 seconds.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein step b/ v/, using the or each assembly configured for the or each detection sensor to be able to be activated or put in the standby state, the method comprises putting the proximity transmitter/receiver directly or indirectly in the standby state either by acting directly on the proximity transmitter/receiver, or by acting directly on the or each detection sensor in question to put the detection sensor in the standby state.

11. An alarm system, suitable for using the method according to claim 1, for identifying, recognizing, and automatic disarming of an alarm control unit, for monitoring a secure space comprising at least one access opening that is closed by a door, wherein the system comprises:

the alarm control unit that comprises a main central processing unit and a main communication module and is supplied by an autonomous main power source or by the grid,

at least one autonomous detection and identification assembly that is connected operationally to the control unit and that is associated with the door or with one of the doors, the or each assembly comprising one or two secondary central processing units, a proximity transmitter/receiver capable of being activated or put on standby, at least one detection sensor able to detect an opening of the associated door and/or a passage through the latter, if applicable the or each detection sensor being capable of being automatically activated or put on standby, one or two secondary communication modules making possible the communication with the control unit and one or two secondary power sources making possible the power autonomy of the or of each assembly,

at least one active wireless communication portable medium comprising a wireless communication chip, such as a Bluetooth chip preferably of low power, and a memory containing an identifier, the or each activated proximity transmitter/receiver being able to establish a wireless communication with the or each communication chip to make possible the identification of the portable medium and the recognition of its identifier by the control unit that is designed, depending on whether the identifier is recognized or not, automatically to be disarmed or to trigger an alarm procedure,

and wherein the control unit or, if applicable, the or each assembly, is designed, following the detection by the detection sensor(s), on the one hand, in the armed state of the control unit, automatically to make it possible to control the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver in question, as defined in step b/ i/, and, on the other hand, in the disarmed state of the control unit, automatically to make it possible to keep, as defined in step b/ v/, the or each proximity transmitter/receiver in the standby state by acting directly or indirectly on the latter, and the or each assembly comprises time-delay means that make possible to control automatically, after the predetermined time t0, the deactivation as defined in step b/ iv/.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the or each assembly comprises an autonomous detector/reader incorporating the secondary central processing unit, the secondary communication module, the proximity transmitter/receiver, the detection sensor(s) and the secondary power source, wherein the secondary central processing unit of the or of each assembly is designed to be able to control, following a detection by the detection sensor(s), the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver and wherein the main central processing unit of the control unit is designed to be able to send, via the main communication module and the corresponding secondary communication module, to the secondary central processing unit of the or of each assembly an information signal representing or reflecting the arming state, armed or disarmed, of the control unit.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the detector/reader comprises a case containing an electronic board, if applicable a plurality of electronic boards connected to one another, incorporating the secondary central processing unit, the secondary communication module, the proximity transmitter/receiver, the detection sensor(s) and the secondary power source.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the or each assembly comprises, on the one hand, an autonomous reader incorporating the proximity transmitter/receiver, one of the two secondary central processing units, one of the two secondary communication modules which are bidirectional, and one of the two secondary power sources and, on the other hand, an autonomous detector incorporating the other communication module, the detection sensor(s), the other secondary power source and the other secondary central processing unit configured to be able to send to the control unit the signal representing the detection as defined in step a/, and wherein the main central processing unit is configured to be able to control, via the main communication module and the corresponding secondary communication module, the activation of the proximity transmitter/receiver, as defined in step b/ i/.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein, for the or each assembly, the reader comprises a case containing an electronic board, if applicable a plurality of electronic boards connected to one another, incorporating the proximity transmitter/receiver, one of the two secondary central processing units, one of the two secondary communication modules, and one of the two power sources, and wherein the detector comprises a case containing an electronic board, if applicable a plurality of electronic boards that are connected to one another, incorporating the other communication module, the detection sensor(s), the other secondary central processing unit, and the other secondary power source.