LIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM HAVING NETWORKED INTELLIGENT LUMINAIRE MANAGERS

• US 20100287081A1
• Filed: 07/19/2010
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Inventors: Darnell, Charles J., Gibler, Zachary S., Walters, Jeff D., Henderson, David A., Minarczyk, Michael M., Holland, William Eric
• Granted Patent: US 8,010,319 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/195 the transmission using visible or infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/22 with communication between the lamps and a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

A network operation center for a light management system having networked intelligent luminaire managers. A plurality of networked luminaire managers, each collocated with a respective luminaire, monitor the status of their respective luminaires. The luminaire managers include transmitters for transmitting status information about their respective luminaires and third-party devices to a network server. The network server forwards the received status information from the networked luminaire managers to a computer of an owner/operator of the plurality of luminaires and/or a third-party user. The luminaire managers communicate with each other, whereby they form a network.

Claims

1. A method for managing a plurality of luminaires, comprising:

receiving information for a plurality of luminaires from a plurality of networked intelligent luminaire managers, each networked intelligent luminaire manager being coupled to an associated luminaire and configured to monitor and communicate a status of the associated luminaire;

storing the received information; and

routing received information for a first group of luminaires to a first computer associated with an operator of the first group of luminaires.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

routing information for a second group of luminaires to a second computer associated with an operator of the second group of luminaires.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving third party information that originated from a radio frequency device;

storing the third party information; and

routing the third party information to a second computer.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a command from the computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires to turn-on a particular luminaire;

storing the command; and

routing the command to the networked intelligent luminaire manager coupled to the particular luminaire.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the received information includes information about usage of each luminaire, further comprising:

generating a bill for a particular group of luminaires based on the received information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting a flow of communications between selected networked intelligent luminaire manages.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending an alarm to the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires if status information is received indicating that a particular luminaire of the first group of luminaires is not functioning properly.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the sending step comprises:

sending location information for the particular luminaire.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the sending step comprises:

sending time of failure information for the particular luminaire.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the sending step comprises:

sending type of failure information for the particular luminaire.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing the received information; and

generating a report based on the analysis.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the generating step comprises:

generating a failure analysis report.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending billing information to the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending network status information to the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending power usage information to the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires.

16. A method for managing a plurality of luminaires, comprising:

receiving information for a plurality of luminaires from a plurality of networked intelligent luminaire managers, each networked intelligent luminaire manager being coupled to an associated luminaire and configured to monitor and communicate a status of the associated luminaire;

routing information for a first group of luminaires to a first computer associated with an operator of the first group of luminaires;

receiving a command from the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires to turn on a particular luminaire; and

routing the command to the networked intelligent luminaire manager coupled to the particular luminaire, thereby enabling the networked intelligent luminaire manager to turn on the particular luminaire.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

sending an alarm to the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires if information is received indicating that a particular luminaire of the first group of luminaires is not functioning properly.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the sending step comprises:

sending location information for the particular luminaire; and

sending time of failure information for the particular luminaire.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

adjusting a flow of communications between selected networked intelligent luminaire manages.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

analyzing the received information; and

sending a report based on the analysis to the first computer associated with the operator of the first group of luminaires.