THREAT DETECTION SYSTEM HAVING REMOTE/CLOUD OR LOCAL CENTRAL MONITORING UNIT FOR COMMUNICATING WITH INTERNET ADDRESSABLE GATEWAY DEVICES AND ASSOCIATED WIRELESS SENSOR AND SUB-SENSOR DEVICES, THAT BLANKET A VENUE USING MULTI-HOP AND LOW POWER COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS WITH SUCH COMMUNICATION BY MESH ZIGBEE, Z-WAVE, IPV6, BLUETOOTH, WIFI, CELLULAR, SATELLITE OR BROADBAND NETWORK ARRANGEMENT AND REPORTING DATA, DATA RATE OF CHANGE NON-COMPLIANCE AND DEVICE LOCATION NON-COMPLIANCE AND DEVICE NON-RESP

• US 20180190096A1
• Filed: 03/01/2018
• Published: 07/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Douglas Lundy
• Original Assignee: Douglas Lundy
• Granted Patent: US 10,276,013 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A data sensing and threat detection network comprising a plurality of wireless sensor devices and their related wireless sub-sensor devices, for communication, with wireless detector units/gateways in a network arrangement to allow transmission of data there between in optimized paths, such wireless detector units to communicate, by secure means, to and front a Central Monitoring Unit that manages the sensing and client alert processes, based upon wireless sensor values/conditions and wireless sub-sensor values/conditions as they relate to pre-determined values/conditions, and sensor device location co-ordinates data (derived from GPS or CTS, or the like) as it relates to pre-determined “location differential values”, data “timeframe-based rate of change” as it relates to pre-determined “rate of change differentials” in a pre-determined timeframe or part thereof, and the like, with the Central Monitoring Unit enabling related devices and alerting clients, and confirming that such related devices have been enabled and alerts have been delivered, as and when required. Notwithstanding, the data sensing and threat detection network provides clients with a powerful, flexible and dynamic central monitoring system and related wireless gateways, sensor and sub-sensors that provide a true data management solution with Homeland Security color coded normal, aware, alert and urgent alert graphic representation, and archiving, of all data, in accordance with client needs.

Claims

1. A data sensing and environmental threat detecting network detecting and reporting environmental threats within a venue, the network comprising a plurality of wireless detector units each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving environmental data and location coordinates and data rate of change information within the venue and each having a data processor,

the network further comprising a plurality of wireless sensor devices each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving environmental data and location coordinates and data rate of change information within the venue and each having a data processor, said detector units and said sensor devices being connected to Internet of Things (“

IoT”

) mesh multi-hop, ZigBee, Z-Wave or IPV6 and other related networks based upon 6LoWPAN or WiFi or cellular network arrangement whereby said detector unit data processors and said sensor device data processors have programming which allows communication alternately to and from more than one of others of said detector units and said sensor devices in a manner such that transmission of data irons said sensor devices to said detector units and communication from said detector units to said sensor devices may be effected over alternate wireless paths whereby the transmission of data from said sensor devices to said detector units and communication from said detector units to said sensor devices may be effected using optimized wireless paths,

the network further comprising means for blanketing substantially all of physical space in the venue with low-cost devices for sensing environmental and location coordinates data in a quantity of said low-cost, devices so that substantially all of physical space in the venue can be sampled inexpensively, said means for blanketing comprising a plurality of environmental and location coordinates data sub-sensor devices equipped with low power, low cost wireless communications technology such as Bluetooth or Z-Wave (for smart homes) and each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving information and each having a processor whereby the distance over which said sub-sensor devices are equipped to wirelessly transmit data is limited by the low power wireless communications technology thereof, said sub-sensor programmed for communication with an associated one of said sensor devices which is sufficiently nearby to receive data transmitted from said respective low power wireless communications technology sub-sensor device, and wherein said sensor devices are equipped to communicate with said detector units and with others of said sensor devices over distances which are greater than the limited distance over which said sub-sensor devices are equipped to communicate,

the network further comprising a central monitoring unit either located remote (including in a cloud/server farm) or locally, which is programmed to communicate to and from said detector units, using secure cellular, satellite, internet broadband or intranet networks for management of routing of transmissions of environmental and location coordinates data between said sensor devices and said detector units over optimized paths and for comparing the environmental and location coordinates data received from said sensor devices and said sub-sensor devices within the venue to determine whether an environmental threat exists within the venue, wherein said detector units are equipped to receive and process sensed and location coordinates information from said sensor devices and transmit the processed sensed and location coordinates information to said central monitoring unit, and Wherein the network has

first programming to provide a plurality of running average baselines of at least one sensed value of at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices, and

second programming to declare a potential alert when a sensed value of said at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices is at a value which is either (1) greater than a corresponding predetermined upper threshold value or a corresponding running average baseline value (whichever is greater) plus a corresponding predetermined upper fluctuation buffer value, or (2) less than a corresponding predetermined lower threshold value or a corresponding running average baseline value (whichever is less) less a corresponding predetermined lower fluctuation buffer value, and

third programming to declare an alert when a sensed value of said sensor or sub-sensor devices, relative to its prior sensed value, is at a differential value greater than its allowed corresponding predetermined upper rate of change threshold over a predetermined period of time, or pro-rated portion thereof, or is at a differential value less than its allowed corresponding predetermined lower rate of change threshold over a predetermined period of time, or pro-rated portion thereof, and

fourth programming to declare an alert when the location coordinates of a said detector unit or said sensor device or said sub-sensor device is at a differential value which is greater than the allowed corresponding predetermined Global Positioning System (GPS) or Cellular Triangulation System (CTS) differential threshold, and

fifth programming after an alert has been declared, subsequent to the completion of a rules-based assessment process, to enable a wireless sensor device to power relational devices, consisting of any or all of the following, water/liquid pumps, security beacons, video surveillance systems, audio surveillance systems, lighting systems and audio response systems, and confirm that the relational device(s) has/have been enabled.

2. The network according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices is modular and may be mobile.

3. The network according to claim 1 wherein the network has programming for comparing values of said sensor devices and sab-sensor devices with predetermined threshold values in a manner to minimize false positive values of said sensor and sub-sensor devices while minimizing introduction of false negative values of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices in deciding whether an alert should be declared.

4. The network according to claim 1 wherein the network has

sixth programming to determine to declare an urgent alert when a sensed sensor value is non-compliant with the pre-determined maximum or minimum allowable sensed for wireless sensor or sub-sensor devices.

5. The network according to claim 1 wherein the network has programming to declare an urgent alert when one of said wireless detector units fails to communicate with said central monitoring unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sensor devices fails to communicate with said respective wireless detector unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sub-sensor devices foils to communicate with said respective wireless sensor device within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless detector units fails to communicate its location coordinates to said central monitoring unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sensor devices fails to communicate its location coordinates to said respective wireless detector unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sub-sensor devices fails to communicate its location coordinates to said respective wireless sensor device within a predetermined time period.

6. A data sensing and environmental threat detecting network for detecting and reporting environmental threats within a venue,

the network comprising a plurality of wireless detector units each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving environmental data information within the venue and each having a data processor,

the network further comprising a plurality of sensor devices including at least one portable or mobile sensor device each of which sensor devices having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving environmental data information within the venue and each of which sensor devices having a data processor, said detector units and said sensor devices being connected to Internet of Things (“

IoT”

) mesh multi-hop, ZigBee, IPV6, WiFi or Cellular network arrangements whereby said detector unit data processors and said sensor device data processors have programming which allows communication alternately to and from more than one of others of said detector units and said sensor devices in a manner such that transmission of data from said sensor devices to said detector units and communication from said detector units to said sensor devices may be effected over alternate wireless paths whereby the transmission of data from said sensor devices to said detector units and communication from said detector units to said sensor devices may be effected using optimized wireless paths,

the network further comprising means for blanketing substantially all of physical space in the venue with low-cost, low power, low energy usage sub-sensor devices for sensing environmental data in a quantity of said low-power, low-cost devices so that substantially all of physical space in the venue can be sampled inexpensively, said means for blanketing comprising a plurality of environmental data sub-sensor devices equipped with low-power wireless communications technology and each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving information and each having a processor whereby the distance over which said sub-sensor devices are equipped to wirelessly transmit data is limited by the tow power wireless communications technology and low energy usage thereof said sub-sensor processor programmed for communication with an associated one of said sensor devices which is sufficiently nearby to wirelessly receive data transmitted from said respective low power wireless communications technology sub-sensor device, and wherein said sensor devices are equipped to communicate with said detector units and with others of said sensor devices over distances which are greater than the limited distance over which said sub-sensor devices are equipped to communicate,

the network further comprising a central monitoring unit which is programmed to communicate to and from said detector units for management of routing of transmissions of environmental data between said sensor devices and said detector units over optimized paths and for comparing the environmental, location coordinate and sensor rate of change data received from said sensor devices and said sub-sensor devices within the venue to determine whether an environmental threat exists within the venue, wherein said detector units are equipped to receive and process sensed information from said sensor devices and transmit the processed sensed information to said central monitoring unit, by cellular, satellite, internet broadband and intranet, and wherein the network has

first programming to provide a plurality of running average baselines of at least one sensed value of at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices, and

second programming to declare a potential alert when a sensed value of said at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices is at a value which is either (1) greater than a corresponding predetermined upper threshold value or a corresponding running average baseline value (whichever is greater) plus a corresponding predetermined upper fluctuation buffer value, or (2) less than a corresponding predetermined lower threshold value or a corresponding running average baseline value (whichever is less) less a corresponding predetermined lower fluctuation buffer value.

7. The network according to claim 6 wherein said portable or mobile sensor device has a size which is less than about 8 inches by 8 inches by 8 inches.

8. The network according to claim 6 wherein said portable or mobile sensor device includes means for communicating with an associated detector unit via an Internet of Things (“

IoT”

) mesh multi-hop, ZigBee, Z-Wave, IPV6, WiFi or Cellular network arrangement.

9. The network according to claim 6 wherein at least one of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices is modular and may be mobile.

10. The network according to claim 6 wherein the network has programming for comparing values of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices with predetermined threshold values in a manner to minimize false positive values of said sensor and sub-sensor devices while minimizing introduction of false negative values of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices in deciding whether an alert or urgent alert should be declared.

11. The network according to claim 6 wherein the network has programming to declare an urgent alert when one of said wireless detector units fails to communicate with said central monitoring unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sensor devices fails to communicate with said respective wireless detector unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sub-sensor devices fails to communicate with said respective wireless sensor device within a predetermined time period.

12. The network according to claim 6 wherein the network has

third programming to determine to declare an urgent alert when a sensed value for a wireless sensor device or wireless sub-sensor device is non-compliant with a predetermined maximum or minimum allowable sensed value.

13. A data sensing and environmental threat detecting network for detecting and reporting environmental threats within a venue,

the network comprising a plurality of wireless detector units each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving environmental, rate of change and location coordinates data information within the venue and each having a data processor,

the network further comprising a plurality of sensor devices each of which sensor devices having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving environmental data information within the venue and each of which sensor devices having a data processor, said detector units and said sensor devices being connected to Internet of Things (“

IoT”

) mesh multi-hop, ZigBee, IPV6, WiFi or Cellular networks whereby said detector unit data processors and said sensor device data processors have programming which allows communication alternately to and from more than one of others of said detector units and said sensor devices in a manner such that transmission of data from said sensor devices to said detector units and communication from said detector units to said sensor devices may be effected over alternate wireless paths whereby the transmission of data from said sensor devices to said detector units and communication from said detector units to said sensor devices may be effected using optimized wireless paths,

the network further comprising means for blanketing substantially all of physical space in the venue with low-cost, low power, low energy use devices for sensing environmental, rate of change and location coordinates in a quantity of said low-cost devices so that substantially all of physical space in the venue can be sampled inexpensively, said means for blanketing comprising a plurality of environmental and location coordinates data sub-sensor devices equipped with low power wireless communications technology and each having a transmitter and a receiver for respectively transmitting and receiving information and each haying a processor whereby the distance over which said sub-sensor devices are equipped to wirelessly transmit data is limited by the low power wireless communications technology thereof, said sub-sensor processor programmed for communication with an associated one of said sensor devices which is sufficiently nearby to wirelessly receive data transmitted from said respective low power wireless communications technology sub-sensor device, and wherein said sensor devices are equipped to communicate with said detector units and with others of said sensor devices over distances which are greater than the limited distance over which said sub-sensor devices are equipped to communicate,

the network further comprising a central monitoring unit which is programmed to communicate to and from said detector units, by cellular, satellite, internet broadband or intranet networking for management of routing of transmissions of environmental and location coordinates and rate of change data and confirmation of detector and sensor device response within pre-determined timeframes between said sensor devices and said detector units over optimized paths and for comparing the environmental and location coordinates data between said sensor devices and said sub-sensor devices within the venue to determine whether an environmental threat exists within the venue, wherein said detector units are equipped to receive and process sensed and location coordinates information from said sensor devices and transmit the processed sensed and location coordinates information to said central monitoring unit, and wherein said sensor and sub-sensor devices include at least one wireless condition sensing device, and wherein the network has programming to (a) declare an aware state when a non-compliant condition is sensed by said wireless condition sensing device and (b) after an aware state of the sensed condition has been declared by said wireless condition sensing device, to declare an alert after a predetermined number of cycles of the condition being sensed or to declare an urgent alert or to declare a normal state if the condition is not sensed during one of the subsequent predetermined number of cycles.

14. The network according to claim 13 wherein the network has programming to declare an urgent alert when one of said wireless detector units fails to communicate with said central monitoring unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sensor devices fails to communicate with said respective wireless detector unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sub-sensors devices fails to communicate with said respective wireless sensor device within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless detector units fails to communicate its location coordinates to said central monitoring unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sensor devices fails to communicate its location coordinates to said respective wireless detector unit within a predetermined time period or when one of said wireless sub-sensor devices tails to communicate its location coordinates to said respective wireless sensor device within a predetermined time period.

15. The network according to claim 13 wherein at least one of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices is modular and may be mobile.

16. The network according to claim 13 wherein the network has programming for comparing values of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices with predetermined threshold values in a manner to minimize false positive values of said sensor and sub-sensor devices while minimizing introduction of false negative values of said sensor devices and sub-sensor devices in deciding whether an alert or urgent alert should be declared.

17. The network according to claim 13 wherein the network has

fest programming to provide a plurality of running average baselines of at least one sensed value of at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices, and

second programming to declare a potential alert when a sensed value of said at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices is at a value which is either (i) greater than a corresponding predetermined upper threshold value or a corresponding running average baseline value (whichever is greater) plus a corresponding predetermined upper fluctuation buffer value, or (ii) less than a corresponding predetermined lower threshold value or a corresponding running average baseline value (whichever is less) less a corresponding predetermined lower fluctuation buffer value, and

third programming to declare an alert when a sensed value of said sensor or sub-sensor devices, relative to its prior sensed value, is at a differential value greater than its allowed corresponding predetermined upper rate of change threshold over a predetermined period of time, or pro-rated portion thereof or is at a differential value less than its allowed corresponding predetermined lower rate of change threshold over a predetermined period of time, or pro-rated portion thereof and

fourth programming to declare an urgent alert when the location coordinates of a said detector unit or said sensor device or said sub-sensor device is at a differential value which is greater than the allowed corresponding predetermined Global Positioning System and/or Cellular Triangulation System, differential threshold, and

fifth programming after an alert or urgent alert has been declared, to enable a wireless sensor device to power relational devices, consisting of any or all of the following, water/liquid pumps, security beacons, video surveillance systems, audio surveillance systems, lighting systems and audio response systems, and confirm that the relational device(s) has/have been enabled.

18. The network according to claim 13 wherein the network has

first programming to declare a potential alert when a sensed value of said at least one of said sensor and sub-sensor devices is at a value which is either (1) greater than a corresponding predetermined upper threshold value plus a corresponding predetermined upper fluctuation buffer value, or (2) less than a corresponding predetermined lower threshold value less a corresponding predetermined lower fluctuation buffer value, and

second programming to declare an alert when a sensed value of said sensor or sub-sensor devices, relative to its prior sensed value, is at a differential value greater than its allowed corresponding predetermined upper rate of change threshold over a predetermined period of time or pro-rated portion thereof or is at a differential value less than its allowed corresponding predetermined lower rate of change threshold over a predetermined period of time or pro-rated portion thereof and

third programming to declare an urgent alert when the location coordinates of a said detector unit or said sensor device or said sub-sensor device is at a differential value which is greater than the allowed corresponding predetermined Global Positioning System and/or Cellular Triangulation System, differential threshold, and

fourth programming after an alert or urgent alert has been declared, to enable a wireless sensor device to power relational devices, consisting of any or all of the following, water/liquid pumps, security beacons, video surveillance systems, audio surveillance systems, lighting systems and audio response systems, and confirm that the relational device(s) has/have been enabled.

19. The network according to claim 13 wherein the network has programming to determine to declare an urgent alert when a sensed value for a wireless sensor device or wireless sub-sensor device is non-compliant with a predetermined maximum or minimum allowable sensed value.

20. A network according to claim 13 wherein said portable or mobile sensor device has a size which is less than about 8 inches by 8 inches by 8 inches.