WO2018237396A1 - COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LIGHTING SYSTEMS TO EXTEND WI-FI COVERAGE - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention integrates the Wi-Fi radio, communication interface and computing platform inside a lighting device to extend Wi-Fi coverage on demand in the facility. The application utilizes communication interface to notify a peer lighting device that the device is disconnected form Wi-Fi connectivity. If the peer lighting device has the Wi-Fi connectivity, then it starts working as a mesh point to provide traditional access point services so that the lighting device that was not able to connect to Wi-Fi network can connect.

Description

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LIGHTING SYSTEMS FOR EXTENDING WiFI COVERAGE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[001] This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/524,333, tiled June 23, 2017, entitled ''Extending Wi-Fi Coverage on Demand for LED Lamps'', the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[002] The present invention relates to a system and method for providing communication between lighting systems and more particularly, to extend wireless connectivity using peer-to- peer commimi ca b on.

BACKGROUND

[003] With the advancement in lightins teehnologv, various lighting control sv stems have come into existence that offer fully automatic and energy efficient lighting control or switching for controlling and managing the illumination of lighting systems present in a facility. The sensors such as occupancy sensors, ambient lighting sensors raonitors one or more parameters in the faci lity and send the response to one or more controller that controls and regulate the amount and intensity of light needed in the facility.

[004] Nowadays, the lighting systems come equipped with wireless connectivity means embedded on the lighting systems that make the lighting systems more intelligent and controllable. The lighting systems can be monitored, controlled and regulated through a remote device, such as a smartphone that require lighting systems to be connected to the remote device through a wired or wireless means. It provides a solution for controlling and programming the lighting systems in the facility, such that the color and brightness of any individual light or a group of lights can be manual ly or automatically controlled using a wireless interface, ft enables the lighting system to be turned ON, OFF, or dimmed without the use of a wall switch. The lighting system uses Wi-Fi to connect to a remote interface where each lighting system connects to a Wi-Fi access point in the facility.

[005] The problem associated with Wi-Fi is that it operates in the unlicensed ISM spectrum, which is a shared medium and very dynamic in nature. Wi-Fi is susceptible to interference, obstacles and noise in the environment. The Wi-Fi standard does not have any central scheduler, which also means that there are no guarantees on throughput or latency for any client. Wi-Fi provides variable bandwidth based on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in its environment. Due to these problems associated with Wi-Fi, it is quite evident that it is very much possible for a lighting system in the facility to be not able to connect to Wi-Fi. This may result in lighting system being unconnected and thereby uncontrolled. The user or administrator loses the control over the lighting system because it is not able to connect with the Wi-Fi network. The reason behind the lighting system not able to connect with the Wi-Fi network may be lack of Wi-Fi coverage, weak Wi-Fi signal, interference etc.

[006] Therefore, in view of above constraints, it would be advantageous to have a system and a method that enables all the lighting systems in the facility to connect with the Wi-Fi network despite the Wi-Fi coverage issue in the facility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[007] The present invention provides a system and a method to utilizing Wi-Fi radio, Bluetooth and computing platform inside a lighting device so that all the lighting device in the facility can connect to the Wi-Fi network despite the WIFI coverage deficiencies in the facility.

[008] The lighting devices have a Wi-Fi client application running inside them that tries to connect to the Wi-Fi network in the facility. If the lighting device is not able to connect then it sends a message to the peer lighting device via Bluetooth. If the peer lighting device has Wi-Fi connectivity, then it starts working as a mesh point to provide traditional access point services so that the lighting device that was not able to connect to Wi-Fi network can connect. Additionally, if the peer lighting device does not have Wi-Fi connectivity, then it starts working as a mesh node for supporting the backhaul and requests it's another peer for support. In certain instances, the peer lighting device does not become mesh point automatically. Instead it communicates this information to a Wi-Fi Coverage Application which then looks at coverage data in the facility holistically and makes decision as to which LED Lamps should become a Mesh points or not.

[009] In a first aspect of present invention, a lighting device is provided. The lighting device comprising: a lighting device embedded computing resources comprising a processor, a memory and a storage; a lighting device embedded Wi-Fi radio to connect the lighting device to a Wi-Fi access point; a lighting device embedded mesh application to receive a request from a peer lighting device to provide Wi-Fi access; a lighting device embedded controller to process the request and instructing the lighting device embedded mesh application to provide Wi-Fi access to the peer lighting device. The lighting device receives request from the peer lighting device using a Bluetooth protocol, or a Zigbee network, or a Radio Frequency Identification network.

[0010] In a second aspect of present invention, a system for extending Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected device in a facility is provided. The system comprising: a Wi-Fi access point in the facility to provide Wi-Fi access; a plurality of lighting device in the facility connected to the Wi- Fi access point; a lighting device embedded mesh application that requests a peer lighting device to grant Wi-Fi access on being disconnected from the Wi-Fi access point. After receiving the request, the peer lighting device provides traditional access service to the disconnected lighting device. The lighting device sends request to the peer lighting device using Bluetooth protocol or Zigbee network or Radio Identification network. The system further comprising an external application in communication with the peer lighting device, the external application receives a message from the peer lighting device that a lighting device is disconnected from the Wi-Fi access point. The external application can either reside in a network server or in the facility. The external application instructs a lighting device to provide traditional access service to the unconnected lighting device. Tthe external application instructs the lighting device directly over Wi-Fi or instructs the lighting device indirectly by communicating to a peer lighting device that in turn communicates the role to the determined lighting device using Bluetooth. The lighting device embedded mesh application has an ability to act as a Mesh node to provide backhaul as a response to the request received from the unconnected peer lighting device. The lighting device embedded mesh application act as a mesh access point to provide traditional Wi-Fi access point service.

[0011] In a third aspect of present invention, a method for extending Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected lighting device installed in a facility is provided. The method comprising: monitoring the Wi-Fi performance metric by a lighting device embedded mesh application; sending a request by the lighting device embedded mesh application to a peer lighting device to provide Wi-Fi access; instructing by a lighting device embedded controller of the peer lighting device to act as a mesh point to provide traditional Wi-Fi access point service to the lighting device. The request is sent by the lighting device embedded mesh application using a Bluetooth protocol, Zigbee network topology, or a Radio frequency Identification network. The method further comprising: notifying an external application by the peer lighting device, the Wi-Fi performance metric of the unconnected lighting device. The external application on receiving the Wi-Fi performance metrics, instructs a lighting device in the facility to provide traditional access service to the unconnected lighting device. The instruction to the lighting device is either communicated directly over Wi-Fi, or indirectly by communicating the role to a peer lighting device that in turn communicates the role to the determined lighting device using Bluetooth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

[0013] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a lighting device in accordance with an embodiment of present invention.

[0014] FIG. 2 shows a network of a plurality of lighting devices connected to a Wi-Fi access system in a facility, in accordance with an embodiment of present invention.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation illustrating a lighting device that acts as a mesh point to extend Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected lighting device, in accordance with an embodiment of present invention.

[0016] FIG. 4 shows a remote application determining a mesh-point to extend Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected lighting device, in accordance with another embodiment of present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] In the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment of invention. However, it will be obvious to a person skilled in art that the embodiments of invention may be practiced with or without these specific details. In other instances well known methods, procedures and components have not been described in details, so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments of the invention.

[0018] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0019] It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0020] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0021] In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

[0022] The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below. For example, in certain places, LED lighting system is used as specific examples to illustrate the working of invention, however, the present invention envisage any conventional lighting system as a mode to perform the invention. In certain instances, Bluetooth is shown as a preferable communication protocol between the lighting systems, however, other wireless or wired communication protocols could be employed without departing from the scope of the invention. The present invention makes use of following terminologies: Wi-Fi Radio is a Radio that is used for Wi-Fi communications. A MESH Point is a Wi-Fi Access Point that can provide traditional access point services such as Wi-Fi client connectivity or provide mesh backhaul/network connectivity or both. The term Wi-Fi Coverage is used to imply the geographic area within which the Wi-Fi clients can communicate with the access point for desired application such as data, voice, video etc.

[0023] Furthermore, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0024] The present invention provides a system and a method for communication between lighting devices installed in facility in order to extend Wi-Fi connectivity to an unconnected lighting device. The monitoring, control and regulation of the lighting device can be carried out through a remote device connected through Internet. The facility may have one or more Wi-Fi access point enabling the lighting devices to connect to internet. The lighting device present in the facility are connected to the Wi-Fi access point through WLAN (wireless local area network).

[0025] The lighting devices installed in the facility are provided with radio means to communicates with each other through a communication protocol, where the communication can be wired or wireless. The wireless communication between the lighting devices can be through Bluetooth, MIDI, Zigbee protocol, or a Radio Frequency Identification Network.

[0026] Due to the dynamic changes associated with coverage area of Wi-Fi access point, one or more lighting device may get disconnected from the access point and thus left uncontrolled. In this scenario, the present invention provides a method and system where the unconnected lighting device communicates with the connected lighting device that there is a break in connection with Wi-fi access point. The connected lighting device will then communicate the issue either with a access control application present in a server to provide a temporary mesh point to the unconnected lighting device or it itself forms a mesh point of its own and act as access point to the unconnected lighting device.

[0027] The present invention relates to the integration of WIFI radio, communication means and computing platform inside the lighting devices so that all lighting devices in the facility can connect to the Wi-Fi network despite the Wi-Fi coverage issues in the facility. The disclosed embodiment extends the Wi-Fi coverage on demand for other lighting devices in the facility. The lighting devices in the facility have a Wi-Fi client application running inside them that tries to connect to the Wi-Fi network in the facility. Whenever a lighting device in the facility is unable to connect to the Wi-Fi network, it sends a message to the peer lighting device via a communication Interface. If the peer lighting device has the Wi-Fi connectivity, then it starts working as a mesh point to provide traditional access point services so that the unconnected lighting device can connect to the Wi-Fi network. Additionally, if the peer lighting device does not have Wi-Fi Connectivity, then it starts acting as a mesh node for supporting the backhaul and requests it's another peer lighting device for support.

[0028] In another embodiment, the peer lighting device does not become mesh point automatically. Instead it communicates this information to a coverage application resided in a server or in a computational device present in the facility, which then looks at coverage data in the facility holistically and makes decision as to which lighting device should become a Mesh points for the unconnected lighting system.

[0029] In an embodiment of present invention, the lighting device may comprise but are not limited to LED bulbs, LED lamps, LED tubes, compact Fluorescent lamps, Fluorescent tubes, Neon lamps, troffers etc.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a lighting device in accordance with an embodiment of present invention. The lighting device 100 is an intelligent device having features that enables monitoring, controlling and regulation of the lighting device. The lighting device along with a lighting source comprises an operating system 108, a CPU 114 for processing the instructions, a memory 116 and storage 118 to store the data, one or more sensors/actuators 112 to monitor the parameters associated with intelligent lighting system, a controller 120 that acts under the instructions of sensors and CPU, a Wi-Fi radio 122 that enable the lighting system to connect to a Wi-Fi access point, a communication interface 110 that helps in communicating with peer lighting device, one or more App 102 to regulate the lighting device, and a Wi-Fi mesh module 104 and Wi-Fi client module 106 for extending the Wi-Fi coverage to peer devices.

[0031] The sensors or actuators 112 monitors the ambient parameters which can then be used to control the illumination of lighting device. The sensors or actuators 112 may include but are not limited to occupancy sensors, photocells, ambient light sensors, light control switches, or fire alarm sensors or HVAC sensors. One lighting device establish communication with other lighting device through a communication interface 100. The communication interface 100 may include but are not limited to Bluetooth, Zigbee, Radio frequency network Identification. The lighting device gets connected to internet through a Wi-Fi access point and is in communication with remote device. The instructions received by the lighting device is executed by the controller 120.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a network of a plurality of lighting devices connected to a Wi-Fi access system in a facility, in accordance with an embodiment of present invention. The facility 200 in FIG. 2 is a location where plurality of lighting devices are arranged in order to provide desired lighting. The facility can be a residential, commercial, official, medical, education, industrial or government owned or any other kind of property. There are plurality of lighting device installed in the facility 200. The facility has a Wi-Fi access point 202 which provide connectivity to the lighting devices with the internet. A Wi-Fi coverage application is monitoring the coverage of Wi-Fi signal in the facility and is continuously monitoring the connectivity of the lighting devices with the Wi-Fi access point. The Wi-Fi coverage application can either be situated in a cloud server or it can reside in a computational device present in the facility. In the facility, there may be a situation where few of the lighting devices are in close proximity with the Wi-Fi access point while few are at far points. With the unreliability associated with Wi-Fi signals it is probable that one or more than lighting device are unable to connect to Wi-Fi access point at a certain time. For example, in FIG.2, Lamp B is at a considerable distance from Wi-Fi access point and therefore, can get disconnected from the Wi-Fi access point at a certain time. [0033] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation illustrating a lighting device that acts as a mesh point to extend Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected lighting device, in accordance with an embodiment of present invention. For representation purpose, in an example the lighting device in FIG. 3 is considered as a LED lamp and the communication interface 110 between the two lighting device is considered to be a Bluetooth protocol. Lamp A 302 and Lamp B 304 are installed in the facility 200 where a Wi-Fi access point 202 is installed to provide access connectivity to the Lamp A and Lamp B. The Wi-Fi access point 202 is in communication with a Wi-Fi coverage application 204, either present in a cloud server or on a computational device present in the facility. As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the Wi-Fi Access Point 202 is a networking device that allows wireless Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to a wired network. Wi-Fi Access Point 202 creates a wireless local area network in the facility. The Wi-Fi access point 204 connects to a wired router, switch, or hub via an Ethernet cable, and projects a Wi-Fi signal in a designated area. The Wi-Fi Coverage Application 204 is a network analyzer that makes use of the holistic view of all lighting devices and coverage information communicated to it in Facility 1. It takes a decision which lighting device should act as MESH Point for mesh backhaul and which lighting device in Facility 1 should act as MESH Point for providing traditional access point services so that other lighting devices can connect. The Wi-Fi Coverage Application 204 directly communicates with the lighting devices that have Wi-Fi Connectivity to initiate them to start working as MESH Point for mesh backhaul or as MESH Point for providing traditional access point services. The Wi-Fi Coverage Application 204 receives messages from the plurality of lighting devices in the Facility 1 about state of Wi-Fi Coverage in the Facility 1. Based on the messages received from the lighting device, it analyses the coverage gaps and decides which lighting device to be configured as Mesh Point and which lighting device to be configured as Mesh point for providing traditional access point services. Wi-Fi Coverage Application 204 communicates the role in the mesh directly to a lighting device or indirectly communicates the role to a lighting device through a peer lighting device that in turn communicates to the lighting device using Bluetooth protocol.

[0034] The lamp A (302) and lamp B (304) have a WIFI client application that enables the Lamps to connect to the WIFI (wireless) network. A WIFI Mesh application enables the lamp to act as a mesh point to provide traditional access point services to an unconnected lamp in the facility. Additionally, if the peer Lamp does not have Wi-Fi Connectivity, then it starts working as a mesh node for supporting the backhaul and requests it's another peer for support.

[0035] In the facility 202, Lamp A (302) and Lamp B (304) are trying to establish connection with the Wi-Fi access point 202. Lamp A (302) is connected to the Wi-Fi network whereas Lamp B (304) fails to get connected to the Wi-Fi access point 202; Step 1. The Wi-Fi client application in lamp B notifies the Wi-Fi mesh application; Step 2. The Wi-Fi mesh application of Lamp B makes use of Bluetooth radio to exchange Bluetooth message to peer LED lamp A, to communicate that it does not have Wi-Fi connectivity; Step 3. On receiving the request form Lamp B, the Wi-Fi mesh application of Lamp A starts acting as a MESH point; Step 4; and provide traditional access point service so that Lamp B can connect to the Wi-Fi network.

[0036] FIG. 4 shows a remote application determining a mesh-point to extend Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected lighting device, in accordance with another embodiment of present invention. In this embodiment all Lamps in facility 1, try to connect to the Wi-Fi Network via Wi-Fi Access Point 202 and there is an external Wi-Fi coverage Application 204. The external Wi-Fi coverage Application 204 can be in the same facility or in cloud. The Wi-Fi client application in Lamp A (302) and Lamp B (304) tries to connect with the Wi-Fi Access Point 202 on the Wi-Fi radio; Step 1. If it is not able to connect, then it informs the application Wi-Fi Mesh in the same Lamp; Step 2. In our example Lamp B (304) is not able to connect to Wi-Fi Network. The application Wi-Fi mesh of Lamp B makes use of Bluetooth radio to inform its peer Lamps that it does not have Wi-Fi Connectivity; Step 3. The Wi-Fi mesh application in the peer Lamp A, now communicates this to the Wi-Fi coverage application 204; Step 4. The Wi-Fi coverage Application 204 makes use of the holistic view of all Lamps present in the facility and coverage information communicated to it. Then it takes a decision which Lamp should act as MESH POINT for mesh backhaul and which Lamp in the facility should act as MESH POINT for providing traditional access point services so that other Lamps can connect. The Wi-Fi coverage Application 204 directly communicates with the Lamps that have Wi-Fi Connectivity to initiate them to start acting as MESH POINT for mesh backhaul or as MESH POINT for providing traditional access point services; Step 5. To issue a request to those Lamps that do not have Wi- Fi connectivity, it communicates to them indirectly i.e. by requesting their peer Lamps to use Bluetooth to communicate and issue the request; Step 6.

[0037] While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed out novel features as applied to various embodiments, it can be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As can be recognized, certain embodiments described herein can be embodied within a form that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forth herein, as some features can be used or practiced separately from others.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A lighting device comprising:

a) a lighting device embedded computing resources comprising a processor, a memory and a storage;

b) a lighting device embedded Wi-Fi radio to connect the lighting device to a Wi-Fi access point;

c) a lighting device embedded mesh application to receive a request from a peer lighting device to provide Wi-Fi access;

d) a lighting device embedded controller to process the request and instructing the lighting device embedded mesh application to provide Wi-Fi access to the peer lighting device.

2. The lighting device of claim 1 wherein the lighting device receives request from the peer lighting device using a Bluetooth protocol, or a Zigbee network, or a Radio Frequency Identification network.

3. A system for extending Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected device in a facility, said system comprising:

a) a Wi-Fi access point in the facility to provide Wi-Fi access;

b) a plurality of lighting device in the facility connected to the Wi-Fi access point;

c) a lighting device embedded mesh application that requests a peer lighting device to grant Wi-Fi access on being disconnected from the Wi-Fi access point.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein on receiving the request, the peer lighting device provides traditional access service to the disconnected lighting device.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the lighting device sends request to the peer lighting device using Bluetooth protocol or Zigbee network or Radio Identification network.

6. The system of claim 3 further comprising an external application in communication with the peer lighting device, the external application receives a message from the peer lighting device that a lighting device is disconnected from the Wi-Fi access point.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the external application can either reside in a network server or in the facility.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the external application instructs a lighting device to provide traditional access service to the unconnected lighting device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the external application instructs the lighting device directly over Wi-Fi.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the external application instructs the lighting device

indirectly by communicating to a peer lighting device that in turn communicates the role to the determined lighting device using Bluetooth.

11. The system of claim 5, wherein the lighting device embedded mesh application has an ability to act as a Mesh node to provide backhaul as a response to the request received from the unconnected peer lighting device.

12. The system of claim 5, wherein the lighting device embedded mesh application act as a mesh access point to provide traditional Wi-Fi access point service.

13. A method for extending Wi-Fi coverage to an unconnected lighting device installed in a facility, said method comprising:

a) monitoring the Wi-Fi performance metric by a lighting device embedded mesh

application;

b) sending a request by the lighting device embedded mesh application to a peer lighting device to provide Wi-Fi access; c) instructing by a lighting device embedded controller of the peer lighting device to act as a mesh point to provide traditional Wi-Fi access point service to the lighting device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the request is sent by the lighting device embedded mesh application using a Bluetooth protocol, Zigbee network topology, or a Radio frequency Identification network.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising: notifying an external application by the peer lighting device, the Wi-Fi performance metric of the unconnected lighting device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the external application on receiving the Wi-Fi

performance metrics, instructs a lighting device in the facility to provide traditional access service to the unconnected lighting device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the instruction to the lighting device is either

communicated directly over Wi-Fi, or indirectly by communicating the role to a peer lighting device that in turn communicates the role to the determined lighting device using Bluetooth.