Abstract:
Method and apparatus for granting control of a shared-access system. The method comprises: obtaining ( 305 ) an identity of a user; obtaining ( 310, 315 ) a priority rating associated with the user, wherein the priority rating is updated in response to one or more observed activities of the user, the one or more observed activities being linked to the shared-access system ( 100 ); comparing the priority rating with a threshold; and granting ( 320 ) control of at least a part of the shared-access system ( 100 ) to the user if the priority rating is above the threshold. For example, each user may have a respective ‘strength of association’ with the shared-access system or part thereof; the shared-access system may comprise one or more lighting units arranged to illuminate an environment, and a user who is present most often in the environment may be deemed to have the ‘strongest association’ with the shared-access system.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The invention relates to control of a shared-access system, such as a lighting system, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for granting control of the shared-access system. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    There are numerous systems, such as lighting systems, which can be controlled by multiple users. In a conventional lighting system, for example, there might be a single controller which any user is free to operate in order to control the lighting system. For instance, a user may operate the controller to set a desired dim level for one or more light sources in the lighting system. 
         [0003]    United States Patent Application US 2003/0227439 A1 proposes a method of controlling a home lighting system based on stored ‘preferences’ of users associated with the system, e.g. preferred dim levels, preferred lighting colors and/or preferred illumination patterns. The method involves receiving and processing image data captured by cameras mounted in the home, and identifying the users in the image data. The system is configured to respond to identifying one of the users by automatically implementing one or more preferences of the identified user. The patent application proposes to use preconfigured priority rules to determine how the system should respond when it is not clear which user preferences to apply, e.g. when it identifies two or more of the users in the same location at the same time. For instance, a parent&#39;s preferences may be used to configure the lighting system, rather than his or her child&#39;s preferences. 
         [0004]    Future lighting systems may be controllable via users&#39; personal handheld computing devices, e.g. via their smartphones, for automatically applying predefined user preferences and/or for granting manual control to the users. This may be problematic in a public lighting system, for example, since several users may make conflicting attempts to control the lighting system via their smartphones. It is likely that using preconfigured priority rules would be an inconvenient solution to this problem in some public lighting systems, due to a potential need for ongoing manual reconfiguration of the priority rules to reflect changing priorities. In lighting systems that could have very many users, for instance in a busy café or student common room, a solution based on preconfigured priority rules may be impracticable. 
         [0005]    The issue is not limited to public lighting systems, but in principle could be relevant to almost any shared-access system. There are significant technical challenges involved in determining which user should be able to control such a system, and under which circumstances. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    An object of the invention is to provide a method of granting control of a shared-access system, such as a lighting system, which can potentially be used in small and very large systems alike, and which does not require ongoing manual reconfiguration. 
         [0007]    A first aspect of the invention provides a method of granting control of at least a part of the shared-access system, as recited in claim  1 . Said part may be a subsystem or sub-network of the shared-access system; for example, the shared-access system may be a network of respective lighting systems installed in various coffee shops, wherein each lighting system is a part of the network. 
         [0008]    In an embodiment, a controller performing this method employs dynamically adapted criteria for permitting a user to control the shared-access system, based on empirical data pertaining to the user&#39;s activities. Thus, the controller need not be preprogrammed with rules for determining which user should be permitted to control the shared-access system in a given circumstance—these are ‘learned’ through observation. It will be appreciated that embodiments of the claimed method can be employed in small and very large systems alike. 
         [0009]    It is envisaged that, according to the method, each user will have a respective ‘strength of association’ with the shared-access system or part thereof. For instance, in an embodiment where the shared-access system comprises one or more lighting units arranged to illuminate an environment, the user who is present most often in the environment may be deemed to have the ‘strongest association’ with the shared-access system. 
         [0010]    The threshold that a user&#39;s priority rating must exceed in order to be granted control of the shared-access system may be based on the priority rating of another user. Thus, for instance, if two users make conflicting attempts to control the shared-access system then the controller will grant control to the user with the ‘stronger association’ to the shared-access system (i.e. the higher priority rating), and deny control to the other user. The threshold may require an absolute minimum priority rating, below which a user will not be granted control of the shared-access system even if his or her priority rating is the highest of all users wishing to control it (or her or she is the only user wishing to control it). 
         [0011]    The skilled person will appreciate numerous observed activities of a user which are compatible with the method. Being present in a predefined area associated with the shared-access system is one such activity. For instance, if a user often visits a particular coffee shop (i.e. is often present in the coffee shop) then the user may thereby increase his or her ‘strength of association’ with a shared-access system of the coffee shop, such as a lighting system and/or an audio system. There may even be a prioritized part of the predefined area, e.g. a members-only area of the coffee shop, which may further increase a user&#39;s priority rating compared with being present in a non-prioritized part of the predefined area. 
         [0012]    Another type of suitable observed activity is making one or more purchases linked to the shared-access system. Returning to the coffee shop example, a user may increase his or her priority rating by purchasing a coffee, or by purchasing a number of coffees per visit to the coffee shop. Thus the user who buys the most coffee may have the ‘strongest association’ with a shared-access system of the coffee shop. The purchase may be indirectly linked to the shared-access system; for example, a user may increase his or her priority rating by purchasing an item in a store which is somehow affiliated with a coffee shop in which the shared-access system is installed. 
         [0013]    The one or more observed activities of the user may be indirectly linked to the shared-access system, and/or may be linked to only a part of the shared-access system. For instance, becoming associated with the shared-access system and/or a proprietor thereof, e.g. on an Internet-based networking site, is an example of an observed activity of a user which is compatible with the method. Returning again to the coffee shop example, a user may “follow” the coffee shop on Twitter and thereby increase his or her ‘strength of association’ with a shared-access system of the coffee shop. Similarly, the user may become a “friend” of the coffee shop (and/or its proprietor) on Facebook, or may become a LinkedIn “connection” of the coffee shop (and/or its proprietor). 
         [0014]    A user&#39;s interactions with the shared-access system may be relevant ‘observed activities’ per se for updating the user&#39;s priority rating. For instance, one or more of the following may be taken into account when updating the priority rating of a user: the number of times a user controls the shared-access system; the manner in which the user controls the shared-access system, e.g. via a portable device or via an integral controller of the shared-access system; and the settings that the user applies to the shared-access system. 
         [0015]    Granting control of the shared-access system to the user may comprise automatically controlling the shared-access system in accordance with predefined settings associated with the user. In the coffee shop example, this may include automatically configuring one or more lighting units to provide a preferred illumination effect, and/or automatically switching the audio system to a favorite playlist of the user. 
         [0016]    Granting control of the shared-access system to the user may comprise enabling the user to provide one or more settings for controlling the shared-access system. In the coffee shop example, a controller of the shared-access system may communicate with a device (e.g. a smartphone or tablet computer) associated with the user, whereby the device will present a user interface for the user to control the shared-access system, e.g. the audio system and/or lighting system. 
         [0017]    These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a lighting system and user equipment in communication therewith, according to embodiments of the invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a diagram showing the user equipment of  FIG. 1  in more detail. 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a diagram showing interactions between the user equipment, system controller and remote server of  FIG. 1 , during a process of granting access of the lighting system to the user equipment. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the system controller of  FIG. 1  in more detail. 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a diagram showing the remote server of  FIG. 1  in more detail. 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing steps carried out by the remote server of  FIGS. 1 and 5 , to dynamically update a priority rating associated with a user of the user equipment, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a diagram of a user interface, presented on a screen of the user equipment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , for enabling a user to indicate a preferred setting for the lighting system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0025]    In overview, and with reference to  FIG. 1 , in an embodiment of the invention a lighting system  100  comprises a plurality of light fixtures  105 , a system controller  107  and a wireless access point  115  (hereinafter, the “WAP  115 ”). The lighting system  100  is connected via one or more internal and/or external networks  125  to a remote server  130 . 
         [0026]    Each of the light fixtures  105  comprises one or more LED-based light sources, and is part of a respective ceiling-mounted light fixture arranged to emit light generally downwards. The light fixtures  105  are connected to the WAP  115  via a wired channel  120 , which comprises respective Ethernet cables in this embodiment. 
         [0027]    The system controller  107  is connected to the WAP  115  via the wired channel  120 , and is configured to communicate thereby with all of the light fixtures  105 . The system controller  107  is suitable for controlling the light fixtures  105  individually, in groups of any two or more, or all at once. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention there may be one or more instances of user equipment  110  in the vicinity of the lighting system  100 , which is/are enabled to communicate with the lighting system  100 . The user equipment  110  is enabled to communicate with the WAP  115  via a wireless channel  135 , which is a WiFi channel in this embodiment. Thus the user equipment  110  can communicate with the system controller  107 , e.g. to request control of the lighting system. 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the user equipment  110  (which may be a smartphone or a tablet computer, for example) comprises processing circuitry  200  which is communicatively coupled to a touch-sensitive display  205  and to a plurality of sensors. The plurality of sensors comprises: one or more gyroscopes  210 ; one or more ambient light sensors  215 ; one or more accelerometers  220 , including a three-axis accelerometer in this embodiment; one or more magnetometers (not shown); one or more image sensors  225 , which includes an integrated CCD camera in this embodiment; and one or more proximity sensors  230 . The processing circuitry  200  is also communicatively coupled to radiofrequency (‘RF’) circuitry  245 , which enables wireless communication via the wireless channel  135 , and which includes a GPS subsystem  250 . 
         [0030]    The user equipment  110  further comprises memory  235 , which is communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry  200 . The memory  235  comprises, in addition to a number of conventional files and applications, a lighting control application  240  (hereinafter, the label ‘user app’ will be used for convenience, which should not be interpreted as a descriptive label). 
         [0031]    When executed by the processing circuitry  200 , the user app  240  causes the user equipment  110  to carry out a method of controlling one or more of the light fixtures  105 , via the system controller  107 . 
         [0032]    When the user app  240  is launched, the user equipment  110  obtains the identities of the light fixtures  105  using conventional discovery methods, via the wireless channel  135 . 
         [0033]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , in response to identifying the light fixtures  105 , the user equipment  110  sends a control request  305  to the system controller  107 . The control request  305  comprises an identity of a user of the user equipment  110 , which for instance may be the mac address of the user equipment  110  (which is assumed to be registered property of the user). 
         [0034]    Turning briefly to  FIG. 4 , the system controller  107  comprises processing circuitry  400  connected to communications circuitry  415 , whereby it receives the control request  305  from the user equipment  110 . The system controller  107  further comprises memory  405 , which is communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry  400 . The memory  405  comprises, in addition to a number of conventional files and applications, a lighting control application  410  (hereinafter, the label ‘controller app’ will be used for convenience, which should not be interpreted as a descriptive label). When executing the controller app  410 , the system controller  107  is configured to control the light fixtures  105  in dependence on or more control requests received from the user equipment  110 , as will be described in more detail below. 
         [0035]    Referring again to  FIG. 3 , in response to receiving the control request from the user equipment  110 , the system controller  107  sends a priority rating request  310  to the remote server  130 . The priority rating request  310  comprises the identity of the user, which the system controller  107  obtained from the control request  305 . 
         [0036]    Turning briefly to  FIG. 5 , the remoter server  130  comprises processing circuitry  500  connected to communications circuitry  520 , whereby it receives the priority rating request  310  from the system controller  107 . The remoter server  130  further comprises memory  505 , which is communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry  500 . The memory  505  comprises, in addition to a number of conventional files and applications, a lighting control application  515  (hereinafter, the label ‘server app’ will be used for convenience, which should not be interpreted as a descriptive label) and a database  510  of users and their respective ‘priority ratings’. When executing the server app  515 , the remote server  130  is configured to dynamically update the database  510 , as will be described in more detail below. 
         [0037]    Referring again to  FIG. 3 , in response to receiving the priority rating request  310  from the system controller  107 , the remote server  130  updates the priority rating associated with the user in the database  510 . (The remote server  130  obtains the identity of the user from the priority rating request  310 .) The remote server  130  is configured to create a database entry for the user, including a priority rating, if one does not already exist; hereinafter, a reference to an/the “existing priority rating” should be interpreted so as to include such a newly-created priority rating. 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the remote sever  130  is configured to discern  5100  and respond to observed activity linked to the user. By receiving the priority rating request  310 , the remote server  130  obtains an indication that the user has arrived in, and therefore is present in, a predefined area associated with the lighting system  100 . The remote server  130  treats this as an observed activity linked to the user, and in response proceeds to retrieve S 105  from the database  510  (or receive in any other suitable manner) an existing priority rating associated with the user in order to update it. 
         [0039]    Next the remote server  130  updates S 110  the existing priority rating based on the observed activity. This updating may involve simply incrementing the existing priority rating, or it may involve increasing the existing priority rating on a sliding scale based on which type of activity is observed. For instance, if the user is present in the predefined area associated with the lighting system  100  at a prioritized time of day, e.g. before 8 am, then the existing priority rating may be increased by more than it would have been at other times of the day. This may act as an incentive to arrive early. As another example, if the user is present in a prioritized part of the predefined area, e.g. in a particular office of an office building, then the existing priority rating may be increased by more than it would have been for other parts of the office building. 
         [0040]    The remote server  130  then stores S 115  the updated priority rating in memory, and sends S 115  the updated priority rating  320  to the system controller  107  as a reply to the priority rating request  310 . 
         [0041]    Referring again to  FIG. 3 , in response to receiving the updated priority rating  315  from the remote server  130 , the system controller  107  compares the updated priority rating  315  with a threshold. In this embodiment the threshold is a respective priority rating associated with another user, which may have been obtained in the same manner as described above, e.g. in response to the other user sending a control request to the system controller  107 . 
         [0042]    If the updated priority rating  315  is above the threshold, the system controller  107  sends a grant-control message  320  to the user equipment  110  as a reply to its control request  305 . The grant-control message  320  comprises a ‘list of privileges’, indicating which of the light fixtures  105  can be controlled and to what extent. For instance, the user may be allowed to control only a subset of the light fixtures  105 , and only their dim levels. 
         [0043]    In response to receiving the grant-control message  320 , the user equipment  110  presents on its display  205  a user interface  700  for controlling the light fixtures  105 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0044]    The user interface  700  comprises a representation  715  of the light fixtures  105 , which in this embodiment comprises a respective icon for each of the light fixtures  105 , shown as light bulb icons in  FIG. 7 . If the list of privileges indicates that the user is not allowed to control some of the light fixtures, the corresponding icons are displayed in such a way as to convey this to the user, e.g. they may be ‘greyed out’. 
         [0045]    The user can then select one of the light fixtures  105  to control by touching the display  205  where the representation  715  corresponding to that light fixture  105  is shown. In response to the user selection, the user interface  700  shows an indication  720  of which light fixture  105  has been selected. In this embodiment the indication  720  is an icon overlay, shown in  FIG. 7  as a dashed line encircling the icon  715  corresponding to the selected one of the light fixtures  105 . 
         [0046]    The user interface  700  also comprises a control object  725  whereby one or more light settings of the selected light fixture  105  can be adjusted. In this embodiment the control object  725  comprises a slider  730 , which the user can ‘drag’ in order to indicate a desired light setting. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the position of the slider  730  represents a current dim level of the selected light fixture  105 , and can be dragged towards “Lo” or towards “Hi” to dim or brighten the selected one of the light fixtures  105 , respectively. 
         [0047]    In response to the user indicating a desired light setting for one or more of the light fixtures, via the user interface  700 , the user equipment  110  sends a control message to the system controller  107 . The control message identifies the one or more light fixtures and the desired light settings for each. 
         [0048]    The system controller  107 , having granted control of the lighting system  100  to the user equipment  110 , will interpret the control message and provide appropriate control signals to the relevant light fixtures. 
       ALTERNATIVES 
       [0049]    While an embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. 
         [0050]    For example, the user equipment described above may be a smartphone or a tablet computer, but in other embodiments it could be any other suitable user device. For instance, suitable user devices may include laptop computers, portable DVD players, portable audio players or the like. 
         [0051]    In various embodiments, the identity of a user may alternatively/additionally be obtained by other means. For instance, the user may enter an identifier (e.g. a username, user ID and/or password) into a wall-mounted control panel suitable for controlling the lighting system, or other shared-access system. The user may ‘swipe’ his or her ID card, or other near field communications (NFC) device, through/over a reader from which the identity of the user is then obtained. 
         [0052]    In various embodiments, the user equipment may communicate directly with the remote server (through a cellular link, for example), rather than via the system controller. In which case, the remote server may then communicate with the system controller, or even with the light fixtures themselves if they have network connectivity. 
         [0053]    In various embodiments, the above-described functions of the remote server (e.g. updating the priority rating associated with a user) and the system controller (e.g. comparing the priority rating with a threshold) are integrated into a single computer apparatus. The computer apparatus is thus arranged to obtain via an internal process the priority rating associated with a user, rather than receiving it from a separate computer apparatus such as the remote server. The computer apparatus may be part of the lighting system, or other shared-access system, or it may be ‘in the cloud’ i.e. part of an external network to which the lighting system, or other shared-access system, is connectable. In an embodiment the computer apparatus is, or is part of, the user equipment. 
         [0054]    In various embodiments, the system controller may perform ‘arbitration’ whereby granting control of the lighting system, or other shared-access system, entails allowing the user equipment to directly control the lighting system. Alternatively, as described in detail above, granting control to a user may mean allowing the user to indirectly control the lighting system, or other shared-access system. For example, the system controller will control the lighting system but in dependence on preferred settings of the user, either received from the user equipment or stored in a memory accessible by the system controller. 
         [0055]    In various embodiments, the threshold with which a user&#39;s priority rating is compared is derived from a priority ratings associated with another user, or from respective priority ratings associated with a plurality of other users. For example, the threshold may comprise a weighted version of another user&#39;s priority rating, biased upwards or downwards in dependence on factors such as a system administrator making manual (perhaps temporary) changes to allow more or fewer users to control the system. The threshold may comprise the mean, median or mode (or other suitable representative value) of the respective priority ratings of a plurality of other users, such as a particular class or group of users. In which case, the threshold should increase in response to an overall increase in the respective priority ratings of its users. 
         [0056]    In various embodiments, updating the priority rating associated with a user is done dynamically in response to obtaining an indication of one or more observed activities of the user. For instance, the user equipment may be configure to use its GPS subsystem to determine its location and then communicate that location to the system controller via any suitable means; thus the system controller may obtain an indication that the user equipment is present in a predefined area associated with the lighting system, or other shared-access system, which may trigger the updating. 
         [0057]    In various embodiments, the one or more observed activities comprises making one or more purchases or other financial transactions linked to the shared-access system. For instance, a user may book and pay for a hotel room for a night, e.g. at the hotel reception (perhaps using an NFC-enabled user device) or via the Internet, which causes the user&#39;s priority rating to be updated for the lighting system, or other shared-access system, in the hotel room. Thus that an indication that a purchase linked to the shared-access system has been made, and that the purchase is associated with an account linked to the user, is obtained from the system which processed the payment in respect of booking the room. 
         [0058]    In various embodiments, a user&#39;s priority rating could have a (weighted) contribution from his or her contacts/connections. The user may have an indirect connection to a location associated with the shared-access system, such as being connected via someone with a direct connection to that location, in which case a weighting based on the directly-connected person&#39;s priority rating could be applied. 
         [0059]    In various embodiments, a user may have multiple priority levels, whereby control of the shared-access system may be granted to more than one user concurrently, with different users controlling different aspects of the shared-access system. In a lighting system, for example, each of several users may be able to control different ones of the light fixtures, or one user may be able to control the color of the emitted light while a different user is able to control the intensity of the emitted light. 
         [0060]    In various embodiments, a user may have different priority levels for different parts/zones/subsystems of a shared-access system. In a hotel lighting system, for example, a hotel guest may have a lower priority rating in the hotel lobby than in his or her hotel room. 
         [0061]    In various embodiments, the light fixtures may be any suitable arrangement of one or more lighting units in a particular form factor, assembly, or package. A given lighting unit may include one or more light sources of same or different types (as noted above), and may have any one of a variety of mounting arrangements for the light source(s), enclosure/housing arrangements and shapes, and/or electrical and mechanical connection configurations. Additionally, a given lighting unit may be associated with (e.g., include, be coupled to and/or packaged together with) various other components (e.g., control circuitry) relating to the operation of the light source(s). 
         [0062]    In various embodiments, the IP-enabled light fixtures described above could be replaced or supplemented by other addressable light fixtures, e.g. DALI- and/or DMX-controlled light fixtures. Some embodiments may comprise non-addressable light fixtures. 
         [0063]    In various embodiments, the light sources may potentially comprise any suitable sources of light, such as LED-based sources, incandescent sources (e.g., filament lamps, halogen lamps), fluorescent sources, phosphorescent sources, high-intensity discharge sources (e.g., sodium vapor, mercury vapor, and metal halide lamps), lasers, other types of electroluminescent sources, candle-luminescent sources (e.g., gas mantles, carbon arc radiation sources), photo-luminescent sources (e.g., gaseous discharge sources), cathode luminescent sources using electronic satiation, galvano-luminescent sources, crystallo-luminescent sources, kine-luminescent sources, thermo-luminescent sources, triboluminescent sources, sonoluminescent sources, radioluminescent sources, and luminescent polymers. 
         [0064]    In various embodiments, the memory in the user equipment, in the system controller and in the remote server may be any suitable storage media, such as one or more of: volatile and non-volatile computer memory such as RAM, PROM, EPROM, and EEPROM, floppy disks, compact disks, optical disks, magnetic tape, etc. Various storage media may be fixed within the processor and/or controller, or may be transportable, such that the one or more programs stored thereon can be loaded into a processor or controller so as to implement various aspects of the present invention discussed herein. The terms “program” or “computer program” are used herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code (e.g., software or microcode) that can be employed to program one or more processors or controllers. 
         [0065]    Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. 
         [0066]    In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. 
         [0067]    A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. 
         [0068]    A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable computer readable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed via other computer program products such as Internet/intranet downloads or via other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. 
         [0069]    Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.