Abstract:
A method of maintaining and controlling a plurality of wireless light fixtures includes providing the light fixtures in a structure, wirelessly receiving respective operational data from each of the light fixtures at a central location, aggregating the received respective operational data to form an aggregation of operational data, and analyzing at least a portion of the aggregation of operational data. The method further includes performing one or both of (i) controlling the operation of a first selected one or more of the light fixtures based on a result of the analyzing step by wirelessly transmitting respective operational commands from the central location to each of the first selected one or more of the light fixtures, and (ii) causing a maintenance related action to be taken with respect to each of a second selected one or more of the light fixtures based on a result of the analyzing step.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to lighting systems, and in particular to a system and method for controlling and maintaining a plurality of wireless light fixtures provided within a structure. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In known, prior art lighting systems, a large number of lighting fixtures are provided within a structure in various locations. Typically, the lighting fixtures are segregated into a number of groups of fixtures, wherein in each group, each fixture is connected to a circuit breaker. Groups of certain breakers are then typically connected to a smart panel board which is then typically hardwired to a control system of some type. Each smart panel board makes up what is typically referred to as a breaker zone, allowing the control system to control the lighting system on a breaker zone basis. In particular, each smart panel board may be used to selectively turn circuit breakers ON and OFF, alone or in groups, to allow the light fixtures to be selectively controlled on a circuit breaker by circuit breaker basis. One problem with such a configuration is that the components are hardwired together, which makes reconfiguring the system both time consuming and difficult. 
     More recently, wireless lighting fixtures have been developed that allow light fixtures to be controlled, configured, commissioned, grouped, etc. individually using a handheld control device that is brought into close proximity with each fixture in order to transmit wireless control signals to each fixture. In addition, such wireless lighting fixtures are “smart,” meaning they are capable of collecting certain operational data relating to the fixture. That operational data (for each fixture) may also be collected by the handheld electronic device. The mere collection of such data in this manner, while somewhat useful, does not take full advantage of the data that is available. There is thus a need for a system that is able to remotely and wirelessly collect operational data for a plurality of fixtures, aggregate and analyze the data, and take certain actions based thereon, such as taking certain maintenance or operational actions with respect to the lighting system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one embodiment, the invention provides a method of maintaining and controlling a plurality of light fixtures having wireless communications capabilities. The method includes providing the light fixtures in a structure, wirelessly receiving respective operational data from each of the light fixtures at a central location, aggregating the received respective operational data at the central location to form an aggregation of operational data, and analyzing at least a portion of the aggregation of operational data at the central location. In addition, the method further includes performing one or both of (i) controlling the operation of a first selected one or more of the light fixtures based on a result of the analyzing step by wirelessly transmitting respective operational commands from the central location to each of the first selected one or more of the light fixtures, and (ii) causing a maintenance related action to be taken with respect to each of a second selected one or more of the light fixtures based on a result of the analyzing step. 
     In another embodiment, the invention provides a lighting system that includes a plurality of light fixtures provided in a structure, wherein each of the light fixtures has a processing unit operatively coupled to one or more light bulbs and a wireless communications device in electronic communication with the processing unit. The system further includes a central controller located at a central location, wherein the central controller has a wireless communications capability. The central controller wirelessly receives respective operational data from each of the light fixtures, aggregates the received respective operational data to form an aggregation of operational data and analyzes at least a portion of the aggregation of operational data. In addition, the central controller does one or both of the following based on a result of the analyzing of the at least a portion of the aggregation of operational data: (i) wirelessly transmits respective operational commands to a first selected one or more of the light fixtures for controlling the operation of the first selected one or more of the light fixtures, and (ii) directs or recommends that a maintenance related action be taken with respect to each of a second selected one or more of the light fixtures. 
     In still another embodiment, the invention provides a method of controlling a plurality of light fixtures having wireless communications capabilities including providing the light fixtures in a structure, and providing one or more light level sensors in the structure, each of the one or more light level sensors measuring ambient light level data and having wireless communications capabilities. The method further includes wirelessly receiving at a central location from each of the one or more light level sensors the ambient light level data measured thereby, aggregating the received ambient light level data at the central location to form an aggregation of light level data, analyzing at least a portion of the aggregation of light level data, and controlling the operation of a selected one or more of the light fixtures based on a result of the analyzing step by wirelessly transmitting respective operational commands from the central location to each of the selected one or more of the light fixtures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing certain components of a wireless fixture provided within the structure shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of a structure according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a structure  5  according to an embodiment of the present invention. As employed herein, the term “structure” shall expressly include, but not be limited by, a home, apartment, dwelling, garage, office building, commercial building, industrial building, of a roofed and/or walled structure built for permanent or temporary use. The structure  5  may include a number of subdivisions  10 , which may be, without limitation, a floor of the structure  5  or a particular room within the structure  5 . As seen in  FIG. 1 , each subdivision  10  within the structure  5  includes one or more wireless fixtures  15  (shown in greater detail in  FIG. 2  and described below). For example, a subdivision  10  may be a particular floor that includes within it multiple wireless fixtures  15  or, alternatively, a room such as a conference room or storage room, located on a particular floor that includes within it multiple wireless fixtures  15 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , each wireless fixture  15  includes a plurality of light bulbs (or lamps)  20  (and as such is a wireless lighting fixture), which may be any type of known light bulb for providing light such as, without limitation, a fluorescent or incandescent bulb. Each wireless fixture  15  also includes a processing unit  25 , such as, without limitation, a microprocessor or microcontroller, and a wireless communications device  30 . Together, the processing unit  25  and the wireless communications device  30  form part of what is commonly known as a ballast  35 . The wireless communications device  30  enables the wireless fixture  15  to wirelessly transmit and receive data (as described elsewhere herein) using a wireless communications protocol. The wireless communications protocol may be any known or hereafter developed protocol such as, without limitation, any of a variety of known RF communications protocols. Thus, as employed herein, the term “wireless” shall expressly include, but not be limited by, radio frequency (RF), infrared, wireless area networks, IEEE 802.11 (e.g., 802.11a; 802.11b; 802.11g), IEEE 802.15 (e.g., 802.15.1; 802.15.3, 802.15.4), and other wireless communication standards (e.g., without limitation, ZigBee™ Alliance standard, DECT, PWT, pager, PCS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth™, and cellular). For this purpose, the wireless communications device  30  may be a commercially available transceiver (e.g., RF) device or may include a separate commercially available transmitting (e.g., RF) device and a separate commercially available receiving (e.g., RF) device. As seen in  FIG. 2 , the wireless communications device  30  is in electronic communication with the processing unit  25  and, as a result, is able to provide data to and receive data from the processing unit  25 . In addition, the ballast  35  may be independently powered by, for example, a battery (not shown), in which case it is able to function when the bulbs  20  are in an OFF state. Alternatively, the ballast  35  may be powered via “the mains”, yet still have the ability to turn ON, OFF, and dim the bulbs  20  in the wireless fixture  15 . When the bulbs  20  are OFF, the ballast  35  can be in a low power mode, but still have the ability to receive wireless commands and act on them as described herein. In addition, the ballast  35  may also wake up (i.e., leave the low power mode) periodically and broadcast its status to the central controller  45  as described elsewhere herein. 
     As also seen in  FIG. 2 , the processing unit  25  is operatively coupled to each light bulb  20  and is able to selectively control the operation of the light bulbs  20 . For example, the processing unit  20  is able to selectively turn the light bulbs  20  ON and OFF and, preferably, dim the light bulbs  20  by controlling the amount of current that is provided to the light bulbs  20  from a source of power (e.g., the “mains”, not shown). In addition, the processing unit  25  is able to collect various types of operational data relating to the operation of the wireless fixture  15  such as, without limitation, the number of hours (e.g., within a particular time frame) that the bulbs  20  are operational (i.e., turned ON), the energy/power consumed by the wireless fixture  15  (a small meter may be provided in the wireless fixture  15  for this purpose), the number of starts (i.e., moving from an OFF to an ON condition) experienced by the bulbs  20  (e.g., within a particular time frame), and the voltage and/or current consumed by the wireless fixture  15  (e.g., within a particular time frame), among others. For this purpose, the processing unit  25  is in electronic communication with a memory  40  provided within the ballast  35  for storing such collected data. Preferably, the memory  40  also stores the various software routines (which may include one or more subroutines, processes, procedures, function calls or the like, alone or in combination) that are executable by the processing unit  25  for controlling the operation of the wireless fixture  15  as described herein. The memory  40  can be any of a variety of types of internal and/or external storage media such as, without limitation, RAM, ROM, EEROM&#39;s, EEPROM&#39;s, and the like, alone or in combination. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the structure  5  also includes a central controller  45 , which may be, without limitation, a suitable computing device having a suitable processor or processing capability such as a PC or server computer. Also, the central controller  45  includes wireless communications capability. In particular, and according to an aspect of the invention, the central controller  45  is able to selectively wirelessly transmit data to and selectively wirelessly receive data from each of the wireless fixtures  15  provided within the structure  5  through, for example, a wireless communications device that is similar to the wireless communications device  30 . For this purpose, each wireless fixture  15  may be uniquely identified within the structure  5 , such as by a unique ID number or serial number associated therewith. As a result, each wireless fixture  15  may be separately addressable by the central controller  45  so that the central controller  45  can selectively wirelessly transmit operational commands to each wireless fixture  15  to independently control the operation thereof. As will be appreciated, the operational commands will be received by the wireless communications device  30  and subsequently provided to the processing unit  25  of the appropriate wireless fixture  15 , which in turn will control the operation of the wireless fixture  15  in an appropriate manner (based on the received operational commands). In this manner, individual and/or selected groups of wireless fixtures  15  may be selectively controlled by the central controller  45 . For example, the central controller  45 , by issuing the appropriate operational commands, may cause all (or selected ones) of the wireless fixtures  15  within a particular subdivision  10  of the structure  5  to operate in a certain manner, e.g., to be turned ON, turned OFF, or dimmed at a particular time (for instance, the following is a command that may be issued: turn all light bulbs  20  ON at 70 percent power in those wireless fixtures  15  that are located in conference room #2 at noon). 
     In addition, according to a further aspect of the present invention, portions of or all of the operational data that is collected by the processing unit  25  (and preferably stored in the memory  40 ) of each wireless fixture  15  may be periodically wirelessly transmitted to the central controller  45 . In response, the central controller  45  may store the collected operational data, aggregate and/or analyze the collected operational data, and make maintenance decisions/recommendations (e.g., alerts for actions to be taken by maintenance personnel) relating to selected ones or groups of the wireless fixtures  15  based on the aggregated and/or analyzed operational data that has been collected. For instance, if, based on the aggregated data, the central controller  45  determines that more than a certain percentage of wireless fixtures is (e.g., 75 percent) in a particular subdivision  10  of the structure  5  have more than a certain number of operational hours, or, alternatively, that a certain number (e.g., 30 percent) of light bulbs  20  in those wireless fixtures  15  are beyond their useful life, then an alert may be provided by the central controller  45  to, for example, a maintenance manager that all of the light bulbs  20  in the wireless fixtures  15  in the subdivision  10  should be replaced. This is advantageous as it is more efficient, and therefore reduces labor and/or maintenance costs, to change a larger number of light bulbs  20  at a single time (even if some of the bulbs still have life remaining) than to do so piece-meal. Similarly, as another example, the central controller  45  can, based on the aggregated data, analyze the energy consumed by selected ones or groups of the wireless fixtures  15  and issue operational commands (e.g., turn ON, OFF or dim) aimed at conserving energy to selected ones or groups of the wireless fixtures  15 . Alternatively, this same energy consumption information may be used to pin-point energy consumption levels to particular selected ones or groups of the wireless fixtures  15 , and operational and/or maintenance decisions/recommendations/schedules (e.g., to replace certain bulbs  20  or wireless fixtures  15 ) may be made by the central controller  45  in response thereto. Furthermore, lumen depreciation may be calculated based on measuring or calculating lumen output from the wireless fixtures  15 , predicted Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of the bulbs  20  may be calculated based on information obtained form the ballast  35  by knowing the lamp type of the bulbs  20  in question and the operating conditions relating thereto, predicted Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of the ballasts  35  may be calculated based on the operating conditions relating thereto, including temperature. 
     Another advantage of the configuration of the structure  5  shown in  FIG. 1  is that, since each wireless fixture  15  may be independently and separately controlled by the central controller  45  and may independently transmit data to the central controller  45 , the structure  5  may be readily reconfigured on a per-fixture basis as necessary. In other words, groupings of particular wireless fixtures  15  for the purposes described herein may be easily changed without the need to revise the structure  5 . This may be necessary, for example, as tenants within the structure  5  acquire more or less space. In such a case, the various subdivisions  10  within the structure  5  may be reconfigured so that a wireless fixture  15  formerly associated with one subdivision  10  may be now associated with another subdivision  10 . 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of a structure  5 ′ according to an alternate embodiment of the invention. The structure  5 ′ is similar to the structure  5  shown in  FIG. 1  and, as seen in  FIG. 3 , includes many of the same components. The structure  5 ′ differs from the structure  5  in that one or more subdivisions  10  thereof include one or more wireless ambient light level sensors  50 . Each ambient light level sensor  50  is adapted to measure (and accumulate data relating to) the amount of light entering the structure  5 ′ in the vicinity of the ambient light level sensor  50 . Each ambient light level sensor  50  is also adapted to wirelessly transmit the light level data it collects to the central controller  45 . In this manner, the central controller  45  is able to collect such data from each wireless light level sensor  50 , aggregate the collected data and, based on an analysis of aggregated data wirelessly control the operation of selected ones or groups of wireless fixtures  15  to reduce the light being output thereby (by the bulbs  20  thereof) in order to reduce energy consumption and/or heat generation. One advantage of this configuration is that the groups of wireless fixtures  15  that may be controlled in this manner can be completely different than other preselected groups of wireless fixtures  15  that are grouped together for control by, for example, a switch or motion sensor. For example, a row of offices along an outside wall may all have individual room controls, but the first row of wireless fixtures  15  (or selected bulbs  20  therein) may be commanded to reduce light level to 60 percent, the second row of wireless fixtures  15  (or selected bulbs  20  therein) may be commanded to reduce light level to 70 percent, and the third row of wireless fixtures  15  (or selected bulbs therein) may be commanded to reduce light level to 80 percent. 
     While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, deletions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.