Patent Description:
The two-way wireless device described hereinafter comprises at least one sensor and at least one actuator for regulating an electric load.

The device described hereinafter can be used as a node, namely as a slave node, for a wireless network to regulate at least one electric load.

A process for managing a wireless network having nodes with actuators for controlling an electric load, and sensors for generating control signals associated therewith, is also described according to claim <NUM>. Preferred embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

As used herein, the term "electric load" comprises electric lamps.

In conventional electric power systems, i.e. in power systems operating with to the so-called "wired logic" technique, the control devices and the various electric loads are connected to one another according to a functional diagram.

Therefore, any changes in the operation of a conventional power system require the wiring between the control devices (such as switches or sensors) and the electric loads to be also changed.

These changes require the work of skilled operators and are significantly expensive and relatively time-consuming.

Civil power systems based on bus networks are also known, which have a plurality of control devices (such as sensors, namely manually operated switches) and a plurality of actuators (for example relays), for controlling the various electric loads.

In this technology, all the devices (i.e. control devices and actuator devices) have a shared connection for data exchange.

Furthermore, the actuators are connected to a power line for supplying power to the electric loads.

In commercial power systems based on bus networks the operation of the system can be changed without affecting the physical connections of the devices, by only changing their settings.

<CIT> discloses a switching control system of a circuit breaker which prevents transient phenomena that impact electric power systems and electric power equipment by controlling the opening or closing timing of the circuit breaker.

Civil power systems based on bus networks still suffer from certain drawbacks.

In particular, the replacement of a conventional, wired-logic power system with a bus network-based power system entails considerable costs.

The purpose of the inventor is to suggest a solution to at least partially solve the problems of the prior art.

In particular, one purpose of the inventor is to provide an easy and cost-effective solution to design a commercial power system that can be easily adapted to users' needs.

This purpose is achieved by of a two-way wireless device as described hereinafter, by a wireless network for regulating at least one electric load, whose nodes comprise a plurality of such two-way wireless devices and by a method for regulating at least one electric load as described hereinafter.

Possible embodiments of such device, of a network comprising a plurality of such devices and of a network management process will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, numeral <NUM> generally designates a two-way wireless device.

Using a plurality n of two-way wireless devices <NUM> a wireless network <NUM> with a proprietary transmission protocol may be designed, with a plurality n of slave nodes <NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>,. , <NUM>n, that are capable of direct or indirect transmit and receive communication, with a master node or gateway <NUM>.

The master node or gateway <NUM> of the network <NUM> may be connected to an Internet network, through a home Wi-Fi network.

The operation of the network <NUM> may be programmed via an application available for download from an Internet site and for installation on a mobile communication device, such as a smartphone <NUM>, which communicates with the master node <NUM>.

In the network <NUM> every communication between the nodes <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM>,. , <NUM>n and the smartphone <NUM> passes through the master or gateway node <NUM>.

The wireless network <NUM> may be, for example, a point-to-multipoint wireless network (such as the one of <FIG>) or a mesh network.

In the mesh configuration, in addition to their receive-and-transmit operation with the master node or gateway <NUM>, the n slave nodes of the network <NUM> can also operate as repeaters with one another (if one of the nodes <NUM> is not able to directly communicate with the master node <NUM>.

The wireless network <NUM> can be used, for example, to regulate at least one electric load <NUM>, for example an electric lamp <NUM>.

In the described embodiment, the device <NUM> comprises a container <NUM> whose shape and size allow it to fit into a conventional wall-recessed box (e.g. the box typically known as "<NUM> box") or a conventional recessed junction box.

Therefore, the container <NUM> comprises a first side, or front side <NUM>, intended to be exposed, and a second side, or rear side, <NUM>, intended to remain inside the box <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, the device <NUM> comprises a programmable processor <NUM>, a radio-frequency transmitter <NUM>, a radio-frequency receiver <NUM>, at least one antenna <NUM>, <NUM>, at least one actuator <NUM>, for regulating the power absorbed by an electric load, and at least one sensor <NUM>, <NUM>.

For the purposes of the present description, actuator <NUM> relates to a device that converts a control signal into an action.

The actuator <NUM> is of the non-automatically operating type; it is actuated by a control signal from the microprocessor <NUM>.

Since it is a non-automatic actuator, it is not able to disconnect the line unless it receives a control signal from the microprocessor <NUM>.

The term actuator <NUM> comprises solid-state relays, dimmers and any other electronic regulator adapted to regulate the power absorbed by an electric load through an external intervention.

For the purposes of the present description, the term sensor <NUM>, <NUM> includes manually operable switches, for example touch-sensitive switches, in particular capacitive tactile sensors.

The programmable processor <NUM> comprises a clock <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, the programmable processor <NUM> is a microcontroller whose operation is regulated by a management program (firmware) stored inside a non-volatile memory <NUM>.

As more clearly explained below, the programmable processor <NUM> is adapted to generate first data packets P1 and to process second data packets P2.

In the illustrated example, the non-volatile memory <NUM> of the programmable processor <NUM> comprises a register <NUM>.

The register <NUM> comprises a first field 221a, which uniquely identifies the device <NUM>, and at least one second field 221b which uniquely identifies the actuator <NUM> associated with the device <NUM> (or the actuators associated with the device <NUM> if there are multiple actuators).

The microcontroller <NUM> used in the device <NUM> may be, for example, an ESP microchip <NUM> available from Esppressif.

In the illustrated example, the actuator <NUM> is a solid-state switching device which comprises a conventional TRIAC <NUM> and a conventional trigger signal generating circuit <NUM>, for controlling the gate of the TRIAC <NUM>, which is in turn controlled by the programmable processor <NUM>.

The trigger <NUM> may be connected to the microcontroller <NUM> via a conventional bus <NUM>, for example a conventional SPI bus <NUM>.

The signal generated by the trigger <NUM> and addressed to the gate of the TRIAC <NUM> may be, for example, a square-wave signal, with a duty-cycle that can be adjusted according to users' needs.

The TRIAC <NUM> is electrically connected to two electrical terminals <NUM>, <NUM> (accessible from the second side <NUM> of the container <NUM>) which are intended to receive the ends of two wires of a phase of a commercial power system.

The TRIAC <NUM> may be used as an on/off switch or as a dimmer.

The radio-frequency transmitter <NUM> is designed to send, to the network <NUM>, first data packets P1 (or output data packets from the device <NUM>) generated by the programmable processor <NUM>.

The radio-frequency receiver <NUM> is designed to receive, from the network <NUM>, second data packets P2 (or input data packets) addressed to the programmable processor <NUM>.

Therefore, the programmable processor <NUM> is able to communicate with the master node <NUM> of the network <NUM>, by sending it first data packets P1 and receiving from it second data packets P2.

The first and second data packets P1, P2 (described in greater detail below) respectively comprise a field C10 and C20 for managing network synchronization <NUM>.

The data packets P1 and P2 may also comprise a field, located at the beginning of the data packet, which contains data packet synchronization bits and a field containing an error correcting code.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first data packets P1, or transmitted data packets, have a format other than the format of the second data packets P2, or received data packets.

As mentioned above, at least one antenna <NUM>, <NUM> is provided for transmission and reception of the data packets P1, P2 that are being sent to and received from the programmable processor <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, two distinct antennas <NUM>, <NUM> are provided.

A first antenna <NUM> is connected to the transmitter <NUM>, for data transmission, and a second antenna <NUM> is connected to the receiver <NUM>, for data reception.

In an alternative embodiment, not shown, there may be a single antenna with a conventional switch device for alternately connecting the antenna with the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM>.

In the illustrated embodiment, the radio frequency transmitter <NUM> and the radio frequency receiver <NUM> are adapted to operate in the UHF band.

In a possible embodiment, the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may be integrated in the same microchip that contains the microcontroller <NUM>.

The transmitter <NUM> may be a low power UHF transmitter (for example with an output power of up to <NUM> mWatt).

In a possible embodiment of the network <NUM> the master node <NUM> is designed using a device <NUM> that differs from the devices <NUM> used for the slave nodes <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM>,. , <NUM>n, in the firmware (contained in the register <NUM>).

Each data packet P1 comprises a field C10 containing synchronization information for the network <NUM> and a field C11 identifying the sender node <NUM>I (and hence the device <NUM> that generated the packet).

Each data packet P1 comprises a field C12 identifying at least one sensor <NUM>, <NUM> and a field C13 representative of the state of the sensor.

The data packets P2 that come from the master node <NUM> and are addressed to the microcontroller <NUM> of the device <NUM> (i.e. the node <NUM>j that is the ultimate recipient of the communication) comprise a field C20 containing synchronization information for the network <NUM>, a field C21 identifying the receiver node <NUM>j, and hence the device <NUM> that is the receiver of the data packet P2, a field C22 identifying the actuator <NUM> associated with the receiver node <NUM>j (contained in the device <NUM> to which the data packet P2 is addressed) and a field C23 representative of a control signal for the actuator <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, the field C23 of the data packet P2 contains an on/off control signal to be sent to the trigger <NUM>, which in turn controls the TRIAC <NUM>.

The generation of the control signals to be sent to the actuators <NUM> of the network <NUM> may be also remotely controlled, for example by means of the aforementioned smartphone application, available for download from the Internet and for installation on the smartphone <NUM>.

The sensor <NUM>, <NUM> may be placed on the first side <NUM> of the container <NUM> and is connected to the microcontroller <NUM> via a conventional bus, for example a conventional SPI bus.

The sensor <NUM>, <NUM> may be used to actuate one or more actuators <NUM>, associated with one or more slave nodes <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM>,. , <NUM>n of the network <NUM>, to regulate one or more electric loads <NUM>.

The actuators of the network <NUM> may be triggered not only by the sensor <NUM>, but also remotely from the smartphone <NUM>.

The signal generated by the sensor <NUM>, <NUM> (which passes through the master node <NUM>) may also be sent to the smartphone <NUM> to provide an updated state of operation of the network <NUM>.

The non-volatile memory <NUM> of the programmable processor <NUM> comprises at least one third field 221c which uniquely identifies the sensor <NUM>, <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, the sensor <NUM> is a control sensor operable by a finger.

As mentioned above, the first sensor <NUM> may comprise a tactile sensor <NUM>, for example a capacitive tactile sensor.

This solution avoids the risk of failures associated with the wear of mechanical components and thus improves the reliability of the device <NUM>.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the control sensor <NUM> may be a mechanically actuated button.

The device <NUM> may comprise a conventional electroacoustic transducer (not shown) which beeps when the control sensor <NUM> is actuated by the user.

The two-way wireless device <NUM> may comprise a first light-emitting device <NUM> which is adapted to illuminate the first side <NUM> of the container <NUM> and, in particular, the actuation area of the control sensor <NUM>.

The first light-emitting device <NUM> facilitates the identification of the position of the control sensor <NUM> and is particularly useful in the dark.

In a possible embodiment, the first light-emitting device <NUM> comprises an LED.

In a possible embodiment, the two-way wireless device <NUM> may comprise, in addition to or instead of the touch sensor <NUM>, a motion detection sensor <NUM>.

The motion detection sensor <NUM> may be, for example, a conventional passive infrared sensor.

The motion detection sensor <NUM> may be used, for example, to control an actuator <NUM> (for example to turn on the lights) or to inform the user that manages the network <NUM> (for example through the smartphone <NUM>) that there are people at home.

In the smartphone application that manages the network <NUM>, each slave node <NUM> of the network <NUM>, each actuator <NUM>, each sensor <NUM>, <NUM> and each electric load <NUM> may be represented by icons.

The device <NUM> further comprises a conventional DC power supply (not shown), which may receive power by the same commercial power system that supplies power to the loads <NUM> managed by the network <NUM>.

The master node <NUM> of the network <NUM> contains a table <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>) representing the association between each actuator <NUM> of each node of the network <NUM>, and hence of each device <NUM> of the network <NUM>, and each sensor <NUM>, <NUM> of each node, and hence of each device <NUM> of the network <NUM>.

The values indicated in Table <NUM> are representative of the functional connections as shown in <FIG>.

For this purpose, the devices <NUM>, the sensors <NUM>, <NUM> and the actuators <NUM> may be identified by unique identification codes.

The table <NUM> may be created and modified by the user remotely, for example through the aforementioned application available for download from the Internet and for installation on the smartphone <NUM>.

In the illustrated example, each record of the table <NUM> comprises a first field F1, a second field F2, a third field F3 and a fourth field F4.

The contents of the first four fields F1, F2, F3 and F4 are defined by the user, for example via the smartphone <NUM>, and may be modified at a later time.

The first field F1 identifies a sender node <NUM>I of the network <NUM>, from which a first data packet P1 is sent.

The second field F2 identifies a sensor <NUM>, <NUM> associated with the sender node <NUM>I which transmits the first data packet P1.

The third field F3 identifies a node <NUM>j which is the node with which the actuator to be triggered is associated, and hence the receiver node for the second data packet P2.

The fourth field F4 identifies an actuator <NUM> associated with the receiver node <NUM>j for the data packet P2.

The association between the actuators <NUM> and the sensors <NUM>, <NUM> associated with the various nodes <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM>, <NUM>n of the network <NUM> is created by the user as desired.

Therefore, one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-one associations may be created between the actuators <NUM> and the sensors <NUM>, <NUM> associated with the nodes of the network <NUM>.

In other words, the state change of a sensor <NUM> associated with a node <NUM> of the network <NUM> can control one or more actuator devices <NUM> associated with the various nodes <NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>n of the network <NUM>.

Likewise, each actuator <NUM> associated with a node of the network <NUM> can be triggered by one or more sensors <NUM> associated with the nodes of the network <NUM> (as well as by the smartphone <NUM>). It should be noted that even when an actuator <NUM> and a sensor <NUM>, <NUM> are part of the same device <NUM> (and hence are associated with the same node of the network) no functional association between the actuator <NUM> and the sensor <NUM> of the same wireless device <NUM> is implied.

Every time that the master node <NUM> receives a first data packet P1, a comparison is made between the fields C11 and C12 of the first data packet P1 with the first two fields F1, F2 of each record of the table <NUM> contained in the gateway <NUM>.

For each matching record of the table <NUM> the contents of the following fields F3 and F4 are then checked.

Then, the gateway <NUM> creates a data packet P2 that comprises a field <NUM> containing synchronization information for the network <NUM>, a field C21 identifying the receiver node <NUM>j for the data packet P2, a field C22 identifying an actuator <NUM> associated with the node <NUM>j and a field C23 to be sent to the actuator <NUM> of the node <NUM>j corresponding to the content of the field C13 of the first data packet P1 or anyway having a value that is a function of the field C13.

The example of <FIG> shows the functional connections in a possible network for regulating electric loads which comprises three devices <NUM> (and hence three slave nodes) each comprising three sensors and three actuators.

In this example, the first actuator of the first node may be triggered indifferently, by the third button of the first node, the third button of the second node and the first button of the third node.

Again, in this example, the first button of the first node may simultaneously control the third actuator of the second node and the first actuator of the third node.

In the illustrated embodiment as long as the finger is held on a control sensor <NUM>, the microcontroller <NUM> cyclically creates data packets P1 (or frames) which are temporarily stored in a volatile memory <NUM> of the microcontroller <NUM>.

As mentioned above, each data packet P1 comprises a field C10 containing synchronization information for the network <NUM> and a field C11 identifying the sender node <NUM>I (and hence the device <NUM> that transmitted the packet), a field C12 identifying the sensor <NUM>, <NUM> and a field C13 representative of the state of the sensor.

For example, in the case of a conventional tactile sensor <NUM> designed to control solid-state relays, the state of the sensor can assume two values (on/off).

If the tactile sensor <NUM> is designed to control a dimmer, then its state can assume a plurality of values between two extremes.

If the actuator <NUM> is a dimmer, by varying the time during which the finger remains the tactile sensor <NUM>, the user can also modulate the electric power supplied to the electric load <NUM>.

Then, the content of the volatile memory <NUM> is transmitted, directly or through other nodes, to the master node <NUM>.

In the illustrated embodiment of the network <NUM>, the data packets P1 transmitted by the n slave nodes <NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>,<NUM>. 1n to the master node <NUM> have a format that differs from the format of the data packets P2 transmitted from the master node <NUM> to the n slave nodes <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>, <NUM><NUM>.

In one embodiment, not shown, the device <NUM> may also comprise a device (not shown) capable of generating email messages or messages to a cloud with a PCP protocol.

This solution may be particularly interesting because it can create a network <NUM> that can be also used as a remotely controlled alarm system.

In a possible embodiment, the device <NUM> may comprise a second light-emitting device <NUM>.

The second light-emitting device <NUM> may perform various functions, for example it can be used to give the user potentially interesting information of potential interest such as, for example, the mode of operation of the two-way wireless device <NUM> or of the network <NUM>.

Such communications may take place, for example, by generating luminous variations of considerable magnitude and speed and/or by changing the color temperature.

The second light-emitting device <NUM> can also be used, more simply, to create plays of light or pleasing light effects.

In the illustrated example, the second light-emitting device <NUM> comprises a plurality of LEDs adapted to generate, for example, diffused light.

Claim 1:
A two-way wireless device (<NUM>), usable as a slave node for a wireless network,
comprising
a) a programmable processor (<NUM>) comprising a clock (<NUM>) adapted to generate first data packets (P1) and to process second data packets (P2);
b) a radio-frequency transmitter (<NUM>) for sending said first data packets (P1) generated by said programmable processor (<NUM>);
c) a radio-frequency receiver (<NUM>) for receiving said second data packets (P2) addressed to said programmable processor (<NUM>),
d) an antenna (<NUM>) connected to said transmitter (<NUM>) and an antenna (<NUM>) connected to said receiver (<NUM>);
e) at least one non-automatically operating actuator, for regulating an electric load (<NUM>) according to a control signal from said programmable processor (<NUM>);
f) at least one first sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>) adapted to send a signal representative of its state to said programmable processor (<NUM>);
g) a container (<NUM>) comprising a first side (<NUM>) and a second side (<NUM>); characterized in that
h) said programmable processor (<NUM>) comprising a register (<NUM>) which comprises a first field (221a) identifying said device (<NUM>), a second field (221b) identifying said at least one actuator (<NUM>) and a third field (221c) identifying said at least one sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>);
and in that
i) said first sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprises a tactile sensor (<NUM>); and in that
j) said first sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>) is placed on a side (<NUM>) of said container (<NUM>).