Patent Description:
The invention further relates to a method of facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system, said networked lighting system comprising one or more lighting devices.

The use of presence sensors for automatically activating and deactivating lighting is relatively common in (new) offices and is now also gaining popularity in homes. An example of a popular presence sensor for homes in the Philips Hue Motion Sensor. If a consumer is aware of the benefit of using a presence sensor, then he usually has a certain location in mind.

Furthermore, <CIT> discloses a controller that runs a built-in test during the installation process to determine the optimal placement of a sensor node. The built-in test attempts to measure and optimize multiple parameters while maintaining sufficient energy to charge the system. An example of such a parameter is the performance of a PIR occupancy sensor.

However, such a test is mainly useful if the installer has an idea of approximately where he wants to place the sensor node. In offices, the purpose of a presence sensor and therefore the approximate location of the presence sensor is often clear. In homes, a presence sensor can typically be used for different purposes at different locations. Consumers may not be aware of the benefit of the use of a presence sensor and if they are, they may not be aware that there are better locations in the house to place the presence sensor than the one they had in mind. In this case, the user may not know at which approximate location the presence sensor would have benefit or would have most benefit and may therefore not know at which initial position to run a test. Similarly, a user may not know at which approximate location a (e.g. wireless) light switch would have benefit or would have most benefit. <CIT> discloses a system storing a history of events and patterns of use of luminaires over time and using such history to provide appropriate control settings to the luminaires.

It is a first object of the invention to provide a system according to claim <NUM>, which determines a location for a presence sensor or light switch even if an initial position for the presence sensor or light switch is not known yet.

It is a second object of the invention to provide a method according to claim <NUM>, which determines a location for a presence sensor or light switch even if an initial position for the presence sensor or light switch is not known yet.

In a first aspect of the invention, a system for facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system, said networked lighting system comprising one or more lighting devices, comprises at least one input interface, at least one output interface, and at least one processor configured to obtain, via said at least one input interface, a control history of said one or more lighting devices, said control history describing a plurality of light control actions, detect a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on said control history, said sequence of manual light control actions comprising a light control action associated with a location, determine a location for said presence sensor or light switch based on said location associated with said light control action such that said network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of said manual light control actions of said sequence at an appropriate moment when said presence sensor or light switch is placed at said presence sensor or light switch location, and output said presence sensor or light switch location to a user via said at least one output interface to facilitate said installation of said presence sensor or light switch.

With this system, when a user is installing a new presence sensor or (e.g. wireless) light switch or is considering installing a new presence sensor or light switch, he can be provided with tailored user guidance, even if he does not know at which approximate location the presence sensor or light switch would have benefit or would have most benefit. This tailored user guidance includes a suggested location for the new presence sensor or light switch and may include a suggestion on how to configure it (e.g. which lighting device(s) it should activate). The system may optionally configure the new presence sensor or light switch automatically.

The tailored user guidance is determined based on the lighting system's control history, e.g. by employing pattern recognition on the historical data. Users often have multiple routines in their home, of which they may be unaware. For example, a user may typically turn on the bedroom light, then the hallway light, and then the bathroom light before heading downstairs to turn on the living room light. These routines may be deduced from the control history, i.e. usage data.

The location associated with the light control action may be a location of at least one of the one or more lighting devices and/or a location of a light switch, for example. In the above example, the determined presence sensor location may be the bedroom and all four actions may be performed when movement is detected in the bedroom (e.g. at night) or the determined presence sensor location may the hallway and the last three actions may be performed when the user turns on then bedroom light and then movement is detected in the hallway, for example.

Said at least one processor is configured to program said networked lighting system to trigger said one or more light control actions upon detecting presence with said presence sensor or detecting interaction with said light switch. By automatically configuring the lighting system, e.g. a bridge or the presence sensor or light switch, the user does not have to do this manually. Good configuration settings may be determined based on the control history.

Said at least one processor may be configured to determine, from said control history, a subset of said one or more lighting devices, said subset being associated with said one or more light control actions and program said networked lighting system to control said subset of lighting devices upon detecting presence with said presence sensor or detecting interaction with said light switch.

Said at least one processor may be configured to determine, from said control history, a light setting associated with at least one of said one or more light control actions and program said networked lighting system to control at least one of said subset of lighting devices according to said light setting upon detecting presence with said presence sensor or detecting interaction with said light switch. A light setting may comprise a color and/or a light output level, for example.

Said at least one processor may be configured to determine, from said control history, one or more time periods associated with said sequence and program said networked lighting system to control said subset of lighting devices upon detecting presence with said presence sensor or detecting interaction with said light switch in said one or more time periods. This is beneficial if it is only appropriate to trigger the one or more control actions of the sequence at one or more certain time periods of the day and/or the week, for example. If this is not used, then any moment may be considered to be an appropriate moment to trigger the one or more control actions.

Said at least one processor may be configured to determine a likelihood that said control action is being performed as part of said sequence when said control action is performed in one or more time periods associated with said sequence and output said presence sensor or light switch location to said user upon determining that said likelihood exceeds a threshold. For example, there may be more than two regularly occurring sequences that comprise an action of a user switching on the toilet light and when the user switches on the toilet light, a likelihood that the succeeding light control actions of any one of these sequences is performed may be less than <NUM>%, which will typically be considered to be too low to let the succeeding light control actions be performed automatically.

Said at least one processor may be configured to detect a regularly occurring further sequence of manual light control actions based on said control history, said further sequence of manual light control actions comprising a further light control action associated with a further location, determine a merit of said sequence and a further merit of said further sequence, and select said sequence upon in dependence on said merit exceeding said further merit. This makes it possible to determine the best position for the presence sensor or light switch rather than the first position that is acceptable.

Said at least one processor may be configured to determine said merit of said sequence by determining a likelihood that said control action is being performed as part of said sequence when said control action is performed in one or more time periods associated with said sequence and determine said further merit of said further sequence by determining a likelihood that said further control action is being performed as part of said further sequence when said further control action is performed in one or more time periods associated with said further sequence. For example, there may be a <NUM>% likelihood that in a certain time period a user turns on the bedroom light, upstairs hallway light, downstairs hallway light and lavatory light in sequence and an <NUM>% likelihood that a user turns on the porch light, the downstairs hallway light, the lavatory light, the living room light and the kitchen light in sequence. By placing a presence sensor in the bedroom instead of on the porch, it becomes more likely that the control actions that will be automatically performed are desired actions.

Said at least one processor may be configured to determine said merit of said sequence by determining a quantity of said one or more light control actions and determine said further merit of said further sequence by determining a quantity of one or more further light control actions of said further sequence to be triggered upon detecting presence with said presence sensor or detecting interaction with said light switch. Typically, the more control actions that can be automated, the better. However, multiple parameters may be taken into account, e.g. both likelihood and quantity. These multiple parameters may be weighted differently.

In a second aspect of the invention, a method of facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system, said networked lighting system comprising one or more lighting devices, comprises obtaining a control history of said one or more lighting devices, said control history describing a plurality of light control actions, detecting a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on said control history, said sequence of manual light control actions comprising a light control action associated with a location, determining a location for said presence sensor or light switch based on said location associated with said light control action such that said network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of said manual light control actions of said sequence at an appropriate moment when said presence sensor or light switch is placed at said presence sensor or light switch location, and outputting said presence sensor or light switch location to a user to facilitate said installation of said presence sensor or light switch. Said method may be performed by software running on a programmable device. This software may be provided as a computer program product.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores at least one software code portion, the software code portion, when executed or processed by a computer, being configured to perform executable operations for facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system, said networked lighting system comprising one or more lighting devices.

The executable operations comprise obtaining a control history of said one or more lighting devices, said control history describing a plurality of light control actions, detecting a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on said control history, said sequence of manual light control actions comprising a light control action associated with a location, determining a location for said presence sensor or light switch based on said location associated with said light control action such that said network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of said manual light control actions of said sequence at an appropriate moment when said presence sensor or light switch is placed at said presence sensor or light switch location, and outputting said presence sensor or light switch location to a user to facilitate said installation of said presence sensor or light switch.

<FIG> shows a first embodiment of the system for facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system. In this first embodiment, the system is a mobile device <NUM>. The networked lighting system comprises lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> and at least one light switch <NUM>. Mobile device <NUM> runs an app for controlling lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM>, which may be Philips Hue lamps, for example. The lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> and the light switch <NUM> communicate with a (light) bridge <NUM>, e.g. using Zigbee technology. The bridge <NUM> may be a Philips Hue bridge, for example. The mobile devices <NUM> is able to control the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> via a wireless LAN access point <NUM> and the bridge <NUM>. The wireless LAN access point <NUM> is connected to the Internet <NUM>. An Internet server <NUM> is also connected to the Internet <NUM>.

The mobile device <NUM> comprises a transceiver <NUM>, a transmitter <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and a display <NUM>. The processor <NUM> is configured to obtain, via the receiver <NUM>, a control history of the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM>, e.g. from the Internet server <NUM>. The control history describes a plurality of light control actions. The processor <NUM> is configured to detect a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on the control history. The sequence of manual light control actions comprises a light control action associated with a location (and possibly further light control actions associated with further locations), e.g. as first light control action in the sequence.

The processor <NUM> is further configured to determine a location for a presence sensor <NUM> or light switch based on the location associated with the light control action such that the network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of the manual light control actions of the sequence at an appropriate moment when the presence sensor <NUM> or light switch is placed at the presence sensor or light switch location, automatically in the case of presence sensor <NUM>, and output the presence sensor or light switch location to a user via the display <NUM> to facilitate the installation of the presence sensor <NUM> or light switch. The location associated with the light control action may be a location one of lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> and/or a location of the light switch <NUM>, for example.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the processor <NUM> is also configured to program the networked lighting system, e.g. the bridge <NUM>, the presence sensor <NUM> or the light switch, to trigger the one or more light control actions upon detecting presence with the presence sensor <NUM> or detecting interaction with the light switch. For example, the processor <NUM> may be configured to determine, from the control history, a subset of the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> which is associated with the one or more light control actions and program the networked lighting system to control the subset of lighting devices upon detecting presence with the presence sensor <NUM> or detecting interaction with the light switch.

Alternatively or additionally, the processor <NUM> may be configured to determine, from the control history, a light setting associated with at least one of the one or more light control actions and program the networked lighting system to control at least one of the subset of lighting devices according to the light setting upon detecting presence with the presence sensor <NUM> or detecting interaction with the light switch.

Alternatively or additionally, the processor <NUM> may be configured to determine, from the control history, one or more time periods associated with the sequence and program the networked lighting system to control the subset of lighting devices upon detecting presence with the presence sensor <NUM> or detecting interaction with the light switch in the one or more time periods.

In the embodiment of the mobile device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the mobile device <NUM> comprises one processor <NUM>. In an alternative embodiment, the mobile device <NUM> comprises multiple processors. The processor <NUM> of the mobile device <NUM> may be a general-purpose processor, e.g. from ARM or Qualcomm or an application-specific processor. The processor <NUM> of the mobile device <NUM> may run an Android or iOS operating system for example. The display <NUM> may comprise an LCD or OLED display panel, for example. The display <NUM> may be a touch screen, for example. The processor <NUM> may use this touch screen to provide a user interface, for example. The memory <NUM> may comprise one or more memory units. The memory <NUM> may comprise solid state memory, for example.

The receiver <NUM> and the transmitter <NUM> may use one or more wireless communication technologies, e.g. Wi-Fi (IEEE <NUM>) for communicating with the wireless LAN access point <NUM>, for example. In an alternative embodiment, multiple receivers and/or multiple transmitters are used instead of a single receiver and a single transmitter. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, a separate receiver and a separate transmitter are used. In an alternative embodiment, the receiver <NUM> and the transmitter <NUM> are combined into a transceiver. The mobile device <NUM> may comprise other components typical for a mobile device such as a battery and a power connector. The invention may be implemented using a computer program running on one or more processors.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> are controlled by the mobile device <NUM> via the bridge <NUM>. In an alternative embodiment, one or more of the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> are controlled by the mobile device <NUM> without a bridge, e.g. directly via Bluetooth or via the wireless LAN access point <NUM>. Optionally, the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> are controlled via the cloud, e.g. via Internet server <NUM>. The lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> may be capable of receiving and transmitting Wi-Fi signals, for example.

<FIG> shows a second embodiment of the system for facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system. In this second embodiment, the system is a computer <NUM>. The computer <NUM> is connected to the Internet <NUM> and acts as a server. The networked lighting system comprises lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> and at least one light switch <NUM>.

The computer <NUM> comprises a receiver <NUM>, a transmitter <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and storage means <NUM>. The processor <NUM> is configured to obtain, via the receiver <NUM>, a control history of the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM>, e.g. from the bridge <NUM>. From example, control data may be received from the bridge <NUM> each time a control command is received by the bridge <NUM>, or on a regular basis, e.g. one time per day. This control data may be stored in the storage means <NUM> as a control history and may later be retrieved via a data bus, e.g. when the user is preparing to install the presence sensor <NUM> or light switch. The control history describes a plurality of light control actions.

The processor <NUM> is further configured to detect a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on the control history. The sequence of manual light control actions comprises a light control action associated with a location. The processor <NUM> is further configured to determine a location for a presence sensor <NUM> or light switch based on the location associated with the light control action such that the network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of the manual light control actions of the sequence at an appropriate moment when the presence sensor <NUM> or light switch is placed at the presence sensor or light switch location, automatically in the case of presence sensor <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> is further configured to output the presence sensor or light switch location to a user via the transmitter <NUM> and the mobile device <NUM> to facilitate the installation of the presence sensor <NUM> or light switch. For example, the computer <NUM> may transmit the presence sensor or light switch location to a mobile device <NUM> and the mobile device <NUM> may then display the presence sensor or light switch location on its display.

In the embodiment of the computer <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the computer <NUM> comprises one processor <NUM>. In an alternative embodiment, the computer <NUM> comprises multiple processors. The processor <NUM> of the computer <NUM> may be a general-purpose processor, e.g. from Intel or AMD, or an application-specific processor. The processor <NUM> of the computer <NUM> may run a Windows or Unix-based operating system for example. The storage means <NUM> may comprise one or more memory units. The storage means <NUM> may comprise one or more hard disks and/or solid-state memory, for example. The storage means <NUM> may be used to store an operating system, applications and application data, for example.

The receiver <NUM> and the transmitter <NUM> may use one or more wired and/or wireless communication technologies such as Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi (IEEE <NUM>) to communicate with the wireless LAN access point <NUM>, for example. In an alternative embodiment, multiple receivers and/or multiple transmitters are used instead of a single receiver and a single transmitter. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, a separate receiver and a separate transmitter are used. In an alternative embodiment, the receiver <NUM> and the transmitter <NUM> are combined into a transceiver. The computer <NUM> may comprise other components typical for a computer such as a power connector. The invention may be implemented using a computer program running on one or more processors.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the computer <NUM> receives data from and transmits data to the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> via the bridge <NUM>. In an alternative embodiment, the computer <NUM> receives data from and transmits data to one or more of the lighting devices <NUM>-<NUM> without a bridge.

<FIG> shows an example of a house in which the system may be used. Lighting device <NUM> is placed in a lavatory on the ground floor of a house <NUM>. The lavatory comprises a toilet <NUM>. Lighting device <NUM> is placed in a hallway on the ground floor of the house <NUM>. Lighting device <NUM> is placed in a living room on the ground floor of the house <NUM>. Lighting device <NUM> is placed in a bathroom on the second floor of the house <NUM>. Lighting device <NUM> is placed in a hallway on the second floor of the house <NUM>. Lighting device <NUM> and light switch <NUM> are placed in a bedroom on the second floor of the house <NUM>.

A user <NUM> may perform the following actions at night when he goes to the lavatory:.

These actions belong to a reoccurring routine of the user. A user can have multiple of these routines and some of them typically involve light control actions. Users may not be consciously aware of (all) these (sometimes subtle) reoccurring routines. When a user is not aware of (all) these routines, he might not even realize the benefit of installing a presence sensor, let alone know where to (optimally) install it.

When the user <NUM> is installing and configuring the presence sensor, an app on his mobile device could give him tailored installation and configuration guidance, e.g. suggestions on where to install the sensor (e.g. in the bedroom in the above example) and which lighting devices it should trigger (e.g. lighting devices in bedroom, hallway upstairs, hallway downstairs, lavatory) at which hours of the day (e.g. only between 2am and <NUM> am). This will save the user work, as he no longer has to turn on and off light switches when he performs his nightly routine. The lighting system thus becomes more personalized and tailored to the user's needs.

Generally, one or more lighting devices are automatically turned on when presence is detected and are optionally automatically turned off. Generally, one or more lighting devices may be automatically turned off a) when presence is no longer detected for a certain time, b) a certain time after turning on the lighting devices, or c) when presence is detected a second time.

In the above example, the app may recommend that the user installs the presence sensor in the bedroom and in this case, all three options or a subset thereof could be implemented. Option a) should then be implemented by a motion sensor and not by a heat sensor. The certain time in option a) and b) may be learned from the control history to avoid that the lighting devices are turned off before the user returns to bed. If the lighting devices are not turned off automatically, the user has to turn off the lighting devices manually, but this still saves the user the work of manually turning on the lighting devices.

If in the above example, the user would use his mobile phone to turn on lighting device <NUM> in his bedroom, the app might alternatively recommend that the user installs a light switch in his bedroom and suggest a configuration that turns on lighting devices <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> when pressing the "on" button between <NUM>:<NUM> and <NUM>:<NUM> am, for example. The bridge <NUM> of <FIG> logs data of all light control actions performed by the user to the cloud, i.e. to Internet server <NUM>. This data, i.e. the control history, may be stored as raw data in a data lake. The Internet server <NUM> (and the mobile device <NUM> in the embodiment of <FIG>) extract the user's reoccurring routines by looking at the user's reoccurring light control patterns over time. This is shown in <FIG> with an example of a regular occurring sequence of manual light control actions.

A step <NUM> comprises the user pressing a button of the light switch <NUM>. A step <NUM> comprises the light switch <NUM> informing the bridge <NUM> that one of the buttons of light switch <NUM> has been pressed. After the bridge <NUM> has determined that pressing this button is associated with turning on lighting device <NUM>, the bridge <NUM> transmits a light command to lighting device <NUM> in step <NUM>, thereby instructing the lighting device <NUM> to activate its light source, typically with a specified color and/or light output level. The bridge <NUM> logs the light control action to the Internet server <NUM> in step <NUM>.

A step <NUM> comprises the user pressing a virtual button in a lighting control app on his mobile device <NUM>. A step <NUM> comprises the mobile device <NUM> instructing the bridge <NUM> to turn on the lighting device <NUM>. After receiving this instruction, the bridge <NUM> transmits a light command to lighting device <NUM> in step <NUM>, thereby instructing the lighting device <NUM> to activate its light source. The bridge <NUM> logs the light control action to the Internet server <NUM> in step <NUM>. The next day, the same steps <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are repeated.

At a later date, when the user wants to install a presence sensor or when the app running on the mobile device <NUM>, or its user, has decided to check whether installing a presence sensor is beneficial, the mobile device <NUM> transmits a request to the Internet server <NUM> in step <NUM>. The Internet server <NUM> then performs pattern recognitions on the raw data, e.g. stored in a data-lake, to extract user routines and generates tailored user guidance. This user tailored user guidance comprises a suggested location for the presence sensor and may comprise a configuration suggestion with respect to the presence sensor. Alternatively, this configuration may be performed automatically. In step <NUM>, the Internet server <NUM> then responds back to the app with this tailored user guidance. The app running on the mobile device <NUM> then provides the suggestion(s) to the user.

In the example of <FIG>, the suggested location is the starting point of the sequence, i.e. the bedroom, and the triggered lighting devices are the lighting devices <NUM> and <NUM>. These two light control actions are the first two light control actions of the example described in relation to <FIG>. The sequence described in that example comprises turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning off lighting device <NUM>, turning off lighting device <NUM>, turning off lighting device <NUM>, and turning off lighting device <NUM>.

Subsequences of a sequence may be considered as well. For example, one of the subsequences of the example described in relation to <FIG> comprises turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning on lighting device <NUM>, turning off lighting device <NUM>, turning off lighting device <NUM>, turning off lighting device <NUM>, and turning off lighting device <NUM>. If this subsequence would be considered to have a higher merit, the hallway upstairs could be recommended as suggested location for the presence sensor.

A first embodiment of the method of facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system is shown in <FIG>. The networked lighting system comprises one or more lighting devices. A step <NUM> comprises obtaining a control history of the one or more lighting devices. The control history describes a plurality of light control actions. A step <NUM> comprises detecting a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on the control history. The sequence of manual light control actions comprises a light control action associated with a location.

A step <NUM> comprises determining a location for the presence sensor or light switch based on the location associated with the light control action such that the network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of the manual light control actions of the sequence at an appropriate moment when the presence sensor or light switch is placed at the presence sensor or light switch location, automatically in the case of the presence sensor. The location associated with the light control action may be a location of at least one of the one or more lighting devices or a location of a light switch, for example.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, steps <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are performed after step <NUM>. Step <NUM> comprises determining, from the control history, a subset of the one or more lighting devices which is associated with the one or more light control actions. Step <NUM> comprises determining, from the control history, a light setting associated with at least one of the one or more light control actions. Step <NUM> comprises determining, from the control history, one or more time periods associated with the sequence.

A step <NUM> comprises outputting the presence sensor or light switch location determined in step <NUM> to a user to facilitate the installation of the presence sensor or light switch. A step <NUM> comprises programming the networked lighting system to trigger the one or more light control actions upon detecting presence with the presence sensor or detecting interaction with the light switch. In the embodiment of <FIG>, step <NUM> comprises programming the networked lighting system to control the subset of lighting devices determined in step <NUM> according to the light setting determined in step <NUM> upon detecting presence with the presence sensor or detecting interaction with the light switch in the one or more time periods determined in step <NUM>.

A second embodiment of the method of facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system is shown in <FIG>. The networked lighting system comprises one or more lighting devices. Step <NUM> comprises obtaining a control history of the one or more lighting devices. The control history describes a plurality of light control actions.

A step <NUM> comprises looking for a first or next regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions in the control history. The sequence of manual light control actions comprises a light control action associated with a location. A step <NUM> comprises determining whether such a sequence has been detected in step <NUM>. If so, step <NUM> is performed next.

Step <NUM> comprises determining a likelihood Li that the control action is being performed as part of the sequence when the control action is performed in one or more time periods associated with the sequence. A step <NUM> comprises determining whether the likelihood Li exceeds a threshold T. If so, step <NUM> is performed next. If not, step <NUM> is repeated and a next regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions is looked for in the control history.

Step <NUM> comprises determining a location for the presence sensor or light switch based on the location associated with the light control action such that the network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of the manual light control actions of the sequence at an appropriate moment when the presence sensor or light switch is placed at the presence sensor or light switch location, automatically in the case of the presence sensor. Step <NUM> comprises outputting the presence sensor or light switch location determined in step <NUM> to a user to facilitate the installation of the presence sensor or light switch.

A third embodiment of the method of facilitating installation of a presence sensor or light switch in a networked lighting system is shown in <FIG>. The networked lighting system comprises one or more lighting devices. Step <NUM> comprises obtaining a control history of the one or more lighting devices. The control history describes a plurality of light control actions.

Step <NUM> comprises looking for a first or next regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions in the control history. The sequence of manual light control actions comprises a light control action associated with a location. Step <NUM> comprises determining whether such a sequence has been detected in step <NUM>. If so, step <NUM> is performed next. Step <NUM> comprises determining a merit of the sequence detected in step <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, the merit of the sequence may be determined by determining a likelihood that the control action is being performed as part of the sequence when the control action is performed in one or more time periods associated with the sequence and/or by determining a quantity of the one or more light control actions. Step <NUM> is repeated after step <NUM> and a next regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions is looked for in the control history.

If it is determined in step <NUM> that no (further) sequence has been detected in step <NUM>, a step <NUM> is performed. Step <NUM> comprises determining how many sequences have been determined in the one or more iterations of step <NUM>. If it is determined in step <NUM> that one sequence has been detected, a step <NUM> is performed. If it is determined in step <NUM> that more than one sequence has been detected, a step <NUM> is performed. Step <NUM> comprises selecting the one detected sequence. Step <NUM> comprises selecting one of the multiple sequences detected in step <NUM>. In step <NUM>, the sequence with the highest merit is selected.

Step <NUM> is performed after steps <NUM> and <NUM>. Step <NUM> comprises determining a location for the presence sensor or light switch based on the location associated with the light control action such that the network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of the manual light control actions of the sequence at an appropriate moment when the presence sensor or light switch is placed at the presence sensor or light switch location, automatically in the case of the presence sensor. Step <NUM> comprises outputting the presence sensor or light switch location determined in step <NUM> to a user to facilitate the installation of the presence sensor or light switch.

The method of <FIG> may be performed when a consumer adds a new presence sensor or light switch to the networked lighting system. With this method, the determination of what the most effective location would be to place the presence sensor or light switch may be based on how many user actions (e.g. pushing buttons) can be avoided and/or based on the level of certainty that the associated actions which are then triggered by the sensor are the desirable actions. This level of certainty may be high when the presence sensing highly correlates with the actions to be taken. However, since the presence sensor or light switch has normally not been installed yet, the location of the light control device used to trigger the light control action, or the location of the controlled lighting device, may be associated with the light control action(s) instead.

The performance of the method of <FIG> is further explained with the help of an example. In this example, at least three sequences of regularly occurring sequences are detected based on the control history:.

Sequence A is performed regularly when the user arrives home. Sequence B is performed regularly when the user goes to his study room. Sequence C is performed regularly during the night. Sequence A comprises six actions, sequence B comprises two actions, and sequence C comprises eight actions. If the determination of the most effective location for the presence sensor would be based on how many user actions (e.g. pushing buttons) can be avoided, sequence C would be selected from sequences A-C.

As previously described, generally, one or more lighting devices are turned on automatically when presence is detected and are optionally turned off automatically. Generally, one or more lighting devices may be automatically turned off a) when presence is no longer detected for a certain time, b) a certain time after turning on the lighting devices, or c) when presence is detected a second time. The above count of how many use actions can be avoided is determined based on the assumption that switching off the light is also automated. For example, with respect to sequence A, the light in the lavatory may be switched off automatically after a certain time, e.g. after ten minutes. If the light in the lavatory cannot/is not switched off automatically, five actions of sequence A can still be automated. To trigger automatic performance of sequence A, a presence sensor may be installed on the porch.

In the above example, the likelihood that the remainder of sequence A is performed after the porch light is turned on may be <NUM>% (independent of time), e.g. because the user does not always go to the toilet after arriving home, the likelihood that the remainder of sequence B is performed after the hallway upstairs light is turned on may be <NUM>% (independent of time), and the likelihood that the remainder of sequence C is performed after the bedroom light is turned on may be <NUM>% between <NUM> am and <NUM> am, and may be <NUM>% independent of time, for example.

If the determination of the most effective location for the presence sensor would be based on the level of certainty that the associated actions which are then triggered by the presence sensor are the desirable actions, then sequence C is selected if the networked lighting system can be programmed to perform the sequence C only when presence is sensed in the bedroom between <NUM> am and <NUM> am. If this is not possible, sequence A may be selected.

Subsequences of sequences may be considered as well. For example, if the lavatory light needs to be switched off manually, the following subsequences of sequence A may be considered:.

The likelihood that the remainder of sequence D is performed after the hallway downstairs light is turned on may be <NUM>% (independent of time), the likelihood that the remainder of sequence E is performed after the lavatory light is turned on may be <NUM>% (independent of time), and the likelihood that the remainder of sequence F is performed after the living room light is turned on may be <NUM>% (independent of time). If only the likelihood that the control action is being performed as part of the sequence, e.g. the likelihood that turning the lavatory light on is followed by the remainder of sequence E, is considered, then sequence F may be selected instead of sequence A. However, in this case, it is beneficial to consider the quantity of control actions in the sequence, i.e. the quantity of control actions that can be avoided, as well.

A merit of a sequence may be determined by calculating a weighted sum of the likelihood and the quantity of control actions to be automated. Alternatively or additionally, a sequence may be required to have a minimum likelihood. If the above-mentioned sequences A-C are considered and the minimum required likelihood is <NUM>%, the merit of sequence B may be set to zero, because it only has a likelihood of <NUM>%. The merit of sequences A and C may be set to the quantity of control actions in the sequences, e.g. to six and eight, respectively. In this case, sequence C is selected.

Alternatively, the merit of sequences A and C may be calculated as a weighted sum of the likelihood and the quantity of control actions to be automated. For instance, one point may be assigned to each control action to be automated and one point may be assigned to each (full) <NUM>% difference between the likelihood of the sequence and the minimum required likelihood. This would result in a score of <NUM> (<NUM>+<NUM>) for sequence A and a score of <NUM> (<NUM>+<NUM>) for sequence C if sequence C can be programmed to automatically be performed when presence is sensed in the bedroom between <NUM> am and <NUM> am. In this case, sequence C is selected.

When automatically configuring the networked lighting system or proposing a configuration for the networked lighting system, not only the lighting devices which should be automatically turned on (and optionally automatically turned off) may be determined, but also the time period(s) during which the lighting devices should be automatically turned on. Furthermore, the light settings (e.g. color, light output level) and/or the setting for automatically turning off lights (e.g. disabled, after <NUM> minutes) may be determined based on the control history. Other parameters than time may be considered when determining whether to automatically perform a sequence upon detecting presence. For example, sequence A may only be performed automatically upon detecting presence on the porch if the user's home/away setting (which may be set manually or automatically) is set to away.

In the above examples, the location of only one presence sensor is suggested. However, it may sometimes be beneficial to suggest the placement and locations of multiple presence sensors. For example, if the likelihood that the remainder of sequence A is performed after the porch light is turned on is not <NUM>% but <NUM>%, but the likelihood that the remainder of sequence A is performed after both the porch light and the hallway downstairs light are turned on is <NUM>%, the installation of presence sensors on the porch and in the hallway downstairs (with a sensing range that covers a user entering via the front door) may be suggested. Furthermore, the network lighting system may be programmed to turn on the porch light automatically if presence is detected on the porch and then perform the remainder of sequence A if presence is subsequently detected in the hallway downstairs.

In the above situation, it is also possible to suggest the placement of a single presence sensor in the hallway downstairs, with a sensing range that covers a user entering via the front door, and program the network lighting system to perform the remainder of sequence A if the porch light is switched on manually and presence in the hallway downstairs is detected right after the porch light has been switched on. In the latter case, five control actions are automated instead of six.

The embodiments of <FIG> differ from each other in multiple aspects, i.e. multiple steps have been added or replaced. In variations on these embodiments, only a subset of these steps is added or replaced and/or one or more steps is omitted. For example, or more of steps <NUM>-<NUM> may be omitted from the embodiment of <FIG> and/or added to the embodiments of <FIG> and/or <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary data processing system that may perform the method as described with reference to <FIG>.

The data processing system may be an Internet/cloud server, for example.

Claim 1:
A system (<NUM>,<NUM>) for facilitating installation of a presence sensor (<NUM>) or light switch in a networked lighting system, said networked lighting system comprising one or more lighting devices (<NUM>-<NUM>), said system (<NUM>,<NUM>) comprising:
at least one input interface (<NUM>,<NUM>);
at least one output interface (<NUM>,<NUM>), and
at least one processor (<NUM>,<NUM>) configured to:
- obtain, via said at least one input interface (<NUM>,<NUM>), a control history of said one or more lighting devices (<NUM>-<NUM>), said control history describing a plurality of light control actions,
- detect a regularly occurring sequence of manual light control actions based on said control history, said sequence of manual light control actions comprising a light control action associated with a location, characterized by said processor further being configured to:
- determine a location for said presence sensor (<NUM>) or light switch based on said location associated with said light control action such that said network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of said manual light control actions of said sequence at an appropriate moment when said presence sensor or light switch is placed at said presence sensor or light switch location,
- output said presence sensor or light switch location to a user via said at least one output interface (<NUM>, <NUM>) to facilitate said installation at said presence sensor or light switch location of said presence sensor or light switch,
- program said networked lighting system to trigger said one or more light control actions upon detecting presence with said presence sensor (<NUM>) or detecting interaction with said light switch, such that said network lighting system is able to trigger one or more of said manual light control actions of said sequence upon detecting presence with said presence sensor (<NUM>) or detecting interaction with said light switch when said presence sensor (<NUM>) or light switch is placed at said presence sensor or light switch location.