Patent Description:
A variety of different buildings have security systems that monitor for indications of intrusion, fire and other undesirable events. When installing the myriad of sensors that may be included in a security system within a large facility, the installer may not know exactly what areas might be covered by the detection pattern of a particular sensor. Moreover, each type and model of sensor may have a detection pattern that is unique to that particular type and/or model of sensor. For example, and with respect to intrusion sensors, there are a variety of brands and models of motion detection sensors. There are a variety of brands and models of glass break detection sensors. It can be difficult for the installer to know the exact detection patterns of each intrusion sensor they are installing, and thus the installer may not recognize whether the installed intrusion sensors provide adequate coverage for a particular building space, or whether there are gaps in the coverage, known as blind spots. A need remains for a system for helping an installer to more efficiently install security sensors such as intrusion sensors within a security system. <CIT> discloses a data processing apparatus comprising a video data receiver configured to receive video data, and an audio data receiver configured to receive audio data. The apparatus further comprises an alarm engine configured to analyse said received video and audio data and generate an alarm signal based on an output signal generated by said analysis. <CIT> discloses a security system that provides an easy to read and understand alarm notification. In one example, if an alarm condition is detected by a particular sensor of a security system, the security system may be configured to display on a display of the security system and/or a mobile device a user-defined region of a building space. <CIT> discloses a method for separating the motion detection zone(s) of an A/V recording and communication device from the motion alert zone(s) of the A/V recording and communication device.

This disclosure relates generally to installing security sensors such as intrusion sensors within a security system and more specifically to a method as claimed in claim <NUM> below.

Optional features of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

This disclosure also relates to a system as claimed in claim <NUM> below.

The preceding summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the features of the present disclosure and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the disclosure can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.

The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of the following description of various illustrative embodiments of the disclosure in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:.

It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit aspects of the disclosure to the particular illustrative embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

The following description should be read with reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like elements. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some of the figures, elements not believed necessary to an understanding of relationships among illustrated components may have been omitted for clarity.

It is noted that references in the specification to "an embodiment", "some embodiments", "other embodiments", etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is contemplated that the feature, structure, or characteristic may be applied to other embodiments whether or not explicitly described unless clearly stated to the contrary.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram showing an illustrative building space <NUM>. In the example shown, an installer <NUM> is installing a number of sensors <NUM>, individually labeled as 14a, 14b, 14c. It will be appreciated that this is merely illustrative, as the building space <NUM> may include any number of sensors <NUM>, including one sensor <NUM>, two sensors <NUM>, or four or more sensors <NUM>. At least some of the sensors <NUM> may be intrusion sensors such as motion sensors and glass break detection sensors. At least some of the sensors <NUM> may have a detection pattern that is unique to the sensor type <NUM> and/or sensor model. Accordingly, there may not be a standardized way of organizing where each of the sensors <NUM> is to be installed to obtain a desired coverage. The installer <NUM> may utilize a mobile device <NUM>, such as a laptop computer, a tablet or a smartphone, to help determine adequate installation locations for each of the sensors <NUM> by comparing the detection pattern of each sensor <NUM> with the physical space in which each corresponding sensor <NUM> will be installed. This allows the installer <NUM> to see the coverage for each sensor <NUM>, and how the installation locations might reduce or eliminate gaps in sensor coverage, known as blind spots.

The installer <NUM> may capture or otherwise obtain a representation of the building space <NUM>. This may include downloading a representation of the building space <NUM>. This may include using a camera built into the mobile device <NUM> to take a picture or video of the building space <NUM>. The mobile device <NUM> may be configured to allow the installer <NUM> to indicate a proposed or actual installation location for each of the sensors <NUM>, such as by superimposing a representation of each of the sensors <NUM> at a corresponding location on the representation of the building space that corresponds to the actual or planned installation location of the corresponding intrusion sensor in the building space <NUM>. The mobile device <NUM> may obtain or be programmed with information describing the detection pattern for each sensor <NUM>, and may compare the detection patterns for each sensor <NUM> with a volumetric representation of the building space <NUM> in order to ascertain where gaps in sensor coverage exist. This allows the installer <NUM> to see the impact of the proposed installation location of each of the sensors <NUM>, and thus allows the installer <NUM> to change the proposed installation location, or to move one or more already installed sensors <NUM>, in order to reduce or even eliminate undesirable blind spots in sensor coverage.

In some cases, the mobile device <NUM> may communicate wirelessly with a cloud-based server <NUM>. In some instances, the mobile device <NUM> may rely upon information stored by the cloud-based server <NUM> that describes the detection pattern of each of a number of different brands of sensors <NUM> and for each of a variety of different models (within a particular brand) of sensors <NUM>. In some instances, the mobile device <NUM> may analyze the detection patterns and determine where there may be gaps in sensor coverage. In some cases, the cloud-based server <NUM> may receive from the mobile device <NUM> a representation of the building space <NUM> and/or placement locations of the sensors <NUM>, and the cloud-based server <NUM> may utilize the detection patterns to ascertain where the gaps in sensor coverage may exist. The cloud-based server <NUM> may then provide to the mobile device <NUM> the representation of the building space <NUM> with the detection patterns of each sensor <NUM> superimposed onto the representation of the building space <NUM> and possible blind spots identified. It is contemplated that the mobile device <NUM> may perform all of the processing, the cloud-based server <NUM> may perform all of the processing, or the mobile device <NUM> and the cloud-based server <NUM> may each perform some of the processing. These are just examples, and it is contemplated that any suitable hardware implementation may be used.

In some cases, an example detection pattern for a Passive InfraRed (PIR) sensor may have a detection range of about <NUM> (<NUM> feet) extending outwardly from the PIR sensor. In some cases, a PIR sensor may have a horizontal detection range that is about minus <NUM> degrees to about positive <NUM> degrees and a vertical detection range that is about minus <NUM> degrees to about positive <NUM> degrees, although some PIR sensors have a "look down" feature that expands the vertical detection range. Thus, the detection pattern for a PIR sensor may be considered as an expanding three-dimensional cone. A glass break sensor may have a range of about <NUM> feet in any direction, as long as there aren't obstructions that would get in the way. Other sensors may have different detection patterns.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative system <NUM> that may be used by the installer <NUM> in optimizing sensor installation. The illustrative system <NUM> may be considered as being an example of the mobile device <NUM>, although a division of what memory and computational power resides within the mobile device <NUM> and what memory and computational power resides within the cloud-based server <NUM> (or other hardware element) can be flexible. In one example, the cloud-based server <NUM> may only be used to provide information regarding sensor detection patterns, and the mobile device <NUM> may compare the sensor detection patterns with the representation of the building space <NUM> in order to ascertain the location(s) of any blind spots. In another example, the cloud-based server <NUM> may be used to compare the sensor detection patterns with the representation of the building space <NUM> and the cloud-based server <NUM> may be configured to ascertain the location(s) of any blind spots.

The system <NUM> includes a memory <NUM> for storing a representation of the building space <NUM>. The representation may be a floor plan, for example, or a photo of the building space <NUM>. The representation may be a two-dimensional image of the building space <NUM>, although in some cases the representation is a three-dimensional image of the building space <NUM>. In some cases, the representation may be or may be extracted from a Building Information Model (BIM) of the building space <NUM>.

The illustrative system <NUM> includes a user interface <NUM> that includes a display <NUM>. A controller <NUM> is operably coupled to the memory <NUM> and to the user interface <NUM>. The user interface <NUM> may include a representation of a keyboard, such as on a touch screen display, in which the case the touch screen display is the display <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> is configured to display on the display <NUM> of the user interface <NUM> at least part of the representation of the building space <NUM>. The controller <NUM> is configured to allow a user to place via the user interface <NUM> a representation of each of a plurality of intrusion sensors <NUM> at a location on the representation of the building space <NUM> that corresponds to an actual or planned installation location of the corresponding intrusion sensor <NUM> in the building space <NUM>. Each of the plurality of intrusion sensors <NUM> may be a non-video based motion sensor and/or a glass break sensor and each may have a predefined detection zone representative of a geographic area that the corresponding intrusion sensor covers. For example, a non-video based motion sensor may include a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion sensor, an ultrasonic based motion sensor and/or a microwave based motion sensor (e.g. mmwave radar). A non-video based glass break sensor may include a microphone and one or more electronic filters that are configured to identity sound patterns that match breaking glass. These are just examples. Smoke detectors may have a detection zone, and placement of smoke detectors may be aided in a similar manner. The controller <NUM> is configured to display on the display <NUM> a visual representation of the predefined detection zone for each of the placed intrusion sensors <NUM> on the representation of the building space <NUM>. An example of this is shown in <FIG>.

In some instances, the controller <NUM> is further configured to determine one or more blind spots in the building space <NUM> that are not covered by any of the predefined detection zones of the placed intrusion sensors <NUM> and to highlight on the representation of the building space <NUM> one or more of the blind spots on the representation of the building space <NUM>. In some instances, the building space <NUM> may have a first security zone with a first security level and a second security zone with a second security level, wherein highlighting one or more of the blind spots on the representation of the building space <NUM> includes highlighting the blind spots that correspond to the first security zone in a first format and highlighting the blind spot that corresponds to the second security zone in a second format. For example, in some cases, the blind spots in low security zones of the building space <NUM> are shown in phantom or not shown at all, while blind spots in high security zones may be shown in red.

The controller <NUM> (or server <NUM>) is configured to identify a region in the building space <NUM> where the predefined detection zones of two or more intrusion sensors overlap, and to group the corresponding placed intrusion sensors into a first group. During operation of the security system, the controller <NUM> (or server <NUM>) is configured to monitor an output of each of the intrusion sensors for detected intrusion events and to assign a greater confidence level over a default confidence level to those detected intrusion events that are detected to be occurring at a common time by two or more of the intrusion sensors in the first group.

In addition, the controller <NUM> (or server <NUM>) may be configured to monitor an output of each of the intrusion sensors for detected intrusion events and to identify a location of an object in the building space <NUM> to be in the overlap region when detected intrusion events are detected to be occurring at a common time by two or more of the intrusion sensors <NUM> in the first group. This may help localize the detected intrusion event I the building space <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method <NUM>. In the illustrative method <NUM>, a representation of a building space is displayed on a display, as indicated at block <NUM>. A user is allowed to enter a user input via a user interface in order to place a representation of each of a plurality of intrusion sensors at a location on the representation of the building space that corresponds to an actual or planned installation location of the corresponding intrusion sensor in the building space, each of the plurality of intrusion sensors being a non-video based motion sensor and/or a glass break sensor and each having a predefined detection zone representative of a geographic area that the corresponding intrusion sensor covers, as indicated at block <NUM>. The representation of a building space and the placement location of each of the plurality of intrusion sensors is stored, as indicated at block <NUM>. A visual representation of the predefined detection zone for each of the placed intrusion sensors is displayed (e.g. superimposed) on the representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>.

In some cases, the plurality of intrusion sensors include non-video based motion sensors such as but not limited to Passive InfraRed (PIR) motion detectors and/or ultrasonic motion detection sensors. The plurality of intrusion sensors may include a glass break detector. In some cases, the predefined detection zone representative of a geographic area of at least one of the plurality of intrusion sensors may include a three dimensional cone with a particular cone length and a particular cone angle.

<FIG> is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method <NUM>. In the illustrative method <NUM>, a representation of a building space is displayed on a display, as indicated at block <NUM>. A user is allowed to enter a user input via a user interface in order to place a representation of each of a plurality of intrusion sensors at a location on the representation of the building space that corresponds to an actual or planned installation location of the corresponding intrusion sensor in the building space, each of the plurality of intrusion sensors being a non-video based motion sensor and/or a glass break sensor and each having a predefined detection zone representative of a geographic area that the corresponding intrusion sensor covers, as indicated at block <NUM>. The representation of a building space and the placement location of each of the plurality of intrusion sensors is stored, as indicated at block <NUM>. A visual representation of the predefined detection zone for each of the placed intrusion sensors is displayed on the representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>.

The method <NUM> includes determining one or more blind spots in the building space that are not covered by any of the predefined detection zones of the placed intrusion sensors, as indicated at block <NUM>. The one or more blind spots are highlighted on the representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>. In some instances, the building space may have a first security zone with a first security level and a second security zone with a second security level, and highlighting one or more of the blind spots on the representation of the building space may include highlighting the blind spots that correspond to the first security zone and not highlighting the blind spot that corresponds to the second security zone. In some instances, the building space has a first security zone with a first security level and a second security zone with a second security level, and highlighting one or more of the blind spots on the representation of the building space may include highlighting the blind spots that correspond to the first security zone in a first format and highlighting the blind spot that corresponds to the second security zone in a second format. The first format may include a first color, for example, and the second format may include a second color that is different from the first color.

A region in the building space where the predefined detection zones of two or more intrusion sensors overlap is identified, and the corresponding placed intrusion sensors may be grouped into a first group, as indicated at block <NUM>. Subsequent to installation, and during operation of the security system, an output of each of the intrusion sensors may be monitored for detected intrusion events, as indicated at block <NUM>. A greater confidence level over a default confidence level may be assigned to detected intrusion events that are detected to be occurring at a common time by two or more of the intrusion sensors in the first group, as indicated at block <NUM>.

A region in the building space where the predefined detection zones of two or more intrusion sensors overlap in an overlap region is identified, and the corresponding placed intrusion sensors are grouped into a first group, as indicated at block <NUM>. Subsequent to installation and during operation of the security system, an output of each of the intrusion sensors is monitored for detected intrusion events, as indicated at block <NUM>. A location of an object in the building space is identified as being in the overlap region when detected intrusion events are detected to be occurring at a common time by two or more of the intrusion sensors in the first group, as indicated at block <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flow diagram showing an illustrative set of steps <NUM> that one or more processors of a mobile device (such as the controller <NUM> of the system <NUM>) may carry out when the one or more processors of the mobile device execute stored instructions. The one or more processors are caused to display a representation of a building space on a display of the mobile device, as indicated at block <NUM>. The one or more processors are caused to allow a user, via a user interface of the mobile device, to place a representation of each of a plurality of intrusion sensors at a location on the representation of the building space that corresponds to an actual or planned installation location of the corresponding intrusion sensor in the building space, each of the plurality of intrusion sensors being a non-video based motion sensor and/or a glass break sensor and each having a predefined detection zone representative of a geographic area that the corresponding intrusion sensor covers, as indicated at block <NUM>. The one or more processors are caused to display on the display of the mobile device a visual representation of the predefined detection zone for each of the placed intrusion sensors on the representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>.

In some cases, the one or more processors are caused to identify one or more blind spots in the building space that are not covered by any of the predefined detection zones of the placed intrusion sensors, as indicated at block <NUM>. The one or more processors may be caused to highlight on the representation of the building space one or more of the blind spots on the representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>. In some cases, the building space has a first security zone with a first security level and a second security zone with a second security level, and highlighting one or more of the blind spots on the representation of the building space may include highlighting the blind spots that correspond to the first security zone in a first format and highlighting the blind spot that corresponds to the second security zone in a second format. In some cases, the predefined detection zone representative of a geographic area of at least one of the plurality of intrusion sensors may include a three-dimensional cone with a particular cone length and a particular cone angle.

<FIG> is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method <NUM> of using a mobile device to plan installation of a plurality of intrusion sensors within a building space, the mobile device including a user interface including a display, each of the plurality of intrusion sensors having a detection pattern that is unique to each intrusion sensor. A representation of the building space is displayed on a display of the mobile device, as indicated at block <NUM>. In some cases, a camera of the mobile device may be used to capture the representation of the building space. In some instances, the representation of the building space may be downloaded to the mobile device.

A plurality of intrusion sensors that were or will be installed within the building space are displayed on the display of the mobile device, as indicated at block <NUM>. An installer is allowed to drag and drop each displayed intrusion sensor to a location on the representation of the building space that corresponds to an actual or planned installation location of that intrusion sensor in the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>. An identify of each of the intrusion sensors that were or will be installed within the building space may be received from the installer. For example, the identity of each of the intrusion sensors may be received via the user interface of the mobile device. In some cases, the identify of each of the intrusions sensors may be received by scanning a code such as a QR code or a barcode on each of the intrusions sensors using a camera of the mobile device. A detection pattern for each of the intrusion sensors that were dragged and dropped onto the representation of the building space is determined and then superimposed on the representation of the building space displayed on the display of the mobile device, as indicated at block <NUM>. In some cases, the detection patterns for each of the intrusion sensors may be looked up in a cloud-based server, but this is not required.

Blind spots are determined by detecting portions of the building space that are not covered or otherwise reached by the detection patterns of each of the intrusion sensors, as indicated at block <NUM>. The determined blind spots are superimposed onto the representation of the building space that is displayed on the display of the mobile device, as indicated at block <NUM>. In some cases, determining blind spots may be determined by one or more processors of the mobile device. In some cases, determining blind spots may be determined by one or more processors of a remote server (or other hardware device) that is in communication with the mobile device. The method <NUM> includes finding areas in which the detection pattern of two or more intrusion sensors overlap, and a greater confidence level is assigned to sensor alarms that are triggered within an overlap area.

In some cases, each blind spot may be evaluated in accordance with a security level assigned to a particular area of the building space. For blind spots within an area with a low security level assigned to it, displaying the blind spots may be displayed in a first color and blind spots within an area with a high security level assigned to it, may be displayed the blind spots in a second color.

In some cases, the mobile device, remote server and/or other hardware device may automatically suggest to the installer a placement location and in some cases a sensor brand/model for one or more new sensors and/or modified installation locations for existing sensors to reduce undesirable blinds spots. This may be done by processing the location and dimensions of the building space, along with the known detection pattern of available intrusion sensors, to produce an optimum selection of intrusion sensor types at optimum placement locations in the building space. This may not only help reduce the time required to install the intrusion sensors, but may also reduce the overall cost of the security system by using less intrusion sensors while achieving a desired coverage.

<FIG> is a flow diagram showing an illustrative method <NUM> of using a mobile device to plan installation of a plurality of intrusion sensors within a building space, the mobile device including a user interface including a display, each of the plurality of intrusion sensors having a detection pattern that is unique to each intrusion sensor type. An installer is allowed to drag and drop each of a plurality of intrusion sensors onto a representation of the building space that corresponds to an installation location of that intrusion sensor in the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>. A three-dimensional detection pattern for each of the intrusion sensors is downloaded from a cloud-based database, as indicated at block <NUM>. Evaluating for blind spots includes comparing each of the three-dimensional detection patterns with a three-dimensional volumetric representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>. The detection patterns and the blind spots are displayed on the representation of the building space, as indicated at block <NUM>.

In some cases, the method <NUM> may further include finding areas in which the three-dimensional detection pattern of two or more intrusion sensors overlap, as indicated at block <NUM>. During operation of the security system, a greater confidence level may be assigned to sensor alarms that are triggered within an overlap area, as indicated at block <NUM>.

<FIG> provides an example of an illustrative representation <NUM> of a building space such as the building space <NUM>. The representation <NUM> can be seen as including a number of rooms, such as a conference room <NUM>, a meeting room <NUM>, a reception area <NUM>, an open lounge <NUM> and an open workspace <NUM>. The upper portion of the open workspace <NUM> has a first motion detector <NUM>, labeled as MD1, installed at a first location and a second motion detector <NUM>, labeled as MD2, installed at a second location.

A first detection pattern <NUM> is superimposed onto the representation <NUM> and represents the detection pattern of the first motion detector <NUM>. A second detection pattern <NUM> is superimposed onto the representation <NUM> and represents the detection pattern of the second motion detector <NUM>. The first detection pattern <NUM> and the second detection pattern <NUM> can be seen as three-dimensional cones that each extend outwardly from their corresponding sensor locations. It will be appreciated that the second detection pattern <NUM> is different than the first detection pattern <NUM>. It will also be appreciated that there is a small overlap area <NUM> where the first detection pattern <NUM> overlaps with the second detection pattern <NUM>. By comparing the first detection pattern <NUM> and the second detection pattern <NUM> with the open workspace <NUM>, it can be seen that a blind spot <NUM> exists in the upper left corner of the open workspace <NUM>. While the blind spot <NUM> is shown as a circular or ovoid graphics icon, it will be appreciated that the blind spot <NUM> actually extends further into the area not covered by the first detection pattern <NUM> and/or the second detection pattern <NUM>. A glass break detection sensor <NUM>, labeled GB1, is installed in the open lounge <NUM>. A third detection pattern <NUM> corresponding to the glass break detection sensor <NUM> is superimposed on the representation <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A method comprising:
displaying on a display a representation (<NUM>) of a building space (<NUM>);
allowing a user to enter a user input via a user interface (<NUM>) in order to place a representation of each of a plurality of intrusion sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) at a location on the representation (<NUM>) of the building space (<NUM>) that corresponds to an actual or planned installation location of the corresponding intrusion sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) in the building space (<NUM>), each of the plurality of intrusion sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) being a non-video based motion sensor and/or a glass break sensor and each having a predefined detection zone (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) representative of a geographic area that the corresponding intrusion sensor covers;
storing the representation of a building space and the placement location of each of the plurality of intrusion sensors;
displaying on the representation (<NUM>) of the building space (<NUM>) a visual representation of the predefined detection zone (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) for each of the placed intrusion sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>);
identifying an overlap region (<NUM>) in the building space (<NUM>) where the predefined detection zones (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) of two or more intrusion sensors overlap, and grouping the corresponding placed intrusion sensors into a first group;
monitoring an output of each of the intrusion sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) for detected intrusion events; and
assigning a greater confidence level over a default confidence level to detected intrusion events that are detected to be occurring at a common time by two or more of the intrusion sensors in the first group.