Patent Description:
Hygiene equipment in the form of, for example, dispensers for various liquids and/or tissues, is generally common today in premises that are frequented by many people. Specifically, such premises can be office buildings, manufacturing sites, hospitals, airports, train stations, bus terminals, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, schools, kindergartens, and the like, which all have in common that they are places being visited by a considerable number of people and that hand or body hygiene or cleaning in general is desired at least to some degree. As a consequence, these premises will provide restroom or related facilities for the people working or staying in these premises.

In such facilities the mentioned hygiene equipment may be installed in form of soap, foam or towel dispensers, disinfectant (e.g. alcogel etc.) dispensers, toilet paper dispensers, hygiene bag dispensers, dispensers for hygiene products, such as absorbent articles, diapers, incontinence products, and other related devices. Usually, such hygiene equipment is predominantly present in restroom or toilet facilities. Likewise, such equipment may be found in entrance halls, kitchens, kitchenettes, offices, restaurants, canteens, conference/meeting rooms, receptions, reception areas, elevator, waiting areas, printer rooms and docucenters, gyms, or disposal areas. In the case of a hospital, for example, hygiene equipment will be present virtually everywhere, since doctors and caring personnel will need access to such facilities also when not using a restroom or toilet facility. Specifically, there may be rules and schemes that prescribe the use of hygiene equipment whenever entering some dedicated area, when approaching a patient, or, generally, before carrying out any tasks that require respective hygiene.

It is known in the arts to provide hygiene equipment in the form of dispensers having sensors which can detect that a given supply is about to run out or has run empty. The result of this detection can be made visible on the dispenser so that service personnel can take notice of a necessity to refill the dispenser. Likewise, it is known to provide such hygiene equipment with electronic capabilities for not only detecting the necessity of a refill, but also for conveying information on such a necessity for a refill to a somewhat central location.

For example, a server of, or, connected to a data network (e.g. Internet) can receive and store such notifications in order for allowing service personnel to receive or obtain corresponding indications that a refill needs to be carried out. In this case the hygiene equipment may have capabilities to convey signals related to said notification via a wireless radio signal to a recipient station placed sufficiently near to the hygiene equipment.

It is furthermore common that in the above mentioned use cases of hospitals and the like there will be oftentimes a considerable number of individual pieces of hygiene equipment. Specifically, a hospital, airport, or a hotel will have a considerable number of rooms and associated restrooms, and, consequently, the number of individual pieces of hygiene equipment will oftentimes reach tenths, hundreds, or even thousands. At the same time, however, the hygiene equipment should employ its sensing and communication capabilities in a sensible manner so that - amongst others - each individual piece of hygiene equipment can detect that its supply of consumable runs empty and can report the corresponding need for a refill to some kind of central entity, which, in turn, can schedule a refill by sending personnel to the desired location. In other words, the personnel will need to know what to bring where in order to fulfil the refill request.

At this time it becomes clear that there should be some knowledge on where a piece of hygiene equipment is installed and what identification it has or of what type it is, so that the mentioned suitable refill can be sent to the correct location. Although the prior arts provide for hygiene equipment that is able to (wirelessly) report the need of a refill and its respective identification information, the information on configuring the installation, including but not limited to naming each dispenser, define, describe and assign a location to each dispenser and setting up manageable and logical structures within software, still needs to be obtained by tedious manual configuration with so far only limited support from automated systems. These deficits in the prior arts become perhaps most imminent when the number of individual pieces of hygiene equipment becomes large, e.g. reaches or is above one hundred.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a solution that can substantially facilitate the setting up and installation of hygiene equipment, even when the number of individual pieces to be installed becomes large. In some sense, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a piece of hygiene equipment that is capable to locate itself within a group of neighboring pieces of hygiene equipment and to convey related information to the desired entity, e.g. a central server.

<CIT> discloses a network of devices generating a three-dimensional representation of a house. For this purpose, time of flight of the signals between the nodes are obtained. There is further mentioning of dispensers of some sort having a sensor which is blocked by the consumable product when the level of the product is above a certain threshold. This document further discloses a so-called "Home Discovery" procedure.

The mentioned problems are solved by the subject-matter of the independent claims.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a piece of hygiene equipment comprising a processing circuit and a radio circuit, wherein the radio circuit is configured to receive and transmit a radio signal carrying payload data, wherein the processing circuit is configured to obtain information on a positional relationship to another device by instructing the radio circuit to receive and/or transmit a radio signal carrying first payload data, and wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on the obtained positional relationship, and to instruct the radio circuit to transmit a radio signal carrying said second payload data, wherein the processing section is configured to transmit an outbound radio signal carrying specific transmission payload data and/or to receive an inbound radio signal carrying specific reception payload data for determining a communication partner to which outbound radio signals are to be transmitted and from which inbound radio signals are to be received, and wherein said processing section is configured to operate in a first mode and in a second mode, wherein during said first mode the processing section is configured to determine the communication partner including a determining of a preferred communication direction indicating that data can be conveyed via said communication partner to and/or from an access point, and wherein during said second mode the processing section is configured to obtain the information on a positional relationship to the communication partner as the other device.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is therefore provided a method of operating a piece of hygiene equipment comprising a processing circuit and a radio circuit, the method comprising the steps of: receiving and transmitting with the radio circuit a radio signal carrying payload data, obtaining information on a positional relationship to another device by instructing the radio circuit to receive and/or transmit a radio signal carrying first payload data, generating second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on the obtained positional relationship, and to instruct the radio circuit to transmit a radio signal carrying said second payload data, and a step of transmitting an outbound radio signal carrying specific transmission payload data and/or receiving an inbound radio signal carrying specific reception payload data for determining a communication partner to which outbound radio signals are to be transmitted and from which inbound radio signals are to be received, the method further comprises operating in a first mode and in a second mode, wherein during said first mode it is determined the communication partner including determining a preferred communication direction indicating that data can be conveyed via said communication partner to and/or from an access point, and wherein during said second mode it is obtained the information on a positional relationship to the communication partner as the other device.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system of a plurality of pieces of hygiene equipment in which at least a part of the pieces of hygiene equipment satisfy the requirement as set out in the corresponding embodiments of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present invention, which are presented for better understanding the inventive concepts and which are not to be seen as limiting the invention, will now be described with reference to the figures in which:.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of a piece of hygiene equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the figure shows a piece of hygiene equipment in the form of a soap, gel, foam, or liquid dispenser <NUM>. As shown, the dispenser <NUM> is configured to dispense a consumable to a user in that, for example, a lever <NUM> is actuated for driving an ejection mechanism <NUM>, which, in turn, ejects an amount <NUM> of the consumable held in a reservoir <NUM>. The consumable may be accordingly liquid or solid soap, a disinfectant liquid/consumable, a foaming liquid etc. As a consequence, a user's hand actuating the lever <NUM> can be provided with the amount <NUM> of soap, foam, or disinfectant. Although a liquid dispenser is shown, the following details may equally be combined with the respective components of a dispenser for solid substances, tissues, towels, absorbent articles, or other hygiene articles.

According to the shown embodiment, the shown piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> comprises a processing circuit <NUM> and a radio circuit <NUM>. Generally, the latter radio circuit <NUM> is configured to receive and transmit a radio signal <NUM> carrying payload data <NUM>. More specifically, the radio circuit <NUM> can be configured to receive an inbound radio signal <NUM>-<NUM> carrying payload data <NUM>, and to transmit an outbound radio signal <NUM>-<NUM> carrying the payload data <NUM>. Accordingly, the processing circuit <NUM> can be configured to obtain the payload data <NUM> carried by a received inbound radio signal <NUM>-<NUM> and/or to generate the payload data to be carried by a transmitted outbound radio signal <NUM>-<NUM>. Generally, there is thus envisaged a two-way operation, although some embodiments of the present invention may rely and comprise only the configuration for one of the two directions, i.e. the receiving of inbound signals or the transmission of outbound signals.

The processing circuit <NUM> is further configured to obtain information on a positional relationship to another device by instructing the radio circuit to receive and/or transmit a radio signal carrying first payload data. The information on a positional relationship to another device can comprise information on a distance to the other device, information on a range, information on a 2D or 3D vector pointing to the other device, or on any coordinate position - in relative or in absolute terms - that allows determining a positional relationship to the other device. In one embodiment, for example, timing information indicating when the radio signal is received and/or transmitted by an antenna coupled to said radio circuit <NUM> can be obtained. In other words, the processing circuit <NUM> can obtain information on when an inbound radio signal reached the receiving antenna <NUM> and/or when an outbound radio signal leaves the antenna <NUM> coupled to the radio circuit <NUM>. For this purpose, the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> may as such comprise the antenna <NUM> that receives/transmits the radio signal <NUM> from or into a transmission range. Likewise, the antenna <NUM> may well be external to the piece of hygiene equipment and as such not comprised by the dispenser <NUM>. Said first payload data may be employed to convey information on said timing information for the purpose of ranging and/or positioning. More detailed examples are described elsewhere in the present disclosure.

The processing circuit <NUM> is further configured to generate second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on a positional relationship, and to instruct the radio circuit <NUM> to transmit a radio signal carrying said second payload data. In other words, the piece of hygiene equipment can determine at least a positional relationship to one other device and can convey information on that determined positional relationship to any recipient in the radio range of the piece of hygiene equipment. As a consequence, a piece of hygiene equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention can be installed at a given position, and can automatically determine some kind of a relative position (e.g. one or more distances/ranges) to one or more neighboring devices.

This information can be collected by some kind of central entity which, in turn, is able to locate the individual pieces of hygiene equipment even in a larger installation. The embodiments of the present invention can thus provide the advantage of substantially facilitating the installation of hygiene equipment which is oftentimes installed in large premises and thus comprising usually a considerable number of individual dispensers and related devices. In a way, there can be first established a number of ranges to respective neighbors. Then, based on aggregated information a relative positional map can be established within a floating, relative coordinate system. This system can then be anchored in reality or mapped to the real world by defining one or more absolute points, e.g. in terms of real world 3D coordinates.

The payload data (PD) <NUM> may generally comprise any suitable data, including information indicating an identification of the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM>, information indicating an identification of an originator/transmitter of an inbound radio signal, information relating to timing information, information indicating a number of use instances of the piece hygiene equipment <NUM>, and/or information indicating a filling state of the consumable in the reservoir <NUM>. In the latter two cases, the processing circuit <NUM> may be coupled to sensors of the ejection mechanism <NUM> and/or, respectively, the reservoir <NUM> so as to be able to generate corresponding payload data. In general, the detailed mechanical and/or electronic mechanisms and configurations for dispensing an amount of consumable and detecting use instances and filling states are as such known in the prior arts. In general, however, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to above mentioned types of information. Therefore, the PD may also comprise or relate to status data, or data on a physical observable like luminosity, light, humidity, temperature and the like may be conveyed. Further examples include data on a refill ID, data on occupancy or movement (by persons and/or equipment), and general content (e.g. messages, commercial images, etc.).

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the specific hitherto mentioned information is conveyed in the form of payload data carried by radio signals in specific modi and phases. In particular, the operation of the piece of hygiene equipment can be divided into two phases, a first installation phase in which the hygiene equipment is operated in a first mode and a second operation phase in which the hygiene equipment is operated in a second mode. In the first mode, the payload may be predominantly identified by the mentioned first and second payload plus, optionally, payload carrying information on timings, originators, identifications and the like. In the second mode the payload may be predominantly identified again by payload carrying information on originators and identifications, but it will likely also include information on the number of use instances and/or on one or more filling states of the considered reservoirs.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of operation of hygiene equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is firstly assumed that at certain locations of a room <NUM> there are installed pieces <NUM> & <NUM> of hygiene equipment. Each piece <NUM>, <NUM> may be generally in line with an applicable embodiment as described in conjunction with the present disclosure. For example, piece <NUM> is shown as, for example, a disinfectant (e.g. alcogel) dispenser, and piece <NUM> is shown as, for example, towel dispenser. The device <NUM> is a data access point which can at least communicate with dispenser <NUM> so as to convey data from or to a conventional (external) data network (e.g. wireless or wired LAN, cellular communication network, Internet, etc.) to the pieces of hygiene equipment.

Generally, a piece of hygiene equipment according to an embodiment may have the processing section being configured to operate in a first mode and in a second mode, wherein during said first mode the processing section is configured to determine a communication partner, and during the second mode the processing section is configured to obtain the information on a positional relationship to the communication partner as the other device. The processing section may additionally be configured to generate the second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on the positional relationship to the communication partner.

In a first phase, for example when being in the above-mentioned first mode, the dispenser <NUM>, <NUM> exchange payload data <NUM> so as to identify each other as possible communication partners. The same is performed amongst device <NUM> and the dispenser <NUM> by means of payload data <NUM>. This process also involves the determination of a preferred communication direction, indicating that data can be conveyed via dispenser <NUM> to the access point <NUM>, or from the access point <NUM> to dispenser <NUM> via dispenser <NUM>. The process of finding communication partners and determining communication paths, routes, and directions is described in greater detail below. In any way, the result of the exchanged payload data <NUM> and <NUM> will be that both dispensers <NUM>, <NUM> are aware of each other and may further exchange data to the data network via the access point <NUM>.

After having established communication partners and paths, the devices <NUM>, <NUM> exchange payload data <NUM> for determining information on a positional relationship. The same is carried out between device <NUM> and dispenser <NUM> by means of data <NUM>. Although in room <NUM> three involved devices are shown, an installation may involve more than this. In particular, it may be considered that for obtaining position coordinates in three dimensions at least three input values have to be known. In other words, when information is known on three distances from one device to three other devices, a relative coordinate can be calculated over methods that are, as such, known in the arts (e.g. multilateration). This information can be processed and/or conveyed to another entity for processing so as to determine information on a location of the dispensers <NUM>, <NUM>.

For example, a sufficient number of individual dispensers in room <NUM> can be configured to determine information on a mutual positional relationship so as to establish coordinates in at least a relative coordinate system. With, for example, the position of device <NUM> either known or defined as origo and corresponding ranging, a position model can be obtained automatically which can serve as an information base for determining what dispenser is located where. The relative coordinate system thus created can be merged (translated / rotated / etc) with eg. a 3D CAD drawing of the overall building so that an absolute coordinate system is made. This information can be forwarded, generated, or held in a remote entity, such as a central server also having access to the mentioned (external) data network.

In an embodiment, the position for the hygiene equipment thus obtained can now be used by the overall system to assign names to each piece of hygiene equipment and to structure them into a logical hierarchy based on location, to provide a base for further applications within the system. Via e.g. a merged map of the building tangible information can also be assigned to the positional information defining each dispenser. These tangible data may include e.g. room number, floor number, 3D-coordinates, and the like.

In embodiments of the present invention, information on individual distances in conjunction with respective identification information can be collected by the pieces of hygiene equipment in the form of a position/identification data set. Specifically, since the pieces of hygiene equipment can both determine information on a positional relationship to another device as well as convey such information to another device, the position/identification data set can be obtained. In, for example, a central server on the network side, the position/identification data set can be mined for finding all available distance values for each individual unit (i.e. piece of hygiene equipment or access point or relay). From this and given some origin, the position/identification data set can be processed in a chained fashion so as to build a coordinate system with all devices participating in the position data exchange. Missing devices or missing data (e.g. one device has reported only one or two or otherwise non suitable distance relationships), a manual addition of data may of course complete the position model.

The result of concluding this first phase will be that a number of individual pieces of hygiene equipment have discovered themselves, have established communication routes and paths, and have determined - at least to some degree - positional relationship information that allows to, in turn, determine information on what piece of hygiene equipment is located where. As a consequence, the system may now proceed to a second operation phase in which the pieces of hygiene equipment are used along their intended purpose, detect use instances or filling levels, and to report - whenever found necessary - related information toward a central entity, e.g. the server over the (external) data network.

More specifically, the dispenser <NUM> will at a certain time detect that its supply of consumable (here tissues) is about to run empty. Accordingly, it may be determined that a refill of the reservoir becomes necessary. Based on the self-established communication paths, the dispenser <NUM> may generate payload including information on the necessity of such a refill and including information on an identification of dispenser <NUM>. This data may be conveyed as <NUM> toward dispenser <NUM> which relays the information toward access point <NUM> via the communication <NUM>. From there, the data can be conveyed to a central entity that has also access to information on where the dispenser <NUM> is located. As a result, guiding information can be generated that tells service personnel that a specific dispenser, located at a specific position (e.g. room number, floor number, 3D-coordinates, and the like) requires a specific refill (e.g. order number, consumable type ID, and the like).

In any way, data to be conveyed may include data identifying the dispenser and/or a location or position of that dispenser. Likewise, any other suitable data may be carried by the system instead of or in addition to the mentioned filling state data. In particular, also status data, or data on a physical observable like luminosity, light, humidity, smell, temperature and the like may be conveyed. Furthermore, also data on occupancy or movement (by persons and/or equipment) or general content (e.g. messages, commercial images, etc.) may be subject to the disclosed relaying. Any data may be time-stamped in the sense that a measurement or detection result is accompanying with information on a time when an observable was measured or an event was detected (e.g. when a dispensing or disposing action was detected, in other words, when a user has actually used the piece of hygiene equipment).

In an embodiment, positional information can be compiled by the devices as such, i.e. the involved pieces of hygiene equipment. In this way, no central entity may be necessary to provide such guiding information to users. This scenario may be referred to as a system which locally generates and provides location information, as opposed to a system which collects and processes all data at some kind of central entity (server etc.).

<FIG> shows a schematic sequence diagram of an exemplary modus operandi for establishing a communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, it is considered a set-up of several devices including a first piece <NUM> of hygiene equipment, a second piece <NUM> of hygiene equipment, an access point <NUM>, and a (remote) server or data processing repository <NUM>. The latter two are assumed to communicate over a network <NUM> which is as such known. Specifically, the target device <NUM> may be some kind of network access point or gateway in the sense that the relayed and received data can be forwarded to network <NUM>. For example, the target device has access to a local area network (LAN) or a wireless LAN (WLAN, WiMAX, WiFi, etc.) or another telecommunication network (GSM, PCS, GPRS, EDGE, 3GPP, UMTS, LTE, etc.). In this way, the relayed and received data can be collected from a plurality of pieces of hygiene equipment and be forwarded to some kind of service point. In a way, the other devices have therefore an indirect or multi-hop access to one of the above-mentioned networks.

During the first phase <NUM> at least some part of the involved devices may be in the first mode for automatically establishing communication partners and/or paths. Specifically, the pieces <NUM> and <NUM> may determine each other as possible communication partners by exchanging data portions <NUM>, <NUM>. For example and with additional reference to <FIG>, the piece of hygiene equipment can employ its radio circuit <NUM> to transmit an outbound radio signal <NUM> carrying transmission payload data (TxPD) and to receive an inbound radio signal <NUM> carrying reception payload data (RxPD) for determining the communication partner <NUM> to which outbound radio signals are to be transmitted and from which inbound radio signals are to be received. More specifically, the processing circuit <NUM> can be configured to instruct the radio circuit <NUM> to transmit the outbound radio signal <NUM> carrying specific transmission payload data that can be received by any suitable receiver within the transmission range. This range may be in the order of several meters, several tens of meters, hundred or several hundreds of meters, and more, depending on the employed transmission power and technology. With regard to the latter, any suitable technology and protocols may be employed and preferred standards and technologies include Bluetooth (TM), WiFi, WLAN, WiMAX, UWB (ultra wide band), LORAN, ZigBee, Z-wave, IEEE <NUM>, IEEE <NUM>, IEEE <NUM>. <NUM>/4a (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>,. ) and related or similarly suitable technologies.

The outbound signal <NUM> may be received by one possible communication partner, here device <NUM>, being a further piece of hygiene equipment or a dedicated access point or base station, which may send a return radio signal <NUM> carrying again specific payload data. With the received specific payload data at hand, the processing circuit <NUM> can determine the device <NUM> as the communication partner to which outbound radio signals are to be transmitted and from which inbound radio signals are to be received. In this way, the processing circuit <NUM> can store information on the determined communication partner <NUM>. This information, as well as the information representing the specific transmission and/or reception payload data, can represent addresses or identification values of the involved devices. For example, the specific transmission payload data may represent an ID of the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> and, optionally, data explicitly indicating the attempt to find a communication partner. The latter can receive this data and complete a so-called pairing process by responding with the specific reception payload data, including, for example, information on an ID or address of the device <NUM>.

The result of this procedure may be that both devices <NUM> and <NUM> have identified the other device as a potential communication partner, which would as such not establish a preferred communication direction. The same procedure may be carried out with data <NUM>, <NUM> exchanged between devices <NUM> and <NUM>, where the latter device <NUM> is an access point in the sense that it can directly forward data to the server <NUM>. This property may be known to the access point <NUM>, so that corresponding information can be conveyed with data <NUM> to the device <NUM>. In other words, devices <NUM> and <NUM> can determine that the direction from the device <NUM> to the device <NUM> is the preferred direction of forwarding or relaying data. Since device <NUM> is also aware of the further communication partner <NUM> but also is aware of the preferred direction toward device <NUM>, corresponding data <NUM> is conveyed to device <NUM>. As a result, the devices may store information relating to their communication partner as follows:.

This implies the direction <NUM> -> <NUM> -> <NUM>. In other words, the term communication partner is understood to identify the device to which data is preferably addressed and/or transmitted. Additionally, the embodiments of the present invention may consider one or more "fall-back" routes in order to make the data exchange system as such more robust. In such embodiments, an alternative communication path is established between the devices <NUM> and <NUM> over, say another piece of hygiene equipment. Should the communication over the device <NUM> in the above example fail, the communication could be routed from device <NUM> to device <NUM> via said other piece of hygiene equipment.

As part of the initial configuration and/or manufacturing, the device <NUM> is a data access point and the direction of communication is preferably to the device <NUM>. This information can be identified in the sense of directional information so that any device having such information can determine a preferred direction of forwarding/relaying or can communicate (e.g. step <NUM> in <FIG>) the property to other devices so as to determine the proper forwarding/relaying direction. A step <NUM> of acknowledging the preferred direction is optional.

In a further phase <NUM> the involved devices may be in a second mode in which at least one device determines information on a positional relationship to another device. For example, each device can attempt to obtain such information for each communication partner it is aware of after the first phase <NUM>. This may employ the transmission and reception of one or more signals <NUM> that carry payload data that may referred to as the so-called first payload data elsewhere in the present disclosure. Details of some possible embodiments for determining the information on a positional relationship by means of transmitting/receiving such signals <NUM> are described below. In the context of the present overview picture, however, it is assumed that after the second phase <NUM>, at least one device, for example dispenser <NUM>, has information on a positional relationship to another device, for example information on a distance to device <NUM>.

This information on the positional relationship can then be encoded in the so-called second payload data. For example, second payload data is generated in device <NUM> including any information on positional relationships to other devices that the device <NUM> is aware of in the form of possible communication partners. For example, device <NUM> may not only have device <NUM> in its range but also information on a positional relationship to one or more further devices. This information can be sent as the second payload data by means of the data <NUM>. Employing then a possibly present communication path and/or preferred communication partners and directions, this second payload data can be conveyed in transmissions <NUM> and <NUM> to the central entity or server <NUM>.

In other words, the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> may generate a report on any determined positional information or timing information and transmit this report as a data message <NUM>. Since the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> is in the same mode and knows about the partners and direction, it can relay this data with a data message <NUM> to the access point <NUM>, which, eventually, can forward the data message <NUM> to the server <NUM>. In this way, the data of the hygiene equipment as such is collected over a self-established system of communication paths. In other words, at some central entity, e.g. at the server <NUM>, all the information of positional relationships can be collected.

For example, the entity <NUM> may obtain information on a distance between device <NUM> and device <NUM>, information on a distance between device <NUM> and device <NUM>, and so on, including all devices that are in reach to each other. During data processing the collected data may be searched for finding sufficient data sets that allow for positioning the individual devices. For example, the collected data may comprise information on three distances to device <NUM>, each distance measured from another device, so that the position of device <NUM> can be calculated at least relative to the remaining device. If this relationship is parsed for iteratively, a full set of positional data can be calculated. During this process, additional data may be fed into the system, including data on known positions for devices or origins. Naturally, the conveyed data can also relate to other issues including consumption or filling level and can likewise relate to commands to initiate a specific operation mode, commands in general terms, request commands for collecting any other information such as IDs, power levels, position information, general purpose data packets carrying any suitable content.

In general, a multi-hop arrangement can be implemented by means of several pieces of hygiene equipment. As a consequence, there may be no need for any wiring between the individual devices for establishing a multi-hop relaying of data. Furthermore, the overall extent of the communication range can be substantially increased, although one individual piece of hygiene equipment may only have a limited transmission range. That is, since the power resources available (e.g. in the form of a battery) may be limited, also the transmission power, and, with this, the range may be limited. As shown, however, the multi-hop arrangement by means of several relaying devices can extend the range over the entire installation of one or more restrooms.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the radio circuit and processing circuit are arranged to check for any ongoing transmissions in a relevant frequency band prior to transmitting any data. In other words, the radio circuit "listens" before starting the transmission so as to avoid interference by transmitting into an already ongoing transmission process. According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the transmission is initiated only after a predetermined delay after receiving the payload data. In further embodiments, said predetermined delay is specific to the piece of hygiene equipment, so that two pieces of hygiene equipment likely have different predetermined delays.

In general, a piece of hygiene equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention has the capability of storing information that can identify the piece. Specifically, the processing circuit may be provided with a memory <NUM> that stores an identifier or serial number in a non-volatile manner. In this way, the identification can be set during manufacturing, possibly as a unique identifier, or the identifier can be set or modified later by means of reprogramming the memory. In the context of the above-mentioned pre-determined delay it is noted that some embodiment of the present invention considers that the predetermined delay is dependent on the identifier. In other words, different identifiers may result in different values for the predetermined delay.

While it is clear that there may be a large number of different identifiers (e.g. an <NUM>-digit serial number) it is likewise clear that a corresponding number of sufficiently different delays may not be feasible. In particular, this may result in some of the delay values to be undesirably long. As a consequence, a reuse scheme may be adapted so that, for example, an acceptable set of different delay values is reused over consecutive serial numbers. If this scheme is adopted consecutively with increasing serial number, the advantage can be obtained that units being manufactured during a given time interval are both likely to be shipped together and installed at the same premises as well as to have different delay values.

Moreover, a further embodiment of the present invention considers that the processing circuit is arranged to change the delay when interference is detected. Specifically, the processing section may employ the radio circuit to monitor any present radio signals during the time when transmission takes place. If, for example, the transmitted relayed payload data can be well received, then this can be taken as an indication that no interference needs to be considered. However, should it be not possible to receive the transmitted relayed payload data during transmission, then this may be taken as an indication for interference and the delay may be changed. Again, this change may be made dependent of the identifier, so that two neighboring and interfering dispensers will eventually choose different values for the delay so as to relay data without interference.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of an installation of several pieces of hygiene equipment during communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the mode of operation with regard to transmission delay and possible interference shall be described. A first piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> is configured to emit a radio signal <NUM> comprising payload data into a range <NUM> where the signal <NUM> can be received essentially contemporaneously by the second piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> and third piece of hygiene equipment <NUM>. In case both the second piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> and third piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> would be configured in the same way, a situation may need to be considered in which both pieces transmit the relayed payload data by radio signals <NUM> and <NUM>' essentially at the same time. As a consequence, interference between signals <NUM> and <NUM>' may occur which may render it impossible for the fourth piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> - or the access point <NUM> - to receive a signal in a proper way.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a configuration that allows two or more of pieces of hygiene equipment that all receive payload data to relay this data without interference and disruption and in a reliable way. In a specific embodiment, the pieces of hygiene equipment consider varying delay values for delaying the transmission of relayed payload data. In the particular example of <FIG>, this may be implemented as follows: For example, the second piece of hygiene equipment (e.g. dispenser) <NUM> is configured with a shorter delay as compared to the third dispenser <NUM>.

As a consequence, the dispenser <NUM> can emit the radio signal <NUM> toward the target without interference, since the third dispenser <NUM> is still waiting for its (longer) delay to elapse. After also this delay has elapsed, the dispenser <NUM> may also transmit the radio signal <NUM>', which may be used for an increase of reliability by redundancy by the target <NUM> or <NUM>, or may be simply ignored. In the latter case, any receiving entity (e.g. target or piece of hygiene equipment) may buffer a data message (payload data) for at least the time of a longest delay in the system, and compare any received data to data recently relayed and transmitted in order to decide whether a further transmission of relayed payload data may be suppressed.

Likewise, in another embodiment, the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> may monitor any further transmissions from other devices in response of receiving a signal with payload data to be relayed. Specifically, the third piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> may also receive the radio signal <NUM> transmitted from the second piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> and thus may realize that data corresponding to the signal <NUM> has already been forwarded for relaying. As a consequence, the device <NUM>, just as generally any piece of hygiene equipment according to this embodiment, may decide on its own whether or not to transmit the data to be relayed.

As already mentioned, there are embodiments in which a delay value is dependent on an identifier of the individual piece of hygiene equipment. In this way, for example, it can be ensured that devices <NUM> and <NUM> have not conflicting (same or similar) delays, where they would transmit any data to be relayed at overlapping times which would - in turn - likely produce interference and render at least problematic the reception of the data by the target entity. Specifically, devices manufactured with serial numbers in the vicinity/proximity or a given range may be ensured to all have default delays that differ from each other. As a consequence, when devices <NUM> and <NUM> are installed at the same time, it can be ensured that no interference occurs.

However, there also exists the possibility that neighboring devices are provided with conflicting delays due to various reasons (replacement devices, coincidence, etc.). In some embodiments of the present invention it is, therefore, considered to activate signal reception also during signal transmission. In this way, a piece of hygiene equipment may detect the occurrence of interference during the time it transmits a radio signal for relaying payload data. In response to a corresponding detection, the delay may be changed, this, in turn, optionally again in dependence of the identifier. As a consequence, it can be ensured that two neighboring pieces of hygiene equipment carrying different identifiers switch to nonconflicting delays after interference has occurred.

In the above, several embodiments have been described that provide at least one of various advantages. Specifically, the pieces of hygiene equipment can be installed at the desired locations without the need for any manual or additional configuration effort. To the contrary, the devices are able to build a real self-organized "network" for relaying and forwarding data toward a given target. This can substantially facilitate the setup and mounting of pieces of hygiene equipment with the corresponding functionalities. Naturally, the devices may be still equipped with switches or a communication interface that allows for manual reprogramming once the automatic procedures for relaying data fail or needs to be modified for other reasons.

In a further embodiment a piece of hygiene equipment has a processing section that is further arranged to add data to the data to be relayed before transmitting. In the shown exemplary situation of <FIG>, the dispenser <NUM> may receive data from the dispenser <NUM> which is data to be relayed toward the device/dispenser <NUM>. However, in this embodiment, dispenser <NUM> adds data, for example in relation to its own filling state or its own measured observable, to the data to be relayed before transmitting any signals. In this way, the device/dispenser <NUM> receives data from both originators, namely dispenser <NUM> and <NUM> in this case, in one instance. This way forward can substantially contribute in saving power resources in the involved pieces of hygiene equipment, since the number of transmission instances can be reduced by "accumulating" data before the actual transmission.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of positioning with hygiene equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the hygiene equipment is shown in the context of a room <NUM> of the above discussed exemplary premises. For example, room <NUM> is an intensive care ward room of a hospital. As usual, such a premise is provided with hygiene equipment and so is the ward room <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Namely, there are shown two pieces of hygiene equipment in the form of the liquid dispenser <NUM> and the tissue dispenser <NUM>, which are, as such provided with the respective components and functionalities as described in conjunction with the corresponding embodiments of the present invention.

Specifically, the pieces <NUM> and <NUM> of hygiene equipment are in this exemplary configuration set up to transmit the respective radio signals <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. In this or in other embodiments, radio signals may be instead or additionally received by the pieces <NUM> and <NUM> of hygiene equipment. A third radio signal <NUM>-<NUM> is emitted into room <NUM> from equipment that is as such not shown. In any way however, two or more radio signals are transmitted into room <NUM> in order to allow a determination of a position <NUM>. Naturally, the dimensionality and precision of position <NUM> may depend on the number of receivable signals and the corresponding properties of these signals. In general, two or more signals originating from known sources may allow the determination of a 2D-position, and three or more signals originating from known sources may allow the determination of a 3D-position. Usually, it may be desired to have even more than three signals at hand which then not only contributes in an improved accuracy but may also compensate for shadowing or reflection phenomena.

<FIG> show schematic views of mechanisms for ranging by employing a time-of-flight determination of radio signals according to embodiments of the present invention. Specifically, <FIG> shows a schematic view of a general variant of so-called two way ranging (TWR) between pieces of hygiene equipment <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g. a dispenser), when, for example, the dispenser <NUM> acts as a beacon. It is thus assumed that the dispenser <NUM> transmits beacon signals <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, in regular or irregular intervals. At some given time, the device <NUM> can receive the beacon signal <NUM>-<NUM>. The device <NUM> can obtain information on the timing when the signal <NUM>-<NUM> was received (T2) and obtain information on when a response signal <NUM> is transmitted (T3) toward the dispenser <NUM>.

The payload in the beacon signal <NUM> may contain information on identifying the dispenser <NUM>, and this information may be encoded, together with relative or absolute information on the receiving/transmission timings, onto the payload of the response signal <NUM>. The dispenser can thus obtain information on the timing when the signal <NUM> was received (T4) and obtain information on the timing when the signal <NUM>-<NUM> was transmitted (T1). Together with the timing information contained in payload data of signal <NUM>, the processing circuit of the dispenser is able to determine the distance d between the dispenser <NUM> and the dispenser <NUM> by employing a calculation such as <MAT> where c denotes the speed of light, the applicable propagation speed for radio signals. Further, the conveyed payload may also be employed to ensure that the signal <NUM> is in actual response to the beacon signal <NUM>-<NUM>. In addition to this, further signals may be employed for any one of improving accuracy, employing cancelling techniques or adding redundancy.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of a similar ranging scheme where it is assumed that the device <NUM> transmits beacon signals <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, in regular or irregular intervals. The ranging is carried out similar to the situation of <FIG>, taking into account - at least indirectly - the timings T1 to T4. Here, an additional signal <NUM> is employed, since the distance determination is made at the site of the device <NUM> and the necessary information on the timings should be available there.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of time difference of arrival (TDOA) scheme between more than one piece of hygiene equipment. Specifically, two pieces <NUM> and <NUM> of hygiene equipment transmit beacon signals <NUM>-<NUM>,. and, respectively, <NUM>-<NUM>,. into some overlapping range. At some point in time, the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> is assumed to have received the two beacon signals <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>. Both dispensers <NUM>, <NUM> obtain information on timing when the signals <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> are transmitted by their respectively coupled antennae. In this embodiment, the information on the timing can be identified as an instruction or synchronization signal employed for the plurality of dispensers <NUM>, <NUM> to transmit the signals <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> at substantially the same time T1. In this way, the device <NUM> may determine different timings when the different signals are received. Namely, the signal <NUM>-<NUM> can be assumed to be received at T2 at device <NUM>, and the signal <NUM>-<NUM> can be assumed to be received at T3 at device <NUM>. With this knowledge, the device <NUM> can initiate ranging calculations. Again, further signals may be employed for any one of improving accuracy, employing cancelling techniques or adding redundancy. In addition, any determined distance or difference may be conveyed to some central entity (server) via another means of communication (e.g. a wireless network connection) or via an optional signal <NUM> to any one of the involved devices.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of another time difference of arrival (TDOA) scheme. Specifically, this scheme is similar to the one described in conjunction with <FIG>, but here the piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> is the originator of the beacon signal. Therefore, the device <NUM> is assumed to transmit the beacon signals <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>,. at regular or irregular intervals. It may now be assumed that dispenser <NUM> receives the particular signal <NUM>-<NUM> at time T2, whereas dispenser <NUM> receives this particular signal <NUM>-<NUM> at time T3. Again, the payload carried by the signal <NUM> may be employed for facilitating identification and association of any received signals. The dispensers can obtain information on the receiving times T2 and T3 and can decode any payload to accomplish the mentioned association, so as to determine a time difference of arrival of one signal at different locations. This information may be fed back to the target device and/or a central entity (server) to complete a ranging and/or positioning calculation.

As for further possible ways of initiating the sequence, it is noted that the configuration shown in <FIG> can be modified so that the device <NUM> is passive and `listening' until device <NUM> or <NUM> sends a message to initiate the process (ranging). When device <NUM> receives this 'ping' request, it can transmit a 'single ping' that is received by devices <NUM>, <NUM>, where these devices are operated in synchronization and can calculate the desired information based on TDOA. In TDOA, devices <NUM> and <NUM> can be operated to be in synchronization and information on the timing T3 can be for example transported to device <NUM>, when TDOA calculations are supposed to take place in device <NUM>. The dispensers can then obtain information on the receiving times T2 and T3 and can decode any payload to accomplish the mentioned association.

<FIG> shows a schematic view of device functionalities for implementing embodiments of the present invention. Specifically, a piece of hygiene equipment <NUM> has a processing circuit <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a radio circuit <NUM>, and an antenna <NUM>. The radio circuit <NUM> is configured to receive and transmit a radio signal carrying payload data using the antenna <NUM>. The memory <NUM> stores code to configure the processing circuit <NUM> to obtain information on a positional relationship to another device by instructing the radio circuit to receive and/or transmit a radio signal carrying first payload data, and to generate second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on the obtained positional relationship, and to instruct the radio circuit to transmit a radio signal carrying said second payload data.

<FIG> shows a flowchart of a general method embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the method is for operating a piece of hygiene equipment that has a processing circuit, a memory, and a radio circuit. The method comprises a step S101 of receiving and transmitting a radio signal carrying payload data, a step S102 of obtaining information on a positional relationship to another device by instructing the radio circuit to receive and/or transmit a radio signal carrying first payload data, and a step S103 of generating second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on the obtained positional relationship, and to instruct the radio circuit to transmit a radio signal carrying said second payload data.

Claim 1:
A piece of hygiene equipment (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising a processing circuit (<NUM>) and a radio circuit (<NUM>), wherein the radio circuit (<NUM>) is configured to receive and transmit a radio signal carrying payload data, wherein the processing circuit (<NUM>) is configured to obtain information on a positional relationship to another device by instructing the radio circuit (<NUM>) to receive and/or transmit a radio signal carrying first payload data,
and wherein the processing circuit (<NUM>) is configured to generate second payload data on the basis of the obtained information on the obtained positional relationship, and to instruct the radio circuit (<NUM>) to transmit a radio signal carrying said second payload data,
wherein the processing section (<NUM>) is configured to transmit an outbound radio signal carrying specific transmission payload data and/or to receive an inbound radio signal carrying specific reception payload data for determining a communication partner to which outbound radio signals are to be transmitted and from which inbound radio signals are to be received,
and wherein said processing section (<NUM>) is configured to operate in a first mode and in a second mode, wherein during said first mode the processing section (<NUM>) is configured to determine the communication partner including the determination of a preferred communication direction indicating that data can be conveyed via said communication partner to and/or from an access point (<NUM>), and wherein during said second mode the processing section (<NUM>) is configured to obtain the information on a positional relationship to the communication partner as the other device.