Patent ID: 12207371

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various aspects of the present invention are shown. This invention however may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the various aspects of the present invention presented through this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art. The various aspects of the present invention illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Rather, the dimensions of the various features may be expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not depict all of the components of a given apparatus.

The term “LED luminaire” shall mean a luminaire with a light source comprising one or more LEDs. LEDs are well-known in the art, and therefore, will only briefly be discussed to provide a complete description of the invention.

It is further understood that the aspect of the present invention might contain integrated circuits that are readily manufacturable using conventional semiconductor technologies, such as complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology, short “CMOS”. In addition, the aspects of the present invention may be implemented with other manufacturing processes for making optical as well as electrical devices. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the exemplary aspects as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same references signs will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed descriptions to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG.1ashows a schematic diagram of a grid100of a plurality of luminaires101a-daccording to an embodiment.

Each of the luminaires101a-din the grid100comprises a light sensor103, preferably a daylight sensor, an acoustic sensor105, a motion sensor107, a controller109supplied with the output signals of said sensors103,105,107, and a wireless interface111for a communication between the controller109and a gateway for forwarding sensor information signals to a central database (not shown inFIG.1a).

The grid100can be arranged in an environment, in particular a building. Since luminaires101a-dare typically evenly distributed over such an environment, equipping each luminaire101a-dwith sensors103,105,107leads to a good coverage of the environment with the sensors. Equipping luminaires with sensors has the additional advantage that no extra planning or commissioning for mounting external sensors in the environment has to be done.

In particular, the wireless interface111is configured to communicate with the gateway (not shown), in particular to forward the sensor information signals to the gateway. The gateway can be a wireless gateway.

Preferably, each luminaire101a-din the grid100comprises a light source113, in particular a plurality of LEDs.

Each of the luminaires101a-dcan be a downlight luminaire, a linear luminaire, an area light or a multi-purpose light. In particular, the grid100comprises different types of luminaires at different locations in the environment.

The controller109can be a micro controller unit (MCU).

Preferably, the controller109of each luminaire101a-dis arranged for forwarding the sensor information signals repetitively with a constant or a varying, especially adaptive, frequency. In particular, the controller109is configured to control the wireless interface111to forward the sensor information signals.

Preferably, the wireless interface111of each luminaire101a-dcomprises a low energy short range wireless communication interface such as BLUETOOTH® interface.

The sensor information signals can comprise a timestamp, an identifier of the respective luminaire (luminaire ID) and a sensor value. Via the timestamp and the identifier, the sensor value can be correlated to a place and time in the environment. In this way, a 2D mapping of the sensor values, e.g. anisotropic analog data, can be generated based on data stored in the central database. For instance, the 2D mapping shows a noise level or a brightness in the environment at different times during the day.

The acoustic sensor105of each luminaire101a-dcan be a noise detector. In particular, the acoustic sensor105is configured to detect a sound pressure level and/or sound patterns such as voice or burst sounds.

The motion sensor107can be a Doppler based motion sensor, i.e. a sensor that detects motion based on the Doppler effect. In particular, the motion sensor107is configured to detect a motion intensity.

The light sensor103can be configured to detect a light intensity, e.g. of daylight.

The grid100can comprise multiple luminaires101a-dequipped with the same type and number of sensors. Alternatively, luminaires101a-dof one grid100may comprise different sensors.

FIG.1bshows a schematic diagram of a luminaire101according to an embodiment.

In particular, the luminaire101shown inFIG.1bis an exemplary embodiment of a luminaire101a-bof the grid100, as for example shown inFIG.1a.

The luminaire101comprises the light sensor103, the motion sensor107, e.g. in form of a 24 GHz radar sensor, and the acoustic sensor105, e.g. in form of a digital sound sensor.

The luminaire101can further comprises a temperature sensor301and a power measurement unit303, e.g. for measuring a power consumption by the luminaire101.

Furthermore, the luminaire101can comprises a vibration sensor (not shown), e.g. for detecting vibrations in the ceiling.

Preferably, the sensors103,105,107,301and303are configured to forward sensor values to the controller109. InFIG.1b, the controller comprises a CPU.

The sensor values can comprise amplitudes of detected signals, for instance, a brightness value detected by the light sensor103or a velocity of a movement detected by the motion sensor.

The luminaire101, as shown inFIG.1b, comprises a dimmable LED driver205connected to the light source113, wherein the light source113comprises LEDs. The controller109can be configured to control a dim level of the light source113. The controller109can further be configured to receive information on a voltage or current consumption of the LEDs.

The wireless interface111can be configured to communicate with the controller109via the USART (Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) protocol.

The wireless interface111can be integrated in the luminaire101as a system on a chip (SoC).

The luminaire can further comprise a surge/burst protection unit305.

FIG.2shows a schematic diagram of a method20for functional classification of the luminaires101a-daccording to an embodiment.

The luminaires101a-dare arranged as a grid100of a plurality of luminaires101a-d, wherein each of the luminaires101a-dcomprises at least two different sensors. In particular, each luminaire comprises at least two of the light sensor103, preferably the daylight sensor, the acoustic sensor105and/or the motion sensor107.

The method20comprises the steps of:supplying21output signals of said sensors103,105,107to a controller109,forwarding23, preferably wirelessly forwarding, sensor information signals including timestamps and luminaire IDs to the central database,correlating25the sensor information signals over a defined period of time, andgenerating27functional classification information based on the correlations found,
wherein the functional classification information indicates a likelihood function of a certain usage of each of the luminaires, out of a given set of usage functions.

The method20as shown inFIG.2further comprises the step of: outputting29the usage of each luminaire at a user interface.

In particular, the central database comprises or is connected to a display. The display can be configured to display the user interface.

The correlation25and/or classification can additionally be generated based on a location of each luminaire101a-d, e.g. based on the luminaire ID, on the neighboring luminaires101a-d, and/or on a recording time of each sensor value.

By taking into account the sensor values, the type of sensed data, a time resolution and a special resolution, the functional classification information can be generated efficiently. Further, the likelihood of the usage as indicated by the functional classification information can dynamically adapt to detected changes in the environment.

In particular, the functional classification can comprise a commissioning and/or a grouping of the luminaires101a-d.

Preferably, the set of usage functions comprises at least the categories “work space” and “non-work space”. The set of room functions can comprise further categories, such as: “meeting room”, “laboratory”, “hospital room”, “storage room”, “workshop” or “sales rooms”.

In particular, the same luminaire can be used in different ways, e.g. illuminating a small area in a room, e.g. a speaker, or uniformly illuminating the entire room, e.g. during a meeting with many people, depending on the use of the room.

Preferably, the method20comprises classifying the luminaires101a-dby assigning a usage function to each luminaire101a-dbased on the likelihood function. In particular, the assigned usage function comprises a category.

Preferably, a setting or an operation parameter of each luminaire is adapted based on the likelihood function, in particular based on the category, of each luminaire.

In the following, varying settings of the same luminaire101a-dof the grid100for three different categories is described:

If the category “office space” of the luminaire101a-dis determined with high likelihood, the luminaire101a-dcan be set to a long illumination time when detecting the presence of people, e.g. by a motion sensor of the luminaire101a-d, and to a slow change of its brightness from bright to dark during activation/deactivation. The luminaire101a-dcan further be set to change a light color during the day according to a preset human centric lighting scheme.

If, in contrast, the category “corridor” of the luminaire101a-dis determined with high likelihood, the luminaire101a-dcan be set to a short illumination time when detecting the presence of people and to a fast change of its brightness from bright to dark. Further, the luminaire101a-dcan be set to optimal visibility, i.e. no of the light color during the day.

If the category “meeting room” of the luminaire is detected, the luminaire is set to a long lighting duration when detecting the presence of people and to a fast change of the brightness from bright to dark. The luminaire can further be set to change a light color according during the day, according to a human centric lighting.

Preferably, the functional classification information comprises a noise classification with at least two of the classes speech, chatter, burst-type sounds, knocking-tapping-type sounds, white noise, and street noise. In particular, the functional classification information comprises said noise classification for each luminaire101a-din the grid100.

The noise classification can be determined based on output signals, in particular signal values, of the acoustic sensor105.

In particular, the likelihood function is determined based on the noise classification.

Preferably, the controller109is arranged for forwarding the sensor information signals repetitively with a constant or a varying, especially adaptive, frequency.

Preferably, said sensor information signals comprise at least one sensor value, wherein the at least one sensor value represents the amplitude of a corresponding output signal at the time of the associated timestamp.

In particular, the sensor information signals comprise: a time series of radar amplitudes, e.g. frequency and intensity of recorded motions, a time series of sound pressures, and/or a time series of sound pattern probabilities and preferably intensities. The sound pattern can comprise human voice, knocking sounds, burst sounds and/or crowd chatter.

For instance, the acoustic sensor periodically, e.g. every 5 seconds, provides the amplitude of a sound level, which can be used to determine if people are present in a certain room.

The sensor information signals can be forwarded, in particular by the wireless interface111, using for example the BLUETOOTH® standard. In this way, the emitted sensor information signals can be received with a BLUETOOTH® capable mobile device, e.g. a smartphone, which can act as a gateway device.

The step of correlating25the sensor information signals over a defined period of time can comprise comparing the sensor information, in particular data patterns, of different sensors and/or different luminaires101a-dover time.

The step of generating27classification information can comprise associating luminaires by data pattern similarities.

Preferably, the step of correlating25the sensor information signals comprises generating a time series of sensor values at different timestamps, and analyzing a duration of the time series and the amplitudes of the sensor values in the time series.

In particular, the functional classification information is generated based on a comparison of the duration of the time series and the amplitudes of the sensor values in the time series with a reference dataset, in particular by means of a supervised learning method and/or a k-nearest neighbor computation.

Preferably, the step of correlating25comprises the use of a machine learning technique. The machine learning technique can comprise supervised learning and/or a k-nearest neighbor computation.

Supervised learning can comprise learning a function that maps an input to an output, in particular based on input-output pairs provided as examples.

In particular, the k-nearest neighbor computation is a pattern recognition technique, which comprises generating an output based on an input of k closest training examples, e.g. sensor information signals.

Preferably, the step of correlating25the sensor comprises the use of an algorithm that is fed with initial radar sensor data, preferably from the motion sensors107, combined with a supervised learning k-nearest neighbor algorithm. In particular, the two main parameters in this approach are presence time and transitions count, wherein the presence time indicates the period of time when presence is detected, e.g. someone is sitting or standing, by a radar sensor and the transition count indicates how often movement is detected, e.g. walking or running, by a the radar sensor.

The step of correlating25can further comprise generating a labelled training dataset for the supervised learning. The labelled training dataset can be generated based on the knowledge that a high transition count in combination with a short presence time is associated with a non-working space or corridor area, while a low transition count in combination with a long presence time is associated with a working space. Based on this knowledge, linear equations, which represent the behavior described above as transition count and presence time parameters, can be developed.

An input dataset for the k-nearest neighbors algorithm can correspond to transition count and presence time variables of the respective luminaries101a-d. Preferably, to generate the functional classification information, an input dataset in which the luminaires101a-dare represented with respective feature values, in particular presence time and transition count, can be labelled based on the predicted output of the k-nearest neighbors algorithm in the categories “working space” or “non-working space”.

FIG.3shows a schematic diagram of an environment300in which the luminaire grid100is arranged according to an embodiment.

The environment300inFIG.3comprises three rooms over which the luminaires1to28of the grid100are distributed. Each of the three rooms has a different use. For instance, luminaires1to8are arranged in a corridor, luminaires9to18are arranged in a mostly open space, e.g. a lobby, and luminaires19to28are arranged in a working space, e.g. an office.

The luminaires1to28can be grouped based on the output signals of the sensors of each luminaire1to28according to the functional classification method20as shown inFIG.2.

Depending on the usage scenario of each of the three rooms, the respective luminaires1to28in each room can supply different output signals to the controller109, which forwards sensor information signals including timestamps and luminaire IDs of the luminaires1to28to the central database. In the central database, these sensor information signals can be correlated25over time to generate27the functional classification information, which indicates the likelihood function of the room in which each of the luminaires1to28is arranged.

For instance, for luminaires1to8the likelihood function will indicate “non-working space”, or more specific “corridor”, for luminaires19to28the likelihood function will indicate “working space”, and for luminaires9to18the likelihood function will indicate “open space”.

FIG.4shows a schematic diagram of a system400comprising a grid100of a plurality of luminaires101a-daccording to an embodiment. In particular, the grid100of the system400shown inFIG.4corresponds to the grid100as shown inFIG.1a.

Each of the luminaires101a-dof the gird100comprises at least two sensors. Preferably, each luminaire101a-dcomprises at least two of: a light sensor103, preferably a daylight sensor, an acoustic sensor105and/or a motion sensor107. The system400further comprises a controller109supplied with the output signals of said sensors103,105,107; an interface, preferably a wireless interface111; a data processing unit402and a central database403.

The interface can be configured to forward sensor information signals130including timestamps and luminaire IDs to the central database; wherein the data processing unit402can be configured to correlate the sensor information signals130in the central database over a defined period of time. The data processing unit402can further be configured to generate a functional classification information based on the correlations found, wherein the functional classification information indicates a likelihood function of a certain usage of each luminaire, out of a given set of usage functions.

The system can further comprise a gateway401. The interface of each luminaire101a-dcan be configured to forward sensor information signals130from the sensors103,105,107of the respective luminaires101a-dto the gateway401. The gateway401can be configured to forward the received sensor information signals to the central database403. Preferably, the gateway is a wireless gateway.

The data processing unit402can be a computer.

The central database403can be a memory of the data-processing unit or of another device. Alternatively, the central database403can be a cloud storage.

FIG.5shows a schematic diagram of a method600for operating a grid100of a plurality of luminaires101a-d.

In particular, the grid100of the plurality of luminaires101a-dcorrespond to the grid100as depicted inFIG.1a. Each luminaire101a-dcomprises a light sensor103, preferably a daylight sensor, an acoustic sensor105, and a motion sensor107.

The method600comprises the steps of:supplying601output signals of luminaires103,105,107to the controller109,establishing603a communication connection between the controller109and the gateway401, andforwarding sensor information signals130to the data processing unit402and/or the central database403by means of the gateway401.

All features of all embodiments described, shown and/or claimed herein can be combined with each other.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only and not limitation. Numerous changes to the disclosed embodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit of scope of the invention. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments. Rather, the scope of the invention should be defined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalence. Although the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alternations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon the reading of the understanding of the specification and the annexed drawings. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of the several implementations, such features may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantage for any given or particular application.