Patent ID: 8230148

Claim:
A method of transmitting and processing interrupts comprising: detecting an event and generating an interrupt signal corresponding to said event, converting said interrupt signal into a special interrupt character sequence, embedding said special interrupt character sequence into a serial data stream transmitted from a transmitting device to a receiving controller at a next available character boundary, stripping said special interrupt character sequence from said serial data stream at said receiving controller, raising a second interrupt in said receiving controller corresponding to said special interrupt character sequence, and processing said second interrupt by interrupting normal processing to run an interrupt subroutine, wherein said event is unrelated to transmission of said serial data stream, wherein said transmitting device and said receiving controller are components of a lighting system for areal illumination comprising said receiving controller and a plurality of fixtures, wherein said fixtures comprise at least one of a plurality of luminaires, a control device, or a standalone sensor, and wherein said transmitting device is included in one of said fixtures; wherein each of said luminaires comprises a light source whose output light level is adjustable, wherein a light sensor co-located with each of said luminaires is configured to measure light, and the output of said light sensor is transmitted over wires to said receiving controller; and wherein said receiving controller is configured to provide bidirectional communication with said fixtures, and wherein said receiving controller is further configured to power said light sources of said luminaires.