Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/254,709 entitled “HYBRID LIGHT” and filed on Oct. 25, 2009, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     Background 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present subject matter relates to home automation networking. It further relates to initialization and setup of networked home automation devices. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Providing home automation functionality using networking means is well known in the art. Control of lighting and appliances can be accomplished using systems from many different companies such as X10, Insteon® and Echelon. These systems all require some kind of initialization and setup of the devices to communicate properly on the network. In some cases some of the initialization and setup is pre-defined in the device with no mechanism for the user to easily configure the device for their particular installation. But in many cases, a way for the user to configure the device at the time of installation is required. Light bulbs and light fixtures create a special challenge in that they are often installed in locations that can be hard to reach and people are not used to touching a light bulb, especially when it is on and could be quite hot. 
     US Pat. App. No. 2009/0237006 filed Mar. 18, 2008 by inventors Champion et al. shows a method and apparatus for identifying a group of devices where a controller receives a color identifying value over a communication channel from a management network and then combines the light emitted by the at least two LEDs into an identifying color that identifies a group of devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,690 issues on Apr. 17, 1990, the inventors Markkula et al. describe a network for sensing, communicating and controlling where each cell in the network is assigned a group identification number. 
     Inventor Dolin describes an apparatus and method for network node identification and network configuration in U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,878 issued on May 21, 1996. In Dolin&#39;s system, each device in the home automation network contains a unique ID that is obtained at the time of installation and then placed on a machine readable medium such as a bar code sticker. The bar code stickers for each device are then placed on paper floor plan to show the physical location of that device. The paper floor plan with the stickers is then read by an automatic configuration device to determine the physical location of each device for future use. 
     However, neither Champion et al., Markkula et al. nor Dolin address the ability of a user to set the network group or other parameters using a control mechanism on the device itself. 
     In US Pat. App. No. 2009/0267540, inventors Chemel at al. show an intelligent LED lighting system with mesh networking connectivity. Chemel et al. describe a power management module (PMM) with light module identification. Each light module may have identifying information programmed into it, and can communicate that information to the PMM, which can in turn store and communicate that information to a user or installer to aid in replacement or commissioning. The information may be stored in a nonvolatile memory onboard the light module, and communicated via a digital bus to the PMM. The information may be stored passively on the light module, such as via a series of jumpers or dip switches, and can be read by the PMM. The passive storage may include electrical contacts with encoded bit pattern stored in an optics holder. The passive storage may include passive RFID. 
     X10 markets a series of home automation control modules such as the PLM03 Lamp Module Receiver. Many X10 modules include two rotary control dials that the user can set at installation to allow each separate module to be independently controlled. One dial is for the “House Code” and can be set to a letter ranging from “A” to “P” while the other dial is for the “Unit Number” which can be set to a number ranging from 1 to 16. 
     It should be noted that neither the system described by Chemel et al. nor X10 devices address simplifying the way that the user can identify the location or other parameters of a device. 
     It therefore is important to provide a new method for the user to very easily configure a networked device for the home. The method should be very easy to remember and provide a simple means to configure at least the location or other basic parameter important to the networking of the device. It should also take the unique features of a light bulb or light fixture into account. 
     SUMMARY 
     Various embodiments of the present subject matter disclose methods and apparatus for configuring a networked lighting apparatus such as light bulb or light fixture. One embodiment of a method for configuring a networked lighting apparatus generates a selected color code corresponding to a color selected from a plurality of colors, the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non-locking colors and each color of the plurality of colors having a corresponding color code. It disables a network connection if the color selected is the at least one locking color. Only if the color selected is one of the one or more non-locking colors, it connects to the network, sends the selected color code over the network, and changes a state of the networked lighting apparatus in response to a message received over the network. In some embodiments the state of the networked lighting apparatus being changed is a brightness level of the networked lighting apparatus and in some embodiments the brightness level may be limited to On and Off. Some embodiments may set the brightness level of the networked lighting apparatus to at least 10% of maximum if the color selected is the at least one locking color and some embodiments may respond to a request for status information from the network only if the color selected is one of the one or more non-locking colors. One embodiment also receives a local control action and changes the state of the networked lighting apparatus in response to the local control action only if the color selected is one of the one or more non-locking colors. 
     One embodiment includes means for powering a light emitting device, means for controlling a brightness level of the light emitting device, means for connecting to a network, means for allowing a user to select a color from a plurality of colors, the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non-locking colors, and means for generating a selected color code corresponding to the color selected by the user, each color of the plurality of colors having a corresponding color code. The means for connecting to the network submits the selected color code over the network only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non-locking colors and the means for controlling the brightness level of the light emitting device changes brightness level in response to a message from the network only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non-locking colors. In some embodiments, the brightness level is limited to On and Off. Some embodiments respond to a request for status information from the network only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non-locking colors. Some embodiments also include means for allowing the user enter a local brightness command but the means for controlling the brightness level of the light emitting device changes the brightness level in response to the local brightness command only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non-locking colors. 
     One embodiment of a networked light bulb comprises a light emitting apparatus, a controller, a network adapter communicatively coupled to the controller, and a color selection mechanism communicatively coupled to the controller, the color selection mechanism allowing a user to select a color from a plurality of colors, the plurality of colors having at least one locking color and one or more non-locking colors. The color selection mechanism communicates information corresponding to the color selected by the user to the controller and if the color selected by the user is the at least one locking color, the controller disables the network adapter. If the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non-locking colors, the controller converts the information communicated by the color selection mechanism to a color code corresponding to the color selected by the user, the controller communicates the color code to the network adapter, the network adapter sends the color code out over the network, the network adapter receives a message from the network to change a state of the networked light bulb and communicates it to the controller, and the controller changes the state of the networked light bulb in response to the message to change the state of the network light bulb communicated by the network adapter. In some embodiments, the network adapter connects to a wireless network such as Wi-Fi, Z-wave or Zigbee and in some instances the controller and the network adapter may be integrated on a single integrated circuit. In some embodiments the state of the networked light bulb being changed is a brightness level of the light emitting apparatus and it may be limited to On and Off. In some embodiments, the network adapter receives a status request message from the network and communicates it to the controller only if the color selected by the user is one of the one or more non-locking colors and the controller responds to the status request message communicated by the network adapter by communicating a response message to the network adapter to send out over the network. 
     In at least one embodiment, the color selection mechanism comprises a rotary switch with a rotatable shaft and an output communicatively coupled to the controller and a color wheel having a center, an edge and a colored area, the center of the color wheel coupled to the shaft of the rotary switch and the colored area divided into sections, each section imprinted with a section color selected from the plurality of colors. As the color wheel is rotated by user manipulation of the edge, the colored area of the color wheel and the rotatable shaft of the rotary switch also rotate and the output of the rotary switch communicates current rotational position information corresponding to the color selected by the user to the controller. In at least one embodiments, the color selection mechanism also has a selection mark in close physical proximity to the section of the colored area of the color wheel imprinted with the section color corresponding to the color selected by the user at the current rotational position. And in some embodiments, the networked light bulb further has an outer housing with an aperture. The color wheel is mounted in the networked light bulb so that a portion of the edge of the color wheel protrudes from the outer housing of the networked light bulb, whereby the user is able to manipulate the edge to rotate the color wheel about its center. A portion of the colored area is visible through the aperture in the outer housing of the networked light bulb with a majority of the portion of the colored area visible through the aperture in the outer housing of the networked light bulb is the section of the colored area imprinted with the section color corresponding to the color code selected by the user at the current rotational position. And in some embodiments the color wheel may also include visible or tactilely recognizable symbols. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention. Together with the general description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  shows a table of color definitions used in this disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of a color wheel; 
         FIG. 3  shows a networked light bulb with a color wheel for configuration; 
         FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of the electronics utilized in one embodiment of the networked light bulb; 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart describing how the color selection means is used in the configuration of a networked light bulb; 
         FIG. 6A and 6B  show additional embodiments of color selection mechanism; and 
         FIG. 7  shows an alternative embodiment of a color wheel. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures and components have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present concepts. A number of descriptive terms and phrases are used in describing the various embodiments of this disclosure. These descriptive terms and phrases are used to convey a generally agreed upon meaning to those skilled in the art unless a different definition is given in this specification. Some descriptive terms and phrases are presented in the following paragraphs for clarity. 
     The term “LED” refers to a diode that emits light, whether visible, ultraviolet, or infrared, and whether coherent or incoherent. The term as used herein includes incoherent polymer-encased semiconductor devices marketed as “LEDs”, whether of the conventional or super-radiant variety. The term as used herein also includes semiconductor laser diodes and diodes that are not polymer-encased. It also includes LEDs that include a phosphor or nanocrystals to change their spectral output. 
     The term “network” refers to a bidirectional communication medium and protocol to allow a plurality of devices to communicate with each other. 
     The term “networked device” refers to any device that can communicate over a network. 
     The terms “networked light fixture”, “networked lighting apparatus” and “networked light bulb” all refer to a networked device capable of emitting light. While there are subtle differences in the generally agreed upon embodiments for these terms, they may be used interchangeably in this disclosure unless additional detail is provided to indicate that a specific embodiment is being discussed. 
     Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed below. 
       FIG. 1  is a table  100  indicating some embodiments of the colors that could be used with the subject of the present disclosure. The first column  101  contains reference numbers 0-9 to be used for referring to each color. Some embodiments may use fewer than 10 colors while others may use more than 10 colors. The second column  102  contains symbols that may optionally be imprinted on top of the color to help people who may have difficulty distinguishing between different colors. In this embodiment, the first color has no symbol, the next 8 colors use an Arabic numeral as the symbol, and the final symbol is a padlock. Other visible symbols may be used in other embodiments. Tactilely recognizable symbols such as Braille may be used in other embodiments. The third column  103  contains the color names for the colors of this embodiment. Other colors could be used in other embodiments. The next four columns  104 , entitled “Print Colors”, give one possible set of colors to be mixed for 4-color printing processes. The four columns  104  represent the percentage of the maximum amount of ink for the cyan (C%), magenta (M%), yellow (Y%), and black (K%) and can range from 0% to 100%. Other mixes might be used for some embodiments depending on the specific inks, print stock and exact desired color. The next three columns  105 , entitled “Computer Colors”, give a possible representation for the indicated colors for use on a computer screen. The three columns  105  represent a color value for each of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) and range from 0 to 255 to allow the value for each component color to be stored in a single 8 bit storage location as is common in computer systems. The final (right-most) column  106 , entitled “Fill”, gives a cross-hatch pattern that is used in the following black and white figures to indicate the color that would fill a particular area. 
       FIG. 2  shows one particular embodiment of a color selection mechanism  200  to allow a user to select a color. Top view  220  shows a color wheel  221  from the top and side view  230  shows the color wheel  221  from the side with some associated structure that has been omitted from the top view  220  for clarity. The color wheel mechanism  200  has a color wheel with a raised disc  201 , an edge  202  extending out beyond the raised disc, and a hub  204 . In some embodiments, the hub may not extend below the edge plane. The edge  202  may be knurled or textured to give better grip as it is rotated by the user. A colored area  203  is included on the color wheel. In this embodiment, the colored area  203  is implemented as a label that is wrapped around the raised disc  201  and attached with adhesive. The colored area  203  is divided into sections  210 - 219 , each section imprinted with a different color as defined in  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, section  210  is imprinted with color 0 and no identifying symbol. In this embodiment, color 0 is black. Section  211  is imprinted with color 1 and the symbol “1”. Section  212  is imprinted with color 2 and the symbol “2”. Section  213  is imprinted with color 3 and the symbol “3”. Section  214  is imprinted with color 4 and the symbol “4”. Section  215  is imprinted with color 5 and the symbol “5”. Section  216  is imprinted with color 6 and the symbol “6”. Section  217  is imprinted with color 7 and the symbol “7”. Section  218  is imprinted with color 8 and the symbol “8”. Section  219  is imprinted with color 9 and the symbol of a padlock to symbolize that this is the locking color. In this embodiment color 9 is white. The colors imprinted on the colored area  203  represent nine non-locking colors 0-8 and one locking color 9 which is white. Other embodiments may use more or less than ten colors. The color wheel hub  204  is attached to the shaft  205  of a rotary dip switch  206  that may be mounted on a printed circuit board  207 . As the color wheel  221  is turned, it turns the shaft  205  of the rotary dip switch  206  which generates information depending on the rotational angle of the shaft  205 . The information is then available on the pins  208  (not all pins are shown) of the rotary dip switch  206 . The pins  208  may be connected to pull-up resistors and a controller located on the same printed circuit board (or elsewhere in the networked light bulb). In one embodiment the rotary dip switch is a BCD encoder that generates 4 bits of output that can either be connected to ground or left as an open circuit so that as each output is connected to a pull-up resistor, the output represents a binary number between 0000 and 1010. Other methods of encoding the angular position of the color wheel  221  could also be used such as independent switches for each position, an optical shaft encoder, a magnetic detector, two-axis hall-effect sensors or other well-known methods of detecting the angular position of a disk or shaft. 
       FIG. 3A  shows a front view (with inner structure not shown) and  FIG. 3B  shows a side view (with selected inner structure shown in broken lines) of the color selection mechanism  200  implemented in a networked light bulb  300 . In this embodiment a networked light bulb  300  is shown but other embodiments of the present subject matter could be a permanently installed light fixture with a socket for a standard light bulb, or a light fixture with embedded LEDs or any other sort of light emitting apparatus. The light bulb  300  is AC powered but other embodiments could be battery powered or solar powered. The networked light bulb  300  of this embodiment has a base with a power contact  301  and a neutral contact  302 , a middle housing  303  and an outer bulb  304 . Each section  301 ,  302 ,  303 ,  304  can be made of a single piece of material or be assembled from multiple component pieces. The outer bulb  304  is at least partially transparent and may have ventilation openings in some embodiments, but the other sections  301 ,  302 ,  303  can be any color or transparency and be made from any suitable material. The middle housing  303  has an indentation  305  with a slot  306  and an aperture  307 . The color wheel  221  is attached to the shaft of rotary switch  206  which is mounted on a printed circuit board  207 . The printed circuit board  207  with the color wheel  221  is mounted horizontally so that the edge  202  of the color wheel protrudes through the slot  306  of the middle housing  303 . This allows the user to apply a rotational force to the color wheel  221 . As the color wheel  221  rotates, different sections of the colored area  203  of the color wheel  221  are visible through an aperture  307 . In  FIG. 3 , the current position of the color wheel  221  is such the color section with color 4 is visible through the aperture  307 , indicating that the user has selected color 4 at this time. The color selection mechanism  200  may be designed to provide a detent at each section of the colored area  203  to make it clear what color is currently selected. 
     In this embodiment, a second printed circuit board  310  is mounted vertically in the base of the networked light bulb  300 . A board-to-board connection  311  is provided to connect selected electrical signals between the two printed circuit boards  207 ,  310 . A third printed circuit board  314  has a plurality of LEDs  313  mounted on it and is backed by a heat sink  315  to cool the plurality of LEDs  313 . In some embodiments the third printed circuit board  314  with a plurality of LEDs  313  may be replaced by a single multi-die LED package or a single high output LED. In some embodiments the heat sink  315  may not be needed or could be a completely different configuration than what is shown. A cable  312  connects the printed circuit board  207  with the third printed circuit board  314 . The cable  312  carries the power for the plurality of LEDs  313 . In some embodiments it may be connect the second printed circuit board  310  directly to the third printed circuit board  314  instead of passing the signals through the printed circuit board  207 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of the control electronics  400  used in the networked light bulb  300 . The block diagram is divided into three sections  410 ,  420 ,  430  corresponding to the three printed circuit boards of  FIG. 3 . Other embodiments may partition the system differently and have more or fewer printed circuit boards or circuit elements. The three sections are the LED Driver section  410 , corresponding to the second printed circuit board  310 , the networked controller section  420 , corresponding to the printed circuit board  207 , and the LED section  430 , corresponding to the third printed circuit board  314 , The base with contacts  301 ,  302  provides AC power to the AC to DC rectifier  411  to power the LED driver  412 . The LED driver may be an integrated circuit such as the NXP SSL2101 or similar parts from Texas Instruments or others. Several signals are shared in common between the LED driver section  410  and the networked controller section  420  through a board-to-board connection  311 . The board-to-board connection  311  may be a pin and socket connector system, an edge finger connector system, soldered right angle pins, a cable, or any other method of connecting two boards. The shared signals comprise a ground connection, the LED power signal  441 , a regulated power voltage  442 , a control signal  443  and a serial communication signal  444 . In some embodiments, the regulated power voltage  442  may be sufficient to power all the electronics in the networked controller section  420 . In other embodiments, where more power is needed, a DC to DC converter may be included in the networked controller section  420  running off the LED power signal  441 . The ground signal and the LED power signal  441  are then sent from the networked controller section  420  to the LED section  430  over cable  312 . The LED section  430  may have a plurality of LEDs  313  powered by the LED power signal  441 . 
     The networked controller section  420  has a wireless network adapter  422  that receives radio frequency signals through antenna  425  and is connected to controller  421  by a digital bus  423 . In some embodiments, the wireless network adapter  422  may connect to a Z-wave, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4) or Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) wireless network. Other embodiments may use a wired or power line network adapter instead of a wireless network adapter. In some embodiments, the controller  421  is implemented as a microcontroller and in some embodiments, the controller  421 , wireless network adapter  422 , and digital bus  423  may be integrated onto a single chip  424  such as the Zensys ZM3102. A color selection mechanism  200  is also connected to the controller  421  providing rotational position information through an electrical connection  426 . In other embodiments color selection mechanism may be provided using other means such as a graphical user interface on a display or a keypad or buttons or any other device or combination of devices that allows the user to select a color and provide information on the color chosen to the controller  421 . 
     In some embodiments, the controller  421  controls the brightness of the plurality of LEDs  313  by driving the control signal  443  back to the LED driver  412 . In one embodiment the controller  421  may simply drive the control signal  443  low to turn the plurality of LEDs  313  on and drive the control signal  443  high to turn the plurality of LEDs  313  off. In other embodiments, the controller  421  may drive the control signal  443  with a pulse-width modulated signal to control the brightness of the plurality of LEDS  313 . In some embodiments, the LED driver section  410  is designed to accept power that has been controlled by a standard thyristor-based light dimmer which varies the phase where the AC power is active. This can interact with the dimming control taking place over the network. To determine the current dimming level of the LEDs  313 , the networked controller section  420  may, in some embodiments, include circuitry to monitor the LED power signal  441  to determine the amount of dimming taking place. In other embodiments, the controller  421  may communicate with the LED driver  412  over the serial communications signal  444  to query and perhaps override the current dimming level. The serial communication signal  444  may also be used to communicate actual power used, color temperature control, device temperature information or any other status or control information that might need to be communicated between the controller  421  and the LED driver  412  in a particular embodiment. The serial communication signal  444  may be implemented with a unidirectional or a bidirectional communication protocol such as RS-232, I2C, USB, SPI or any other standard or proprietary protocol. 
       FIG. 5  shows a flow chart  500  for the operation of the networked light bulb  300  of the current subject matter. The exact order of operations and details shown in this flow chart  500  may differ between embodiments but one skilled in the art can see how the concepts presented herein would still apply. After power is applied  501 , the networked light bulb  300  turns the control electronics  400  on  512 . The controller  421  then checks  503  to see if the light bulb has been previously initialized and included into the network. If the device has not yet been initialized and included into the network, it checks  504  to see if the currently selected color is white (the locking color). If the currently selected color is white, the controller  421  turns off  515  the wireless network adapter  422  and then turns on  514  the LEDs  313  by driving the control signal  443  low. 
     If the color selected is not white, the controller  421  broadcasts  505  an inclusion packet over the network to let a network controller know that there is a new device on the network that needs to be initialized and configured. The controller  421  then waits for some period of time to receive  506  initialization information from the network controller. If no initialization information is received, the controller rebroadcasts  505  an inclusion packet and waits again, repeating this process until initialization information is received  506 . Once initialization information has been received, the controller  421  gets the color information the color selection mechanism  200 , converts it to the corresponding color code, and sends  507  the color code out to the network controller. The network controller uses the color code to help further configure the device and create a more user-friendly user interface for the entire network. One way the network controller may use the color code is to allow the user to assign a particular color to a room and set all the networked devices located in that room to the same color. An alternative use is to differentiate all similar devices using a different color so that the user can easily tell which device is which, as they interact with the network controller. In yet another use, the color can be used to group devices together that interact, such as all the audio-visual devices. The way that the color information is used by the network controller or other network devices is dependent on the implementation of the entire home automation system and may be invisible to the networked light bulb. 
     After the color code has been transmitted  507 , the controller  421  then determines  508  if the color selected is the locking color, white, in case the color selected has changed. If the locking color white has been selected, the controller  421  excludes  510  the networked light bulb  300  from the network, gracefully disconnecting from any services and in some embodiments, informing the network controller that it is dropping off the network. It also may remove network initialization information. It then turns off  515  the wireless network adapter, in some embodiments removing power from that device and in others just disabling its function. In some embodiments, the controller may also ignore all local control requests such as when the user presses a local power button or changes a local dimming control on the networked light bulb  300  if the locking color has been selected. 
     If the color selected on the color selection mechanism  200  is not white, in some embodiments the controller  421  may enable monitoring  509  of the status of the light bulb. A networked light bulb  300  may allow the network controller or other network devices to query its current brightness state, current power usage, current physical temperature of various components, the color temperature of the output of the plurality of LEDs  313 , diagnostic information or other information available to the networked light bulb that other devices on the network might find useful. The controller  421  then is enabled  511  to receive control messages over the network. If the control message tells the controller  421  to turn the device On  512 , the controller  421  drives the control signal low to turn on  514  the plurality of LEDs  313 . If the control packet tells the controller  421  to turn the device Off  512 , the controller  421  drives the control signal high to turn off  513  the plurality of LEDs  313 . Depending on the particular embodiment, many states other than the On/Off state may be controlled such as the brightness or the color temperature of the plurality of LEDs  313 . On occasion, new incoming state change requests may be received  516 . Those state change requests may come over the network or they may be received from a local user interface on the device such as changing the color selected. Whenever a new state change request is received  516 , the controller  421  checks to see if the color selected by the user on the color selection device  200  has changed  517 . In some embodiments, the act of changing the color may generate a state change request. If the color has changed  517 , the controller  421  sends  507  the new color out over the network to let the network controller know that the user has changed the color code on the device. The controller then proceeds through the same set of steps  508 - 515  as described in the initial power-up sequence. If the color has not changed  517 , there is no need to rebroadcast the color code or recheck to see if the color is white, so the controller simply receives the control message  511  and takes appropriate action  512 - 514 . 
       FIG. 6A and 6B  show additional alternative embodiments of a color selection mechanism.  FIG. 6A  shows a cylindrical portion  621  of the networked light bulb. Rotating color sleeve  622  can be rotated about the cylindrical element  621 . Selection indicator  623  points at the currently selected color on the rotating color sleeve  622 . The currently selected color in  FIG. 6A  is color “3”, the color of section  624 .  FIG. 6B  also shows a cylindrical portion  631  of a networked light bulb. Rotating selector sleeve  635  with a selector indicator  633  can be rotated about the cylindrical element  631 . Fixed color ring  632  is affixed to the cylindrical element  631  adjacent to the rotating selector sleeve  635 . Selection indicator  633  points at the currently selected color on the fixed color sleeve  632 . In  FIG. 6B  the currently selected color is color “1”, the color of section  634 . 
       FIG. 7  shows another alternative embodiment of a color selection mechanism  700  to allow a user to select a color. Top view  720  shows the color wheel from the top and side view  730  shows the color wheel from the side with some associated structure that has been omitted from the top view  720  for clarity. The color wheel mechanism  700  has a color wheel with an angled side  701 , an edge  702  at the outermost part of the angled side  701 , and a hub  704 . The angle of the angled side  701  may range from 0 (parallel with the axis) to nearly 90 degrees (nearly flat). The edge  702  may be knurled or textured to give better grip as it is rotated by the user. A plurality of colored sections  710 - 717  are included on the angled side  701 . The colored sections  710 - 717  may be immediately adjacent to each other or may have some space with a neutral color between them as is shown in this embodiment. This embodiment has eight sections, each section a different color as defined in  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, section  710  is color 0, section  711  is color 1, section  712  is color 2, section  713  is color 3, section  714  is color 4, section  715  is color 5, section  716  is color 6, and section  717  is color 9. In this embodiment, visible and tactilely recognizable symbols are also included on some of the sections. Section  711  has the braille symbol for one  721 , section  712  has the braille symbol for two  722 , section  713  has the braille symbol for three  723 , section  714  has the braille symbol for four  724 , section  715  has the braille symbol for five  725 , section  716  has the braille symbol for six  726 , and section  717  has a raised padlock symbol  727 . Other embodiments may use other tactilely recognizable symbols. Yet other embodiments may not include tactilely recognizable symbols. In other embodiments the tactilely recognizable symbols may not be readily visible and other visible symbols may or may not be included. The colors on the angled edge  701  represent seven non-locking colors 0-6 and one locking color 9 which is white. The color wheel hub  704  is attached to the shaft  705  of a rotary dip switch  706  that may be mounted on a printed circuit board  707 . As the color wheel is turned, it turns the shaft  705  of the rotary dip switch  706  which generates information depending on the rotational angle of the shaft  705 . The information is then available on the pins  708  (not all pins are shown) of the rotary dip switch  706 . The pins  708  may be connected to pull-up resistors and a controller located on the same printed circuit board (or elsewhere in the networked device). In one embodiment the rotary dip switch is an octal encoder that generates 3 bits of output that can either be connected to ground or left as an open circuit so that as each output is connected to a pull-up resistor, the output represents a binary number between 000 and 111. Other methods of encoding the angular position of the color wheel could also be used such as an optical shaft encoder, a magnetic detector, two-axis hall-effect sensors or other well-known methods of detecting the angular position of a disk or shaft. 
     A cross section of a wall  709  of the networked light bulb shows the edge  702  protruding through the wall and a portion of the angled side  701  visible through an opening in the wall  709 . Exterior view  740  shows the outside of the networked light bulb with the wall  741  having an opening  742 . In the position shown, section  713  is filling most of opening  742 . The color selection mechanism  700  may be designed to provide a detent at each section  710 - 717  to make it easy for the user to center the desired section in the opening  742 . 
     Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of elements, optical characteristic properties, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the preceding specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings of the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviations found in their respective testing measurements. 
     The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers subsumed within that range (e.g. 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5). 
     As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an element described as “an LED” may refer to a single LED, two LEDs or any other number of LEDs. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. 
     As used herein, the term “coupled” includes direct and indirect connections. Moreover, where first and second devices are coupled, intervening devices including active devices may be located there between. 
     Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specified function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. In particular the use of “step of” in the claims is not intended to invoke the provision of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. 
     The description of the various embodiments provided above is illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. Thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the intended scope of the present invention.

Technology Category: 2