Abl IP Holding LLC

Osram Sylvania Inc.

Sajin George

Mitri J Abou-Rizk

Emanuel Paul Malandrakis

Yenpao Albert Lu

Xiangrong Li

Jesse Grant

Stephen Haight Lydecker

Christian Breuer

Marc Paul Saes

Kelby Edward Green

Anant Aggarwal

Yang Li

Pranav Kuber

Sean Serpa

Antonio F Mondragon

Yenpao Lu

Audwin W Cash

Sharanappa Avati

Kenneth Young

Maarten Lepelaars

Examples of a system and wireless RF device having an extended operational life are provided. The wireless RF device includes a substrate, at least one sensor configured to detect an occurrence of an event, a RF transceiver arranged on the substrate and configured to transmit and receive RF signals in an area, and a power supply coupled with the substrate. A processing device is coupled to the at least one sensor and the RF transceiver, and configured to: in response to expiration of a time period or the detection of the occurrence of an event, transition the RF device from a sleep or standby mode to an active mode; configure the RF transceiver to receive or transmit a data packet; obtain a status of an occurrence of another event from the at least one sensor; and transition the RF device from the active mode to the sleep or standby mode.

Extension of beacon operational life using integral photocell

In an example, a method comprises communicating with a radio frequency (RF)-enabled asset tag within a space, tracking a location of the RF-enabled asset tag within the space, determining location estimates of the asset tag as the asset tag moves within the space, and accepting identifying information from or about a selected user. The method additionally comprises determining, based on a predetermined correspondence criteria, a correspondence between the asset tag location and a position estimate of an electronic hardware device within the space. Further, in response to determining the correspondence between the asset tag and the electronic hardware device and based at least in part on the identifying information accepted via the electronic hardware device, the method includes associating tracked asset tag location information corresponding to the location estimates of the asset tag as the asset tag moved within the space to identification of the selected user.

Wireless indoor consumer tracking

An example method includes determining, at an aggregated point in time, an aggregated space node motion amount detected in a plurality of node sensing areas of a plurality of the nodes. The determining the aggregated space node motion amount includes compiling a plurality of sensing records from a subset or all of the nodes created by the subset or all of the nodes at a time substantially close to the aggregated point in time. The method additionally includes computing a temporal aggregated motion amount detected in a node sensing area of a respective node over time, using the aggregated time node motion amount. The method further includes computing a spatial aggregated motion amount in a portion of a space, using the aggregated space node motion amount, wherein the portion of the space correlates to the node sensing areas of the plurality of nodes.

Activity tracking using motion sensors in a wireless luminaire network

An example radio frequency (RF) positioning node system calculates a respective distance between an uncommissioned RF positioning node to each of neighboring commissioned RF positioning nodes based on a respective received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement. Based on the calculated respective distance to each of the neighboring commissioned RF positioning nodes and a set of commissioned location coordinates of each of the neighboring commissioned RF positioning nodes, the RF positioning node system estimates a set of uncommissioned location coordinates of the uncommissioned RF positioning node. The RF positioning node system determines a best fit assignment of the set of uncommissioned location coordinates of uncommissioned RF positioning nodes in an uncommissioned RF positioning node list to the set of commissioned location coordinates of non-operational commissioned RF positioning nodes in a non-operational RF positioning node list to adjust an RF positioning node map for each of the non-operational commissioned RF positioning nodes.

Self-healing in a luminaire or other radio frequency positioning node based system

A network has wireless enabled nodes of more than one hardware type. A computing device obtains a software update for one of the node types and sends an announcement of availability through the network. The announcement includes a node type identifier. A node that recognizes the identifier as matching its own hardware type collects the software update through a series of one or more requested packet transfers from the controller. Each packet carrying part of the update also includes the node type identifier. A node of a different type that has received the packets may serve as a source of missing packets to other nodes. Alternatively, nodes needing missing packets can fetch them from the computing device. When the software update is completely received by a node of the identified type, that node reboots and executes the updated software. Any node of another type discards the packets.

Selective updating of nodes of a nodal wireless network

In response to receiving a lighting system element request message from a gateway to detect a subset or all wireless RF floor beacons in the space, a lighting system element receives via a local wireless communication network, a respective floor beacon identification message including a detected respective wireless RF beacon identifier transmitted from a detected respective wireless RF floor beacon. The lighting system element determines a respective RF signal strength between the detected respective wireless RF floor beacon from the respective lighting system element based on the respective floor beacon identification message. The lighting system elements transmits, via the local wireless communication network, to the gateway a respective lighting system element report message including the detected respective wireless RF beacon identifier of the detected respective wireless RF floor beacon, the respective RF signal strength, and the respective lighting system element identifier.

Lighting system for locating wireless floor beacons in a space

Described examples include light fixtures and/or radio frequency (RF) nodes located in a service volume provided with a mobile asset detection system. The RF nodes receive beacon signals transmitted by mobile assets within the service volume. The mobile asset detection system includes a processor, a transceiver and multi-element antenna array. The multi-element antenna array includes multiple discrete antenna elements that, in some examples, are arranged so that at least one of the discrete antenna elements is non-coplanar with the other discrete antenna elements of the antenna array. Using signal attribute values determined from a signal received via each of the respective discrete antenna elements, a three dimensional estimate of the location of the mobile assets in a service volume may be determined.

Three-dimensional asset tracking using radio frequency-enabled nodes

A lighting system employs out-of-band (OOB) commissioning techniques, and includes a plurality of uncommissioned luminaires located in a space and a commissioning device. The commissioning device receives, via a visible light camera, over a VLC communication band, a respective VLC code of a respective uncommissioned luminaire. Commissioning device receives via a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, over an RF commissioning network band, a respective RF identifier of the respective uncommissioned luminaire. In response to receiving the respective VLC code and the respective RF identifier, commissioning device determines whether the respective uncommissioned luminaire is in a candidate luminaire roster of candidate luminaires suitable for commissioning in the space. Based on the determination of whether respective uncommissioned luminaire is in the candidate luminaire roster, commissioning device accepts or rejects commissioning of the respective uncommissioned luminaire in the space.

Out-of-band commissioning in a luminaire or other radio frequency network using visible light communication

An example luminaire-based positioning system calculates a respective distance between an uncommissioned luminaire to each of neighboring commissioned luminaires based on a respective received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement. Based on the calculated respective distance to each of the neighboring commissioned luminaires and a set of commissioned location coordinates of each of the neighboring commissioned luminaires, luminaire-based positioning system estimates a set of uncommissioned location coordinates of the uncommissioned luminaire. The luminaire-based positioning system determines a best fit assignment of the set of uncommissioned location coordinates of uncommissioned luminaires in an uncommissioned luminaire list to the set of commissioned location coordinates of non-operational commissioned luminaires in a non-operational luminaire list. The luminaire-based positioning system adjusts a luminaire node map for each of the non-operational commissioned luminaires based on the determined best fit assignment.

Examples of a system and a method for asset tracking are provided. The system includes wireless communication nodes in a space that receive a basic message including an asset tracking tag identifier and a basic message sequence number transmitted by an asset tracking tag. The wireless communication nodes measure a received basic message signal attribute, and transmit a node asset message including the asset tracking tag identifier, the basic message sequence number, a node identifier, and the measured signal attribute of the received basic message to an edge gateway. The edge gateway may receive the transmitted node asset message transmitted by each of some number of the wireless communication nodes and rank respective node identifiers extracted from the received node asset messages based the measured signal attribute. The edge gateway forwards an aggregated message to a fog gateway for obtaining an estimate of the location of the asset tracking tag.

Asset tag tracking system and network architecture

An example method includes propagating a message including an instruction, from a gateway to a plurality of ancillary nodal devices (devices) in a flood network. Each of the plurality of devices is within an equal number of transmissive steps of the gateway through the flood network such that the message is propagated with approximately equivalent delay to each of the plurality of devices and substantially simultaneously received by all of the devices. The method also includes substantially simultaneously transmitting the message from each respective one of the devices to end nodal devices (end nodes) of a group of end nodes in the flood network in communication with the respective one of the devices. The method further includes, upon receipt of the message from the devices, substantially simultaneously executing the instruction, by each of the group of the end nodes of the flood network.

Command execution synchronization in a flood network

The disclosure provides examples of systems and methods for determining locations of a number of radio frequency-enabled devices such as mobile devices and radio frequency-equipped beacons/luminaires within an indoor location. The radio frequency-enabled devices may be part of an indoor positioning system and/or content delivery system. The examples describe obtaining an angle of arrival (AoA) of the signals received by the respective radio frequency-enabled devices. The AOA data is used to identify the relative positions of the radio frequency-enabled devices as the mobile device moves about the indoor location. Upon comparing AOA measurements of the collected data related to a map of the location, the system may generate a data structure that may be presented graphically as a map of positions of the devices at the location. The described examples may enable a rapid commissioning process with respect to the radio frequency-enabled devices in a network.

Device locating using angle of arrival measurements

The disclosure provides an example of a system and a method for command execution synchronization in a nodal network. In one example, the method includes starting at a first time, propagating a message including an instruction and timestamp, in a nodal network including a plurality of wireless communication nodes (nodes). The timestamp identifies a second time later than the first time by an amount of time equal to or greater than a period of delay expected for propagation of the message through the nodal network to all of the nodes. The method also includes running a software (soft) clock in each of the nodes, the soft clocks being synchronized to within a timing error tolerance value of the soft clocks in other of the nodes and executing, by each respective one of the nodes, the instruction when the soft clock of the respective nodes reaches the second time identified by the timestamp.

Command execution synchronization in a nodal network using controlled delay techniques

A system includes a plurality of lighting devices connected in a network to communicate in a service area, and a smart tag configured to communicate with one or more of the lighting devices. Each respective lighting device is configured to transmit a radio frequency signal including a device identifier of the respective lighting device. In response to expiration of a time period or an occurrence of an event, the smart tag is configured to transition from a low power consumption sleep mode to an awake mode. During the awake mode, the smart tag is configured to provide information that enables a processor or other computing device to determine a position of the smart tag or any asset associated with the smart tag in the service area. Upon transmission of the information, the smart tag is transitioned from the awake mode back to the low power consumption sleep mode.

Asset tracking using active wireless tags that report via a local network of connected beacons

Devices in a wireless network, such as wirelessly networked lighting devices, utilize two different types of radios, e.g. implementing two or more protocols such as Bluetooth and WiFi. Such radios operate in overlapping frequency bands of the RF spectrum. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) of the two types of radio operations mitigates interference between the protocols competing in the spectrum overlap. In the examples with lighting devices, a driver of the light source provides a data bus that may be used as an auxiliary communications channel to implement TDM access by the radios to the overlapping frequency bands.

Growing community of inventors

Somerville, MA, United States of America

Sajin George