Illumination control network

Abstract

The present invention addresses the problem of providing illumination in a manner that is energy efficient and intelligent. In particular, the present invention uses distributed processing across a network of illuminators to control the illumination for a given environment. The network controls the illumination level and pattern in response to light, sound, and motion. The network may also be trained according to uploaded software behavior modules, and subsets of the network may be organized into groups for illumination control and maintenance reporting.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A lighting system comprising a plurality of illuminators displaced relative to each other, each of plural illuminators comprising:
 a light source;   a sensor;   a communications interface communicating with other illuminators in a network;   a processor responsive to the sensor, the processor controlling the illuminator; the processors of plural illuminators configured to make illumination decisions through distributed processing across the network based on information exchange among the illuminators through the communication interfaces; and   a plurality of radio-frequency gateways that allow isolated portions of the system to communicate with each other.   
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the gateways are integrated into plural illuminators. 
     
     
       3. A lighting system comprising a plurality of illuminators displaced relative to each other, each of plural illuminators comprising:
 a light source;   a sensor;   a communications interface communicating with other illuminators in a network; and   a processor responsive to the sensor, the processor controlling the illuminator; the processors of plural illuminators configured to make illumination decisions through distributed processing across the network based on information exchange among the illuminators through the communication interfaces, wherein the processors forming the distributed network make lighting decisions according to a polling algorithm.   
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the polling algorithm weights stimuli sensed across the distributed network. 
     
     
       5. A method for providing illumination comprising:
 at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface;   processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions; and   using radio-frequency gateways that allow isolated portions of the distributed network to communicate with each other.   
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the gateways are integrated into plural illuminators. 
     
     
       7. A method for providing illumination comprising:
 at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface; and   processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing across the distributed network makes lighting decisions according to a polling algorithm.   
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the polling algorithm weights the stimuli sensed across the distributed network. 
     
     
       9. A method for providing illumination comprising:
 at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface; and   processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing comprises using a clock to control the timing of lighting decisions across the network.   
     
     
       10. A method for providing illumination comprising:
 at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface; and   processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing comprises responding to instructions for reduced emission at an illuminator by controlling emissions by neighboring illuminators to produce patterns of illumination.   
     
     
       11. A method for providing illumination comprising:
 at each of plural illuminators, emitting light from an illuminator, sensing stimuli with a sensor, and communicating with other illuminators through a communications interface; and   processing responses to the sensed stimuli across a distributed network of the plural illuminators to make illumination decisions, wherein the processing comprises learning reactions to stimuli according to a training set.   
     
     
       12. A lighting system comprising:
 a plurality of illuminators, each being coupled to an occupancy sensor and at least one other sensor wherein the plurality of illuminators is configured to:
 communicate with each other and one or more other devices via an illumination control network; 
 analyze occupancy sensor data from the occupancy sensor and the at least one other sensor to provide an indication of detected occupancy for a space, wherein analyzing the occupancy sensor data detects a presence of a human occupant by calculating an average value of occupancy and comparing against thresholds; and 
 adjust a light output of one or more LEDs in an LED light source based on commands received via the illumination control network; and 
   a gateway configured to:
 receive data from one or more of the plurality of illuminators via the illumination control network, wherein the data includes the indication of detected occupancy for the space and ambient condition data from the at least one other sensor; and 
 provide at least the indication of detected occupancy for the space and the ambient condition data to a network device outside of the illumination control network via an additional network. 
   
     
     
       13. The lighting system of claim 12 wherein the data from the one or more of the plurality of illuminators includes operational information about the one or more of the plurality of illuminators. 
     
     
       14. The lighting system of claim 12 wherein the gateway is further configured to:
 receive one or more commands from the network device, the one or more commands including instructions for adjusting the light output of the one or more LEDs in the LED light source of at least one of the plurality of illuminators; and   provide the one or more commands to the at least one of the plurality of illuminators.   
     
     
       15. The lighting system of claim 14 wherein providing the one or more commands to the at least one of the plurality of illuminators comprises indirectly providing the one or more commands to the at least one of the plurality of illuminators via at least another one of the plurality of illuminators. 
     
     
       16. The lighting system of claim 12 wherein the network device comprises a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system device. 
     
     
       17. The lighting system of claim 12 wherein the additional network is at least one of a building management system network or the Internet. 
     
     
       18. The lighting system of claim 12 wherein adjusting the light output of the one or more LEDs in the LED light source comprises adjusting at least one of a brightness, a color, or a power consumption of the one or more LEDs. 
     
     
       19. The lighting system of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of illuminators is coupled to a corresponding sound sensor. 
     
     
       20. The lighting system of claim 12, wherein:
 the gateway is further coupled to a security control system; and   the gateway is further configured to provide at least the indication of detected occupancy for the space to the security control system via the additional network.   
     
     
       21. The lighting system of claim 17, wherein:
 the gateway is further coupled to a building management system; and   the gateway is further configured to provide at least the indication of detected occupancy for the space to the building management system via the building management system network.   
     
     
       22. The lighting system of claim 12, wherein the at least one other sensor comprises a corresponding occupancy sensor. 
     
     
       23. The lighting system of claim 12, wherein the at least one other sensor is an ambient temperature sensor, or a motion sensor, or a light sensor, or a sound sensor.  
     
     
       24. A lighting system comprising:
 a plurality of illuminators, each comprising a corresponding occupancy sensor and at least one of a corresponding ambient temperature sensor or a corresponding ambient sound sensor, wherein the plurality of illuminators is configured to:   communicate with each other and one or more other devices via an illumination control network;   analyze occupancy sensor data from each corresponding occupancy sensor to provide an indication of detected occupancy for a space, wherein analyzing the occupancy sensor data detects a presence of a human occupant by calculating an average value of occupancy and comparing against thresholds; and   adjust a light output of one or more LEDs in a corresponding LED light source of each of the plurality of illuminators based on commands received via the illumination control network; and   a gateway configured to:   receive data from one or more of the plurality of illuminators via the illumination control network, wherein the data includes the indication of detected occupancy for the space and ambient condition data from each of the at least one of the corresponding ambient temperature sensors or the corresponding ambient sound sensors; and   provide a command to a network device via a building management system network outside the illumination control network based at least in part on the indication of detected occupancy for the space and the ambient condition data.   
     
     
       25. The lighting system of claim 24 wherein the data from the one or more of the plurality of illuminators includes operational information about the one or more of the plurality of illuminators. 
     
     
       26. The lighting system of claim 24 wherein the gateway is further configured to:
 receive one or more commands from the network device, the one or more commands including instructions for adjusting the light output of the one or more LEDs in the LED light source of at least one of the plurality of illuminators; and   provide the one or more commands to the at least one of the plurality of illuminators.   
     
     
       27. The lighting system of claim 26 wherein providing the one or more commands to the at least one of the plurality of illuminators comprises indirectly providing the one or more commands to the at least one of the plurality of illuminators via at least another one of the plurality of illuminators. 
     
     
       28. The lighting system of claim 24 wherein the gateway is further configured to provide at least a portion of the data from the one or more of the plurality of illuminators to a building management system via the building management system network. 
     
     
       29. The lighting system of claim 24 wherein each of the plurality of illuminators is an LED illuminator. 
     
     
       30. The lighting system of claim 24, wherein each of the plurality of illuminators is further coupled to a corresponding sound sensor.