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. An illuminator that acts as a node in a distributed mesh network comprising:
 an LED light source;   a wireless communication interface; and   control circuitry associated with the wireless communication interface and adapted to:
 receive a message addressed to a logical group of illuminators; 
 determine if one or more neighboring illuminators belongs to the logical group of illuminators; 
 forward the message to each of the one or more neighboring illuminators belonging to the logical group of illuminators; and 
 control light emitted by the LED light source, wherein the illuminator is a mesh network node. 
   
     
     
       13. The illuminator of claim 12 wherein:
 the message includes a control request; and   the control circuitry is further adapted to determine if the illuminator belongs to the logical group of illuminators, and if the illuminator does belong to the logical group of illuminators, control the light emitted by the LED light source based on the control request such that all illuminators in the logical group of illuminators respond to the control request as an associated group.   
     
     
       14. The illuminator of claim 12 wherein the control circuitry is further adapted to send a control request via the wireless communication interface to at least one of the one or more neighboring illuminators. 
     
     
       15. The illuminator of claim 12 wherein the control circuitry is further adapted to:
 receive a first control request via the wireless communication interface from a first one of the one or more neighboring illuminators and control the light emitted by the LED light source based on the first control request; and   generate and send a second control request via the wireless communication interface to the first one of the one or more neighboring illuminators.   
     
     
       16. An illuminator comprising:
 an LED light source having at least one LED;   a wireless communication interface;   processing circuitry; and   a memory coupled to the processing circuitry, the memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to:
 assign a new identifier to the illuminator based on interaction with one or more other illuminators via the wireless communication interface such that the illuminator and the one or more other illuminators are each assigned different identifiers automatically without manual intervention; and 
 control light emitted by the LED light source. 
   
     
     
       17. The illuminator of claim 16 wherein the memory stores further instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to provide the new identifier to a director via the wireless communication interface. 
     
     
       18. The illuminator of claim 16 wherein the memory stores further instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to update the new identifier. 
     
     
       19. The illuminator of claim 16 wherein the memory stores further instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to automatically initiate interaction with the one or more other illuminators via the wireless communication interface to assign the new identifier to the illuminator in response to installation of the illuminator. 
     
     
       20. The illuminator of claim 16 wherein the illuminator is a mesh network node in a lighting network and the memory stores further instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to receive a message from at least one illuminator and send the message to at least one other illuminator. 
     
     
       21. The illuminator of claim 20 wherein the memory stores further instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to receive a control request via the wireless communication interface from the at least one illuminator and control the light emitted by the LED light source based on the control request. 
     
     
       22. The illuminator of claim 20 wherein the memory stores further instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the illuminator to send a control request via the wireless communication interface to the at least one illuminator.