Out-of-the-box commissioning of a lighting control system

Abstract

The present invention is related to verifying an installed lighting system (300), in particular an Ethernet-based lighting system (300), without it being necessary to employ a designated lighting controller and allowing the automatic commissioning of the installed lighting system (300). According to an aspect of the invention, this is achieved by providing a network switch (200) that comprises a plurality of ports for coupling luminaires (312A, 312B, 312C, 312D) and sensors and or actuators (314A, 314B) of the lighting system (300) to the network switch (200); and by setting the network switch (200) such that a signal received at a first port (e.g. port 4) of the plurality of ports is only forwarded to pre-selected ports (e.g. ports 2,3,5,6 and 7) of the plurality of ports.

Claims

1. A method of operating a lighting system, the lighting system being configured to be coupled to a control network and comprising a plurality of luminaires and at least one of a sensor and an actuator, the method including the steps of: providing a network switch that comprises a plurality of ports for coupling devices to the network switch; configuring the network switch by defining a first port group for coupling the plurality of luminaires and the at least one of a sensor and an actuator to the network switch, wherein the first port group comprises two or more pre-selected ports of the plurality of ports, wherein a broadcast or multicast message received at a port of the first port group from one of said at least one of a sensor and an actuator is only forwarded autonomously without a controller to the remaining ports of the first port group, and thereby to the devices connected to those ports, and wherein the first port group does not comprise one or more reserved ports of the plurality of ports; and operating the lighting system via the network switch prior to connecting to a control network.

2. The method according to claim 1, additionally comprising the steps of: coupling the at least one of a sensor and an actuator to a first port of the first port group; coupling one or more of the plurality of luminaires to one or more ports of the remaining ports of the first port group; receiving, at the first port, an output signal from the at least one of a sensor and an actuator coupled to the first port; forwarding, by the network switch, the received output signal, to the remaining ports of the first port group; receiving, by the one or more of the plurality of luminaires coupled to the one or more remaining ports of the first port group, the forwarded output signal; and setting, by the one or more of the plurality of luminaires coupled to the one or more remaining ports of the first port group, a respective light intensity.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more reserved ports of the network switch are reserved for interconnecting further network switches and/or for connecting a network controller of the control network.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of configuring the network switch additionally comprises: defining a second port group for coupling the plurality of luminaires and the at least one of a sensor and an actuator to the network switch, wherein the second port group comprises two or more further pre-selected ports of the plurality of ports, wherein a further signal received at a further port of the second port group is only forwarded to the remaining ports of the second port group, and wherein the second port group does not comprise ports of the first port group and the one or more reserved ports.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of defining a port group comprises the definition of a Virtual Local Area Network or the use of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is used and wherein the step of defining a port group comprises: assigning, by the network switch, a subnet address to the port group that is different from subnet addresses assigned to further port groups defined for the network switch.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of luminaires and the at least one of a sensor and an actuator are coupled to the network switch according to a lighting system plan.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the control network is an Ethernet-based network and/or the network switch is an Ethernet switch, Ethernet bridge, or an Ethernet IP router, or a combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the network switch is a Power-over-Ethernet network switch, and wherein the method additionally comprises: supplying, by the network switch, power to the plurality of luminaires and/or to the at least one of a sensor and an actuator via network cables connecting the network switch with the plurality of luminaires and/or the at least one of a sensor and an actuator.

10. The method according to claim 1, additionally comprising the steps of: coupling the at least one of a sensor and an actuator to a first port of the first port group; coupling one or more of the luminaires to one or more ports of the remaining ports of the first port group; acquiring, by the at least one of a sensor and an actuator, a network address for the at least one of a sensor and an actuator; sending, by the at least one of a sensor and an actuator, one of a broadcast and a multicast message to the luminaires via the network switch, the one of a broadcast and a multicast message inquiring about a network address associated with a respective luminaire; in response to the one of a broadcast and a multicast message, sending, by the luminaires, the associated network addresses to the at least one of a sensor and an actuator; selecting, by the at least one of a sensor and an actuator, at least one of the received network addresses; and sending, by the at least one of a sensor and an actuator, a unicast message comprising an output signal from the at least one of a sensor and an actuator to the at least one selected network address.

11. A computer program for operating a lighting system, the computer program comprising program code means stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for causing the lighting system to carry out the steps of the method as defined in claim 10, when the computer program is run on a computer controlling the lighting system.

12. A network switch for a lighting system that is configured to be coupled to a control network and that comprises a plurality of luminaires and at least one of a sensor and an actuator, the network switch comprising: a plurality of ports for coupling devices to the network switch; a controller configured to define a first port group for coupling the plurality of luminaires and the at least one of a sensor and an actuator to the network switch, wherein the first port group comprises two or more pre-selected ports of the plurality of ports, wherein the network switch is configured to autonomously forward without a controller a broadcast or multicast message received at a first port of the first port group only to the remaining ports of the first port group, and wherein the first port group does not comprise one or more reserved ports of the plurality of ports, and wherein the network switch is configured to operate the lighting system prior to connecting to a control network.

13. The network switch of claim 12, wherein the definition of the first port group comprises the definition of a Virtual Local Area Network or the use of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

14. A sensor or an actuator for a lighting system that comprises at least one network switch and that is configured to be coupled to a control network, the sensor or actuator comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire, from the network switch, a network address for the sensor or actuator; a transmitter configured to send, via the network switch, one of a broadcast and a multicast message to luminaires of the lighting system, the message inquiring about a network address associated with a respective luminaire; a receiver configured to receive network addresses sent by the respective luminaire in response to the message inquiring about the network address; and a selector for selecting one or more of the received network addresses, wherein the transmitter is further configured to autonomously without being connected to a control network unicast a sensor or actuator output signal only to the one or more selected network addresses.

15. A luminaire for a lighting system that comprises at least one network switch and that is configured to be coupled to a control network, the luminaire comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire, from the network switch, a network address for the luminaire; a receiver configured to receive, from a sensor or actuator coupled to the network switch, one of a broadcast and a multicast message, the message inquiring about a network address associated with the luminaire; a transmitter configured to autonomously without being connected to a control network send, in response to the one of a broadcast and a multicast message, a network address of the luminaire to the sensor or actuator; and a controller configured to control the luminaire in dependence on an output signal comprised in a unicast message sent by the sensor or actuator to the luminaire.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the following drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows schematically and exemplarily a representation of a lighting system that is operated by means of a method in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows schematically and exemplarily a representation of a lighting system that is operated by means of a method in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 shows schematically and exemplarily a representation of a lighting system that is operated by means of a method in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; and

(5) FIG. 4 shows schematically and exemplarily a representation of a lighting system that is operated by means of a method in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(6) FIGS. 1 to 4 show schematically and exemplarily representations of a lighting system 300 that is operated by means of a method in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

(7) The lighting system 300 is an installed lighting system that is coupled to a plurality of network switches 200, 201 and 202, for instance Ethernet switches. These switches are coupled, via switch 200, to a control network 100. However, it will be understood that the coupling to the control network 100 is not necessary for the implementation of any of the methods described hereinafter.

(8) In the illustrated scenarios, each of the network switches 200, 201 and 202 comprises eight ports, namely port 1 to port 8. Two ports are reserved for interconnecting the ports with each other, or for coupling to the control network 100. In the illustrated scenarios, these ports are ports 1 and 8 of each of the network switches 200, 201 and 203. The remaining ports, namely ports 2 to 7, are ports for connecting to luminaires and sensors of the lighting system 300. Certainly, the ports other than ports 1 and 8 could be reserved for connecting to other switches.

(9) The lighting system 300 is logically divided into three divisions 310, 320 and 330, wherein division 310 is coupled to network switch 200, division 320 is coupled to network switch 201 and division 330 is coupled to network switch 202.

(10) The lighting system comprises a plurality of luminaires 312A to 312D, 322A to 322D and 332A to 332D (illustrated as a cross in a circle) and a plurality of sensors 314A, 314B, 324A, 324B, 334A and 334B (illustrated as a star). Here it is to be understood that where the description below mentions sensor, this equally applies to actuator. As described above, the luminaires can be any kind of luminaire that comprises an interface that allows for coupling to a network switch. The sensors can be any kind of sensor that comprises an interface that allows for coupling to a network switch, e.g., a motion detection sensor, a light intensity sensor, a light switch and so forth.

(11) Now, referencing to FIG. 1, the installed lighting system 300 is operated as follows: The network switch 200 is set such that a sensor output signal received from sensor 314A at port 4 and or from sensor 314B at port 6 is only forwarded to pre-selected ports 2, 3, 5 and 7, but not to ports 1 and 8 that are reserved for connecting to control network 100 (port 1) and the neighboring switch 201 (port 8). For example, sensor 314A is a motion detection sensor that observes an area and broadcasts a sensor output signal in dependence on the presence/non-presence of an object (such as a person) in the observed area. The broadcasted sensor output signal is forwarded to ports 2, 3, 5 and 7 of switch 200, only. Thus, the luminaires 312A, 312B, 314C and 314D act according to the forwarded sensor output broadcast signal submitted by sensor 314A, e.g., by turning on/off or by adapting an emitted light intensity.

(12) Similarly, the network switch 201 illustrated in FIG. 1 is set such that a sensor output signal received from sensor 324A at port 4 and or from sensor 324B at port 6 is only forwarded, by the network switch 200, to pre-selected ports 2, 3, 5 and 7, but not to ports 1 and 8 that are reserved for connecting to the neighboring network switches 200 (port 1) and 202 (port 8). Correspondingly, network switch 202 is set such that a sensor output signal received from sensor 334A at port 4 and or from sensor 334B at port 6 is only forwarded to pre-selected ports 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the network switch 202, but not to ports 1 and 8 that are reserved for connecting to the neighboring network switch 201 (port 1) and a further network switch (port 8) that is not illustrated in FIG. 1.

(13) Turning now to FIG. 2, the network switches are set such that a first port group and a second port group are defined for each of the network switches 200, 201 and 202. Generally spoken, a sensor output signal received at a port belonging to the first port group is only forwarded to one or more of the remaining ports of the first port group and another sensor output signal received at a port belonging to the second port group is only forwarded to one or more of the remaining ports of the second port group.

(14) For instance, luminaires 312B, 312 D, 322B, 322 D, 332B and 332 D are installed on a window side of a building, and luminaires 312A, 312 C, 322A, 322 C, 332A and 332 C are installed on a corridor side of a building. It may be desired that luminaires installed on the corridor side are controlled differently from luminaires that are installed on the window side.

(15) In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, network switch 200 has a set VLAN group #1 that comprises ports 5, 6 and 7 and a set VLAN group #2 that comprises ports 2, 3 and 4. The same applies for the network switches 201 and 202, even though, every network switch could certainly be set differently.

(16) Again, the respective ports 1 and 8 are reserved for connecting to further switches or to the control network 100.

(17) Thus, a sensor output signal received from sensor 314A at port 4 of network switch 200 is only forwarded to ports 2 and 3, i.e., to luminaires 312A and 312C installed on a corridor side of a building. Such a sensor signal is not forwarded to the remaining ports of switch 200. Accordingly, a sensor output signal received from sensor 334B at port 6 of switch 202 is only forwarded to ports 5 and 7, i.e., to luminaires 332B and 332D installed on a window side of a building.

(18) In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the sensors can either multicast, broadcast or unicast their respective sensor output signals. Before unicasting, the sensors find out which luminaires are part of the same port group. For instance, sensor 324A broadcasts a request message requesting IPMAC addresses of the luminaires of the same port group, namely luminaires 322A and 322C. After that, sensor 324A selectively unicasts a sensor output signal to luminaire 322A and/or luminaire 322C, according to which sensors 322A/322C can act.

(19) In order to realize such out-of-the-box-commissioning, the network switches 200, 201 and 202 can be, e.g., pre-configured Ethernet switches. Such pre-configuring can occur during or after the manufacturing process of the switches.

(20) Reference is now made to FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the network switches 200, 201 and 202 each comprise a DHCP server for defining port groups. Thus, in this embodiment, there are no set VLAN groups. The function of said use of a DHCP server will now be explained in detail with respect to network switch 201. It shall be understood that the remaining network switches 200 and 202 can certainly be operated correspondingly.

(21) When sensors 324A and 324B and luminaires 322A to 322 D are connected to network switch 201, the network switch 201 hands out pre-defined DHCP settings to these sensors and luminaires. These settings include a particular IP address for each sensor and each luminaire, an IP subnet address and a subnet mask according to an IP protocol specification. The network switch 201 may randomly choose a quasi-unique subnet address and a subnet mask for all its ports 1 to 8. Or, alternatively, a separate subnet address and a subnet mask for several port groups of network switch 201, e.g., in case of a window side and a corridor side, must be distinguished. For example, if the DHCP server of network switch 201 chooses a subnet address of 10.1.1.x with a subnet mask 255.255.0.0 for a first port group (ports 2, 3 and 4), 65534 subnet addresses are available for random selection, which leads to hardly any collision between two network switches in an installation.

(22) Since, in an example, an IP address with a subnet address 10.1.1.x is chosen by network switch 201 for its sensors and luminaires 322A, 322C and 324A for port group #1 (ports 2, 3 and 4), sensor 324A can broadcast to subnet-wide broadcast address 10.1.1.255, such that all luminaires (322A and 332C) that share the same subnet address (as they belong to the same port group of the network switch 201) will be able to receive and act accordingly. And since an IP address with a subnet address 10.1.2.x is chosen by network switch 201 for its sensors and luminaires 322B, 322D and 324B for port group #2 (ports 5, 6 and 7), sensor 324B can broadcast to subnet-wide broadcast address 10.1.2.255, such that all luminaires (322B and 332D) that share the same subnet address (as they belong to the same port group of the network switch 201) will be able to receive and act accordingly.

(23) Instead of subnet-wide broadcasting, the sensors can also multicast their sensor output signals. In such a case, the DHCP server of network switch 201 chooses randomly a multicast address for every port group of the network switch. The DHCP server informs the multicast address chosen for sensors and luminaires when they ask for an IP address. The sensors then multicast their messages to this configured multicast address.

(24) Instead of subnet-wide broadcasting or multicasting, the sensors can also unicast their sensor output signals. In this case, sensors use subnet-wide broadcasting or multicasting first in order to find what devices are on the subnet and to identify their IP addresses. Alternatively, the sensors can also unicast to the network switch or to the DHCP server in order to inquire which devices are currently on the subnet. Subsequently, the sensors can unicast their sensor output signals (e.g., status changes) to every luminaire that they have identified. In this alternative embodiment, the network switches need to hand out IP addresses for the connected luminaires and sensors.

(25) Reference is now made to FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the network switches build up their own database for defining port groups and for realizing the forwarding of received sensor output signals.

(26) First, an IP address is assigned to every connected luminaire and every connected sensor, e.g. via an auto IP-procedure or via an integrated DHCP server. The network switch stores the assigned IP addresses associated with every port. Based on stored IP addresses, port groups are defined. For instance, network switch 201 has the following defined port groups:

(27) Port 2: Group #1IP address: 10.1.5.31/MAC address: FE..A1

(28) Port 3: Group #1IP address: 10.1.91.2/MAC address: FE..A2

(29) Port 4: Group #1IP address: 10.0.36.3/MAC address: FE..A3

(30) Port 5: Group #2IP address: 10.0.2.19/MAC address: FE..B1

(31) Port 6: Group #2IP address: 10.0.42.7/MAC address: FE..B2

(32) Port 7: Group #2IP address: 10.0.87.6/MAC address: FE..B3

(33) Certainly, the network switches 200 and 202 can have the same or other defined port groups.

(34) The random distribution of IP addresses shall also indicate that the network switch 201 (and/or the other network switches depicted in FIG. 4) forwards a received sensor output signal to preselected luminaires in a more intelligent way.

(35) Again, ports 1 and 8 of each network switch are reserved for connecting to further network switches or to the control network 100.

(36) For instance, the sensors 314A, 314B, 324A, 324B, 334A and/or 334B broadcast, multicast or unicast their sensor output signal to the network switches. The network switch forwards a received sensor output signal only to pre-selected ports, namely those which belong to the same port group. This can simply be done by checking the IP address the MAC address of the received sensor output signal and by identifying the IP addresses the MAC addresses that are associated with the same group. For instance, if sensor 324B that is connected to port 6 of network switch 201 broadcasts a sensor output signal, such a signal is only forwarded to ports 5 and 7, i.e., to luminaires 322B and 322D with IP addresses 10.0.2.19 and 10.0.87.6, since the network switch 201 knows that these luminaires belong to the same port group as sensor 324B.

(37) In the embodiments described above, the lighting system was coupled to three network switches, wherein each of the switches comprised 8 ports. Certainly, the invention is not limited to such a scenario. For instance, there can be more or fewer than three switches and the switches can comprise more or fewer than 8 ports.

(38) It shall be understood that an arrangement of elements of a figure predominately serves to provide a plausible description; it does not relate to any actual geometric arrangement of parts of a manufactured device according to the invention. In the claims, the word comprising does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article a or an does not exclude a plurality.

(39) A single unit or device may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims.

(40) Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

(41) Summarizing, the present invention is related to verifying an installed lighting system, in particular an Ethernet-based lighting system, without the need to employ a designated lighting controller and without the need to completely commission the installed lighting system. According to an aspect of the invention, this is achieved by providing a network switch that comprises a plurality of ports for coupling luminaires and sensors of the lighting system to the network switch; and by setting the network switch such that a signal received at a first port of the plurality of ports is only forwarded to pre-selected ports of the plurality of ports.