HK1088406B - A security system and a method of operating - Google Patents

Description

Security system and method of operating the same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a security system for a house, such as a residence, apartment or office, and a method for operating the security system.

Background

With technological advances, home automation is a long-standing goal to achieve. Home automation will provide more freedom and automation for people with disabilities or the elderly. Other members of the family would benefit from the comfort and convenience provided by the family automation.

However, existing methods of home automation are in fact private and are not scalable solutions that cannot accommodate market growth. Each company or school has its own system or infrastructure that is not compatible with other companies or schools. Briefly, both the system and the underlying protocol are vendor specific.

In addition, the existing household appliances and electronic systems suffer from the following drawbacks and limitations:

a. the devices are mostly independent and therefore functionally separated from each other.

b. All functions and limitations of the device are preset by the manufacturer/vendor.

c. Very few devices are "cross-application type," e.g., motion detectors connected to standard security control panels are not typically used for residential energy conservation or residential alarm purposes.

d. The various devices may have some common functionality. For example, a ringing alarm clock, a radio clock tuned to a radio station at a predetermined time, a periodically turned on spray control panel, a residential economizer that turns off the lights after a predetermined time of inactivity, and a video recorder that records television programming all contain an internal clock. At a minimum, this is an unnecessary repetition of resources. These internal clocks are also not synchronized with each other, increasing the difficulty of multiple devices working in unison with each other.

e. Adding new functionality to a device that was not originally contemplated by the manufacturer/vendor is very difficult and sometimes impossible.

f. It is difficult to transmit audio and/or video signals to different locations of a house without installing more wires. Often, wiring is necessary between any possible audio and/or video source and destination pair, which results in a large number of wires required for the entire installation.

g. Most appliances have their own remote control device, resulting in confusion and inconvenience in distributing a large number of remote control devices around the house.

h. In some cases, cooperation of several devices is required. For example, to watch a DVD movie, the television must switch to AV mode, must select the DVD video input for the amplifier and the appropriate digital audio mode, then switch on the DVD player to play the DVD disc, and the curtain must be put down and the light dimmed. The user must therefore perform all these functions before he can sit down to enjoy the DVD film, and vice versa when he finishes watching the DVD film and wants to watch the television again.

Further, in conventional security systems, security zones are set and typically designated by location, e.g., one zone per room. The sensor devices in each zone are connected to a central safety control board. Each particular zone may be individually armed or disarmed. Upon triggering any device, and the zone is armed, a predetermined action is performed, e.g., an alarm is raised. However, there is no estimate of the situation, i.e., each trigger of the relevant sensor is considered a security event request action. It is not possible to assign the relevant class according to the importance of the alarm signal provided by each individual sensor device. For example, it is often difficult to program a control panel to trigger an alarm signal, and fewer more devices and complex relationships are supported only when the detectors and sensors are simultaneously activated within a short period of time of each other, and even through more advanced control panels. Therefore, false alarms are common.

It is also difficult to exclude a specific series of activities or a specific device from the security configuration unless the device is wired in its own zone, in which case it can be deactivated separately. It is therefore not generally possible to set the system such that it ignores the sequence of events, for example, in which a bedroom door is opened, followed by movement on the stairs and movement in the kitchen (together indicating a person getting up to drink), but in a series of opposite events an audible alarm is sounded which together indicates a thief breaking into the bedroom from the kitchen. Thus, conventional systems allow users to either accept a seemingly secure situation or all insecure situations.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of operating a security system in which the above disadvantages are reduced, or at least to provide another solution which is useful to the public.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a security system, the security system comprising means for detecting the occurrence of at least one event of absolute relevance, and means for generating an output, wherein the detecting means and the output means are operatively connected to each other, the method comprising the steps of: assigning at least one threat level to each security-related event; determining a current threat level for the system based on a threat level of a security-related event detected by the detection device; comparing a current threat level of the system to a predetermined threshold threat level; causing the output device to generate an output when the current threat level meets or exceeds the threshold threat level; wherein a current threat level for the system is determined in order of occurrence of at least two previously occurring security-related events.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a security system comprising means for detecting the occurrence of at least one security-related event, and means for generating an output, wherein said detecting means and said output means are operatively connected to each other, the system further comprising means for assigning at least one threat level to each security-related event, means for determining a current threat level for the system on the basis of the threat level of a security-related event detected by said detecting means, means for comparing the current threat level for the system with a predetermined threshold threat level, wherein said output means is adapted to generate an output when the current threat level meets or exceeds the threshold threat level; wherein a current threat level for the system is determined in order of occurrence of at least two previously occurring security-related events.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a first schematic diagram of a two-tier distributed network architecture design of an integrated programmable system for controlling the operation of electrical and/or electronic devices of a premise, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second schematic view of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a third schematic view of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram representing the physical architecture of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a network of various electrical and/or electronic devices in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the reproduction of an audio signal in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 illustrates a known method of achieving audio distribution;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an integrated security system forming part of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an integrated earlier monitoring system forming part of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an integrated residential energy saving system forming part of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an integrated automatic sprinkler system forming part of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of the operation of the central server in the system shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the operation of the intelligent controller in the system shown in FIG. 1.

Fig. 14 is a flow chart of a method of operating a security system in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring first to fig. 1, there is shown a schematic diagram of an integrated programmable system for controlling electrical and/or electronic devices of a premises, such as a dwelling, at a first level of understanding in accordance with the present invention.

The basic design principle is as follows:

1. a house is built and considered a programmable platform, where each aspect of the house serviced by electrical and/or electronic devices can be controlled via one or more programs written into the platform architecture.

2. Rewiring or rewiring connections to physical hardware does not require a change in system configuration.

3. Hard-wiring conditions are minimized as much as possible.

4. The system consists of a number of simplified (non-intelligent) components, each offering only one or a few simple generic services, and co-operating under the direction and coordination of central intelligence.

5. The components themselves preferably do not have intelligence.

6. By mixing and/or matching different services performed by the various components, the operations and desired features are achieved.

7. All components are controlled and described by exposing customized translators of standard interfaces to the central intelligence so that the central intelligence does not have to know the details of a particular service/hardware provider.

8. The system may be controlled through a number of different user interfaces such as a web browser, a television with a remote control, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a touch screen, a cellular phone, etc.

As can be seen from fig. 1, in general terms, an integrated programmable system (generally designated 100) for controlling the operation of electrical and/or electronic devices of a premises consists of a two-tier distributed network architecture design, having an external device tier 102 and an internal control tier 104. The device layer 102 includes various electrical and/or electronic devices and equipment including, but not limited to, security sensors, monitoring equipment, audio and/or visual devices, telephone devices, lighting devices, display devices, control devices, switches, mechanical equipment, and the like. All of these devices are connected directly or indirectly to a central home server 106 in the control layer 104 via a common digital communication hub. The home server 106 allows the end user to control, adjust and program the rules and manner of operation of the various devices. The common digital communication hub includes a central cable (bus) that connects all devices to the central control layer 104. The common digital communications backbone may be a single foil shielded twisted pair (FTP) CAT5e cable that runs throughout the house. Also included in control layer 104 are a plurality of intelligent controllers 108, each for directly controlling and monitoring the operation of one or more of the various electrical and/or electronic devices in device layer 102. The various intelligent controllers 108 are also connected to the digital communications hub and to each other via one or more hubs, switches or routers 110, and the system 100 may also be connected to the internet via one or more hubs, switches or routers 110.

The intelligent controller 108 may be implemented as a book-sized form-factor industrial control computer (IPC). The actual hardware is PC-based, with a high-speed Central Processing Unit (CPU), 256M Random Access Memory (RAM) and a small (say 20-40GB) hard drive, as well as a number of hardware devices implemented in the motherboard itself (e.g., 100Base-T networks, analog audio input/output, and 3D graphics). Each intelligent controller 108 runs Microsoft Windows^®The Embedded XP operating system. In each smart controller 108, a PCI based digital input/output (I/O) card is typically installed, with 24 to 84 digital inputs, although the system also supports many other brands of PCI based, CPI based, ISA based or RS232/RS485 based digital I/O modules on the market. Each digital I/O module card can accept switch inputs from a plurality of sensor devices connected to optically insulated terminals on the card by standard electrical wires. The regulated power supply provides 12V and 24V dc power via wires to such devices and equipment as motion detectors, smoke detectors, glass break detectors, door and window contacts, gas and water sensors, and the like. A contact switch is wired in series with the 12V dc power supply in each input channel of the digital I/O card to provide 12V power to a particular I/O channel when the device is triggered (e.g., the relay switch is closed).

The various devices and apparatuses may be directly connected to the intelligent controller 108 in the following manner:

-controlling a communicating thermostat (supporting serial protocol) of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to connect to an RS232 serial port of the intelligent controller, either directly or via an RS485 converter;

the fingerprint scanner is connected to the intelligent controller 108 via a USB port or a parallel port;

the infrared receiver and infrared router/transmitter are connected to the RS232 serial port of the intelligent controller 108;

some commercial devices (e.g. plasma tv and weather stations) also have a built-in serial communication port that can be connected to the RS232 serial port of the intelligent controller 108;

a microphone is connected to the audio input port and hardware is available on the sound card to compress these audio streams into digital format (e.g. MP3) for transmission to other smart controllers or home servers 106 for playback or recording purposes;

pan-tilt zoom (pan-tilt-zoom) cameras are connected to the RS232 serial port of the smart controller 108 for control and their video is connected to a USB port or composite video input port for one or more video capture cards installed in the smart controller 108. These video capture cards may contain the hardware necessary to compress the video stream into a digital format (e.g., MPEG2) for transmission, or the compression may be performed in software.

Each connection to a device or apparatus is unique and is described by an address. A central database in the home server 106 stores all addresses of devices or appliances connected to the system 100. The device address contains all the required information that allows the system 100 to connect to that particular device or apparatus for communication therewith. Such information may include the serial port number connected to the device/apparatus, communication protocol speed, apparatus model, signal timing, data format, and so forth.

Fig. 2 shows the architecture of the system 100 in a more detailed level. The system 100 includes a Unified Devices Abstraction Layer (UDAL) 112, the functionality of which corresponds to a portion of the home server 106 shown in FIG. 1 and described above. The hardware devices may be connected to the UDAL 112 via various standard interfaces. For example:

a. legacy and internet telephony devices may be connected to the UDAL 112 via a Telephony Application Program Interface (TAPI) and a personal computer-private branch exchange (PC-PBX);

b. the audio and/or visual and/or gaming device may be connected to the UDAL 112 via DirectX, a suite of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) developed by Microsoft corporation, or DirectShow;

c. lighting devices, various electrical and/or electronic devices, control devices, and the like may be connected to the UDAL 112 via:

1. an X-10 power control module sold by X-10 inc. These modules are devices that plug into an outlet and allow a user to remotely control the power to their plugged-in lights or appliances. There are also X-10 modules installed to control the lights instead of wall switches, and some that can be used to dial back the thermostat;

2. universal plug and play (UPnP), a network architecture that provides compatibility between networked devices, software and peripheral devices of various vendors that are part of the universal plug and play forum;

CEBus Standard, non-proprietary protocol based on open standards (EIA600) established by the CEBus industry Committee, allowing each CEBus HomePnP^TMThe device is connected with each other CEBus HomePnP on the power line^TMCommunication without the need for a new line. These CEBus HomePnPs^TMThe devices can be networked through a central controller for larger and more scalable automation projects;

jini, software from Sun Microsystems;

5. a remote control device management interface provided by emWare, inc. of the united states;

6. home audio video interactive application (HAVi), a vendor-neutral audio video standard that allows different home entertainment and communication devices (such as video recorders, televisions, stereos, security systems, video monitors) to be networked together and controlled by a recipient device, e.g., a personal computer. Using IEEE1394 as an interconnection medium, HAVi allows products from different vendors to be compatible with each other based on established connection and communication protocols and APIs. One key feature of HAVi is the ability to easily add new devices to the network. When a new device is installed, the system will reconfigure itself to be compatible with it. Other services provided by the distributed application system include: addressing schemes and messaging, finding discovery resources, logging and receiving local or remote events, streaming and controlling isochronous data streams;

7. a dedicated interface;

8. standard serial bus interfaces, e.g. RS232, 422, 485 and FireWire^TM。FireWire^TMIs the name given by apple computer corporation to products supporting the IEEE1394 standard, which is a very fast external bus standard supporting data transfer rates up to 400 Mbps;

9. relays and switches; and

10. digital and analog input/output interfaces.

Since, at least in theory, there are an unlimited number of devices or apparatuses and different methods to communicate with or control them, it is the case for the intelligent controller system software that translates the communication protocols and commands for the various devices or apparatuses into a unified solution that is easily fit into the system 100. These program logics form a unified device abstraction layer, and the uniform schema format is a unified device space.

A possible unified device space format may be a simple device name plus an attribute name, as shown in table 1:

watch 1

Name of the device	Attribute name	Of significance
			Electric powerVideo machine	PowerOn	Status of power button
Television receiver	Channel	Current channel number
			Television receiver	Volume	Volume of sound
Air conditioner	CurrentTemp	Current room temperature
			Air conditioner	TargetTemp	Target temperature
Air conditioner	PowerOn	Status of power button
			Air conditioner	FanOn	State of fan button

The system software converts the actual device state and settings into this unified device space format. For example, a television may be a "legacy device," i.e., a device that does not have built-in digital communication functionality. A light sensor may be connected to the digital I/O board to detect whether the television power LED is on. If so, the "Power on" attribute of the "television" device is set to true. The physical current sensor may be connected to an analog voltmeter to detect the volume level. To turn on/off the television or change the channel/volume, the infrared transmitting device may be called to emit an associated infrared remote control code. The air conditioner may be controlled by a connected air conditioning device. In this case, finding out the current temperature and power state, etc. may be accomplished by a serial cable connected to the air conditioning device through its RS232 port, sending the relevant text commands in a format prescribed by the communication protocol of the air conditioner, and waiting for a response. In the first case, i.e., with a "legacy" television set, the system software converts the multiple physical metrics into logical values that are represented in a unified device space. In the second case, the system software translates the communication protocol of the air conditioner to values in the unified equipment space.

The benefit of uniform equipment space is that in the present system 100, all other system modules can operate by controlling, measuring, and detecting them and their status and settings. To customize the script to the system (see below), the user simply publishes:

SetDeviceProperty("TV","PowerOn",True)

SetDeviceProperty("A/C","PowerOn",True)

so as to simultaneously turn on the television and the air conditioner. The system software automatically converts these unified equipment space commands into the appropriate infrared codes sent by the infrared transmitter to the television set, and the appropriate text commands sent via RS232 to the thermostat of the air conditioner.

With respect to the public digital communication backbone, these may be transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) or frame relay/asynchronous transfer mode (FR/ATM) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) over cable, wireless lan or fiber under the 100Base-T (fast Ethernet) standard (ieee802.3 u).

System 100 may be connected to the internet via an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) standard, cable, Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL), etc. The system 100 includes a main user interface that allows end users to interact with a unified device abstraction layer, including the home server 106 of the system 100, and Direct3D as an application program interface for manipulating and displaying three-dimensional objects, for programming, setting, resetting, and/or changing the manner in which the various components and devices connected to the system 100 operate. Some other acronyms appearing in fig. 2 have the following meanings:

"WAP" stands for wireless application protocol, which is a security specification that allows users to instantaneously access information through handheld wireless devices, such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios.

"HTML" stands for hypertext markup language, which is an editing language for creating documents on the world wide web. HTML defines the structure and layout of web documents by using various tags and attributes.

"XML" stands for extensible markup language, which is a specification specifically designed for Web documents. Which allows designers to create their own personalized tags, allowing inter-application and inter-organization data to be defined, transmitted, validated and interpreted.

"ASP" stands for dynamic server homepage, which is a specification for a web page with ASP extensions dynamically created by using ActiveX scripts. When the browser requests an ASP page, the web server generates a page with HTML code and sends it back to the browser.

"ADO" stands for ActiveX data object, which is a microsoft's high-level interface for data objects. ADO is very versatile and can be used to access a variety of different types of data, including web pages, spreadsheets, and other types of documents.

"IIS" stands for internet information service, which is a microsoft web server running on the Windows NT platform.

"VBScript" stands for Visual Basic script editing, a scripting language. VBScript is based on Visual Basic programming language, but is simpler. It allows web authors to include interactive controls, such as buttons and scroll bars, on their web pages.

Fig. 3 shows the hardware protocol and also the integration of the unified device abstraction layer, system core engine and control interface of the common communications backbone. With particular reference to the control interface, it can be seen that system 100 may be controlled by operating on the internet, a WAP phone, a computer, a remote control device, a touch screen, or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), among others. As technology advances, some other protocols and/or interfaces may be incorporated into existing systems.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of the system 100 at another, different level. The system 100 includes a central controller 120, which corresponds to the home server 106 shown in fig. 1. The central controller 120 is coupled to a plurality of intelligent controllers 108 via a high speed digital hub 124 corresponding to a common digital communication hub. Each smart controller 108 is connected to a plurality of electrical and/or electronic devices, i.e., hardware devices 126, via various types of physical wiring. Most such hardware devices 126 are connected to the intelligent controller 108 that is physically closest to them. However, these hardware devices 126 may be directly connected to the central controller 120. For the purposes of the present invention, the intelligent controller 108 has processing capabilities, its own operating system, application software, a plurality of virtual devices 128, software devices 129, and other translator hardware to interface with the hardware devices 126 connected thereto.

A software device is a device that exists only in software and has hardware that does not necessarily match. These may include a speed generator implemented in software only, which takes simple text and generates an acoustic signal. These sound signals are then fed to an amplifier to produce sound.

A virtual device is a device that claims to have an actual hardware device, although in practice it only simulates such a device by performing appropriate actions on another hardware device. An example of virtual device usage can be found in automatic private branch exchange (PABX) systems. The PABX hardware supports multiple central office telephone lines, plus multiple extension telephones. If a virtual device is designed for such a PABX system, it may comprise a virtual telephone device that emulates a conventional simple telephone line, even though it actually calls the PABX system to perform these tasks. The user of such a virtual telephone device may not need to know that the telephone is not a conventional telephone line, but is part of a PABX system.

The central home server 106 comprises a high speed PC based system connected to a digital communications hub, with 160GB of hardware memory and 512MB of RAM. It runs Microsoft Windows^®The Server2003 operates the system and is physically connected to all other intelligent controllers 108 in the same system 100 over a TCP/IP network. Within the home server 106, there is also running a Microsoft data Engine (MSDE), which is a relational database engine that stores all device installation information for the entire system 100. The home server 106 is also connected to the X10 automation controller via RS232 which in turn plugs in the power supply. The X10 automation controller serves as a bridge to control a number of devices and appliances that understand the X10 power line carrier protocol. Home server 106 also contains Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), and ASP Web application programs that allow users to control the system via a standard Web browser.

The home server 106 also has sufficient hard disk space to store digitized audio files (for whole house audio), digitized video files (for video on demand), video and audio recordings (e.g., from a closed circuit television camera, telephone answer messages, etc.), and other system installation files in a network shared folder. The intelligent controllers 108 may request these files when they need to play back audio or video in a particular room or residence. The home server 106 may also double as an intelligent controller for multiple rooms and areas of a house.

The home server 106, when started, automatically runs system software that performs the following functions:

detecting and establishing communication with each intelligent controller 108 in the network;

-maintaining a set of custom scripts written in a scripting language (Visual Basic, VBScript or JavaScript) to be triggered at specific system events (stored in a database);

maintaining a snapshot of all the devices and apparatuses in the system 100 and the current values of all the states and settings of each device or apparatus. These values are all stored in a uniform device space format so that any intelligent controller or custom script can be read from the database without having to know the actual details of the device or equipment;

-waiting until notified by the smart controller 108 that a particular state or setting of a particular device or apparatus has changed value;

-when a change is notified, identifying whether any custom script needs to be run due to that change, and if so, executing the script;

-when the script requires a particular device or apparatus to perform a particular action, such as turning on power, sending a request in a unified device space format to the intelligent controller that is processing the particular device or apparatus;

-recording any required change notifications in a database for historical reference; and

saving the internal clock to wake up periodically in order to check if any formulated event (defined by the custom script) should be run.

For example, when the owner of a house wishes to enter the house closed by a door lock, he/she places his/her finger on a fingerprint scanner connected to the smart controller 108. The intelligent controller 108 will then periodically poll the fingerprint scanner for images and detect new images. It presumes that this represents a change in value for a particular state of the fingerprint scanner, i.e. the previous image is blank. It then sends a notification to the home server 106 in the unified device space format that informs it that the device "FingerPrint (FingerPrint)" has changed the attribute "image" to a new image. Upon receiving this notification, the home server 106 will scrutinize its own database and discover when the "image" attribute for the device "fingerprint" has changed, then a custom script "check fingerprint (CheckFingerprint)" should be run. Then, a script "checkfingerprint" is executed, which first checks the fingerprint against fingerprints stored in the database in order to determine a match. If a match is found, a request is sent to change the "open" attribute of the device "door lock (DoorLock)" to "true". Upon receiving this command, the intelligent controller 108 handling the door lock translates the command into an appropriate physical action that will turn on the digital output channel on the digital I/O board to energize the relay switch that sends 12V to the electronic door strike (electric door strike), opening the door.

Following are sample scripts suitable for controlling the opening of the front door of a house or other related actions, including scanning a fingerprint image with a fingerprint scanner, receiving data from a smart card, or entering codes via a keyboard and other actions of the various devices and apparatuses of the system after opening the front door. 'checking the identity of an individual Dim Name As StringSelect Case TriggerSourcecase "FINGERPRINT'

' scanning fingerprint

Name=IntelliHome.LookupUser(UserID)

If Not(Name Is Nothing)Then

' tracking position

IntelliHome.LocationTracking("FRONTYARD")=UserID

Else

' fingerprint not found

IntelliHome.Devices("FRONTYARD_Speakers","TextToSpeech")="Fingerprint not recognized.Access denied."

Return

End IfCase"CARD"Case"KEYPAD"

' keyboard code input or access card

Dim CanEnter As Boolean=False

' is the key (or access card) allowed to open the front door?

If IntelliHome.CheckSecurity(KeyValue,"OPENFRONTGATE")Then

Dim contact as Integer=IntelliHome.LookupCode(KeyValue)

If contact >=0 Then

Name=IntelliHome.LookupUser(contact)

IntelliHome.LocationTracking("FRONTYARD")=contact

Else

Name=""

End If

CanEnter=True

End If

If Not CanEnter Then

If Trigger.TriggerProperty="CARD"Then

IntelliHome.Devices("FRONTYARD_Speakers","TextToSpeech")="Invalid access card.Access denied."

Else

IntelliHome.Devices("FRONTYARD_Speakers","TextToSpeech")="Invalid entry code.Access denied."

End If

Return

End IfCase Else

ReturnEnd Select

' Release parameter one but keeping internal safety IntelliHome devices (' FRONTYARD _ Speakers ', ' TextToSpeech ') = ' Welcome Home, ' Name & '. Perimeter is discrete.Please entry. ' IntelliHome.Disammeasuring (' FRONTYARD ') IntelliHome.Disammeasuring (' GARDEN ') IntelliHome.Disammeasuring (' GARAGE ')

Devices ("frontard _ FrontGate", "Open") = True "front door intellihome

' If after 6 pm Or too dark, turn On lamp Dim LightsOn As Boolean = false elf System, DateTime.Now.Hour < 7Or System, DateTime.Now.Hour >17Or IntelliHome devices ("LightSensor", "Light") >0.5 IntelliHome devices ("FRONTYARD _ FloodLight", "On") = TrueLightsOn = TrueEnd If IF

' after one minute the lights are turned off and the doors system, threading, thread, sleep (60000) If LightsOn the intelligent home devices ("front yard _ FloodLights", "On") = False

Devices ("frontard _ FrontGate", "Open") = True "door of intellihome

Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of the system 100 at another, different level. As can be seen, the various electrical and/or electronic components and devices are connected via a central digital public communications hub with a home server 106 via various standard interfaces such as HAVi, digital/analog and input/output modules, X-10, telephone lines and serial buses such as 232(RS232) interface.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a digital distributed audio module forming part of the system 100. The central controller 120, which corresponds to the home server 106 shown in fig. 1, contains an archive of pre-recorded audio files in a compressed digital format, e.g., MP3, WMA, RA, SND, PCM, WAV, MIDI, etc. The central controller 120 is connected to each intelligent controller 108 via a digital network hub 124. Each of the other functional components, the intelligent controller 108, is connected to sound generation hardware for producing audio recordings from the digital stream. In particular, the intelligent controller 108 is connected to one or more speakers 130 via an amplifier 132. To enhance flexibility and/or audio quality, the local hi-fi system 134 may be connected to the speakers 130 via a relay switch 136. The system is designed so that the audio signal from the intelligent controller 108 will always be prioritized over the signal from the local hi-fi system 134, particularly because some audio cues, such as alarms, from the intelligent controller 108 must be heard.

The speaker is connected to an amplifier which is then connected to the digital audio output port of the intelligent controller 108. The audio signal (e.g., music or system alarm message) generated by the intelligent controller 108 is amplified and output via a speaker. If the smart controller 108 controls more than one set of speakers, then separate digital sound cards are installed within the smart controller 108, each sound card being connected to a separate amplifier connected to each set of speakers. In some rooms, for example in an entertainment room, there may be a separate local high-end hi-fi system. In this case, the speaker line output from the amplifier connected to the intelligent controller 108 and the speaker line output from the local hi-fi system are both connected to the inputs of the relay switch (local system to normally closed input, intelligent controller 108 to normally open input) and the output of the relay switch is connected to the actual speaker. The relay switch is activated by an audio signal sensor connected to the analog audio output of the intelligent controller 108.

With this configuration, when the intelligent controller 108 is not playing audio signals, the relay switch will stay in a normally closed position, which connects the local hi-fi system to the speakers. When an audio signal is generated by the intelligent controller 108, the audio signal sensor will activate the relay switch, which will then switch to the normally open position, disconnecting the local hi-fi system and connecting the intelligent controller amplifier to the speakers. Thus, any audio output from the intelligent controller 108 will override the audio output from the local system. This is crucial when some system generated audio output (e.g. alarm messages, warning messages) must be heard and therefore should be overlaid over any other audio stream currently being played. When the intelligent controller 108 stops outputting audio signals, the audio signal sensor will power down and the interrupt switch will return to a normally closed position, thereby disconnecting the intelligent controller 108 and reconnecting the hi-fi system and speakers.

Benefits of this configuration include:

-reducing the amount of physical wiring, especially when the digital communication hub is used for transmitting almost all types of programs and audio signals;

this allows the same set of hardware to be used for all audio generation purposes;

-sharing pre-recorded audio clips in all zones;

different audio clips can be played in each different zone at their own respective speed;

-the same audio clip can be played in different zones geographically remote from each other; and

seamless integration of local hi-fi systems into this configuration.

By comparison, fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a known method of implementing an audio distribution module, which is expensive and less flexible. The source devices, such as the DVD player 140, CD changer, radio tuner 142, MD disc, etc., are all located at a central location. The audio signals from the source devices are delivered to the matrix switch 146, either amplified or pre-amplified. The matrix switch is mapped to a plurality of zones, each zone representing a room or a particular destination for the audio signal. Speaker wires extend out of the matrix switch 146 directly to speakers 148 in each zone, one group per zone. The matrix switch 146 is controlled by different control devices, such as a remote control, a wall panel (wall panel), etc. At any one time, a particular program source is connected to (switched to) a particular zone, allowing speakers 148 in that zone to receive the output of the program source. Separate routing techniques must be used to control separate program source devices, for example an infrared remote control device uses infrared radiation to transmit remote control signals to a source device, and a radio frequency remote control can control the device with radio frequency signals.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a programmable safety feature forming part of the system 100. In this security system, a motion detector 150 for detecting motion is connected via a common digital communications hub to the central server 120 of the integrated programmable system, which is then connected to (a) a speaker, which may be the speaker 130 of the digital distributed audio module shown in fig. 6, for reproducing the pre-recorded audio message, (b) a light 152, (c) a telephone 154 connection for directly dialing a predetermined telephone number, and/or (d) a telephone 156 via a voice generator 158 for reproducing the synthesized audio message and transmitting it via the telephone 156.

With this arrangement the security feature can be formed by other existing system components, such as the motion detector of the security system, the loudspeaker of the audiovisual system, the existing lighting system, and the telephone of the telephone system.

Figure 9 shows an integrated earlier monitoring function forming part of the system shown in figure 1. In this earlier monitoring feature, a clock 160, a motion detector 162, and a microphone 164 are connected to the central server 120 of the system 100 through a common communications hub. The central server 120 contains programmable logic 166 that has been preset so that if no motion or sound is detected within a predetermined time period (as calculated by the clock 160), an alarm signal will be output by the speaker 168, which may be the speaker 130 of the digitally distributed audio module shown in fig. 6.

Figure 10 shows an integrated residential energy saving feature forming part of the system shown in figure 1, including a clock 170 and a motion detector 172 connected to the central server 120 of the system 100 through a common communications hub. The central server 120 contains logic 174 that has been preset so that if no motion or sound is detected within a predetermined time period (as calculated by the clock 170), the lights 176 that are also connected to the system will be turned off to save power consumption. It should be understood that the clock 170 in this residential economizer system can be the same as the clock 160 in the integrated earlier monitoring feature as described above.

Fig. 11 shows an integrated automatic spraying system forming part of the system shown in fig. 1. The sprinkler system includes a clock 180 and an electronic weather station 182 connected to the central server 120 of the system 100 through a common communications hub. The central server 120 contains logic 184 that has been preset so that when a predetermined time (as calculated by the clock 180) is reached without rain, the sprinklers 186 also connected to the system will be activated.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the central server 120 as described above. When the system 100 is started, it is first initialized (step 302). The device database 304 is loaded (step 306) and then the triggers and scripts are loaded (step 308). The intelligent controller 108 is then connected (step 310). The system 100 then checks for changes in or to the UDAL (step 312). If so, the device database 304 will be updated (step 314) and if the history is to be stored (step 316), the archive will be written (step 318). The system 100 will then check whether the trigger is triggered (step 320). If so, a script will be generated (step 322), but if not, other modules will be verified (step 324), and if a positive result is detected, certain module actions will be performed (step 326), such as by sending appropriate control commands. If, on the other hand, there is no change in or to the UDAL, the system will verify the control command (step 328). If the result is positive, a UDAL value change is sent to the smart controller 108 (step 330). If not, the clock in the system will check whether it is now the time of some predetermined event (step 332). If so, the appropriate script will be generated (step 322), but if not, the system 100 will resume checking for changes in or to the UDAL (step 312).

With respect to fig. 13, a flow chart is shown illustrating the operation of the intelligent controller 108 as described above. When the system 100 is started, the system will be initialized (step 402) and the local and device UDAL will be loaded from the database 406 (step 404). The device settings will also be loaded from the database 406 (step 408). The intelligent controller 108 is then connected to the system 100 (step 410). The controllers 108 then scan through the central database and identify and obtain the addresses of all devices and equipment connected to the respective controllers 108. All connected devices are also initialized (step 412). Each device/apparatus is initialized with information provided by the respective address. This is accomplished through separate program logic developed specifically for each type/brand/model of device or equipment. Some devices or apparatuses, such as a sound card for sound generation, are installed within the smart controller 108. These devices/equipment are controlled by the intelligent controller 108 in the same manner as devices/equipment external to them, although in the case where the devices/equipment are installed within the intelligent controller 108, they do not have to send signals to the intelligent controller 108 via physical wiring, and communication is generally more reliable and instantaneous. All device states are then updated (step 414). The converters are present to invoke a particular control protocol to obtain the status of their status (step 416).

The intelligent controller 108 will maintain communication with the device/apparatus. The device may automatically send a notification message when the status or set point has changed, for example the status of the thermostat will change when there is a change in temperature. Devices such as digital I/O modules, on the other hand, may require periodic polling to discover their current status and settings and then compare them to system internal copies of the status and settings to discover if there are any changes in them.

The system 100 will then continuously check whether there have been any changes in the status of the various devices and apparatuses (step 418). If there is a change in the state or settings of a device and/or appliance, the smart controller 108 to which the device/appliance is connected will send information to the home server 106 so that other programs or other smart controllers can act on the information. The device status will be mapped to a UDAL value (step 420) and this UDAL value is then updated in the server (step 422). After this update (step 420), or if there are no changes in the state, the system will check if there are any changes to the UDAL (step 424). If there are any UDAL changes, the UDAL value will map to the device state (step 426) and the device state is set accordingly (step 428). The converter then converts the state change to a particular control protocol (step 430) for operating the device or equipment connected to the intelligent controller 108. In particular, the converter can convert the specialized equipment controlling the various devices into a standard interface in order to allow the system 100 to control and be compatible with the electrical and/or electronic devices in a uniform manner. The intelligent controller 108 will use this request to control or initiate actions on the device/apparatus when instructed according to the system 100. The particular manner in which these actions are accomplished depends on the brand and model of the device, as well as on the communication protocol used by the device. The intelligent controller 108 also establishes a user interface by the graphics chip, the output of which is directly connected to a visual output, such as a television set, to allow a user to control the system 100 using the television set.

With the present invention, a threat-based security system may be constructed and implemented. In such systems, an "event" is defined as a change in the state of an input service (e.g., a sensor); defining a "group" as a set of similar events (e.g., in a safe zone) that form a coherent set; "threat" is determined by reference to the amount and nature of the security risk represented by the event, given the order and threat level of the previous events; and an "action" is an action performed when a particular threat exceeds a predetermined threshold level, which may be controlled by the sequence and nature of previously detected events. The system may also be set up with a number of different threshold levels, each resulting in a different action being taken when exceeded.

In such systems, an event is detected when a particular state of an input service/sensor has been changed, for example, a window sensor is changed from off to on. The security-related events thus detected are then mapped into a set of groups containing that type of event, e.g. windows are being opened. The system will monitor the current threat level and increase the threat level of the current event to the current threat level, in which case the threat level of the premises is continuously monitored and evaluated. If at any time the final current threat level exceeds a predetermined level, one or more predetermined actions will be taken, for example, triggering an alarm and/or turning on a light in the yard. Several such threshold levels may also exist simultaneously, and different associated actions will be taken. For example, only the cctv camera is turned on to start recording when the current threat exceeds a low threshold level. If the high threshold is exceeded, the police may be notified. Such actions may be sequential in order to proceed with the next action only if the previous action has failed to obtain a satisfactory response. For example, the system may be arranged to call the police only if it is unable to contact the homeowner of the house by telephone.

After a predetermined time period has passed between events, the current threat level will be reduced by a predetermined percentage so that events occurring over a long period of time are considered to pose less threat than events periodic over a very short period of time, i.e. one event occurs immediately after another.

For example, table 2 below provides assumed threat levels assigned to a list of exemplary events detected by sensors of a security system:

TABLE 2

Detected event	Threat level
		Movement in garden	1
Open the kitchen window	2
		Opening the kitchen window within 5 minutes of movement in the garden	3
Movement in a kitchen	2
		Movement in the kitchen within 2 minutes of opening the kitchen window	4
Movement in the master bedroom	2
		Movement in a study where safes are stored	4

Assume that the system is set to:

a. if at any point the current threat level reaches at least 10, an alarm will be responded;

b. with every 5 minutes past, the current threat level will automatically drop by 10% during which time the system does not detect a new event.

In this example, if motion is detected in the yard, the threat level would be 1. If no new event is detected after 5 minutes the threat level will drop to 0.9 and if for another 5 minutes no event is still detected, then it will be 0.81. Assuming that within 2 minutes of movement in the yard, a kitchen window opening is detected, the threat level will be 4 (i.e. 1+ 3). Thus, if motion in the kitchen is detected within 30 seconds of opening the kitchen window, the threat level will rise to 8 (i.e. 4+ 4). If movement is detected within 5 minutes in the master bedroom or the study where the safe is stored, the threat level will rise to 10 or 12. In either case, an alarm will sound. Then, if after say 6 minutes, motion is detected in the master bedroom, the threat level will be only 9.2 (i.e. 8 x 90% +2), and therefore not enough to cause an alarm. On the other hand, if it is assumed that after 10 minutes, motion is detected in the den housing the safe, the threat level will be 10.48 (i.e. 8 x 90% + 4). In this case, an alarm will still be raised.

By way of another example, if the sequence of events is different, assuming that motion is detected in a still safe den, followed by motion in the kitchen within 5 minutes, followed by opening of the kitchen window within 5 minutes, followed by motion in the yard within 5 minutes, the threat level will only be 9, which is not high enough to cause an alarm.

Turning now to fig. 14, this flowchart shows in more detail the steps of operating such a threat-based security system. When the system is started or initialized (step 502), one of a plurality of predetermined event definitions will be selected and loaded into the system for subsequent operation (step 504). In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of predetermined event definitions are provided, wherein the threat levels assigned to one or more different threat-related events may be different. For example, assume for simplicity that there are only three event definitions, namely (a) all occupants are out; (b) all occupants are at home; and (c) a party is taking place. For a particular threat-based event, assume that motion in the yard is assigned to it a threat level in scenario (c), i.e., "take a party," assume that "1" will be less than in scenario (b), i.e., "all occupants are at home," assume "2," which in turn is less than scenario (a), i.e., "all occupants are out," assume "3. Other possible event definitions may include "work out," "short-term travel," "long-term travel," and so forth.

When the desired event definition is selected and loaded into the system, all related events are grouped into groups (step 506) for ease of management. The user then sets a threat threshold level (step 508), as described above. When the system is started, the current threat level will be "0" (step 510).

The system will then record the respective current status of all devices connected to the system (step 512), e.g. a sensing device associated with a kitchen window indicating that the window is closed, a sensing device associated with a door of the master bedroom indicating that the door is open, etc. The system will then access all devices sequentially, starting with the first device (step 514) to check its status (step 516) to see if there are any changes in status (step 518). If there is no change in the state of the first device, the system will check if there are any other devices (step 520). If so, the status of all remaining devices will be checked one by one (step 516); if not, the current threat level will be decreased by a predetermined amount if a predetermined time period has elapsed (step 522). The system will then resume checking all existing devices again, starting with the first device (step 514).

On the other hand, if there is a change in the state of any of the devices identified by the system at step 518, it is deemed that a full-relevant event has been detected (step 524). The system will then check whether the event falls within the predetermined group (see step 506 above) (step 526). If not, the system will continue to check the status of the other devices (step 520); if so, this is considered to constitute a potentially threatening event (step 528). The system will then consider the current event definition based on (a) the threat level assigned to the threat-related event; (b) a group containing this event; (c) the occurrence of prior events and threats, the time elapsed since the last event/threat occurred, and the order of occurrence of prior events; and (d) other predetermined logical algorithms to calculate threat levels (step 530). The threat level thus determined is added to the currently calculated threat level (step 532) to derive a new current threat level. If at any point in time the current threat level exceeds the predetermined threshold threat level (step 534), an alarm will be raised and appropriate action will be taken (step 536), such as an alarm will be activated to provide an audible alarm or a telephone number will be automatically dialed to alert the owner of the house. It should be understood that a number of different threshold levels may be defined, each having a different list of actions to be taken when the respective threshold level is exceeded. Actions may also be taken sequentially so that the next action is taken only if the previous action did not achieve a satisfactory response. On the other hand, if the current threat level has not exceeded the predetermined threshold threat level, the system will continue to monitor the status of the previous device (step 520).

Advantages and features of such threat-based security systems include:

a. instead of only noticing the triggering at a single device/sensor, also noticing the actual event of more concern to the occupants of the premises;

b. an event is composed of a plurality of devices triggered in a specific predetermined order;

c. device triggers and the order of those triggers are all considered; and

d. threat levels are continuously monitored and evaluated based on whether certain events have been recorded and, if so, when that event is recorded.

With this configuration, each individual event can be classified in a more intelligent way based on the actual threat it has. Of course, this is a more important issue for some events than others. False alarms will be reduced. Security breach events can be separated from mere warnings, thereby focusing security attention on truly important events. Different response actions can be triggered according to the threat degree, so that the appropriate action can be taken in response to the relevant event.

By the configuration of the integrated programmable system according to the invention described above, the following functions can be realized:

a. identity recognition;

b. personalized settings for temperature, lighting, music, audio and/or visual devices;

c. infant and geriatric monitoring;

d. for example by an audio signal to notify of a significant event;

e. danger detection and alarm;

f. the system is flexibly controlled and monitored through a touch pad, an infrared remote control device, a mobile phone, a computer or through the Internet;

g. integration with popular existing electrical and/or electronic device interfaces, such as X10, emWare, UPnP/Home API, Jini, HAVi, etc.;

h. fully controlling lighting throughout a house, including predetermined scene lighting and remotely controlling lights of another room or area;

i. automatic, scheduled, or on-demand video and television shows;

j. a universal timing device for (1) maintaining a family member's calendar and schedule; (2) prompting and event tracking; (3) automatically timing/scheduling events based on environmental conditions, such as spraying only when it is not raining; (4) playing a predetermined message or performing a predetermined action at a predetermined time; (5) intelligent alarm clocks, such as turning the radio to a predetermined station, for reporting weather and traffic conditions;

k. video surveillance and security monitoring of all windows and doors by activated motion/smoke detectors;

smart actions upon breaching a security margin, security trigger, or fire threat, such as audible alarms, notifying occupants via telephone or internet, or reporting to police or fire department;

automatically generating a non-repetitive at-home scene for blocking an intruder;

allowing visitors, workers or delivery personnel to enter after remote video identification, and video monitoring their actions in the house all the way;

informing the telephone caller's identity;

designing congratulatory and message boxes for the identified telephone caller;

specific blocking or diversion of a specific telephone caller;

a message box for personal or event replay;

a telephone system accessed via WAP or ordinary telephony for remote control, message center access and status monitoring;

inserting internet and world wide web access in the whole house;

u. remote control via internet, video surveillance and status surveillance; and

v. email service in house.

It should be noted that the above only illustrates examples in which the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Although the above examples have been described with examples directed to the home, it will of course be appreciated that the invention is equally applicable to other premises, such as offices, factories, hospitals and the like.

It is also to be understood that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Claims (6)

1. A method of operating a security system comprising means for detecting the occurrence of at least one security-related event, and means for generating an output, wherein the detecting means and the output means are operatively connected to each other, the method comprising the steps of: assigning at least one threat level to each security-related event; determining a current threat level for the system based on a threat level of a security-related event detected by the detection device; comparing a current threat level of the system to a predetermined threshold threat level; causing the output device to generate an output when the current threat level meets or exceeds the threshold threat level; wherein a current threat level for the system is determined in order of occurrence of at least two previously occurring security-related events.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a current threat level changes as time passes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a current threat level decreases over time in the absence of detection of a new security-related event by the detection device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein a current threat level decreases by a predetermined percentage as a predetermined period of time elapses in the absence of detection of a new security-related event by the detection device.

5. The method of claim 1, including the step of predetermining at least first and second scenarios, wherein in the first scenario a first threat level is assigned to security-related events and in the second scenario a second threat level is assigned to security-related events; and the first and second threat levels are different.

6. A security system comprising means for detecting the occurrence of at least one security-related event, and means for generating an output, wherein said detecting means and said output means are operatively connected to each other, the security system further comprising means for assigning at least one threat level to each security-related event, means for determining a current threat level of the system based on the threat level of the security-related event detected by said detecting means, means for comparing the current threat level of the system to a predetermined threshold threat level; wherein the output device is adapted to generate an output when the current threat level meets or exceeds the threshold threat level; wherein a current threat level for the system is determined in order of occurrence of at least two previously occurring security-related events.