Systems and methods for providing interactive modular lighting

Abstract

The present invention describes systems and methods for interactive modular lighting systems. The lighting system enables a user to dynamically build a luminaire through modular combination of individual light-emitting units, but automatically prevents the risk of electrical failure through dynamic calculation of circuit characteristics and dynamic configuration of components. In addition, a lighting system with granular and configurable touch sensing is described, wherein user interaction with the lighting system can be linked to the activation of a characteristic of the lighting system or to the activation of a characteristic of other devices that communicate with the lighting system. Illustrative embodiments of the application of the lighting system in smart homes and games are provided.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This application is a non-provisional application and claims all benefits including priority to the following application: Application No. 62 / 772,508, entitled "Systems and Methods for Coupling Modular Light Fixtures," filed on November 28, 2018, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] Embodiments relate generally to the field of lighting devices, and more particularly, to lighting systems coupled in a modular manner, and to lighting systems coupled in a modular manner and responsive to multi-mode user interactions. Background Art

[0004] Architectural and interior design elements offer a variety of applications where controlled lighting is desirable.

[0005] Lighting can influence the mood and well-being of occupants, and can provide a pleasing aesthetic quality to an environment. Individual light-emitting units can be present throughout a space to provide functional lighting.

[0006] Thus, lighting units that are functionally enhanced to sense or receive input from a space and its inhabitants can expand the utility that a space provides to its inhabitants.

[0007] However, providing coupled and / or controllable and / or sensor-rich lighting and lighting devices may be technically challenging given that it may be desirable to flexibly adapt lighting devices to various types of environments. Summary of the invention

[0008] Systems and methods for interactive modular lighting systems are described.

[0009] A lighting system that is spatially and optically configurable to a considerable extent by the user has many possible advantages. For example, aesthetic or architectural requirements can be more easily met without expensive custom fabrication, and lighting that can be precisely adapted to a variety of activities and personal needs becomes possible.

[0010] The challenge that interactive modular lighting systems present is the need for increased protection against electrical faults. For example, when users connect lighting units in a modular fashion, there is a potential risk of electric shock. Since there are fewer spatial and optical constraints on the user of the lighting system, the range of possible ways in which the components of the lighting system and its control logic can be operated is also increased.

[0011] Without additional offset design of components and control logic, the user may thus inadvertently configure the lighting system so that the components exceed critical limits. For example, current may be supplied to the component through a conductive metal trace, but due to resistance this will generate heat which, if too great, will damage the lighting system.

[0012] This presents a dual technical challenge in itself: how to prevent erroneous operation of a lighting system that can be configured in a variety of ways, and how to advise the user how to change the lighting system configuration in order to obtain the desired result without the risk of operational failure.

[0013] In various embodiments, an improved mechanism is described for computationally inferring operational fault conditions by monitoring electrical characteristics of a lighting system. In particular, the brighter a lighting unit operates, the greater the impact associated with the risk of a fault may be.

[0014] With respect to the previous technical challenge, the solution described in detail below in some embodiments builds on three key parts: data representing information about the spatial configuration, data representing information about the electrical relationships, and a mechanism to control the light output of each individual component that is part of the lighting system.

[0015] From the data it is inferred by a fast and automatic calculation if a particular lighting system that the user has assembled is at risk of operating failure, and if so, then specific restrictions are imposed on the particular lighting system using the mechanism controlling the light output. Thanks to this approach, no generic restrictions have to be imposed, and even users lacking any skills in electrical engineering can still creatively assemble lighting systems without being affected by concerns about possible operating failures.

[0016] For the latter technical challenge, consideration should be given to how to avoid or reduce the specific limitations inferred from the solution to the former technical challenge. A particularly fruitful inference to make in this regard is that placing power into a particular lighting system will allow the widest possible range of creative optical outputs, but still avoid the risk of operational failure.

[0017] The placement of the power source can include automatically determining where on the lighting system (and its guidance) to connect the cables from the electrical outlets. Using the same information as in the previous solution, one or more ideal placements are inferred in some embodiments and displayed to the user through selective illumination of these locations of the lighting system (e.g., specific visual emissions are controlled to indicate optimal / suboptimal positioning of the power source, the visual emissions include controlling the hue output or brightness output level through modified output voltage). Due to this approach, a user who lacks any skills in electrical engineering can still assemble the lighting system in the desired spatial arrangement while also optimally placing the power source in terms of operational electrical safety and efficiency.

[0018] The lighting system enables users to dynamically build luminaires through modular combination of individual light-emitting units, but automatically prevents the risk of electrical failure through dynamic calculation of circuit characteristics and dynamic configuration of components. In particular, operational fault conditions are possible, whereby users may suffer a potential risk of electric shock. This challenge is further exacerbated in cases where the light-emitting units are associated with touch-sensitive interaction aspects (e.g., capacitive touch, pressure-sensitive touch), etc.

[0019] Embodiments described herein relate to improved circuits and systems related to power control, optimal power supply placement, power control methods, configurable touch triggers, and controller circuit devices that are suitable for concealment (e.g., becoming visually indiscernible relative to other light emitting units). In addition, a lighting system with granular and configurable touch sensing is described, wherein user interaction with the lighting system can be associated with the activation of a characteristic of the lighting system or a characteristic of other devices that communicate with the lighting system. In some embodiments, the spatial flexibility of the lighting system is suitable for addressing the above-mentioned technical challenges.

[0020] A useful property is configurable touch functionality. Since the lighting system occupies part of a surface, such as a wall, the lighting system and its many different parts can be used as multifunctional buttons. In smart home applications, for example, there is a growing need to be able to receive input from users of the space, and touch is a means of doing just that.

[0021] The benefits of this design are further amplified if the actions associated with a particular touch pattern are not limited to just changing the lighting system, but can be extended to any configurable device in a smart home, such as a door lock, a television, a smartphone, or a coffee machine. Illustrative implementations of the application of the lighting system in a smart home and gaming are provided.

[0022] However, this is not a straightforward implementation and challenges must be overcome in establishing, managing and executing numerous functional associations, which are compounded as in the previous challenges by the fact that the functions cannot be enumerated once and for all during manufacturing. The most basic aspects (like how to sense that a particular part of the lighting system has been touched in a particular way, right down to the intuitive definition of the association between touch and action) require efficient creation, communication and storage of data, as described in detail below.

[0023] To overcome all of the above technical challenges, computation is a key component. It is often referred to as that unit of the lighting system that performs this computation, the controller. Because the controller is functionally different from the unit that generates the light, the controller is often visually different. Having to accommodate a visually different controller can be a barrier to the user achieving a desired design. Therefore, an attractive design is to integrate the functionally different components of the controller into the unit that generates the light. This means that at least one unit of the configurable lighting system must accommodate additional electronics that are limited to a small space. Designs that overcome this problem are described in detail in some of the embodiments below and include multi-layer circuit boards.

[0024] In a first aspect, a lighting system is provided, comprising a controller, the controller comprising a processing unit (e.g., a microprocessor, a computer processor, a reduced instruction set processor), a computer memory (e.g., solid state storage, random access memory, read-only memory), and one or more network interfaces (e.g., wireless interfaces, wired interfaces), one or more power sources providing a first amount of electrical power, a plurality of light units, and a plurality of links, wherein a link in the plurality of links conducts a second amount of current. At least one of the plurality of light units can be adapted to consume a third amount of electrical power and produce a fourth amount of light emission according to an electrical-optical relationship.

[0025] The plurality of light-emitting units and the plurality of power sources are coupled together through the plurality of linkers to establish an electrical network (e.g., by power flow electrical coupling between the linkers and the light-emitting units), so that at least one light-emitting unit in the lighting system draws electrical power from the plurality of power sources via a plurality of conductive pathways. Each conductive pathway may include one linker or multiple linkers and one light-emitting unit or multiple light-emitting units.

[0026] The controller is configured to set the plurality of third values ​​so that the plurality of first values ​​are below a plurality of first power thresholds, the plurality of second values ​​are below a plurality of second current thresholds, and the plurality of fourth values ​​are equal to a target light emission, or if the target light emission cannot be achieved, the plurality of fourth values ​​are equal to a plurality of reduced target light emissions.

[0027] In another aspect, the controller executes logic instructions on the processing unit, the logic instructions comprising machine interpretable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit of the controller, cause the processor to set the plurality of third values.

[0028] In another aspect, the controller receives the plurality of third quantities via a network interface coupled to an external device (eg, a computer having a processing unit).

[0029] In another aspect, the plurality of first power thresholds are at or about 24 Watts (eg, 23 Watts, 25 Watts).

[0030] On the other hand, the plurality of second current thresholds are at or about 2.5 amps (eg, 2.4 amps, 2.6 amps).

[0031] In another aspect, the plurality of target light emissions is a luminous flux of 100 lumens of white light having a correlated color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.

[0032] In another aspect, the plurality of target light emissions is a red light radiant flux of 650 milliwatts.

[0033] On the other hand, the plurality of light emitting units includes 1-500 light emitting units.

[0034] In another aspect, the plurality of reduced target light emissions is obtained by multiplying the plurality of target light emissions by a factor less than one.

[0035] In another aspect, the lighting unit is a substantially flat luminaire.

[0036] In another aspect, the conductive pathway of the light emitting unit includes more than 10 linkers.

[0037] In another aspect, the controller is configured to set the plurality of third values ​​substantially instantaneously when the lighting unit or when the power supply is coupled to the powered lighting system through the linker.

[0038] In another aspect, the controller is configured to set the plurality of third values ​​substantially instantaneously when the lighting unit or when power is removed from the powered lighting system.

[0039] In another aspect, a method for operating a plurality of lighting units is provided.

[0040] On the other hand, the plurality of light emitting units are adapted to emit light colored according to a spectrum having a first end and a second end, such that when an additional power source is coupled via a linker to a light emitting unit that emits light colored near the first end of the spectrum rather than to a light emitting unit that emits light colored near the second end of the spectrum, the controller increases a third value or a maximum value of a plurality of third values ​​such that the plurality of first values ​​are below a plurality of first power thresholds, the plurality of second values ​​are below a plurality of second current thresholds, and the plurality of fourth values ​​are equal to a target light emission, or if the target light emission cannot be achieved, the plurality of fourth values ​​are equal to a plurality of reduced target light emissions.

[0041] In another aspect, the spectrum is a linear interpolation of the RGB color model, where a first end of the spectrum is white, and where a second end of the spectrum is black.

[0042] In another aspect, the spectrum is a blue-green-red spectrum, wherein a first end of the spectrum is blue, and wherein a second end of the spectrum is red.

[0043] In another aspect, upon coupling an additional power source to a lighting unit of a lighting system such that the lighting system draws electrical power from a plurality of conductive pathways including the additional power source, the color of the light emission changes along a spectrum.

[0044] In another aspect, one or more additional power sources are coupled by a user to the lighting units of the lighting system until all of the lighting units emit light colored at the first end of the spectrum.

[0045] On the other hand, a method for setting power consumption of multiple light-emitting units includes: in a first calculation, determining multiple currents in the multiple conductive paths and multiple electrical powers in the multiple power sources, the multiple currents and multiple electrical powers generating multiple electrical powers corresponding to the multiple target light emissions in the multiple light-emitting units; and in a second calculation, determining a minimum reduction of the multiple electrical powers for the multiple light-emitting units, the minimum reduction not generating a power source among the multiple power sources providing electrical power higher than a first power threshold, and not generating a link among the multiple linkers conducting a current higher than a second current threshold.

[0046] On the other hand, the first calculation includes the following steps: selecting a first power source and evaluating the multiple electric powers and multiple currents provided by the first power source to the multiple light-emitting units and the multiple connectors through the multiple conductive paths using terminals at the first power source; adding the multiple electric powers and multiple currents to a data array indexed by the multiple light-emitting units and the multiple connectors; repeating the above steps of selecting power sources and adding to the data array until all of the multiple power sources have been selected once; and evaluating the multiple light emissions at the multiple light-emitting units based on the values ​​added in the data array and based on the electro-optical relationship.

[0047] In another aspect, a lighting system is provided, which includes a controller, a plurality of light emitting units, and a plurality of touch sensors. The controller includes a processing unit, a memory, and one or more network interfaces.

[0048] Each of the plurality of light-emitting units includes a plurality of components that generate light emission, and a touch sensor is structurally housed within each light-emitting unit or a controller, and the touch sensor is configured to generate and transmit a sensory signal to the controller, the sensory signal being associated with a touch pattern proximate to the light-emitting unit or controller in which the touch sensor is structurally housed. The controller stores in a memory: a first data array representation of a physical arrangement of the light-emitting units and the controller, and a second data array representation of a plurality of mappings between the sensory signal at a physical location of the lighting system and one of a plurality of actions; wherein a third data array representation of the first action or the first plurality of actions is generated by the controller after the sensory signal or the plurality of sensory signals are transmitted to the controller and matched with the first action or the first plurality of actions in the mapping in the second data array. The data array may include different types of data object structures, including linked list data objects, array data objects, and the like.

[0049] On the other hand, a lighting system is provided, which includes a plurality of coupled light-emitting units, wherein each of the plurality of coupled light-emitting units includes a housing defining a first spatial outline, the housing including: an output portion and an internal portion, which accommodates a first plurality of light emitters that generate light emissions under a given electrical power according to a relationship.

[0050] The lighting system also includes a controller coupled to the plurality of coupled light-emitting units, wherein the controller includes a housing defining a second spatial outline, the housing including: a controller output portion and a controller internal portion, which accommodates: a first plurality of light emitters, which generate light emissions under given electrical power according to a relationship, and a second plurality of processor components, which generate and transmit machine-interpretable instructions for setting the amount of electrical power drawn by the coupled light-emitting units, or for setting multiple amounts of electrical power drawn by multiple coupled light-emitting units, or for setting the amount of electrical power drawn by the first plurality of components of the controller unit.

[0051] In another aspect, the first and second spatial outlines are square.

[0052] In another aspect, the plurality of components of the internal portion of the controller are mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) having at least four conductive layers.

[0053] In another aspect, the plurality of processor components or the plurality of light emitters of the controller internal portion are mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) having at least four conductive layers.

[0054] On the other hand, the plurality of light emitters of the internal portion of the controller are mounted on a first printed circuit board (PCB), wherein a second plurality of processor components of the internal portion of the controller are mounted on a second printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the first PCB is connected to the second PCB and physically positioned on top of the second PCB. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0055] In the drawings, embodiments are shown by way of example. It should be expressly understood that the description and drawings are for illustration and aid of understanding purposes only.

[0056] Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0057] Figure 1 It is shown that according to some embodiments, a finger touches a light-emitting unit in a lighting system, so that the movement includes a double click using the finger touch method;

[0058] Figure 2 According to some embodiments, the palm of a hand touches the first and second light-emitting units in the lighting system and moves relative to the first and second light-emitting units, so that the movement includes a sweep using the palm touch pattern;

[0059] Figure 3 A process of associating a touch pattern with an action is shown; according to some embodiments, the flowchart uses ellipses to represent events or modes, rectangles to represent objects, and parallelograms to represent data or data arrays;

[0060] Figure 4 shows a process performed by a controller of a lighting system to create a gaming experience involving touch and light output according to some embodiments;

[0061] Figure 5 In (a) is shown that according to some embodiments, a lighting system is installed on a wall in a space that is also equipped with a door with a door lock and a doorbell, wherein the lighting system is graphically displayed on a separate device, such as a smartphone; steps for configuring the connection between the sensory signal and the actuation command are also shown in Figure 5 (b) and Figure 5 (c) is shown;

[0062] Figure 6 shows three layouts of light emitting units and two power supplies connected by multiple linkers according to some embodiments;

[0063] Figure 7 A process performed on a controller of a lighting system according to some embodiments is shown to determine how to color light-emitting units of the lighting system to guide a user where to best place a power source;

[0064] Figure 8 shows a plurality of lighting units connected to a power source, wherein the colors of the lighting units are on a spectrum proportional to where the additional power source is best placed, according to some embodiments;

[0065] Fig. 9 A controller unit is shown that is visibly identical in appearance to a lighting unit, although the former requires a greater number of components, according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] Applicant is an innovator in the field of lighting and has invested significant research and development resources to develop modular and configurable lighting solutions that can be integrated with smart home control solutions in some configurations. For example, Applicant's LED lighting technology has provided improved clean energy / technology solutions that reduce overall carbon emissions and energy consumption relative to some other lighting technologies.

[0067] Manufacturing lighting panels, especially those incorporating "green technologies," is technically challenging because of different aspects to consider. For example, manufacturing may only be practical on a sufficient scale, and limitations on manufacturing resources and / or power consumption may require improved methods and structural configurations as described herein. LED lighting in particular, if more widely adopted, could reduce overall power consumption relative to conventional lighting.

[0068] LED lighting can be integrated with electronic components and software instructions executed on the electronic components so that the functional utility of LED lighting and LED-based lamps can exceed the functional utility of other lighting technologies and lamps. This capability is particularly effective for lamps that deviate from standard form factors in the market, such as A19, MR16, PAR30, PAR38 form factors.

[0069] The same electronic components may be used to execute software instructions that enhance the lighting system with entertainment attributes. Lighting systems that can sense and respond to multi-modal interactions by a user are particularly suitable for this, including gaming applications.

[0070] Devices with enhanced functionality may become more attractive to users and therefore more widely adopted, and the adoption of "green technology" may thus be accelerated through functionality enhancement.

[0071] However, greater functional capacity presents other design challenges. The large number of options and possible ways to configure a device or service can cause anxiety and dissatisfaction among users, an observation known in psychology and behavioral economics as over-choice or the paradox of choice. Furthermore, the greater number of possible configurations can in turn lead to a greater number of operational failure modes for the device, such as the execution of incorrect logic instructions, also known as software errors, or electrical or mechanical failures due to the device being configured in a way that is incompatible with the physical constraints of the device's component or components.

[0072] As described herein, embodiments are directed to methods and apparatus that overcome the above-described challenges and deficiencies associated with the creation and operation of lighting systems, lighting devices, and luminaires, which methods and apparatus are capable of providing a wide range of benefits to spaces and their inhabitants.

[0073] A number of preferred variations are described below, and applicants note that the features of these variations are not limited to the variations described, but rather combinations and permutations of features of these variations are also contemplated.

[0074] Touch-enabled lighting system

[0075] In some embodiments, the lighting system includes a plurality of independently configurable light emitting units and a controller. When powered, the light emitting units are capable of emitting light having at least certain optical properties. The controller is capable of executing commands or software to control the functions of the lighting system, including, but not limited to, how to power the light emitting units and the optical properties of the light emitted by the light emitting units.

[0076] A controller is a computing device adapted to generate control signals based on processed machine-interpretable instructions (eg, stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium).

[0077] A controller may be a modular physical unit having a processor coupled thereto or resident thereon that executes machine-interpretable instructions to perform methods stored thereon.

[0078] In some embodiments, the lighting system includes a plurality of independently configurable light emitting units, a controller, and a power supply or multiple power supplies. The power supply provides the lighting system with the electrical power required for the lighting system to function. There are limits to how much electrical power a power supply can provide, so the lighting system may need to be coupled to more than one power supply in practice. The power supply can in turn be connected to a source of electrical power, such as, but not limited to, an electrical wall socket, a battery, or a generator.

[0079] In some embodiments, the lighting system includes a plurality of independently configurable light emitting units, a controller and a power source or multiple power sources and a first plurality of linkers. A linker in the plurality of linkers may be electrically coupled to a pair of light emitting units, or it may electrically couple a controller to a light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units, or it may electrically couple a power source to a light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units. In other words, the linker may be a physical structure (e.g., a device) for distributing electrical power from the multiple power sources to the multiple light emitting units throughout the lighting system.

[0080] In some embodiments, a lighting system includes a plurality of independently configurable lighting units, a controller and a power source or multiple power sources and a second plurality of linkers.

[0081] The plurality of linkers can electrically and mechanically couple paired light emitting units, or they can electrically and mechanically couple a controller to a light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units, or they can electrically and mechanically couple a power supply to a light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units. The linker can include a physical connector device having mechanical properties for connecting light emitting units (e.g., a connector unit that is inserted into a corresponding physical hole of each light emitting unit and has electrical wiring deposited thereon to allow data or power transmission). In a specific embodiment, the linker is a small printed circuit board for combining two or more light emitting units together.

[0082] In other words, the linker can be a device for distributing electrical power from the multiple power sources to the multiple light-emitting units throughout the entire lighting system, or a device for holding the multiple light-emitting units together as a single continuous unit under the action of moderate destructive forces (such as gravity or bending), or a device for attaching other parts of the lighting system to the multiple light-emitting units.

[0083] In some embodiments, the light emitting unit is a substantially flat light emitting diode (LED) lighting panel having a polygonal shape, such as, but not limited to, a square, triangle, hexagon, pentagon, rhombus, or parallelogram. In some embodiments, the light emitting unit is a substantially flat LED lighting panel having a curved shape, such as, but not limited to, a circle, a semicircle, an ellipse, or a crescent. In some embodiments, the light emitting unit has a substantially non-flat shape, i.e., has a substantial spatial depth, such as, but not limited to, a cube, a parallelepiped, a tetrahedron, an octahedron, a dodecahedron, an icosahedron, a sphere, or an ellipsoid.

[0084] In some embodiments, the light emitting unit can emit white light with a variable correlated color temperature (CCT). In some embodiments, the light emitting unit can emit colored light with variable intensity, such as but not limited to red, green, blue, or a mixture of the above colors, such as magenta, yellow, cyan.

[0085] In some embodiments, the light emitting unit includes electronic components that are not directly related to the generation or distribution of light. These electronic components may include electronic components that sense static or dynamic conditions or characteristics of the environment to the light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units. In some embodiments, these static or dynamic conditions or characteristics include touch mode.

[0086] In some embodiments, the touch mode includes a user pressing a finger on a light-emitting unit. In an illustrative embodiment, a plurality of light-emitting units are mounted on a wall with the light-emitting surface facing outward toward a space. In the space, a user can extend a finger and touch the light-emitting surface of one of the light-emitting units with the fingertip. The pressing of a finger on a light-emitting unit can be a static condition because its duration is irrelevant to the function. However, the pressing of a finger on a light-emitting unit can be defined such that the duration of the touch must exceed a threshold in order to be recorded as a specific press event. The threshold can be, but is not limited to, 50 milliseconds, 125 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds.

[0087] In some embodiments, the touch mode includes a sequence of taps by a user with a finger on the light emitting unit. A single tap may include physical contact between the finger and the light emitting unit for less than 1 second, less than 500 milliseconds, or less than 125 milliseconds. Therefore, tapping is a dynamic condition that depends on the duration of the touch. The dynamic nature of this touch mode means that more complex tapping sequences can be considered.

[0088] Double tap (such as Figure 1 ) may include a first physical contact 121 between the finger and the light-emitting unit of less than 1 second, less than 500 milliseconds, less than 125 milliseconds, followed by a short duration of no physical contact 123 between the finger and the light-emitting unit, which is less than 1 second, less than 500 milliseconds, less than 125 milliseconds, followed by a second physical contact 125 between the finger and the light-emitting unit of less than 1 second, less than 500 milliseconds, less than 125 milliseconds, and then finally the physical contact 127 disappears. This touch pattern can be recursively extended to also include triple taps, quadruple taps, etc. In a preferred embodiment, higher-order taps higher than double taps are not used because higher-order taps may be too complex in function for the user to manage.

[0089] In other embodiments, the touch pattern includes the user moving a finger in a direction across the light emitting surface while maintaining physical contact with the light emitting surface. This touch pattern is a sweeping motion and may be referred to as a sweep. The sweep includes spatial changes.

[0090] Thus, a sweep may have both duration and direction. In other words, a sweep may be represented as a quick sweep upward, a quick sweep to the right, a slow sweep downward, a slow sweep upward and diagonally to the right, etc. In embodiments where the light-emitting unit comprises an apparently flat surface, the spatial component may be decomposed into motion along two orthogonal directions relative to the apparently flat surface.

[0091] In other embodiments, the touch pattern includes the user moving a finger on the light emitting surface in a distinct closed curve. The closed curve may be, but is not limited to, a circle or an ellipsoid. The curve may be traced with the finger in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The duration of tracing the curve may be another characteristic of the touch pattern associated with the function.

[0092] In other embodiments, the touch pattern includes a user applying two or more fingers to press, tap, sweep, or closed curve motion. The spacing between the two fingers may exceed a threshold value to distinguish the touch pattern from pressing, tapping, sweeping, or closed curve motion using a single finger. The threshold value of the spacing may be 1 cm, 2 cm, or 3 cm.

[0093] In other embodiments, the touch pattern includes the user moving two fingers toward each other in a pinching motion, or moving two fingers away from each other in an spreading motion. Pinch and spread motions are related to spatial variations of touch, and thus can be affected by the thresholds of duration and finger spacing like the above touch patterns.

[0094] In other embodiments, the touch pattern includes the palm of a hand touching the light emitting unit. The large surface area between the user and the lighting system thus formed can be associated with additional functions different from the touch pattern involving a finger or multiple fingers. As with the touch pattern involving fingers, the palm can be used to press, tap, sweep or trace a closed curve on the light emitting surface. Therefore, the speed at which the palm moves on the surface or the duration of physical contact are possible characteristics that can achieve a range of touch patterns.

[0095] exist Figure 2 , an illustrative sequence of a hand sweeping across two light-emitting units is shown. The hand approaches 100 a first light-emitting unit, then touches 102 the first light-emitting unit, then maintains contact 104 with the first light-emitting unit for a period of time, then moves 106 across the lighting system to an adjacent second light-emitting unit, and then finally removes 108 the hand from contact with the second light-emitting unit and the lighting system as a whole.

[0096] In other embodiments, the touch pattern involves physical contact with multiple light units. In an illustrative embodiment, the user performs a single tap on one light unit of the wall-mounted lighting system, followed by a single tap on another light unit of the wall-mounted lighting system.

[0097] The sequence of the touch lighting system is not simply two consecutive single taps, as described above, but as long as the duration between the two single taps is below a threshold, this touch pattern can be uniquely marked. In a lighting system comprising four light-emitting units, there are 12 unique ways to tap two different light-emitting units in this order. In a lighting system comprising 10 light-emitting units, there are 90 unique ways to tap two different light-emitting units in this order. As additional light-emitting units are added to the plurality of light-emitting units comprising the lighting system, the number of unique touch patterns involving two or more light-emitting units can be increased in a combinatorial manner.

[0098] In other illustrative embodiments, the touch pattern involves physical contact with multiple light-emitting units, in which a finger of a palm sweeps across two or more adjacent light-emitting units. The direction of the sweep, the length of the sweep, the duration of the sweep, and the speed at which the sweep occurs can all be features of this touch pattern.

[0099] The above illustrative examples of ways of sensing touch are described with respect to fingers and palms, but the examples are not limited to these contact means. Other ways of forming physical contact between one or more light-emitting units and an external object can be envisioned. In some embodiments, this can be a pen-like object whose contact points with the light-emitting unit contain the vertices of the object. In some embodiments, this can be a finger or palm wrapped in fabric (such as a glove). In some embodiments, this can be a prosthesis or a part thereof. In some embodiments, this can be a toe and a foot. Other human appendages are contemplated.

[0100] The above description of illustrative examples of touch patterns is exemplary and non-limiting.

[0101] In order to implement in practice a lighting unit and a lighting system capable of sensing one or more touch modes, such as, but not limited to, those touch modes described above, the following methods may be implemented, such as Figure 3 As shown in:

[0102] (1) Touch pattern 351 interacts with sensor 361, thereby modifying one or more structural or functional characteristics of the sensor.

[0103] (2) Modification of the feature or features produces a sensory signal 362, which in turn can be represented as a first data array.

[0104] (3) The first data array may be received by or transmitted to the processing unit 371 or multiple processing units, which may be part of the light emitting unit, or it may be part of a unit other than the light emitting unit.

[0105] (4) The first array may be converted to a second data array by executing a set of logic instructions 363 on the processing unit or units. The execution may also access a digital memory 364 storing additional data arrays.

[0106] (5) The second data array may embody instructions or commands 381 to perform a certain action 391 at an actuator 382 portion of the lighting system or at an actuator at some other location, but the second data array is configured so that the second data array can be transmitted to the other location. In this way, the touch pattern 351 causes or is associated with the action 391.

[0107] These steps outline the functionality of the sensor-actuator network.Some embodiments relate to steps 2, 3 and 4, and to systems embodying the functionality of these steps of the method, as further described below.

[0108] A large number of technologies related to the first of the enumerated method steps have been disclosed. So-called smartphone technology, especially touch screens and touch panels, is instructive in this regard. Walker's Touch Sensin chapter (which is part of the anthology Interactive Displays: Natural Human-Interface Technologies, edited by Bhowmik and published in 2014) provides a detailed description of technologies that can be used to implement the first step. Digi-Key's webpage entitled Touch Sensing Technology for Human Interface Designs provides additional references to circuits that can implement the first step (https: / / www.digikey.com / en / articles / techzone / 2012 / feb / touch-sensing-technology-for-human-interface-designs).

[0109] A non-limiting list of touch sensing technologies that can be part of the first step are: capacitive sensing, resistive sensing, optical sensing, acoustic sensing, force sensing. The characteristics of the sensor, such as cost and size, and if the sensor reduces the light output from the light emitting unit, can be considered in the choice of practical implementation.

[0110] For the second step, the touch mode can be represented as a data array. The data array can reflect the characteristics of the touch mode at a given moment, such as but not limited to: which light-emitting unit among the multiple light-emitting units is touched, which position on the light-emitting unit is touched, the size of the touch object, and the force of the touch object pressing on the light-emitting unit. Therefore, two obviously different touch modes can correspond to two different data arrays.

[0111] In some embodiments, it may be desirable that, because any two of the plurality of light units comprising the lighting system are touched in an appreciably identical manner, the data arrays generated by the corresponding light units are identical. Because sensor technology may be affected by the variable characteristics of the space in which the lighting system is installed, the baseline values ​​of the plurality of touch sensors may vary between installations and within a lighting system installation.

[0112] For example, a lighting unit may have copper tubing or metal nails that would otherwise record touch sensor signals that do not represent real user interactions. Since the baseline cannot be determined once and for all during the manufacturing process, it can be defined as the most common sensor reading in a specific installation of the lighting system. This baseline is then continually subtracted from the live sensor values ​​by executing logic instructions within the lighting unit so that the output data array representing the touch pattern is consistent across the lighting system.

[0113] As described above, touch patterns can be dynamic. For example, a double tap is not a characteristic that can be derived entirely from the readings of a touch sensor or multiple touch sensors at a single point in time. A double tap can be identified as a sequence of touch sensor readings that meets certain criteria corresponding to, for example, duration and size thresholds.

[0114] For example, when a finger initially touches a light-emitting unit, a first data array is created indicating such contact. Within a time threshold, the finger stops contacting the light-emitting unit, and a second data array is created indicating that there is no contact. Within a time threshold, the finger touches the light-emitting unit again, and a third data array is created to indicate such contact.

[0115] Within a time threshold, the finger ceases contact with the light emitting unit, and within another time threshold, no contact is restored, and a fourth data array is created to indicate such no contact. The sequence of the first, second, third, and fourth data arrays includes an accumulated sensor signal that can be associated with a double tap pattern of touch. In some embodiments, accumulation is performed within the sensor. In some embodiments, accumulation is performed in different parts of the lighting system. In either case, the double tap touch pattern can be associated with the following sensor signal, which can be associated with the data array.

[0116] The sweep touch pattern is like a double tap, which is not a characteristic that can be completely derived from the readings of the touch sensor or multiple touch sensors at a single point in time. For example, when a finger initially touches a light-emitting unit, a first data array is created indicating such contact. Within a time threshold, the finger contacts the light-emitting unit, but at a different location on the light-emitting unit, and a second data array is created indicating such contact.

[0117] Further changes to the contact position with the finger produce a series of data arrays until the finger ceases to be in contact with the light-emitting unit and a final data array is created indicating the absence of contact. The sequence of the first, second, and final data arrays includes an accumulated sensory signal that can be associated with a sweeping touch pattern. In some embodiments, the accumulation is performed within the sensor. In some embodiments, the accumulation is performed in a different part of the lighting system. In either case, the sweeping touch pattern can be associated with the following sensory signal, which in turn can be associated with a data array.

[0118] A sweeping touch pattern involving multiple light-emitting units is not a characteristic that can be completely derived from the readings of a touch sensor or multiple touch sensors at a single point in time. For example, when a finger initially touches a first light-emitting unit, a first data array is created indicating such contact. Within a time threshold, the finger contacts a second light-emitting unit, where the first and second light-emitting units are adjacent within the physical arrangement of the lighting system, and a second data array is created indicating such contact.

[0119] Further changing the contact position with the finger creates a series of data arrays until the finger ceases contact with any light emitting unit and creates a final data array indicating the absence of contact. The sequence of the first, second, and final data arrays includes a cumulative sensory signal that can be associated with a sweeping touch pattern.

[0120] In some embodiments, each light unit is associated with a data array representing the touch pattern that the light unit is experiencing. The data array can be stored in a memory housed within the light unit. The data array can be stored in a memory on a separate device that is capable of receiving the data array from at least the light unit.

[0121] In some embodiments, the separate device is a controller coupled to the plurality of light emitting units. The data array may be created by the controller polling each light emitting unit about the touch pattern each light emitting unit is experiencing. This may be implemented as communication between the controller and the plurality of light emitting units via a plurality of connected data arrays.

[0122] Methods for transmitting data arrays can be used for communication of data arrays. In some embodiments, the multiple connections to the controller have a structure similar to a tree topology network. In these embodiments, efficient data array transmission methods can be used, such as the method disclosed in the patent application published as WO2019134046. The application is incorporated herein by reference.

[0123] In some embodiments, there may be a mapping or multiple mappings between the touch pattern and the actuation of the lighting system or the actuation of an auxiliary device, which is not part of the lighting system. The mapping or multiple mappings may be embodied as a data array stored in a memory of the controller. The data array may be understood as a dictionary having a sensory signal or a data array associated with the sensory signal (as a key) and having an actuation specification or a data array associated with the actuation specification (as a value).

[0124] In these embodiments, given a first data array or first plurality of data arrays representing a touch pattern received from a lighting unit, the controller executes logic instructions to create a second data array. The second data array in these embodiments can then be transmitted to a lighting unit or lighting units in the lighting system, and once received by the lighting unit or lighting units, the second data array is consumed, thereby triggering an action at the lighting unit or lighting units.

[0125] The action at the light emitting unit or units may be to turn on all light emitting units of the lighting system so that all light emitting units emit sufficient light and illuminate the space in which the lighting system is installed. Other actions may be to turn off all light emitting units of the lighting system. Other actions may be to change the color of the light emitted from the particular light emitting unit where the touch pattern occurred. Other actions at the light emitting unit or units are conceivable.

[0126] In other embodiments, given a first data array or first plurality of data arrays representing a touch pattern received from a lighting unit, the controller executes logic instructions to create a second data array. The second data array in these embodiments can then be transmitted to an auxiliary device that is not part of the lighting system, but is coupled to the controller so that the data array can be communicated between the controller and the auxiliary device. In these embodiments, the auxiliary device can consume the second data array and be actuated.

[0127] In these embodiments, given a first data array representing a touch pattern, the mapping thus specifies which second data array creation is to be performed from a plurality of possible second data arrays.

[0128] The transmission of the second data array may be accomplished in the same manner and method as the transmission of the first data array from the lighting unit to the controller. The transmission of the second data array may be accomplished in other manners and methods. Illustrative methods include: transmitting via a wired or serial port using an Ethernet protocol or a point-to-point protocol, using Wi-Fi TM 、Bluetooth TM 、Zigbee TM 、Z-Wave TM 、6LowPAN TM 4G or 5G technology is transmitted via wireless electromagnetic radiation.

[0129] Illustrative implementations of these types of touch pattern to action associations include:

[0130] (1) For different touch types or certain combinations of touch types, a single tap can be associated with an interesting temporary or permanent visual output. In particular, for light-emitting units that can emit colored light, the visual output can be made very eye-catching and attract tactile interaction between the user and the lighting system.

[0131] (2) Touch mode can be configured to control the light output of the entire system, such as turning the system output on or off by double tapping, or increasing or decreasing the brightness by sweeping across the surface of the light-emitting unit depending on the direction of the sweep.

[0132] (3) The touch pattern may be associated with an array of data required to initiate music playback on a record player or speaker, where the exact tune to initiate may depend on which of the plurality of light units is touched. (4) The touch pattern may be associated with an array of data required to temporarily unlock a remote door lock so that the lock remains unlocked for the entire duration that a particular light unit is pressed.

[0133] In particular, for embodiments where the second data array is transmitted to an auxiliary device, the data array may be required to conform to a specific structure in order to be interpreted as intended by the auxiliary device. So-called smart home protocols and standard application programming interfaces (APIs) serve this purpose and can greatly expand the types of touches and therefore actions that can be associated. The methods of some embodiments may be combined with these, including but not limited to HomeKit TM Alexa TM , Google Assistant TM 、SmartThings TM Nest TM 、Samsung Connect TM 、Hive TM 、Yonomi TM .

[0134] Touch as a lighting system for gaming

[0135] In other embodiments, the actuation mapping designation for a given touch pattern may constitute a game or portion of a game intended for entertainment. In some embodiments, the game is presented using the light-emitting panels of the lighting system. In other embodiments, the game is presented on an auxiliary device and the lighting system provides additional means for input and output of the game. Two types of game embodiments are described below.

[0136] In particular, for embodiments where the light emitting units are spatially arranged relative to each other along a grid, the light emitting units may act as pixels that may create the appearance of a moving object.At a given moment, a first light emitting unit may emit light having a different color than other light emitting units of the plurality of light emitting units of the lighting system.

[0137] For example, a first light unit may be red, while the other light units may be blue. At the next moment, a second light unit adjacent to the first light unit may change from blue to red, at which point the first light unit may change from red to blue. As this series of transformations continues, the appearance of a moving red object on a blue background is created.

[0138] The rules governing the change in color emitted by the light emitting unit from moment to moment may be a function of the touch pattern.Thus, the apparently moving red object in the illustrative embodiment may be controlled by the user's tactile interaction with the lighting system.

[0139] In an illustrative embodiment, Figure 4 As shown in FIG, several modular light emitting units 400 in the shape of a square are connected together, each having a touch sensor input. The touch sensor input can use one of the above methods. The controller of the lighting system is loaded with a game program, which brings the game experience and its rules when executed by the processing unit of the controller. As part of the execution, the controller continuously collects sensor signals 401 from the light emitting units 400 and represents any sensed touch patterns as a first plurality of data arrays 411.

[0140] The collection of sensory signals can occur at a certain frequency, such as once every 1 millisecond, once every 10 milliseconds, or once every 100 milliseconds. Collecting touch events more frequently can provide a faster response between touch patterns and game changes, but it may require more calculations by the controller, which may require more expensive components.

[0141] The first plurality of data arrays 411 at a given moment in time are used as input to the game logic instructions. A second plurality of data arrays 412 representing the lighting output state of each lighting unit in the lighting system are also available to the controller. In this illustrative embodiment, these are collected 402 from communications with the plurality of lighting units, but embodiments are envisioned in which the second plurality of data arrays 412 are retrieved from a memory.

[0142] The controller may continue to execute 403 game instructions 413, which at least take the first plurality of data arrays 411 as input, and optionally also the second plurality of data arrays 412 as input. A third plurality of data arrays 414 is obtained, which represents the light output. The light output of the plurality of light emitting units of the lighting system may be appropriately updated 404. The third data array is consumed by one or more light emitting units and the visible light output is updated. After these steps of the method, the above execution is repeated, i.e., the touch pattern of the light emitting unit is sensed.

[0143] Such as Whac-A-Mole TM 、Conway's Game of Life TM , Pacman TM 、Twister TM 、Blockade TM Or other Snakes TM Games such as games are some of the games that can be implemented using the above methods. These games can associate a user's touch on a light unit with a light output for entertainment. Other games can be considered.

[0144] In some embodiments, the score may be displayed to the user.In one embodiment of the scoring mechanism, a dynamic modular layout is populated in a given direction based on the detected spatial positions of its modular lighting units.

[0145] In embodiments where the lighting system includes a plurality of light emitting units, wherein the light emitting units may be coupled together in a plurality of different spatial arrangements or layouts, interactive games may be presented on a more complex structure than a conventional rectangular computer screen. Additionally, in some embodiments, the controller continuously checks the layout of the light emitting units and changes to the layout. In these embodiments, a user may add or remove light emitting units while the lighting system is powered and executing the logic instructions of the game as described above. In these embodiments, the playing field is changeable and may be a feature of an interactive game.

[0146] The game described so far only involves the lighting system. In some embodiments, the lighting system can send data arrays to an auxiliary device, and can receive data arrays from the auxiliary device, so that additional game experiences can be created. The auxiliary device can be a computer system that executes the logic instructions of the game that are partially embodied as lights and sounds on a screen, such as a television screen, a computer screen, a smart phone, a home entertainment screen.

[0147] In some embodiments, given a first data array or first plurality of data arrays representing a touch pattern received from the lighting unit, the controller executes logic instructions to create a second data array. In some embodiments, the second data array can be transmitted to an auxiliary device that is not part of the lighting system, but is coupled to the controller so that the data array can be transmitted between the controller and the auxiliary device. In such embodiments, the auxiliary device can consume the second data array and generate actions within the context of a computer game. Thus, the touch pattern can be associated with an action in a game presented on the auxiliary device.

[0148] The transmission of the second data array may be accomplished in the same manner and method as the transmission of the first data array from the lighting unit to the controller. The transmission of the second data array may be accomplished in other manners and methods.

[0149] Illustrative methods include: using Ethernet protocol or point-to-point protocol over wired or serial port transmission, using Wi-Fi TM 、Bluetooth TM 、Zigbee TM 、Z-Wave TM 、6LowPAN TM , 4G or 5G technology is transmitted through wireless electromagnetic radiation.

[0150] In an illustrative embodiment, tapping a light emitting unit in the lighting system that emits light of a different color than other light emitting units causes a rendered creature in a game displayed on the auxiliary device to jump over an obstacle. If a tap on a particular light emitting unit followed by a switch in the color emitted by the particular light emitting unit is not sensed within a time limit, the creature in the game has not avoided the obstacle and the game ends. In other illustrative embodiments, simultaneously sweeping downward across the surfaces of two light emitting units that emit light of a different color than other light emitting units causes a rendered creature in a game displayed on the auxiliary device to throw a rendered ball in the game such that the ball's trajectory arcs as if the ball were experiencing a Magnus effect.

[0151] Other actions within the game that are controlled by timed or untimed touch patterns of a particular light unit or multiple light units of the lighting system can be envisioned. The greater the number of light units in the plurality of light units of the lighting system, and the greater the number of different touch patterns that can be sensed, the greater the number of game actions that can be controlled by touch patterns relative to the lighting system and the creation and transmission of data arrays within the lighting system and between the lighting system and auxiliary devices.

[0152] The connection between the game on the auxiliary device and the lighting system can be reversed. That is, the event action within the game can generate a first data array that is transmitted to the controller. The transmission of the first data array to the controller can be accomplished by methods such as: using Ethernet protocol or point-to-point protocol through a wired or serial port, using Wi-Fi TM 、Bluetooth TM 、Zigbee TM 、Z-Wave TM 、6LowPAN TM , 4G or 5G technology is transmitted through wireless electromagnetic radiation.

[0153] The controller receives the first data array, and the controller evaluates an association between the first data array and the second data array. The second data array is transmitted to a lighting unit or a plurality of lighting units in the lighting system. The second data array can be transmitted from the controller to the lighting unit using a method of transmitting a data array. In some embodiments, the plurality of connections to the controller have a structure similar to a tree topology network.

[0154] In these embodiments, efficient data array transfer methods may be used, such as those disclosed in patent publication WO2019134046. This application is incorporated herein by reference.

[0155] Once the light unit or the plurality of light units receive and consume the second data array, the light output of the light unit or the plurality of light units is changed according to the indication of the second data array.

[0156] In an illustrative embodiment, the termination of a rendered creature in a game displayed on a secondary device causes the light output from the lighting system to quickly change to an intense red color. This switch amplifies the immersive experience of the game. In other illustrative embodiments, key competitive events within the game cause a rapid switch in light output so that the game user is experiencing additional excitement and involvement in the key competitive event. Other associations between game events and light output from the lighting system can be envisioned.

[0157] The games described so far involve a lighting system and in some embodiments, an auxiliary device that communicates with the lighting system. In other embodiments, the gaming experience involves multiple lighting systems that communicate with each other. The auxiliary device in the foregoing embodiments may be a controller for a second lighting system installed in a space separate from the first lighting system.

[0158] Thus, a first controller connected to the Internet can communicate with a second controller that is quite far away from the first controller. In an average residential area or in a public stadium in a convention hall, the distance can be less than one kilometer. On different coasts of the United States, the distance between multiple lighting systems can be less than 2,800 miles. Anywhere on Earth, the distance between multiple lighting systems can be less than 21,000 kilometers.

[0159] Lighting system with configurable touch action associations

[0160] The above methods and systems may employ mapping to associate touch patterns with actions, or the above methods and systems may employ mapping to associate actions with light emission types. As described above, touch patterns may cover a wide range of interaction types. As described above, actions may cover a wide range of types, such as real-world actions performed by an actuator or multiple actuators, or the creation or transformation of a data array stored in a memory, or the creation or transformation of a data array that may be presented as a change to a game environment displayed on an auxiliary screen, for example. The association between inputs and outputs is determined in part by logic instructions executed on a processor unit of the controller. The logic instructions as a whole may be referred to as control software.

[0161] In some embodiments, the control software may be configured by a user of the lighting system. The control software may contain logical instructions, such as conditional statements, loops, declarative statements, arithmetic operations, etc. The control software may be embodied as a data array that may be stored in a memory, such as a digital memory portion of a controller of the lighting system. When executed by a processing unit portion of the controller of the lighting system, the control software is converted into associations and actions, as described above in the illustrative embodiments.

[0162] In embodiments of the lighting system, wherein the lighting system can communicate the data array with the auxiliary device, the data array including the control software can be changed after the lighting system is installed. The transmission of the data array including the control software to the controller can be accomplished by methods such as: using Ethernet protocol or point-to-point protocol through a wired or serial port, using Wi-Fi TM 、Bluetooth TM 、Zigbee TM 、Z-Wave TM 、6LowPAN TM, 4G or 5G technology is transmitted through wireless electromagnetic radiation.

[0163] The steps of this method can be part of a software update mechanism for computers, smartphones, and low-power devices. The method of software update must also manage security so that only authenticated control software updates are allowed. Methods include, but are not limited to, methods described in US6594723B1, US9639347B2, and Ye's Authenticated Software Update in 2008 and Walkes' Update Embeded Device Software Securely Using These Strategies in 2017 ( https: / / www.fierceelectronics.com / embedded / update- embedded-device-software-securely-using-these-strategies ).

[0164] With the method of updating control software, a user may provide instructions on a secondary device, such as a computer or smartphone, which in turn creates a data array for securely updating the control software stored on the controller.

[0165] The user interface on the auxiliary device can be designed for ease of use so that the user is not required to directly create the contents of the data array. In these embodiments, the instructions provided by the user can include pressing virtual buttons, sliding virtual dials, and basic numeric inputs. These instructions create a data array that updates the control software on the controller of the lighting system in the manner described above.

[0166] In an embodiment regarding smart home functionality, in which a touch pattern at one or more light-emitting units of a lighting system is associated with an action regarding the light output of the lighting system or regarding another device, such as a remote control door lock or a connected speaker, a user is enabled to change the association through a simple interface, such as through a smartphone or other device with a graphical interface, which expands the possible options that the user can implement to serve the user's specific needs.

[0167] Residential spaces, commercial spaces, and other indoor spaces occupied by humans can have a variety of layouts, such as different numbers of doors, different numbers of windows, different kitchen equipment, and different home entertainment systems. The residents of the above spaces may have different needs, taking into account their abilities and physical conditions (such as cognitive impairment, reduced vision, limited mobility, and affinity for expressive colors). After the initial installation of the lighting system in the space, configuring the control software through a simple user interface can make the lighting system act as a hardware platform on which a large number of tailored applications can be loaded and made into reality.

[0168] In an illustrative embodiment of a lighting system, Figure 5As shown in FIG. 5 , the following scenario may occur. A lighting system 501 has been installed on a wall of a living room. The lighting system comprises a plurality of light units that together occupy a certain area of ​​the wall. The light units are connected to a controller that comprises at least a memory, a processing unit, a first network interface that can transmit data arrays between the plurality of light units and other controller components, and a second network interface 505 that can transmit data arrays between an auxiliary device and other controller components. In the illustrative embodiment, the auxiliary device is a smartphone with a graphical user interface 530.

[0169] The layout of the lighting system is represented on a graphical user interface on the auxiliary device as 531, so that the user can refer to the individual lighting units of the lighting system by interacting with the graphical representation on the auxiliary device. In the illustrated embodiment, this involves touching the lighting unit representation with a finger on the smartphone.

[0170] In the illustrative embodiment, there is a door with a door lock 511 and a doorbell 512 in the same residence or space as the living room with the lighting system. The door lock and the doorbell each include components that enable them to communicate data arrays with the lighting system 501, auxiliary device 530, or a public router such as a home Wi-Fi router. A relevant feature of the illustrative embodiment is that the lighting system is directly or indirectly coupled to the door lock and the doorbell.

[0171] Through the user interface of the auxiliary device 530, the user can refer to the first light unit 532. In the scenario of the illustrative embodiment, the first light unit 532 has been referred to. In the graphical user interface, a first list of options 533 becomes available. The list can be displayed as a drop-down menu. In the first list, the user selects an option, such as "Link A with door lock". In the graphical user interface, a first group of options becomes available. The first group can be displayed as a selectable list of options. In the list, the user selects two options, such as "Single tap to lock" 534 and "Double tap to unlock" 535.

[0172] In a similar manner, the user may reference the second light unit 536. In the scenario of the illustrative embodiment, following the previous steps related to the first light unit 532, the second light unit 536 has been referenced. In the graphical user interface, a second list of options 537 becomes available. The list can be displayed as a drop-down menu, and the list can be the same as the first list of options 533. In the second list, the user selects an option other than the first light unit, such as "Link B with doorbell". In the graphical user interface, a second group of options becomes available. The second group can be displayed as a selectable list of options. In the list, the user selects an option other than the first light unit, such as "Flash colors" 538. In the graphical user interface, a spectrum of colors is represented as 539. The user selects a color from the spectrum, such as bright red.

[0173] At this stage of the illustrative scenario, three associations have been defined involving two specific lighting units, a door lock named "A" and a doorbell named "B". A first data array embodying the definitions is created by the auxiliary device and sent to the controller via its second network interface. The controller interprets the first data array by executing a first plurality of logic instructions. The interpretation includes:

[0174] (1) Identification of which two lighting units of the lighting system have been referenced by the user through the user interface of the auxiliary device. The controller may store a layout of the lighting system in a memory from which the identifications are retrieved, so that the logic instructions to be executed by the controller may include selective communication of data arrays to and from the lighting units.

[0175] (2) Identification of which auxiliary devices are referenced by a listing in the auxiliary device's user interface. The controller may have a dictionary of named auxiliary devices and network identifiers in memory so that logic instructions to be executed by the controller may include selective communication of data arrays to and from the auxiliary devices. At this stage, the controller may further superimpose the communications with the auxiliary devices with the necessary data required by a common smart home protocol for the controller and auxiliary devices, such as, but not limited to, for HomeKit. TM ,Alexa TM , Google Assistant TM 、SmartThings TM Nest TM 、Samsung Connect TM 、Hive TM 、Yonomi TM agreement.

[0176] (3) The controller generates a second data array including control software and stores it in the memory. When executed by the controller, the control software monitors sensory input, such as a touch pattern at the first light emitting unit, and the presence of an indication received from the doorbell indicating that the doorbell has been activated. When executed by the controller, if a conditional relationship related to the sensory input is true, such as a color emitted from the second light emitting unit in a flashing sequence, and a locking mechanism of the door lock, such as extension or retraction of the bolt, the control software controls the actuator.

[0177] In the illustrative embodiment, the steps explained are all automatic and do not require further input from the user. However, upon completion, the graphical user interface on the auxiliary device may indicate that the two specified associations have been activated.

[0178] In an illustrative embodiment, the lighting system can be used as a sensor for touch input associated with a door lock actuator. In an illustrative embodiment, the lighting system can act as an actuator based on sensory signals collected at a doorbell.

[0179] If at some point thereafter the user wishes to change the above associations, the steps are repeated, but with a newly defined association between the light units and the actions. The new data array is sent to the controller as in the previous steps, and after similar steps of associating the sensory inputs and actuators, the new data array is stored in the memory and executed by the controller. As control software is replaced or updated, additional checks may be part of the procedure to ensure a safe and fail-proof software update.

[0180] In other illustrative embodiments, the creation of the second data array including the control software is completed on another device, which is not the controller itself. The other device can be a computer or server connected to the controller via a second network interface. The steps taken to interpret the first data array created by the user input can be performed remotely using the partial information accessed by the controller. This can have the following advantages, namely: any complex execution can be completed without increasing the requirements of the components including the controller to create an association between the sensory input and the action. The cost and complexity of manufacturing can be kept low.

[0181] Other embodiments are contemplated in which the full range of touch patterns is used in association with a variable light output, or in association with an auxiliary device or devices connected to the controller via a second network interface. In other embodiments, other auxiliary devices may be used as long as they can receive data arrays from the lighting system and / or transmit data arrays to the lighting system. A common feature among these embodiments is the ability to update the control software to implement new control associations.

[0182] In some embodiments, the plurality of light emitting units of the lighting system are modular and thus can be placed in a variety of spatial relationships to each other. In some embodiments, the light emitting units can be moved from one spatial location to another and the lighting system is motorized. Thus, in these embodiments, the association between sensory input and action is flexible, not only in the sense that the control software can be updated by the user, but also in the sense that the layout of the lighting system can be updated and occupy irregularly shaped areas.

[0183] Conventional touch interfaces are typically limited to a form factor that is set during manufacturing. In the above embodiments, the form factor of the touch interface and the control associations are configurable by the user after manufacturing and after initial installation.

[0184] As for smart home applications, additional instances of the gaming experience may be downloaded to the controller from a database on the Internet or at any other device connected via the second network interface of the controller. Thus, the lighting system is scalable in terms of being able to add additional lighting units to increase the playing field size of the game, and in terms of being able to download a large number of games embodied as control software executed by the controller.

[0185] Lighting system with adaptive power control

[0186] A lighting system that is spatially and optically configurable to a considerable degree by a user has many possible advantages. For example, it is easier to meet aesthetic or architectural requirements without expensive custom fabrication, and it becomes possible to precisely adapt the light to a variety of activities and personal needs. However, because fewer spatial and optical constraints are imposed on the user of the lighting system, the range of possible ways in which the components of the lighting system and their control logic can operate is also increased. Without additional offset design of the components and control logic, a user might therefore inadvertently configure the lighting system such that the components exceed critical limits. For example, current can be supplied to a component through a conductive metal trace, but, due to the resistance, heat is generated, which, if too great, would damage the lighting system.

[0187] A dual technical challenge arises: How to prevent erroneous operation of a lighting system that can be configured in a variety of ways? How to advise the user on how to change the lighting system configuration to obtain the desired result without the risk of operational failure?

[0188] For the former technical challenge, the solution described in detail below is built on three key parts: information about the spatial configuration, information about the electrical relationships, and a way to control the light output of each individual component that is part of the lighting system. From this information it is inferred by a fast and automatic calculation if the particular lighting system that the user has assembled presents a risk of operational failure, and if so, specific restrictions are then imposed on the particular lighting system using the way the light output is controlled. Thanks to this solution, it is not necessary to impose generic restrictions, and even users who lack any skills in electrical engineering can still innovatively assemble lighting systems without being affected by concerns about possible operational failures.

[0189] For the latter technical challenge, one can ask how to avoid or reduce specific limitations inferred by the solution to the previous technical challenge. One particularly fruitful inference to make in this regard is that the placement of the power supply into a particular lighting system will allow for the widest possible range of innovative optical outputs, but still avoid the risk of operational failures. The placement of the power supply can be as simple as where in the lighting system to connect the cables to the power sockets. Using the same information as for the previous solution, one or more ideal locations are inferred and displayed to the user through selective illumination of these locations of the lighting system. Thanks to this solution, a user who lacks any skills in electrical engineering can still assemble the lighting system in the desired spatial arrangement while also optimally placing the power supply in terms of operational electrical safety and efficiency.

[0190] In some embodiments, the lighting system includes a plurality of independently configurable light emitting units, a controller and a power source or multiple power sources and a first plurality of linkers. The linkers of the plurality of linkers may electrically couple pairs of light emitting units, or they may electrically couple the controller to the light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units, or they may electrically couple the power source to the light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units. In other words, the linker may be a device that distributes electrical power from the multiple power sources to the multiple light emitting units throughout the lighting system.

[0191] In some embodiments, the lighting system includes a plurality of independently configurable light-emitting units, a controller and a power source or multiple power sources and a second plurality of linkers. The linker of the plurality of linkers can electrically and mechanically couple the light-emitting units in pairs, or it can electrically and mechanically couple the controller to the light-emitting unit or multiple light-emitting units, or it can electrically and mechanically couple the power source to the light-emitting unit or multiple light-emitting units. In other words, the linker can be a device that distributes electrical power from the multiple power sources to the multiple light-emitting units through the entire lighting system, or it can be a device that holds multiple light-emitting units together as a single continuous unit under the action of moderate destructive forces (such as gravity or bending), or it can be a device that attaches other parts of the lighting system to the multiple light-emitting units.

[0192] In some embodiments, the linker is a printed circuit board (PCB) that can conduct electricity and transmit data arrays through serial port connections. The multiple linkers can also provide mechanical support for attaching the light-emitting units to a continuous lighting system through complementary recesses for inserting into the PCB. Other embodiments of linkers for electrically and mechanically connecting multiple light-emitting units can be envisioned, including the linker described in U.S. Patent Publication 20190132928A1. This document is incorporated herein by reference.

[0193] In a preferred embodiment, the linker can be attached and detached in a reversible manner. Therefore, the exact layout of the light-emitting units of the lighting system (i.e., how they are connected to each other) is not set once and for all during the manufacturing process. Instead, the user determines the structure. This feature of the lighting system enables the creation of additional functions, where light can provide more illumination to a space than general lighting, and where the lighting system can sense multi-modal actions located in its vicinity, such as the touch mode applied by the user to the lighting system and the location of the touch mode.

[0194] Proof that lighting does more than illuminate can be found in a growing number of human studies that show artificial lighting can disrupt circadian sleep rhythms, thereby harming an individual’s health. With individual differences in what constitutes optimal lighting in mind, so-called human-centered lighting design is considered a paradigm shift, where the human occupants of a space and their direct and indirect needs should determine how lighting is performed. In few places is this more evident than in nursing facilities, where elderly men and women with increasingly prevalent health conditions receive care. Evidence suggests that lighting can beneficially modulate disease symptoms through spectral changes or brightness and spatial dynamics during the day, providing clear guidance on how to safely move through a space and avoid falls. The combination of spatial and spectral properties of lighting is therefore a powerful combination in the design of spaces, not only for the basic function of lighting, but also for the health of the occupants.

[0195] A further illustration of this is the difference in lighting for lunch restaurants and dinner restaurants. The lighting for the former is typically active and formal, achieved through bright lighting, containing more amounts of blue wavelengths, and typically coming from lighting fixtures high above the restaurant patrons. The lighting for the latter is typically relaxing and intimate, achieved through dim lighting, containing more amounts of red wavelengths, and typically coming from lighting fixtures closer to the patrons, like chandeliers just above the table or lighting on the table.

[0196] Other lighting applications that have recently received similar considerations regarding human factors (not just related to brightness control) are lighting in schools, care facilities and street lighting. The above are all examples of lighting being more than just a form of illuminating a space. Instead, the placement and spectrum of lighting contributes to the ambience of the space, the functionality of the lighting and, to some extent, the health of the people who inhabit it.

[0197] Thus, a lighting system that can be configured to varying degrees based on the spectrum of light emitted by the lighting system and the spatial arrangement of the light sources of said light in a space and the spatial arrangement of users of the space relative to the space is better suited for human-centric lighting design, such as, but not limited to, the examples described above.

[0198] In an embodiment with a linker that can be attached and detached in a reversible manner, a user can disconnect or connect a single or multiple light-emitting units at any time. A user can also connect or disconnect multiple power supplies at any time. In order to provide sufficient power to a large number of multiple light-emitting units, such as a plurality of light-emitting units including 10, 25, 100, 500 or 5000 light-emitting units in a single coupled system, multiple power supplies may be required because the cumulative electrical power required by the lighting system increases or decreases in a linear manner proportionally with the size of the plurality of light-emitting units of the lighting system.

[0199] The operation of the assembly of light emitting units requires electrical power to drive the components of the light emitting units that generate the light output or luminous flux. The current is supplied by one or more power supplies linked to the assembly. The current is distributed from the power supply to the plurality of light emitting units via a linker or multiple linkers, and for some light emitting units, via one or more intermediate light emitting units. Thus, the current powering the light emitting units may have been distributed via multiple power supplies via multiple linkers and multiple other light emitting units. For electronic components of the lighting system, the multiple other components include conductive paths for the electronic components.

[0200] Thus, a given light output of the lighting system corresponds to a specific amount of electrical power from the power source or sources, and a specific distribution or routing of current through the conductive components of the lighting system, in particular the linker and the light emitting diodes.

[0201] Due to physical limitations on the construction of the power supply, connectors and other conductive components of the lighting system, as well as the various ways in which the lighting system can be assembled from multiple light-emitting units, operating conditions can be envisioned for which the physical limitations are exceeded. Because the assembly is constructed by the user in a preferred embodiment of the lighting system, rather than being defined once and for all during the manufacturing process, the user can construct an assembly that can achieve the desired light output if a current greater than the current available from the power supply or multiple power supplies is to be provided, or if a current greater than the rated current of the connector flows through one or more connectors of the assembly. Such excessive operating conditions may be unsafe, may result in unreliable operation of the lighting system, or may result in irreversible damage to the electronic components of the lighting system. Any of these conditions is referred to as an operational fault condition.

[0202] In other words, the flexibility enabled by the illustrative embodiments of the luminaire and its innovative design may cause operational fault conditions in the lighting system to manifest themselves unless the lighting system is constructed to automatically modify or constrain the possible ways in which the lighting system can be operated so that no operational fault conditions can become manifest.

[0203] For a lighting system comprising light units connected according to a layout, an operational fault condition of the type described above can be inferred by a method as described below. In some embodiments of the method, an operational adjustment is also inferred so that there will be no operational fault condition in the lighting system of the layout used as input to the method.

[0204] The method of inferring an operational fault condition may access the layout of the lighting system. The layout contains the topology of the connections between the light units, the linkers, and the power supply. This information may be contained in a first data array in the memory of a controller, a computer, or other device capable of executing the instructions of the method.

[0205] exist Figure 6 , three illustrative layouts are shown. Lighting units are represented as circles 641 connected by lines 645, which represent connectors. Power supplies are shown as boxes 642 connected to the lighting units in the lighting system. Other layouts are contemplated. Figure 6 (c) shows how the placement of two power supplies associated with a "dumbbell" layout can cause one of the multiple links to exceed its limit. Figure 6 (c) Linker 681, all Figure 6 The currents supplied to the plurality of light-emitting units in the lower half 682 of the layout (c) must all flow. Figure 6The higher light output of the plurality of light emitting units in the lower portion 682 of the layout of (c) may require excess current to be conducted by the linker 681 .

[0206] The method of inferring an operational fault condition may access electrical characteristics of a lighting system. The electrical characteristics of the lighting system include system voltage characteristics, the maximum allowed current that a link can conduct, the maximum electrical power that a power supply can provide, and the effective resistance of electrical components that may be part of a path between the power supply and functional components of a light emitting unit (e.g., a light emitting diode or multiple light emitting diodes, a touch sensor, and a processing unit). If the light emitting units within the system are dimmable, the electrical power consumption associated with the light emitting diodes depends on the luminous flux generated by the diodes. Therefore, these electrical characteristics of the entire lighting system circuit may depend on the optical specifications of the lighting system. Other functional components may be considered. This information may be contained in a second data array in a memory of a controller, a computer, or other device capable of executing instructions of the method.

[0207] In some embodiments, the highest allowed current of the link may be, but is not limited to, 1 ampere, 2.5 amperes, 6 amperes, 10 amperes. In some embodiments, the maximum electrical power that the power supply can provide may be, but is not limited to, 15 watts, 24 watts, 42 watts, 75 watts, 150 watts. In some embodiments, the effective resistance of the power supply and the link may be 1 milliohm, 5 milliohms, 10 milliohms, 25 milliohms. In some embodiments, the electrical power consumption associated with the light-emitting diodes of the lighting system may be 0.2 watts, 1 watt, 3 watts, 10 watts. The relationship between luminous flux and electrical power is an electro-optical relationship (e.g., an electro-optical rule), which may be obtained by experimental measurement and may be retrieved from a reference data sheet by the manufacturer of the light-emitting diode.

[0208] The electro-optical rule may be almost linear, but for higher powers the efficiency drops, making the relationship moderately sublinear.

[0209] The electro-optical rule may also depend on the ambient temperature and how many hours the light emitting diode has been powered on.In some embodiments, additional auxiliary factors related to the electro-optical rule between luminous flux and electrical power are included as indices for interpolation.

[0210] In other embodiments, additional auxiliary factors related to the electro-optical rule between luminous flux and electrical power are ignored.

[0211] The method of inferring an operational fault condition may also access the expected light output, which includes the light output of each light unit of the lighting system. The quantitative relationship between the light output and current of the light units is known and may be accessed by the method. This information may be contained in a third data array in the memory of a controller, computer, or other device capable of executing instructions of the method.

[0212] In some embodiments, the desired light output may be: all light emitting units emit white light with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 2700 Kelvin, each light emitting unit emits a luminous flux of 100 lumens, 200 lumens, or 500 lumens; half of all light emitting units emit red light, and the other half emit blue light, and each light emitting unit emits a radiant flux of 300 milliwatts, 650 milliwatts, 1 watt, or 3 watts. Other desired light outputs may be envisioned.

[0213] Thus, the inference that the method is addressing is: given the desired light output and corresponding required current for the plurality of light emitting units embodied in the third data array, and given the layout of the lighting system (which is embodied in the first data array), which components of the lighting system, if any, must be operated beyond the operating limits embodied in the second data array?

[0214] The method may utilize a circuit principle known as the superposition principle.Thus, the current at the electrical component of the lighting system is a linear accumulation of the currents from each of the plurality of power supplies of the lighting system.

[0215] The first calculation of the method may be the plurality of currents and the plurality of electrical powers provided by the power supply, which means the plurality of electrical powers at the plurality of light emitting units. The first calculation is possible because the layout of the light emitting units of the lighting system is known and therefore the plurality of conductive paths are also known.

[0216] Thus, any linkers or power supplies or other components operating above the highest allowed value may be determined by comparing the output of the first calculation to the component data array.

[0217] After the first calculation of the method, the second calculation of the method evaluates the minimum reduction of the plurality of electrical powers of the plurality of lighting units so that no power supply or link or other component operates above its highest allowed value. In the case where the first calculation determines that no component operates above its highest allowed value, the minimum reduction is no reduction.

[0218] The reason why the minimum reduction is the target of the second calculation is that this means the minimum deviation from the initial power draw requirement of the plurality of lighting units. This minimum reduction can then be applied to the operation of the lighting system, which ensures that no operational fault conditions will manifest.

[0219] The first calculation and the second calculation of the method can be performed in a number of different ways. A preferred embodiment is described below, but other embodiments of the method can be envisaged.

[0220] In some embodiments of the first calculation of the method, a first power source of the lighting system is considered, and other power sources of the plurality of power sources are suppressed. Suppression of a power source means that the power source has been removed from the circuit and replaced by a short circuit of a wire. Then, the current flow calculation of the first power source can be performed as follows: For the first electrical power provided by the first power source, the plurality of electrical characteristics of the power sources, linkers and lighting units are retrieved from the second data array of the method and allocated according to the layout or relative arrangement as in the first data array. A circuit of a known layout of a plurality of components with known electrical characteristics can be solved to produce a current flowing through any component having a resistance or simply a resistor.

[0221] Thevenin's theorem describes a standard relationship between circuits that leads to simpler equivalent circuits, also known as Thevenin equivalent circuits. Therefore, in some embodiments of the first calculation of the method, the current and power of the components are solved in the associated Thevenin equivalent circuits. Thevenin's theorem, Thevenin equivalent circuits, and circuit solving methods are described in electrical engineering textbooks, such as Electrical Circuits by Kang, 2018. Other methods of calculating current given the above information can be considered.

[0222] Next, a second power source is considered, other power sources in the plurality of power sources are suppressed, and steps equivalent to those for the first power source are taken. However, the placement of the second power source relative to other components of the lighting system may be different than for the first power source. Thus, given the information in the first and second data arrays, the current and electrical power calculated for the second power source may be different than the current calculated for the first power source. Each of a plurality of values ​​for the current and electrical power may be stored, each indexed with respect to the power source and the resistor component of the lighting system.

[0223] The steps of solving the circuit are repeated until all of the plurality of power supplies have been considered. At this stage of the method's implementation, a first component of the lighting system is considered. All currents indexed with respect to the first resistor component are summed. In other words, the two indexed data arrays are grouped by the component's index. In a next step, all currents indexed with respect to the second resistor component are summed. These steps are repeated until all resistor components of the lighting system are associated with a summed value of the current.

[0224] According to the superposition principle of the circuit, the accumulated current obtained by each resistance component of the lighting system obtained as described above is the current value at the electrical component in the lighting system, which is constructed as defined in the first and second data arrays.

[0225] In some embodiments of the method, an actual light output of the lighting system may be calculated based on the multiple currents and the multiple electrical powers at the light emitting units. The actual light output may be compared to the expected light output as embodied above in the third data array. The comparison may test whether the two light outputs are equal, or whether the two light outputs do not differ in magnitude from a threshold. If the two light outputs meet the criteria, the method may set a Boolean variable to true. If the two light outputs do not meet the criteria, the method may set a Boolean variable to false.

[0226] In some embodiments of the method, the plurality of currents at each electrical component are compared to the plurality of maximum allowed values ​​(as embodied above in the second data array) defining an operational fault condition. If at least one of the plurality of links has a calculated current that exceeds the highest current of the link, then the operational fault condition is true. Thus, a lighting system so operated can be expected to exhibit an operational fault as defined above. If at least one of the plurality of power supplies has a calculated electrical power that exceeds the maximum electrical power of the power supply, then the operational fault condition is true.

[0227] Thus, a lighting system so operated may be expected to exhibit an operational fault as defined above. An operational fault condition is true if at least one other electrical component of the plurality of other electrical components (e.g., a sensor circuit) has a calculated current that exceeds the highest current of the electrical component. Thus, a lighting system so operated may be expected to exhibit an operational fault as defined above.

[0228] In some embodiments of the method, the inference that the fault condition is true can be communicated to the user through an interface that prompts the user that the lighting system is not being operated as designed. The user can take action to correct this upon receiving such notification.

[0229] The action may be to reconfigure the layout of the lighting system, such as placing a light unit in a new location, removing a light unit from the lighting system, or connecting an additional power source to the lighting system, or placing a power source in a new location of the lighting system, or the action may be to operate the lighting system at a different desired light output. The method of inferring an operational fault condition may be performed again using the new corresponding data array.

[0230] In some embodiments of the method, the inference that the fault condition is true can be used to initiate additional method steps. The additional method steps can calculate a brightness reduction factor. The brightness reduction factor scales the light output of the plurality of light emitting units to a smaller value until the operational fault condition becomes false. Since higher brightness requires higher current, it is ensured that the reduced brightness results in lower current and reduced electrical power in the lighting system.

[0231] By scaling the operating condition by a factor less than 1 but not less than the maximum value at which the operating fault condition is false, the minimum reduction in brightness and, therefore, the minimum reduction in electrical power can be assessed.

[0232] In some embodiments of the method, the brightness reduction factor is transmitted to the plurality of light units, or to a controller of the plurality of light units in the lighting system. The brightness reduction factor is enforced by the lighting system so that a user does not inadvertently set a desired light output exceeding that defined by the brightness reduction factor. Thus, the light output of the lighting system is throttled to automatically prevent an operational fault condition from manifesting itself.

[0233] In some embodiments of the method, a multivariate brightness reduction factor is calculated. The multivariate brightness reduction factor scales the light output of the plurality of light emitting units to a value less than or equal to that required to meet the desired light output. However, the scaling may be different between different light emitting units, such that the light output of some units is reduced by a first scaling factor, while the light output of some other units is reduced by a second scaling factor, the first scaling factor and the second scaling factor being unequal. In some embodiments, the number of quantitatively unique scaling factors is equal to the number of light emitting units in the plurality of light emitting units. In some embodiments, the number of quantitatively unique scaling factors is less than the number of light emitting units in the plurality of light emitting units.

[0234] By scaling the operating conditions by multiple factors that are less than or equal to 1 but not less than the maximum value for which the operating fault condition is false, the minimum reduction in brightness, and thus the minimum reduction in electrical power, can be evaluated. For some lighting systems, there may be multiple minimum multivariate brightness reduction factors. In some embodiments of the method, one is selected at random. In other embodiments, the one with the smallest variation between the composite factors is selected. Other ways of selecting a minimum multivariate reduction factor can be considered.

[0235] In some embodiments of the method, a multivariate brightness reduction factor is transmitted to the plurality of light units, or to controllers of the plurality of light units in the lighting system. The multivariate brightness reduction factor is enforced by the lighting system so that a user does not inadvertently set a desired light output that exceeds a value defined by one of the component factors in the multivariate brightness reduction factor or by multiple component factors in the multivariate brightness reduction factor. Thus, the light output of the lighting system is throttled to automatically prevent an operational fault condition from manifesting itself.

[0236] The steps of the method may be performed on a computer that is not part of the lighting system, provided that the characteristics of the lighting system are known. The steps of the method of inferring an operational fault condition may be performed remotely from the lighting system, provided that the lighting system can transmit the data in the first, second and third data arrays described above to the computer. The computer may transmit the results of the inference to a controller of the lighting system, including any brightness thresholds to be enforced by the lighting system. Communication of the data arrays between the computer and the lighting system may be accomplished via a network interface of the controller of the lighting system.

[0237] In some innovative lighting systems, the method of inferring an operational fault condition is performed by a controller of the lighting system. In these embodiments, the controller is powered before the lighting system provides a desired light output.

[0238] Default values ​​for the light output of the system may be provided, including, but not limited to, 0%, 1%, 2%, or 5% of the desired light output, so that the possibility of an initial failure is minimized or eliminated. In this case, the controller may retrieve all necessary data about the layout and components of the lighting system in order to perform the steps of the method.

[0239] After executing the method, a possible operational fault condition may be determined and actions taken as described above. That is, the method steps may determine that the operational fault condition will be true if the lighting system is provided with a first desired light output of a certain type. If such a potential condition is found, the lighting system may enforce a brightness reduction factor or other operational threshold to prevent the lighting system from producing an actual light output as such if the user specifies the first desired light output. In this way, the operational fault condition cannot manifest itself.

[0240] A lighting system that enforces such inferred limits has two direct benefits to the system and its operation by the user.

[0241] The first benefit is to ensure that no power supply is overloaded. Depending on the safety protections available for a given power supply, a power supply overload may cause the power supply to stop providing current completely, or the current may be limited by reducing the voltage provided by the power supply. If a power supply stops providing current completely, the modular lighting system may adjust and draw current from other power supplies in the lighting system. However, such adjustment may overload the other power supplies. A cascade of power failures may then occur. On the other hand, if one power supply is overloaded and reduces voltage to prevent the overload, the lighting units may adjust to pull current disproportionately from the other power supplies. Assuming that the other power supplies react similarly to the overload, the other power supplies may also reduce their voltage. The net effect will be an overall voltage drop in the system. This may cause the lighting system to malfunction, such as reduced brightness, optical flicker due to voltage instability, one or more lighting units shutting down and / or the controller shutting down, or some other irregular and undesirable light output.

[0242] The second benefit is to ensure that none of the individual connectors, components or conductive parts of the lighting unit are overloaded. If they are overloaded, resistive heating can lead to local and permanent failure of the electrical connection or pose a risk of fire or melting to the system, nearby objects or surfaces.

[0243] The end user benefit of the above method and enforcement of the determined operational limits is that the user can construct the lighting system layout that the user prefers without the risk of causing electrical failure or unreliable operation. In a lighting system that is constructed and to which the above method is applied, operational failure conditions cannot be caused intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, the user can construct the luminaire without detailed guidance regarding said operational failure conditions, but rather, the user's attention is directed to the design of a lighting system that can best serve the purpose through a combination of spatial and spectral characteristics of the lighting.

[0244] Method and system for placing power control in lighting system

[0245] In the previous section, operational fault conditions were defined that result from the power source or sources, connectors, and other conductive components of the lighting system being physically limited in their electrical operation. The method and lighting system described in that section may assume a fixed layout of light units. Thus, the method and lighting system may infer operational limitations to avoid operational fault conditions for a given layout.

[0246] The placement of the power source can be as simple as where in the lighting system to connect the cable of the power socket. Using the same information as in the previous solution, one or more ideal positions are inferred and displayed to the user by selective illumination of these locations of the lighting system. Thanks to this solution, a user lacking any skills in electrical engineering can still assemble the lighting system in the desired spatial arrangement while also placing the power source optimally in terms of operational electrical safety and efficiency.

[0247] In some embodiments of the lighting system, the placement of the power sources relative to the light units is flexible. That is, as part of the installation and user configuration of the lighting system, the user can place the multiple power sources at multiple locations relative to the lighting system, the multiple locations being greater in number than the multiple power sources.

[0248] In some implementations, there may be better placements for a power supply than other placements for the power supply. Figure 6 The comparison between the illustrative layouts of (c) and 6(b) relates only to the locations where the two power supplies are placed relative to the plurality of light emitting units of the lighting system.

[0249] However, if Figure 6 The placement of the power supply in (b) is preferred because less current must flow through the critical link 681. Figure 6 (b) and Figure 6 The illustrative embodiment in (c) is relatively easy to evaluate in this regard. In other embodiments of lighting systems constructed with flexible layouts, the optimal or at least near-optimal placement of the power supply is not easily inferred by the user. It is difficult for most users to intuitively understand why a particular layout is enforced in order to operate at reduced brightness. If a user creates a configuration where brightness must be limited to ensure system reliability and safety, the path to resolving this situation will not always be straightforward. This is particularly evident when a very large number of light-emitting units (e.g., 100 or 500 units) are part of the lighting system. Due to the combinatorial explosion, the number of possible combinations of attaching a power supply to a lighting system of this size is very large.

[0250] In this section, methods and lighting systems are described that can assist a user in placing a power source during installation of the lighting system. Methods and systems like these benefit the user not only in automatically preventing the manifestation of an operational fault condition, but also in how to prevent the condition with the smallest possible reduction in the desired light output and without changing the layout of the lighting units.

[0251] The method of inferring the optimal power supply placement position builds on the method of inferring the operational fault condition as described in the previous section. Therefore, the method of inferring the optimal power supply placement position uses the same plurality of data arrays.

[0252] Therefore, the method of inferring the optimal power supply placement location can access the layout of the lighting system. The layout includes the connection topology between the light units, the linkers and the power supplies. This information can be contained in a first data array in the memory of a controller, a computer or other device capable of executing the instructions of the method.

[0253] exist Figure 6 , three illustrative layouts are shown. Lighting units are represented as circles 641 connected by lines 645, which represent connectors. Power supplies are shown as square boxes 642 connected to the lighting units in the lighting system. Other layouts can be envisioned.

[0254] Figure 6 (c) shows how the placement of two power supplies associated with a "dumbbell" layout can cause one of the multiple links to exceed the limits of that link. Figure 6 (c) linker 681, Figure 6 (c) The current that supplies power to the plurality of light-emitting units in the lower half 682 of the layout must flow. Therefore, Figure 6 The higher light output of the plurality of light emitting units in the lower half 682 of the layout of (c) may require excess current to be conducted by the linker 681 .

[0255] The method of inferring the optimal power supply placement location may access the electrical characteristics of the lighting system. The electrical characteristics of the lighting system include the maximum allowed current that the link can conduct, the maximum electrical power that the power supply can provide, and the effective resistance of electrical components that may be part of the path between the power supply and the functional components of the lighting unit, such as a light emitting diode or multiple light emitting diodes, a touch sensor, and a processing unit.

[0256] The resistance associated with the light emitting diode depends on the light flux generated by the diode. Therefore, the resistance may depend on the optical specifications of the lighting system. Other functional components are contemplated. This information may be contained in a second data array in the memory of a controller, computer or other device capable of executing instructions of the method.

[0257] In some embodiments, the highest allowed current of the linker may be, but is not limited to, 1 amp, 2.5 amps, 6 amps, 10 amps. In some embodiments, the maximum electrical power that the power supply can provide may be, but is not limited to, 15 watts, 24 watts, 42 watts, 75 watts, 150 watts. In some embodiments, the effective resistance of the power supply and the linker may be 1 milliohm, 5 milliohm, 10 milliohm, 25 milliohm. In some embodiments, the electrical power consumption associated with the light emitting diodes of the lighting system may be 0.2 watts, 1 watt, 2 watts, 10 watts.

[0258] The relationship between luminous flux and electrical power is the electro-optical rule, which can be measured experimentally and which can be retrieved from the reference data sheet of the manufacturer of the light emitting diode. The electro-optical rule can be almost linear, but for higher powers, the efficiency drops, which makes the relationship moderately sub-linear.

[0259] The electro-optical rule may also depend on the ambient temperature and how many hours the LED has been powered on. In some embodiments, additional auxiliary factors related to the electro-optical rule between luminous flux and electrical power are included as an index for interpolation. In other embodiments, additional auxiliary factors related to the electro-optical rule between luminous flux and electrical power are ignored.

[0260] The method of inferring the optimal power supply placement location can also access the expected light output, which includes the light output of each light unit of the lighting system. The quantitative relationship between the light output and current of the light unit is known and can be accessed by the method. This information can be contained in a third data array in the memory of a controller, computer or other device capable of executing instructions of the method.

[0261] In some embodiments, the desired light output may be: all light emitting units emit white light with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 2700 Kelvin, each light emitting unit emits a luminous flux of 100 lumens, 200 lumens, or 500 lumens; half of all light emitting units emit red light, and the other half emit blue light, and each light emitting unit emits a radiant flux of 300 milliwatts, 650 milliwatts, 1 watt, or 3 watts. Other desired light outputs may be envisioned.

[0262] Thus, the inference that the method is addressing is: given the desired light outputs and corresponding required currents for the plurality of light emitting units embodied in the third data array, and given the layout of the light emitting units of the lighting device embodied in the first data array, is the placement of the plurality of power supplies such that no component of the lighting system has to operate beyond the operating limits embodied in the second data array, or such that a minimal reduction in the desired light output is required to be within the operating limits?

[0263] In some embodiments of the method, an exhaustive enumeration of power supply placements is accomplished. In an illustrative embodiment of a lighting system having five possible power supply placements and two functionally identical power supplies, there are ten unique power supply placements.

[0264] For each possible placement, a method of inferring an operational fault condition as described above is performed on a controller, computer, or other device having a processing unit. The outputs of the execution of the method for each possible placement are compared. The placement that does not include an overloaded link, power supply, or other component is marked as optimal. In other words, the placement of the power supply that does not have an operational fault condition for the desired light output is stored in a data array marked as optimal.

[0265] If all possible placements imply an operational fault condition, then the preferred placement is the one that requires the least adjustment of the actual optical output from the desired optical output. In the illustrative embodiments described in the previous section, the adjustment is quantified by a brightness reduction factor or a multivariate brightness reduction factor. Other types of adjustments to the operation of the lighting system are contemplated to prevent the operational fault condition from manifesting. In these embodiments of the method and lighting system, the placement with the smallest brightness reduction factor is stored in a data array labeled as optimal.

[0266] For sufficiently large lighting systems, an exhaustive enumeration of power supply placements becomes computationally infeasible. Therefore, in some embodiments of the method, a smaller number of hypothetical power supply placements are constructed. Because one cause of operational fault conditions is that current must pass through a large number of components and connectors of a lighting system to drive some of the lighting units of the lighting system, and because of known spatial information about the lighting system, power supply placements that are farther apart relative to each other may be more likely to not contain operational fault conditions.

[0267] In an illustrative embodiment where the light-emitting units are arranged in a collective shape similar to an ellipse and two power sources are available for placement, the furthest apart placement involves light-emitting units at or near the endpoints of the semi-major axis. Due to the limitation to the corresponding possible placement points, an exhaustive enumeration can be performed and the hypothetical placements can be tested as described above. Thus, one or more placement positions marked as optimal can be obtained. In other embodiments of the method, a single placement point is selected from the first endpoint of the semi-major axis, and another placement point is selected from the second endpoint of the semi-major axis.

[0268] In other embodiments, the layout of the light-emitting units may form an irregular shape. A smaller set of possible placements may not be obvious based on simple geometric considerations. In some embodiments of the method, a smaller set of possible placements is obtained by iteratively searching for light-emitting units that can be connected to a power source and are as far apart as possible. Since the spatial layout of the light-emitting units is known, which is reflected in the first data array, the pairwise distances between all light-emitting units of the lighting system can be calculated. Then, the goal, i.e., the sum of the reciprocals of the distances between all power sources of the lighting system, can be minimized. For this goal, it is disadvantageous to place the power sources close to each other. This method can return multiple possible placement positions for the power source. Therefore, for these possible placement points, an exhaustive enumeration can be performed and the assumed placements can be tested as described above. Therefore, one or more placement positions marked as optimal can be obtained.

[0269] In other embodiments, the layout of light emitting cells can form a shape including multiple light emitting cell clusters. Multiple light emitting cells can form a cluster if the light emitting cells within the cluster are well connected to each other, while at the same time the light emitting cells within the cluster are moderately connected to the light emitting cells that are not within the cluster. In a layout with well-defined clusters, a small number of linkers can be the only means of conducting current from a light emitting cell in a first cluster to a light emitting cell in a second cluster.

[0270] Therefore, to reduce the risk of the small number of linkers exceeding their operating limits, a first power supply or first plurality of power supplies may be connected to lighting units in a first cluster and a second power supply or second plurality of power supplies may be connected to lighting units in a second cluster.

[0271] There are several methods for clustering analysis based on the pairwise distance matrix between light units, such as, but not limited to, K-means clustering, chain clustering, DBSCAN, HCS clustering. Given multiple clusters, the hypothetical placement of power supplies can be selected so that all clusters containing more than a certain threshold number of light units have power supplies connected to the light units of that cluster.

[0272] Other approaches are contemplated. The commonality is that for a lighting system, multiple placement locations can be deduced, such that connecting the power supply to those locations creates optimal operating conditions.

[0273] In order to guide the user to install the lighting system in the best way, or to guide the user to connect the power supply to different light units on the installed lighting system, the data array of the best placement position of the power supply can be transmitted to a device with a graphical user interface, for example, in some embodiments, the device is a computer or a smart phone. On the graphical user interface, the location of the best connection of the power supply can be highlighted by a certain color indicator, text or icon. The user can be guided by the visualization on the graphical user interface, and the user can adjust the placement position of the power supply on the lighting system accordingly.

[0274] In other embodiments, the method is performed on a processing unit of the lighting system, see Figure 7 The flowchart diagram of the controller, for example, is shown in the processing unit of the controller, and the preferred light units connected to the power supply will be highlighted directly on the lighting system. To this end, at least one power supply must be connected to the lighting system to provide sufficient current so that several light-emitting units can be highlighted.

[0275] The light unit that is to be optimally connected to the power source can be illuminated, or colored in another informative manner. This can not only indicate where the user should connect the power source, but also make it easy for the user to know how many power sources are needed in total. In a preferred embodiment, the indication uses a cyan 514 light. If a certain position that has been connected to the power source 516 will result in adjusting the actual light output to a certain degree from the desired light output 518, the color of the light unit at the position can be colored proportionally to the adjustment degree 520. Therefore, the color of the light emission from a given light unit can be matched to the best position for adding power.

[0276] In other embodiments, a color gradient may be used to inform the user where to add additional power supplies or where to move existing suboptimal power supplies, see Figure 8 and 108. In these embodiments, the gradient ranges from black (red, green, blue = 0, 0, 0) to white (red, green, blue = 255, 255, 255), where black represents suboptimal placement and white represents ideal placement. Other color gradients are also possible.

[0277] For another hypothetical configuration where a power source is connected to the light emitting units, the color of that particular light emitting unit can be determined by determining the brightness reduction factor of the entire lighting system (as indicated in the method disclosed above). The light emitting unit with the largest brightness reduction factor value is assigned a gradient value of 1.0, which corresponds to a white light output (or 255,255,255).

[0278] The brightness reduction factor without adding any additional power to the lighting system is assigned a gradient value of 0.0, which corresponds to a black light output (or 0,0,0). The brightness reduction factor of each light-emitting unit of the lighting system calculated under the corresponding hypothetical configuration defined above falls between the above two extreme points.

[0279] The color of the light output of the lighting units is assigned as a scaled proportion of the gradient value 110. Thus, the lighting units output light of a color on the scaled red-green-blue spectrum 108. The color of the light output of the plurality of lighting units may thus provide information about where to best place additional power supplies.

[0280] The range of colors spatially distributed across the plurality of light emitting units in a lighting system may be referred to as a "heat map" that guides power installation.

[0281] The heat map indication may be beneficial because it presents a user with a series of ranked choices. In some embodiments of the lighting system, the indication of the optimal placement of the power source may display a single option that may be difficult or likely to be used by the user.

[0282] For example, the optimal placement location may be in the center of a layout of light units, or it may be far from an outlet or other wired power source. Thus, the user may utilize the heat map instructions to select a second-best placement location, a third-best placement location, etc., which placement locations may still prove sufficient for a highly functional use of the configurable lighting system.

[0283] In addition, the heat map instructions provide a mechanism for guided installation that can be displayed to the user without having to connect the auxiliary device with a graphical user interface to the lighting system. This can be useful during the initial setup process, which can be more likely to be performed before the user takes the actions required to connect the auxiliary device to the network interface of the lighting system.

[0284] Lighting systems with visually indecipherable controls

[0285] To overcome all the technical challenges mentioned above, computation is a key part. The unit of the lighting system that performs this computation is called a controller (eg, a controller circuit).

[0286] Because the controller is functionally different from the unit that generates the light, the controller is often visually different. To have to accommodate a visually different controller, the controller may be an obstacle to passing the user's desired design.

[0287] Therefore, an attractive design is to integrate the functionally distinct components of the controller into the unit that generates the light. This means that at least one unit of the configurable lighting system must accommodate additional electronics that are constrained by a small space. A design that overcomes this problem is described in detail below, which includes a multi-layer circuit board. However, providing an attractive design is technically challenging because of the need to overcome volume and space limitations. Therefore, as described in some embodiments, a specific device for providing a visually indiscernible controller circuit (visually indiscernible relative to other light emitter devices) is described.

[0288] In some embodiments, the lighting system includes a plurality of light emitting units, one or more power supplies, and a controller. The controller also includes a component that can execute logic instructions, such as a processing unit or a microcontroller.

[0289] The logic instructions may result in creating a data array, transmitting a data array through a network interface of the controller, receiving a data array through a network interface of the controller, storing a data array in a digital memory of the controller, retrieving a data array from a digital memory of the controller, converting a first data array to a second data array, and consuming a data array. The transactions of the data array may be related to events external to the controller.

[0290] In a luminaire system, external events associated with the data array may include regulation of the current to the light emitting diodes in a light emitting unit or units, an event that a light emitting unit or units are touched, an event that a data array representing an audio signal obtained from a transducer is converted into a lighting output, an event that all available lights of the luminaire are turned on as a wake-up alarm (triggered by a certain hour being reached at the internal clock), an event that a doorbell is activated. Other useful applications of controllers integrated with functionality have also been described in previous sections. These are illustrative examples of what the controller can do and should not be construed as an exhaustive list.

[0291] The controller can be integrated into the use of the luminaire and its beneficial applications in applications such as human-centric lighting design, smart home applications, and entertainment gaming.

[0292] The controller as shown above may be functionally distinct from the more luminous components of the luminaire. Furthermore, the controller component may be visually distinct from other components of the luminaire. In particular, the controller component may be unable to generate light. Thus, the luminaire system as a whole may include at least two visually distinct components, one of which does not emit light when powered.

[0293] Existing lighting systems sold on the market have attempted to minimize the appearance of the controller by making the controller relatively small or by using colored materials to blend the controller with the background (usually a wall or some other mounting surface). Other attempts to reduce the obvious difference between the components of the rest of the lighting system have made it easier to hide the controller by making the communication interface between the controller and the plurality of light units controlled by the controller wireless in nature. However, wireless controllers are inherently less reliable because they are subject to electromagnetic interference and signal attenuation.

[0294] Therefore, in many cases, it is a clear advantage to place the central controller near the lighting units that communicate with the controller. However, this functionally preferred solution means that the controller is mounted next to the lighting units and is clearly visible to users of the space. In some applications, this is considered undesirable due to space restrictions, aesthetic requirements or other architectural restrictions.

[0295] An example where differences in appearance would reduce practicality is a kitchen backsplash where each tile is required by building codes to maintain the same overall theme, design, or appearance. A lighting system designed as part of a backsplash can add additional appeal and functionality to a backsplash if the individual light-emitting units that make up the backsplash present a geometric shape that is compatible with the other tiles that comprise the backsplash.

[0296] For example, a backsplash may be constructed by mosaicking square tiles. A controller (which is not a square, or which is a square that is a different size than the light units, or which is a square but lights up differently than the light units) may be considered incompatible with this particular backsplash design. One option is to place the controller behind the wall or ceiling, close to the fixture mounting location, and connect it to the light unit or units with appropriate wires. However, this may be disadvantageous in many cases because of the need to drill holes in the wall or ceiling and provide additional and more complex wiring. In other cases, this may simply be impossible or impractical due to space limitations or because the installation process by a typical user is too cumbersome.

[0297] For the reasons stated above, a lighting system where the controller looks visibly identical to the light units offers numerous advantages over existing solutions. The lighting system may meet additional building codes, it may be easier to install, and it may provide more reliable control of the light fixtures even in spaces where other wireless electronic devices are active.

[0298] Technical challenges to be overcome in order to design a lighting system with a controller having the above-mentioned characteristics may include: (1) Compared with the lighting unit, the controller may require additional electronic components, including a processing unit and memory, or a larger footprint on the processing unit and memory or circuit board. Compared with the lighting unit, the controller may have additional sensors, such as, but not limited to, a temperature sensor, an ambient light sensor, a humidity sensor, or a motion sensor.

[0299] In some embodiments, the light emitting unit is comprised of a thin plastic sheet that is comprised of an optical diffuser. The light-weight, thinner light emitting unit can be integrated with surfaces other than ceilings with fewer constraints than heavier structures, or thicker lamps and general lighting fixtures. In addition to ceilings, walls, floors, cabinets, columns or support posts, and certain furniture and hardware may be areas to mount the thinner light emitting unit.

[0300] Therefore, with appropriate mechanical design, thinner light-emitting units can provide additional ways to design beneficial lighting in architecture and interior design. The construction of thinner light-emitting units may be challenging in other aspects, especially in optical design. Methods and systems for overcoming these challenges may include, but are not limited to, those methods and systems disclosed in patent publication WO2019052294A1. This publication is incorporated herein by reference.

[0301] For thinner lighting units, the placement of additional electronic components may therefore be particularly cumbersome and may require innovative steps.

[0302] In illustrative embodiments, one design or multiple designs may be employed:

[0303] (1) Use a printed circuit board (PCB) with a relatively large number of conductive layers, such as four, six or eight layers. This enables the construction of circuit boards that pack electronic components more densely.

[0304] (2) Use smaller electronic components, such as 0603 resistors, 0402 resistors, which may be functionally different from larger electronic components and therefore may require a completely different electronics layout to implement the functions of the controller under the electrical operating conditions implied by the smaller components. This enables the electrical functions to be designed in a smaller footprint.

[0305] (3) Use surface mount technology (SMT) to miniaturize the multiple components using pick-and-place machines that can pack the components into circuits at higher densities than conventional soldering methods allow.

[0306] (4) Use multiple PCBs that are electrically coupled using solder points, pin headers, or connectors. The additional PCBs may be referred to as daughter boards. This may enable circuits to be more densely packed, or have an irregular footprint that better fits the space within the housing of the light unit.

[0307] (5) Compact implementations using antennas, such as F PCB antennas or ceramic chip antennas. Antennas may be required for controllers with wireless network interfaces. Many existing antenna designs may have a large footprint because the antenna must sense electromagnetic radiation with a specified frequency (e.g., 2.4 GHz). Other designs are contemplated.

[0308] An illustrative embodiment of a controller that appears to be substantially identical to a thinner light unit is shown in FIG. Fig. 9 Other designs are contemplated.

[0309] These designs of controllers that appear to be visibly identical to the lighting unit can further reduce or eliminate the need for additional electrical protection components, such as ESD protection diodes, MOVs, surge suppressors, ground shields, etc., which would otherwise be required if the controller was not physically housed within a unit that already houses the components for generating the light output.

[0310] Furthermore, the volume of plastic material used to construct the controller in a structurally sound manner will generally be very similar to the volume of plastic material used to construct a conventional lamp. It can be easily seen that any plastic material that would otherwise be used to construct a controller housed separately from the lamp is saved. This can have cost advantages, manufacturing advantages, or environmental impact advantages.

[0311] Embodiments of the method, system, and apparatus are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0312] The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the subject matter of the present invention. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of elements of the present invention, the subject matter of the present invention is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Therefore, if one embodiment includes elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment includes elements B and D, the subject matter of the present invention is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if the combination is not explicitly disclosed.

[0313] The embodiments of the devices, systems and methods described herein may be implemented in a combination of hardware and software. These embodiments may be implemented on programmable computers, each of which includes at least one processor, a data storage system (including volatile memory or non-volatile memory or other data storage elements or a combination of the above) and at least one communication interface.

[0314] Program code is applied to input data to perform the functions described herein and generate output information. Output information is applied to one or more output devices. In some embodiments, the communication interface can be a network communication interface. In embodiments where elements can be combined, the communication interface can be a software communication interface, such as those software communication interfaces for interprocess communication. In other embodiments, there can be a combination of communication interfaces implemented as hardware, software, and a combination of hardware and software.

[0315] Throughout the above discussion, there will be numerous references to servers, services, interfaces, portals, platforms, or other systems formed by computing devices. It should be understood that the use of such terms is considered to mean one or more computing devices having at least one processor configured to execute software instructions stored on a computer-readable, tangible, non-transitory medium. For example, a server may include one or more computers operating as a network server, database server, or other type of computer server in a manner that performs the described roles, responsibilities, or functions.

[0316] The technical solutions of some embodiments may be in the form of software products. The software product may be stored in a non-volatile or non-temporary storage medium, which may be a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB flash drive, or a removable hard disk. The software product includes a plurality of instructions that enable a computer device (a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to perform the methods provided by the embodiments.

[0317] The embodiments described herein are implemented by physical computer hardware, which includes computing devices, servers, receivers, transmitters, processors, memory, displays, and networks. The embodiments described herein provide useful physical machines and specially configured computer hardware arrangements.

[0318] Although the embodiments have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made herein.

[0319] Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification.

[0320] It will be understood that the examples described above and shown are intended to be illustrative only.

Claims

1. A lighting system, comprising: a controller comprising a processing unit, a computer memory, and one or more network interfaces; One or more power supplies, the one or more power supplies providing a first amount of electrical power; a plurality of light emitting units; and a plurality of links, wherein links in the plurality of links conduct current of a second magnitude; wherein at least one of the plurality of light emitting units is adapted to consume electrical power of a third magnitude and generate light emission of a fourth magnitude according to an electrical-optical relationship; wherein the plurality of light-emitting units and the plurality of power sources are coupled together through the plurality of linkers to establish an electrical network, so that at least one light-emitting unit in the lighting system draws electrical power from the plurality of power sources via a plurality of conductive paths; Each conductive path includes one linker or multiple linkers and one light-emitting unit or multiple light-emitting units; and wherein the controller sets the plurality of third magnitudes such that the plurality of first magnitudes are below a plurality of first power thresholds, the plurality of second magnitudes are below a plurality of second current thresholds, and the plurality of fourth magnitudes are equal to a target light emission, or if the target light emission cannot be achieved, the plurality of fourth magnitudes are equal to a plurality of reduced target light emissions; The controller executes logic instructions on the processing unit, the logic instructions comprising machine interpretable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit of the controller, cause the processor to set the plurality of third values.

2. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein: The controller receives the plurality of third magnitudes through a network interface coupled to an external device including a processing unit.

3. The lighting system according to claim 2, wherein: The external device is a computer. The lighting system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first power thresholds are 24 watts. The lighting system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second current thresholds are 2.5 amperes.

6. The illumination system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of target light emissions are a luminous flux of 100 lumens of white light having a correlated color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.

7. The illumination system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of target light emissions are 650 milliwatts of red light radiant flux.

8. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of light emitting units comprises 1-500 light emitting units.

9. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reduced target light emissions are obtained by multiplying a plurality of target light emissions by a factor less than 1.

10. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein a light emitting unit of the plurality of light emitting units is a substantially flat lamp.

11. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein a conductive pathway in the plurality of conductive pathways for a lighting unit comprises more than 10 linkers.

12. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein: The controller is configured to set the plurality of third values ​​substantially instantaneously when the lighting unit or when the power supply is coupled to the powered lighting system through the linker.

13. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein: The controller is configured to set the plurality of third values ​​substantially instantaneously when the lighting unit or when power is removed from a powered lighting system.

14. A method of operating a plurality of light emitting units, the method comprising: providing one or more power sources to provide a first amount of electrical power; providing a plurality of links, wherein links in the plurality of links conduct current of a second magnitude; providing the plurality of light emitting units, each light emitting unit being adapted to consume a third amount of electrical power and produce a fourth amount of light emission according to an electrical-to-optical relationship; as well as setting the plurality of third magnitudes such that the plurality of first magnitudes are below a plurality of first power thresholds, the plurality of second magnitudes are below a plurality of second current thresholds, and the plurality of fourth magnitudes are equal to a target light emission, or if the target light emission cannot be achieved, the plurality of fourth magnitudes are equal to a plurality of reduced target light emissions; The controller executes logic instructions on the processing unit, the logic instructions comprising machine interpretable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit of the controller, cause the processor to set the plurality of third values.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The plurality of first power thresholds are 24 watts, or the plurality of second current thresholds are 2.5 amperes.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The plurality of target light emissions is a luminous flux of 100 lumens of white light having a correlated color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of target light emissions is a 650 milliwatt red light radiant flux.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein the setting of the plurality of third values ​​is performed in response to when the lighting unit or the power supply is removed from the powered lighting system, or in response to when the lighting unit or the power supply is coupled to the powered lighting system through a linker.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine interpretable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 14-18.

20. A lighting system comprising: a controller comprising a processing unit, a computer memory, and one or more network interfaces; a plurality of power sources, the plurality of power sources including at least one power source that provides a first amount of electrical power; A plurality of light emitting units; and a plurality of links, each link of the plurality of links being adapted to conduct a current of a second magnitude; wherein the light emitting units of the plurality of light emitting units include a plurality of light emitters, the light emitters consume electrical power of a third magnitude and generate light emission of a fourth magnitude according to an electrical-optical relationship; wherein the plurality of light-emitting units and the plurality of power sources are coupled into a network through the plurality of linkers, so that the light-emitting units of the lighting system draw electrical power from the plurality of power sources via a plurality of conductive paths; Wherein, the conductive path comprises a linker or multiple linkers and a light emitting unit or multiple light emitting units; Wherein, the plurality of light emitting units are adapted to emit light colored according to a spectrum having a first end and a second end, such that: an additional power source coupled through a linker to light emitting units emitting light colored near the first end of the spectrum but not to light emitting units emitting light colored near the second end of the spectrum, to provide a greater range of a third magnitude or values ​​for operation of the lighting system such that the plurality of first magnitudes are below a plurality of first power thresholds, the plurality of second magnitudes are below a plurality of second current thresholds, and the plurality of fourth magnitudes are equal to a target light emission or, if the target light emission is not achievable, the plurality of fourth magnitudes are equal to a plurality of reduced target light emissions; The controller executes logic instructions on the processing unit, the logic instructions comprising machine interpretable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit of the controller, cause the processor to set the plurality of third values.

21. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the spectrum is a linear interpolation of an RGB color model, wherein the first end of the spectrum is white, and wherein the second end of the spectrum is black.

22. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the spectrum is a blue-green-red spectrum, wherein the first end of the spectrum is blue, and wherein the second end of the spectrum is red.

23. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein upon coupling an additional power source to a light emitting unit of the lighting system such that the lighting system draws electrical power from a plurality of conductive pathways including the additional power source, the color of the light emission changes along the spectrum.

24. The lighting system of claim 23, wherein one or more additional power sources are coupled to the lighting units of the lighting system until all lighting units emit light colored at the first end of the spectrum.

25. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of first power thresholds is 24 watts, or the plurality of second current thresholds is 2.5 amps.

26. The illumination system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of target light emissions is a luminous flux of 100 lumens of white light having a correlated color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.

27. The illumination system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of target light emissions are 650 milliwatts of red light radiant flux.

28. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of lighting units comprises up to 500 lighting units.

29. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of reduced target light emissions is obtained by multiplying a plurality of target light emissions by a factor less than 1.

30. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the light emitting unit is a substantially flat lamp.

31. The lighting system of claim 20, wherein the conductive pathway for the lighting unit comprises more than 10 connectors.

32. A method for visually indicating optimal power supply placement when a user connects a power supply to a plurality of light units, the method comprising: When an additional power source is coupled through the linker to a lighting unit emitting light colored near a first end of the spectrum instead of a lighting unit emitting light colored near a second end of the spectrum, increasing the third magnitude or the maximum of the third magnitudes such that the first magnitudes are below the first power thresholds, the second magnitudes are below the second current thresholds, and the fourth magnitudes are equal to the target light emission or, if the target light emission is not achievable, the fourth magnitudes are equal to the reduced target light emission; The controller executes logic instructions on the processing unit, the logic instructions comprising machine interpretable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit of the controller, cause the processor to set the plurality of third values, The power supply provides electrical power of a first value, a connector coupling the plurality of light-emitting units and the power supply is suitable for conducting current of a second value, and at least one of the plurality of light-emitting units is suitable for consuming electrical power of a third value and generating light emission of a fourth value based on an electro-optical relationship.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: An increase in the maximum value of the third magnitude increases the visual characteristics of the plurality of light emitting units.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein: The plurality of light emitting units together form a lighting system.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein: The plurality of first power thresholds are 24 watts.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein: The plurality of second current thresholds are 2.5 amperes.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein: The plurality of target light emissions is a luminous flux of 100 lumens of white light having a correlated color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein the plurality of reduced target light emissions are obtained by multiplying a plurality of target light emissions by a factor less than 1.

39. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine interpretable instructions which, when executed by a processor of a controller circuit, cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 32-38.

40. A method of setting power consumption of a plurality of light emitting units comprising a lighting system, the lighting system comprising: a power source or power sources providing electrical power less than a plurality of first power thresholds, a plurality of links conducting current less than a plurality of second current thresholds; and a plurality of light emitters that consume a first amount of electrical power and generate a second amount of light emission according to an electro-optical relationship, the plurality of light emitting units and the plurality of power sources being coupled into a network through the plurality of linkers, so that the light emitting units of the lighting system draw electrical power from the plurality of power sources via a plurality of conductive paths, the conductive paths comprising a linker or a plurality of linkers and a light emitting unit or a plurality of light emitting units; and the plurality of second amounts of the plurality of light emitting units being equal to a plurality of target light emissions, or if the plurality of target light emissions cannot be achieved, the plurality of second amounts being equal to a plurality of reduced light emissions, The method includes: In a first calculation, a plurality of currents in the plurality of conductive paths and a plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of power sources are determined, the plurality of currents and the plurality of electrical powers producing a plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of light emitting units corresponding to the plurality of target light emissions; and in a second calculation, a minimum reduction of the plurality of electrical powers for the plurality of light emitting units is determined, the minimum reduction producing no power source in the plurality of power sources providing electrical power above the first power threshold, and the minimum reduction producing no link in the plurality of links conducting a current above the second current threshold; Wherein, the first calculation includes the following steps: selecting a first power source, and evaluating the multiple electric powers and the multiple currents provided by the first power source to the multiple light-emitting units and the multiple linkers through the multiple conductive paths and the terminals at the first power source; adding the multiple electric powers and the multiple currents to a data array indexed by the multiple light-emitting units and the multiple linkers; repeating the steps of selecting power sources and adding to the data array until all of the multiple power sources have been selected once; and evaluating the multiple light emissions at the multiple light-emitting units based on the added values ​​in the data array and based on the electro-optical relationship.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein: The minimum reduction of the plurality of electric powers in the plurality of light emitting units is no reduction.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein: The minimum reduction of the plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of light emitting units includes a product of the plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of light emitting units and a factor less than one.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein the minimum reduction of the plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of light emitting units comprises a product of the plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of light emitting units and a plurality of factors equal to or less than 1.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein the command to set the power consumption of the plurality of lighting units comprises a data array sent to the plurality of lighting units from which the electrical operating values ​​are obtained.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein: The electrical operation value is a percentage value of the electrical amplitude that is non-zero in the pulse width modulation duty cycle.

46. ​​A system for setting power consumption of a plurality of light emitting units, the system comprising: one or more power sources that provide electrical power less than a plurality of first power thresholds; a plurality of links that conduct currents less than a plurality of second current thresholds; as well as A plurality of light emitters, which consume electrical power of a first magnitude and generate light emissions of a second magnitude according to an electro-optical relationship, the plurality of light emitting units and the plurality of power sources are coupled into a network through the plurality of linkers, so that the light emitting units of the lighting system draw electrical power from the plurality of power sources via a plurality of conductive paths, the conductive paths comprising a linker or a plurality of connectors and a light emitting unit or a plurality of light emitting units; and the plurality of second magnitudes of the plurality of light emitting units are equal to a plurality of target light emissions, and if the plurality of target light emissions cannot be achieved, the plurality of second magnitudes are equal to a plurality of reduced light emissions; A controller configured to: In a first calculation, determining a plurality of currents in the plurality of conductive paths and a plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of power sources, the plurality of currents and the plurality of electrical powers generating a plurality of electrical powers in the plurality of light emitting units corresponding to the plurality of target light emissions; In a second calculation, a minimum reduction of the plurality of electrical powers for the plurality of light emitting units is determined, the minimum reduction not resulting in a power source among the plurality of power sources providing electrical power above the first power threshold, and the minimum reduction not resulting in a link among the plurality of linkers conducting a current above the second current threshold; and based on the first calculation or the second calculation, the power usage of the plurality of light emitting units is modified.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the plurality of light emitting units operate as a modular lighting system, wherein each of the plurality of light emitting units are electrically coupled to each other.

48. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine interpretable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 40-44.

Images