Dynamic forwarding method for intelligent lighting control system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a dynamic forwarding method for an intelligent lighting control system. When applied to the intelligent lighting control system, the central controller can automatically select a forwarding path with the best signal for each terminal device to communicate with the terminal device according to the statistical signal strength value of each terminal device through different paths after the system has been running for a period of time. At the same time, the forwarding path can be dynamically updated during the operation of the system to adapt to signal changes caused by environmental changes, thereby greatly increasing the forwarding efficiency of the system and reducing the configuration process of the system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of lighting system control, and in particular to a dynamic forwarding method of an intelligent lighting control system. Background Art

[0002] In the smart lighting control industry, the communication networks and communication protocols used for wireless smart lighting control systems, such as various communication protocols using 2.4G communication, have relatively limited coverage. For larger areas such as large office buildings, forwarding methods are required to expand the coverage of the system. However, since the bandwidth of these protocols is relatively limited, and forwarding itself requires additional bandwidth, in order to avoid a decrease in system communication efficiency, other types of networks are needed to achieve large-area signal coverage.

[0003] The forwarding methods of the existing intelligent lighting control systems on the market currently have the following main shortcomings: 1. Simple wireless flooding forwarding, this method has low wireless channel utilization and is prone to channel congestion; 2. It requires manual designation of forwarding nodes. This method requires the implementers to have a certain understanding of wireless signal forwarding and have certain implementation experience. In addition, during the implementation of this method, it may be necessary to repeatedly reselect and set the forwarding nodes according to actual conditions, and to re-set them after changes in environmental conditions; therefore, a new dynamic forwarding method is needed to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention proposes an optimized dynamic forwarding method of an intelligent lighting control system.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention solves the technical problem by adopting a technical solution: a dynamic forwarding method of an intelligent lighting control system, the system comprising:

[0006] Central controller;

[0007] a plurality of network repeaters communicating with the central controller via a first wireless network;

[0008] A plurality of terminal devices communicate with the central controller in sequence via the second wireless network, the network repeater, and the first wireless network; or communicate directly with the central controller via the second wireless network;

[0009] The dynamic forwarding method comprises the following steps:

[0010] Step 1: The network forwarder records the signal strength value of the second wireless network signal of the terminal device each time it is received, and attaches the signal strength value when forwarding the signal to the central controller through the first wireless network;

[0011] Step 2, the central controller records and saves the first signal strength values ​​of each terminal device that have been received through different network repeaters for several times recently;

[0012] The central controller records and stores the second signal strength values ​​of each terminal device that have been directly received via the second wireless network for several times recently;

[0013] Step 3, the central controller calculates the average first signal strength of each terminal device after it reaches the terminal device several times through different network repeaters and calculates the average second signal strength of each terminal device after it reaches the terminal device several times directly. If at least one of the average first signal strengths generated by the terminal device is greater than the average second signal strength generated by the terminal device, the process proceeds to step 4; if the average second signal strength generated by the terminal device is greater than the average first signal strengths of all the terminal devices, the process proceeds to step 5;

[0014] Step 4: Select a network repeater with the best average value of the first signal strength as the communication path of the terminal device, and save it after forming a forwarding configuration table. The central controller pushes the forwarding configuration table to each network repeater. After the forwarding configuration table is generated, data is forwarded between the central controller and the terminal device through the network repeater specified in the forwarding configuration table.

[0015] Step 5: The central controller directly communicates with the terminal device via the second wireless network.

[0016] The dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system also includes:

[0017] Step 6: The central controller and the network forwarder keep repeating steps 1-5 to dynamically update the optimal forwarding path.

[0018] The first wireless network is set as a TCP / IP network;

[0019] The second wireless network is set to 2.4G network.

[0020] Beneficial effects of the present invention: In the present invention, after the system has been running for a period of time, the central controller can automatically select a forwarding path with the best signal for each terminal device to communicate with it according to the statistical signal strength values ​​of each terminal device through different paths. At the same time, the forwarding path can be dynamically updated during the operation of the system to adapt to signal changes caused by environmental changes, thereby greatly increasing the forwarding efficiency of the system and reducing the configuration process of the system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and easily understood from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an intelligent lighting control system;

[0023] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of one embodiment of an intelligent lighting control system;

[0024] Figure 3 The present invention is a flow chart of a dynamic forwarding method for an intelligent lighting control system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] This section will describe in detail the specific embodiments of the present invention. The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. The purpose of the accompanying drawings is to supplement the description of the text part of the specification with graphics, so that people can intuitively and vividly understand each technical feature and the overall technical solution of the present invention, but it cannot be understood as a limitation on the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "above", "below", "exceed", etc. is not inclusive of the number itself, and the meaning of "above", "below", "within", etc. is inclusive of the number itself. If there is a description of "first" or "second", it is only used to distinguish the technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0027] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that descriptions involving orientations, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., and orientations or positional relationships indicated are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0028] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly defined, the words "set", "install", "communication" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; it can be fixed communication, detachable communication, or integral molding; it can be mechanical communication; it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. Those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above words in the present invention in combination with the specific content of the technical solution.

[0029] Reference Figures 1 to 3 , a dynamic forwarding method for an intelligent lighting control system, the system comprising:

[0030] Central controller;

[0031] a plurality of network repeaters communicating with the central controller via a first wireless network;

[0032] A plurality of terminal devices communicate with the central controller in sequence via the second wireless network, the network repeater, and the first wireless network; or communicate directly with the central controller via the second wireless network;

[0033] The dynamic forwarding method comprises the following steps:

[0034] Step 1: The network forwarder records the signal strength value of the second wireless network signal of the terminal device each time it is received, and attaches the signal strength value when forwarding the signal to the central controller through the first wireless network;

[0035] Step 2, the central controller records and saves the first signal strength values ​​of each terminal device that have been received through different network repeaters for several times recently;

[0036] The central controller records and stores the second signal strength values ​​of each terminal device that have been directly received via the second wireless network for several times recently;

[0037] Step 3, the central controller calculates the average first signal strength of each terminal device after it reaches the terminal device several times through different network repeaters and calculates the average second signal strength of each terminal device after it reaches the terminal device several times directly. If at least one of the average first signal strengths generated by the terminal device is greater than the average second signal strength generated by the terminal device, the process proceeds to step 4; if the average second signal strength generated by the terminal device is greater than the average first signal strengths of all the terminal devices, the process proceeds to step 5;

[0038] Step 4: Select a network repeater with the best average value of the first signal strength as the communication path of the terminal device, and save it after forming a forwarding configuration table. The central controller pushes the forwarding configuration table to each network repeater. After the forwarding configuration table is generated, data is forwarded between the central controller and the terminal device through the network repeater specified in the forwarding configuration table.

[0039] Step 5: The central controller directly communicates with the terminal device via the second wireless network.

[0040] The dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system also includes:

[0041] Step 6: The central controller and the network forwarder keep repeating steps 1-5 to dynamically update the optimal forwarding path.

[0042] The first wireless network is set as a TCP / IP network; the second wireless network is set as a 2.4G network; of course, the 2.4G frequency band wireless signal used in the present invention can also be extended to wireless signals of other frequency bands, and Ethernet can also be extended to other network forms.

[0043] Reference Figure 1, is a schematic diagram of an intelligent lighting control system. In the system, a central controller, several network repeaters and several terminal devices are included. The network repeater is used to forward signals between the central controller and the terminal devices. According to the positions of the terminal devices and the network repeaters in the scene, the terminal devices may receive signals from multiple network repeaters. The terminal devices can communicate with the central controller through the network repeaters or directly with the central controller.

[0044] As a first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 For the terminal device 2 in the embodiment, before the method of the present invention is used to obtain the optimal path, when the central controller sends data to the terminal device 2, the data will be sent to all network repeaters via Ethernet, and then all network repeaters will send data in the form of 2.4G signals after receiving the data from the central controller. In fact, the terminal device 2 can receive data forwarded by network repeater 1 as well as data forwarded by network repeater 2. If the method knows after running for a period of time that the 2.4G signal between the terminal device 2 and the network repeater 1 is better than the 2.4G signal between the terminal device 2 and the network repeater 2, the network repeater 1 will be designated as the communication path for the terminal device 2, and the subsequent communication between the central controller and the terminal device 2 will only be through the network repeater 1 and no longer send data to other network repeaters.

[0045] As a second embodiment of the present invention, refer to Figure 1 , terminal device 2 can also communicate directly with the central controller. If this method finds out after running for a period of time that the 2.4G signal between terminal device 2 and the central controller is greater than the 2.4G signal between terminal device 2 and network repeater 1 and the 2.4G signal between terminal device 2 and network repeater 2, the central controller will communicate directly with terminal device 2 instead of forwarding data through the network repeater.

[0046] After calculating the optimal path for all terminal devices through the dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system of the present invention, the 2.4G signals between the terminal device and each network repeater and the 2.4G signal between the terminal device and the central controller will be continuously counted and calculated, and when it is found that the best channel for the 2.4G signal has changed, the communication path for the terminal device will be dynamically re-assigned; the use of the present invention can effectively avoid the need for manual adjustment of the forwarding configuration of the control system, reduce the redundancy of communication data, increase the utilization rate of signal bandwidth, and enable the devices in the system to operate under optimal signal conditions.

[0047] Reference Figure 2As the third embodiment of the present invention (taking data forwarding between a central controller and terminal devices through a network repeater as an example), taking a two-story structure as an example, this simple control system consists of a central controller, 2 network repeaters and 2 controlled lights.

[0048] Before using the dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system of the present invention, control instructions sent from the central controller to corridor lights 1 / 2 will pass through network repeater 1 and network repeater 2, that is, each has two paths (twice repeated data) as follows:

[0049] Corridor light 1 can receive control instructions through the following path:

[0050] 1) Central controller ← Ethernet → Network repeater 1 ← 2.4G signal → Corridor light 1;

[0051] 2) Central controller ← Ethernet → Network repeater 2 ← 2.4G signal → Corridor light 1;

[0052] Corridor light 2 can receive control instructions through the following path:

[0053] 1) Central controller ← Ethernet → Network repeater 1 ← 2.4G signal → Corridor light 2;

[0054] 2) Central controller ← Ethernet → Network repeater 2 ← 2.4G signal → Corridor light 2;

[0055] After using the dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system of the present invention, the central controller records and calculates the signal strengths from the two lamps to the two network repeaters, and the results are as follows:

[0056] ①The signal strength between corridor light 1 and network repeater 1 is stronger than the signal strength between corridor light 1 and network repeater 2;

[0057] ②The signal strength between corridor light 2 and network repeater 2 is stronger than the signal strength between corridor light 2 and network repeater 1;

[0058] Therefore, the central controller designates network repeater 1 as the communication path for corridor light 1, and network repeater 2 as the communication path for corridor light 2. Afterwards, control instructions sent from the central controller to corridor light 1 / 2 will only pass through the designated path:

[0059] Corridor light 1:

[0060] ㈠Central controller←Ethernet→Network repeater 1←2.4G signal→Corridor light 1;

[0061] Corridor Light 2:

[0062] ㈡Central controller←Ethernet→Network repeater 1←2.4G signal→Corridor light 2;

[0063] This shows that the redundancy of data sent by the system is significantly reduced, and the effect is more obvious in complex systems (with multiple network repeaters).

[0064] Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and those skilled in the art may make equivalent modifications or substitutions without violating the spirit of the present invention. These equivalent modifications and substitutions are all included in the scope defined by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A dynamic forwarding method for an intelligent lighting control system, the system comprising: Central controller; a plurality of network repeaters communicating with the central controller via a first wireless network; A plurality of terminal devices communicate with the central controller in sequence via the second wireless network, the network repeater, and the first wireless network; or communicate directly with the central controller via the second wireless network; Characterized in that the dynamic forwarding method comprises the following steps: Step 1: The network forwarder records the signal strength value of the second wireless network signal of the terminal device each time it is received, and attaches the signal strength value when forwarding the signal to the central controller through the first wireless network; Step 2, the central controller records and saves the first signal strength values ​​of each terminal device that have been received through different network repeaters for several times recently; The central controller records and stores the second signal strength values ​​of each terminal device that have been directly received via the second wireless network for several times recently; Step 3, the central controller calculates the average first signal strength of each terminal device after it reaches the terminal device several times through different network repeaters and calculates the average second signal strength of each terminal device after it reaches the terminal device several times directly. If at least one of the average first signal strengths generated by the terminal device is greater than the average second signal strength generated by the terminal device, the process proceeds to step 4; if the average second signal strength generated by the terminal device is greater than the average first signal strengths of all the terminal devices, the process proceeds to step 5; Step 4: Select a network repeater with the best average value of the first signal strength as the communication path of the terminal device, and save it after forming a forwarding configuration table. The central controller pushes the forwarding configuration table to each network repeater. After the forwarding configuration table is generated, data is forwarded between the central controller and the terminal device through the network repeater specified in the forwarding configuration table. Step 5: The central controller directly communicates with the terminal device via the second wireless network.

2. The dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: Step 6: The central controller and the network forwarder keep repeating steps 1-5 to dynamically update the optimal forwarding path.

3. The dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that: The first wireless network is configured as a TCP / IP network.

4. The dynamic forwarding method of the intelligent lighting control system according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that: The second wireless network is set to a 2.4G network.

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