Illumination technology device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a lighting technology device, comprising a controller, a memory functionally connected to the controller, and an NFC antenna integrated in a housing or arranged on a board carrying the controller and the memory, wherein the antenna comprises two planar antenna wing elements arranged at an angle to each other between 80° and 100°, preferably between 85° and 95°, and wherein the controller is configured to process NFC data received from the antenna and store the data for programming the lighting technology device in the memory.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of lighting technology devices. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to the geometric design of an NFC antenna associated with a lighting technology device, such as associated with a driver or a sensor for a lighting device. Background Art

[0002] With the advent of digitalization in lighting, there are now many possibilities to arrange lighting as needed and thus in an energy-saving manner, for example, public street lighting.

[0003] One of its main advantages is that the electronic components included in the application can also be subsequently aligned in terms of light emission efficiency and power consumption as needed. In addition, the system can be configured more personalized. For example, the light can be programmed using autonomous dimming, and depending on the situation, the control phase can be used as a dimming pulse. With this option, the user can, for example, reduce storage space and install lighting devices in a warehouse depending on the application.

[0004] The present disclosure is particularly about the geometric design of an NFC antenna associated with the housing of an optical technology device, such as associated with a driver, a sensor, etc. for a lighting device.

[0005] For currently known antennas, data can only be written into a device via NFC in a predetermined configuration of the antenna relative to the writing antenna. This NFC transmission is typically used to configure lighting devices.

[0006] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved geometric design of an NFC antenna associated with the housing of an optical technology device. Summary of the Invention

[0007] According to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a lighting technology device, which includes: a controller, a memory functionally connected to the controller, and an NFC antenna integrated in a housing or arranged on a board carrying the controller and the memory, wherein the antenna includes two planar antenna wing elements arranged at an angle between 80° and 100°, preferably between 85° and 95° relative to each other, and

[0008] wherein the controller is configured to process NFC data received from the antenna and store the data for programming the lighting technology device in the memory.

[0009] The advantage provided by this is that with this type of NFC antenna, the programming process is less sensitive to the arrangement between the NFC reader and the antenna.

[0010] In addition, this has the advantage that the arrangement between the NFC reader and the antenna is set to avoid communication problems and can allow the user to successfully program the NFC driver. This further allows the LED driver to be successfully programmed via NFC.

[0011] In one embodiment of the lighting technology device, two planar antenna wing elements are preferably arranged at an angle of approximately 90°.

[0012] This provides the advantage that with this type of NFC antenna, the programming process is less sensitive to the arrangement between the NFC reader and the antenna. Since the two windings are placed perpendicular to each other, magnetic coupling to the reader is possible in an additional direction.

[0013] In one embodiment of the lighting technology device, a ferrite core is arranged between the two planar antenna wing elements.

[0014] This provides the advantage that in this case, two conventional NFC antennas are placed perpendicular to each other,

[0015] The disadvantage of this arrangement in terms of the achievable coupling factor can be compensated for by ferrite beads placed in the middle of the antenna.

[0016] In one embodiment of the lighting technology device, the lighting technology device is an actuator or a sensor.

[0017] In one embodiment of the lighting technology device, the NFC antenna is an omnidirectional antenna.

[0018] In one embodiment of the lighting technology device, the two planar antenna wing elements include windings, and the windings from the two antenna wing elements are electrically connected to each other.

[0019] In one embodiment of the lighting technology device, the board is a printed circuit board (PCB).

[0020] According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method for commissioning a lighting technology device, the method comprising: integrating an NFC antenna in a housing or arranging the NFC antenna on a board carrying a controller and a memory, wherein the antenna comprises two planar antenna wing elements arranged at an angle between 80° and 100°, preferably 85° to 95°, relative to each other; processing NFC data received from the antenna; and storing the data for programming the lighting technology device in the memory. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The present invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0022] Figure 1 A lighting technology device according to one embodiment is shown;

[0023] Figure 2 shows a lighting technology device according to an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 3 shows an antenna for a lighting technology device according to an embodiment;

[0025] Figure 4 shows an antenna for a lighting technology device according to an embodiment; and

[0026] Figure 5 shows a method for commissioning a lighting technology device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Aspects of the present invention are described herein in the context of lighting technology devices.

[0028] The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which aspects of the invention are shown. However, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the aspects of the invention presented by this disclosure. On the contrary, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The aspects of the invention shown in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Instead, the dimensions of various feature structures may be enlarged or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not show all of the components of a given device.

[0029] Aspects of a lighting technology device will be presented. However, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, these aspects may be extended to aspects of lighting technology devices without departing from the present invention.

[0030] The term "LED luminaire" shall refer to a luminaire having a light source including one or more LEDs. LEDs are well known in the art and will therefore be discussed only briefly to provide a complete description of the present invention.

[0031] It should also be understood that aspects of the present invention may include integrated circuits that are readily manufactured using conventional semiconductor technologies such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology, abbreviated as "CMOS". In addition, aspects of the present invention may be implemented using other manufacturing processes for manufacturing optical devices as well as electrical devices. Specific implementations of exemplary aspects as shown in the drawings will now be described in detail. The same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or similar components.

[0032] Now refer to Figure 1 , which shows a lighting technology device 100 according to an embodiment.

[0033] The lighting technology device 100 includes a controller 104, a memory 106 functionally connected to the controller 104, and

[0034] an NFC antenna 108 integrated in the housing or arranged on a board 102 that bears the controller 104 and the memory 106. The NFC antenna 108 includes two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b that are arranged at an angle between 80° and 100°, preferably between 85° and 95°, relative to each other. Additionally, the controller 104 is configured to process NFC data received from the NFC antenna 108 and store the data for programming the lighting technology device 100 in the memory 106.

[0035] In one embodiment, the lighting technology device 100 is an actuator or a sensor.

[0036] Figure 2 A lighting technology device 100 according to one embodiment is shown.

[0037] In this embodiment, the NFC antenna 108 is arranged on the board 102. The board 102 can be a printed circuit board (PCB).

[0038] Figure 3 An NFC antenna 108 for a lighting technology device 100 according to one embodiment is shown.

[0039] In this embodiment, the two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b are preferably arranged at an approximate 90° angle.

[0040] Additionally, a ferrite core 108c is arranged between the two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b. The NFC antenna 108 can be an omnidirectional antenna.

[0041] Furthermore, the two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b can include windings, where the windings from the two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b are electrically connected to each other.

[0042] This offers the advantage of improving the multi-directional possibilities of the NFC antenna 108 that couples the writer and reader. Additionally, the NFC antenna 108 of the lighting technology device 100, especially the driver for the lighting device, can have an angled configuration such that not only two configurations offset by 180 degrees can be used, but also two additional configurations offset by 90 degrees respectively can be used to couple the NFC antenna. This provides the advantage of facilitating the configuration process, for example, at the end of the manufacturing of the lighting technology device 100. To have an angled configuration with the two wings oriented 90 degrees to each other respectively, the two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b are connected in this 90-degree wing configuration, or one NFC antenna 108 is separated to cover one of the two wings forming a 90-degree angle respectively.

[0043] As a specific implementation, one antenna can already be provided on the PCB of the lighting technology device 100, and the second planar antenna wing element 108b is added at an angle of 90 degrees substantially at the same position as the first planar antenna wing element 108a.

[0044] In one embodiment, an antenna design is provided in which the ferrite cores are arranged at an angle of two antenna modules, which allows for reducing the size of the antenna.

[0045] Figure 5 A method 500 for commissioning a lighting technology device according to one embodiment is shown.

[0046] Method 500 includes the following steps:

[0047] - Integrate 501 the NFC antenna 108 in the housing or arrange the NFC antenna on the board 102 carrying the controller 104 and the memory 106,

[0048] ○ where the NFC antenna 108 includes two planar antenna wing elements 108a, 108b that are arranged at an angle between 80° and 100°, preferably 85° to 95°, relative to each other,

[0049] - Process 502 the NFC data received from the NFC antenna 108; and

[0050] - Store 503 the data for programming the lighting technology device 100 in the memory 106.

[0051] All features of all embodiments described, shown, and / or claimed herein can be combined with each other.

[0052] Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that these embodiments are given by way of example and not by way of limitation. Without departing from the spirit of the scope of the present invention, various changes can be made to the disclosed embodiments of the present invention according to the disclosure herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments. Instead, the scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

[0053] Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to one or more specific embodiments, equivalent alternative forms and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification and drawings. In addition, although the present invention may be disclosed with respect to only a few specific embodiments, such features may be combined with one or more other features of any given or specific application according to the desired and advantageous aspects of that application.

Claims

1. A lighting technology device (100), the lighting technology device comprising: - a controller (104); - a memory (106), the memory being functionally connected to the controller (104); and - an NFC antenna (108), the NFC antenna being integrated in the housing of the lighting technology device or disposed on a board (102) of the lighting technology device (100) carrying the controller (104) and the memory (106), wherein the NFC antenna (108) comprises two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b), the two planar antenna wing elements being arranged at an angle between 80° and 100° relative to each other, wherein the controller (104) is configured to process NFC data received from the NFC antenna (108) and store the NFC data for programming the lighting technology device (100) in the memory (106), and wherein a ferrite core (108c) is disposed between the two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b).

2. The lighting technology device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b) are arranged at an angle of approximately 90°.

3. The lighting technology device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lighting technology device (100) is an actuator or a sensor.

4. The lighting technology device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the NFC antenna (108) is an omnidirectional antenna.

5. The lighting technology device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b) comprise windings, and the windings from the two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b) are electrically connected to each other.

6. The lighting technology device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the board (102) is a printed circuit board PCB.

7. A method (500) for commissioning a lighting technology device (100), the method comprising: - integrating (501) an NFC antenna (108) in a housing or disposing the NFC antenna on a board (102) carrying a controller (104) and a memory (106), wherein the NFC antenna (108) comprises two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b), the two planar antenna wing elements being arranged at an angle between 80° and 100° relative to each other, and disposing a ferrite core (108c) between the two planar antenna wing elements (108a, 108b), - transmitting NFC data from a portable NFC-enabled device to the lighting technology device (100), - processing (502) the NFC data received from the NFC antenna (108); and - storing (503) the NFC data for programming the lighting technology device (100) in the memory (106).

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