Transferring data to fire-fighting equipment of fire-fighting system

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods for transmitting data to fire protection devices of a fire protection system are described herein. In some examples, one or more embodiments include a gateway device including a memory and a processor to execute instructions stored in the memory to receive an activation signal from a fire control panel and transmit the activation signal to a plurality of fire devices included in a cluster over a plurality of channels according to a predetermined time slot, wherein the plurality of fire fighting devices are arranged in a bidirectional loop such that the activation signal is transmitted simultaneously around the bidirectional loop in a first direction and around the bidirectional loop in a second direction, and the first direction is opposite the second direction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to devices, systems and methods for transmitting data to fire protection equipment of a fire protection system. Background Art

[0002] Facilities, such as commercial facilities, office buildings, hospitals, campuses (e.g., including buildings and outdoor spaces), etc., may have an alarm system that can be triggered during an event (such as an emergency, e.g., a fire) to warn occupants to evacuate. Such an alarm system may include a fire protection system having a fire protection panel (e.g., a fire control panel) and a number of fire protection devices (e.g., sensors, sounders, pull-type fire alarm boxes, etc.) located throughout the facility (e.g., on different floors of the facility and / or in different rooms), which can perform actions when a dangerous event occurs in the facility and provide notification of the dangerous event to occupants of the facility via alarms and / or other mechanisms. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] Figure 1 An example of a fire protection system for transmitting data to fire protection equipment of the fire protection system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0004] Figure 2 The present invention is an example of a cluster arranged in a bidirectional loop for transmitting data to fire fighting equipment of a fire fighting system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0005] Figure 3 1 is an example of a time slot and channel table for transmitting data to fire fighting equipment of a fire fighting system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0006] Figure 4 An example of a gateway device for transmitting data to fire fighting equipment of a fire fighting system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0007] Devices, systems, and methods for transmitting data to fire equipment of a fire protection system are described herein. In some examples, one or more embodiments include a gateway device that includes a memory and a processor to execute instructions stored in the memory to receive an activation signal from a fire control panel and transmit the activation signal to a plurality of fire equipment included in a cluster on a plurality of channels according to a predetermined time slot, wherein the plurality of fire equipment are arranged in a bidirectional loop so that the activation signal is simultaneously transmitted in a first direction around the bidirectional loop and in a second direction around the bidirectional loop, and the first direction is opposite to the second direction.

[0008] A facility may utilize a fire protection system to warn occupants of the facility of an emergency event, such as a fire. As used herein, the term "fire protection system" refers to a system of devices that provide audible and / or visual warnings in an emergency event. For example, a fire protection system may utilize fire protection equipment to warn occupants of an emergency event, such as a fire, occurring in a space. As used herein, the term "fire protection equipment" refers to equipment that can receive inputs related to an event and / or generate outputs related to an event. Such fire protection equipment may be part of a fire protection system for a space within / throughout a facility, and may include devices such as fire sensors, smoke detectors, heat detectors, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, or a combination of these devices; interfaces; manual call points (MCPs); pull alarm boxes; input / output modules; aspirated devices; and / or audio / visual devices (e.g., speakers, sounders, flashers, buzzers, microphones, cameras, video displays, video screens, etc.), relay output modules, and other types of fire protection equipment.

[0009] Fire protection systems can transfer data from control panels to fire protection equipment via gateway devices. When such information is transferred between devices, latency can be an issue. Latency can be the time delay between data transfers that occurs after an instruction for data transfer.

[0010] The fire protection system may be considered to meet certain design requirements defined by various management standards and / or protocols. Such standards / protocols may be defined based on the jurisdiction in which the fire protection system is located. An example of such a standard / protocol may be an Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standard, such as UL Standard 864. An example of a standard / protocol may be a requirement for a 10-second waiting time for alarm transmission. In such an example, the standard / protocol may require the fire protection system to transmit information throughout the fire protection system so as to activate the fire protection equipment within 10 seconds from the time when an emergency event (e.g., a fire) is detected. For example, when a fire is detected (e.g., via a detector of a fire protection equipment, via an input of a pull-type fire alarm box, etc.), the standard may specify that the fire protection equipment (or some or all fire protection equipment in the fire protection system) must be activated within 10 seconds of detecting the fire. That is, according to the waiting time requirements in the standard / protocol, the transmission of data from the fire protection equipment to the fire protection control panel (e.g., via a gateway device and / or other fire protection equipment) must be completed within 10 seconds, and vice versa.

[0011] Some fire protection systems may include many fire protection devices. In some examples, such fire protection systems may utilize a distributed wireless mesh to connect the fire protection devices to a gateway device and to a fire protection control panel.

[0012] Fire equipment transmitting data to a fire protection system according to the present disclosure may allow the fire protection equipment of the fire protection system to be arranged in such a manner so as to meet certain latency requirements for transmitting data within the fire protection system. Such an approach may allow protocols / standards to be met while also providing fire protection equipment synchronization and better fire protection equipment redundancy, gateway device redundancy, and communication channel redundancy compared to previous approaches.

[0013] In the following Detailed Description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form part of the present Detailed Description. The drawings show, by way of illustration, the manner in which one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced.

[0014] These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and process, electrical and / or structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0015] It should be understood that the elements shown in the various embodiments herein may be added, exchanged, combined and / or eliminated to provide multiple additional embodiments of the present disclosure. The proportions and relative sizes of the elements provided in the drawings are intended to illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be limiting.

[0016] The figures herein follow the following numbering convention: one or more first digits correspond to the figure number, and the remaining digits identify the element or component in the figure. Similar elements or components between different figures may be identified by using similar numerals. For example, 104 may refer to Figure 1 Element "04" in , and Figure 2 Similar elements in can be referenced as 204.

[0017] As used herein, "a" or "several" things may refer to one or more such things, and "plurality" things may refer to more than one such things. For example, "several components" may refer to one or more components, and "plurality components" may refer to more than one component.

[0018] Figure 1 1 is an example of a fire protection system 100 for transmitting data to a fire protection device 104 of the fire protection system 100 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The fire protection system 100 may include a fire control panel 102, gateway devices 104-1, 104-P, and fire protection devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M, 106-8, 106-9, 106-N.

[0019] As described above, the fire protection system 100 may be included in a facility, a space of a facility, etc. The fire protection system 100 may include a device / series of devices to detect events and / or process and / or analyze detected events to determine whether to generate an alarm for occupants of the facility.

[0020] The fire protection system 100 may include fire protection devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M, 106-8, 106-9, 106-N (collectively referred to as fire protection devices 106). Fire protection devices 106 may be devices that detect events and transmit the detected events for processing and / or analysis. As mentioned above, fire protection devices 106 may include, for example, cameras, motion sensors, fire sensors, smoke detectors, heat detectors, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, or combinations of these devices; interfaces; manual call points (MCPs); pull alarm boxes; input / output modules; aspirating devices; sprinkler control; and / or audio / visual devices (e.g., speakers, microphones, cameras, video displays, video screens, etc.), relay output modules, and other types of event devices.

[0021] The fire protection system 100 may further include a fire protection control panel 102. The fire protection control panel 102 may be used to control various fire protection equipment 106 included in the fire protection system 100.

[0022] The fire control panel 102 may be connected to the fire equipment 106. For example, the fire control panel 102 may be connected to the fire equipment 106 via gateway devices 104-1, 104-P (collectively referred to as gateway devices 104). The gateway device 104 may be a gateway between the fire control panel 102 and the fire equipment 106 and any peripheral devices (e.g., Figure 1 The gateway device 104 may be a device (e.g., a building system gateway) that provides a communication link between the fire control panel 102 and the fire equipment 106 (not shown). For example, the gateway device 104 may enable data (e.g., fire system equipment data, activation signals, etc.) to be transmitted from the fire control panel 102 to the fire equipment 106 and data to be transmitted from the fire equipment 106 to the fire control panel 102.

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, the fire equipment 106 and the gateway device 104 may be connected to the fire control panel 102. The fire equipment 106 and the gateway device 104 may be connected to the fire control panel 102 via a wireless network relationship. Examples of such network relationships may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a personal area network (PAN), a distributed computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment), a storage area network (SAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a cellular communication network, long term evolution (LTE), visible light communication (VLC), Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), near field communication (NFC), infrared (IR) communication, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), radio waves and / or the Internet, as well as other types of network relationships.

[0024] As described above, in some examples, at least the fire fighting devices 106 and the gateway devices 104 may be connected via a distributed wireless mesh. The fire fighting devices 106 may be arranged in a mesh 110. In addition, the gateway devices 104 and the fire fighting devices 106 may be arranged in a cluster 108. For example, the gateway device 104-1 may be connected to the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-M and arranged in a cluster 108-1, and the gateway device 104-P may be connected to the fire fighting devices 106-8, 106-9, 106-N and arranged in a cluster 108-P, and so on. In addition, the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M, 106-8, 106-9, 106-N may be connected in a mesh 110. Such an arrangement of devices may allow data to be transmitted to the fire fighting devices within the fire fighting system 100 that meet the latency requirements of various standards / protocols, as further described herein. Additionally, when creating such a fire protection system 100, clusters 108-1, 108-P, and grids 110 may be generated, as further described herein.

[0025] When the fire equipment 106 is powered on, each of the fire equipment 106 can be connected to the adjacent fire equipment 106. For example, the fire equipment 106-1 can be connected to the adjacent fire equipment 106-2, and so on. Such connection can be made via a predetermined grid identifier included in each of the fire equipment 106. For example, the fire equipment 106-1 may include a predetermined grid identifier, which includes a unique profile with a unique identifier (e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, etc.) and a network key. The fire equipment 106-2 may include similar predetermined grid identifier information unique to the fire equipment 106-2, etc. When the fire equipment 106 is powered on, each of the fire equipment 106 can be connected to the adjacent fire equipment 106. Therefore, each of the fire equipment 106 can be connected to the adjacent fire equipment 106 in response to being powered on via the predetermined grid identifier included in each of the fire equipment 106 to generate the grid 110.

[0026] As described further herein, gateway device 104 may generate cluster 108. Although the examples described below illustrate cluster 108-1 being generated via gateway device 104-1, gateway device 104-P may generate cluster 108-P in a similar manner.

[0027] The gateway device 104-1 may generate the cluster 108-1 by receiving the signal strength of the neighboring fire devices 106 of each of the plurality of fire devices 106. For example, the fire device 106-1 may transmit the signal strength to the gateway device 104-1 together with the fire device 106-2, the fire device 106-2 may transmit the signal strength to the gateway device 104-1 together with the fire devices 106-1 and 106-M, the fire device 106-M may transmit the signal strength to the gateway device 104-1 together with the fire device 106-2, and so on. Such signal strength may be, for example, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value. Such information may be transmitted to the gateway device 104-1 in response to receiving (e.g., by each of the fire devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M) a signal strength query from the gateway device 104-1. Each fire appliance 106 - 1 , 106 - 2 , 106 -M may be aligned to the cluster 108 - 1 via a predetermined network key included in each fire appliance 106 - 1 , 106 - 2 , 106 -M.

[0028] Once the gateway device 104-1 includes the signal strength information of the neighboring fire devices for each fire device 106-1, 106-2, 106-M of the fire devices 106, the gateway device 104-1 may determine the best possible neighbor for each fire device 106-1, 106-2, 106-M of the fire devices 106 based on the signal strength. In order to determine the best possible neighbor for each fire device 106-1, 106-2, 106-M of the fire devices 106, the gateway device 104-1 may determine the suboptimal shortest path through the fire devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M in the cluster 108-1 via simulated annealing. Simulated annealing may include a probabilistic technique for approximating the global optimum of a given function of an optimization problem. The gateway device 104 - 1 may utilize the signal strength of the neighboring fire appliances 106 of each fire appliance 106 - 1 , 106 - 2 , 106 -M to find the best possible neighbor of each fire appliance 106 - 1 , 106 - 2 , 106 -M via a simulated annealing algorithm.

[0029] The suboptimal shortest path through the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M determined via simulated annealing may be a Hamiltonian path. A Hamiltonian path (e.g., a traceable path) may be a path through a node graph that visits each node exactly once. Such a path may be generated that defines a bidirectional circuit of the fire fighting devices 106 in the cluster 108-1. For example, in Figure 1In the example shown, cluster 108-1 may include a bidirectional loop of fire appliances 106 organized such that gateway device 104-1 is located in a space to the right (e.g., counterclockwise (CCW) from fire appliance 106-1), fire appliance 106-2 is located to the right of fire appliance 106-1 (e.g., CCW), and fire appliance 106-M is located to the right of fire appliance 106-2 (e.g., CCW) and to the left of gateway device 104-1 (e.g., CW). Figure 2 Such bidirectional loops are further shown and described.

[0030] Once the bidirectional loop is generated, the gateway device 104-1 may allocate predetermined time slots on respective channels to each of the fire appliances 106-1, 106-2, 106-M based on the location of the gateway device 104-1 relative to the bidirectional loop. For example, the gateway device 104-1 may obtain a first time slot, the fire appliance 106-1 may obtain a second time slot, the fire appliance 106-2 may obtain a third time slot, and the fire appliance 106-M may obtain an "Mth" time slot. In addition, each of the fire appliances 106-1, 106-2, 106-M may use four communication channels for transmitting data via the bidirectional loop of the cluster 108-1, such that each of the fire appliances 106-1, 106-2, 106-M may perform four consecutive transmissions on the four allocated channels, as combined. Figure 3 Further described.

[0031] Although clusters 108-1 and 108-P are Figure 1 106-2, 106-M and 106-8, 106-9, 106-N, respectively, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. For example, clusters 108-1 and 108-P may include more than three firefighting devices 106 or less than three firefighting devices 106. In addition, cluster 108-1 may include the same number of firefighting devices 106 as cluster 108-P or a different number of firefighting devices 106 (e.g., more or less) than cluster 108-P. In addition, although the firefighting system 100 shows two clusters 108-1 and 108-P, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. For example, the firefighting system 100 may include more than two clusters 108.

[0032] The fire protection system 100 may transmit data using the clusters 108-1, 108-P and the resulting grid 110. Such data may be transmitted from the fire protection equipment 106 to the fire protection control panel 102, and vice versa, via the gateway device 104, as further described herein.

[0033] During operation of the fire protection system 100, the gateway device 104-1 may simultaneously poll the fire activation data (e.g., detection of events in the facility by the fire protection devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M, such as smoke detection, heat detection, activation of a pull-type fire alarm box, etc.) of each of the fire protection devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M of the cluster 108-1 in two directions (e.g., both CW and CCW of a bidirectional loop around the fire protection devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M). Each direction may be polled twice on two separate channels. Such a polling process is further described herein with respect to the transmission of activation data from the fire control panel 102 to the fire protection device 106, but the process is performed similarly to the transmission of fire activation data transmitted from the fire protection device 106 to the fire control panel 102. In addition, although the examples described herein relate to the operation of the gateway device 104-1 within the cluster 108-1, the gateway device 104-P within the cluster 108-P may operate in a similar manner.

[0034] As described above, when an event is detected in the facility, the fire control panel 102 may determine whether to activate the fire equipment 106 in the fire protection system 100. For example, the fire control panel 102 may receive fire activation data (e.g., via the gateway device 104) from the fire equipment 106, such as a signal from a pull alarm box, smoke data, heat data, etc. Based on the received activation data, the fire control panel 102 may determine from the fire equipment activation data whether a fire event is occurring. In response to the fire control panel 102 determining from the fire equipment activation data that a fire event is occurring, the fire control panel 102 may transmit an activation signal to the fire equipment 106, as further described herein.

[0035] As previously described above, the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M may be arranged in a bidirectional loop within the cluster 108-1. When an event is determined by the fire control panel 102 to be occurring in the facility, the fire control panel 102 may transmit an activation signal to the gateway device 104-1. The gateway device 104-1 may receive the activation signal from the fire control panel 102 and transmit the activation signal to the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M via the bidirectional loop, as further described herein.

[0036] For example, the gateway device 104-1 may transmit the activation signal in a first direction (e.g., CW) around the bidirectional loop by transmitting the activation signal to the fire device 106-1; then, the fire device 106-1 may transmit the activation signal to the fire device 106-2, and finally, the fire device 106-2 may transmit the activation signal to the fire device 106-M. At the same time, the gateway device 104-1 may transmit the activation signal in a second direction (e.g., CCW) opposite to the first direction around the bidirectional loop by transmitting the activation signal to the fire device 106-M; then, the fire device 106-M may transmit the activation signal to the fire device 106-2, and finally, the fire device 106-2 may transmit the activation signal to the fire device 106-1. Figure 3 As further described, such transmissions may occur at predetermined groups of time slots on a plurality of channels.

[0037] Since the gateway device 104-1 transmits activation signals simultaneously in opposite directions around the bidirectional loop, if the fire device 106 is inoperable, such activation signals can still reach other fire devices in the bidirectional loop. For example, if the fire device 106-2 encounters a problem and is inoperable, the activation signal sent around the bidirectional loop CW can reach the fire device 106-1, but cannot reach the fire device 106-M. However, the activation signal sent around the bidirectional loop CCW can reach the fire device 106-M. Therefore, such an approach can provide fire device redundancy to ensure that signals are sent to and / or received from fire devices in the bidirectional loop, even if the fire device is inactive.

[0038] like Figure 1As shown, each gateway device 104 includes a bidirectional loop in each corresponding cluster 108. Each gateway device 104 may include a loop timing amount to complete the transmission around the fire fighting device 106 in the bidirectional loop. For example, the gateway device 104-1 may include a 250 millisecond (ms) time interval to complete the information transmission of the bidirectional loop around the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, and 106-M with four transmissions per device in four different channels. The gateway devices 104-1 and 104-P may be aligned in a global timing scheme. For example, the first gateway device 104-1 may transmit an activation signal to the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-, 106-M at a first predetermined time, and the second gateway device 104-P may transmit the activation signal to the fire fighting devices 106-8, 106-9, and 106-N at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time. For example, 250 ms after gateway device 104-1 transmits the activation signal to fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M, gateway device 104-P may transmit the activation signal to fire fighting devices 106-8, 106-9, 106-N. In other words, the transmission of signals to and / or from the bidirectional loop may be interleaved.

[0039] Upon receiving the activation signal, the fire fighting device 106 in the fire fighting device may activate itself. For example, the fire fighting devices 106-1, 106-2, 106-M may be activated in response to receiving the activation signal. The activation of the fire fighting device 106 may include activating a visual alarm (e.g., emitting a light) and / or an audible alarm (e.g., emitting an audible sound).

[0040] In the grid 110, the fire apparatuses in the fire apparatuses 106 may be synchronized fire apparatuses. For example, the fire apparatus 106-8 may be a synchronized fire apparatus to synchronize the transmission of an alarm. The synchronized fire apparatus may include synchronization information including a synchronization start time, a number of hops across the grid of the fire apparatuses 106 (e.g., the number of nodes in the grid 110 / the total number of fire apparatuses 106 in the grid 110), and a predetermined drift amount (e.g., clock drift). The fire apparatus 106-8 may synchronize the remaining fire apparatuses 106 in the grid 110 by transmitting the synchronization information to each of the fire apparatuses 106. For example, based on the distribution of the drift, the fire apparatus 106-8 may determine that if ten fire apparatuses 106 are at a drift of 30.5 microseconds per apparatus, an average synchronization amount of 3.5 ms may be transmitted to each of the fire apparatuses 106 for synchronization.

[0041] As mentioned above, although the above describes transmitting the activation signal from the fire control panel 102 to the fire equipment 106, the same process can be utilized to poll each of the fire equipment 106 for fire activation data for transmission to the fire control panel 102. Figure 2 The transmission of such information around a bidirectional loop is further described.

[0042] Figure 2 2 is an example of a cluster 208 arranged in a bidirectional loop for transmitting data to fire fighting equipment 206 of a fire fighting system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The bidirectional loop may include loops of fire fighting equipment 206-1, 206-2, 206-3, 206-4, 206-5, 206-6, 206-7 and a gateway device 204.

[0043] like Figure 2 As shown, the fire fighting equipment 206 can be arranged in a bidirectional loop to form a traceable path. Such a traceable path can be a Hamiltonian path, as previously described in conjunction with Figure 1 described.

[0044] The gateway device 204 may simultaneously poll information (e.g., fire activation data) from the fire device 206 and / or transmit information (e.g., activation signals) to the fire device in multiple directions. For example, the gateway device may transmit the activation signal to the fire device 206 by transmitting the activation information to the fire device 206-1 in a first direction (e.g., CW) and transmitting the activation information to the fire device 206-7 in a second direction (e.g., CCW).

[0045] Transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-1 along the first direction causes fire device 206-1 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-2. Continuing in this direction, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-2 along the first direction causes fire device 206-2 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-3, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-3 along the first direction causes fire device 206-3 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-4, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-4 along the first direction causes fire device 206-4 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-5, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-5 along the first direction causes fire device 206-5 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-6, and finally, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-6 along the first direction causes fire device 206-6 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-7.

[0046] Similarly, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-7 along the second direction causes fire device 206-7 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-6. Continuing in this direction, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-6 along the second direction causes fire device 206-6 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-5, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-5 along the second direction causes fire device 206-5 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-4, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-4 along the second direction causes fire device 206-4 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-3, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-3 along the second direction causes fire device 206-3 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-2, and finally, transmitting the activation signal to fire device 206-2 along the second direction causes fire device 206-2 to transmit the activation signal to fire device 206-1.

[0047] As mentioned above, the signal can be sent four times around the bidirectional loop in multiple channels. Figure 3 As further described, such methods can prevent interference from preventing the signal from being transmitted all the way through the bidirectional loop.

[0048] Figure 3 is an example of a time slot and channel table 320 for transmitting data to a fire protection device of a fire protection system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The time slot and channel table 320 can be used to poll information from a fire protection device (e.g., fire protection activation data) and / or transmit information (e.g., activation signal) to a fire protection device in multiple directions around a bidirectional loop at the same time.

[0049] Each fire appliance may include transmission and reception time slots assigned according to the time slot and channel table 320. As shown in the time slot and channel table 320, the bidirectional loop may include 128 fire appliances. Although the time slot and channel table 320 is shown as including 72 time slots based on 128 fire appliances, the time slot and channel table 320 may include 134 time slots to allow polling and transmission of data for each of the 128 fire appliances, as further described herein.

[0050] As previously described above, polling and / or transmission of data may be performed in four different channels with four transmissions per device. For example, an activation signal may be transmitted in an interleaved manner across four channels by transmitting a first activation signal in a first direction on a first channel (channel 1) at a first time slot (time slot 1). For example, a gateway device (e.g., GW as shown in time slot and channel table 320) may transmit an activation signal in a first channel in a first time slot to a first firefighting device (e.g., FD1 as shown in time slot and channel table 320). In time slot 2, FD1 may transmit an activation signal in a first direction in channel 1 to FD2, and GW may transmit an activation signal in a second direction in channel 3 to FD1. No transmission may occur in channels 2-channel 4 in time slot 1 or in channels 2 and channel 4 in time slot 2. In time slot 3, FD2 may transmit an activation signal to FD3 in a first direction in channel 1, GW may transmit an activation signal to FD1 in a first direction in channel 2, and FD128 may transmit an activation signal to FD127 in a second direction in channel 3. In time slot 4, FD3 may transmit an activation signal to FD4 in a first direction in channel 1, FD1 may transmit an activation signal to FD2 in a first direction in channel 2, FD127 may transmit an activation signal to FD126 in a second direction in channel 3, and GW may transmit an activation signal to FD128 in a second direction in channel 4.

[0051] Such a process may continue in all time slots so that the loop is interrogated and / or data is transmitted simultaneously in two directions (e.g., CW and CCW) through the loop. For example, each direction may be interrogated and / or data may be transmitted twice on two separate channels. Such an approach may improve immunity to noise (e.g., a single narrowband high power blocker). For example, if another device may be transmitting data on a frequency close to channel 1, 2, 3, or 4, such transmission may result in noise that affects the interrogation and / or transmission of data through the bidirectional loop. However, such an approach as described above may allow interrogation and / or transmission of data to reach all firefighting devices in the bidirectional loop, because the failure of a firefighting device may still allow messages to be received before the firefighting device that failed in the bidirectional loop. In addition, interleaving may be performed to avoid a single firefighting device having to transmit and receive at the same time.

[0052] As shown in the time slot and channel table 320, four channels may be utilized that may be at different frequencies. For example, a first channel may be at a first frequency (e.g., 2412 megahertz (MHz)), and a third channel may be at a third frequency (e.g., 2417 MHz) that is proximate to the first frequency. Additionally, a second channel may be at a second frequency (e.g., 2462 MHz), and a fourth channel may be at a fourth frequency (e.g., 2467 MHz) that is proximate to the second frequency. The first and third frequencies may be spaced apart from the second and fourth frequencies in a frequency band. Spacing apart the frequencies in a particular frequency band may prevent another device outside of the fire protection system that may be transmitting from blocking all channels at the same time.

[0053] The gateway device may also monitor time slots based on the signal strength of its available neighboring fire equipment. The gateway may include the main receiving time slots of its directly adjacent fire equipment, but in addition, it may also monitor fire equipment that is not a primary neighbor but is within the range of the adjacent fire equipment. Such methods may allow gateway device redundancy. In addition, each fire equipment has a monitoring time slot for its adjacent fire equipment, and in addition, it may monitor additional equipment based on the availability of adjacent fire equipment. The distribution of monitoring time slots may enable the fire equipment to monitor two channels of a given fire equipment and two additional channels of another fire equipment. Finally, as described above, four channels are allocated to the fire equipment for transmission. The packet error rate (PER) of these channels may be monitored at a specific frequency (e.g., every two seconds). If the channel PER exhibits a high PER rate (e.g., exceeding a PER threshold), the fire equipment may be switched to a redundant channel.

[0054] Thus, fire equipment transmitting data to a fire system according to the present disclosure may allow the fire equipment of the fire system to be arranged in such a manner as to meet latency requirements for transmitting data within the fire system, while also providing fire equipment synchronization and fire equipment redundancy in the event that a fire device becomes inoperable. In addition, such methods may allow for gateway device redundancy and communication channel redundancy so that fire equipment can be reliably activated in the event of an emergency so as to alert occupants of the facility of such an emergency.

[0055] Figure 4 4 is an example of a gateway device 402 for transmitting data to a fire fighting device of a fire fighting system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4 As shown, in accordance with the present disclosure, the gateway device 402 may include a memory 432 and a processor 430 for transmitting data to a fire protection device of a fire protection system.

[0056] The memory 432 may be any type of storage medium that can be accessed by the processor 430 to perform various examples of the present disclosure. For example, according to the present disclosure, the memory 432 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions (e.g., executable instructions / computer program instructions) stored thereon, which instructions can be executed by the processor 430 to transmit data to a fire protection device of a fire protection system.

[0057] The memory 432 may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. The memory 432 may also be a removable (e.g., portable) memory or a non-removable (e.g., internal) memory. For example, the memory 432 may be a random access memory (RAM) (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a phase change random access memory (PCRAM)), a read-only memory (ROM) (e.g., an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and / or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)), a flash memory, a laser disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage device and / or a magnetic medium (such as a cassette, a tape or a disk), and other types of memory.

[0058] In addition, although the memory 432 is shown as being located within the gateway device 402, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, the memory 432 may also be located within another computing resource (e.g., enabling computer-readable instructions to be downloaded via the Internet or another wired or wireless connection).

[0059] Processor 430 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a semiconductor-based microprocessor, and / or other hardware device suitable for retrieving and executing machine-readable instructions stored in memory 432 .

[0060] Although specific implementations have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same technique may be substituted for the specific implementations shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all modifications or variations of various implementations of the present disclosure.

[0061] It should be understood that the above description is given in an illustrative rather than limiting manner.By reading the above description, combinations of the above embodiments, as well as other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0062] The scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure includes any other applications using the above-described structures and methods.The scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure should therefore be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[0063] In the above detailed description, various features are grouped together in the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings for the purpose of simplifying the disclosure. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the embodiments of the present disclosure require more features than are expressly recited in each claim.

[0064] Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment.Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

1. A gateway device (104, 204, 402) for transmitting data to a fire fighting device (106, 206) of a fire fighting system (100), the gateway device comprising: Memory (432); and a processor (430) configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory (432) to: receiving an activation signal from a fire control panel (102); as well as transmitting the activation signal to a plurality of fire fighting devices (106, 206) included in the cluster (108, 208) over a plurality of channels according to predetermined time slots; in: The plurality of fire fighting devices (106, 206) are arranged in a bidirectional loop so that the activation signal is simultaneously transmitted around the bidirectional loop in a first direction and around the bidirectional loop in a second direction; and The first direction is opposite to the second direction.

2. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 1, wherein the processor (430) is configured to stagger the transmission of the activation signal on the plurality of channels by: transmitting the activation signal along the first direction on the first channel at a first time slot; transmitting the activation signal along the second direction on a third channel at a second time slot; transmitting the activation signal along the first direction on the second channel at a third time slot; and The activation signal is transmitted along the second direction on a fourth channel at a fourth time slot.

3. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) of claim 2, wherein the first channel is at a first frequency and the third channel is at a third frequency close to the first frequency.

4. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) of claim 3, wherein the second channel is at a second frequency and the fourth channel is at a fourth frequency close to the second frequency.

5. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 4, wherein: The first frequency and the third frequency are spaced apart from the second frequency and the fourth frequency in a frequency band.

6. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 1, wherein the processor (430) is configured to: receiving fire equipment activation data from a fire equipment (106, 206) of the plurality of fire equipment (106, 206); transmitting the fire equipment activation data to the fire control panel (102); and In response to the fire control panel (102) determining from the fire equipment activation data that a fire event is occurring, the activation signal is received from the fire control panel (102).

7. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 1, wherein the processor (430) is configured to activate at least one fire fighting device (106, 206) of the plurality of fire fighting devices (106, 206) via the activation signal.

8. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 1, wherein the processor (430) is configured to transmit the activation signal to the multiple fire-fighting devices (106, 206) by transmitting the activation signal to a first fire-fighting device (106, 206) of the multiple fire-fighting devices (106, 206) along the first direction and to a third fire-fighting device (106, 206) of the multiple fire-fighting devices (106, 206) along the second direction.

9. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 8, wherein transmitting the activation signal to the first fire-fighting device (106, 206) along a first direction causes the first fire-fighting device (106, 206) to transmit the activation signal to a second fire-fighting device (106, 206) of the plurality of fire-fighting devices (106, 206) along the first direction around the bidirectional loop, and causes the second fire-fighting device (106, 206) to transmit the activation signal to the third fire-fighting device (106, 206) along the first direction around the bidirectional loop.

10. The gateway device (104, 204, 402) according to claim 9, wherein transmitting the activation signal to the third fire-fighting device (106, 206) along the second direction causes the third fire-fighting device (106, 206) to transmit the activation signal to the second fire-fighting device (106, 206) around the bidirectional loop along the second direction, and causes the second fire-fighting device (106, 206) to send the activation signal to the first fire-fighting device (106, 206) around the bidirectional loop along the second direction.

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