Distributed Lighting Control via Sequence Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lighting systems face challenges in simultaneously controlling a high number of lighting elements with the necessary velocity to achieve desired light effects and animations, due to power supply and bandwidth limitations, especially when using complex lighting elements like RGB LEDs, leading to increased manufacturing and management costs.
Innovation Solution
The method involves dividing the switching-on sequence into sub-sequences and distributing these to physically separate lighting devices, each with its own control unit, allowing for synchronized control through a user device that communicates wirelessly, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements and simplifying the control process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a high number of lighting elements are controlled using a serial protocol in a single lighting device, then the variety of switching-on states increases, but the bandwidth requirement and power supply complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a large lighting device into multiple smaller, physically separate lighting devices, each controlled independently. This segmentation reduces the bandwidth and power supply requirements for each individual device while maintaining the ability to control a high total number of lighting elements across the distributed system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-device serial control architecture to a multi-device distributed architecture, adding the dimension of spatial distribution. Each lighting device can be controlled via separate communication channels (including wireless), effectively distributing the bandwidth load across multiple independent control paths.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a high number of lighting elements are controlled using a serial protocol in a single lighting device, then the variety of switching-on states increases, but the power supply complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the lighting system into multiple smaller devices, each with its own power supply unit, the patent reduces the power supply complexity for each individual device. Each smaller device requires less powerful power supply infrastructure, simpler wiring, and reduced power signal dispersion management compared to a single large device controlling the same number of elements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the number of lighting elements is increased to provide sophisticated effects and animations, then the lighting quality improves, but the bandwidth requirement increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent distributes lighting elements across multiple independent devices, allowing sophisticated lighting effects and animations to be achieved through coordination of multiple smaller control channels rather than requiring a single high-bandwidth control path. Each device handles a subset of the overall lighting sequence, reducing individual bandwidth requirements.
4Device complexity
If a single lighting device controls a high number of lighting elements, then the system structure simplifies, but the control velocity and synchronization accuracy decrease
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the lighting system into multiple smaller devices, each with its own control unit, the patent enables faster control velocity for each individual device. Each control unit processes and executes switching-on sequences for its assigned lighting elements with lower latency, and synchronization mechanisms coordinate these faster individual responses to achieve overall system synchronization.
Data Source
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AI summary
Method for controlling the switching on of lights emitted by a plurality of lighting elements (10a-10q), comprising the following steps: a) arranging the plurality of lighting elements (10a-10q) in an environment, b) selecting a switching-on sequence (4) for the lighting elements (10a-10q), c) executing said switching-on sequence (4). There is provided a plurality of lighting devices (10, 11, 12), each lighting device (10, 11, 12) having one or more lighting elements (10a-10q) and a control unit (101, 111, 121) for said one or more lighting elements (10a-10q). Moreover step b) provides the following sub- steps : b1) dividing the switching-on sequence (4) in one or more sub-sequences (40, 41, 42), b2) associating each sub-sequence (40, 41, 42) to a lighting device (10, 11, 12), b3) transmitting the sub-sequences (40, 41, 42) to the control units (101, 111, 121) through a user device (2). Finally step c) provides to simultaneously execute each sub-sequence (40, 41, 42) by the lighting elements (10a-10q).