Distributed Smart Device Security System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing security systems are costly, complex, and require extensive on-site hardware installation, making them difficult for self-monitoring and DIY implementation, especially for homeowners who want a user-friendly, low-tech solution that leverages smart devices for efficient alarm management.
Innovation Solution
A smart device-based security system that connects sensors and devices via the Internet or other networks, utilizing a mobile app for alarm setting, monitoring, and remote action, with core control distributed across multiple devices for redundancy and scalability, reducing on-site hardware needs and incorporating existing user-friendly technology like smartphones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional security systems are implemented with extensive on-site hardware, then security monitoring capability is improved, but device complexity and installation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the core control processing functions from on-site hardware and relocates them to remote servers and user smart devices. The control panel becomes a minimal gateway that only handles local sensor inputs and communicates with remote servers via Internet, while alarm management, user notifications, and system control reside in the cloud and on user devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces Internet and remote servers as intermediaries between sensors and user control interfaces. Sensors communicate status to servers via Internet, which then relay information to user smart devices, eliminating the need for complex direct connections between all system components.
2Reliability
If more on-site hardware is installed for security monitoring, then system functionality is improved, but ease of operation and DIY installation are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes user smart devices (smartphones, tablets, computers) serve multiple functions: they act as control panels for arming/disarming, as monitoring interfaces for viewing system status, as notification receivers for alerts, and as remote action triggers. This eliminates the need for dedicated specialized hardware for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to self-install and self-monitor using their own existing smart devices. The mobile application provides an intuitive interface that requires minimal technical knowledge, and the system automatically handles complex processing tasks on remote servers, enabling users to focus on simple installation and operation.
3Device complexity
If control is centralized in a single location, then system management is simplified, but system robustness and redundancy are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments control functionality across multiple independent components: local sensors at the premises, remote servers in the cloud, and user smart devices. Each segment can operate independently, and if one fails, others continue to provide security monitoring and control capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements redundancy by allowing multiple smart devices to be registered and authorized for system control. If one device is lost, damaged, or unavailable, users can immediately use alternative registered devices to maintain system access and control without interruption.
Data Source
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AI summary
A security system (46) incorporating one or more sensors (61, 62, 63) and one or more smart devices ()41, 42, 43, 44) connected together via the Internet, other network or media. The one or more smart devices may have an alarm application (app) that permits a user to set and unset an alarm, monitor a status change of an event, have access to video information associated with the event, take remote or local action relative to the event, and more. The processing may be more than moving processing to one smart device. Core control may reside in more than one device, and thus result in a whole system robustness.