Gateway Device Wireless Point-to-Point Connection for Lighting Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gateway devices in lighting systems, which form part of a wireless mesh-network, face challenges such as limited radio signal range and quality due to physical location, high traffic load, and certification requirements when connecting to external data transfer networks, especially in large systems.
Innovation Solution
A gateway device that selects a lighting system element as an access point based on signal strength, data transfer latency, and reachability information to establish a wireless point-to-point connection, allowing for dynamic selection and minimizing data traffic load within the mesh-network, and operates independently of the mesh-network structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the gateway device is placed in an electrical cabinet near the router, then connection stability to the external data transfer network is improved, but radio signal range and quality to lighting system elements deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a separate wireless communication unit that acts as an intermediary between the gateway device and the lighting system elements. This unit establishes a wireless connection to the lighting elements while the gateway device maintains its stable wired connection to the router, thus mediating between the conflicting requirements of connection stability and radio signal quality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the gateway device forms part of the wireless mesh-network, then integration with lighting system elements is improved, but traffic load in large networks increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the gateway device into functionally independent units: a wired communication unit for external network connection and a wireless communication unit for lighting system communication. This segmentation allows the gateway to interact with the mesh network only when necessary, reducing unnecessary traffic load while maintaining integration capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The separate wireless communication unit serves as an intermediary that handles all wireless communications with lighting elements, preventing unnecessary mesh network traffic generation. This intermediary approach maintains integration while minimizing the traffic load problem described in the background.
3Ease of operation
If the gateway device is located in an electrical cabinet, then network connection access is improved, but maintenance accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device is segmented into modular components with the wireless communication unit being separately implementable. This segmentation allows the wireless unit to be accessed and maintained independently from the main gateway device located in the electrical cabinet, improving maintenance accessibility while preserving network connection capabilities.
4Reliability
If a high time-to-live limit is set for messages, then message delivery to distant lighting system elements is improved, but traffic load in the mesh-network increases
Solution Approach 1:
The separate wireless communication unit in the gateway device acts as a direct intermediary for communicating with lighting system elements, bypassing the need for messages to traverse the entire mesh network. This intermediary approach enables reliable message delivery to distant elements while minimizing traffic load by reducing the number of hops and forwarding operations required.
Data Source
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AI summary
A gateway device (101) for connecting lighting system elements to a data transfer network comprises a data interface (102) for connecting communicatively to the data transfer network, a wireless transceiver (103) for connecting communicatively to the lighting system elements, and a control system (104) for controlling data traffic between the data interface and the wireless transceiver. The control system is configured to select one of the lighting system elements to be an access point in accordance with information related to the lighting system elements and to the gateway device, and to control the wireless transceiver to establish a wireless point-to-point connection to the access point. Thus, the gateway device does not need to be a part of a wireless mesh-network formed by the lighting system elements, and therefore for example signal levels and other transmission parameters between the gateway device and the access point can be set more freely.