Multimodal Occupancy Positioning for Real-Time Building Climate Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current occupancy detection systems in buildings are costly to install and maintain, and lack accuracy and networking capabilities for data fusion and collection, making them inefficient for real-time climate control.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing multimodal sensor positioning with electronic mobile devices to determine user location and adjust climate control, leveraging WiFi, Bluetooth, and image data to create spatial fingerprint databases and track user positions for real-time HVAC and lighting adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If explicit occupancy sensors (PIR, CO2, ultrasonic) are installed to detect occupancy for climate control, then occupancy detection capability is improved, but installation and maintenance cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reuses existing WiFi infrastructure for multiple purposes: original wireless communication and new occupancy detection functionality. The WiFi access points and mobile devices serve dual roles, eliminating the need for dedicated occupancy sensors and reducing installation costs while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses resources already present in the building environment (WiFi infrastructure and user mobile devices) to perform occupancy detection. Rather than requiring new dedicated sensors, the system leverages existing components that are already deployed and maintained, making the solution self-sufficient and cost-effective.
2Measurement precision
If explicit occupancy sensors are installed to provide accurate occupancy data, then occupancy detection accuracy is improved, but device complexity and networking requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the occupancy detection functionality from dedicated sensor hardware and relocates it to software-based solutions running on existing mobile devices. This separates the detection logic from specialized hardware, simplifying the physical sensor network while maintaining detection accuracy through software processing of WiFi signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical sensor system with a software-based detection system using WiFi signal processing. Instead of physical sensors detecting occupancy, the system uses signal strength analysis and fingerprinting algorithms running on mobile devices and access points, reducing hardware complexity.
3Ease of manufacture
If WiFi-based occupancy systems use coarse grained information (AAA logs, MAC addresses) for localization, then device cost is reduced, but spatial localization accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary WiFi signal scanning and fingerprinting during a walkthrough phase before actual occupancy detection begins. This pre-collection of spatial signal characteristics creates a reference database that enables accurate real-time localization, transforming coarse WiFi data into precise position information through advance preparation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from using single-dimension data (MAC addresses, AAA logs) to multi-dimensional WiFi signal characteristics (signal strength, timing, spatial fingerprints). By adding temporal and spatial dimensions to the WiFi data analysis, the system achieves accurate localization without requiring dedicated positioning hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for interior climate control of a building utilizing multimodal sensor positioning using an electronic mobile device are presented, the method including: causing the electronic mobile device to receive a building floor plan; generating a number of fingerprint databases corresponding with the building floor plan; determining positions of users each having a mobile electronic device in the building; receiving occupancy climate parameters; and adjusting interior climate control for a zone corresponding with users in the zone and occupation climate parameters. In some embodiments, generating a number of fingerprint databases further includes: performing a single walkthrough of the building with the mobile electronic device; gathering spatial sensor data corresponding with the mobile electronic device during the single walkthrough, where the spatial sensor data corresponds with any of images WiFi signal strength, Bluetooth signal strength, and/or magnetic vector fingerprint captured along a path traversed during the walkthrough.