Alarm monitoring and control system and method

[0003] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/838,303, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,266 entitled “ALARM MONITORING AND CONTROL UNIT AND METHOD” and application Ser. No. 08/838,302 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,076 entitled “LAMP MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD”, both of which were filed on Apr. 16, 1997.

[0004] 1. Field of the Invention

[0005] This invention relates generally to a system and method for remotely monitoring and/or controlling an apparatus and specifically to an alarm monitoring and control system and method.

[0006] 2. Background of the Related Art

[0007] The concept of protection of personal property has existed for quite some time. In order to provide protection, a variety of alarm systems have been developed. These alarm systems are used to detect different types of alarm conditions such as a robbery, a fire, or other emergency conditions. However, the mere detection of an alarm condition is frequently not sufficient to allow a proper response.

[0008] A variety of attempts have been made to deal with the issue of alarm systems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,979 by Choi discloses a security system using telephone lines to transmit video images to a remote supervisory location. Unfortunately, Choi is limited by a selection of telephone lines to relay the alarm information back to a supervisory site. A skilled burglar will generally cut the phone lines to a location before committing a robbery so that no security information, or other forms of communication, can be transmitted during the course of the robbery. Furthermore, Choi does not provide for any type of transmission network in which individual neighborhoods can be grouped together as neighborhoods, rather he provides for a single supervisory site with direct communication to each of the security systems.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,474 by Park et al. discloses a photographic security system which detects the presence of an intruder and switches on an illumination system and sound system, and activates a still camera to take a picture of the illuminated intruder. The sound system is used to mask the operation of the camera so that the intruder is unaware the picture has been taken. The problem with Park et al. is that it provides no means for either transmitting the photographic image or transmitting an intruder detection signal to a main site. In other words, although Park et al. may allow the detection and photography of an intruder, it does not provide any mechanism for communicating this information back to another location.

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,146 by Carlson discloses a burglar alarm system which incorporates photographic equipment to photograph an intruder and also includes a pneumatically operated audible alarm. Carlson suffers from the same problems as noted in reference to Park et al., i.e. it provides no method for sending either image data or a signal indicating that an alarm has occurred back to a supervisory site.

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,590 by Heger et al. discloses an area surveillance system which includes an ultrasonic intrusion detector, an electronic range finder, and an instant camera. Heger et al. discloses a system in which the intruder is detected and the range finder is used to focus the camera on the intruding subject. After focusing, a series of pictures of the area are taken and these pictures are used to provide identification of the intruder. Heger et al. has the same problems as Carlson and Park et al. in that it does not provide any mechanism for transmitting either the photographic data or an alarm detection signal back to a central site.

[0012] The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

[0013] The present invention provides an alarm monitoring and control system and method for use with alarm units which solves the problems described above.

[0014] In order to overcome the limitations of the current alarm systems, it is required that an alarm monitoring and control system be developed which allows for efficient and cost effective real time indication that an alarm has been detected and also provides some type of imaging data related to that alarm. The system needs to be flexible enough to allow the imaging data to be collected either directly at the site of the alarm or at a neighborhood site which is associated with several local alarms. Furthermore, in order to produce a cost effective system, it is preferable to have this alarm system associated with a monitoring and control system which is also performing other functions such as street lamp monitoring and control for example.

[0015] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system for monitoring and controlling alarm units or any remote device over a large geographical area.

[0016] An additional object of the present invention is to provide a base station for receiving alarm data from remote devices.

[0017] Another object of the current invention is to provide an ID related to the alarm unit and related to the monitoring and control unit for allowing storage in a database to create statistical profiles.

[0018] An advantage of the present invention is that it solves the problem of efficiently providing centralized monitoring and/or control of the alarm units in a geographical area.

[0019] An additional advantage of the present invention is that it provides for a new type of monitoring and control unit which allows centralized monitoring and/or control of units distributed over a large geographical area.

[0020] Another advantage of the present invention is that it allows base stations to be connected to other base stations or to a main station in a network topology to increase the amount of alarm data in the overall system.

[0021] A feature of the present invention, in accordance with one embodiment, is that it includes an IVDS link between the monitoring and control unit and the base station.

[0022] Another feature of the present invention, in accordance with another embodiment, is that it allows the combination of alarm and lamp monitoring and control functions in a single monitoring and control unit.

[0023] An additional feature of the present invention, in accordance with another embodiment, is that it allows image data to be collected at either the alarm unit or the monitoring and control unit when an alarm condition is detected.

[0024] Another feature of the present invention, in accordance with another embodiment, is that it allows the alarm condition to be generated by a panic button.

[0025] These and other objects, advantages and features can be accomplished in accordance with the present invention by the provision of an alarm monitoring and control system comprising a plurality of alarm units for detecting an associated alarm condition; at least one monitoring and control unit, coupled to a group of the plurality of alarm units, for receiving alarm information; and a base station, coupled via an IVDS link to the at least one monitoring and control unit, for receiving alarm data from said at least one monitoring and control unit.

[0026] Additional objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

[0027] The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

[0028] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a typical mercury-vapor lamp.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows a typical configuration of a lamp arrangement comprising a lamp sensor unit situated between a power source and a lamp assembly.

[0030] FIG. 3 shows a lamp arrangement, according to one embodiment of the invention, comprising a lamp monitoring and control unit situated between a power source and a lamp assembly.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows a lamp monitoring and control unit, according to another embodiment of the invention, including a processing and sensing unit, a TX unit, and an RX unit.

[0032] FIG. 5 shows a general monitoring and control unit, according to another embodiment of the invention, including a processing and sensing unit, a TX unit, and an RX unit.

[0033] FIG. 6 shows a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention, including a base station and a plurality of monitoring and control units.

[0034] FIG. 7 shows a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention, including a plurality of base stations, each having a plurality of associated monitoring and control units.

[0035] FIG. 8 shows an example frequency channel plan for a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0036] FIGS. 9A-B show packet formats, according to another embodiment of the invention, for packet data between the monitoring and control unit and the base station.

[0037] FIG. 10 shows an example of bit location values for a status byte in the packet format, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0038] FIGS. 11A-C show a base station for use in a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0039] FIG. 12 shows a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention, having a main station coupled through a plurality of communication links to a plurality of base stations.

[0040] FIG. 13 shows a base station, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0041] FIGS. 14A-E show a method for one implementation of logic for a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0042] FIG. 15 shows an alarm monitoring and control unit, according to one embodiment of the invention, having a processing unit, TX unit, and RX unit.

[0043] FIG. 16 shows an alarm monitoring and control unit, according to an additional embodiment of the invention, having a processing unit, TX unit, RX unit, and an imaging unit.

[0044] FIG. 17 shows an alarm monitoring and control unit, according to another embodiment of the invention, having a processing unit, TX unit, RX unit, imaging unit, interface, and memory.

[0045] FIG. 18 shows an alarm unit, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, having an alarm detection unit and a TX unit.

[0046] FIG. 19 shows an alarm unit, according to another embodiment of the invention, having an alarm detection unit, a TX unit, a processing unit, and an imaging unit.

[0047] FIG. 20 shows an interrogation unit having a processing unit, interface, and storage unit, according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0048] FIG. 21 shows a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention, having a main station coupled through communication links to a plurality of base stations.

[0049] FIG. 22 shows a method, according to another embodiment of the invention, for monitoring and controlling an alarm.

[0050] The present invention includes a monitoring and control unit, such as the lamp monitoring and control unit disclosed in pending application entitled “LAMP MONITORING AND CONTROL UNIT AND METHOD”, filed Apr. 16, 1997, Ser. No. 08/838,303 and “LAMP MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD”, also filed Apr. 16, 1997, Ser. No. 08/838,302, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. An alarm monitoring and control system and method according to one embodiment of the invention will be described in detail below with respect to FIG. 15 on. First, however, a lamp monitoring and control unit will be presented.

[0051] The preferred embodiments of a lamp monitoring and control system (LMCS) and method which allows centralized monitoring and/or control of street lamps, will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures. While one embodiment of the invention is described with reference to an LMCS, the invention is not limited to this application and can be used in any application which requires a monitoring and control system for centralized monitoring and/or control of devices distributed over a large geographical area. For example, the monitoring and control system can comprise various monitoring and control units, each of which communicates with various alarm units. Additionally, the term street lamp in this disclosure is used in a general sense to describe any type of street lamp, area lamp, or outdoor lamp.

[0052] Currently, most street lamps still use arc lamps for illumination. The mercury-vapor lamp is the most common form of street lamp in use today. In this type of lamp, the illumination is produced by an arc which takes place in a mercury vapor.

[0053] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a typical mercury-vapor lamp. This figure is provided only for demonstration purposes since there are a variety of different types of mercury-vapor lamps.

[0054] The mercury-vapor lamp consists of an arc tube 110 which is filled with argon gas and a small amount of pure mercury. Arc tube 110 is mounted inside a large outer bulb 120 which encloses and protects the arc tube. Additionally, the outer bulb may be coated with phosphors to improve the color of the light emitted and reduce the ultraviolet radiation emitted. Mounting of arc tube 110 inside outer bulb 120 may be accomplished with an arc tube mount support 130 on the top and a stem 140 on the bottom.

[0055] Main electrodes 150aand 150b,with opposite polarities, are mechanically sealed at both ends of arc tube 110. The mercury-vapor lamp requires a sizeable voltage to start the arc between main electrodes 150aand 150b.

[0056] The starting of the mercury-vapor lamp is controlled by a starting circuit (not shown in FIG. 1) which is attached between the power source (not shown in FIG. 1) and the lamp. Unfortunately, there is no standard starting circuit for mercury-vapor lamps. After the lamp is started, the lamp current will continue to increase unless the starting circuit provides some means for limiting the current. Typically, the lamp current is limited by a resistor, which severely reduces the efficiency of the circuit, or by a magnetic device, such as a choke or a transformer, called a ballast.

[0057] During the starting operation, electrons move through a starting resistor 160 to a starting electrode 170 and across a short gap between starting electrode 170 and main electrode 150bof opposite polarity. The electrons cause ionization of some of the Argon gas in the arc tube. The ionized gas diffuses until a main arc develops between the two opposite polarity main electrodes 150aand 150b.The heat from the main arc vaporize the mercury droplets to produce ionized current carriers. As the lamp current increases the ballast acts to limit the current and reduce the supply voltage to maintain stable operation and extinguish the arc between main electrode 150band starting electrode 170.

[0058] Because of the variety of different types of starter circuits, it is virtually impossible to characterize the current and voltage characteristics of the mercury-vapor lamp. In fact, the mercury-vapor lamp may require minutes of warm-up before light is emitted. Additionally, if power is lost, the lamp must cool and the mercury pressure must decrease before the starting arc can start again.

[0059] The mercury-vapor lamp has become one of the predominant types of street lamp with millions of units produced annually. The current installed base of these street lamps is enormous with more than 500,000 street lamps in Los Angeles alone. The mercury-vapor lamp is not the most efficient gaseous discharge lamp, but is preferred for use in street lamps because of its long life, reliable performance, and relatively low cost.

[0060] Although the mercury-vapor lamp has been used as a common example of current street lamps, there is increasing use of other types of lamps such as metal halide and high pressure sodium. All of these types of lamps require a starting circuit which makes it virtually impossible to characterize the current and voltage characteristics of the lamp.

[0061] FIG. 2 shows a lamp arrangement 201 with a typical lamp sensor unit 210 which is situated between a power source 220 and a lamp assembly 230. Lamp assembly 230 includes a lamp 240 (such as the mercury-vapor lamp presented in FIG. 1) and a starting circuit 250.

[0062] Most cities currently use automatic lamp control units to control the street lamps. These lamp control units provide an automatic, but decentralized, control mechanism for turning the street lamps on at night and off during the day.

[0063] A typical street lamp assembly 201 includes a lamp sensor unit 210 which in turn includes a light sensor 260 and a relay 270 as shown in FIG. 2. Lamp sensor unit 210 is electrically coupled between external power source 220 and starting circuit 250 of lamp assembly 230. There is a hot line 280aand a neutral line 280bproviding electrical connection between power source 220 and lamp sensor unit 210. Additionally, there is a switched line 280cand a neutral line 280dproviding electrical connection between lamp sensor unit 210 and starting circuit 250 of lamp assembly 230.

[0064] From a physical standpoint, most lamp sensor units 210 use a standard three prong plug, for example a twist lock plug, to connect to the back of lamp assembly 230. The three prongs couple to hot line 280a,switched line 280c,and neutral lines 280band 280d.In other words, the neutral lines 280band 280dare both connected to the same physical prong since they are at the same electrical potential. Some systems also have a ground wire, but no ground wire is shown in FIG. 2 since it is not relevant to the operation of lamp sensor unit 210.

[0065] Power source 220 may be a standard 115 Volt, 60 Hz source from a power line. Of course, a variety of alternatives are available for power source 220. In foreign countries, power source 220 may be a 220 Volt, 50 Hz source from a power line. Additionally, power source 220 may be a DC voltage source or, in certain remote regions, it may be a battery which is charged by a solar reflector.

[0066] The operation of lamp sensor unit 210 is fairly simple. At sunset, when the light from the sun decreases below a sunset threshold, light sensor 260 detects this condition and causes relay 270 to close. Closure of relay 270 results in electrical connection of hot line 280aand switched line 280cwith power being applied to starting circuit 250 of lamp assembly 230 to ultimately produce light from lamp 240. At sunrise, when the light from the sun increases above a sunrise threshold, light sensor 260 detects this condition and causes relay 270 to open. Opening of relay 270 eliminates electrical connection between hot line 280aand switched line 280cand causes the removal of power from starting circuit 250 which turns lamp 240 off.

[0067] Lamp sensor unit 210 provides an automated, distributed control mechanism to turn lamp assembly 230 on and off. Unfortunately, it provides no mechanism for centralized monitoring of the street lamp to determine if the lamp is functioning properly. This problem is particularly important in regard to the street lamps on major boulevards and highways in large cities. When a street lamp burns out over a highway, it is often not replaced for a long period of time because the maintenance crew will only schedule a replacement lamp when someone calls the city maintenance department and identifies the exact pole location of the bad lamp. Since most automobile drivers will not stop on the highway just to report a bad street lamp, a bad lamp may go unreported indefinitely.

[0068] Additionally, if a lamp is producing light but has a hidden problem, visual monitoring of the lamp will never be able to detect the problem. Some examples of hidden problems relate to current, when the lamp is drawing significantly more current than is normal, or voltage, when the power supply is not supplying the appropriate voltage level to the street lamp.

[0069] Furthermore, the present system of lamp control in which an individual light sensor is located at each street lamp, is a distributed control system which does not allow for centralized control. For example, if the city wanted to turn on all of the street lamps in a certain area at a certain time, this could not be done because of the distributed nature of the present lamp control circuits.

[0070] Because of these limitations, a new type of lamp monitoring and control system is needed which allows centralized monitoring and/or control of the street lamps in a geographical area.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows a lamp arrangement 301 which includes lamp monitoring and control unit 310, according to one embodiment of the invention. Lamp monitoring and control unit 310 is situated between a power source 220 and a lamp assembly 230. Lamp assembly 230 includes a lamp 240 and a starting circuit 250.

[0072] Power source 220 may be a standard 115 volt, 60 Hz source supplied by a power line. It is well known to those skilled in the art that a variety of alternatives are available for power source 220. In foreign countries, power source 220 may be a 220 volt, 50 Hz source from a power line. Additionally, power source 220 may be a DC voltage source or, in certain remote regions, it may be a battery which is charged by a solar reflector.

[0073] Recall that lamp sensor unit 210 included a light sensor 260 and a relay 270 which is used to control lamp assembly 230 by automatically switching the hot line 280ato a switched line 280cdepending on the amount of ambient light received by light sensor 260.

[0074] On the other hand, lamp monitoring and control unit 310 provides several functions including a monitoring function which is not provided by lamp sensor unit 210. Lamp monitoring and control unit 310 is electrically located between the external power supply 220 and starting circuit 250 of lamp assembly 230. From an electrical standpoint, there is a hot line 280aand a neutral line 280bbetween power supply 220 and lamp monitoring and control unit 310. Additionally, there is a switched line 280cand a neutral line 280dbetween lamp monitoring and control unit 310 and starting circuit 250 of lamp assembly 230.

[0075] From a physical standpoint, lamp monitoring and control unit 310 may use a standard three-prong plug to connect to the back of lamp assembly 230. The three prongs in the standard three-prong plug represent hot line 280a,switched line 280c,and neutral lines 280band 280d.In other words, the neutral lines 280band 280dare both connected to the same physical prong and share the same electrical potential.

[0076] Although use of a three-prong plug is recommended because of the substantial number of street lamps using this type of standard plug, it is well known to those skilled in the art that a variety of additional types of electrical connection may be used for the present invention. For example, a standard power terminal block or AMP power connector may be used.

[0077] FIG. 4 includes lamp monitoring and control unit 310, the operation of which will be discussed in more detail below along with particular embodiments of the unit. Lamp monitoring and control unit 310 includes a processing and sensing unit 412, a transmit (TX) unit 414, and an optional receive (RX) unit 416. Processing and sensing unit 412 is electrically connected to hot line 280a,switched line 280c,and neutral lines 280band 280d.Furthermore, processing and sensing unit 412 is connected to TX unit 414 and RX unit 416. In a standard application, TX unit 414 may be used to transmit monitoring data and RX unit 416 may be used to receive control information. For applications in which external control information is not required, RX unit 416 may be omitted from lamp monitoring and control unit 310.

[0078] FIG. 5 shows a general monitoring and control unit 510 including a processing and sensing unit 520, a TX unit 530, and an optional RX unit 540. Monitoring and control unit 510 differs from lamp monitoring and control unit 310 in that monitoring and control unit 510 is general-purpose and not limited to use with street lamps. Monitoring and control unit 510 can be used to monitor and control any remote device 550.

[0079] Monitoring and control unit 510 includes processing and sensing unit 520 which is coupled to remote device 550. Processing and sensing unit 520 is further coupled to TX unit 530 for transmitting monitoring data and may be coupled to an optional RX unit 540 for receiving control information.

[0080] FIG. 6 shows a monitoring and control system 600, according to one embodiment of the invention, including a base station 610 and a plurality of monitoring and control units 510a-d.

[0081] Monitoring and control units 510a-deach correspond to monitoring and control unit 510 as shown in FIG. 5, and are coupled to a remote device 550 (not shown in FIG. 6) which is monitored and controlled. Each of monitoring and control units 510a-dcan transmit monitoring data through its associated TX unit 530 to base station 610 and receive control information through a RX unit 540 from base station 610.

[0082] Communication between monitoring and control units 510a-dand base station 610 can be accomplished in a variety of ways, depending on the application, such as using: RF or other wireless means, wire, coaxial cable, or fiber optics. For lamp monitoring and control system 600, RF is the preferred communication link due to the costs required to build the infrastructure for any of the other options.

[0083] FIG. 7 shows a monitoring and control system 700, according to another embodiment of the invention, including a plurality of base stations 610a-c,each having a plurality of associated monitoring and control units 510a-h.Each base station 610a-cis generally associated with a particular geographic area of coverage. For example, the first base station 610a,communicates with monitoring and control units 510a-cin a limited geographic area. If monitoring and control units 510a-care used for lamp monitoring and control, the geographic area may consist of a section of a city.

[0084] Although the example of geographic area is used to group monitoring and control units 510a-c,it is well known to those skilled in the art that other groupings may be used. For example, to monitor and control remote devices 550 made by different manufacturers, monitoring and control system 700 may use groupings in which base station 610aservices one manufacturer and base station 610bservices a different manufacturer. In this example, bases stations 610aand 610bmay be servicing overlapping geographical areas.

[0085] FIG. 7 also shows a communication link 716 between base stations 610a-c.This communication link is shown as a bus topology, but can alternately be configured in a ring, star, mesh, or other topology. An optional main station 710 can also be connected to the communication link to receive and concentrate data from base stations 610a-c.The media used for the communication link between base stations 610a-ccan be: RF, wire, coaxial cable, fiber optics or any other communication link.

[0086] FIG. 8 shows an example of a frequency channel plan for communications between monitoring and control unit 510 and base station 610 in monitoring and control system 600 or 700, according to one embodiment of the invention. In this example table, interactive video and data service (IVDS) radio frequencies in the range of 218-219 MHZ are shown. The IVDS channels in FIG. 8 are divided into two groups, Group A and Group B, with each group having nineteen channels spaced at 25 KHz steps. The first channel of the group A frequencies is located at 218.025 MHZ and the first channel of the group B frequencies is located at 218.525 MHZ.

[0087] FIGS. 9A-B show packet formats, according to two embodiments of the invention, for packet data transferred between monitoring and control unit 510 and base station 610. FIG. 9A shows a general packet format, according to one embodiment of the invention, including a start field 910, an ID field 912, a status field 914, a data field 916, and a stop field 918.

[0088] Start field 910 is located at the beginning of the packet and indicates the start of the packet.

[0089] ID field 912 is located after start field 910 and indicates the ID for the source of the packet transmission and optionally the ID for the destination of the transmission. Inclusion of a destination ID depends on the system topology and geographic layout. For example, if an RF transmission is used for the communications link and if base station 610ais located far enough from the other base stations so that associated monitoring and control units 510a-care out of range from the other base stations, then no destination ID is required. Furthermore, if the communication link between base station 610aand associated monitoring and control units 510a-cuses wire or cable rather than RF, then there is also no requirement for a destination ID.

[0090] Status field 914 is located after ID field 912 and indicates the status of monitoring and control unit 510. For example, if monitoring and control unit 510 is used in conjunction with street lamps, status field 914 could indicate that the street lamp was turned on or off at a particular time.

[0091] Data field 916 is located after status field 914 and includes any data that may be associated with the indicated status. For example, if monitoring and control unit 510 is used in conjunction with street lamps, data field 916 may be used to provide an A/D value for the lamp voltage or current after the street lamp has been turned on.

[0092] Stop field 918 is located after data field 916 and indicates the end of the packet.

[0093] FIG. 9B shows a more detailed packet format, according to another embodiment of the invention, including a start byte 930, ID bytes 932, a status byte 934, a data byte 936, and a stop byte 938. Each byte comprises eight bits of information.

[0094] Start byte 930 is located at the beginning of the packet and indicates the start of the packet. Start byte 930 will use a unique value that will indicate to the destination that a new packet is beginning. For example, start byte 930 can be set to a value such as 02 hex.

[0095] ID bytes 932 can be four bytes located after start byte 930 which indicate the ID for the source of the packet transmission and optionally the ID for the destination of the transmission. ID bytes 932 can use all four bytes as a source address which allows for 2³²(over 4 billion) unique monitoring and control units 510. Alternately, ID bytes 932 can be divided up so that some of the bytes are used for a source ID and the remainder are used for a destination ID. For example, if two bytes are used for the source ID and two bytes are used for the destination ID, the system can include 2¹⁶(over 64,000) unique sources and destinations.

[0096] Status byte 934 is located after ID bytes 932 and indicates the status of monitoring and control unit 510. The status may be encoded in status byte 934 in a variety of ways. For example, if each byte indicates a unique status, then there exists 2⁸(256) unique status values. However, if each bit of status byte 934 is reserved for a particular status indication, then there exists only 8 unique status values (one for each bit in the byte). Furthermore, certain combinations of bits may be reserved to indicate an error condition. For example, a status byte 934 setting of FF hex (all ones) can be reserved for an error condition.

[0097] Data byte 936 is located after status byte 934 and includes any data that may be associated with the indicated status. For example, if monitoring and control unit 510 is used in conjunction with street lamps, data byte 936 may be used to provide an A/D value for the lamp voltage or current after the street lamp has been turned on.

[0098] Stop byte 938 is located after data byte 936 and indicates the end of the packet. Stop byte 938 will use a unique value that will indicate to the destination that the current packet is ending. For example, stop byte 938 can be set to a value such as 03 hex.

[0099] FIG. 10 shows an example of bit location values for status byte 934 in the packet format, according to another embodiment of the invention. For example, if monitoring and control unit 510 is used in conjunction with street lamps, each bit of the status byte can be used to convey monitoring data.

[0100] The bit values are listed in the table with the most significant bit (MSB) at the top of the table and the least significant bit (LSB) at the bottom. The MSB, bit 7, can be used to indicate if an error condition has occurred. Bits 6-2 are unused. Bit 1 indicates whether daylight is present and will be set to 0 when the street lamp is turned on and set to 1 when as the street lamp is turned off. Bit 0 indicates whether AC voltage has been switched on to the street lamp. Bit 0 is set to 0 if the AC voltage is off and set to 1 if the AC voltage is on.

[0101] FIGS. 11A-C show a base station 1100 for use in a monitoring and control system using RF, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0102] FIG. 11A shows base station 1100 which includes an RX antenna system 1110, a receiving system front end 1120, a multi-port splitter 1130, a bank of RX modems 1140a-c,and a computing system 1150.

[0103] RX antenna system 1110 receives RF monitoring data and can be implemented using a single antenna or an array of interconnected antennas depending on the topology of the system. For example, if a directional antenna is used, RX antenna system 1110 may include an array of four of these directional antennas to provide 360 degrees of coverage.

[0104] Receiving system front end 1120 is coupled to RX antenna system 1110 for receiving the RF monitoring data. Receiving system front end 1120 can also be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, a low noise amplifier (LNA) and pre-selecting filters can be used in applications which require high receiver sensitivity. Receiving system front end 1120 outputs received RF monitoring data.

[0105] Multi-port splitter 1130 is coupled to receiving system front end 1120 for receiving the received RF monitoring data. Multi-port splitter 1130 takes the received RF monitoring data from receiving system front end 1120 and splits it to produce split RF monitoring data.

[0106] RX modems 1140a-care coupled to multi-port splitter 1130 and receive the split RPF monitoring data. RX modems 1140a-ceach demodulate their respective split RF monitoring data line to produce a respective received data signal. RX modems 1140a-ccan be operated in a variety of ways depending on the configuration of the system. For example, if twenty channels are being used, twenty RX modems 1140 can be used with each RX modem set to a different fixed frequency. On the other hand, in a more sophisticated configuration, frequency channels can be dynamically allocated to RX modems 1140a-cdepending on the traffic requirements.

[0107] Computing system 1150 is coupled to RX modems 1140a-cfor receiving the received data signals. Computing system 1150 can include one or many individual computers. Additionally, the interface between computing system 1150 and RX modems 1140a-ccan be any type of data interface, such as RS-232 or RS-422 for example.

[0108] Computing system 1150 includes an ID and status processing unit (ISPU) 1152 which processes ID and status data from the packets of monitoring data in the demodulated signals. ISPU 1152 can be implemented as software, hardware, or firmware. Using ISPU 1152, computing system 1150 can decode the packets of monitoring data in the demodulated signals, or can simply pass, without decoding, the packets of monitoring data on to another device, or can both decode and pass the packets of monitoring data.

[0109] For example, if ISPU 1152 is implemented as software running on a computer, it can process and decode each packet. Furthermore, ISPU 1152 can include a user interface, such as a graphical user interface, to allow an operator to view the monitoring data. Furthermore, ISPU 1152 can include or interface to a database in which the monitoring data is stored.

[0110] The inclusion of a database is particularly useful for producing statistical norms on the monitoring data either relating to one monitoring and control unit over a period of time or relating to performance of all of the monitoring and control units. For example, if the present invention is used for lamp monitoring and control, the current draw of a lamp can be monitored over a period of time and a profile created. Furthermore, an alarm threshold can be set if a new piece of monitored data deviates from the norm established in the profile. This feature is helpful for monitoring and controlling lamps because the precise current characteristics of each lamp can vary greatly. By allowing the database to create a unique profile for each lamp, the problem related to different lamp currents can be overcome so that an automated system for quickly identifying lamp problems is established.

[0111] FIG. 11B shows an alternate configuration for base station 1100, according to a further embodiment of the invention, which includes all of the elements discussed in regard to FIG. 11A and further includes a TX modem 1160, transmitting system 1162, and TX antenna 1164. Base station 1100 as shown in FIG. 11B can be used in applications which require a TX channel for control of remote devices 550.

[0112] TX modem 1160 is coupled to computing system 1150 for receiving control information. The control information is modulated by TX modem 1160 to produce modulated control information.

[0113] Transmitting system 1162 is coupled to TX modem 1160 for receiving the modulated control information. Transmitting system 1162 can have a variety of different configurations depending on the application. For example, if higher transmit power output is required, transmitting system 1162 can include a power amplifier. If necessary, transmitting system 1162 can include isolators, bandpass, lowpass, or highpass filters to prevent out-of-band signals. After receiving the modulated control information, transmitting system 1162 outputs a TX RF signal.

[0114] TX antenna 1164 is coupled to transmitting system 1162 for receiving the TX RF signal and transmitting a transmitted TX RF signal. It is well known to those skilled in the art that TX antenna 1164 may be coupled with RX antenna system 1110 using a duplexer for example.

[0115] FIG. 11C shows base station 1100 as part of a monitoring and control system, according to another embodiment of the invention. Base station 1100 has already been described with reference to FIG. 11A.

[0116] Additionally, computing system 1150 of base station 1100 can be coupled to a communication link 1170 for communicating with a main station 1180 or a further base station 1100a.

[0117] Communication link 1170 may be implemented using a variety of technologies such as: a standard phone line, DDS line, ISDN line, T1, fiber optic line, or RF link. The topology of communication link 1170 can vary depending on the application and can be, for example, star, bus, ring, or mesh.

[0118] FIG. 12 shows a monitoring and control system 1200, according to another embodiment of the invention, having a main station 1230 coupled through a plurality of communication links 1220a-cto a plurality of respective base stations 1210a-c.

[0119] Base stations 1210a-ccan have a variety of configurations such as those shown in FIGS. 11A-B. Communication links 1220a-callow respective base stations 1210a-cto pass monitoring data to main station 1230 and to receive control information from main station 1230. Processing of the monitoring data can either be performed at base stations 1210a-cor at main station 1230.

[0120] FIG. 13 shows a base station 1300 which is coupled to a communication server 1340 via a communication link 1330, according to another embodiment of the invention. Base station 1300 includes an antenna and preselector system 1305, a receiver modem group (RMG) 1310, and a computing system 1320.

[0121] Antenna and preselector system 1305 are similar to RX antenna system 1110 and receiving system front end 1120 which were previously discussed. Antenna and preselector system 1305 can include either one antenna or an array of antennas and preselection filtering as required by the application. Antenna and preselector system 1305 receives RF monitoring data and outputs preselected RF monitoring data.

[0122] Receiver modem group (RMG) 1310 includes a low noise pre-amp 1312, a multi-port splitter 1314, and several RX modems 1316a-c.Low noise pre-amp 1312 receives the preselected RF monitoring data from antenna and preselector system 1305 and outputs amplified RF monitoring data.

[0123] Multi-port splitter 1314 is coupled to low noise pre-amp 1312 for receiving the amplified RF monitoring data and outputting split RF monitoring data lines.

[0124] RX modems 1316a-care coupled to multi-port splitter 1314 for receiving and demodulating one of the split RF monitoring data lines and outputting received data (RXD) 1324, received clock (RXC) 1326, and carrier detect (CD) 1328. These signals can use a standard interface such as RS-232 or RS-422 or can use a proprietary interface.

[0125] Computing system 1320 includes at least one base site computer 1322 for receiving RXD, RXC, and CD from RX modems 1316a-c,and outputting a serial data stream.

[0126] Computing system 1320 further includes an ID and status processing unit (ISPU) 1323 which processes ID and status data from the packets of monitoring data in RXD. ISPU 1323 can be implemented as software, hardware, or firmware. Using ISPU 1323, computing system 1320 can decode the packets of monitoring data in the demodulated signals, or can simply pass, without decoding, the packets of monitoring data on to another device in the serial data stream, or can both decode and pass the packets of monitoring data.

[0127] Communication link 1330 includes a first communication interface 1332, a second communication interface 1334, a first interface line 1336, a second interface line 1342, and a link 1338.

[0128] First communication interface 1332 receives the serial data stream from computing system 1320 of base station 1300 via first interface line 1336. First communication interface 1332 can be co-located with computing system 1320 or be remotely located. First communication interface 1332 can be implemented in a variety of ways using, for example, a CSU, DSU, or modem.

[0129] Second communication interface 1334 is coupled to first communication interface 1332 via link 1338. Link 1338 can be implemented using a standard phone line, DDS line, ISDN line, T1, fiber optic line, or RF link. Second communication interface 1334 can be implemented similarly to first communication interface 1332 using, for example, a CSU, DSU, or modem.

[0130] Communication link 1330 outputs communicated serial data from second communication interface 1334 via second communication line 1342.

[0131] Communication server 1340 is coupled to communication link 1330 for receiving communicated serial data via second communication line 1342. Communication server 1340 receives several lines of communicated serial data from several computing systems 1320 and multiplexes them to output multiplexed serial data on to a data network. The data network can be a public or private data network such as an internet or intranet.

[0132] FIGS. 14A-E show methods for implementation of logic for lamp monitoring and control system 600, according to a further embodiment of the invention.

[0133] FIG. 14A shows one method for energizing and de-energizing a street lamp and transmitting associated monitoring data. The method of FIG. 14A shows a single transmission for each control event. The method begins with a start block 1400 and proceeds to step 1410 which involves checking AC and Daylight Status. The Check AC and Daylight Status step 1410 is used to check for conditions where the AC power and/or the Daylight Status have changed. If a change does occur, the method proceeds to step 1420 which is a decision block based on the change.

[0134] If a change occurred, step 1420 proceeds to a Debounce Delay step 1422 which involves inserting a Debounce Delay. For example, the Debounce Delay may be 0.5 seconds. After Debounce Delay step 1422, the method leads back to Check AC and Daylight Status step 1410.

[0135] If no change occurred, step 1420 proceeds to step 1430 which is a decision block to determine whether the lamp should be energized. If the lamp should be energized, then the method proceeds to step 1432 which turns the lamp on. After step 1432 when the lamp is turned on, the method proceeds to step 1434 which involves Current Stabilization Delay to allow the current in the street lamp to stabilize. The amount of delay for current stabilization depends upon the type of lamp used. However, for a typical vapor lamp a ten minute stabilization delay is appropriate. After step 1434, the method leads back to step 1410 which checks AC and Daylight Status.

[0136] Returning to step 1430, if the lamp is not to be energized, then the method proceeds to step 1440 which is a decision block to check to deenergize the lamp. If the lamp is to be deenergized, the method proceeds to step 1442 which involves turning the Lamp Off. After the lamp is turned off, the method proceeds to step 1444 in which the relay is allowed a Settle Delay time. The Settle Delay time is dependent upon the particular relay used and may be, for example, set to 0.5 seconds. After step 1444, the method returns to step 1410 to check the AC and Daylight Status.

[0137] Returning to step 1440, if the lamp is not to be deenergized, the method proceeds to step 1450 in which an error bit is set, if required. The method then proceeds to step 1460 in which an A/D is read.

[0138] The method then proceeds from step 1460 to step 1470 which checks to see if a transmit is required. If no transmit is required, the method proceeds to step 1472 in which a Scan Delay is executed. The Scan Delay depends upon the circuitry used and, for example, may be 0.5 seconds. After step 1472, the method returns to step 1410 which checks AC and Daylight Status.

[0139] Returning to step 1470, if a transmit is required, then the method proceeds to step 1480 which performs a transmit operation. After the transmit operation of step 1480 is completed, the method then returns to step 1410 which checks AC and Daylight Status.

[0140] FIG. 14B is analogous to FIG. 14A with one modification. This modification occurs after step 1420. If a change has occurred, rather than simply executing step 1422, the Debounce Delay, the method performs a further step 1424 which involves checking whether daylight has occurred. If daylight has not occurred, then the method proceeds to step 1426 which executes an Initial Delay. This initial delay may be, for example, 0.5 seconds. After step 1426, the method proceeds to step 1422 and follows the same method as shown in FIG. 14A.

[0141] Returning to step 1424 which involves checking whether daylight has occurred, if daylight has occurred, the method proceeds to step 1428 which executes an Initial Delay. The Initial Delay associated with step 1428 should be a significantly larger value than the Initial Delay associated with step 1426. For example, an Initial Delay of 45 seconds may be used. The Initial Delay of step 1428 is used to prevent a false triggering which deenergizes the lamp. In actual practice, this extended delay can become very important because if the lamp is inadvertently deenergized too soon, it requires a substantial amount of time to reenergize the lamp (for example, ten minutes). After step 1428, the method proceeds to step 1422 which executes a Debounce Delay and then returns to step 1410 as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B.

[0142] FIG. 14C shows a method for transmitting monitoring data multiple times in monitoring and control unit 510, according to a further embodiment of the invention. This method is particularly important in applications in which monitoring and control unit 510 does not have a RX unit 540 for receiving acknowledgments of transmissions.

[0143] The method begins with a transmit start block 1482 and proceeds to step 1484 which involves initializing a count value, i.e. setting the count value to zero. The method proceeds from step 1484 to step 1486 which involves setting a variable x to a value associated with a serial number of monitoring and control unit 510. For example, variable x may be set to 50 times the lowest nibble of the serial number.

[0144] The method proceeds from step 1486 to step 1488 which involves waiting a reporting start time delay associated with the value x. The reporting start time is the amount of delay time before the first transmission. For example, this delay time may be set to x seconds where x is an integer between 1 and 32,000 or more. This example range for x is particularly useful in the street lamp application since it distributes the packet reporting start times over more than eight hours, approximately the time from sunset to sunrise.

[0145] The method proceeds from step 1488 to step 1490 in which a variable y representing a channel number is set. For example, y may be set to the integer value of RTC/12.8, where RTC represents a real time clock counting from 0-255 as fast as possible. The RTC may be included in processing and sensing unit 520.

[0146] The method proceeds from step 1490 to step 1492 in which a packet is transmitted on channel y. Step 1492 proceeds to step 1494 in which the count value is incremented. Step 1494 proceeds to step 1496 which is a decision block to determine if the count value equals an upper limit N.

[0147] If the count is not equal to N, the method returns from step 1496 to step 1488 and waits another delay time associated with variable x. This delay time is the reporting delta time since it represents the time difference between two consecutive reporting events.

[0148] If the count is equal to N, the method proceeds from step 1496 to step 1498 which is an end block. The value for N must be determined based on the specific application. Increasing the value of N decreases the probability of a unsuccessful transmission since the same data is being sent multiple times and the probability of all of the packets being lost decreases as N increases. However, increasing the value of N increases the amount of traffic which may become an issue in a monitoring and control system with a plurality of monitoring and control units.

[0149] FIG. 14D shows a method for transmitting monitoring data multiple times in a monitoring and control system according to a another embodiment of the invention.

[0150] The method begins with a transmit start block 1410′ and proceeds to step 1412′ which involves initializing a count value, i.e., setting the count value to 1. The method proceeds from step 1412′ to step 1414′ which involves randomizing the reporting start time delay. The reporting start time delay is the amount of time delay required before the transmission of the first data packet. A variety of methods can be used for this randomization process such as selecting a pseudo-random value or basing the randomization on the serial number of monitoring and control unit 510.

[0151] The method proceeds from step 1414′ to step 1416′ which involves checking to see if the count equals 1. If the count is equal to 1, then the method proceeds to step 1420′ which involves setting a reporting delta time equal to the reporting start time delay. If the count is not equal to 1, the method proceeds to step 1418′ which involves randomizing the reporting delta time. The reporting delta time is the difference in time between each reporting event. A variety of methods can be used for randomizing the reporting delta time including selecting a pseudo-random value or selecting a random number based upon the serial number of the monitoring and control unit 510.

[0152] After either step 1418′ or step 1420′, the method proceeds to step 1422′ which involves randomizing a transmit channel number. The transmit channel number is a number indicative of the frequency used for transmitting the monitoring data. There are a variety of methods for randomizing the transmit channel number such as selecting a pseudo-random number or selecting a random number based upon the serial number of the monitoring and control unit 510.

[0153] The method proceeds from step 1422′ to step 1424′ which involves waiting the reporting delta time. It is important to note that the reporting delta time is the time which was selected during the randomization process of step 1418′ or the reporting start time delay selected in step 1414′, if the count equals 1. The use of separate randomization steps 1414′ and 1418′ is important because it allows the use of different randomization functions for the reporting start time delay and the reporting delta time, respectively.

[0154] After step 1424′ the method proceeds to step 1426′ which involves transmitting a packet on the transmit channel selected in step 1422′.

[0155] The method proceeds from step 1426′ to step 1428′ which involves incrementing the counter for the number of packet transmissions.

[0156] The method proceeds from step 1428′ to step 1430′ in which the count is compared with a value N which represents the maximum number of transmissions for each packet. If the count is less than or equal to N, then the method proceeds from step 1430′ back to step 1418′ which involves randomizing the reporting delta time for the next transmission. If the count is greater than N, then the method proceeds from step 1430′ to the end block 1432′ for the transmission method.

[0157] In other words, the method will continue transmission of the same packet of data N times, with randomization of the reporting start time delay, randomization of the reporting delta times between each reporting event, and randomization of the transmit channel number for each packet. These multiple randomizations help stagger the packets in the frequency and time domain to reduce the probability of collisions of packets from different monitoring and control units.

[0158] FIG. 14E shows a further method for transmitting monitoring data multiple times from a monitoring and control unit 510, according to another embodiment of the invention.

[0159] The method begins with a transmit start block 1440′ and proceeds to step 1442′ which involves initializing a count value, i.e., setting the count value to 1. The method proceeds from step 1442′ to step 1444′ which involves reading an indicator, such as a group jumper, to determine which group of frequencies to use, Group A or B. Examples of Group A and Group B channel numbers and frequencies can be found in FIG. 8.

[0160] Step 1444′ proceeds to step 1446′ which makes a decision based upon whether Group A or B is being used. If Group A is being used, step 1446′ proceeds to step 1448′ which involves setting a base channel to the appropriate frequency for Group A. If Group B is to be used, step 1446′ proceeds to step 1450′ which involves setting the base channel frequency to a frequency for Group B.

[0161] After either Step 1448′ or step 1450′, the method proceeds to step 1452′ which involves randomizing a reporting start time delay. For example, the randomization can be achieved by multiplying the lowest nibble of the serial number of monitoring and control unit 510 by 50 and using the resulting value, x, as the number of milliseconds for the reporting start time delay.

[0162] The method proceeds from step 1452′ to step 1454′ which involves waiting x number of seconds as determined in step 1452′.

[0163] The method proceeds from step 1454′ to step 1456′ which involves setting a value z=0, where the value z represents an offset from the base channel number set in step 1448′ or 1450′. Step 1456′ proceeds to step 1458′ which determines whether the count equals 1. If the count equals 1, the method proceeds from step 1458′ to step 1472′ which involves transmitting the packet on a channel determined from the base channel frequency selected in either step 1448′ or step 1450′ plus the channel frequency offset selected in step 1456′.

[0164] If the count is not equal to 1, then the method proceeds from step 1458′ to step 1460′ which involves determining whether the count is equal to N, where N represents the maximum number of packet transmissions. If the count is equal to N, then the method proceeds from step 1460′ to step 1472′ which involves transmitting the packet on a channel determined from the base channel frequency selected in either step 1448′ or step 1450′ plus the channel number offset selected in step 1456′.

[0165] If the count is not equal to N, indicating that the count is a value between 1 and N, then the method proceeds from step 1460′ to step 1462′ which involves reading a real time counter (RTC) which may be located in processing and sensing unit 412.

[0166] The method proceeds from step 1462′ to step 1464′ which involves comparing the RTC value against a maximum value, for example, a maximum value of 152. If the RTC value is greater than or equal to the maximum value, then the method proceeds from step 1464′ to step 1466′ which involves waiting x seconds and returning to step 1462′.

[0167] If the value of the RTC is less than the maximum value, then the method proceeds from step 1464′ to step 1468′ which involves setting a value y equal to a value indicative of the channel number offset. For example, y can be set to an integer of the real time counter value divided by 8, so that Y value would range from 0 to 18.

[0168] The method proceeds from step 1468′ to step 1470′ which involves computing a frequency offset value z from the channel number offset value y. For example, if a 25 KHz channel is being used, then z is equal to y times 25 KHz.

[0169] The method then proceeds from step 1470′ to step 1472′ which involves transmitting the packet on a channel determined from the base channel frequency selected in either step 1448′ or step 1450′ plus the channel frequency offset computed in step 1470′.

[0170] The method proceeds from step 1472′ to step 1474′ which involves incrementing the count value. The method proceeds from step 1474′ to step 1476′ which involves comparing the count value to a value N+1 which is related to the maximum number of transmissions for each packet. If the count is not equal to N+1, the method proceeds from step 1476′ back to step 1454′ which involves waiting x number of milliseconds. If the count is equal to N+1, the method proceeds from step 1476′ to the end block 1478′.

[0171] The method shown in FIG. 14E is similar to that shown in FIG. 14D, but differs in that it requires the first and the Nth transmission to occur at the base frequency rather than a randomly selected frequency.

[0172] FIG. 15 shows an alarm monitoring and control unit 1510, according to one embodiment of the invention, having a processing unit 1520, TX unit 1530, and RX unit 1540. Processing unit 1520 is coupled to TX unit 1530 for transmitting data to a base station. Processing unit 1520 is also coupled to RX unit 1540 for receiving data either from the base station or from a remote unit such as an alarm unit. As an option, alarm monitoring and control unit 1510 can also include a second RX unit 1550 for receiving data either from the base station or from a remote device such as an alarm unit.

[0173] As another option, alarm monitoring and control unit 1510 can include a sensing unit 1560 and a remote device 1570 both coupled to processing unit 1520. For example, sensing unit 1560 and remote device 1570 can be for lamp monitoring and control so that alarm monitoring and control unit 1510 can perform the functions of lamp and alarm monitoring and control.

[0174] FIG. 16 shows an alarm monitoring and control unit 1610, according to an additional embodiment of the invention, having a processing unit 1620, TX unit 1630, RX unit 1640, and an imaging unit 1680. Alarm monitoring and control unit 1610 is similar to alarm monitoring control unit 1510 in that it includes processing unit 1620, TX unit 1630, RX unit 1640 and optional RX unit 1650, sensing unit 1660, and remote device 1670. These elements have functions analogous to the corresponding elements in FIG. 15.

[0175] Additionally, alarm monitoring and control unit 1610 includes imaging unit 1680 coupled to processing unit 1620. Imaging unit 1680 allows imaging to be performed based upon signals received from remote alarm units (not shown). For example, if an alarm signal is received from a remote alarm unit, imaging unit 1680 can perform imaging of the local area in order to collect information which may be valuable to the police and other law enforcement agencies.

[0176] Imaging unit 1680 may be any form of imaging unit such as a still camera, a video camera, a low light level camera, or an infrared camera. Imaging unit 1680 also can include a wide variety of lens types such as a wide field of view lens to enable a very broad field of view during surveillance. Imaging unit 1680 also can include a pointing device which allows imaging unit 1680 to point at different objects depending on the source of the alarm. Although imaging unit 1680 is shown inside of alarm monitoring and control unit 1610, imaging unit 1680 may be included in the same housing as processing unit 1620 or may be included in a separate housing with some form of communication link between imaging unit 1680 and processing unit 1620.

[0177] Alarm monitoring and control unit 1610 can also include optional additional imaging units 1685. Imaging unit 1685 allows the alarm monitoring and control unit to point at a direction different than the field of view of imaging unit 1680. As previously described, imaging unit 1685 can also be implemented using a variety of different forms of imaging units such as a still camera, video camera, low light level TV, low light level video camera, and infrared video camera. Also, as previously discussed, alarm monitoring and control unit 1610 can include an optional sensing unit 1660 and remote device 1670 to allow the operation of both lamp monitoring and alarm monitoring in one monitoring and control unit.

[0178] FIG. 17 shows an alarm monitoring and control unit 1710, according to another embodiment of the invention, having a processing unit 1720, TX unit 1730, RX unit 1740, imaging unit 1780, interface 1790, and memory 1795.

[0179] Alarm monitoring and control unit 1710 is similar to alarm monitoring and control unit 1610 in terms of the inclusion of a processing unit 1720, TX unit 1730, RX unit 1740, imaging unit 1780, and optional elements such as RX unit 1750, sensing unit 1760, remote device 1770, and imaging unit 1785. In addition, alarm monitoring and control unit 1710 includes an interface 1790 and a memory 1795, both of which are coupled to processing unit 1720. Memory 1795 allows storage of information at alarm monitoring and control unit 1710. For example, if imaging unit 1780 collects image data, that image data can be stored in memory 1795 for download at a later time. Interface 1790 is the mechanism through which the download of information, such as image data, from memory 1795 is conducted. Interface 1790 can be implemented in a variety of ways such as through use of a wired line, infrared link, fiber optic link, or RF link. In addition, it is well known to those skilled in the art that there are many ways for implementing memory 1795 such as use of DRAM, SRAM, flash RAM, etc.

[0180] FIG. 18 shows an alarm unit 1810, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, having an alarm detection unit 1820 and a TX unit 1830. Alarm detection unit 1820 detects an alarm condition and TX unit 1830, which is coupled to alarm detection unit 1820, transmits associated alarm information to an alarm monitoring and control unit such as alarm monitoring control unit 1510, 1610 or 1710. Alarm unit 1810 can take a variety of different forms depending on the particular application. For example, in a residential house or a commercial building, alarm unit 1810 can be part of an alarm system so that alarm detection unit 1820 is coupled to alarm sensors which detect an alarm condition. Some examples of alarm conditions are the opening of a door or window or the detection of motion in a particular room of a building.

[0181] In other applications, alarm detection unit 1820 can be coupled to an alarm panic button. For example, an alarm panic button could be installed in vehicles such as taxicabs so that in the event of a robbery the taxicab driver could push the alarm panic button producing an alarm detection signal in alarm detection unit 1820 which results in the transmission of associated alarm information being transmitted by TX unit 1830. The concept of alarm panic buttons can also be used in fixed locations such as in commercial operation such as banks or ATM machines, or the panic button can be placed in public areas such as on lamp posts along the side of a highway.

[0182] The alarm condition which triggers alarm detection unit 1820 is not limited to robberies, but also can include other forms of alarm conditions such as detection of fire or flooding in a building.

[0183] FIG. 19 shows an alarm unit, according to another embodiment of the invention, having an alarm detection unit, a TX unit, a processing unit, and an imaging unit.

[0184] Alarm unit 1910 includes a processing unit 1940 which is coupled to an alarm detection unit 1920, a TX unit 1930, and an imaging unit 1950. Alarm unit 1910 can be used for all of the applications described with respect to alarm unit 1810. In addition, alarm unit 1910 includes processing unit 1940 and imaging unit 1950 allowing additional applications in which image data is required at the location of alarm unit 1910. As an example of one such application, if a residence is broken into, the alarm system would send an alarm signal to alarm detection unit 1920. In response to this alarm signal, alarm detection unit 1920 would send a signal to processing unit 1940 which would in turn begin operation of imaging unit 1950. Imaging unit 1950 could then surveil the area in a variety of ways similar to imaging units 1680 and 1780. That is, imaging unit 1950 can collect photographic still data, video data, low light level video data, or infrared data. Furthermore in some applications, the image data could include audio data collected by the same imaging unit.

[0185] Alarm unit 1910 can also include an optional memory 1960 and interface 1970 to allow local storage of the image data from imaging unit 1950. In an application in which local storage is selected, TX unit 1930 will transmit out an alarm indication signal to an alarm monitoring control unit to indicate an alarm condition has been detected at alarm unit 1910. In other applications, image data from imaging unit 1950 can be directly transmitted using TX unit 1930.

[0186] FIG. 20 shows an interrogation unit 2010 having a processing unit 2030, interface 2020, and storage unit 2040, according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0187] Interface 2020 and storage unit 2040 are both coupled to processing unit 2030. Interrogation unit 2010 allows for downloading of data from memory units in either the alarm monitoring and control unit 1710 or alarm unit 1910. For example, referring back to alarm unit 1910 shown in FIG. 19, if image data is stored in memory 1960 then interrogation unit 2010 can download that data by establishing communication between interface 1970 and interface 2020. The information is then sent through processing unit 2030 to storage unit 2040 for later retrieval. A similar interrogation unit 2010 can be used with alarm monitoring and control unit 1710 as shown in FIG. 17.

[0188] For example, if image data is stored in memory 1795 at alarm monitoring and control unit 1710, then interrogation unit 2010 can download this image data via a communication link established between interface 1790 and interface 2020. The communication link between interface 1790 and interface 2020 can take a variety of forms well known to those skilled in the art such as wire, infrared, fiber optic, or RF. Likewise, storage unit 2040 can be implemented in a variety of ways such as using DRAM, SRAM, flash RAM, floppy disks, hard disks, video tape, streaming tape, etc.

[0189] FIG. 21 shows an alarm monitoring and control system 2100, according to one embodiment of the invention, having a main station 710 coupled through communication links to a plurality of base stations 610a-b.

[0190] Alarm monitoring and control system 2100 includes main station 710 and base stations 610aand 610bwhich are analogous in function to the similarly labeled elements in FIGS. 6 and 7 which were described with respect to FIG. 12. Each base station 610aand 610bis coupled to a variety of monitoring and control units (MCU) 2110a-d.MCUs 2110a-dare further coupled to a variety of alarm units. For example, a residential building 2120 may include an alarm unit 2120a.As previously discussed, alarm unit 2120adetects an alarm signal and transmits associated alarm information to MCU 2110a.

[0191] In other embodiments, the alarm unit can be in a commercial building 2120′ or an industrial building 2120″. Commercial building 2120′ includes an alarm unit 2120′awhich is similar in function to alarm unit 2120a.Likewise, industrial site 2120″ includes an alarm unit 2120″awhich is similar in function to alarm unit 2120a.

[0192] As another example, an automobile 2130 can be equipped with an alarm unit 2130a.As previously discussed, alarm unit 2130acan include a panic button. For example, alarm unit 2130awould allow a taxi driver to press the panic button in the event of a robbery. Pressing the panic button on alarm unit 2130awould result in a signal being sent to MCU 2110awhich would further send a signal to base station 610awhich would further send a signal to main station 710. Likewise, panic buttons can be installed at other locations such as a panic button 2150ainstalled in a building 2150 or a panic button 2140ainstalled at a lamp post 2140 or in a public place.

[0193] If a real time response is required, the alarm information transmitted from an alarm unit such as alarm unit 2130ais relayed through MCU 2110ato base station 610aand further to main station 710. The alarm information at main station 710 can include at least the unique ID for alarm unit 2130aand the ID of MCU 2110awhich relayed the alarm information. The alarm information can include a time stamp indicating the time that alarm unit 2130atransmitted the alarm information. Alternatively, the time stamp can be the time that alarm information received at MCU 2110a,at base station 610aor at main station 710 is stored in a database. This alarm information can be relayed directly to the police to alert law enforcement agencies that a robbery is in progress in a particular taxicab in a particular neighborhood. Additionally, the alarm information can be stored in a database at main station 710 or another location and can be used by either law enforcement agencies or insurance agencies to analyze crime data in a neighborhood. For example, if a law enforcement agency recognizes that the crime rate during a specific time of day is high in a particular neighborhood based upon the alarm information relayed from alarm units, the law enforcement agency can increase patrols in that area as a result to reduce the criminal activity.

[0194] FIG. 22 shows a method, according to another embodiment of the invention, for monitoring and controlling an alarm.

[0195] Method 2200 for monitoring and controlling an alarm includes a detecting step 2210 which involves detecting that an alarm condition has occurred. Method 2200 proceeds from detecting step 2210 to a transmitting step 2220 which involves transmitting alarm information associated with the alarm condition detected in detecting step 2210.

[0196] Method 2200 proceeds from transmitting step 2220 to a further transmitting step 2230 which involves transmitting alarm data from an MCU to a base station.

[0197] Method 2200 proceeds from transmitting step 2230 to an analyzing step 2240 which involves analyzing the alarm data. As previously discussed, the step of analyzing the alarm data can take several forms such as storage for later processing or the forwarding of the alarm data to proper law enforcement activities for real-time response. The alarm data can also take a variety of forms and can include the ID numbers for the associated alarm unit and monitoring and control unit, a time stamp, and an indication of the type of alarm such as a fire alarm or a burglar alarm. Additionally, the alarm data may include image data relayed from an imaging device, such as an imaging device located in the alarm unit or in the alarm monitoring and control unit. Analyzing step 2240 also can include statistical analysis in a database. It is well known to those skilled in the art that such a database can be created with a variety of commercially available programs such as Oracle, Sybase, SQL server, Access, etc.

[0198] The foregoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.