INTELLIGENT MULTI-FUNCTIONAL STREET LIGHTING NETWORK
Technical Field:
The present invention relates to an intelligent street 5 light network that forms the
backbone of a system for providing a multitude of important services in addition to its
basic street lighting function. The intelligent street light network comprises a plurality of
“smart” street lights that form communication channels to designated monitoring
stations by relaying information through short-range communication links.
10
Background:
Several modern day infrastructural facilities require delivery of services across a large
geographic area covering a town, city or district. Well known examples of such facilities
include lighting infrastructure (including lighting of roads and streets), traffic
15 management, and public transport. New requirements are also emerging such as those
relating to women’s security and general street crime, and air-pollution monitoring.
Such facilities are termed “infrastructure facilities”. As the need for such facilities has
gained importance various solutions have emerged, however all such suggestions
provide stand-alone solutions addressing only a single infrastructure facility. As a
20 consequence, modern day implementations reveal several solutions that coexist
separately in proximity with one another.
Fig.-1 shows a typical street in a modern “smart city”. Street lighting poles (101) provide
lighting during hours of darkness to keep the street sufficiently illuminated. Modern day
25 street lights are increasingly using Light Emitting Diode (LED) light sources in order to
maximize energy savings. Each such lighting unit on each physical support structure
(such as a pole) comprises light panels with associated Lighting Drive units (102). CCTV
camera units (103) are also mounted on some of the street light poles, in order to
provide surveillance as one measure for implementing women’s security. Pollution
30 Monitoring units (104) also mounted on some of the street light poles are used to
measure pollution levels in the vicinity. The Lighting Drive Units (102), CCTV camera
units (103) and Pollution monitoring units (104) are all independent systems operating
3
as disjunct islands of functionality. These units do not share any common facilities
except for the physical support structure and, in some cases, a common power source.
The individual systems are operated and managed by different service providers who
operate under 5 separate contracts and obligations.
The need for multiple remote services therefore results in a multiplicity of overlapping
networks with several pieces of equipment being replicated for each system resulting in
increased cost, avoidable energy consumption and unnecessary space requirements.
10 The multiplicity of devices mounted in or around a single location also results in
considerable clutter and confusion. The independent monitoring systems are also
unable to leverage expensive resources such as communication channels that could
easily be shared between them. The growing needs for additional services create the
constant need for installing newer systems for independently fulfilling each new
15 requirement thereby constantly magnifying the problems of cost, energy consumptions
and space requirements.
This method of implementation is inefficient and expensive as it fails to utilize common
resources for similar functions. In addition, the separate individual systems consist of
20 several different hardware and software structures that complicate maintenance and
operations support. Besides, the involvement of multiple vendor organizations and
service providers creates a complex and difficult-to-manage arrangement for the civic
authorities.
25 SUMMARY
The object of the present invention is to avoid the above-mentioned problems and
create a unified system for providing infrastructural facilities.
Another object of the invention is to improve the efficiency and reduce cost in
30 deployment of a plurality of such infrastructural facilities.
4
Yet another object of this invention is to enhance the reliability of providing such critical
infrastructural facilities.
The present invention achieves these objects replacing or retrofitting existing street light
controllers by a device comprising a street lighting controller which has one or more
infrastructure facility functional units coupled with the street 5 lighting controller and
sharing common physical resources with it, and one or more communication units which
enable data exchange with external devices.
In one preferred embodiment the infrastructure facility functional units comprise video
10 surveillance units tailored to implement women’s security functions.
In another preferred embodiment the infrastructure facility functional units comprise air
pollution monitoring units.
In yet another preferred embodiment the infrastructure facility functional units
15 comprise public transport monitoring units.
In preferred embodiments the communication units are short-range low-power
communication units which communicate with similar units on adjacent street lights to
relay information to remote systems.
20
In other preferred embodiments the communication units are Power-Line
communication units.
The invention builds on existing street lighting infrastructure to provide a multitude of
25 supplementary functions at minimal additional cost. The solution can be implemented
on all existing street lights without limitation. By leveraging the large physical presence
and reach of the existing street light network, this approach provides for quick and easy
deployment of all the advantageous functions and features across the entire
city/district/town. Future expansion of the street light network can be implemented
30 with the “smart” modules replacing the traditional street light controllers to further
reduce cost.
5
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which like characters represent like parts throughout.
Fig. - 1 shows the prior art as visible in a typical street 5 of a modern “smart city”.
Fig. - 2 shows the block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a device according to
the present invention.
10 Fig. - 3 shows one preferred embodiment of an intelligent street light system
according to the present invention.
Fig.- 4 shows a preferred embodiment in which the data is communicated to remote
central control stations by means of short range relay radio communication
15 using the intelligent street light network.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
The following paragraphs describe preferred embodiments of the device according to
the invention. It will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art will be aware that
20 the activities described are only exemplary and several variations are possible, all of
which are understood to fall within the scope of this disclosure. Various subsets of
activities described as well as obvious extensions of functions would be similarly covered
by this disclosure.
25 Fig.-2 shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a “smart” module device
according to the present invention. Multiple sensors including Video Camera (201), RFID
Reader (202) and Air Pollution Sensor (203) couple to Processing Unit (204) operatively
couple to Processing Unit (204).
30 Processing Unit (204) may include multimedia processing capabilities to process the
signals from Video Camera (201), including multimedia encoding and decoding.
Preferably, the multimedia encoding and compression is implemented in accordance
6
with established standards such as MPEG-3 or MPEG-4. The Processing unit (204) also
includes capabilities for handling compressed multimedia streams received from distant
stations through Communication Unit (205). In particular, it may incorporate real-time
multimedia decoding and de-compression capability and may include hardware
accelerators such as graphics processors and application 5 processors which incorporate
high-speed general-purpose computational capabilities for performing complex, realtime
multitasking. Preferred embodiments incorporate 32-bit or 64-bit single-core or
multi-core embedded general-purpose processors such as from the ARM family. In other
preferred embodiments the Processing Unit (204) may further include Digital Signal
10 Processors (DSPs) to perform specialized signal-processing tasks, such as complex image
processing and/or pattern recognition, in real-time.
RFID Reader (202) also monitors the emission of radio-frequency signals by mobile
assets, such as Public Transport Buses, Goods Transport Vehicles, Corporate employee
15 Transport vehicles, Taxis and even private vehicles equipped with such Active RFID tags.
On the other hand, Active RFID signals from within-range mobile assets would not
trigger such a response but would instead transmit identification details to the distant
monitoring stations through Communication Unit (205). Traffic management functions
could also be autonomously implemented by automatic identification of vehicular
20 access to unauthorized areas, etc. coupled with Video capture of the event for use as
evidence. The device may also be configured with the ability to automatically debit an
account associated with each mobile asset entering a “charged- access” area such as a
Tolled road by sending a local Active RFID transmission to the tag inside the vehicle.
25 Air Pollution Sensors (203) collect data on local pollution levels and enable Processing
Unit (204) to collate such data with other local parameters and convey the data to one
or more distant monitoring centers either periodically or in response to specific requests
from such distant centers. Exemplary Air Pollutant parameters are given below
(however additional parameters may be detected or measured):
30 a) Volumetric Concentration of Particulate Matter below 2.5 micron size. (PM2.5)
b) Volumetric Concentration of Particulate Matter below 10 micron size. (PM10)
c) Carbon-Monoxide (CO) concentration level.
7
d) Ozone (O3) concentration level.
e) Sulphur Dioxide concentration level.
One or more communication units (205) coupled to the Processing Unit (204) enable the
device to transmit data pertaining to the event to one 5 or more distant monitoring
stations in real-time. The communication units (205) also enable the distant monitoring
stations to remotely configure the device operating parameters and/or update the
predefined criteria whenever needed.
10 Each “smart” module device preferably incorporates special features to enhance the
reliability of the data transfer to/from the designated monitoring station(s). The data
integrity mechanisms may include mechanisms for checking and validating the identity
of the source and destination of the data transfer, as well as the type and value of the
individual data elements. Wherever possible, error-correction mechanisms may also be
15 incorporated for recovering original information from corrupted data received at the
destination points.
In one embodiment, the “smart” module device also includes the capability to securely
encrypt data originating from it as well as decrypt data for which it is the destination, in
20 order to provide secure data transfer. As a further security measure, the “smart”
module device may include authentication mechanisms that verify the source of data
received by it as destination. Such measures may include “challenge-response”
mechanisms. The compression and/or encryption may be in accordance with standard
compression and encryption protocols.
25
The Communication Unit (205) in the “smart” module device device is not limited to any
particular type or format. In preferred embodiments Communication Unit (205) may
comprise one or radio-frequency links such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee or other
standard/proprietary RF. In another preferred embodiment Communication Unit (205)
30 incorporates a low-power RF means which forms part of a wide area low-power
network. In other embodiments Communication Unit (205) may include optical-fiber
links, power-line communication links and conventional RS-485/RS-232 wired links.
8
Since each “smart” module device would typically gather data for several different user
groups or data clients (for example, visual and auditory inputs for crime monitoring
agencies such as the police, similar data of traffic conditions for the traffic police, and
air-quality and weather data for the Meteorological 5 department), preferred
embodiments of the device incorporate secure tagging and identification of each of the
separate data segments in order to ensure integrity and reliability of inputs for each user
group.
10 The communication links also enable each “smart” module device to monitor the status
of neighboring “smart” modules and report any malfunction, thereby enhancing the
reliability of the entire intelligent network.
Each “smart” module device is preferably designed to be scalable in terms of features
15 and capacity throughout its operating life with the ability of adding several functions
during regular operation, by remote upgrades of its functional capabilities. Such
capability enhancements are automatically detected and announced by the upgraded
unit and communicated to the designated monitoring station(s). Similarly, the addition
of any new “smart” module (for example, by field up- gradation/replacement of a
20 normal street light to a “smart” street light) is preferable automatically registered by the
entire network and reported at the designated monitoring station(s) along-with its
capabilities and features.
Individual “smart” modules preferably implement continuous or periodic/externally25
triggered self-health checks including status checks on input power supply, and report
the results of the checks to the central monitoring station(s) at regular intervals/during
normal communication sessions as well special transmissions on the occurrence of
specific events including, but not limited to, events such as input power failure which is
reported during the brief “hold-up” period of the internal power supply. On resumption
30 of power, the “smart” device is able to automatically re-configure itself to its status prior
to the outage and re-register itself on the network and then report its status to the
designated monitoring station(s).
9
In one preferred embodiment, a “smart” module device includes GPS functionality to
self-determine its location and include this feature in its reports. The location data
provided by the GPS feature enables the reporting of location-specific information at the
designated monitoring station(s) so as to facilitate map-5 based information display.
Optional features include the ability of a “smart” module device to recognize and report
on external threats to its integrity. This ability is preferably enabled by incorporation of
proximity sensors and access-authentication mechanisms in the unit. Such a feature
10 safeguards against intrusion and/or sabotage attempts to compromise the functioning
of the “smart” module device.
Several embodiments are possible for the power source for the “smart” module
including autonomous power units that power individual “smart” module devices, as
15 well as common power sources that power groups of “smart” module devices or even
the entire network.
The solution is also designed to provide the additional functions in an integrated manner
thereby exploiting synergistic characteristics. The “smart” module device provides a
20 common controller with the capability of interfacing to several external devices, such as
sensors. The controller also possesses powerful processing capacity and is highly
scalable. It is therefore capable of implementing many functions simultaneously and can
support additional features to fulfill future requirements. When integrated with a street
light, the “smart” module device converts it into a “smart” street light.
25
An intelligent street light network is created by incorporating a plurality of “smart”
module devices in the street lighting network. Each “smart” module device possesses
the ability to establish direct short-range communication links with similar “smart”
module devices in the immediate vicinity which collaborate with one another to extend
30 the link using a relaying mechanism that propagates the information through the
network in a direction either from a data transfer initiating “smart” module device
10
towards one or more destination monitoring stations or from a monitoring station
towards a destination “smart” module device as defined by the data transfer contents.
The mode of communication in any short-range link is not limited to any particular type
or format and individual links in the relay may differ in 5 type, mode and/or format and
may thereby form a heterogeneous network structure. Examples of short-range
communication types include, among others: short-range radio-frequency links such as
Wi-Fi, ZigBee or other standard/proprietary low-power RF, optical-fiber links, wireless
optical links, power-line communication links and conventional RS-485/RS-232 wired
10 links.
In preferred embodiments multiple communication links and modes are implemented in
each “smart” module device so as to provide redundancy and implement faulttolerance.
15
The communication links also enable each “smart” module device to monitor the status
of neighboring “smart” module devices and report any malfunction, thereby enhancing
the reliability of the entire intelligent street light network.
20 Each “smart” module device is designed to be scalable in terms of features and capacity
throughout its operating life with the ability of adding several functions during regular
operation, by remote upgrades of its functional capabilities. Such capability
enhancements are automatically detected and announced by the upgraded unit and
relayed by the other “smart” module devices through the network to the designated
25 monitoring station(s). Similarly, the addition of any new “smart” module device (for
example, by field up- gradation/replacement of a normal street light to a “smart” street
light) will automatically be registered by the entire network and reported at the
designated monitoring station(s) along-with its capabilities and features.
30 Individual “smart” module devices implement continuous or periodic/externallytriggered
self-health checks including status checks on input power supply, and report
the results of the checks to the central monitoring station(s) at regular intervals/during
11
normal communication sessions as well special transmissions on the occurrence of
specific events including, but not limited to, events such as input power failure which is
reported during the brief “hold-up” period of the internal power supply. On resumption
of power, the “smart” module device is able to automatically re-configure itself to its
status prior to the outage and re-register itself on 5 the network and then report its status
to the designated monitoring station(s).
Each “smart” module preferably incorporates special features to enhance the reliability
of the data transfer to/from the designated monitoring station(s) through the relay
10 network of “smart” module devices. The data integrity includes mechanisms for
checking and validating the identity of the source and destination of the data transfer, as
well as the type and value of the individual data elements. Wherever possible, errorcorrection
mechanisms are also incorporated for recovering original information from
corrupted data received at intermediate relay points as well as at the destination points.
15
In one embodiment, the “smart” module device also includes the capability to securely
encrypt data originating from it as well as decrypt data for which it is the destination, in
order to provide secure data transfer through the relay network. As a further security
measure, the “smart” module device may include authentication mechanisms that verify
20 the source of data received by it as destination. Such measures may include “challengeresponse”
mechanisms.
In one preferred embodiment, a “smart” module device includes GPS functionality to
self-determine its location and include this feature in its reports. The location data
25 provided by the GPS feature enables the reporting of location-specific information at the
designated monitoring station(s) so as to facilitate map-based information display.
Optional features include the ability of a “smart” module device to recognize and report
on external threats to its integrity. This ability is enabled by incorporation of proximity
30 sensors and access-authentication mechanisms in the unit. This feature prevents against
intrusion and/or sabotage attempts to compromise the functioning of the “smart”
module device.
12
Several embodiments are possible for the power source for the “smart” module device
including autonomous power units that power individual “smart” modules, as well as
common power sources that power groups of “smart” module devices or even the
5 entire network.
Fig.-3 shows an embodiment of an intelligent street lighting network according to the
present invention. Street light poles 101(a) to 101(l) have individual “smart” module
devices 200(a) to 200(l) mounted on them. This arrangement replaces the plethora of
10 devices mounted on the street poles shown in the prior art of Fig.-1, while greatly
improving efficiency, reliability and maintainability and significantly reducing space and
cost. The individual “smart” module devices incorporate multiple sensors, which
collectively cover the requirements of the set of infrastructure facilities to be provided.
Where the same sensors are required for different infrastructure facilities, a single
15 sensor suffices and enables a optimal and cost-effective implementation. A common
Processing Unit (204) also contributes very significantly to such optimization and cost
reduction, besides enabling the incorporation of synergistic functions.
Fig.-4 shows a preferred embodiment of low power, short-range RF relay
20 communication deployed in the intelligent street light network of Fig.-3. Each “smart”
module device transfers one or more data packets to an adjacent “smart” module
device. Each data packet contains information regarding its destination node which may
be another “smart” module device or one or more remote monitoring stations. Each
receiving “smart” module device analyzes the destination address and acts accordingly.
25 Route information is stored in each “smart” module device, based on which it targets
another intermediate “smart” module device if the addressed destination node is not
directly in its range. Information defining all the neighboring “in range” “smart” module
devices and monitoring stations is stored in the “routing map” of each “smart” module
device, allowing it to determine target nodes for onward packet transmission.
30
The current status of each neighboring node is also stored in the “routing map” and is
updated whenever the status of any neighboring device changes. This enables each
13
“smart” module device to re-route the data packets whenever necessary and thereby
creates a robust and “fault tolerant” network.

We claim:
1. A device for providing integrated infrastructure facilities comprising:
- one or more ambient parameter sensors for effecting desired infrastructure
5 facility functions;
- a controller capable of implementing street light control as well as said desired
infrastructure facility function; and
- one or more communication units enabling data exchange with similar
external devices and monitoring stations.
10
2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ambient parameter sensors comprise
one or more video cameras.
3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ambient parameter sensors comprise
15 one or more air pollution sensors.
4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ambient parameter sensors comprise
one or more RFID Readers.
20 5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communications units comprise one or
more short-range RF links.
6. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communications units comprise
Power-line communication links.
25
7. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communications units comprise one or
more Cellular modems.
30
15
8. An intelligent street light network comprising multiple interconnected devices as
claimed in any of the preceding claims.
9. An intelligent street light network as claimed in claim 8 wherein said
infrastructural capabilities include 5 women’s security functions.
10. An intelligent street light network as claimed in claim 8 wherein said
infrastructural capabilities include air pollution monitoring functions.
10 11. An intelligent street light network as claimed in any of the preceding claims
wherein said infrastructural capabilities include public transport vehicle tracking
functions.