Intelligent switches

Intelligent Switches

Intelligent switches are those which differ from a traditional switch in that it supports specialized blades that run application functions including protocol conversion, remote mirroring, tape emulation and NAS file and data sharing. There are a couple of different architectures ranging from tightly integrated, with extra processing power at each port and large amounts of bandwidth between blades, to relatively simple, where a blade is equipped with a general purpose processor, memory, and I/O functions to communicate with the switch ports.

Currently there are lots of new intelligent switches coming in the market with different functions. These switches developed according to lightning system required in particular places. Lightning system refers to a system where multiple lighting fixtures are connected to a network, and user needs are met by cooperation of the various lighting fixtures.

 The following describes the features of an intelligent lighting system.

1)    Autonomous distributed control:

In an intelligent lighting system, there is no element with control over the entire system. Illuminance at each location is controlled by having each light perform learning operation. There is no central control unit, so the system has high robustness against malfunction, and a high reliability system can be achieved even in large-scale buildings.

The system has outstanding features: It is easy to add lighting fixtures and lighting sensors, and there is no need, at installation, to set things like ID nos. and layout information for each lighting fixture or lighting sensor.

2)    Achieving a switching pattern not dependent on wiring:

In today’s illumination systems, the only switching pattern which can be realized is that determined by the wiring pattern. However, with the intelligent lighting system proposed here, it is possible to realize an arbitrary switching pattern which is not dependent on the wiring of lights. Furthermore, it is possible to switch on lighting devices with any desired luminance. Therefore, the system conserves energy by not switching on unneeded lights.

3)    Achieving autonomous lighting control:

With this intelligent lighting system, the user simply sets a target illuminance, and the system can automatically determine the necessary lighting, without making the user aware of the location of lights, and thus can provide the appropriate illuminance to the appropriate location

A.   Configuration of the intelligent lighting system:

The intelligent lighting system is configured by connecting multiple intelligent lighting fixtures and multiple movable illumination sensors and power meters to a network. The term”intelligent lighting fixture” means lighting which a controller has called a learning device. This makes it possible for each individual lighting fixture to operate autonomously.

B.   Intelligent lighting system control:

The intelligent lighting system is controlled using the autonomous distributed method. Each intelligent lighting fixture controls illuminance by autonomously adjusting luminance.

The control process is described below:

1) Initialize the intelligent lighting system, provide the goal of”minimizing the amount of power used” to the learning devices, and provide the constraint of”setting the illuminance of each illuminance sensor at or above a certain value” to the illuminance sensors.

2) Each illuminance sensor detects the current illuminance.

3) Each illuminance sensor sends its target illuminance and current illuminance to the network.

 4) Each intelligent lighting fixture connected to the network takes in the amount of power used, and the target illumination and current illumination of each illumination sensor.

5) The learning device of each intelligent lighting fixture controls luminance based on the illumination control algorithm proposed in this research, using the amount of power, and the current and target illuminance of each sensor, which have been taken in.

6) By repeating Steps 2 to 5, the system constantly senses environmental information, and provides control so that goals and constraints are satisfied. Using the above process, each intelligent lighting fixture learns the effectiveness of its own actions, without acquiring information from other intelligent lighting fixtures, and autonomously performs lighting control to satisfy goals and illuminance constraints. By constantly sensing environmental information, the system can respond to addition or malfunction of lights, and addition and movement of illuminance sensors.

Using the above process, each intelligent lighting fixture learns the effectiveness of its own actions, without acquiring information from other intelligent lighting fixtures, and autonomously performs lighting control to satisfy goals and illuminance constraints.  By constantly sensing environmental information, the system can respond to addition or malfunction of lights, and addition and movement of illuminance sensors.