Situational marking and awareness tag (SMART) beacon, system and method

摘要

A system and method are disclosed comprising a plurality of small independent light sources which are arranged in a mesh network and capable of exchanging data such that they can be operated together and under control of a controller in order to provide enhanced lighting effects in particular applications.

主权项

1. A beacon lighting system comprising:
a plurality of small portable independent light sources each comprising a wireless transceiver for sending and receiving data via a wireless radio frequency control channel, an independent power source, at least one LED, a clock synchronized to a common time source and a plurality of common predefined timing diagrams each of a predetermined time length ΔT stored in memory and wherein in operation a selected timing diagram is reset after expiry of said predetermined time length ΔT and according to said common time source; and a master controller for transmitting control and clock synchronization data to each of said plurality of small independent light sources via said wireless radio frequency control channel, said control data comprising a reference to a respective one of said timing diagrams; wherein when at least a first light of said plurality of small independent light sources is outside a transmission range of said master controller and at least a second light of said plurality of small independent light sources is within range of said master controller and said first light, said second light relays said control and clock synchronization data received from said master controller to said first light for synchronizing their respective clocks with said clock synchronization data and further wherein a first group of said plurality of lights subsequently emits light flashes according to first control data to achieve a first effect in synchronization with a second group of said plurality of lights which subsequently emits light flashes according to second control data and said common time source to achieve a second effect different from said first effect, and wherein said synchronization is independent of light flashes emitted by any of said plurality of light sources.