Street lighting control, monitoring, and data transportation system and method.

(54) Title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING, MONITORING AND TRANSPORTING STREET LIGHTING DATA. (54) Title: STREET LIGHTING CONTROL, MONITORING, AND DATA TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND METHOD.

(57) Summary

A method and system for controlling and monitoring street lights using optical link signaling through free space that does not require an FCC license for its operation; Optical link signaling is accomplished in the space between street lights using LEDs for both area lighting and optical signaling; a street lighting system luminaire comprises a structural member such as a pole, a lamp comprising one or more LEDs, and an optical receiver that receives optical signaling from one or more luminaires in a street lighting network; the modulator modulates the emission of the lamp to launch data to the street lighting system for transportation; the optical receiver and modulator enables strobe and blink modes as required to support emergency services.

(57) Abstract

A method and system for controlling and monitoring street lights using optical link signaling through free space which does not require an FCC llcense for operation. The optical link signaling is accomplished in the space between street lights by using LEDs for both area lighting and optical signaling. A Street lighting system luminaire comprises a structural member such as a pole, a lamp comprising one or more LEDs .. and an optical receiver that receives optical signaling from one or more other luminaires in street lighting network. The modulator modulates the output of the lamp to launch data into the street lighting system for transport. The optical receiver and modulator enables strobing and flashing modes such as required to support emergency services.

PATENT TITLE No. 354451

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IΜ ΡI η- · ν * * κ «'η'Μ« Nw · · Γ τ: «'> '· ΙΗΗ

Owner (s): GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY

Home:

RiverRoad, Schenectady, New York, 12345, USA

D nomination:

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING, MONITORING AND TRANSPORTING STREET LIGHTING DATA.

Classification!

CIP:

Inventor (s):

H04B10 / 112; M2lfe8tof;

Η0 ^ 37 / ® ^ t 1 ^r

JH04 ^ 10/1 ^ 29; G08C23 / 04;

4-0802201 / 93; H04

JAMES HART

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G08C23 / 04; H04Q9 / 00; H05B37 / 02; / 0 ^ - H05B37 / 034; H05B37 / 0272;

Validity: Date of <img file="MX354451B_D0003.tif" /> Exi Date

CPC:

The reference patent

In accordance with the article from the date of prese

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JOHN ERIK HERSHEY;

onal:

Or or:

i, told to the

Who subscribes to this title (Official Gazette of the Federation 25/01/2006, 06/05 / 2009,06 / 01/2010, Regulations of the Mexican Institute of Articles Γ, 3^or, 4^or, 5^or fraction V subsection a), 12/27/1999, amended on 10/10/2002, 07/29/20 Deputy Generals, Coordinator, Departmental Directors and other subordinates of the Mexican Institute on 08/04/2004 and 09/13/2004 2007).

industrial.

Industrial Property Law 999, 01/26/2004, 06/16/2005, a), 4^or and 12th sections I and III of 17/2004, 07/28/2004 and 09/07/2007); Iq ^ exicano of Industrial Property (DOF

I Agreement that delegates powers to the Directors, Divisional Deputy Directors, Coordinators 12/15/1999, amended on 02/04/2000, 07/29/2004,

This letter is signed with an advanced electronic signature (FIEL), based on articles 7 BIS 2 of the Industrial Property Law; 3 of its Regulations, and 1 fraction III, 2 fraction V, 26 BIS and 26 TÉR of the Agreement establishing the guidelines for the use of the Electronic Payment and Services Portal (PASE) of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, in the procedures indicated.

THE DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OF PATENTS

NAHANNY CANAL REYES

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Arenal No. 550. Floor 1, Pueblo Santa María Tepepan, Xochimilco, 16020, Mexico City (55) 53340700 www.gob.mx/impí

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MX / 2018/18931

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Continuation Pri ridad s

<td>Country:</td><td>Sheet:</td><td>Number:</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,150</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,188</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,078</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,069</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,090</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,114</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 21, 2013</td><td> 61/907,210</td>

<td>US</td><td>November 18, 2014</td><td> 14/546,916</td>

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35W1 duDtb / é 6 or and

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING, MONITORING AND ΤΗΑνΙρΑ ^ αΡρΙτ ^^^^ ι 'INSTITUTO MEXIC ANO J? \

STREET LIGHTING ^of^ nd¿s ™ a'l

This application is non-provisional and claims the benefit of US Provisional Patent Applications with Serial Numbers 61 / 907,069, 61 / 907,078, 61 / 907,090, 61 / 907,114, 61 / 907,133, 61 / 907,150, 61 / 907,168 , 61 / 907,188 and 61 / 907,210 filed on November 21, 2013, the full contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For various reasons, street lighting remains one of the most important and urgent concerns in a city. It is very important to try to ensure adequate lighting is provided for the safety of pedestrians and motor and non-motor vehicle operators and passengers.

Sometimes communications carried by high voltage lines (PLC) are used to control and monitor street lighting luminaires. PLCs can suffer from grounding practices and various impedance mismatch problems such as those encountered when signals pass from one type of high voltage line duct to another. Impedance mismatches can result in signal attenuation when the service pipe transition point is crossed, signal reflection results in increased interference to the communications signal, and also harmful standing wave phenomena to PLC communications. . If the high voltage line also supplies inductive loads such as fans or air conditioning equipment, capacitor banks may have been installed to correct the power factor. Such capacitor installations can result in severe attenuation of high frequency signals. High frequency signals also experience high attenuation if there is an isolation transformer in the power path, or voltage equalizers such as tap change transformers. Additional problems are the time-changing nature of the PLC channel that can adversely affect its linearity and time invariance to designate signal sending sets using techniques that implicitly depend on overlap. Additionally, the useful bandwidth for power line communications is a function of many parameters including noise. According to the IEEE Standard for Broadband on High Voltage Line Networks, Annex F, high voltage line channels are subject to four types of noise. They include thermal background noise which is Gaussian and impulsive periodic and non-periodic colored noise, AM narrowband noise and noise from other high-voltage line users as a communication medium.

Another option for communications control and surveillanceXsJ ^ li '«STrruTuMsxicAA. “YES wireless non-optical RF communications. These links are, however, problems including changing propagation environments due to construction sites, vehicle movements, and other variable communication path impediments with LIWlipu til. Wireless non-optical RF communications links are also susceptible to degradation due to changing electromagnetic noise characteristics and also potential malicious interference. Such changing environmental aspects can increase the latency of the communications carried in a mesh network, for example, decrease the usable bandwidth, and reduce its performance concomitantly. Additionally, operational problems have been reported with wireless non-optical RF mesh networks including difficult maintenance due to complexities of management, antenna design, and successful operation under real-world conditions. Issues include implementation and maintenance issues, protocol issues, and deficiencies discovered under escalation and unanticipated interference scenarios.

An additional consideration that requires attention has to do with the nature of the light production itself. Conventional lighting is expensive to operate and maintain. It is for this reason that many urban infrastructure authorities have decided to either replace or install new street lighting that is based on LEDs. It is important that individual luminaires in a street lighting installation are monitored to determine their proper and continuous operation. One of the challenges with LED lighting is that it differs from conventional lighting in such a way that it can make it more difficult to assess its functional condition. The difference is in the aging process. A conventional lamp can be considered as being in one of two states: either functional or non-functional (burned out). When a conventional lamp burns out, it does not draw current. On the other hand, an LED becomes dimmer as it ages and there is no change in electrical current that can be directly monitored to assess the condition of the LED.

Therefore, alternative control communication techniques and better systems and methods need to be developed to assess the condition of street lighting LED-based luminaires, and subsequently report and locate luminaires whose light output is below a specified threshold. .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention presents a method and system for controlling and monitoring street lights using optical link signaling. Optical signaling is accomplished through the clearance between street lights that does not require a license to provide optical link signaling is accomplished using LED luminaires t

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optical area and signage.

In one embodiment, the street lighting system includes a plurality of street lights comprising: a light fixture or lamp, having an LED, a structural member such as a pole, and a light fixture comprising an optical receiver and a modulator. The optical receiver receives optical signals sent from one or more luminaires in the street lighting network.

In one embodiment, the modulator modulates the emission of the lamp to launch data into the street lighting system for transportation.

In another embodiment, the optical receiver and modulator allows strobe and blink modes as required to support emergency services.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is an illustration that identifies the segments of lighting equipment in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 2A illustrates an optical signaling network for lighting equipment in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 2B illustrates a sparsely connected mesh network in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 3 illustrates a fixed or mobile device attached to the optical signal sending network in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 4A illustrates a direct optical signaling path in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 4B illustrates an indirect optical signaling path in accordance with one embodiment.

Figures 5A to 5C illustrate a progression of circumstances illustrating stabilization of the optical communication error rate in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A street lighting system comprises several luminaires (street lamps). Each luminaire can comprise one or more LEDs that are operated to illuminate selected spaces with a visible light intensity normally of around 2 candelas per square meter. «« Πυτο

An LED is not like an incandescent lamp. One difference ^ sygraph ^ g ^^^^ incandescent lamps and LEDs is that the light output of a LECm ^ a ^ at 100 percent brightness almost immediately after being activated. Also, the health of an LED ño ~ 65 ~~~ affected by rapid cycling, i.e. being turned on and off repeatedly.

LEDs are very different from incandescent lamps in many other ways. A very pronounced difference is that, unlike incandescent lamps, LEDs do not melt but gradually dim. It is typical metrological practice to measure the life of an LED in what is known as the L70 standard. The L70 standard is the average hours of operation supplied by the LED before its emitted lumens drop below 70 percent of their original emission. Most LEDs used in street lighting applications are expected to adhere to a L70 standard of approximately 10 years.

Street lighting systems can be optically controlled using free-space optical link signaling between street lighting equipment that does not require an FCC license for operation. Sending optical link signals can be accomplished using LED luminaires for both area lighting and optical signaling.

An embodiment of the lighting system is described by its segmentation into parts as illustrated in Figure 1. Lighting equipment 100 comprises a lamp or fixture 110, supported by a fixture 120 that comprises the electronic components, electrical circuit, and couplings mechanical accessories with the assembly and control of the 110 luminaire. Luminaire fixture 120 is mounted on a pole 130 which also provides conduit for high voltage line 140 that services fixture 120 and fixture 110.

The fixture 120 may include one or more optical receivers configured to optically receive signals from one or more other fixtures in the street lighting network. The fixture 120 can also include a modulator that modulates the light output of fixture 110 to send or pass data to the street lighting system for transportation. In some embodiments, the optical receiver and modulator may allow strobe and blink modes as required to support emergency services.

Luminaire accessory 120 may also comprise a computer and memory used to control sensors and interpret data. This enables the fixture to perform computational tasks, sending support messages, communication protocol functions, and other functions that require computation and data storage. Some luminaire accessories may also comprise an optical receiver that is used to receive optical transmissions from optical devices other than luminaires. Some accessories of

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luminaire may further comprise a GPS receiver. eleven"! X .1^r Mexican iNsrmrro

Figure 2A illustrates one embodiment of an illumination system illustrating eight lighting fixtures 211-218, each lighting fixture in optical communication with a neighbor. The lighting equipment is powered by a high voltage line 220 that is also connected to a street lighting communications access point 230 that is also in optical communication with the street lighting optical communications network.

The optical signaling network supports various functions including controlling the street lighting system. The optical signaling network may be in the form of a mesh network. A sparsely connected mesh network is illustrated in Figure 2B in which another section of a street lighting system comprising lighting equipment 225-227 has optical links 260 between street lighting equipment 213 and 225 and optical links 262 between street lighting equipment 218 and 227.

In some embodiments, sending optical signals from other optically enabled devices in a supported infrastructure or from mobile optical transmitters can establish communications with the street lighting optical communications network. This allows the supported mobile optical infrastructure or emitters to transport data through the street lighting optical communications network or to send a message, such as an instruction, to a particular light fixture.

Figure 3 illustrates an optically enabled device 340 in two-way optical communication with lighting equipment 215 of the optical communication network of street lighting 200. Optically enabled device 340 may be a stationary device or a mobile device and can interact with the street lighting optical communication network 200 to transmit and receive optical signals. The street lighting optical communication network 200 can transport communications received from an optically enabled device 340 to containers connected to the street lighting optical communication network. Also, the optically enabled device 340 can receive communications from optical transmitters connected to the street lighting optical communications network. The optically enabled device 340 may be capable of emitting optical signals that can be received by the street lighting optical communications network 200 and / or receiving optical signals that are transmitted by the street lighting optical communications network 200.

Messages can be accepted from a fixed or mobile 340 optically enabled device by a luminaire accessory comprising an optical receiver that is used to receive optical transmissions from optical devices other than luminaires. In one embodiment, the fixture may send a ready-to-send signal, notifying the optically enabled device 340 that it can initiate transmission. In one embodiment, the accessory

Τ Μ Ρ * luminaire sends the ready-to-send signal based on a master emission through the optical signal sending network. In another embodiment, the eraoteeonro / áe sends the ready-to-send signal based on time slots allocated to receive transmission from the optically enabled device 340. In one embodiment, the light fixture identifies the start and end of time slots using a GPS receiver that is included within the light fixture.

The optical links between the lighting equipment of the street lighting system can be a direct route from lighting equipment to lighting equipment, i.e. the optical receiver in one lighting equipment receives modulated light 410 directly from the luminaire of other lighting equipment. lighting as illustrated in Figure 4A. This can be accomplished by equipping the associated receiving luminaire with an optical receiver and modulator. The luminaire accessory can be equipped with an optical receiving opening and / or optical transmitting openings. In one embodiment, orienting the optical receiving aperture so that it is positioned to receive modulated messages within a light beam can be accomplished using manual, electronic, or electromechanical mechanisms. Once oriented, light from another fixture may incidentally fall into the optical receiving aperture, opening an optical communications path and enabling communications with another optical device. Other optical devices may include, but are not limited to, smart phones, tablet computers, laptops, desktops, other smart street lights, remote control devices, or other devices capable of transmitting an optical signal.

In some street lighting systems, there may not be a direct optical path to allow direct optical signaling from one lighting equipment to another as illustrated in Figure 4B. An example of a situation where there may not be a clear optical path is cases of street lighting fixtures equipped with a partial shade 440 that blocks some of the light emitted by fixture 430. The displays can result in two neighboring lighting fixtures illuminating the selected space 450 with overlapping ovals of light. In one embodiment, in which direct optical signaling is not a viable option, an optical channel between lighting equipment can be achieved by orienting the optical receiving aperture of a lighting equipment to thereby receive light emitted from the luminaire of other lighting equipment that has been scattered from a portion of the selected space 450.

Free-space optical communication links can be adversely affected by atmospheric conditions such as fog, haze, fog, sleet, snow, dust, smoke, and rain. Of these atmospheric absorbers and dispersers, fog and heavy snow are the most shocking. A collimated beam of light that has a flux of Φ_ο at the source it will have a flux, Φ, on the interval R of Φ = Φ_οε ^to‘^R where cr_and is the extinction coefficient. (Note

IMPIí® that for these calculations it is not necessary to worry about the intensity

INCUSTRATE 'in free space when the light beam is collimated.)

As for concerns regarding fog and rrieve-y ^ sfei ^ ateDuacíQD.óptica, the article Characterlzation of Fog and Snow Attenuations for Free-Space Optical Propagation by

Awan et al, Journal of Communications, Vol. 4, No. 8, September 2009, pp. 533-545, reports that an attenuation of 45 dB / km has been reported under dry snow conditions. Using data from the article, the range of dB loss loss attenuation due to fog can be as presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Attenuation (dB) of Beam Intensity vs. Fog Type and Distance Through Fog

<td rowspan="2">Fog type</td><td rowspan="2">Visibility range (m)</td><td colspan="6">Collimating beam path length (m)</td>

<td> 50</td><td> 100</td><td> 150</td><td> 200</td><td> 250</td><td> 300</td>

<td>Light</td><td> 500-1000</td><td> 0.47-1.00</td><td> 0.93-2.00</td><td> 1.40-3.00</td><td> 1.86-4.00</td><td> 2.33-5.00</td><td> 2.79-6.00</td>

<td>Moderate</td><td> 250-500</td><td> 1.00-2.00</td><td> 2.00-4.00</td><td> 3.00-6.00</td><td> 4.00-8.00</td><td> 5.00-10.0</td><td> 6.00-12.0</td>

<td>Thick</td><td> 70-250</td><td> 2.00-7.15</td><td> 4.00-14.3</td><td> 6.00-21.5</td><td> 8.00-28.6</td><td> 10.0-35.8</td><td> 12.0-42.9</td>

<td>Dense</td><td> 40-70</td><td> 7.15-12.5</td><td> 14.3-25.0</td><td> 21.5-37.5</td><td> 28.6-50.0</td><td> 35.8-62.5</td><td> 42.9-75.0</td>

Regarding the detrimental effect of rain on the optical links of free space, according to Optical Extinction by Rainfall by David Atlas, Journal of Meteorology, Vol. 10, December 1953, pp. 486-488, the extinction coefficient, at_and, per kilometer of range, for Bergeron process rain (production of common cold cloud rain) is a_and «0.25 TK °⁶³ where W is the Bergeron process rainfall drop rate in mm / hr. Table 2 presents the loss of dB intensity due to the Rain Rate and the path distance through the rain for different values ​​of R and W.

Table 2

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M LA PHOMÜDAU

-'i. . INDUSTRIAL,

Attenuation (dB) of Beam Intensity against Rain Rate v Distance through ~ ta ~~

Rain

<td rowspan="2">Rain rate mm / hr</td><td colspan="6">Collimating beam path length (m)</td>

<td> 50</td><td> 100</td><td> 150</td><td> 200</td><td> 250</td><td> 300</td>

<td> 0</td><td> 0</td><td> 0</td><td> 0</td><td> 0</td><td> 0</td><td> 0</td>

<td> 25</td><td> 0.41</td><td> 0.82</td><td> 1.24</td><td> 1.65</td><td> 2.06</td><td> 2.47</td>

<td> 50</td><td> 0.64</td><td> 1.28</td><td> 1.91</td><td> 2.55</td><td> 3.19</td><td> 3.83</td>

<td> 75</td><td> 0.82</td><td> 1.65</td><td> 2.47</td><td> 3.30</td><td> 4.12</td><td> 4.95</td>

<td> 100</td><td> 0.99</td><td> 1.98</td><td> 2.96</td><td> 3.95</td><td> 4.94</td><td> 5.93</td>

<td> 125</td><td> 1.14</td><td> 2.27</td><td> 3.41</td><td> 4.55</td><td> 5.69</td><td> 6.82</td>

<td> 150</td><td> 1.27</td><td> 2.55</td><td> 3.82</td><td> 5.10</td><td> 6.37</td><td> 7.64</td>

The entries in Tables 1 and 2 show that light fog or moderate rain probably does not present significant communication problems for optical links that span typical ranges of distances between streetlights.

Link interference can arise due to modulated light from non-neighboring light equipment or signaling energy incidentally from other signaling links. Additionally, optical energy received from non-optical signaling links such as reflections from vehicle headlights falling into an optical receiving aperture of light equipment 20 can create interference. Interference can also be the result of physical blockages of the optical path such as by birds, bats, or insect swarms. Decreasing these interference problems can be accomplished through careful alignment techniques of light equipment optical receiver openings, signaling design to decrease the energy of non-optical signal delivery, and physical design to discourage intermittent obstructions by part of 25 animals.

Interfering light can be reduced by polarization techniques since light reflecting from a surface interface will tend to be polarized, with the direction of polarization (the direction in which the electric field vectors point) being parallel to the plane of the shallow interface. / 230 In one embodiment, the optical receiving aperture of a light kit is covered with a ξΊ⁶* oolarized filterL £ ue can be rotatably oriented to block the path of interfering light that has been reflected from a surface interface. It may be desirable to block the passage since such light is normally polarized with polarization direction parallel to the plane of the inner surface. The rotation of the polarizing filter can be carried out by manual rotation, by an electric motor, or by electro-optical means.

Optical links are beneficial for at least two racialwa ^^ ioñalel. He'first 'M

FROM THE PkOUFL'Al. -, · '.

of these it is that the optical link is less likely to suffer degradation rnieiStV ^ s camfiterljí infrastructure by expansion or modification. RF communications, pcppriaimpntp in_the changing dielectric troughs of a large urban built area, or by traffic patterns hinting at multiple routes in sending RF signals, may tend to become unstable in performance. Also, there is the additional problem of interference from electrical noise and crosstalk processes from other RF communication system links and even from RF links in the RF based street light communication system. This interference is much more likely and much more difficult to mitigate than similar problems in an optical link based street light communication system.

The second of these additional reasons is that the optical link is used to assess the condition of a street lighting fixture. Measurements of the emission received from the nearest or closest street lighting luminaire by the optical receiver of a nearest neighboring luminaire fixture enable a health assessment of the luminaire to be obtained from the nearest or closest street light and an evaluation of the atmospheric conditions, for example the presence of rain or fog.

The light emission from a neighboring street light fixture can be monitored periodically, on request and / or differently using previous data as a reference and reporting sending only the delta value (or change from the last reported measurement) if the value delta exceeds a preset magnitude. Reporting delta values ​​can lead to ambiguity that needs to be resolved. For example, if a standard continuous report is initiated from each fixture of a street light kit of light received from a neighboring street light fixture, it may not be possible to differentiate between a failure of the neighboring street light fixture or a rainy condition. To resolve this ambiguity, the optical receiver of the street light fixture could save its measurements of the received light and compare them to a measurement made later, after atmospheric conditions have had time to change.

The implementation of optical signaling techniques can vary the optical emission of the luminaire to a street lighting equipment. Therefore, to provide signal sending to transmit data, it may be necessary to ensure that emission variations will not be distracting or, at best, not noticeable to human observers. As lighting conditions change, sometimes rapidly, a modality involves signaling that is differential in nature and not based on fixed levels of light intensity.

Psycho-visual studies have shown that at 2 candelas per square meter, which is a typical lighting intensity provided by street lighting, a human observer does not detect -20 dBs changes in light intensity and therefore signal sending can

I ΚΛ PTP is achieved with a change in intensity of at least one percent. A IV1. Ί A (7 insttiwxmexicano; a

The optical decoder of the signal sending probablemBht ^ WSfcttínes ^ i photon counter with a decision threshold. The model for this type of optical signal sending

<img file="MX354451B_D0011.tif" />

and symbol decision making is based on Poisson statistics and, for a non-photon-free environment, Poisson counts are normally approximated by normal distributions.

The power assigned to a signal sending bit can also be varied. The symbol photon integration time can be set to reduce the probability of error below a desired threshold. Figures 5A to 5C illustrate a progression of circumstances 500. In Figure 5A, the signaling light intensity is sufficient to result in an almost error-free decision between the two conditions, the distribution on the right represents the photon count of one of the binary signaling cases, the distribution at left of the other. In the

Figure 5B, signaling light is decreased, possibly due to rain or fog or other atmospheric conditions, and the two distributions both move to the left and overlap significantly making the binary signaling decision much more error prone . Since the link can thus be degraded, the signaling protocol can be designated to (1) increase the luminaire emission of the street lighting equipment, or (2) increase the photon integration time, thus reducing the data transfer rate, or (3) carry out both to achieve a result similar to that shown in Figure 5C.

Robust signaling modalities can be of additional help in the design and implementation of optical transmitter and receiver links. Robust modalities can use techniques such as clock recovery, absence of a DC component, Manchester Coding and / or Differential Manchester Coding, the latter combining data and clock to form a self-synchronizing data sequence.

In one embodiment, the optical signaling network comprises optical links that use a protocol to handle the acceptance, transport, and delivery of messages and controls across the network. Protocol rules can specify a means of error control, handling of messages and accompanying procedures, rules for handling transmission delays, and policies regarding retransmissions and scalability issues. Protocol rules can be fixed, software-modifiable, or software-defined. With a software-defined network, the network can, for example, be based initially on call and answer surveys or be a mesh with decentralized control. A software definition of the network can allow the network to be more easily scaled and the timing can be modified as appropriate from, for example, a master-slave implementation to a plesiochronous paradigm. A dynamic software-defined or software-alterable network configuration can also be efficient in handling troubleshooting issues. For example, if a query does not receive a response or a timer for a particular monitor expires, it may be possible to alter Otpo JimJnté ^ W ^ ajSt ^

INSTmnOMEX'CANO forma adhoce flood the lighting network with diagnostic messages ™ ^ industrial

There is a virtually unlimited number of candidates from which to select a communications protocol. In one embodiment, towards the simplistic end, messages can be handled as datagrams with the best delivery attempts, and then, when they cannot be delivered, they are discarded. In another embodiment, towards the more complicated end, the message can be handled with strict responsibility, trying retries and redirected messages until the delivery confirmation or notification to a non-delivery system manager.

In one embodiment, a street lighting system may consider a hybrid of protocols. For most functions, the system can be rebooted every night and thus can accommodate some message loss and some message errors and thus allows the system to function properly with a protocol that works according to best practices. delivery goals.

In another modality, some systems will manage and carry communications for other infrastructure systems. These messages may require a higher standard of care, ensuring dispatch or non-dispatch notification. When the outdoor lighting optical signaling network is handling these messages, it can invoke a packet handling protocol with strict responsibility to ensure dispatch and initiate transmissions as required.

An exemplary technical effect of the methods and systems described herein includes: (a) generating a melt bath based on the component construction parameters; (b) detecting an optical signal generated by the fusion bath to measure the size of the temperature of the fusion bath; and (c) modify the construction parameters in real time based on the size or temperature of the melt bath to achieve a desired physical property of the component.

Some modalities involve the use of one or more electronic or computing devices. Typically such devices include a processor or controller, such as, without limitation, a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microcontroller, a gate array field programmable (FPGA), a reduced instruction set computer processor (RISC), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic circuit (PLC), and / or any other circuit or processor that is capable of executing the functions described herein. The methods described herein can be encoded as executable instructions, represented on a computer-readable medium, including, without limitation, a storage device and / or a memory device. Such

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Instructions, when executed by a processor, make the proc | sapyf ^ rej4rc ^ p a portion of the methods described herein. Examples '^ FS ^ í ^ M ^' f / sa'n

INDUSTRIAL illustrative, and thus are not intended to limit in any way the definition and / or the meaning of the term processor. Exemplary modalities for improving construction parameters for making manufactured additive components were previously described in detail. The apparatus, systems and methods are not limited to the specific modalities described herein, on the contrary, the operations of the methods and components of the systems can be used independently and separately from other operations or components that are described at the moment. For example, the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein may have other industrial or consumer applications, and are not limited to practice with electronic components as described herein. Instead, one or more modalities can be implemented and used in relation to other industries.

Although the specific characteristics of the different embodiments of the invention may be represented in some drawings and not in others, this is only for convenience. In accordance with the principles of the invention, any characteristic of a drawing can be referenced or claimed in combination with any characteristic of any other drawing.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to allow any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems, and performing any built-in methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Those other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insignificant differences from the literal language of the claims.