[001] The present invention relates to the technical field of lighting, and in particular to the intelligent management of indoor lighting. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and a method to manage indoor lighting, and also air-conditioning, video surveillance, alarms in a personalized way through the interaction with a portable device.

[002] Lighting systems are known using motion and/or occupancy sensors starting in the presence of a person inside a pre-set area, and switching off after a given pre-set time, in case of absence of persons in the pre-set area.

[003] As an example, Entity Elettronica's ITPD20090154 discloses an indoor lighting system, wherein motion or occupancy sensors switch on the lighting, and the single lighting devices can adjust lighting conditions according to the presence or absence of at least a person, or according to the fact that the person is approaching or leaving. Moreover, the same document discloses that the lighting elements can exchange information to progressively switch on the lighting and the successive switching off of the elements themselves, so as not to dazzle the human subjects who are present in sectors neighbouring to the sector the person is moving.

[004] Philips' s Patent EP2084945B 1 too discloses a system of lighting tiles that switch on and off in the presence of at least a person; moreover, they are provided with a communication device which can interact with a corresponding device (e.g. RFID or NFC) carried by the person her/himself. Said device interacts with a sensor network. The sensors can detect the wireless signal intensity deriving from the portable device, allowing to detect the person's distance and direction of motion, starting the tiles lying in the person's direction of motion.

[005] Carmanah Technologies' s EP2168407B1 is quite similar to EP2084945B1; in this case, too, occupancy/motion sensors are involved, but here the persons carry no device. The lighting elements are provided with a communication system constituting a network, and are pre-programmed so as to determine the activation of a group of lighting elements once the person has entered the area making part of the group. The parameters for activating the following devices on the path are determined as a function of the speed of motion.

[006] A feature in common among the three above-mentioned documents is that in all of them occupancy/motion sensors must be used. If this is unavoidable outdoors, wherein the persons interacting with the lighting systems can be any people, therefore possibly not provided with identifying systems, indoors (residential buildings, working environment) the access of persons is supposed to be controlled, and a list of persons authorised to access is supposed to exist, and therefore all the persons can be provided with a portable device.

[007] In addition, the lighting devices of known type connected to a network are generally also connected to a centralized control and management device, at least to manage fault detection. The centralized device adds costs to the system and decreases its reliability. Moreover, a centralized system is not economically advantageous when the lighting system comprises a small number of elements and/or the covered area is very small.

[008] A further patent application, Casambi's WO2015049412A1, discloses a lighting system wherein the lighting elements form a network according to a known wireless communication standard; both a wall switch and a specific program resident on a PC or on a portable device known as smartphone can control the lighting elements. In this system, occupancy/motion sensors are missing, but the communication devices embedded in the lighting elements automatically interact with each other and with the portable device, with no centralized control. The absence of a centralized control system entails the need to have an important portion of electronic circuits positioned on each lighting element, with an increase in cost and complexity of the system. Moreover, according to this document, in order to use the system, the user must perform a voluntary action, like using a switch or a graphical interface on a portable device.

[009] In case of indoor spaces with controlled access, when a very simple wiring is to be installed, in order to realize a switching on/off of the lighting elements according to the effective presence of persons, a wide number of occupancy/motion sensors has to be installed. With an eye to the maximum efficiency of the system, there can be up to a sensor for each lighting element.

[0010] Said sensor actively detect the presence of persons, and are in combination with processing units which, according to the data detected by the sensors themselves, generate command or control signals thanks to control logics embedded in the processing units placed in the single lighting elements.

[0011] A first drawback of the known art is that providing each single lighting element with sensors of the state-of-the-art known type entails the sensor cost multiplied by the number of the lighting elements inside the system. Moreover, remarkable problems can occur in the calibration of said sensors, both when installing them, and in time, due to their drift.

[0012] A second drawback is connected to the problem of system reliability, in that reliability worsens exponentially and not linearly with the increase in the number of components of the system and their complexity.

[0013] A third drawback is due to system complexity: when a network of sensors has to be configured, having each a dedicated control unit consisting of a hardware performing a control logic program, which not only manages the commands of the controlled lighting element, but also the network formed by the single control units associated to other lighting elements of the system and of a possible centralized server, the configuration must take into account their of their distribution in space. This can be very complex when the configuration must be performed on the single lighting element, more so in case of successive modifications and even more so when the lighting elements are placed in difficult to access positions.

[0014] Aim of the present invention is providing a lighting system free of the above- mentioned drawbacks, preferably for indoor environment, wherein the adjusting of the lighting elements is obtained without motion and/or occupancy sensors, replacing them with a wireless communication system. In the present system, a portable device, carried or worn by a person accessing an area lighted by the system, interacts with the lighting system giving reference of its position with respect to single lighting elements. In the case of indoor spaces with controlled access, one can be reasonably sure that each of the persons present in the indoor space is provided with a portable device allowing her/him to interact with the system.

[0015] This object is achieved by a method and an apparatus having the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiment and refinements are specified in the claims dependent thereon.

[0016] The system of the present invention comprises:

- Any number of lighting elements, each provided with a transmitting radiofrequency device, transmitting with a pre-determined periodicity a radio signal containing a unique identifier, allowing to recognize the lighting element itself;

- A control device associated to each lighting element or to a group of lighting elements and which has an input port for receiving control commands of the status of the said lighting element or of each of the lighting elements of the said group of lighting elements and a processing unit for interpreting the received control commands and generating corresponding driving signals of the lighting elements;

- A portable device receiving the signals transmitted from the transmitting device embedded in the lighting element, provided with a program (app) performed by said portable device, extracting the unique identifier of the lighting element, detecting its distance through the analysis of the intensity of the radio signal and radio-transmitting said information and/or a dedicated command signal for activating/configuring each of the single lighting elements, by connecting to each of said lighting elements through a configuration command receiving channel of the radio-transmitting device associated to each lighting element and by configuring the said dedicated command signal as a configuration signal of the radio-transmitting device or of one or more components of the radio- transmitting device, which configuration signal triggers a variation of an output signal at an output port of the radio-transmitting device; - The said output signal being fed to the input of the control device of the lighting elements or of a group of lighting elements and processed by the said control device as a control command signal of the lighting elements.

[0017] According to an advantageous embodiment, the radio-transmitting device is a so-called beacon in a modified version, comprising a section radio-transmitting signals according to one of the different known communication protocols, a control processor by which a control program of the functions of the beacon itself is performed, a memory in which said control program is loaded, a port radio receiving configuring/setting signals, through which an external device transmits configuring/setting parameters of the beacon to the control processor, and at least an output port of said processor. According to said embodiment, the radio receiving port for the configuration/setting parameters of the said beacon is used to transmit the information and/or the command signals generated by the portable device to the beacon.

[0018] According to a further embodiment, the beacon comprises a program memory in which a communication program is loaded; said program further interprets the configuration signals sent by the portable unit (4) for triggering the output signal variation at the output port of the beacon and generates and/or configures command signals of a control device of the lighting element connected to the output port of the said beacon.

[0019] According to a further embodiment, in the portable device (4) a communication program is loaded and is executed for coding the information and/or the command signals of the lighting element in specific configuration signals of the beacon corresponding to commands of the said control device of the lighting element.

[0020] According to still a further embodiment which may be provided in combination with one or both of the previous ones, the program for interpreting the output signal of the beacon and transforming it in a command for changing the operative status of a lighting element is loaded in, and executed by, the control device of the lighting element.

[0021] According to still another embodiment, the configuration signal receiving channel of the beacon can be used as a configuration receiving channel of a configuration and processing unit of the control device through which configuration data and/or configuration codes and/or a processing program may be transmitted to the control device and saved in a corresponding configuration data memory and in a corresponding program memory.

[0022] According to the above, a first advantage of the present invention is a reduction of system components, and therefore of the cost of the lighting system. A second advantage is that, thanks to the reduction of components, the reliability of the system improves. A third advantage is linked to the greater simplicity of lighting system installation, maintenance and possible reconfiguration. A fourth advantage is linked to the possibility of inserting the desired command logics distributing them through app distribution and updating. A further advantage is that the portable device in the form of a smartphone is a widely used device, and therefore it is not necessary to provide users with specific devices.

[0023] From the above, it appears clearly that the improper use of the radio connection channel for configuring the beacon as a channel for transmitting command signals generated by the control program performed by the portable device allows reducing the hardware placed in the single lighting devices, with respect to what would be needed according to the known art. Concentrating hardware/software intelligence in the portable device, a very light communication program is obtained between beacon and control and adjusting device of the lighting elements, in that the hardware must not perform processes transforming the identifying information of the lighting element, of the intensity of the signal received from the portable device and distance from said lighting element itself, and information concerning environment conditions, like temperature, humidity, environmental lighting, etc. into command or configuring signals of the adjusting and control device. The hardware must only carry out the configuring and command signals intelligibly received by itself and provide a change in status of a digital output signal at the output port without the need to process or interpret or transform the signals. The processing of this output signals for interpreting this signals and transforming them in appropriate commands of the lighting elements carried out by the control device. If lighting rules or scenario have to be changed, distributing software updates will be sufficient, without the need to modify the hardware of the device.

[0024] Moreover, it is not necessary to generate a network among lighting elements, because the control software performed by the portable device manages the communication with the different lighting elements, correspondingly to pre-configured or pre-configurable modes, according to the user needs, to whom a portable device is associated and by considering the relative distance of the user from the lighting elements.

[0025] According to a further feature of the present invention, the said lighting system may be replaced by any kind of different an environment conditioning system or the lighting system may be provided in combination with at least a further environment conditioning system comprising one or more environment conditioning elements and/or environment status sensors distributed in an area at least partially coinciding with the area in which the lighting elements (2) of the lighting system are located.

[0026] One embodiment of a different or further environment conditioning system may be a heating system comprising one or more heat exchangers distributed in the same area where the lighting elements are located.

[0027] Alternatively, the further or different environment conditioning system can be a message diffusion system of the acoustic or acoustic and visual kind. One example provides as environment conditioning elements one or more screens connected with a video messages database and which screens includes or are combined with a control device.

[0028] The control device receives signals from a beacon and uses the signals for activating the screens; the beacon receives control signals for activating the screen to display a message transmitted by a portable device (4) when the portable device determines that the associated user is a at a distance from the screen suitable for being able to see the message displayed on the screen.

[0029] According to still a further improvement, in the portable device (4) information relative to the profile of the user associated to the portable device is stored and the said information is coded by the portable device as a configuration command of the beacon causing, on receipt from the beacon, to generate a specific output signal at the output port of the beacon connected to the control device of the screen, the said output signal of the beacon coding an activation command of the screen and information data of the user profile, the said output signal being processed and interpreted by the screen control device for activating the screen and for displaying messages tailored on the user profile by accessing the message database and loading the messages associated to the profile information coded in the output signal of the beacon.

[0030] Further advantages and properties of the present invention are disclosed in the following description, in which exemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail based on the drawings:

Figure 1 Schematic drawing of the lighting system;

Figure 2 Schematic drawing of the interaction between lighting system and portable device;

Figure 3 Block diagram of the working of the operations performed by the centralized device wherein preferences are saved in the portable device;

Figure 4 Block diagram of the working of the portable device wherein preferences are saved in the portable device;

Figure 5 A block diagram of a radio-frequency transmitting device according to the present invention.

Figure 6 A block diagram of an embodiment of a control device of the environment conditioning element such as the lighting element of figures 1 and 2 or other kind of elements

[0031] Figure 1 shows a scheme of a lighting system 1, wherein each cell aA, bA, cA, dD represents an area illuminated by a single lighting element 2. As an example, in cell dD a person 3 is present. The entry of a person 3 into a cell, e.g. dD, starts the lighting of the lighting element 2 of the corresponding area dD.

[0032] Figure 2 shows a scheme of the interaction between the lighting system and a portable device 4. The lighting system 2 comprises:

- a light source 5;

- an adjusting and control device 6 of the light source 5;

- a radio-transmitting and radio-receiving device 8.

Physically the adjusting and control device 6 and the radio-transmitting and radio- receiving device 8 can be realized on the same electronic board, in order to optimize its cost.

[0033] In particular, in a preferred embodiment, the light source 5 is made of LED diodes, the feeding and control device 6 is a partialization system allowing to continuously adjust the light source 5. Moreover, the lighting element 2 comprises a radio-transmitting and radio-receiving device 8, transmitting signals according to Bluetooth® standard or IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standard.

[0034] In a first preferred embodiment, the portable device 4 is a portable cellular phone of known type (smartphone), provided with:

- ability to connect to a communication network according to Bluetooth® or IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standard, to receive and transmit signals from and to the radio- transmitting and radio-receiving device 8;

- a specific program (app) suitable for the interaction with the lighting system 1.

[0035] In a second embodiment, the portable device 4 can be a wearable device, e.g. a band, provided with:

- connection to a communication network according to IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi);

- ability to connect according to Bluetooth® standard, or according to IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standard, in order to receive the signals of the radio-transmitting device 8;

- a specific program (app) suitable for the interaction with the lighting system 1 ; in this case the app works on the wearable device itself.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment, the radio-transmitting device 8 is a commercial electronic module known as beacon. A Bluetooth® beacon transmits with a predetermined periodicity a 2,4 GHz radio signal according to the Bluetooth® standard, containing a unique identifier for each device in a codified way according to the Bluetooth® standard. Analogously, a Wi-Fi beacon transmits with a pre-determined periodicity a radio signal according to the IEEE 802.11 standard, containing a unique identifier for each device in a codified way according to IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0037] The radio-transmitting device 8, indifferently working according to Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi or other standards, in addition to the unique identifier for each device, can be optionally programmed to transmit an additional code defined by the lighting system manufacturer, and optionally a series of additional data as e.g. information about environment temperature and humidity, natural lighting conditions, etc.

[0038] The portable device 4 receives the radio signal transmitted by the radio- transmitting device 8, and through a specific program wherein lighting criteria are saved, connects to device 8 forcing it to receive data; moreover, it transmits an activation request of the lighting element 2. It is understood that the portable device 4, in examining the radio signal transmitted by the radio-transmitting device 8, can decide to use other additional information, e.g. on natural lighting, environment temperature and humidity. In a preferred embodiment, the portable device 4 connects to a company or domestic Wi-Fi network, without the need to pass through the phone network.

[0039] In an embodiment, the switching on and off of the lighting element 2 can be controlled.

[0040] In an alternative embodiment, the switching on and following off of the lighting element 2 can be programmed according to a pre-determined scheme of increase and decrease of the lighting intensity. In a preferred embodiment, the switching on and following off of lighting element 2 according to a pre-programmed scheme, and at the same time controlling the switching on and off of the neighbouring lighting elements 2 according to a further pre-programmed scheme can be set. For instance, with reference to Figure 1, when a person 3 enters in the area lighted by lighting element dD, the dD lighting element 2 starts, rapidly reaching 100% of lighting intensity, while the neighbouring cC, dC, and cD progressively start reaching 50% of the lighting intensity only. The lighting elements of the other cells remain switched off. In a preferred embodiment, the lighting intensity of the lighting elements takes into account the natural environment lighting, thanks to the fact that the data transmitted by the radio- transmitting device 8 and re-transmitted after processing by the portable device 4 contain the relative information.

[0041] In a preferred embodiment, the lighting elements comprise LEDs of different type, e.g. white, orange and blue, or RGB LEDs (three-chromatic LED using red, green and blue sources): therefore, it is possible to vary the colour temperature to obtain a colder or warmer white light, or a light having a different preferred colour. Each person carrying a portable device 4 can set her/his own preference. Such preference can also be correlated to daytime, therefore the user can program e.g. a warmer light in the morning and in the evening, and a colder light in the central hours of the day.

[0042] In a further embodiment, the system can be used to adjust other environment parameters in addition to switching on/off the lighting systems. In addition, the system can manage the adjusting of environment cooling/warming, or activate the working of some apparatuses like computers and printers, or the access to given rooms. E.g., the entry of a user into her/his own office could start the temperature and humidity adjusting of her/his office on a pre-set value, start her/his computer, and when the user moves towards the printer room, could start the printing of the documents printed by her/his computer.

[0043] The options chosen by the person are saved in the portable device 4 inside the app, and can be modified distributing an updating of the app itself. It is worth noting that the app performed by the portable device manages all the lighting elements, the functions of control and command being concentrated in the single portable devices and not in the lighting elements themselves, whose only active function is transmitting the identifier and the optional additional information to the portable device, and receiving the commands or the configuring information to be transmitted to the adjusting and control device which have been generated by said portable device.

[0044] According to an embodiment, the radio-frequency device 8 comprises a port for inputting configuring data of a control processor of the radio-transmitting device 8, i.e. of the beacon exploiting a radio connection channel typically present in beacon devices. The port for inputting the setting parameters of the radio-transmitting device 8 is in this case improperly exploited for transmitting to the control processor of the radio- transmitting device 8 control commands of the adjusting and control device 6 of the lighting element 2, in said processor being loaded a communication program to the adjusting and control element 6 of command signals generated in the portable device 4 and received by the device 8. To this aim, the processor of the device 8 comprises at least an output port towards the control and adjusting element 6.

[0045] In particular, with Bluetooth® beacons, said solution has the advantage of not requesting a traditional transmitting/receiving section, therefore with relatively heavy hardware and software. The present solution exploits instead an already present connection port, dedicated to receiving configuration signals of the beacon by an external device, which with a specific software allows to receive and re-transmit through an output port command signals generated by and external device.

[0046] Figures 3 and 4 are block diagrams illustrating the working of the lighting system 1 on the whole, wherein preferences processing is managed by the portable device 4.

[0047] In particular, the block diagram of Figure 3 refers to the logical sequence of the operations performed by the processor of the radio-transmitting and radio-receiving device 8. The processor of the device 8 can receive activation signals coming from a mobile device (step 301): until no signal is received, all the lighting elements 2 are switched off, or maintained at a pre-set level (step 302). When the processor receives an activation signal, and it is recognized that said signal possesses suitable authorizations to impart a command, the request received by the portable device 4 is interpreted (step 303). The desired lighting scheme (step 304), and optionally the desired conditioning scheme (temperature and humidity) (step 304a) is actuated. The processor of device 8, after a pre-set time, waits for activation signals again (step 307). If it does not receive any signal, after a pre-set waiting time (step 310) it brings back the system 1 to a waiting cycle, with lighting elements on standby. On the other hand, if it receives other activation signals (step 307), it compares the received activation code with the previous one, determining whether the person 3 is still or moving (step 308): if the person 3 did not move, the activated lighting scheme is maintained (step 305 and 306). If the person 3 is moving, a new lighting scheme is elaborated (step 309) always according to the above- illustrated logic, and the respective commands are transmitted (step 304, 305 and 306).

[0048] Figure 4 is a block diagram referring to the logic sequence of the operations performed by a portable device 4. The portable device 4 waits for receiving signals from the radio-transmitting device 8 (step 401); until it does not receive signals, it keeps waiting without performing any action (step 402). When the portable device 4 receives a signal from a radio-transmitting device 8, it extracts the unique identifier, and if it receives more than one signal from radio-transmitting devices 8, it extracts their unique identifiers, too (step 403). Then, according to the received unique identifiers, and on the trend of the power levels received from the various devices in the last period, the portable device 4 estimates in which area it is (step 404). Then it optionally extracts the additional information contained in the signal packet received by the radio-transmitting device 8, e.g. about temperature and humidity (step 404a). In case of receiving packets originating from different radio-transmitting devices 8, it extracts the data of these radio- transmitting device 8 too, and integrates them (step 406). Then the portable device 4, taking into account the localization area, the received additional information, and the preferences of the person 3 pre-set in the portable device 4 (step 407), elaborates the activation request of the lighting elements 2 (step 408), then transmits such request directly to the necessary elements. After all that, the portable device 4 proceeds to waiting for signals (step 401).

[0049] In practice, the portable device 4, provided with the specific program, can analyse the intensity of the radio signal received by the radio-transmitting device 8. According to the intensity of the received signal, the specific program can detect the distance of the person 3 from the radio-transmitting device 8. Including this information in the activation request, the app can detect whether the person 3, provided with the portable device 4, is moving, and if yes, towards which direction. Such detection can be very precise (resolution better than some metres) when the portable device 4 receives signals from at least three radio-transmitting devices, which is very probable in a domestic or working environment. In this way, the app can transmit the commands relating to the activation according to different pre-set schemes to the adjusting and control device 6 of the neighbouring lighting elements 2 and to the conditioning devices. E.g., if the person 3 in the cell dD is moving approaching cell cD, the app can command the control systems 6 of the cells dC and cC to switch on at 20% of their lighting intensity, to cell cD to switch on at 50%, and to cell bB to switch on at 20%. The lighting scheme activated in each case takes into account the static nature or the motion of the person 3, the direction of her/his motion, and the topography of rooms (e.g. presence of walls, partitions, etc.).

[0050] The person 3 can set all her/his individual preferences through the interface of the specific program. In a preferred embodiment, the specific program has the form of an app loaded on the smartphone, i.e. in the portable device 4, of person 3.

[0051] In practice, at the moment of its first use, the specific program leads the person 3 in setting her/his favourite parameters. Once said parameters have been set, the smartphone waits for a valid Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi signal from the lighting system 1. When the person 3 enters into the lighting system 1, the smartphone receives at least a valid Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi signal, detects its intensity, calculates the distance from at least a lighting element 2 and transmits said information, with the pre-set preferences of the person 3, connecting to the interested radio-transmitting and radio-receiving devices 8. The processor of device 8 receives said data, activates the corresponding commands on the adjusting and control device 6 adjusting the light source 5 of the lighting element

2 nearest to the person 3, and possibly of the neighbouring lighting elements 2, and optionally of the conditioning devices.

[0052] The system can be used also for actively signalling the person 3 that she/he is in an area of interest. This is particularly interesting in case of wide point-of sales, inside which an ever-increasing number of consumers uses her/his smartphone. Through specific programs (apps), the smartphone saves the person's shopping list. In the points- of-sale there is provided not only area lighting, but also increasingly also indoor accent lighting, with the possibility of placing a single lighting element even on a single shelf for displaying goods.

[0053] In a preferred embodiment, the lighting system 1 can be used to lead the person

3 to a product that is present in her/his shopping list, managed by the app on her/his smartphone. As a practical example, let us imagine that the person 3 has "beauty cream" in her/his app managing her/his shopping list. The app can make an enquiry on the planogram of the products displayed in the point-of-sale, obtaining the information that "beauty creams" are in the area dD. When the person 3 enters into the area dD, the app can activate a lighting signal (intermittence, repetitive fading or other) in the lighting element 2 placed right above the beauty creams, calling the attention of the person 3. In this way, customer's research is shortened, or customer's choice is lead to a promotion beauty cream, or to a beauty cream provided with given characteristics.

[0054] In the above-described lighting system 1, the information referring to the environment conditions (e.g. temperature, humidity, natural lighting) is contained in the data transmitted each time by the beacon emitting its radio signal. Such information is then used by the app only when at least a person 3 is present inside the lighting system 1.

[0055] When a plurality of persons enters into a room, using a logic different from the individual preferences is possible.

[0056] For instance, if two persons with different individual preferences are in the same room, the control device 6 can be configured to execute a multi user managing program according to which the different portable devices 4 of each user are recognized and identified by a unique ID. Each ID of each portable device 4 may be added to the command sent by the portable devices to the radio transmitting device 8 using the configuration commands receiving channel of the radio-transmitting device 8. The ID data can be transmitted to the control device 6 together with the command signal for changing the operative condition of the environment conditioning element connected to the control device 6. The control device can generate a control command of the environment conditioning element as a function of the control commands of the individual portable devices 4 by executing the multiuser managing program comprising instructions to a processing unit to process the data according to a specific function. One specific embodiment of the said function provides for command signals setting the environment condition for example the lighting and to an intermediate values between the preferences of the single persons. Alternatively, if several persons are in the same room, e.g. identified as a meeting room, further working modes can be activated (e.g. in the meeting room shutters can be opened, light can be switched on, and conditioning can be started).

[0057] Figure 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a control device of the environment conditioning element such as the lighting element of figures 1 and 2 or other kind of elements. In this embodiment the control device 6 comprises a processor 600 which is configured to carry out the tasks of generating the driving signals of the environment conditioning element 2 according to the commands transmitted to the processor 600 by the radio-transmitting device 8. The processor 600 controls by means of a control logic program stored in a memory 605 of the control device 6 the generator

603 of the driving signals of the environment conditioning element 2. In a memory area

604 there are stored a database of environment conditioning elements configuration and driving data and optionally User database comprising codes identifying user individual configuration and driving settings of the environment conditioning elements. Optionally each control device 6 may also access a map of the area environment conditioning elements database from which a relative position relation to other elements may be determined which data can be used by the control logic for controlling the generator 603 of the driving signals of the element 2 controlled by the control device 6. Furthermore the map may also be sued for the control device 6 to determine if the same device 6 is controlling a group of elements 2 and in identifying each element of this group.

[0058] In order to allow the control device 6 to carry out the steps disclosed above and directed in determining the functional setting of the environment conditioning element 2 as a function of the commands sent by more than one portable device 4 each one of these devices being associated to a different user 3, in the program area 605 a computation software is stored which comprises instructions to the processor 600 for computing the said function combining the command signals of each user 3.

[0059] As a further optional improvement the processor 600 may be connected to one or more sensors measuring environment condition data or functional or diagnostic data of the elements 2. These measured data may be considered in executing the control logic program by the processor 600.

[0060] The architecture of the control device 6 may be implemented in several ways in a circuit by using every option available for the skilled person.

[0061] It is worth underlining that the main task of described system is adjusting the switching on/off of the lighting elements 2. Nonetheless, it is possible that in the central hours of the day the lighting system 1 detects a series of parameters like lighting, temperature, humidity; and of those, temperature and humidity only have to be adjusted, in that lighting conditions are already sufficient. In some circumstances, it might happen that nothing has to be adjusted, in that the environmental and lighting conditions detected by the sensors are already corresponding to the values set by person 3. Further, it is possible using the lighting elements 2 as monitoring seat of the presences and of the activities of the persons 3, or of detection of parameters different from lighting, and using the lighting system 1 for adjusting parameters totally different from lighting (temperature, humidity, etc.)

[0062] Figure 5 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the radio-transmitting device 8 according to the present invention. In the block diagram only the main components necessary to describe the invention are shown. The beacon comprises a CPU 800 which is destined to manage the operation of the peripheral units needed to carry out the tasks of the beacon according to a control program which is saved in a dedicated memory area 802 and which is executed by the CPU. Configuration data relating the peripherals and other parameters are stored in a memory area 801. The managing program is factory implemented which in the program area 802 users can save their own developed programs controlling the functions of the beacon according to desired user defined processing tasks and to user defined configurations. This user defined configurations may be loaded and stored in the memory area 801 in which in a protected memory area the factory installed configuration data are stored.

[0063] An internal bus 809 connects the communication ports of several peripherals with the CPU and with the memories 801, 802. The communication between the different peripherals is managed by a Serial Peripheral Interface 807.

[0064] A radio unit 805 is responsible for generating the radiofrequency signals to be transmitted and to receive and demodulate the radio signals sent to the beacon by external devices.

[0065] An ADC converter 806 provides for transforming analogic signals in digital signals. A serial asynchronous/synchronous interface 808 provides for coding and decoding data according to a serial asynchronous or a serial synchronous transmission protocol.

[0066] A output port managing interface 803 provides for providing output signals of one or more output ports of the beacon, which output ports are destined to be connected to the input ports of an external device or/and associated unit, such as in the present invention the control device (6) of an environmental conditioning element as a lighting element (2).

[0067] A power managing unit 804 manages the power supply to the different components according to power managing protocols which may operate in different ways and which may be triggered by a reset command fed to a reset port. This power managing protocol may provide for power on/off commutation, for setting the system in a sleep condition and for allowing also partial interruptions of the power supply to one or more components of the circuit. As an example, a reset command could generate a reaction of one or more components which triggers the generation at one output port of the output port managing interface 803 of a signal or a certain variation of a signal.

[0068] In the beacon configuration the circuit works as a device transmitting only a signal in which a message or data are coded. Although the radio unit 805 is able to operate in transmission and receipt mode, the current configuration is that no data receiving channel through which the received data is processed according to a specific user defined protocol or program is provided. The radio unit and the system is configured to receive and process only configuration data of the beacon according to protocols which are implemented in the managing program of the units and components of the circuit.

[0069] Thus, hardware and software complexity is reduced and the circuit may operate with a reduced power consumption.

[0070] According to the present invention a beacon configured in transmit only mode can be nevertheless used for receiving control signals which may be used for triggering the commutation of the operative status of a further device associated to the said beacon hardware.

[0071] By coding command messages sent to the beacon by a remote device, such as the portable device (4) described above using configuration commands of the beacon itself, the configuration channel of the beacon can be used for receiving and processing the said commands coded as configuration commands. In this case a valid choice of the configuration command to be associate to a command for commutating the operative status of a device connected to the beacon by the output port interface 803 may be the one considering configuration commands which determine a reaction of one of the units forming the beacon circuit or the processor to generate at one or more output ports a specific signal which may be fed to a control circuit (6) of a device which operative status has to be set. This control device (6) can be provided with a processing unit interpreting the signals received from the beacon at the output port and converting these in a command signals for commutating the operative status of the controlled device such as the lighting element (2) of the previous example.

[0072] The beacon device according to the above example may be a separated device or circuit from the control device (2) of the environmental conditioning element or the hardware of the beacon may be integrated for example with the hardware of the control device (6). In this case the processing unit of the control device (6) may be connected directly to the Serial Peripheral Interface 807 and/or to the bus 809 and the beacon configuration commands used for coding the environmental conditioning element may be chosen also among the configuration commands causing at least one peripheral of the beacon to generate or modify a signal on the internal bus or at the port of the Serial Peripheral Interface 807.