TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a computer implemented method of entry handling, specifically adapted for identifying a specific behavior in relation to requesting entry to e.g. a building. The present disclosure also relates to a corresponding entry handling system and a computer program product.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, mechanical locks have been used to provide secure closure of a user’s premise, etc., where the mechanical locks typically are opened via a physical key. Recent development involving the use of electronic locks allow for a streamlined approach in allowing access to said user premise or premises. Electronic keys for unlocking/locking the electronic locks may be easily distributed and revoked. For example, in hotels and enterprises, electronic locks and appropriate electronic keys are widely used, providing flexible management of access rights.

Using electronic locks will also allow for implementing general access control, where e.g., users may be allowed no, limited or full access to the premises, for example depending on the time of the day. As is readily understood, as soon as the infrastructure gets more complex, such as with an increasing number of premises and electronic locks, such as in relation e.g., a large or sprawling complex, it is necessary to provide a system administrator or system user with the ability to monitor and/or control the operation of electronic locks.

An example of such an electronic access control system is presented in US8635462. US8635462 specifically tries to handle how electronic keys are to be programmed with information that allows a specific user to have authorization to enter a specific premise based on predefined conditions, such as time, day of the week, etc.

Even though US8635462, and other similar prior-art present an interesting approach in managing a complex electronic key infrastructure, none of such prior-art documents present solutions to the obvious problem of sharing of the electronic keys between different users, or where a visitor is allowed access to the premises by e.g., a resident, without prior authorization.

To contravene this apparent security problem, it is common to install a camera-based security system in conjunction with the electronic access control system to continuously monitor at least an entry section of the premises. Such a camera-based security system, as for example disclosed in US8750576, may implement face recognition to monitor and recognize residents and guests to the premises. However, installation of such a camerabased security system will obviously increase cost of operation for the premises, at the same time as use of cameras, specifically in conjunction with face recognition, is perceived as imposing on personal freedom and violates personal rights.

With this in mind, it would be desirable to provide improvements to access control of e.g., a building or general premise, where the access can be controlled in a desired manner and with a desired security level, while at the same time ensuring that unwanted behavior or access to the building/premises can be identified without unnecessarily imposing on the personal freedom for residents and guests entering the building/premises.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the above is at least partly met by a door entry system arranged to allow access to a building complex comprising a plurality of units, the door entry system comprising an electronic lock arranged at an entry point to the building complex, a first interface adapted to allow a visitor to the building complex to request access to the building complex, wherein the request comprises an identifier for one of the plurality of units, a second interface adapted to provide a connection to each of a plurality of electronic devices associated with each of the plurality of units, and a control unit connected to the electronic lock, the first interface and the second interface, wherein the control unit is adapted to forward, using the second interface, a request received at the first interface to an electronic device associated with one of the plurality of units identified, and operate the electronic lock in response to a control signal received from the electronic device of the identified unit, wherein the control unit is further adapted to analyze a plurality of requests to the identified unit received within a predefined time frame and corresponding operations of the electronic lock, receive a predefined request pattern from a server arranged externally from the door entry system, match timestamps for making each of the plurality of requests and corresponding operations of the electronic lock with the received predefined request pattern, and determine a type of a request behavior from a plurality of predefined types of request behaviors based on a result of the matching.

By means of the present disclosure, there is provided an automated and integrity keeping scheme for allowing access to a building complex, such as an office building or an apartment complex, where it is still possible to maintain a high level of understanding of what is taking place within the building complex. In accordance to the present disclosure this is achieved by analyzing a behavioral pattern of when visitors to the building complex is requesting access to a specific unit within the building complex, and when and if such visitors are allowed to access the building complex. This behavioral pattern can thus be identified without having to implement complex camera-based surveillance, possibly including face recognition.

In accordance to the present disclosure it may be possible to identify possible unwanted behaviors relating to one or a plurality of units within the building complex, i.e. determined as one or a plurality of different types of type of request behavior. Such unwanted type of behaviors could for example relate to unwanted/unlawful activity within the (one or plurality of) unit(s). Such unwanted/unlawful activity could in turn be unwanted rental of the unit (e.g., Airbnb), or general unlawful activities in the unit, including for example prostitution and/or sale of illegal substances. Preferably, the control unit is further configured to automatically informing e.g. an owner of the unit, a unit manager and/or a manager of the building about the determined type of request behavior.

According one possible implementation, it could be possible to collect information indicative of requests and corresponding operations of the electronic lock for a unit that has a known desirable behavior, i.e., where it is confirmed that no unwanted/unlawful activity is present. Based on the collected information it may be possible to form an exemplary request behavior for that unit, i.e., corresponding to an exemplary request pattern that relates to such desirable behavior. That exemplary request behavior could then later be used for comparison with a request behavior for another unit where the state of the activity is unknown (i.e., being either of desirable or involving an unwanted/unlawful activity). When performing the comparison, it may for example be possible to identify if there is a discrepancy between the “new” request pattern and the previously determined request pattern (i.e., relating to the desirable behavior). If e.g., a difference is determined to be greater than a predefined threshold, then this may be seen as an indicator that the new request pattern is separate from a desirable behavior and thus potentially relating to an unwanted/unlawful activity.

However, even though the above embodiment of applying a general comparison scheme for identifying a potential unwanted/unlawful activity for a unit, it may in some embodiments it may be desirable to increase the reliability of the system. Accordingly, in some embodiments it may be suitable to introduce a pattern recognition scheme where a new request behavior is compared to a plurality of previously collected request behaviors (and their related request patterns), where each of the previously collected request patterns have a known unit behavior (being “good and/or bad”). The pattern recognition scheme may as such compare the new request pattern with the plurality of collected request patterns with the purpose of finding the best possible match. The pattern recognition scheme may as such be used for increasing the reliability of the determined indication of the request behavior for the unit.

Furthermore, it may in some embodiments be desirable to collect request patterns for different unit with known behavior (i.e., again being either of desirable or involving an unwanted/unlawful activity), where also a feature of the unit occupant(s) is known, such as a known age of the unit occupant(s). For example, a unit comprising e.g., a family with children will have a request patterns that generally differs from a unit with a single elderly person. Applying the pattern recognition scheme as presented above it could accordingly be possible to determine a possible unit “line-up”, providing an indication of what type of occupants are present in a specific unit, where that specific unit has a previously unknown type of occupants.

Following such information, if could in accordance to the present disclosure be possible to identify if the indication of what type of occupants are present in a specific unit is changing with a pace exceeding a predefined threshold. If the changing pace is exceeding the predefined threshold, then this could be provided as an indication that the unit is used as for rental, possibly being an unwanted/unlawful activity within the unit.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure the control unit is further adapted to apply a neural network based scheme to the timestamps for making each of the plurality of requests for determining the request behavior. The neural network based scheme is one possible example of a machine learning scheme that could be used in conjunction with the present disclosure. Other known and further machine learning schemes are also possible and within the scope of the present disclosure. Such machine learning schemes need generally be trained on relevant information for forming e.g. the mentioned neural network, where the relevant training information for example may include the above mentioned collected request behaviors, e.g. relating to different “unit types”, occupant ages, behavioral types for a unit (i.e. “good or bad”), etc.

Additionally, applying a machine learning scheme for determining the indication of the request behavior may allow for a gradient between different request behaviors to be identified. For example, applying a machine learning scheme may involve providing an indication of a matching level (and/or confidence level) for the determined request behavior. For example, the machine learning scheme may indicate that the present plurality of requests and corresponding operations of the electronic lock for a specific indicates a confidence of 60% that the present unit is involved in unwanted/unlawful activity, while at the same time provide a confidence of 40% that the behavior is acceptable. A quota may in such an embodiment be formed between the unwanted and acceptable behavior, where the quota then is compared to a predefined threshold. In case the quota is above the threshold it may be desirable to inform a unit manager and/or a manager of the building complex of this suspected behavior.

In some embodiment of the present disclosure, it may be desirable to allow the predefined request pattern to be shared between a plurality of instances of the door entry system. As such, the control unit is in line with the present disclosure adapted to receive the predefined request pattern from an external server. Accordingly, the server may be populated with the one or a plurality of predefined request patterns that may be used in the matching process. Possibly, a single instance of the door entry system may in turn share information with the server, i.e. in case that specific instance of the door entry system determines an indication of e.g. an unwanted/unlawful activity.

The server may also, in some embodiments, be adapted to generate the predefined request pattern(s) from a plurality of door entry systems arranged in communication with the external server. That is, the server may take a collaborative approach to information collected from the plurality of instances of the door entry system.

Even though the present disclosure is focused on analyzing the request pattern for one or a plurality of units in the building complex, it may of course in some embodiments be suitable to at least include an image of the visitor with the request to a specific unit. The image may then be used in conjunction with the matching process, i.e. where the requests are matched with a predefined request pattern. The image may also be useful in case it is determined that the request behavior is related to unwanted/unlawful activity within the unit. That is, the relevant authorities, the unit manager and/or the manager of the building complex may be provided with the image, where the image potentially may be used for identifying a visitor involved in the unwanted/unlawful activity.

Within the context of the present disclosure, the term “electronic lock” is meant to comprise electric, electronic or mechatronic locking units and/or locks. In this respect, an electronic lock may comprise various components such as, e.g., electronic keys, a locking electronics system and the like. Furthermore, in line with the present disclosure, the control unit may be arranged in networked communication with the first and the second interface The first interface may comprise some form of means adapted to allow a visitor to input some information for requesting access to at least one of the units of the building complex. The second interface may function as a “midpoint” for allowing unit related electronic user devices to be connected to the door entry system. The unit related electronic user devices may include fixed unit related electronic user devices arranged within the different units. However, the unit related electronic user devices may also be e.g. mobile user devices, such as a smart phone comprising an application for the door entry system. A user controllable portion of the unit related electronic user devices allows for operating the electronic lock as a result of a request made at the entry point using the first interface.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a 7. A computer implemented method for determining a request behavior when operating a door entry system for a building complex comprising a plurality of units, wherein the door entry system comprises an electronic lock arranged at an entry point to the building complex, a first interface adapted to allow a visitor to the building complex to request access to the building complex, wherein the request comprises an identifier for one of the plurality of units, a second interface adapted to provide a connection to each of a plurality of electronic devices associated with each of the plurality of units, and a control unit connected to the electronic lock, the first interface and the second interface, wherein the method comprises the steps of forwarding, using the control unit and the second interface, a request received at the first interface to an electronic device associated with one of the plurality of units identified using the identifier, and operating, using the control unit, the electronic lock in response to a control signal received from the electronic device of the identified unit, wherein the method further comprises the steps of analyzing a plurality of requests to the identified unit received within a predefined time frame and corresponding operations of the electronic lock, receive a predefined request pattern from a server arranged externally from the door entry system, matching timestamps for making each of the plurality of requests and corresponding operations of the electronic lock with the received predefined request pattern, and determining a type of a of a request behavior from a plurality of predefined types of request behaviors based on a result of the matching. This aspect of the present disclosure provides similar advantages as discussed above in relation to the previous aspect of the present disclosure. According to a still further aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program means for controlling a door entry system, the door entry system comprising an electronic lock arranged at an entry point to the building complex, a first interface adapted to allow a visitor to the building complex to request access to the building complex, wherein the request comprises an identifier for one of the plurality of units, a second interface adapted to provide a connection to each of a plurality of electronic devices associated with each of the plurality of units, and a control unit connected to the electronic lock, the first interface and the second interface, wherein the computer program product comprises program code embodied therein for causing the control unit to forward, using the second interface, a request received at the first interface to an electronic device associated with one of the plurality of units identified using the identifier, and operate the electronic lock in response to a control signal received from the electronic device of the identified unit, wherein the computer program product further comprises analyze a plurality of requests to the identified unit received within a predefined time frame and corresponding operations of the electronic lock, receive a predefined request pattern from a server arranged externally from the door entry system, match timestamps for making each of the plurality of requests and corresponding operations of the electronic lock with the predefined request pattern, and determine a type of request behavior from a plurality of predefined types of request behaviors based on a result of the matching. Also this aspect of the present disclosure provides similar advantages as discussed above in relation to the previous aspects of the present disclosure.

A software executed by the server for operation in accordance to the present disclosure may be stored on a computer readable medium, being any type of memory device, including one of a removable nonvolatile random-access memory, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a USB memory, an SD memory card, or a similar computer readable medium known in the art.

Further features of, and advantages with, the present disclosure will become apparent when studying the appended claims and the following description. The skilled addressee realize that different features of the present disclosure may be combined to create embodiments other than those described in the following, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various aspects of the present disclosure, including its particular features and advantages, will be readily understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 conceptually illustrates a door entry system according to a currently preferred embodiment of the present disclosure,

Fig. 2 provides a possible illustration of the door entry system of Fig. 1 provided in relation to a building complex, and

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. This present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the skilled addressee. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout.

Referring now to the drawings and to Figs. 1 and 2 in particular, there is depicted a door entry system 100 according to a possible embodiment of the present disclosure for use in relation to a building complex 102 comprising a plurality of units 104, 106, 108. The door entry system 100 further comprises a control unit 110 connected to a first 112 and a second 114 interface. The first interface 112 is generally provided for allowing a visitor 114 to the building complex 102 to request access to the building complex 102. As such, the first interface 112 may for example be implemented as a touch screen 116 (or simple keypad) arranged at an entry door 118 of the building complex 102, for anyone to see typically being outside of the entry door 118 of the building complex 102. The visitor 114 may interact with the first interface 112, using e.g., the touch screen 116 to get in contact with an occupant 120, 122, 124 of one of the plurality of units 104, 106, 108, respectively.

The second interface 114 is in turn provided for forming a connection between the first interface 112 and the occupants 120, 122, 124. For example, the second interface 114 can provide for a connection with electronic devices 126, 128, 130 controlled by the occupants 120, 122, 124, respectively. The electronic devices 126, 128, 130 may in some embodiments be fixed arranged at the plurality of units 104, 106, 108, respectively. Alternatively, the electronic devices 126, 128, 130 may e.g., include mobile electronic user devices, such as mobile phones, operated by the occupants 120, 122, 124.

The door entry system 100 further comprises an electronic lock 132 arranged at the entry door 118 of the building complex 102. The electronic lock 132 is arranged in communication with the electronic devices 126, 128, 130 for allowing the occupants 120, 122, 124 to selectively allow the visitor 114 to enter through the entry door 118 if the visitor should be allowed to enter.

Additionally, the door entry system 100 may optionally comprise a camera 134 arranged at the entry door 118 of the building complex 102, where the camera 134 may be selectively activated for capturing an image or video sequence of visitors that are allowed, or not allowed, to enter through the entry door 118 of the building complex 102.

The control unit 110 may in some embodiments be provided as a component of a server (not shown) and may be implemented as software executed by the server, or may be provided as an explicit computing device for example including a general-purpose processor, an application specific processor, a circuit containing processing components, a group of distributed processing components, a group of distributed computers configured for processing, etc. The processor may be or include any number of hardware components for conducting data or signal processing or for executing computer code stored in memory.

The memory may be one or more devices for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating the various methods described in the present description. The memory may include volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The memory may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities of the present description. According to an exemplary embodiment, any distributed or local memory device may be utilized with the systems and methods of this description. According to an exemplary embodiment the memory is communicably connected to the processor (e.g., via a circuit or any other wired, wireless, or network connection.

A connection between the control unit 110, the first 112 and the second 114 interface as well as the electronic lock 132 may be by making use of a network connection. The networked connection may be in part be wired or wireless, including for example wired connections like a building LAN, a WAN, an Ethernet network, an IP network, etc., and wireless connections like WLAN, CDMA, GSM, GPRS, 3G mobile communications, 4G mobile communications, 5G mobile communications, Bluetooth, infrared, or similar. The server may in one embodiment be a cloud-based server. Thus, the computing power provided by means of the present disclosure may be distributed between a plurality of servers, and the location of the servers must not be explicitly defined. Advantageous following the use of a cloud-based solution is also the inherent redundancy achieved.

In a preferred implementation of the present disclosure, it may be possible to enrich the electronic devices 126, 128, 130, such as when the 126, 128, 130 are mobile phones, with e.g., a dedicated application (App) comprising a graphical user interface (GUI) provided and at least partly executed at the respective electronic device 126, 128, 130. The App of the respective electronic device 126, 128, 130 may be provided with a function for providing the service of selectively operating the electronic lock 132.

Similarly, the touch screen touch screen 116 of the first interface 112 may be provide with a GUI for allowing the visitor 114 to communicate with a desired electronic device 126, 128, 130 at the respective units 104, 106, 108.

During operation of the door entry system 100, with further reference to Fig. 3, the visitor 114 interacts with the touch screen touch screen 116 of the first interface 112 to form a request with the intention to enter through the entry door 118 and visit a specific unit, such as unit 104 and its occupant 120. The entry request is forwarded, SI, from the first interface 112 to e.g., the electronic device 126 using the second interface 114. The request may for example comprise a voice message from the visitor 114 to the occupant 120.

The occupant 120 of the unit 104 will operate the App/GUI of the electronic device 126 to in some way verify if the visitor 114 is to be allowed to enter the building 102 and subsequently the unit 104. The verification may be implemented in different ways, possibly simply by listening to the voice message from the visitor 114, where the visitor 114 states his business.

Once the occupant 120 has verified the visitor 114, the occupant operates the App/GUI of the electronic device 126 to generate a control signal that is provided for operating, S2, the electronic lock 132 to allow the visitor 114 to enter the building 102. Optionally and as stated above, the camera 134 may be selectively activated for capturing an image or video sequence of visitors that are allowed, or not allowed, to enter through the entry door 118 of the building complex 102.

However, in line with the present disclosure the control unit 110 is provided for performing additional “back office” processing. Specifically, in accordance to the present disclosure the control unit 110 will analyze, S3, a plurality of subsequent requests to the unit 104 received within a predefined time frame and corresponding operations of the electronic lock 132. As an example, the control unit 110 may store all, or at least a portion of all, requests from visitors to a specific unit 104, and the time when these requests were made. Additionally, the control unit 110 may also store all, or at least a portion of all, the times the electronic lock 132 was operated for allowing the visitors to enter, and the time when these electronic lock operations were made.

The timestamps for these requests and corresponding electronic lock operations will then be matched, S4, with predetermined request patterns. These predetermined request patterns will in turn be related to known patterns that have been previously observed in relation to other units, possibly in other buildings. The predetermined request patterns can also possibly be simulated without any, or just some, involvement with actual units and their occupants. The predetermined request patterns will furthermore be representative, as discussed above, for different type of units and occupants, possibly being related to how the unit is occupied, e.g. if it is known that the unit is occupied by e.g. a family, an elderly couple, a young couple, an Airbnb rental, an apartment brothel, a drug dealer, etc.

The control unit 110 is then also adapted to determine, S5, an indication of a request behavior based on a result of the matching. That is, the control unit 110 may in some embodiments apply a pattern recognition scheme or a matching scheme for determining how well a “request pattern” for a specific unit, such as unit 104, matches different types of predetermined request patterns that each is defined to correspond to a specific type of occupants. The pattern recognition scheme of the matching scheme may for example be implemented to determine a probability for each of the specific type of occupants. Based on the outcome of the matching, it may be desirable to inform the true owner of the unit of a manager of the building complex 102.

In accordance to the present disclosure, it may in some embodiments be possible to make use of the predetermined request patterns relating to the specific type of occupants for training a machine learning component or components that in turn may be used by the control unit 110 for determining the indication of the request behavior for a specific or a plurality of units within the building complex 102. The machine learning scheme may possibly comprise a neural network-based scheme that makes use of the timestamps for making each of the plurality of requests as inputs for determining the request behavior.

In summary, the present disclosure relates to a a door entry system arranged to allow access to a building complex comprising a plurality of units, the door entry system comprising an electronic lock arranged at an entry point to the building complex, a first interface adapted to allow a visitor to the building complex to request access to the building complex, wherein the request comprises an identifier for one of the plurality of units, a second interface adapted to provide a connection to each of a plurality of electronic devices associated with each of the plurality of units, and a control unit connected to the electronic lock, the first interface and the second interface, wherein the control unit is adapted to forward, using the second interface, a request received at the first interface to an electronic device associated with one of the plurality of units identified, and operate the electronic lock in response to a control signal received from the electronic device of the identified unit, wherein the control unit is further adapted to analyze a plurality of requests to the identified unit received within a predefined time frame and corresponding operations of the electronic lock, receive a predefined request pattern from a server arranged externally from the door entry system, match timestamps for making each of the plurality of requests and corresponding operations of the electronic lock with the received predefined request pattern, and determine a type of a request behavior from a plurality of predefined types of request behaviors based on a result of the matching.

By means of the present disclosure, there is provided an automated and integrity keeping scheme for allowing access to a building complex, such as an office building or an apartment complex, where it is still possible to maintain a high level of understanding of what is taking place within the building complex. In accordance to the present disclosure this is achieved by analyzing a behavioral pattern of when visitors to the building complex is requesting access to a specific unit within the building complex, and when and if such visitors are allowed to access the building complex. This behavioral pattern can thus be identified without having to implement complex camera-based surveillance, possibly including face recognition.

The control functionality of the present disclosure may be implemented using existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computer processor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or another purpose, or by a hardwire system. Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure include program products comprising machine- readable medium for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example, such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures, and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as a machine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed a machine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executable instructions include, for example, instructions and data which cause a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions.

The memory may be one or more devices for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating the various methods described in the present description. The memory may include volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The memory may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities of the present description. According to an exemplary embodiment, any distributed or local memory device may be utilized with the systems and methods of this description. According to an exemplary embodiment the memory is communicably connected to the processor (e.g., via a circuit or any other wired, wireless, or network connection) and includes computer code for executing one or more processes described herein.

Although the figures may show a sequence the order of the steps may differ from what is depicted. Also, two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Such variation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. All such variations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, software implementations could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and other logic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps, comparison steps and decision steps. Additionally, even though the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific exemplifying embodiments thereof, many different alterations, modifications and the like will become apparent for those skilled in the art.

In addition, variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by the skilled addressee in practicing the claimed present disclosure, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. Furthermore, in the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality.