GB2525881A - Alarm network communication - Google Patents

Alarm network communication Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2525881A
GB2525881A GB1408033.7A GB201408033A GB2525881A GB 2525881 A GB2525881 A GB 2525881A GB 201408033 A GB201408033 A GB 201408033A GB 2525881 A GB2525881 A GB 2525881A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
alarm
dial
isp
alarm system
communication path
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB1408033.7A
Other versions
GB201408033D0 (en
Inventor
Andrew Kelly
Darragh Maxwell
John O'donnell
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Siemens Elema AB
Siemens AB
Original Assignee
Siemens Elema AB
Siemens AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Siemens Elema AB, Siemens AB filed Critical Siemens Elema AB
Priority to GB1408033.7A priority Critical patent/GB2525881A/en
Publication of GB201408033D0 publication Critical patent/GB201408033D0/en
Publication of GB2525881A publication Critical patent/GB2525881A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/06—Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B25/00—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
    • G08B25/004—Alarm propagated along alternative communication path or using alternative communication medium according to a hierarchy of available ways to communicate, e.g. if Wi-Fi not available use GSM
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B25/00—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems
    • G08B25/01—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems characterised by the transmission medium
    • G08B25/08—Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems characterised by the transmission medium using communication transmission lines
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
    • H04L12/2854—Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
    • H04L12/2856—Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access
    • H04L12/2858—Access network architectures
    • H04L12/2859—Point-to-point connection between the data network and the subscribers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/34—Signalling channels for network management communication
    • H04L41/344—Out-of-band transfers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/40—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M11/00—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
    • H04M11/04—Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
    • H04L12/2854—Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks
    • H04L12/2856—Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access
    • H04L12/2863—Arrangements for combining access network resources elements, e.g. channel bonding
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/01—Protocols
    • H04L67/12—Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/14—Multichannel or multilink protocols

Abstract

A method of communication in an alarm network comprising one or more alarm systems (2, 3, 4) and an alarm receiving station (5) comprises setting up a primary internet protocol (IP) packet-based communication path (not depicted) for the, or each, alarm system; setting up a secondary IP-based communication path via a dial-up Internet Service Provider (ISP) 15 for the, or each, alarm system and sending alarm information from the, or each, alarm system to the alarm receiving station along both communication paths. Embodiments are described wherein the secondary path is used as a fail-over/back-up path in case of failure or unavailability of the first path and also wherein parallel transmission along both paths is described, possibly simultaneously sending the same message along both paths to be merged and processed at the receiving station. The, or each, alarm system may create a point-to-point connection with the dial-up ISP, which may provide an IP address to the, or each, alarm system. The primary path may be an Ethernet or GPRS-based connection to the internet. The connection to the dial-up ISP may be via a PSTN or GSM modem.

Description

ALARM NETWORK COMMUNICATION
This invention relates to a method of communication in an alarm system.
Alarm systems are typically installed at a site or location and monitored remotely. For example the alarm system may be installed on a building, or a series of buildings, or on one or more pieces of equipment at the site. Whether the alarm systems are monitored remotely, or at the site, they need to be able to communicate with an alarm receiving station. For efficiency, the alarm receiving station typically monitors many sites and so is usually at a location remote from the site at which the alarm system is installed.
As well as using alarms to indicate an intmsion into a site, an alarm may be used to provide data about operation of machinery or events, such as fire or flooding that require some action in response. The more data that is available to the alarm receiving centre about the cause of the alarm, the better the centre is able to determine what response is required. This data may contain sensitive information which the operator of the site shes to keep confidential and it is desirable to have a back-up transmission mechanism in case of faults. Different technologies may be used to communicate between the alarm system and alarm receiving centre and it is desirable to have the back-up communication route using a different technology to the main communication technology.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a method of communication in an alann network comprising one or more alarm systems and an alarm receiving station comprises setting up a primary internet protocol (IP) packet based communication path for the or each alarm system; setting up a secondary IP based communication path for the or each alarm system and sending alarm information between the or each alarm system and the alarm receiving station along both communication paths; wherein the alarm network further comprises a dial-up internet service provider (ISP); and, wherein the secondary communication path from the or each alarm system is via the dial-up internet service provider.
Preferably, the alarm system creates a point to point protocol connection with the dial-up ISP.
Preferably, the dial-up ISP provides an IP address to the alanu system.
Preferably, the secondary communication path carries IP packet based communications to the alarm receiving station via the dial-up ISP.
The primary communication path may also be via the dial-up ISP, but preferably, the primary communication path is via the internet.
Preferably, the primary communication path connects to the internet via an Ethernet or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) modem.
Preferably, the secondary communication path connects to the dial-up ISP via one of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) modem or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modem.
An example of an alarm system and method according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompany drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an example of an alarm system network comprising multiple alarm systems and an alarm receiving centre, in which the method of the present invention may be used; Figure 2 illustrates in more detail the alarm systems of Fig. I connected to the alarm receiving centre such that the method of the present invention may be used; and, Figure 3 is a flow diagram of the method of the present invention.
In any communications device of an alarm system at supervised premises, there is a need to be able to communicate securely with an alarm receiving station, for example an alarm receiving centre where operators monitor and respond to alarm signals e.g. from buildings, or an alarm base station for monitoring alarmed moveable equipment. In some cases the alarm receiving centre may receive and process alarm signals from an alarm base station which acts as a local alarm receiving centre for alarmed moveable equipment. The alarm system and alarm receiving centre form part of an alarm network.
An alarm network may comprise one or more alarm systems and an alarm receiving station, With building based intruder alarms, one of the alarm systems may be co-located with the alarm receiving centre, but generally all of the alarm systems are sited remote from the alarm receiving centre. Fig.] illustrates an example of such an alarm network I, in this case showing up to n alarm systems 2, 3, 4 connected to an alarm receiving centre via a network 6, such as the internet, although other types of network connection, such as cable or telephone networks or local area networks may be used, depending on the distances and type of communication appropriate for the application.
As mentioned above, communications between an alarm system and an alarm receiving centre may use one of several different technologies. The most commonly used are a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) modem, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modem and Ethernet. Modem calls over a PSTN or GSM modem, using pulse or Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) technology, is the traditional way to transmit alarm information. The PSTN modems typically communicate with the alarm receiving centre using traditional alarm protocols such as Security Industry Association (SIA) protocol or Contact ID protocols. These protocols are not IP based and are very limited in the information that they can transfer. In many parts of Europe these protocols are problematic, SIA in particular, because of changes in the telephone network to digital phone lines and these problems are expected to get Ethernet, using IP packet messages, is becoming more popular at both the alarm system and the alarm receiving centre. However, although the main route for transmission of alarm information may be Ethernet, or other similar technology, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), the traditional PSTN and/or GSM technologies still have a place as a back-up route, or where the geographical coverage of Ethernet is limited, since Ethernet does not have the geographical coverage of PSTN/GSM..
When using a back up communication path, it is desirable that it should use of a different technology to the primary communication path, so, if the primary path uses Ethernet to communicate between the alarm system and the alarm receiving centre, the backup path or paths use a different technology to communicate, which may be PSTN and/or GSM technologies. However, if the issue is one of limited Ethernet coverage, then the primary and secondary paths may both use PSIN or GSM technologies.
Where Ethernet is the primary technology, the alarm receiving centre is Internet Protocol (IP) based, so for convenience, it is preferable to receive data on the backup route using IP Packets in the same format as would be sent on the primary path.
Similarly, even if the only communication route available to a particular alarm system is dependent upon PSTN or GSM technologies, the alarm receiving centre may well be set up for IP based communication.
However, sending IP Packets over PSTN may cause problems at the alarm receiving centre because this requires the alarm receiving centre to have substantial technology in place to handle simultaneous communication with many alarm systems calling directly, e.g. multiple phone lines, multiple modems, usually in modem banks; and suitable infrastructure, which may be hardware and/or software, to merge, or convert, the messages received over the direct modem connection to an IP based network message. The costs of this, as well as the added complexity make such a combination less attractive.
The present invention solves this problem by using a dial-up service provider in the alarm network, so instead of the alarm system making a modem phone call direct to the alarm receiving centre, the alarm system phones a dial-up Internet Service Provider (ISP). The alarm system creates a point to point, or peer to peer, protocol (PPP) connection with the ISP which, if successful, results in the ISP providing an IP Address to the alarm system. The alarm system continues to communicate with the alarm receiving centre via the internet connection provided by the dial-up ISP The alarm receiving centre receives the communications in exactly the same way as it would have for Ethernet or GPRS. The alarm system communication with the alarm receiving centre uses a dial-up internet connection using the phone network. Once the internet connection is established with the dial-up ISP the alarm system communicates with the alarm receiving centre using IP packets that are sent through the phone line to the dial-up ISP and then to the alarm receiving centre using the internet, By having the alarm system create an internet connection with a third party dial-up ISP, there is no need for the alarm receiving system to provide similar technology.
The dial-up ISP may well provide a much more comprehensive phone line/modem technological solution, catering for more simultaneous phone calls, than the alarm receiving centre would wish to install for itself The alarm system connects to the dial-up ISP, negotiates the PPP connection and communicates with the alarm receiving centre via the PPP connection, The advantages of this are that the solution requires no additional modem/phone line infrastructure at the alarm receiving centre; no additional hardware or software at the alarm receiving centre to manage the direct modem connection between the alarm system and the alarm receiving centre and phone calls to the dial-up ISP are usually charged at a local rate making a more cost effective solution than phoning the ARC directly.
An example of the method of the present invention is shown in Figs.2 and 3.
The alarm network 1 in the example of Figs.2 and 3, as in Fig.i, comprises multiple alarm systems 2, 3,4 and an alarm receiving centreS, In addition, a dial-up ISP ISis provided. Each of the alarm systems creates a PPP connection 12, 13, 14 over a PSTN modem to the dial-up ISP and the ISP then sets up an IP connection 17 to the alarm receiving centre via the internet 16. For clarity, the primary communication path from the alarm system via the internet to the alarm receiving centre is not shown on Fig,2.
As mentioned above, in some cases the alarm network may operate the dial-up ISP connection as the main path, rather than just as a back-up.
As illustrated in Fig.3, the method comprises installing 20 an alarm system in the alarm system network I and checking 21 whether the path has a connection to the internet, e.g. Ethernet. If there is 22 a connection to the internet, the alarm system data is sent 27 via the internet as IP packets. lIP packet based communication on a primary communication path which uses the internet to transfer messages between the alarm system and the alarm receiving station is the preferred option for the primary communication path, although, as explained above, where Ethernet coverage is insufficient, the primary communication path may not take this form, The alarm system data is received 28 and processed by the alarm receiving station.
In the case where the path does not 23 have a connection to the internet, or in parallel, where the primary communication path does not have a connection to the internet, a secondary communication path is set up 24. This secondary, or non-internet, path sends a message via a PSTN modem or GSM modem to negotiate 24 a PPP connection with the dial-up ISP IS. The dial-up ISP sends a local IP address to the alarm system and in the event of an alarm, the alarm system uses this IP address to send an alarm message to the dial-up ISP, the dial-up ISP acting as a gateway 25 allowing access to the internet. The dial-up ISP enables 24 the alarm message or data to be sent 26as an lIP packet based communication to the alarm receiving station over the internet connection provided by the ISP. At the alarm receiving station, two alarm messages received via different paths may be merged and processed 28, as they appear in the same format to the alarm receiving station.
Communications between the alarm system and the alarm receiving centre may be encrypted, for example as described in our co-pending patent application reference no. 20l4E07385GB, or using conventional symmetric key encryption, where the same encryption key is entered at both the alarm system and the alarm receiving centre before any direct communication between the two can take place. The encryption key may be a 256-bit encryption key, which is usually written as 64 hexadecimal characters (0-9, A-F).
The formatting of alarm event messages from the alarm system to the alarm receiving centre may be adapted as described in our co-pending patent application reference no. 20htP07390 GB to increase the amount of information which can be transmitted to the alarm receiving centre when an alarm occurs.
The configuration of the alarm system and alarm receiving centre may be carried out as described in our co-pending patent application reference no. 2014P07389 GB.

Claims (7)

  1. CLAIMS1. A method of communication in an alann network comprising one or more alarm systems and an alarm receiving station; the method comprising setting up a primary internet protocol (IP) packet based communication path for the or each alarm system; setting up a secondary IP based communication path for the or each alarm system and sending alarm information between the or each alarm system and the alarm receiving station along both communication paths; wherein the alarm network further comprises a dial-up internet service provider; and, wherein the secondary communication path from the or each alarm system is via the dial-up internet service provider.
  2. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the alarm system creates a point to point protocol connection with the dial-up ISP.
  3. 3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the dial-up ISP provides an IP address to the alarm system.
  4. 4. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the secondary communication path carries IP packet based communications to the alarm receiving station via the dial-up ISP.
  5. 5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the primary communication path is via the internet,
  6. 6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the primary communication path connects to the internet via an Ethernet or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) modem.
  7. 7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the secondary communication path connects to the dial-up ISP via one of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) modem or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modem.
GB1408033.7A 2014-05-07 2014-05-07 Alarm network communication Withdrawn GB2525881A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1408033.7A GB2525881A (en) 2014-05-07 2014-05-07 Alarm network communication

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1408033.7A GB2525881A (en) 2014-05-07 2014-05-07 Alarm network communication

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GB201408033D0 GB201408033D0 (en) 2014-06-18
GB2525881A true GB2525881A (en) 2015-11-11

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Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6215404B1 (en) * 1999-03-24 2001-04-10 Fernando Morales Network audio-link fire alarm monitoring system and method
US20020147982A1 (en) * 1999-07-20 2002-10-10 @Security Broadband Corp Video security system
US20040086093A1 (en) * 2002-10-29 2004-05-06 Schranz Paul Steven VoIP security monitoring & alarm system
US20040151282A1 (en) * 2002-05-22 2004-08-05 Jones Russell K. Condition detection and notification systems and methods
US20100204924A1 (en) * 1998-12-17 2010-08-12 Hach Company Method and system for remote monitoring of fluid quality and treatment
WO2011134064A1 (en) * 2010-04-26 2011-11-03 Tyco Safety Products Canada Ltd. Alarm system providing redundant alarm signalling over mobile handsets
US20120027010A1 (en) * 2002-06-20 2012-02-02 Harvey Alexander Elliot Alarm system ip network with pstn output
US20140077956A1 (en) * 2012-09-20 2014-03-20 Masimo Corporation Intelligent medical network edge router

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20100204924A1 (en) * 1998-12-17 2010-08-12 Hach Company Method and system for remote monitoring of fluid quality and treatment
US6215404B1 (en) * 1999-03-24 2001-04-10 Fernando Morales Network audio-link fire alarm monitoring system and method
US20020147982A1 (en) * 1999-07-20 2002-10-10 @Security Broadband Corp Video security system
US20040151282A1 (en) * 2002-05-22 2004-08-05 Jones Russell K. Condition detection and notification systems and methods
US20120027010A1 (en) * 2002-06-20 2012-02-02 Harvey Alexander Elliot Alarm system ip network with pstn output
US20040086093A1 (en) * 2002-10-29 2004-05-06 Schranz Paul Steven VoIP security monitoring & alarm system
WO2011134064A1 (en) * 2010-04-26 2011-11-03 Tyco Safety Products Canada Ltd. Alarm system providing redundant alarm signalling over mobile handsets
US20140077956A1 (en) * 2012-09-20 2014-03-20 Masimo Corporation Intelligent medical network edge router

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)