Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ELECTRONIC SECURITY SYSTEM, PREFERABLY FOR
PROTECTING RESIDENCES WITH TELEVISION CABLE
CONNECTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic security
system, in particular for the protection of
residences, a protected space of which is provided
with a main frame to which a device for actuating
the main frame and at least one sensor are
connected, said main frame being connected to a
central protection console via a transmission line
of cable television.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security systems are known for protecting groups of
enclosed rooms, such as residences, against burglary
and, possibly, against fire, against escaping gas
etc. Known safety systems of this type are created by
elements provided inside the protected facility, by
means of connecting elements and a central protection
console. Within the protected space a main frame is
located to which there are attached sensors and a
device for controlling the main frame. At the same
time such device can serve as proof of authorization
for the entry into the protected space or, as the
case may be, for adjusting new conditions for
entering the same. The main frame can be connected to
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a standby power supply and/or to a siren. The sensors
in their substance are loops with bistable output:
open/closed. They are either active, namely requiring
power supply, such as infrared sensors or sensors
detecting variations of electromagnetic or acoustic
oscillations, or passive, without any supply, such as
magnetic contacts and microswitches. The binary
(bistable) information is transmitted from the sensor
to the main frame by a cable or by RF transmission.
The purpose of the main frame is to evaluate the
condition of the sensors and the information incoming
from the control device and, after evaluation, to
send an alarm or another information to the central
protection console or, if case be, to switch on a
siren.
The control device of the main frame receives the
identification information from the entering person
by way of a mechanical, magnetic or electronic key
inserted by the entering person into the device or by
means of a code keyboard actuated by such person. The
code keyboard can also serve as a means for
readjusting the conditions of entry into the
protected space. Upon entering of a person into the
protected space, e.g., a magnetic sensor actuates a
timing device in the main frame, and the entering
person must switch off the system within a certain
time limit by using his/her key or keyboard, or else
an assault of the protected space is signalled. As a
rule, the person is notified by an acoustic or light
signal that the time limit is coming to its end.
Known security systems have their own telephone link
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for transmitting the data from the main frame to the
protection console, and namely in form of a binary
information, or using a current telephone link also
in form of a binary information in a frequency range
over that of the telephone calls, or in digital form
in the voice range. Protection systems are known
where the transmission of information from the local
main frame to the protection console uses cable
television lines. In these systems the standard main
frames in the respective protected residences are
periodically questioned by the central protection
console and each of them transmits information on its
condition with about 6 second periodicity.
An alarm device is known from the French patent
application No 7801103 transferring alarm signals
from a plurality of alarm transmitters to one or a
number of receivers. Different R/F signals from
different transmitters are transferred through one
coaxial network in form of a frequency range in the
above system. One embodiment of such system is
designed so as to allow the receiver to register
normal condition if a modulated carrier frequency is
present, whereas it registers an alarm condition if
solely the carrier frequency is present, and whenever
any signal is missing, the receiver will register a
failure.
The disadvantage of this system as well as further
known security systems
using cable television links for transfer resides in
their easy vulnerability, the protected object being
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left without monitoring between two questions of the
central protection console, which allows an emulator
to be connected.
Various documents, e.g. the published German
l0 patent application No 4241526, disclose safety
systems using chip cards as keys.
If a security system is generally envisaged for broad
implementation in family houses, blocks of flats or,
possibly, in town districts, the system should meet
the following requirements: - its technology shall
comply with valid standards, - its actuation shall be
accessible for persons over 8 years of age, - it
shall be secured against misuse of access rights, -
it shall be affordable, at least in its standard
version, for all social strata living in the
respective area of application, - it shall be
sufficiently flexible for offering diversified levels
of comfort according to the wishes and social status
of the users.
The drawback of known security systems resides in the
fact that they do not fulfill at least one of the
above requirements: The condition of free access for
persons over 8 years of age is met by systems
actuated by a mechanical or an electronic key.
However, the mechanical key systems do not fulfill
the requirement of securing against misuse of the
access authorization, if the key gets lost, whereas
the electronic key systems are not affordable for
broader social strata.
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OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an aim of the present invention
to create a security system meeting all the above
conditions of mass implementation in residential
districts.
The described aim is solved by an electronic
security system, preferably for securing
residences, a protected space of which is provided
with a main frame_to which a device for actuating
the main frame and at least one sensor are
connected, said main frame being connected to a
central protection console via a transmission line
of a cable television. The main frame of this
system is an identification processor embodied so
as to generate, in addition to zero condition for
inducing an alarm signal at the remote console of
central protection, at least one high frequency,
the device for actuating the main frame being a
device for reading cards with integrated chips, and
a group decoding device is being included between
the group of identification processors and the
central protection console for decoding a frequency
range generated by the identification processors.
In a preferred embodiment the identification
processor generates two different high frequencies
in addition to the zero alarm condition, while one
of these frequencies corresponds with the empty
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residence and the other frequency with a rightfully
occupied residence.
In an alternative embodiment of the security system
the identification processor is complemented with a
power source and/or an uninterruptible power
source, enabling the connection of at least one
active sensor and/or a code keyboard to the
identification processor.
In a preferable embodiment the identification
processors and the central protection console are
equipped with modems for bi-directional communication
between the identification processors and the central
protection console.
The television connecting cable within the protected
facility can integrate also the electric output of a
water meter, a gasometer, an electricity meter etc.
In such embodiment the system can supply a full
range of complementary functions in addition to that
of security.
According to a first broad aspect of an embodiment of
the present invention, there is disclosed an
electronic security system for securing a protected
space of a residence, the protected space of which is
provided with a main frame to which a device for
actuating the main frame and at least one sensor are
connected, said main frame being connected to a remote
central protection console via a transmission line of
a cable television, characterized in that the main
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frame is an identification processor embodied so as to
generate, in addition to a zero condition for inducing
an alarm signal at the remote central protection
console at least one high frequency, the device for
actuating the main frame being a device for reading
l0 cards with integrated chips, and a group decoding
device is being included between a group of
identification processors and the central protection
console for de-coding a frequency range generated by
the identification processors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be further explained by means of
examples of embodiments in the drawings, wherein:
2o Fig. 1 is a block wiring diagram of a basic
embodiment of the security system;
Fig. 2 is a block wiring diagram of a system with
group decoders; and
Fig. 3 is a block wiring diagram of a system equipped
with modems, power sources, uninterruptible power
sources, active sensors and code keyboards.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A basic embodiment of the security system comprises
identification processors 1 connected to residence
outlets 2 leading to TV sets 3. The identification
processors 1 are connected with devices 4 for reading
chip cards, or they can be directly parts thereof.
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The identification processor 1 is further connected
with a passive sensor 5 accommodated in the entrance
door of the residence. The home TV outlets 2 are
connected to a transceiving centre 8 of cable TV via
a standard TV transmitter 6 and via branches 7 of TV
cables. The branches 7 of the cable system meet in a
central protection console 9, which is a computer
subsystem for monitoring and processing alarm signals
and technical data from the protected facilities.
Permanent operator service is anticipated at the
central protection console 9.
The identification processor 1 is accommodated behind
the entrance door of the residence inside the
protected space. The passive sensor 5 can be, e.g. a
magnetic switch located in the residence entrance
door. The identification processor 1 transmits a
signal of frequency A into the cable television
network. Upon entering the residence door the
entering person actuates a time switch in the
identification processor 1 by means of the sensor 5.
During a preset time limit the entering person shall
insert hislher identification chip card into the
reading device 4. If the chip card has been
identified as authorized, the identification
processor 1 changes the frequency from A to B. If
this has not been done, or if the chip card has been
identified as unauthorized, the identification
processor 1 stops its transmission. Zero frequency is
alarm status. Every identification processor 1 of the
system has its own characteristic frequency A
corresponding with the empty residence and another
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characteristic frequency B corresponding with the
rightly occupied residence. The frequency A or B
transmitted by the identification processors 1 of the
system produce a range within the cable television
network that can be decoded by the central protection
to console 9. The console 9 registers the presence of
all components of the range, evaluating the condition
of all the protected residences, i.e. frequency A =
empty residence, frequency B = rightfully occupied
residence and frequency 0 = assailed residence. In
the last case alarm is announced and a mobile
intervention unit is set to operation.
It is obvious that the system can substantially
function also if the identification processors
transmit only one frequency that is common for the
case of an empty and a rightfully occupied
residence, the zero frequency being reserved for the
case of an assaulted residence.
In the described simplest basic embodiment the
number of protected facilities/residences within the
system is limited to 1024 by transmission
capacities. For an increase of this number an
expanded security system according to Fig. 2 has
3o been designed that is provided with group decoders
10 included in the section of the TV transmitters 6.
The group decoders 10 transmit their own
frequencies. Their objective is to analyze the
frequency range transmitted by the respective
identification processors 1, any change of frequency
of any single processor 1 between the levels of A,
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B, and 0 manifesting itself by a frequency change of
the group decoder 10, which is registered by the
central protection console 9. At the same time the
group decoder 10 connects the respective
identification processor 1 with the central
protection console 9, thus ensuring the registration
of changes in the residence.
The above description of the basic as well as the
expanded embodiment of the security system specifies
the basic equipment of the protected residence being
created by the identification processor 1 with
device 4 for reading chip cards and one passive
sensor 5 in the entrance door. Such equipment is
capable of fulfilling the basic protective function
for the residence. However, the system allows to
install supplementary devices connected to the
identification processor 1 as standard mainframe,
being optional according to the wishes of the owners
of the respective flats.
Thus the user comfort can be further increased. The
identification processors 1 can be connected to a
power source 11, which allows to install active
sensors 12 connected to processor 1. For the case of
power failure an uninterruptible power source
(BATTERY) 13 is installed. After its capacity has
been exhausted, the identification processor 1
switches to condition zero and the central
protection console 9 identifies the status of
intrusion. The power source 11 allows further a code
keyboard 14 to be connected. By the keyboard 14,
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e.g., the conditions of access to the residence can
be modified by the residence owner.
The above described embodiments of the invention
enable only one way communication within the
security system, and namely from the identification
processors 1 to the central protection console 9. A
higher degree security system, from the viewpoint of
its users, is represented by an embodiment wherein
the central protection console 9 is equipped with a
modem 15 for bi-directional communication, and also
the residences can be optionally provided with
modems 15 for bi-directional communication. Such
comprehensive safety system according to Fig. 3
enables, on the one hand, the central protection
console 9 to recognize the type of announced failure
and, on the other hand, to execute control
interventions in various residences, such as
regulating temperature, humidity etc. The
bi-directional communication uses the frequency from
5 to 29 MHz.
The security system is characterized by a relatively
high resistance against intrusion. In an attempt to
replace the missing frequency of the protected
facility by emulation, even a minute interruption
before connecting the emulator will be sufficient for
the central protection console 9 to register an
assault and to identify the respective facility. If
the mains are switched off, the function of the basic
embodiments of the security system remains
unaffected. In the residences having the security
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system connected to the power source 11, the
uninterruptible power source 13 takes over. After the
exhaustion of the uninterruptible power source 13 the
generation of frequency is interrupted and the
central protection console 9 registers a condition of
to disbalance.
If a key, i.e. a chip card may get lost, the user
notifies the operator of the central protection
console 9 of the loss, and the operator will adjust
the identification processor 1 according to the code
of the new key. If the residence is equipped with
its own code keyboard 14, the user can make his own
readjustment.
The security system according to the invention
allows the protected facilities, even the
neighboring ones, to be equipped in different ways,
from the basic execution down to the most
sophisticated one.
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