FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic security systems. In particular, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to methods and systems for controlling access to an enclosed area such as, without limitation, a building or a room within a building, a cabinet, a parking lot, a fenced-in region, or an elevator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Access control systems are commonly used to limit access to enclosed areas such as buildings, rooms within buildings, or fenced-in regions to only those people who have permission to enter. Conventional access control systems include access card readers at doors of the secured building. People who have permission to enter the building are provided an access control card that can be read by the access card readers. The card reader reads information from the card, and communicates the information to a control panel, which determines whether the door should be unlocked. If the door should be unlocked (i.e., the card is associated with a person who has permission to enter), the control panel then sends a signal to the locking mechanism of the door causing it to unlock. Conventional access control systems have several drawbacks and fail to take advantage of available modern technologies.

For example, in most conventional systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) is used for identification of the card to the access control system. The access card reader includes an RFID transceiver, and the access card includes an RFID tag or transponder. The RFID transceiver transmits a radio frequency query to the card as the card passes over it. The transponder includes a silicon chip and an antenna that enables the card to receive and respond to the RF query. The response is typically an RF signal that includes a pre-programmed identification (ID) number. The card reader receives the signal and transmits the ID number to the control panel via a wire connection. Conventional card readers are not very sophisticated. These card readers may perform some basic formatting of the identification data prior to sending it to the control panel, but are generally unable to perform higher level functions.

The control panel is typically mounted on a wall somewhere in the building. The control panel conventionally includes a bank of relays that are each controlled by a controller device. The controller device accesses memory to determine whether the identification number received from the card reader is recognized and valid. If so, the controller causes the associated relay to open (or close) to thereby send a signal to the door lock, which causes the lock to enter the unlocked state. The lock typically remains unlocked for a specified amount of time.

Conventional control panels have several drawbacks. For one, control panels consume a relatively large amount of space in relation to the number of doors they control. A control panel typically includes a specified number of relay banks, with each bank uniquely associated with the door it controls. For example, a control panel may have eight relay banks to control eight doors. Such a control panel could easily take up a 2 square foot area when mounted on a wall. If more than eight doors need to be controlled, then an additional control panel must be installed.

In addition, the “closed” architecture of conventional control panels make them inflexible, costly to maintain, and not user friendly. The closed architecture of the conventional control panels means that their design, functionality, specifications are not disclosed by the manufacturers or owners. In addition, control panel design is typically very complex, and specialized to a particular purpose, which renders them inaccessible by a typical building owner who has no specialized knowledge. As a result, when a control panel fails or needs to be upgraded, the building owner has no choice but to call a specialized technician to come onsite to perform maintenance or upgrading. The monetary cost of such a technician's services can be very high. In addition, a great deal of time could be wasted waiting for the technician to travel to the site. To solve the above mentioned problems and drawbacks, the inventions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,775,429 were developed. The details of U.S. Pat. No. 7,775,429 are incorporated into the present disclosure by reference in their entirety and for all proper purposes. It is upon these inventions that the present disclosure capitalizes and provides further improvement to existing systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for controlling access to a controlled area. The method may comprise receiving a credential identifier in an access controller associated with an entrance to the enclosed area, and then authenticating the card identification signal. The method may then comprise sending an unlock signal through a solid state relay within the access controller to power a lock associated with but external to the access controller to unlock a door at the entrance to the enclosed area when the credential identifier has been successfully authenticated.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides an access control device for controlling access to an enclosed area. The access control device may comprise a communication module configured to receive a credential identifier, a local input/output module configured to send an unlock signal to power a lock external to the access control device to unlock a door at an entrance to the enclosed area when the credential identifier has been successfully authenticated, and a solid state relay within the access control device through which the unlock signal is sent.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure provides a system for controlling access to one or more enclosed areas. The system may comprise at least one access controller comprising a solid state relay. Each access controller may be capable of controlling access through an entrance to an enclosed area. The system may also comprise an access control server in communication with the at least one access controller, the access control server being capable of controlling the operation of the solid state relay within the at least one access controller. In a network mode of operation, the access control server may be configured to perform authentication of a credential identifier received from the at least one access controller and to send an unlock signal through the solid state relay at the at least one access controller to power a lock external to the at least one access controller to unlock a door at the entrance to the enclosed area when the access control server has successfully authenticated the received card identification signal. In a standalone mode of operation, the at least one access card controller may be configured to perform local authentication of a received credential identifier independently of the access control server and to send an unlock signal through a local solid state relay of the at least one access controller to power a lock external to the at least one access controller to unlock a door at the entrance to the enclosed area when the at least one access controller has successfully authenticated the received credential identifier. Each access controller may be configured to serve, from the access controller, configuration data that can be displayed by a device external to the access controller.

