US-12625087-B2 - Process of determination of a percentage of glass surface to treat and associated mobile application

US12625087B2US 12625087 B2US12625087 B2US 12625087B2US-12625087-B2

Abstract

A process of determination of a percentage of glass surface to treat with a decoating process in a defined enclosed space in order to reach a predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission at a predetermined frequency, using a database. The process contains the following: measurement of the inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude; calculation of an expected attenuation level; identification, in said database, of reference percentages of treated surface where the corresponding reference attenuation levels are inferior or equal to the expected attenuation level; determination of a percentage of glass surface to treat in the defined enclosed space corresponding to the identified reference percentage of treated surface where the corresponding reference attenuation level is minimum.

Inventors

Xavier RADU
Michael BRUSCAGLIA

Assignees

AGC GLASS EUROPE
AGC Inc.
AGC FLAT GLASS NORTH AMERICA, INC.
AGC VIDROS DO BRASIL LTDA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20211015
Priority Date: 20201016

Claims (16)

1 . A process of determination of a percentage of a glass surface to treat, such treatment performed in a defined enclosed space in order to reach a predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission at a predetermined frequency, using a database stored in a memory; said defined enclosed space comprising an exterior partition of a total surface; said database comprising reference attenuation levels measured at said predetermined frequency for different reference percentages of a treated surface; said process comprising: measuring, with an antenna, of an inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude at said predetermined frequency in at least one location of an inside and/or outside of said defined enclosed space; calculating, with a processing circuitry, of an expected attenuation level as a function of the inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude and of said predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission, inside said defined enclosed space, at said predetermined frequency; identifying, with the processing circuitry, in said database, of a reference percentage of treated surface where corresponding reference attenuation levels are inferior or equal to said expected attenuation level; and determining, with the processing circuitry, of a percentage of glass surface to treat in said defined enclosed space corresponding to the identified reference percentage of treated surface where the corresponding reference attenuation level is at a minimum.
2 . The process of determination according to claim 1 , wherein the percentage of glass surface to treat and the reference percentage of the treated surface are calculated by normalizing a surface by the total surface of the exterior partition.
3 . The process of determination according to claim 1 , wherein, said defined enclosed space comprising an exterior partition of a total glass surface inferior or equal to said total surface, after the determining, said process checks if said determined percentage of glass surface to treat is inferior to a maximum percentage value, said maximum percentage value corresponding to the total glass surface divided by the total surface.
4 . The process of determination according to claim 1 , wherein: said defined enclosed space comprises an exterior partition with a type of glass; and said database comprises a reference enclosed space, with an exterior partition of a type of glass, where reference attenuation levels were measured at said predetermined frequency for different reference percentages of treated surface; and the identifying, in said database, further comprises a selection of a reference enclosed space with the same type of glass as said reference enclosed space type of glass.
5 . The process of determination according to claim 1 , wherein said process further comprises: measuring of the outside electromagnetic signal amplitude at said predetermined frequency in at least one location outside of said defined enclosed space; measuring the inside electromagnetic signal amplitude at said predetermined frequency in at least one location inside said defined enclosed space; determining an initial attenuation level using a difference between said inside electromagnetic signal amplitude and said outside electromagnetic signal amplitude, at said predetermined frequency; and calculating an expected gain (Ga) equal to a difference between the reference attenuation level of said identified reference percentage of treated surface and said initial attenuation level.
6 . The process of determination according to claim 5 , wherein said defined enclosed space comprises multiple outside measurement locations, said initial attenuation level being determined between an inside measurement location and a closest outside measurement location.
7 . The process of determination according to claim 5 , wherein said defined enclosed space comprises multiple indoor measure locations, said initial attenuation level being determined by averaging the attenuation levels calculated for the multiple indoor measure locations.
8 . The process of determination according to claim 5 , wherein said process further comprises: treating said percentage of glass surface to treat in said defined enclosed space; measuring, after the treatment, of the inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude at said predetermined frequency in said at least one location inside and/or outside of said defined enclosed space; determining a final attenuation level using said inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude at said predetermined frequency; and calculating a real gain equal to a difference between said final attenuation level and said initial attenuation level.
9 . The process of determination according to claim 8 , further comprising calculating the difference between the expected gain and the real gain.
10 . The process of determination according to claim 8 , wherein said database is completed with the determined initial attenuation level and the final attenuation level calculated after treatment.
11 . The process of determination according to claim 9 , wherein said measurement of the outside electromagnetic signal amplitude is realized inside said enclosed space at a distance inferior to 1 m from an opening of the exterior partition.
12 . A mobile application configured to run the process according to claim 1 .
13 . The mobile application according to claim 12 , wherein the measuring of the inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitudes are realized using a network of a telecom operator to test a range of predetermined frequency corresponding to said telecom operator.
14 . The mobile application according to claim 12 , wherein said mobile application is shared between several smartphones or tablets, each using the network of a different operator.
15 . The mobile application according to claim 14 , wherein said mobile application is used by a device capable of testing several operator networks.
16 . A process for treating a glass surface, such treatment being performed in a defined enclosed space in order to reach a predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission at a predetermined frequency, using a database stored in a memory; said defined enclosed space comprising an exterior partition of a total surface; said database comprising reference attenuation levels measured at said predetermined frequency for different reference percentages of a treated surface; said process comprising: measuring, with an antenna, of an inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude at said predetermined frequency in at least one location of an inside and/or outside of said defined enclosed space; calculating, with a processing circuitry, of an expected attenuation level as a function of the inside and/or outside electromagnetic signal amplitude and of said predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission, inside said defined enclosed space, at said predetermined frequency; identifying, in said database, of a reference percentage of treated surface where corresponding reference attenuation levels are inferior or equal to said expected attenuation level; and determining, with the processing circuity, of a percentage of glass surface to treat in said defined enclosed space corresponding to the identified reference percentage of treated surface where the corresponding reference attenuation level is at a minimum, treating the determined percentage of the glass surface.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a National Stage entry under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT/EP2021/078577 filed Oct. 15, 2021, and claims priority to European Patent Application No. 20202380.0, filed on Oct. 16, 2020. The contents of each of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to the field of electromagnetic waves reception and/or transmission improvement in an enclosed space, such as a building, a train, a car, a boat . . . . More precisely, the invention deals with a process of determination of a percentage of glass surface to treat, in a defined enclosed space, in order to reach a predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission. Such treatment of glass surface can be an application of a film, a matching layer or like on the glass surface, an application of a glass panel, an adaptation of the structure of the glass, such as thickness, composition, . . . and/or a decoating process. Such treatment may be performed on site or in a factory beforehand or afterwards. Advantageously, the invention allows the user to foresee the possible network reception and/or transmission improvement he can hope to obtain before engaging in any construction, transformations or renovation works. BACKGROUND ART Depending on the position of a building compared to other building and to the position of the internet service provider's antennas, the level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission can substantially vary from one building to another, from one room to another or even from one position in the room to another. In the same manner, the position of a Wi-Fi router can lead to a bad reception and/or transmission in some areas of the building. The bad level of reception and/or transmission is often due to the presence of glass surfaces in the building combined with the high attenuation façade. For instance, glass is commonly used, either for windows or to separate rooms inside the building. However, some types of glass contain a metallic layer that acts as a Faraday cage to prevent electromagnetic waves from entering or leaving the room, thus leading to a bad reception and/or transmission. There are different solutions, proposed by the Applicant, which can improve the electromagnetic level of reception and/or transmission. Such solution in order to reach a predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission can be an application of a film, a matching layer or like on the glass surface, an application of a glass panel, an adaptation of the structure of the glass, such as thickness, composition, . . . and/or a decoating process. The treatment may be performed on site or in a factory beforehand or afterwards. The first solution, with a decoating process, consists in installing or changing a portion of glass surface to “wavethrough glass” that is almost transparent to radio signals (from 350 MHz to 70 GHz) and can significantly enhance the inside to outside and/or outside to inside communication in buildings while maintaining good thermal insulation properties, such as WaveThru™ solutions sold by the Applicant. The second solution, with a decoating process, consists in decoating a small portion of a metallic layer covering a glass surface. The metallic layer can either be a very thin metallic layer that is applied on the surface of a glass panel composing a multi-glazed glass surface or a metallic mesh placed in front of the glass surface in order to lower the sun exposition. To decoat thin metallic layers, a decoating apparatus from the document WO 2015/050762 can be used. The decoating apparatus comprises a laser light source and a lens array configured to focus said laser light source on the metallic layer of a window to decoat. Such apparatus is mounted on suction pads to secure it on the window. This type of apparatus also comprise two motors configured to move the laser along rails along the X and Y axis. The laser is then capable of scribing a grid shape on the metallic layer to improve the electromagnetic reception and/or transmission of the window. However, installing, changing or decoating glass surfaces is expensive and requires a lot of time during which the enclosed space can't be used properly. Moreover, it is difficult to foresee the impact of installing, changing or decoating glass surfaces on the level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission because it depends on many different parameters. Therefore, the technical issue to be solved is how to identify the optimal percentage of glass surface to treat in a defined enclosed space in order to reach a predetermined level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION To solve this technical problem, the invention proposes a process to accurately foresee the effect of treating a glass surface on the level of electromagnetic reception and/or transmission. More precisely, the process proposes t