Jurgo Preden

Priority Claim/Related Applications

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) and 120 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/510,018 filed on May 23, 2017 and entitled "System and Method for Managing Appliances and Systems for Convenience, Efficiency and Energy Savings", the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Field

The disclosure relates generally to the field of building management systems.

Background

There are many Building Management and Control systems intended for controlling building system components and appliances for energy saving and convenience. However, none of the existing systems are modular in a way that would enable attachment of control devices to building system components and appliances at any stage of the lifecycle of these components and appliances, nor is it possible to modularly attach multiple sensors of multiple modalities to a control device. The existing Building Management and Control systems for commercial applications do not enable automatic networking of the control devices to a wireless mesh network where the control devices establish connectivity to a server device automatically without any planning and configuration in any building.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 illustrates a building control system;

Figure 2 illustrates a system for managing appliances of the building control system; and

Figure 3 illustrates more details of the system for managing appliances of the building control system.

Detailed Description of One or More Embodiments

The disclosure is particularly applicable to a building control system with the exemplary building system components and application shown below and it is in this context that the disclosure will be described. It will be appreciated, however, that the system and method has greater utility since the system and method may be used to control a plurality of building system components and appliances as well as a plurality of different building system components and appliances. For example, the building appliances and building system components may be part of a lighting, smoke detection, security, ventilation, heating or occupancy detection system of the building. The building system components may be, for example, light fixtures, heating or ventilation system valves or security system sensors.

Furthermore, although the system is shown for controlling a single building, the system may be used to control a plurality of buildings where each building has the control devices and the building appliances and building systems. In one embodiment, the proposed system and method enables attachment of control devices to Building Management and Control systems at any stage of their lifecycle and provides automatic formation of a wireless network between the control devices with the control devices establishing automatically a connection to a server device.

Figure 1 illustrates a building control system with appliance or building system component management 100 in which the system has one or more building system components or appliances. In the example in Figure 1 , there may be a heating and air conditioning (HVAC) component 102, a water pump appliance 104 and a lighting component 106 that are elements of a building management system that are used to control various aspect of the building. For example, in the system in Figure 1 , the systems control the heating/cooling of the building, water distribution in the building and lighting in the building. Obviously, the system 100 may have a plurality of building system components or appliances and may have other or different than the exemplary building system components or appliances shown in Figure 1. The system 100 may further comprise a control device 108 that may be connected to/associated with each building system component or appliance and that may be used, as described below, to control each of the building system components or appliances.

Figure 2 illustrates a system 200 for managing appliances of the building control system. The system 200 may comprise the one or more control devices 108 (which may be interfaced to building system components or appliances) that form an automatic wireless network 202. The automatic wireless network may be a star or a mesh type network that may be formed in an ad-hoc manner, requiring no planning or configuration of the network. Once the control devices 108 have been installed and powered, they auto-form the network and start communicating data with each other and with the server via a gateway. New control devices may be added to the network at any time, in which case these new control devices join the network, being able to communicate with other sensor devices and with the server. Further details of the automatic forming of the network by the sensor device is described in US Patent No.8,966,046, owned by the same assignee of this application and the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. Each control device 108 may be attached to/coupled to building appliances and building system components using a predefined control device interface.

The system 200 may further comprise a gateway 204 that may communicate with each control device 108 using the automatically formed network and a back end device 206 that may communicate with the gateway 204 over a communications path that may be wired or wireless. In one embodiment, the backend end device 206 may be a server computer.

The disclosed system and method implemented by the system enables control of appliances and systems for convenience, efficiency and energy savings and collection of sensor data from the sensors attached to the controllers. The building appliances and systems may be able to operate without the control devices 108 attached. When a control device 108 is attached to the building appliance or a building system component, each control device 108 may send control signals to the appliance or a system component, controlling the behavior of such appliance or system component as described below. The control device 108 may also collect monitoring data from the building appliance or a building system component to which it is interfaced. The control devices 108 may be attached to the building appliances and system components prior to installation of the appliances or system components but also after the appliances and systems have been installed and have operated autonomously.

Each control device 108 may consist, at a minimum, of a microcontroller, wireless module (which may be integrated with the microcontroller) and an interface for connecting to the building appliance or system. Each control device 108 may consist of hardware and software. The hardware consists of the microcontroller, one or more wireless modules (which may be integrated into the microcontroller) and interface for connecting to the building appliance or system and a sensor interface. The individual hardware components are typically commercially available components, which are integrated typically into a custom device designed for the purpose. The software in each control device 108 may consist of the communication software modules, the sensor drivers and the application software modules. The wireless modules may be used for communication between the control devices

(communication interfaces), communication between a control device and a mobile device or for other purposes, such as navigation beaconing.

The communication gateway device 204 consists of hardware and software, implementing the function of relaying data packets from the control and sensor devices (in Figure 3) to the server device 206. The communication gateway 204 may be based on commercially available hardware and it is typically powered by mains power, but it may also be powered by batteries. The communication gateway 204 may have at least two

communication interfaces: one for communication with the sensor devices and one for communication with the server device 206. Communication with the server device may be implemented via the internet using communication channels provided by established service providers. Communication with the server (possibly via the internet) may be implemented using local wireless interface (such as WiFi), local wired interface (such as Ethernet), wide area fiber interface or a cellular network (such as 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G). The communication gateway software runs on a standard operating system, such as Linux with application level software modules implementing the communication function. The server device 206 may consist only of software, being hosted on a cloud server platform or it may consist of dedicated hardware and software. The server device 206 may have a communication interface for communicating with the Communication Gateway. The server device 206 may have a database for storing data collected by the sensor devices and application modules for processing the collected data. The communication gateway device and the server device may also be integrated into a single unit, in which case the communication interface between these two devices may be omitted.

Figure 3 illustrates more details of the system for managing appliances of the building control system and in particular the details of the appliance or system component 102-106 and the attached control device 108. Each control device 108 may have a first interface 300 that connects/couples the control device 108 to the building appliance or building system component 102-106 and a second interface 302 that connects/couples a first sensor device 304 to the control device 108. Each sensor device may further have a second sensor interface 306 that may connect/couple a second sensor 308 to the sensor device 304. The second sensor device 304 connects to the control device 108 via the bus of the first sensor device 304. Multiple sensors can be connected to a single control device 108 by connecting the sensor interface 302 of the next sensor device to the sensor interface 306 of the previous sensor device so that the multiple sensors are daisy-chained to a single interface on the control device 108. The control device may also be equipped with multiple sensor interfaces 302. The sensor device interface(s) available at the control device is able to accept a plurality of different sensor modalities, which may be integrated into the same enclosure as the control device or into a separate enclosure. Multiple sensors may be integrated into the same sensor device. A sensor device, such as sensor 1 304 in Figure 3, may have two interfaces - one interface 302 for connecting the sensor device to a host and one interface 306 for connecting additional sensor devices. The host may be a control device or a sensor device, which has a connection to the control device. The sensor interface on the control device may be a bus to which multiple sensor devices can be connected. There is no limit for the number of sensors that can be connected to a control device. Each control device 108 may be equipped with functionality to control the appliance or system it is integrated with for power saving, convenience and other functions. Each sensor may be, for example, a device that measures movement adjacent the building component or appliance and may generate movement data that may be used to the control rule as described below. A sensor may be, for example, a device that measures ambient light level in the sensing area of the sensor, the light level data may be used to control the light levels of lighting fixtures. A sensor may be, for example, a temperature or humidity sensor, which measures the temperature or humidity in the vicinity of the sensor, data from the sensor may be used to control heating, cooling or ventilation systems.

Each control device 108 may receive behavioral instructions in the form of control rules and sensor data collection rules over the interface or over a communication network from a server or from a mobile device (each or both shown as the backend 206 in Figure 2). The control rules received from server or from a mobile device may be stored and interpreted locally at the control device, eliminating the need for constant server connectivity for operation. The control and sensor data collection rules may use different types of data as input, such as time of day, location, sensor data values or presence of a device in the vicinity of the control device. The control rules specify how the input data is used to send control signals to the appliance or system component 102-106 to which the control device 108 is attached. The control rules may also specify how the acquired sensor data should be processed and if and how that sensor data should be sent to other control devices or to a server device.

As an example, a control rule may have the following form:

From 11:00pm to 5:00am

If_(movement AND temperature > 75)

AC unit 70%

Else

AC unit 0%

From 5:00am to 11:00pm

{

If_( movement AND temperature > 75)

AC unit 90%

Else

AC unit 5%

If_( temperature < 65)

AC unit 0%

}

The sensor data collection rules may specify at what frequency sensor data is acquired, how it may be processed locally and how often the sensor data is communicated to the server device.

The functionality of each control device 108 may change as additional sensors are connected to the control device. The sensor data acquired from sensors attached to the control device may be used locally, made available to other control devices or communicated to the server. The functionality of the control device may change as new firmware is loaded to the device, for example the functionality of an RF interface may change from a communication interface to a location beacon and vice versa. The communication interfaces may be temporally multiplexed, enabling the same communication interface to fulfil multiple functions. The clocks of each control device 108 in Figure 1, may be synchronized centrally or by the Gateway device to ensure accurate timestamping of collected and processed sensor data.

The locations of the individual control devices 108 may be configured after installation using a visual user interface either on a handheld device, on the server device or on a computer, which communicates with the server device to associate the control devices with specific appliances, systems or locations of instances of the building system components. For configuration purposes, direct communication with the control device may be used, switching on and off an LED on the device for identification.

In some instances, aspects of the system and method may be achieved via or performed by logic and/or logic instructions including program modules, executed in association with such components or circuitry, for example. In general, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular instructions herein. The inventions may also be practiced in the context of distributed software, computer, or circuit settings where circuitry is connected via communication buses, circuitry or links. In distributed settings, control/instructions may occur from both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

The software, circuitry and components herein may also include and/or utilize one or more type of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that is resident on, associable with, or can be accessed by such circuits and/or computing components. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and can accessed by computing component. Communication media may comprise computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and/or other components. Further, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct- wired connection, however no media of any such type herein includes transitory media. Combinations of the any of the above are also included within the scope of computer readable media.

As disclosed herein, features consistent with the disclosure may be implemented via computer-hardware, software and/or firmware. For example, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in various forms including, for example, a data processor, such as a computer that also includes a database, digital electronic circuitry, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Further, while some of the disclosed implementations describe specific hardware components, systems and methods consistent with the innovations herein may be implemented with any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Moreover, the above-noted features and other aspects and principles of the innovations herein may be implemented in various environments. Such environments and related applications may be specially constructed for performing the various routines, processes and/or operations according to the invention or they may include a general-purpose computer or computing platform selectively activated or reconfigured by code to provide the necessary functionality. The processes disclosed herein are not inherently related to any particular computer, network, architecture, environment, or other apparatus, and may be implemented by a suitable combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, various general-purpose machines may be used with programs written in accordance with teachings of the invention, or it may be more convenient to construct a specialized apparatus or system to perform the required methods and techniques.

Aspects of the method and system described herein, such as the logic, may also be implemented as functionality programmed into any of a variety of circuitry, including programmable logic devices ("PLDs"), such as field programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"), programmable array logic ("PAL") devices, electrically programmable logic and memory devices and standard cell-based devices, as well as application specific integrated circuits.

Some other possibilities for implementing aspects include: memory devices, microcontrollers with memory (such as EEPROM), embedded microprocessors, firmware, software, etc.

Furthermore, aspects may be embodied in microprocessors having software-based circuit emulation, discrete logic (sequential and combinatorial), custom devices, fuzzy or neural logic, quantum devices, and hybrids of any of the above device types. The underlying device technologies may be provided in a variety of component types, e.g., metal-oxide

semiconductor field-effect transistor ("MOSFET") technologies like complementary metal- oxide semiconductor ("CMOS"), bipolar technologies like emitter-coupled logic ("ECL"), polymer technologies (e.g., silicon-conjugated polymer and metal-conjugated polymer-metal structures), mixed analog and digital, and so on.

It should also be noted that the various logic and/or functions disclosed herein may be enabled using any number of combinations of hardware, firmware, and/or as data and/or instructions embodied in various machine-readable or computer-readable media, in terms of their behavioral, register transfer, logic component, and/or other characteristics. Computer- readable media in which such formatted data and/or instructions may be embodied include, but are not limited to, non-volatile storage media in various forms (e.g., optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage media) though again does not include transitory media. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description, the words "comprise, " "comprising," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of "including, but not limited to." Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively.

Additionally, the words "herein," "hereunder," "above," "below," and words of similar import refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the word "or" is used in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list.

Although certain presently preferred implementations of the invention have been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the various implementations shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the applicable rules of law.

While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodiment of the disclosure, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.