HK1017099A - Device for the operation of appliances, utilities and services within a building - Google Patents

Description

Device for controlling appliances, utilities and services in buildings

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling and operating appliances, utilities and services within a building. More particularly, the present invention is directed to such control and manipulation by means of one or more signals input to and output from a building. The present invention also provides a means by which one or more providers of services and goods can provide information and goods directly to a building or provide a variety of information for use within the building.

Prior Art

At present, the ability to control appliances within a building or a dwelling from a remote location is limited. Remote control and monitoring of one or more different utilities is also limited in scope.

Us patent No. 4847782 (Brown) discloses an energy management system that delivers signals to a plurality of subscriber units over a plurality of alternative lines (e.g. cable, telephone, radio). The transponder provided at each customer unit responds to these transmitted signals to generate a corresponding signal for transmission to the power network within the unit. However, the communication lines cannot be used in parallel.

Us patent No. 44442319 (tredel, Treidl) discloses a central control device for controlling appliances through an internal power network. The control is in the form of timed on/off commands that can be altered remotely by the telephone. The invention does not disclose various lines and various connection possibilities.

Us patent No. 4602340 (abelberberg, Appelburg) discloses a system for deploying information control and monitoring systems in a building. However, the system is not openly accessible and has no multiple communication means.

In addition, it is not possible for a building owner to quickly and easily select a desired from a list of certain utility suppliers. It is not possible for a facility provider to notify the buyer or customer of the change in price by means other than through a supply channel or conventional postal delivery, so that the buyer can immediately receive immediate benefit from the change in price. For a customer, he does not have the possibility to select a facility that is advantageous to him with a varying supply price.

It is possible to transmit price information using the power line as a carrier, but the possibility of the end user to make full use of the price information or price changing information is limited if he does not frequently monitor and manually enter something that changes from one price structure to another.

Devices have been tested which can use a television to implement interactive applications. But this currently requires simultaneous connection of the telephone line and the power line. Some of the above operations have been performed using a home computer, but the remote control has to be performed via a telephone line (modem). It has been published that wireless control is possible as a communication channel. A "Smart" phone, including a microcontroller, that can be used to make a limited number of home remote purchases; this is also only experimental.

All of these known or proposed systems require a special cable connection to the dwelling, a power connection, and also a closed, proprietary pathway for service and goods providers to communicate with their customers. All of which deal with one aspect of the environment and the various activities that occur within the building.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an open access system (open means not proprietary, but safe and reliable at the end-use point) equipped with a microcontroller for transmitting a variety of information and instructions for operating equipment and appliances within and around a building and for other uses; such a transmission of information and instructions may be transmitted to the building by two or more alternate transmission means (or divided between two or more means), one of which can be independent of the power delivered to the building.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system which does not require cables or wires to be attached to or on a building to implement the present invention.

Summary of the invention

The present invention provides a device for installation in a building, said device being connectable to a plurality of communication media, characterised in that said device comprises: a microcontroller device; a memory device; software instructions; one or more interface circuits, each of which is capable of interfacing with a communication medium;

wherein said device is capable of receiving and transmitting control commands and information via one or more of said communication media, such that said device is capable of controlling, monitoring and/or operating electrical and electronic circuits within and around said building, and returning commands and information via one or more of said communication media;

the control instructions are based on the software instructions and remote control information and remote control instructions received by the circuitry;

the remote control information and remote control commands are receivable only by a user input device and one or more host microprocessor devices remote from the building.

Preferably, the communication medium comprises at least one of: a power line connected to the building; a communication line connected to the building; other cable routing devices (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic cable); broadcast signals on the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., infrared, broadcast signals receivable by a television antenna or satellite receiving antenna, radio transmissions, FM signals); or any combination of the above.

Preferably, at least one of the communication media is connected to a dialogue-type appliance (user input device) by a cable.

Preferably the instructions and information transmitted to the microcontroller can be carried by two separate means, especially when the transmission is of utmost importance, for example the information can be carried in encoded form by a power line carrier, and the decoded information labels carried by broadcast signals which can be received, for example, by a television antenna on the building.

Preferably, the end-user device is a device which is controllable only by the end-user (e.g. it may be encoded in the form of a personal identification number as applied when going to an automatic teller machine) and may be selected from: an alphanumeric keypad (e.g., forming part of a building security system); a numeric keypad; a home electronic computer; a conversational television apparatus; remote control of direction by a modem; or any combination of the above.

The information and instructions transmitted to the microcontroller are preferably selected from a variety of sources, for example, various utilities may provide a range of information and user options, goods and service providers may provide information and remote control purchase channels, appliances in a building may be remotely controlled according to predetermined operating constraints thereof, and energy usage may be alternately turned on or off according to predetermined constraints; meter reading of one or more utility meters may be performed remotely; or any combination of the above, may be combined one to one, or may be combined together at the same time.

The present invention also provides a method of controlling and/or monitoring the remote control of electrical and electronic circuits in and around a building, and of controlling the flow of information to and from the building, the method comprising the steps of:

providing said microcontroller and host microprocessor with program instructions to cause said microcontroller to operate in accordance with instructions contained therein and instructions received only from said host microprocessor or said user input device, said instructions provided for the host microprocessor including those which frequently communicate a protocol with communication instructions;

setting instructions and information for the device according to a protocol, wherein all input instructions and protocols need to be checked before entering the device acting according to the input instructions; and

wherein any information and instructions transmitted by said host microprocessor to said microcontroller may be received from any source as long as any protocol received with said instructions is compatible with the instructions and protocols in said device and said host microcontroller.

Brief description of the invention

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are merely exemplary.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a software structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Examples of the invention

Referring to fig. 1, a service device 2 is shown connected to several appliances or communication paths, each of which uses a different form or medium of communication.

The service unit 2, appliances and systems are located in or around a building and in the user's premises. Such a building is for example a domestic dwelling.

The service device 2 mainly comprises a central working platform 3, which comprises a microcontroller and its related circuits 7, and a memory and its related software 30, and is connected with a plurality of media through media specific interfaces.

The service devices 2 in fact form a communication exchange with which the following devices or communication systems can be contacted with each other, or by means of application software provided in the memory 30 of the server 2: a telephone line 21; a television broadcast receiver 22; a power line 23; a personal computer 24; a television set top box 25; a hardwired in-home serial bus 26 (including interfaces to electrical equipment products such as electric cookers and water heaters, other equipment appliances such as safety devices or fire monitors, and user interface boards for controlling electrical equipment or other equipment). The service unit 2 may also be configured to include a serial bus 27 that interfaces with devices similar to the bus 26, but which operates using coded signals on the existing in-house power network. The server 2 also has the capability to connect to other devices or communication systems 28, such as radio or infrared lines and fiber optic cables. The server 2 can operate using one or more of these communication paths so that it can use existing media, such as telephone lines 21 and power lines 23, without the need for additional lines. It can then be easily extended to add other channels or devices to the system as they become available, such as a television broadcast 22 or personal computer 24.

The server 2 may be used to control appliances in a room, such as water heaters, kitchen ovens, space heaters, alarm devices (none of which are shown in the figures), either from within the room or from remote from the room, and may comprise any appliance capable of being controlled by an electrical circuit. In its simplest form, the server 2 user terminals are in the form of one or more wall-mounted LCD display and keypad devices 8 connected to the serial bus 26/27. The or each device 8 may be replaced by or used in conjunction with a personal computer 24. The range that the server 2 can be applied to may be exemplified as follows: checking whether the heating furnace is closed from a remote personal computer; turning on a specific heater before reaching the residence; the security company checks the state of the burglar alarm in the residence; turning on or off a specific heater at a predetermined time; in the event of a power outage, the utility transmits a signal to the server 2 via the television broadcast receiver 22, causing items with high power consumption, such as water heaters, to remain off for a predetermined period of time after power is restored.

The server 2 operates continuously and is dedicated to the management of appliances and communications within the building. To maintain its commercial service capability, the server 2 preferably employs a 16-bit microcontroller 7, with 256K of RAM and 256K of ROM.

The server 2 is not limited to controlling devices but may be used as a transparent line between different media paths. For example, a "smart" water heater monitor may send an electrical energy price inquiry message sent from the serial bus 26 or 27 through the service unit 2 to the electrical utility over the telephone line 21. Or alternatively, the power utility may periodically transmit such information via one or more communication paths, such as a television broadcast receiver 22 or a power line modulation regulator 23; this information can then be transmitted by the server 2 to the water heater monitor on the serial bus 26 or 27.

Mediator Specific Interfaces (MSIs) may include the following: a modulation regulator interface 11 for connecting a telephone line 21; a data broadcast receiver 12 for connecting to a television broadcast receiver 22; a Power Line Carrier (PLC) modulation regulator interface 13 for connecting to a power line 23; a serial RS232 interface 14 for connection to a personal computer 24; a serial RS485 interface for connecting to a television set top box 25; an interface program for connecting to the hardwired serial bus 26 and the serial bus driver 16; a combined PLC modulator regulator and interface program 17 for a PLC serial bus 27. The server 2 also has the ability to provide additional interfaces to other media paths, such as satellite, radio or infrared lines 28. Each interface is designed to match the data communication scheme appropriate for each media.

In practice it has been found that the LON bus is particularly effective as the serial bus 26 and 27, and the microprocessor interface program or MIP as the interface program 16 and 17.

Referring to FIG. 2, the circuitry for each MSI is mounted on a card (11-18) that is inserted into one of the expansion slots of platform 3 as shown. The server 2 can thus easily scale with the increase in communication media and appliances available in the premises. The server 2 circuitry is mounted in a housing 6 mounted on or within the interior or exterior wall of the site. The housing 6 is normally locked in a closed position so that it can only be opened by the operator of the entire service device system, for example a local electric utility company. The battery pack 4 ensures that the server 2 will still operate for a period of time after a power outage, thus enabling it to act on the outage, for example to alert the utility and security companies via the telephone line 21. The connection slot 5 allows various media and their associated cables to be conveniently connected to the server 2.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a software structure of the server 2, which includes: a line connecting the MSIs (11-16); a non-volatile preset software layer 43; a Random Access Memory (RAM)30, further comprising: one or more communication protocol blocks (CPSs)31-36, the number of which matches the number of different communication media connected to the server 2; a communication line layer 40; a database 41; a real-time operating system 42 having processing multitasking capabilities; various application tasks 44-49. The CPSs and tasks are not limited to the numbers shown above.

The server 2, as defined by this software, can operate in such a way as to maintain the integrity of the overall system by filtering out erroneous, spurious, or "illegal" communications, so that all "legal" communications conform to a set of prescribed protocols. This set of protocols specifies the manner in which nodes or elements within the system are addressed and the manner in which information or data transmissions are sent or received. The node comprises: means to which the server 2 is connected, for example a gauge reader circuit on the serial bus 26 or 27; a remote, personal computer terminal of a known kind; the server 2 stores component areas such as a database 41 or an application task 44-49. The advantage of this system is that one node does not need to know the specific location of another node, which is obviously handled by the server 2. The manner in which the system is configured, e.g. the addressing or determination of nodes, is controlled by the server 2 so that although others can use the system, they cannot alter the system unless the server 2 allows such alteration.

Each mediator path is configured with a CPS (31-36) that provides a path between the specific data format associated with the respective MSI (11-16) and the generic server 2 data format used by the line layer 40 to establish a connection between the CPSs (31-36), the application tasks (41-49), the database 41 and the real-time operating system 42. Each CPS (31-36) provides functions such as data transfer speed conversion, packet programming, error detection, destination/origin routing information and data format conversion so that only legitimate transfers are permitted.

The nodes of the different media paths can obviously pass information to each other or to application tasks (44-49) installed in the memory of the server 2. They may also write data to the database 41 in a manner defined by the server 2 and the specific tasks (44-49), such that although the database 41 is open to such applications (writing data), it is not possible to write data except in the manner defined by the server 2. For example, a gas utility company may apply the task 44 of periodically recording electronic gas meter readings and storing that information in the database 41 in a manner defined by the task 44 and the service device 2 software architecture. The gas company then obtains this information via, for example, telephone line 21, modulator regulator interface 11 and CPS31 to bill.

Data may be downloaded to the service device 2 by the service device system operator via any available communication medium path. If the data 11 is of particular importance or needs to be kept secret, or the configuration of the service device 2 may be changed, the data transfer may be effected by splitting the download over two or more paths, such that the data on one path of the medium interprets the data on another path.

The capacity of the service unit 2 can be greatly expanded by a Back Office System (BOS) which is operated by the operator of the service unit. Transparent links (Transparent links) connecting the nodes provide the service device 2 with the opportunity to access a greater amount of information, a greater amount of processing power. The communication connection capability of the service device 2 can also be improved by providing an additional path to the service device 2 through the BOS. For example, if the telephone line is inoperable, a command or query may be sent over the power line 23 or the television broadcast receiver 22 to the service device 2 via the BOS. BOS may also be used as an interface between the service device 2 and other service or information providers. In combination with the BOS, the service device 2 can function as an appliance operation monitoring and control device; information about the operational status of these appliances may be processed and reacted to, or passed on to other service providers via the BOS. The BOS may also provide secure and reliable communication lines for the service device 2 and other providers using any of the above communication media. The service device 2 may be used in combination with more than one BOS.

Some possible functions of the service device are listed below, which are, of course, non-exhaustive:

automatically recording the reading of the meter;

remotely connecting the information to another service provider or remotely retrieving the information from another service provider;

internal appliance control;

automatic detection of appliance operation failure; and

and (4) remotely controlling the indoor communication exchange.

Here, the other service provider does not necessarily mean only other utility providers, and the service means a service provided in all fields, such as a banking service and the like.

Claims (13)

1. An apparatus for installation in a building, said apparatus being connectable to a plurality of communication media, wherein said apparatus comprises:

a microcontroller device;

a memory device;

software instructions;

one or more interface lines, each of which may be connected to a communication medium;

wherein the device is capable of transceiving control commands and information via one or more of the communication mediums, thereby enabling the device to control, detect and/or operate electrical and electronic circuits within and around the building, and return information and commands via one or more of the communication mediums; and

the control instruction is based on the software instruction and remote control information and remote control instruction received by the line; and

the remote control information and remote control commands can only be received from a user input device and from one or more host microprocessors located remotely from the building.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication medium is selected from the group consisting of:

a power line connected to the building;

a communication line connected to the building;

other cable routing devices;

broadcast signals on the electromagnetic spectrum;

or any combination of the above.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the broadcast signal comprises one or more of: infrared, broadcast signals that can be received by a television antenna or a satellite receiving antenna, radio transmission, FM signals.

4. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the instructions and information transmitted to the microcontroller can be carried by two separate communication media.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein the instructions and information are transmitted in encoded form by a communication medium and the decoded information labels are transmitted by a second communication medium.

6. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the user input device is controlled by a user of the building and by a password known only to the user, the user input device being selected from the group consisting of: alphanumeric board, digital board, home computer, interactive television device, operated by a modulation regulator, telephone device; or any combination of the above.

7. The device of any preceding claim, wherein said power and electronic circuitry controlled and sensed by said device comprises circuitry incorporated into an appliance selected from the group consisting of: water heaters, heating devices, kitchen cookware, alarm systems, lighting, televisions, computers, and any other appliance capable of being controlled by electrical or electronic circuitry.

8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the microcontroller means is a 16 bit microcontroller and the memory comprises at least a 256K RAM and a 256K ROM.

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the interface circuitry is selected from the group consisting of:

a modulation modulator interface capable of connecting to a telephone line;

a data broadcasting receiver capable of being connected to the television broadcasting receiver;

a power line carrier modulation regulator connectable to one or more power lines;

a serial interface capable of connecting to an electronic computer;

a serial interface capable of connecting to a set top box;

an interface program and in-house serial bus driver connected to said power and electronics;

any combination of the above.

10. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the device further comprises a battery pack to support operation of the device when power is removed.

11. A method for remotely controlling and/or remotely monitoring power and electronics in and around a building and for controlling the flow of information into and out of said building, said method comprising the steps of:

providing apparatus according to any preceding claim installed in said building;

providing said microcontroller and host microprocessor with program instructions to cause said microcontroller to operate in accordance with its resident instructions and instructions received only from said host microprocessor or said user input device, said instructions provided to the host microprocessor including those that often communicate a protocol with communication instructions;

setting instructions and information for the device according to a protocol, wherein all input instructions and protocols need to be checked before entering the device acting according to the input instructions; and

any information and instructions transmitted by the host microprocessor to the microcontroller may be received from any source, as long as any received protocol with the instructions is compatible with the instructions and protocols in the device and the host microcontroller.

12. The method of claim 12, wherein the program instructions for the apparatus comprise:

one or more program interfaces, one interface to each interface line;

a non-volatile preset software layer; and

a random access memory, comprising: one or more communication protocol blocks that match the number of types of communications transmitted to the medium on the device;

a communication line layer;

a database;

a real-time operating system capable of performing multiple tasks; and

a plurality of application tasks.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising expanding the capabilities of said device by attaching a support office system comprising a line connected between a microcontroller and said host microprocessor device such that said real time operating system and a plurality of application tasks can also be switched on in said host microprocessor.