Bandwidth throttling based on home occupancy

• US 10,009,914 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2015
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Velu, Kamesh Raj
• Primary Examiner(s): KRUEGER, KENT K
• Application Number:
  US14/808,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20170026987A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,068 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2475 for supporting traffic characterised by the type of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0215 based on user or device properties, e.g. MTC-capable devices services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] H04W4/70; wireless resource selection or allocation plan definition based on terminal or device properties H04W72/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/569 of the traffic information

Abstract

A system includes an electronic device that has communication circuitry configured to communicate with one or more other electronic devices on a wireless network in a structure. The electronic device includes a processor operatively coupled to a memory and configured to determine a status associated with occupants of the structure. The processor may determine a priority schedule based at least in part on the status. The priority schedule may be indicative of an amount of bandwidth allocated to each of the one or more other electronic devices. The processor may then cause data to be communicated by each of the one or more other electronic devices based at least in part on the priority schedule.

Claims

1. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions configured to be executed by a one or more computer processors associated with a structure, the instructions comprising instructions to:

determine a status of occupants of the structure, wherein the status is based on one or more occupants being present in the structure or that one or more occupants of the structure are asleep;

select a priority schedule from a plurality of priority schedules based at least in part on the status, wherein;

each priority schedule of the plurality of priority schedules is indicative of a relative priority of communications of each electronic device of a plurality of electronic devices in relation to each other; and

the relative priority of the communications of each electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices in relation to each other is different based on the status; and

cause a wireless access point to reorder and relay communications of the plurality of electronic devices based at least in part on the selected priority schedule.

2. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the priority schedule is based at least in part on device types of each of the electronic devices that are utilized to determine time sensitivity of the data sent by each of the electronic devices.

3. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the priority schedule comprises a first priority schedule that is configured to give a first priority related to streaming media and give a second priority related to downloading files, wherein the first priority is higher than the second priority when the status indicates that at least one of the occupants is in the structure.

4. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority when the status indicates that there are no occupants in the structure or any occupants are asleep.

5. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, comprising a first priority schedule and a second priority schedule, wherein the first priority schedule is used when the status indicates that at least one of the occupants is in the structure, and wherein the second priority schedule is used when the status indicates that none of the occupants are in the structure.

6. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, the instructions comprising instructions to cause the data to be communicated in an order according to the priority schedule.

7. An electronic device, comprising:

communication circuitry configured to communicate with a plurality of electronic devices on a wireless network in a structure; and

a processor operatively coupled to a memory, wherein the processor is configured to;

determine a status of occupants of the structure, wherein the status is based on one or more occupants being present in the structure or that one or more occupants of the structure are asleep;

select a priority schedule from a plurality of priority schedules based at least in part on the status, wherein;

each priority schedule of the plurality of priority schedules is indicative of an amount of bandwidth allocated to each electronic device of a plurality of electronic devices;

cause data to be communicated by each of the plurality of electronic devices based at least in part on the priority schedule such that each electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices are allocated the amount of bandwidth indicated by the selected priority schedule.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the priority schedule is further based on a first schedule when the time of day falls within a first range, and wherein the priority schedule is based on a second schedule when the time of day falls within a second range.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the priority schedule is based on data from a first electronic device of the one or more other electronic devices likely being more time sensitive than a second electronic device of the one or more other electronic devices when the status indicates that occupants are in the structure.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the time sensitivity of data for each of the one or more other electronic devices is based on types of data most likely to be sent or received by the one or more other electronic devices.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the types of data most likely to be communicated is based on the types of the one or more other electronic devices determined by MAC addresses of the one or more other electronic devices.

12. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the status is sent to the electronic device from a thermostat, a smoke alarm, a carbon monoxide alarm, a hazard detector, a sensor, a wristband, a watch, a computer, a door lock, a fan, a light bulb, or any combination thereof.

13. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the priority schedule is based on providing more bandwidth for the one or more other electronic devices with traffic more likely to be stored in memory when no occupants are in the structure.

14. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor of the electronic device is configured to cause data to be communicated from the electronic device in an order based at least in part on the priority schedule.

15. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the electronic device comprises a camera, wherein the processor is configured to cause data to be communicated from the camera in an order based at least in part on the priority schedule.

16. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the electronic device comprises a television, wherein the processor is configured to cause data to be communicated from the television in an order based at least in part on the priority schedule.

17. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the electronic device comprises a cell phone, wherein the processor of the cell phone is configured to cause data to be communicated from a camera in an order based at least in part on the priority schedule.

18. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the electronic device comprises a cloud service, wherein the processor of the cloud service is configured to cause data to be communicated from a computer in an order based at least in part on the priority schedule.

19. A method, comprising:

determine a status of occupants of a structure, wherein the status is based on one or more occupants being present in the structure or that one or more occupants of the structure are asleep;

select a priority schedule from a plurality of priority schedules based at least in part on the status, wherein;

each priority schedule of the plurality of priority schedules is indicative of a relative priority of communications of each electronic device of a plurality of electronic devices in relation to each other;

the relative priority of the communications of each electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices in relation to each other is different based on the status; and

cause a wireless access point to reorder and relay communications of the plurality of electronic devices based at least in part on the selected priority schedule.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the priority is based on a first schedule when the structure is occupied, and wherein the priority is based on a second schedule when the structure is unoccupied.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the relative priority of each of the electronic devices is based on a percentage of a total amount of bandwidth.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the relative priority provided to one of the plurality of electronic devices is associated with a likelihood that the occupants are utilizing data of the one of the one or more electronic devices when the occupants are in the structure.

23. A method, comprising:

determining an occupancy status based on a likelihood that occupants are in a structure;

determining a sleep status based on a likelihood that any occupants of the structure are asleep;

selecting a priority schedule from a plurality of priority schedules based at least in part on the occupancy status and on the sleep status, wherein;

the priority schedule is indicative of an amount of bandwidth allocated to one or more electronic devices, and

the priority schedule comprises a first schedule when any occupants are asleep or no occupants are in the structure and a second schedule when occupants are in the structure and awake; and

cause a wireless access point to reorder and relay communications of the one or more electronic devices based at least in part on the selected priority schedule.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first schedule prioritizes traffic based on a likelihood that data is utilized by an occupant as it is received, and wherein the second schedule prioritizes traffic based on a likelihood that the data will be utilized when the occupants return to the structure.