Auto-configuring time-of-day for building control unit
First Claim
1. An electronic device, comprising:
- a power source;
a housing;
a clock function for tracking a time-of-day;
a sensor that performs measurements of an environmental condition that varies with the time-of-day;
a processor configured to;
receive the measurements from the sensor,perform a transform to convert the received measurements to the frequency domain;
identify a component of the received measurements in the frequency domain having a period of approximately 24 hours;
determine when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed a predefined threshold;
modify programming of the clock function to reverse an AM/PM setting based on determining when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed the predefined threshold; and
operate the electronic device using the clock function according to the modified programming of the clock function.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Provided according to some embodiments is a thermostat is capable of discerning the time-of-day without external input. Should the user fail to set the time, the thermostat uses one or more sensors to determine the time-of-day through a variety of techniques. In one example, a light sensor can monitor natural light to understand the cycle of sun with respect to the installation location. From the cycle of natural light a latitude, time-of-year, time-of-day, etc. can be estimated through processing sensor information over time. Should the thermostat have its time manually set or gathered from the network, it would override the estimated time-of-day. Techniques can be used to filter input from the one or more sensors to avoid confusion from other inputs, for example, man-made lighting.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An electronic device, comprising:
-
a power source; a housing; a clock function for tracking a time-of-day; a sensor that performs measurements of an environmental condition that varies with the time-of-day; a processor configured to; receive the measurements from the sensor, perform a transform to convert the received measurements to the frequency domain; identify a component of the received measurements in the frequency domain having a period of approximately 24 hours; determine when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed a predefined threshold; modify programming of the clock function to reverse an AM/PM setting based on determining when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed the predefined threshold; and operate the electronic device using the clock function according to the modified programming of the clock function. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A thermostat, comprising:
-
a housing; a clock function for tracking a time-of-day; a sensor that performs measurements of an environmental condition that varies with the time-of-day; a plurality of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) wire connectors; and a processor configured to; receive the measurements of the environmental condition from the sensor, perform a transform to convert the received measurements to the frequency domain; identify a component of the received measurements in the frequency domain having a period of approximately 24 hours; determine when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed a predefined threshold; program the clock function based on determining when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed the predefined threshold; and control an HVAC system, via the plurality of HVAC wire connectors, at least partially based on the programming of the clock function. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method for programming a clock function of an electronic device, the method comprising:
-
receiving sensor measurements from a sensor; performing a transform to convert the received sensor measurements to the frequency domain; identifying a component of the received sensor measurements in the frequency domain having a period of approximately 24 hours; determining when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed a predefined threshold; modifying programming of the clock function to reverse an AM/PM setting based on determining when the component having the period of approximately 24 hours has crossed the predefined threshold; and operating the electronic device using the clock function according to the modified programming of the clock function. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification