Server integration with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system

• US 10,082,309 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2015
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lennox Industries Incorporated (Lennox International Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Lennox Industries Incorporated (Lennox International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Castillo, Daniel A., Charavda, Jayprakash, Ho, Nguyen T., Khiani, Sunil K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Karim, Ziaul
• Application Number:
  US14/712,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20160209062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,230 Days
• Field of Search: 700275-296
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/00 Control inputs relating to system states
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/21157 Broken, open line, cable, circuit, faulty connection
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25168 Domotique, access through internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0004 applied to control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2823 Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/283 Processing of data at an internetworking point of a home automation network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2836 : Protocol conversion between an external network and a home network controlling appliance services of a home automation network from a device located outside the home and the home network H04L12/2818; protocol conversion H04L69/08; adaptation of digital video signals for transport over a specific home network H04N7/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 : Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 : Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 : Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A server that includes an interface configured to receive a registration request from a control unit. The server further includes a processor configured to authenticate the control unit based on the registration request. The server is further configured to register a primary user device associated with the control unit and register a secondary user device associated with the control unit. The server is further configured to establish a control link between the control unit and the primary and secondary user devices. The control links facilitate control commands between the control unit and the primary and secondary user devices. The server is further configured to store the installation report in a server database.

Claims

1. A server for operating a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) network, comprising:

an interface operable to;

receive a registration request from a control unit, wherein;

the control unit is implemented in hardware; and

the registration request includes an installation report comprising;

a serial number for an HVAC unit communicatively coupled to the control unit;

a serial number for an interactive display communicatively coupled to the HVAC unit;

a plurality of operating parameters for the HVAC unit;

a geographic address of a location of the control unit; and

a user name and login password for accessing the control unit; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the interface and operable to;

authenticate the control unit based on the registration request;

register a primary user device associated with the control unit;

register a secondary user device associated with the control unit;

establish a control link between the control unit and the primary and secondary user devices, wherein the control link facilitates control commands between the control unit and the primary and secondary user devices;

establish a notification connection with the control unit, wherein the notification connection is configured for sending notifications to the control unit;

establish a control connection with the control unit, wherein the control connection is configured for sending requests to the control unit;

store the installation report in a server database;

receive a request from an HVAC dealer to access operating parameters for the HVAC unit;

transmit an authorization request to the primary user device in response to receiving the request;

receive an authorization approval message from the primary user device in response to transmitting the authorization request; and

transmit the operating parameters for the HVAC unit from the server database to the HVAC dealer in response to receiving the authorization approval message, wherein the HVAC dealer is configured to store the operating parameters for the HVAC unit in response to receiving the operating parameters for the HVAC unit.

2. The server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive a temperature change request from the secondary user device;

transmit a first notification alert to the control unit over the notification connection;

receive a first retrieve request from the control unit over the notification connection; and

transmit the temperature change request over the control connection to the control unit.

3. The server of claim 2, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive a confirmation notification from the control unit over the notification connection;

transmit a second notification alert to the secondary user device over the notification connection;

receive a second retrieve request from the secondary user device; and

transmit the confirmation notification from the control unit to the secondary user device over the notification connection.

4. The server of claim 3, wherein the processor is further operable to:

transmit the second notification alert to the primary user device;

receive a retrieve request from the primary user device; and

transmit the confirmation notification from the control unit to the primary user device.

5. The server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to:

detect that the control unit is operating using an old firmware version;

establish a download link with the control unit;

transmit an updated firmware version to the control unit; and

terminate the download link.

6. The server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive from a weather server, weather data associated with the geographic address of the location of the control unit;

store the weather data in a weather database; and

transmit the weather data to the control unit at predetermined intervals.

7. The server of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive from a weather server, weather data associated with geographic address of the location of the control unit;

store the weather data in a weather database;

receive a weather request from the control unit; and

transmit the stored weather data to the control unit.

8. A method for operating a server in a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) network using one or more processors, the method comprising:

receiving a registration request from a control unit, wherein;

the control unit is implemented in hardware; and

the registration request includes an installation report comprising;

a serial number for an HVAC unit communicatively coupled to the control unit;

a serial number for an interactive display communicatively coupled to the HVAC unit;

a plurality of operating parameters for the HVAC unit;

a geographic address of a location of the control unit; and

a user name and login password for accessing the control unit; and

authenticating the control unit based on the registration request;

registering a primary user device associated with the control unit;

registering a secondary user device associated with the control unit;

establishing a control link between the control unit and the primary and secondary user devices, wherein the control link facilitates communication of control commands between the control unit and the primary and secondary user devices;

establishing a notification connection with the control unit, wherein the notification connection is configured for sending notifications to the control unit;

establishing a control connection with the control unit, wherein the control connection is configured for sending requests to the control unit;

storing the installation report in a server database;

receiving a request from an HVAC dealer to access operating parameters for the HVAC unit;

transmitting an authorization request to the primary user device in response to receiving the request;

receiving an authorization approval message from the primary user device in response to transmitting the authorization request;

transmitting the operating parameters for the HVAC unit from the server database to the HVAC dealer in response to receiving the authorization approval message; and

storing the operating parameters for the HVAC unit at the HVAC dealer in response to the HVAC dealer receiving the operating parameters.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a temperature change request from a secondary user device;

transmitting a first notification alert to the control unit;

receiving a retrieve request from the control unit; and

transmitting the temperature change request over the control connection to the control unit.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a confirmation notification from the control unit;

transmitting a second notification alert to the secondary user device;

receiving a retrieve request from the secondary user device; and

transmitting the confirmation notification from the control unit to the secondary user device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting the second notification alert to a primary user device;

receiving a retrieve request from the primary user device; and

transmitting the confirmation notification from the control unit to the primary user device.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

detecting that the control unit is operating using an old software version;

establishing a download link with the control unit;

transmitting an updated software version to the control unit; and

terminating the download link.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving from a weather server, weather data associated with the weather based on the geographic address of the location of the control unit;

storing the weather data in a weather database; and

transmitting the weather data to the control unit at predetermined intervals.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, from a weather server, weather data associated with the weather based on the geographic address of the location of the control unit;

storing the weather data in a weather database;

receiving a weather request from the control unit; and

transmitting the stored weather data to the control unit.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a request for the weather data from the primary user device; and

transmitting the stored weather data to the primary user device.

16. A method for communicating with a server in a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) network using an HVAC control unit implemented in hardware, the method comprising:

connecting, using a processor, to a control server over the Internet using a Wi-Fi network;

registering with the server, wherein registering comprises;

transmitting, to the server, a serial number for an HVAC unit, the HVAC unit communicatively coupled to the HVAC control unit;

transmitting, to the server, a geographic location of a location of the HVAC control unit;

transmitting a user name and password for accessing the HVAC control unit from the server using a first user device;

establishing a notification connection with the HVAC control unit, wherein the notification connection is configured for sending notifications to the control unit;

establishing a control connection with the HVAC control unit, wherein the control connection is configured for sending requests to the control unit;

receiving a request from an HVAC dealer to access operating parameters for the HVAC unit;

transmitting an authorization request to the primary user device in response to receiving the request;

receiving an authorization approval message from the primary user device in response to transmitting the authorization request; and

transmitting the operating parameters for the HVAC unit from a server database to the HVAC dealer in response to receiving the authorization approval message; and

storing the operating parameters for the HVAC unit at the HVAC dealer in response to the HVAC dealer receiving the operating parameters.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, from a weather application, a request for weather data;

transmitting, using an interface, the request for weather data to the server;

receiving, at the interface, a plurality of weather data from the server; and

transmitting, to an interactive display, the plurality of weather data.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a first notification alert from the control server;

transmitting a retrieve request to the control server;

receiving a temperature change request over the control connection from the first user device;

transmitting the temperature change request to the HVAC unit.