Adding devices to an expandable multimedia control system

• US 10,211,998 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2015
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Savant Systems, LLC
• Original Assignee: Savant Systems, LLC
• Inventors: Silva, Michael C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sinkantarakorn, Pao
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jahangir, Kabir U
• Application Number:
  US14/613,008
• Publication Number:
  US 20150156029A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,477 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route

Abstract

In one embodiment, device addition to an expandable multimedia control system is performed without creating or modifying source code. A configuration bundle is stored on a first device of the expandable multimedia control system, the configuration bundle including a list of unique identifiers (UIDs) representing devices that are eligible to become a part of the expandable multimedia control system. The first device monitors a local area network (LAN), and determines a UID of a second device. The first device compares the UID of the second device with the list of UIDs in the configuration bundle. In response to a match of the UID of the second device with a UID of the list of UIDs in the configuration bundle, the second device is added to the expandable multimedia control system, and at least a portion of the configuration bundle is shared with it.

Claims

1. A method for adding programmable multimedia controllers (PMCs) to an expandable multimedia control system, the method comprising:

at a first time, initially configuring an expandable multimedia control system by storing a configuration bundle on a first PMC received from an installer, the configuration bundle including both a system configuration for operation of the first PMC and a list of predetermined unique identifiers (UIDs) representing additional PMCs that are eligible to become a part of the expandable multimedia control system as part of a future expansion; and

at a subsequent time, expanding the expandable multimedia control system, by;

connecting a second PMC to a network used by the expandable multimedia control system;

publishing the UID of the second PMC on the network;

receiving, by the first PMC, the UID of the second PMC over the network;

comparing the UID of the PMC with the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle previously stored on the first PMC;

in response to a match of the UID of the second PMC with a UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle previously stored on the first PMC, adding the second PMC to the expandable multimedia control system; and

sharing, by the first PMC, at least a portion of the configuration bundle with the second PMC to enable operation of the second PMC.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the UID of the second PMC not matching any UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle stored on the first PMC, ignoring the second PMC.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the UID of the second PMC not matching any UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle stored on the first PMC, assuming a particular condition exists.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the match of the UID of the second PMC with the UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle stored on the first PMC, establishing a control relationship between the first PMC and the second PMC.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PMC and the second PMC are arranged in different zones of a plurality of zones that correspond to different areas of a house.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the configuration bundle at the first PMC from a configuration management tool running on a separate device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PMC is a master PMC and the second PMC is a subordinate PMC.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein specification of the first PMC being master is indicated in the configuration bundle during initial configuration of the expandable multimedia control system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the system configuration includes information describing a plurality of components arranged in zones that correspond to different areas of a house, and the first PMC is arranged to control components in a first zone of the plurality of zones and the second PMC is arranged to control components in a second zone of the plurality of zones.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the system configuration describes a plurality of components using a set of files, the set of files produced by a graphical programming environment during initial configuration of the expandable multimedia control system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the UID of the second PMC is a serial number retrieved from non-volatile memory of the second PMC.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises:

monitoring the network using a service discovery protocol.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is a wireless local area network (LAN).

14. An expandable multimedia control system comprising:

a configuration bundle including both a system configuration and a list of predetermined unique identifiers (UIDs) representing additional devices that are eligible to become a part of the expandable multimedia control system as part of a future expansion;

a first device that provides programmable services, the first device configured to store the configuration bundle at a first time during initial configuration of the expandable multimedia system; and

a second device that provides programmable services, the second device configured to be added to the expandable multimedia system at a second time to expand the system, the second device to join a network used by the expandable multimedia control system, retrieve a serial number from non-volatile memory, and publish the serial number as a UID of the second device over the network,

wherein the first device is further configured to receive the UID of the second device over the network, compare the UID of the second device with the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle previously stored on the first device, and in response to a match of the UID of the second device with a UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle previously stored on the first device, add the second device to the expandable multimedia control system to expand the system.

15. The expandable multimedia control system of claim 14, wherein the first device is further configured to, in response to the match of the UID of the second device with the UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle previously stored on the first device, share at least a portion of the configuration bundle with the second device to enable operation of the second device.

16. The expandable multimedia control system of claim 14, wherein the first device is further configured to, in response to the UID of the second device not matching any UID of the list of predetermined UIDs in the configuration bundle previously stored on the first device, ignore the second device.

17. The expandable multimedia control system of claim 14, wherein the first device and the second device are arranged in different zones of a plurality of zones that correspond to different areas of a house.

18. The expandable multimedia control system of claim 14, wherein the first device is a master programmable multimedia controller (PMC) and the second device is a subordinate PMC.

19. The expandable multimedia control system of claim 14, wherein the first device is a first programmable multimedia controller (PMC) and the second device is a second PMC, the system configuration includes information describing a plurality of components arranged in zones that correspond to different areas of a house, and the first PMC is arranged to control components in a first zone of the plurality of zones and the second PMC is arranged to control components in a second zone of the plurality of zones.

20. A non-transitory device-readable medium storing program instructions that when executed on one or more devices are operable to:

at a first time, initially configure an expandable multimedia control system to include a first device by storing a configuration bundle received from an installer, the configuration bundle including both a system configuration and a list of predetermined unique identifiers (UIDs) representing additional devices that are eligible to become a part of the expandable multimedia control system as part of a future expansion; and

at a subsequent time, expand the expandable multimedia control system by;

monitoring a network used by the expandable multimedia control system for the addition of the one or more new devices of the expandable multimedia control system;

upon receipt of a UID of a new device over the network, comparing the UID of the new device with the list of predetermined UIDs maintained in the configuration bundle;

in response to a match of the UID of the new device with a UID of the list of UIDs in the configuration bundle, adding the new device to the expandable multimedia control system; and

sharing at least a portion of the configuration bundle with the new device.