System for interconnecting devices for creating automation systems

• US 10,348,363 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2013
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KFX Circuits and Systems
• Original Assignee: KFX Circuits and Systems
• Inventors: Koshy, Nishil Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Rivas, Salvador E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fayed, Rasha
• Application Number:
  US14/376,350
• Publication Number:
  US 20140376386A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,345 Days
• Field of Search: 370242, 370389
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/00 Line transmission systems combined with near-field transmission systems H04B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/30 Reducing interference caused by unbalanced currents in a normally balanced line
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/50 Systems for transmission between fixed stations via two-conductor transmission lines H04B3/54 takes precedence
• 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 25/0278 Arrangements for impedance matching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/028 Arrangements specific to the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0286 Provision of wave shaping within the driver wave shaping per se H04L25/03834
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0292 Arrangements specific to the receiver end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/066 Telephone sets adapted for data transmision
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/102 Circuits therefor, e.g. noise reducers, equalisers, amplifiers H04N7/108 takes precedence

Abstract

The various embodiments provide a system for interconnecting a plurality of devices for budding automation systems. The system comprising on or more sensor units to transmit data along with a sensor device address an a network, one or more actuator units to receive the transmitted data, a monitoring unit to receive, monitor and record the transmitted data, a control unit to monitor functioning of devices on the network and transmit data to the actuators, a link unit to extend range of the network by retransmitting the signals received from one cable to other cables and an interface unit to convert signals to and from the network into a format of another communication protocol. The network comprises a plurality of devices connected to a single cable to communicate with other devices on the network by generating charge disturbances and detecting the charge disturbances propagated over the cable.

Claims

1. A system for interconnecting a plurality of devices in a network for building management and home automation systems, the system comprising:

one or more sensor units configured to transmit data along with a sensor device address to a plurality of devices on a first network;

one or more actuator units adapted to receive the data transmitted on the first network;

one or more monitoring units configured to receive, monitor and record the transmitted data from the one or more sensor units;

one or more control units configured to monitor functioning of devices on the first network and transmit data to the one or more actuators units;

a link unit adapted to extend the transmission range of the first network by retransmitting the signals received from one cable to other cables; and

an interface unit configured to convert signals to an the first network into a format of another communication protocol to provide integration with a second network;

wherein the first network comprises a plurality of devices connected to a conducted without a return loop, and wherein the plurality of devices communicates with one another over the first network by generating and propagating charge disturbances on the conductor without a return loop and by detecting the charge disturbances propagated over the conductor without a return loop, and wherein each actuator unit is connected to at least one switch to control a behavior of the switch based on the data received from said sensor unit(s) and the one or more control units, and

wherein the one or more actuator devices are adapted to independently function based on the data transmitted by said sensor device(s), to render the system tolerant to link failures of the controller unit, and wherein

states of the actuator unit devices are synthesized across the one or more monitoring unit to enable the one or more control units to control each actuator device independently, and wherein the one or more actuators unit are further adapted to transmit the state of the connected devices along with the actuators device address for multi-point monitoring and control of the connected devices, and wherein each control units is configured to transmit data to one or more actuator unit at a same time depending on an address decoding logic defined for a given network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of devices are selectively connected to a common ground reference, and wherein the plurality of devices is connected to a common power or ground cable that exists in a building.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each sensor unit is connected to at least one sensor and configured to transmit the sensor data along with the device address of the sensor unit on the network, and wherein the sensor unit is selected from a group consisting of fire sensor, switch panel, temperature sensor, and success card reader.