Autonomous local area distributed network
First Claim
1. A system for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, comprising:
- an electrical device, for performing a device-specific function that is not primarily a computing function; and
a node, embedded in the electrical device and communicatively coupled to at least one other node embedded in another electrical device, for enabling network-connectivity between the electrical device to which the node is coupled and the at least one other node by enabling each device to transfer messages to and receive messages from other devices in the system without requiring a connection to a server or master controller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An autonomous local area distributed network provides a peer-to-peer network to connect nodes and devices using low cost and low bandwidth communication techniques, thus allowing the network to share node resources and distribute programming tasks across the different nodes. Home appliances and devices such as refrigerators, televisions, light switches, light fixtures, garage door openers, stereos, and the like may be configured as nodes on the peer-to-peer network. Operational programs, referred to as “sequences,” may be distributed across nodes in a network to enable the maximum utilization of available node resources.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A system for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, comprising:
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an electrical device, for performing a device-specific function that is not primarily a computing function; and
a node, embedded in the electrical device and communicatively coupled to at least one other node embedded in another electrical device, for enabling network-connectivity between the electrical device to which the node is coupled and the at least one other node by enabling each device to transfer messages to and receive messages from other devices in the system without requiring a connection to a server or master controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, the electrical devices communicatively coupled via a network, comprising:
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determining by first node coupled to the first electrical device, a second electrical device coupled to the network for performing an attribute associated with the second electrical device; and
transmitting via the network from the first node, a message addressed with a unique identifier of a second node coupled to the second electrical device specifying the second device and attribute to be performed. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of sharing resources in a network of connected electrical devices comprising:
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in a first node coupled to an electrical device;
determining that insufficient memory exists to store data in the first node;
transmitting a message from the first node to the network requesting resources;
responsive to receiving a response from a second node that the second node has available memory, transferring data to the second node to be stored on the second node; and
generating a pointer to point to the address of the second node.
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11. A system for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, comprising:
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an electrical device; and
a node coupled to the electrical device for providing network connectivity to the electrical device without requiring a continuous connection to a server or master controller.
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12. An apparatus, comprising:
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a first electrical device, for primarily performing a device-specific, non-computing function;
a network interface circuit, embedded in the first electrical device, for communicatively coupling the electrical device to a communications network, in order to send and receive messages pertaining to the status of the device over the network, without requiring a continuous connection between the network interface circuit and a server or master controller.
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13. A system comprising:
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a plurality of home appliances; and
a plurality of network interface circuits, each network interface circuit embedded in a home appliance, and providing peer-to-peer network connectivity between the home appliances, such that each application can communicate with and send control information to any other application without requiring a master controller circuit to manage control and communication between the appliances.
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Specification