Method and system for controlling and coordinating devices and appliances, such as from a central portal and via a wide-area communications network
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a server computer to control resources coupled to a network, comprising:
- receiving an event associated with a client site;
identifying the client site from the received event and retrieving a stored record associated with the client site;
providing a command sequence based on the received event and the retrieved record; and
providing, over the network, an executable command sequence to a device residing at the client site to control the device at the client site.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A central portal coordinates and controls devices at client sites based on, for example, predetermined times, or requests by users or service providers. The central portal includes one or more server computers that receive an event associated with a client site. The central portal identifies the client site from the received event and retrieves a record or other data associated with a client site. The central portal provides a command sequence based on the received event and the retrieved record, and provides, over a network, an executable command sequence to a device residing at the client site to control the device at the client site. The client site can include both private residences, commercial buildings, vehicles (cars, boats, etc.), etc. The central portal resolves any conflicts and performs any necessary data transformations.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a server computer to control resources coupled to a network, comprising:
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receiving an event associated with a client site;
identifying the client site from the received event and retrieving a stored record associated with the client site;
providing a command sequence based on the received event and the retrieved record; and
providing, over the network, an executable command sequence to a device residing at the client site to control the device at the client site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for controlling and coordinating access to devices and appliances, from a central portal server, comprising:
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communicating with client site devices via a public communications network;
receiving event notifications from client site devices to the extent that the devices support such notifications;
querying the status of at least one of the client site devices;
receiving queries and requests for actions to be carried out at the client site, from a user over the public network;
receiving queries and requests for actions to be carried out at one or more client sites from one or more service providers over the public network;
obtaining notifications from a server system scheduling mechanism that a previously defined time has been reached; and
issuing commands to the client site devices based on the received queries and requests for actions from the user and service provider and the obtained notifications. that are timely, not in conflict, consistent with authorization levels of the originating user or service provider, and that carry out the requested or pre-configured actions or queries at the client site. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A server system for controlling and coordinating users, service providers, client sites and devices comprising:
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a data storage medium storing;
client site information for a plurality of client sites, including configuration information, device information for a plurality of devices and their association with client sites;
user information for a plurality of users and their associations with client sites, including information for users'"'"' access rights and authorization levels;
service provider information for a plurality of service providers, their associations with client sites, including information for service providers'"'"' access rights and authorization levels;
a scheduling mechanism for triggering events to occur at predefined intervals or at predetermined points in time, for a plurality of client sites, and for routing the triggered events;
a client site listening mechanism for receiving event notifications from the client sites and routing the received client site event notifications;
a user interface mechanism for receiving configuration commands, queries and requests for actions from the plurality of users and routing the received configuration commands;
service provider listening mechanism for receiving requests for actions from the service providers and routing the received service provider requests; and
a client site handler mechanism that receives incoming triggered events from the scheduling mechanism, event notifications from the client site listening mechanism, configuration commands from the user interface mechanism, and requests for actions from the service provider listening mechanism, and issues a resulting sequence of commands to client site devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for interacting with a client site system over a public communications network, wherein the client site system includes at least one client site device coupled to the network, the method comprising:
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providing, to a central portal over the network, a request to execute an event associated with the client site device wherein the request includes information identifying the client site from a plurality of client sites;
receiving a command sequence based on the request and client site identifying information, wherein the command sequence corresponds to the request and is formatted for the client site device; and
providing to the client site device the received command sequence to execute the requested event with respect to the client site device.
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Specification