System and method for controlling environment maintenance equipment
First Claim
1. A system for controlling environment maintenance equipment comprising:
- a plurality of interface control servers for controlling environment maintenance devices;
a client for communicating with said interface control servers; and
a messaging control at said client and at each of said plurality of interface control servers for exchanging messages between said client and each of said plurality of interface control servers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a system and method, based on an open, client-server architecture, for monitoring and managing environment maintenance equipment. Distributed, custom controls handle interactions with the devices such as sprinklers, pumpstations, and weather stations that may comprise the environment maintenance system. Messaging controls at a client and an interface control server facilitate communications between devices using text messages that are delivered, preferably, using the TCP/IP protocol of the Internet. System control and data acquisition controls allow for reading and writing of values for various settings and parameters on each device. Site managers in different domains provide directory services so that the messaging controls distributed throughout a system may located for communications. Using the present invention, remote clients or user interfaces such as telephones, personal computers, and personal digital assistants may be used to control environment maintenance devices that may be distributed throughout different domains.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for controlling environment maintenance equipment comprising:
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a plurality of interface control servers for controlling environment maintenance devices;
a client for communicating with said interface control servers; and
a messaging control at said client and at each of said plurality of interface control servers for exchanging messages between said client and each of said plurality of interface control servers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16)
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9. A method for controlling environment maintenance equipment comprising the steps of:
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connecting an interface control server to an environment maintenance device;
installing a first message control at said interface control server;
installing a second message control at a client;
entering a message at said client;
communicating said message from said client to said interface control server in accordance with said first message control and said second message control; and
controlling said environment maintenance device at said interface control server in accordance with said message. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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17. An apparatus for controlling an environment maintenance device, comprising:
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an interface control server adapted for communication with said environment maintenance device;
a messaging control at said interface control server for receiving messages from a client; and
a connection between said interface control server and said environment maintenance device, said connection adapted for communicating a command to said environment maintenance device in accordance with a message from said client. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification