System and method for delivery and management of end-user services
First Claim
1. A monitoring and control system comprising:
- a plurality of sensor units spaced apart about a premises, said sensors operative for communicating electrical and environmental conditions concerning a multiplicity of electrical and environmental conditions pertinent to said premises; and
a control unit for aggregating communicated conditions from said sensors, said control unit further operative for communicating control signals in response to an aggregated condition.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a system and method which allows each end-user (or a combined number of end-users) to set controls for each of the user'"'"'s energy using systems at one or more premises. Each end-user, for each premise, then can determine, based on a digital copy of a holistic view of the premise, how it will manage the premises. In one embodiment, this system and method ties into a network of sensors which, in turn, is tied into a larger service network that controls the distribution system services throughout a wide area. In operation, in one embodiment, sensors associated with each system, appliance, or piece of equipment on a premise feeds data back to a main control unit serving that premise or the plurality of premises so as to form the digital copy. The digital copy can also be fed to larger nodes which, in turn, can feed the data to the wide area service
-
Citations
74 Claims
-
1. A monitoring and control system comprising:
-
a plurality of sensor units spaced apart about a premises, said sensors operative for communicating electrical and environmental conditions concerning a multiplicity of electrical and environmental conditions pertinent to said premises; and
a control unit for aggregating communicated conditions from said sensors, said control unit further operative for communicating control signals in response to an aggregated condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A premise monitoring and control system comprising:
-
a plurality of individual control units spaced about said premise, each said individual control unit adapted for monitoring one or more selected environmental conditions pertaining to said premise; and
a device for communicating with at least one premise service and with said plurality of individual control units, said device operable for sending instructions to one or more of said individual control units to control service usage at said premise in accordance with information obtained from said service provider and from said local control units and for monitoring the quality and amount of such service usage - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
-
35. A method for controlling energy usage at a premise, said method comprising:
-
gathering a digital copy of said premises from devices distributed throughout said premise;
receiving at least one parameter with respect to a power grid serving said premise; and
determining for said premise a preferred set of adjustments to be made at said premise to optimize said premise in accordance with received ones of said parameters, said optimization based upon the then current gathered digital copy of said premise. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
-
44. A system comprising:
-
means for capturing a digital copy of a premises to be monitored, said digital copy comprising parameters selected from the list of;
electrical parameters, temperature, light level, motion, sound, GPS location, occupancy, biometrics, medical condition detection, entertainment systems, smoke and fire detection, pollutants, (vapor, chemical, particle, gas, etc.), materials residues, humidity, radiation, water flow, and water presence;
means for determining from time to time when a captured digital copy of a premises, when taken as a whole, deviates from an established expected condition; and
means controlled at least in part by said determining means for taking action with respect to said premises, said action selected from the list of;
sending an alarm signal, modifying the electrical power consumption of said premise, modifying the water consumption usage of said premise, modifying the gas consumption of said premises, modifying the entertainment usage of said premises, modifying the power factor of said premises, modifying the utility consumption of said premises, providing video or audio or readable directions and information regarding response to or modification of monitored conditions, providing instructions to a monitored patient as to what pills to take when a condition is identified;
instructions or alert to a homeowner that an appliance is in need of servicing, a visual display of said premise, said display reflecting said digital copy. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. A method comprising:
-
capturing a digital copy of a premises to be monitored, said digital copy comprising parameters selected from the list of;
electrical parameters, temperature, light level, motion, sound, GPS location, occupancy, biometrics, medical condition detection, entertainment systems, smoke and fire detection, hazardous chemicals or gases, radiation, pollutants, (vapor, chemical, particle, gas, etc.), humidity, water flow, water presence;
determining from time to time when a captured digital copy of a premises, when taken as a whole, deviates from an established expected condition; and
taking action with respect to said premises based upon said determining, said action selected from the list of;
sending an alarm signal, modifying the electrical power consumption of said premises, or one or more devices, appliances, or systems of said premises modifying the water consumption usage of said premises, modifying the gas consumption of said premises, modifying the entertainment usage of said premises, modifying the security functions of said premises, modifying the emergency response and/or evacuation functions of said premises, modifying the power factor of said premises, modifying the utility consumption of said premises; and
providing video or audio or readable directions and information regarding response to or modification of monitored conditions providing video or audio or readable directions and information regarding response to or modification of monitored conditions, providing instructions to a monitored patient as to what pills to take when a condition is identified;
instructions or alert to a homeowner that an appliance is in need of servicing. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
-
-
58. A system comprising:
-
a device for capturing a digital copy of at lease one of a plurality of premises to be monitored, said digital copy comprising parameters selected from the list of;
electrical parameters, temperature, light level, motion, sound, GPS location, occupancy, biometrics, medical condition detection, entertainment systems, smoke and fire detection, hazardous chemicals and gases, radiation, pollutants (vapor, chemical, particle, gas), humidity, water flow, water presence, utility consumption;
a processor for determining from time to time when a captured digital copy of a premises, when taken as a whole, deviates from an established expected condition at said premises; and
controllers operative in response to commands from said processor for taking action to adjust said captured digital copy of said premise, said action selected from the list of;
changing the lighting level of particular locations of said premises, changing the temperature of selected locations within said premises, modifying the security functions of said premises changing the outdoor lighting of said premises, changing any watering pattern of said premises; and
providing video or audio or readable directions and information regarding response to or modification of monitored conditions. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61)
-
-
62. A method for community control comprising:
-
creating at each premises in a community a digital copy of individual premise; and
interacting among said premises to control the utilization by said community of at least one shared service based upon an interaction of all of said individual digital copies. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65)
-
-
66. A unitary service platform comprising:
-
a plurality of sensor units spaced apart about a premises, said sensors operative for communicating electrical and environmental conditions concerning a multiplicity of electrical and environmental conditions pertinent to said premises;
a control unit for aggregating communicated conditions from said sensors;
a plurality of interfaces for communicating between said control unit and at least one service provider; and
wherein a control unit for aggregating communicated conditions from said sensors said control unit is further operative for communicating control signals to select one of said service providers in response to an aggregated condition. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70)
-
-
71. A unitary service platform comprising:
-
a plurality of sensor units spaced apart about a premises, said sensors operative for communicating end-user settings for a wide variety of services;
a control unit for aggregating communicated conditions from said sensors;
a plurality of interfaces for communicating between said control unit and at least one service provider; and
wherein said control unit is further operative for communicating control signals to select one of said service providers in response to an aggregated condition. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74)
-
Specification