SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURING AND MAINTAINING INDIVIDUAL AND MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL UNITS OVER A COMMUNICATION NETWORK FROM AN ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

• US 20070250191A1
• Filed: 04/21/2006
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: James Rumsey, Michael Rourke
• Original Assignee: James Rumsey, Michael Rourke
• Inventors: Rourke, Michael, Rumsey, James
• Granted Patent: US 7,436,293 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/90
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house

Abstract

A method and system that allow an ECU to be conveniently configured based on the contents of an ECU configuration profile database that stores ECU user profiles and living environment profiles, and that generates a user interface for a selected remote ECU displaying selectable living environment devices, each of which corresponds to a type of living environment device that can be controlled by a user through that ECU. The user interface further displays a representation of a current configuration of the remotely located ECU, and enables the administrator user to move the selectable living environment device representations into the current configuration representation for the remotely located environmental control unit, for example by dragging and dropping the living environment device representations using a mouse user interface device coupled to a computer system on which the administration tool is executing.

Claims

1. A method of managing a network of environmental control units, comprising:

independently storing and retrieving individual ones of a plurality of environmental control unit user profiles to and from an environmental control unit configuration profile database;

independently storing and retrieving individual ones of a plurality of living environment profiles to and from said environmental control unit configuration profile database;

wherein each of said environmental control unit user profiles is made up of user specific environmental control unit configuration information associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of environmental control unit users; and

wherein each of said living environment profiles is made up of living environment specific environmental control unit configuration information for at least one living environment device located in an associated living environment; and

generating a living environment device selection user interface displaying a list of selectable living environment device representations, wherein each of said selectable living environment device representations corresponds to a type of living environment device that can be controlled through said remotely located environmental control unit, and wherein said living environment device selection user interface further displays a representation of a current configuration of a remotely located environmental control unit, and wherein said living device selection user interface enables a user to move said selectable living environment device representations into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, in response to detecting said user moving one of said selectable living environment device representations into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit, a command message over a computer network to said remotely located environmental control unit, said command message indicating that said remotely located environmental control unit should perform at least one operation to allow a user to control a living environment device of said type corresponding to said one of said living environment device representations moved into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said living environment device selection user interface enables said user to move said selectable living environment device representations into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit by enabling said user to click on said selectable living environment device representations and move said selectable living environment device representations into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit by dragging said selectable living environment device representations over said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

independently downloading a user specified one of said plurality of environmental control unit user profiles and a user specified one of said plurality of living environment profiles into a user specified one of a plurality of environmental control units, said user specified one of said plurality of environmental control units, user specified one of said plurality of environmental control unit user profiles and said user specified one of said plurality of living environment profiles each individually selected by a user through a configuration profile selection user interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a living environment device configuration user interface that enables said user to indicate at least one living environment device characteristic associated with said living environment device of said type corresponding to said one of said living environment device representations moved into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising generating a user characteristic configuration user interface that enables said user to indicate at least one user characteristic associated with said living environment device of said type corresponding to said one of said living environment device representations moved into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising generating a feedback setting user interface that enables said user to indicate at least one user characteristic comprising a feedback setting indicating how said remotely located environmental control unit provides feedback to said user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said user specific environmental control unit configuration information for each of said environmental control unit user profiles reflects a disability of said corresponding one of said plurality of environmental control unit users.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said user specific environmental control unit configuration information for each of said environmental control unit user profiles further reflects at least one physical characteristic of said corresponding one of said plurality of environmental control unit users.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said user specific environmental control unit configuration information for each of said environmental control unit user profiles further reflects at least one preference of said one of said plurality of corresponding environmental control unit users.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said living environment specific control unit configuration information for each of said living environment profiles includes information describing how said at least one living environment device can be controlled by an environmental control unit.

12. A system for of managing a network of environmental control units, said system including administration tool program code stored on a computer readable medium, said administration tool program code comprising:

program code operable to independently store and retrieve individual ones of a plurality of environmental control unit user profiles to and from an environmental control unit configuration profile database;

program code operable to independently store and retrieving individual ones of a plurality of living environment profiles to and from said environmental control unit configuration profile database;

wherein each of said environmental control unit user profiles is made up of user specific environmental control unit configuration information associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of environmental control unit users; and

wherein each of said living environment profiles is made up of living environment specific environmental control unit configuration information for at least one living environment device located in an associated living environment; and

program code operable to generate a living environment device selection user interface displaying a list of selectable living environment device representations, wherein each of said selectable living environment device representations corresponds to a type of living environment device that can be controlled through said remotely located environmental control unit, and wherein said living environment device selection user interface further displays a representation of a current configuration of a remotely located environmental control unit, and wherein said living device selection user interface enables a user to move said selectable living environment device representations into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.

13. A system for managing a network of environmental control units, comprising:

means for independently storing and retrieving individual ones of a plurality of environmental control unit user profiles to and from an environmental control unit configuration profile database;

means for independently storing and retrieving individual ones of a plurality of living environment profiles to and from said environmental control unit configuration profile database;

wherein each of said environmental control unit user profiles is made up of user specific environmental control unit configuration information associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of environmental control unit users; and

wherein each of said living environment profiles is made up of living environment specific environmental control unit configuration information for at least one living environment device located in an associated living environment; and

means for generating a living environment device selection user interface displaying a list of selectable living environment device representations, wherein each of said selectable living environment device representations corresponds to a type of living environment device that can be controlled through said remotely located environmental control unit, and wherein said living environment device selection user interface further displays a representation of a current configuration of a remotely located environmental control unit, and wherein said living device selection user interface enables a user to move said selectable living environment device representations into said representation of said current configuration of said remotely located environmental control unit.