METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INEXPENSIVELY MONITORING AND CONTROLLING REMOTELY DISTRIBUTED APPLIANCES
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and associated apparatus are described that enables unattended, remotely distributed appliances, such as vending machines, utility meters, thermostats and kitchen appliances (ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, etc.) to be connected inexpensively to each other and to a centrally located server. The apparatus 1) uses relatively simple “personality” modules to adapt the apparatus to the application in combination with a sophisticated core module that provides the intelligence needed to process data locally, to format that data and to transfer it to a remote server and 2) uses existing Internet-based communication links, thereby avoiding the costly proprietary links used with current state-of-the-art solutions.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1-14. -14. (canceled)
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15. A method for sending a command, comprising:
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parsing the command to determine the command'"'"'s nature, wherein the command affects at least one aspect of a communications system including at least one appliance; formatting the command for transmission over a wide area network (WAN); transmitting the command to a first communications device; parsing the command at the first communications device to determine the if the command is for the first communications device or if the command is for a second communications device; executing the command if the command is for the first communications device; reformatting the command for transmission over a local area network (LAN) if the command is for the second communications device; transmitting the command to the second communications device if the command is for the second communications device; parsing the command at the second communications device if the command is for the second communications device; and executing the command at the second communications device if the command is for the second communications device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification