UTILITY LOAD CONTROL MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL
First Claim
1. A method for managing a utility load from a master utility station by controlling electrical consumption of electrically powered devices, the method comprising the steps of:
- selecting at least one target for load control and assigning the at least one target at least one target address;
using a control system of a utility provider to form a single variable length load control message according to a communication protocol, wherein the load control message includes the at least one target address and a plurality of unique concatenated command messages as part of the single variable length load control message, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type and a fixed length message defined for the predetermined message type and a command message having a predetermined message type and a variable length message corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for the predetermined message type; and
causing the single variable length load control message to be transmitted via a communication network to the at least one target for execution of the variable length load control message, and wherein the at least one target comprises an individual end user device and the at least one target address comprises a device-level address; and
receiving a reply message formed according to the communication protocol via a communication network at the master utility station from the at least one target after the load control message is transmitted.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for managing a utility load by controlling electrical consumption of electrically powered devices. The method includes selecting a target for load control forming a single variable length load control message according to a communication protocol. The load control message includes the target address and a plurality of unique concatenated command messages, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type and a fixed length message defined for the predetermined message type and a command message having a predetermined message type and a variable length message corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for the predetermined message type. The method also includes causing the single variable length load control message to be transmitted to the target and receiving a reply message formed according to the communication protocol from the target.
15 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for managing a utility load from a master utility station by controlling electrical consumption of electrically powered devices, the method comprising the steps of:
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selecting at least one target for load control and assigning the at least one target at least one target address; using a control system of a utility provider to form a single variable length load control message according to a communication protocol, wherein the load control message includes the at least one target address and a plurality of unique concatenated command messages as part of the single variable length load control message, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type and a fixed length message defined for the predetermined message type and a command message having a predetermined message type and a variable length message corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for the predetermined message type; and causing the single variable length load control message to be transmitted via a communication network to the at least one target for execution of the variable length load control message, and wherein the at least one target comprises an individual end user device and the at least one target address comprises a device-level address; and receiving a reply message formed according to the communication protocol via a communication network at the master utility station from the at least one target after the load control message is transmitted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for managing a utility load from a master by controlling electrical consumption of electrically powered devices, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at a target for load control a single variable length load control message according to a communication protocol, wherein the load control message includes the at least one target address and a plurality of unique concatenated command messages as part of the single variable length load control message, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type and a fixed length message defined for the predetermined message type and a command message having a predetermined message type and a variable length message corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for the predetermined message type; and transmitting a reply message formed according to the communication protocol to the master utility station from the target after the load control message is received. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method, comprising:
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providing a controller for controlling electrical consumption of an electrically powered device; and providing instructions on operating the controller in accordance with a communication protocol, wherein the instructions include the steps of; receiving at the controller in communication with a control system of a utility provider a single variable length load control message, the load control message including at least a plurality of unique concatenated command messages as part of the single variable length load control message, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type and a fixed length message defined for the predetermined message type and a command message having a predetermined message type and a variable length message corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for the predetermined message type; controlling the device with the controller so as to execute of all of the plurality of unique command messages, thereby managing consumption of electricity of the electrically powered device; and transmitting a reply message formed according to the communication protocol to the controller of the utility provider from the target after the single variable length load control message is received.
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38. An apparatus for managing a utility load by controlling electrical consumption of an electrically powered device, comprising:
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means for selecting at least one target for load control and for assigning the at least one target at least one target address; means for forming a variable length load control message, the variable length load control message including; a start indicator field indicating a start of the variable length load control message; a variable length address field including a fixed bit-length portion identifying an address level, and a variable bit-length portion identifying a target address corresponding to the at least one electrically powered device; a plurality of unique concatenated command messages, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type field and fixed length message field for a fixed length message defined by the predetermined message type, and a command message having a message type field for a predetermined message type and a variable length message field corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for a message type of the message type field; and a message terminator field indicating a termination of the variable length load control message; and means for interfacing with a communication network communicatively coupled to the at least one target, such that the variable length load control message may be transmitted via the communication network to the at least one target for execution of the plurality of unique command messages; and means for receiving a reply message formed according to the communication protocol at the master utility station from the at least one target after transmission of the load control message.
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39. An apparatus for managing a utility load by controlling electrical consumption of an electrically powered device, comprising:
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means for receiving a variable length load control message at a target device, the variable length load control message including; a start indicator field indicating a start of the variable length load control message; a variable length address field including a fixed bit-length portion identifying an address level, and a variable bit-length portion identifying a target address corresponding to the at least one electrically powered device; a plurality of unique concatenated command messages, each of the plurality of unique concatenated command messages being selected from the set consisting of a command message having a predetermined message type field and fixed length message field for a fixed length message defined by the predetermined message type, and a command message having a message type field for a predetermined message type and a variable length message field corresponding to values in a command message control flag field defined for a message type of the message type field; and a message terminator field indicating a termination of the variable length load control message; means for controlling the target device with the controller so as to execute of all of the plurality of unique command messages, thereby managing consumption of electricity of the electrically powered device; and means for transmitting a reply message formed according to the protocol to the controller of the utility provider from the target device after the single variable length load control message is received.
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Specification