MODULAR POWER CONTROL SYSTEM TO MANAGE POWER CONSUMPTION

• US 20100218010A1
• Filed: 02/20/2009
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Terrace Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: MUSTI, Subrahmanyam S., Ramanathan, Sri, Trevathan, Matthew B., Terry, Matthew A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,224,496 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/310
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections

Abstract

A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code having programming instructions tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium. The programming instructions are operable to receive an indication of a geoboundary event and determine an occurrence of at least one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) event and a local area network (LAN) event. Additionally, the programming instructions are operable to adjust one or more power consumption settings of an environment based on at least one of the receiving of the indication of the geoboundary event and the determination of the occurrence of the at least one of the RFID event and the LAN event.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions operable to:

receive an indication of a geoboundary event;

determine an occurrence of at least one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) event and a local area network (LAN) event; and

adjust one or more power consumption settings of an environment based on at least one of the receiving of the indication of the geoboundary event and the determination of the occurrence of the at least one of the RFID event and the LAN event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the indication of the geoboundary event occurs in response to a determination that a device in a wireless carrier network has traversed an established geoboundary.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the geoboundary event is received via session initiation protocol (SIP).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising registering the computer infrastructure as a session initiation protocol (SIP) client of a wireless carrier network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the occurrence of the RFID event comprises at least one of:

detecting an arrival of an RFID tag within at least one of a room and a zone of the environment;

detecting a departure of the RFID tag from the at least one of the room and the zone of the environment;

detecting a presence of two or more RFID tags within a predetermined range of one another; and

detecting an absence of the two or more RFID tags within the predetermined range of one another.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the occurrence of the LAN event comprises detecting at least one of:

an arrival of a LAN-enabled device within a range of a LAN; and

a departure of the LAN-enabled device from the range of the LAN.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting the one or more power consumption settings comprises controlling power distribution in the environment by at least one of:

accessing an environment power grid to adjust power supply in the environment;

accessing the environment power grid to effect power line wiring signaling and/or control; and

accessing an environment internet protocol (IP) network to effect Power-over-Ethernet signaling and/or control.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the environment comprises one or more zones and wherein the one or more zones each comprise one or more rooms.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the environment is one of an office environment, a home environment, a warehouse environment and a retail environment.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising provisioning at least one of:

one or more geoboundaries;

one or more RFID zones; and

one or more RFID rooms in each of the one or more RFID zones.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more geoboundaries comprises an environment geoboundary which is defined by a perimeter of the environment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more geoboundaries comprise at least one of concentric geoboundaries and progressively larger geoboundaries surrounding the environment.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an RFID tag for at least one power consuming device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising establishing one or more power consumption rules for the at least one power consuming device, wherein the adjusting the one or more power consumption settings of the environment is performed in accordance with the one or more power consumption rules for the at least one power consuming device.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising provisioning a wireless device as a SIP client of a wireless carrier network.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein steps are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the service configuration data comprises:

designations of one or more zones of the environment;

designations of one or more rooms for each of the one or more zones;

a listing of consumers associated with each of the one or more rooms;

one or more RFID tag identifications indicating an association to a consumer or a person; and

power control rules associated with each consumer or person for adjusting the one or more power consumption settings of the environment.

18. A system, comprising:

a modular power control unit (MPCU) operable to;

receive an indication of a geoboundary event;

determine an occurrence of at least one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) event and a local area network (LAN) event; and

adjust one or more power consumption settings of an environment based on at least one of the receiving the indication of the geoboundary event and the determining the occurrence of that at least one of the RFID event and the LAN event.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the MPCU is registered as a session initiation protocol (SIP) client user agent.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the indication of the geoboundary event is received via session initiation protocol (SIP).

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the MPCU comprises:

a power control subsystem operable to interface with a local power grid of the environment;

a transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) stack operable to interface with an IP network of the environment;

one or more RFID drivers operable to interface with an RFID scanner subsystem;

a session initiation protocol (SIP) client watcher operable to interface with a wireless network;

a service control repository operable to store service configuration data; and

a service logic unit.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the RFID scanner subsystem comprises at least one RFID scanner operable to determine the occurrence of the RFID event.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code embodied in the storage medium, the computer program product includes at least one component operable to:

receive an indication of a geoboundary event;

determine an occurrence of at least one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) event and a local area network (LAN) event; and

adjust one or more power consumption settings of an environment based on at least one of the receiving of the indication of the geoboundary event and the determination of the occurrence of the at least one of the RFID event and the LAN event,

wherein the computer program product is registered as a session initiation protocol (SIP) client user agent, and

wherein the indication of the geoboundary event is received via SIP.

25. A method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure operable to;

receive an indication of a geoboundary event via session initiation protocol (SIP), which occurs in response to a determination that a wireless device in a wireless carrier network has traversed an established geoboundary;

detect an occurrence of at least one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) event and a local area network (LAN) event;

receive one or more power consumption rules for at least one power consuming device in response to at least one of the receiving and the detection; and

adjust one or more power consumption settings of an environment based on at least one of the indication of the geoboundary event and the detection of the occurrence of the at least one of the RFID event and the LAN event, which is performed in accordance with the one or more power consumption rules for the at least one power consuming device and comprises controlling power distribution in the environment by at least one of;

accessing an environment power grid to adjust power supply in the environment;

accessing the environment power grid to effect power line wiring signaling and/or control; and

accessing an environment internet protocol (IP) network to effect Power-over-Ethernet signaling and/or control.