Smart Outlet with Valid Plug Management and Activation

• US 20110015795A1
• Filed: 07/16/2009
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mach, Roger A., George, John O. III, Boyer, J. Wayne
• Application Number:
  US12/504,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20110015795A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/286
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing delivery of power to an electrical outlet to provide safety and security for emission of current from the outlet. The modified outlet is an addressable outlet in communication with a manager for authenticating receipt of a valid appliance, and for limiting delivery of power to the outlet in response to the authentication.

Claims

1. A method for controlling delivery of electrical power to a multi-mode electrical outlet, comprising:

a server in communication with an array of outlets across a communication interface;

configuring each outlet in the array of outlets with a unique outlet identifier, with each outlet having at least one jack;

configuring each jack in each outlet with a unique jack identifier;

communicating to the server when an electrical appliance has been received by at least one of the outlets;

the outlet authenticating the received electrical appliance with the server; and

in response to a positive authentication by the server, changing the state of the outlet through the communication interface.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the jack in communication with the outlet authenticating the receiving electrical appliance with the server.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising returning a status identifier of the individual jack to the server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the interface in communication with the server providing a visual representation of the state of all jacks and all of the outlets in the array.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the server sending key events to at least one specified outlet based upon a predetermined time-based event.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication interface employs a medium selected from the group consisting of:

wired and wireless.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising embedding a plug identifier with the plug and communicating the plug identifier to the server.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the plug identifier is an RFID tag.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising communicating a plug insertion notification event to the server upon attachment of the plug to a jack, including communicating the plug identifier and the identifier of the jack, and communicating a plug removal notification event to the server upon removal of the plug from a jack, including communicating the plug identifier and the identifier of the jack.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a plug identifier in non-volatile memory local to the outlet, and comparing the plug identifier to identifiers stored in memory.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a jack manager local to the server to receive the communication and to authenticate the received appliance with the server, and the state of the jack changed in response to authentication of the received appliance.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a status identifier of the jack returned to the server.

11. A system comprising:

an array of multi-mode electrical outlets;

a server in communication with the array across a communication interface;

an outlet identifier for each outlet in the array;

at least one jack provided for each outlet in the array;

a jack identifier for each jack provided in each outlet;

a communication interface local to the outlet to send a communication to the server upon receipt of an electrical appliance local to the outlet;

an outlet manager local to the server to receive the communication and to authenticate the received appliance with the server; and

a state of the outlet changed in response to authentication of the received appliance.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a visual display to convey a visual representation of the jacks and the array of outlets.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising key events sent from the server to at least one of the outlet based upon a pre-determined time-based event.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication interface employs a medium selected from the group consisting of:

wired and wireless.

17. The system of claim 11, further comprising a plug identifier local to the appliance, and communication of the plug identifier across the communication interface.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the plug identifier is a radio frequency identifier tag.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a plug insertion notification event communicated to the server upon receipt of the plug by the jack, including communication of the plug identifier and the jack identifier, and communication of a plug removal notification event to the server upon removal of the plug from the jack, including the plug identifier and the jack identifier.

20. The system of claim 11, further comprising non-volatile memory local to the outlet to store a plug identifier, and a manager to compare the plug identifier to identifiers stored local to the non-volatile memory.