LOW COST AND FLEXIBLE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DEFINED IN A SINGLE UNITARY HOUSING

• US 20110202190A1
• Filed: 01/03/2011
• Published: 08/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. DBA GE Appliances (Haier Group Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Drake, Jeff Donald, Worthington, Timothy Dale, Venkatakrishnan, Natarajan, Nolan, Kevin Farrelly, Emery, Cathy Diane, Bingham, David C., Watts, William Anthony, Finch, Michael Francis, Bultman, Robert Marten, Kobraei, Henry
• Granted Patent: US 9,218,631 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/286
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/12 The local stationary network supplying a household or a building

Abstract

A device configured in a unitary housing which includes a computing device with memory that stores energy information. A power supply and prongs attach to the power supply in the same unitary housing, wherein the prongs are configured to plug into a wall outlet.

Claims

1. A device configured in a unitary housing comprising:

a computing device with memory that stores energy information;

a power supply; and

prongs attached to the power supply in the same housing, the prongs configured to plug into a wall outlet.

2. The device of claim 1 further including a reset button on an exterior of the housing to reset operation of the device.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the prongs are removable and may be interchanged with other prongs by at least one of a tool or without a tool.

4. The device of claim 1 further including an internal storage battery.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the prongs, the power supply and the computing device are provided in an operational connection to enable data communication with a remote server via the prongs.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the computing device is a single board computer.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the device is configured as a home energy gateway for use in a home energy management environment, wherein the home energy gateway is a single point communication device which controls the communication flow of the home energy management system.

8. The device of claim 7 further including interface channels configured to enable communication between the home energy gateway and a plurality of communication networks.

9. The device of claim 8 configured to interface with two or more networks having different communication protocols, via the interface channels.

10. The device of claim 1 further configured to communicate with a plurality of user interfaces.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein a volume of the device is less than approximately 160 cubic centimeters.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein a weight of the device is less than approximately 100 grams.

13. The device of claim 1 wherein the device is setup using zero configuration networking.

14. A home energy gateway configured in a unitary housing for use in an energy management system that includes a plurality of communication networks, the home energy gateway comprising:

a plurality of interface channels corresponding to the plurality of communication networks;

a computing device that exchanges energy data with the plurality of communication networks via the plurality of interface channels; and

prongs attached to the power supply in the unitary housing, the prongs configured to plug into a wall outlet.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the prongs are removable and may be interchanged with other prongs by at least one of a tool or without a tool.

16. The device of claim 14 further including an internal storage battery.

17. The device of claim 14 wherein the prongs, the power supply and the computing device are provided in an operational connection to send data to a remote server over the prongs.

18. The device of claim 14 wherein the computing device is a single board computer.

19. The device of claim 14 wherein the device is configured as a home energy gateway for use in a home energy management environment, wherein the home energy gateway is a single point communication device which controls the communication flow of the home energy management system.

20. The device of claim 19 further including interface channels configured to enable communication between the home energy gateway and a plurality of communication networks.

21. The device of claim 20 configured to interface with two or more networks having different communication protocols, via the interface channels.