LOW COST AND FLEXIBLE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20110202910A1
• 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 8,621,097 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/171
• 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 premises data management system includes a first communication network configured to transmit and receive data to and from a user interface. Another communication network is configured to access data from and provides data to accessories within the premises management system. A gateway of the system includes a first interface channel and another interface channel. The gateway receives the data from the first communication network, via the first interface channel. The gateway reformats the data from the first communication network for communication to the other communication network via the other interface channel. The gateway also requests data from the accessories via the other interface channel and replies to the user interface via the first interface channel.

Claims

1. A premises data management system for transmitting data comprising:

a first communication network configured to transmit and receive data to and from a user interface;

another communication network configured to access data from and provide data to accessories within the premises management system; and

a gateway including a first data interface channel and another data interface channel, the gateway configured to;

(i) receive the data from the first communication network, via the first data interface channel,

(ii) reformat the data from the first communication network for communication to the other communication network via the other data interface channel,

(iii) request data from the accessories via the other data interface channel, and

(iv) reply to the user interface via the first data interface channel.

2. The system of claim 1 further including a second communication network and a second data interface channel for communicating to a Utility company, and wherein the other communication network is a third communication network and the other data interface channel is a third data interface channel.

3. The system of claim 1 where the data consists of one or more of:

energy consumption information, energy pricing information, or energy reduction commands.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein communication in the first data interface channel relies on Internet Protocol.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein communication in the first data interface channel relies on XML.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the first communication network operates at a different bandwidth than the second communication network.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the user interface is an application that resides in a computing device having a display, the computing device and the display being physically separate from the gateway.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the accessories include appliances found in a home, the appliances found in the home being registered with the gateway, the gateway being a single point gateway between the appliances in the home and a Utility company, wherein the gateway summarizes appliance actions, responses, and statuses and communicates a single message to the Utility company.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the gateway is in operative connection to a smart meter.

10. The system of claim 1 further including a plurality of individual software applications configured to operate the system, the software applications are independently updatable.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the gateway is configured to check a server for software updates for the accessories and to download the software updates for those accessories from the server.

12. A method of transmitting and receiving data via a gateway of a premises data management system, the gateway having at least a first data interface channel and a second data interface channel, the method comprising:

gathering data in the system by the second data interface channel;

storing the gathered data within the gateway;

receiving requests from the first data interface channel for the stored gathered data, and

replying to the requests from the first data interface channel.

13. The method of claim 12 where the data consists of one or more of:

energy consumption information, energy pricing information, energy reduction commands related to accessories found in a home.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein communication in the first data interface channel relies on Internet Protocol.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein communication in the first data interface channel relies on XML.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the first data interface channel operates at a different bandwidth than the second data interface channel.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the accessories include appliances found in a home, the appliances found in the home being registered with the gateway, the gateway being a single point gateway between the appliances in the home and a Utility company, wherein the gateway summarizes appliance actions, responses, and statuses and communicates a single message to the Utility company.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the gateway is a central controller.

19. A system of communicating data comprising:

a plurality of accessories within a home;

a user interface;

a first communication network configured to communicate with the user interface;

a second communication network configured to communicate with the accessories; and

a gateway having a first data interface channel and a second data interface channel, the gateway located between the first communication network and the second communication network, and configured to,

receive data requests over the first data interface channel from the user interface, and

collect data over the second data interface channel from the accessories.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the user interface is configured to interface with the accessories through a plurality of physical communication media for:

provisioning; and

sending data external of the gateway.