METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURING INSTRUMENTATION DEVICES

• US 20120151034A1
• Filed: 12/08/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wohlert, Randolph, Bowen, Donald J., Johnson, Jeffrey Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,252,966 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2834 Switching of information between an external network and a home network access arrangements H04L12/2856
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2898 Subscriber equipments DSL modems H04M11/062; cable modems H04L12/2801

Abstract

A method and system for managing an instrumentation device include accessing an image of the instrumentation device. Based on the image, an identity for the instrumentation device is determined. The identity is used to register the instrumentation device by configuring a gateway at a multimedia content distribution network client location to access and communicate with the instrumentation device. The identity of the instrumentation device and the gateway may be stored for future configuration of the gateway.

Claims

1. A method for managing an instrumentation device, comprising:

accessing an image of the instrumentation device;

based on the image, determining an identity for the instrumentation device; and

registering the instrumentation device wherein registering includes;

associating the identity with a gateway at a client premises of a multimedia content distribution network, wherein the gateway is configured to access the instrumentation device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the instrumentation device includes a device selected from the group consisting of:

a home security device, an energy monitoring device, a medical device, a sensor, a transducer, and an actuator.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating, at a multimedia content distribution network server, the identity with a multimedia content distribution network user account associated with the gateway.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating comprises:

configuring the gateway with a communication address for accessing the instrumentation device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the image from an imaging device that has captured an image of the instrumentation device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the receiving of the image from the imaging device comprises:

receiving the image from a wireless network.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the receiving of the image from the imaging device comprises:

receiving the image from a network connection other than a multimedia content distribution network connection to the client premises and from a location other than the multimedia content distribution network client premises.

8. A system for managing an instrumentation device, comprising:

a processor coupled to memory media, wherein the memory media include processor executable instructions to;

access an image captured by an imaging device, the image including an indication of the instrumentation device;

based on the indication, determine an identity for the instrumentation device; and

associate the identity with a gateway of a multimedia content distribution network, wherein the gateway is configured to communicate with the instrumentation device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor executable instructions include instructions to:

receive the image from the imaging device; and

wherein the instrumentation device includes a device selected from the group consisting of;

a home security device, an energy monitoring device, a medical device, a sensor, a transducer, and an actuator.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor executable instructions further include processor executable instructions to:

receive the image via a network connection other than a multimedia content distribution network connection to the gateway.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the network connection via which the image is received includes a wireless network connection.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the image is received from a location other than the client premises.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the indication includes information specifying the identity of the instrumentation device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the information is represented by an element selected from the group consisting of:

a bar code, a serial number, a model number, a device identifier, a quick response code, and a bokeh-effect element.

15. Computer-readable memory media, including instructions for managing an instrumentation device, the instructions executable by a processor to:

access an image of the instrumentation device captured by an imaging device;

based on the image, determine an identity for the instrumentation device; and

register the instrumentation device by associating the identity with a gateway included with customer premises equipment of a multimedia content distribution network, wherein the customer premises equipment is configured to access the instrumentation device.

16. The memory media of claim 15, wherein the instructions include instructions executable to:

receive the image from the imaging device; and

wherein the instrumentation device includes a device from the group consisting of;

a home security device, an energy monitoring device, a medical device, a sensor, a transducer, and an actuator.

17. The memory media of claim 15, wherein the instructions further include instructions executable to:

store, at a multimedia content distribution network server, the identity of the instrumentation device.

18. The memory media of claim 15, wherein the identity for the instrumentation device specifies a model descriptor for a type of instrumentation device.

19. The memory media of claim 15, wherein the instructions executable to receive the image include instructions executable to:

receive the image from a different network connection than a multimedia content distribution network connection to the client premises.

20. The memory media of claim 19, wherein the different network connection is a wireless network connection.