PROSPECTIVE DETERMINATION OF PROCESSOR WAKE-UP CONDITIONS IN ENERGY BUFFERED HVAC CONTROL UNIT
First Claim
1. A thermostat, comprising:
- a housing and a user interface coupled to said housing;
a memory disposed within the housing;
one or more sensing systems configured to sense at least one environmental condition;
a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to said user interface, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with the one or more sensing systems, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface for determining a setpoint temperature value, and in still further operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value, the processing system including a processor coupled to said memory, the processor having a relatively low power-consuming sleep state and a relatively high power-consuming wake state, wherein the processing system operates by;
determining a set of wake-up conditions upon which said processor is to enter into said wake state from said sleep state, said set of wake-up conditions including at least one threshold value associated with at least one of the environmental conditions sensed by said at least one sensing system;
causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory;
operating in a first mode in which said processor is in said sleep state during a time interval subsequent to said causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory;
determining, while said processor is in said sleep state, whether at least one of the set of wake-up conditions including said at least one threshold value has been met; and
operating in a second mode in which said processor is in said wake state upon a determination that the at least one of the set of wake-up conditions has been met, the processing system being configured to control the HVAC system while operating in the second operating mode.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A thermostat includes at least a housing, a user interface, a memory, an environmental sensor, and a processing system. The processing system may be configured to operate in a wake state and a sleep state by determining wake-up conditions upon which the processor is to enter into the wake state from the sleep state that includes a threshold value associated with an environmental condition sensed by the environmental sensor, causing the wake-up conditions to be stored in the memory, operating in the sleep state during a time interval subsequent to causing the wake-up conditions to be stored in the memory, determining whether at least one of the wake-up conditions has been met, and operating in the wake state upon a determination that the at least one wake-up condition has been met.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A thermostat, comprising:
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a housing and a user interface coupled to said housing; a memory disposed within the housing; one or more sensing systems configured to sense at least one environmental condition; a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled to said user interface, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with the one or more sensing systems, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface for determining a setpoint temperature value, and in still further operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value, the processing system including a processor coupled to said memory, the processor having a relatively low power-consuming sleep state and a relatively high power-consuming wake state, wherein the processing system operates by; determining a set of wake-up conditions upon which said processor is to enter into said wake state from said sleep state, said set of wake-up conditions including at least one threshold value associated with at least one of the environmental conditions sensed by said at least one sensing system; causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory; operating in a first mode in which said processor is in said sleep state during a time interval subsequent to said causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory; determining, while said processor is in said sleep state, whether at least one of the set of wake-up conditions including said at least one threshold value has been met; and operating in a second mode in which said processor is in said wake state upon a determination that the at least one of the set of wake-up conditions has been met, the processing system being configured to control the HVAC system while operating in the second operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of reducing an amount of power used by a thermostat, the thermostat including a housing and a user interface coupled to the housing, the method comprising:
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providing power to a processing system disposed within said housing and coupled to said user interface, the processing system being configured to be in operative communication with one or more sensing systems configured to sense at least one environmental condition, in operative communication with one or more input devices including said user interface for determining a setpoint temperature value, and in still further operative communication with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to control the HVAC system based at least in part on a comparison of a measured ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature value, the processing system including a processor coupled to a memory, the processor having a relatively low power-consuming sleep state and a relatively high power-consuming wake state; determining a set of wake-up conditions upon which said processor is to enter into said wake state from said sleep state, said set of wake-up conditions including at least one threshold value associated with at least one of the environmental conditions sensed by said at least one sensing system; causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory; operating in a first mode in which said processor is in said sleep state during a time interval subsequent to said causing the set of wake-up conditions to be stored in said memory; determining, while said processor is in said sleep state, whether at least one of the set of wake-up conditions including said at least one threshold value has been met; and operating in a second mode in which said processor is in said wake state upon a determination that the at least one of the set of wake-up conditions has been met, the processing system being configured to control the HVAC system while operating in the second operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A thermostat comprising:
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a housing comprising a user interface; a memory disposed within the housing; a temperature sensor disposed within the housing and configured to sense an ambient temperature; a processing system disposed within the housing, wherein the processing system comprises a first processor and a second processor, wherein; the first processor is configured to; determine a wake-up temperature threshold for determining when the first processor should transition from a low-power state to a high-power state; send the wake-up temperature threshold to the second processor; and transition from the high-power state to the low-power state after the wake-up temperature threshold is sent to the second processor; and the second processor is configured to; receive a measurement of the ambient temperature from the temperature sensor; determine whether the ambient temperature violates the wake-up temperature threshold; and cause the first processor to transition from the low-power state to the high-power state if the ambient temperature violates the wake-up temperature threshold.
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Specification