ENERGY-MANAGEMENT IN A USER-PREMISES AREA NETWORK

• US 20130344875A1
• Filed: 06/22/2012
• Published: 12/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Chowdhury, Aref
• Granted Patent: US 9,363,103 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/445
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/02 Power saving arrangements in wired systems H04L12/12; signaling of mobile application services, e.g. low battery notifications H04W4/20
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An energy-management system for controlling energy consumption in a relatively small network of energy-consuming/generating objects connected to an electricity grid and located, e.g., at a user premises. The energy consumption is managed through a programmable gateway device that can be accessed remotely, e.g., through a smart-meter network of the utility company or through a short-range wireless link. A user interface for the remote access can be implemented, e.g., using a smart phone or a tablet. In operation, the gateway device advantageously provides the user and/or the utility company with numerous opportunities for realizing cost and/or energy savings through appropriate and timely response to various actionable conditions, such as price-of-electricity fluctuations, configuration-modification requests, failure notices, service requirements, hazard signals, etc.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising a first device configured to control energy consumption in a user-premises area network having a gateway device coupled between a telephone interface and a communication-services provider, wherein the first device is configured to:

receive, from the communication-services provider, via a first communication path that does not include the gateway device, an alert about an incoming call to said telephone interface; and

cause, in response to the alert, the gateway device to turn ON to enable said telephone interface to receive the incoming call.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the gateway device, wherein the gateway device is further configured to provide, via the communication-services provider, at least one of a TV service and an Internet-access service for the user-premises area network.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the first device is connectable, via a wireless link, to a mobile user device; and

the first communication path includes the wireless link and the mobile user device.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the wireless link is configured to operate in accordance with a Bluetooth standard.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to communicate with the communication-services provider via at least two different routes that do not include the gateway device, wherein:

the first device is connectable, via a wireless link, to a mobile user device;

a first of said at least two different routes includes a path through an access network of a utility company that operates an electricity grid connected to the user-premises area network;

a second of said at least two different routes includes the wireless link and the mobile user device; and

the first communication path is a selected one of the first and second of said at least two different routes.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to receive said alert via the first communication path when the gateway device is turned OFF or is in a sleep mode.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to receive the alert via the first communication path that includes a path through an access network of a utility company that operates an external electricity grid connected to the user-premises area network.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first device is configured to control said energy consumption in the user-premises area network based on received instructions, wherein at least one of the received instructions originates at a mobile user device configurable to access the first device via said access network.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the mobile user device is a smart wireless phone configured to run an application for accessing the first device via the access network.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first device is configured to control said energy consumption based on received instructions, wherein at least one of the received instructions originates from the utility company.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to:

send a first notification message to a mobile user device in response to an actionable condition detected in the user-premises area network; and

send a second notification message to the utility company in response to said actionable condition, wherein the actionable condition belongs to a set consisting of;

(i) a failure condition;

(ii) a service requirement;

(iii) a hazard signal;

(iv) a schedule-modification requirement; and

(v) a configuration-modification requirement.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first device is configured to turn OFF the gateway device when one or more communication services provided via the gateway device have not been requested for a specified length of time or based on a user instruction.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first device is further configured to notify the communication-services provider when the communication-services gateway is to be turned OFF.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the user-premises area network comprises one or more power-sink objects; and

the first device is configured to individually control activation and deactivation of at least some of said one or more power-sink objects.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first device is configured to individually control said activation and deactivation based on at least one of:

(i) an electricity-pricing signal received from a utility company and (ii) a user instruction.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first device is configured to:

query power-generating equipment and energy storage about the availability of electrical power stored or generated at the user-premises area network; and

based on a response to the query, route electrical power from the power-generating equipment and the energy-storage system to the one or more power-sink objects.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes the user-premises area network, wherein the user-premises area network comprises one or more of:

a lighting system, one or more appliances, a heating system, a ventilation system, an air-conditioning system, an electric-vehicle charging system, communication equipment, multimedia equipment, a solar panel, a wind turbine, an energy storage, and a power-routing infrastructure.

18. An apparatus comprising equipment for a communication-services provider configured to provide a telephone service for a telephone line served by said equipment through a gateway device, said gateway device being a component of a user-premises area network that comprises an first device adapted to control energy consumption in said user-premises area network, wherein said equipment is configured to:

receive, from the first device, a notification when the gateway device is to be turned OFF; and

send, to the first device, via a first communication path that does not include the gateway device, an alert about an incoming call for said telephone line to cause the gateway device to be turned ON and enable said telephone line to receive the incoming call via the gateway device.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first communication path includes a path through an access network of a utility company that operates an external electricity grid connected to the user-premises area network.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first communication path includes a mobile user device and a wireless link between the mobile user device and the user-premises area network.