SMART HOME LEARNING SYSTEM INCLUDING USER BEHAVIOR

• US 20150227118A1
• Filed: 02/11/2014
• Published: 08/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Wong, Hinkmond B.
• Granted Patent: US 10,637,682 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2821 Avoiding conflicts related to the use of home appliances cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; protocols for network security H04L63/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating automatic control of devices, such as network-coupled home appliances. An example method includes receiving and storing data available from plural devices, resulting in stored data; determining a pattern in the stored data; using the pattern to generate one or more control signals; and forwarding the one or more control signals to one or more of the plural devices to selectively control one or more device features or behaviors consistent with the pattern. In a more specific embodiment, the method further includes collecting a first set of data from one or more devices; obtaining a second set of data from a server coupled to a network; analyzing the first set of data and the second set of data to determine one or more predictive control signals; and employing the one or more control signals to adjust one or more behaviors of the one or more devices.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating control of devices, the method comprising:

receiving and storing data available from plural devices, resulting in stored data;

determining a pattern in the stored data;

using the pattern to generate one or more control signals; and

forwarding the one or more control signals to one or more of the plural devices to selectively control one or more features thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, further including employing the one or more control signals to selectively control one or more features of two or more of the plural devices in a sequence consistent with the pattern and specified via the control signal.

3. The method of claim 1, further including:

collecting a first set of data from one or more devices;

obtaining a second set of data from a server coupled to a network;

analyzing the first set of data and the second set of data to determine one or more control signals; and

employing the one or more control signals to adjust one or more behaviors of the one or more devices.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein analyzing further includes:

determining a pattern in the first set of data or in the second set of data and using the pattern to make a prediction about a future state of the data;

using the prediction to generate a first set of instructions to control the one or more devices;

receiving a device signal from one or more of the one or more devices, wherein the device signal indicates that a probability of the prediction occurring at particular time exceeds a threshold;

waiting until the particular time;

and issuing the first set of instructions as the one or more control signals to the one or more devices at the particular time.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the device signal includes a signal from a sensor device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the device signal indicates a position of a person within a sensing region of the sensor.

7. The method of claim 3, further including accessing cloud-based data from a server, wherein the cloud-based data includes data associated with one or more persons or buildings in a geographic region about the building.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data associated with one or more persons or buildings includes data pertaining to one or more appliances within the geographic region.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the data associated with the one or more persons or buildings includes weather information pertaining to the geographic region.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein analyzing further includes:

analyzing one or more patterns in collected data;

generating a prediction of a future condition or event based on the analysis of the one or more patterns; and

using the prediction to generate instructions for controlling one or more devices in preparation for incorporation of the instructions in one or more control signals to be forwarded to the one or more devices.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more devices include one or more home appliances, and further including selectively activating the one or more home appliances in response to data collected via one or more servers in communication with a gateway, wherein the gateway is positioned in within or in proximity to a home.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the data includes data relating to a user'"'"'s usage of the plural devices;

the method further comprising;

generating the one or more control signals in accordance with a prediction of the user'"'"'s behavior.

13. The method of claim 12, further including periodically searching one or more databases maintaining the stored data for new patterns occurring in the data.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the prediction includes comparing collected data with a sample table of data to determine whether a correlation exists between the collected data and data in the sample table of data.

15. The method of claim 14, further including generating a prediction based on a correlation between the collected data and data in the sample table of data.

16. The method of claim 14, further including:

determining a frequency of occurrence of an instance of data in the collected data and timing information associated with occurrences of one or more instances of data to generate a probability estimate; and

employing the probability estimate to determine the prediction.

17. The method of claim 3, further including determining one or more cross-dependencies occurring between devices and adjusting the one or more controls signals based on the one or more cross-dependencies.

18. The method of claim 17, further including selectively deactivating or activating one or more features or behaviors of one or more devices based on a determination of a conflicting event.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a digital processor coupled to a display and to a processor-readable storage device, wherein the processor-readable storage device includes one or more instructions executable by the digital processor to perform the following acts;

receiving and storing data available from plural devices, resulting in stored data;

determining a pattern in the stored data;

using the pattern to generate one or more control signals; and

forwarding the one or more control signals to one or more of the plural devices to selectively control one or more features thereof.

20. A processor-readable storage device including instructions executable by a digital processor, the processor-readable storage device including one or more instructions for:

receiving and storing data available from plural devices, resulting in stored data;

determining a pattern in the stored data;

using the pattern to generate one or more control signals; and

forwarding the one or more control signals to one or more of the plural devices to selectively control one or more features thereof.