SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING IR-ENABLED APPLIANCES VIA NETWORKED DEVICE

• US 20160072638A1
• Filed: 09/09/2015
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cielo Wigle Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cielo Wigle Inc.
• Inventors: Amer, Waseem, Jarral, Anees Ahmed
• Granted Patent: US 10,119,714 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• 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 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/283 Processing of data at an internetworking point of a home automation network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for remotely controlling infrared (“IR”) enabled appliances via a networked device are described. The technology enables one or multiple users to control, monitor, and manage their appliances (e.g., air conditioners, television sets, multimedia systems, window curtains, etc.) both locally and remotely, irrespective of the users'"'"' location or their line of sight. In various embodiments, the technology includes a device with integrated Wi-Fi and IR subsystems connected via a cloud platform to a user application interface that can control appliances, generate analytics, schedule automatic operation, and perform smart learning operation.

Claims

1. A cloud-enabled remote control device controlling one or more for infrared (“

IR”

) enabled appliances, the device comprising;

a processor coupleable to a power source;

memory coupled to the processor;

an IR transceiver assembly coupled to the processor and configured to send a signal to the one or more IR enabled appliances;

a Wi-Fi module coupled to the processor;

an environmental sensor assembly coupled to the processor; and

as housing containing the processor, the memory, the IR transceiver, the Wi-Fi module, and the environmental sensor.

2. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the IR transceiver assembly comprises a plurality of IR transceivers oriented in different directions, such that a combination of the plurality of IR transceivers are substantially omnidirectional.

3. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the IR transceiver assembly comprises an IR emitter and an IR receiver.

4. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the environmental sensor assembly comprises at least temperature, humidity, and ambient light sensors.

5. The remote control device of claim 1, further comprising a status indicator LED or display coupled to the processor.

6. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions configured to receive appliance control commands via the Wi-Fi module, and to transmit IR signals to control operation of an appliance via the IR transceiver.

7. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the device is configured to control a plurality of appliances.

8. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the memory is configured to store schedule information, and wherein the device is further configured to transmit IR signals to control operation of an appliance via the IR transceiver at scheduled times based on the stored schedule information.

9. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the memory is configured to store information about each operation of the appliance and information about the status of the device.

10. The remote control device of claim 1 wherein the device is configured to communicate with a remote server via the Wi-Fi module.

11. The remote control device of claim 10 wherein the device is configured to obtain, from the remote server, appliance IR control codes.

12. The remote control device of claim 10 wherein the device is configured to transmit, to the remote server, information about each operation of the appliance and information about the status of the device.

13. The remote control device of claim 10 wherein the device is configured to receive, from a user-operated remote control, IR signals to the appliance, and wherein the device is further configured to transmit, to the remote server, information about the received IR signals.

14. A method in a networked computing system of remotely controlling an infrared (“

IR”

) enabled appliance, the method comprising;

receiving, from a user computing device, a command to cause a remote control device to transmit an IR code to operate an IR-enabled appliance;

authenticating the user or the user computing device;

determining an address of the remote control device of the authenticated user or user computing device that is associated with the IR-enabled appliance; and

transmitting, to the determined address of the remote control device, instructions for the remote control device to transmit an IR code to operate the IR-enabled appliance.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, from the remote control device. an acknowledgment that the remote control device transmitted the IR code; and

transmitting, to the user computing device, a message indicating that the remote control device transmitted the IR code.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein authenticating the user or the user computing device comprises determining that the remote control device is one of a plurality of devices registered in association with the user.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein authenticating the user or the user computing device comprises determining that the user is one of a plurality of users registered in association with the remote control device.

18. A remote control system for infrared (“

IR”

) enabled appliances, the system comprising;

a cloud computing platform, comprising at least one processor and memory;

a user interface component of a user computing device operably connected with the cloud computing platform; and

a remote control device having a wireless radio interface and an IR transceiver, the remote control device being operably connected with the cloud computing platform via the wireless radio interface and operably connected with one or more IR-enabled appliances via the IR transceiver.

19. The remote control system of claim 18 wherein the wireless radio interface of the remote control device is Wi-Fi, such that the system does not require an additional wireless radio hub or concentrator.

20. The remote control system of claim 18 wherein the system is configured to enable the user interface component of the user computing device to receive user commands to operate the one or more IR-enabled appliances, such that the system acts as a location-independent remote control for the one or more IR-enabled appliances.