Device Communication, Monitoring and Control Architecture and Method

• US 20160204984A1
• Filed: 12/11/2015
• Published: 07/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Interactive Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Interactive Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Dixon, Christopher, Poder, James S.
• Granted Patent: US 10,298,452 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/40 Remote control systems using repeaters, converters, gateways
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/41 Remote control of gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A communication interface and a device control, management and monitoring system are provided to enable the networking of and communication between a multiple devices operating under different protocols. The communication interface may act as a translator or protocol converter that reformats transmissions from one protocol to another based on protocol compatibility between the recipient and transmitting devices. The device control and monitoring system may store predefined rules that are triggered when specified conditions associated with the networked devices are detected. The rules may specify an action to take such as transmitting a discount offer to a user or turning off a light. According to one or more arrangements, the communication interface may act as an intermediary between the networked devices and the device control system so that the device control system is not required to understand or be compatible with the various other protocols used by the networked devices.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, registration information for a first device, the registration information comprising a device type of the first device;

accessing, by the computing device, configuration information corresponding to the device type of the first device, the configuration information comprising an indication of a first protocol associated with the device type of the first device;

receiving, by the computing device, a first status of the first device using the first protocol and a second status of a multimedia presentation device; and

in response to determining that a permission allows the first device to cause modification of the multimedia presentation device, sending an instruction to modify the second status of the multimedia presentation device based on the first status of the first device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the instruction to modify the second status of the multimedia presentation device based on the first status of the first device comprises an instruction to modify a manner in which content is presented.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first device is one or more of:

a mobile device or a sound sensor.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the first status of the first device and the second status of the multimedia presentation device are received via a same protocol.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first device and the multimedia presentation device are configured to communicate using different protocols, and wherein the receiving the first status of the first device and the second status of the multimedia presentation device comprises receiving the first status of the first device and the second status of the multimedia presentation device from a communication interface device.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the first device is configured to operate using extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP).

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the computing device and the multimedia presentation device are configured to communicate via different protocols, and wherein sending the instruction to modify the second status of the multimedia presentation device based on the first status of the first device comprises sending the instruction to the multimedia presentation device through a communication interface device configured to perform protocol conversion.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving the registration information for the first device is responsive to sending, by the computing device, a periodic polling message.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a signal comprising a designation of the first device as one or more of;

a sending device configured to send signals to the computing device or a receiving device configured to receive signals from the computing device, wherein the designation is inputted by a user of the first device.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the registration information for the first device corresponds to a configuration setting based on the device type of the first device, wherein the configuration setting comprises one or more of a device name or a device driver.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the first device is a mobile device, wherein the first status indicates that the mobile device is receiving a voice transmission, and wherein the instruction to modify the second status of the multimedia presentation device comprises an instruction to reduce a volume of the multimedia presentation device.

13. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a third status of a third device, wherein the instruction is further based on the third status of the third device.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, by a first computing device, a first status of a mobile device using a first protocol and a second status of a multimedia presentation device using a second protocol, wherein the mobile device and the multimedia presentation device are located at a premises;

sending, by the first computing device and to a second computing device located remotely from the premises, using a third protocol, the first status of the mobile device and the second status of the multimedia presentation device;

receiving, from the second computing device and responsive to a determination that a permission allows the mobile device to cause a modification of the multimedia presentation device, a command signal using the third protocol, wherein the command signal comprises an instruction to modify the second status of the multimedia presentation device based on the first status of the mobile device; and

sending, by the first computing device and to the multimedia presentation device, the command signal using the second protocol.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the command signal comprises an instruction to modify a manner in which content is presented by the multimedia presentation device based on the first status of the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

converting a message indicative of the first status of the mobile device from the first protocol to the third protocol, the third protocol being different from the first protocol;

converting a message indicative of the second status of the multimedia presentation device from the second protocol to the third protocol, the third protocol being different from the second protocol;

converting the command signal from the third protocol to the second protocol;

receiving, using the second protocol, an updated status message for the multimedia presentation device;

converting the updated status message to the third protocol; and

sending, using the third protocol, the updated status message to the second computing device.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the instruction to modify the second status of the multimedia presentation device comprises causing display of a message on the mobile device that prompts a user to take action that modifies the second status of the multimedia presentation device based on the first status of the mobile device.

18. A method comprising:

accessing, by a computing device, configuration information corresponding to a device type of a multimedia presentation device, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a protocol compatible with the device type of the multimedia presentation device;

configuring a permission associated with the multimedia presentation device indicating whether a device other than the multimedia presentation device can cause change of a manner in which content is presented by the multimedia presentation device; and

sending, according to the protocol, an instruction to the multimedia presentation device to change, based on a status of a first device, the manner in which the content is presented.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the permission is based on user input received via a graphical user interface of the first device.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the computing device, the first device, and the multimedia presentation device are configured to communicate using different protocols.

21. The method of claim 18,

wherein the status of the first device indicates a location of an occupant in a premises,

wherein the instruction to the multimedia presentation device comprises an instruction to begin content playback on the multimedia presentation device, and

wherein the multimedia presentation device is within a threshold distance of the location of the occupant in the premises.