Method and apparatus for providing information to a subscriber over an electronic network
First Claim
1. An apparatus for indicating power consumption to a subscriber in response to commands provided by the subscriber, the apparatus comprising:
- a remote unit including;
(a) a sensor detecting power readings of an electronic power meter;
(b) a transmitter providing the detected power readings onto the network;
a control device including;
(a) a receiver receiving commands provided by a subscriber and receiving the provided power readings from the network;
(b) a computer computing a power consumption value in response to the received power readings; and
(c) an indicator circuit responsive to the computer and providing the computed power consumption value onto the network to the subscriber.
18 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing information, such as power consumption, to a subscriber over an electronic network in response to commands provided by the subscriber. The apparatus includes a remote unit which detects and stores the power consumption information, a subscriber device, i.e., a telephone, for generating request commands and a control device which tracks the information. The subscriber using the subscriber device, feeds the request commands via the network to the control device. The control device responds to the commands by directing the remote unit to feed its stored power consumption information onto the network to the control device. The control device then processes the information and indicates the result back to the subscriber.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus for indicating power consumption to a subscriber in response to commands provided by the subscriber, the apparatus comprising:
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a remote unit including; (a) a sensor detecting power readings of an electronic power meter; (b) a transmitter providing the detected power readings onto the network; a control device including; (a) a receiver receiving commands provided by a subscriber and receiving the provided power readings from the network; (b) a computer computing a power consumption value in response to the received power readings; and (c) an indicator circuit responsive to the computer and providing the computed power consumption value onto the network to the subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for indicating power consumption to a subscriber over an electronic network in response to commands provided by the subscriber, the method including the steps of:
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detecting with a remote unit power readings of a subscriber'"'"'s electric power meter; feeding the detected power readings onto the network; transmitting with a remote device subscriber commands onto the network; detecting with a control device the subscriber commands and issuing request commands onto the network in response to the subscriber commands; computing with the control device a power consumption value from the detected power readings fed onto the network; and providing the power consumption value to the subscriber over the network. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for indicating power consumption to a subscriber over an electronic network in response to commands provided by the subscriber using a telephone, the system comprising:
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a remote unit including; (1) a sensor detecting power readings of an electronic power meter; (2) a first transmitter circuit connected to the network and responsive to an arming tone, a carrier signal, and a request command signal; a control device including; (1) a receiver circuit receiving the arming tone, the carrier signal, the command signals, and the detected power readings provided by the subscriber; (2) a computer responsive to the received command signals provided by the subscriber for generating the request signal command, and responsive to the received power readings for generating a power consumption value; and (3) a second transmitter circuit feeding the request signal command to the remote unit via the network and feeding the power consumption value to the subscriber via the network. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification