Apparatus and method for controlling communication in an electronic control and monitoring system

• US 6,163,270 A
• Filed: 03/23/1998
• Issued: 12/19/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Silverman, David Phillip
• Primary Examiner(s): Horabik, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Asongwed, Anthony A.
• Application Number:
  US09/046,048
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.15, 340/825.06, 340/825.08, 340/825.24, 340/825.25, 340/825.69, 340/825.72, 340/825.07, 455/9, 455/7, 379/29, 379/34
• US Class Current: 340/3.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 370/908 Local area network

Abstract

An apparatus includes a demultiplexer/multiplexer and a local area network (LAN) controller that use an installed cable television cable to establish and control a home LAN. One or more channels of the cable are separated and blocked from the cable television signal path. The blocked channels form a signal path between the LAN controller and peripheral devices connected to the home LAN. The LAN controller is programmable to include a set of heuristics and corresponding instructions for monitoring and operating the peripheral devices. The LAN controller monitors the peripheral devices and provides status messages based on states of the peripheral devices. The LAN controller also receives and executes commands to operate the peripheral devices.

Claims

1. A method for operating a local area network that controls and monitors a plurality of devices, comprising:

monitoring a status of at least one of the devices;

obtaining at least one instruction;

controlling the devices based on the status, the instruction and heuristics retrieved from a database,

comparing the status against the heuristics to detect a difference result; and

generating at least one of an alert signal to be output through one of the devices and a command signal to one of the devices based on the difference result and the instruction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the heuristics include:

a plurality of device states;

a plurality of conditions, the conditions relating to at least one of the device states and data entries received from a user interface;

behavior patterns of a user of the local network; and

time durations and time of day corresponding to selected ones of the device states and the behavior patterns.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising outputting a menu of possible commands through the user interface, the menu being composed based on the status of the device and the heuristics, wherein the command is obtained through the user interface in response to the menu.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the menu is provided over a telephone coupled to the local network, the desired command being selected by one of operation of a keypad of the telephone and voice receipt of the desired command.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the telephone is one of a wired telephone, a wireless telephone and a cellular telephone.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the menu is provided on a display of a television coupled to the network.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the menu is provided on a display of a computer coupled to the network.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating a command completed message upon a completion of the command, the command completed message being displayed through the user interface.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the heuristics are entered into the database through the user interface.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving the instruction from the database, wherein the instruction is expressed in logical statements that include:

an if-then logical construction; and

an if-then-else logical construction.

11. The apparatus for operating a local network that controls and monitors a plurality of devices, comprising:

a memory that contains a database;

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein the controller monitors a status of at least one of the devices, obtains at least one instruction, and controls the device based on the status, the instruction and heuristics retrieved from the database and the controller compares the status against the heuristics to detect a difference result, and generates at least one of an alert signal to be output through one of the devices and a command signal to one of the devices based on the difference result and the instruction.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the heuristics include:

a plurality of device states;

a plurality of conditions, the conditions relating to at least one of the device states and data entries received from a user interface;

behavior patterns of a user of the local network; and

time durations and time of day corresponding to selected ones of the device states and the behavior patterns.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, the controller outputting a menu of possible commands through the user interface, the menu being composed based on the status of the device and the heuristics, wherein the command is obtained through the user interface in response to the menu.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the menu is provided over a telephone coupled to the network, the desired command being selected by one of operation of a keypad of the telephone and voice receipt of the desired command.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the command is selected through a user interface, based on the status and the menu of possible commands generated by the controller.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the status messages and the menu are provided on one of a telephone, a television and a computer.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the heuristics are entered into the database through the user interface.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, the controller retrieving the instruction from the database, wherein the instruction is expressed in logical statements that include:

an if-then logical construction; and

an if-then-else logical construction.