Reconfigurable appliance control system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A reconfigurable appliance control system comprising:
- a dedicated appliance controller for controlling operation of an appliance;
a appliance communication controller coupled to the appliance over an appliance communication connection, wherein said appliance communication controller configured to determine whether said dedicated appliance controller is in a program update mode before reprogramming said dedicated appliance controller, and the appliance reprogrammed during the program update mode, wherein said appliance communication controller configured to monitor progress of an instruction transfer from said appliance communication controller to said dedicated appliance controller by employing a pointer that identifies an instruction within a machine instruction block, and wherein said appliance communication controller configured to resume transmitting the machine instruction block to said dedicated appliance controller starting from the identified instruction within the machine instruction block upon receiving a retransmit request transmitted after detecting an error during transmission of the machine instruction block; and
an external host controller coupled to the appliance communication controller over a host communication connection, the external host controller communicating an upgrade message for the appliance to the appliance communication controller.
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Abstract
A reconfigurable appliance control system includes a dedicated appliance control (DAC) for controlling operation of an appliance. The system further includes an appliance communication control (ACC) for communicating with at least one appliance. The system includes an appliance communication connection for interfacing the ACC to the appliance. The system also includes an external host control (EHC) for communicating with a remote system. The system further includes a host communication connection for interfacing the external host control with the ACC.
103 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A reconfigurable appliance control system comprising:
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a dedicated appliance controller for controlling operation of an appliance; a appliance communication controller coupled to the appliance over an appliance communication connection, wherein said appliance communication controller configured to determine whether said dedicated appliance controller is in a program update mode before reprogramming said dedicated appliance controller, and the appliance reprogrammed during the program update mode, wherein said appliance communication controller configured to monitor progress of an instruction transfer from said appliance communication controller to said dedicated appliance controller by employing a pointer that identifies an instruction within a machine instruction block, and wherein said appliance communication controller configured to resume transmitting the machine instruction block to said dedicated appliance controller starting from the identified instruction within the machine instruction block upon receiving a retransmit request transmitted after detecting an error during transmission of the machine instruction block; and an external host controller coupled to the appliance communication controller over a host communication connection, the external host controller communicating an upgrade message for the appliance to the appliance communication controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 29, 30)
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19. A method for reconfiguring an appliance control system, the method comprising:
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generating an upgrade message from an external host controller; transmitting the upgrade message to an appliance communication controller; reprogramming a dedicated appliance controller using the upgrade message; controlling an appliance via the dedicated appliance controller; determining whether the dedicated appliance controller is in a program update mode before said reprogramming the dedicated appliance controller, wherein the appliance is reprogrammed during the program update mode; monitoring progress of an instruction transfer from the appliance communication controller to the dedicated appliance controller by employing a pointer that identifies an instruction within a machine instruction block; and resuming transmitting the machine instruction block to the dedicated appliance controller starting from the identified instruction within the machine instruction block upon receiving a retransmit request transmitted after detecting an error during transmission of the machine instruction block. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 28)
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24. A method for remotely reconfiguring an appliance, the method comprising:
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generating an upgrade message at a remote system; transmitting the upgrade message from the remote system to an external host controller in a building housing the appliance; transmitting the upgrade message from the external host controller to a dedicated appliance controller via an appliance communication controller; upgrading the dedicated appliance controller using the upgrade message; determining whether the dedicated appliance controller is in a program update mode before reprogramming the dedicated appliance controller, wherein the appliance is reprogrammed during the program update mode; monitoring progress of an instruction transfer from the appliance communication controller to the dedicated appliance controller by employing a pointer that identifies an instruction within a machine instruction block; and resuming transmitting the machine instruction block to the dedicated appliance controller starting from the identified instruction within the machine instruction block upon receiving a retransmit request transmitted after detecting an error during transmission of the machine instruction block. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification