Method and apparatus for inexpensively monitoring and controlling remotely distributed appliances
First Claim
1. A method for transmitting appliance data, comprising:
- generating data at the appliance;
collecting the data generated at the appliance by a first communications device;
formatting and storing the collected data at the first communications device;
transmitting the formatted data over a local area network (LAN);
receiving the transmitted data at a second communications device;
acknowledging a received transmission by the second communications device;
checking for an acknowledgement from the second communications device by the first communications device;
retransmitting the formatted data to the second communications device by the first communications device if acknowledgement is not received;
retransmitting the formatted data to a third communications device by the first communications device upon at least two unacknowledged transmissions to the second communications device, wherein the third communications device acknowledges a received transmission;
reformatting and storing the received data at the second or third communications device;
retransmitting the reformatted data over a wide area network (WAN);
receiving the retransmitted data at a server;
reformatting the data at the server; and
storing the data in a database.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and associated apparatus are described that enables unattended, remotely distributed appliances, such as vending machines, utility meters, thermostats and kitchen appliances (ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, etc.) to be connected inexpensively to each other and to a centrally located server. The apparatus 1) uses relatively simple “personality” modules to adapt the apparatus to the application in combination with a sophisticated core module that provides the intelligence needed to process data locally, to format that data and to transfer it to a remote server and 2) uses existing Internet-based communication links, thereby avoiding the costly proprietary links used with current state-of-the-art solutions.
122 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for transmitting appliance data, comprising:
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generating data at the appliance; collecting the data generated at the appliance by a first communications device; formatting and storing the collected data at the first communications device; transmitting the formatted data over a local area network (LAN); receiving the transmitted data at a second communications device; acknowledging a received transmission by the second communications device; checking for an acknowledgement from the second communications device by the first communications device; retransmitting the formatted data to the second communications device by the first communications device if acknowledgement is not received; retransmitting the formatted data to a third communications device by the first communications device upon at least two unacknowledged transmissions to the second communications device, wherein the third communications device acknowledges a received transmission; reformatting and storing the received data at the second or third communications device; retransmitting the reformatted data over a wide area network (WAN); receiving the retransmitted data at a server; reformatting the data at the server; and storing the data in a database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for transmitting appliance data, comprising:
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generating data at the appliance; collecting the data generated at the appliance by a first communications device; formatting and storing the collected data at the first communications device; transmitting the formatted data over a local area network (LAN); receiving the transmitted data at a second communications device; acknowledging a received transmission by the second communications device; checking for an acknowledgement from the second communications device by the first communications device; retransmitting the formatted data to the second communications device by the first communications device if acknowledgement is not received; retransmitting the formatted data to a third communications device by the first communications device upon at least two unacknowledged transmissions to the second communications device, wherein the third communications device acknowledges a received transmission; reformatting and storing the received data at the second or third communications device; retransmitting the reformatted data over a wide area network (WAN); receiving the retransmitted data at a server; reformatting the data at the server; and storing the data in a database; wherein the appliance is a utility meter.
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Specification