Networked electrical interface

• US 7,983,795 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2008
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kurt Josephson, Marc Josephson
• Original Assignee: Kurt Josephson, Marc Josephson
• Inventors: Josephson, Kurt, Josephson, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Decady; Albert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rapp; Chad
• Application Number:
  US12/025,271
• Publication Number:
  US 20080221737A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,261 Days
• Field of Search: 700/275, 700/276, 700/278, 700/296, 700/299, 700/300, 700/286
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/18 Remote displaying of utility meter readings
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/02 Details
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

An electrical interface may include a switching mechanism and a control module. The switching mechanism can selectively couple a source of electricity to a load and the control module can be coupled to the switching mechanism. The control module may generate a query for information from a web server and control the switching mechanism based on a response to the query.

Claims

1. An electrical interface comprising:

a switching mechanism having an unique identification to selectively couple a source of electricity to a load; and

a control module coupled to the switching mechanism to generate a query to a web server, the query including the unique identification of the switching mechanism and control data, the control module to include a connection to a local transmission link-to-internet protocol (IP) gateway, wherein the control module is configured to;

transmit the query to the local transmission link-to-IP gateway;

receive a response from the local transmission link-to-IP gateway, wherein the response includes control information for the switching mechanism; and

selectively couple the electrical interface to a source of electricity based on the received control information.

2. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the control module is to generate the query according to scheduling information stored at the electrical interface.

3. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the control data included in the query includes at least one of a thermostat setting, a price threshold and a power mode, and an indication of whether the data has changed.

4. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the query is to further include a load type identifier.

5. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the control information in the response from the web server is to include data having at least one of a thermostat setting, a current price of electricity, a price threshold, a power mode and scheduling information, the interface further including memory to store the data.

6. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the switching mechanism includes at least one of a relay, a circuit breaker and a thermostat.

7. The electrical interface of claim 1, further including a user interface to enable user control of the switching mechanism, the user interface having at least one of a display and an input device.

8. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the electrical interface further includes a socket coupled to the switching mechanism, the socket to mate with a power plug associated with the load.

9. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the query to the web server is a request for a web page, the request including status information of the switching mechanism;

and the control module is configured to receive control packets contained in the requested web page which are used to control the switching mechanism.

10. The electrical interface of claim 9, wherein the control module is configured to modify settings of the switching mechanism based on data contained in the control packet including an indication of whether or not any change of the settings represents a server-based override.

11. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the switching mechanism directly couples electricity to the load.

12. The electrical interface of claim 1, wherein the control module periodically generates a query for updated control and/or scheduling information, wherein the query includes current status information of the control module.

13. A local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway comprising:

a first interface to receive and forward a query for information from an electrical interface, the query to include an unique identifier of a switching mechanism in the electrical interface to a load, and first data having at least one of a thermostat setting, power mode and a price threshold, wherein the first interface is coupled to the switching mechanism that provides a source of electricity to the load;

a processing module to convert the query into a web request, wherein the web request includes control and/or scheduling information based on the first data of the query; and

a second interface to transmit the web request over Internet protocol to a web server and for receiving a response to the web request including updated control and/or scheduling information from the web server,

wherein the response from the web server is provided to the electrical interface that initiated the query.

14. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the query further includes an indication of whether the first data has changed.

15. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the query further includes a load type identifier and the processing module is to convert the query into the web request based on the load type identifier.

16. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the second interface is to receive a response from the web server to the web request in a first format, the processing module is to convert the response into a second format, and the first interface is to transmit the response in the second format to the electrical interface.

17. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 16, wherein the response is to include second data having at least one of a thermostat setting, power mode, a current price of electricity, a price threshold and scheduling information.

18. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the first interface includes a local transmission link having at least one of a wireless, power line communication and Ethernet component, and the second interface includes an Ethernet port.

19. The local transmission link to internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the local transmission link to internet protocol gateway does not require a pre-determined IP address.

20. The local transmission link to internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein all communications with a web server originate as queries from the electrical interface, and are reformatted into standard web requests to be sent to the web server.

21. The local transmission link to internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the second interface includes a connection to internet protocol network for transmitting the web request to the web server.

22. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the second interface is assigned a temporary IP address from a local router or DHCP server, wherein the temporary IP address allows the response to the web request to be routed back to the second interface.

23. The local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway of claim 13, wherein the second interface uses an IP address that has permissions to make a web request and to receive a response to the web request.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause a web server to:

receive a web request for information, the web request to include a unique identifier of a switching mechanism in an electrical interface to a load and control data having at least one of a thermostat setting, a price threshold and a power mode, wherein the electrical interface initiates a query from which the first web request was generated, and wherein the electrical interface is coupled to the switching mechanism that provides a source of electricity to the load;

retrieve a record associated with the unique identifier of the switching mechanism; and

generate a response to the web request based on the record, wherein the generated response includes updated control data of the identified switching mechanism.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the response is to include updated control data having at least one of a thermostat setting, a current price of electricity, a price threshold, a power mode and scheduling information.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, further cause the web server to query a pricing source for the current price of electricity to be included in the updated control data.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, further cause the web server to establish at least one of the thermostat setting, the price threshold and the power mode of the response based on the scheduling information.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the response is to include a reboot instruction.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the web request further includes an indication of whether the first data has changed, the web server to update the record based on the first data if the first data has changed.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, further cause the web server to:

receive a login request from a web-enabled device, the login request to include a user identifier and a password;

validate a user of the web-enabled device based on the login request;

retrieve a set of unique identifiers of electrical interfaces to loads associated with the user identifier; and

generate a web response to the login request based on the set of unique identifiers.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, further cause the web server to:

receive another web request to modify at least one of a thermostat setting, a price threshold, a power mode and a schedule associated with one or more of the set of unique identifiers; and

update a record associated with the one or more of the set of unique identifiers in response to the another web request.

32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the generated response includes control updates related to the electrical interface referenced in the web request formulated in the query.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the instructions executed by the processor further cause the web server to:

receive authenticated data that is used to modify at least one of a thermostat setting, a price threshold, a power mode and a schedule associated with one or more of the set of unique identifiers; and

update a record associated with the one or more of the set of unique identifiers in response to a second web request.

34. An electrical interface comprising:

a switching mechanism to selectively couple a source of electricity to an electrical device;

a control module coupled to the switching mechanism to generate a query for information from a web server, to transmit the query to a local transmission link-to-Internet protocol gateway and to control the switching mechanism based on a response to the query, the query to include a unique identifier of the electrical interface and first data having at least one of a thermostat setting, a price threshold and a power mode, and an indication of whether the first data has changed, the response to include a control data packet including second data having at least one of a thermostat setting, a current price of electricity, a price threshold, a power mode and scheduling information;

a memory to store the first and second data; and

a user interface to enable user control of the switching mechanism.

35. The electrical interface of claim 34, wherein the control module is to generate the query according to scheduling information stored in the memory.

36. The electrical interface of claim 34, further including a socket coupled to the thermostat, the socket to mate with a power plug associated with the air conditioner.

37. The electrical interface of claim 34, wherein the query is to further include a load type identifier.

38. The electrical interface of claim 34, wherein the control module makes a determination based on a schedule information to generate a query for updated control and scheduling information, wherein the query includes current status information of the control module.

39. The electrical interface of claim 34, wherein the control module periodically generates a query for updated control and/or scheduling information, wherein the query includes current status information of the control module.

40. A system comprising:

an electrical interface having a unique identification configured to;

control a supply of electricity to a load using control data,

generate a query for updated control data,

wait for updated control data to be provided in response to the generated query; and

react to the updated control data to control the supply of electricity to the load;

a local transmission link to Internet protocol gateway, coupled to the electrical interface, configured to;

translate the query from the electrical interface for transmission as a web request over an internet protocol communication link,

convert a received response to the web request for communication to the electrical interface, wherein the received response includes the updated control data; and

transmit the converted response to the electrical interface.