Systems and methods for facilitating home automation

• US 8,301,270 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2009
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EchoStar Technologies International Corporation (Echostar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Eldon Technology Limited (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Quail, Gavin James
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sivanesan, Sivalingam
• Application Number:
  US12/360,669
• Publication Number:
  US 20100191352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,372 Days
• Field of Search: 700/17, 341/176, 341/173
• US Class Current: 700/17
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators

Abstract

Various embodiments facilitate home automation via a receiving device. In one embodiment, a home device manager is provided for execution on a receiving device, such as a set-top box. The home device manager is configured to discover home devices and to obtain device control information from the discovered devices. The home device manager is further configured to, based on the obtained device control information, present a user interface operable by a user to specify commands for controlling a home device, receive a specified command, and control the home device by transmitting the specified command to the home device. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A set-top box configured to facilitate home automation, the set-top box comprising:

a memory;

a home device manager of the set top box, the set-top box configured to receive television programming, the home device manager stored on the memory and that is configured, when executed, to;

receive control information from a remote home device configured to control an electro-mechanical system in a residence, the control information including an identifier of the remote home device, a specification of one or more commands for invoking capabilities of the remote home device, and a specification of one or more user interface controls that each correspond to one of the one or more commands;

output at least one of the one or more user interface controls for presentation by a display screen communicatively coupled to the set-top box;

receive, via a remote control input device communicatively coupled to the set-top box, an indication that the presented user interface control has been selected by a user; and

control the remote home device by transmitting the command corresponding to the selected user interface control.

2. The set-top box of claim 1 wherein the remote home device is at least one of a climate control system, a security system, a home lighting controller, a kitchen appliance, a swimming pool controller, a spa controller, and an irrigation system.

3. The set-top box of claim 1 wherein the control information includes instructions for presenting the one or more user interface components and instructions for controlling the remote home device, and wherein the home device manager is further configured, when executed, to:

present the at least one user interface component by processing at least some of the instructions for presenting the one or more user interface components;

and

control the remote home device by processing at least some of the instructions for controlling the remote home device.

4. A method in a set-top box for facilitating home automation, the method comprising:

under control of the set-top box, wherein the set-top box is configured to receive television programming;

receiving a command for controlling a remote home device;

output an interface control that corresponds to the command for controlling the remote home device for presentation by a display screen communicatively coupled to the set-top box;

receiving, via a remote control input device communicatively coupled to the set-top box, an indication that the interface control has been selected by a user; and

transmitting the command corresponding to the selected interface control to control the remote home device.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

receiving an identifier of the remote home device; and

receiving a specification of one or more commands for invoking capabilities of the remote home device.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the identifier and the specification of the one or more commands are received from the remote home device, and wherein the indicated command is one of the one or more commands.

7. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

receiving a specification of one or more interface controls that each correspond to a command for controlling the remote home device.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the specification of the one or more interface controls is received from the remote home device, and wherein the presented interface control is one of the one or more interface controls.

9. The method of claim 4 further comprising receiving device control information from the remote home device, the device control information including an identifier of the remote home device, a specification of one or more commands for invoking capabilities of the remote home device, and a specification of one or more interface controls that each correspond to one of the one or more commands.

10. The method of claim 4 wherein the remote home device is at least one of a climate control system, a security system, a home lighting controller, an audio player, a video player, a kitchen appliance, a swimming pool controller, a spa controller, and an irrigation system.

11. The method of claim 4 wherein receiving the command includes receiving a uniform resource locator that references the remote home device, and wherein transmitting the command corresponding to the selected interface control includes connecting, based on the uniform resource locator, to the remote home device and transmitting the command over the connection.

12. The method of claim 4 wherein presenting the interface control includes presenting current state information for the remote home device.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium whose contents enable a receiving device to facilitate home automation, by performing a method comprising:

determining a command for invoking a capability of a home device, wherein determining the command includes;

receiving from the home device a specification of one or more commands for invoking capabilities of the home device;

receiving from the home device a specification of one or more interface components that each correspond to one of the one or more commands;

outputting an interface component that corresponds to the determined command for presentation by a display screen communicatively coupled to the receiving device;

receiving, via a remote control input device communicatively coupled to the receiving device, an indication that the presented interface component has been selected; and

transmitting the determined command to the home device.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein outputting the interface component includes displaying, based on the received specification of one or more interface components, the interface component on the display screen.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises:

when the home device is initialized, discovering the home device and receiving device control information from the home device, the device control information including a specification of the determined command.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the method further comprises:

querying the home device to obtain operational state information about the device; and

presenting the obtained operational state information.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein presenting the interface component includes displaying at least one of a button, a link, a menu, a text box, and a check box.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein presenting the interface component includes simulating one or more physical interface controls of the home device.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a memory in the receiving device, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed cause the set-top box to perform the method.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein the home device controls one or more electro-mechanical systems in a residence.