Systems and methods for activation and deactivation of appliances

• US 8,355,805 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2011
• Issued: 01/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: D.light Design Incorporated
• Original Assignee: D.light Design Incorporated
• Inventors: Ricket, Douglas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, RAMESH B
• Application Number:
  US13/042,611
• Publication Number:
  US 20120232714A1
• Time in Patent Office: 679 Days
• Field of Search: 700 1- 3, 700 19- 20, 700/22, 709208-211, 713/100, 713/176, 713/310, 713/320
• US Class Current: 700/19
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 11/01 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0428 Safety, monitoring G05B19/0423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25359 Special power supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/38215 Use of certificates or encrypted proofs of transaction rights
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/10 Parallel operation of dc sources
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/35 with light sensitive cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3249 using RSA or related signature schemes, e.g. Rabin scheme

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for an appliance system. The system includes an appliance, and a processor connected to the appliance such that the processor places the appliance in one of an enabled state and a disabled state. The processor is configured to track usage of the appliance and to place the appliance in a disabled state when the usage of the appliance exceeds a threshold amount. The system also includes a data receiving device configured to receive a code, wherein upon receipt of a valid code, the processor is configured to adjust the threshold amount to allow additional usage of the appliance.

Claims

1. An autonomously powered appliance control system, comprising:

a plurality of appliances;

a battery for supplying power to the appliances;

an energy capture device for charging the battery, wherein the energy capture device and the battery are not connected to an outside electrical grid;

a master processor, the master processor being configured to place each of the appliances in an enabled state or a disabled state individually by transmitting an enable or disable signal to a slave processor associated with that appliance, the master processor being configured to track usage of each of the appliances, the master processor being configured to determine when an appliance is to be in a disabled state based on the usage of that appliance exceeding a threshold amount, the threshold amount being a period of time during which the appliance is to be in the enabled state or an amount of time for which the appliance is usable in the enabled state;

wherein each of the plurality of appliances is responsive to a slave processor, wherein a slave processor transmits a usage signal to the master processor based on usage of the appliance associated with the slave processor, wherein the slave processor enables and disables the associated appliance based on enable or disable signal received from the master processor;

a data receiving device configured to receive a code, wherein upon receipt of a valid code, the master processor being configured to adjust the threshold amount to allow additional usage of the appliance, wherein the code includes a signature, wherein the master processor verifies the signature to determine whether the code is valid, wherein the signature authenticates a source of the code and that the code has not been tampered, wherein the master processor is configured to prevent reuse of the code.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is in the appliance, and wherein the processor disconnects the appliance from a power source when the appliance is placed in the disabled state.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to extend the amount of time during which the appliance is to be in the enabled state when a valid code is received.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the threshold amount is an amount of power that may be used before the appliance is to be placed in a disabled state.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is a Microchip PIC24FJ64, an Atmel AT89C51, a Zilog Encore Z8F0130, an Intel Core 2, an Intel Core i3, an Intel Core i5, an Intel Core i7, an AMD Athlon II, or an AMD Phenom II.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is a microcontroller or a microprocessor.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the signature is authenticated using an AES, SHA1, SHA256, or SHA512 cryptographic function.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy capture device is a solar panel.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the master processor is configured to extend the amount of time during which the appliance is to be in the enabled state to an infinite period of time when a particular valid code is received.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the data receiving device is a keypad, a button, a tone recognition device, a barcode scanner, an infrared receiver, or an RFID reader.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the data receiving device is a machine-to-machine communication device using the 802.11 Wi-Fi communication protocol, GSM (Global System For Communications), SMS (Short Message Service), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), 3G (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), or 4G (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced).

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the master processor is configured to monitor renewable energy used by a consumer for the purpose of calculating carbon offset credits.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein when an appliance is placed in a disabled state, the appliance is placed in a state of limited utility, and wherein the state of limited utility disables at least one feature of the appliance that is available when the appliance is in an enabled state.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein disabling an appliance prevents the appliance from operating in a full operational mode.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein disabling the appliance:

prevents running a fan on other than a lowest level, prevents a television from being changed from a particular channel, or prevents a light from being changed from a low level setting.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the master processor is configured to disable certain of the plurality of appliances without disabling all of the plurality of appliances.