Hands-free home automation application

• US 8,749,375 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2012
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nguyen, Djung, Nguyen, Andy, Wingo, Lobrenzo
• Primary Examiner(s): HUNNINGS, TRAVIS R
• Application Number:
  US13/430,129
• Publication Number:
  US 20130249688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.13
• US Class Current: 340/539.13
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2834 Switching of information between an external network and a home network access arrangements H04L12/2856
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product determine when a user'"'"'s mobile device has left a secured physical site, such as a house or office, without predefined site security settings being met, and responsively inform the user of any security anomalies. A predetermined distance threshold is compared with the distance between the mobile device, and a secured site. If the distance exceeds the threshold and a trigger event is detected, an alert is transmitted. The alert may be transmitted via the internet, and may be formatted as a text message, a phone vibration, a popup alert, a ringtone, an audio recording, a synthesized voice message, an image, and a video. The alert may be delivered via a speaker in a vehicle or a mobile phone, and an alert format is selected according to whether these are in use.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for automating site security, comprising:

comparing a predetermined threshold with a distance between a mobile device and a secured site;

detecting a trigger event; and

selectively transmitting an alert from the secured site to the mobile device, based on the distance exceeding the predetermined threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the distance is determined using at least one of GPS and cellular positioning.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the secured site comprises at least one of a house and an office.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the trigger event comprises a predefined security anomaly.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the trigger event comprises at least one of a movable barrier and a light being in a condition other than a predetermined condition.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the movable barrier comprises at least one of a gate, a door, and a garage door.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the predetermined condition is at least one of locked, unlocked, open, closed, lit, and unlit.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitting comprises communication via the internet.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the alert is formatted as at least one of a text message, a phone vibration, a popup alert, a ringtone, an audio recording, a synthesized voice message, an image, and a video.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the alert is transmitted to at least one of a home automation cloud service, a security service, and security personnel if no response is received from the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the alert is delivered via at least one of a speaker in a vehicle and a mobile phone, and an alert format is selected according to whether at least one of the speaker in the vehicle and the mobile phone are in use.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising acquiring instructions regarding a response to the trigger event from at least one of a customer, the mobile device, a security server, and security personnel.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the acquiring comprises detecting at least one of a steering wheel pushbutton activation and a voice command.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising changing the condition of at least one of a movable barrier and a light.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the acquired instructions are executed by a home automation controller running a home automation application.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the alert is transmitted as a subscription based service.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving instructions from the mobile device to escalate the alert to a true alarm situation and transmitting the alert to a security service in response to receiving the instructions.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically correcting the trigger event, and wherein the selectively transmitting an alert further includes transmitting an alert from the secured site to the mobile device indicating that the trigger event has been automatically corrected.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting a trigger event further includes monitoring a plurality of sensors throughout the secured site.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a home automation application on a device at the secured site, and wherein the selectively transmitting an alert further includes transmitting an alert from the home automation application to the mobile device, the alert indicating that the trigger event has been detected.

18. A system for automating site security, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor cause the processor to;

compare a predetermined threshold with a distance between a mobile device and a secured site;

detect a trigger event; and

selectively transmit an alert from the secured site to the mobile device, based on the distance exceeding the predetermined threshold.

19. A computer program product for automating site security, comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium tangibly embodying non-transitory computer-executable program instructions thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to:

compare a predetermined threshold with a distance between a mobile device and a secured site;

detect a trigger event; and

selectively transmit an alert from the secured site to the mobile device, based on the distance exceeding the predetermined threshold.

20. A system for automating site security, comprising:

means for comparing a predetermined threshold with a distance between a mobile device and a secured site;

means for detecting a trigger event; and

means for selectively transmitting an alert from the secured site to the mobile device, based on the distance exceeding the predetermined threshold.