System and method for locally managing network appliances in a closed area network via a gateway device

• US 9,444,687 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2014
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Infosys Limited
• Original Assignee: Infosys Limited
• Inventors: Ghosh, Animikh, Patil, Ketan, Vuppala, Sunil Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): BAROT, BHARAT
• Application Number:
  US14/186,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20140289387A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 709202-205, 709223-224, 709227-229, 370400-401
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2834 Switching of information between an external network and a home network access arrangements H04L12/2856
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management

Abstract

A system, medium and method of managing, via a gateway device, to wirelessly communicate with a plurality of network appliances in a closed local area network is disclosed. A data message is received from a first network appliance configured to communicate data in association with a first application profile. The first application profile is retrieved from a locally stored application profile database upon being identified. A database is accessed at the gateway device containing policy information of the first network appliance and evaluated for one or more policy parameters. A first instruction command is generated at the gateway device based on the accessed policy information, wherein the instruction command conforms with the first application profile to instruct the first network appliance to perform a specified action. The instruction command is wirelessly transmitted from the gateway device to the first network appliance to cause it to perform a specified action.

Claims

1. A method of managing network appliances, the method comprising:

wirelessly receiving, by a gateway device in communication with a plurality of network appliances in a closed area network, first and second data messages from first and second ones of the network appliances, respectively;

analyzing, by the gateway device, the received first and second data messages to determine first and second standard application profiles and retrieving the first and second standard application profiles from a locally stored application profile database, wherein the first standard application profile is not the same as the second standard application profile;

accessing, by the gateway device, one or more databases that comprise policy information associated with at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances;

evaluating, by the gateway device, the policy information in the one or more databases in association with one or more policy parameters;

generating, by the gateway device, a first instruction command based on at least the policy information, the first instruction command generated in conformance with one of the first or second standard application profiles and configured to instruct the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to perform a specified action; and

wirelessly transmitting, by the gateway device, the first instruction command to the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to cause the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to perform the specified action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data message from the first or second ones of the network appliances is associated with data obtained from one or more sensors of the first or second ones of the network appliances.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first instruction command is configured to cause one or more actuators of the first or second ones of the network appliances to operate.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first or second data message includes sensor data, the policy information includes one or more triggering operating parameters with respect to the sensor data, and the method further comprises:

communicating, by the gateway device, data to one or more server devices, wherein the communication data is processed by the one or more server devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating, by the gateway device, a plurality of proposed operation schedules, each proposed operation schedule designating selected operation times for plurality of selected ones of the network appliances over a designated time duration;

analyzing, by the gateway device, the plurality of generated proposed schedules in association with one or more set operating constraints; and

identifying, by the gateway device, an optimized schedule from the proposed operation schedules, the optimized schedule having a lowest utility cost for operating the selected ones of the network appliances and satisfying the one or more set operating constraints.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating, by the gateway device, preselected probability indexes for each of the selected ones of the network appliances for each time increment in the time duration, the probability indexes representative of a likelihood that the selected ones of the network appliances would be operational in each time increment in the time duration and corresponding to a priority of operation of the selected ones of the network appliances; and

applying, by the gateway device, the probability indexes in generating each of the proposed operating schedules.

7. A non-transitory processor readable medium having stored thereon instructions for managing network appliances, the medium comprising processor executable code which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to:

wirelessly receive first and second data messages from first and second ones of a plurality of network appliances, respectively, in a closed area network;

analyze the received first and second data messages to determine first and second standard application profiles and retrieve the first and second standard application profiles from a locally stored application profile database, wherein the first standard application profile is not the same as the second standard application profile;

access one or more databases that comprise policy information associated with at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances;

evaluate the policy information in the one or more databases in association with one or more policy parameters;

generate a first instruction command based on at least the policy information, the first instruction command generated in conformance with one of the first or second standard application profiles and configured to instruct the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to perform a specified action; and

wirelessly transmit the first instruction command to the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to cause the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to perform the specified action.

8. The processor readable medium of claim 7, wherein the data message from the first or second ones of the network appliances is associated with data obtained from one or more sensors of the first or second ones of the network appliances.

9. The processor readable medium of claim 7, wherein the first instruction command is configured to cause one or more actuators of the first or second ones of the network appliances to operate.

10. The processor readable medium of claim 7, wherein the first or second data message includes sensor data, the policy information includes one or more triggering operating parameters with respect to the sensor data, and the processor executable code when executed by the processor further causes the processor to:

communicate data to one or more server devices, wherein the communication data is processed by the one or more server devices.

11. The processor readable medium of claim 7, wherein the processor executable code when executed by the processor further causes the processor to:

generate a plurality of proposed operation schedules, each proposed operation schedule designating selected operation times for a plurality of selected ones of the network appliances over a designated time duration;

analyze the plurality of generated proposed schedules in association with one or more set operating constraints; and

identify an optimized schedule from the proposed operation schedules, the optimized schedule having a lowest utility cost for operating the selected ones of the network appliances and satisfying the one or more set operating constraints.

12. The processor readable medium of claim 11, wherein the processor executable code when executed by the processor further causes the processor to:

generate preselected probability indexes for each of the selected ones of the network appliances for each time increment in the time duration, the probability indexes representative of a likelihood that the selected ones of the network appliances would be operational in each time increment in the time duration and corresponding to a priority of operation of the selected ones of the network appliances; and

apply the probability indexes in generating each of the proposed operating schedules.

13. A gateway computing device comprising:

a network interface capable of communicating with a plurality of network appliances in a closed area network;

a memory comprising programmed instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the stored programmed instructions in the memory to;

wirelessly receive first and second data messages from first and second ones of the network appliances, respectively, in the closed area network;

analyze the received first and second data messages to determine first and second standard application profiles and retrieve the first and second standard application profiles from a locally stored application profile database, wherein the first standard application profile is not the same as the second standard application profile;

access one or more databases that comprise policy information associated with at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances;

evaluate the policy information in the one or more databases in association with one or more policy parameters;

generate a first instruction command based on at least the policy information, the first instruction command generated in conformance with one of the first or second standard application profiles and configured to instruct the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to perform a specified action; and

wirelessly transmit the first instruction command to the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to cause the at least one of the first or second ones of the network appliances to perform the specified action.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the data message from the first or second ones of the network appliances is associated with data obtained from one or more sensors of the first or second ones of the network appliances.

15. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the first instruction command is configured to cause one or more actuators of the first or second ones of the network appliances to operate.

16. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the first or second data message includes sensor data, the policy information includes one or more triggering operating parameters with respect to the sensor data, and the processor is further configured to execute the programmed instructions stored in the memory to:

communicate data to one or more server devices, wherein the communication data is processed by the one or more server devices.

17. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the programmed instructions stored in the memory to:

generate a plurality of proposed operation schedules, each proposed operation schedule designating selected operation times for a plurality of selected ones of the network appliances over a designated time duration;

analyze the plurality of generated proposed schedules in association with one or more set operating constraints; and

identify an optimized schedule from the proposed operation schedules, the optimized schedule having a lowest utility cost for operating the selected ones of the network appliances and satisfying the one or more set operating constraints.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the programmed instructions stored in the memory to:

generate preselected probability indexes for each of the selected ones of the network appliances for each time increment in the time duration, the probability indexes representative of a likelihood that the selected ones of the network appliances would be operational in each time increment in the time duration and corresponding to a priority of operation of the selected ones of the network appliances; and

apply the probability indexes in generating each of the proposed operating schedules.