Home management system and method

• US 10,129,383 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2015
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Imes, Kevin R., Hollister, James, Cottrell, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Tanmay
• Application Number:
  US14/590,521
• Publication Number:
  US 20150195100A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,407 Days
• Field of Search: 455420
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• 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 12/2823 Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• 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 12/2838 Distribution of signals within a home automation network, e.g. involving splitting/multiplexing signals to/from different paths adaptations of television systems for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution H04N7/106; hybrid transport H04L12/6418; home network arrangements specially adapted for distribution of digital video signals H04N7/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A home management system includes a first network device and a second network device in wireless communication with said first network device. The home management system also includes at least one zone. At least one sensor is disposed in the zone. The sensor is in wireless communication with the first network device to detect the presence of the first network device in the zone. Additionally, the sensor is in wireless communication with the second network device to control the second network device in response to instructions from the first network device.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a thermostat disposed at a site and configured to;

wirelessly communicate with a mobile device,

implement an energy saving setting when the mobile device is outside of a boundary encompassing the site, and

implement a comfort setting when the mobile device is within the boundary encompassing the site;

a first sensor disposed within a first room of the site and configured to;

detect a presence of a user within the first room of the site, and

control the thermostat in response to the detected presence of the user within the first room; and

a second sensor disposed within a second room of the site and configured to;

detect the presence of the user within the second room of the site,

control the thermostat in response to the detected presence of the user within the second room,

wherein one of the first sensor or the second sensor is designated by the user as a default sensor and configured to control and to monitor the other one of the first sensor or the second sensor, and

wherein at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor configured to broadcast information at an adjustable rate to conserve power.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the boundary encompassing the site includes a plurality of boundaries and the thermostat is selectively adjustable according to a location of the mobile device relative to each of the plurality of boundaries.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device includes an application configured to control the thermostat in response to the detected presence of the user in the first room of the site or the second room of the site.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device includes an interface configured to program settings of the thermostat corresponding to the first room and the second room.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the settings of the thermostat defined by the first user interface and including:

a first setting configured to generate the instructions to control the thermostat in response to the user being outside of said the first room or the second room,

a second setting configured to generate the instructions to control the thermostat in response to the user being in the first room or the second room, and

a third setting configured to generate the instructions to control the thermostat in response to the user being in the first room or the second room while it is nighttime.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first setting is a first temperature utilized when the user is outside the first room or the second room and the second setting is a second temperature utilized when the user is detected within the first room or the second room.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermostat configured to wirelessly communicate with the mobile device by at least one of:

IEEE 802.15-based wireless communication, Zigbee communication, INSTEON communication, X10 communication protocol, Z-Wave communication, Bluetooth communication, Wi-Fi communication, IEEE 802.11-based communication, WiMax communication, or IEEE 802.16-based communication.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the first sensor and the second sensor includes a motion sensor.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one second network device to control the at least one second network device in response to the detected presence of the user within the first room and the second room of the site.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said at least one second network device includes at least one of:

a personal computer, a consumer electronic device, a media device, a smart device, a television, a smart utility meter, an advanced metering infrastructure, a smart energy device, an energy display device, a home automation controller, an energy hub, a smart energy gateway, a set-top box, a digital media subscriber system, a cable modem, a fiber optic enabled communications device, a media gateway, a home media management system, a network server or storage device, an energy substation, a vehicle charging station, a renewable energy production device, a renewable energy control device, an energy storage management system, a smart appliance, an HVAC system, a water pump, a heat pump, a hot water heater, a thermostat, an energy controller, an irrigation system, a lighting system, an alarm system, a smart power outlet, an energy detection device, a power measurement device, a power measurement unit (PMU), an air handler, a wireless air damper, a humidity control system, a heat and motion sensing device, a smart power outlet, a switch router, wireless router, or other network communication device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first mobile device includes at least one of a PDA, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a mobile phone, or a tablet.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor configured to broadcast the information at the adjustable rate to conserve power including a battery and the rate adjusted to conserve the battery life.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the rate at which information is broadcast is further adjusted based on a proximity of the mobile device to the at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor configured to broadcast the information at the adjustable rate.

14. A method of managing a home management system comprising:

associating a mobile device with a thermostat at a home;

detecting a location of the mobile device relative to at least one boundary encompassing the home;

implementing an energy saving setting at the thermostat in response to the mobile device being disposed outside of the at least one boundary encompassing the home;

implementing a comfort setting at the thermostat in response to the mobile device being disposed within the at least one boundary;

associating a first sensor with a first room of a home;

associating a second sensor with a second room of the home;

designating by a user one of said first sensor and said second sensor as a default sensor configured to control and to monitor the other one of said first sensor or said second sensor;

detecting the user within the first room or the second room using the first and second sensors;

transmitting a first signal from the first sensor to the thermostat indicative of a presence of the user presence within the first room;

transmitting a second signal from the second sensor to the thermostat indicative of the presence of the user within the second room;

receiving at least one of the first signal and the second signal at the thermostat;

adjusting the thermostat in response to the received at least one of the first signal and the second signal;

adjusting at least one of a broadcast rate at which the first signal is transmitted from the first sensor and a broadcast rate at which the second signal is transmitted from the second sensor to conserve power.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

associating the first sensor and the second sensor with respective rooms of the home using the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

programming the mobile device to recognize the first sensor and the second sensor.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

storing a first setting on the thermostat corresponding to the first room;

storing a second setting on the thermostat corresponding to the second room;

implementing the first setting in response to the first signal; and

implementing the second setting in response to the second signal.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

detecting a time;

storing a third setting on the thermostat to be utilized when the user is detected in either the first room or the second room while it is nighttime; and

implementing the third setting in response to detecting the user in the first room or the second room while it is nighttime.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

requesting instructions from the mobile device with the first sensor and the second sensor for controlling the thermostat.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the adjusting at least one of the broadcast rate at which the first signal is transmitted from the first sensor and the broadcast rate at which the second signal is transmitted from the second sensor to conserves a battery life the respective first sensor and the second sensor.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the adjusting at least one of the broadcast rate at which the first signal is transmitted from the first sensor and the broadcast rate at which the second signal is transmitted from the second sensor based on a proximity of the mobile device to the at respective least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.