Autonomous local area distributed network

• US 20020067717A1
• Filed: 08/17/2001
• Published: 06/06/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Electric Works Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: emWare, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kane, Robert B., Raschke, Steven K.
• Granted Patent: US 6,653,933 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/386
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2843 Mains power line
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2845 Telephone line
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1068 Discovery involving direct consultation or announcement among potential requesting and potential source peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

An autonomous local area distributed network provides a peer-to-peer network to connect nodes and devices using low cost and low bandwidth communication techniques, thus allowing the network to share node resources and distribute programming tasks across the different nodes. Home appliances and devices such as refrigerators, televisions, light switches, light fixtures, garage door openers, stereos, and the like may be configured as nodes on the peer-to-peer network. Operational programs, referred to as “sequences,” may be distributed across nodes in a network to enable the maximum utilization of available node resources.

Claims

1. A system for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, comprising:

an electrical device, for performing a device-specific function that is not primarily a computing function; and

a node, embedded in the electrical device and communicatively coupled to at least one other node embedded in another electrical device, for enabling network-connectivity between the electrical device to which the node is coupled and the at least one other node by enabling each device to transfer messages to and receive messages from other devices in the system without requiring a connection to a server or master controller.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein a node further comprises:

a device driver, for causing the device to perform a device attribute;

an interpreter module, for initiating execution of a device driver responsive to receiving a message requesting a device perform a device attribute; and

a communications module, for translating messages to other nodes specifying a device attribute to be performed by another node into a communications protocol.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the communications module translates messages into a communication protocol suitable for transmission over a power line.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein a device attribute is given an alias, and a node maintains an attribute-alias table mapping an alias to an attribute, and a message requesting a device to perform a feature specifies the alias for the device attribute.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein a request to have a plurality of devices perform an identical feature specifies a single alias for the feature.

6. A method for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, the electrical devices communicatively coupled via a network, comprising:

determining by first node coupled to the first electrical device, a second electrical device coupled to the network for performing an attribute associated with the second electrical device; and

transmitting via the network from the first node, a message addressed with a unique identifier of a second node coupled to the second electrical device specifying the second device and attribute to be performed.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the nodes maintain attribute-alias tables to map attributes to aliases, and the message comprises an alias for an attribute to be performed.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein determining a second electrical device comprises determining that a plurality of devices on a network perform an attribute, and transmitting comprises transmitting a message specifying an alias for the attribute to be performed each of the plurality of electrical devices.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the communications facility transports the message to connected nodes in the network, and nodes having an attribute-alias table specifying the transmitted alias instruct the devices to which the nodes are coupled to perform the attribute responsive to receiving the message.

10. A method of sharing resources in a network of connected electrical devices comprising:

in a first node coupled to an electrical device;

determining that insufficient memory exists to store data in the first node;

transmitting a message from the first node to the network requesting resources;

responsive to receiving a response from a second node that the second node has available memory, transferring data to the second node to be stored on the second node; and

generating a pointer to point to the address of the second node.

11. A system for providing network connectivity to electrical devices whose primary purpose is not computing, comprising:

an electrical device; and

a node coupled to the electrical device for providing network connectivity to the electrical device without requiring a continuous connection to a server or master controller.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a first electrical device, for primarily performing a device-specific, non-computing function;

a network interface circuit, embedded in the first electrical device, for communicatively coupling the electrical device to a communications network, in order to send and receive messages pertaining to the status of the device over the network, without requiring a continuous connection between the network interface circuit and a server or master controller.

13. A system comprising:

a plurality of home appliances; and

a plurality of network interface circuits, each network interface circuit embedded in a home appliance, and providing peer-to-peer network connectivity between the home appliances, such that each application can communicate with and send control information to any other application without requiring a master controller circuit to manage control and communication between the appliances.