Distributed wireless home and commercial electrical automation systems
First Claim
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1. A distributed electrical control system for home or commercial automation comprising:
- at least one central controller including a wireless transceiver;
at least one remote controller for controlling an electrical load coupled to the remote controller, the remote controller including a second wireless transceiver for communication with the central controller over a wireless channel;
wherein the remote controller is operable to control the electrical load in response to a command received from the central controller over the wireless channel;
and further wherein the central controller is sized and configured for installation in a standard light switch type of electrical box; and
the central controller includes a display screen for displaying a graphical user interface.
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Abstract
A central controller (FIG. 1B, FIG. 2, FIG. 4) is disclosed to enable home and commercial automation for automatic, remote control of a wide variety of lights, appliances, HVAC (FIG. 3, FIG. 5) and other systems utilizing a wireless distributed network. The central controller preferably employs a standard CPU and embedded operating system software. Graphical (FIG. 2) and audio (FIG. 4) user interfaces can be implemented. Harmonic distortion due to non-linear AC loads (FIG. 8) are mitigated in single-phase circuits through intelligent control of the loads (FIG. 9) and/or through intelligent complementary control of linear loads (FIG. 10).
445 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A distributed electrical control system for home or commercial automation comprising:
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at least one central controller including a wireless transceiver;
at least one remote controller for controlling an electrical load coupled to the remote controller, the remote controller including a second wireless transceiver for communication with the central controller over a wireless channel;
wherein the remote controller is operable to control the electrical load in response to a command received from the central controller over the wireless channel;
and further wherein the central controller is sized and configured for installation in a standard light switch type of electrical box; and
the central controller includes a display screen for displaying a graphical user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A central controller for home and commercial automation applications comprising:
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a generally hollow housing configured for installation in a standard light-switch-type electrical box in lieu of one or more conventional light switches;
a power supply disposed within the housing and including wires or terminals for connection to an electrical service inside the electrical box when the housing is installed in the electrical box;
a microprocessor-based computer system disposed substantially within the housing for executing home automation application software;
a user interface for interacting with the central controller; and
a communication interface coupled to the computer system for communication with a controller component located outside of the electrical box to implement remote control of a load coupled to the controller component under the direction of a home automation application software program executable in the computer system. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for reducing harmonics in residential power circuits thereby saving energy by reducing dissipation in distribution transformers that supply such circuits, the method comprising:
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monitoring current-versus-phase characteristics of an electrical current through a single-phase load circuit in a residential power circuit;
providing a controllable power regulator for each of at least two non-linear loads in the load circuit; and
responsive to said monitoring step, controlling the power regulators to effect a corresponding selected start phase in each power regulator, the start phases being selected as different from one another so as to reduce harmonics in the power circuit. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for reducing harmonics in residential power circuits thereby saving energy by reducing dissipation in distribution transformers that supply such circuits, the method comprising:
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monitoring current-versus-phase characteristics of an electrical current through a single-phase load circuit in a residential power circuit, where the load circuit includes a non-linear load;
providing a controllable power regulator coupled to a linear load in the load circuit; and
responsive to said monitoring step, controlling the power regulator so as to regulate power supplied to the linear load so as to minimize harmonic distortion that would otherwise arise in the load circuit from the non-linear load. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification