System and method for home automation

• US 20070112939A1
• Filed: 11/17/2005
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Multach, Jeffrey, Wilson, Brian, Hubscher, Mark, Brown, Carlton
• Granted Patent: US 8,042,048 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• 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 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805

Abstract

A home automation system and method are disclosed for configuring a device state including accessing a graphical user interface (GUI) in a database at a server, sending the GUI from the server to the client device, receiving an input from the client device at the server, configuring the device state in the database at the server in accordance with the input, and sending the configured device state from the server to the client device. The client device receives a device state for configuring home automation controllable devices.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer, perform a method of configuring a device state of a home automation controllable device comprising:

accessing a graphical user interface (GUI) from a database at a server;

sending the GUI from the server to a client device;

receiving an input from the client device at the server;

configuring the device state of the client device in the database at the server in accordance with the input; and

sending the configured device state from the server to the client device.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method the controllable device further comprises one of a set consisting of a telephone, media server, security system, lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning thermostat, video systems, audio systems, window coverings, attic vent fans, automated doors, gates, locks, energy management system, automated fountain, water heaters, sprinklers, pools, spas, video cameras, automated appliances, water leakage, vehicle detection systems, hurricane shutters, security shutters, weather station, utility monitoring devices, automated fireplaces and automated ceiling fans.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method, the input further comprises at least one of the set consisting of a GUI input, business rule, event, content selection, context and device state.

4. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method, the GUI comprises an Internet protocol television (IPTV) GUI.

5. The medium of claim 1, wherein in the method, configuring further comprises applying a business rule to the input and a context.

6. The medium of claim 5, wherein in the method, the context further comprises at least one selected from the set consisting of a scheduled content time, video content characterization, event, and event participant.

7. The medium of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

sending content to the client device from the server.

8. The medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

reporting context to the database; and

sending a global message from the server to the client device based on the reported context.

9. A system for configuring a device state comprising:

a database for storing a device state for a home automation controllable device;

a server coupled to the database, the server comprising;

a first server interface to send the graphical user interface (GUI) from the server to a client device;

a second server interface to send the GUI from the server to a client device;

a third server interface to receive an input from the client device at the server to configure the device state in at the database server in accordance with the input; and

a fourth server interface to send the configured device state from the server to the client device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the home automation controllable device further comprises one of a set consisting of a telephone, media server, security system, lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning thermostat, video systems, audio systems, window coverings, attic vent fans, automated doors, gates, locks, energy management system, automated fountain, water heaters, sprinklers, pools, spas, video cameras, automated appliances, water leakage, vehicle detection systems, hurricane shutters, security shutters, weather station, utility monitoring devices, automated fireplaces and automated ceiling fans

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the input further comprises at least one of the set consisting of a GUI input, business rule, event, video content selection, context and device state.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the GUI further comprises an Internet protocol television (IPTV) GUI.

13. The system of claim 9, a fourth server interface to the server to apply a business rule to the input and a context.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the context further comprises at least one of the set consisting of a scheduled video content time, content characterization, event, and event participant.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a fifth server interface to send video content from the server to the client device.

16. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a sixth server interface to report context from the client device to the database; and

a seventh server interface to send a global message to the client based on the reported context.

17. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a data structure for storing at a server a device state of a home automation controllable device comprising:

a device identifier field for identifying a device in the device state;

a device mode field for storing an operational mode for the device; and

a context field for storing a context for the device state.

18. The medium of claim 17, wherein in the data structure, the context further comprises at least one selected from the set consisting of a scheduled content time, video content characterization, event, and event participant.

19. The medium of claim 17 wherein the data structure further comprises:

a business rule field for storing a business rule for application to the context and an input.

20. A computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer, perform a method of configuring a device state of a home automation controllable device comprising:

receiving a graphical user interface (GUI) from a server at a client device;

sending an input from the client device to the server for configuring the device state in a server database in accordance with the input; and

receiving the configured device state from the server at the client device.

21. The medium of claim 20, wherein in the method a home automation controllable device further comprises one of a set consisting of a telephone, media server, security system, lighting, ventilation, air conditioning thermostat, video systems, audio systems, window coverings, attic vent fans, automated doors, gates, locks, energy management system, automated fountain, water heaters, sprinklers, pools, spas, video cameras, automated appliances, water leakage, vehicle detection systems, hurricane shutters, security shutters, weather station, utility monitoring devices, automated fireplaces and automated ceiling fans

22. The medium of claim 20, wherein in the method, the input further comprises at least one of the set consisting of a GUI input, business rule, event, content selection, context and device state.

23. The medium of claim 20, wherein in the method, the GUI comprises an Internet protocol television (IPTV) GUI.

24. The medium of claim 20, wherein in the method, the method further comprises:

receiving video content from the server at the client device.

25. The medium of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

sending context from the client device to the database; and

receiving a global message at the client based on the reported context.

26. A system for configuring a device state of a home automation controllable device comprising:

a database for storing a device state;

a server coupled to the database; and

a client device, the client device comprising;

a processor;

a first processor interface to receive a GUI from a server at a client device;

a second processor interface to send an input from the client device to the server to configure the device state at the server in the database at the server in accordance with the input; and

a third processor interface to receive the configured device state from the server at the client device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the home automation controllable device further comprises one of a set consisting of a telephone, media server, security system, lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning thermostat, video systems, audio systems, window coverings, attic vent fans, automated doors, gates, locks, energy management system, automated fountain, water heaters, sprinklers, pools, spas, video cameras, automated appliances, water leakage, vehicle detection systems, hurricane shutters, security shutters, weather station, utility monitoring devices, automated fireplaces and automated ceiling fans

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the input further comprises at least one of the set consisting of a GUI input, business rule, event, content selection, context and device state.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the GUI further comprises an Internet protocol television (IPTV) GUI.

30. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a fourth processor interface to receive video content at the client device.

31. The system of claim 26, a fifth processor interface to report context to the database from the client device and receive a global message at the client device based on the reported context.