HOME AUTOMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20120165990A1
• Filed: 06/18/2010
• Published: 06/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: McCormack, James J. A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,124,442 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/275
• 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 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission

Abstract

The invention relates to a home automation system and a method for controlling the same. In order to stably control a continuing concerted adjustment action of a continuously variable parameter by means of few and low-sized commands in order to avoid overloading of a low-data rate network while providing means for fast and unobtrusive correction of failures due to missed commands, it is provided a method for controlling a wireless home automation system, the home automation system being arranged as a network comprising at least one controller and a plurality of devices, wherein the method comprises the steps of sending a start command from the controller to a group of devices comprising an action type and a transaction ID and sending a stop command from the controller to the devices comprising the transaction ID and a controller counter.

Claims

1. Method for controlling a wireless home automation system comprising at least one controller and at least one device, the method comprising the steps of:

sending a start command from the controller to the device,

sending a stop command from the controller to the device comprising a controller counter.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the home automation system comprises two or more devices.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the start command comprises an action type, a transaction ID and/or an action rate or a step number n with a transition time t.

4. Method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

sending intermediate commands comprising the controller counter.

5. Method according to claim 4, wherein the intermediate commands further comprise the transaction ID, the action type and/or the action rate or the step number n with the transition time t.

6. Method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

sending a stop acknowledgement from each device to the controller comprising a device counter;

checking by the controller, whether a stop acknowledgement from all devices has been received and/or whether all received device counters correspond to the controller counter;

sending from the controller a stop correction command comprising the stop command, if the stop acknowledgement from a device is missing and/or if a device counter is different from the controller counter.

7. Method according to claim 5, wherein the erroneous device sends a stop correction acknowledgement to the controller.

8. Method according to claim 1 wherein the acknowledgements from the devices are sent with a device-specific delay time.

9. Method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

correcting a device counter of each device and a corresponding device status, if the device counter is not in agreement with the controller counter.

10. Method according to claim 1, wherein the home automation system comprises a lighting system and wherein the action performed by the devices comprises a dimming action.

11. Home automation system, comprising:

at least one device,

at least one controller adapted for wireless communication with the devices, wherein the controller is further adapted to send a start command and a stop command, wherein the stop command comprises a controller counter.

12. Home automation system according to claim 11, wherein the controller is adapted to check acknowledgments of the stop command received from the devices and to send a stop correction command to erroneous devices.

13. Home automation system according to claim 11, wherein the home automation system comprises a lighting control system with light sources and/or light shields and wherein the action comprises modification of light properties.

14. Home automation system according to claim 11, wherein the home automation system comprises a sound control system with loud speakers and/or wherein the action comprises a sound regulation action.

15. (canceled)