SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR QUERYING FOR ENERGY DATA IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

• US 20130158729A1
• Filed: 01/07/2013
• Published: 06/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ghose, Tirthankar, Kunkel, David W., Laherty, Matthew A., Parello, John D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,745,429 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/286
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0833 for reduction of network energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/00 Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes communicating a query over a network to a plurality of entities that reside in a domain, the query including a request for data relating to energy use. The query can be generated by one or more computing devices belonging to the domain. A selected one of the computing devices can control power consumption for the entities in the domain. In other embodiments, a discovery protocol (DP) and a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) is used for transporting events regarding the entities that connect or disconnect from the network. The entities send discovery events over a DP/LLDP protocol, identifying them as part of the domain. In yet other embodiments, the method includes querying a selected one of the entities to determine, if the selected entity moved to a certain energy level, an energy consumption value at the certain energy level.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying a parent device that resides in a domain that includes a plurality of devices;

communicating a query over a network to the parent device, wherein the query is configured to request a current energy usage of the parent device; and

communicating an event message over the network to control power consumption for a child device for which the parent device is to act.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of interfaces to be used by the parent device in order to affect at least one power management operation of the child device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the parent device is a switch configured to maintain a list of neighbors and of a plurality of child devices for which it acts in response to a received event message.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying that a particular device of the plurality of devices is a non-compatible child device; and

identifying a vector corresponding to a plurality of features of the non-compatible child device, wherein at least one of the features controls power management for the non-compatible child.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein instructions corresponding to at least one interface of the parent device are provided for translating a first protocol of the at least one interface to a second protocol.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring the child device to operate as a proxy such that a particular event is forwarded to a class of scripts.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the parent device is configured to show an aggregate power consumption for certain devices to which it is attached.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the parent device is configured to display a power amount being saved at a particular time, and wherein the power amount is indicative of two different power modes associated with one or more of the plurality of devices in the domain.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a discovery protocol (DP) and a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) for transporting events regarding certain devices that connect or disconnect from the network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein certain devices of the domain send a discovery event over a DP/LLDP protocol that identifies them as part of the domain.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a user datagram protocol (UDP) broadcast protocol when a particular device connects to the network such that certain devices of the domain maintain neighbor connections.

12. The method claim 1, wherein energy levels for the plurality of devices are part of an array that is indexed numerically.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein energy levels for the plurality of devices are part of an array that is indexed by color.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining a power management policy via a plurality of queries that recur, wherein the power management policy includes at least one time characteristic and at least one energy mode setting for at least some of the plurality of devices in the domain.

15. A system, comprising:

a management module;

a processor; and

a memory, wherein the system is configured to;

identify a parent device that resides in a domain that includes a plurality of devices;

communicate a query over a network to the parent device, wherein the query is configured to request a current energy usage of the parent device; and

communicate an event message over the network to control power consumption for a child device for which the parent device is to act.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the system is further configured to:

identify a plurality of interfaces to be used by the parent device in order to affect at least one power management operation of the child device.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the system is further configured to:

provide instructions for the child device to operate as a proxy such that a particular event is forwarded to a class of scripts.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the parent device is configured to show an aggregate power consumption for certain devices to which it is attached.

19. A non-transitory media that includes instructions for execution by a processor to perform operations, comprising:

identifying a parent device that resides in a domain that includes a plurality of devices;

communicating a query over a network to the parent device, wherein the query is configured to request a current energy usage of the parent device; and

communicating an event message over the network to control power consumption for a child device for which the parent device is to act.

20. The media of claim 19, the operations further comprising:

identifying a plurality of interfaces to be used by the parent device in order to affect at least one power management operation of the child device.