Method and system for selectively interdependent control of devices

• US 5,467,264 A
• Filed: 09/30/1993
• Issued: 11/14/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Riker, Gregory W., Rauch, Adam, Myhrvold, Nathan P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Envall, Jr., Roy N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BROWN, THOMAS
• Application Number:
  US08/129,685
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 364/140-146, 364/138, 364/139, 364/188-192, 340/310 A, 340/310 R
• US Class Current: 700/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 19/28 using pulse code

Abstract

A computer method and system for providing a user with selectively interdependent control of devices. The devices include lamps, video cameras, motion detectors, and so forth. An identification of a first device and a second device is obtained from the user. A definition of a dependency relationship is then obtained from the user wherein the second device has a status which depends on a status of the first device. The status of the first device is continually monitored. When the status of the first device changes, the status of the second device is updated in accordance with the dependency relationship defined by the user. The second device is then activated or deactivated based on the updated status of the second device. Any number of devices are controlled in this fashion.

Claims

1. A method of providing a user with selectively interdependent control of devices, the method performed by a computer and comprising the steps of:

providing the user with a choice of devices that can be selected to depend on each other, each device having a status;

obtaining from the user an identification of a first device and a second device and an indication that the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device;

obtaining from the user a dependency relationship that defines how the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device;

using the computer, determining whether the status of the first device has changed;

using the computer, updating the status of the second device when the status of the first device has changed, the updated status of the second device based on the changed status of tile first device and the dependency relationship defined by the user; and

using the computer, controlling the second device based on the updated status of the second device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

storing a first device entry for the first device in a table, the first device entry including a status field which contains the status of the first device; and

storing a second device entry for the second device in the table, the second device entry including a status field which contains the status of the second device and a condition field which identifies the first device to indicate that the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

obtaining from the user an identification of a third device having a status;

obtaining from the user a definition of a dependency relationship wherein the status of the second device depends on a logical relationship between the first and third device;

storing in the condition field of the second device entry an indication of a logical operation between the status of the first device and the status of a third device; and

wherein;

the step of updating the stored status of the second device comprises determining the status of the second device based on a result of the logical operation and storing the determined status in the status field in the second device entry.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

storing in a table a first device entry for the first device having a status field which contains the status of the first device; and

storing in the table a second device entry for the second device having a status field storing the status of the status of the second device; and

wherein

the step of determining whether the stored status of the first device has changed comprises repeatedly determining whether the status contained in the status field in the first device entry has changed; and

the step of updating the stored status of the second device comprises updating the status in the status field in the second device entry when the status in the status field in the first device entry changes.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing a status which depends on whether a time indicated by a clock/calendar circuit provided by the computer falls within a time range indicated by the user;

and wherein

the step of updating the stored status of the second device comprises updating the status of the second device when the clock/calendar circuit indicates a time which has changed into or out of the user indicated time range.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of controlling the second device comprises activating or deactivating the second device based on the updated status of the second device by providing the updated status of the second device to a transmitter, and thereby transmitting a signal to the second device to activate or deactivate the second device corresponding to the updated status of the second device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of activating or deactivating the second device further comprises determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted and providing a digital waveform to the transmitter for transmitting a signal corresponding to the digital waveform over the determined medium.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted; and

storing in a table an entry for the second device, the entry storing a digital waveform corresponding to a signal to be transmitted over the determined medium to indicate the updated status of the device; and

wherein;

the step of activating or deactivating the second device further comprises locating the entry for the second device in the table and providing to the transmitter the digital waveform stored in the located entry which corresponds to the updated status of the second device.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining the identification of the first device and the second device comprises:

providing a graphical user interface that includes graphical objects corresponding to devices;

obtaining an indication of a first graphic object from the user entered into the computer via the graphical user interface, the first graphic object corresponding to the first device and being displayed on a display of the graphic user interface; and

obtaining an indication of a second graphic object from the user entered into the computer via the graphical user interface, the second graphic object corresponding to the second device and being displayed on the display.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of controlling the second device comprises activating or deactivating the second device based on the updated status of the second device by providing the updated status of the second device to a transmitter, and thereby transmitting a signal to the second device to activate or deactivate the second device corresponding to the updated status of the second device.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of activating or deactivating the second device further comprises determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted and providing a digital waveform to the transmitter for transmitting a signal corresponding to the digital waveform over the determined medium.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted; and

storing in a table an entry for the second device, the entry storing a digital waveform corresponding to a signal to be transmitted over the determined medium to indicate the updated status of the device; and

wherein

the step of activating or deactivating the second device further comprises locating the entry for the second device in the table and providing to the transmitter the digital waveform stored in the located entry which corresponds to the updated status of the second device.

21. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of obtaining an indication that the second device is to be associated with the first device includes providing a graphic connector as part of the graphic user interface and obtaining from the user a selection of the graphic connector indicating an association of the second device with the first device.

22. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing a drawing utility that enables the user to draw a graphical representation of a structure in which the devices are located; and

displaying the first and second graphic objects within the graphical representation at locations that correspond to locations within the structure at which the first and second devices are found.

13. A computer system for user-selected interdependent control of devices, the computer system comprising:

means providing the user with a choice of devices that can be associated with each other;

means for obtaining from the user an identification of a first device and a second device and an indication that a status of the second device depends on a status of the first device;

means for obtaining from the user a dependency relationship that defines how the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device;

means for storing the status of the first device and the status of the second device;

means for determining whether the stored status of the first device has changed;

means for updating the stored status of the second device when the status of the first device has changed, the updated status of the second device based on the changed status of the first device and the dependency relationship defined by the user; and

means for controlling the second device based on the updated status of the second device.

14. The computer system of claim 13 wherein the means for obtaining an identification a first device and a second device comprises;

a graphical user interface provided to the user for selection of the first device and the second device, the graphical user interface including;

means for obtaining an indication of a first graphical object from the user, the first graphic object corresponding to the first device and being displayed on a display of the graphic user interface; and

means for obtaining an indication of a second graphic object from the user, the second graphic object corresponding to the second device and being displayed on the display.

15. The computer system of claim 14 wherein the means for controlling the second device comprises:

a transmitter which transmits a signal to the second device; and

means for providing the updated status of the second device to the transmitter to transmit the signal to the second device to activate or deactivate the second device corresponding to the updated status of the second device.

16. The computer system of claim 15 wherein the means for controlling the second device further comprises:

means for determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted; and

means for providing a digital waveform to the transmitter for transmitting a signal corresponding to the digital waveform over the determined medium.

17. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted; and

means for storing in a table an entry for the second device having a digital waveform corresponding to a signal to be transmitted over the determined medium to indicate the updated status of the device; and

wherein

the means for controlling the second device further comprises means for locating the entry for the second device in the table and providing to the transmitter the digital waveform stored in the located entry which corresponds to the updated status of the second device.

18. A computer system for user-selected interdependent control of devices, the computer system comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter;

a computer connected to the receiver and the transmitter, the computer including;

a graphical user interface provided to the user for selection of a first device and a second device, the first and second devices each having a status, the graphical user interface, including;

means for obtaining an indication of a first graphic object from the user, the first graphic object corresponding to the first device and being displayed on a display of the graphic user interface;

means for obtaining an indication of a second graphic object from the user, the second graphic object corresponding to the second device and being displayed on the display; and

means for obtaining an indication that the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device; and

means for updating the status of the second device, when the receiver sends a signal to the computer indicating that the status of the first device has changed, by providing the updated status to the transmitter which sends a corresponding signal to the second device.

19. The computer system of claim 18 wherein the computer includes means for determining a medium over which the signal is to be transmitted and for selecting the transmitter from among plural transmitters to send the updated status via the determined medium.

20. The computer system of claim 19 wherein the computer comprises a memory storing a table having for each device an entry containing a digital waveform corresponding to the signal transmitted over the medium by the transmitter, the computer providing to the transmitter the digital waveform corresponding to the determined medium.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein the means for indicating that the second device is to be associated with the first device includes a graphic connector and means for positioning the graphic connector to indicate an association of the second device with the first device

24. A method of providing a user with selectively interdependent control of devices, the method performed by a computer and comprising:

providing the user with a choice of devices that can be selected to depend on each other, each device having a status;

providing a graphical user interface that includes a display that displays graphic objects corresponding to the devices;

obtaining an indication of a first graphic object from the user entered into the computer via the graphical user interface, the first graphic object corresponding to a first device having a status;

obtaining an indication of a second graphic object from the user entered into the computer via the graphical user interface, the second graphic object corresponding to a second device having a status;

obtaining from the user an indication that the status of second device depends on the status of the first device and a dependency relationship that defines how the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device;

using the computer, determining whether the status of the first device has changed;

using the computer, updating the status of the second device when the status of the first device has changed, the updated status of tile second device based on the changed status of the first device and the dependency relationship defined by the user; and

using the computer, controlling the second device based on the updated status of the second device.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the step of obtaining an indication that the status of second device depends on the status of the first device includes providing a graphic connector as part of the graphic user interface and enabling the user to position the graphic connector to indicate that the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

providing a drawing utility that enables the user to draw a graphical representation of a structure in which the devices are located; and

displaying the first and second graphic objects within the graphical representation at locations that correspond to locations within the structure at which the first and second devices are found.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

storing a first device entry for the first device in a table, the first device entry including a status field which contains the status of the first device; and

storing a second device entry for the second device in the table, the second device entry including a status field which contains the status of the second device and a condition field which identifies the first device to indicate that the status of the second device depends on the status of the first device.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

storing an indication of the first graphic object in a graphic object field of the first device entry of the table.