System for home automation

• US 7,415,310 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2005
• Issued: 08/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intermatic Incorporated (Wpa Participações e Serviços SA)
• Original Assignee: Intermatic Incorporated (Wpa Participações e Serviços SA)
• Inventors: Doorhy, Brendan, Reckamp, Steven R., Duitsman, Tim, Pelland, Michael, Bovee, Jeffrey K., Gaza, Brian, Mazza, Joseph, Aper, Gregory J., Dinescu, Mihail C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Thomas K
• Application Number:
  US11/227,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20070061020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,069 Days
• Field of Search: 700/3, 700/9, 700/8, 700/2, 700/21, 700/169, 700/19, 700/11, 700/20
• US Class Current: 700/9
• 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 12/2823 Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2836 Protocol conversion between an external network and a home network controlling appliance services of a home automation network from a device located outside the home and the home network H04L12/2818; protocol conversion H04L69/08; adaptation of digital video signals for transport over a specific home network H04N7/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators

Abstract

A home automation protocol system provides a network consisting of a number of node devices, controllers, and servers for storing information about node device settings and scene settings in a home environment is provided. The node devices are controlled by the controllers, in that the node devices are set to create scenes, which are stored in a scene server, while the operational states of the node devices are stored in a status server. The status server and scene server may be provided as separate units. The home automation protocol network is controlled by sending commands to the devices and servers, and new devices and controllers are added or updated, and new scenes are programmed. The network protocol allows devices running different protocols to be incorporated into the network.

Claims

1. A home automation system for controlling appliances comprising:

at least one controller having at least one indicator, where the controller is in communication with a network;

at least one slave device in communication with the network, where the slave device has a one or more operational states;

at least one status server, where the status server maintains a database comprising a list of the slave devices and a list of slave device states, and where the status server is in communication in the network with the controller and the slave device; and

at least one scene server separate from the status server, where the scene server maintains a database of scene information comprising a one or more room settings parameters for the controllers, and where the scene server is connected in communication in the network with the controller and the slave device, where the network is configured to route a plurality of commands between the controller, the scene server, the status server, and the slave devices,

where one of the at least one status server comprises a main status server.

2. The system of claim 1 where the plurality of commands further comprises a first command from the controller to the scene server regarding an input that was switched, which causes a second command to be sent from the scene server to the slave device to control the operational state of the slave device.

3. The system of claim 2 where the plurality of commands further comprises a third command regarding status of the slave device sent from the slave device to the status server, which causes a fourth command to be sent from the status sever to the controller to control a state of the indicator.

4. The system of claim 3, where the status server periodically polls slave devices having protocols different from the protocol of the status server.

5. The system of claim 1, where the slave device communicates by at least one interface protocol.

6. The system of claim 5 where the status server changes a state of the polled slave device from a first state to a second state to indicate the slave device is added to a scene.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising at least one base unit, where the base unit is associated with a controller.

8. The system of claim 7 where the base unit is used to locate controllers.

9. The system of claim 1 where the controller comprises a display screen for displaying room settings parameters.

10. The system of claim 1 where the scene server and status server are contained in a single device.

11. The system of claim 1 where the status server does not show any scene status.

12. The system of claim 1 where the scene server is implemented in a controller.

13. The system of claim 1 where the controller maintains a master routing table comprising a list of routing instructions for the slave devices and controllers in the network.

14. The system of claim 1 where the slave device comprises a routing slave device, where the routing slave device maintains a list of routing instructions for the slave devices and controllers in the network and where the routing slave device sends the a command without receiving a command from a controller.

15. A method for setting a home environment scene comprising:

providing a network comprising at least one controller running a first protocol, at least one slave device running a first or second protocol, at least one status server, where one of the at least one status server comprises a main status server, and at least one scene server, where the status server and scene server are located in the network with the controller and the slave device, and where the slave device controls an appliance, and where the slave device has an operational states;

notifying the main status server by a slave device that the slave device is going to learn a scene definition comprising the operational state of the slave devices;

flashing a one or more indicator on the slave devices running the first protocol;

changing the main status server to a learn mode state;

monitoring the network for slave devices that change operational state while the main status server is in the learn mode state;

signaling by the main status server that the scene definition has been set;

changing the flashing indicator;

reading the operational state of the slave device which are in the scene definition;

sending the scene information by the main status server to the scene server and the slave device; and

turning off the indicator on the slave device.

16. The method of claim 15 where the adding the slave devices running the second protocol comprises:

changing a setting of the slave device running the second protocol by the user from a first state to a second state; and

adding the state of the slave device running the second protocol to the status server when the status server polls the slave device.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising changing the state of the slave device running the second protocol from the second state to the first state.

18. The method of claim 16 where the adding a new controller comprises:

placing the new controller in an associated base;

establishing if any controllers that were previously in communication with the network are no longer in communication with the network;

replacing any controllers that are no longer in communication with the network; and

copying a scene information from the controllers that are no longer in communication with the network to the new controller.