System and method for server based control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12526337-B2
Application number	US-202418646298-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2024
Priority date	Jan 9, 2012
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

A system and method in a building or vehicle for an actuator operation in response to a sensor according to a control logic, the system comprising a router or a gateway communicating with a device associated with the sensor and a device associated with the actuator over in-building or in-vehicle networks, and an external Internet-connected control server associated with the control logic implementing a PID closed linear control loop and communicating with the router over external network for controlling the in-building or in-vehicle phenomenon. The sensor may be a microphone or a camera, and the system may include voice or image processing as part of the control logic. A redundancy is used by using multiple sensors or actuators, or by using multiple data paths over the building or vehicle internal or external communication. The networks may be wired or wireless, and may be BAN, PAN, LAN, WAN, or home networks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method for controlling or activating an Alternating-Current (AC) powered household appliance using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the method comprising:
connecting, by an AC connector, the appliance to an AC power source; measuring, by a current sensor that is coupled to the AC connector, an AC current consumed by the appliance; providing, by a first sensor, an output that responds to a physical phenomenon; coupling, by a WLAN antenna, to the WLAN; transmitting digital data to, and receiving digital data from, the WLAN, by a WLAN transceiver that coupled to the WLAN antenna; and transmitting, by the WLAN transceiver via the WLAN antenna to the WLAN, digital data that is based on, or comprises, the output of the first sensor; transmitting, by the WLAN transceiver via the WLAN antenna to the WLAN, digital data that is based on, or comprises, the measured AC current; receiving, by the WLAN transceiver via the WLAN antenna from the WLAN, control data; and controlling or activating the appliance in response to the received control data, wherein the appliance, the current sensor, the first sensor, the WLAN antenna, and the WLAN, are housed in a single enclosure.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a primary function of the appliance is associated with food storage, handling, or preparation.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the primary function of the appliance is heating food.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the appliance comprises a microwave oven, an electric mixer, a stove, an oven, or an induction cooker.

5 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the primary function of the appliance is cooling food.

6 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the appliance comprises a refrigerator, a freezer, or an iced-tea maker.

7 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the appliance comprises a dishwasher, a food blender, a beverage maker, or a coffeemaker.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the primary function of the appliance is associated with environmental control.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the appliance consists of, or is part of, an HVAC system.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the primary function of the appliance is associated with temperature control.

11 . The method according to claim 10 , wherein the appliance is an air conditioner or a heater.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the primary function of the appliance is associated with cleaning.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein a primary function of the appliance is associated with clothes cleaning.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the appliance is a washing machine or a clothes dryer, or wherein the appliance is a vacuum cleaner.

15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the primary function of the appliance is associated with water control or water heating.

16 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the appliance is an answering machine, a telephone set, a home cinema system, a HiFi system, a CD or DVD player, an electric furnace, a trash compactor, a smoke detector, a light fixture, or a dehumidifier.

17 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the single enclosure further houses an electrically actuated switch connected to switch electric power to at least part of the appliance, the method further comprising actuating the switch in response to the received control data.

18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the electrically actuated switch is ‘normally open’ type, ‘normally closed’ type, or a changeover switch, wherein the electrically actuated switch is ‘make-before-break’ or ‘break-before-make’ type, or wherein the electrically actuated switch have two or more poles or two or more throws, and contacts of the electrically actuated switch are arranged as a Single-Pole-Double-Throw (SPDT), Double-Pole-Double-Throw (DPDT), Double-Pole-Single-Throw (DPST), or Single-Pole-Changeover (SPCO).

19 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the electrically actuated switch is a latching or a non-latching type relay.

20 . The method according to claim 19 , wherein the relay is a solenoid-based electromagnetic relay that is a reed relay, wherein the relay is solid-state or semiconductor based, or wherein the relay is a Solid State Relay (SSR).

21 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the electrically actuated switch is based on an electrical circuit that comprises an open collector transistor, an open drain transistor, a thyristor, a TRIAC, or an opto-isolator.

22 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the current sensor comprises an ampermeter, galvanometer, or a hot-wire ampermeter.

23 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the current sensor comprises a current clamp, a current probe, a current transformer, or uses a ‘Hall effect’.

24 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the current sensor is a non-contact or a non-conductive current meter.

25 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the single enclosure further houses a wattmeter connected to the AC connector, the method further comprising measuring a magnitude of the active AC power or an electrical energy consumed by the appliance.

26 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the wattmeter comprises single or multi-phase AC power or energy meter.

27 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the wattmeter comprises a bolometer, or wherein the wattmeter accumulates or averages readings.

28 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the wattmeter comprises the current sensor, or wherein the wattmeter is based on multiplying a measured voltage and the AC current measured by the current sensor.

29 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the wattmeter or the current sensor are induction based.

30 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the WLAN is according to, based on, or compatible with, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, or IEEE 802.11ac.

31 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the WLAN uses an unlicensed radio frequency band.

32 . The method according to claim 31 , wherein the unlicensed radio frequency band is an Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio band.

33 . The method according to claim 1 , further for use with a cellular telephone network, an antenna that is a cellular antenna, and a cellular modem, wherein the method further comprising transmitting digital data to, and receiving digital data from, the cellular telephone network, by the cellular modem that is coupled to the cellular antenna.

34 . The method according to claim 33 , wherein the cellular telephone network is a Third Generation (3G) network that uses Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) UMTS, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), UMTS Time-Division Duplexing (TDD), CDMA2000 1×RTT, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), or Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) EDGE-Evolution, or wherein the cellular telephone network is a Fourth Generation (4G) network that uses Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Mobile W

Assignees

• May Patents Ltd

Inventors

• Binder Yehuda
• Maytal Benjamin

Classifications

• G08G1/00

  Traffic control systems for road vehicles (arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 {; automatic vehicle control B62D}) · CPC title

• G07C5/008

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title

• G06Q2240/00

  Transportation facility access, e.g. fares, tolls or parking · CPC title

• B60Y2200/90

  Vehicles comprising electric prime movers · CPC title

• B60Y2200/50

  Aeroplanes, Helicopters · CPC title