Setback controls based on out-of-room presence information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018259986-A1
Application number	US-201815974529-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 8, 2018
Priority date	Jul 27, 2012
Publication date	Sep 13, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for managing energy consumption in multi-room facilities are provided. In particular, intelligent mechanisms for determining a location of a mobile device associated with a room and then for managing energy settings, especially setback controls, of that room are provided. Some logic for implementing these mechanisms may be provided in a mobile device and in-room device, such as a motion detector, thermostat, HVAC controller, door, lock, television, set top box, etc.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of managing a multi-room facility, comprising:
associating a mobile device with at least one room of the multi-room facility; determining, at a first time, a first location of the mobile device; and controlling an energy use of the at least one room based at least partially on the first location of the mobile device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein associating the mobile device further comprises:
installing a location application on the mobile device; and registering, at an administrative device of the multi-room facility, the mobile device with an identifier, the identifier cross-referenced to the at least one room.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein associating the mobile device further comprises registering the mobile device with an administrative device of the multi-room facility, the registration utilizing at least one of a unique feature associated with the mobile device such as a phone number, email address, and Media Access Control (MAC) address.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first location of the mobile device is determined via at least one Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, Wireless Communications (WiFi) module, and telephony/cellular module.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first location of the mobile device further comprises:
sending a message from the mobile device to an administrative device of the multi-room facility, the message reporting at least a physical location of the mobile device.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the message is one or more of a text message, email, Short Message Service (SMS), Multi-media Messaging Service (MMS), and cloud-based messaging service.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the message is sent in response to a request sent by the administrative device.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the message is sent automatically by the mobile device.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the message is sent in response to the physical location of the mobile device.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room is at least partially based on input received by an administrative device of the multi-room facility from the mobile device.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein prior to controlling the energy use of the at least one room, the method further comprises:
sending a message from the administrative device to the mobile device, wherein the message includes information corresponding to control settings associated with the at least one room.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the message includes one or more option that, when selected by an operator associated with the mobile device, provides the input corresponding to controlling the energy use of the at least one room.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling an energy use of the at least one room is at least partially based on rules.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room is maintaining current settings associated with the at least one room.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room is adjusting current settings associated with the at least one room.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room is terminating setback controls of the at least one room.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, at a second time, a second location of the mobile device; and comparing the first location to the second location of the mobile device to determine at least one of a direction of travel and a rate of travel of the mobile device.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room is a first control when the direction of travel of the mobile device is toward the room, and a second control when the direction of travel of the mobile device is away from the room, and wherein the first control and the second control are different.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room is at least partially based on at least one of the direction of travel and the rate of travel of the mobile device.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein controlling the energy use of the at least one room includes activating deep-level setback for the Heating Venting and Air Conditioning (HVAC).

21 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:
associating a mobile device with at least one room of the multi-room facility; determining, at a first time, a first location of the mobile device; and controlling an energy use of the at least one room based at least partially on the first location of the mobile device.

22 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises:
sending a message from the mobile device to an administrative device of the multi-room facility, the message reporting at least a physical location of the mobile device.

23 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises:
controlling the energy use of the at least one room based at least partially on input received by an administrative device of the multi-room facility from the mobile device.

24 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein prior to controlling the energy use of the at least one room, the method further comprises:
sending a message from the administrative device to the mobile device, wherein the message includes information corresponding to control settings associated with the at least one room.

25 . A multi-room facility, comprising:
a plurality of rooms each containing at least one door and one or more in-room devices, at least one of the in-room devices comprising a controller adapted to manage selected aspects of the room; a setback controls server configured to control energy use of at least one room of the plurality of rooms, wherein the setback controls server is capable of communicating with the one or more in-room devices; and an administrative device configured to send and receive messages to and from one or more mobile devices, wherein the one or more mobile devices are associated with at least one room of the plurality of rooms.

26 . The facility of claim 25 , wherein the setback controls server communicates with an HVAC controller of the at least one room to adjust setback controls associated with the at least one room.

27 . The facility of claim 26 , wherein the setback controls are adjusted based on a physical location of the one or more mobile devices.

28 . The facility of claim 26 , wherein the HVAC controller resides in one or more of (i) an in-room thermostat, (ii) a dedicated in-room controller, and (iii) an out-of-room router.

29 . The facility of claim 26 , wherein the HVAC controller resides in an in-room thermostat.

30 . The facility of claim 26 , wherein the functionality of the HVAC controller is split between two or more devices.

31 . The facility of claim 26 , wherein the HVAC controller communicates with a gateway device, wherein the gateway device facilitates communications betwee

Assignees

• Assa Abloy Ab

Inventors

• Lagerstedt Stig
• Berg Daniel
• Bailin Daniel
• Robinton Mark
• Davis Masha Leah

Classifications

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04L67/125

  involving control of end-device applications over a network · CPC title

• G05D23/1917

  using digital means · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• H04W4/50

  Service provisioning or reconfiguring · CPC title