Method and apparatus for managing power of smart appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9564755-B2
Application number	US-201213362950-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2012
Priority date	Jan 31, 2011
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing power of a smart appliance is provided. The method includes acquiring, from the smart appliance, by an Energy Management System (EMS) for managing power of the smart appliance at home over a home network, terminal information including function information and power consumption information; monitoring power of the smart appliance and transmitting results of the results to an energy service provider; and controlling, upon receiving a power reduction command from the energy service provider, the power of the smart appliance based on the acquired terminal information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing power of a smart appliance, comprising:
acquiring, from the smart appliance, by an Energy Management System (EMS) for managing power of the smart appliance at home over a home network, terminal information including information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance;
monitoring power of the smart appliance and transmitting monitoring results to an energy service provider; and
controlling, upon receiving a power reduction command, the power of the smart appliance based on the acquired terminal information and previously stored user preference information associated with a control of power of each of a plurality of smart appliances,
wherein the information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance indicates a power supply class of the smart appliance, and
wherein the user preference information indicates a level where each of a plurality of smart appliances is always powered on.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the terminal information comprises:
receiving, from the energy service provider, an energy profile;
acquiring, from the smart appliance, the terminal information including information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance; and
storing the acquired terminal information.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the received energy profile includes a change in existing energy profile information shared for a smart grid service.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance further indicates a terminal type of the smart appliance, power consumption of the smart appliance, a terminal function list of the functions supported by the smart appliance, and a power management method of the smart appliance.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the power supply class is set to any one of an always-on mode, a power saving mode, and an off-during peak time mode.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the power management method is set to any one of a manual mode for manually controlling the power by interaction with a user, and an automatic mode for automatically controlling a function of the smart appliance.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the controlling the power of the smart appliance comprises:
selecting a smart appliance whose power is to be controlled and a terminal function to be controlled in the smart appliance, based on the acquired terminal information and the previously stored user preference information;
sending, if the power management method is set to a manual mode, a power control command to the smart appliance; and
receiving power control results from the smart appliance.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the controlling the power of the smart appliance comprises:
selecting a smart appliance whose power is to be controlled and a terminal function to be controlled in the smart appliance, based on the acquired terminal information and previously stored user preference information; and
if the power management method is set to an automatic mode, controlling the selected terminal function of the smart appliance.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user preference information further indicates at least one of a level where the smart appliance operates at a higher priority than other smart appliances, and a normal level where the smart appliance operates at a lowest priority than the other smart appliances.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power reduction command includes information indicating an amount of reduction in power.

11. An apparatus for managing power of a smart appliance, comprising:
an input unit for receiving an input signal from a user;
a display for outputting display information;
a communication unit for performing communication with the smart appliance and a smart meter and acquiring terminal information including information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance;
a storage unit for storing terminal information including information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance;
a controller for monitoring power of the smart appliance, and transmitting results of the monitoring to an energy service provider; and
a power adjustment unit for controlling the power of the smart appliance based on the acquired terminal information and previously stored user preference information including information indicating a level where each of a plurality of smart appliances must always be powered on, a level where the smart appliance must operate at a higher priority than other smart appliances, and a normal level according to a control signal from the controller, upon receiving a power reduction command from the energy service provider through the communication unit,
wherein the information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance indicates a power supply class of the smart appliance, and
wherein the user preference information indicates a level where each of a plurality of smart appliances is always powered on.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the controller receives an energy profile from the energy service provider, acquires the terminal information including information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance, and stores the acquired terminal information in the storage.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the received energy profile includes a change in existing energy profile information shared for a smart grid service.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the information about functions supported by the smart appliance and power consumption of the smart appliance further indicates a terminal type of the smart appliance, power consumption of the smart appliance, a terminal function list of the functions supported by the smart appliance, and a power management method of the smart appliance.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the power supply class is set to any one of an always-on mode, a power saving mode, and an off-during peak time mode.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the power management method is set to any one of a manual mode for manually controlling the power by interaction with a user, and an automatic mode for automatically controlling a function of the smart appliance.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the power adjustment unit selects a smart appliance whose power is to be controlled and a terminal function to be controlled in the smart appliance, based on the acquired terminal information and the previously stored user preference information, sends, if the power management method is set to a manual mode, a power control command to the smart appliance through the communication unit, and receives power control results from the smart appliance.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the power adjustment unit selects a smart appliance whose power is to be controlled and a terminal function to be controlled in the smart appliance, based on the acquired terminal information and the previously stored user preference information, controls, if the power management method is set to an automatic mode, the selected terminal function of the smart appliance.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the power reduction command includes information indicati

Assignees

• Lee Ji-Hye
• Kim Wuk
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Ji-Hye
• Kim Wuk

Classifications

• H02J2105/42

  Home appliances · CPC title

• Y02B70/3225

  Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving · CPC title

• Y04S50/10

  Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid · CPC title

• H02J3/008 Primary

  Circuit arrangements for power supply or distribution technologies responsive to energy trading · CPC title

• Y04S20/242

  Home appliances · CPC title