1. An electronic device (402) comprising: - a communication module (520); - a memory (520); - an input means (560); and - an application processor (510) coupled to the communication module (520), the memory (520), and the input means (560), wherein the memory (520) stores instructions that, when executed by the application processor (510), cause the electronic device (402) to: o acquire information, through the input means (560), about at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol; o access, through the communication module (520), a server (464) that stores information about the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504), based on at least a portion of the information inputted about the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504) respectively; o control, through a control module (580), the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504).

2. The electronic device (402) as claimed in claim 1, wherein control, through the electronic device (402), controlled using a voice assistant module (212).

3. A smart environment system (500) comprising: - at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol; - at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol; - an electronic device (402) for controlling the at least one first end device and at least one second end device; and - a control device (400), wherein the control device includes a memory (430), a processor (420) coupled to the communication interface (470) and the memory (430), wherein the memory (430) stores instructions that, when executed by the processor (420), causes the control device (400) to: o acquire information, inputted by a user in the electronic device (402), about at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol, and o configure, by a lookup protocol module (480), the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol to be controlled by the electronic device (402).

4. The smart environment system (500) as claimed in claim 1, wherein control the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (502) configured with a second communication protocol, by the electronic device (402), using a voice assistant module (212).

5. The smart environment system as claimed in claim 1, wherein control the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol, by the electronic device (402), using a voice assistant module (212), wherein the voice assistant module (212) works in an offline mode.

DESC:FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to a smart environment system and more particularly, to a control device for controlling at least one end electronic device in the smart environment system.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0002] In these times of increasing population and consequently, ever increasing energy requirements, there is a need to conserve energy for sustainable development of the population. It has been observed that most of the energy consumption happens at home or in office premises. Although, the government has implemented a number of policies including charging penalties for excessive energy consumption and higher rates; however, these have not been able to solve the problem due to continuing population growth.
[0003] Further, more and more intelligent devices are known to the public, and have gradually become common household items, used for communication and information browsing and other operations. These include smart watches, smart glasses, smart phones, smart air conditioners, smart refrigerators etc. These devices generally require information synchronization and adaption. Therefore, building a smart means has become the existing way for convenient living, efficient, information synchronization and energy saving.
[0004] The existing smart environment systems are based on scheduling schemes. In these ways of scheduling schemes, the smart environment systems are programmed by users to provide a fixed schedule for turning on or off some devices in the environment. For example, the existing smart environment systems are programmed to turn on the lights, a backyard watering system, or air conditioners, etc. at a specified time of the day based on the inputs of the users.
[0005] However, the existing smart environment systems are too rigid to adapt to users' change in behaviors or work schedules. In other words, the existing smart environment systems are not based on user's habit at all, instead they are based on a fixed schedule provided or feed by the users. Thus, the existing smart environment systems lack the capability of learning and relearning new habits or preferences which may result due to change in season or time of day or health condition or the presence or absence of an event and the number of people. This results in inconveniences for users including continuous energy waste. More particularly, devices are continued to be turned on according to the old schedule even when the users do not want to use them or when users are not even home due to unexpected events. Furthermore, the existing smart environment systems do not provide automatic operations for all devices in the premises; only a few selected devices can be programmed by the existing smart environment systems. Yet, in the existing smart environment systems, old devices must be replaced in order to be programmed. Thus, the existing smart environment systems are not only costly but also do not provide flexibility, energy saving, and quality of life for the users.
[0006] Although, there are numerous existing smart environment systems having a smart Hub which are available in the market; however, none of the existing hubs provide a complete system in one device i.e. one would still need to buy the smart assistant like “Amazon Alexa”, for example, with separate other lighting controllers and AC, TV and other controller and set them up in the system first, then set them up individually on other platforms like Alexa, IFTTT and more. This makes the complete installation not only cumbersome, time consuming but also complicated. Moreover, due to the diverse functionalities, levels of computing power, and communication capabilities of such devices, there is problem of interoperability between one brand and another. Making the installations of these devices tougher and limited with functionality as one brand doesn’t support control of all the devices in an environment and few brand require specific wiring for the system to work leading the wall breakage and disturbance in the working space.
[0007] Thus, in view the drawbacks of the existing systems and approaches for smart environment, there exists a dire need to provide a smart environment system that is capable of providing a single window/platform means for convenient living and energy saving approach while being capable of synchronizing information without specific, continuous human input. It is also desired that the said method and system is capable of being adaptive as per the changing requirement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The following presents a simplified object of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aim and aspects of the invention. This is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.
[0009] The main object of the present invention is to provide a smart adaptive environment approach, method or system that provides solutions to the problems described above.
[00010] Another object of the present invention is to provide an interactive technology for adaptive smart environment that may be easily set in the mating connector between different electronic devices, so as to provide an accurate and complete control of the operation between intelligent devices thereby enhancing users' smart device control and operability.
[00011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a human pattern recognition algorithm, with or without any input from the user to enhance the user’s comfort and ease of management of devices while saving energy.
[00012] Another object of the present invention is to provide an interactive technology for adaptive smart environment that is capable of intelligent control of the environment devices by gathering timely information on the human internal environment status of the individual user, the room residence environment suitable for the user, thereby improving the user's comfort, to overcome the drawbacks of existing technologies.
[00013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a smart environment approach or system that is capable to turn a premise into complete self-controlling means.
[00014] Another object of the present invention is that the smart environment system is easy to install.
[00015] In an embodiment of the present invention, the adaptive smart environment system is capable to turn a premise into complete self-controlling system. One would not need to buy other devices/system separately and install it which themselves are not a system on its own. Thus, by the help of the present adaptive smart environment system and method the user is required to buy just one device and insert the light and fan wires and Voila just by simple setup comparable to a new phone setup, so as to start controlling all aspects of room, like security, environment control – lights, curtains, fan, AC, Intercom system and more.
[00016] An electronic device comprising: a communication interface; a memory; an input means; and an application processor coupled to the communication interface, the memory, and the display, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the application processor, cause the electronic device to: acquire information, through the input means, about at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol; access, through the communication interface, a server that stores information about the at least one first end device and the at least one first end device, based on at least a portion of the information about the at least one first end device and the at least one second end device respectively; control, through a control module, the at least one first end device and the at least one second end device. The electronic device controls the end point device using a voice assistant module.
[00017] A smart environment system comprising: at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol; at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol; an electronic device for controlling the at least one first end device and at least one second end device; and a control device, wherein the control device includes a memory, a processor coupled to the communication interface and the memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to: acquire information, inputted by a user in the electronic device, about at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol, and configure, by a lookup protocol module, the at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol to be controlled by the electronic device.
[00018] The smart environment system controls the at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol, by the electronic device, using a voice assistant module.
[00019] The smart environment system controls the at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol, by the electronic device, using a voice assistant module, wherein the voice assistant module works in an offline mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[00020] The invention itself, together with further features and attended advantages, will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:
[00021] Figure 1 illustrates a smart environment system, according to an embodiment;
[00022] Figure 2 illustrates a communication flow from electronic device to the control device, in accordance of an embodiment of the present invention;
[00023] Figure 3 illustrates a schematic hardware block diagram illustrating an electronic device according to one embodiment;
[00024] FIG. 4 illustrates a smart environment system 400 including at least one end point devices (502, 504) configured with varying communication protocol connected to a network and the electronic device 402; and
[00025] FIG. 5 illustrates a connection setup of the at least one end point devices from the electronic device, in accordance with the present invention; and
[00026] The drawings referred to in this description are not to be understood as being drawn to scale except if specifically noted, and such drawings are only exemplary in nature.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[00027] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, an embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described here below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the invention.
[00028] The term “comprises”, comprising, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, structure or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or structure or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.
[00029] For the better understanding of this invention, reference would now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying Figures and description here below, further, in the following Figures, the same reference numerals are used to identify the same components in various views.
[00030] The following description is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.
[00031] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
[00032] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, specific details such as detailed configuration and components are merely provided to assist the overall understanding of these embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
[00033] The present disclosure may have various embodiments, and modifications and changes may be made therein. Therefore, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to particular embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications/changes, equivalents, and/or alternatives falling within the spirit and the scope of the present disclosure. In describing the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used to designate similar elements.
[00034] The terms “have”, “may have”, “include”, or “may include” used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure indicate the presence of disclosed corresponding functions, operations, elements, and the like, and do not limit additional one or more functions, operations, elements, and the like. In addition, it should be understood that the terms “include” or “have” used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure are to indicate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or a combination thereof described in the specifications, and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or a combination thereof.
[00035] The terms “A or B,” “at least one of A or/and B,” or “one or more of A or/and B” used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure include any and all combinations of words enumerated with it. For example, “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” or “at least one of A or B” means (1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3) including both at least one A and at least one B.
[00036] There are numerous existing smart environment systems, however none of them provides a complete solution on its own, including human pattern recognition algorithm, in which without any input from the user the actions shall be triggered based on their previous preference as the present invention.
[00037] A term “module” used in the present document may imply a unit including, for example, one of hardware, software, and firmware or a combination of two or more of them. The “module” may be interchangeably used with a term such as a unit, a logic, a logical block, a component, a circuit, and the like. The “module” may be a minimum unit of an integrally constituted component or may be a part thereof. The “module” may be a minimum unit for performing one or more functions or may be a part thereof. The “module” may be mechanically or electrically implemented. For example, the “module” of the present disclosure may include at least one of an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip, a Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and a programmable-logic device, which are known or will be developed and which perform certain operations.
[00038] At least some portion of a device (e.g., modules or functions thereof) or method (e.g., operations) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented with, for example, instructions stored in a computer-readable storage media. If such instructions are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors may perform a function corresponding to the instruction. The computer-readable storage media may be, for example, a memory.
[00039] The computer-readable storage media may include, for example, a hard disk, a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disc and a magnetic tape), an optical storage medium (for example, a Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) or a DVD), a magneto-optic medium such as a floptical disc, a hardware device (for example, a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory), and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only a machine language created by a compiler, but also a high-level language executable by a computer by using an interpreter or the like. The aforementioned hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operation of the embodiments described below, and the other way around is also possible.
[00040] The module or programming module according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may further include at least one or more of the aforementioned elements, or may omit some of them, or may further include additional other elements. Operations performed by a module, programming module, or other elements according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be executed in a sequential, parallel, repetitive, or heuristic manner. In addition, some of the operations may be executed in a different order or may be omitted, or other operations may be added.
[00041] An electronic device according to embodiments may include, for example, at least one of: a smart phone; a tablet personal computer (PC); a mobile phone; a video phone; an e-book reader, a desktop PC; a laptop PC; a netbook computer; a workstation, a server, a personal digital assistant (PDA); a portable multimedia player (PMP); an MP3 player, a mobile medical device; a camera; or a wearable device (e.g., smart glasses, a head-mounted-device (HMD), a smart mirror, or a smart watch) or at least one of the functionalities thereof.
[00042] In other embodiments, an end point devices may be a smart home appliance. Such appliances may include at least one of: a television (TV); a digital video disk (DVD) player; an audio player; a refrigerator; an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner; an oven; a microwave oven; a washing machine; an air cleaner, a set-top box; a home automation control panel; a security control panel; a TV box, a game console (e.g., Xbox or PlayStation); an electronic dictionary; an electronic key; a camcorder, or an electronic frame or at least one of the functionalities thereof. In other embodiments, an electronic device may include at least one of: medical equipment (e.g., a mobile medical device (e.g., a blood glucose monitoring device, a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitoring device or a temperature meter), a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) machine, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, a computed tomography (CT) scanner, or an ultrasound machine); a navigation device; a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; an event data recorder (EDR); a flight data recorder (FDR); an in-vehicle infotainment device; an electronic equipment for a ship (e.g., ship navigation equipment and/or a gyrocompass); an avionics equipment; a security equipment; a head unit for vehicle; an industrial or home robot; an automatic teller's machine (ATM) of a financial institution, point of sale (POS) device at a retail store, or an internet of things device (e.g., a light bulb, various sensors, an electricity meter, a gas meter, a sprinkler, a fire alarm, a thermostat, a streetlamp, a toaster, a sporting equipment, a water heater, a heater, or a boiler and the like) or at least one of the functionalities thereof.
[00043] An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may also include a combination of two or more of the above-mentioned devices. In certain embodiments, the electronic device can be a flexible electronic device. Further, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that an electronic device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned devices, and can have a new type of device. In this document, the term “user” may indicate a person who uses an electronic device or a device (e.g., an artificial intelligence electronic device) that uses the electronic device.
[00044] FIG. 1 illustrates a smart environment system, according to an embodiment. At least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol. At least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol. An electronic device (402) for controlling the at least one first end device and at least one second end device. A control device (400), wherein the control device (400) includes a memory (430), a processor (420) coupled to the communication interface (470) and the memory (430), wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor (420), causes the control device (400) to acquire information, inputted at the electronic device (402), about at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol, and configure, by a lookup protocol module (480), the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol to be controlled by the electronic device (402).
[00045] In an embodiment, the control device 400 may include a bus 410, a processor 420, a memory 430 (for example, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and/or a NAND flash), a power management module 450, an input/output interface 460, a communication interface 470, and an antenna (not shown) (for example, a 2.4 Giga Hertz (GHz), 5 GHz, or 60 GHz directional antenna). The antenna may have Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) configuration. In certain embodiments, the control device 400 may not include at least one of the aforementioned elements or may additionally have other elements.
[00046] The bus 410 may include a circuit for connecting the above-mentioned elements (e.g., the processor 420, the memory 430, the power management module 450, the input/output interface 460, and the communication interface 470) to one another, and providing communication (e.g., exchange of control messages) between the elements.
[00047] The processor 420 may include one or more of a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Processor (AP), or a Communication Processor (CP). The processor 420 may, for example, execute an operation or data processing for control and/or communication of at least one of the other elements of the control device 400.
[00048] According to one embodiment, the processor 420 may communicate a control signal and/or data with the electronic devices 402 through the communication interface 470. The electronic device 402 may be a mobile device providing a user interface to control the plurality of end devices (502, 504). The processor 420 may also be connected to a server 464 connected to a network 462 (for example, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet), through the communication interface 470.
[00049] The memory 430 may include a volatile and/or a non-volatile memory. The memory 430 may store instructions and/or data related to at least one of the other element of the control device 400. The memory 430 can store software and/or program 440. For example, the program 440 can include a kernel 441, a middleware 443, an Application Programming Interface (API) 445, and an application program 447. At least some of the kernel 441, the middleware 443, or the API 445 may be referred to as an Operating System (OS).
[00050] The kernel 441 may control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus 410, the processor 420, the memory 430, etc.) used for executing operations or functions implemented in other programs (e.g., the middleware 443, the API 445, or the application program 447). The kernel 441 may provide an interface for the middleware 443, the API 445, or the application program 447 to access the individual elements of the control device 400, thereby controlling or managing the system resources.
[00051] The middleware 443 may serve as a relay for the API 445 or the application program 447 to communicate and exchange data with the kernel 441. The middleware 443 may perform control over a work request received from the application program 447. For example, the middleware 443 may control (e.g., scheduling or load balancing) the work request by assigning priorities to at least one of the application programs 447 to use the system resources of the control device 400.
[00052] The API 445 may include an interface or a function (e.g., an instruction) for the application program 447 to control a function of the kernel 441 or the middleware 443. For example, the API 445 may include at least one interface, such as file control, window control, image processing, or text control.
[00053] The power management module 450 may control power for driving of the control device 400. For example, the power management module 450 may continuously supply an external power source connected through the power connector 320, to the control device 400, such that the control device 400 is continuously driven. For example, to reduce power consumption of the control device 400, the power management module 450 may control the external power source connected through the power connector 320, to supply the control device 400 with power, during an activation duration of the control device 400.
[00054] The input/output interface 460 may perform a role of an interface capable of forwarding an instruction or data inputted from a user or other external devices, to the other element(s) of the control device 400. In addition, the input/output interface 460 may output an instruction or data received from the other element(s) of the control device 400, to the user or other external devices.
[00055] The communication interface 470 may establish communication between the control device 400 and an external device (e.g., the first external electronic device 402, the second external electronic device 404, or the server 464). For example, the communication interface 470 may be connected to the network 462 through one or more of wireless communication or wired communication protocols or a combination of them, and communicate with the external device.
[00056] The wireless communication may include short-range communication or long-range communication. The long-range communication may use a cellular communication protocol, for example, at least one of Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wide-CDMA (WCDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), or Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). The wireless communication may support an existing wide-area cell and also a small-scale cell such as a pico cell or a femto cell. The short-range wireless communication may include, for example, at least one of WiFi, Bluetooth, BLE, Zigbee, IR, or ultrasound communication.
[00057] The wired communication may include, for example, at least one of USB (universal serial bus), HDMI (high definition multimedia interface), Recommended Standard-232 (RS-232), power line communication, or Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), BACnet/IP, BACnet MS/TP, Modbus, LON, KNX, Dynalite, Cresnet, Mbus or RS 484. The network 462 may include at least one of a telecommunications network, for example, a computer network (e.g., LAN or WAN), the Internet, or a telephone network.
[00058] As described above, the electronic device 402 may be an electronic device providing a user interface for controlling plurality of end point devices (502, 504) through the Internet or the network 462. In one embodiment, the server 464 may include a group of one or more servers. In an embodiment, the controlling plurality of end point devices (502, 504) are IoT devices. In another embodiment, the electronic device (402) is also connected to the network (462). The network (462), herein referred to as heterogeneous networks capable to connect the plurality of end points devices (502, 504) with the control device (400).
[00059] In one embodiment, the control device 400 may include an operating system, applications, and a minimal storage device for data. Most data of acquired from IoT devices may be stored in a cloud. In certain embodiments, the software program of an application can include an IoT control-related portion and a user interface-related portion. In some embodiments, the control device 400 may not store the entirety of such software program, and can instead store or install only an IoT control-related portion of the software program. A user interface-related portion of the software program may also be stored in a mobile device operating as a user interface.
[00060] In some circumstances, the control device 400 may continuously connect to some IoT devices, while accessing other IoT devices periodically or intermittently as needed. When the control device 400 is configured to further include functionalities of other devices (for example, a TV set-top box, a media device, and/or a security panel), the control device 400 may further include hardware and/or software for performing the functionalities of such other devices.
[00061] FIG. 2 illustrates a communication flow from electronic device to the control device, in accordance of an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device (402) is connected to the external server (464). The server (464) provides user interface (202) module to the electronic device (402) upon a request from a user. The GUI/user interface module (202) configured to get input from the input means (refer figure 2) to get information about the end point devices which are configured with heterogeneous communication protocol. After the information inputted about the end point device it looks for the lookup protocol module (480) configured in the control device (400). Basis the information about the communication between the electronic device (402) and lookup protocol module (480) and communication flows to the end point devices (502, 504). The end point devices comprises at least one first end device (502) and at least one second end device (504). A control module (refer figure 3) controls the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504).
[00062] FIG. 3 is a schematic hardware block diagram illustrating an electronic device according to one embodiment. The illustrated electronic device 402 may include one or more of an application processor (AP) 510, a communication module 520, a memory 530, a sensor module 540, an interface 550, an input module 560, and a control module 580.
[00063] The AP 510 may drive an OS or application program, and thereby control a plurality of hardware or software components connected to the AP 510. The AP 510 may also process various data including multimedia data, or perform an operation. For example, the AP 510 may be implemented as a System on Chip (SoC).
[00064] The communication module 520 (e.g., the communication interface 470) may perform data transmission/reception in communication between the electronic device 402 and the control device 400 connected through a network. The communication module 520 may include a cellular module 521, a WiFi module 523, a Bluetooth (BT) module 525, an NFC module 527, and an RF module 529. Although the communication module 520 is illustrated in FIG. 3 as including a number of different modules, the number and types of modules included therein may vary in other embodiments.
[00065] The cellular module 521 may provide an Internet service through a communication network (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, WCDMA, UMTS, WiBro, GSM or the like). In one embodiment, the cellular module 521 may perform at least some of functions that can be provided by the AP 510. For example, the cellular module 521 may perform at least a portion of a multimedia control function.
[00066] In another embodiment, the cellular module 521 may include a communication processor (CP). For example, the cellular module 521 may be implemented as a SoC. Although the components such as the cellular module 521 (e.g., the communication processor), the memory 530, or the power management module 560 are shown to be separate from the AP 510 in FIG. 3, at least some (e.g., the cellular module 521) of the functionalities of such components may be implemented as part of the AP 510.
[00067] In one embodiment, the AP 510 or the cellular module 521 (e.g., the communication processor) may load, to a volatile memory, instructions or data received from a non-volatile memory (connected to a respective one of the AP 510 or the cellular module 521) or at least one of the other components, and process the loaded instructions or data. The AP 510 or the cellular module 521 may also store, in the non-volatile memory, data received from or generated by at least one of the other components.
[00068] At least one of the Wi-Fi module 523, the BT module 525, or the NFC module 527 may include a processor for, for example, processing data transmitted/received through the corresponding module. Although the cellular module 521, the Wi-Fi module 523, the BT module 525, or the NFC module 527 is shown to be separate from one another in FIG. 5, at least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellular module 521, the Wi-Fi module 523, the BT module 525, or the NFC module 527 may be included within a single integrated chip (IC) or IC package. For example, at least some of the processors for the cellular module 521, the Wi-Fi module 523, the BT module 525, or the NFC module 527 may be implemented as one SoC (e.g., the communication processor corresponding to the cellular module 521 and a Wi-Fi processor corresponding to the Wi-Fi module 523 may be combined on one SoC).
[00069] The RF module 529 may perform transmission and reception of data using RF signals. Although not illustrated, the RF module 529 may include a transceiver, a power amplification module (PAM), a frequency filter, and a low noise amplifier (LNA). In addition, the RF module 529 may further include components (for example, a conductor, a conducting wire, etc.) for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves over free space using wireless communication.
[00070] Although the cellular module 521, the Wi-Fi module 523, the BT module 525, and the NFC module 527 are shown to share the RF module 529 in FIG. 5, at least one of the cellular module 521, the Wi-Fi module 523, the BT module 525, or the NFC module 527 may perform transmission and reception through a separate RF module.
[00071] The memory 530 may include an internal memory 532 or an external memory 534. For example, the internal memory 532 may include at least one of a volatile memory (e.g., a DRAM, a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), etc.) or a non-volatile memory (e.g., a One Time Programmable Read Only Memory (OTPROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a NAND flash memory, a NOR (NOR) flash memory, etc.).
[00072] In one embodiment, the internal memory 532 may include a Solid State Drive (SSD). The external memory 534 may include a flash drive, such as a Compact Flash (CF), a Secure Digital (SD), a Micro-Secure Digital (Micro-SD), a Mini-Secure Digital (Mini-SD), an extreme Digital (xD), or a memory stick. The external memory 534 may be operatively connected to the control device 500 through various interfaces. In another embodiment, the control device 500 may further include a storage device (or a storage medium), such as a hard drive.
[00073] The sensor module 540 may measure a physical quantity/ (ies) or detect an operational state(s) of the control device 500, and then convert the measured or detected information or values into an electrical signal(s). The sensor module 540 may include, for example, an IR sensor 540A or an ultrasound sensor 540B. The sensor module 540 may further include a control circuit for controlling one or more of sensors therein.
[00074] The interface 550 may include, for example, an HDMI 552, a USB 554, an optical interface 556, or an Internet port 558. The input means 560 may include touch screen, soft buttons or any other input means.
[00075] The control module 580 may control the end point devices (502, 504, refer figure 1). The electronic device (402) acquires information, through the input means, about at least one first end device (502, refer figure 1) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (504, refer figure 1) configured with a second communication protocol.
[00076] In accordance with one embodiment, FIG. 4 illustrates a smart environment system 400 including at least one end point devices (502, 504) connected to a network or to an Internet. As illustrated in Figure 1, the smart environment system 500 includes a user 460, an electronic device 430, and a plurality of endpoint devices, including a router 402, a light control panel 408, a home appliance 409, a speaker 414, a base station 466, a parking meter 468, an electronic door lock 470, and a phone dock 472. The base station 466, the parking meter 468, the electronic door lock 470, and the phone dock 472 are integrated with appropriate modules to enable use of the 3G/4G/5g/LTE, Z-Wave, and DECT protocols respectively. The home appliance 409 may be any home smart loT devices integrated with a Zig-Bee module, such as a television, a computer, a printer, a flash drive, an on-board diagnostics (OBD) dongle, a refrigerator, a coffee maker, a home security alarm, a security camera, a washer, a dryer, a thermostat, or a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) device.
[00077] As illustrated in Figure 4, in another embodiment, the smart environment system 400 comprising: at least one first end device (408, 409) configured with a first communication protocol; at least one second end device (470) configured with a second communication protocol; an electronic device (430) for controlling the at least one first end device (408, 409) and at least one second end device (470); and a control device (500), wherein the control device includes a memory, a processor coupled to the communication interface and the memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to: acquire information, inputted by a user (460) in the electronic device, about at least one first end device (408, 409) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (470) configured with a second communication protocol, and configure, by a lookup protocol module, the at least one first end device configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device configured with a second communication protocol to be controlled by the electronic device.
[00078] In still another an embodiment, as shown in Figure 4, the electronic device 430 connects to each endpoint device over its respective protocol and control them by voice commands from user 460. Specifically, the electronic device 430 connects to router 402, light control panel 408, home appliance 409, speaker 414, base station 466, parking meter 468, electronic door lock 470, and phone dock 472 over Wi-Fi, Zig-Bee, Bluetooth, 3G/4G, Z-Wave, and DECT protocols respectively.
[00079] The electronic device 402 may determine a wireless protocol acceptable by each endpoint device as part of the connection or as inputted by user through the inputted means. For example, in response to a voice command from user 460, the electronic device 402 may use various protocols until it determines that an endpoint device (502, 504) sufficiently corresponds to the voice command, and then connect to that endpoint device (502, 504). In an alternative example, electronic device 402 may perform a complete scan of all protocols and then make a determination which endpoint device most closely corresponds to the voice command.
[00080] When the electronic device 402 is connected with the endpoint devices (502, 504), the electronic device 402 also controls the endpoint devices (502, 504) in response to voice commands from the user 460. Various algorithms may also be used to determine how voice commands from user 460 correspond to commands in the given wireless protocol. For example, an algorithm executed by the control module 580 of Figure 3 may determine that the voice command "louder" from user 460 corresponds to a "VOLUME UP" command of a standardized audio profile from the end point device (502, 504). The electronic device (402) controls the end point devices using a voice assistant module (212). In still another embodiment, the voice assistant module (212) is implemented in the application processor (510, refer figure 3) of the electronic device (402).
[00081] When using multiprotocol devices in the present implementation, loT devices (end point devices) having different wireless protocols can be conveniently controlled from a single soft gateway (210) by the voice command. Also, the need for installing a unique application to connect to each loT devices having a unique wireless protocol is removed and voice control algorithms generally do not need to be re-implemented; and loT devices, especially loT devices operating only on a local network, would generally not need to install new software. In an embodiment, the voice assistant module works in an offline mode. The offline mode refers to a mode where the electronic device (402) not connected to Internet and all the voice command processing is performed locally at the electronic device (402).
[00082] When using multiprotocol devices in the present implementation, the at least one end point devices having different wireless protocols can be conveniently controlled from an electronic device (420). The lookup module (480) provides access to the end point devices (502, 503) using the given communication protocol of said devices (502, 504).
[00083] FIG. 5 illustrates a connection setup of the at least one end point devices from the electronic device, in accordance with the present invention. At step 600, the electronic device (402) connected to a network. At step 602, the user specific information is inputted to set up an account on the electric device (402). The information involves user name, password or one time password forwards over a mobile telephony, at step 602a. If the account is required to set-up for first time, then email or mobile number may be inputted, at step 602c. At step 604 and 606, premises information along with the room information and type of end point devices (502, 504) may be feed to the electronic device 402. At step 608, the application processor (510) of the electronic device 402 fetches the information from the lookup protocol module (480) implemented in the control device (400) about the communication protocol of the end point devices (504, 502) and couples the end point devices (504, 502) to the electronic devices. The addition of the end point devices (502, 504) configured with varying the communication protocol may be coupled to the electronic devices (402). Steps 610a-620f, provides exemplary method to input the information about the end point devices (502, 504) in the electronic device 402. After connecting the end point devices (502, 504), the control module (580) controls the end point devices (502, 504) through the user interface of the electronic device (402).
[00084] The present smart environment system is an all in one system i.e. there is no (or minimal) need to buy and configure separate modules like voice assistants, relays, dimmers, IR blasters and more. The present smart environment system has intellectual learning capability (Machine Learning). The system is easy to install i.e. no or minimal rewiring required. It is easy to configure due to unique set of wireless protocols: Z-wave, Zig-Bee, BLE, Wi-Fi and big database of codes 5,000. The system addresses privacy concerns as it has an offline Machine Learning Algorithm and the possibility of offline speech recognition. The system has ON DEVICE SPEECH RECOGNITION. The system is friendly as it reduces dependency of professional consultant to make a premise smartly adaptive. Further, the smart environment system is easy to scale up from one premise to a larger premise.
,CLAIMS:We claim:
1. An electronic device (402) comprising:
- a communication module (520);
- a memory (520);
- an input means (560); and
- an application processor (510) coupled to the communication module (520), the memory (520), and the input means (560), wherein the memory (520) stores instructions that, when executed by the application processor (510), cause the electronic device (402) to:
o acquire information, through the input means (560), about at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol;
o access, through the communication module (520), a server (464) that stores information about the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504), based on at least a portion of the information inputted about the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504) respectively;
o control, through a control module (580), the at least one first end device (502) and the at least one second end device (504).
2. The electronic device (402) as claimed in claim 1, wherein control, through the electronic device (402), controlled using a voice assistant module (212).
3. A smart environment system (500) comprising:
- at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol;
- at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol;
- an electronic device (402) for controlling the at least one first end device and at least one second end device; and
- a control device (400), wherein the control device includes a memory (430), a processor (420) coupled to the communication interface (470) and the memory (430), wherein the memory (430) stores instructions that, when executed by the processor (420), causes the control device (400) to:
o acquire information, inputted by a user in the electronic device (402), about at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol, and
o configure, by a lookup protocol module (480), the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol to be controlled by the electronic device (402).
4. The smart environment system (500) as claimed in claim 1, wherein control the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (502) configured with a second communication protocol, by the electronic device (402), using a voice assistant module (212).
5. The smart environment system as claimed in claim 1, wherein control the at least one first end device (502) configured with a first communication protocol and the at least one second end device (504) configured with a second communication protocol, by the electronic device (402), using a voice assistant module (212), wherein the voice assistant module (212) works in an offline mode.