RELATED APPLICATION

Benefit is claimed to India Provisional Application No. 3944/CHE/2010, titled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATED HOME AUTOMATION, SMART METERING AND PERSONAL SERVICE ENABLER" by GBS Bindra, et Al., filed on 23rd December 2010, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally to the field of home networking system, and more particularly relates to a universal home access gateway for use in a home environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Home automation system is a professionally installed system that integrates the control of security, Heat, Ventilation and Air conditioning (HVAC) or lighting systems to enhance safety, comfort and convenience. Each of these systems is connected to a home automation gateway to communicate with a backend server. The home automation system enables a user to have remote control on HVAC, watering systems, lighting systems, etc. For example, user of the home automation system can automatically set a timer for lights to be turned ON and OFF without the need to manually touch the switch board each time. However, the power consumed by each appliance is not known to the user. Smart meters are introduced for monitoring the power consumed by individual appliances present in the home.

Smart meters are intelligent digital energy meters that allow remote readings and make energy consumed by the home appliances transparent to the user. The smart meters are capable of communicating with domestic or business appliances with energy providers and also with the home automation system. Smart meters use microprocessors and radio frequency (RF) wireless connectivity to communicate with power company's central server systems. From there, energy flow can be monitored on a house-to-house basis, thereby allowing utilities to interact with the flow of power to homes, and enabling the utility to cut the power as needed during emergency peak periods to avoid overloading grids and wider, uncontrolled power failures.

The current home automation system may have 'N' number of gateways for 'N' number of devices connected to it and thus increases the hardware size of the whole system. Thus, the home automation system and the smart metering systems are merely working independently into different individual components or units and communicating over wired or wireless technologies. Also, there could be a myriad of personal services in a home like entertainment, health care equipments like blood pressure, vital organs monitor, home mood services, etc. which work independent of any other services/equipments in the home.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a home networking environment implementing a universal home access gateway for managing energy based devices and non-energy based devices in a home, according to one embodiment.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing various components of the universal home access gateway, according to one embodiment.

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method of measuring ground resistance. In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a home networking environment 100 implementing a universal home access gateway for managing energy based devices and non-energy based devices in a home, according to one embodiment. In Figure 1, the home networking environment 100 includes a set of energy based devices 102A-N, and a set of non-energy based devices 104A-N, a universal home access gateway 106, a backend sever 108, an application store 110 and a user equipment 112 (e.g., a mobile device).

The set of energy devices 102A-N may include home appliances and equipments such as television, washing machine, refrigerator, air-conditioner, laptop and the like devices which operate based on power supplied by power supply companies. The set of energy based devices 102A-N may also include security devices installed in a home, and smart metering devices. The set of non-energy based devices 104A-N may includes devices capable of providing personal services (e.g., entertainment, health care, home mood services, etc.) to persons residing the home.

The universal home access gateway 106 is an apparatus which manages the set of energy based devices 102A-N and the set of non-energy based devices 104A-N through wired or wireless communication channel. The universal home access gateway 106 is connected to the set of energy based devices 102A-N and the set of non-energy based devices 104A-N, the backend server 108, the application store 110 and the user equipment 112. As shown, the universal home access gateway 106 includes a home automation module 114 for managing operation of the set of energy based devices 102A-N. The universal home access gateway 106 also includes a personal services module 116 for managing personal services provided by the set of non-energy based devices 104A-N.

Further, the universal home access gateway 106 includes a security module 118 for monitoring security of the set of energy based devices 102A-N and the set of non-energy based devices 104A-N. For example, the security module identifies in case any of the devices 102A-N and 104A-N malfunctions or behaves abnormally. The universal home access gateway 106 includes a metering module 120 for computing energy consumed by each of the energy based devices 102A-N and computing the total energy consumed by the energy based devices 102A-N during day and night. Based on the energy computed, the metering module 120 computes energy requirements associated with the energy based devices 102A-N. Based on which, the home automation module 114 identifies peak hour and off peak hours of energy consumed by the energy based devices 102A-N and controls the operation of the energy based devices 102A-N accordingly. For example, the universal home access gateway 106 automatically initiates functioning of a cloth dryer during off peak hours so that load on the energy supply line is controlled and limited to its maximum capacity.

The universal home access gateway 106 communicates parameters (e.g., functional parameters, security related parameters, metering parameters and so on) associated with the energy based devices 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N to the backend server 108 and the user equipment 112. Also, the universal home access gateway 106 connects to the application store 110 to download applications associated with the energy based devices 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N when new energy based device or non-energy based device is installed in a home. Thus, the universal home access gateway 106 is scalable and extensible. Moreover, the universal home access gateway 106 is operable for receiving operational instructions from the user equipment 112 and the backend server 108 via various communication channels (e.g., SMS, WAP, GPRS, Wi-Fi, etc.) for operating or configuring the energy based devices 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N. Thus, a single gateway needs to employed in the home environment for managing various types of energy based devices and non-energy based devices in the home.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing various components of the universal home access gateway 106, according to one embodiment. The universal home access gateway 106 includes a processor 202, memory 204, communication interfaces 206 and a transceiver 208. In one embodiment, the home automation module 114, the personal services module 116, the security module 118 and the metering module 120 are stored in the memory 204 as machine-readable instructions, that when executed by the processor 202, cause the processor 202 to performs the functionalities of the modules 114 through 120 as described in Figure 1. In another embodiment, the home automation module 114, the personal services module 116, the security module 118 and the metering module 120 can be realized through hardware or firmware.

The communication interfaces 206 may include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee and the like interfaces which connects the processor 202 with the energy based devices 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N. The transceiver 208 enables the processor 202 to communicate with the backend server 108 and the user equipment 112 for exchanging data/information associated with the energy based devices 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N and for receiving instructions for controlling operation or configuring the energy based devices 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N. Also, the transceiver 208 enables the processor 202 to download applications related to the energy based device 102A-N and the non-energy based devices 104A-N from the application store 110.

The universal home access gateway 106 performs management of energy and has a command and control of all manner of lifestyle products, security systems, entertainment and communication devices, personal health care services and so on.

The present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments. Furthermore, the various devices, modules, selectors, estimators, and the like described herein may be enabled and operated using hardware circuitry, for example, complementary metal oxide semiconductor based logic circuitry, firmware, software and/or any combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software embodied in a machine readable medium. For example, the various electrical structure and methods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, and electrical circuits, such as application specific integrated circuit.

We Claim:

1. A universal home access gateway comprising:
a processor communicatively coupled to at least one of energy based equipments and non-energy based devices deployed in a home environment; and
memory coupled to the processor, wherein in the memory comprises:
a home automation module for managing operation of the energy based devices;
a personal services module for managing personal services provided by the non-energy based devices; and
a security module for monitoring security of the energy based devices and the non-energy based devices.

2. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the memory further comprises:
a metering module coupled to the home automation module for managing energy requirements associated with the energy based devices.

3. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the metering module is configured for:
computing energy consumed by each of the energy based devices; and
computing total energy consumed by the energy based devices during day and night.

4. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the home automation module is configured for identifying peak hours and peak off hours of energy consumed by the energy based devices based on the total energy consumed by the energy based devices.

5. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising:
one or more communication interfaces for communicatively coupling the processor and at least one of the energy based devices and the non-energy based devices.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
a transceiver for communicatively coupling the processor and an external entity for exchanging data associated with the at least one of the energy based devices and the non-energy based devices.

7. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the external entity is selected from the group consisting of a mobile device and a backend server.

8. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the processor is communicatively connected to an application store via the transceiver for downloading one or more applications associated with the energy based devices and the non-energy based devices.

9. A system comprising:
one or more energy based devices;
one or more non-energy based devices; and
a home access gateway communicatively coupled to the one or more energy based devices and the one or more non-energy based devices, characterized in that the home access gateway is operable for managing operation of the energy based devices and the non-energy based devices, and wherein the home access gateway is operable for monitoring security associated with the energy based devices and the non-energy based devices.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the home access gateway is operable for managing energy requirements of the energy based devices.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more energy based devices comprises home appliances and equipments, security equipments, and energy metering devices.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the one or more non-energy devices comprises devices capable of providing personal services to persons residing the home environment.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising:
a backend server communicatively connected to the home access gateway for exchanging data associated with the energy based devices and the one or more non-energy based devices.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising:
an application store communicatively coupled to the home access gateway for providing access to one or more applications associated with the one or more energy based devices and the one or more non-energy based devices.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the home access gateway is operable for
sending notifications associated with the operation and security of the one or
more energy based device and the one or more non-energy based devices to a
mobile device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the home access gateway is operable for: receiving instructions associated with the operation of the one or more energy based services and the one or more non-energy based services from at least one of the mobile device and the backend server; and managing the operation of the one or more energy based services and the one or more non-energy based services based on the received instructions.