Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090201899 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ROUTING DATA IN WIRELESS NETWORKS - A method includes identifying, at a first wireless node, routing costs associated with routing data to a destination through multiple paths in a wireless network. The method also includes identifying, at the first wireless node, information propagation values associated with the first wireless node and at least one second wireless node. The information propagation values are based on the routing costs and wireless link qualities associated with the wireless nodes. The method further includes scheduling transmission of the data by the first wireless node based on the information propagation values and transmitting the data based on the scheduling. The routing costs may include potential values associated with distances of the wireless nodes from the destination. Also, the information propagation values indicate which of the wireless nodes have a greater chance of propagating the data towards the destination in a single broadcast. | 08-13-2009 |
20090290511 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MERGING CLUSTERS OF WIRELESS NODES IN A WIRELESS NETWORK - A system includes a first cluster having multiple first wireless nodes. One first node is configured to act as a first cluster master, and other first nodes are configured to receive time synchronization information provided by the first cluster master. The system also includes a second cluster having one or more second wireless nodes. One second node is configured to act as a second cluster master, and any other second nodes configured to receive time synchronization information provided by the second cluster master. The system further includes a manager configured to merge the clusters into a combined cluster. One of the nodes is configured to act as a single cluster master for the combined cluster, and the other nodes are configured to receive time synchronization information provided by the single cluster master. | 11-26-2009 |
20090290572 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TIME SYNCHRONIZATION IN A WIRELESS NETWORK - A system includes multiple wireless nodes forming a cluster in a wireless network, where each wireless node is configured to communicate and exchange data wirelessly based on a clock. One of the wireless nodes is configured to operate as a cluster master. Each of the other wireless nodes is configured to (i) receive time synchronization information from a parent node, (ii) adjust its clock based on the received time synchronization information, and (iii) broadcast time synchronization information based on the time synchronization information received by that wireless node. The time synchronization information received by each of the other wireless nodes is based on time synchronization information provided by the cluster master so that the other wireless nodes substantially synchronize their clocks with the clock of the cluster master. | 11-26-2009 |
20100014492 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINISTIC LATENCY-CONTROLLED COMMUNICATIONS IN PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS - A method includes obtaining a data message having data associated with a process system and mapping the data message to one of multiple classifications. The method also includes wirelessly transmitting the data message, where a Quality of Service (QoS) associated with the transmission is based on the mapping. Mapping the data message could include identifying a type associated with the data message and mapping the data message based on the identified type. The type may include a publish message type, an alert message type, or a management message type. The publish message type could be mapped to an Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) class, the alert message type could be mapped to a real-time Polling Service (rtPS) class, and the management message type could be mapped to a Best Effort (BE) or non-real-time Polling Service (nrtPS) class. A WiMAX standard could be used to transmit the message, and a WiMAX or WiFi standard could be used to obtain the message. | 01-21-2010 |
20100029317 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TRANSMIT POWER CONTROL IN A WIRELESS NETWORK - A method includes repeatedly transmitting messages from a first wireless node at a transmit power. The method also includes receiving feedback from a second wireless node, where the feedback is based on a quality of reception of at least some of the messages at the second wireless node. The method further includes adjusting the transmit power of the first wireless node based on the feedback to maintain the quality of reception proximate to a setpoint. The feedback could be received from multiple second wireless nodes. The feedback could include quantized values. The quality of reception could include a bit error rate, a packet error rate, and/or a receive signal strength. The quality of reception can be determined for a sliding window associated with a subset of the transmitted messages. | 02-04-2010 |
20100272093 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUPPORTING WIRELESS ACTUATORS AND OTHER DEVICES IN PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS - A system includes a wireless leaf node configured to modify operation of an industrial process. The system also includes a plurality of wireless access points configured to transmit data to the wireless leaf node in specified time slots and to receive an acknowledgement from the wireless leaf node in response to successful receipt of the data by the wireless leaf node. Various communication schemes are disclosed for supporting communications between the wireless leaf node and the access points. Each access point could also include a local slot manager configured to assign the specified time slots for that access point to communicate with the wireless leaf node. The wireless leaf node could represent a wireless actuator. | 10-28-2010 |
20120210733 | COORDINATED CONTROL OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING AND HVAC - A system and method include receiving a temperature signal from a temperature sensor, controlling operation of an air conditioner condenser, and controlling an electric vehicle charger to operate to charge an electric vehicle battery only when the air conditioner condenser is not running. | 08-23-2012 |
20130024685 | PROVISIONING CREDENTIALS FOR EMBEDDED WIRELESS DEVICES - A system and method are used to connect an installed device to a local premise network, such as a home network provided by a router in the home. A user may use a host device, such as a mobile telephone that is already connected to the home network to provide the home network credentials to the installed device without having to enter the home network credentials manually into the installed device such as a thermostat. | 01-24-2013 |
20130026986 | TRANSFORMER-LEVEL MANAGEMENT OF POWER CONSUMPTION BY ONE OR MORE CONSUMERS - Various examples provide a system and method including receiving a plurality of electrical vehicle charge requests, receiving a plurality of additional electric load power requests, and controlling charging of the electrical vehicles in association with the plurality of electrical vehicle charge power requests. Various examples include modulating the charging of one or more of the electrical vehicles to maintain total power consumed by the electrical vehicles and a plurality of additional electric loads below a threshold power consumption rate. | 01-31-2013 |
20130064070 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING OPTIMAL NODE PLACEMENT TO FORM REDUNDANT PATHS AROUND CRITICAL NODES AND CRITICAL LINKS IN A MULTI-HOP NETWORK - A method includes obtaining information identifying one or more critical nodes and/or one or more critical links in a multi-hop network. Each critical node or critical link represents a node or link whose failure isolates at least part of the network. The method also includes generating a list identifying one or more orphaned nodes that lose connectivity to a gateway when a specified critical node or critical link fails. The list is generated using an Eigenvector of a matrix defining a topology of the network without the specified critical node or critical link. The method further includes identifying, using the list, at least one location where an additional node can be inserted into the network in order to reduce a number of is critical nodes and critical links in the network. The gateway and the orphaned node(s) can be associated with different values in the Eigenvector. | 03-14-2013 |
20130064139 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING CRITICAL NODES AND CRITICAL LINKS IN A MULTI-HOP NETWORK - A method includes obtaining a matrix defining a topology of a multi-hop network, where the topology identifies nodes and links between the nodes in the multi-hop network. The method also includes identifying one or more Eigenvalues and/or one or more Eigenvectors of the matrix. The method further includes determining whether the topology of the multi-hop network defines a disconnected network using the one or more Eigenvalues and/or the one or more Eigenvectors. For example, one or more Eigenvalues of the matrix can be identified, and a determination can be made whether a second smallest Eigenvalue equals zero. As another example, Eigenvectors corresponding to two smallest Eigenvalues of the matrix can be identified, and a determination can be made whether the Eigenvectors have opposite zero and non-zero entries such that, for all entries in the Eigenvectors, an i | 03-14-2013 |
20130113822 | INTERFACE FOR HOME ENERGY MANAGER - A device includes a device manager stored on a computer readable storage device. A display has multiple tiles corresponding to smart devices installed in a user home having inter-dependent statuses and settings. The device manager generates the tiles with corresponding smart device information displayed in the tiles, and selection of a tile provides a view showing details about the smart device while not obscuring unselected tiles. | 05-09-2013 |
20130151012 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMAL LOAD AND SOURCE SCHEDULING IN CONTEXT AWARE HOMES - A controller for controlling energy consumption in a home includes a constraints engine to define variables for multiple appliances in the home corresponding to various home modes and persona of an occupant of the home. A modeling engine models multiple paths of energy utilization of the multiple appliances to place the home into a desired state from a current context. An optimal scheduler receives the multiple paths of energy utilization and generates a schedule as a function of the multiple paths and a selected persona to place the home in a desired state. | 06-13-2013 |
20130261803 | HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS - Home energy management devices, systems, and methods are described herein. One device includes a thermostat, wherein the thermostat is configured to control operation of an air conditioner and a furnace of a home, and the thermostat includes a multi-node communication hub configured to control operation of a number of additional energy loads associated with the home. | 10-03-2013 |
20140187250 | PLACEMENT OF A WIRELESS NETWORK ACCESS POINT - Devices, methods, and systems for placement of a wireless network access point are described herein. One method includes determining a location of any existing wireless network access points of a wireless location system in an area, computing a Voronoi partition around the locations of the existing wireless network access points in the area, wherein the Voronoi partition includes a number of vertices defined by the locations of the existing wireless network access points, and determining a location to place an additional wireless network access point in the area based on the Voronoi partition, wherein the location corresponds to the vertex in the Voronoi partition that is farthest from its defining locations and in the area and has a worst location accuracy as compared to a location accuracy threshold. | 07-03-2014 |
20140274163 | USER ASSISTED LOCATION DEVICES - Methods, systems, and devices are described herein. One method can include determining a cross validation model using a user input, estimating a movement of a device from a first location to a second location using the cross validation model and the user input, and determining the second location of the device using the estimated movement of the device. | 09-18-2014 |
20140330569 | DEVICE VOICE RECOGNITION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Device voice recognition systems and methods are described herein. One example of a method for device voice recognition includes receiving a voice command, determining a number of devices relating to the voice command, and adjusting a setting of the number of devices based on the received voice command. | 11-06-2014 |
20150022355 | SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Surveillance systems and methods are described herein. Surveillance systems and methods can include detecting a number of interactions within a building, determining an event based on the number of interactions, and sending a message to a number of contacts relating to the event | 01-22-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080267259 | Apparatus and method for intelligent frequency-hopping discovery and synchronization - A process control system or other system includes multiple nodes that communicate using frequency-hopping patterns. Each node may operate using its own frequency-hopping pattern. Each node may also broadcast information identifying its frequency-hopping pattern to other nodes, such as any neighboring nodes. Each node may further. receive information identifying the frequency-hopping patterns of any neighboring nodes. The nodes may then operate in a non-synchronized manner and use the frequency-hopping patterns of neighboring nodes to communicate. For example, each node may use the identified frequency-hopping pattern of a neighboring node to synchronize with and communicate data to the neighboring node. In this way, the nodes need not maintain synchronization at all times during operation. Also, different nodes may use different frequency channels at the same time, helping to increase the bandwidth available for wireless communications. | 10-30-2008 |
20090059786 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMIC ASSIGNMENT OF QUALITY OF SERVICE PARAMETERS IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK - A method includes identifying a condition associated with a communication network and/or an industrial control and automation system. The method also includes selecting, based on the identified condition, one or more quality of service (QoS) parameters used to route data through the communication network. In addition, the method includes communicating information identifying the one or more QoS parameters to one or more components in the communication network. The one or more QoS parameters could be contained within one of multiple QoS policies, and the method could include selecting one of the QoS policies. The condition could represent an emergency condition, and the one or more QoS parameters could include a higher QoS priority for traffic (such as voice communications and sensor data) to and from specified personnel (such as first responders). The communication network could represent at least one wired network and/or at least one wireless network. | 03-05-2009 |
20090060192 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING SECURITY IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS - A method includes receiving data at a first wireless node in a wireless network, where the data is associated with an industrial control and automation system. The method also includes decrypting the received data using a first encryption key to produce decrypted data and encrypting the decrypted data using a second encryption key to produce encrypted data. The method further includes communicating the encrypted data to at least a second wireless node in the wireless network. Another method includes generating first data at a first wireless node in a wireless network, where the data is associated with an industrial control and automation system. The other method also includes encrypting the first data using an encryption key and transmitting the first data to multiple second wireless nodes in the wireless network, where the second wireless nodes are capable of using the same encryption key to decrypt the first data. | 03-05-2009 |
20090064295 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR ON-DEMAND LIMITED SECURITY CREDENTIALS IN WIRELESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS - A method includes storing a security credential associated with a communication network on a portable storage device. The method also includes detecting removal of the portable storage device from a specified location. The method further includes allowing at least one communication device to communicate over the communication network using the security credential. In addition, the method includes revoking the security credential after a specified time period has elapsed. The portable storage device could represent a card, and the specified location could represent a card reader/writer. Also, the communication network could represent a wireless network, and the security credential could represent a cryptographic key. | 03-05-2009 |
20090109889 | System and method for providing simultaneous connectivity between devices in an industrial control and automation or other system - A system, apparatuses, and methods support simultaneous connectivity between devices in an industrial control and automation or other system. For example, a data publisher can publish or provide data to multiple data subscribers. This can be done using a multicast group associated with the multiple data subscribers. The data publisher transmits a data message using a network address associated with the multicast group. Each data subscriber associated with the multicast group receives a copy of the data message. As a particular example, the data publisher could represent a wireless sensor or wireless actuator in the industrial control and automation or other system. Also, the data subscribers could represent multiple controllers or actuators in the industrial control and automation or other system. In this way, the multicasting functionality allows for simpler connectivity or interaction between devices in the industrial control and automation or other system. | 04-30-2009 |
20090112532 | Apparatus and method for displaying changes in statistical parameters in a process control system - At least one statistical output associated with a process model and a rate of change associated with each statistical output is identified, such as by using historical data associated with the process model. The statistical outputs and the rates of change are used to generate a graphical display, such as a phase plane plot. Each point in the display is based on one of the statistical outputs and its associated rate of change. The graphical display could include multiple portions, such as quadrants, and one of the portions can be selected and highlighted. The different portions of the graphical display may represent whether the process model is a poor fit to current conditions and approaching a better fit, a poor fit and approaching a poorer fit, a good fit and approaching a poorer fit, and a good fit and approaching a better fit. | 04-30-2009 |
20110181121 | CONTROLLER FOR WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER - A system includes a network and a controller. The network has a plurality of nodes. The plurality of nodes includes a first node and a second node. The first node is configured to transmit energy to the second node. The first node is magnetically coupled with the second node. The plurality of nodes includes at least one controllable node having a performance parameter and including at least one sensor. The at least one sensor is configured to generate a signal corresponding to energy received by the sensor. The controller has an output coupled to the at least one controllable node. The output is determined based on the signal. The performance parameter is selected based on the output. | 07-28-2011 |
20120296488 | INTUITIVE SCHEDULING FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT DEVICES - An energy management device providing a series of user interface enhancements that enable the creation and modification of energy management schedules. The energy management device may provide these user interface enhancements in connection with a touch screen interface, as the user interface receives and processes a variety of touch screen gestures from users intended to create and manipulate the energy management schedules. Specific embodiments described herein include calendar views with customizable periods of interest, calendar views with overlays of scheduling and pricing information, and clocks providing runtime indications of specific energy consuming systems. | 11-22-2012 |
20120319903 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCATING MOBILE DEVICES - A system includes a three dimensional antenna and mobile devices that wirelessly communicate with the antenna. A phase of arrival and a phase difference of arrival are calculated, and a distance between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device is calculated. A direction between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device is calculated. The direction calculation includes an angular spread function of multipath scattering in the communication between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device. The direction calculation further includes an estimation of a propagation delay and an angle in the communication between the three dimensional antenna and the mobile device. | 12-20-2012 |