Patent US10551861

Gateway for managing energy use at a site
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US10551861

1. A gateway comprising: (14) (2)

at least one memory storing instructions;

at least one processor operable to manage energy use at a site that executes the instructions stored in the at least one memory to cause the following to be performed: receiving network device data from a long range communication network, the receiving of the network device data being initiated from at least one of a mobile device associated with a first user or a cloud service and related to altering an operating condition of a network device located at the site, wherein the network device includes at least a thermostat and the network device data is TCP/IP formatted data;

detecting an availability of the network device that is connected to another network that is different than the long range communication network, wherein the other network is configured as a local network at the site using non-TCP/IP formatted communication;

formatting the network device data related to altering at least an operating condition of the network device to a message bus format configured to be output to a set-top box configured to access the local network, the formatted network device data being in the message bus format to alter at least a temperature set-point of the thermostat according to the network device data initiated from at least one of the mobile device or the cloud service;

automatically communicating, in response to a detected location of the mobile device relative to the site and a determination of whether a priority of the first user is higher than a priority of a second user in association with the site, the formatted network device data, the formatted network device data being related at least to altering the temperature set-point of the thermostat to the set-top box and a request of the first user when the determination indicates the priority of the first user being higher than the priority of the second user;

receiving a response data from the network device, wherein the response data includes at least an updated set-point of the thermostat according to the request of the first user and is formatted to be communicated using the other network; and

translating the received response data to another format for output using TCP/IP enabled data over the long range communication network.

2. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising: (4) (2)

a long range communication device configured to communicate the network device data to the set-top box using at least one of a coaxial connection, a WiFi connection, or an Ethernet connection; and

a short range communication device configured to communicate the network device data to the network device, wherein the short range communication device includes a mesh network topology.

3. The gateway of claim 2, wherein the short range communication device includes a Z-wave enabled device. (0)

4. The gateway of claim 2, wherein the short range communication device includes a Zigbee enabled device. (0)

5. The gateway of claim 2, wherein the short range communication device includes an 802.11 based enabled device. (0)

6. The gateway of claim 2, wherein the short range communication interface is configured as one or more of the following: (0) (8)

a serial bus interface;

a parallel bus interface;

a serial-parallel bus interface;

a universal serial bus interface;

industry standard bus interface;

controller area network bus interface; a serial peripheral interface;

a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter interface; a control bus interface; and

standard digital input output interface.

7. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising: (3) (3)

a TCP/IP enabled communication device configured to receive identification data of the network device;

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect the identification data and an associated control data;

a short range communication device configured to receive the identification data as message bus data and initiate communicating the control data to the network device using the identification data.

8. The gateway of claim 7, wherein the short range communication device includes a Zigbee enabled device. (0)

9. The gateway of claim 7, wherein the short range communication device includes an 802.11 based enabled device. (0)

10. The gateway of claim 7, wherein the short range communication device includes a Z-wave enabled device. (0)

11. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: (0) (3)

12. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: (0) (7)

coordinate the long range communication network at a first security level;

receive the network device data at the first security level;

coordinate the local network at a second security level;

initiate access to the network device at the second security level;

enable access to the network device using the second security level;

initiate receipt of the response data using the second security level; and

disable access to the network device.

13. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising: (0) (2)

14. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising: (0) (2)

15. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the other network includes an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) enabled network operably associated with an AMI enabled smart meter. (0)

16. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the long range communication includes a cellular communication based network. (0)

17. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the long range communication network includes a broadband communication network. (0)

18. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the long range communication network includes a GPRS network. (0)

19. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising: (0) (2)

20. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor includes a Linux enabled processor configured to: (0) (2)

21. An gateway of claim 1, wherein the network device includes one of a personal computer, a consumer electronic device, a media device, a smart utility meter, an advanced metering infrastructure, a smart energy device, an energy display device, a home automation controller, an energy hub, a smart energy gateway, another set-top box, a digital media subscriber system, a cable modem, a fiber optic enabled communications device, a media gateway, a home media management system, a network server, an energy substation, a vehicle charging station, a renewable energy production device, a renewable energy control device, an energy storage management system, a smart appliance, an HVAC system, a water pump, a heat pump, a hot water heater, a thermostat, an energy controller, an irrigation system, a lighting system, an alarm system, a smart power outlet, an energy detection device, a power measurement device, a power measurement unit (PMU), an air handler, a wireless air damper, a humidity control system, a heat and motion sensing device, a smart power outlet, a switch router, or a wireless router. (0)

22. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the set-top box includes a short wave communication device to communicate with the local network. (5) (0)

28. A gateway comprising: (1) (5)

at least one Java enabled processor;

at least one memory configured to store incoming and outgoing local network messages and instructions executed by the at least one Java enabled processor;

a short range communication device configured to automatically access a local network to alter at least a temperature set-point of a thermostat in response to a detected location of a first user associated with a set-top box and a determination of whether a priority of the first user that is higher than a priority of a second user in association with the set-top box, wherein the local network is configured as at least one of an 802.11 network, a Zigbee network, a Z-wave network, or an Ethernet network; and

a long range communication device configured to communicate with a long range communication network,

wherein the long range communication device is configured to receive at least one of 802.11 based response data, Zigbee based response data, Z-wave based response data, or Ethernet based response data from a network device according to a request of the first user when the determination indicates the priority of the first user being higher than the priority of the second user, and translate the received response data to another format to be output over the long range communication network.

29. The gateway of claim 28, further comprising the network device including one of a personal computer, a consumer electronic device, a media device, a smart utility meter, an advanced metering infrastructure, a smart energy device, an energy display device, a home automation controller, an energy hub, a smart energy gateway, a digital media subscriber system, a cable modem, a fiber optic enabled communications device, a media gateway, a home media management system, a network server, an energy substation, a vehicle charging station, a renewable energy production device, a renewable energy control device, an energy storage management system, a smart appliance, an HVAC system, a water pump, a heat pump, a hot water heater, a thermostat, an energy controller, an irrigation system, a lighting system, an alarm system, a smart power outlet, an energy detection device, a power measurement device, a power measurement unit (PMU), an air handler, a wireless air damper, a humidity control system, a heat and motion sensing device, a smart power outlet, a switch router, or a wireless router. (0)

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Patent US10551861

Gateway for managing energy use at a site

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