Residential gateway system for automated control of residential devices

A system for providing automated control of at least one residential device connected to an in-home network, the system comprising:

• a residential gateway connecting the in-home network to an Internet connection;
• a control server that determines control parameters for controlling the residential device, the control server determining the control parameters from relevant control information accessed from one or more information servers on the Internet and operational information of the residential device;
• and
• wherein the residential gateway comprises a software module that receives the control parameters from the control server via the Internet connection and causes the residential gateway to communicate with the residential device to provide control of the residential device based on the received control parameters.

A method of providing automated control of at least one residential device connected to a residential gateway, the method comprising:

• retrieving relevant control information from one or more information servers on the Internet;
• tracking operational information of the residential device;
• determining control parameters of the residential device based on the tracked operational information and the retrieved control information;
• communicating the control parameters to the residential gateway via an Internet connection;
• wherein the residential gateway communicates with the residential device to provide control of the residential device based on the control parameters.