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US 2014/0371922 A1Published application
Systems, methods and apparatus for monitoring and managing device-level energy consumption in a smart-home environment
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsJason C. Weaver, Bradley A. Kayton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Accessing an energy management policy for a plurality of devices is described, wherein the devices are coupled with a first structure. The energy usage of the devices is monitored. An energy usage rule and energy usage is then compared. The energy management policy and energy usage is also compared. Based on the comparing, an instruction is generated to modify an energy usage profile of said device to correlate with the energy usage rule associated with the devices and the energy management policy, thereby enabling efficient energy management.
Claims20
A system for managing energy consumption of a plurality of devices associated with an enclosure, comprising:
- an energy manager device;
- a plurality of energy measurement modules, each energy measurement module being:
- associated with a device from the plurality of devices,
- configured to measure an amount of energy consumed by the device, and
- capable of wirelessly communicating energy consumption information indicative of the amount of energy consumed by the device to the energy manager device;
- and
- a plurality of energy usage modifier modules, each energy usage modifier module being:
- associated with a device which is also associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of energy measurement modules;
- and
- configured to control energy consumption of the device which is also associated with the corresponding one of the plurality of energy measurement modules in response to an instruction received from the energy manager device;
- the energy manager device being configured to:
- wirelessly receive from each of the plurality of energy measurement modules the energy consumption information indicative of the amount of energy consumed by the device associated with the energy measurement module;
- determine a desired energy usage profile for each of the plurality of devices;
- and
- in response to receiving an instruction from a user, wirelessly communicate an instruction to each of the energy usage modifier modules instructing the energy usage modifier modules to control energy consumption of their respective devices, the instruction causing energy consumption of each device to be correlated with the desired energy usage profile of the device.
12 more elements
A method for managing energy consumption of a plurality of energy consuming devices associated with an enclosure, comprising:
- establishing communication over a wireless protocol between a plurality of energy measurement modules and an energy management device, each energy measurement module being associated with an energy consuming device from the plurality of energy consuming devices associated with the enclosure;
- establishing a wireless communication between a plurality of energy usage modifier modules and the energy management device, each energy usage modifier module being associated with an energy consuming device which is also associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of energy measurement modules;
- measuring, by each energy measurement module, an amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming device associated with the energy measurement module;
- wirelessly communicating, by each energy measurement module to the energy management device, energy consumption information indicative of the amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming device associated with the energy measurement module;
- determining, by the energy management device, a desired energy usage profile for each of the plurality of energy consuming devices;
- receiving an instruction from a user indicative of a modification to energy consumption for the enclosure;
- in response to receiving the user instruction, wirelessly communicating an instruction from the energy management device to each of the plurality of energy usage modifier modules instructing the energy usage modifier modules to control energy consumption of their respective energy consuming devices, the instruction causing energy consumption of each energy consuming device to be correlated with the desired energy usage profile of the energy consuming device;
- and
- controlling, by each energy usage modifier module, the energy consumption of the energy consuming device associated with the energy usage modifier module in accordance with the instruction.
6 more elements
A system for managing energy consumption of a plurality of devices associated with an enclosure, comprising:
- means for establishing communication over a wireless protocol between a plurality of energy measurement modules and an energy management device, each energy measurement module being associated with an energy consuming device from the plurality of energy consuming devices associated with the enclosure;
- means for establishing a wireless communication between a plurality of energy usage modifier modules and the energy management device, each energy usage modifier module being associated with an energy consuming device which is also associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of energy measurement modules;
- means for measuring, by each energy measurement module, an amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming device associated with the energy measurement module;
- means for wirelessly communicating, by each energy measurement module to the energy management device, energy consumption information indicative of the amount of energy consumed by the energy consuming device associated with the energy measurement module;
- means for determining, by the energy management device, a desired energy usage profile for each of the plurality of energy consuming devices;
- means for receiving an instruction from a user indicative of a modification to energy consumption for the enclosure;
- means for wirelessly communicating, in response to receiving the user instruction, an instruction from the energy management device to each of the plurality of energy usage modifier modules instructing the energy usage modifier modules to control energy consumption of their respective energy consuming devices, the instruction causing energy consumption of each energy consuming device to be correlated with the desired energy usage profile of the energy consuming device;
- and
- means for controlling, by each energy usage modifier module, the energy consumption of the energy consuming device associated with the energy usage modifier module in accordance with the instruction.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.