Systems and methods for appliance protection

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods that provide a device control framework that operates to manage and / or control the operation, maintenance, safety and runtime processing of devices operating at a location. The disclosed framework executes mechanisms for detecting malfunctioning components of a device, in order to ensure the safety of the device's operation, reduce overhead costs and properly allocate resource usage of the device and / or its components. The framework assesses the performance of critical components of such devices, and in the event of a malfunction detection, the framework can pause the operation of the affected component to prevent further damage or hazards while simultaneously rerouting the operation to alternative components, ensuring that the overall functionality of the device is maintained. Such proactive approach not only prevents complete system failures, but also allows for the identification and isolation of faulty components, facilitating timely maintenance or replacement.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR APPLIANCE PROTECTIONCROSS-REFERENCED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 609,617, filed December 13, 2023, its entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] The present disclosure is generally related to device management at a location, and more particularly, to managing and / or controlling the operation, maintenance, safety and runtime processing of devices operating at a location.BACKGROUND

[0003] Currently, operations of devices, for example, appliances at a location (e.g., a home), are gauged based on whether there are errors, faults or malfunctions. That is, unless the device (or machine) is not functioning properly, it is presumed to be operating at capacity. Only when errors or faults occur, is the device deemed malfunctioning, upon which maintenance can be scheduled and / or performed. Such “need-based” approach can lead to increased costs and inefficiencies in the manner such devices operate, as degraded service and / or wasted real-world resources may be unnecessarily used for devices not operating at levels of par.SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0004] To that end, the disclosed systems and methods address such shortcomings, among others, by providing an improved computerized device framework that operates to manage and / or control the operation, maintenance, safety and runtime processing of devices operating at a location. For purposes of this disclosure, a location can refer to, but is not limited to, a home / house, office, building and / or any other type of definable structure that can have devices / appliances operating therein to control the environment (e.g., climate) of such location. For example, a home running an air conditioning unit and / or hot water heater.

[0005] According to some embodiments, as discussed herein, the disclosed systems and methods can deploy various mechanisms for detecting malfunctioning components (or subparts, used interchangeably) of a device, in order to increase the safety of the device’s operation, reduce costs on maintenance and / or economically address resource usage of suchdevice (e.g., less power usage, or power diversion upon detected faults, for example). In some embodiments, the disclosed mechanisms can involve sensors and monitoring systems that continuously (and / or periodically) assess the performance of critical components of such devices. In the event of a malfunction detection (or error, fault and / or other type of indication of sub-threshold operation), the disclosed control framework can be configured to pause the operation of the affected component to prevent further damage or hazards. In some embodiments, simultaneously, the control framework can reroute the operation to alternative components (as well as resources such as power, for example), ensuring that the overall functionality of the device is maintained.

[0006] Accordingly, in some embodiments, such proactive approach not only prevents complete system failures, but also allows for the identification and isolation of faulty components, facilitating timely maintenance or replacement. By incorporating such fail-safe mechanisms, manufacturers can significantly improve the resilience and longevity of devices / appliances operating at a location.

[0007] According to some embodiments, a method is disclosed for managing and / or controlling the operation, maintenance, safety and runtime processing of devices operating at a location. In accordance with some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium for carrying out the above-mentioned technical steps of the framework’s functionality. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has tangibly stored thereon, or tangibly encoded thereon, computer readable instructions that when executed by a device cause at least one processor to perform a method for computationally managing and / or controlling the operation, maintenance, safety and runtime processing of devices operating at a location.

[0008] In accordance with one or more embodiments, a system is provided that includes one or more processors and / or computing devices configured to provide functionality in accordance with such embodiments. In accordance with one or more embodiments, functionality is embodied in steps of a method performed by at least one computing device. In accordance with one or more embodiments, program code (or program logic) executed by a processor(s) of a computing device to implement functionality in accordance with one or more such embodiments is embodied in, by and / or on a non-transitoiy computer-readable medium.DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The features, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following description of embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the disclosure:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example configuration within which the systems and methods disclosed herein could be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary workflow according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary implementation of an architecture according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary implementation of an architecture according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0015] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computing device showing an example of a client or server device used in various embodiments of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of non-limiting illustration, certain example embodiments. Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof (other than software per se). The following detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0017] Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase “in oneembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter include combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

[0018] In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage in context. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and / or,” as used herein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least in part upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again, may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at least in part on context.

[0019] The present disclosure is described below with reference to block diagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices. It is understood that each block of the block diagrams or operational illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams or operational illustrations, can be implemented by means of analog or digital hardware and computer program ins tractions. These computer program instractions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer to alter its function as detailed herein, a special purpose computer, ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, implement the functions / acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block or blocks. In some alternate implementations, the functions / acts noted in the blocks can occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functional ity / acts involved.

[0020] For the purposes of this disclosure a non-transitory computer readable medium (or computer-readable storage medium / media) stores computer data, which data can include computer program code (or computer-executable instructions) that is executable by a computer,in machine readable form. By way of example, and not limitation, a computer readable medium may include computer readable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data, or communication media for transient interpretation of code-containing signals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers to physical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includes without limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method or technology for the tangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, optical storage, cloud storage, magnetic storage devices, or any other physical or material medium which can be used to tangibly store the desired information or data or instructions and which can be accessed by a computer or processor.

[0021] For the purposes of this disclosure the term “server” should be understood to refer to a service point which provides processing, database, and communication facilities. By way of example, and not limitation, the term “server” can refer to a single, physical processor with associated communications and data storage and database facilities, or it can refer to a networked or clustered complex of processors and associated network and storage devices, as well as operating software and one or more database systems and application software that support the services provided by the server. Cloud servers are examples.

[0022] For the purposes of this disclosure a“network” should be understood to refer to a network that may couple devices so that communications may be exchanged, such as between a server and a client device or other types of devices, including between wireless devices coupled via a wireless network, for example. A network may also include mass storage, such as network attached storage (NAS), a storage area network (SAN), a content delivery network (CDN) or other forms of computer or machine-readable media, for example. A network may include the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one or more wide area networks (WANs), wire-line type connections, wireless type connections, cellular or any combination thereof. Likewise, sub-networks, which may employ different architectures or may be compliant or compatible with different protocols, may interoperate within a larger network.

[0023] For purposes of this disclosure, a “wireless network” should be understood to couple client devices with a network. A wireless network may employ stand-alone ad-hoc networks, mesh networks, Wireless LAN (WLAN) networks, cellular networks, or the like. A wireless network may further employ a plurality of network access technologies, including Wi-Fi, LongTerm Evolution (LTE), WLAN, Wireless Router mesh, or 2nd, 3rd, 4thor 5thgeneration (2G, 3G, 4G or 5G) cellular technology, mobile edge computing (MEC), Bluetooth, 802.1 Ib / g / n, or the like. Network access technologies may enable wide area coverage for devices, such as client devices with varying degrees of mobility, for example.

[0024] In short, a wireless network may include virtually any type of wireless communication mechanism by which signals may be communicated between devices, such as a client device or a computing device, between or within a network, or the like.

[0025] A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing or storing signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may, therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as a server may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktop computers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combining various features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices, or the like.

[0026] For purposes of this disclosure, a client (or user, entity, subscriber or customer) device may include a computing device capable of sending or receiving signals, such as via a wired or a wireless network. A client device may, for example, include a desktop computer or a portable device, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a display pager, a radio frequency (RF) device, an infrared (IR) device a Near Field Communication (NFC) device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a laptop computer, a set top box, a wearable computer, smart watch, an integrated or distributed device combining various features, such as features of the forgoing devices, or the like.

[0027] A client device may vary in terms of capabilities or features. Claimed subject matter is intended to cover a wide range of potential variations, such as a web-enabled client device or previously mentioned devices may include a high-resolution screen (HD or 4K for example), one or more physical or virtual keyboards, mass storage, one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS) or other location-identifying type capability, or a display with a high degree of functionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display, for example.

[0028] Certain embodiments and principles will be discussed in more detail with reference to the figures. With reference to FIG. 1, system 100 is depicted which includes user equipment (UE) 102 (e.g., a client device, as mentioned above and discussed below in relation to FIG. 6), network 104, cloud system 106, database 108, appliance(s) 110 and testing and protection engine 200. It should be understood that while system 100 is depicted as including suchcomponents, it should not be construed as limiting, as one of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand that varying numbers of UEs, sensors, peripheral devices, cloud systems, databases, appliances, engines and networks can be utilized; however, for purposes of explanation, system 100 is discussed in relation to the example depiction in FIG. 1.

[0029] According to some embodiments, UE 102 can be any type of device, such as, but not limited to, a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, sensor, Internet of Things (loT) device, a router, modem, autonomous machine, and any other device equipped with a cellular or wireless or wired transceiver. In some embodiments, UE 102 can be an appliance 110, as discussed below.

[0030] In some embodiments, a peripheral device (not shown) can be connected to UE 102, and can be any type of peripheral device, such as, but not limited to, a wearable device (e.g., smart watch), printer, speaker, sensor, and the like. In some embodiments, a peripheral device can be any type of device that is connectable to UE 102 via any type of known or to be known pairing mechanism, including, but not limited to, WiFi, Bluetooth™, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NFC, and the like.

[0031] According to some embodiments, UE 102 can be and / or include a sensor that can be associated with a location of system 100. In some embodiments, such sensors can be, for example, but are not limited to, cameras, glass break detectors, motion detectors, door and window contacts, heat and smoke detectors, carbon monoxide (CO2) detectors, passive infrared (PIR) sensors, time-of-flight (ToF) sensors, and the like. In some embodiments, the sensors can be associated with devices associated with the location of system 100, such as, for example, lights, smart locks, garage doors, smart appliances (e.g., thermostat, refrigerator, television, personal assistants (e.g., Alexa®, Nest®, for example)), smart phones, smart watches or other wearables, tablets, personal computers, and the like, and some combination thereof. Thus, the sensors can be, wholly or in part, part of an loT sensor network. For example, the sensors can include the sensors on UE 102 (e.g., smart phone, a paired smart watch, and the like).

[0032] In some embodiments, such sensor or sensors can be associated with, included within and / or operate in connection with functionality related to appliance(s) 110. Accordingly, in some embodiments, appliance 110 can be any type of device and / or appliance that provides some form of functional operation at a location (e.g., a home) - for example, thermostat, lighting, security cameras, locks, washer / dryer, dishwasher, hot water heater, refrigerator, stove, oven, furnace, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system components, air conditioning (AC) system / components, pool filter, septic pump / system / valves, smoke detectors, and the like.

[0033] In some embodiments, network 104 can be any type of network, such as, but not limited to, a wireless network, cellular network, the Internet, and the like (as discussed above). Network 104 facilitates connectivity of the components of system 100, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0034] According to some embodiments, cloud system 106 may be any type of cloud operating platform and / or network based system upon which applications, operations, and / or other forms of network resources may be located. For example, system 106 may be a service provider and / or network provider from where services and / or applications may be accessed, sourced or executed from. For example, system 106 can represent the cloud-based architecture associated with a location monitoring and control system provider (e.g., Resideo®), which has associated network resources hosted on the internet or private network (e.g., network 104), which enables (via engine 200) the device / appliance integrity management discussed herein.

[0035] In some embodiments, cloud system 106 may include a server) s) and / or a database of information which is accessible over network 104. In some embodiments, a database 108 of cloud system 106 may store a dataset of data and metadata associated with local and / or network information related to a user(s) of the components of system 100 and / or each of the components of system 100 (e.g., UE, and the services and applications provided by cloud system 106 and / or testing and protection engine 200).

[0036] In some embodiments, for example, cloud system 106 can provide a private / proprietary management platform, whereby engine 200, discussed infra, corresponds to the novel functionality system 106 enables, hosts and provides to a network 104 and other devices / platforms operating thereon.

[0037] Turning to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in some embodiments, the exemplary computer-based systems / platforms, the exemplary computer-based devices, and / or the exemplary computer- based components of the present disclosure may be specifically configured to operate in a cloud computing / architecture 106 such as, but not limiting to: infrastructure as a service (laaS) 510, platform as a service (PaaS) 508, and / or software as a service (SaaS) 506 using a web browser, mobile app, thin client, terminal emulator or other endpoint 504. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrate schematics of non-limiting implementations of the cloud computing / architecture(s) in which the exemplary computer-based systems for administrative customizations and control of network-hosted application program interfaces (APIs) of the present disclosure may be specifically configured to operate.

[0038] Turning back to FIG. 1, according to some embodiments, database 108 may correspond to a data storage for a platform (e.g., a network hosted platform, such as cloud system 106, asdiscussed supra) or a plurality of platforms. Database 108 may receive storage instructions / requests from, for example, engine 200 (and associated microservices), which may be in any type of known or to be known format, such as, for example, standard query language (SQL). According to some embodiments, database 108 may correspond to any type of known or to be known storage, for example, a memory or memory stack of a device, a distributed ledger of a distributed network (e.g., blockchain, for example), a look-up table (LUT), and / or any other type of secure data repository

[0039] Testing and protection engine 200, as discussed above and further below in more detail, can include components for the disclosed functionality. According to some embodiments, testing and protection engine 200 may be a special purpose machine or processor, and can be hosted by a device on network 104, within cloud system 106, and / or on UE 102. In some embodiments, engine 200 may be hosted by a server and / or set of servers associated with cloud system 106.

[0040] According to some embodiments, as discussed in more detail below, testing and protection engine 200 may be configured to implement and / or control a plurality of services and / or microservices, where each of the plurality of services / microservices are configured to execute a plurality of workflows associated with performing the disclosed device / appliance integrity management. Non-limiting embodiments of such workflows are provided below in relation to at least FIG. 3.

[0041] According to some embodiments, as discussed above, testing and protection engine 200 may function as an application provided by cloud system 106. In some embodiments, engine 200 may function as an application installed on a server(s), network location and / or other type of network resource associated with system 106. In some embodiments, engine 200 may function as an application installed and / or executing on UE 102 and / or appliance 110. In some embodiments, such application may be a web-based application accessed by UE 102 and / or appliance 110 over network 104 from cloud system 106. In some embodiments, engine 200 may be configured and / or installed as an augmenting script, program or application (e.g., a plug-in or extension) to another application or program provided by cloud system 106 and / or executing on UE 102 and / or appliance 1 10.

[0042] As illustrated in FIG. 2, according to some embodiments, testing and protection engine 200 includes identification module 202, analysis module 204, determination module 206 and control module 208. It should be understood that the engine(s) and modules discussed herein are non-exhaustive, as additional or fewer engines and / or modules (or sub-modules) may beapplicable to the embodiments of the systems and methods discussed. More detail of the operations, configurations and functionalities of engine 200 and each of its modules, and their role within embodiments of the present disclosure will be discussed below.

[0043] Turning to FIG. 3, Process 300 provides non-limiting example embodiments for the disclosed device / appliance management framework. According to some embodiments, the disclosed framework, via engine 200, can enable devices / appliances at a location to adaptively modify their operations, configurations and functionalities to ensure the integrity (e.g., protect and / or ensure functionality) of the devices / appliances.

[0044] According to some embodiments, Steps 302-304 of Process 300 can be performed by identification module 202 of testing and protection engine 200; Steps 306 can be performed by analysis module 204; Steps 308 and 310 can be performed by determination module 206; and Steps 312-316 can be performed by control module 208.

[0045] It should be understood that while the discussion herein may be directed to a single appliance or set of appliance (e.g., appliance 110) at a location, it should not be construed as limiting, as the processing of the steps of Process 300 can be performed for any number of appliances (and / or devices) at a location, either simultaneously, substantially simultaneously, and / or in sequential manner, without departing from the scope of the instant disclosure.

[0046] According to some embodiments, Process 300 begins with Step 302 where engine 200 can identify an appliance. For example, as discussed supra, an appliance can be, but is not limited to, a thermostat, lighting, security cameras, locks, washer / dryer, dishwasher, hot water heater, refrigerator, stove, oven, furnace, heating, ventilation, HVAC system, AC unit, pool fdter, septic pump / system / valves, smoke detectors, and the like. Moreover, while the discussion herein may focus on a single appliance, it should not be construed as limiting, as it should be readily understood that the steps discussed herein can be implemented for a plurality of appliances, of different types, without departing from the scope of the instant disclosure.

[0047] According to some embodiments, Step 302 can involve identifying the runtime and / or triggering the runtime of the device. For example, an AC unit can be turned on and / or pinged (or connected to) to track its runtime statistics and / or data (and / or outputs). Accordingly, in some embodiments, Step 302 can involve identifying each component within the appliance, and identifying each components’ designated functions thereof.

[0048] In some embodiments, Step 302 can be tied to a specific time period, location and / or other criteria / event. For example, before an AC unit is turned on for the first time during a season (e.g., the first warm day in May in New York City), the steps of Process 300 can beexecuted. Thus, in some embodiments, engine 200 can determine a time corresponding to a weather season of a calendar, where the weather season can correspond to a geographic location of the location, and the activity of the appliance being monitored may be tied to such timing.

[0049] In Step 304, engine 200 can perform real-time surveillance of the appliance and / or each component’s functionality / status. As discussed herein, such monitoring enables engine 200 to monitor the health of the appliance and / or its components, detect failures, and seamlessly redirect operations to redundant components.

[0050] According to some embodiments, such monitoring can be performed, but not limited to, continuously, periodically and / or according to specific events (e.g., certain components being triggered within the appliance). For example, if the appliance is a washing machine, during the rinse cycle the monitoring can be continuous, but the monitoring for the spin cycle can be periodic (e.g., beginning and end). Thus, the monitoring can be tied to a type of component and / or activity of the components / appliance.

[0051] Accordingly, in Step 304, based on the monitoring, engine 200 can collect data, inclusive of measurements, statistics and / or metrics, related to, but not limited to. runtime, voltage, current, output, input, duration, errors, faults, and the like, or some combination thereof. Such collected, therefore, can indicate operational status and / or activities being performed by the appliance and / or each of its components, and such data can be stored in database 108, as discussed supra.

[0052] In Step 306, engine 200 can analyze the collected data. Such analysis can be performed via engine 200 executing any type of known or to be known computational analysis technique, algorithm, mechanism or technology.

[0053] In some embodiments, engine 200 may include a specific trained artificial intelligence / machine learning model (AI / ML). a particular machine learning model architecture, a particular machine learning model type (e.g., convolutional neural network (CNN), recunent neural network (RNN), autoencoder, support vector machine (SVM), and the like), or any other suitable definition of a machine learning model or any suitable combination thereof.

[0054] In some embodiments, engine 200 may be configured to utilize one or more AI / ML techniques chosen from, but not limited to, computer vision, feature vector analysis, decision trees, boosting, support-vector machines, neural networks, nearest neighbor algorithms, Naive Bayes, bagging, random forests, logistic regression, and the like.

[0055] In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, a neural network technique may be one of. without limitation, feedforwardneural network, radial basis function network, recurrent neural network, convolutional network (e.g.. U-net) or other suitable network. In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, an implementation of Neural Network may be executed as follows: a. define N eural N et work architecture / model , b. transfer the input data to the neural network model, c. train the model incrementally, d. determine the accuracy for a specific number of timesteps, e. apply the trained model to process the newly -received input data, f. optionally and in parallel, continue to train the trained model with a predetermined periodicity.

[0056] In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, the trained neural network model may specify a neural network by at least a neural network topology, a series of activation functions, and connection weights. For example, the topology of a neural network may include a configuration of nodes of the neural network and connections between such nodes. In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, the trained neural network model may also be specified to include other parameters, including but not limited to, bias values / functions and / or aggregation functions. For example, an activation function of a node may be a step function, sine function, continuous or piecewise linear function, sigmoid function, hyperbolic tangent function, or other type of mathematical function that represents a threshold at which the node is activated. In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, the aggregation function may be a mathematical function that combines (e.g., sum, product, and the like) input signals to the node. In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, an output of the aggregation function may be used as input to the activation function. In some embodiments and, optionally, in combination of any embodiment described above or below, the bias may be a constant value or function that may be used by the aggregation function and / or the activation function to make the node more or less likely to be activated.

[0057] Accordingly, based on the analysis, engine 200 can determine whether an error / fault was detected in relation to the functionality of the appliance (e.g., as a whole and / or per component of the appliance), as in Step 308. When no errors, faults or malfunctions aredetected, processing can proceed back to Step 304 for continued monitoring of the operations of the appliance.

[0058] When at least one error, fault or malfunction is detected (and / or a component or the appliance as a whole is not operating at a status at least satisfying threshold values (e.g., as tied to manufacturers standards, for example)), processing can proceed from Step 308 to Step 310.

[0059] In Step 310, engine 200 can determine which components (or sub-parts, used interchangeably) are related to the determined error, fault or malfunction (from Step 308). Engine 200 can further operate to identify another component that is capable of performing the same or similar functionality' of the determined component related to the error, fault or malfunction. Such other component can be referred to and / or understood as a redundant component.

[0060] In Step 312, engine 200 can operate to turn off the component related to the error, fault or malfunction; and in Step 314, engine 200 can redirect power and resources (away from the failed component and) to the redundant component. In some embodiments. Step 314 can involve a quality status check to determine and / or verify that the redundant component can perform the functionality to at least the threshold value, as discussed supra.

[0061] In some embodiments, Step 312 and Step 314 can be performed sequentially, in either order, and / or simultaneously (or substantially-simultaneously).

[0062] And in Step 316, engine 200 can compile and communicate an electronic message that can be displayed that includes information related to the appliance / component(s) failure, the activity7involved in the failure and / or the redundant component’s operation.

[0063] Accordingly, as discussed herein, the disclosed framework can intelligently identify, isolate and replace malfunctioning components of appliances, thereby ensuring uninterrupted operation. The disclosed framework can leverage real-time monitoring, redundancy7utilization and a systematic approach to seamlessly transition between components to enhance appliance reliability7and reduce appliance downtime.

[0064] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a client device showing an example embodiment of a client device that may be used within the present disclosure. Client device 600 may include many more or less components than those shown in FIG. 6. However, the components shown are sufficient to disclose an illustrative embodiment for implementing the present disclosure. Client device 600 may represent, for example, UE 102 discussed above at least in relation to FIG. 1.

[0065] As shown in the figure, in some embodiments. Client device 600 includes a processing unit (CPU) 622 in communication with a mass memory 630 via a bus 624. Client device 600 also includes a power supply 626, one or more network interfaces 650, an audio interface 652, a display 654, a keypad 656, an illuminator 658, an input / output interface 660, a haptic interface 662, an optional global positioning systems (GPS) receiver 664 and a camera(s) or other optical, thermal or electromagnetic sensors 666. Device 600 can include one camera / sensor 666, or a plurality of cameras / sensors 666, as understood by those of skill in the art. Power supply 626 provides power to Client device 600.

[0066] Client device 600 may optionally communicate with a base station (not shown), or directly with another computing device. In some embodiments, network interface 650 is sometimes known as a transceiver, transceiving device, or network interface card (NIC).

[0067] Audio interface 652 is arranged to produce and receive audio signals such as the sound of a human voice in some embodiments. Display 654 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), gas plasma, light emitting diode (LED), or any other ty pe of display used with a computing device. Display 654 may also include a touch sensitive screen arranged to receive input from an object such as a stylus or a digit from a human hand.

[0068] Keypad 656 may include any input device arranged to receive input from a user. Illuminator 658 may provide a status indication and / or provide light.

[0069] Client device 600 also includes input / output interface 660 for communicating with external. Input / output interface 660 can utilize one or more communication technologies, such as USB, infrared, Bluetooth™, or the like in some embodiments. Haptic interface 662 is arranged to provide tactile feedback to a user of the client device.

[0070] Optional GPS transceiver 664 can determine the physical coordinates of Client device 600 on the surface of the Earth, which typically outputs a location as latitude and longitude values. GPS transceiver 664 can also employ other geo-positioning mechanisms, including, but not limited to, triangulation, assisted GPS (AGPS), E-OTD, CI, SAI, ETA, BSS or the like, to further determine the physical location of client device 600 on the surface of the Earth. In one embodiment, however, Client device 600 may through other components, provide other information that may be employed to determine a physical location of the device, including for example, a MAC address, Internet Protocol (IP) address, or the like.

[0071] Mass memory7630 includes a RAM 632, a ROM 634, and other storage means. Mass memory 630 illustrates another example of computer storage media for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Massmemory 630 stores a basic input / output system (“BIOS”) 640 for controlling low-level operation of Client device 600. The mass memory also stores an operating system 641 for controlling the operation of Client device 600.

[0072] Memory 630 further includes one or more data stores, which can be utilized by Client device 600 to store, among other things, applications 642 and / or other information or data. For example, data stores may be employed to store information that describes various capabilities of Client device 600. The information may then be provided to another device based on any of a variety of events, including being sent as part of a header (e.g., index file of the HLS stream) during a communication, sent upon request, or the like. At least a portion of the capability7information may also be stored on a disk drive or other storage medium (not shown) within Client device 600.

[0073] Applications 642 may include computer executable instructions which, when executed by Client device 600, transmit, receive, and / or otherwise process audio, video, images, and enable telecommunication with a server and / or another user of another client device. Applications 642 may further include a client that is configured to send, to receive, and / or to otherwise process gaming, goods / services and / or other forms of data, messages and content hosted and provided by the platform associated with engine 200 and its affiliates.

[0074] As used herein, the terms “computer engine” and “engine” identify at least one softw are component and / or a combination of at least one software component and at least one hardware component which are designed / programmed / configured to manage / control other software and / or hardware components (such as the libraries, software development kits (SDKs), objects, and the like).

[0075] Examples of hardware elements may include processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.. transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth. In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be implemented as a Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) or Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processors; x86 instruction set compatible processors, multi-core, or any other microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU). In various implementations, the one or more processors may be dual-core processor(s), dual-core mobile processor(s), and so forth.

[0076] Computer-related systems, computer systems, and systems, as used herein, include any combination of hardware and software. Examples of software may include software components, programs, applications, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, API, instruction sets, computer code, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware elements and / or software elements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints.

[0077] For the purposes of this disclosure a module is a software, hardware, or firmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or functionality', or component thereof, that performs or facilitates the processes, features, and / or functions described herein (with or without human interaction or augmentation). A module can include sub-modules. Software components of a module may be stored on a computer readable medium for execution by a processor. Modules may be integral to one or more servers, or be loaded and executed by one or more servers. One or more modules may be grouped into an engine or an application.

[0078] One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented by representative instructions stored on a machine-readable medium which represents various logic within the processor, which when read by a machine causes the machine to fabricate logic to perform the techniques described herein. Such representations, known as “IP cores,” may be stored on a tangible, machine readable medium and supplied to various customers or manufacturing facilities to load into the fabrication machines that make the logic or processor. Of note, various embodiments described herein may, of course, be implemented using any appropriate hardware and / or computing software languages (e.g., C++, Objective-C, Swift, Java, JavaScript, Python, Perl, QT, and the like).

[0079] For example, exemplary software specifically programmed in accordance with one or more principles of the present disclosure may be downloadable from a network, for example, a website, as a stand-alone product or as an add-in package for installation in an existing softw are application. For example, exemplary software specifically programmed in accordance with one or more principles of the present disclosure may also be available as a client-server software application, or as a web-enabled software application. For example, exemplarysoftware specifically programmed in accordance with one or more principles of the present disclosure may also be embodied as a software package installed on a hardware device.

[0080] For the purposes of this disclosure the term “user”, “subscriber” “consumer” or “customer” should be understood to refer to a user of an application or applications as described herein and / or a consumer of data supplied by a data provider. By way of example, and not limitation, the term “user” or “subscriber” can refer to a person who receives data provided by the data or service provider over the Internet in a browser session, or can refer to an automated software application which receives the data and stores or processes the data. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems of the present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as such are not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments and examples. In other words, functional elements being performed by single or multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and software or firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among software applications at either the client level or server level or both. In this regard, any number of the features of the different embodiments described herein may be combined into single or multiple embodiments, and alternate embodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of the features described herein are possible.

[0081] Functionality may also be, in whole or in part, distributed among multiple components, in manners now known or to become known. Thus, myriad software / hardware / firmware combinations are possible in achieving the functions, features, interfaces and preferences described herein. Moreover, the scope of the present disclosure covers conventionally known manners for carrying out the described features and functions and interfaces, as well as those variations and modifications that may be made to the hardware or software or firmware components described herein as would be understood by those skilled in the art now7and hereafter.

[0082] Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented and described as flow charts in this disclosure are provided by way of example in order to provide a more complete understanding of the technology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations and logical flow presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplated in which the order of the vanous operations is altered and in which sub-operations described as being part of a larger operation are performed independently.

[0083] While various embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, such embodiments should not be deemed to limit the teaching of this disclosure to those embodiments. Various changes and modifications may be made to the elements and operationsdescribed above to obtain a result that remains within the scope of the systems and processes described in this disclosure.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: monitoring, over a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, via an application, activity related to a device at a location, the device functioning to provide a service associated with a climate control system managing an environment for the location; analyzing, via the application, activity data related to the functioning of the device; determining, via the application, based on the analysis, at least one error related to the functioning of the device; identifying, via the application, based on the at least one error, a sub-part of the device, the sub-part exhibiting a malfunction causing the at least one error; and turning off, via the application, the identified sub-part, such that at least a portion of the device is halted from operating.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, based at least on a type of the functioning of the sub-part and the at least one error, another sub-part of the device; and turning on the other sub-part, wherein the other subpart enables continued functioning of the device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the other sub-part corresponds to functionality7of the device that relates to the functioning of the device, such that the climate control system is enabled to continue operation for at least a time period.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: rerouting resources from the identified sub-part to the other sub-part, the rerouting of resources enabling the continued functioning of the device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: compiling an electronic message comprising information related to at least one of the functioning of the device, the identified sub-part and the at least one error; and communicating, via the WiFi network, the electronic message to a user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one fault corresponds to the subpart of the device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a furnace associated with the climate control system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device is an air conditioning unit associated with the climate control system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is executed via a thermostat associated with the climate control system.

10. The method of claim 1. further comprising: determining a time corresponding to a weather season of a calendar, the weather season corresponding to a geographic location of the location, wherein the activity of the device is based on the determined time.

11. A system comprising: a processor configured to: monitor, over a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, via an application, activity related to a device at a location, the device functioning to provide a sendee associated with a climate control system managing an environment for the location; analyze, via the application, activity data related to the functioning of the device; determine, via the application, based on the analysis, at least one error related to the functioning of the device; identify, via the application, based on the at least one error, a sub-part of the device, the sub-part exhibiting a malfunction causing the at least one error; and turn off, via the application, the identified sub-part, such that at least a portion of the device is halted from operating.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:determine, based at least on a ty pe of the functioning of the sub-part and the at least one error, another sub-part of the device; and turn on the other sub-part, wherein the other subpart enables continued functioning of the device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the other sub-part corresponds to functionality of the device that relates to the functioning of the device, such that the climate control system is enabled to continue operation for at least a time period.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: reroute resources from the identified sub-part to the other sub-part, the rerouting of resources enabling the continued functioning of the device.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a time corresponding to a weather season of a calendar, the weather season corresponding to a geographic location of the location, wherein the activity7of the device is based on the determined time.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded yvith computer-executable instructions that when executed by a device, perform a method comprising: monitoring, over a yvireless fidelity7(WiFi) network, via an application, activity related to a device at a location, the device functioning to provide a service associated yvith a climate control system managing an environment for the location; analyzing, via the application, activity data related to the functioning of the device; determining, via the application, based on the analysis, at least one error related to the functioning of the device; identifying, via the application, based on the at least one error, a sub-part of the device, the sub-part exhibiting a malfunction causing the at least one error; and turning off, via the application, the identified sub-part, such that at least a portion of the device is halted from operating.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising: determining, based at least on a type of the functioning of the sub-part and the at least one error, another sub-part of the device; and turning on the other sub-part, wherein the other subpart enables continued functioning of the device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the other sub-part corresponds to functionality of the device that relates to the functioning of the device, such that the climate control system is enabled to continue operation for at least a time period.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising: rerouting resources from the identified sub-part to the other sub-part, the rerouting of resources enabling the continued functioning of the device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, further comprising: determining a time corresponding to a weather season of a calendar, the weather season corresponding to a geographic location of the location, wherein the activity7of the device is based on the determined time.

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