Device-Type Handlers for Remote Smart Device Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart home technologies require complex knowledge of networking, server management, and network security to implement Internet controllable devices, making them difficult for average users to monitor and control remotely.
Innovation Solution
A web-based device automation system that includes a central server and a hub, allowing everyday objects to be connected to the Internet for remote monitoring and control, with a distributed control scheme that enables event handlers to be executed on either the central server or the hub, optimizing resource utilization and responsiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If devices implement full network communication capabilities for remote control and monitoring, then Internet controllability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hub as an intermediary device that handles network communication and protocol translation. The hub acts as a mediator between the simple local devices and the complex Internet networking infrastructure, allowing devices to remain simple while still enabling remote control and monitoring through the hub's networking capabilities.
2Speed
If distributed control scheme is implemented to execute event handlers on hub or central server, then responsiveness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control system into multiple components: local event handlers on the hub for immediate responsiveness, and central server for centralized management. This segmentation allows critical time-sensitive operations to be handled locally while maintaining overall system coordination, improving responsiveness without requiring complete decentralization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by allowing the hub to execute event handlers locally for time-critical responses, while the central server handles less time-sensitive tasks. This creates different levels of processing quality in different parts of the system, with local processing providing fast response and central processing providing coordinated control.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for providing automatic control of one or more devices in an environment including assessing information for the devices being paired with a hub or with a central server where the hub and the central server are configured to receive status messages from the devices and to issue commands to the devices; determining device-type handlers to use with the devices; installing the device-type handlers at the hub or the central server; installing an automation application on the hub or on the central server where the automation application responds to an event and issuing a command in response to the event; receiving a device-specific message from a source device at the hub or the central server; generating, using a device-type handler associated with the source device, a normalized event message; and providing the normalized event message to a processor in the hub or the central server.