Home Automation Resource Mapping for Scalable Distributed Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing home automation systems face challenges with complexity and inflexibility in installation and maintenance, limited scalability, high latency, and inability to upgrade or add new functionalities without significant rewiring or replacing the central control unit.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for configuring and maintaining home automation systems using a configuration device that automatically establishes links between communicating elements through a hierarchical communication network, allowing for distributed logical units and flexible resource management, enabling efficient management of multiple devices and easy upgrade of functionalities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If equipment is connected via dedicated wired links to a control unit, then control reliability is improved, but system complexity and installation cost increase due to rewiring requirements for any modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical wired connection system with a wireless communication system. Equipment communicates with the control unit via wireless signals instead of physical cables, eliminating the need for rewiring during system modifications while maintaining reliable control. This substitution resolves the contradiction by removing the mechanical constraint that caused both reliability issues and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic reconfigurability to the system architecture. The control system can dynamically add, remove, or modify equipment connections without physical rewiring. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt to changing requirements while maintaining control reliability, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and complexity.
2Ease of manufacture
If equipment is connected to a common data bus, then installation complexity is reduced, but network configuration complexity and addressing limitations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service through automatic device discovery and configuration. When equipment connects to the wireless network, the control unit automatically detects the new device, assigns appropriate addressing, and configures communication parameters without manual intervention. This eliminates the network configuration complexity while maintaining installation ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the addressing parameters from fixed limited addresses (as in traditional bus systems) to dynamic wireless identifiers that can accommodate unlimited devices. The system automatically manages address allocation and conflict resolution, reducing configuration complexity while supporting large-scale deployments.
3Device complexity
If a centralized control unit manages all commands, then system control is simplified, but latency increases due to centralized processing bottlenecks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized control functions into distributed control nodes. Instead of all commands passing through a single control unit, the system divides control responsibilities across multiple distributed nodes that can process commands locally. This segmentation reduces the processing bottleneck and latency while maintaining simplified control through standardized protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimensional approach by implementing a hierarchical control architecture with multiple levels. Rather than a single centralized point, control operations can occur at different hierarchical levels simultaneously, adding a dimensional aspect to command processing that reduces latency while preserving control simplicity through structured organization.
4Ease of manufacture
If the system uses a fixed architecture with limited addressing capabilities, then initial installation is straightforward, but scalability is limited to a maximum number of devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal addressing scheme that can accommodate any number of devices. The wireless communication protocol uses flexible addressing mechanisms that grow with the system, allowing the same basic architecture to support from a single device to thousands of devices without requiring architectural changes. This universality maintains installation ease while enabling unlimited scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic scalability to the system architecture. The network can dynamically accommodate new devices being added or removed without reconfiguration. The addressing and routing protocols automatically adapt to changing network topology, allowing the system to scale from small to large deployments while maintaining straightforward installation procedures.
Data Source
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AI summary
This method for configuring a home-automation system (4) for a building comprises a plurality of communicating elements (6, 8, 10, 22, 24) so as to perform a plurality of home-automation functions and a communication network (14) to which the communicating elements are connected, each communicating element comprising a network interface possessing a network address and implementing one or more software objects modelling this communicating element in the form of resources of at least three types: input, output and logic unit. The method comprises steps of: - discovering the various communicating elements of the communication network, - mapping, in the communication network, the resources that each communicating element discovered offers, - programming the home-automation functions of the home-automation system while taking account of the mapping of the resources in the communication network.