Load Control Gateway for Cross-Environment Message Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current load control systems lack efficient communication and control mechanisms to manage and integrate various electrical loads across different environments, such as homes and buildings, making it difficult to coordinate and automate the control of lighting, HVAC, and other electrical systems.
Innovation Solution
A system is configured to maintain a database that stores entries for multiple load control systems, allowing them to communicate messages and associate values with identifiers, enabling network devices to request and receive messages from specific load control systems through message brokers using HTTP or MQTT interfaces, facilitating centralized control and automation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If load control systems operate independently in different environments, then each system can be managed separately, but integration and coordination between systems become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between load control systems and network devices. The gateway translates messages between different protocols and formats, enabling seamless communication between independently operated load control systems and external network devices without requiring direct integration between all systems
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device performs multiple functions including message translation, protocol conversion, data formatting, and coordination between different systems. This multi-functional approach allows a single device to handle integration across multiple load control systems rather than requiring dedicated integration mechanisms for each system pair
2Ease of operation
If a centralized database stores information for multiple load control systems, then communication and control are streamlined, but data management and system coordination become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The database is segmented into separate data structures for different load control systems, with each system having its own dedicated data fields and message formats. This segmentation allows independent management of each system's data while maintaining centralized storage, reducing the complexity of data management compared to a fully integrated database structure
3Adaptability or versatility
If load control systems use different communication protocols, then each system can operate independently, but interoperability between systems is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway acts as a protocol translation intermediary, converting messages from different communication protocols into a standardized internal format and then translating them into the appropriate protocol for the target system. This eliminates the need for direct protocol compatibility between all systems while maintaining independent operation
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring load control systems to adapt to each other's protocols, the gateway inverts the approach by having all systems communicate with the gateway using their native protocols, and the gateway handles the protocol conversion. This reduces the complexity burden from the load control systems themselves
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for communicating with and controlling load control systems of respective user environments from locations that are remote from the user environments.