Smart Home Router Mediation for Cross-Platform Device Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart home systems face challenges in integrating devices from different manufacturers due to compatibility issues, leading to limited automation and difficulty in implementing a unified smart home solution.
Innovation Solution
A router device equipped with software that gathers information from client devices on a WLAN, uses Wi-Fi motion detection to sense movement, and sends this information to remote servers for processing. The device then receives instructions from these servers to coordinate actions across different client devices, regardless of their manufacturer or platform.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If devices from different manufacturers are integrated into a smart home system, then adaptability and versatility improve, but device complexity and compatibility issues increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary component that mediates communication between devices from different manufacturers. The gateway translates device identifiers and operational parameters between different protocols and platforms, enabling heterogeneous devices to interact without direct integration complexity. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by centralizing compatibility handling in a dedicated component rather than requiring complex peer-to-peer integration across all device pairs.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device performs multiple functions including device identification, protocol translation, automation rule execution, and cloud communication. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single universal device, the system achieves high adaptability across multiple device types and manufacturers without proportionally increasing overall system complexity. The gateway's multi-functionality allows it to handle various device protocols and communication standards through a single platform.
2Loss of time
If device information gathering and processing is performed locally, then response time improves, but loss of information increases due to limited processing capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the information processing workload between local and remote components. The gateway device locally processes time-sensitive tasks such as device identifier translation and immediate automation rule evaluation, while cloud-based servers handle computationally intensive tasks like comprehensive device profiling, automation scenario generation, and historical data analysis. This segmentation allows critical time-sensitive operations to be performed locally without information loss, while leveraging cloud resources for complete information processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary device registration and information gathering in advance, storing device identifiers, types, and capabilities in local databases at the gateway. This preliminary action enables the gateway to quickly process subsequent device communications without needing to query external sources each time, reducing processing time while maintaining information completeness through pre-cached device profiles.
3Measurement precision
If cloud-based processing is used for device information, then measurement precision improves, but loss of time increases due to network communication
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary device registration and information gathering in advance, storing device identifiers, types, and capabilities in local databases at the gateway. This preliminary action enables the gateway to quickly process subsequent device communications without needing to query external sources each time, reducing processing time while maintaining information completeness through pre-cached device profiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by caching frequently accessed device identification information and translation rules at the gateway device. This local storage allows the gateway to perform rapid device identifier translation and protocol mapping without continuous cloud communication, achieving both high measurement precision through accurate local data and low communication delay through reduced network trips. The gateway maintains locally optimized data structures for quick lookup and processing.
Data Source
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AI summary
A router device for matching operations of client devices hosted on a network with contextual automations gathers device information from client devices that are connected to the router device via a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the client devices include a user device and one or more other devices, sends the device information collected from the client devices to a first remote server, receives device identification information of the client devices from the first remote server based on the device information, respectively, sends the device identification information of the client devices to a second remote server, receives a list of condition-based automations (CBAs) that are available and applicable for one or more of the client devices from the second remote server based on the device identification information, and sends the list of CBAs to the user device for presentation via a display.