Granted Patent B2

US 8,396,602 · App. 13/089,817 · Granted Mar 12, 2013

Inventors: Kevin R. Imes (Austin, TX); James Hollister (Round Rock, TX)

Assignee: Allure Energy, Inc.

Abstract

Claims (127)

1. A method of managing energy use of a site comprising:

accessing a first energy network using a first security level;

acquiring network device data from a first network device joined to the first energy network;

detecting an availability of a second energy network wherein the second energy network is different than the first energy network;

accessing the second energy network using a second security level wherein the second security level is different than the first security level;

detecting a second network device joined to the second energy network;

acquiring network device data from the second network device using the second energy network;

wherein the acquiring further includes acquiring one of the first and second network device data using the corresponding energy network configured as a ZigBee wireless network and wherein the network device data includes ZigBee profile data of the network device;

translating the first and second network device data into first and second device report data;

detecting an interval to generate a site report of the energy networks; generating a site report including the first and second site report data;

establishing a connection between a wireless controller and a network location capable of providing access to at least a first control action;

detecting an availability of the first control action;

receiving the first control action that includes XML formatted control action data at the wireless controller;

detecting a first control action data within the XML formatted control action data to be used by the first network device;

processing XML formatted control action data into Java based objects, wherein the Java based objects are generated using ZigBee profile device data of the first network device;

translating the Java based objects to a first ZigBee network device data, wherein the first ZigBee network device data includes a first network device identifier, a ZigBee channel identifier, and the first control action; and

outputting the first ZigBee network device data to the first energy network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting an interval to generate the site report of the first and second energy network;

detecting an updated interval to generate the site report, wherein the updated interval is determined in response to a detection of a location reporting device being at a distance from the site using one of the energy networks;

wherein the generating includes generating the site report using the updated interval; and

wherein the acquiring includes acquiring the network device data using a device reporting interval, wherein the device reporting interval is greater than the updated interval.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating the site report using a wireless controller located at the site;

connecting to a server accessible to the wireless controller, wherein the connecting is initiated by the wireless controller and establishes a secure network connection between the wireless controller and the server;

initiating a request to transfer the site report to the server;

receiving a response from the server to initiate a communication including the site report;

detecting if at least one control action is available at the server;

requesting the control action be communicated from the server to the wireless controller;

receiving at least one control action from the server to the wireless controller using the secure network connection; and

disconnecting the wireless controller and the server.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

connecting the wireless controller to a network location when a site report may not be available;

detecting multiple control actions available;

detecting an update availability;

enabling receipt of the multiple control actions from the network location during the connection; and

enabling receipt of the update from the network location during the connection.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

translating the first and second network device data into first and second device report data comprised of at least one Java based object;

translating the first and second device report data comprised of the Java based object into first and second site report data comprised of XML formatted data; and

wherein the generating includes generating an XML formatted site report including the XML formatted device data.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) enabled smart metering device;

acquiring AMI enabled smart meter data; and

generating the site report including the acquired AMI enabled smart meter data.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the site report at a network location having a site report processor;

processing the site report to detect a site data and the first and second network device data;

accessing the site data;

accessing the first and second network device data;

detecting a ZigBee control action using the first and second network device data;

detecting if the ZigBee control action should be used in response to processing the site report;

generating Zigbee control action device data to be used with at least one of the network devices in response to detecting the ZigBee control action should be used;

generating a control action report that includes the ZigBee control action device data; and

queuing the control action report to be communicated to a site using at least one of the network devices.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a second control action to be communicated to the second network device;

processing XML formatted control data of the second control action into Java based objects, wherein the Java based objects are generated using a second ZigBee profile device data of the second network device;

translating the Java based objects to a second ZigBee network data, wherein the second ZigBee network device data includes a second network device identifier, the ZigBee channel identifier, and a second control action; and

outputting the second ZigBee network device data to the second energy network.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a second control action data within the XML formatted control action data to be used by the second network device;

processing the XML formatted control action data into Java based objects, wherein the Java based objects are generated using a ZigBee profile device data of the second network device;

translating the Java based objects to a second ZigBee network data, wherein the second ZigBee network device data includes a second network device identifier and a second ZigBee channel identifier, and a second control action; and

outputting the second ZigBee network device data to the second energy network.

10. An energy management system comprising:

a energy network communication device configured to communicate with a first energy network and a second energy network, wherein the first energy network is different than the second energy network;

a processor capable of being operably coupled to the energy network communication device, wherein the processor is configured to:

access the first energy network using a first security level;

acquire a first network device data from a first network device joined to the first energy network;

access the second energy network using a second security level, wherein the second security level is different than the first security level;

acquire a second network device data from a second network device joined to the second energy network;

translate the first and second network device data into first and second device report data;

detect an interval to generate a site report of the energy networks; and

generate a site report including the first and second site report data; and

a wireless controller that includes:

the processor;

the energy network communication device; and

an information network communication device capable of establishing a connection between the wireless controller and a network location capable of providing access to at least a first control action; and

wherein the wireless controller is further configured to:

detect an availability of the first control action;

receive the first control action that includes an XML formatted control action data;

detect a first control action data within the XML formatted control action data to be used by the first network device;

process XML formatted control action data into Java based objects, wherein the Java based objects are generated using ZigBee profile device data of the first network device;

translate the Java based objects to a first ZigBee network device data, wherein the first ZigBee network device data includes a first network device identifier, a ZigBee channel identifier, and the first control action; and

output the first ZigBee network device data to the first energy network.

11. The energy management system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

translate the first and second network device data into first and second device report data comprised of at least one Java based object;

translate the first and second device report data comprised of the Java based object into first and second site report data comprised of XML formatted data; and

wherein the generating includes generating an XML formatted site report including the XML formatted device data.

12. The energy management system of claim 10 , wherein the wireless controller is further configured to:

detect a second control action data within the XML formatted control action data to be used by the second network device;

process the XML formatted control action data into Java based objects, wherein the Java based objects are generated using a ZigBee profile device data of the second network device;

translate the Java based objects to a second ZigBee network device data, wherein the second ZigBee network device data includes a second network device identifier, a second ZigBee channel identifier, and a second control action; and

output the second ZigBee network device data to the second energy network.

13. The energy management system of claim 10 , wherein the wireless controller is further configured to:

detect a second control action to be communicated to the second network device;

process XML formatted control data of the second control action into Java based objects, wherein the Java based objects are generated using a second ZigBee profile device data of the second network device;

translate the Java based objects to a second ZigBee network device data, wherein the second ZigBee network device data includes a second network device identifier, the ZigBee channel identifier, and a second control action; and

output the second ZigBee network device data to the second energy network.

14. The energy management system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect an interval to generate the site report of the energy networks;

detect an updated interval to generate the site report, wherein the updated interval is determined in response to a detection of a location reporting device being at a distance from a site using at least one of the energy networks;

generate the site report using the updated interval; and

acquire the first and second network device data using a device reporting interval, wherein the device reporting interval is greater than the updated interval.

15. The energy management system of claim 10 , further comprising:

wherein the energy network communication device is further configured to:

detect an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) enabled smart metering device;

acquire AMI enabled smart meter data; and

wherein the processor is further configured to generate the site report including the acquired AMI enabled smart meter data.

16. The energy management system of claim 10 , further comprising:

a network location including resources configured to receive the site report at a network location; and

a site report processor configured to:

process the site report to detect a site data and the first and second network device data;

access the site data;

access the first and second network device data;

detect a ZigBee control action using the first and second network device data;

detect if the ZigBee control action should be used in response to processing the site report;

generate Zigbee control action device data to be used with at least one of the network devices in response to detecting the ZigBee control action should be used;

generate a control action report that includes the ZigBee control action device data; and

queue the control action report to be communicated to a site having the network devices.

17. The energy management system of claim 10 , further comprising:

wherein the energy network communication device is further configured to acquire one of the first and second network device data using the corresponding energy network configured as a ZigBee wireless network;

wherein the processor is further configured to:

process the network device data into at least one Java based object, wherein the Java based object uses ZigBee profile data of the corresponding network device;

use the Java based object to output the network device data as XML formatted device data; and

generate an XML formatted site report including the XML formatted device data.

Assignments (4)

Continuity (13)