Remotely controlling appliances based on lighting patterns

1. A method comprising:

establishing, by a processor, a communication channel with an appliance controller of a premises;

requesting a list of appliances controlled by the appliance controller;

receiving, by the processor, the list of appliances from the appliance controller;

sending a control request to the appliance controller, wherein the request includes a code for the controller to generate specific lighting patterns for each of the listed appliances;

collecting, with a video camera coupled to the processor, a series of images of the lighting patterns of appliances in a field of view of the camera in communication with the processor;

sampling a portion of each image of the series of images to identify a specific light pattern from the collected series of images as being emitted by an appliance, the portion comprising no more than a number of pixels selected based on a total number of appliances of the list of appliances;

correlating the specific light pattern to a specific appliance from the list of appliances; in response to the correlation of the light pattern to a specific appliance in the list of appliances, presenting an indication in a user interface for each of the specific appliances that the specific appliance was successfully correlated;

upon selection of a presented indication for the specific appliance, presenting in the user interface a list of control parameters for controlling the operation of the selected appliance.

2. A method, comprising:

establishing, by a processor, communication with an appliance controller; requesting a list of appliances controlled by the appliance controller;

receiving, by the processor, the list of appliances from the appliance controller;

sending a control request to the appliance controller;

collecting a series of images of lighting patterns of a first appliance in the list of appliances in a field of view of a camera in communication with the processor,

sampling a portion of each image of the series of images to identify a specific light pattern from the collected series of images as being emitted by an appliance, the portion comprising no more than a number of pixels selected based on a total number of appliances of the list of appliances; and

correlating the specific light pattern to the first appliance.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

in response to the correlation of the light pattern to a specific appliance in the list of appliances, presenting an indication in a user interface for each of the specific appliances that the specific appliance was successfully correlated; and

upon selection of a presented indication for the specific appliance, presenting in the user interface a list of control parameters for controlling the operation of the selected appliance.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: transmitting a control parameter to the controller.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control request includes a code for the controller to generate specific lighting patterns for each of the listed appliances.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the list of appliances includes appliances that have lighting elements, and a unique lighting pattern assigned to each appliance that uniquely identifies the appliance.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the specific lighting patterns include flickering lights, dimming lights, or combinations of both.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identifying further comprising:

recognizing, by the processor, in the collected series of images an unique lighting pattern of flickering lights, dimming lights, or both;

matching the recognized pattern to a unique lighting pattern assigned to the specific appliance.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control request includes commands indicating a unique lighting pattern, and the unique lighting pattern includes multiple lights that flicker or dim in unison.

10. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control request includes commands indicating a unique lighting pattern, and the unique lighting pattern includes multiple lights that flicker and dim individually to form the unique lighting pattern.

11. The method of claim 2 , wherein the series of images are collected with a video camera coupled to the processor.

12. The method of claim 2 , wherein the appliance is at least one of a light bulb, a lighting fixture, a refrigerator, a freezer, an oven, a range, a coffee maker, a digital video recorder, a television, a garage door opener, or an audio system.

13. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, an input command to control the first appliance.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

generating, in response to the input command, a control command to change a state of the first appliance from a first state to a second state.

15. The method of claim 2 , wherein the control request comprises an instruction for the first appliance to generate a lighting pattern at a rate above 60 Hz.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a camera;

a transceiver for sending and receiving signals to a home automation network; and a processor configured to:

establish communication with an appliance controller in the home automation network via the transceiver;

request from the appliance controller in the home automation network a list of appliances controlled by an appliance controller;

receive the list of appliances from the appliance controller;

send a control request to the appliance controller;

actuate the camera;

collect a series of images of lighting patterns generated in response to the control request of a first appliance in the list of appliances in the field of view of the camera;

sample a portion of each image of the series of images to identify a specific light pattern from the collected series of images as being emitted by an appliance, the portion comprising no more than a number of pixels selected based on a total number of appliances of the list of appliances; and

correlate the specific light pattern to the first appliance.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a control request, wherein the control request includes illumination commands for illuminating lights on the first appliance.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the illumination command includes commands for illuminating the lights on the first appliance in a specific light pattern unique to the first appliance.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to drive the camera at a higher frame rate than required for traditional image capture.

20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to identify a specific light pattern by:

recognizing in the collected series of images a unique lighting pattern of flickering lights, dimming lights, or both; and

matching the recognized pattern to a unique lighting pattern assigned to the specific appliance.

21. The apparatus of claim 16 , the list of appliances includes appliances that have lighting elements, and a unique lighting pattern assigned to each appliance that uniquely identifies the appliance.