Granted Patent B2

US 8,781,769 · App. 13/902,981 · Granted Jul 15, 2014

Abstract

Claims (59)

1. A method to determine energy usage status comprising:

retrieving a set of power usage data comprising information related to power usage of a networked device from a non-volatile memory located within the networked device, wherein the set of power usage data was stored in the non-volatile memory before the networked device was sold to an end customer; and

calculating, by the networked device, an estimate of energy usage status of the networked device based, at least in part, on the set of power usage data, without measuring electrical parameters of a power source of the networked device during normal use.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request for the energy usage status over a network; and

sending the estimate of the energy usage status over the network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimate of the energy usage status comprises an estimate of power usage at a point in time or an estimate of energy usage over a period of time.

4. An article of manufacture comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that if executed by a processor in a networked device, result in:

retrieving a set of power usage data comprising information related to power usage of the networked device from a non-volatile memory located within the networked device, the set of power usage data having been previously stored in the non-volatile memory in advance of positioning the networked device for normal use; and

calculating an estimate of energy usage status of the networked device based, at least in part, on the set of power usage data, without measuring electrical parameters of a power source of the networked device during normal use.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 4 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the processor, further result in:

receiving a request for the energy usage status over a network; and

sending the estimate of the energy usage status over the network.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 4 , wherein the estimate of the energy usage status comprises an estimate of power usage at a point in time or an estimate of energy usage over a period of time.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 4 , wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprises the non-volatile memory.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 4 , wherein the set of power usage data comprises two or more power usage data points corresponding to different operating conditions of the networked device.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the processor, further result in:

maintaining a log of operating conditions of the networked device, without measuring the electrical parameters of the power source of the networked device; and

calculating the estimate of the energy usage status based, at least in part, on both the set of power usage data and the log operating conditions.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the networked device comprises a light bulb and the different operating conditions of the networked device comprise different brightness levels of the light bulb.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the processor, further result in:

ascertaining a current brightness level of the light bulb by querying an LED driver in the light bulb; and

calculating the estimate of the energy usage status based, at least in part, on both the set of power usage data retrieved from the non-volatile memory and the current brightness level of the light bulb.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the different operating conditions of the networked device comprise at least a standby condition and a fully operational condition.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, if executed by the processor, further result in:

ascertaining a current operating condition of the networked device; and

calculating the estimate of the energy usage status by interpolating between two power usage points from the set of power usage data, the interpolating based, at least in part on different operating conditions associated with the two power usage points and the current operating condition of the networked device.

14. A networked device comprising:

memory storing a set of power usage data comprising information related to power usage of the networked device, the set of power usage data having been stored in the memory before positioning the networked device for normal use;

a processor coupled to the memory; and

a network interface coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a request for energy usage status through the network interface;

generate a response to the energy usage status request based at least in part, on the set of power usage data, without measuring electrical parameters of a power source of the networked device during normal use; and

send the response through the network interface.

15. The networked device of claim 14 , wherein the set of power usage data is based on measurements taken of actual power used by the networked device before the networked device is positioned for normal use.

16. The networked device of claim 14 , wherein the set of power usage data is based on power used by similar networked devices.

17. The networked device of claim 14 , wherein the set of power usage data comprises only one power usage data point.

18. The networked device of claim 14 , wherein the response comprises an estimate of power usage at a point in time or an estimate of energy usage over a period of time.

19. The networked device of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

calculate an estimate of the energy usage status of the networked device for the response, based, at least in part, on the set of power usage data and a current operating condition of the networked device.

20. The networked device of claim 14 , wherein the set of power usage data comprises two or more power usage data points based on different operating conditions of the networked device; and

wherein the processor is further configured to calculate an estimate of the energy usage status of the networked device for the response, based, at least in part, on the set of power usage data.

21. The networked device of claim 20 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

maintain a log of operating conditions of the networked device, without measuring the electrical parameters of the power source of the networked device; and

calculate the estimate of the energy usage status based, at least in part, on both the set of power usage data and the log of operating conditions.

22. The networked device of claim 20 , wherein the networked device is a networked light bulb and the different operating conditions of the networked device comprise different brightness levels of the networked light bulb.

23. The networked device of claim 22 , further comprising:

at least one LED; and

wherein the processor is further configured to calculate the estimate of the energy usage status based, at least in part, on a current brightness level of the at least one LED in conjunction with the set of power usage data.

24. The networked device of claim 23 , further comprising:

an LED driver;

wherein the processor is further configured to query the LED driver to determine the current brightness level of the at least one LED.

25. The networked device of claim 20 , wherein the different operating conditions of the networked device comprise at least a standby condition and a fully operational condition.

26. The networked device of claim 20 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

select at least two power usage points associated with at least two operating conditions from the set of power usage points, based, at least in part, on a current operating condition of the networked device;

interpolate between the at least two power usage points based, at least in part, on the at least two operating conditions and the current operating condition of the networked device to calculate the estimate of the energy usage status.

27. The networked device of claim 20 , wherein the network interface is configured to communicate over a network utilizing radio frequency communication.

28. The networked device of claim 20 , in which at least the processor and at least a portion of the network interface are integrated on a single integrated circuit.

Assignments (9)