INTELLIGENT CONFIGURATION OF A SMART ENVIRONMENT BASED ON ARRIVAL TIME

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving, at an electronic device, an estimated time of arrival (ETA) relating to an arrival to an environment, an arrival of an event, arrival of an activity, or a combination thereof; and

controlling, configuring, or controlling and configuring, via the electronic device, a smart device based upon the ETA;

wherein the ETA is calculated by a third-party separate from the electronic device and the smart device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the smart device comprises a thermostat.

3 . The method of claim 2 , comprising:

validating the ETA based at least upon validation criteria of the electronic device, the smart device, or both; and

controlling, configuring, or controlling and configuring the smart device based upon the ETA only when the ETA is validated.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein validating the ETA comprises:

validating the ETA by associating the ETA with a particular trip, event, or activity; and

analyzing a set of ETAs associated with the particular trip, event, or activity, to determine if the validation criteria is met.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein validating the ETA comprises:

validating the ETA by determining if the set of ETAs including the ETA is greater than or equal to a minimum number of consistent ETA samples provided in the validation criteria.

6 . The method of claim 3 , wherein validating the ETA comprises:

validating the ETA by determining if the ETA was received at an interval of at least a minimum time interval between ETA samples from a previously-received ETA, as provided by the validation criteria.

7 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

if the ETA is time-based: determining a pre-conditioning window extending in time from the ETA to a time prior to the ETA; or

if the ETA is duration-based: determining a pre-conditioning window that is a duration less than or equal to the ETA; and

controlling, configuring, or controlling and configuring the smart device during the pre-conditioning window.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the pre-conditioning window comprises defining the time prior to the ETA by a static early arrival window, wherein the static early arrival window comprises a static amount of time to begin pre-conditioning prior to the ETA.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the pre-conditioning window comprises defining the time prior to the ETA based upon a dynamic pre-conditioning estimate for the environment, wherein the dynamic pre-conditioning window comprises a dynamic amount of time to begin pre-conditioning prior to the ETA, based upon a pre-conditioning estimate specific to the environment.

10 . An electronic device, comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive an estimated time of arrival (ETA) relating to an arrival to a conditioned environment, an arrival of an event, arrival of an activity, or a combination thereof; and

provide data to a smart device based upon the ETA, the data triggering control, configuration changes, or control and configuration changes of the smart device;

wherein the ETA is calculated by a third-party separate from the electronic device and the smart device.

11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the electronic device and the smart device are the same device.

12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the smart device comprises a thermostat.

13 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the data is configured to change, add, or change and add a set point of the thermostat.

14 . The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the data is configured to change a mode of the thermostat from an away mode to a home mode.

15 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the data is configured to trigger pre-conditioning of an environment, such that the environment is conditioned to a programmed temperature at or near the ETA.

16 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a pre-conditioning window based upon a static early arrival window, wherein the static early arrival window comprises a static amount of time to begin pre-conditioning prior to the ETA.

17 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a pre-conditioning window based upon a custom pre-conditioning estimate for the environment, wherein the dynamic pre-conditioning window comprises a dynamic amount of time to begin pre-conditioning prior to the ETA, based upon a pre-conditioning estimate specific to the environment.

18 . A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising machine-readable instructions to:

receive an estimated time of arrival (ETA) relating to an arrival to a conditioned environment, an arrival of an event, arrival of an activity, or a combination thereof; and

provide data to a smart device based upon the ETA, the data triggering control, configuration changes, or control and configuration changes of the smart device;

wherein the ETA is calculated by a third-party separate from the smart device and a machine implementing the machine-readable instructions.

19 . The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 18 , comprising machine-readable instructions to:

receive a plurality of ETAs;

observe a pattern of inaccuracies between the provided plurality of ETAs and corresponding actual time of arrivals;

derive a modified ETA for a subsequently received ETA based upon the pattern of inaccuracies; and

trigger control, configuration changes, or control and configuration changes based upon the modified ETA for the subsequently received ETA.

20 . The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 18 , comprising machine-readable instructions to:

receive a plurality of ETAs relating to different arrival to the condition environment, arrivals of an activity, or both;

determine whether the plurality of ETAs result in mutually exclusive ETA-based control events, configuration change events, or both;

prioritizing one of the plurality of ETAs when the plurality of ETAs result in mutually exclusive ETA-based control events, configuration change events, or both; and

optionally dynamically modify prioritization of the one of the plurality of ETAs when one or more of the plurality of ETAs changes.