Dynamic tenancy
A method of controlling smart windows with dynamic tenancy, performed by a control system is provided. The method includes coupling a control system having a plurality of smart windows each having one or more electrochromic devices, to a plurality of remote devices, and managing, in the control system, configurable smart window groups each having in membership one or more of the plurality of smart windows. The method includes managing, in the control system, configurable user groups each having in membership one or more of a plurality of users in association with the smart window groups, and controlling transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows in accordance with the configurable smart window groups, the configurable user groups and the plurality of remote devices.
1. A method of controlling smart windows with dynamic tenancy, performed by a control system, comprising:
coupling a control system having a plurality of smart windows each having one or more electrochromic devices, to a plurality of remote devices;
managing, in the control system, configurable smart window groups each having in membership one or more of the plurality of smart windows;
managing, in the control system, configurable user groups each having in membership one or more of a plurality of users in association with the smart window groups; and
controlling transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows in accordance with the configurable smart window groups, the configurable user groups and the plurality of remote devices.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
coupling the control system to one or more cloud services, through a network; and
distributing control of the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows throughout one or more levels of controllers in the control system, the plurality of smart windows, the plurality of remote devices, and the one or more cloud services, as a distributed device network.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coupling the control system to the plurality of remote devices comprises coupling the control system to two or more devices from a group comprising mobile communication devices, personal digital assistants, personal computers, remote controls, keypads, touchpads, voice control units, wireless devices, wired devices, telephonic devices, infrared devices, sound control units, and network connectable devices.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing a data structure in memory in the control system, the data structure indicating the configurable smart window groups, the configurable user groups, and privileges of the users relative to the smart window groups, the user groups and the plurality of smart windows.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlling the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows comprises voting among user inputs or averaging among the user inputs, to determine transmissivity of at least one electrochromic device that is associated with at least two overlapping smart window groups or user groups.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
authenticating, in the control system, one or more users; and
administering privileges for operating the smart windows to the one or more users in accordance with group or individual privileges.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the managing the configurable user groups comprises managing transfer or extension of user privileges from one user to another user in accordance with group or individual user privileges, for the controlling the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows.
8. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions thereupon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
cooperating with components of a control system having a plurality of smart windows each having one or more electrochromic devices, to couple to a plurality of remote devices;
cooperating with the components to manage a plurality of configurable smart window groups each associated with one or more of the plurality of smart windows;
cooperating with the components to manage a plurality of configurable user groups each associated with one or more of a plurality of users; and
cooperating with the components to control transmissivity of the electrochromic devices in accordance with the plurality of configurable smart window groups, the plurality of configurable user groups and the plurality of remote devices.
9. The computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
coupling the control system to one or more cloud services through a network, so that the one or more cloud services, one or more levels of controllers in the control system, the plurality of smart windows, and the plurality of remote devices are a distributed device network for the control of the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices.
10. The computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
managing a data structure that indicates the plurality of configurable smart window groups, the plurality of configurable user groups and privileges of the plurality of users relative to the plurality of smart window groups, the plurality of user groups and the plurality of smart windows.
11. The computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
cooperating with the components to vote among user inputs, average among user inputs, or override in accordance with privileges of users, to determine transmissivity of at least one electrochromic device that is associated with at least two overlapping smart window groups or user groups.
12. The computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
authenticating one or more of the plurality of users; and
granting access to operate the plurality of smart windows to the one or more of the plurality of users in accordance with group or individual privileges, responsive to the authenticating.
13. The computer-readable media of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
transferring or extending user privileges, for the control of the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices, from one user to another user in accordance with group or individual user privileges.
14. A smart window system with dynamic tenancy, comprising:
a plurality of smart windows each having one or more electrochromic devices;
a control system configurable to couple to the plurality of smart windows and to couple to a plurality of remote devices, and having at least one processor;
the control system configurable to manage configurable smart window groups each having one or more smart windows and configurable user groups each having one or more users, associated with the smart window groups; and
the control system configurable to control transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows in accordance with the configurable smart window groups, the configurable user groups and direction from the plurality of remote devices.
15. The smart window system of claim 14 , further comprising:
the control system configurable to couple to a network having cloud resources; and
the control of the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices of the plurality of smart windows is distributed throughout one or more of the cloud resources, one or more levels of controllers in the control system, the plurality of smart windows, and the plurality of remote devices, as a distributed device network.
16. The smart window system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of remote devices comprises two or more devices from mobile communication devices, personal digital assistants, personal computers, remote controls, keypads, touchpads, voice control units, wireless devices, wired devices, telephonic devices, infrared devices, sound control units, and network connectable devices.
17. The smart window system of claim 14 , further comprising:
the control system configurable to manage a data structure in memory that indicates the configurable smart window groups, the configurable user groups, and privileges of the users relative to the smart window groups, the user groups and the plurality of smart windows.
18. The smart window system of claim 14 , wherein the control system configurable to control the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices comprises:
the control system configurable to determine transmissivity of at least one electrochromic device that is associated with at least two overlapping smart window groups or user groups, by voting among user inputs, averaging among the user inputs, or in accordance to privileges of the users.
19. The smart window system of claim 14 , further comprising:
the control system configurable to authenticate users and grant access to the users to the control of the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices in accordance with group or individual privileges.
20. The smart window system of claim 14 , wherein the control system configurable to manage the configurable user groups comprises:
the control system configurable to manage transfer or extension of user privileges, relative to the control of the transmissivity of the electrochromic devices, from one user to another user in accordance with group or individual user privileges.