BUILDING SECURITY AND AUTOMATION SYSTEM WITH REMOTE-POWERED DATA STORE AND DELAYED DATA UPDATE AND METHOD
A security system control panel or home automation control panel including an end-user replaceable cellular telephony module that is removable from the control panel without disassembling the control panel. The cellular module includes a body, a cellular telephony circuit coupled to the body, a cellular telephony antenna coupled to the body and the cellular telephony circuit, and a first connector coupled to the cellular telephony circuit and the body, wherein the first connector is sized and shaped or otherwise configured to be removably engaged by the end-user with a second connector in the control panel.
1 . A control panel comprising:
a housing;
a processor disposed within the housing and configured to execute instructions for controlling a security or home automation system including the control panel;
a radio-frequency (RF) circuit configured to:
when the control panel is in an unpowered state:
receive power from an RF signal from an RF programming device; and
receive data embedded in the RF signal from the powered RF circuit; and
using the received power from the RF signal store the received data in a memory that is otherwise unpowered,
wherein the processor is configured to:
when the control panel is in a powered state:
obtain the stored data from the memory; and
configure at least one parameter of the security or home automation system using the received stored data.
2 . The control panel of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency (RF) circuit includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory.
3 . The control panel of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency (RF) circuit includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the RFID circuit powers up upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and begins to receive and store parameters from the received data.
4 . The control panel of claim 1 , wherein the received data includes instructions needed to configure a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
5 . The control panel of claim 1 , wherein the received data that are stored in the memory that is otherwise unpowered are transmitted by a manufacturer before the control panel is shipped to a customer.
6 . The control panel of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency (RF) circuit includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, wherein the RFID powers up upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and begins to receive and store parameters from the received data, and wherein the received data includes instructions needed to configure a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
7 . The control panel of claim 1 , wherein the radio-frequency (RF) circuit includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, wherein the RFID powers up upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and begins to receive and store parameters from the received data, wherein the received data includes instructions needed to configure a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region and wherein the received data that are stored in the memory that is otherwise unpowered are transmitted by a manufacturer before the control panel is shipped to a customer.
8 . A method comprising:
providing a security home automation system that includes a control panel in a housing;
disposing a processor within the housing and configuring the processor to execute instructions for controlling the security home automation system that includes the control panel;
receiving power from an RF signal from an RF programming device when the control panel is in an unpowered state; and
receiving data embedded in the RF signal from the powered RF circuit when the control panel is in an unpowered state; and
using the received power from the RF signal to store the data that was embedded in the RF signal into a memory that is otherwise unpowered when the control panel is in an unpowered state,
obtaining the stored data from the memory when the control panel is in a powered state; and
configuring at least one parameter of the security or home automation system using the obtained stored data.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the receiving of power from the RF signal is done in a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the receiving of power from the RF signal is done in a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the method further includes
powering up the RFID circuit upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and thereupon receiving and storing parameters from the received data.
11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising
configuring, based on instructions in the received data, a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising
transmitting by a manufacturer before the control panel is shipped to a customer the data that are received and stored into the memory that is otherwise unpowered.
13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the receiving of power from the RF signal is done in a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the method further includes
powering up the RFID circuit upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and thereupon receiving and storing parameters from the received data; and
configuring, based on instructions in the received data, a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the receiving of power from the RF signal is done in a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the method further includes
transmitting by a manufacturer before the control panel is shipped to a customer the data that are received and stored into the memory that is otherwise unpowered;
powering up the RFID circuit upon receiving signal from the manufacturer and thereupon receiving and storing parameters from the received data;
configuring, based on instructions in the received data, a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
15 . An apparatus comprising:
a security home automation system that includes a control panel in a housing;
a processor within the housing and configured to execute instructions that control the security home automation system;
means for receiving power from an RF signal from an RF programming device when the control panel is in an unpowered state; and
means for receiving data embedded in the RF signal from the powered RF circuit when the control panel is in an unpowered state; and
means for using the received power from the RF signal store the data that was embedded in the RF signal into a memory that is otherwise unpowered when the control panel is in an unpowered state,
means for obtaining the stored data from the memory when the control panel is in a powered state; and
means for configuring at least one parameter of the security or home automation system using the obtained stored data.
16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the means for receiving power from the RF signal includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory.
17 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the means for receiving power from the RF signal includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the apparatus further includes
means for powering up the RFID circuit upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and thereupon receiving and storing parameters from the received data.
18 . The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising
means for configuring, based on instructions in the received data, a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
19 . The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising means for transmitting by a manufacturer before the control panel is shipped to a customer the data that are received and stored into the memory that is otherwise unpowered.
20 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the means for receiving power from the RF signal includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the apparatus further includes
means for powering up the RFID circuit upon receiving signal from an RFID programmer unit and thereupon receiving and storing parameters from the received data; and
means for configuring, based on instructions in the received data, a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.
21 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the means for receiving power from the RF signal includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit that includes the memory and an antenna, and wherein the apparatus further includes
means for transmitting by a manufacturer before the control panel is shipped to a customer the data that are received and stored into the memory that is otherwise unpowered;
means for powering up the RFID circuit upon receiving signal from the manufacturer and thereupon receiving and storing parameters from the received data;
means for configuring, based on instructions in the received data, a default language that includes at least one language of the control panel selected from the set consisting of English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Japanese based on a customer's geographic region.