Abstract:
A system for controlling one or more structural appliances, such heating, cooling, and ventilation sensor systems utilizing cloud computing architecture, includes at least one intelligent controller, a local intelligent gateway in communication with the intelligent controller, and a cloud computing network in communication with the local intelligent gateway. A local device is operative to communicate through the cloud computing network to the intelligent controller.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/711,431, filed Oct. 9, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates in general to the control of heating, cooling, and refrigeration sensor systems. In particular, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling such a heating, cooling, and/or refrigeration electronic expansion valve and sensor system utilizing cloud computing architecture. 
         [0003]    It is known to remotely control the operation of one or more structural appliances, such heating, cooling, and refrigeration electronic expansion valve and/or sensor systems. One known method includes the steps of (1) communicating between a structural appliance and a server that is programmed to accept mobile device commands; (2) communicating between a mobile device and the server; (3) issuing mobile device commands from the mobile device to the server; (4) converting the mobile device commands to structural appliance commands; and (5) issuing the structural appliance commands from the server to the structural appliance. In this manner, wireless control of the structural appliance can be established. 
         [0004]    It would desirable to provide an improved apparatus and method for controlling one or more structural appliances, such heating, cooling, and/or refrigeration electronic expansion valve and sensor systems utilizing cloud computing architecture. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    This invention relates to an improved apparatus for controlling one or more structural appliances, such heating, cooling, and/or refrigeration electronic expansion valve and sensor systems utilizing cloud computing architecture. The apparatus includes at least one component controller and a local intelligent gateway that are in communication with each other. A cloud computing network communicates with both the local intelligent gateway and a local device that is in communication with the cloud computing network. The local device communicates through the cloud computing network to the component controller. 
         [0006]    This invention also relates to a method for operating such an apparatus that includes entering an instruction for of the system into the local device. The instruction is then transferred from the local device to the cloud computing network. Finally, the instruction is transferred from the cloud computing network to the component controller. 
         [0007]    Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, when read in light of the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of a first embodiment of a control apparatus in accordance with this invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of a first type of controller that can be utilized in the first embodiment of the control system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a second type of controller that can be utilized in the first embodiment of the control system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a diagrammatic view of a second embodiment of a control apparatus in accordance with this invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a diagrammatic view of a third embodiment of a control apparatus in accordance with this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0013]    As will be explained in detail below, this invention provides a wireless cloud computing architecture solution for the control of heating, cooling, and/or refrigeration electronic expansion valve and sensor systems. Generally speaking, the term “cloud computing” refers to the use of computing resources, such as hardware and software, that are delivered as a service over a network (which can, for example, be embodied as the internet). End users can access cloud-based applications through a web browser and/or a specific graphic-user-interface (or other) application provided on a light-weight desktop or a mobile computing device, while the application software and user data can be stored on servers at a remote location. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale over a network, similar to an electrical grid of a utility. Thus, cloud computing allows individuals and enterprises to get applications up and running faster with improved manageability and less maintenance. Cloud computing also enables information technology systems to more rapidly adjust resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand. 
         [0014]    Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in  FIG. 1  a diagrammatic view of a first embodiment of a control apparatus, indicated generally at  10 , in accordance with this invention. The control apparatus  10  includes one or more intelligent controllers  12  that can wirelessly send and receive information to a cloud infrastructure  13  through a local area network  14  and a local intelligent gateway  16 . The intelligent controllers  12  may, as shown in  FIG. 1 , be associated with and control one or more conventional heating, ventilating, air conditioning, or refrigeration (HVAC/Refrigeration) components such as, for example, a heat pump unit  12 A and an air conditioning unit  12 B. The local intelligent gateway  16  collects information from one or more of these intelligent controllers  12  (by means of the local area network  14 ) and stores such information in a structured format in one or more databases  20  and  30  that may, as shown in  FIG. 1 , be provided within the cloud infrastructure  13  for easy analysis, although such is not required. While the local intelligent gateway  16  is illustrated in  FIG. 1  as communicating with only a single one of the databases  20  and  30 , it will be appreciated that the local intelligent gateway  16  may alternatively communicate with both (or more) of such databases  20  and  30 , which can either provided within the cloud infrastructure  13  or elsewhere as desired. 
         [0015]    The local intelligent gateway  16  may also communicate with a cloud intelligent gateway  32  that, in turn, communicates with the databases  20  and  30 . As with typical cloud architecture, the databases  20  and  30  may be shared with a plurality of users. Similarly, the cloud intelligent gateway  32  may be shared with a plurality of users. The local intelligent gateway  16  communicates with the cloud infrastructure  13 . The control system  10  utilizes client application software that has the ability to communicate with the intelligent controllers  12  (in a manner that is governed by policies based on the application) and retrieve information from the cloud infrastructure  13 . 
         [0016]    The control system  10  further includes client application software  34  that can, for example, be application-specific software for the particular end application. For example, the client application software  34  may be embodied as an environmental management system provided within a commercial location. The client application software  34  has the ability to communicate with the cloud infrastructure  13  and to send and receive relevant information. The client application software  34  may be installed on any desired device such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computing device, or other mobile or stationary device (not shown). 
         [0017]    The database  20  can, for example, be used to store raw data, while the database  30  can be used to store the data in a structured format. Cloud instances can serve unique roles, such as one instance running a database query service and reporting the query output. The cloud infrastructure  13  also includes the cloud intelligent gateway  32  running in the cloud infrastructure  13  that can perform a variety of functions, including (1) communicating with the databases  20  and  30  and retrieve pertinent information; (2) communicating with the end intelligent heating/cooling devices  12  through the local area network  14  to query the health of the HVAC/Refrigeration system and rectify the health of the system if need be; (3) communicate with each other through the cloud intelligent gateway  32 ; and (4) provide a gateway for end-user applications that would communicate to the intelligent devices for various services such as monitoring, generating reports, and remotely controlling the intelligent controllers  12 . Additionally, cloud instances can communicate with each other through the cloud intelligent gateway  32  and directly with the cloud intelligent gateway  32 . 
         [0018]    The local intelligent gateway  16  can perform a variety of functions, including (1) running an application to send structured data to the cloud storage units  20  and  30 ; (2) communicating with the intelligent controllers  12  through wireless interfaces such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, cellular modems, RFIDs, and the like; (3) understanding instructions and policies to communicate with intelligent controllers  12 ; and (4) communicating with the cloud intelligent gateway  32 . Additionally, when the cloud network is down, the local intelligent gateway  16  will store data locally (journaling) and then upload data to the cloud infrastructure  13  once the connectivity is available. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of a first type of controller, indicated generally at  22 , that can be utilized in the control system shown in  FIG. 1 . For example, each of the intelligent controllers  12  may include the illustrated microvalve  22 , which may, for example, be embodied as a Ventilum™ microvalve, which is commercially available from DunAn Microstaq of Austin, Tex. The microvalve  22  can utilize micro-electro-mechanical systems design and process techniques and can leverage the highly accurate and repeatable tunability of silicon wafer resistivity. Such a microvalve  22  can be actuated by applying electrical current to one of three silicon layers, which generates heat as a result of the resistance to the flow of such electrical current therethrough. The heat generated by the resistivity of the silicon material causes thermal expansion of the silicon material that, in turn, provides both force and mechanical motion to open and close a valve. The heating (and, therefore, the movement of the silicon material of the microvalve  22 ) can be controlled very precisely. As a result, the linearity of motion of the microvalve  22  may be limited only by how precisely the application of the electrical current can be controlled. 
         [0020]    The basic structure of the illustrated microvalve  22  is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . As shown therein, the microvalve  22  has a three layer, sliding plate, silicon valve construction including a top layer  24 , a center layer  26 , and a bottom layer  28 . The top silicon layer  24  includes electrical interconnection interface “ports” and also serves as an upper cover to a sliding plate mechanism. The center layer  26  includes a thermal actuator and a sliding plate mechanism. The bottom layer  28  includes flow ports and also serves as a lower cover to the sliding plate mechanism. In a manner that is well known in the art, the thermal actuator of the center layer  26  moves the sliding plate over the fixed position ports in the bottom layer  28 , thus causing operation the microvalve  22 . 
         [0021]    The microvalve  22  may be embodied as either a direct-acting type or a pilot-spool type. Typically, the direct-acting type of microvalve  22  includes three ports, namely, a first port that is normally open, a second port that is normally closed, and a third port that functions as a common port. When no electrical power is applied to the microvalve  22 , fluid can enter the microvalve  22  from either the normally open or the normally closed port and exit the microvalve  22  through the common port. The pilot-spool type of microvalve  22  is also standard in a normally-actuated valve configuration. The spool valve is a hydraulically actuated slave valve that amplifies the flow capacity of the thermally actuated direct-acting microvalve  22 . The standard spool valve design typically consists of a two-port main flow valve and a command and feedback port system, through which the direct-acting valve controls the spool valve movements. The pilot-spool type of microvalve  22  can be configured so it mimics the linear movements of the direct-acting type of microvalve  22 . In a different configuration, the pilot-spool type of microvalve  22  precisely matches outgoing pressure to the incoming pressure signal. The direct-acting type of microvalve  22  provides the hydraulic “signal” to the spool valve. However, it will be appreciated that this invention may be practiced with other types of control and monitoring devices. 
         [0022]    The microvalve  22  can be connected to conventional wireless components for receiving and sending signals (not shown). For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , each of the intelligent controllers  12  may include both microvalve and wireless components. 
         [0023]    The intelligent controllers  12  of this invention can provide a variety of functions. For example, the intelligent controllers  12  of this invention can (1) raise and monitor the system health of the heating/cooling/refrigeration unit; (2) provide an intelligent monitoring system from the cloud network for the purpose of sensing the system health and sending actions to rectify the heating/cooling unit automatically; (3) provide automatic services to the end user, such as reports about system health/system performance; history of actions taken; automatically provide ease-of-use billing services that can be accessed on any computer/handheld device; (4) communicate wirelessly through standard wireless access methods (including, for example, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, cellular modems, Bluetooth, RFID, spread spectrum); (5) respond to a variety of policies sent from service providers and adapt the software accordingly; and (6) control a silicon expansion valve, such as the one shown in  FIG. 2 , for heating, cooling, and sensor applications. 
         [0024]    By using the microvalve  22  with the intelligent controllers  12 , this invention has the unique capability of delivering the health of the heating/cooling/refrigeration applications almost instantaneously. In addition, home/office/store/home owners can chose to allow the sensor to dump the system performance data to an open source cloud that enables higher learning institutions and private institutions to run remote data analysis on the overall heating, cooling, and refrigeration system performance within community, municipality, or even a whole city. The data in turn can be utilized to advise home owners, store, owners, utilities, and governments agencies more accurately on the utilization of the systems. By wirelessly networking the sensors, utility and end users can have access to vast amount of data for closely monitoring trends of systems performance. 
         [0025]    Thus, this invention provides a unique plug-and-play solution that can be used by end-users/service providers to handle local systems. The solution is flexible so that different users can be configured to access different types of heating/cooling sub-systems based on various configuration settings. This invention also provides a unique solution that will be able to provide various policies to various configurations to handle specific cases. For example, a heating/cooling/refrigeration maintenance company in a particular location can download a policy to handle projects in a particular residential area. Similarly, another consulting firm will download another policy to handle projects in an office building. All of this intelligence will be handled by invention&#39;s unique solution as a cloud service that can communicate with cloud intelligent gateway  32  in the cloud infrastructure  13  described above and illustrated by the architectures herein. Additionally, the control system  10  of this invention can be used to update the software that is used in the intelligent controllers  12  and/or other devices. 
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a second type of controller, indicated generally at  22 ′, that can be utilized in the control system  10  shown in  FIG. 1 . For example, each of the intelligent controllers  12  may include the illustrated microvalve  22 ′, which may, for example, be embodied as a SuperHeat Controller, which is also commercially available from DunAn Microstaq of Austin, Tex. 
         [0027]    A second embodiment  40  of the invention is illustrated in  FIG. 3 , wherein like reference numbers are used to indicate components that are similar to those described and illustrated in connection with the first embodiment  10  of this invention. The second embodiment  40  includes a pair of home gateway and storage units (GSUs)  42  and  44 , each of which includes software intelligent enough to converse with the intelligent controllers  12 , as well as the cloud infrastructure  13 , when a connection is available. The home gateway and storage units  42  and  44  are provided in lieu of the local area network  14  and the local intelligent gateway illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Thus, the second embodiment  40  accommodates a home environment where there can be circumstances during which the wireless connection is not available all the time. While the second embodiment  40  is described and illustrated as having two GSUs  42  and  44 , it will be appreciated that the invention also may practiced with a greater or lesser number of such GSUs  42  and  44 . 
         [0028]    A third embodiment  50  of the invention is illustrated in  FIG. 4 , wherein like reference numbers are used to indicate components that are similar to those described and illustrated in connection with the first embodiment  10  of this invention. In the third embodiment  50 , a cell phone infrastructure  52  is used instead of a local area network infrastructure, such as Wi-Fi. The cell phone infrastructure  52  includes a local cellular telephone tower  54  that receives and transmits signals from and to the intelligent controllers  12 . The signals are transmitted through a general packet radio services (GPRS) network  56  and GSU  58  to the cloud intelligent gateway  32 . 
         [0029]    Although the various embodiments of this invention have been described and illustrated as including DunAn Microstaq intelligent controllers and microvalves, it will be appreciated that the invention also may practiced with other available controllers, valves, sensors, and similar devices. Additionally, while the system has been described as controlling HVAC/Refrigeration systems, the system also may be utilized to control other systems as well. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that components shown in each of the embodiments may also be utilized in the other embodiments. Thus, for example, it would be possible to use both a local intelligent gateway  16  to control selected end devices  12  and a GSU  42  to control other end devices in the same system (not shown). 
         [0030]    In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the principle and mode of operation of this invention have been explained and illustrated in its preferred embodiments. However, it must be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically explained and illustrated without departing from its spirit or scope.