Abstract:
A method for remote control of structural appliances includes the steps of communicating a structural appliance with a server programmed to accept mobile device commands; communicating a mobile device with the server; issuing the mobile device commands from the mobile device to the server; converting the mobile device commands to structural appliance commands; and issuing the structural appliance commands from the server to the structural appliance, whereby wireless control of the structural appliance is established.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates to a method for wireless control of structural appliances and, more particularly, to a method for controlling heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and other structural appliance systems through wireless mobile devices. 
   Structural devices or appliances such as heating, ventilation, refrigeration, air conditioning (HVRAC), elevator equipment, building control and other types of systems and devices are integral to maintaining desired environment, security and the like in business, commercial and residential settings. Many such appliances require manual control and/or programming, as well as on-site maintenance and the like. 
   It is desirable to make control, maintenance and service of such appliances easier so as to enhance the benefit of such appliances to the user, and to allow service technicians to perform better services, at cheaper cost. 
   It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a method whereby structural appliances can be controlled and serviced from a remote location. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for configuring such structural appliances whereby a user, technicians and the like can access and control such structural appliances utilizing a wireless mobile device. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method whereby useful data can be collected from the structural appliance and accessed from a mobile device. 
   Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects and advantages have been readily attained. 
   According to the invention, a method for remote control of structural appliances is provided, which method comprises the steps of communicating a structural appliance with a server programmed to accept mobile device commands; communicating a mobile device with said server; issuing said mobile device commands from said mobile device to said server; converting said mobile device commands to structural appliance commands; and issuing said structural appliance commands from said server to said structural appliance, whereby wireless control of said structural appliance is established. 
   In further accordance with the present invention, a method is provided for allowing remote control of structural appliances, which method comprises the steps of communicating a structural appliance with a server; programming said server to accept mobile device commands; converting said mobile device commands into structural appliance commands, and issuing said structural appliance commands to said structural appliance. 
   The mobile device is preferably a web-enabled device communicated with the server preferably utilizing wireless application protocol. 
   In further accordance with the present invention, information is also collected or “mined” from the structural appliances for use in determining best operating parameters, potential malfunction and need for maintenance, and the like. 
   Typical structural appliances for control in accordance with the present invention include HVRAC systems, elevator systems, building control systems, and the like. 
   BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
   A detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention follows, with reference to the attached drawing which schematically illustrates the method of the present invention. 

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The invention relates to a method for wireless control of structural appliances and, more particularly, to a method for controlling and obtaining data from structural appliances such as HVRAC systems, elevator systems, building control systems and other appliances. 
   In accordance with the present invention, structural appliances are communicated or operatively associated with a preferably wireless-accessible device or a server, preferably through a gateway, such that a person utilizing a mobile device can dial into the server and communicate with the structural appliances. The server and gateway are preferably adapted to provide intelligent control capability for the structural appliances. 
   Referring to the FIGURE, a plurality of appliances  10  are illustrated and communicated with a gateway  12  which is communicated with server  14 . As shown, mobile device  16  is utilized to communicate with server  14  and appliances  10  through gateway  12 , all through GSM network  18 . 
   As discussed above, appliances  10  may be any combination of desired HVRAC systems, elevator systems, escalator systems, building control systems and the like. Such appliances, especially HVRAC appliances, can be operated at a number of different settings. Further, when operated with gateway  12 , appliances can be rendered “intelligent”, or be provided with capability to collect useful data related to past performance and the like which can be of interest to users, technicians and/or intermediate entities such as utility providers and the like, to enhance the benefits and useful life of the appliance. According to the invention, a method is provided for remote, preferably wireless, control of such appliances and operating settings or parameters, and remote, preferably wireless, access to such data. Gateway  12  is operatively associated with appliances  10  utilizing conventional hardware and software which are readily available to the person of ordinary skill in the art. 
   Gateway  12  as shown may suitably be any acceptable device such as a work station, personal computer, network of computers or other programmable device which is programmed to receive commands and issue them to the appropriate appliance  10 . Gateway  12  is also preferably adapted to receive information, data and replies from appliances  10  for sending to server  14 . 
   Server  14  is preferably programmed to store a database of appliance information including appliance identification, passwords, language, configuration, and telephone numbers or email addresses and the like for contacting users and technicians. 
   Server  14  may be any conventional preferably wireless-accessible device, most preferably accessible via GSM network global computer network, intranet, internet and the like, most preferably accessible via GSM network server  18  which is adapted to accept communications from mobile device  16 , and preferably for accepting wireless access protocol (WAP) commands. In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, commands will be received by server  14  in this protocol from a mobile device such as a WAP telephone, PDA and the like, and server  14  is preferably programmed and adapted to convert such protocol into machine-understandable commands and to issue such commands back through GSM network  18  to gateway  12  and the desired appliance  10 . This can be accomplished utilizing any of a wide variety of conventional conversion or translation programs, the use and selection of which would be well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
   Gateway  12  preferably is adapted to convert mobile device commands such as WAP commands and information into structural appliance or machine-understandable commands and information and vice versa. 
   Mobile device  16  may be any suitable web-enabled preferably portable device, a PDA device, preferably a web-enabled phone utilizing wireless access protocol, cellular telephone, laptop or portable computer or other like wireless communication device, or may be a desktop computer, or other wired communication device as well within the broad scope of the present invention. Of course, the preferred device is a web-enabled wireless device which allows for the most versatility and benefit of the present invention. 
   In use, a user would access server  14  with mobile device  16 , and server  14  would present the user with a display of options such as a requested password for access, a series of appliances which can be controlled, and the like. The user can select an option or enter a password, which results in WAP commands going through GSM network  18  to server  14 . As set forth above, server  14  is programmed to translate the WAP or mobile device issued commands into commands meaningful to gateway  12  for controlling the desired appliance. Appliance  10  upon receiving the commands would enact the command, and respond with any appropriate or requested information. 
   The password may also be used by server  14  to identify which of a plurality of appliances the user is authorized to control, the expected language and protocol with which to communicate with the user, and other useful user specific data such as US/metric units and the like. 
   If the user is a dealer or an intermediate provider, the password could be utilized to identify the appliances belonging to customers of that dealer for which access is authorized. 
   In connection with an appliance  10  which may be an HVRAC system, for example, an air conditioning system, the mobile device command could be a command identifying the air conditioning system, and indicating a particular temperature setting at which to operate, accompanied with a request for data as to energy consumption by the air conditioner over the past operation cycle. 
   Appliance  10  would receive suitable instructions enacting this command from gateway  12 , change to operation at the desired setting, and issue machine-language responses to the request for data to gateway  12 . Gateway  12  would then pass such information to server  14 , which would convert the responsive information to a suitable format and send the information to mobile device  16  as desired. In the presently described embodiment, server  14  would convert the information to WAP and display one or more pages on mobile device  16  containing the requested information and, preferably, confirmation of the operating instructions. 
   According to the invention, either server  14  or gateway  12 , or both, acts as a protocol translator between mobile device  16  and appliances  10 . Preferably this function is carried out by gateway  12 . 
   It should be readily appreciated that a user of appliances  10  and mobile device  16  could readily utilize this method in order to monitor energy consumption of appliance  10  while nevertheless setting appliance  10  to operate at a desired condition or parameter, all from any location whatsoever. 
   It should also be readily appreciated that the method in accordance with the present invention could be utilized by a technician to issue commands requesting identification of any unusual conditions experienced by appliance  10  and stored by gateway  12 , and could also be utilized by a technician to issue a command for a machine to perform a diagnostic routine, for example, and provide results to gateway  12 . In this manner, routine maintenance can be carried out on appliances  10  without the need for the technician to travel to the specific location of appliance  10 , thereby making maintenance easier and reducing cost of same. 
   Another advantageous application of the method of the present invention is in connection with providing the possibility for broader service offerings from intermediate service providers such as utility companies. For example, the method of the present invention could be utilized to reduce energy consumption of selected and authorized appliances during peak demand days and the like so as to provide for easier energy management on a broad scale, or to allow pay for use type arrangements, and the like. 
   In addition, one or more of appliances  10 , gateway  12  and server  14  could be adapted and configured to monitor for fault or failure conditions indicating failure of an appliance  10 , or imminent failure of an appliance  10 , and to provide this information to a technician through server  14  via mobile device  16  whereby further preventative maintenance can be conducted as appropriate. 
   For example, gateway  12  may be adapted to run a polling routine that scans one or more appliances for faults, which may be defined as non-zero values in a specific byte of a block of data received. 
   Upon detecting a fault, gateway  12  is preferably adapted to communicate to server  14 , which can send a WAP message, pager message, email and the like to the proper personnel which identifies the appliance and type of fault. 
   As set forth above, gateway  12  and appliances  10  may be operated so as to collect and store raw data that can be retrieved by interested parties. This data can be related to all operating conditions of the appliance, such as air quality, heating and cooling efficiency, energy use, maintenance and diagnostic records and the like. 
   In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, the method of the present invention is particularly useful for providing remote control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, especially those which are non-central systems such as window mounted units, Duct Free Split products and the like, since such systems typically have less-sensitive thermostats and are therefore more difficult to control. With such devices, the method of the present invention is ideal in allowing for remote operation of the system, for example to cool when desired and the like. 
   In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, and as mentioned above, it may be desirable to provide utility companies such as energy providers with password access to HVAC systems of various energy provider customers so that the energy provider can manage energy consumption during peak demand periods. It may be advantageous to the energy provider to couple such a service with incentives to the energy customers whereby customers would then have incentive to enroll or register various HVAC equipment with the energy provider so that the energy provider can be allowed to control such devices. 
   The method of the present invention advantageously creates an integrated command, control and maintenance system for multiple types of equipment that does not require a personal computer or large network. As set forth above, benefits to the end user include personalized comfort control features for home or small office environments, centralized comfort control features for building management, potentially reduced energy costs, more readily understandable information regarding air quality levels which can be used to adjust operation accordingly, and potentially lower maintenance costs. 
   Also as set forth above, benefits to technicians or equipment manufacturers include lower service and maintenance costs, and others. In the meantime, the method of the present invention further provides benefits to intermediate companies such as utilities, telecommunication operators and the like by allowing for broader content service offerings. These benefits are all provided by the enhanced efficiency involved in capture and dissemination of equipment operational data, as well as the ease of command, which are all facilitated by the method of the present invention. 
   It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrations described and shown herein, which are deemed to be merely illustrative of the best modes of carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible of modification of form, size, arrangement of parts and details of operation. The invention rather is intended to encompass all such modifications which are within its spirit and scope as defined by the claims.