Patent Publication Number: US-2016245538-A1

Title: Smart ac controller with engery measurement capability

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/135,180, entitled “Smart Thermostat for Standalone Air conditioners with Energy Metering Capability,” filed on Mar. 19, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/849,020 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING IR-ENABLED APPLIANCES VIA NETWORKED DEVICE”, filed on Sep. 9, 2015, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/048,275, entitled “Cloud enabled Smart Device to Harness IR enabled Brand Independent Electric Appliances,” filed Sep. 10, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to Machine to Machine (“M2M”) communication technology and the Internet of Things (“IoT”) industry. More specifically it relates to the control, monitor, and energy measurement/management of infrared (“IR”) enabled appliances such as air conditioners or AC, television set, window curtains, stereo systems, multimedia systems, fireplaces, etc. by providing remote and/or local access and control to the user. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical innovations in the Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) industry have enabled users to access, control and manage electronic devices through wireless connectivity from anywhere in the world. The trends are fast growing to remotely control, monitor and manage electronic devices, actuators and sensors. The increased connectivity options have unleashed avenues to connect, control, monitor and manage consumer electronics devices or appliances. Consumers in today&#39;s world have multiple infrared (“IR”) enabled appliances both at their homes and offices, such as air conditioners, television sets, multimedia systems, stereo systems, window curtains, fireplaces, etc. These appliances can normally be remotely controlled by an IR remote control provided with the appliance by the manufacturer. These IR remote controls relay user commands to the appliances for appropriate actions. 
     Recently, ZigBee mesh network technology has been used to offer location-independent remote control to the user for some appliances. However, ZigBee-based approaches to appliance control are also unsatisfactory. ZigBee technology inherently requires an additional ZigBee concentrator to act as master while communicating with end nodes that are deployed to the user&#39;s appliances. The ZigBee concentrator is further linked to a local area network (“LAN”) router (e.g., an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN (“Wi-Fi”) network router) to communicate with a remote user through a cloud application (e.g., via a smartphone). The end nodes cannot through ZigBee directly link to a LAN present at the user location. ZigBee systems require the user to have an extra ZigBee communication device placed beside already existing wireless switch or Wi-Fi router in same premises as the user&#39;s IR-enabled appliances. The requirement of an additional concentrator has been a major hurdle in the success of such devices. 
     Current smart home control systems that allow users to control their appliances remotely (e.g., turn the appliance ON/OFF using a software application installed on a mobile device) suffer from a lot of drawback. Current smart home control systems don&#39;t measure and report energy consumption, and do not calculate estimated cost of energy consumed for consumers to see before receiving their utility bills. Current systems do not give consumers insight or intelligent analytics into their energy spending habits on a day-to-day basis, or any time the consumer wants to see details about their energy usage/estimated costs. Current smart home systems do not break down energy consumption on an appliance-by-appliance basis, day-by-day, etc. Current smart home control systems do not allow consumers to define criteria or parameters to force the smart home control system to intelligently execute functions to save energy. Example of such functions include the automatic deactivation or alteration of the operation of an appliance (e.g. light bulb, air conditioner, TV, refrigerator, swimming pool heater, dishwasher, dryer, washing machine, etc.) in response to an energy consumption threshold being exceeded. 
     What is desirable is a smart home control system that solves all of the above issues that existing smart home control systems have not addressed. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention presented here comprises of various methods, smartly integrated subsystems, sensors and algorithms as per one or more of the presented embodiments to provide users a location independent control over their appliances and show their real time energy usage. The subject innovation eliminates the need of any additional requirement of specialized home automation control hub or protocol conversion device by using the existing Wi-Fi hub already deployed at user location to give location independent control to the user over their appliances. The described smart AC controller (also known as smart thermostat) can be modified to work with specific appliances by coupling it to the appliance or embedding/integrating it into the appliance. The smart AC controller offers the interoperability features thus making it possible to associate it with one appliance and later disassociate from the same and associate it with another appliance. 
     Presented are the methods, algorithms, subsystems of the smart AC controller along with the data capture and storage applications for effective user analytics to help them smartly manage and control their appliances irrespective of their location. The cloud-enabled smart AC controller aims at providing users with control over their appliances and show real time energy consumption of each appliance to the user irrespective of user location and brand or manufacturer of the appliance. 
     The operation of some appliances can be conditional and based on reported energy consumption from multiple other appliances. For example, the described system can turn on an air conditioner in the guest room if the energy consumption threshold has not exceeded x kWh (kilowatt hour) or the total cost of energy consumption has not exceed x $ amount. The threshold can be set by the user. For example, the user can set the threshold in spending dollars and the described smart system will manage the operation of the appliances or selected set of appliances (as defined by the user), and the energy consumption accordingly. 
     The described system uses intelligent algorithms to measure energy consumption, calculate estimated cost, and makes decisions on operation of some or all available appliances to save energy. Since electricity costs (e.g. S/kWh) vary between countries, states, cities, counties, and utility providers, the described energy management system uses location to calculate costs, determine the utility provider to therefore determine cost per kWh. The described system also uses the operation timestamps of the various appliances to measure energy consumption costs since most providers operate on a tier-based pricing model. For example, Utility provider A might charge more per kWh at certain times during the day. Taking this into account, the described system will prioritize the operation of some appliances over other appliances. For example, the swimming pool heater takes less priority over air conditioner, and the refrigerator takes priority over both, i.e., the swimming pool heater and the air conditioner. 
     The smart AC controller has an onboard Wi-Fi module as its communication subsystem. The Wi-Fi module with implemented programs supports both Direct and client mode operations and choice is made by the device depending upon the requirement of operation and power metric indicators. Smart AC controller has a microcontroller based processing and decision making engine. The programmatic and algorithmic flows are implemented in the onboard memory and are updated by the cloud application platform as required. These programmatic and algorithmic flows with the help of onboard rules engine enable the smart AC controller for machine learning and taking intelligent decisions as per user habits for energy savings. The device has onboard power management unit. The communication mechanisms, intelligent rules engine, algorithmic and programmatic flows offer a reliable solution for the user. 
     In some of the embodiments the smart AC controller is enabled for intelligent decision making through implemented algorithmic flows and optimized user analytics for energy efficient use of appliance by the user thus contributing to energy conservation. The overall system provides control, monitoring and management with the provision of scheduler and activity log database. The choices and multiple implementation and operational embodiments are summarized in the succeeding paragraphs. 
     In some of the embodiments the user can choose to deploy multiple smart AC controllers at the same location for multiple appliances i.e. one smart AC controller per appliance for cloud-enabled control, monitoring and management of the appliances irrespective of user location. 
     In some of the embodiments there can be multiple users assigned to one appliance thus leveraging cloud enabled control, monitoring and management capabilities. 
     In some of the embodiments there can be multiple users assigned to multiple smart AC controllers thus leveraging cloud enabled control, monitoring and management capabilities. Such implementation offers the family architecture of system usage and operation under various embodiments. 
     In some of embodiments there can be one user assigned to multiple appliances through associated smart AC controllers that are geographically apart. In some of the embodiments there can be multiple users assigned to multiple appliances through associated smart AC controllers that are geographically apart. The presented system supports seamless assignment of user(s) through interactive graphical user interface and backend algorithmic and programmatic flows for effective remote monitoring, control and management of appliances through associated smart AC controllers. Smart AC controller enables users to use legacy remote controls if desired in parallel. 
     In some of the embodiments the steps for signup of the user for smartphone application include choosing a unique email address, username, password and confirming the passwords through the graphical user interface. The provided data by the user is logged in the backend cloud platform database. The steps for signing in are providing the username or selecting an already displayed username on the graphical user interface and entering the password. 
     The registration of smart AC controller  10  can be done through scanning the QR code provided on the packaging or on the smart AC controller itself and associating it with the desired appliance as per user&#39;s choice. The same process is repeated for registration of multiple devices. This is just one convenient method for registering the smart AC controller. For example, the registration can be done manually by the user by entering the smart AC controller ID. Another method for registering the smart AC controller can occur upon powering up the smart AC controller, since it acts as an Access Point (AP) and broadcasts its name. A user can directly connect to the smart AC controller by utilizing the app installed on their mobile device (e.g., smartphone) to complete the registration. Therefore, the user doesn&#39;t have to manually enter the ID associated with the smart AC controller or scan the QR code. 
     The graphical user interface of the application offers to create a new family or join an existing family. The user has the option to link the smart AC controller with their available Wi-Fi router at its location. The graphical user interface of the application offers the user to assign roles and rights for usage to various family members. The user(s) can set the schedulers, notifications and other functions as per desire through the graphical user interface of the application. 
     The smartphone application offers multiple graphical information subsystems to the user for analytics of the logged data about usage, status, and related vital information. 
     The smart AC controller is capable of Firmware Upgrade over the Air (FOTA). The new release of firmware is communicated to the smart AC controller over Wi-Fi connectivity. 
     In some of the application embodiments there can be single or multiple users assigned to the multiple appliances through associated smart AC controllers. In some of the application embodiments user(s) commands from local user(s) are communicated to the smart AC controller through smartphone of the local user and local Wi-Fi router at smart AC controller location. The smart AC controller sends the acknowledgement signal back to the user smartphone through local Wi-Fi router. In addition, the data is sent to cloud platform database for activity log through local Wi-Fi router at its location. 
     In some of the application embodiments user(s) commands from local user(s) are communicated to the smart AC controller through Wi-Fi module of the smartphone of local user at smart AC controller location. The smart AC controller takes appropriate actions and sends the acknowledgement signal back to the user smartphone through Wi-Fi communication. The smartphone of local user established the communication link with cloud platform database for activity log through public cellular telephone infrastructure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         FIG. 1  illustrates the block diagram of the Smart AC controller. The onboard communication section, brightness control section, energy measurement section, processing section, power management unit and status section are illustrated. 
         FIG. 2  is a high-level schematic diagram illustrating logical relationships among systems in some arrangements within which the technology can operate. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the system illustrating main subsystems i.e. user, smartphone and cloud application platform and a plurality of connected smart AC controllers presented as invention here. 
         FIG. 4  is a high-level schematic diagram illustrating embodiments in which the technology can control appliances at multiple properties. 
         FIG. 5  is a high-level schematic diagram where a user is capable of communicating, controlling, monitoring and managing multiple appliances directly through smartphone and smart AC controllers. 
         FIG. 6  a high-level schematic diagram where multiple users are capable of communicating, controlling, monitoring and managing multiple appliance directly through smartphones and associated smart AC controllers thus illustrating a concept of family or group. 
         FIGS. 7A-7H  are high-level schematic diagrams illustrating communication arrangements through which local and/or remote users can control appliances in various embodiments of the technology 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating the command operation section in accordance with some embodiments of the technology. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates the onboard programmatic and algorithmic flows of the smart AC controller. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates the onboard programmatic and algorithmic flows of the smart AC controller at power up. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates the onboard choice and selection of communication subsystems available on the smart AC controller. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates the signup and startup screens of the smartphone application to provide seamless graphical user interface to the user. 
         FIG. 13  illustrates the screens of smartphone applications used to register the smart AC controllers and associating these with appropriate appliance(s). 
         FIG. 14  illustrates the creation, defining and joining functions of family/group of users through smartphone application. 
         FIG. 15  illustrates the smart AC controller setup screens of smartphone application and linking the smart AC controller(s) with available Wi-Fi router(s) at the user location. 
         FIG. 16  illustrates the main screen and the drop down options of smartphone application including reports, notifications, family/group, appliances and settings. 
         FIG. 17  illustrates the screens of smartphone application supporting family/group features. The association of one or multiple appliance to one or multiple members can be configured through these screens of the application. 
         FIG. 18  illustrates the screens of smartphone application showing energy usage information to the user of the appliance. The graphical presentation of information is also highlighted. 
         FIG. 19  illustrates the screens of smartphone application showing parameter based energy usage information to the user of the appliances. The graphical presentation of information is also highlighted. 
         FIG. 20  illustrates the screens of smartphone application offering energy usage control capability to the user for each appliance. This feature of the application plays a vital role in energy saving and providing energy efficiency to the user. 
         FIG. 21  illustrates the reports and graphical presentation of user analytics for user information. 
         FIG. 22A-22B  illustrates the smartphone application screens for scheduler and timer automation configuration for one or multiple smart AC controller(s) by the user(s). 
         FIG. 23  is a display diagram illustrating a timeline screen in accordance with some embodiments of the technology. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) 
     The following description is intended to convey an understanding of the invention by providing a number of specific embodiments. It is understood, however, that the invention is not limited to these exemplary embodiments and details. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates components of the smart AC controller  10  in some embodiments. The illustrated components include an onboard communication section  110 , sensor section  120 , processing section  130 , energy measurement section  140 , power section  160 , and status section  170 . In the illustrated embodiment, the communication section  100  has two onboard communication subsystems: a Wi-Fi module  11  and an IR transceiver  112 . The smart AC controller  10  can function on Wi-Fi networks that operate on standard frequencies (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) to send and receive data. Wi-Fi module  111  with implemented programs supports both direct and client mode operations. In some embodiments, the device selects the Wi-Fi operating mode depending upon, e.g., the requirement of operation and power metric indicators. The IR transceiver  112  has onboard implementation of IR modulators and demodulators for transmission and reception of data. In some embodiments, smart AC controller  10  includes a plurality of IR transceiver elements, such as IR emitters arranged on each face of a device to ensure omnidirectional communication coverage with local appliances. Smart AC controller  10  is capable of communication through onboard IR transceiver subsystem  112  with IR-enabled electric appliances such as television sets, home stereo systems, thermostats, wall air conditioners, central air conditioners, curtains, garage doors, lights, locks, etc. Smart AC controller  10  can, in short, control any IR-enabled electric appliance, as the quoted examples are illustrative and not exhaustive. The IR transceiver  112  of smart AC controller  10  allows for parallel operation of legacy remote control devices of appliances. 
     The onboard sensor section  120  has three onboard sensors: a temperature sensor  121 , a humidity sensor  122 , and an ambient sensor  123 . The temperature, humidity and ambient light sensors  121 - 123  enable smart adapter  10  to monitor user needs, lifestyle and habits, allowing intelligent operation to optimize and best use the IR based devices. The on onboard sensor section can be further modified to include additional sensors. The role of the sensor section is to measure surrounding conditions in real time. The data is sent back to cloud platform  50  for storage, analysis and statistics. The same data is used by smart AC controller  10  and onboard intelligent algorithms in conjunction with user controls data to learn about usage styles, usage behavior and implementation of smart control features in the smart AC controller. Initially the smart AC controller operates as per the user instructions without taking any automated decisions and enters the learning mode. With the increased data in the database and having learnt about user lifestyle and usage behavior it offers the user to enable smart control. If a user enables the smart control, then smart AC controller  10  takes intelligent decisions to offer optimized convenience and control to the user without any user hassle. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the processing section  130  has an onboard microcontroller unit  131 , e.g., with on-chip flash and random access memory. The microcontroller unit  131  has onboard communication interfaces including, for example, serial communication, a serial peripheral interface, and an Inter-Integrated Circuit (“I2C”) bus for communication with the onboard subsystems. The smart AC controller  10  has onboard general purpose input/output (“I/Os”) and automatic data capture (“ADC”) for data capture, generating triggers and commands according to loaded program instructions. The microcontroller includes a processing and decision making engine. The programmatic and algorithmic flows are implemented in the onboard memory and are updated by the cloud application platform as required. For example, power metric calculations are part of the onboard algorithms which help the smart AC controller  10  save power during its operations. The programmatic and algorithmic flows with the help of the sensor section  110  and onboard rules engine enable the smart AC controller  10  to perform machine learning and to take intelligent decisions based on user habits. Energy measurement section  140  or circuitry is responsible for measuring the real time energy consumption of the appliance device coupled to smart AC controller  10 . For example, the energy measurement section can include existing single chip solutions to measure active energy (kWh). 
     The onboard status section  170  provides visual status display about various modes, conditions and states of smart AC controller  10 . In some embodiments, red, blue, green and yellow LEDs are used. These can indicate various statuses regarding data transfer, cloud connection, mobile application connection, etc. In some embodiments a combination of two or more LEDs turned on simultaneously indicates system status for user information. In some embodiments, the smart AC controller  10  includes a display screen (e.g. LCD) that displays operational and status information. 
     In some embodiments, data in transit between the microcontroller and Wi-Fi module  111  is secured by symmetric encryption such as a block cipher, e.g., AES-128, AES-192, or AES-256, and a one way hashing algorithm such as SHA1. AES block ciphers encrypt and decrypt data in blocks of 128 bits using cryptographic keys of 128-, 192- and 256-bits, respectively. Two-level encryption using AES and SHA1 for data in transit makes it difficult for an attacker to decrypt communication within the smart AC controller  10  between the microcontroller  131  and the Wi-Fi module  111 . 
       FIG. 2  is a high-level schematic diagram illustrating logical relationships among systems in some arrangements within which the technology can operate.  FIG. 2  illustrates overall system components in some embodiments including smart AC controller  10 ; a cloud platform  50 , e.g., including a database and application; a locally deployed Wi-Fi router  100 ; and a mobile or web application (e.g., on user electronic devices such as mobile device  60 , tablets, laptops, etc.). 
     In various embodiments, the cloud platform  50  provides cloud storage (e.g., cache) and database services. The cloud platform  50  acts as a bridge between hardware and/or software of smart AC controller  10 , mobile devices  60 , and web applications  61 . For example, the cloud platform  50  provides utilities for mobile applications to communicate with a database server through predefined application programming interfaces (“APIs”). The cloud platform  50  service use APIs to store smart AC controller  10  data on a cloud database, so that the data is secure and accessible by the user anywhere. The cloud platform  50  provides services for encryption and decryption of commands and data, maintaining privacy of the user. The cloud platform  50  maintains information about smart AC controller  10  status and provides services for scheduling, statistics, and triggers for firmware over-the-air (“FOTA”) updates to smart AC controller  10 . 
     The IR codes of plurality of appliances  20  are available in the cloud platform  50 . Smart AC controller  10  is initialized through an onboard program of the microcontroller after it is powered up. In some embodiments, the device  10  checks for previous association with an appliance  20 . In case no previously associated appliance is found (or, e.g., if new codes are available), the device  10  connects to the cloud application platform  50  to download the IR codes corresponding to its associated appliance, or any other (or all available appliances). In some embodiments these codes are automatically loaded to the device  10  or to the user smartphone application  61  or both. In some embodiments, the device  10  can record and store IR remote codes transmitted by an appliance remote control, to operate the appliance based on the recorded IR codes. 
     User actions are recorded and stored in the cloud application platform  50 . For example, in various embodiments of the technology, an activity log is stored in the central database of cloud application platform  50  and acknowledgments and/or notifications are sent to one or more users through smartphone  60  mobile or web application  61 . 
     The cloud platform  50  and mobile or web application  61  manage data including data at rest, referring to inactive data that is stored physically in any digital form (e.g. databases, data warehouses etc.), and data in transit, referring to information that flows over a public or untrusted network such as the Internet and data that flows in the confines of a private network such as a corporate or enterprise Local Area Network (LAN). In various embodiments, the cloud platform  50  and mobile or web application  61  include security measures such as storing all data in secure data centers with a trusted service provider, using intrusion detection and intrusion prevention systems, and using distributed computing technology to improve efficiency, reliability, and resilience against denial of service attacks. In addition, the technology includes redundant backup servers and failover IP address functionality so that devices  10  can connect to the cloud platform  50  even when a cloud platform  50  server is down, e.g., for maintenance. The user actions from the mobile software application are either sent directly from the user app to smart AC controller  10  (whenever the user is in the same location as smart AC controller  10  is e.g. home—in this case, actions are performed and later app updates the database at cloud to keep the record) or when a user is outside, the app sends all actions to cloud and cloud sends the actions to the smart AC controller and gets an acknowledgement of action performed from the smart AC controller. Therefore; a complete history of actions is kept on the cloud and this data is used to learn about user behaviors and later make suggestions for automated actions for energy efficiency to the user. The data is also used to show the user a history or timeline of their activities, where they can see the full audit trail of their usage. The data is also used to generate statistical graphs to the user about their usage styles. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , smart AC controller  10  is connected to cloud platform  50  through Wi-Fi router  100  in client mode. The activity log is stored in the central database of cloud platform  50  and acknowledgements/notifications are sent to the user(s) through smartphone(s)  60 . User actions are stored in the cloud platform  60 . The smart AC controller  10  is initialized through onboard program of the microcontroller after it is powered up. 
     When the smart AC controller connects to the Server via TCP sockets it has to inform the cloud about its unique ID Address which is added to the Server&#39;s current connections list and is used for further handling the protocols and data for the device. The server checks if the unique ID Address is valid or not and responds with a message accordingly. If the device is not verified, the server closes the connection. 
     Once the smart AC controller is connected and listed in the current devices list it starts sending heartbeats after automatically adjusted intervals. The interval is adjusted intelligently and dynamically to balance the load on server side. The heartbeat fulfills multiple purposes. It helps in detecting if smart AC controller  10  is online or offline. The heartbeat also contains useful information about smart AC controller  10  such as information regarding schedule timestamps. It has other required information that is used for smart learning algorithms. The Cloud on the other hand keeps a record of the information in the heartbeat and after processing and storing information it sends an acknowledgement to the smart AC controller with a data packet having useful information for the smart switch. The smart AC controller status is set to offline if heartbeat is not received within specified time interval. These intervals are dynamic and depend on various parameters including current network situation, device health history and other relevant data. 
     Actions can be performed either locally or remotely from any location. If the smart AC controller is connected to the same Wi-Fi router or network as the mobile device on which the mobile app is executing, the actions are performed locally. In case the smart AC controller and mobile device are not connected to the same Wi-Fi router or network, the actions are performed remotely via the Cloud. 
     In Local action protocol the action information are communicated directed to the smart AC controller via the mobile device/mobile app, then the smart AC controller perform the action on the appliance and sends an acknowledgement to let the user know when the action is performed. The mobile application then informs the cloud service that a local action was performed. 
     In Remote action protocol the mobile device/mobile app send action information to the cloud. A cloud service(s) process the information and sends it to the smart AC controller which then performs the action on the appliance and sends an acknowledgement to the cloud. The cloud sets the status of the action as completely performed and sends a success notification to the mobile application. 
     Smart AC controller  10  can be controlled in different modes. In a Wi-Fi Direct mode, the smart AC controller  10  can be controlled directly from a Wi-Fi enabled mobile device without the need of a home Wi-Fi router. This is a built-in functionality in the Smart AC controller  10 . All commands executed are locally saved in the mobile app database and as soon as it is linked to the internet, the data is transferred to the cloud to keep the database updated for optimized statistics. A second mode of operation is called “home mode”. When the user mobile device is connected to the home Wi-Fi Router, the same router on which the Smart AC controller is connected to, the appliance can be controlled without the need of Internet accessibility. Data on executed commands are locally saved in the mobile app database and as soon as it is linked to the Internet, the data is transferred to the cloud platform  50  to keep the database updated for optimized statistics. A third mode of operation is called “Cloud Mode”. In order to control Smart AC controller  10  over the Internet, Smart AC controller  10  and mobile device must be connected to the Internet. 
       FIG. 3  shows a plurality of smart AC controllers  10  coupled to appliances  21 . The user  30  can control, monitor and manage their appliances  21  through their smartphone(s)  60  and smart AC controllers  10  irrespective of user  30  location. The smart AC controller controls associated appliances through onboard subsystems as depicted in  FIG. 1 . The acknowledgements and notifications are sent to user  30  through smartphone and smartphone application  60  and activity log is stored in cloud platform application database  50 . 
       FIG. 4  is a high-level schematic diagram illustrating embodiments in which the technology can control appliances at multiple properties.  FIG. 4  shows application of the technology at various buildings, e.g., residential, office, vacation property, etc. The technology allows the user to deploy systems under various embodiments to control, monitor, and manage their appliances at one or plurality of buildings. Smart AC controllers  10  can be deployed at multiple locations and user(s) can control the associated appliances through a mobile or web interface  61  irrespective of their location(s). In some embodiments the user can choose to deploy multiple smart AC controllers  10  at the same location for multiple appliances  21 , e.g., one smart AC controller  10  per appliance  21  for cloud enabled control, monitoring and management of appliance  21  irrespective of user location. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , it shows one of the deployment embodiments of the system. It is a schematic diagram where a user  30  is capable of communicating, controlling, monitoring and managing multiple appliances  21  coupled to smart AC controllers through software application installed on smartphone  60 . 
       FIG. 6  is a high-level schematic diagram illustrating embodiments in which the technology enables multiple users to control multiple appliances. In some embodiments, multiple users  30  that belong to a family or group  35 —are capable of communicating, controlling, monitoring and managing multiple appliances  21  associated with multiple smart AC controllers  10  directly through smartphones  60 . In some embodiments, multiple users  30  are assigned to one smart AC controller  10 . In some embodiments there can be multiple users  30  assigned to multiple smart AC controllers  10 . In some embodiments there can be one user  30  assigned to multiple appliances  21  through associated smart AC controllers  10  that are geographically apart. In some embodiments there can be multiple users  30  assigned to multiple appliances  21  through associated smart AC controller  10  that are geographically apart. The presented technology supports assignment of user(s)  30  through interactive graphical user interface which is part of the software application  61  and backend algorithmic and programmatic flows for effective remote monitoring, control and management of appliance  21  through associated devices  10 . The technology thus leverages cloud-enabled 50 control, monitoring and management capabilities to said users  30  for assigned appliances  21  through the associated smart AC controllers  10 . Such implementation offers a family architecture of system usage and operation under various embodiments. 
       FIGS. 7A-7H  are high-level schematic diagrams illustrating communication arrangements through which local and/or remote users can control appliance(s)  21  or  22  associated with smart AC controller(s)  10  in various embodiments of the technology. It should be noted that there is no intent to limit the disclosure to these arrangements; together with the arrangements described below, various possible options, modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. 
       FIG. 7A  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a remote user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances  21  and/or  22  through smartphone  60  and cloud application platform  50 . User  30  controls appliance(s) through smart appliance  10 . A command string issued from user  30  mobile device  60  is communicated to smart AC controller  10  through cloud application platform  50  and local Wi-Fi router  100 . The communication between device  10  and Wi-Fi router  100  is based on local Wi-Fi connection at the smart AC controller location. The communication of command string from smart appliance  10  to associated appliance  21  and/or  22  is via the IR transceiver within smart AC controller  10 . The communication of acknowledgement from smart AC controller  10  to the user smartphone  60  is through local Wi-Fi router  100  at smart AC controller  10  location and cloud application platform  50 . The same communication mechanism is used to log activity feed in the cloud application platform database  50 . 
       FIG. 7B  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a remote user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone  60  and cloud application platform  50 . Additionally the local user can control the same appliances by using conventional remote controls or their smart phone(s). 
       FIG. 7C  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a local user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone  60  and cloud application platform  50 . User  30  controls appliance  21  through associated smart AC controller  10 . The command string from the user through their smartphone and smart phone application running on the use smart phone is communicated to smart AC controller  10  through local Wi-Fi router  100 . The communication between smartphone application and the local W-Fi router  100  as well as between local Wi-Fi router  100  and smart AC controller  10  is via Wi-Fi. The communication of command string from smart AC controller  10  to associated appliance  21  is based on IR transceiver within the smart AC controller  10 . The communication of acknowledgement from the smart AC controller  10  to the user smartphone application is through the local Wi-Fi router  100 . The same communication mechanism is used to log activity feed in the cloud application platform database  50 . 
       FIG. 7D  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a local user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone  60  and cloud application platform  50 . User  30  controls appliance  21  through associated smart AC controller  10 . The command string from the user through their smartphone application is communicated to the smart AC controller  10  through smartphone application, public cellular network infrastructure, cloud platform and local Wi-Fi router  100 . The communication of acknowledgement from smart AC controller  10  to the user smartphone application is through the local Wi-Fi router  100 , cloud platform and public cellular network infrastructure. 
       FIG. 7E  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a local user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone/smartphone application  60 , local Wi-Fi router  100  and cloud application platform  50 . The user  30  controls appliance  21  through associated smart AC controller  10 . The command string from user  30  through their smartphone  60  is communicated to the smart AC controller  10  through direct Wi-Fi connection (Wi-Fi Direct). The communication of command string from smart AC controller  10  to the associated appliance  21  is via IR transceiver within smart AC controller  10 . The communication of acknowledgement from smart AC controller  10  to the user smartphone  60  is through direct Wi-Fi connectivity. Device  10  uses local Wi-Fi router  100  to log activity feed in the cloud application platform database  50  through Wi-Fi connectivity. 
       FIG. 7F  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a local user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone  60  and cloud application platform  50 . The user controls appliance  21  through associated smart AC controller  10 . The command string from the user through their smartphone is communicated to smart AC controller  10  through local Wi-Fi router  100 . The communication between smartphone  60  and the local W-Fi router  100  as well as between local Wi-Fi router  100  and smart AC controller  10  is via Wi-Fi. The communication of command string from smart AC controller  10  to associated appliance  21  and/or  22  is via IR transceiver within smart AC controller  10 . Additionally, a local user  2  can control the appliance by using a conventional remote control and the smart thermostat  10  log the data back to cloud platform  50  using local Wi-Fi router  100 . The communication of acknowledgement from the smart AC controller  10  to user smartphone  60  is through the local Wi-Fi router  100 . The same communication mechanism is used to log activity feed in the cloud application platform database  50 . 
       FIG. 7G  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a local user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone  60 , public cellular network infrastructure, cloud application platform  50  and local Wi-Fi router  100 . The user controls appliance  21  and/or  22  through associated smart AC controller  10 , The command string from the user through their smartphone is communicated to smart AC controller  10  through public cellular infrastructure, cloud platform and local Wi-Fi router  100 . The communication of command string from smart AC controller  10  to associated appliance is via IR transceiver within the smart AC controller  10 . Additionally, a local user  2  can control the appliance by using a conventional remote control and the smart thermostat  10  log the data back to cloud platform  50  using local Wi-Fi router  100 . 
       FIG. 7H  illustrates a possible data communication mechanism where a local user  30  is able to control, monitor and manage IR enabled electric appliances through smartphone  60 , public cellular network infrastructure and cloud application platform  50 . The user controls appliance through associated smart AC controller  10 . The command string from the user through their smartphone is communicated to smart AC controller  10  through Wi-Fi direct connection between smartphone and smart AC controller  10 . The communication of command string from smart AC controller  10  to the associated appliance is via IR transceiver within the smart AC controller  10 . 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating subsystems for incorporating legacy IR remote control systems in accordance with some embodiments of the technology. The illustrated subsystems include a command operation section  810  including onboard command decryption  811  and command protocol conversion  812 , and an interface for wireless communication. The illustrated subsystems enable conversion, processing, and transmission of user-specific commands  801  to the user&#39;s appliance  20 . The command operation section  810  of the remote control device performs related processing on the user-specific commands. The processing includes command decryption  811  and command protocol conversion  812  to hardware friendly-binary codes. The processing section  810  is also responsible for transmitting the hardware friendly binary codes to user&#39;s appliance through IR transceiver. Wireless communication section builds a communication bridge between mobile phone  61 , cloud platform  50 , and the smart AC controller. 
     The IR transceiver subsystem within the smart AC controller enables users to use legacy remote controls if desired in parallel to the smart AC controller. The smart AC controller captures data of legacy remote controls and logs it on the cloud database  50  for effective synchronization of the subsystems and providing accurate analytics to the users  30 . In addition, the user is kept updated by synchronizing data on smartphone application, web application and cloud database. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , it shows state diagram embodiment illustrating the communication routes and decision made by the smart AC controller in order to pass instructions. Start state represents the power-on self-test (POST). If the smart AC controller is registered, associated with a user, family, SSID or a service, it calculates the power matric probing all components and identifying system health. If the smart AC controller is unregistered, the state will switch to Wi-Fi Direct mode and search for Wi-Fi Direct clients. After getting and verifying Wi-Fi communication credentials by successfully connecting to Wi-Fi Direct channel, the smart AC controller state will switch to Wi-Fi client mode and connects to home wireless router. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , it shows communication flowchart embodiment of the smart AC controller to cloud service. Upon power up, the system searches internal NVRAM (nonvolatile random access memory) for system setting. By default, these are empty. The settings include Wi-Fi home router username, password, power settings etc. When it fails to locate these settings, the smart AC controller switches Wi-Fi module to Wi-Fi direct mode. The mobile application connects to Wi-Fi direct and queries for listing available access points. The mobile application gets the name and password from the user and saves to system. The smart AC controller then switches Wi-Fi module back to client mode and connects to the home Wi-Fi router from where the communication to cloud platform establishes. 
       FIG. 11  is a flow diagram illustrating the steps involved in communication a command to the smart AC controller. The user device can issue commands to the smart AC controller via direct communication (e.g. Wi-Fi direct), via the home router, or via a cellular network that communicates the commands to the smart electrical switch via the cloud platform (e.g., user is remote from the location of the smart electrical switch). 
     Referring to  FIG. 12 , it shows mobile application&#39;s startup screens of signing in of existing user and registration of new user. The sign in screen accepts the inputs of existing username and password of a registered user and displays “sign in”/“sign up” buttons. On the other hand, sign up screen requires the inputs of username, email, password and password confirmation of a new user and displays a “register” button. 
     Referring to  FIG. 13 , it shows mobile application&#39;s device adding screens. It offers an automatic QR code scanning option which automatically detects the smart AC controller I.D and stores it in cloud against specific user. During the registration phase, the customized software application running on the mobile device retrieves the location of the mobile device and communicates it to the cloud platform where it is stored in one or more databases and become associated with the user profile and smart AC controller. The cloud platform hosts a database that contains data about various utilities providers in different locations (countries, states, cities, counties) as well as corresponding electricity rates (e.g., cost per kWh). This enables the customized software to calculate costs of energy consumed based on energy consumption measurements and reporting from the smart AC controller. The location of mobile device can be obtained in multiple ways. For example, the location of the mobile device can be based on the GPS coordinates of the device, or the location of the wireless Access Point the mobile device is connected to. There are many known ways for a mobile software application to obtain and report the location of the mobile device. For example, mobile applications designed to run on Apple iOS devices use the Apple&#39;s Core Location framework to locate the current position of the device. The smart AC controller can be delinked from one location and linked to another (in case the owner of the smart AC controller moves to a different city or state). In some embodiments, the smart AC controller can report data to a remote server that can compute its location. Such data might be related to the access point that it is connected to. Internal algorithms of the system ensure that smart AC controller  10  location is updated every time it is delinked from existing Wi-Fi router and linked to a new Wi-Fi router. 
     Referring to  FIG. 14 , it shows mobile application&#39;s family registration options screens. A user has the option to create a new family group or join the existing as a new member. The new member can have access to existing smart AC controller(s) associated with the family or can add new ones. 
     Referring to  FIG. 15 , it shows mobile application&#39;s device Wi-Fi communication setup screens. User can select available Wi-Fi access points from a drop-down menu and enter the access point password in order to establish communication through it. The Wi-Fi access point information and password will be saved in mobile application and cloud platform by selecting the save option. 
     Referring to  FIG. 16 , it shows an example of a smartphone application showing family associated appliances and drop down options screens. List of appliances associated with a specific family is shown. More than one family can be registered as well as more than one appliance can be associated with each family. The options drop down menu gives user access to graphical reports, notifications, family information, associated appliance information, and settings screens. 
       FIG. 17  shows an example of a smartphone application&#39;s showing appliances associated with a family or group and member(s) associated with each family. List of appliances associated with a specific family is shown. There can be more than one families registered and more than one appliance associated with each family. Additionally, list of appliances associated with each member is shown. There can be more than one members registered in a family and more than one appliances associate with each member of the family. 
       FIG. 18  shows an example of a smart phone application showing appliances associated with a specific family or group along with graphical reports for specific appliances. List of appliances associated with a specific family is shown. There can be more than one family or group registered and more than one appliance associated with each family. The graphical reports related to an appliance can be, for e.g., statistical usage or activity data in the form of graphs, charts and tables. In some embodiments, when single or multiple users assigned to multiple IR-enabled electric appliances through associated smart AC controllers are off premises, the remote monitoring, management, and control of assigned appliances is offered to the user(s) remotely via the cloud through their smartphones. 
       FIG. 19  shows an example of a smartphone application showing energy usage information of energy consumption of each associated appliance to the user. The graphical presentation of information is also highlighted. 
       FIG. 20  shows an example of a smartphone application showing parameter based energy usage information of each appliance associated with the smart thermostat to the user. The graphical presentation of information is also highlighted. 
     Referring to  FIG. 21 , it shows mobile application&#39;s screens and functions available for energy usage control measures. User can make energy saving decisions and restrict energy usage of various appliances associated with smart AC controllers. 
       FIGS. 22A-22B  are display diagrams illustrating appliance scheduling in accordance with some embodiments of the technology. The technology enables users to set schedules and automated timers for operating one or multiple appliances automatically, such as to have a home at a comfortable temperature when the occupants return home, or to operate lights and other appliances to make the house appear occupied and deter burglars while the occupants are away. 
       FIG. 22A  shows example mobile application automatic timed and scheduled operation triggering screens. Scheduled automation screen  2210  shows the options of a particular device related to automatic triggering a number of user-specific appliance settings over the days of a week. The scheduler can be turned on or off in variable days of the week. Timer automation screen  2220  shows the options of a particular user related to automatically triggering a number of user-specific appliance settings over all the associated user appliances. The timer can be turned on or off for various appliances. 
       FIG. 22B  illustrates another interface for scheduling for an air conditioner, enabling the user to set specific functions of the air conditioner to be performed over time. Various air conditioner functions (e.g., power on/off, temperature setting, mode, fan speed, etc.) can be performed as scheduled events or on a repeating schedule, for example. 
     In various embodiments, the technology includes a “Schedule Protocol” by which schedules that are added by any user against any smart AC controller  10  are also sent to smart AC controller  10  via the cloud platform  50 . In some embodiments, the cloud platform  50  sends a fixed number of schedules or schedule events to smart AC controller to be executed after processing along with data string and timestamp, and stores the remaining schedules or schedule events as a queue in its database. Smart AC controller  10  sends an acknowledgment for each schedule information. When the schedule is executed, smart AC controller  10  sends a schedule execute acknowledgement to the cloud platform  50  along with the timestamp information of that schedule. The cloud platform  50  marks that schedule as completed and then gets pending schedules and sends them to smart AC controller  10 . 
       FIG. 23  is a display diagram illustrating a timeline screen in accordance with some embodiments of the technology. The illustrated timeline screen  2300  enables a user to see all the actions performed and observed through smart AC controller  10  for a controlled appliance  20  such as an air conditioner, providing a complete audit trail. Starting at the bottom of the screen, the oldest item  2302  in the timeline  2300  history is that user  30  John registered the smart AC controller  10 , two days ago. Item  2304  indicates that an infrared device such as the air conditioner&#39;s own remote control turned on the air conditioner. In some embodiments, the technology detects, captures, and reports infrared signals received from legacy remote controls. In some embodiments, the technology is integrated into an appliance and captures information about external actions such as manual or infrared remote activation received by the appliance. In item  2306 , the smart AC controller  10  reports information about status of the smart AC controller or the appliance, noting that the smart AC controller was offline for about an hour the previous day. In item  2308 , the timeline  2300  states that a schedule labeled “Morning” was executed ten minutes ago. And in item  2310 , the timeline  2300  records that user John changed the temperature to 26 degrees Celsius. In some embodiments, the technology provides auditing functions based on observed timeline events, such as an alert that a particular user activated an appliance outside normal hours, or a notification that temperatures in a room exceed a threshold. 
     There is a multitude of advantages of the presented invention arising from the various features of the smart AC controller, its methods, subsystems, algorithms and associated applications. It is pertinent to note that alternative embodiments of the present invention may not cover all of the associated features of the invention. People having ordinary skills in the art may benefit and devise their own implementations of the smart AC controller, utilizing one or more of the features of present invention which fall within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above-described technology may be straightforwardly adapted or extended in various ways. For example, the technology may be implemented in devices of various sizes and forms, as standalone devices or integrated or retrofitted into appliances. While the foregoing description makes reference to particular embodiments, the scope of the invention is defined solely by the claims that follow and the elements recited therein.