Patent Publication Number: US-8994880-B2

Title: System and methods for automatic power saving via device location identification

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
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     NOTICE OF MATERIAL SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION 
     A portion of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does not hereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintained in secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §1.14. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention pertains generally to system and methods for power saving modes in devices, and more particularly to power saving modes via device location identification. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Consumers purchasing household appliances are currently being subject to, in an increasing manner, power consumption restriction from varying local, state and federal regulations. However, because power consumption regulations may vary based on the location of the consumer, and generally the consumer will want to have the highest performing specifications for a product according to their location, product manufacturers are faced with having to produce numerous variations of what would have been the same product. 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a means for identifying the location of an electronic device, and adjust the power consumption of the device accordingly. At least some of these objections will be met in the following description. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention comprises system and methods for automatically adjusting the power consumption of a household appliance, such as a TV or monitor, according to an identified location of the device and corresponding power consumption requirements for the device location. 
     The system of the present invention is configured to use one or more means of locating a device user&#39;s location, e.g. via GPS, transport ID, PSIP data from a content source, EPG setup (zip code) IP address, etc., and then utilize the information to automatically set the product&#39;s settings per regulations which may be location dependent. 
     Another aspect is a method of utilizing device location information such as GPS, transport ID, PSIP data from a content source, EPG setup (zip code) IP address, etc., to automatically enable the power save mode of the television. A home viewer may be precluded to adjust the settings to avoid the false location input, which would override the setting set by regulations. 
     Alternatively, the device may be configured so that the customer may be able to adjust the locality settings that allow the television work better. 
     Further aspects of the invention will be brought out in the following portions of the specification, wherein the detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention without placing limitations thereon. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings which are for illustrative purposes only: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a system for automatically assigning a device power saving mode by device location in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic diagram of the device programming of the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of a method for automatically assigning a device power saving mode by device location in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows an alternative power saving system configured to operate with a meter in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring more specifically to the drawings, for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in the apparatus generally shown in  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 4 . It will be appreciated that the apparatus may vary as to configuration and as to details of the parts, and that the method may vary as to the specific steps and sequence, without departing from the basic concepts as disclosed herein. 
     Many regulatory requirements, such as energy saving modes, are dependent upon location. If a country, state, or other municipality or region requires certain energy saving modes, the system of the present invention provides for automatic setting of the required energy saving mode, based upon acquired location data. 
     For example, some states, such as California, may have regulations that require additional energy savings compared to the others. Generally, this would require the product to have an additional set up step (which can be manipulated by the user in contradiction to the regulation), or require different versions of the product particular to the region being sold. The systems and methods of the present invention remove the above deficiencies to create devices that are compliant with regulatory requirements, the energy savings mode could be automatically enabled via multiple and also potentially redundant sources of location information. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a system  10  for automatically assigning a device power saving mode by device location in accordance with the present invention. The system  10  comprises an energy consuming device  12  that may be subject to one or more power consumption regulatory requirements according to the location that the device is operated. 
     In a preferred embodiment, device  12  comprises a TV, monitor, or like display device. However, it is appreciated that device  12  may comprise any electronic device or appliance that may be subject to power consumption, regulatory requirements. For example, the device  12  may comprise a laptop, tablet, smart phone, portable-TV, refrigerator, dryer, home air-conditioning or heating systems, or like electronic device or appliance.  FIGS. 1-4  and the corresponding description below are directed to a TV/monitor or the like device, however, it is appreciated that principles embodied herein are applicable to a number of household appliances and devices. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , device  12  comprises application programming  14  that is stored in memory  18  and executable on processor  16  of the device  12 . Application programming  14  is configured to identify the location of the device  12 , and apply one or more power saving modes based on the identified location. 
     Some potential sources of location information that may be acquired by application programming  14  are GPS, transport ID, PSIP data from a content source, or from other set up data that the user enters for other features, such as an EPG. In the case of an Internet-enabled TV, the IP address may provide localization information. Often for an EPG set up, a postal or zip code entry may be used. 
     To find the device location and/or location specific power consumption regulatory requirements, the device  12  is configured to communicate with a number of external devices. Alternatively, the device  12  could be configured to filter a stream of data delivered via a broadcast, e.g. over satellite, terrestrial, cable, or Internet. 
     For example, device  12  may comprise a GPS receiver  24  configured to receive transmission  44  from a satellite or GPS satellite network  32  to periodically obtain a GPS location of the device  12 . 
     Device  12  may also comprise an input  20  configured to receive programming/content from set top box (STB)  36  that is configured to receive programming via cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcast or the like. For example, the STB  36  may comprise a cable box that provides Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) data (i.e. a call signal sent form local stations) that may be used to identify the location of the STB  36 . 
     Device  12  may also comprise a terrestrial broadcast receiver  22  configured to receive terrestrial broadcast transmission  42  from a terrestrial broadcast tower or station  30 . The application programming  14  may use data within the terrestrial broadcast signal (e.g. transport ID or other station identification) to provide a location for the device  12 . If necessary, the application programming  14  may establish a location of the device by triangulating the location of a plurality of stations. 
     Device  12  may further comprise a network interface  26  (e.g. Internet enabled TV) configured to couple the device to Internet  38  and one or more remote devices/servers  40 . The application programming  14  may use data received from the network connection  38  (e.g. from ISP, IP address, or nodes coupled to the device  12  to access a remote device  40 ) to provide a location for the device  12 . 
     One or more sensors  28  may also be included to provide data useful in applying a particular power saving mode. For example, ambient light level sensors may be used to determine the lighting in the room to dictate the level of brightness for a TV or monitor display (lower ambient light settings would require less brightness than a highly lit room, and thus draw less power with little loss of performance). Sensor  28  may also comprise a motion sensor  28  to sense inactivity in a room, and turn on/off the device  12  accordingly. 
     It is appreciated that the device  12  may comprise one or more of the external communication means  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  for redundancy and/or according to the functionality of the device itself (e.g. a refrigerator may only use a GPS receiver, and a laptop or computer monitor may only utilize network interface  26  for acquiring location data). 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a detailed schematic diagram of the application programming  14  of system  10 . Application programming  14  preferably comprises a power saving/consumption module  50  that uses a provided location from location identification module  54  and location-specific regulatory consumption requirements from database  52  to operate device control  66  to vary power consumption of the device  12  accordingly. For example, for a device  12  comprising a display/monitor/TV, the power saving/consumption module  50  may establish a brightness level to the device controls  66  according to a specified requirement for the locality in which the device  12  was identified to be present. 
     Such brightness levels (or other power saving techniques) may also be a function of the type of display, or other variables pertaining to the device  12 . For example, whether the device  12  is a CRT, LED, LCD, or plasma screen, the time of viewing (e.g. peak vs. off-peak), and the size of the screen, may all factor in the specified power-saving setting that is applied to the device  12 . Power saving/consumption module  50  may also take periodic input from sensor  28  in determining the present power saving modes. 
     For a device  12  comprising an appliance such as a refrigerator, air-conditioning, or central heating unit, etc., power saving may be achieved by setting minimum/maximum temperature settings on the thermostat, which also may be a function of time (e.g. peak, off-peak, etc.). 
     The identification module  54  may use one or more modules for acquiring location data. For example, GPS module  58  may be used to acquire a GPS location via transmission  44 . Receiver module  60  may be used to acquire a location via terrestrial broadcast transmission  42 . Network module  62  may be used to acquire a location via Internet  38  and external device  40 . AV/input module  64  may be used to acquire a location via set top box  36 . 
     The identification module  54  may also be configured to receive data via an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) setup  56  for the device  12 . For example, the user may be requested to enter in data, e.g. zip code, phone number address, etc. in the EPG setup that helps determine the location of the device  12 . However, in some scenarios where the location is set by the user, a false location could be input to override the setting set by regulation. Secondary information from other external devices, could be used to force the settings, and preclude the home viewer from being able to adjust the settings. 
     Identification module  54  is configured to receive the location data from one ore more external devices coupled to the device  12  via modules  56 ,  58 ,  60 ,  62 , and  64 , and apply a regulatory power consumption requirement associated with the location data by querying location database  52 . While location database  52  is shown locally within device  12  (e.g. in memory  18 ), it is appreciated that the Identification module  54  may query an external database (e.g. a database stored in external server  40  and acquired through Internet  38 ). Database  52  may also be periodically updated via an external server  40  and acquired through Internet  38 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of a method  100  for automatically assigning a device power saving mode by device location in accordance with the present invention. At block  102 , the device  12  location is determined, e.g. through external communication means  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  and associated external devices. At block  104 , consumption data is retrieved, (e.g. via querying database  52 ) according to the determined device location. Next, a power/consumption mode is determined based on the consumption data at block  106 . Finally, the power consumption of the device is adjusted according to the power/consumption mode at block  108 . 
       FIG. 4  shows an alternative power saving system  200  configured to operate with a meter  210  in accordance with the present invention. For example, the meter  210  may comprise a smart meter  210  that is configured to wirelessly communicate real-time energy consumption for a business or dwelling. The device  202  may comprise a wireless receiver  206  configured to receive data from the meter  210 , and establish a power saving mode to device control  208 , according to the data provided by the meter  210 , location data from other external devices (such as those disclosed in  FIGS. 1-3 ), or both. For example, if a particular household is under a certain energy consumption or consumption rate (e.g. because they don&#39;t use much gas/electric utilities, or supplement their utilities via solar energy or the like), than the device  202  may establish a less-strict power saving mode compared to a dwelling that has exceeded the threshold. Alternatively, the customer might be able to adjust the settings in the user configuration  204  to be even stricter than those mandated by their locality, so that they may achieve desired energy savings. 
     The present invention allows a manufacturer to make “one TV” for all markets. The TV will automatically adjust for the local market. There is an assumption that the low energy or restrictive mode does not actually make the TV work better, although the home consumer might like the fact that the TV is low-energy. This might allow modes that are more preferred by the consumer in localities where restrictions are not as strict. 
     While the above embodiments are primarily directed to the modification of power consumption in a power-saving mode, it is appreciated that the systems and methods of the present invention may also be implemented to vary other functions of the device or appliance in one or more operational modes. 
     For example, it may be possible in the future for the TV set or appliance to transmit on a wireless frequency, e.g. WIFI, and the particular frequency may differ from country to country. The bands 2.4 GHz and 5.7 GHz are slightly different in different countries and regions of the world. The frequency could automatically be determined through techniques described above. 
     Another feature could be modification of the frequency for a wireless remote. The TV or other device could be programmed on country location to look for allowed frequency for the particular country. 
     Furthermore, modulation and frequencies for reception of terrestrial, cable and satellite TV signals may also be modified according to location-dependent operational modes. This would allow a TV to switch modulation from 8 VSB, used in the US, to DVB-T when used in Europe. 
     In another alternative embodiment, the system and method of the present invention may be used to modify the frequency based on available white space (i.e. frequencies allocated to a broadcasting service but not used locally) to allow for frequency coordination by region. 
     Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations of methods and systems according to embodiments of the invention. These methods and systems can also be implemented as computer program products. In this regard, each block or step of a flowchart, and combinations of blocks (and/or steps) in a flowchart, can be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, and/or software including one or more computer program instructions embodied in computer-readable program code logic. As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer, including without limitation a general purpose computer or special purpose computer, or other programmable processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the computer program instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s). 
     Accordingly, blocks of the flowcharts support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions, and computer program instructions, such as embodied in computer-readable program code logic means, for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer-readable program code logic means. 
     Furthermore, these computer program instructions, such as embodied in computer-readable program code logic, may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable processing apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable processing apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s). 
     As can be seen, therefore, the present invention includes the following inventive embodiments among others: 
     1. A system for automatically setting an operational mode according to a location of a device, comprising: an interface for coupling the device to one or more external devices; a processor; and programming executable on said processor for performing steps comprising: determining the location of the device via communication with the one or more external devices; establishing an operating mode according to the determined location of the device and one or more regulatory requirements associated with said device location; and adjusting a function of the according to said operational mode. 
     2. The system of embodiment 1: wherein the operational mode comprises a power saving mode; and wherein adjusting a function of the device comprises modifying the power consumption of the device according to a power consumption mode. 
     3. The system of embodiment 1: wherein the operational mode comprises modification one or more of following: link transmission frequency, remote control reception frequency and modulation, and frequencies for RF reception. 
     4. The system of embodiment 1: wherein the device comprises a TV having a display; and wherein adjusting a function of the device comprises adjusting a brightness level of the display. 
     5. The system of embodiment 1, wherein the interface comprises a GPS receiver for obtaining GPS data relating to the device location. 
     6. The system of embodiment 1, wherein the interface comprises a terrestrial broadcast receiver for obtaining station identification data relating to the device location. 
     7. The system of embodiment 1, wherein the interface comprises a network interface for obtaining location data relating to the device over the Internet. 
     8. The system of embodiment 1, wherein the interface comprises an input from a set top box for obtaining PSIP data relating to the device location. 
     9. The system of embodiment 2: the device further comprising one or more sensors; wherein the one or more sensors provide information relating to the device environment that are used in establishing the power consumption mode. 
     10. A TV having an automatic power saving mode, comprising: a display; an interface for coupling the TV to one or more external devices; a processor; and programming executable on said processor for performing steps comprising: determining the location of the TV via communication with the one or more external devices; establishing a power consumption mode according to the determined location of the TV and one or more power consumption regulatory requirements associated with said TV location; and adjusting a brightness level of the display to modify the power consumption of the TV according to said power consumption mode. 
     11. The TV of embodiment 10, wherein the interface comprises a GPS receiver for obtaining GPS data relating to the TV location. 
     12. The TV of embodiment 10, wherein the interface comprises a terrestrial broadcast receiver for obtaining station identification data relating to the TV location. 
     13. The TV of embodiment 10, wherein the interface comprises a network interface for obtaining location data relating to the TV over the Internet. 
     14. The TV of embodiment 10, wherein the interface comprises an input from a set top box for obtaining PSIP data relating to the TV location. 
     15. The TV of embodiment 10: the TV further comprising one or more sensors; wherein the one or more sensors provide information relating to the TV environment that are used in establishing the power consumption mode. 
     16. The TV of embodiment 15, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a light sensor. 
     17. The TV of embodiment 15, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a motion sensor. 
     18. The TV of embodiment 15, wherein the TV is configured to communicate wirelessly with a utility meter; and wherein data from the utility meter is used in establishing the power consumption mode. 
     19. A method for automatically setting an operational mode according to a location of a device, comprising: coupling the device to one or more external devices; determining a location of the device via communication with the one or more external devices; establishing an operational mode according to the determined location of the device and one or more regulatory requirements associated with said device location; and adjusting a function of the device according to said power consumption mode. 
     20. The method of embodiment 19: wherein the operational mode comprises a power saving mode; and wherein adjusting a function of the device comprises modifying the power consumption of the device according to a power consumption mode. 
     21. The method of embodiment 19: wherein the operational mode comprises modification one or more of following: link transmission frequency, remote control reception frequency and modulation, and frequencies for RF reception. 
     22. The method of embodiment 19: wherein the device comprises a TV having a display; and wherein adjusting a function of the device comprises adjusting a brightness level of the display. 
     23. The method of embodiment 19, wherein the interface comprises a GPS receiver for obtaining GPS data relating to the device location. 
     24. The method of embodiment 19, wherein the interface comprises a terrestrial broadcast receiver for obtaining station identification data relating to the device location. 
     25. The method of embodiment 19, wherein the interface comprises a terrestrial broadcast receiver for obtaining station identification data relating to the device location. 
     26. The method of embodiment 19, wherein the interface comprises an input from a set top box for obtaining PSIP data relating to the device location. 
     27. The method of embodiment 20, further comprising: acquiring data from one or more sensors; said data relating to the device environment; and establishing the power consumption mode based on a function of said acquired data. 
     Although the description above contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”