Patent ID: 8644166

Claim:
A power switch apparatus (Z-SW) for monitoring and control of power usage of one or more ZigBee® technology enabled appliances, comprising: an appliance power plug; a power meter and relay unit coupled to said power plug, said power meter and relay unit also coupled to an AC power distribution line, said power meter and relay configured for collecting power usage information and relay status; a micro controller unit (MCU) module connected to said power meter and relay unit, said MCU configured for receiving power usage information and relay status from said power meter and relay unit; a ZigBee® device integrated into said Z-SW and coupled to said MCU through a bidirectional port and communication links on the Z-SW, said ZigBee® device configured for connecting said Z-SW to at least one ZigBee® technology enabled appliance to effect operational control and status update of said ZigBee® technology enabled appliance; and a communication module connected to said MCU, said communication module configured to encrypt and modulate information received from said MCU; wherein said power meter and relay are configured to control a flow of power to said power plug from said AC power distribution lines based on input from said MCU; wherein said ZigBee® device is configured for communicating operational instructions to said ZigBee® technology enabled appliance, for collecting operational status information from said ZigBee® technology enabled appliance, and for remote operational control of said ZigBee® technology enabled appliance over said AC power distribution line; and a plurality of sensors, each sensor connected to said AC power distribution line and to an associated controlled ZigBee® technology enabled appliance, each ZigBee® technology enabled appliance powered by power from said AC power distribution line under control of said sensor, each sensor configured for each of: collecting power usage information of said connected associated ZigBee® technology enabled appliance; executing a power management regimen; and providing a connection to establish a local area network (LAN) between said sensors and other networked devices.