Patent ID: 7526539

Claim:
An Internet-enabled control system for monitoring and controlling home-automated-systems and appliances at a user's premise, comprising: a base station with Internet connection at the user's premise, the base station in communication with sensing and actuating subsystems associated with individual ones of the home-automated systems and appliances via radio frequency technology; a plurality of control units, comprising a wiring interface portion, a RF section comprising a redundancy-based networking protocol, a microcontroller comprising control code, wherein the control units are in communication with the base station via the RF section and in communication with the sensing and actuating subsystems via the wiring interface or the RF section; a first Internet-connected server, comprising a software-control module for enabling a user to monitor and control home automated systems and appliances, communicating over the Internet with the base station, the first Internet-connected server monitoring the sensing subsystems and providing actuating commands to the actuating subsystems through the base station; such that the control units produce control outputs for a particular home automated-system or appliance in response to input from sensing subsystems associated with the particular home automated-system or appliance and in response to other sensors associated with other home automated-systems or appliances as determined by the software-control module and the control code and wherein the redundancy-based networking protocol comprises a state wherein if one control unit is out of communication range with the base station another control unit intercepts communication on behalf of the out-of range control unit and retransmits to the out-of range control unit.