CN111902850B

CN111902850B - Method and system for controlling fan and/or lighting

Info

Publication number: CN111902850B
Application number: CN201980012708.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 埃里克·斯特凡基维; 雪莱·沃尔德
Original assignee: Wang Alliance Co
Current assignee: Wang Alliance Co
Priority date: 2018-01-12
Filing date: 2019-01-12
Publication date: 2022-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-12
Also published as: WO2019140335A1; CN111902850A

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus relating to fan and/or lighting control. Some embodiments relate to the use of RF and WiFi control in a fan device to control fan status and speed and/or fan light on/off status and brightness. Some embodiments relate to a controller having an RF interface for controlling a fan apparatus that includes a fan motor and may also include a lighting apparatus. In some embodiments, the controller is in the form of a wall control module which may be mounted in a standard electrical wall box in the room in which the fan apparatus to be controlled is located. Some embodiments relate to an apparatus for controlling operation of a fan system, the apparatus comprising one or more fan devices including a dc fan motor and circuitry for powering and controlling the dc fan motor.

Description

Method and system for controlling fan and/or lighting

Technical Field

The present invention relates to fan devices, and more particularly, to methods and systems for controlling and/or powering devices using different interfaces, such as an Alternating Current (AC) interface, an RF interface, and a Wifi interface.

Background

Ceiling fans are often installed in a room to improve air circulation and/or provide cooling. In some cases, the lamp is mounted on a fan. Although it is desirable to control the fan motor and the lamp separately, if such control is achieved using standard wired switches, switches need to be provided for the lamp and the fan motor separately.

In many cases, the fan is installed at a position where the ceiling lamp is previously installed, and thus, when a power source (e.g., 120V) of the fan installation position is available, the connection of the plurality of switches may not be applicable. In this case, the combined ceiling fan and light fixture may receive power through a single wall switch while providing power to the light and fan motor. To enable separate control of the light and fan motor switches, a plurality of pull cord switches may be included in the fan assembly, one for controlling the light and the other for controlling the fan motor.

While it is common to use pull cords to control fans and lights, they are not only unsightly, but may also present potential safety issues. The hanging cords may accidentally become caught on objects, people, and/or even become entangled in the moving fan blades. As LED lighting technology advances, fan lights are often required to support variable lighting requirements rather than simple on/off light control. Similarly, the ability to control the speed of the ceiling fan motor rather than simply turning the motor on and off is desirable.

To improve energy efficiency, it may be desirable to support fan and/or lamp control operations according to a course of a given trip, work course, and/or other conditions taken into account so that the fan and/or lamp does not run unnecessarily unattended. Where instructions can be supported, it is desirable that the instructions can be entered and executed wirelessly without requiring a wired controller on the wall to provide control signals to the fan and/or lighting device over a wire, as wired methods can be difficult and/or costly to implement.

Furthermore, known dc motor fan systems available, for example, using a dc brushless motor, suffer from the problem of having the power supply connected to a first fan and from there to a second fan and then to a third fan when operated and controlled on the same power supply, for example, when the three fans are connected together in series, the third fan generally not functioning properly and it is subject to time and speed mismatch when started.

In view of the above, it should be appreciated that there is a need for improved methods of controlling fans and/or ceiling lights. There is a desire in the industry for at least some improved methods and/or apparatus that reduce the need for multiple separate wired wall switches connected to fans and lights. Although not required by all exemplary embodiments, in addition to simple lamp and/or fan on/off operation, it would further be desirable in the industry if the fan and/or lamp control could support a wide range of functions such as fan speed, fan direction, and/or light brightness.

In some instances, it is desirable in the industry to support a safety shut-off mechanism in addition to being able to wirelessly control the fan and/or lights. For example, in at least some exemplary embodiments, it is desirable in the industry to be able to quickly disable the fan motor and/or lights in the event of a safety issue, rather than rely solely on commands or controls to turn off the fan and/or lights. At least in some such cases, it is desirable if the power supply to the fan and/or lighting device can be completely shut off and the motor operation stopped quickly (even if an error occurs in the sending of an error control signal to the fan and/or the fan controller responsible for controlling the fan). If a wall station is likely to have controls that send commands to one or more fan units, it is desirable that the safety mechanism also disable the ability of the wall station to send commands so that all parts of the fan system are reliably disabled.

In addition, in view of the above, it should also be appreciated that there is a need for new and/or improved fan systems that utilize dc motors (e.g., dc brushless motors) to enable smooth control of the operation of each fan that utilizes a dc motor. Further, there is a need for new and/or improved apparatus that can drive and/or control a brushless dc motor so that the operation of the fan motor can be smoothly controlled without the use of optical sensors, optical encoders, magnetic encoders (e.g., resolvers or synchronizers), or hall effect sensors in the motor control unit that increase the cost of the fan apparatus and the overall system.

Disclosure of Invention

Various exemplary embodiments are directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above. Various fan system exemplary embodiments are directed to systems including one or more fan apparatuses that utilize a dc motor (e.g., a dc brushless motor) that utilizes a control device (e.g., a circuit that provides smooth control of fan operation in each of the one or more fan apparatuses of the system). Some exemplary embodiments relate to a power control circuit that converts ac power to dc power that is provided in a manner that provides smooth control of fan motor operation without the use of optical sensors, optical encoders, magnetic encoders (e.g., a rotary transformer or synchronizer), or hall effect sensors in the motor control unit.

Various exemplary embodiments relate to an apparatus for controlling the operation of a fan system, the apparatus including one or more fan devices including a dc fan motor, and circuitry for driving and controlling the dc fan motor to provide smooth operation without misalignment in time or speed when multiple fan devices are powered from the same ac power source, and are simultaneously started. An example embodiment system includes one or more fan units including a dc fan motor, an ac power interface circuit to provide ac filter power to a dc power circuit that powers the dc fan motor. The AC power interface circuit includes: the alternating current signal is connected with the grounding input, and the alternating current filter circuit is connected with the alternating current signal output. The dc fan motor may be brushless without optical sensors, and the ac filter circuit may include: a varistor, a common mode choke, an X capacitor and two Y capacitors.

Various exemplary embodiments are directed to controlling fan status and speed and/or fan light on/off status and brightness using RF and WiFi control in a fan device. The fan apparatus includes an RF interface and a fan WiFi interface. The customer premises includes a WiFi router through which WiFi communications may be sent from WiFi enabled devices (e.g., cell phones) to control the fan device and its various functions. While WiFi control is through a WiFi router in the home, the control signals typically do not go through the internet or other external network. Thus, WiFi control is possible without the need to connect to an external network or server. In addition to WiFi control, control of the fan device may be through an RF control device, such as a wall station controller. In some exemplary embodiments, 120V power is provided to the fan unit through a wall station controller. While 120V power may be provided through the wall station controller, control signals from the wall station controller are transmitted to the RF interface of the fan apparatus using RF signals. The RF interface uses a different frequency band than the WiFi signal to/from the WiFi router. In some example embodiments, the RF interface uses an unlicensed spectrum that is different from the spectrum used for WiFi signals.

Since the RF and WiFi control signals do not need to pass through an external communication network, in which case the commands must first be sent to a web server outside the customer premises and then from the web server to the device to be controlled, the fan device can be controlled by a wall controller or WiFi device even if it is not possible to connect to the internet or other external network.

In some (but not necessarily all) exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus reports its status and/or the status changed due to the received command to a server, for example, located outside the customer premises. Communication with an external server may be, sometimes through a WiFi router and internet connection. The server records status information for one or more devices in each client site associated therewith. The server automatically generates a recommended normal course based on, for example, historical device status information (including device on/off time, fan speed information, and/or light brightness information). Machine learning and historical device state information may be used (sometimes for) in the process of generating recommendations for a customer premise. The proposed normal control process is communicated to an individual, e.g., a customer at a customer site associated with the process. The communication of the proposed process may be, and sometimes is, from a server through the internet and WiFi routers of the client site associated with the process. The client may approve the proposed process and/or provide modifications to the normal process for use by the server in controlling the equipment at the client site.

In addition to generating the normal control process for the customer premises, a process is also generated to be used when the customer indicates that the customer premises is offline. The guest room state corresponds to when a normal occupant of the guest room is away from the guest room. The departure process is generated based on a random function, so the devices will turn on somewhat randomly, which makes it difficult for a potential thief to determine whether the devices are controlled by an automated system or by field personnel. In some exemplary embodiments, historical device usage information is taken into account when the server automatically generates an departure procedure that has some randomness in its on/off times but remains within a reasonable time, e.g., 30 minutes or an hour, when someone is present, when the device is turned on and off.

Remote control of the device is also supported, although the user can control the device at home through an RF controller or WiFi controller without having to send commands outside the home. The user may log on to the control server and, once authenticated, may send control commands to the devices in the home through the control server and WiFi router. In this way, the user can control the device when not at home. In the case of commands sent by the server, the server may (and sometimes does) update the device status information based on commands sent from the server to the device to be controlled, thereby eliminating the need for the device to report status changes to the server. While in some exemplary embodiments the device does not report a status change to the server in response to a command transmitted by the server to the controlled device, in other exemplary embodiments the controlled device (e.g., a fan device) typically reports a status change to the control server regardless of whether the command came from the server, a wall station in the home, or a WiFi device.

The client corresponding to the home may enable/disable the server usage control process. For example, the user may send a signal to the control server indicating that a normal control process should be used, that an offsite process should be used, or that no control process should be used. The signal may indicate that the automatic control is to be set to home off, that the automatic control should be on, and when the automatic control is on, whether to indicate a guest room status where an departure procedure should be used, or that the premises is in a normal state and therefore a normal procedure should be used.

Example embodiment control methods according to some example embodiments include: receiving, at a fan apparatus comprising a radio frequency signal receiver and a fan WiFi interface, a first Radio Frequency (RF) control signal from a control unit, the fan apparatus and the control unit being located at a customer site; an operation, implemented at the fan apparatus, responsive to a first command conveyed by a first radio frequency control signal; and operating the fan apparatus to communicate information indicative of an operation performed in response to the first command with a server located outside the customer premises through the fan WiFi interface.

In various exemplary embodiments, a controller having an RF interface is used to control a fan apparatus that includes a fan motor and may also include a lighting apparatus. In some exemplary embodiments, the controller is in the form of a wall control module that may be installed in a standard electrical wall box in the room in which the fan apparatus to be controlled is located. To simplify installation and avoid the need to power the outlet over the normal 120V power line, the controller acts as a simple pass-through device from a 120V ac voltage point of view, through which ac power is supplied to the fan apparatus unit. For safety reasons, the controller comprises an ac disconnect device which can be used to disconnect all power to the fan apparatus. The disconnect switch may be in the form of a push-pull switch or a pull tab that interrupts the power to the fan apparatus.

Control of the fan unit is accomplished through an RF interface contained in the wall station. In some exemplary embodiments, activating the safety disconnect switch will disconnect power to the wall controller RF interface in addition to disconnecting power to the fan unit. As such, in some (but not necessarily all) exemplary embodiments, the safety disconnect functions as a physical disconnect switch integrated into the wall control and the wall control of the fan apparatus.

A wall station includes inputs for controlling fan on/off operation, light on/off operation, fan speed (e.g., acceleration/deceleration), and/or light brightness (e.g., fan device light output brightens/dims). In some exemplary embodiments, the lamp output and fan speed may be controlled smoothly, e.g., controlling light brightness in a smooth manner over a wide range of brightness values as opposed to simply a few discrete output levels. The wall control transmits RF control signals to effect or convey commands generated based on pressing or changing control inputs on the wall control. The control signal is transmitted to the fan apparatus using an RF band different from the WiFi signal at the customer site where the controller is located.

According to some exemplary embodiments, an exemplary embodiment fan apparatus controller includes: inputting an alternating voltage; an ac output for powering the fan apparatus; an RF signal interface including an RF signal transmitter for transmitting commands to a device to be controlled; an RF controller for controlling an RF signal interface to transmit a control signal comprising one or more commands to the fan apparatus; and a disconnect switch for disconnecting the ac output from the ac input when the disconnect switch is switched from a connected state to a disconnected state.

While various exemplary embodiments have been discussed in the foregoing summary, it should be appreciated that not all exemplary embodiments include the same features, and some of the features described above are not required, but may be desirable in some exemplary embodiments. Many additional features, exemplary embodiments and benefits of various exemplary embodiments are discussed in the detailed description that follows.

Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram according to an exemplary embodiment: system diagram of an exemplary embodiment comprising a controllable fan device, a wall station, a wireless terminal, a WiFi router, and a control server.

Fig. 2 is a diagram of an embodiment wall station (e.g., fan unit controller) that identifies an RF interface included in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram according to an exemplary embodiment: a diagram of an example embodiment controllable fan device including a controllable fan device, a controllable light, an RF interface, and a WiFi interface.

FIG. 4A is a first portion of a diagram representing an example embodiment fan apparatus system, example embodiment signaling, and example embodiment operation according to an example embodiment control method.

FIG. 4B is a second portion of a diagram representing an embodiment fan apparatus system, embodiment signaling, and embodiment operations according to an exemplary control method.

FIG. 4C is a third portion of a diagram representing an embodiment fan equipment system, embodiment signaling, and embodiment operations according to an example control method.

FIG. 4D is a fourth portion of a diagram illustrating an embodiment fan device system, embodiment signaling, and embodiment operation according to an embodiment of an exemplary control method.

FIG. 4E is a fifth portion of a diagram representing an embodiment fan device system, embodiment signaling, and embodiment operations according to an exemplary control method.

Fig. 4 includes a combination of fig. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E.

Fig. 5 is a diagram of a control server according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of a wireless terminal (e.g., a smartphone) according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7A is a first portion of an embodiment assembly of components that may be included in a control server according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7B is a second portion of an embodiment assembly of components that may be included in a control server according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 7 includes a combination of fig. 7A and 7B.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram according to another exemplary embodiment: a diagram of an embodiment system including a controllable fan device, a wall station, a wireless terminal, a WiFi router, and a control server.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an embodiment AC power interface coupled to an embodiment DC power supply useable in the fan apparatus of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 10 illustrates an embodiment wall-mounted wireless terminal having RF and Wi-Fi interfaces according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 shows an embodiment of a wall station according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprising a safety switch.

Detailed Description

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a fan apparatus system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. Embodiment system 100 includes a plurality of customer site sites (customer site 1(CP 1)102, …, customer site m (CP m)104), internet 106, and control server 108 coupled together as shown in fig. 1. CP 1102 includes a plurality of fan units, (fan units 1110, …, 111, fan unit N112), a plurality of wall control units, e.g., fan unit controllers, (wall control units 1114, …, wall control unit N116), WiFi routers 118, wireless terminals (WT 1)120, e.g., cell phones, 120V power supplies 122, e.g., power boards. In one embodiment, the 120V power strip 122 includes a 20A circuit breaker. Each wall station (114, 116) is configured to fit in a cabinet in a wall of a customer premises. Il denotes one or more additional fan units, for example, in an embodiment with three, there would be fan unit 1110, fan unit 2111 and fan unit N3112.

The wall control unit 1114 includes an RF interface 1124, a light on/off switch 126, a fan on/off switch 128, a fan turn switch 130 and a Safety Switch (SS) 132. A wall station control unit 1114 is mounted in the electrical distribution box 190 of the wall 191. In some exemplary embodiments, the fan unit 1110 and the wall station 114 are both located in the first room of the customer site 1102. The wall control unit N116 includes an RF interface 2134, a light on/off switch 136, a fan on/fan off switch 138, a fan turn switch 140, and a Safety Switch (SS) 142. The wall station N116 is mounted in the electrical distribution box 192 in the wall 193. In some exemplary embodiments, the fan unit N112 and the wall station N116 are both located in a second room in the customer site 1102, the second room being different from the first room. The fan apparatus state information includes fan state information of the fan motor and lamp state information of the fan lamp.

The control server 108 includes customer site information (CP 1 information 144, …, CP M information 146) corresponding to a plurality of customer sites controlled by the control server 108. Example embodiment customer site 1114 information includes, for example, historical status information corresponding to fan devices located within the customer site 1102, approved normal device control processes for CP 1, and generated offsite device control processes for CP 1.

The 120V input power is received by the power panel 122 via 120V power input lines 148, 150. The received input power is output from the power strip 122 through the power strip 122, e.g., through a circuit breaker, and through

lines

152, 154 input to safety shutdown switches (132, …, 142) of wall control units (114, …, 116) of the CP 1102.

When the safety switch 132 is in the closed position, the output of the safety switch 132 powers the internal circuitry on the wall control unit 114 and is fed to the input of the fan device 1110 via lines (156 and 164, 158 and 166). When the safety switch 142 is in the closed position, the output of the safety switch 142 powers the internal circuitry on the wall control unit N116 and is fed to the input of the fan unit N112 via lines (160 and 168, 162 and 170).

The RF interface 1124 of the wall control unit 1144 communicates with the fan device 1110 via RF signals 172. Fan device 1110 communicates with WiFi router 118 via WiFi signal 176. The RF interface N134 of the wall station N116 communicates with the fan unit N112 via RF signals 174. Fan device N112 communicates with WiFi router 118 via WiFi signal 178.

WT 1120 communicates with WiFi router 118 via WiFi signal 180. In some demonstrative embodiments, e.g., supporting an exemplary embodiment utilizing a Wi-Fi connection directly, WT 1120 may communicate directly with fan apparatus 1110 and fan apparatus N112 using WiFi signals. When outside of the customer premises 1102, the WT 1120 may, and sometimes does, communicate with devices (e.g., control server 108) through the internet and/or another WiFi router or base station.

WiFi router 118 includes a WiFi interface including a WiFi transmitter 196 and a WiFi receiver 195, and a network interface including a receiver 197 and a transmitter 198 coupled together via a bus, a processor 199, and memory, through which the various elements may exchange data and information. The WiFi router 118 communicates with WiFi devices (110, 112, 120) at CP 1102 over its WiFi interface using WiFi receiver 195 and WiFi transmitter 196. The WiFi router 118 of CP 1102 communicates with the internet via network interface and link 182. The WiFi router of CP M104 communicates with the internet via link 184. The internet 106 is coupled to the control server 108 via a communication link 186.

Fig. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating a wall station control unit 202 (e.g., a fan device controller, such as a fan/light controller) according to an exemplary embodiment. For example, the example embodiment wall station 202 is the wall station 1144 or the wall station N116 of the CP 1102 of the system 100 of fig. 1. The wall station 202 includes a control panel 204, a safety switch 206, an RF interface 208, a dc power source 210, a controller 212, an ac input 237 and an ac output 241 coupled together as shown in fig. 2. In various exemplary embodiments, the wall station 202 does not include a WiFi interface.

Control panel 204 includes light on/off switch 214, fan on/fan off switch 216, fan turn switch 218, light on switch 220, light dark switch 222, fan speed up switch 224, and fan speed down switch 226. A lamp on/off switch 214, e.g., a push button switch, is a lamp control input for turning a lamp (e.g., a lamp in a fan apparatus) on or off. The light on/light off switch 214 is coupled to the controller 212 via line 248. A fan on/fan off switch 216 (e.g., a push button switch) is a fan control input for turning a fan (e.g., a fan in a fan apparatus) on or off. Fan on/fan off switch 216 is coupled to controller 212 via line 250. A fan direction switch 218, such as a push button switch, is a fan direction input for changing the direction of rotation of the fan in the fan apparatus. Fan turn switch 218 is coupled to controller 212 via line 252. A fan speed up switch 224, such as a push button switch, is a fan speed up input for increasing the speed of the fan in the fan apparatus. A fan speed reduction switch 226 (e.g., a push button switch) is a fan speed reduction input for reducing the speed of a fan in the fan apparatus. A light switch 220, e.g., a push button switch, is a light input for increasing the light output of a light in the fan apparatus. For example, a dim light switch 222, such as a push button switch, is a dim light input for reducing the output of a light in the fan apparatus. The fan speed up switch 224, the fan speed down switch 226, the light on switch 220, and the light off switch 222 are coupled to the controller 212 via lines (258, 260, 254, 256), respectively.

RF interface 208 includes an RF transmitter 228 and, in some exemplary embodiments, an RF receiver 230 coupled to an antenna 232, through which antenna 232 wall control 202 may transmit and, in some exemplary embodiments, receive RF signals to and from a fan apparatus, for example. Exemplary embodiments transmit RF signals including, for example, RF control signals conveying commands. In some exemplary embodiments, the command is one of the following: a fan power state change command, a fan speed up command, a fan speed down command, a fan direction change command, a lamp power state change command, a light up command, or a light down command. The RF signal received by the exemplary embodiment includes, for example, an acknowledgement to the transmit command.

In various exemplary embodiments, the RF control signals sent by the control unit 202 to the fan apparatus use RF frequencies that are not used for WiFi signals. In some exemplary embodiments, the RF control signals sent by the control unit 202 to the fan device use a different frequency band and a different protocol than the WiFi signals received by the fan device.

The 120V input power lines 234, 236 are coupled to an input of the safety switch 206 (e.g., a disconnect switch) via an ac input interface 237. The output of the safety switch 206 is coupled to the input of the dc power supply 210 and to

lines

238, 240 which are coupled to the fan apparatus via

lines

242, 244 via an ac output interface 241. In fig. 2, the safety switch 206 is shown in an open or closed position in which input ac power is supplied to the dc power source 210 and the fan apparatus coupled to the wall station 202. When the safety switch is placed in the open or closed position or the off position, the ac power is disconnected, e.g., not supplied to the input of the dc power supply 210 of the wall control unit 202 and the fan device coupled to the wall control unit 202. The safety switch 206, e.g. an off-switch, is used to disconnect the ac output 241 from the ac input 237 when the switch 206 is switched from the connected state to the disconnected state. In some exemplary embodiments, the safety switch 206 (e.g., a disconnect switch) is in the form of a push-pull switch or pull tab that can interrupt the power supply to a fan device coupled to the wall control unit 202.

When receiving input ac power, the dc power supply 210 generates and outputs a dc power output 246, e.g., 3 vdc, which is input to and used by the RF interface 208 and the controller 212. In some exemplary embodiments, the dc power supply 210 generates and outputs a plurality of dc voltages, e.g., 3 vdc, 5 vdc, 15 vdc, and-15 vdc, which are used by the controller 212 and the RF interface 208. A dc power supply 210 is connected to the switch 206 and the RF controller 212. When the switch 206 is in the closed position, the dc power supply 206 receives ac power from the disconnect switch 206, and the dc power supply 210 generates dc power from the received ac power and supplies the dc power to the controller 212. If the operator switches the disconnect switch 206 to the open state, power to the AC output 241 and the DC power source 210 is disconnected simultaneously.

The controller 212 (e.g., an RF controller) controls the RF interface 208 including the RF signal transmitter 228 to generate and transmit RF control signals on the line 262 in response to a detected control panel input button press. For example, the lines may be wires or lines over which electrical signals may be transmitted. The RF signal transmitter 228 sends commands to the device being controlled (e.g., a fan device). The controller 212, e.g., an RF controller, includes a processor 213 configured to generate commands, e.g., (a lamp power state change command, a fan direction change command, a light increase command, a light decrease command, a fan acceleration command, a fan deceleration command) in response to input received via inputs (the light control input 214, the fan control input 216, the fan reverse input 218, the lamp light input 220, the lamp dim input 222, the fan acceleration input 224, or the fan deceleration input 226), respectively, and to control the RF interface 208 to transmit the generated commands to the fan apparatus in generated RF signals.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of a fan apparatus 300 (including a fan 303 and a light 306) according to an example embodiment. For example, example embodiment fan apparatus 300 is one of the fan apparatuses (fan apparatus 1110, …, fan apparatus N112) of customer premises 1102 of system 100 of FIG. 1. The fan 303 includes a fan motor 304, a fan blade unit 336 (including fan blades and a hub), and a fan motor shaft 338 (connecting the fan motor 304 to the fan blade unit). In various exemplary embodiments, the fan motor 304 is a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor. The exemplary embodiment fan apparatus 300 includes a fan apparatus mounting base 302, a fan motor shaft 338, and a fan blade unit 336. The fan unit mounting base 302 includes a fan motor 304, a light 306 (e.g., an LED light), a fan motor control circuit 308, a light control circuit 310, a fan WiFi interface 312, an RF interface 314, a processor 316, a memory 318, an ac power interface 322, and a dc power supply 324. Fan WiFi interface 312 includes WiFi transmitter 354 and WiFi receiver 356 that are coupled to antenna 313, and fan device 300 may send and receive WiFi signals through antenna 313. Examples of transmissions using WiFi signals are fan device control commands and proposed normal device control procedures. Example embodiment fan unit control commands received using WiFi receiver 356 include, for example, a fan on command, a fan off command, a fan power state change command, a fan speed up command, a fan speed down command, a fan direction change command, a fan speed set level command, a lamp on command, a lamp off command, a lamp power state change command, a lamp increase command, a lamp decrease command, and a lamp level set command. In some demonstrative embodiments, the WiFi signal (e.g., conveying the control message) received by an exemplary embodiment may include a plurality of commands, e.g., a light on command, a fan direction command, a light level setting command, and a fan speed setting command. Examples of transmissions using WiFi signals are fan equipment status information report messages, such as communication light on/off status, light output level status, fan on/off status, fan speed, fan direction. RF interface 314 includes an RF receiver 360 (and in some exemplary embodiments) coupled to antenna 315 and an RF transmitter 358 by which fan apparatus 300 can send and receive RF signals. An example of receiving using RF signals is a signal that communicates a fan unit control command from the wall control unit 202. Example embodiment control commands communicated via RF signals include, for example, a fan power state change command, a fan speed up command, a fan speed down command, a lamp power state change command, a fan direction change command, a lamp power state change command, a dimming command, and a dimming command. Exemplary embodiments transmit RF signals including, for example, fan unit control acknowledgement signals. In various exemplary embodiments, the fan WiFi interface 312 and the RF interface 314 are configured to use different frequency bands, such as different non-overlapping frequency bands and different communication protocols. In some exemplary embodiments, the same antenna is used for the fan WiFi interface 312 and the RF interface 314.

The fan WiFi interface 312, RF interface 314, fan motor control circuit 308, lamp control circuit 310, processor 316, and memory 318 are coupled together via a bus 320 over which the various elements may exchange data and information. The fan motor control circuit 308 includes an on/off control circuit 326, a fan direction control circuit 328, and a fan speed control circuit 330. In some exemplary embodiments, the fan motor control circuit 308 includes an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) module, a processor, and an analog feedback circuit. The fan motor control circuit 308 is coupled to the fan motor 308 via a cable 350. The fan motor is connected to fan blades 336 by a fan motor shaft 338. The lamp control circuit 310 includes an on/off control circuit 332 and a light/dark control circuit 334. Lamp control circuit 310 is coupled to lamp 306 via cable 352. For example, the fan on/off control circuit 326 controls whether the fan motor 304 is energized in response to the received fan power state change control command, fan power-on control command, and fan power-off control command. For example, in response to the received fan direction change command and fan direction command, the fan direction control circuit 328 controls the direction in which the fan motor 304 rotates. The fan speed control circuit 330 controls the speed of the fan motor 304, for example, in response to received fan speed up commands, fan speed down commands, and fan speed set level commands. In various exemplary embodiments, the fan motor control circuitry 308 is configured to control the fan at a predetermined speed and direction when initially commanded to enter the energized state from the off state, without additional provision in the schedule and commands. For example, lamp on/off control circuit 332 controls whether to power lamp 306 in response to the received lamp power state change control command, lamp power-on control command, and lamp power-off control command. For example, the lamp light/dark control circuit 334 controls the light intensity of the lamp 306 in response to receiving a light increase command, a light decrease command, and a light level setting command. In some exemplary embodiments, the light intensity of a lamp is altered by altering the voltage or current supplied to the lamp or group of lamps. In some exemplary embodiments, the light level is altered by altering the number of lamps that apply power in a group of lamps. In various exemplary embodiments, unless otherwise specified in a process or command, the lamp control circuit 310 is configured to control the lamp 306 to operate at a predetermined light level when initially commanded from an off state to an on state.

Input ac power, for example 120 vac, is received from the wall control unit via

inputs

340, 342. The ac power interface 322 conditions, e.g., filters, the received ac power and outputs the conditioned ac power on

lines

344, 346, which are used as inputs to other components within the fan apparatus 300, such as the fan motor 304 or fan motor control circuit 308, the lamp 306 or lamp control circuit 310, and the dc power supply 324. The dc power supply 324 receives input ac power via

lines

344, 346 and generates and outputs one or more dc voltages, such as 170 vdc, 3.3 vdc, 16 vdc, 3 vdc, +5 vdc, 15 vdc and/or-15 vdc. The output dc power is referenced to dc ground 349 for dc voltage via dc power bus 448. In some exemplary embodiments, the dc power supply includes more than one current provider in addition to one or more voltage supplies. The dc power from the dc power supply 324 is supplied to and used by the processor 316, the memory 318, the fan WiFi interface 312, the RF interface 314, the fan motor control circuit 308, the lamp control circuit 310, and, in some exemplary embodiments, the lamp 306 and/or the fan motor 304. Although known dc motor fan systems may be controlled from the same power supply, for example, when three fans are connected in series so that the power supply is connected to a first fan and from the first fan to a second fan and then to a third fan, the third fan is typically not operating properly and may be started at an inconsistent timing and speed, and using the circuit shown in fig. 9 to connect to a dc motor allows all three fans connected in series to operate properly, thereby allowing smooth control of the operation of the fans of the three dc motors. Further, in some exemplary embodiments, smooth control of the operation of the fan motor is achieved using the dc brushless motor therein without using an optical sensor in the motor control unit.

The processor 316 is configured to control the RF interface 314 including the RF receiver 360 to receive the RF control signals, recover the one or more control commands being communicated and communicate the recovered one or more control commands to the fan motor control circuit 308 and/or the lamp control circuit 310 or send information to the fan motor control circuit 308 and/or the lamp control circuit 310 for implementing the recovered one or more control commands. The processor 316 is further configured to control the fan WiFi interface 312 including the WiFi receiver 356 to receive the WiFi signal, including the message conveying the control command, recover the one or more control commands being communicated, and convey or send the recovered one or more control commands to the fan motor control circuit 308 and/or the lamp control circuit 308 and/or to the lamp control circuit 308 and/or the lamp control circuit for execution of the recovered one or more control commands. Processor 316 is also configured to generate device status report messages and control the WiFi interface including transmitter 354 to send WiFi signals, including device status report messages conveying device status information. In various exemplary embodiments, processor 316 is configured to generate and transmit a device status report message, e.g., in response to a received and implemented RF control signal or a received and implemented WiFi control message. In some example embodiments, the processor 316 is configured to limit the time interval between successive device status report messages, e.g., to prevent excessive status report messages, e.g., an individual pressing an input button on the wall control unit 202 multiple times within a very short time interval. In an exemplary embodiment, the device status report message is transmitted to the control server at most once every predetermined time interval, for example, once every two second time interval or once every two minute time interval. In some example embodiments, the device status report message to the control server communicates a change in a previously communicated device status report message. In various exemplary embodiments, the device status report message may, and sometimes does, include a collection of multiple commands received and implemented. In various exemplary embodiments, the generated device status report message includes time stamp information, e.g., a transmission time stamp and/or a time stamp corresponding to one or more implemented status changes implemented on the fan device. In some exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus includes a fan WiFi interface 312, an RF interface 314, a fan motor control circuit 308, a lamp control circuit 310, an ac power interface 322, a dc power supply 324, a memory 318, and a processor 316.

Fig. 4 includes a combination of fig. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E, diagram 400, including a portion a401, a portion B403, a portion C405, a portion D407, and a portion E409, illustrating example embodiment components, example signaling, and example operations of the system 100 of fig. 1 according to an example embodiment. The diagram 400 includes a customer premises CP 1102, the internet 106 and a control server 108. CP 1102 includes wall control unit 1144, wall control unit N116, fan device 1110, fan device N112, and WiFi router 118. The fan apparatus 1110 includes a fan 1 and a lamp 1. The fan apparatus N112 includes a fan N and a lamp N. The wireless terminal 120 is a mobile device, e.g., a cell phone, laptop, tablet, smart phone, sometimes located within the CP 1102, sometimes located outside the CP 1102.

In one exemplary embodiment, the fan device 1110 and the wall control unit 1116 are located in a first room and the fan device N116 and the wall control unit N116 are located in a second room different from the first room. In some embodiments, the

fan apparatuses

110, 112 each include an RF interface and a WiFi interface, while the

wall control units

114, 116 each include an RF interface but do not include a WiFi interface. In an exemplary embodiment, the wall station 1144 is a wall station that provides power to the fan device 1110; and the wall station N116 is a wall station that provides power to the fan unit N112.

In some exemplary embodiments, the RF and WiFi interfaces, although both wireless interfaces, are different interfaces and use different frequency bands and different communication protocols. In some exemplary embodiments, the RF interface uses a sub-GHz band, e.g., 315MHz or 433Mhz, while the WiFi interface uses a 2.4GHz band. In some exemplary embodiments, the RF interface uses the ON OFF KEYING (OOK)2kSymbols/sec, Manchester encoding protocol. In some exemplary embodiments, the WiFi interface uses the 802.11b/g/n protocol.

Diagram 400 is an exemplary signaling diagram representing exemplary signaling between various devices and exemplary operations performed by the devices in accordance with an exemplary method.

In step 402, the WC 1114 generates a Radio Frequency (RF) control signal 404 (e.g., a wireless RF signal) and sends it to the fan unit 1110 commanding the fan unit 1110 to change the power state of its fan. In some exemplary embodiments, the RF control signal 404 is transmitted using an RF signal that is not used for WiFi signals. In step 406, the fan unit 1110 receives the signal 404 and resumes the communicated command. Consider that the fan in fan apparatus 1110 is currently in an off state. In response to the resume command received in RF signal 404, fan unit 1110 turns on its fan, fan 1, in step 408. In step 410, fan device 1110 generates and sends a report message 412 to WiFi router 1114, reporting that fan 1 is on.

In one exemplary embodiment, the report message 412 includes: an identifier identifying the fan device being controlled (in this example, fan device 1110), information indicating the command execution time, information indicating the operation being performed by the fan device, which in this example turns on the device in fan device 1110, and information identifying the customer location, which in this example is CP 1102. Other reporting messages described in the signaling flow diagrams may also use the exemplary embodiment reporting format. The report allows the server 108 to create a log of the status of the fan apparatus 1 and to create a history of the status of the apparatus, wherein the server 108 is the intended recipient terminal of the report message information. The corresponding recorded status information generated by the multiple fan devices at CP1 may be used to facilitate learning of usage patterns, allowing processes for automatically generating normal and off-site status, both of which may sometimes be machine learning, based on information used for reporting to control server 108 in system 100.

In step 414, WiFi router 118 receives message 412 and recovers the information communicated. In step 416, the WiFi router 118 generates a report message 418 indicating that fan 1 is on, and sends the message 418 to the control server 108 via the internet 106. In step 420, control server 108 receives message 418 and recovers the information originally communicated from fan apparatus 1, which indicates that fan 1 in fan apparatus 1 is on. In step 421, control server 108 updates customer site 1(CP1) information to record fan 1 turn on and time.

In step 422, the WC 1114 generates and sends an RF control signal 424 to the fan unit 1110, commanding the fan unit 1110 to change the power state of its lamp (i.e., Lamp 1). In step 426, the fan unit 1110 receives the RF signal 424 and recovers the communicated information. Consider the lamp 1 in an off state. In response to the resume command of signal 424, fan apparatus 1110 turns on light 1 in step 428. In step 430, fan device 1110 generates and sends a report message 432 to WiFi router 1118, reporting that light 1 is on. In step 434, WiFi router 118 receives message 432 and recovers the information conveyed. In step 436, the WiFi router 118 generates a report message 438 indicating that lamp 1 is on and sends the message 438 to the control server 108 via the internet 106. In step 440, control server 108 receives message 438 and recovers the originally communicated information from fan apparatus 1, which indicates that light 1 is on. In step 441, the control server 108 updates the customer premises 1(CP1) information to record the turn-on and time of the lamp 1.

In step 442, the WC 1114 generates and sends an RF signal 444 to the fan apparatus 1110 commanding the fan apparatus 1110 to perform a fan power state change. In step 446, the fan apparatus 1110 receives the signal 444 and recovers the communicated information, and in step 448, in response, the fan apparatus 1110 turns off fan 1. In step 450, fan device 1110 generates and sends a report message 452 to WiFi router 1118 reporting that fan 1 is off. In step 454, WiFi router 118 receives message 452 and recovers the information communicated. In step 456, the WiFi router 118 generates a report message 458 indicating that fan 1 is off and sends the message 458 to the control server 108 via the internet 106. In step 460, control server 108 receives message 458 and recovers the originally communicated information from fan apparatus 1110 indicating that fan 1 is off. In step 462, control server 108 updates customer site 1(CP1) information to record the shut down and time of fan 1.

In step 464, the WC 1114 generates and sends an RF signal 466 to the fan device 1110 commanding the fan device 1110 to perform a power state change of its light (i.e., light 1). In step 468, the fan apparatus 1110 receives the signal 466 and recovers the communicated information, and in step 470, the fan apparatus 1110 responsively turns off the light 1. In step 472, fan device 1110 generates and sends a report message 474 to WiFi router 1118, reporting that light 1 is off.

In step 476, WiFi router 118 receives message 474 and recovers the information communicated. In step 478, WiFi router 118 generates a report message 480 indicating that lamp 1 is off and sends message 480 to control server 108 via internet 106. In step 482, control server 108 receives message 480 and recovers the communication originally from fan apparatus 1 indicating that lamp 1 was off. In step 484, the control server 108 updates the customer site 1(CP1) information to record the turn-off and time of the lamp 1.

In step 486, the WT 1120, acting as a device supporting WiFi communication, generates and transmits a WiFi control signal 487 to WiFi router 118 commanding fan device 1110 to turn on its light (i.e., light 1). In step 488, WiFi router 118 receives signal 487 and recovers the conveyed WiFi signal. In step 489, WiFi router 118 generates and sends WiFi signal 490 to fan device 1110, which fan device 1110 communicates the command to turn on its lights. In step 491, the fan device 1110 receives the signal 490 and recovers the communicated information, and in step 492, the fan device 1110 responsively turns on light 1. Thus, the control commands of signal 487 are communicated from WT 1120 (the WiFi device currently located within CP 1102) to fan apparatus 110 located at CP 1102 through WiFi router 118 also located at CP 1102 without the commands passing through a network outside of customer premises CP 1102. Thus, in some exemplary embodiments, at least at some times, communication between the command (e.g., in a WiFi signal) and the fan device is not dependent on or involves communication on a network outside of the customer premises, and the fan device may be controlled from within the CP (e.g., house) via WiFi, even if the internet or a connection between the server and the server is not present or available.

In step 494, fan device 1110 generates and sends a report message 496 to WiFi router 1118, reporting that light 1 is on. At step 498, WiFi router 118 receives message 496 and recovers the information conveyed. In step 500, WiFi router 118 generates a report message 502 indicating that light 1 is on, and sends message 502 to control server 108 via internet 106. In step 504, control server 108 receives message 502 and recovers the originally communicated information from fan device 1110, which indicates that light 1 is on. In step 506, the control server 108 updates the customer premises 1(CP1) information to record the turn-on and time of the lamp 1.

In step 508, WT 1120 generates and sends WiFi signal 509 to WiFi router 118, commanding fan device 1110 to turn its fan on. In step 510, WiFi router 118 receives signal 509 and recovers the information conveyed. In step 511, WiFi router 118 generates and sends on command WiFi signal 512 to fan device 1110, which is in communication with fan 1. In step 513, the fan unit 1110 receives the signal 512 and recovers the communicated information, and in step 514, the fan apparatus 1110 responsively turns on fan 1. In step 516, fan device 1110 generates and sends a report message 518 to WiFi router 1141 reporting that fan 1 is turned on. In step 520, WiFi router 118 receives message 518 and recovers the information communicated. In step 522, WiFi router 118 generates a report message 524 indicating that fan 1 is on and sends message 524 to control server 108 via internet 106. In step 526, control server 108 receives message 524 and resumes the originally communicated information from fan unit 1110 indicating that fan 1 is on. In step 528, control server 108 updates customer site 1(CPI) information to record fan 1 turn on and time. Although control messages and reporting messages corresponding to the fan device 1110 are shown for the on/off example, in some example embodiments the transmitted control messages may control other operations, such as increasing the light intensity of the lamp 1, decreasing the light intensity of the lamp 1, increasing the fan speed of the fan 1, decreasing the fan speed of the fan 1, changing the fan direction of the fan 1, and the reporting messages may report the device status or device status changes in response to these commands.

For fan device 1110, which includes fan 1 and lamp 1, exemplary on/off device control signaling, status changes, reporting and recording device status in control server 108 has been shown, for example, over time. It should be understood that similar signaling and operations are performed for other fan devices (e.g., fan device N112 located at customer site 1102), and that the control server 108 records and establishes a history corresponding to the status, including status information of another fan (e.g., fan device N112) located at CP 1102.

In step 530, the control server 108 generates a proposed normal device control process (e.g., based on historical information) for the customer site 1102. The proposed normal control processes generated for the CP1 are fan and lighting control processes for controlling the fan equipment at the CP1, such as an on/off fan control process, an on/off light control process, a fan speed process, a fan direction process, and a light brightness process. In some exemplary embodiments, the proposed normal equipment control procedure is generated based on stored information stored at CP1102 including the status of one or more fan devices (fan devices 1110, …, fan device N112), e.g., based on stored report messages collected from fan devices (110, …, 112) over a period of time (e.g., two or more weeks). In step 532, the control server generates a message 533 to convey the generated proposed normal device control procedure and sends the generated message to the WiFi router 118 via the internet 106.

In step 534, control server 108 generates an offsite device control process for CP 1102, e.g., random or based on random historical usage. In various exemplary embodiments, when a client signals itself to leave a room, the server 108 generates an departure process for controlling one or more fan devices (110, …, 112) at the CP 1102. In some example embodiments, operating the control server 108 to generate the departure procedure includes generating a function having the departure procedure as a random function for randomizing, at least in part, on or off times of one or more devices. In some exemplary embodiments, operating the server 108 to generate the departure procedure includes combining information of past device on and off states with the random function as a function of controlling at least one device on and off times that deviate from historical on and off times by no more than a set maximum amount of time (e.g., 30 minutes) and that are determined by the random function. For example, once the historical on/off times of the lights on the fan apparatus are known, a random function will be used to alter the on/off times with the random function, but keep it around 30 minutes of the normal on/off times, so that the on/off patterns for each day are not the same but within the expected normal range, which may occur when people go home or move around in the home, not the same every day, but may not be very biased, for example, to move more than an hour per day. In step 535, control server 108 stores the generated offsite device control process for CP 1102.

In step 536, WiFi router 118 receives message 533 and recovers the information in message 533, including the proposed normal device control procedure. In step 538, WiFi router 118 generates message 540 including the proposed normal device control procedure and sends message 540 to WT 1120. Thus, the resulting proposed normal device control process has been communicated from the control server 108 to the device WT 1120 corresponding to the first customer premises via the internet 106 and WiFi router 118 at CP 1. WT 1120 is, for example, a handset (e.g., a smartphone) of a user located at first customer premises 102.

In step 542, the WT 1120 receives the message 540 to resume the intended normal control procedure and presents the intended normal device control procedure to the user of the WT 1120. In some exemplary embodiments, a user of the device 1120 may decide to modify a proposed normal device control process. In step 544, the WT 1120 receives the user input modification and generates a modified normal device control process. In step 546, the WT 1120 generates a message 548, the message 548 communicating user authorization for the proposed normal device control process or modified normal device control process, and sends the message 548 to the WiFi router 118. At step 550, WiFi router 118 receives message 550 and recovers the information conveyed. In step 552, the WiFi router 118 generates a message 554, the message 554 conveying user authorization for the proposed normal device control process or the user-modified normal device control process, and sends the message 554 to the control server 108 via the internet 106.

In step 556, the control server receives the message 554 and restores the communicated user's authorization for the proposed normal device control process or modified normal device control process of the communication. If user authorization is received for the proposed normal control process, the control server 108 designates the generated proposed control process as a normally approved device control process. If a modified normal device control process is received, the control server 108 designates the received modified process as a normally approved device control process. In step 557, the control server stores the approved normal control process.

In step 558, the control server 108 starts operation according to the approved normal device control process, for example, automatically controlling the operation of the fan device 1110 of the CP 1102 and the fan device N112. In various exemplary embodiments, operating the control server 108 according to the stored approved normal control procedures includes operating the server 108 to control one or more fan devices (110, …, 112) at the CP 1102 based on the normal approved device control procedures, including sending control signals from the control server 108 to the fan device 1110 via the internet 106 and the WiFi router 118 to control the fan device 1 to take an action at a time indicated in the normal approved device control procedures, e.g., the fan controlling the fan device 1110 is turned on at a time indicated in the normal approved device control procedures.

In some example embodiments, the control server 108 will switch to automatic operation according to the approved normal appliance control process based on receipt of the message 554, e.g., once the proposed process is approved, the control server begins using the approved normal appliance control process.

In some example embodiments, the control server 108 does not switch to automatic operation according to the approved normal device control process until additional messages (e.g., normal device control process activation messages) are received from the user (e.g., a user who approves the proposed normal process or who sends a modified normal process). In some demonstrative embodiments, the user may send, e.g., from device WT 1120, a message to server 108 conveying one or more time intervals, wherein control server 108 will operate according to the normal device control processes approved and/or control server 108 will use the normal processes or the departure processes for one or more time intervals operating according to the departure processes and/or one or more time intervals in which control server 108 is not, but only allow the wallstation and user device (e.g., WT 1) to control the fan device at CP 1.

In step 559, control server 108 operates in accordance with a normal approved control schedule, generates a control signal 560 comprising one or more control commands, and sends via internet 106 to WiFi router 118 to automatically control fan 1 and/or lamp 1 of fan apparatus 1110 based on a normal authorized apparatus control schedule. In step 561, the control server 108 updates the status information of the fan apparatus 1 based on the control command sent in message 560. In step 562, WiFi router 118 receives control signal 560 and recovers the communicated information, e.g., a command or commands that control the direction to fan device 1110. In step 564, the control server generates and sends a control signal 566 to automatically control the fan 1 and/or the light 1 of the fan apparatus 1110. In step 568, the fan apparatus 1110 receives the control signal 566 and recovers the control information communicated. In step 569, fan apparatus 1110 performs one or more operations in response to the control command that one or more of the received WiFi signals 566 are restored, such as, for example, turning fan 1 off, turning lamp 1 off, reversing the direction of fan 1, increasing the speed of fan 1, decreasing the speed of fan 1, setting the speed of fan 1 to a particular value, increasing the light intensity of lamp 1, decreasing the light intensity of lamp 1, setting the light intensity of lamp 1 to a particular value, and so forth.

In step 570, the control server 108 operates in accordance with a normally approved control procedure, generates a control signal 572 comprising one or more control commands and sends it to the WiFi router 118 over the internet 106 to automatically control the fan N and/or the lights N of the fan unit N112 based on the approved normal unit control procedure. In step 571, the control server 108 updates fan device N status information based on the control command sent in message 572. In step 574, WiFi router 118 receives control signal 572 and recovers the communicated information. In step 576, WiFi router 118 generates and sends control signals 578 to automatically control fan N and/or lamp N to fan unit N112. In step 580, the fan unit N112 receives the control signal 578 and recovers control information, e.g., one or more control commands, conveyed in signal 578. In step 581, the fan apparatus N112 performs one or more actions in response to one or more of the WiFi control signals 578 receiving and resuming control commands, such as turning the fan N on, turning the fan N off, turning the light N on, turning the light N off, reversing the direction of the fan N, increasing the speed of the fan N, decreasing the speed of the fan N, increasing the brightness of the light N, decreasing the brightness of the light N, setting the speed of the fan N to a particular level, setting the brightness of the light N to a particular value, and so forth.

Although only one arrow for control signal 560 and corresponding repeating control signal 566 is shown for purposes of illustrating one example, it should be appreciated that many different control signals (e.g., a single control signal) may be sent at different times to achieve different desired operating states 1 of the fan unit in accordance with normal authorized equipment control procedures. Although only one arrow is shown for control signal 572 and corresponding retransmit control signal 578, it should be understood that many different control signals may be sent at different times, such as individual control signals, and in some exemplary embodiments, they are sent to achieve different desired operating states of fan unit N, per the normal course of authorization.

In step 582, based on the received user input, WT 1120 generates a signal 584 indicating that the fan unit of customer premises 1 should be controlled using the offsite equipment control process, and WT 1120 sends signal 584 to WiFi router 118. In some exemplary embodiments, the signal 584 communicates an off-scene status indicator from a user of the user equipment WT 1120. In step 586, WiFi router 118 receives signal 584 and recovers the information communicated. In step 588, WiFi router 118 generates signal 590 and sends signal 590 to control server 108 via Internet 106, which signal 590 includes information indicating that the control server should use the departure process for customer premises 1. In step 592, control server 108 receives signal 590 and recovers the communicated information, e.g., the offsite status indicator, indicating that the offsite process should now be used for CP 1. In step 594, in response to the received message 590, control server 108 switches to automatic control of the fan unit at customer site 1 based on the offsite device control process. Thus, the control server 108 switches from using the stored approved normal process to using the stored departure process to control one of the plurality of fan units (110, …, 112) in the first customer location.

In step 596, control server 108, operating according to the off-site device control process, generates a control signal 598 including one or more control commands to send to WiFi router 118 via internet 106 to automatically control fan 1 and/or lamp 1 of fan device 1110 based on the off-site device control process. In step 599, the control server 108 updates the status information of the fan apparatus 1 based on the control command sent in message 598. In step 600, WiFi router 118 receives control signal 598 and recovers the information conveyed, e.g., control commands or commands directed to fan device 110. In step 602, the control server 108 generates and sends a control signal 604 to automatically control fan 1 and/or lamp 1 of the fan apparatus 1110. In step 606, the fan apparatus 1110 receives the control signal 604 and recovers the communicated control information. In step 607, the fan apparatus 1110 performs one or more operations, e.g., turn off fan 1, turn off lamp 1, reverse the direction of fan 1, increase the speed of fan 1, decrease the speed of fan 1, set the speed of fan 1 to a particular value, increase the light intensity of lamp 1, decrease the light intensity of lamp 1, set the light intensity of lamp 1 to a particular value, etc., in response to one or more resumed control commands in the received WiFi control signal 606, which were originally sent from the control server 108.

In step 608, the control server 108 operating in accordance with the off-site device control process generates a control signal 610 including one or more control commands to send via the internet 106 to the WiFi router 118 to automatically control the fan N and/or the lights N of the fan device N112 based on the off-site device control process. In step 611, the control server 108 updates the fan apparatus N status information based on the control command sent in message 610. At step 612, WiFi router 118 receives control signal 610 and recovers the information communicated. In step 614, the control server generates and sends a control signal 616 to the fan unit N112 to automatically control the fan N and/or the lights N. In step 618, fan unit N112 receives control signal 616 and recovers the control information, e.g., one or more control commands, conveyed in signal 616. In step 619, the fan apparatus N112 performs one or more actions, such as turning on the fan N, turning off the fan N, turning on the light N, turning off the light N, reversing the direction of the fan N, increasing the speed of the fan N, decreasing the speed of the fan N, increasing the brightness of the light N, decreasing the brightness of the light N, setting the speed of the fan N to a certain level, setting the light output level of the light N to a certain level, etc., in response to one or more of the WiFi control signals 578 receipt and resumption, which were originally sent from the control server 108.

Although only one arrow for control signal 598 and corresponding repeating control signal 604 is shown for purposes of illustrating one example, it should be understood that many different control signals (e.g., a single control signal) may be sent at different times, and in some example embodiments, to achieve different desired operating states of the fan unit according to an off-site equipment control process. Although only one arrow is shown for control signal 610 and corresponding repeating control signal 616, it should be understood that many different control signals, e.g., individual control signals, may be sent, in some exemplary embodiments, according to an off-field procedure, to be sent at different times to achieve different operating states of the desired fan unit N.

In step 620, based on the received user input, the WT 1120 generates a signal 622 indicating that the offsite device control process for controlling the fan units of customer site 1 and WT 1120 is disabled, and the WT 1120 transmits the generated signal 622 to the WiFi router 114, again using the approved normal device control process. WiFi router 118 receives signal 622, recovering the information communicated, step 624. In step 626, WiFi router 118 generates and sends a signal 628 that includes an indication that the control server should disable use of the departure process for customer site 1 and resume use of the approved normal device control process via internet 106 to control server 108. In step 630, the control server 108 receives the signal 628 and recovers the communicated information indicating that the offsite process should no longer be used for the CP 1102 and that the normal process should now be used. In response to the received message 628, the control server 108 switches to automatic control of the

fan devices

110, 112 at the customer site 1102 based on a normally authorized approved device control process in step 632.

In step 634, control server 108 operates in accordance with the normal approved control process, generates control signal 635 comprising one or more control commands, and sends to WiFi router 118 via internet 106 to automatically control fan 1 and/or lamp 1 of fan device 1110 based on the normal authorized device control process. In step 636, the control server 108 updates the status information of the fan apparatus 1 based on the control command sent in message 635. In step 638, WiFi router 118 receives control signal 635 and recovers the information conveyed, e.g., control commands or commands directed to fan device 1110. In step 640, WiFi router 118 generates and sends control signal 642 to automatically control fan 1 and/or lamp 1 of fan device 1110. In step 644, the fan apparatus 1110 receives the control signal 642 and recovers the communicated control information. In step 645, the fan apparatus 1110 performs one or more operations in response to the recovered control command or commands in the received WiFi signal 642, such as, for example, turning off the fan 1, turning off the lamp 1, reversing the direction of the fan 1, increasing the speed of the fan 1, decreasing the speed of the fan 1, setting the speed of the fan 1 to a particular value, increasing the light intensity of the lamp 1, decreasing the light intensity of the lamp 1, setting the light intensity of the lamp 1 to a particular value, and so forth.

In step 646, the control server 108 operates in accordance with a normal approved control procedure, generates a control signal 647 including one or more control commands, and transmits to the WiFi router 118 via the internet 106 to automatically control the fan N and/or the lights N of the fan device N112 based on the approved normal device control procedure. In step 648, control server 108 updates fan device N status information based on the control command sent in message 647. At step 650, WiFi router 118 receives control signal 647 and recovers the information communicated. In step 652, the control server generates control signals 656 to automatically control the fan N and/or the lights N to the fan unit N112. In step 658, fan unit N112 receives control signal 656 and recovers the control information, e.g., one or more control commands communicated in signal 656. In step 659, the fan device N112 performs one or more actions in response to one or more of the WiFi control signals 656 receiving and resuming a control command, such as turning the fan N on, turning the fan N off, turning the light N on, turning the light N off, reversing the direction of the fan N, increasing the speed of the fan N, decreasing the speed of the fan N, increasing the light intensity of the light N, decreasing the light intensity of the light N, setting the speed of the fan N to a particular level, setting the light intensity of the light N to a particular value, and so forth.

In fig. 4E, it can be observed that the mobile WT 1120 has moved to a location outside of CP 1102. In various exemplary embodiments, an authorized user may, and sometimes does, control the fan apparatus from outside the customer's premises where the fan apparatus is located. Consider that the operator of WT 1120 is authorized to control

fan apparatus

110, 112 from a location outside of customer site 1102. WT 1120 may, and sometimes does, request and receive fan device status information for CP 1102 outside of CP 1. In step 660, WT 1120 generates and sends to control server 1108 device control signals 662 for controlling fan apparatus 1110, e.g., via internet 106. In step 664, the control server 108 receives the signal 662 and recovers the communicated information, e.g., a command to turn on lamp 1 of the fan apparatus 1110 and/or another command or commands. In step 666, control server 108 determines, for example based on the received authorization information, that it will relay the received device control signal command to fan unit 1110 as a relay. In step 668, control server 108 generates and sends a device control signal 670 to WiFi router 118, the device control signal 670 communicating the one or more control commands received in signal 662 that are destined for fan device 1110. Some exemplary embodiments include step 671, wherein control server 108, in response to send signal 670, updates status information of fan apparatus 1 based on one or more commands in send signal 670. Thus, in the example, the status information is updated without receiving a report of the command being executed at the fan apparatus 1110.

In step 672, WiFi router 118 receives device control signal 670. In step 674, WiFi router 118 generates and sends a device control signal 676 to fan device 1110, thereby communicating the control command or commands in signal 662 to fan device 110. In step 678, fan apparatus 1110 receives signal 676, recovers the one or more commands communicated. In step 679, the fan apparatus 1110 implements the received one or more commands to resume, e.g., turning on light 1 of the fan apparatus 1110. In some exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus 1110 in step 680 generates and sends a confirmation signal 681 to the server 108 received in step 682. Some exemplary embodiments include step 683, where the control server 108 updates the status information of the fan apparatus 1 based on the command in the transmission signal 670 and the receipt of the confirmation signal 681 in response to receiving the confirmation signal 681 in step 682. In step 684, server 108 generates and transmits an acknowledgement signal 685 to WT 1120, which acknowledgement signal 685 is a forwarded version of acknowledgement signal 681. In step 686, the WT 1120 receives an acknowledgement signal 685, and a command to acknowledge signal 662 has been received and/or acted upon.

Fig. 4E shows control of the fan apparatus 1110 by a remote location device WT 1120, which may be a handset, e.g., a smart phone currently located outside of the customer premises 1102, which sends control signals to communicate to the fan apparatus 1110 via the control server 108. For example, WT 1120 is a smartphone that is connected to the internet 106 via cellular signals and transmits commands to control server 108 via the internet 106 via a cellular channel. In the case of a control signal through the control server 108, a message 1110 may optionally be sent back to the operation of the indicated fan or device 110, and the command may be instructed to be executed based on the information of the message 1110, and a message 1110 may optionally be sent back to the controlled device 110, an acknowledgement from the fan device 1110 indicating that the control information has been received and/or acted upon.

Fig. 5 is a diagram of a control server 700 according to an example embodiment. For example, control server 700 is control server 108 of fig. 1 and 4. Control server 700 includes an interface 702, a processor 704 (e.g., CPU, memory 706), an assembly of components 708 (e.g., an assembly of hardware components, such as an assembly of electrical circuits) coupled together by a bus 710, through which the various elements can exchange data and information. The interface 702 includes a receiver 714 and a transmitter 712. Interface 702 connects the control server to the internet and/or other networks and/or devices.

Memory 706 includes an assembly of components 716, e.g., an assembly of software components (e.g., software modules). The data/information 718 includes information corresponding to a plurality of customer locations (customer location 1 information 720, …, customer location M information 722). Customer site 1 information 720 includes received fan device 1 report messages 724, …, received fan device N report message 726, proposed normal device control procedures generated for CP 1728, and offsite device control procedures generated for CP 1730. In some exemplary embodiments, CP1 data/information 720 includes a normal device control process 732, for example, based on user modifications to the proposed process. CP1 information 720 also includes fan apparatus 1 status information 736, fan apparatus N status information 738, the current control mode of operation associated with controlling the fan apparatus at CP 1740, e.g., using an approved normal device control process, using an off-site device control process, or not performing automatic control at the current time, a received message 742 indicating a user mode selection, or a user command for switching modes, or a user communication indicator for determining a mode selection indicating whether the user is off-site. The CP1 information also includes received control messages 744, e.g., WTs from authorized users, to be forwarded to the fan device indicated in the received message to control the fan device, and control messages 746 generated according to (legal) normal or departure procedures to be sent to the fan device at the appropriate time according to the normal or departure procedures.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of a Wireless Terminal (WT)800 (e.g., smartphone), according to an example embodiment. Example embodiment WT 800 is, e.g., WT 1120 of figures 1 and 4.

The exemplary embodiment WT 800 includes a wireless WiFi interface 802, a cellular wireless interface 804, a wired interface 806, a processor 808, a memory 810, an I/O interface 812 coupled to a display 814, e.g., a touch screen display, a keyboard 816, and an assembly of components 818, e.g., an assembly of hardware components 818, e.g., a circuit assembly. The

various components

802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 818 are coupled together via a bus 820 over which the components can exchange data and information.

Wireless WiFi interface 802 includes a WiFi transmitter 832 and a WiFi receiver 834 coupled to antennas (833, 835), respectively, through which WT 800 may transmit and receive WiFi signals. Cellular wireless interface 804 includes a wireless transmitter 836 and a wireless receiver 838 coupled to antennas (837, 839), respectively, through which WT 800 may transmit and receive wireless cellular signals. In some example embodiments, the same antenna is used for one or more transmitters and/or receivers. The wired interface 806 includes a network transmitter 840 and a network receiver 842 by which WT 800 may transmit and receive signals, e.g., via a wired connection to the internet and/or to other nodes.

Memory 810 includes routines 822 and data/information 824. Routines 822 include a wireless terminal control routine 826 and a fan device control application 828. The fan device control application 828 comprises an assembly of components 830, e.g., an assembly of software components, for performing functions related to fan device control, fan device status monitoring, setup and initialization, user authorization, communication with fan devices, communication with a control server, user interface, etc., the fan device control application 828 controls the WT800 to present one or more custom interfaces to a user of the WT800, e.g., via the smartphone display 814 that allows the user to control the fan device. In some exemplary embodiments, one embodiment controls the display to simulate the input of the control panel 204 of the wall control unit 202, for example, accepting the following inputs: an on/off fan power transition command, a fan reverse command, a fan speed increase command, a fan speed reduction command, an on/off lamp power transition command, a light output increase command, and a light output decrease command. In some exemplary embodiments, an embodiment controls a display configured to accept input of: a fan turn-on command, a fan turn-off command, a lamp turn-on command, a lamp turn-off command, a fan direction selection input command, a fan speed value setting command, a light brightness value setting command, a fan speed increase command, a fan speed decrease command, a light brightness increase command, a light brightness decrease command, a light brightness change rate command (e.g., to allow a specified light brightness to be smoothly gradually changed over a specified period of time), and a fan speed change rate command, e.g., to allow a fan speed level to be smoothly gradually changed over a specified period of time. In various exemplary embodiments, fan device control application 828 receives user command input, generates and sends control messages to fan devices (e.g., via WiFi signaling) or to a control server for forwarding to the fan device to be controlled (e.g., depending on the location of WT 800). The fan device control application 828 is further configured to operate the WT800 to: receiving a proposed normal device control process from a control server, presenting the received proposed process to a user, receiving user approval for the process, receiving user modifications, generating a modified process comprising the modifications, generating an approval message or the modified process and sending to the control server. The fan apparatus control application 828 is further configured to operate the WT800 to: user input is received indicating that the user wishes to control one or more fan units according to a normal approved unit control process, an offsite process, or manually via WT800 input and/or a wall panel, e.g., for a specified period of time, and communicated to the control server, e.g., to control switching between normal process automatic unit control, offsite process automatic unit control, and no automatic control. In some exemplary embodiments, the fan device control application 828 generates and sends an indicator (e.g., an off-field indicator or an on-field indicator), for example, based on user input, to control switching between normal and off-field device control processes. Fan device control application 828 is further configured to control WT800 to send fan device status requests, e.g., fan device status information, e.g., on/off status of fans, on/off status of lights, light brightness output level, fan direction, and fan speed, to a fan device and/or a control server, to receive fan device status information, and to present the received fan device status information to a user of WT800 (e.g., on display 814). In some exemplary embodiments, the current fan device status information is presented simultaneously with an input control interface on the display (e.g., on a smartphone screen display).

Fig. 7, which comprises a combination of fig. 7A and 7B, is an assembled view of an assembly 900, including a portion a901 and a portion B903, which portions a901 and B903 may be included in an exemplary control server, such as control server 108 of fig. 1 and 4 or control server 700 of fig. 5, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The assembly of the assembly 900 may be included in an example embodiment server, such as the control server 700. The components in the assembly of components 900 may be, and in some example embodiments are, implemented entirely as a single circuit in hardware within a processor (e.g., processor 704). The components in the assembly of components 900 may be, and in some exemplary embodiments are, implemented entirely in hardware within the assembly of hardware components 708, e.g., as separate circuits corresponding to the different components. In other exemplary embodiments, some components are implemented in the processor 704, e.g., as circuitry, in the processor 704, while other components are implemented, e.g., as circuitry within components of the component 708, external to the processor 704 and coupled to the processor 704. As should be appreciated, the degree of integration of components on the processor and/or with certain components external to the processor may be one of design choices. Alternatively, rather than being implemented as circuitry, all or a portion of the components may be implemented in software and stored in memory 706 of server 700, where the components control the operation of server 700 to implement functions corresponding to the components when executed by a processor, such as processor 704. In some such exemplary embodiments, the assembly of components 900 is included in memory 706 as an assembly of software components 716. In other exemplary embodiments, various components in the assembly of components 900 are implemented as a combination of hardware and software, e.g., another circuit external to the processor provides input to the processor and then operates under software control to perform a portion of the functions of the components.

When implemented in software, the components include code that, when executed by a processor (e.g., the processor 704), configures the processor to perform functions corresponding to the component. In an exemplary embodiment in which the assembly of components 900 is stored in memory 706, memory 706 comprises a computer program product of a computer-readable medium comprising code, e.g., separate code for each component, for causing at least one computer, e.g., processor 704, to implement the functionality corresponding to the component.

Either entirely hardware-based or entirely software-based components may be used. However, it should be recognized that any combination of software and hardware, e.g., circuit-implemented components, may be used to implement functionality. It should be appreciated that the components shown in fig. 7 control and/or configure server 700 or elements therein, such as processor 704, to perform functions of the various steps in the exemplary embodiment method described with respect to and/or depicted in signaling diagram 400 of fig. 4 and/or described with respect to any diagram or text including the exemplary embodiment list. Accordingly, assembly of components 900 includes various components that perform the function of a respective one or more described and/or illustrated steps of an exemplary method, e.g., one or more steps of the method of fig. 4.

The assembly of components 900 includes a component 902 configured to receive a reporting message sent from a fan apparatus, e.g., to communicate fan apparatus identification information, customer premises identification information, a command received at the fan apparatus, an operation performed on the fan apparatus in response to the received command, fan apparatus status information, e.g., fan on or off, fan speed, fan direction, light on or off, light brightness level, etc., and time information, e.g., a time at which the command was received at the fan apparatus, a time at which the operation was performed in response to the received command, including time information corresponding to the status information in the reporting message, and/or a transmission time corresponding to the reporting message. In some example embodiments, the report message may, and sometimes does, include aggregated information corresponding to multiple commands. The component assembly also includes a component 904 configured to store information communicated in a report message received from the fan apparatus. In some exemplary embodiments, as part of receiving the report message, a message reception time is also recorded and stored.

The assembly of components 900 also includes a component 906 configured to generate a proposed normal device control process from stored information indicating one or more devices at the customer site for a period of time (e.g., more than two weeks), a component 908 configured to send the proposed normal device control process for the generation of the customer site to a device corresponding to the customer site, and a component 912 configured to generate an offsite process for controlling one or more devices in the customer site when the customer indicates that they are away from the customer site. In some exemplary embodiments, component 912 includes a component 914 that is configured to generate the departure procedure as a function of a random function for randomizing, at least in part, on or off times of one or more devices. In some exemplary embodiments, component 914 includes a component 916, the component 916 configured to use information regarding past device on and off states in conjunction with the random function to control on and off times of at least one device that deviate from historical on and off times by an amount of time that does not exceed a maximum amount of time, such as 30 minutes, and is determined by the random function. The assembly of components 900 further includes a component 918, the component 918 configured to store the generated offsite device control process corresponding to the customer premises, the component 920 configured to receive a message indicating approval of the proposed normal device control process or the modified normal device control process, and the component 922 configured to store the approved normal device control process for the customer premises, the approved process being either the proposed normal device control process or the received modified normal device control process.

The assembly of components 900 also includes a component 924 configured to control one or more devices in a customer premises based on stored approved normal device control processes corresponding to the customer premises. The components 924 include a component 926, the component 926 being configured to identify and send commands to fan devices at the customer premises via the internet and WiFi routers, and to control the fan devices based on normally approved device control processes. The assembly of components 900 also includes a component 928 configured to control one or more devices in a customer premises based on a storage device control process corresponding to the customer premises. The component 928 includes a component 930 configured to identify and send commands to fan devices at customer premises through internet and WiFi routers, and to control fan devices based on off-premises device control processes.

The assembly of components 900 also includes a component 932 configured to update information regarding the status of the fan device at the customer premises based on commands communicated to the fan device according to an approved normal device control process or a customer premises device control process, a component 934 configured to update information regarding the status of the fan device at the customer premises based on commands (e.g., commands received from a user device of an authorized user currently located outside the customer premises) forwarded to the fan device by the control server acting as a relay device. The assembly of components 900 further includes a component 936, the component 936 configured to receive a signal from a user indicating an offsite state corresponding to a client location, and a component 938 configured to switch from using the stored normal device control process to using the stored offsite device control process based on the received offsite state indicator.

Fig. 8 is a diagram of an example embodiment system 100 'including controllable fan devices (110', …, 112 '), wall control units (114', …, 116 '), wireless terminals 120', WiFi routers 118 ', and a control server 108', according to another example embodiment. The system 100 "of FIG. 8 is similar to the system 100 'of FIG. 1, and similar components and similar signals have been indicated with prime notation, e.g., the fan apparatus 1110' of FIG. 8 is similar to the fan apparatus 1110 of FIG. 1. There are some differences between the system 100 of fig. 1 and the system 100' of system 8.

The wall station 1114 'of the system 100' of fig. 8 controls a plurality of fan units (fan unit 1110 'and fan unit N112') if such fan units are electrically available. This can be observed by RF control signaling 172 ' being sent from RF interface 1124 ' to fan device 1110 ' and RF control signaling 172 "being sent from RF interface 1124 ' to fan device N112 '. The wall station N116 'can only control the fan unit N112', as indicated by the RF signal 174 'sent from the RF interface N134' to the fan unit N. In contrast, in the system 100 of fig. 1, the wall station 1114 controls the fan unit 1110 and the wall station N116 controls the fan unit N112.

In the system 100 of fig. 1, the input power to each wall station (114, 116) is from the same power source (lines 152, 154). The safety switch 132 may be used to cut power to the fan apparatus 1110. The safety switch 142 may be used to cut off power to the fan apparatus N112.

In contrast, in the system 100 'of fig. 8, the ac input to the wall station N116' is from the ac output (lines 164 ', 166') of the wall station 1. Thus, in the system 100 ' of fig. 8, the safety switch 132 ' of the wall station 1114 ' can be used to turn off power to the fan unit 1110 ' and the fan unit N112 ', and then turn on the input power and reinitialize the system. The method helps to allow the wall station 1114 ' to reinitialize the two fan units and synchronize their operation so that the fan unit 1110 ' and the fan unit N112 ' will be affected in the same manner by control commands sent from the radio frequency interface 124 ' of the wall station 1114 '.

Further, in the system 100 ' of FIG. 8, a Safety Switch (SS)142 ' may be used to cut power to the fan apparatus N112 '.

In one exemplary embodiment, N ═ 6, and the wallstation control unit 1114 'can, and sometimes does, control 6 fan units (fan unit 1110', fan unit 2, fan unit 3, fan unit 4, fan unit 5, fan unit 6112 ') to turn on their fans at the same time by command (e.g., a command conveyed in an RF control signal sent from the wallstation control unit 1114'). In some such exemplary embodiments, all 6 fans are powered from the same ac line, e.g., the same 20A ac input power cord. In some such exemplary embodiments, the 6 fans (e.g., brushless dc motor fans) do not include optical encoders, magnetic encoders (e.g., rotary transformers or synchronizers), or hall effect sensors. In various exemplary embodiments, (fan apparatus 1110 ', fan apparatus 2, fan apparatus 3, fan apparatus 4, fan apparatus 5, fan apparatus 6112') which may be turned on simultaneously, and sometimes simultaneously, on the same input power line, each include an exemplary embodiment ac power interface, including: a varistor, a common mode choke, an X capacitor and two Y capacitors. In some exemplary embodiments, the ac power interface of each fan unit comprises a multi-layer board, e.g., a 4-layer circuit board, with one copper layer connected to ground. In some exemplary embodiments, the 6 fan apparatuses may, and sometimes do, include one or more 10 foot ceiling fans. In some exemplary embodiments, each of the 6 fan units comprises a 10 foot ceiling fan.

In another exemplary embodiment, N-10 and the wall control unit 1114 'may, and sometimes may do, control 10 fan devices (fan devices 1110', …, fan device 10112 ') to turn on their fans via commands (e.g., commands communicated in RF control signals sent from the wall control unit 1114'). In some such exemplary embodiments, all 10 fans are powered by the same ac line, e.g., the same 20A ac input power cord. In some such exemplary embodiments, the 10 fans (e.g., brushless dc motor fans) do not include optical encoders, magnetic encoders (e.g., resolvers or synchronizers), or hall effect sensors. In some exemplary embodiments, the 10 fan apparatus may, and sometimes does, include one or more 10-foot ceiling fans. In some exemplary embodiments, each of the 10 fan units comprises a 10 foot ceiling fan.

FIG. 9 is a diagram 1000 of an example embodiment AC power interface 322 'coupled to an example embodiment DC power supply 324' that may be used in the fan apparatus 300 of FIG. 3 in accordance with an example embodiment. In some exemplary embodiments, the ac power interface 322 'is the ac power interface 322 of the fan apparatus 300 of fig. 3 and the dc power source 324' is the dc power source 324 of the fan apparatus 300 of fig. 3. The components of the ac power interface circuit 322 'and the dc power circuit 324' are electrically connected using conductors (e.g., wires or specific wires) as shown in fig. 9. In some exemplary embodiments, the ac power interface 322' consists essentially of the components shown in fig. 9. In some exemplary embodiments, the ac power interface 322' is limited to only the components shown in fig. 9, thereby reducing cost and, in some cases, improving reliability of the design by reducing the number of components that may fail. In some exemplary embodiments, the dc power supply 324' consists essentially of the components shown in fig. 9. In some exemplary embodiments, the ac power interface 322' is limited to only the components shown in fig. 9, thereby reducing cost and, in some cases, improving reliability of the design by reducing the number of components that may fail.

An ac power source, such as 90-264 vac 47-63Hz input through a 16AWG wire, is input through the L terminal 342 and the N (neutral) terminal 340, with the G (ground) terminal 343 being grounded. The line connected to the L terminal 342 is referred to as the line input 1003 with a fuse F11002, e.g., a 3.15a fuse. After the fuse F11002 there are several components, a varistor RV 11004, a common mode choke L11006, and capacitors C51008, C71010, and C111012, which contribute to ac filtering and produce filtered ac. The neutral line 1005 is connected to the neutral terminal 340. In some exemplary embodiments, the fuse 1002 is not used in this case, and the line 1003 connection connects the input terminal 342 to the common mode choke input connection 1023, which is also connected to the input connection on the varistor 1004.

The ac power interface circuit 322' includes an ac filter circuit 370 that includes a voltage dependent resistor 1004, a common mode choke 1006, a first X capacitor 1008, a first Y capacitor 1010, and a second Y capacitor 1012.

For example, the varistor RV 11004 is a 510V 2.5KA disk-shaped 10MM varistor, which can suppress voltage spikes. The piezo-resistor 1004 has first and second connections. The first connection of the piezo-resistor is connected to the input line 1003. The second connection of the piezo-resistor 1004 is connected to a neutral line 1005. The common mode choke L11006, e.g., 15MH1A2lN TH, plays an important role in the system because it actually helps line noise ingress and the passenger field fan apparatus 300 (including the receiver). Line noise is coupled in choke 1006 to remove ac line noise. The common mode choke 1006 has two

input connections

1023 and 1025 and two

connections

1033 and 1035. Input connection 1023 is connected to input line 1003. The input connection 1025 is connected to the neutral line 1005. Output connection 1033 is connected to line 1007 and output connection 1035 is connected to line 1009.

The capacitors C51008, C71010 and C111012 suppress high frequency noise, such as EMI (electromagnetic interference)/RFI (radio frequency interference), in the range of about 2 khz to 30 mhz, and/or radiate radio frequency interference, which typically occurs in the frequency range of 30 mhz to 10 ghz. Capacitor C51008 is an X capacitor which shunts high frequency noise to the input filter ac line (L1007, N1009). Capacitor C71010 is a Y capacitor and shunts high frequency noise on ac filter L line 1007 to ground 1031 via conductor 1030 connected to ground terminal 343. The connection points 1011 on the copper conductor layer 1030 may be, at times, used to connect components to the copper conductor layer, such as components C71010 and C111012. Capacitor C111012 is a Y capacitor and shunts high frequency noise on ac filter N line 1009 to ground 1031 via conductor 1030 connected to ground terminal 343. In one exemplary embodiment, C51008, C71010, and C111012 were 0.22UF 20% 760RAD capacitors. In another exemplary embodiment, C5 is a 220 microfarad 275V ac capacitor; c7 is an 820pF 1000V capacitor, and C11 is an 820pF 1000V capacitor. The X-capacitor is a class X capacitor (also referred to as a flying capacitor) and the Y-capacitor is a class Y capacitor (also referred to as a Y-grounded capacitor). When the X capacitor fails, for example, due to an overvoltage condition, the short circuit causes the fuse 1002 to open, thereby preventing an electric shock to the user. When a Y-capacitor fails, it cannot be left in an open circuit state to prevent a shock hazard that would otherwise occur if the capacitor were shorted resulting in a loss of ground connection.

The dc power supply 324' includes a full bridge rectifier BR 11014, capacitors C61016, C41018, and dc/dc converter circuit and filter 1020 coupled together as shown in fig. 9. In one exemplary embodiment, capacitor C61016 and capacitor C41018 across the outputs (1015, 1017) of BR 11014 are both 82 microfarad 400V electrolytic capacitors. BR 11014 is a full bridge rectifier BR 11014, for example, a GPP 10a1000V GBU rectifier bridge, taking the filtered alternating current from the lines (1007, 1009) and forming between its outputs 1015, 1017 a direct current bus, vbus 1022, with respect to the direct current ground 329. In an exemplary embodiment, for a filtered 120V AC input of BR 11014, the DC bus 1022 voltage is approximately 170V DC relative to DC ground 329. For example, the dc bus voltage is RMS (alternating current) sqrt (2). In some exemplary embodiments, the dc bus 1022 voltage (e.g., 170 vdc) is used directly to power the fan motor. The other dc rail voltage is generated from the dc VBUS voltage (e.g., about 170 vdc). The dc VBUS voltage 1022 is used as an input to a dc/dc converter circuit and filter 1022 that generates a plurality of dc output voltages (dc output voltages 11024, …, dc output voltage N1026) for use by the fan apparatus 300. In various exemplary embodiments, the generated plurality of dc output voltages includes a 16V dc power supply and a 3.3V dc power supply. In various exemplary embodiments, basic filtering is implemented before and after each supply, including, for example, decoupling and bypass capacitors. The

lines

1071 and 1072 are made of conductive material and connect the components of the dc power supply as shown. Line 1071 connects the output 1015 of the full bridge rectifier 1014 to the positive connection of capacitor C61016, the positive connection of capacitor C41018, VBus 1022, and the first of two connections on the dc/dc conversion circuit and filter 1020. Line 1072 connects the output 1017 of the full bridge rectifier 1014 to: the negative connection of capacitor C61016, the negative connection of capacitor C41018, a second connection on the dc/dc converter circuit and filter 1020, and digital ground 329. Each of fan apparatus fan apparatuses 1110, … 111, fan apparatus N112 may be, and in some exemplary embodiments is, implemented in accordance with fan apparatus 300 and ac power interfaces 322 'and 324'. In some exemplary embodiments, N-3, in which case the system 100 has three fan apparatuses. In some exemplary embodiments, N-6, in which case the system 100 has six fan apparatuses.

In various exemplary embodiments, the exemplary AC power interface 322 'coupled to the exemplary embodiment DC power supply 324' of FIG. 9 does not include a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) inrush protection device.

In some exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus 300 including the ac power interface 322 ' and the dc power interface 324 ' uses a four-layer board, and the ac power interface portion 322 ' has an internal layer, e.g., a copper internal layer, that is referenced to ground. Having such an adjacent copper layer, which is a reference for ground, also contributes to the noise coupled system.

Various aspects and/or features of some (but not necessarily all) of the example embodiments are also discussed below.

Various exemplary embodiments are directed to using RF and WiFi control in a fan device (e.g., fan device 300) to control the state and speed of fan 303 and/or the on/off state and brightness of fan lights 306. The fan apparatus 300 includes an RF interface 314 and a fan WiFi interface 312. The customer premises (e.g., customer premises 1102) includes a WiFi router 118 through which WiFi communications may be sent from a WiFi-enabled device (e.g., cell phone 120) to control fan device 300 and its various functions. While WiFi control passes through WiFi router 118 in the home, control signals typically do not pass through internet 106 or other external networks. Thus, WiFi control can be performed without the need to connect to an external network or server 108. In addition to WiFi control, control of the fan apparatus 300 may be via the RF control device 200, e.g., a wall station controller. In some exemplary embodiments, 120V power is provided to the fan apparatus 300 through the wall station controller 202. While 120V power may be provided through the wall station control 202, the control signal from the wall station control 202 is sent to the RF interface 314 of the fan apparatus 300 using an RF signal. RF interface 314 uses a different frequency band than the WiFi signals for transmission to/from WiFi router 118. In some demonstrative embodiments, RF interface 314 uses an unlicensed spectrum different from the spectrum used for WiFi signals.

Since RF and WiFi control signals do not need to pass through an external communication network, for example in a system where commands must first be sent to a network server outside the customer premises, such as CP 1102, and then from the network server to the device to be controlled, the fan device 300 can be controlled by the wall controller 202 or a WiFi device even if a connection to the internet or another external network is not available.

In some, but not necessarily all exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus 300 reports its status and/or status as changed by the received command to, for example, a server located outside the customer premises 102 (e.g., the control server 108). Communication with the external server 108 may sometimes be via a WiFi router 118 and internet 106 connection. Server 108 records status information for one or more devices (e.g., fan device 1110 and fan device N112) at each of its associated customer sites. Server 108 automatically generates a recommended normal course based on, for example, historical device status information (including device on/off time, fan speed information, and/or light brightness information). Machine learning and historical device state information may be used (sometimes for) to generate proposed processes for customer premises. The proposed normal control process is communicated to an individual, e.g. a customer at a customer site associated with the process. The communication of the proposed process may be, and sometimes is, from server 108 via internet 106 and WiFi router 118 to be associated with the process at the customer site (e.g., CP 1102). The customer may approve the proposed process and/or provide a revised normal process, and the server 108 is provided for controlling the equipment at the customer site.

In addition to generating normal control processes for the customer premises, an offsite process is also generated to be used when the customer indicates that the customer premises is in an offsite state. The departure status applies when a normal user at the customer site leaves the customer site. The departure procedure is generated based on a random function such that the devices (e.g., fan devices 1110, …, fan device N112) will turn on somewhat randomly, making it difficult for a potential thief to determine whether the devices are controlled by the automation system or a person in the field (e.g., CP 1102). In some exemplary embodiments, historical device usage information is considered when a server (e.g., control server 108) automatically generates an departure process that has some randomness in its on/off times but remains within a reasonable time (e.g., 30 minutes or 1 hour), when a person is present, the device is turned on and off.

Remote control of devices (e.g., fan devices) is also supported, although a user may control the devices (e.g., fan devices 300) at home through RF controller 202 or a WiFi controller (e.g., in WT 1120) without having to send commands outside the home. The user may log into the control server 108 and, once authenticated, allow control commands to be sent to devices in the home (e.g., fan devices 110, 112) via the control server 108 and WiFi router 118. In this way, a user may control devices, such as

fan devices

110, 112, when away from home. In the case of commands sent via server 108, server 108 can, and sometimes does, update device status information based on commands sent from server 108 to the device to be controlled (e.g., device 110), thereby eliminating the need for the device (e.g., device 110) to report status changes to server 108. While in some exemplary embodiments devices (e.g., fan devices 110, 112) do not report a change in status to the server 108 in response to commands communicated by the server 108 to the controlled device (e.g., fan device 110), in other exemplary embodiments the controlled device, e.g.,

fan device

110, 112, reports a change in status to the control server 108 on a routine basis, whether the command is from the server 108, wall controller 202, or from a WiFi device in the home, e.g., WT 120.

The home corresponding client may enable/disable the use of the control process by the server 108. For example, a user may send a signal to the control server 108, e.g., via WT 1120, indicating that a normal device control process should be used or that an off-site device control process should be used or that a control process should not be used. The signal may indicate that the automatic control is to be set to the closing of the home, that the automatic control should be set to the opening, and, when the automatic control is opened, whether an exit state indicating that an exit procedure should be used or the house is in a normal state, and thus a normal procedure should be used.

In various exemplary embodiments, a controller (e.g., wall control unit 202) having an RF interface 208 is used to control a fan apparatus, such as fan apparatus 300, which includes a fan motor 304 and may also include a lighting apparatus, such as a light 306. In some exemplary embodiments, the controller 202 is in the form of a wall control module that may be, and sometimes is, installed in a standard electrical wall box (e.g., box 190) in which the fan apparatus (e.g., fan apparatus 300) in the room is located. To simplify installation and avoid the need for a common 120v power cord for powering the lamp socket, the controller 202 acts as a simple pass-through device supplying ac power to the fan apparatus unit 300 from a 120v ac perspective. For safety reasons, the controller 202 includes an ac disconnect 206 that may be used to cut all power to the fan apparatus unit 300. The disconnect switch 206 may be in the form of a push-pull switch or pull-tab that may interrupt the power to the fan apparatus 300.

Control of the fan apparatus 300 is through the RF interface 208 included in the wall station 202. In some exemplary embodiments, activating the safety disconnect switch 206 will disconnect power to the RF interface 208 of the wall station 202 in addition to disconnecting power to the fan apparatus 300. As such, in some, but not necessarily all exemplary embodiments, the safety shut-off 206 functions as a physical shut-off switch integrated into the wall station 202 for the wall station 202 and the fan apparatus 300.

The controller 202 includes inputs (216, 214, 224, 226, 220, 222, 218) for controlling fan on/off operation, light on/off operation, fan speed (e.g., turn up/down) and/or light intensity (e.g., fan device light output turn up/down) and fan direction. In some exemplary embodiments, the light output and fan speed may be controlled smoothly, e.g., the light brightness is controlled in a smooth manner over a wide range of brightness values as opposed to just a few discrete output levels. The wall control 202 sends RF control signals to effect or communicate commands generated based on presses or changes to control inputs (214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226) on the wall control 202. The control signal is sent to the fan apparatus 300 using a different RF band than that used for the WiFi signal at the customer site where the controller 202 is located.

In some example embodiments, the wireless terminal 120 is not a mobile device, but is a wall-mounted device installed in a customer premises where one or more fan devices (e.g., fan device 1110, …, fan device N112) are located. A wall-mounted wireless terminal may, and in some exemplary embodiments does, include a touch screen display on which a user is presented with a menu by which the user may select options to control operation of one or more functions of a fan apparatus located at a customer site, such as light brightness, fan speed, fan direction, light on/off, on/off of one or more fans located at the customer site.

Fig. 10 illustrates several different perspective views of a wall-mounted wireless terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A first perspective view 1102 of a wall station displaying a touch screen 1108 and an embodiment user menu is shown in fig. 10. A second perspective view 1104 of the wall station wireless terminal shows an angled side view of the wall station wireless terminal. A third perspective view 1106 shows a view of the back of a wireless wall station terminal.

Fig. 11 shows an embodiment wall control unit with a safety switch according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 11 shows a front perspective view of an embodiment wall station 1202 with a safety switch and a side view of the same embodiment wall station 1204, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The wall control unit 1202 includes a light control on/off button 1206, an on (increase light intensity) button 1208, and a light down (decrease light intensity) button 1210, a fan on/off button 1212, a fan increase speed button 1214, a fan decrease speed button 1216, a fan reverse direction button 1218, and a mechanical emergency/safety shut off switch 1220.

In some exemplary embodiments, a full calendar year (e.g., 365 days) scheduler application in the control server allows a user to store settings, instructions and commands for operating a set or plurality of fan devices included in the customer premises, which are then subsequently set by the control server according to user-entered settings, e.g., when to turn a fan on and off, turn a light on and off, set a direction of rotation of fan blades, set a light brightness, set a fan speed, etc.

In some exemplary embodiments as previously discussed, the control server includes software instructions that, when executed by a processor of the control server, operate the control server to generate a recommended client fan device process for an upcoming time period (e.g., one or more days, one or more weeks, or one or more months) for controlling operation of one or more functions or events of one or more fan devices located at the client site, e.g., light on/off, light brightness, fan on/off, fan speed, fan direction, based on historical fan device status information collected over a time frame (e.g., days, weeks, or months). The control server then sends the generated recommended client fan device process (e.g., a weekly process of fan device events) to the fan device over the internet. The fan device receives the generated client fan device process and stores it on its memory. A copy of the fan device's proposed process is also kept in the memory of the control server. The user may then access a local copy of a recommended fan device process (e.g., a weekly fan device event process) residing in the fan device from the wireless terminal via WiFi and determine whether to accept or modify the proposed process. The weekly modification recommendations of the fan control process sent to the server are sent from the server to the server. The processor of the fan unit will then automatically operate the fan unit to perform functions/events on the weekly process approved by the user, i.e. if the user chooses to use the proposed process. The fan device function/event execution includes, for example, turning on the fan at a particular time on a particular date, turning off the fan at a particular time on a particular date, turning on a particular light at a particular time, setting a light intensity to a particular level when the light is on, setting a fan speed and direction when the fan is on, or turning off an indicator light at a particular date and a particular time. The user may also decide not to select the recommended course or modify the course but to keep the fan apparatus in the manual operation mode for some days of the week or for the whole week. Storing a weekly process of fan device events on the device, which can be automatically executed by the fan device if the user chooses to operate in an automatic mode of operation, provides the benefit of: if the WIFI router or internet connection to the control server is disabled, the processor of the fan device can still operate a device with the fan in accordance with the automatic weekly process selected or programmed by the user, whereas if the control server is the only device maintaining the weekly process, the processor of the fan device will not be able to operate the fan device correctly according to the weekly process approved by the user when the connection between the control server and the fan device is interrupted or fails.

Some exemplary embodiments of how the control server identifies event patterns and uses machine learning to generate a proposed process will now be discussed.

For example, the control server will be operated to identify a pattern of events, e.g., light on, light off, light brightness setting, fan on, fan off, fan speed, fan direction, occurring a specified number of times N within a time frame, where N is an integer, e.g., 3. The time frame may be, and in some exemplary embodiments is, a plurality of consecutive weeks, e.g., 3 weeks. The identification of the pattern of daily events may be, and in some exemplary embodiments is based on, the same events occurring at the same or approximately the same time (e.g., within a time window such as +/-15 minutes) over consecutive M days, where M is an integer, e.g., M-3, to not be intrusive. Weekly events will be determined over the entire time frame, e.g., three weeks. For example, if the fan device is controlled to perform a particular function or event, e.g., the fan of the fan device is on Tuesday night 8:00 of the first week of the time frame, the fan of the fan device is on Tuesday night 8:06 of the second week of the time frame, and the fan of the fan device is on in night 7:54 of the third week then, after analyzing historical fan device status data for the 3-week period, the control server identifies the function or event as a pattern, e.g., the fan of the fan device is on within a 15 minute window of 8:00 every Tuesday night, the fan of the fan device is on around 8:00 Tuesday night, which is the average of the fan on times for three repeated events identified by the control server. The control server generates a recommendation that the fan of the fan device (whose status data has been analyzed to determine the event pattern) will be turned on at 8:00 on a tuesday night. The fan on time is suggested to be 8:00 pm, the average of the fan on event times for the three events identified in the pattern.

In another example, the fan of the fan apparatus is turned on for three consecutive days on a monday night of 8:00, a tuesday night of 9/:00, and a wednesday night of 7:00 of the same week. And after analyzing the historical state data of the fan equipment, the control server takes the opening of the fan equipment for three consecutive days as a mode of a fan opening event of the fan equipment. In the case of identifying a pattern of events for consecutive days, the time window during which the same event occurs for consecutive days may be, and in some exemplary embodiments is, different from the window discussed in the previous example for events occurring on the same day for consecutive weeks. In this example, the exemplary embodiment 60 minute window is used instead of the 15 minute window. The control server, upon determining a pattern of turning on the fan of the fan device for three consecutive days within a 60 minute window, generates a recommendation to turn on the fan of the fan device at 8 pm as an option for a daily schedule. A programmed 8:00 night time for fan turn-on is generated based on the time that the event forming the identified pattern occurred within three consecutive days. In this example, the fan on proposed night 8:00 pm time for the fan device is the average of the night 8:00 pm, 9:00 pm, and 7:00 pm fan on event times for the three events in the identification pattern.

In another example, the fan of the fan apparatus is turned on at 8:00 pm every monday, wednesday, and friday. The same occurs in the second and third weeks of the three week time frame. The control server identifies the fan turn-on event as a pattern and generates a proposed course according to the fan turn-on pattern of the date and time the fan was turned on. For example, the control server recommends, in a weekly schedule, that the fans of the fan devices be turned on at monday, wednesday, and friday nights of the next week at 8: 00.

In some (but not all) exemplary embodiments, the control server waits until the end of a time frame, e.g., 3 weeks, to analyze historical status information of the fan device, identify a pattern of events, and generate a proposed course based on the identified pattern of events, e.g., a weekly proposed event course for the fan device. In some other exemplary embodiments, the control server uses the current and historical event status data of the fan device to identify fan device event patterns, so the control server identifies event patterns continuously over a time frame (e.g., 3 weeks). The control server may then continue to generate a recommendation or wait until the time frame ends to generate a recommendation. In some exemplary embodiments, after the expiration of the first timeframe (e.g., 3 weeks), the control server uses the sliding timeframe window to identify a new event pattern and generate a new recommended process. For example, as the previous 3 week period expires, the control server will identify the fan device event pattern and generate a proposed course. The sliding time frame window is one week and the second time frame will include the last two weeks of the first time frame and the first week after the expiration of the first time frame. Thus, the control server will identify the event pattern and generate a second proposed course at the end of the consecutive fourth week based on historical event status data for the last three weeks of fan equipment. In this way, the last three weeks of use of the fan device and even the status data are used weekly to generate the proposed process.

As previously described, in most, but not all exemplary embodiments, the proposed weekly process for each fan unit in the customer's premises is sent from the control server to the fan unit associated with the weekly process after generation for review and/or modification and/or approval by the customer. This assumes that the customer has selected to use the weekly process to control the operation of the fan device and to select a suggested process to view fan device events. The user can cancel the automatic cycle process and the proposed process by inputting a cancel request at any time through a control menu displayed on the remote wireless WiFi control device. Although the generation of the proposed processes for individual fan devices and the operation of the automatic event processes have been discussed, the control server also generates proposed event processes for groups of fan devices. An automatic process over a period of time, such as a weekly process, may also be used to automatically control the operation of the fan sets. For example, in a manufacturing facility, a group of fans of a group of fan devices may be automatically turned on before the start of a work day. For example, the fans of each of a group of fan units are simultaneously turned on at a particular speed at 6:30 PM and then turned on at 6:45 PM before workers 7:00 arrive, and turned off at 8:00 PM after the production facility is shut down. Similarly, the automatic weekly process sets the fan process to saturday, sunday, and certain holiday shutdowns.

In addition to automatic operation of the fan device based on a preprogrammed course of fan device events (e.g., a 7-day-per-week process or a 365-day (366-leap year) fan device event process), in some example embodiments, the fan device may be programmed to take action in response to the fan device receiving one or more inputs (e.g., signals from one or more sensors or devices that provide data about the current environmental conditions of the customer site, such as the temperature of the customer site and/or room in which the fan device is located, whether the air conditioning system is on or off, or whether the heating system is on or off. For example, the fan apparatus may, and in some exemplary embodiments does, provide two automatic modes of operation of the fan apparatus in relation to a hvac system of a customer site. In a first mode of operation, the fan apparatus automatically turns the fan on within a prescribed time (e.g., 5 minutes) after the fan apparatus receives a message or signal indicating that the heating or air conditioning system is off, e.g., HV ac is off 5 minutes after the fan apparatus turns the fan on to a preset speed and direction set by the user. In a second mode of operation, when the fan apparatus receives a message or signal indicating that the heating or air conditioning system has been turned on and the fan of the fan apparatus automatically turns the fan of the fan apparatus on to a preset speed and direction after a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 5 minutes) after receiving the message or signal that the heating or air conditioning system has been turned off. The use of the fan arrangement helps to distribute the cold or hot air provided by the HV ac system.

In some exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus is configured to automatically turn on or off based on a temperature in the customer's premises. For example, upon receiving a signal or message indicating an in-customer premises or internal temperature, the processor or control server of the fan apparatus compares the temperature to a temperature threshold (e.g., 80 degrees fahrenheit), and if the temperature exceeds the temperature threshold, the fan apparatus is operated to turn on the fan (if the fan has not already been turned on). In some additional exemplary embodiments, the speed and direction of the fan apparatus is also automatically set when a temperature corresponding to the fan speed threshold is exceeded. For example, when it exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the fan speed is set low; when above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, the fan speed increases; when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the fan speed increases again.

In some exemplary embodiments, the control server receives a message indicating an environmental condition of the customer premises and/or activation or deactivation of the heating or air conditioning system, compares the environmental condition and/or status of the heating or air conditioning system, and sends one or more commands/messages to the fan to turn the fan of the fan apparatus on or off and set the speed and direction of the fan, thereby automatically controlling the fan apparatus according to the user-entered setting of the fan apparatus without requiring a separate sensor input by the fan apparatus.

In some exemplary embodiments, the fan device is configured to be updatable via over-the-air (OTA) updates, allowing future features and enhancements to be downloaded into the fan device from a control server or another device. Similarly, applications executing on the wireless WiFi terminal may be updated through over-the-air communication.

As discussed previously in some exemplary embodiments, multiple fan devices are grouped together, allowing all fan devices in a group to be controlled at one time. For example, a first group of fan units at a customer site may be placed in the first group, e.g., fan units at one floor of a house may be placed in the first group, e.g., fan units in living rooms, kitchens, corridors, and restaurants. These fan devices may all be matched or paired with the first wall control unit so that any RF message (e.g., light on/off, fan on/off, etc.) sent from the first wall control unit will be received by all fan devices in the first group in unison. In addition, the control server will identify all of these fan devices as being in the first group and allow the user to control multiple fan devices in the first group simultaneously. For example, a user may input a group command via the wireless terminal device to turn on all fans of the group, in which case all fans of the group will turn on simultaneously or simultaneously. The customer site may include one or more sets of fan units. For example, when a first group of fan devices allows control of fan devices in the first group (e.g., those on a first floor or premises), a second group of fans may be used to control fan devices on a second floor of the premises included in the second group of fan devices. In addition to the fan devices in a group being controlled as a group, the fan devices of the group may also be controlled as a single fan device. For example, when a fan device group light on event command is first issued, all lights on the fan devices in the group will be on. At a later time, a fan device lights-out command may be issued to turn off a particular light on one of the fan devices in the group. When the lights on a particular fan are off, the lights on the remaining fan units in the group will remain on. If the group of fan devices commands the lights in the group to be turned off, the lights of the individual fan devices that are turned off will remain off, while the lights on the remaining fan devices in the group will be turned off. In this way, the fan apparatuses can be controlled as a group or individually.

In some exemplary embodiments, control of one or more fan devices at a customer site may be shared with one or more users. For example, control of the fan apparatus at the customer site may be shared by parents and children, employees and guests. In an exemplary embodiment, a customer is allowed to control one or more fan units in a customer site. The owner or operator selects the fan apparatus that the guest may control and inputs this information into the control server and/or the fan apparatus. The owner or operator of the customer premises where the fan apparatus is located then sends an invitation message to the customer's mobile device. In response to the invitation, the guest, via his or her mobile device, will upon authentication (e.g., entering a password provided to the guest by the owner or operator of the customer premises), be permitted to log into an application running on the control server or fan apparatus, which the customer can operate with the customer's mobile device. As previously described, a guest's access may be restricted to certain fan units at the customer premises, such as allowing the guest to control fan units in the room and/or parlor, while being restricted to control fan units in other areas of the customer premises. The owner or operator of the client premises also has the ability to control the same equipment as the guest. In this way, multiple users may control the same fan device. When the owner or operator of the client site decides to terminate the guest's access to the system and control of the fan apparatus, the owner or operator of the client site enters a request or command to the control server and/or fan apparatus indicating that the guest is no longer allowed to access the system and/or that the fan control server and/or fan apparatus prevents the guest from accessing the apparatus of the system, e.g., no longer accepting the guest's login credentials, e.g., user id or password.

In some exemplary embodiments, the fan apparatus includes a sleep mode in which a user can set separate timers for when the fan of the fan apparatus and when the light of the fan apparatus can be turned off (e.g., after 45 minutes after the sleep mode is activated), so that the fan of the fan apparatus is turned off when the sleep timer of the fan expires and the light of the fan apparatus is automatically turned off when the sleep timer of the light of the fan apparatus expires. In addition, the menu activated synch command presented to the user from the WiFi mobile device allows the independent sleep mode timers of the fan device's fan and lights to be synchronized so that if they are set to different time values, they will be synchronized and turned off at the same time. Synchronizing the standalone sleep timer to a fan sleep timer value of the sleep timer value being synchronized or a shorter period of the light sleep timer value.

List of exemplary numbering method embodiments:

method example 1. A control method, comprising: receiving, at a fan apparatus comprising a radio frequency signal receiver and a WiFi interface, a first Radio Frequency (RF) control signal from a control unit, the fan apparatus being located at a customer site; operations, implemented at the fan apparatus, responsive to a first command conveyed by a first radio frequency control signal; and operating the fan apparatus to communicate information indicative of an operation performed in response to the first command with a server located outside the customer premises through the WiFi interface. (e.g., the fan device sends a report identifying itself, i.e., the fan device being controlled, the time at which the command was executed, the operation being performed, and the customer site, to allow the server to create a log of the fan device's status and to create a history of the status, e.g., the on/off and brightness of various devices at the customer site, to facilitate learning usage patterns, to allow for the automatic generation of processes that are normal and abnormal processes, both of which may and sometimes are machine-learned based on information reported to the server in the network).

Method example 2. The method of method example 1, wherein the fan apparatus and the control unit are located in the same room.

Method example 3. The method of method example 1, wherein the control unit is a wall-mounted unit through which power is supplied to the fan apparatus, and the first radio frequency control signal is a wireless signal transmitted from an RF transmitter in the control unit to an RF receiver in the fan apparatus.

Method example 4. The method of method example 3, wherein the control unit does not include a WiFi interface.

Method example 5. The method of method example 1, wherein the first command is one of: a fan turn-on command, a fan turn-off command, a fan power state change command, a fan speed-up command, a fan speed-down command, a fan direction change command, a lamp turn-on command, a lamp turn-off command, a lamp power state change command, a lamp light increase command, a lamp light decrease command.

Method example 6. The method of method example 1, wherein the RF control signal is transmitted using an RF frequency not used for WiFi signals. It should be understood that while both the RF and WiFi interfaces are wireless interfaces, they are different interfaces and use different frequency bands and different communication protocols.

Method example 7. The method of method example 6, further comprising: operating a WiFi router at a customer premises for receiving a first WiFi control signal from a wireless terminal (e.g., a cell phone) at the customer premises, the first WiFi control signal for communicating a second command for controlling a fan apparatus; operating the WiFi router to communicate the second command to the fan device via the WiFi signal; the fan apparatus is operated to implement the second command.

Method example 8. The method of method example 7, further comprising: the fan is operated to communicate information indicative of an operation performed in response to the second command with a server located outside the customer premises through the WiFi interface.

Method example 9. The method of method example 8, wherein the second command is communicated from the wireless terminal to the fan apparatus through a WiFi router located in the customer premises without the second command traversing a network outside the customer premises. (thus, in at least some example embodiments, communication of the second command does not rely on or involve communication over a network outside of the customer premises, and the fan device may be controlled from indoors over WiFi even if an Internet or server connection to the server is not present or available.)

Method example 10. The method of method example 9, further comprising: operating the server to receive a third command directed to the first fan device; and operating a server to communicate a third command to the fan device via the internet and the WiFi router. (e.g., method example embodiment 10 relates to a situation where it is intended to report control of a fan device by a remotely located device (e.g., a WT off a first customer premises, which WT sends a control signal to communicate to the first fan device through a server, where the control signal passes through the server, the controlled fan device may not send back a message reporting implementation of the communicated command, and the server may update status information indicating that the control message has been successfully received and/or performed on based on knowledge that the fan is instructed to perform an operation and/or optionally an acknowledgement obtained from the device.)

The method is exemplary 11. The method of method example 10, further comprising: based on the third command communicated to the fan device, the server is operated to update information regarding the status of the one or more devices at the first customer location.

Method example 12. The method of method example 11, wherein the updating of the status of the one or more devices of the first customer premises is performed in response to sending a third command from the server (not receiving a report of the command executed at the fan device).

Method example 13. The method of method example 9, further comprising: operating the server to generate a proposed normal device control process for a first client site (e.g. a fan and/or lighting control process, including a speed and/or light intensity process) from stored information indicative of the status of one or more devices at the first client site over a period of time (e.g. two or more weeks); communicating with the server (e.g., via the internet and WiFi router at the first client site) to send the proposed device control process to a device corresponding to the first client site (e.g., a handset of a user at the first client site); receiving, at the server, a message indicating approval of a normal device control process proposed for the first customer premises or a modified process of the first customer premises; and storing the approved proposed normal device control process or the modified process as an approved normal control process for the first customer site.

Method example 14. The method of method example 13, further comprising: based on the stored approved normal device control procedures, the server is operated to control one or more devices of the first customer site, the one or more devices including a first fan device.

Method exemplary embodiment 15. The method of method example embodiment 14, wherein operating the server to control the one or more devices of the first customer premises based on the stored approved normal device control procedures comprises sending a control signal from the server to the first fan device over the internet and WiFi router to control the fan device to turn on at a time indicated by the approved normal control procedures.

Method example 16. The method of method example 13, further comprising: the server is operated to generate an offsite process for controlling one or more devices of the first customer location when the customer indicates that it is away from the customer location.

Method example 17. The method of method example 16, wherein operating a server to generate a departure process comprises generating the departure process as a function of a random function for randomizing, at least in part, on or off times of one or more devices.

Method example 18. The method of method example 17, wherein operating a server to generate an departure procedure includes using information about past device on/off states in conjunction with the random function to control on/off times of at least one device, the on and off times being offset from historical on and off times by an amount of time that does not exceed a set maximum amount of time (e.g., 30 minutes), and determined by the random function. (e.g., once the historical on/off times of the lights on the fan device are known, the random function is used to alter the on/off times in the random function, but should be kept around 30 minutes of the normal on/off times, so that the on/off patterns are not the same day by day, but rather are at home or around the home within the expected normal range that a person may encounter, although not the same day by day, but may not have a large deviation, e.g., change more than an hour per day.)

Method example 19. The method of method example 16, further comprising: receiving, at a server, a signal from a user indicating an off-scene status; and switching, at the server, from a normal process using the stored approval to a departure process using the stored permission to control one or more devices of the first client site.

List of first exemplary numbering system embodiments:

system example embodiment 1. A system (100) comprising: fan apparatus (110), comprising: a fan motor (304); a Radio Frequency (RF) signal receiver (360) configured to receive a Radio Frequency (RF) control signal from a control unit (114), the fan apparatus (110) and the control unit (114) being located at a customer premises (102); a fan WiFi interface (312); a fan motor control circuit (308) configured to control a fan motor (304) in response to a received first radio frequency control signal, the first radio frequency control signal conveying a first command; and a first processor (316) configured to communicate information indicative of operations performed in response to the first command with a server (108) located outside the customer premises (102) via the fan WiFi interface (312).

Exemplary embodiment of the system 1 a. The system of system exemplary embodiment 1, wherein the fan apparatus further comprises: a lamp (306); and a lamp control circuit (310) configured to control a lamp (306) in response to a received second radio frequency control signal, the second radio frequency control signal conveying a second command; and wherein the first processor (316) is further configured to communicate information indicative of operations performed in response to the second command with the server (108) via a fan WiFi interface (312).

System example embodiment 1A. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 1a, wherein the fan apparatus (110) and the control unit (114) are located in the same room.

System example embodiment IB. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 1a, further comprising said control unit (114); wherein the control unit (114) comprises an RF transmitter (228); wherein the control unit (114) is a wall-mounted unit through which power is supplied to the fan apparatus (110), the first and second radio frequency control signals being wireless signals transmitted from the radio frequency transmitter (228) in the control unit (114) to the radio frequency signal receiver (360) in the fan apparatus (110).

System example embodiment 1C. The system (110) according to system example embodiment 1B, wherein the control unit (114) does not include a WiFi interface.

System example embodiment 2. The system (100) of system exemplary embodiment 1A, wherein the first radio frequency control signal communicates one of: a fan turn-on command, a fan turn-off command, a fan power state change command, a fan speed increase command, a fan speed decrease command, a fan direction change command; wherein the second radio frequency control signal communicates one of: a lamp turn-on command, a lamp turn-off command, a lamp power state change command, a light increase command, a light decrease command.

System example embodiment 3. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 1a, wherein the first radio frequency control signal and the second radio frequency control signal are transmitted using RF frequencies not used for WiFi signals.

System example embodiment 4. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 3, further comprising: a WiFi router (118) located at a customer premises, the WiFi router (118) comprising: a receiver (195), the receiver (195) configured to receive a first WiFi control signal from a wireless terminal (120) located at a customer premises (102), the first WiFi control signal for communicating a third command for controlling a fan apparatus (110); a transmitter (196) configured to communicate the third command to the fan apparatus (110) via a WiFi signal; and wherein the first processor (316) is configured to control at least one of a fan motor control circuit (308) or a lamp control circuit (310) to implement a third command.

System example embodiment 5. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 4, further comprising: wherein the first processor (316) is configured to control a fan WiFi interface (312) in the fan device (110) to transmit information indicative of an operation performed in response to a third command.

System example embodiment 6. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 5, further comprising: the wireless terminal (120), wherein the wireless terminal (120) comprises: a wireless WiFi interface (802) and a fan device control application (828) configured to generate the third command in response to a user input; and wherein the third command is communicated from the wireless terminal (120) to the fan device (110) via a WiFi router (108) located in the customer premises (102) without the third command traversing a network outside of the customer premises (102).

System example embodiment 7. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 6, further comprising: the server (108), wherein the server (108) comprises a second processor (704), the second processor 704 being configured to: operating the server (108) to receive a fourth command directed to the first fan device (110); and operating a server (108) to communicate a fourth command to the fan apparatus (110) via the internet (106) and the WiFi router (118).

System example embodiment 8. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 7, wherein the second processor (704) is further configured to: based on the fourth command communicated to the fan device (110), the server (108) is operated to update information regarding the status of the one or more devices at the first customer location (102).

Exemplary embodiment of the system 9. The system (100) of system example embodiment 8, wherein the updating of the status of the one or more devices at the first customer location is performed in response to sending a fourth command from the server (108).

System example embodiment 10. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 6, wherein the second processor (704) is further configured to: operating a server (108) to generate a proposed normal device control process for a first client site (102) from stored information indicative of the status of one or more devices (110, 112) at the first client site; operating a server (108) to send the proposed device control process to a device (120) corresponding to the first client site (102) (e.g., a handset of a user at the first client site) (e.g., via an internet (106) and WiFi router (118) at the first client site (102)); operating a server (108) to receive a message indicating approval of a proposed normal device control process for the first client site (102) or a modified process for the first client site (102); and operating the server (108) to store the approved proposed normal control process or the modified process as an approved normal control process device control process for the first customer site.

System example embodiment 11. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 10, wherein the second processor (704) is further configured to: operating a server (108) to control one or more devices (110, 112) of a first client site (102) based on the stored approved normal device control processes, the one or more devices (110, 112) including a first fan device (110).

System example embodiment 12. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 11, wherein the second processor (704) is configured to: operating the server (108) to send a control signal from the server (108) to the first fan device (110) over the internet (106) and the WiFi router (110) to control the fan device (110) to turn on at a time indicated by the approved normal control process as part of being configured to operate the server (108) to control one or more devices (110, 112) of the first customer premises (102) based on the stored approved normal device control processes.

Exemplary embodiment of the System 13. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 10, wherein the second processor (704) is further configured to: when the customer indicates that the first customer location (102) is remote from the customer location (102), the server (108) is operated to generate an offsite process for controlling one or more devices (110, 112).

System example embodiment 14. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 13, wherein the second processor (704) is configured to: the departure process is generated as a function of a random function for randomizing, at least in part, on or off times of one or more devices as part of being configured to operate a server to generate the departure process.

System example embodiment 15. The system (100) of system example embodiment 14, wherein the second processor (704) is configured to use information about past device on/off states to control on/off times of at least one device that deviate from historical on and off times by an amount that does not exceed a set maximum amount of time (e.g., 30 minutes) in conjunction with the random function, as determined by the random function, as part of being configured to operate a server to generate an offsite process. (for example, once the historical on/off times of the lights on the fan apparatus are known, a random function will be used to alter the on/off times with a random function, but will remain at around 30 minutes of the normal on/off times so that the on/off patterns for each day are not the same, but within the expected normal range, this may occur if people go home or move around at home, although not the same every day, without much deviation, for example, moving more than an hour per day.)

System example embodiment 16. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 13, wherein the server (108) further comprises: a receiver (714) configured to receive a signal from a user indicative of a passenger space status; and wherein the second processor (704) is further configured to control the server (108) to switch from using the stored approved normal processes to using the stored away processes to control the one or more devices (110, 112) of the first client site (102).

List of exemplary embodiments of the second group of exemplary numbering systems:

system example embodiment 1. A system (100) comprising: one or more fan apparatuses (110, 112), the one or more fan apparatuses including a first fan apparatus (110, 300), the first fan apparatus (110, 300) comprising: a first Direct Current (DC) fan motor (304); the first alternating current (ac) power interface circuit (322, 322') includes: a first alternating signal and ground input connection (342, 340, 343); a first AC filter circuit (370); and an alternating signal output connection (1111, 1113); a first direct current (dc) power circuit (324, 324 ') is connected to the ac signal output connection (1111, 1113) of the first ac power interface circuit (322') that powers the first dc fan motor (304).

System example embodiment 2. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 1, wherein said first dc fan motor (304) is a brushless dc fan motor.

Exemplary embodiment 3 of the system. The system (100) of system exemplary embodiment 2, wherein the first dc fan motor does not include an optical sensor, an optical encoder, a magnetic encoder, a rotary transformer, a synchronizer, or a hall effect sensor.

System example embodiment 4. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 3, wherein the first alternating signal and ground input connection (342, 340, 343) includes three terminals including: a first terminal 342 as a line input terminal, a second terminal 340 as a neutral terminal, and a third terminal 343 as a ground terminal, the first and second terminals for receiving an ac input signal, the third terminal for grounding (1031), the line input terminal 342 coupled to an ac input line (1003) of a first ac power interface (322 '), the neutral terminal (340) coupled to a neutral line (1005) of the first ac power interface (322').

System example embodiment 5. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 4, wherein the first ac filtering circuit (370) comprises: a varistor (1004) that suppresses voltage spikes, the varistor (1004) connected across an AC input line (1003), the neutral line (1005) connected to the neutral terminal (340); a common mode choke (1006) having a first input connection (1023) connected to the ac input line (1003) and a second input connection (1025) connected to the neutral line (1005), the common mode choke (1006) suppressing noise; a first X capacitor (1008) coupled to an output connection (1033, 1035) of a common mode choke (1006), the first X capacitor (1008) suppressing high frequency noise by shunting the high frequency noise onto a filtered AC line (1007, 1009) of the first AC power interface (322'), the filtered AC line (1007, 1009) comprising a filtered AC input line (1007) and a filtered AC neutral line (1009); a first Y capacitor (1010) connected to the 'filtered AC line (1007) and a conductor (1030) connected to a ground terminal (343) of the AC power interface circuit (322') that suppresses high frequency noise by shunting high frequency noise on the filtered AC neutral line (1007) to ground (1031); and a second Y capacitor (1012), the second Y capacitor (1012) connected to the filtered ac line (1009) and a conductor (1030) connected to a ground terminal (343) that shunts high frequency noise on the filtered ac neutral line (1009) to ground (1031).

System example embodiment 6. The system according to system example embodiment 5, wherein the first ac power interface circuit (322') comprises a multi-layer board, wherein the conductor connected to the ground terminal (343) is an inner layer (1030) of the multi-layer board made of copper that couples noise out of the system and reduces signal interference, the first Y capacitor (1010) and the second Y capacitor (1012) are coupled to the ground through the copper layer (1030).

System example embodiment 7. The system according to system example embodiment 5, wherein the first ac power interface circuit (322 or 322') does not include a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) inrush current protection device.

Exemplary embodiment of the system 8. The system according to system example embodiment 7, wherein the first direct current power supply circuit (324 or 324') comprises: a full-bridge rectifier (1014) and a plurality of capacitors (1016, 1018) connected in parallel to output connections (1015, 1017) of the full-bridge rectifier (1014); and a dc/dc converter circuit (1020) with a filter circuit; a plurality of output connections (Vbus 1022, dc voltage output 11024, dc voltage output N1026) on which a plurality of different dc output voltages are provided.

Exemplary embodiment of the system 9. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 8, wherein the first fan apparatus (110, 300) further comprises: a first fan motor control circuit (308) configured to control a fan motor (304) in response to a received first radio frequency control signal, the first radio frequency control signal conveying a first command.

System example embodiment 10. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 9, wherein the first fan motor control circuit (308) includes an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) module, a processor, and an analog feedback circuit.

System example embodiment 11. The system (100) of system example embodiment 8, wherein the first ac power interface circuit (322') further comprises a fuse (1002) connected between the first terminal (342) and the connection of a varistor (1004), the fuse connecting the first terminal to the varistor (1004) and an input (1023) of the common mode choke (1006).

System example embodiment 12. The system (100) according to example embodiment 9, wherein the first fan unit (110) is one of a plurality of fan units (110, 112) powered by the same ac power source, the plurality of fan units (110, 112) being operable to start simultaneously without a deviation in time or speed.

Exemplary embodiment of the System 13. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 9, wherein the plurality of fan apparatuses includes three fan apparatuses (110, 111, 112), the first fan apparatus (110), a second fan apparatus (111), and a third fan apparatus (112); wherein the first fan unit (110), the second fan unit (111) and the third fan unit (112) are daisy-chained together such that power is connected to the first fan unit (110), and from the first fan unit (110) to the second fan unit (111), and from the second fan unit to the third fan unit (112); wherein simultaneous operation of three fan units (110, 111, 112) does not result in any of the three fan units being uncoordinated in time or speed when the first, second and third fan units are activated simultaneously; wherein the second fan device (111) comprises: a second Direct Current (DC) fan motor (304); the second alternating current (ac) power interface circuit (322, 322') includes: a second alternating current signal and second ground input connection (342, 340, 343); a second AC filter circuit (370); and a second alternating signal output connection (1111, 1113); a second direct current (dc) power supply circuit (324, 324 ') connected to a second ac signal output connection (1111, 1113) ' of a second ac power supply interface circuit (322 ') that supplies power to a second dc fan motor (304); wherein the third fan apparatus (112) comprises: a third Direct Current (DC) fan motor (304); a third alternating current (ac) power interface circuit (322, 322') comprising: a third alternating current signal and a third ground input connection (342, 340, 343); a third AC filter circuit (370); and a third alternating current signal output connection (1111, 1113); a third Direct Current (DC) power supply circuit (324, 324 ') connected to a third AC signal output connection (1111, 1113) of a third AC power interface circuit (322') that supplies power to a third DC fan motor (304).

System example embodiment 14. The system of example embodiment 13, wherein the second ac filter circuit (370) of the second fan apparatus (111) comprises: a second varistor (1004) that suppresses voltage spikes, the second varistor (1004) connected to a second AC input line (1003) of a second input line terminal (342) of the second AC power interface circuit and to a second neutral line (1005) of a second neutral terminal (340) of the second AC power interface circuit; a second common mode choke (1006), the first input connection (1023) connected to the second ac input line (1003), the second input connection (1025) connected to the second neutral line (1005), the second common mode choke (1006) suppressing noise;

a second X capacitor (1008) coupled to an output connection (1033, 1035) of a second common mode choke (1006), the second X capacitor (1008) suppressing high frequency noise by shunting the high frequency noise onto a second filtered AC line (1007, 1009) of the second AC power interface (322'), the second filtered AC line (1007, 1009) comprising a second filtered AC input line (1007) and a second filtered AC neutral line (1009); a third Y capacitor (1010) connected to a second filtered AC input line (1007) and a second conductor (1030) connected to a second ground terminal (343) of the second AC power interface circuit, the second conductor suppressing high frequency noise by shunting high frequency noise on the second filtered AC neutral line (1007) to ground (1031); and a fourth Y capacitor (1012), said fourth Y capacitor (1012) connected across said second filtered ac neutral (1009) and a second conductor (1030), said second conductor (1030) connected to a second ground terminal (343) of said second ac power interface circuit, high frequency noise on said second filtered ac neutral (1009) shunted to ground (1031); the third ac filter circuit (370) of the third fan apparatus (112) includes the third piezo-resistor (1004), the third piezo-resistor (1004) being connected to a third ac input line (1003) of a third input terminal (342) of a third ac interface circuit and a third neutral line (1005) connected to a third neutral terminal (340) of a third ac interface circuit; a third common mode choke (1006), the first input connection (1023) connected to the third ac input line (1003) and the second input connection line (1025) connected to the third neutral line (1005), the third common mode choke (1006) suppressing noise; a third X capacitor (1008) coupled to an output connection (1033, 1035) of a third common mode choke (1006), the third X capacitor (1008) suppressing high frequency noise by shunting the high frequency noise onto a third filtered AC line (1007, 1009) of the third AC power interface (322'), the third filtered AC line (1007, 1009) comprising a third filtered AC input line (1007) and a third filtered AC neutral line (1009); a fifth Y capacitor (1010) connected to a third filtered AC input line (1007) and a third conductor (1030) connected to a third ground terminal (343) of the third AC power interface circuit (322') that suppresses high frequency noise by shunting high frequency noise on the third filtered AC neutral line (1007) to ground (1031); and a sixth Y capacitor (1012), the sixth Y capacitor (1012) spanning the third filtered ac neutral (1009) and a third conductor (1030) connected to a third ground terminal (343), the third ground terminal (343) shunting high frequency noise on the third filtered ac neutral (1009) to ground (1031).

System example embodiment 15. A system, comprising: a set of fan devices (110, 111, 112) connected to a single ac power source; each of the fan apparatuses (110, 111, 112) in the set of fan apparatuses comprises: a Direct Current (DC) fan motor (304), the DC fan motor (304) being a brushless DC fan motor that does not include an optical sensor, an optical encoder, a magnetic encoder, a rotary transformer, a synchronizer, or a Hall effect sensor; an alternating current (ac) power interface circuit (322 or 322') includes: an alternating signal and ground input connection (342, 340, 343); an AC filter circuit (370), the AC filter circuit (370) comprising: a varistor (1004) that suppresses voltage spikes, the varistor (1004) connected to an AC input line (1003) of the input terminal (342) and to a neutral line (1005) of the neutral terminal (340); a common mode choke (1006), a first input connection (1023) connected to the ac input line (1003), a second input connection (1025) connected to the neutral line (1005), the common mode choke (1006) suppressing noise; a first X capacitor (1008) coupled to an output connection (1033, 1035) of a common mode choke (1006), the first X capacitor (1008) suppressing high frequency noise by shunting high frequency noise on a filtered AC line (1007, 1009) of the first AC power interface (322'), the filtered AC line (1007, 1009) comprising a filtered AC input line (1007) and a filtered AC neutral line (1009); a first Y capacitor (1010) connected to a filtered AC input line (1007) and a conductor (1030) connected to a ground terminal (343) of the AC power interface circuit (322'), the conductor suppressing high frequency noise by shunting high frequency noise on the filtered AC neutral line (1007) to ground (1031); and a second Y capacitor (1012), the second Y capacitor (1012) connected to the filtered ac neutral (1009) and to a conductor (1030) connected to a ground terminal (343) that shunts high frequency noise on the filtered ac neutral (1009) to ground (1031); and an alternating signal output connection (1111, 1113); and a direct current (dc) power circuit (324 or 324 ') connected to the ac signal output connection (1111, 1113) of the ac power interface circuit (322') that supplies power to the dc fan motor (304).

System example embodiment 16. The system (100) of system exemplary embodiment 14, wherein the line comprises a conductive material.

System example embodiment 17. The system (100) according to system exemplary embodiment 14, wherein the circuit is a metal specific line.

System example embodiment 18. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 15, wherein the line comprises a conductive material.

System example embodiment 19. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 15, wherein the lines are metal specific lines.

System example embodiment 20. The system according to system exemplary embodiment 15, wherein the ac power interface circuit (322') comprises a multi-layer board, wherein the conductor connected to the ground terminal (343) is an inner layer (1030) of the multi-layer board, the multi-layer board being made of copper coupling noise out of the system and reducing signal interference, the first Y capacitor (1010) and the second Y capacitor (1012) being coupled to the ground through the copper layer (1030).

System example embodiment 21. According to the system of exemplary embodiment 20, the ac power interface circuit (322 or 322') does not include a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) inrush current protection device.

System example embodiment 22. The system according to system example embodiment 21, wherein the dc power supply circuit (324 or 324') comprises: a full-bridge rectifier (1014) and a plurality of capacitors (1016, 1018) connected in parallel to output connections (1015, 1017) of the full-bridge rectifier (1014); and a dc/dc converter circuit (1020) with a filter circuit; a plurality of output connections (1022, 1024, 1026) providing a plurality of different dc output voltages.

System example embodiment 23. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 22, wherein each of the fan apparatuses (110, 111, 112) further comprises: a fan motor control circuit (308) configured to control a fan motor (304) in response to a received first radio frequency control signal, the first radio frequency control signal conveying a first command.

System example embodiment 24. The system (100) according to system example embodiment 23, wherein the fan motor control circuit (308) includes an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) module, a processor, and an analog feedback circuit.

System example embodiment 25. The system of system exemplary embodiment 8, wherein the plurality of capacitors comprises two electrolytic capacitors (C41016, C61018)

System example embodiment 26. According to the system of exemplary embodiment 5, the first ac power interface (322 ') operates at a frequency of 47 hz to 63 hz within the input ac voltage range of 90 vac to 264 vac, wherein the dc power circuit 324' generates an output voltage of the dc voltage bus (1022) of 170 vdc for directly powering the fan motor (304).

System example embodiment 27. The system according to system exemplary embodiment 5, the first ac power interface (322 ') operates in an input ac voltage range of 90V to 264V ac in a frequency range of 47 hz to 63 hz, wherein the dc power circuit (324') generates an output voltage of a dc voltage bus (1022) of 170V dc (or about 170V dc).

System example embodiment 28. The system according to exemplary embodiment 5, wherein the fan motor (304) is part of a fan 303, the fan 303 comprising a fan shaft 338 and a fan blade unit 336.

System example embodiment 29. The system according to system exemplary embodiment 8, the first ac power interface (322 ') operates in an input ac voltage range of 90 vac to 264 vac (or about 90 vac to 264 vac) at a frequency range of 47 hz to 63 hz, wherein the dc power circuit (324') produces 170 vdc (or about 170 vdc), 16 vdc output voltage, and 3.3 vdc output.

List of exemplary embodiments of exemplary numbering devices:

apparatus exemplary embodiment 1. A fan apparatus controller (202), comprising: an alternating voltage input (237); an alternating current output (241) for supplying power to the fan apparatus (300); an RF signal interface (208) comprising an RF signal transmitter (228) for transmitting commands to a device (300) to be controlled; a radio frequency controller (212) for controlling a radio frequency signal interface (212) to send a control signal comprising one or more commands to the fan apparatus (300); and an off-switch (206) that disconnects the AC output (241) from the AC input (237) when the off-switch (206) switches from a connected state to a disconnected state.

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 2. The fan apparatus controller (200) according to exemplary embodiment 1 of the apparatus, further comprising: a fan control input (216) for turning the fan (304) on or off; and a lamp control input (214) for turning the lamp (306) on or off.

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 3. The fan apparatus controller (202) according to exemplary embodiment 2 of the apparatus, further comprising: a light intensifying input (220) coupled to the radio frequency controller (212); and a downlight input (222) coupled to the radio frequency controller (212).

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 4. The fan apparatus controller (202) according to apparatus exemplary embodiment 3, further comprising: a fan acceleration input (224) coupled to the radio frequency controller (212); and a fan deceleration input (226) coupled to the radio frequency controller (212).

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 5. The fan apparatus controller (202) according to apparatus exemplary embodiment 4, further comprising: a fan reverse input (218) coupled to the RF controller (212).

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 6. The fan apparatus controller (202) according to example embodiment 5 of the apparatus, further comprising: a DC power supply (210) coupled to the disconnect switch (206) and the RF controller (212), the DC power supply (206) receiving AC power from the disconnect switch (206) and providing DC power generated by the AC power supply to the RF controller (212).

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 7. The fan unit controller (202) of apparatus example embodiment 6, wherein switching the disconnect switch to an open state cuts off power to the ac output (243) and the dc power source (210), thereby simultaneously cutting off power to a fan unit (300) coupled to the fan unit controller (202) and the rf controller (212).

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 8. The fan apparatus controller (202) of apparatus exemplary embodiment 7, wherein the radio frequency controller (212) comprises a processor (213); and the processor (213) is configured to: generating a command in response to an input received through one of the inputs (214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224, or 226) included in the fan apparatus controller (202); and controlling the radio frequency signal interface (208) to send the command in the radio frequency signal to the fan apparatus (300).

Apparatus exemplary embodiment 9. The fan unit controller (202) according to apparatus exemplary embodiment 8, wherein the fan unit controller (202) is configured to fit in an electrical box (190) in a wall (191) of a customer site (102).

The techniques of the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, and/or a combination of software and hardware. Various exemplary embodiments relate to apparatuses, e.g., fan devices, control servers, WiFi routers, control units, mobile devices. Various exemplary embodiments also relate to methods, e.g., methods of controlling and/or operating a device, e.g., a control server device, a mobile device, a control unit. Various exemplary embodiments also relate to a machine, such as a computer, readable medium (e.g., ROM, RAM, CD, hard disk, etc.), which includes machine readable instructions for controlling the machine to implement one or more steps of a method. The computer readable medium is, for example, a non-transitory computer readable medium.

It should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the processes and methods disclosed is an example of exemplary embodiment methods. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes and methods may be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented. In some exemplary embodiments, one or more steps or elements of the method are performed using one or more processors.

In various exemplary embodiments, each step or element of a method is implemented using one or more processors. In some exemplary embodiments, each step or element is implemented using hardware circuitry.

In various exemplary embodiments, one or more components are used to perform steps corresponding to one or more methods, such as generating, sending, comparing, determining, and/or transmitting steps. Accordingly, various features are implemented using components, or in some example embodiments using logic (e.g., logic circuitry). These components may be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. Many of the above described methods or method steps can be implemented using machine executable instructions, such as software, included in a machine readable medium such as a memory device, e.g., RAM, floppy disk, etc. to control a machine, e.g., general purpose computer with or without additional hardware, to implement all or portions of the above described methods, e.g., in one or more elements. Accordingly, various exemplary embodiments are directed to, among other things, machine-readable media, e.g., non-transitory computer-readable media, including machine executable instructions for causing a machine, e.g., processor and associated hardware, to perform one or more of the steps of the above-described methods. Some example embodiments relate to a device, e.g., a fan device, a mobile device, a WiFi device, a wall unit controller, including a processor configured to implement one, more, or all of the steps of one or more methods of the present invention.

In some example embodiments, one or more processors of one or more devices (e.g., control server, fan device, mobile device, wall station) are configured to perform the steps of the methods described as being performed by those devices. The configuration of the processor may be achieved by controlling the processor configuration using one or more components (e.g., software components) and/or by including hardware (e.g., hardware components) in the processor to perform the steps and/or control the processor configuration. Accordingly, some, but not all exemplary embodiments relate to devices, e.g., fan devices, control unit devices, mobile servers, control servers, WiFi routers, having a processor that includes components corresponding to each step of the various described methods performed by the device in which the processor is included. In some, but not all exemplary embodiments, a device (e.g., fan device, control unit device, mobile server, control server, WiFi router) includes components corresponding to each step of the various described methods performed by the device in which the processor is included. The components may be implemented using software and/or hardware.

Some example embodiments relate to computer program products that include a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium) including code for causing one or more computers to implement various functions, steps, actions, and/or operations (e.g., one or more of the steps described above). According to an exemplary embodiment, the computer program product may, and sometimes does, include different code for each step to be performed. Thus, the computer program product may, and sometimes does, include code for each individual step of the method, e.g. the method of controlling a fan device, a control unit device, a mobile server, a control server, a WiFi router. The code may be in the form of executable instructions stored on a machine (e.g., a computer), a computer readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), or other type of storage device). In addition to relating to computer program products, some example embodiments relate to processors configured to implement one or more of the various functions, steps, actions, and/or operations of one or more methods described above. Accordingly, some example embodiments relate to a processor configured to implement some or all of the steps of the methods described herein. The processor may be used, for example, in a fan device, a communication device such as a WiFi mobile device, a control unit, a control server, or other devices described herein.

Many additional variations of the systems, methods, and apparatus of the various exemplary embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the above description and the appended claims. Such variations are to be considered within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A control method for a fan and/or lighting, characterized by: receiving, at a fan apparatus comprising a radio frequency signal receiver and a WiFi interface, a first radio frequency control signal from a control unit, the fan apparatus and the control unit being located at a customer site;

performing, at the fan apparatus, an operation in response to a first command conveyed by the first radio frequency control signal; and

operating the fan apparatus to communicate information over the WiFi interface with a server located outside the customer premises, the information indicating operations to be performed in response to the first command;

the first radio frequency control signal is transmitted using a radio frequency not used for WiFi signals;

the method further comprises the following steps:

operating a WiFi router located at a customer premises to receive a first WiFi control signal from a wireless terminal located at the customer premises, the first WiFi control signal conveying a second command for controlling a fan apparatus;

Operating the WiFi router to send a second command to the fan device via the first WiFi control signal; and operating the fan apparatus to execute the second command;

the method further comprises the following steps:

operating a fan device to communicate information with a server located outside a customer premises over a WiFi interface, the information indicating an operation to be performed in response to the second command; wherein the second command is communicated from the wireless terminal to the fan apparatus through a WiFi router located within the customer premises without requiring the second command to traverse a network outside the customer premises;

operating the server to generate a proposed normal device control process for the first customer location based on state information stored by one or more devices of the first customer location over a period of time;

transmitting the proposed device control process from the server to the device corresponding to the first client site;

receiving a message at the server indicating approval of a proposed normal device control process of the first customer premises or a modification process of the first customer premises; and storing the approved proposed normal device control process or the modified process as an approved normal control process for the first customer location;

the method further comprises the following steps:

Operating the server to generate an offsite process for controlling one or more devices of the first client location when the client indicates that the client itself is not at the client location;

operating a server to generate a departure procedure, comprising generating the departure procedure as a function of a random function for randomizing, at least in part, on or off times of one or more devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first command is one of the following: a fan on command, a fan off command, a fan power state change command, a fan speed up command, a fan speed down command, a fan direction change command, a light on command, a light off command, a light power state change command, a light up command, a light down command.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: further comprising:

operating the server to receive a third command directed to the fan apparatus;

and the operating server communicates the third command to the fan device via the internet and the WiFi router.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: further comprising:

the server is operated to update information regarding the status of the one or more devices of the first customer location based on the third command communicated to the fan device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein: the updating of the status of the one or more devices at the first customer location is performed in response to a third command sent from the server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein: further comprising:

the server is operated to control one or more devices of the first customer location, including the fan device, according to the stored approved normal device control procedures.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein: operating the server to control one or more devices of the first customer premises based on the stored approved normal device control process, including sending a control signal from the server to the fan device over the internet and WiFi router to control the fan device to turn on at a time indicated by the approved normal device control process.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein: operating a server to generate a departure procedure, including controlling on and off times of at least one device using information about past device on and off states and the random function, the on and off times deviating from historical on and off times by no more than a set maximum amount of time, and the amount of time being determined by the random function.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein: further comprising:

receiving, at a server, a signal from a user indicating an off-scene status;

and switching at the server from a normal process using the stored approval to a departure process using the stored permission to control one or more devices of the first client site.

10. A control system for a fan and/or lighting, characterized by: the method comprises the following steps:

a fan apparatus (110), the fan apparatus (110) comprising:

a fan motor (304);

a radio frequency signal receiver (360) for receiving radio frequency control signals from a control unit (114), the fan apparatus (110) and the control unit (114) being located at a customer premises (102);

a fan WiFi interface (312);

fan motor control circuitry (308) for controlling a fan motor (304) in response to a received first radio frequency control signal, the first radio frequency control signal conveying a first command; and a first processor (316) configured to communicate information with a server (108) located outside the customer premises (102) over the fan WiFi interface (312), the information indicative of operations to be performed in response to the first command;

the fan apparatus (110) further comprises:

a lamp (306); and

A lamp control circuit (310) for controlling a lamp (306) in response to a received second radio frequency control signal, the second radio frequency control signal conveying a second command; and

wherein the first processor (316) is further configured to communicate information with the server (108) over a fan WiFi interface (312), the information indicative of operations performed in response to the first command;

the first radio frequency control signal and the second radio frequency control signal are transmitted using RF frequencies not used for WiFi signals;

the system (100) further comprises:

a wireless terminal (120), the wireless terminal (120) comprising: a wireless WiFi interface (802);

a WiFi router (118) located at a customer premises, the WiFi router (118) comprising: a receiver (195) configured to receive a first WiFi control signal from a wireless terminal (120) located at a customer premises (102), the first WiFi control signal conveying a third command for controlling a fan apparatus (110);

a transmitter (196) configured to communicate the third command to the fan apparatus (110) via a WiFi signal; and the first processor (316) is configured to control at least one of a fan motor control circuit (308) or a lamp control circuit (310) to implement a third command;

The system (100) further comprises:

the first processor (316) is configured to control a fan WiFi interface (312) in the fan device (110) to send information indicative of an operation performed in response to a third command;

the system (100) further comprises:

a fan device control application (828) configured to generate the third command in response to a user input; and a third command is communicated from the wireless terminal (120) to the fan apparatus (110) via a WiFi router (118) located in the customer premises (102) without requiring the third command to traverse a network outside of the customer premises (102);

the server (108), wherein the server (108) comprises a second processor (704), the second processor (704) being configured to operate the server (108) to receive a fourth command directed to the fan device (110) and to operate the server (108) to communicate the fourth command to the fan device (110) via the internet (106) and the WiFi router (118);

the second processor (704) is further configured to: operating a server (108) to generate a normal device control process tailored to a first customer site (102) based on state storage information for a period of time for one or more fan devices (110) at the first customer site;

The operations server 108 sending the proposed device control process to a wireless terminal (120) corresponding to the first customer location (102);

operating a server (108) to receive an approval message for a normal device control process proposed to the first client site (102) or a process modified for the first client site (102); and

operating a server (108) to store the approved proposed normal device control process or the modified process as an approved normal control process for the first customer site;

operating a server (108) to generate an departure procedure for controlling one or more fan devices (110) at a first customer location (102) when the customer indicates that they are away from the customer location (102);

generating a function having the field departure procedure as a random function for randomizing, at least in part, on or off times of one or more devices.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the first radio frequency control signal conveys one of the following commands: a fan turn-on command, a fan turn-off command, a fan power state change command, a fan acceleration command, a fan deceleration command, a fan direction change command; and

the second radio frequency control signal conveys one of the following commands: the light control system comprises a light-on command, a light-off command, a light power state change command, a light increasing command and a light reducing command.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein: the second processor (704) is for operating the server (108) to update information regarding a status of one or more devices at the first customer location (102) based on a fourth command communicated to the fan device (110).

13. The system of claim 12, wherein: the updating of the status information of the one or more devices at the first customer location is performed in response to transmitting a fourth command by the server (108).

14. The system of claim 10, wherein: the second processor (704) is further configured to:

the server (108) is operated to control one or more fan devices (110) at the first customer site (102) based on the stored approved normal device control processes, the one or more fan devices (110) including the fan device (110).

15. The system of claim 14, wherein: the second processor (704) is configured to:

the operating server (108) sends a control signal from the server (108) to the fan device (110) via the internet (106) and the WiFi router (118) to control the fan device (110) to turn on at the time indicated by the approved normal control procedure.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein: the second processor (704) is configured to use information about past device on/off states in conjunction with the random function to control on/off times of at least one device, the on and off times deviating from historical on and off times by no more than a set maximum amount of time, and determined by the random function.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein: the server (108) further comprises:

a receiver (714) configured to receive a signal from a user indicative of an off-field status; and

the second processor (704) is further configured to control the server (108) to switch from using the stored approved normal process to using the stored away process to control the one or more fan devices (110) of the first customer location (102).