Patent Application
20130184876
1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for managing power consumption in a user space.
2. Description Of Related Art
In many large office buildings as well as large industrial or commercial buildings, an entire building or a particular floor may be kept at a given temperature even when only a few employees are present in a few small areas, and in many cases, for small periods of time. This is a very common situation in the evenings or at night time, on the weekends, and holidays. This situation exists in spite of the fact that thermostats for HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system are typically located in such small areas. This is because currently there is no comprehensive method to detect the presence or absence of people in a given small area and then to set the temperature in the controller for that area accordingly. For example, in winter times if the temperature is set to 70 degrees during the day time and week days, the same temperature is often maintained in the evenings, holidays, nighttime, and weekends even when there are no employees present in that area of the building. As such, a large amount of electricity, gas, oil or other source of energy is wasted. Similarly in hot weather, such as summer season, there is no need to maintain the same daytime (weekdays) temperature in the evenings, night time, holidays, or weekends, if there are no people present in a given small area.
In a similar manner, in many large office buildings as well large business or commercial buildings, all lights for an entire building or a particular floor are kept on even when only a few of the employees are present in a few small areas, and in many cases, for small periods of time. This is a very common situation in the evenings or at night time, on the weekends, and holidays. This situation exists because the lights for a particular area of a building—a given floor or the building as a whole—are typically controlled from a single central location. Keeping lights on the for the whole floor or the whole building when the lights are needed only in a few small areas results in large amount of wasted power or electricity, which has an unnecessary negative effect on the environment as well as increased costs in energy consumption.
Methods, apparatus, and products for managing power consumption in a user space are disclosed in this specification. The user space includes one or more user devices and one or more motion detectors. Managing power consumption in such a user space in accordance with embodiments of the present invention includes monitoring user presence within the space. Monitoring user presence includes monitoring the user devices for user activity, where user activity indicates user presence within the space, and monitoring the motion detectors for user movement, where user movement indicates user presence within the space. If the user devices and motion detectors indicate no user presence within the space, managing power consumption in a user space in accordance with embodiments of the present invention includes setting one or more environmental control devices to a reduced power consumption state. If the user devices and motion detectors indicate user presence within the space, managing power consumption in a user space in accordance with embodiments of the present invention includes setting the one or more environmental control devices to operate in a user-present power consumption state.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally represent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.
Exemplary methods, apparatus, and products for managing power consumption in a user space in accordance with the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, beginning with
The user space (120) of
Each user device (182) in the example of
The example user space (120) of
Motion detectors may be implemented as part of office security systems, in individual offices, utility room, server rooms, and so on as will occur to readers of skill in the art.
The system of
The user space (120) of
Stored in RAM (168) is a power management application (126), a module of computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the controller to manage power consumption in a user space according to embodiments of the present invention. The power management application (126) in the example of
The power management application (126) may monitor the user devices (182) for user activity by monitoring user input device (181) activity of one or more computing devices and receiving, from each user device periodically during user activity of the user device, a device activity signal. Consider, for example, that each user device in the user space of
Readers of skill in the art will appreciate, that user devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile communications devices, PDAs, and so on typically include a communications adapter. In many cases, such communications adapters may operate on a wireless protocol. As such, modifying such user devices to report user device activity may be carried out by configuring the device to send a predefined device activity signal wirelessly.
In the same way, the power management application (126) may monitor the motion detectors for user movement by receiving, from each motion detection device during detection of user movement by the motion detection device, a motion activity signal. The motion detectors (102) may be configured to send a pulse—a signal—to the controller (152) upon detecting motion and cease sending the signal after a predetermined period of time without detecting motion. For example, the motion detector may be configured to send a pulse once every second upon detecting motion and cease sending a signal after one full minute of no motion.
The power management application (126) may be configured to recognize one or more user activity profiles (122). A user activity profile specifies associations of types of user presence and user device activity and motion detector data. Consider, for example, three distinct user activity profiles: a stationary user activity profile, a mobile user activity profile, and a user inactivity profile. A stationary user activity profile may specify expected motion detector and user device activity data that describes a stationary type of user activity. A user sitting at a desk while typing on a desktop computer, for example, may be relatively stationary, providing no motion detector data, but providing user device activity data. A mobile user activity profile may specify expected motion detector data and user device activity data that describe a mobile type of user activity. Several users in a conference room at an after-hours office party, for example, may provide significant motion detector data while providing relatively little device activity data. A user inactivity profile may specify expected user device activity and motion detector data describing limited or no user activity—no (or very little) user presence.
The power management application (126), in dependence upon the monitored user device activity and motion detectors, may determine a current user activity profile. If the power management application identifies an inactivity profile—a profile that indicates no user is (or relatively few users are) present in the user space—the power management application (126) sets one or more environmental control devices (112) to a reduced power consumption state. A ‘reduced power consumption state’ as the term is used here refers to a state of operation of a environmental control device in which the environmental control devices (‘ECDs’) or devices controlled by the ECDs consume less power relative to another state in which ECDs operate in light of user presence. Consider, for example, an office building on a hot, summer day, where the power management application (126) determines that no user is present in the office building. In such an example, the power management application (126) may set the environmental control devices (112) of the office building to a reduced power consumption state by setting the air conditioning thermostat to a higher temperature—say, 85 degrees Fahrenheit—and turn off all light fixtures in the office building.
If the power management application (126), however, determines that a user is present in the user space (120), the power management application (126) sets the one or more environmental control devices to operate in a user-present power consumption state. A user-present power consumption state is a state of operation of environmental control devices in which the ECDs operate in light of user presence. On a hot, summer day, for example the ECDs may operation in a user-present power consumption by the HVAC thermostat (118) being set to a target temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit and turning on, through use of the light fixture controller (116), all or some of the light fixtures in user space.
The power management application (126) may also operate without any activity profile at all. That is, the power management application (126) may be configured to allow the environmental control devices to operate in a user-present power consumption state until the loss of all activity and motion signals. A loss of all motion signals indicates no user movement while a loss of all activity signals indicates no user device activity at any user device in the user space. When no user movement is present in a user space and no device activity is occurring, it is likely that no user is present in an office space. As such, upon a loss of all activity and motion signals, the power management application (126) may immediately set the environmental control devices (112) to operate in the reduced power consumption mode—setting the HVAC thermostat's temperature, removing power from light fixtures, shutting down fans, turning off humidifiers and de-humidifiers, and so on
Also stored in RAM (168) is an operating system (154). Operating systems useful managing power consumption in a user space according to embodiments of the present invention include UNIX™, Linux™, Microsoft XP™, Microsoft 7™, AIX™, IBM's i5/OS™, and others as will occur to those of skill in the art. The operating system (154), power management application (126), activity profiles (122) and so on in the example of
The controller (152) of
The example controller (152) of
The exemplary controller (152) of
The example controller (152) of
The arrangement of computers and other devices making up the exemplary system illustrated in
For further explanation,
Monitoring (202) user presence within the space may be carried out by central controller, similar to the controller of
The method of
Although such a determination (208) may be carried out in many ways, the determination (208) in the example of
If the user devices and motion detectors indicate no user presence within the space, the method of
For further explanation,
The method of
In the method of
Also in the method of
In view of the explanations set forth above, readers will recognize that the benefits of managing power consumption in a user space according to embodiments of the present invention include:
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described above with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
It will be understood from the foregoing description that modifications and changes may be made in various embodiments of the present invention without departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in this specification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the language of the following claims.
