Patent Application
20240344739
The present disclosure relates generally to water heaters and more particularly to systems and methods for adaptive flow across multiple water heaters.
In certain settings, such as commercial settings or residential settings, multiple water heaters may often be provided as a cascaded group of units (for example, water heaters provided in series and/or parallel) to ensure that sufficient hot water flow is provided to the building. If a single water heater is unable to provide sufficient hot water flow to satisfy a flow requirement at a given time, additional units may be used to supplement the hot water flow of the single water heater. To selectively control the water flow rate provided to the individual water heaters, each water heater may include a valve (for example, provided at an inlet or outlet of the water heater), and the valves may be opened and/or closed to regulate the amount of water provided to each water heater. Traditionally, a human operator may manually open a minimum number of valves based on an estimated water flow rate. However, this results in an inefficient and sub-optimal operation of the water heaters as this estimation is often incorrect and the water heaters are unable to dynamically adapt to changing flow rates in real-time.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the disclosure. The drawings are provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosure and shall not be deemed to limit the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. The use of the same reference numerals indicates similar but not necessarily the same or identical components; different reference numerals may be used to identify similar components as well. Various embodiments may utilize elements or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. The use of singular terminology to describe a component or element may, depending on the context, encompass a plural number of such components or elements and vice versa.
This disclosure relates to, among other things, systems and methods for adaptive flow across multiple water heaters. Particularly, the systems and methods described herein provide for automated management of the amount of water flow that is provided to individual water heaters of a series of cascaded water heaters (for example, shown in
These systems and methods may provide a number of advantages over traditional manual valve operation. For example, by dynamically controlling which water heaters are used in real-time, damage to components of the water heaters may be prevented by mitigating or eliminating excessive flow rates through a single water heater. The dynamic real-time control may also allow for the operation of the water heaters to be adjusted based on fluctuating hot water needs throughout a given day, rather than relying on a user to initially open a correct number of valves. The systems and methods may also provide any number of other advantages described herein or otherwise.
Turning to the figures,
In one or more embodiments, various sensors are provided in association with the water heaters. For example, some or all of the water heaters may include a flow sensor (for example, first flow sensor 105 associated with the first water heater 101, second flow sensor 106 associated with the second water heater 102, third flow sensor 107 associated with the third water heater 103, and fourth flow sensor 108 associated with the fourth water heater 104). The flow sensors may be used to measure the flow rate of water through some or all of the water heaters. The flow sensors may be disposed internally or externally relative to the water heaters. For example, the flow sensors may be provided at the inlets of the water heaters, the outlets of the water heaters, and/or at any other location. In some cases, multiple flow sensors may be provided at various locations within or outside of a given water heater as well.
In one or more embodiments, some or all of the water heaters may also include an inlet sensor (for example, first inlet sensor 109 associated with the first water heater 101, second inlet sensor 110 associated with the second water heater 102, third inlet sensor 111 associated with the third water heater 103, and fourth inlet sensor 112 associated with the fourth water heater 104). The inlet sensors may be temperature sensors that are used to determine the temperature of water that is being provided to a given water heater.
In one or more embodiments, some or all of the water heaters may also include an outlet sensor (for example, first outlet sensor 113 associated with the first water heater 101, second outlet sensor 114 associated with the second water heater 102, third outlet sensor 115 associated with the third water heater 103, and fourth outlet sensor 116 associated with the fourth water heater 104). The outlet sensors may be temperature sensors that are used to determine the temperature of water that is being output by a given water heater. Thus, the combined temperature data from an inlet sensor and an outlet sensor may provide information about how effectively a given water heater is heater water that is flowing through that water heater. This data, in combination with the flow rate data obtained by the flow sensor, may be used by one or more controllers (for example, first controller 132, second controller 134, third controller 138, fourth controller, first plug-in module (PIM) 138, second PIM 140, third PIM 142, fourth PIM 144, etc.) to automatically determine whether to open and/or close certain water heater valves.
In one or more embodiments, a system sensor 117 and an outdoor air sensor 118 may also be provided. The system sensor 117 may also be a temperature sensor that is used to determine the temperature of the water that is output by the plurality of water heaters 100 back to the building (e.g., commercial building or other environment being serviced by the plurality of water heaters 100). The outdoor air sensor 118 may also be a temperature sensor that is used to determine an ambient temperature of the environment in which the plurality of water heaters 100 are provided. The data obtained by the system sensor 117 and the outdoor air sensor 118 may also be used by the one or more controllers to automatically determine whether to open and/or close certain water heater valves (described below). The one or more controllers may also receive any other types of data to automatically determine whether to open and/or close certain water heater valves as well. The sensors illustrated in the figure are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting in any way.
In one or more embodiments, some or all of the water heaters may also include a valve (for example, first valve 119 associated with the first water heater 101, second valve 120 associated with the second water heater 102, third valve 121 associated with the third water heater 103, and fourth valve 122 associated with the fourth water heater 104). The valves may be motorized isolation valves such that the valves may be automatically opened and/or closed based on a signal from the one or more controllers. However, the valves may be any appropriate form of valve, including but not limited to, a ball valve, a plug valve, a butterfly valve, a rotary valve, a linear valve, a gate valve, a globe valve, a needle valve, a solenoid valve, a coaxial valve, an angled seat valve, a pinch valve, a shutter valve, or any other valve that would be appropriate for the particular application.
In one or more embodiments, a water pump 130 may also be provided. The water pump 130 may be used to regulate the water flow rate through the plurality of water heaters 100 and into the commercial building (or other environment).
To facilitate the automated control of the valves associated with the water heaters, one or more controllers may be provided that may be in electrical communication with the valves. In one or more embodiments, individual controllers may be associated with some or all of the water heaters. For example, the figure shows first controller 132 associated with the first water heater 102, second controller 134 associated with the second water heater 102, third controller 136 associated with the third water heater 103, and fourth controller 136 associated with the fourth water heater 104.
In one or more embodiments, some or all of the controllers may also include an associated platform ignition module (PIM) (for example, first PIM 138 associated with the first controller 132, second PIM 140 associated with the second controller 134, third PIM 142 associated with the third controller 136, and fourth PIM 144 associated with the fourth controller 138). A PIM may be a hardware module that is in electrical communication with a controller or may also be a software module of the controller. The PIM may be configured to receive control signals from the controller and, based on the control signals, send further control signals to the water heater to modify operation of the water heater. For example, a controller may provide a control signal to a PIM indicating that a valve of a water heater should be opened. The PIM may then provide the control signal to the appropriate valve of the water heater to cause the valve to open. Additional details about the different types of hardware and/or software elements that may be associated with the controllers and/or PIMs are described with respect to the computing device 700 of
In one or more embodiments, one of the controllers may serve as a primary controller that may be used to provide control signals to any of the other controllers and/or the associated PIMs. For example,
It should be noted that the configuration shown in
Regardless of the configuration of the controllers and/or PIMs, the control signals provided to the valves of the water heaters may allow for various combinations of water heaters (or a single water heater) to manage water flow and provide hot water to a building. For example, if a flow rate required to satisfy hot water requirements within the building is greater than the capacity of a single water heater, then valves for additional water heaters may be opened such that the flow may be shared between multiple water heaters, which increases the efficiency of the overall water heater system. In some instances, using multiple water heaters in parallel may be beneficial in optimizing the flow rate even if the maximum capacity of a single water heater would not be reached.
A non-limiting example operation of the plurality of water heaters 100 may be as follows. First, an initial number of water heater isolation valves of the plurality of water heaters 100 may be opened. The initial number of isolation valves that are opened may be manually determined by a user (such as a building occupant, owner or employee, or a technician) or may be automatically selected by the primary controller (any reference to a single controller herein may similarly apply to any other controller or combination of controllers). In some instances, a minimum number of initial isolation valves may be opened that would allow for water flow through the plurality of water heaters 100.
After the plurality of water heaters 100 are configured with this initial number of valves opened, the primary controller may determine the maximum and minimum flows that allows for optimal performance of the plurality of water heaters 100. As an example, the plurality of water heaters 100 may be initiated with three valves opened and may be configured to operate in sequential order (for example, flow is provided through a first water heater, a second water heater following the first water heater, etc.). After a given period of time, the primary controller may detect that the flow rate begins to decrease. This may indicate that flow is not being used in all water heaters, so one or more isolation valves may be closed to allow for the water heater(s) that are being used to operate at optimal flow and firing rates.
Fluctuations in the flow rate through the water heater(s) may occur at different times of the day, or during the firing of a water heater. For fluctuations without an active call for water heating (for example, a need for hot water within the building being serviced by the plurality of water heaters 100), the primary controller may seek flow balance, and allow additional isolation valves to open and close, preserving the integrity of the water heater maximum ratings. This logic may consider rotation between units to allow for descaling exercises. For fluctuations that call for water heating, the primary controller may not send signals to open additional water heater isolation valves if: (1) additional heat capacity is required (which falls under a regular cascade primary only algorithm, not allowing for the additional water heater to be opened until flow is enough to sustain the ignition of the additional water heater and without impacting active water heater's fire rate capacity), or (2) excessive flow needs to be diverted to (for example, when the flow is too excessive maintain through the current number of water heaters). As aforementioned, this is merely an exemplary operation of the plurality of water heaters 100 and is not intended to be limiting in any way.
The valves may also be opened and/or closed for purposes other than optimizing flow rates as well. For example, a valve for a particular water heater may be opened to allow for water flow to clear sediment or other debris built up within the piping of the water heater. Sediment or debris build up may be identified, for example, based on a determination that a ΔT has increased by more than a threshold amount given a flow rate (and/or other factors) associated with a water heater.
In one or more embodiments, some or all of the water heaters include an associated valve that may be closed and/or opened to regulate water flow through some or all of the water heaters. For example, first valve 210 associated with first water heater 202 and second valve 212 associated with second water heater 204 are both shown as opened (e.g., allowing water flow through these water heaters). Third valve 214 associated with third water heater 206 and fourth valve 216 associated with fourth water heater 208 are shown as being closed (e.g., preventing water flow through these water heaters). The valves are shown as being provided at the outlet piping of the water heaters, however, this is not intended to be limiting and the valves may also be provided at any other location as well (for example, the inlet piping, internal to the water heaters, etc.).
The water heater 300 may be, for example, a fire-tube boiler (or any other type of water heater, such as a boiler, tank water heater, tankless water heater, etc.) including a vertically oriented, generally cylindrical shell 302, a first end plate 316 disposed within a first end 304 of shell 302 and a second end plate 322 disposed in a second end 306 of shell 302. The water heater 300 may also include a plurality of elongated heat exchanger tubes 340 disposed within shell 302, such that the elongation dimensions of the tubes 340 are all substantially parallel to the elongation dimension (e.g., a longitudinal or symmetrical center axis) 314 of water heater 300 (and, more particularly, to the elongation direction or center axis of a volume of the enclosed tank defined by shell outer wall 302 and end plates or walls 316 and 322). A combustion chamber 328 may be disposed in first end 304 of shell 302, and may be defined in part by first end plate 316. A burner 334 may be disposed within combustion chamber 328, and a blower 336 may be in fluid communication with combustion chamber 328. An outlet chamber 338 may be disposed within second end 306 of shell 302, and formed in part by second end plate 322. The plurality of heat exchanger tubes 340 may allow fluid communication between combustion chamber 328 and outlet chamber 338. In alternate embodiments, water heater 300 may be oriented such that its longitudinal or symmetrical center axis 314 is substantially horizontal rather than substantially vertical. The geometry of the heat exchanger tubes 340 may be round, oval, square, star shaped, or the like. Additionally or alternatively, the heat exchanger tubes 340 may be defined along a straight axis or a curved or wave-like axis, and/or may have smooth surfaces or have surfaces that are dimpled, twisted, crimped, or formed in a variety of shapes.
First end plate 316 may define a plurality of entry apertures 318. The shape of each entry aperture 318 may be configured to correspond with the cross-section of an end of a corresponding heat exchanger tube 340. As shown, each entry aperture 318 may be considered to be defined by the intersection of the end plate and a tube end. As noted, each aperture 318 may correspond to the cross-sectional shape of the heat exchanger tube 340 that is attached (e.g., by laser welding) at the aperture 318 at the first end plate 316 through which the aperture extends so that the internal volume of the heat exchanger tube 340 may be in fluid communication with the aperture 318.
Referring to
Referring again to
To achieve the desired flow of the second fluid, which in the instant case is a hot combustion gas, a fuel may be combusted in combustion chamber 328. Fuels such as, but not limited to, natural gas from a natural gas line or other source in communication with burner 334 may be used. The resultant hot combustion gasses may be moved from combustion chamber 328 through the plurality of heat exchanger tubes 340 by blower 336. As should be understood, the heat exchange rate between the combustion gas and the tube wall, and therefore between the combustion gas and the fluid within the tank volume, may increase or decrease directly with increases and decreases in the speed at which the gas moves through the tubes, e.g., a mass flow rate of the combustion gasses. Thus, blower 336 may be operated to achieve a desired heat transfer rate between the hot combustion gasses in second volume 330 and the fluid passing over the heat exchanger tubes 340 in first volume 312.
In other embodiments, the burner is configured in stages, in which each stage has a fuel supply, air supply (or mixed fuel/air supply) and an independent igniter/flame sensor set, that can be independently ignited and deactivated to control firing rate. That is, for example assuming five burner segments, none, one, two, three, four, or five burner segments can be ignited, each independently of the other, to respectively define 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of the maximum firing rate.
It will be understood from the present disclosure that firing rate may be controlled via selective control of burner segments instead of, or in addition to, control of blower speed. In embodiments in which firing rate is controlled through independent burner segment control, the firing rate is limited by the maximum operational firing rate, as described below. A PID controller may actuate as many of the five burner segments as needed to get as close to a desired firing rate as possible (given the six possible discrete firing rate levels), without exceeding the maximum operational firing rate. If, for instance, the maximum operational firing rate defined by the equations below is 67% and the PID-defined desired firing rate is 80%, the controller activates no more than three of the five burner segments. If the desired firing rate is 60% and the maximum operational firing rate is 90%, the controller activates three segments. If the maximum operational firing rate is 18%, the controller deactivates all burner segments.
In the example embodiment depicted in
In some example embodiments, water heater 300 may include one or more flow sensors 342. Flow sensors 342 may be disposed at inlet 308 of the first volume 312 and be configured to measure a flow rate, such as volumetric or mass flow rate, of the fluid that passes through water heater 300. In an example embodiment, in which water heater 300 includes multiple inlets 308, water heater 300 may include a flow sensor 342 for each inlet 308. The volumetric flow rate may be summed at one of the flow sensors 342 or at a controller, as discussed below. Additionally or alternatively, flow sensor 342 may be disposed at any position in the fluid system, which is hydraulically closed with the water heater 300, such that the flow rate measured by the one or more flow sensors 342 is indicative of the total flow rate of the fluid through the heat exchanger.
In an example embodiment, the water heater 300 may also include one or more temperature sensors 348 disposed at both inlet 308 and outlet 310 of water heater 300. Temperature sensors 348 may be configured to measure the inlet temperature of the fluid as the fluid enters water heater 300 and the outlet temperature as the fluid exits outlet 310 of the water heater 300. Temperature sensors 348 may be utilized to determine a differential temperature across water heater 300.
The fire tube boiler depicted in
If a first water heater is operating at an optimal firing rate and the flow begins to increase beyond a threshold amount, then additional valves for other water heaters may be opened to divert this excess flow to other water heaters that may operate in parallel with the first water heater. For example, If the optimal firing rate is 41.91% (as shown as the point 403 the line 402) and the flow rate increases to 40, then the first water heater may be operated in an undesirable region (shown as region 403 in the plot 400).
Likewise, if multiple water heaters are operating in parallel at optimal firing rates, but the flow rate through a given water heater (or multiple of the water heaters) experiences a drop beyond a threshold amount, one or more of the valves associated with the water heaters may be closed such that the flow rate through the remaining water heaters may be increased again back to an optimal value in accordance with the line 402.
The plot 400 also shows a line 404 representing a target ΔT as a function of water flow rate through a water heater. The plot 400 also shows various offset lines relative to the 404. By adding an offset to the target ΔT (line 404), the one or more controllers determine a threshold function with a slope parallel to that of line 404, represented by line 405, that defines a “flow sensor warning zone” (FSWZ, which in this example, is the area within plot 400 left of line 405, or the space on the side of line 405 opposite line 404).
In the illustrated embodiment, the water heater operates at a firing rate of 41.91% (e.g., the burner is operating at 41.91% of its maximum capacity); the flow rate through the heat exchanger is 23 gallons per minute (gpm); and the operating fluid is a solution of water and glycol (thirty percent glycol concentration). For the noted water heater operating conditions and design parameters, the one or more controllers may determine the maximum operational ΔT. As calculated, the maximum operational ΔT at 23 gpm and a firing rate of 41.91% may be 38.87° F., for example.
In the example embodiment, a ΔT offset value selected may be the default value of 5.0° F. As such, if a flow rate of 23 gpm and firing rate of 41.91 percent is maintained, the ΔT may enter the FSWZ when ΔT exceeds 43.87° F. Upon ΔT entering the FSWZ, the one or more controllers may provide a flow warning to a user interface of the water heater, but the one or more controllers may continue to allow operation of the water heater at the firing rate of 41.91 percent.
Assuming ΔT continues to rise, such that ΔT passes through the FSWZ and eventually reaches the threshold 406, then upon the ΔT reaching the threshold of 57.85° F., the one or more controllers may not allow the firing rate to increase regardless of the observed flow measured by the flow sensors or any heat demand signal from a thermostat or other device. Thus, the burner's firing rate holds steady. The one or more controllers may not thereafter allow the firing rate to be governed by the normal operating algorithms until ΔT drops below the threshold by a given amount, such as by 1.0° F. In some instances, this condition occurs because fluid flow through the boiler has not yet begun, despite an indication of flow from the flow sensor, or because flow is lower than the flow rate the sensor signal indicates, in either case indicating a sensor malfunction. Thus, in holding the burner's firing rate constant until ΔT decreases, the one or more controllers may keep the firing rate from driving ΔT still higher until actual flow through the heat exchanger occurs or reaches the desired level, regardless of the flow data provided by the flow sensor or of heat demand signals.
If the previous actions by the one or more controllers fail to prevent the ΔT from increasing further, ΔT may eventually reach the MFRZ threshold 408 of 63.0° F., for example. Upon the ΔT reaching the MFRZ threshold, the one or more controllers reduce the burner's firing rate to the burner's predetermined rated minimum firing rate, regardless of the flow data provided by the flow sensor. If the ΔT begins to decrease once the one or more controllers reduce the firing rate, the ΔT will now be in the as the system may have successfully achieved an operational equilibrium point. Once the ΔT is in the, the one or more controllers may once again not allow the firing rate to increase until the ΔT is reduced further (in this example, the ΔT re-enters the FSWZ).
If, however, the previously described actions are not successful, and the ΔT continues to increase and reach the threshold (the design DTmax, shown as line 410), the one or more controllers may deactivate the burner to reduce the ΔT.
In one or more embodiments, one or more alerts may also be presented to a user based on some or all of the above-mentioned thresholds being surpassed. For example, the alert may be presented to the user through a mobile device application (such as application 524 of mobile device 520, a user interface of a water heater (such as water heater 502 and/or any other water heater described herein), a controller (such as one or more controller(s) 504 (and/or any other controller described herein), and/or any other type of device, system, etc. The alert may be any type of alert, such as a visual notification, an auditory notification (for example, an auditory alarm may be produced from a water heater, a controller, etc.), and/or any other type of alert. Alerts may also be generated based on any other triggering conditions, such as when valves are opened and/or closed and/or any other triggering conditions that may be automatically determined and/or manually established by the user through settings.
The above values mentioned with respect to
The water heater 502 (which may be the same as water heater 101, 102, 103, 104, 202, 204, 206, 208, 300, and/or any other water heater) may include any number of different types of water heaters, such as a fire tube water heater, a water tube water heater, etc. As described herein the system 500 may include a plurality of water heaters provided in a cascaded arrangement (as shown in
The water heater 504 may include one or more controller(s) 504 (the one or more controller(s) 504 may refer to the controllers and/or PIMs described with respect to
The water heater 502 may also include one or more sensors 512 that may be used to capture different types of data that may be used by the one or more controller(s) 504 to dynamically open and/or close the valve of the water heater 502 in real-time. For example, the one or more sensors 512 may include any of the sensors described with respect to
The mobile device 520 may be a device that is used by user 522 to interact with any of the elements of the system 500. For example, the mobile device may include a smartphone, a laptop or desktop computer, a tablet, a smart television, and/or any other type of device. An application 524 may be provided on the mobile device 520 that allows a user to interact with the water heater 502, the one or more controller(s) 504, and/or any other component of the system 500. For example, the application 524 may display information about a number of water heaters being used, sensors measurements, such as temperature readings and flow rate readings, and/or any other relevant data. The application 524 may also allow the user to manually open and/or close valves and/or perform any other functionality with respect to the system 500. To facilitate this functionality, the mobile device 520 may also include one or more processor(s) 526 and memory 528.
Any of the processing and/or signal transmission described herein with respect to any of the other components of the system 500 may similarly be performed by the remote system 530 (which may be a remote server or other type of remote computing device or system) as well. That is, in one or more embodiments, remote processing and/or signal transmission may be performed instead of local processing and/or signal transmission that may otherwise be performed by the one or more controllers 504. In some embodiments, a combination of local and remote processing may be performed as well. For example, the one or more controllers 504 may perform some processing tasks and the remote system 530 may perform some processing tasks. Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, a controller may be disposed locally at the water heater 502, and/or may be coupled to the water heater 502 as well.
The one or more water heaters, one or more mobile devices 520, and/or one or more remote systems 530 may perform communications via a communications network 570. The communications network 570 may include, but not limited to, any one of a combination of different types of suitable communications networks such as, for example, broadcasting networks, cable networks, public networks (e.g., the Internet), private networks, wireless networks, cellular networks, or any other suitable private and/or public networks. Additional details about example communications networks may be described with respect to
In one or more embodiments, any of the one or more water heaters 502, one or more mobile devices 520, and/or one or more remote systems 530, and/or any other system, device, etc. described herein may include any of the components of the computing device(s) 700 described with respect to
At block 602, the method 600 may include determining, using one or more processors, that a first number of isolation valves of a plurality of isolation valves are open, wherein the plurality of isolation valves of configured to regulate a flow rate through individual water heaters of a plurality of water heaters disposed in a cascaded arrangement.
At block 604, the method 600 may include receiving, using the one or more processors and from one or more sensors, first data indicating a first flow rate through at least one water heater of the plurality of water heaters at a first time. At block 606, the method may include receiving, using the one or more processors and from the one or more sensors, second data indicating a second flow rate through the at least one water heater at a second time. For example, the flow rate data may be obtained by the flow sensors 105, 106, 106, 108, one or more sensors 512 of
At block 608, the method 600 may include determining, using the one or more processors, that a difference between the first flow rate and the second flow rate is equal to or greater than a threshold amount.
At block 610, the method 600 may include automatically causing an isolation valve of the plurality of isolation valves to open or close. For example, the isolation valve may be a motorized isolation valve and the signal may cause the motor of the motorized isolation valve to actuate such that the valve then opens or closes. As a high-level example, if, for a given firing rate, an increase in flow rate beyond a given threshold is observed by the one or more controllers based on flow sensor readings, then a control signal may be sent to open one or more additional valves such that some of the flow may be diverted to additional water heaters (for example, to prevent excessive flow through the currently active water heaters). Likewise, if for the given firing rate, a decrease in flow rate beyond a given threshold is observed, then a control signal may be sent to close one or more valves such that an optimal flow rate may be maintained through the remaining water heaters with open valves.
The operations described and depicted in the illustrative methods, process flows, and use cases of
The computing device(s) 700 may be configured to communicate via one or more networks. Such network(s) may include, but are not limited to, any one or more different types of communications networks such as, for example, cable networks, public networks (e.g., the Internet), private networks (e.g., frame-relay networks), wireless networks, cellular networks, telephone networks (e.g., a public switched telephone network), or any other suitable private or public packet-switched or circuit-switched networks. Further, such network(s) may have any suitable communication range associated therewith and may include, for example, global networks (e.g., the Internet), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), or personal area networks (PANs). In addition, such network(s) may include communication links and associated networking devices (e.g., link-layer switches, routers, etc.) for transmitting network traffic over any suitable type of medium including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted-pair wire (e.g., twisted-pair copper wire), optical fiber, a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) medium, a microwave medium, a radio frequency communication medium, a satellite communication medium, or any combination thereof.
In an illustrative configuration, the computing device(s) 700 may include one or more processors (processor(s)) 702, one or more memory devices 704 (generically referred to herein as memory 704), one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 706, one or more network interfaces 708, one or more sensors or sensor interfaces 710, one or more transceivers 712, one or more optional speakers 714, one or more optional microphones 716, and data storage 720. The computing device(s) 700 may further include one or more buses 718 that functionally couple various components of the computing device(s) 700. The computing device(s) 700 may further include one or more antenna (e) 734 that may include, without limitation, a cellular antenna for transmitting or receiving signals to/from a cellular network infrastructure, an antenna for transmitting or receiving Wi-Fi signals to/from an access point (AP), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna for receiving GNSS signals from a GNSS satellite, a Bluetooth antenna for transmitting or receiving Bluetooth signals, a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna for transmitting or receiving NFC signals, and so forth. These various components will be described in more detail hereinafter.
The bus(es) 718 may include at least one of a system bus, a memory bus, an address bus, or a message bus, and may permit the exchange of information (e.g., data (including computer-executable code), signaling, etc.) between various components of the computing device(s) 700. The bus(es) 718 may include, without limitation, a memory bus or a memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and so forth. The bus(es) 718 may be associated with any suitable bus architecture including, without limitation, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), an Enhanced ISA (EISA), a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) architecture, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) architecture, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) architecture, a PCI-Express architecture, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) architecture, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) architecture, and so forth.
The memory 704 of the computing device(s) 700 may include volatile memory (memory that maintains its state when supplied with power) such as random access memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory (memory that maintains its state even when not supplied with power) such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), and so forth. Persistent data storage, as that term is used herein, may include non-volatile memory. In certain example embodiments, volatile memory may enable faster read/write access than non-volatile memory. However, in certain other example embodiments, certain types of non-volatile memory (e.g., FRAM) may enable faster read/write access than certain types of volatile memory.
In various implementations, the memory 704 may include multiple different types of memory such as various types of static random access memory (SRAM), various types of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), various types of unalterable ROM, and/or writeable variants of ROM such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, and so forth. The memory 704 may include main memory as well as various forms of cache memory such as instruction cache(s), data cache(s), translation lookaside buffer(s) (TLBs), and so forth. Further, cache memory such as a data cache may be a multi-level cache organized as a hierarchy of one or more cache levels (L1, L2, etc.).
The data storage 720 may include removable storage and/or non-removable storage, including, but not limited to, magnetic storage, optical disk storage, and/or tape storage. The data storage 720 may provide non-volatile storage of computer-executable instructions and other data. The memory 704 and the data storage 720, removable and/or non-removable, are examples of computer-readable storage media (CRSM) as that term is used herein.
The data storage 720 may store computer-executable code, instructions, or the like that may be loadable into the memory 704 and executable by the processor(s) 702 to cause the processor(s) 702 to perform or initiate various operations. The data storage 720 may additionally store data that may be copied to the memory 704 for use by the processor(s) 702 during the execution of the computer-executable instructions. Moreover, output data generated as a result of execution of the computer-executable instructions by the processor(s) 702 may be stored initially in the memory 704, and may ultimately be copied to the data storage 720 for non-volatile storage.
More specifically, the data storage 720 may store one or more operating systems (O/S) 722; one or more database management systems (DBMSs) 724; and one or more program module(s), applications, engines, computer-executable code, scripts, or the like such as, for example, one or more adaptive flow module(s) 726. Some or all of these module(s) may be sub-module(s). Any of the components depicted as being stored in the data storage 720 may include any combination of software, firmware, and/or hardware. The software and/or firmware may include computer-executable code, instructions, or the like that may be loaded into the memory 704 for execution by one or more of the processor(s) 702. Any of the components depicted as being stored in the data storage 720 may support functionality described in reference to corresponding components named earlier in this disclosure.
The data storage 720 may further store various types of data utilized by the components of the computing device(s) 700. Any data stored in the data storage 720 may be loaded into the memory 704 for use by the processor(s) 702 in executing computer-executable code. In addition, any data depicted as being stored in the data storage 720 may potentially be stored in one or more datastore(s) and may be accessed via the DBMS 724 and loaded in the memory 704 for use by the processor(s) 702 in executing computer-executable code. The datastore(s) may include, but are not limited to, databases (e.g., relational, object-oriented, etc.), file systems, flat files, distributed datastores in which data is stored on more than one node of a computer network, peer-to-peer network datastores, or the like.
The processor(s) 702 may be configured to access the memory 704 and execute the computer-executable instructions loaded therein. For example, the processor(s) 702 may be configured to execute the computer-executable instructions of the various program module(s), applications, engines, or the like of the computing device(s) 700 to cause or facilitate various operations to be performed in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure. The processor(s) 702 may include any suitable processing unit capable of accepting data as input, processing the input data in accordance with stored computer-executable instructions, and generating output data. The processor(s) 702 may include any type of suitable processing unit including, but not limited to, a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor, a complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a system-on-a-chip (SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), and so forth. Further, the processor(s) 702 may have any suitable microarchitecture design that includes any number of constituent components such as, for example, registers, multiplexers, arithmetic logic units, cache controllers for controlling read/write operations to cache memory, branch predictors, or the like. The microarchitecture design of the processor(s) 702 may be capable of supporting any of a variety of instruction sets.
Referring now to functionality supported by the various program module(s) depicted in
Referring now to other illustrative components depicted as being stored in the data storage 720, the O/S 722 may be loaded from the data storage 720 into the memory 704 and may provide an interface between other application software executing on the computing device(s) 700 and the hardware resources of the computing device(s) 700. More specifically, the O/S 722 may include a set of computer-executable instructions for managing hardware resources of the computing device(s) 700 and for providing common services to other application programs (e.g., managing memory allocation among various application programs). The O/S 722 may include any operating system now known or which may be developed in the future, including, but not limited to, any server operating system, any mainframe operating system, or any other proprietary or non-proprietary operating system.
The DBMS 724 may be loaded into the memory 704 and may support functionality for accessing, retrieving, storing, and/or manipulating data stored in the memory 704 and/or data stored in the data storage 720. The DBMS 724 may use any of a variety of database models (e.g., relational model, object model, etc.) and may support any of a variety of query languages. The DBMS 724 may access data represented in one or more data schemas and stored in any suitable data repository including, but not limited to, databases (e.g., relational, object-oriented, etc.), file systems, flat files, distributed datastores in which data is stored on more than one node of a computer network, peer-to-peer network datastores, or the like. In those example embodiments in which the computing device(s) 700 is a mobile device, the DBMS 724 may be any suitable lightweight DBMS optimized for performance on a mobile device.
Referring now to other illustrative components of the computing device(s) 700, the input/output (I/O) interface(s) 706 may facilitate the receipt of input information by the computing device(s) 700 from one or more I/O devices as well as the output of information from the computing device(s) 700 to one or more I/O devices. The I/O devices may include any of a variety of components such as a display or display screen having a touch surface or touchscreen; an audio output device for producing sound, such as a speaker; an audio capture device, such as a microphone; an image and/or video capture device, such as a camera; a haptic unit; and so forth. Any of these components may be integrated into the computing device(s) 700 or may be separate. The I/O devices may further include, for example, any number of peripheral devices such as data storage devices, printing devices, and so forth.
The I/O interface(s) 706 may also include an interface for an external peripheral device connection such as a universal serial bus (USB), Fire Wire, Thunderbolt, Ethernet port or other connection protocol that may connect to one or more networks. The I/O interface(s) 706 may also include a connection to one or more of the antenna (e) 734 to connect to one or more networks via a wireless local area network (WLAN) (such as Wi-Fi) radio, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and/or a wireless network radio, such as a radio capable of communication with a wireless communication network such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, WiMAX network, 3G network, etc.
The computing device(s) 700 may further include one or more network interface(s) 708 via which the computing device(s) 700 may communicate with any of a variety of other systems, platforms, networks, devices, and so forth. The network interface(s) 708 may enable communication, for example, with one or more wireless routers, one or more host servers, one or more web servers, and the like via one or more networks.
The antenna (e) 734 may include any suitable type of antenna depending, for example, on the communications protocols used to transmit or receive signals via the antenna (c) 734. Non-limiting examples of suitable antennae may include directional antennae, non-directional antennae, dipole antennae, folded dipole antennae, patch antennae, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennae, or the like. The antenna (c) 734 may be communicatively coupled to one or more transceivers 712 or radio components to which or from which signals may be transmitted or received.
As previously described, the antenna (c) 734 may include a cellular antenna configured to transmit or receive signals in accordance with established standards and protocols, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G standards (e.g., Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), CDMA2000, etc.), 4G standards (e.g., LTE, WiMax, etc.), direct satellite communications, or the like.
The antenna (e) 734 may additionally, or alternatively, include a Wi-Fi antenna configured to transmit or receive signals in accordance with established standards and protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, including via 2.4 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n), 5 GHz channels (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac), or 60 GHz channels (e.g., 802.1 lad). In alternative example embodiments, the antenna (e) 734 may be configured to transmit or receive radio frequency signals within any suitable frequency range forming part of the unlicensed portion of the radio spectrum.
The antenna (e) 734 may additionally, or alternatively, include a GNSS antenna configured to receive GNSS signals from three or more GNSS satellites carrying time-position information to triangulate a position therefrom. Such a GNSS antenna may be configured to receive GNSS signals from any current or planned GNSS such as, for example, the Global Positioning System (GPS), the GLONASS System, the Compass Navigation System, the Galileo System, or the Indian Regional Navigational System.
The transceiver(s) 712 may include any suitable radio component(s) for—in cooperation with the antenna (e) 734—transmitting or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in the bandwidth and/or channels corresponding to the communications protocols utilized by the computing device(s) 700 to communicate with other devices. The transceiver(s) 712 may include hardware, software, and/or firmware for modulating, transmitting, or receiving—potentially in cooperation with any of antenna (e) 734—communications signals according to any of the communications protocols discussed above including, but not limited to, one or more Wi-Fi and/or Wi-Fi direct protocols, as standardized by the IEEE 802.11 standards, one or more non-Wi-Fi protocols, or one or more cellular communications protocols or standards. The transceiver(s) 712 may further include hardware, firmware, or software for receiving GNSS signals. The transceiver(s) 712 may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communicating via the communications protocols utilized by the computing device(s) 700. The transceiver(s) 712 may further include a low noise amplifier (LNA), additional signal amplifiers, an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, one or more buffers, a digital baseband, or the like.
The sensor(s)/sensor interface(s) 710 may include or may be capable of interfacing with any suitable type of sensing device such as, for example, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and so forth.
The speaker(s) 714 may be any device configured to generate audible sound. The microphone(s) 716 may be any device configured to receive analog sound input or voice data.
It should be appreciated that the program module(s), applications, computer-executable instructions, code, or the like depicted in
It should further be appreciated that the computing device(s) 700 may include alternate and/or additional hardware, software, or firmware components beyond those described or depicted without departing from the scope of the disclosure. More particularly, it should be appreciated that software, firmware, or hardware components depicted as forming part of the computing device(s) 700 are merely illustrative and that some components may not be present or additional components may be provided in various embodiments. While various illustrative program module(s) have been depicted and described as software module(s) stored in the data storage 720, it should be appreciated that functionality described as being supported by the program module(s) may be enabled by any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. It should further be appreciated that each of the above-mentioned module(s) may, in various embodiments, represent a logical partitioning of supported functionality. This logical partitioning is depicted for ease of explanation of the functionality and may not be representative of the structure of software, hardware, and/or firmware for implementing the functionality. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that functionality described as being provided by a particular module may, in various embodiments, be provided at least in part by one or more other module(s). Further, one or more depicted module(s) may not be present in certain embodiments, while in other embodiments, additional module(s) not depicted may be present and may support at least a portion of the described functionality and/or additional functionality. Moreover, while certain module(s) may be depicted and described as sub-module(s) of another module, in certain embodiments, such module(s) may be provided as independent module(s) or as sub-module(s) of other module(s).
One or more operations of the methods, process flows, and use cases of
Although specific embodiments of the disclosure have been described, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that numerous other modifications and alternative embodiments are within the scope of the disclosure. For example, any of the functionality and/or processing capabilities described with respect to a particular device or component may be performed by any other device or component. Further, while various illustrative implementations and architectures have been described in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that numerous other modifications to the illustrative implementations and architectures described herein are also within the scope of this disclosure.
Certain aspects of the disclosure are described above with reference to block and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or computer program products according to example embodiments. It will be understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and the flow diagrams, respectively, may be implemented by execution of computer-executable program instructions. Likewise, some blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams may not necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, or may not necessarily need to be performed at all, according to some embodiments. Further, additional components and/or operations beyond those depicted in blocks of the block and/or flow diagrams may be present in certain embodiments.
Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functions, and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, may be implemented by special-purpose, hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions, elements or steps, or combinations of special-purpose hardware and computer instructions.
Program module(s), applications, or the like disclosed herein may include one or more software components, including, for example, software objects, methods, data structures, or the like. Each such software component may include computer-executable instructions that, responsive to execution, cause at least a portion of the functionality described herein (e.g., one or more operations of the illustrative methods described herein) to be performed.
A software component may be coded in any of a variety of programming languages. An illustrative programming language may be a lower-level programming language such as an assembly language associated with a particular hardware architecture and/or operating system platform. A software component comprising assembly language instructions may require conversion into executable machine code by an assembler prior to execution by the hardware architecture and/or platform.
Another example programming language may be a higher-level programming language that may be portable across multiple architectures. A software component comprising higher-level programming language instructions may require conversion to an intermediate representation by an interpreter or a compiler prior to execution.
Other examples of programming languages include, but are not limited to, a macro language, a shell or command language, a job control language, a script language, a database query or search language, or a report writing language. In one or more example embodiments, a software component comprising instructions in one of the foregoing examples of programming languages may be executed directly by an operating system or other software component without having to be first transformed into another form.
A software component may be stored as a file or other data storage construct. Software components of a similar type or functionally related may be stored together such as, for example, in a particular directory, folder, or library. Software components may be static (e.g., pre-established or fixed) or dynamic (e.g., created or modified at the time of execution).
Software components may invoke or be invoked by other software components through any of a wide variety of mechanisms. Invoked or invoking software components may comprise other custom-developed application software, operating system functionality (e.g., device drivers, data storage (e.g., file management) routines, other common routines, and services, etc.), or third-party software components (e.g., middleware, encryption, or other security software, database management software, file transfer or other network communication software, mathematical or statistical software, image processing software, and format translation software).
Software components associated with a particular solution or system may reside and be executed on a single platform or may be distributed across multiple platforms. The multiple platforms may be associated with more than one hardware vendor, underlying chip technology, or operating system. Furthermore, software components associated with a particular solution or system may be initially written in one or more programming languages, but may invoke software components written in another programming language.
Computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto a special-purpose computer or other particular machine, a processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particular machine, such that execution of the instructions on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus causes one or more functions or operations specified in the flow diagrams to be performed. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a CRSM that upon execution may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement one or more functions or operations specified in the flow diagrams. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational elements or steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process.
Additional types of CRSM that may be present in any of the devices described herein may include, but are not limited to, programmable random access memory (PRAM), SRAM, DRAM, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the information and which can be accessed. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of CRSM. Alternatively, computer-readable communication media (CRCM) may include computer-readable instructions, program module(s), or other data transmitted within a data signal, such as a carrier wave, or other transmission. However, as used herein, CRSM does not include CRCM.
Although embodiments have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the embodiments. Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments could include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/495,448 filed Apr. 11, 2023, which is herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63495448 | Apr 2023 | US |
