WO2015001041A1 - A gateway system for facilitating the interoperability between different service domains and a multitude of communication protocols within and outside a home network - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a gateway system for controlling a number of devices connected thereto, the system comprising receiver means for receiving a signal from a transmitter unit, the system comprising a control unit being adapted to receive signals from said devices and a decision unit including a stored instruction set wherein a number of predetermined signals are related to a number of instructions, the decision unit thus comparing the received signal with a corresponding instruction in said set, each instruction comprising a control signal for transmitting to at least one of said devices, the system also comprising a communication means for transmitting instructions to said at least one device in the instruction set, and wherein said communication means also comprises a translation means for translating the control signal into the communication protocol of each device.

Description

A GATEWAY SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING THE INTEROPERABILITY BETWEEN DIFFERENT SERVICE DOMAINS AND A MULTITUDE OF COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE A HOME NETWORK

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to home automation and remote control of appliances. More particularly, the invention concerns a gateway system for controlling a number of devices connected thereto.

[0002] There is an increasing amount of home related automated services. Examples include, but are not limited to, home automation, alarm systems, automated metering systems (AMS), home energy management; health monitoring; assisted living and automated home appliances.

[0003] An increased use of such devices is expected, partly because information- and communication technologies become ever more available and affordable and partly due to regulations. For example, regulations requiring automated meters, e.g. for remote reading and automated debiting for electricity, are already implemented in some countries. Similar regulations requiring automated meters for electricity or gas in homes are expected in several other countries.

[0004] For convenience and purposes of the present disclosure, the devices and appliances are loosely divided into different service domains like alarm, home automation, health monitoring, AMS, home appliances and entertainment services and devices.

[0005] As well known in the art, a computer may communicate with a home appliance over a Wide Area Network (WAN). Examples are a server at a supplier of electricity or gas communicating with an automated metering device and a remote PC used to adjust the heating at home or in a cabin. It is noted that communication over a WAN generally involves numerous protocols on different layers in a stack of protocols, for example HTTP to generate a webpage on a TCP/IP stack in an internet communication.

[0006] Examples of the known art are discussed in WO2007/058415 as well as in the articles Yang-Xin et al.: "research or smart appliances control protocol" IEEE

Educational Technology and Computer Science (ETCS), 2010 Second International Workshop. Wuhan, China, vol.2, March 6-7, 2010, pages 551-554. And Valtchev, D, et al.: "Service Gateway Architecture for a Smart Home" IEEE: Communication

Magazine, vol.40, issue 4, April 2002, Pages 126-132, ISSN: 0163-6804. These however, rely on a solution where included devices receives signals from other devices in the network and respond individually depending on their internal programming.

[0007] Similarly, the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM - 2G), including General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) and Short Message Service (SMS) enable communication to and from mobile terminals such as cell phones, smart phones, PDAs etc. Later generation mobile networks such as UMTS (3G) and LTE Advanced (4G) may be used for the same purpose in the context of the present invention. For simplicity, GSM including GPRS and SMS are used as representatives of generic cellular or mobile networks. The details of mobile networking protocols are beyond the scope of this disclosure, and are not discussed further.

[0008] In a home, Wi-Fi and other IEEE 802.11 -based wireless LAN systems may connect PCs, computer peripherals, set top boxes etc. These networks are represented by Wi-Fi in the following disclosure.

[0009] Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) are based on IEEE 802.15 and are carried over wireless network technologies such as Bluetooth, IrDA, Wireless USB, Z- Wave and ZigBee. In the following, WPAN-protocols are represented by Z-Wave and ZigBee.

[0010] Z-Wave is specifically designed for home automation, and uses a low-power RF-circuit embedded or retrofitted into electronic devices and systems such as lighting, home access control, entertainment systems and household appliances.

[0011] ZigBee is based on IEEE 802.15.4 and comprises high-level protocols used to create inexpensive PANs over low power RF. The range is typically 10-100 meters.

[0012] Wi-Fi, Z-Wave and ZigBee are among the most commonly used technologies for interconnecting computers, networked devices, appliances and systems in a home environment.

[0013] From the above, it should be understood that numerous communication protocols and other standards are involved in a system wherein, for example, a computer and/or a smart phone is used to monitor and control various systems in a home, such as an alarm system or for adjusting lighting or heat. However, the details of these protocols and standards are beyond the scope of this disclosure, and are hence not discussed further herein. [0014] One of the major shortcomings of prior art solutions is the lack of

interoperability between the different service domains.

[0015] Another major shortcoming stems from the multitude of sensor and actuator systems that exist today, even within a small service domain such as fire alarms. The number of available kinds of fire alarms times the number of available burglary alarms, times the number of available communication networks such as Wi-Fi, WAN and 2G, 3G, 4G mobile communications networks etc. quickly raises to a number where it becomes impractical to provide pairs of one-to-one connections, for example smart meter over Wi-Fi, alarm over Wi-Fi, meter reading over WAN, meter reading over GSM etcetera, etcetera. In other words, as the vendors of sensors and actuators create their own closed ecosystems, interoperability between service domains and

communication channels quickly becomes impossible. Many of these devices also have unique features and capabilities that make it difficult to use them using a common set of generic features.

[0016] There are gateways designed to control several different devices, even devices from different service domains. However, state of the art gateways have a static hardware design that results in a solution that is not upgradable, nor extendable towards new or other communication standards inside or outside the home.

[0017] Further, most smart controllers in a home have merely one connection for communication out of the home due to the present stand-alone or insulated features of most home automation systems.

[0018] The objective of the present invention is to solve at least one of the above problems while retaining the benefits from prior art, preferably in an economically viable and environmentally sound manner.

[0019] More particularly, a first objective of the present invention is to provide a gateway to facilitate interoperability between different service domains and a multitude of communication protocols within and outside a home or similar small area. A second objective is to decrease the number of devices or applications required to operate different service domains, and a third objective is to provide a flexible interface between a control unit and a gateway or device supporting present and future communication protocols. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0020] These objectives are attained with a gateway system according to claim 1.

[0021] In particular, the invention concerns a gateway system for controlling a number of devices connected thereto, the system comprising receiver means for receiving a signal from a transmitter unit, sensor or actuator, the system comprising a control unit being adapted to receive signals from said devices and a decision unit including a stored instruction set wherein a number of predetermined signals are related to a number of instructions, the decision unit thus comparing the received signal with a corresponding instruction in said set, each instruction comprising a control signal for transmitting to at least one of said devices, the system also comprising a communication means for transmitting instructions to said at least one device in the instruction set, and wherein said communication means also comprises a translation means for translating the control signal into the communication protocol of each device.

[0022] The gateway system removes the need of many hardware controllers, as they now can be replaced by software components. Further, the gateway system facilitates communication by removing dependency on different platforms, and delivers a unified way of handling events to and from third party vendors of devices and across services functionality implemented in the gateway.

[0023] Also, the present invention provides a system which may include two way communication where devices in the system may transmit a signal which through a decision device results in control signals sent to other parts of the system, as well as receiving signals. Thus, e.g. any light switch may under certain circumstances, e.g. relating the time of the day, turn of other lights and reduce the heating.

[0024] These and other features and benefits of the invention will be apparent from the appended claims and the detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] The invention will be explained by means of an exemplary embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view on the functionality of the system according to the invention.. Fig. 2 shows the hardware and software elements of the present invention; and

Fig. 3 depicts the software in the gateway system.

Fig. 4 illustrates an alternative description of the system in figure 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0026] As illustrated in Fig. 1 the invention relates to a gateway 10 being adapted to receive signals from a number of transmitter devices 301,302, constituted by devices such as sensors, actuators, switches, through an interface 309. The interface may include means for translating the signals to a common protocol, and forwards the signals to a control unit 305. The control unit communicates with a decision unit 306 including an instruction set providing instructions corresponding to the incoming signals. The control unit then send the instructions to a number of controlled devices 303,304 through a communication means 307. In the preferred embodiment an external control device 308 may be used to edit the instruction set in the decision unit 306. Also, the instruction set may include instructions for controlling the transmitter devices 301,302 and the gateway may also receive signals from the controlled device. Thus the interfaces and communication means 307,309 may be combined.

[0027] Fig. 2 shows a gateway 10 that communicates with several devices over wireless and wired connections. The gateway 10 is a physical unit capable of executing instructions in software, and may thus be a computer for general purposes such as a PC. However, a preferred embodiment comprises embedded software, firmware, and embedded systems hardware.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 2, the wireless connections comprise a Wi-Fi connection 121 to a Wide Area Network (WAN) 20, a GSM/GPRS connection 131 to a GSM network 30 and a ZigBee or Z-wave connection 141 to a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) 40. While not explicitly shown in Fig. 2, it is understood that computers of different kinds can communicate with the gateway system 10, e.g. using protocols in common use on the Internet. Similarly, mobile units such as cell phones, smart phones, PDAs or other mobile terminals can communicate with the gateway system over the GSM network 30. The WPAN 40 connects various appliances and systems, e.g. an alarm system and/or an energy management system to the gateway. [0029] The wired connections shown in Fig. 2 comprise connection 151 termed cat 5 RS485 to an automated metering device 50, hereinafter termed a "smart meter" for convenience. That is, the gateway has a serial connection to the smart meter. The connection 151 also transfers power using available pins in the connector, and the power supplied from the serial link can be used to run the gateway without having additional power supply connected to the gateway system. The meter service software connects to a meter Service Provider Implementation (SPI) such as a message broker, shown in Fig. 3 and explained below, and can channel data through the gateway to necessary backend servers using the link 151. Gateway 10 further has a wired Ethernet connection 161 to a CPE 60 at an internet service provider (ISP), which in turn can communicate over the WAN over a link 61. The SPIs responsibility is to translate from the Generic GDIS message format into messages specific for the devices the SPI exposes. The SPI interface is however not limited to interaction to physical devices.

[0030] The gateway 10 comprises software 100, which will be explained in greater detail with reference to Fig. 3 below, hardware 101 and a battery 102, which may provide power to critical circuits in the event of an interruption of the main power supply. From this, it should be understood that low power consumption is advantageous.

[0031] Support for Wi-Fi communication is provided by a Wi-Fi client 120

comprising hardware, firmware and software in a known manner. Similar clients for GSM/GPRS communication 130, for Zigbee 142, Z-Wave 144, Cat-5/RS 485 150 and Ethernet 162, 164 are also provided in the gateway 10. Support for other

communication protocols, for example proprietary wireless protocols or proprietary wired protocols may be provided by other such clients 72,74 installed in the gateway.

[0032] More particularly, a typical client comprise a circuit card connected to a physical device such as an antenna for transmitting and receiving radio signals or a device for measuring power consumption. The specific circuit boards have specific firmware and, typically a software driver implementing a protocol stack. In theory, communication between different devices may be contained in well-defined layers. In practice, the different protocols are layered in different ways such that the boundary between layers does not match. Hence, communication must be performed at some higher level layer, such as the gateway shown in Fig. 2. The gateway converts physical signals from one device to another by converting them up one stack, transfer data at a high level, and sending the converted data down another stack, i.e. through a different client. For example, a radio signal representing a read instruction might be received from the WAN 20 by the antenna connected to Wi-Fi client 120. The Wi-Fi client would present data at the top of its stack in a format that is readable for software 100 in the gateway. The software 100 recognizes the data, and presents them in a suitable format at the top of the smart meter client 150. In response, the smart meter client 150 may fetch the required data, which is again presented in a format that is readable by the gateway software. The gateway software might in this example present a value to a GPRS client, which converts the value to a GSM-signal that is transmitted via the antenna hardware connected to the circuit board associated with the GSM/GPRS client 130.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment, clients 72, 74 for other, proprietary or future protocols can be provided through USB-ports under tamper switch 70. Thus, end users may conveniently install or deploy new standards by inserting a USB-plug.

[0034] The gateway 10 can obtain data and services from numerous devices systems in a home, for example through ZigBee or Z-Wave as discussed above. The data and services from each client can be presented at the interface between the client and the software 100 in a manner that can be understood by the software 100, and that can be presented, for example, through a Wi-Fi network at home, or on a smart phone over the GSM net 30. Thus, the gateway 10 is a central component in a service ecosystem, enabling Smart Home As A Service (SHAAS) available on different user terminals over, for example GSM, WAN and Wi-Fi.

[0035] Fig. 3 illustrates the gateway software 100 in greater detail.

[0036] The platform software 201 is software required to run and update specialized software such as the device drivers discussed above, The platform software 201 can e.g. include:

a base operating system, e.g. Embedded Linux for ARM;

package management for updating the services, e.g. Aptitude;

firmware updates. Using the Configuration and Provisioning service 211 shown on Fig. 3 and described below, the firmware update procedure can be setup and configured from a remote location; a security implementation to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and other aspects of security by providing encryption and authentication with respect to backend systems;

support for IP communication;

- drivers and connectivity to peripherals

A message broker for serving JSON-formatted content

[0037] The connection manager 202 handles the connectivity to various external sources. More particularly, the connection manager 202is a software service that polls communication services for Wi-Fi 202, Ethernet 260 or GSM 230, 232. These services are associated with communication channels as explained above. Referring back to Fig. 2, the gateway has built in connectivity for both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity to a CPE or other ISP provided router, and also connectivity over GSM/GPRS. The gateway 10 is designed to have multiple ways of communicating with backend servers available through one of these networks. For example, communication with a backend server using GSM may be possible if a primary connection over the WAN is disrupted. The switching between the communication channels is provided by the connection manager 202, which in reality may switch between the software services for Wi-Fi 202, Ethernet 260 and GSM 230, 232 shown at the top of Fig. 3. For this, the connection manager 202 contains a prioritized list of communication channels and routing tables that notifies services in the gateway if there is an interruption in the service communication. After restoration of a primary communication channel, the connection manager 202 is able to switch back to primary channel using a polling scheme. In other words, the gateway 10 provides redundant communication in a transport layer, thereby ensuring robust and reliable access to services presented by the gateway. The communication redundancy is a default feature.

[0038] GDIS is an acronym for Generic Device Interaction Service, The GDIS is an open platform, enabling all vendors of home appliances, sensors, actuators 301,302 and electronically controlled equipment 303,304 to connect to the platform and may be constituted by a message Broker. In the context of Fig. 3, GDIS/message Broker 210 is a software layer capable of communicating with, on one side home appliances and systems through a device abstraction layer providing a standardized interface for several SPIs. In a preferred embodiment, the SPIs include a home automation SPI 212, an alarm event SPI 214, a meter event SPI 216, a Z-Wave SPI 244, a ZigBee SPI 242, a meter SPI 250 (different from the meter event SPI 216) and possibly additional SPIs for wireless 280 and wired 290 communication, respectively. Further details of the SPIs can be found in the GDIS documentation.

[0039] On its other side, the GDIS layer 210 presents the various devices, appliances and systems available through the SPIs as smart home services such as an alarm service 201, a lighting control service 203, a heating service 205, a meter service 207, an assisted living service 209. Other services may be provided as well. Thus, the GDIS layer 210 insulates the smart home services from vendor specific details and from the client or protocol used to access the actual devices, for example a vendor specific interface to the smart meter over cat 5/RS 486 and another interface to an alarm system on a Z-Wave WPAN.

[0040] The alarm service 201, lighting control service 203, heating service 205, meter service 207 and the assisted living service 209 contain a number of business rules or logical instructions that can either be triggered based on time, user interaction or other device actions. The business rules are customizable, and may be different for different end users.

[0041] The configuration provisioning 211 is available over several networks through the connection manager 202, and provides configuration services to service domains available through the GDIS 210. Thus, the configuration provisioning 211 may facilitate simple tasks involving one service domain, such as implementing a schedule with set times for when heating should be turned on and off. The configuration provisioning 211 may also implement more complex tasks involving several service domains, such as a GDIS-based fire alarm service that will automatically turn on the lights, turn off the ventilator, turn off the oven, remove sun shades and automatically open the front door.

[0042] The smart home services 201 etc. and the configuration provisioning 211 are available to end users and backend servers via the Wi-Fi service 220. Ethernet service 260 and GSM services 230, 232 through the connection manager 202 as explained previously.

[0043] Thus, the gateway 10 provides end users and backend servers with a robust and standardized interface, for example enabling an end user such as a provider of electricity or gas to incorporate several types of smart meters in his system without changing his backend servers. Similarly, a private end user will be able to choose between alternative systems of the same kind, e.g. different alarm systems, and even access different kinds of systems, e.g. the alarm system and a heating system, without changing the console or app he or she uses to access the respective services. Furthermore, the smart home services are redundantly available over different networks due to the connection manager 202.

[0044] From the above it should be understood that whereas the gateway 10 might provide access to vendor specific devices, e.g. the smart meter 50 (Fig. 2) through a redundant communication scheme provided by the connection manager 202, the full potential for the gateway 10 is realized in combination with the GDIS-platform in the home environment. The embodiment with the GDIS enables interoperability between the different service domains, resulting in integrated services. Further, this embodiment enables configurable scenarios that cover several service domains in a home. One example of such scenarios might be a GDIS-based switch that with merely one touch will adjust all the lights to off, lower the temperature in all the rooms to a individual preset temperature, change blinds, turn off chargers, and set the alarm system.

[0045] In the preferred embodiment, the following standards are supported on the mother board: WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Ethernet, GPRS and GSM. Other protocols, for example the 868 MHz wireless standard or future communication protocols, can be supported using the USB-ports under the tamper switch 70 as noted above.

[0046] The benefits of the gateway 10 include the following:

The GDIS reduces the cost and installation time by replacing several components with one, and by replacing hardware with software. Additionally, the gateway removes the need of physical replacement of controllers, as this replacement now will be a software upgrade instead. This will further decrease the physical installation cost.

Replacement of several physical HW-controllers with SW-controllers in the gateway system will also lead to fewer power adaptors and Ethernet switches, less use of cabling and space, i.e. a general reduction of required equipment. Furthermore, the gateway system removes the need of physical presence when upgrades or monitoring is required, and thus reduces cost for personnel and travel time, as well as reducing transport emissions.

The gateway system and GDIS combination reduces cost of installation due to the inherent support from an installation app, used by the installation personnel.

The gateway has the inherent feature of two-way communication and control of the devices in the home environment. This enables real time monitoring of devices and services, resulting in a high and proactive management of the services and devices.

The gateway system enables just in time maintenance of smart homes, for example a change of batteries in an alarm when the batteries are starting to get depleted rather than before or after depletion, which would incur increased maintenance costs or decreased safety, respectively.

Some embodiments include scenario switches that perform many different functions across different service domains in the home based on one touch, (when GDIS is installed).

Some embodiments include integrated services where one sensor in one service domain triggers responses in many or all of the different service domains in the home, (when GDIS is installed).

[0047] Figure 4 is a simplified illustration of the embodiment of the invention as described in figure 3, where the smart gateway comprises a number of applications 41 such as home automation, Device Registery and alarms. These applications 41 communicate with the message broker (machine to machine connectivity protocol) 42 which is connected to a set of protocol adapters 43 like XComfort and Z-wave, which in turn communicates with sensors 44 and actuators 45 in the system.

[0048] The products and services in the present specification are described in the context of a private home. However, alarm services, smart meters and the other products and services above are also used in business areas and public buildings. Thus, the gateway 10 is equally useful in such environments. Further, the invention is described by way of an exemplary embodiment and fully defined in the attached claims. [0049] To summarize referring to fig. 1 the invention relates to a gateway system for controlling a number of devices 303,304 connected thereto, the system comprising receiver or interface means 309 for receiving a signal from a transmitter unit 301,302. The transmitter may be an internal device within the system, such as a switch or an external device such as a tablet or smart phone, or a central control unit e.g. controlling the environment in an apartment.

[0050] The system comprising a control unit 305 being adapted to receive signals from said devices 301,302 and a decision unit 306 including a stored instruction set wherein a number of predetermined signals are related to a number of instructions. The decision unit 306 thus compares the received signal with a corresponding instruction in said set, each instruction comprising a control signal for transmitting to at least one of said devices and returns this to the control unit 305. The system also comprising a communication means 307 for transmitting instructions to said at least one device 303,304 specified in the instruction set, and wherein said communication means also comprises a translation means for translating the control signal into the communication protocol of each device.

[0051] Interaction between devices and local applications are implemented with the publish/subscribe communication paradigm, communicating through the gateway. E.g. output from connected entities (sensors, actuators and applications) are published to the message broker, which notifies any device or application interested in these events. More on publish subscribe can be found in the following article: Eugster, Patrick Th, Pascal A. Felber, Rachid Guerraoui, and Anne-Marie Kermarrec. "The many faces of publish/subscribe." ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 35, no. 2 (2003): 114-131.

[0052] This way the turn of a switch 301, e.g. a certain light switch, may transit a signal to the control unit 305 , which looks up in the instruction set and then also goes through a sequence of turning up the heating and the computer through the connected devices.

[0053] It should be noted that although the transmitter and receiver devices

301,302,303,304 and related communication means 307,309 are illustrates as separate entities in the drawing they may be combined if one or more of the devices are capable of both receiving instructions and transmitting signals and the instruction set in the decision unit comprise instructions accordingly. [0054] The transmitter unit thus constitutes one of said number of devices, and is also adapted to received a control signal from said system. So if the owner wants to turn of the light and heating in a part of the apartment using a tablet, the light switch is turned off.

[0055] The system may include multiple controlling and controllable devices placed in a building and includes sensors and appliances in said building. This way a

fire detectors and heat sensors transmits a signal to the control unit looking up in the instruction set comprises instructions to cut power to selected devices upon the detection of fire.

[0056] The system may also include editing means for reprogramming said instruction set, e.g. introducing a new device, through an external control device 308. This may be a tablet, computer or centralized control system. The instruction set may also comprise instructions for shifting to a second instruction set, e.g. differing between summer and winter instructions but cooling or heating rooms and selecting different lighting, or going into an alarm mode opening all doors in case of fire of locking them in the case or burglary.

[0057] The system may, as indicated above comprise communication means for communicating status information and control signals to and from an external server (not shown) which also may be able to reprogram the instruction set.

[0058] The communication system used in the communication means 307,309 at the interfaces to the devices 301,302,303,304 may be of a of a type where the control unit is to a common communication bus, said bus being coupled to each of said devices through a chosen interface means, the control unit being adapted to transmit control signals comprising a sequence including a header and a body, the header specifying the addressed device and the body including a command code for said specified device, and wherein said interface means related to said specified device being adapted to transmit said command code to said device in the communication protocol specific for the specified device. The sequence is constituted by an URI code and the device procols may be among the group of WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave and USB-related protocols.

[0059] This is described in general terms in the known art, e.g. the article by Yang- Xin et al referred to above as well as in US2008/279202 and Kamilaris, A,; Pitsillides A.: "Toward interoperable and sustainable smart homes"; IEEE, IST-Africa Conference and Exhibition, 2013; Nairobi, 29-31 May 2013, pages 1-11.

[0060] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention this is realized by a system for managing a number of devices (301-304), especially for household appliances and devices in a house. The control system (10) may then comprises a communication bus (210,307), a configurable configuration storage (306) containing information about addresses and other codes for communicating with specific devices and/or groups of devices and a control unit (305).

[0061] The communication bus (307) may be connected to each of the devices (303, 304) through a service provider interface (242, 244, 280, 290) over a device

communication protocol (142, 144) such as WiFi, Zigbee and/or Z-wave).

[0062] The configuration storage (306) may contain control codes relates to the devices (303, 304), and may be organized into services (201-209).

[0063] The control unit (305) may be adapted to exchange control codes between the devices (303, 304) and the configuration storage (306) over the communication bus

(210; 307).

[0064] Each control code may be a sequence of ASCII-characters terminated by a newline character or designed as a URI code. This may facilitate parsing, mapping and handling using standard software libraries. Thereby, the control codes and associated headers are easily stored in the configuration storage and easily mapped through a lookup table. The mapping between devices on different WPANs or other home area networks can conveniently be extended to external networks such as a LAN or a WAN using similar ASCII sequences.

[0065] In a preferred embodiment, the devices may be connected to the GDIS through a device communication protocol selected from the group comprising ZigBee, Z-wave, standardized wired protocols, proprietary wireless protocols and proprietary wired protocols. Each of these protocols is adapted to the GDIS through a device adaptation layer (DAL) and SPIs.

[0066] The control codes are configurable by means of an external terminal (308)

[0067] In a second aspect, the invention concerns a gateway system comprising a control system with a generic device interface service as discussed above. The gateway system further comprises an external network interface for two-way communication over a LAN-protocol and/or WAN-protocol. Thereby, the services provided by the GDIS can be accessed over a LAN or WAN. For example a backend server might send a request and receive a response from an automated metering device over a WAN using the gateway system. Similarly, the services provided by the GDIS might be configured over a LAN or WAN using the gateway system and a web-based interface for a PC, tablet or smart phone.

[0068] Preferably, a control unit further controls access to the control system through the network interface and performs hash-functions, encryption etc. in order to preserve integrity and confidentiality. Processes concerning the home area network and processes concerning an external LAN or WAN can be run, for example, as separate processes on a common CPU in a common, central control unit, or they may be implemented as separate control units.

[0069] Similarly, a lookup table mapping between commands on the external network and the control codes for the devices may be implemented as an extension to a table concerning commands and structures for the home area network or it might be implemented as a separate entity in another address space and even in a separate memory.

[0070] The system according to the invention may thus also include system extension means for introducing additional devices to the system, said system extension means being adapted to extend said instruction set so as to control said new device, the new device thus being adapted to respond to the relevant control signals.

[0071] The extensions to said instruction set as well as possibly hardware drivers for new devices may be download from an external device, e.g. over the Internet, USB devices etc, the extensions may include updating firmware or hardware drivers such as communication protocols and translation drivers.. When controlled devices are installed in a building, the installer use a dedicated software tool (PC/Tablet) to set up the device configuration itself. This device configuration is then sent to a Management Server, which in turn instructs the Gateway to download and install the software and

configuration necessary to establish communication to and control the installed devices. If the devices require an additional internal or external hardware extension to the Gateway (for communication purposes), the installed Software will also include a Hardware Device Driver for this hardware.

Claims

Claims

1. Gateway system for controlling a number of devices connected thereto, the system comprising receiver means for receiving a signal from a transmitter unit, the system comprising a control unit being adapted to receive signals from said devices and a decision unit including a stored instruction set wherein a number of predetermined signals are related to a number of instructions, the decision unit thus comparing the received signal with a corresponding instruction in said set, each instruction comprising a control signal for transmitting to at least one of said devices, the system also comprising a communication means for transmitting control signals to said at least one device in the system, and wherein said communication means also comprises a translation means for translating the control signal into the communication protocol of each device, the interaction between devices and local applications are implemented with the publish/subscribe communication.

2. System according to clam 1, including system extension means for introducing additional devices to the system, said system extension means being adapted to extend said instruction set so as to control said new device, the new device thus being adapted to respond to the relevant control signals.

3. System according to claim 2, wherein said extensions to said instruction set are download from an external device, e.g. over the Internet.

4. System according to claim 2, including means for updating hardware drivers such as communication protocols and translation software..

5. System according to claim 1, wherein said transmitter unit also constitutes one of said number of devices, being adapted to received a control signal from said system.

6. System according to claim 1, wherein said multiple devices are placed in a building and includes sensors and appliances in said building.

7. System according to claim 6, wherein said multiple devices include detectors, said instruction set comprises instructions to cut power to selected devices upon the detection.

8. System according to claim 1, wherein the instructions related to at least one of said control signals comprises instructions to be communicated to a selected number of devices representing different decision units in the system.

9. System according to claim 1, wherein the system comprises editing means for reprogramming or extension said instruction set from an external device.

10. System according to claim 9, wherein said reprogramming or extension involves introducing and connecting a new device into the system.

11. System according to claim 9, wherein said reprogramming or extension involves introducing a new communication protocol or protocol translator.

12. System according to claim 1, wherein said instruction set comprises at least one of said predetermined signals are related to an instruction for selecting one or more secondary instruction sets, e.g. based on a publish/subscribe methology.

13. System according to claim 1, comprising communication means for communicating status information and control signals to and from an external server using a variation of communication channels.

14. System according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitter unit is a computer or similar having a user interface for receiving commands from a user.

15. System according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitter unit is a user control device, e.g. a light switch, being adapted to transmit a signal to said control units indicating a change of status, said control units subscribing to event from said device, thus being adapted to look up any corresponding instructions corresponding with said change of status.

16. System according to claim 1, wherein said communication means is constituted by a common communication bus connected to said control means, said bus being coupled to each of said devices through a chosen interface means, the control unit being adapted to transmit control signals comprising a sequence including a header and a body, the header specifying the addressed device and the body including a command code for said specified device, and wherein said interface means related to said specified device being adapted to transmit said command code to said device in the

communication protocol specific for the specified device.

17. Use of the system according to claim 1 in an automated home system.