Configurable electronic controller

Claim 2

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1, further characterized by an input interface circuitry (I) connecting to one or more analog or digital input devices or switches for receiving input signals (I1a to I1p), the said input interface circuitry (I) being designed to be configurable for various interfaces, by means of configuration data(m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 3

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1, further characterized by a user interface circuitry (U)connecting to one or more analog and/or digital input devices (U1a to U1q) and/or switches and/or audio input devices and/or biometric input devices including image sensors for receiving user inputs and one or more display and/or audio devices (U2a to U2p) for providing feedback to the user, the said user interface circuitry (U) being designed to be configurable for various interfaces, by means of configuration data(m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M) and optionally including means for performing speech recognition and/or biometric recognition.

Claim 4

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2, further characterized by user interface circuitry (U) connecting to one or more analog or digital input devices or switches for receiving user inputs and one or more display or audio devices for providing feedback to the user, the said user interface circuitry (U) being designed to be configurable for various interfaces, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 5

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1, further characterized by power supply interface circuitry (S) which connects to a power supply, monitors the power source conditions and provides control signals (SIa), the said power supply interface circuitry(S) being designed to be configurable for various interfaces, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 6

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2, further characterized by power supply interface circuitry (S) which connects to a power supply, monitors the power source conditions and provides control signals (SIa), the said power supply interface circuitry(S) being designed to be configurable for various interfaces, by means of configuration data(m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 7

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3, further characterized by power supply interface circuitry (S) which connects to a power supply, monitors the power source conditions and provides control signals (SIa), the said power supply interface circuitry(S) being designed to be configurable for various interfaces, by means of configuration data(m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 8

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 4, further characterized by power supply interface circuitry (S) which connects to a power supply, monitors the power source conditions and provides control signals(SIa), the said power supply interface circuitry (S) is designed to be configurable, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 9

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1, further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 10

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2, further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers on the network.

Claim 11

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3, further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 12

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 4 further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 13

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 5 further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 14

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 6, further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 15

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 7 further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 16

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 8 further characterized by network interface circuitry (N) that provides unidirectional or bi-directional data exchange with other devices (N1a) such as computers and other electronic controllers, on the network.

Claim 17

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (C) and configurable output interface circuitry (O), are made configurable by providing in each of the circuitry: a plurality of predetermined circuit elements containing a plurality of known circuit element types each of which provides a specific function, the number and types of said circuit elements being chosen such that the functional requirements of each of the desired configurations are satisfied, a means for interconnecting the said circuit elements in required defined ways, each of which implements a desired set of functions by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 18

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the said configurable input interface circuitry (I) , is made configurable by providing : a plurality of predetermined circuit elements containing a plurality of known circuit element types each of which provides a specific function, the number and types of said circuit elements being chosen such that the functional requirements of each of the desired configurations are met, a means for interconnecting the said circuit elements in required defined ways, each of which implements a desired set of functions by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 19

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry(U), is made configurable by providing : a plurality of predetermined circuit elements containing a plurality of known circuit element types each of which provides a specific function, the number and types of said circuit elements being chosen such that the functional requirements of each of the desired configurations are met, a means for interconnecting the said circuit elements in required defined ways, each of which implements a desired set of functions by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 20

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that the said configurable power supply interface circuitry(S), is made configurable by providing : a plurality of predetermined circuit elements containing a plurality of known circuit element types each of which provides a specific function, the number and types of said circuit elements being chosen such that the functional requirements of each of the desired configurations are met, a means for interconnecting the said circuit elements in required defined ways, each of which implements a desired set of functions by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 21

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (L) is a Gate Array with associated sequence control circuitry (SQ1) and counters and timers (CT), that is configured for desired functionality by the configuration data(m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 22

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (L) is an embedded microcontroller (EM) with associated program memory, associated data memory (LM) and associated counters and timers(CT), the program memory containing a set of control programs from which the appropriate subset of programs is selected for desired functions, by the configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 23

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (C) is an embedded digital signal processor with associated program memory, associated data memory and associated counters and timers (CT), the program memory containing a set of control programs the appropriate subset of programs being selected for desired functions, by the configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 24

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (C) includes functions for providing simple ON-OFF control action.

Claim 25

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (C) includes functions for providing Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) control action.

Claim 26

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable control circuitry (C) includes a Real-Time-Clock (RC) inorder to provide the control functions based on real-time events.

Claim 27

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable output interface circuitry (O) is configurable for each of the outputs to provide a level or a pulsed output signal for controlling the load, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 28

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable output interface circuitry (O) is configurable for each of the outputs to provide a triac-drive signal or a relay/contactor drive signal or a MOSFET/IGBT drive signal or a transistor drive signal for controlling the load, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 29

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable output interface circuitry (O) is configurable for each of the outputs to provide a phase-angle control signal or integral cycle control signal or integral half-cycle control signal for controlling the load, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 30

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configurable input interface circuitry (I) is configurable for each of the inputs to provide either a desired value of a constant current bias, or a balanced bridge interface, or an AC bias supply to the external signal source, by means of configuration data (m)supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 31

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the said configurable input interface circuitry (I) is configurable for each of the inputs to either perform analog-to-digital conversion (AD1)for the case when the input signal is analog in nature, or process the signal without analog-to-digital conversion when the input signal is digital in nature, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 32

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the said configurable input interface circuitry (I) is configurable for each of the inputs to perform debouncing for the case when the input signal is received from a mechanical switch, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 33

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the said configurable input interface circuitry (I) is configurable for each of the inputs to include a filter (NF1) in the processing of the received signal if so required, by means of configuration data(m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 34

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the said configurable input interface circuitry (I) is configurable for each of the inputs to include an averaging circuit (AC1)in the processing of the input signal if so desired, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 35

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry (U) is configurable for each input to provide a desired constant current bias if required by the external user input device, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 36

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry (U) is configurable for receiving user input though an infrared/ ultrasonic/radio-frequency remote entry device, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 37

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry (U) is configurable for providing output signals for driving either an LED display, or a vacuum fluorescent display or an LCD display, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 38

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry (U) is configurable for providing output signals for driving either an multi-digit 7-segment display, or a bar-graph display, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory (M).

Claim 39

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry (U) includes the provision for generating tones and driving an audio transducer, by means of configuration data (m) supplied by the said configuration memory(M).

Claim 40

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that the said configurable user interface circuitry (U) includes the provision for generating synthesized voice output signals and driving an audio transducer, by means of configuration data supplied by the said configuration memory.

Claim 41

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that the said configurable power supply interface circuitry (S) is configurable for monitoring the input a.c. supply voltage and providing a signal if the said a.c. supply voltage is less than or greater than defined limits, by means of configuration data supplied by the said configuration memory.

Claim 42

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that the said configurable power supply interface circuitry (S) is configurable for monitoring the input d.c. supply voltage and providing a signal if the said d.c. supply voltage is less than or greater than defined limits, by means of configuration data supplied by the said configuration memory.

Claim 43

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 5 characterized in that the said configurable power supply interface circuitry (S) is configurable for monitoring the input a.c. supply voltage and providing a signal on every zero-voltage crossing of the input a.c. supply, by means of configuration data supplied by the said configuration memory.

Claim 44

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 9 characterized in that the said network interface circuitry (N) provides an interface to a TCP/IP network.

Claim 45

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 9 characterized in that the said network interface circuitry (N) provides an interface to a CAN Bus network.

Claim 46

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 9 characterized in that the said network interface circuitry (N) provides an interface to a BACNet network.

Claim 47

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 9 characterized in that the said network interface circuitry (N) provides an interface to a BlueTooth wireless network.

Claim 48

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said configuration memory (M) is preferably a non-volatile memory.

Claim 49

An electronic controller as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the said clock generator (G) is an oscillator with a frequency preferably in the range 32 KHz to 25 MHz.

Claim 50

In a washing machine (WM), an electronic controller (CEC1) characterized by a configurable control circuitry(C ), output interface circuitry (O), input interface circuitry(I), user interface circuitry (U), power supply interface circuitry(S), network interface circuitry(N)and configuration memory (M), wherein the configuration data from the said configuration memory(M): a) configures the configurable control circuitry (C )which is based on an embedded microcontroller (EM), to provide desired control functions using a selected set of stored control programs, b) configures the configurable output interface circuitry (O) for providing triac-controlled drive for the wash motor(WM), and water-fill, drain and detergent-dispense solenoids (WFV-WDV), c) configures the configurable input interface circuitry (I) for providing bias drive for the water temperature sensor(WTS), and water level sensor (WLS)and for enabling analog-to-digital conversion with suitable sensitivity offset and linearity correction, noise filtering and signal averaging for the analog signals received from these sensors, d) configures the configurable user interface circuitry (U) for interfacing to a keyboard on the control for receiving user selection input, and driving a digital LCD display and audio buzzer for providing feedback to the user, e) configures the configurable power supply interface (S) for monitoring the input a.c. supply voltage and providing a signal when the voltage is outside defined limits.

Claim 51

In a household refrigerator(R), an electronic controller (ECR) characterized by a configurable control circuitry (C ), output interface circuitry (O), input interface circuitry (I) , user interface circuitry (U) , power supply interface circuitry (S), network interface circuitry (N) and configuration memory (M) wherein the configuration data (m) from the said configuration memory (M): a) configures the configurable control circuitry (C )which is based on an gate array logic, to provide temperature control functions using a selected set of stored control programs, b) configures the configurable output interface circuitry (O) for providing triac-controlled drive for the refrigeration compressor(CM), defrost heater(HTR), and air-circulation blowers (BL0 and BL1) and dampers, c) configures the configurable input interface circuitry (I) for providing bias drive for the temperature sensors (FS, MCS,CTS and HTS), and for enabling analog-to-digital conversion with suitable sensitivity offset and linearity correction, noise filtering and signal averaging for the analog signals received from these sensors, d) configures the configurable user interface circuitry (U) for interfacing to a keyboard on the control panel as well as an infra-red remote control device for receiving user selection input, and driving a digital LCD display and audio buzzer for providing feedback to the user, e) configures the configurable power supply interface (S) for monitoring the input a.c. supply voltage and providing a signal when the voltage is outside defined limits.

Claim 52

In an Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning control system (HVAC), an electronic controller (HVC) characterized by a configurable control circuitry (C ), output interface circuitry (O), input interface circuitry (I ), user interface circuitry (U), power supply interface circuitry (S), network interface circuitry (N) and configuration memory (M) , wherein the configuration data (m) from the said configuration memory (M) : a) configures the configurable control circuitry (C ) which is based on an embedded microcontroller (EM), to provide airflow control and temperature control functions using a selected set of stored control programs, b) configures the configurable output interface circuitry (O) for providing brushless-DC motor drive for the airflow blower(VBL), triac-controlled drive for the air-conditioning compressor motor(CM1), and integral-cycle controlled drive for the air-conditioning heaters(HT1), c) configures the configurable input interface circuitry (I) for providing bias drive for the temperature sensor(TS), airflow sensor(AFS) and humidity sensor(HS), and for enabling analog-to-digital conversion with suitable sensitivity offset and linearity correction, noise filtering and signal averaging for the analog signals received from these sensors, d) configures the configurable user interface circuitry for interfacing to a keyboard on the control panel as well as an infra-red remote control device for receiving user selection input, and driving a digital LCD display and audio buzzer for providing feedback to the user, e) configures the configurable power supply interface for monitoring the input a.c. supply voltage and providing a signal when the voltage is outside defined limits.