Remotely accessible power controller for building lighting

Claim 2

1 . Power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for supplying AC operating voltage at a power distribution frequency to one or more loads, comprising in combination: a high frequency blocking filter including a power input circuit for receiving AC operating voltage from an AC power source and a power output circuit for supplying filtered AC operating voltage to the power distribution conductors while suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; a transmitter having an input for receiving load control command signals and an output coupled to one or more of the power distribution conductors on the output circuit side of the high frequency blocking filter for modulating the filtered AC operating voltage with load control command signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and a control module coupled to one or more of the loads and to one or more of the power distribution conductors for recovering the load control command signals from the modulated AC operating voltage and using the command signals to control the application of the filtered AC operating voltage to one or more of the loads.

Claim 3

2 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 1 , said transmitter comprising a signal repeater circuit for repeating the load control command signals at an amplified voltage level on the power distribution conductors.

Claim 4

3 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the high frequency blocking filter comprises: a low-pass filter circuit that passes low frequency signals from DC up through the power distribution frequency of the AC supply voltage to a cutoff frequency, and suppresses or substantially attenuates signals above the cutoff frequency, including power line carrier modulation frequencies in the kilohertz region.

Claim 5

4 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the high frequency blocking filter comprises: a low pass filter circuit characterized by a relatively low attenuation signal transfer function from DC through the AC power distribution frequency up to a cut-off frequency below the power line carrier modulation frequency, and characterized by a relatively high attenuation signal transfer function that suppresses or substantially attenuates signals occurring at a frequency greater than the cut-off frequency.

Claim 6

5 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the transmitter comprises: a signal coupling circuit having an input for receiving AC supply voltage from an AC power source and an output for delivering AC supply voltage to a power distribution conductor; a gate-actuated switch coupled to the output of the signal coupling circuit, the switch having switched and un-switched terminals for connecting bias clamping voltage to and removing bias clamping voltage from the output of the signal coupling circuit, and having a gate terminal for turning the switch ON and OFF in response to binary logic data signals; a clamping circuit coupled to the output of the signal coupling circuit for clamping the coupling circuit output at a first voltage level when the gate-actuated switch is in the OFF condition, and clamping the coupling circuit output at a second voltage level when the gate-actuated switch is in the ON condition; and a gate circuit having an input for receiving binary logic data signals, and an output coupled to the gate terminal of the gate-actuated switch, wherein the gate-actuated switch is gated ON and OFF in response to the binary logic data signals.

Claim 7

6 . Power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for supplying AC operating voltage to one or more loads, comprising in combination: an on/off scheduler having an output for conducting load turn-off and load turn-on command signals according to a time-of-day schedule; a command protocol converter having an input coupled to the on/off scheduler for receiving the load turn-off and load turn-on command signals and having an output for conducting load disconnect and load connect command signals in a power line carrier (PLC) signal format; a high frequency blocking filter including a power input circuit for receiving AC operating voltage from an AC power source and a power output circuit for supplying filtered AC operating voltage to the power distribution conductors while suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; a transmitter having an input for receiving the load control command signals and an output coupled to the power distribution conductors on the output side of the high frequency blocking filter for modulating the filtered AC operating voltage with the load control command signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and a control module coupled to one or more of the loads and to one or more of the power distribution conductors for recovering the load control command signals from the modulated AC operating voltage and using the command signals to control the application of the filtered AC operating voltage to one or more of the loads.

Claim 8

6 . Power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for supplying AC operating voltage to one or more loads, comprising in combination: an on/off scheduler having an output for conducting load turn-off and load turn-on command signals according to a time-of-day schedule; a command protocol converter having an input coupled to the on/off scheduler for receiving the load turn-off and load turn-on command signals and having an output for conducting load disconnect and load connect command signals in a power line carrier (PLC) signal format; a high frequency blocking filter including a power input circuit for receiving AC operating voltage from an AC power source and a power output circuit for supplying filtered AC operating voltage to the power distribution conductors while suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; a transmitter having an input for receiving the load control command signals and an output coupled to the power distribution conductors on the output side of the high frequency blocking filter for modulating the filtered AC operating voltage with the load control command signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and a control module coupled to one or more of the loads and to one or more of the power distribution conductors for recovering the load control command signals from the modulated AC operating voltage and using the command signals to control the application of the filtered AC operating voltage to one or more of the loads.

Claim 9

7 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the high frequency blocking filter comprises: a low-pass filter circuit that passes low frequency signals from DC up through the power distribution frequency of the AC supply voltage to a cutoff frequency, and suppresses or substantially attenuates signals above the cutoff frequency, including power line carrier modulation frequencies in the kilohertz region.

Claim 10

8 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the high frequency blocking filter comprises: a low pass filter circuit characterized by a relatively low attenuation signal transfer function from DC through the AC power distribution frequency up to a cut-off frequency below the power line carrier modulation frequency, and characterized by a relatively high attenuation signal transfer function that suppresses or substantially attenuates signals occurring at a frequency greater than the cut-off frequency.

Claim 11

9 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 6 , including a reference clock module coupled to the on/off scheduler for providing a time reference signal.

Claim 12

10 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the reference clock module includes a modem driver that outputs a time reference signal in an EIA Standard data protocol to the on/off time scheduler.

Claim 13

11 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the EIA Standard data protocol comprises a signal data protocol selected from the group consisting of RS232, RS422, RS423 and RS485 and ASCII formats.

Claim 14

12 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the reference clock module comprises a Stratum 3 clock having a free-run accuracy of about 4.6×10 −6 second per month.

Claim 15

13 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the reference clock module comprises a global positioning satellite (GPS) reference clock and a radio receiver module, and the time reference signal is communicated by broadcast radio wave transmission to the radio receiver.

Claim 16

14 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the radio receiver module comprises a modem driver that outputs a time reference signal in an EIA Standard data protocol to the on/off time scheduler.

Claim 17

15 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 14 , wherein the EIA Standard data protocol comprises a signal data protocol selected from the group consisting of RS232, RS422, RS423 and RS485 and ASCII formats.

Claim 18

16 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the reference clock module comprises a Stratum 1 clock that has a free-run accuracy of about 1×10 −11 second per month.

Claim 19

17 . Power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for supplying AC operating voltage at a power distribution frequency to one or more loads, comprising in combination: a load control center for generating load control command signals; a command protocol converter having an input coupled to the load control center for receiving the load turn-off and load turn-on command signals and having an output for conducting load disconnect and load connect command signals in a power line carrier (PLC) signal format; a high frequency blocking filter including a power input circuit for receiving AC operating voltage from an AC power source and a power output circuit for supplying filtered AC operating voltage to the power distribution conductors while suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; a transmitter having an input for receiving the load control command signals and an output coupled to the power distribution conductors on the output side of the high frequency blocking filter for modulating the filtered AC operating voltage with the load control command signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and a control module coupled to one or more of the loads and to one or more of the power distribution conductors for recovering the load control command signals from the modulated AC operating voltage and using the command signals to control the application of the filtered AC operating voltage to one or more of the loads.

Claim 20

17 . Power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for supplying AC operating voltage at a power distribution frequency to one or more loads, comprising in combination: a load control center for generating load control command signals; a command protocol converter having an input coupled to the load control center for receiving the load turn-off and load turn-on command signals and having an output for conducting load disconnect and load connect command signals in a power line carrier (PLC) signal format; a high frequency blocking filter including a power input circuit for receiving AC operating voltage from an AC power source and a power output circuit for supplying filtered AC operating voltage to the power distribution conductors while suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; a transmitter having an input for receiving the load control command signals and an output coupled to the power distribution conductors on the output side of the high frequency blocking filter for modulating the filtered AC operating voltage with the load control command signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and a control module coupled to one or more of the loads and to one or more of the power distribution conductors for recovering the load control command signals from the modulated AC operating voltage and using the command signals to control the application of the filtered AC operating voltage to one or more of the loads.

Claim 21

18 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the high frequency blocking filter comprises: a low-pass filter circuit that passes low frequency signals from DC up through the power distribution frequency of the AC supply voltage to a cutoff frequency, and suppresses or substantially attenuates signals above the cutoff frequency, including power line carrier modulation frequencies in the kilohertz region.

Claim 22

19 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the high frequency blocking filter comprises: a low pass filter circuit characterized by a relatively low attenuation signal transfer function from DC through the AC power distribution frequency up to a cut-off frequency below the power line carrier modulation frequency, and characterized by a relatively high attenuation signal transfer function that suppresses or substantially attenuates signals occurring at a frequency greater than the cut-off frequency.

Claim 23

20 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the load control command center comprises an on-site computer for outputting load control command signals in an EIA Standard signal data format to the command protocol converter.

Claim 24

21 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the EIA Standard data protocol comprises a signal data protocol selected from the group consisting of RS232, RS422, RS423 and RS485 and ASCII formats.

Claim 25

22 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the load control command center comprises a remote computer for outputting load control command signals in Ethernet signal format, and the Ethernet formatted command signals are communicated to the command protocol converter via one or more modems coupled to a wide area telecommunications network.

Claim 26

23 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , further comprising a radio frequency receiver module coupled to the command protocol converter, and wherein the load control command center comprises a radio frequency transmitter capable of transmitting load control command signals in a wireless signal protocol to the receiver module.

Claim 27

24 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 23 , wherein the radio frequency transmitter is a hand-held RF transmitter.

Claim 28

25 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 23 , wherein the wireless signal protocol is implemented in KEELOQ format.

Claim 29

26 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 23 , wherein the radio frequency transmitter is a cell phone with digital messaging capability and the load control signals are communicated in a digital wireless signaling format, and the receiver module comprises a telephone message processor and a modem coupled to the command protocol converter.

Claim 30

27 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 26 , wherein the modem comprises a modem driver that outputs the load control signals in an EIA Standard data protocol to the input of the command protocol converter.

Claim 31

28 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the EIA Standard data protocol comprises a signal data protocol selected from the group consisting of RS232, RS422, RS423 and RS485 and ASCII formats.

Claim 32

29 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the load control command center comprises an On/Off switch having switched and un-switched contacts coupled to the input of the command protocol converter by a pair of low voltage signal conductors.

Claim 33

30 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 29 , wherein the load control command signals comprise binary logic control signals generated by the turn-on and turn-off actuation of the On/Off switch contacts in a dry contact mode of operation.

Claim 34

31 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the load control command center comprises a pulse data control signal generator coupled to the input of the command protocol converter by a pair of low voltage signal conductors.

Claim 35

32 . The power control apparatus for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 31 , wherein the pulse data signal generator is operable to generate a series of DC voltage pulses ranging in amplitude between a first analog voltage value corresponding to a binary logic “1” and a relatively low analog voltage value corresponding to a binary logic “0”.

Claim 36

33 . A method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for distributing AC supply voltage at a power distribution frequency to one or mote loads, comprising the steps: filtering the AC voltage that is supplied to the power distribution conductors by suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; periodically modulating the AC supply voltage with a burst of control data signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and recovering the control data signals and using the control data signals to apply filtered AC power to or disconnect filtered AC power from one or more of the loads.

Claim 37

33 . A method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network of the type including power distribution conductors for distributing AC supply voltage at a power distribution frequency to one or mote loads, comprising the steps: filtering the AC voltage that is supplied to the power distribution conductors by suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of signals that occur at a frequency higher than the power distribution frequency; periodically modulating the AC supply voltage with a burst of control data signals at a power line carrier modulation frequency; and recovering the control data signals and using the control data signals to apply filtered AC power to or disconnect filtered AC power from one or more of the loads.

Claim 38

34 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , including the steps: suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals from the power input circuit to the power output circuit of the blocking filter; and suppressing or substantially attenuating the transmission of high frequency signals from the power output circuit to the power input circuit of the blocking filter.

Claim 39

35 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , including the step: amplifying the control data signals; and modulating the filtered AC supply voltage with the amplified control data signals.

Claim 40

36 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , including the steps: generating the control data signals in a time-of-day on/off scheduler.

Claim 41

37 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , wherein the control data signals comprise turn-on and turn-off command signals and including the step of generating the control data signals by a time-of-day on/off scheduler in accordance with an energy consumption code applicable to the automatic shutoff of electrical lighting.

Claim 42

38 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , wherein the control data signals comprise load shedding command signals and including the step of communicating the control data signals from a public or private utility company at a remote load control center in accordance with a load curtailment agreement to limit total connected power consumption below an agreed level.

Claim 43

39 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , wherein the control data signals comprise binary logic control signals, including the step of generating the binary logic control signals by opening and closing actuation of switched and un-switched contacts in a dry contact mode of operation of an On/Off switch.

Claim 44

40 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 29 , wherein the control data signals comprise a series of DC analog voltage pulses ranging in amplitude between a first analog voltage value corresponding to a binary logic “1” and a relatively low analog voltage value corresponding to a binary logic “0”, including the step of communicating the voltage pulses as serial data command words via a pair of low voltage signal conductors.

Claim 45

41 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 40 , including the step on encoding the serial data command words in hexadecimal (HEX) format.

Claim 46

42 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 33 , including the step of generating the control data signals in a wireless digital format, and communicating the control data signals from a wireless transmitter to an on-site receiver module.

Claim 47

43 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 42 , wherein the wireless transmitter is a hand-held RF transmitter, including the step of communicating the load control command signals by broadcast transmission to a receiver module.

Claim 48

44 . The method for executing load control command signals in an AC power distribution network as set forth in claim 42 , wherein the wireless transmitter is a cell phone, including the step of communicating the load control command signals via a wide area telecommunications network to a telephone message processor.