Method and apparatus for coordinating the control of HVAC units

Claim 1

A method of controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value is determined from a sum that includes at least two of the differences, the operational parameter corresponding to an actuator of the environmental measurement module; determining a new value for the operational parameter from the change value; and transmitting the new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module, wherein the new value for the operational parameter changes an operation of the corresponding actuator based on the at least two differences.

Claim 2

A method of controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value is determined from a sum that includes at least two of the differences, the operational parameter corresponding to an actuator of the environmental measurement module; determining a new value for the operational parameter from the change value; and transmitting the new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module, wherein the new value for the operational parameter changes an operation of the corresponding actuator based on the at least two differences.

Claim 10

A method of controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; calculating at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; and modifying the transfer matrix G by multiplying a status matrix that relates which sensors or which modules are currently operational.

Claim 11

A method of controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; calculating at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; and modifying the transfer matrix G by multiplying a status matrix that relates which sensors or which modules are currently operational.

Claim 17

A method of controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; calculating at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; wherein the inverse of the transfer matrix G is a reduced-order pseudoinverse; and determining the reduced-order pseudoinverse, the determining including: computing a singular value decomposition of G; identifying a number of significant singular values resulting from the singular value decomposition as being significant multiplying the transfer matrix G by a matrix V of right singular vectors for the significant singular values to provide a resultant matrix; and calculating an inverse of the resultant matrix to provide the reduced-order pseudoinverse.

Claim 18

A method of controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; calculating at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; wherein the inverse of the transfer matrix G is a reduced-order pseudoinverse; and determining the reduced-order pseudoinverse, the determining including: computing a singular value decomposition of G; identifying a number of significant singular values resulting from the singular value decomposition as being significant multiplying the transfer matrix G by a matrix V of right singular vectors for the significant singular values to provide a resultant matrix; and calculating an inverse of the resultant matrix to provide the reduced-order pseudoinverse.

Claim 19

A system for controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising: an input interface for receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; one or more processors configured to: determine differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculate a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value is determined from a sum that includes at least two of the differences, the operational parameter corresponding to an actuator of the environmental measurement module; determine a new value for the operational parameter from the change value; and transmit the new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module, wherein the new value for the operational parameter changes an operation of the corresponding actuator based on the at least two differences; and an output interface for sending a new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module.

Claim 20

A system for controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising: an input interface for receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; one or more processors configured to: determine differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculate a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value is determined from a sum that includes at least two of the differences, the operational parameter corresponding to an actuator of the environmental measurement module; determine a new value for the operational parameter from the change value; and transmit the new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module, wherein the new value for the operational parameter changes an operation of the corresponding actuator based on the at least two differences; and an output interface for sending a new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module.

Claim 22

A system for controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising: an input interface for receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; one or more processors configured to: determine differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculate a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; calculate at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; and modify the transfer matrix G by multiplying a status matrix that relates which sensors or which modules are currently operational; and an output interface for sending a new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module.

Claim 23

A system for controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising: an input interface for receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; one or more processors configured to: determine differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculate a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; calculate at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; and modify the transfer matrix G by multiplying a status matrix that relates which sensors or which modules are currently operational; and an output interface for sending a new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module.

Claim 24

A system for controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising: an input interface for receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; one or more processors configured to: determine differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculate a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; and calculate at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; and an output interface for sending a new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module, wherein the inverse of the transfer matrix G is a reduced-order pseudoinverse, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the reduced-order pseudoinverse, the determining including: computing a singular value decomposition of G; identifying a number of significant singular values resulting from the singular value decomposition as being significant; multiplying the transfer matrix G by a matrix V of right singular vectors for the significant singular values to provide a resultant matrix; and calculating an inverse of the resultant matrix to provide the reduced-order pseudoinverse.

Claim 25

A system for controlling an environmental maintenance module using a plurality of sensors, the system comprising: an input interface for receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; one or more processors configured to: determine differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculate a change value for an operational parameter of the environmental maintenance module, wherein the change value includes contributions derived from at least two of the differences; and calculate at least one additional change value for at least one additional environmental maintenance module, wherein calculating the change values of the operational parameters of the environmental maintenance modules includes multiplying the differences by an inverse of a transfer matrix G, wherein the transfer matrix G relates operational parameters to environmental measurements from the sensors; and an output interface for sending a new value for the operational parameter to the environmental maintenance module, wherein the inverse of the transfer matrix G is a reduced-order pseudoinverse, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the reduced-order pseudoinverse, the determining including: computing a singular value decomposition of G; identifying a number of significant singular values resulting from the singular value decomposition as being significant; multiplying the transfer matrix G by a matrix V of right singular vectors for the significant singular values to provide a resultant matrix; and calculating an inverse of the resultant matrix to provide the reduced-order pseudoinverse.

Claim 26

A method of controlling a plurality of environmental maintenance modules using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a first change value for a first operational parameter for a first environmental maintenance module, wherein the first change value is determined from a first contribution that includes the difference associated with a first sensor, the first operational parameter corresponding to a first actuator of the first environmental measurement module; determining a first new value for the first operational parameter from the first change value; transmitting the first new value for the first operational parameter to the first environmental maintenance module, wherein the new value for the first operational parameter changes an operation of the first actuator; calculating a second change value for a second operational parameter for a second environmental maintenance module, wherein the second change value is determined from a second contribution that includes the difference associated with the first sensor, the second operational parameter corresponding to a second actuator of the second environmental measurement module, wherein the first contribution is different from the second contribution; determining a second new value for the second operational parameter from the second change value; and transmitting the second new value for the second operational parameter to the second environmental maintenance module, wherein the second new value for the second operational parameter changes an operation of the second actuator.

Claim 27

A method of controlling a plurality of environmental maintenance modules using a plurality of sensors, the method comprising: receiving a first set of environmental measurements, each environmental measurement being from a respective one of the sensors; determining differences between the environmental measurements and a plurality of reference values, each difference being between a respective environmental measurement and a corresponding reference value; calculating a first change value for a first operational parameter for a first environmental maintenance module, wherein the first change value is determined from a first contribution that includes the difference associated with a first sensor, the first operational parameter corresponding to a first actuator of the first environmental measurement module; determining a first new value for the first operational parameter from the first change value; transmitting the first new value for the first operational parameter to the first environmental maintenance module, wherein the new value for the first operational parameter changes an operation of the first actuator; calculating a second change value for a second operational parameter for a second environmental maintenance module, wherein the second change value is determined from a second contribution that includes the difference associated with the first sensor, the second operational parameter corresponding to a second actuator of the second environmental measurement module, wherein the first contribution is different from the second contribution; determining a second new value for the second operational parameter from the second change value; and transmitting the second new value for the second operational parameter to the second environmental maintenance module, wherein the second new value for the second operational parameter changes an operation of the second actuator.