Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080221943 | Retail behavioral tracking using microsystems - An arrangement includes a plurality of containers and a processing circuit. Each of the plurality of containers has a microsystem disposed thereon. Each microsystem is configured to sense at least one environmental condition and to sense movement of the corresponding container. The microsystem is configured to communicate information regarding the at least one environmental condition and the movement wirelessly. The processing circuit is operably coupled to receive the information regarding the at least one environmental condition and the movement from each of the microsystems. | 09-11-2008 |
20100076607 | DATA CENTER THERMAL PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION USING DISTRIBUTED COOLING SYSTEMS - The various embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods, circuits and devices for providing data center cooling while optimizing power usage effectiveness and/or compute power efficiency of the data center. The various embodiments can provide optimized thermal performance and can reduce power consumption of the data center by strategically locating sensor modules, preferably microsystems with MEMS technology, in the data center and using a processing circuit to acquire data from the sensors and to generate a control law for operating the air conditioning system efficiently. In particular the sensors are operable to measure and provide granular environmental data to further characterize the environmental conditions of the racks locally, and the data center as a whole. The processing circuit may also generate a profile of local racks and simulate a data center environment to develop and test control strategies for implementation in the actual data center. | 03-25-2010 |
20100121613 | Passive and Active Wireless Building Management System and Method - A building system includes a communication network, a plurality of wireless nodes, a plurality of passive wireless devices, and a processing circuit. The plurality of wireless nodes are disposed within a building operably and are coupled to the communication network. Each of the passive wireless devices is affixed to or within an object within the building. At least some of the objects constitute fixtures within the building. Each passive wireless device contains first information regarding at least one property of the object, and is configured to communicate wirelessly to at least one of the wireless nodes using power derived from communication signals detected in the passive wireless device. The processing circuit operably is coupled to receive the first information from the wireless devices, the processing circuit configured to update a model of at least a portion of a building based at least in part on the at least one property of the objects. | 05-13-2010 |
20110264725 | Method and System for Obtaining Operational Data and Service Information for a Building Site - A method and system is disclosed for providing information about operational data from a plurality of building systems and service and maintenance information for a plurality of building sites. A customer web portal is provided with a database for storing the operational data and the service information allowing users to more readily generate reports and obtain service related information for a plurality of sites without having to maintain separate database systems at remote locations. | 10-27-2011 |
20120212352 | BUILDING SYSTEM WITH REDUCED WIRING REQUIREMENTS AND APPARATUS FOR USE THEREIN - An apparatus for use in a building automation system includes a plurality of microelectromechanical sensors disposed on a single substrate, a non-volatile memory, a communication device, and a processing device. The non-volatile memory stores configuration information corresponding to a first functionality of the apparatus. The communication device is operable to communicate sensor values to an external device. The processing device is operably coupled to each of the plurality of microelectromechanical sensors to receive measurement information therefrom. The processing device operable to provide the sensor values to the communication circuit. The sensor values provided by the processing device correspond to a select subset of less than all of the plurality of microelectromechanical sensors, the select subset based on the configuration information stored in the non-volatile memory. | 08-23-2012 |
20130008100 | Photocatalytic Panel and System for Recovering Output Products Thereof - A system and method is provided for using sunlight to convert an atmospheric gas to an output product and capture that output product. A photocatalytic element is encapsulated within a chamber in which the chamber is light transmissive, and is substantially permeable to the atmospheric gas and substantially impermeable to the output product. The photocatalytic element may be composed of a photocatalytic composition, comprising a first constituent capable of capturing or binding an atmospheric gas, a second constituent capable of reducing the atmospheric gas using energy from the sunlight, and a third constituent adapted to absorb sunlight, all combined into a single polymer. A fourth constituent may be added that is hydrophobic or hydrophilic depending upon the nature of the other three combined constituents. | 01-10-2013 |
20130008775 | Photocatalytic Panel and System for Recovering Output Products Thereof - A system and method is provided for using sunlight to convert an atmospheric gas to an output product and capture that output product. A photocatalytic element is encapsulated within a chamber of a photocatalytic panel in which the chamber is light transmissive, and is substantially permeable to the atmospheric gas and substantially impermeable to the output product. Water may be provided to the photocatalytic element to react with the atmospheric gas. A system is provided for withdrawing the output product for storage. | 01-10-2013 |
20130011315 | Environmentally Responsive Building and Control System Therefor - An environmentally responsive building includes an array of window and/or building panels that are configured to generate an output product from environmental inputs. The panels may include photocatalytic elements capable of generating output product(s) from solar energy and atmospheric gas(es), and photovoltaic elements capable of generating electricity from solar energy. The building includes a transport network that provides inputs to the window/building panels and transports output product(s) to a storage system. A conversion system may be provided to convert the output product(s) to an input usable by the building. A supervisory controller monitors and controls the operation of the window/building panels as a function of the environment, and of the operation and capacity of the environmentally responsive components, including the panels, transport network, storage system and conversion system. | 01-10-2013 |
20130013234 | Distributed Energy Grid Management - An arrangement for use in a distributed system for an energy grid includes a processing circuit and a plurality of destination nodes coupled to the processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to calculate a desired destination index for each of the plurality of destination nodes based on a desired aggregate index for the plurality of destination nodes, wherein the desired aggregate index includes information representative of carbon consumption, and communicate each desired destination index to the corresponding one of the plurality of destination nodes. Each of the plurality of destination nodes is configured to receive the desired destination index from the processing circuit, and display the desired destination index on a display. | 01-10-2013 |
20130043319 | ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINED TIME CONSTANT FOR A CONTROL DEVICE - A method includes a step of obtaining in a processing circuit a sequence of elements between a first device and a supply air temperature sensor of an air handling unit. The processing circuit also obtains an estimate for time constants associated with each element of the sequence. The processing circuit adds the time constants to obtain a process time constant estimate. The method further includes controlling a device based at least in part on the process time constant estimate. | 02-21-2013 |