Automation system with mobile interface

Abstract

Some embodiments of a method for premises management networking include monitoring premises management devices connected to a gateway at a premises; controlling premises management devices connected to the gateway at the premises; receiving, at the premises, an uplink-initiation signal associated with a network operations center server; and in response to the uplink-initiation signal, initiating, from the gateway at the premises, communications between the gateway and the network operations center server; and communicating, during the communications between the gateway and the network operations center server, information associated with the premises management devices.

1 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . An automation system comprising:
 a gateway configured to monitor a state of a premises including a plurality of devices coupled to at least one network located at the premises;   a server coupled to the gateway;   a mobile device comprising applications that, when run on the mobile device, configure the mobile device to perform operations comprising:   receiving data representing data events of the plurality of devices, and displaying on a display of the mobile device an interface that includes status information of to the plurality of devices based on the data events;   receiving at the interface user input defining a control operation for at least one of the plurality of devices; and   based on the received user input sending one or more control communications that cause the gateway to perform the control operation.   
     
     
         10 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise a list of the plurality of devices and device data of the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         11 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise a display of state for the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         12 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise a setting area that enables setting of at least one of a plurality of settings, wherein the plurality of settings includes settings of the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         13 . The automation system of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of settings includes settings of the at least one network. 
     
     
         14 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise a status area that displays the status information. 
     
     
         15 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise at least one control area configured to receive the user input. 
     
     
         16 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise at least one area that includes content of electronic sites coupled to the remote network, and at least one control for navigating the content and the electronic sites. 
     
     
         17 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include sensors. 
     
     
         18 . The automation system of  claim 17 , wherein the sensors include at least one of a door sensor, window sensor, enclosure sensor, motion sensor, thermostat, temperature sensor, heat sensor, smoke sensor, carbon monoxide sensor, water sensor, freeze sensor, weather sensor, and remote control. 
     
     
         19 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include actuators that perform a physical action in response to a control signal. 
     
     
         20 . The automation system of  claim 19 , wherein the actuators include at least one of a thermostat, lighting controller, appliance controller, alarm system, camera, door actuator, door lock, pool controller, spa controller, irrigation controller, audio/visual equipment controller, load controller, relay actuator. 
     
     
         21 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include a device comprising a sensor coupled to an actuator. 
     
     
         22 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include devices configured as an actuator and a sensor. 
     
     
         23 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include at least one local display. 
     
     
         24 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include cameras. 
     
     
         25 . The automation system of  claim 24 , wherein the cameras include at least one of a still camera and a video camera. 
     
     
         26 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include Internet Protocol (IP) devices. 
     
     
         27 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include radio frequency (RF) devices. 
     
     
         28 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of devices include at least one of power line devices and free topology devices. 
     
     
         29 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the interface is configured to comprise an automation area configured to enable assignment of automation rules to devices. 
     
     
         30 . The automation system of  claim 29 , wherein the automation rules are configured to command an action by a second device in response to data from a first device, wherein the plurality of devices at the premises include the first device and the second device. 
     
     
         31 . The automation system of  claim 29 , wherein the automation area is configured to comprise a plurality of events represented by the plurality of devices, and a plurality of actions configured to be assigned to the plurality of events. 
     
     
         32 . The automation system of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of events and the plurality of actions in the interface are configured as selectable icons. 
     
     
         33 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to register with the server. 
     
     
         34 . The automation system of  claim 33 , wherein the registration with the server includes associating the gateway with an account of the premises. 
     
     
         35 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to receive network information of the at least one network. 
     
     
         36 . The automation system of  claim 35 , wherein the server is configured to receive from the gateway at least a portion of the network information. 
     
     
         37 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to receive device information of the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         38 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the server is configured to receive from the gateway at least a portion of the device information. 
     
     
         39 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to store at least a portion of the data representing the data events is stored at the gateway. 
     
     
         40 . The automation system of  claim 39 , wherein the server is configured to receive from the gateway the at least a portion of the data representing the data events. 
     
     
         41 . The automation system of  claim 40 , wherein the server is configured to store the at least a portion of the data representing the data events. 
     
     
         42 . The automation system of  claim 39 , wherein the gateway is configured to store a first set of the data representing the data events, and the server is configured to store a second set of the data representing the data events. 
     
     
         43 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to store at least a portion of configuration data of at least one of the at least one network and the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         44 . The automation system of  claim 43 , wherein the server is configured to receive from the gateway the at least a portion of the configuration data of at least one of the at least one network and the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         45 . The automation system of  claim 44 , wherein the server is configured to store the at least a portion of the configuration data of at least one of the at least one network and the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         46 . The automation system of  claim 43 , wherein the gateway is configured to store a first set of the configuration data of at least one of the at least one network and the plurality of devices, and the server is configured to store a second set of the configuration data of at least one of the at least one network and the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         47 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to receive data in a first format from the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         48 . The automation system of  claim 47 , wherein the gateway is configured to interpret the data in the first format and convert the interpreted data to a second format. 
     
     
         49 . The automation system of  claim 48 , wherein the second format is an indexed data point value format. 
     
     
         50 . The automation system of  claim 48 , wherein the server is configured to receive data in the second format from the gateway. 
     
     
         51 . The automation system of  claim 50 , wherein the server comprises a set of formatter classes configured to convert between the second format and a third format. 
     
     
         52 . The automation system of  claim 51 , wherein the third format is a device definition format. 
     
     
         53 . The automation system of  claim 51 , wherein the server is configured to interpret the data in the third format and convert the interpreted data to a format corresponding to a target client device. 
     
     
         54 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is configured to communicate signals between two or more of the plurality of devices. 
     
     
         55 . The automation system of  claim 54 , wherein the gateway is configured to use associative bindings to communicate the signals. 
     
     
         56 . The automation system of  claim 55 , wherein an associative binding includes at least one of an index of a source device property and an index of a target device property. 
     
     
         57 . The automation system of  claim 55 , wherein an associative binding includes at least one of a source property value and a destination property value. 
     
     
         58 . The automation system of  claim 9 , comprising a plurality of operating modes. 
     
     
         59 . The automation system of  claim 58 , wherein an operating mode is one of selected and changed using at least one of the mobile device. 
     
     
         60 . The automation system of  claim 58 , wherein the plurality of operating modes control operation of at least one of the gateway, the at least one network, the plurality of devices, and the server. 
     
     
         61 . The automation system of  claim 9 , comprising a plurality of protocols, wherein at least one of the gateway, the at least one network, the plurality of devices, and the server are configured to communicate using the plurality of protocols. 
     
     
         62 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the receiving the data representing the data events comprises receiving a notification of the data events. 
     
     
         63 . The automation system of  claim 62 , wherein the notification comprises a notification type of a plurality of notification types. 
     
     
         64 . The automation system of  claim 63 , wherein at least one notification type of the plurality of notification types is configured through the interface. 
     
     
         65 . The automation system of  claim 63 , wherein the plurality of notification types includes at least one of electronic message service notification, electronic mail notification, telephone notification, and page notification. 
     
     
         66 . The automation system of  claim 9 , comprising a plurality of portals coupled to at least one of the gateway and the server. 
     
     
         67 . The automation system of  claim 66 , wherein the plurality of portals include a web portal, wherein web browsers of devices interface via the web portal. 
     
     
         68 . The automation system of  claim 66 , wherein the plurality of portals include a wireless application protocol (WAP) portal, wherein remote WAP devices interface with the WAP portal. 
     
     
         69 . The automation system of  claim 66 , wherein the plurality of portals include a portable computing device portal, wherein remote portable computing devices interface with the portable computing device portal. 
     
     
         70 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the applications are configured to associate the mobile device with the gateway. 
     
     
         71 . The automation system of  claim 70 , wherein the receiving data representing the data events is based on the association. 
     
     
         72 . The automation system of  claim 70 , wherein the sending of the one or more control communications that cause the gateway to perform the control operation defined by the received user input is based on the association. 
     
     
         73 . The automation system of  claim 70 , wherein the association of the mobile device with the gateway comprises coordinating with the server to associate with the gateway. 
     
     
         74 . The automation system of  claim 73 , wherein the coordinating with the server to associate with the gateway comprises coordinating with the server such that the mobile device exchanges with the server the data representing the data events. 
     
     
         75 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one network includes a plurality of networks. 
     
     
         76 . The automation system of  claim 75 , wherein the plurality of networks are configured to include a plurality of network communication protocols. 
     
     
         77 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the gateway is coupled to the server over a remote network. 
     
     
         78 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein the mobile device is provided separately from the gateway by a company that is different than a company that provides the gateway. 
     
     
         79 . The automation system of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the applications is custom-built for the mobile device.