System and method for power line communication to control fans and other appliances

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for power line control of electrical fans. The system generates a sinusoidal wave using a crystal oscillator. Control information is added to the sinusoidal wave by routing the wave through a phase inversion circuit a predetermined intervals according to a protocol. The resulting control signal is sent on a power line. The control signal is received using a crystal filter, decoded and converted to executable instructions for controlling a fan motor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for controlling devices via power line control, comprising:
 a controller which sends commands indicative of a user's operation of the controller;   an emitter electrically connected to the controller, the emitter including:
 a crystal oscillator configured to transmit a sinusoidal wave at a transmission frequency; 
 a switch electrically connected to the crystal oscillator; 
 a phase inversion circuit electrically connected to a first side of the switch; and 
 a bypass electrically connected to a second side of the switch; 
   a power line electrically connected to the phase inversion circuit; and   one or more smart fans configured to be operated in response to a signal from the controller.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system includes two or more smart fans, but the commands from the controller is directed to only one of the two or more smart fans. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the switch may provide 50 or more phase inversion spikes per cycle of the sinusoidal wave. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the crystal oscillator is a quartz crystal oscillator. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein a Q factor of the crystal oscillator is in a range of 105 to 106. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the sinusoidal wave is output with one watt of power. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a first processor electrically connected to the switch, the first processor executing commands sent by the controller in order to operate the switch and to add phase inversion spikes to the sinusoidal wave; and   a first memory electrically connected to the processor, the first memory having a protocol stored on it, wherein the protocol interprets the phase inversion spikes as a one and an absence of a phase inversion spike as a zero, or interprets the phase inversion spikes as a zero and the absence of a phase inversion spike as a one.   
     
     
         8 . A method for providing power line control, comprising:
 generating a sinusoidal wave using a crystal oscillator;   forming a control signal by routing the sinusoidal wave through a phase inversion circuit;   forming phase inversion spikes at predetermined intervals on the sinusoidal wave;   outputting the control signal to a power line;   receiving the control signal on a crystal filter electrically connected to the power line;   converting the control signal to executable instructions; and   controlling a motor based on the converted control signal.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the crystal oscillator is a quartz crystal oscillator. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein sinusoidal wave has one watt of power. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising operating a switch to provide at least 50 inversion spikes per cycle of the sinusoidal wave. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein a Q factor of the crystal oscillator is in a range of 105 to 106. 
     
     
         13 . A system for providing power line control, comprising:
 a controller configured to send commands;   an emitter configured to emit a sinusoidal wave; and   at least one smart fan electrically connected to a power line;   wherein, when a user operates the controller to send a command, the controller is configured to cause the emitter to generate a sinusoidal wave having control information comprising phase inversion spikes and spacing between the spikes and to transmit the sinusoidal wave via the power line to control the at least one smart fan.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the system includes at least two smart fans, but the at least two smart fans may be sent commands individually. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising a switch configured to provide at least 50 phase inversion spikes per cycle of the sinusoidal wave. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the emitter comprises a crystal oscillator. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein a Q factor of the crystal oscillator is in a range of 10 5  to 10 6 . 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the sinusoidal wave is output with one watt of power. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the emitter operates the crystal oscillator between series and parallel resonance. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the emitter operates the crystal oscillator at series resonance.