Patent 7110829 was granted and assigned to Sunbeam Products on September, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A system of intelligent appliances coupled by common household power lines or wireless links. One or more of the appliances serves as a system controller and may include a further communications interface for coupling to an external communications network, such as the telephone network. The system can thus be accessed and controlled remotely. The system can also communicate with and obtain information from remote sources such as Internet-based facilities.