Apparatus and method for managing power of an electronic appliance

An apparatus for managing power, the apparatus comprising:nin a power network comprising at least one electronic appliance, one or more processors in the apparatus being operable to:nauthenticate the at least one electronic appliance based on verification of a digital signature acquired from the at least one electronic appliance and register the at least one authenticated electronic appliance as a managed appliance;temporarily register another electronic appliance as another managed appliance based on verification of another digital signature acquired from the another electronic appliance, wherein the another electronic appliance is previously registered with another apparatus;supply power to the managed appliance and the another managed appliance;acquire first managed appliance information from the managed appliance and second managed appliance information from the another managed appliance;determine a state of the managed appliance and the another managed appliance based on the first managed appliance information and the second managed appliance information; andcontrol supply of power from a power storage apparatus managed by the apparatus to the managed appliance or the another managed appliance, when power supplied from an external power supplier has stopped, according to a type of outlet with which the managed appliance or the another managed appliance is connected.

An electronic appliance comprising:none or more processors being operable to:store a digital signature that has been authenticated by a specified certificate authority;carry out an authentication process with a power management apparatus managing supply of power to the electronic appliance using the digital signature and registering the electronic appliance in the power management apparatus; andtransmit to the power management apparatus at least any of appliance information including identification information that is unique to the electronic appliance, information indicating an operation state of the electronic appliance, information indicating a usage state of the electronic appliance and power information of the electronic appliance, wherein the electronic appliance is temporarily registered with another power management apparatus based on verification of the digital signature for receiving supply of power from the another power management apparatus,wherein the power management apparatus controls supply of power from a power storage apparatus managed by the power management apparatus to the electronic appliance, when power supplied from an external power supplier has stopped, according to a type of outlet with which the electronic appliance is connected.

A method of managing power of an electronic appliance, the method comprising:nin an apparatus:ncarrying out authentication of the electronic appliance connected to a power network based on verification of a digital signature acquired from the electronic appliance and registering the electronic appliance for which the authentication has succeeded as a managed appliance;temporarily registering another electronic appliance as another managed appliance based on verification of another digital signature acquired from the another electronic appliance, wherein the another electronic appliance is previously registered with another apparatus;acquiring, from the managed appliance, first managed appliance information, and from the another managed appliance, second managed appliance information;determining a state of the managed appliance and the another managed appliance based on the first managed appliance information and the second managed appliance information, wherein operation of the managed appliance and the another managed appliance and supplying of power to the managed appliance and the another managed appliance are controlled according to the state of the managed appliance and the another managed appliance, respectively; andcontrolling supply of power from a power storage apparatus managed by the apparatus to the managed appliance or the another managed appliance, when power supplied from an external power supplier has stopped, according to a type of outlet with which the managed appliance or the another managed appliance is connected.

An apparatus for managing power, the apparatus comprising:nin a power network comprising a first electronic appliance and a second electronic appliance, one or more processors in the apparatus being operable to:nverify a first digital signature acquired from the first electronic appliance, and if verification of the first digital signature is successful, to register the first electronic appliance as a managed appliance;transmit, to the managed appliance, identification information that is unique to the apparatus and digital signature of the apparatus relating to the identification information that is unique to the managed appliance, wherein the first digital signature authenticated by a specified certificate authority is embedded in advance in the managed appliance;control an operation of the managed appliance and supply power to the managed appliance;acquire from the managed appliance, as managed appliance information, one or more of: identification information that is unique to the managed appliance, information indicating an operation state of the managed appliance, information indicating a usage state of the managed appliance and power information of the managed appliance;judge a state of the managed appliance based on the managed appliance information;acquire a second digital signature, from the second electronic appliance registered with another apparatus connected to the power network, wherein the second digital signature is assigned to the identification information that is unique to the second electronic appliance by the another apparatus, and identification information that is unique to the another apparatus, when verification of the second digital signature assigned by the another apparatus has succeeded, to temporarily register the second electronic appliance registered with the another apparatus; andcontrol supply of power to the managed appliance or the second electronic appliance based on a priority ranking set for supplying power to the managed appliance or the second electronic appliance.