JP2003309494A - Monitor, monitoring method, state display device and state displaying method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of monitoring results by monitoring the operating state of electric and electronic equipment driven by electric power. <P>SOLUTION: A monitor is provided with a current measuring part for measuring the consumption current of the electric and electronic equipment, an information processing part for applying information processing to the measured current to specify the operating state of the electric and electronic equipment, and an outputting part for outputting the specified operating state to the outside. For example, the monitor is connected on to a power line feeding drive power, and the current measuring part can measure a passing current on the power line. The monitor outputs information specifying the electric and electronic equipment and its operating state and suitably monitors the operating state of equipment with no function for measuring the operation state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitoring device and a monitoring method for monitoring the operating state of a device, and a state display device and a method for displaying the state of the device. Further, the present invention relates to a monitoring device and a monitoring method for notifying a user of the monitoring result, and a status display device and a status display method.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a monitoring device and a monitoring method for monitoring the operating state of a device that does not have a function of measuring the operating state, and a state display device and a state displaying method, and in particular, the operating state of the device. The present invention relates to a monitoring device and a monitoring method for identifying a user and informing the user in an easy-to-understand manner, and a status display device and a status display method.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Environmental problems on a global scale such as an increase in CO ₂ and destruction of the ozone layer, or social problems at the national level such as medical expenses and barrier-free are safe and prosperous around us. Various problems are piled up to form a good life.

For this reason, it is necessary to integrate a plurality of devices and a plurality of systems in industry and households in consideration of not only energy aspects but also multifaceted efficiency such as medical care / nursing care and security.

In the so-called "ECHONET", in order to realize such comprehensive and systematic management,
Standardization work on communication between electric and electronic devices is being promoted, and several standard documents have been issued. When a device that complies with this standard is put on the market, it is possible to control and monitor electric and electronic devices as a whole and realize home automation.

In order to realize such comprehensive management, it is premised that the home network, which is its infrastructure, is widespread. One of the communication means used for ECHONET
As one, power line communication is defined.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a home network configuration in which home electric appliances installed in a general household are connected by a network using power lines. By using such an infrastructure, it becomes easy for the user to centrally manage the movable states of all the devices in the home. For example, when a microwave oven completes cooking, it is connected to a personal computer via a power line laid in the home.
A centralized management device such as a computer can be notified.

[0008] However, the electric
The current situation is that electronic devices have not been sold for a long time.
This means that even if electric and electronic devices compliant with ECHONET are put on the market, not all devices will have the functions built-in, and it will take a very long time to popularize them. It is currently stipulated by ECHONET. The reason is that means other than the above can be considered.

Further, most of the electric and electronic devices that have already become widespread at present do not have means for monitoring the operating state of the device, displaying the monitoring result, and notifying the user. Also, in many devices, the operating state is not defined, and even if the operating state of the device is measured, it cannot be easily informed to the user.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent monitoring device and method capable of monitoring the operating state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power and further notifying the user of the monitoring result. And a status display device and a status display method.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent monitoring device and method, and a state display device and a state display method, which are capable of suitably monitoring the operating state of a device having no function of measuring the operating state. To do.

[0012] A further object of the present invention is to specify the operating state of the device and notify the user in an easy-to-understand manner.
An excellent monitoring device and monitoring method, and a state display device and a state display method are provided.

[0013]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first aspect thereof is a monitoring device for monitoring the operating state of electric / electronic equipment driven by electric power. Or a monitoring method, a current measuring unit or step for measuring the current consumption of the electric / electronic device,
An information processing unit or step that processes the measured current in the current measuring unit or step to specify the operating state of the electric / electronic device; and an operating state of the electric / electronic device specified in the information processing unit or step. And an output unit or step for outputting to the outside, the monitoring device or the monitoring method.

The monitoring device according to the first aspect of the present invention is used, for example, by inserting it into a power line for supplying drive power from an external power source to the electric / electronic device, and the current measuring unit uses the power. The passing current on the line can be measured.

The output unit or step outputs together information specifying the electric / electronic device and its operating state. For example, the operation status of the electric / electronic device can be transferred to a status display device installed in another room, such as a personal computer, via a power line communication network including power lines laid in the home.

Therefore, according to the monitoring apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to monitor the operating state of the electric / electronic device driven by electric power and notify the remote user of the monitoring result. In addition, it is possible to preferably monitor the operating state of a device that does not have the function of measuring the operating state.

According to the present invention, the electric machine to be monitored
The electronic device itself does not need to be equipped with a monitoring function for monitoring the operating state or specifying the state, and the monitoring device may be attached externally. For example, it suffices to insert a monitoring device on a power line that supplies drive power from an external power source to the electric / electronic device. Even if the electric / electronic device itself is not equipped with a communication function, the monitoring device can identify the state of the electric / electronic device and present it to the user, or notify the remote user by the communication function. You can Therefore, it becomes possible to monitor home electric appliances in one place.

The monitoring device according to the first aspect of the present invention is an input device for receiving a user input to the information processing unit, and / or a display device for presenting a user with an information processing result in the information processing unit. May be further provided. Then, the operating state of the electronic device may be transferred via the power line communication network and directly output on the device instead of being displayed remotely.

Further, the monitoring device or the monitoring method according to the first aspect of the present invention is based on the premise for monitoring the current consumption of the electric / electronic equipment to determine the operating state, how much the power consumption in each operating state is. Need to know what is. Therefore, an operating state registration unit or step that stores the characteristics of the current consumption in each operating state of the electric / electronic device may be further provided.

The operation state of the electric / electronic device is registered by an instruction unit for the user to input the current operation state of the electric / electronic device and to the current measuring unit at that time in response to the instruction input from the user. This is realized by using an operation state table that stores the output in association with the output.

In such a case, the information processing unit or step, when monitoring the electric / electronic device, searches the measured current value output by the current measuring unit or step in the operating state table, The operating state of the target device can be easily specified.

Further, by rearranging the entries of the operating state table according to the order of magnitude of the measured current value,
The information processing unit or step can easily determine the operating state from the measured current in the current measuring unit or step by using the middle of the respective current values of the rearranged operating state table as the threshold value.

Further, the operation status registering unit or step can also register the status identification information such as the status name in each entry of the operation status table, so that the user can easily display the status. .

The operating state registration unit may statistically process the measured current in the current measuring unit to obtain the number of operating states of the electric / electronic device and the current consumption value in each operating state. . For example, it is possible to set a threshold value for detecting the valley of the frequency distribution of the measured current in the current measuring unit or step and determining the operating state.

The second aspect of the present invention is a state display device or state display method for displaying and outputting the operating state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power, which monitors the operating state of the electric / electronic device. A communication unit or step for communicating with the monitoring device, and an information display unit or step for outputting the information specifying the electric / electronic device and the information regarding the operating state received via the communication unit in a predetermined display format. A status display device or a status display method.

According to the status display device or the status display method according to the second aspect of the present invention, for example, the monitoring result of the home electric appliance installed in each room in the home is acquired via the home network, and the user can obtain the result. Can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner. Generally, in a home, a power line for supplying drive power for electric / electronic devices is laid in each room.
Therefore, the communication unit or step may communicate with the monitoring device via a power line communication network constructed using a power line.

The status display device or status display method according to the second aspect of the present invention further comprises an information input section or step for inputting information on the current consumption value in each operating state of the electric / electronic device. May be. Then, the input information may be transferred to the monitoring device via the communication unit. Alternatively, information on the current consumption value in each operating state of the electronic device may be downloaded from the information providing device on the external network.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are as follows.
It will be apparent from the embodiments of the present invention described later and the more detailed description based on the accompanying drawings.

[0029]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The monitoring device according to the present invention specifies the operating state of the electric / electronic device to be monitored based on the power consumption of the device, and notifies the user of the specified state in an easy-to-understand manner. Such a monitoring device may be built in each electric / electronic device, or may be externally connected and used. For example, a monitoring device may be inserted on a power line that supplies drive power from an external power source to the electric / electronic device to monitor the device operation.

By thus configuring the monitoring device as an external device of an electric / electronic device, it can be applied to a conventional electric / electronic device which does not have a monitoring function. Further, by introducing the information regarding the operating states of various electric / electronic devices, one monitoring device can be shared by a plurality of electric / electronic devices.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which an external type monitoring device is installed on a home network composed of power lines. As shown in the figure, the monitoring device is inserted between the power cord of the microwave oven and the commercial AC power source.

The monitoring device measures the operating current and can specify the operating mode of the microwave oven based on the transition or change of the current value. Examples of the operation mode mentioned here include a stopped state, a microwave oven (power level) operation state, and an oven function operation state. Further, the monitoring device can notify the status display device, such as a personal computer, of information on the specified operation mode via the power line laid in the home. The operation mode information includes information identifying the electric / electronic device (monitor device number or electric / electronic device name / model number, etc.) and operation state information (operating state number or operating state name). Be done.

On the personal computer side, when the data transmitted from the monitoring device is received, the information specifying the electric / electronic device and the information regarding the operating state contained in the data are processed, and each electric information is displayed on the display screen. -The operating status of electronic devices can be displayed.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the monitoring device 10. The illustrated monitoring device 10 includes at least a power line modem 11, an information processing unit 12, a current measuring unit 13, an AC plug 14, and an AC jack 15.

The AC plug 14 is connected to, for example, a commercial AC power source arranged on the wall surface of the room. Further, the AC jack 15 is connected to an electric / electronic device such as a home electric device which is an object of monitoring the operating state. Of course, the monitoring device 10 itself may be supplied with drive power from the AC plug 14.

The current measuring unit 13 measures the value of the power supply current supplied from the AC plug 14 of the monitoring device 10 through the AC jack 15, and outputs the result to the information processing unit 12.

The information processing unit 12 specifies (or estimates) the operation mode of the electric / electronic device connected to the AC jack 15 based on the current value received from the current measuring unit 13.
Then, the data including the information for specifying the electric / electronic device and the information about the operation state is configured and output to the power line modem 11.

The information for identifying the electric / electronic device may be, for example, a number added to identify the monitor device on the network, a name / model number of the electric / electronic device, or a name given by the user.

As the information on the operating state, the operating state number used by the monitor device or the operating state name of the electric / electronic device can be considered.

The power line modem 11 modulates the received transmission data and outputs the transmission signal to the power line. The transmission signal is delivered to the status display device such as a personal computer or PDA via the AC plug 14 and the power line laid in the home.

The status display device composed of a personal computer, PDA or the like is provided with a user interface composed of a liquid crystal display and a keyboard / touch panel, etc., which is excellent in operability. It is possible to display and output the operating state name of the electric / electronic device in a format that is easy for the user to understand. The data used for communication between the monitoring device 10 and a status display device such as a personal computer or PDA may be of any format as long as it is information that can identify the operating status of the electric / electronic device.

The monitoring device 10 itself is also the display device 16
A user interface such as the input device 17 and the like may be provided, and the operation mode of the electric / electronic device may be displayed on the device 10 and presented directly to the user.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the status display device 50. As illustrated, the status display device 50 includes a power line modem 51, an information processing section 52, a display device 53, an input device 55, and an AC plug 54.

The transmission signal from the monitoring device 10 is received via the AC plug 54, demodulated in the power line modem 51, and then output to the information processing section 52.

The information processing section 52 decodes the received data and further converts it into a format displayed on the display device 53.
When the received data is information that does not directly represent the electric / electronic device or the state name such as the identification number of the monitoring device or the operating state number, it is converted into the electric / electronic device name and the operating state name.

The display device 53 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display having a relatively high resolution, and displays and outputs the data received from the information processing section 52. Display device 5
In 3, the display is, for example, “microwave oven: strong range → stop”. Further, in the case where the same monitoring device 10 is connected to a plurality of electric / electronic devices at home and the operating states of the devices are acquired in parallel, on the display device 53,
The operating states of a plurality of devices may be displayed in parallel.

The status display device 50 does not necessarily need to have the power line modem 51 built therein and connected by power line communication. The status display device 50 is a power line communication device that performs power line communication, and an information processing device that manages the operating states of electric and electronic devices in the home and performs other information processing.
There may be a configuration in which the display device is separated from the display device and connected to each other via wireless communication or wired communication such as Ethernet (registered trademark). For example, the status display device 50 can be configured by mounting a power line modem on a general computer system such as a personal computer.

The monitoring device 10 and the status display device 50 do not necessarily need to be connected by power line communication.
For example, wireless communication or Ethernet (registered trademark) between both devices
It is also possible to connect via wired communication such as to transmit the information for specifying the electric / electronic device and the information regarding the operating state.

In this embodiment, the monitoring device 10 is an electric
Although the current consumption of an electronic device is monitored to specify the operating state of the device, it is necessary to know in advance what the current consumption is in each operating state of the electric / electronic device.

FIG. 5 shows a modification of the monitoring device 10. The monitoring device 10 shown in the figure includes a mechanism for registering the current value of each operation mode of the electric / electronic device to be monitored. The operation state registration mechanism stores an instruction unit for the user to input the current operation state of the electric / electronic device and an output of the current measuring unit 13 in response to the instruction input from the user in association with each other. It is composed of an operation status table. The operation state table is constructed on a local memory (not shown) of the information processing unit 12, for example. Hereinafter, a case where a microwave oven is a monitoring target will be described as an example.

Here, as the operating state of the microwave oven,
"Stop state", "Range 1 (strong power)", "Range 2"
(Weak power) ”and“ oven ”are defined. Then, the user operates the switch 1 in the stopped state, operates the switch 2 in the range 1, operates the switch 3 in the range 2, and operates the switch 3 in the oven, The output (current value) of the current measuring unit 13 in each state can be programmed in the information processing unit 12 in the monitoring device 10. Then, through such an operation, the operation state table shown in Table 1 below is created in the storage unit in the information processing unit 12.

[0053]

[Table 1]

By having such an operation state table, it becomes possible to manage a plurality of operation states for a certain electric / electronic device. When monitoring the electric / electronic device, the information processing unit 12 can easily identify the operating state by searching the operating state table for the measured current value of the current measuring unit 13.

Further, by registering information on the operating states of various electric / electronic devices in the operating state table, one monitoring device can be shared by a plurality of electric / electronic devices.

In order to estimate the operating state from the current consumption value, the table shown in Table 2 below is created based on Table 1. The table in Table 2 is sorted in ascending order of current consumption (or large). By sorting the entries in the order of the current consumption values in this way, for example, the middle of the current values in each entry can be set as a threshold value, and it is easy to determine which operating state the measured current value corresponds to. can do.

[0057]

[Table 2]

Another possible method is to automatically create an operating state table that describes the relationship between the operating state and the current consumption value. For example, in the monitoring device 10 shown in FIG. 3, the information processing unit 12 stores the sampling output of the current measuring unit 13. As a result, a frequency distribution of current values as shown in FIG. 6 is created. Here, the threshold for determining the operating state can be determined by automatically setting the threshold in the valley of the frequency distribution of the current. By such processing, it becomes possible to automatically generate the operation state tables shown in Tables 1 and 2.

It is possible to know from the measured current value whether or not the state is present, but in this state, each state is only a number from 1 to n. What kind of state is it? That is, it is necessary to associate it with identification information in a format that the user can easily understand, such as a state name.

The monitoring device 10 shown in FIG. 5 is provided with a mechanism for associating an operating state with a state name. Similarly, a microwave oven will be described as an example.

After the monitoring device 10 has finished associating the operating state with the current value, the user inputs the operating state name by using the input device 17 and the display device 16 provided in the monitoring device 10. .

This input operation may be carried out when the switch is operated in order to associate the operating state with the consumption current, or may be carried out after the operating state is completely associated with the product current. You may

For example, in response to the switch 1 being pressed while operating in the range 1, the state name input mode may be activated to prompt the user to input the state name. Alternatively, in response to the completion of the association, the monitoring device 10 displays the status number according to the operation of the microwave oven. Then, at that time, the user may be prompted to input the status item. As a result of such work, as shown in Table 3 below, an operation state table in which current consumption values and state names are associated is created.

[0064]

[Table 3]

The monitoring device 10 may send the operating status name to the status display device 50 when notifying the device status, or may transfer the operating status information in advance, and thereafter, the operating status number. Only (1 to n) may be sent.

FIG. 7 shows an example of acquiring the consumption current value in each operating state of the electric / electronic device via the network.

A gateway is arranged in the power line communication network laid in the home, and information can be exchanged via an external network.

Information on the current consumption value in each operating state of the electric / electronic device is stored in an information providing device such as a website on an external network and is released for a fee or free of charge.

The monitoring device 10 can access the website via the gateway to directly obtain information on the current consumption value in each operating state of the electric / electronic device. Alternatively, the status display device 50 once obtains such information, and the monitoring device 1 receives the information via the power line communication network.
By transferring to 0, electricity by the monitoring device 10
It is possible to set the consumption current value of each operation state of the electronic device.

In addition to this, another communication means and communication terminal download current consumption value information in each operating state of the electric / electronic equipment, record it on a medium such as a memory card, floppy disk, etc., and then monitor it. May be set to.

[Supplement] The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can modify or substitute the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the contents of this specification should not be construed in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the section of the claims described at the beginning should be taken into consideration.

[0072]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an excellent monitoring device and method, and a state display device and a state display method capable of monitoring the operating state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power and further notifying the user of the monitoring result. .

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an excellent monitoring device and method, and a state display device and a state display method capable of suitably monitoring the operating state of a device having no function of measuring the operating state. Can be provided.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an excellent monitoring apparatus and monitoring method, as well as a status display apparatus and status display method, by which the operating status of a device can be specified and notified to the user in an easy-to-understand manner. it can.

According to the present invention, the electric machine to be monitored
The electronic device itself does not need to be equipped with a monitoring function for monitoring the operating state or specifying the state, and the monitoring device may be attached externally. For example, it suffices to insert a monitoring device on a power line that supplies drive power from an external power source to the electric / electronic device. Even if the electric / electronic device itself is not equipped with a communication function, the monitoring device can identify the state of the electric / electronic device and present it to the user, or notify the remote user by the communication function. You can Therefore, it becomes possible to monitor home electric appliances in one place.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a home network configuration in which home electric appliances installed in a general home are connected by a network using a power line.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which the monitoring device according to the present embodiment is installed on a home network including power lines.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a monitoring device 10.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a status display device 50.

5 is a diagram showing a modified example of the monitoring device 10. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a frequency distribution of current values obtained by accumulating sampling outputs in the current measuring unit 13.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of acquiring a current consumption value in each operating state of an electric / electronic device via a network.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Monitoring device 11 ... Power line modem 12 ... Information processing unit 13 ... Current measuring unit 14 ... AC plug 15 ... AC jack 16 ... Display device 17 ... Input device 50 ... Status display device 51 ... Power line modem 52 ... Information processing unit 53 ... Display device 54 ... AC plug

Claims (31)

[Claims] 1. A monitoring device for monitoring an operating state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power, comprising: a current measuring unit for measuring current consumption of the electric / electronic device; and information on a measured current in the current measuring unit. An information processing unit that processes and specifies the operating state of the electric / electronic device, and an output unit that outputs the operating state of the electric / electronic device specified by the information processing unit to the outside. And monitoring equipment. 2. The drive power from an external power supply is used by being inserted on a power line for supplying to the electric / electronic device, and the current measuring unit measures a passing current on the power line.
The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs information specifying the electric / electronic device and its operating state together. 4. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit transfers an operating state of the electric / electronic device to an external device via a power line that supplies a driving power source. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input device that receives a user input to the information processing unit, and / or a display device that presents an information processing result of the information processing unit to a user. The monitoring device described. 6. The monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising an operating state registration unit that stores characteristics of current consumption in each operating state of the electric / electronic device. 7. The operating state registering unit includes an instructing unit for the user to instruct and input the current operating state of the electric / electronic device, and an output of the current measuring unit at that time in response to an instruction input from the user. The monitoring device according to claim 6, further comprising an operation state table that is stored in association with each other. 8. The information processing section, when monitoring the electric / electronic device, specifies the operating state by searching the operating state table for a measured current value output by the current measuring section. The monitoring device according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The operating state registering section rearranges the entries of the operating state table according to the order of magnitude of measured current values, and the information processing section intermediates the respective current values of the rearranged operating state table. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the operating state is determined from the measured current in the current measuring unit by using the threshold value as a threshold. 10. The monitoring device according to claim 7, wherein the operation state registration unit also registers the state identification information for external output in each entry of the operation state table. 11. The operating state registration unit statistically processes the measured current in the current measuring unit to obtain the number of operating states of the electric / electronic device and the current consumption value in each operating state. The monitoring device according to claim 6. 12. The operating state registration unit sets a threshold value for determining an operating state by detecting a valley in the frequency distribution of the measured current in the current measuring unit. Monitoring equipment. 13. A monitoring method for monitoring an operating state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power, comprising a current measuring step of measuring a consumption current of the electric / electronic device, and a measured current in the current measuring step. An information processing step of processing the information to identify the operating state of the electric / electronic device, and an output step of outputting the operating state of the electric / electronic device identified in the information processing step to the outside. The monitoring method characterized by. 14. The current measuring step comprises measuring a passing current on a power line for supplying drive electric power from an external power source to the electric / electronic device.
The monitoring method described in. 15. In the output step, information specifying the electric / electronic device and its operating state are output together.
The monitoring method according to claim 13, wherein: 16. The output step transfers the operating state of the electric / electronic device to an external device via a power line.
The monitoring method according to claim 13, wherein: 17. The monitoring method according to claim 13, further comprising an operation state registration step of storing characteristics of current consumption in each operation state of the electric / electronic device. 18. The operation state registering step stores in an operation state table in association with a current consumption value of the electric / electronic device at that time in response to an operation state instruction input from a user. The monitoring method according to claim 17. 19. The information processing step comprises:
The monitoring method according to claim 18, wherein when the electronic device is monitored, the operating state is specified by searching the operating state table for the measured current value in the current measuring step. 20. In the operation state registering step, the entries of the operation state table are rearranged in order of magnitude of the measured current value, and in the information processing step, intermediate values of the respective current values of the rearranged operation state table are set. 19. The monitoring method according to claim 18, wherein the operating state is determined from the measured current in the current measuring unit by using as a threshold value. 21. The monitoring method according to claim 18, wherein, in the operation state registration step, the state identification information for external output is also registered in each entry of the operation state table. 22. The operating state registration step statistically processes the measured current in the current measuring step to obtain the number of operating states of the electric / electronic device and the current consumption value in each operating state. The monitoring method according to claim 17. 23. The operating state registering step sets a threshold value for determining an operating state by detecting a valley in the frequency distribution of the measured current in the current measuring step. Monitoring method. 24. A state display device for displaying and outputting an operating state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power, comprising a communication unit for communicating with a monitoring device for monitoring the operating state of the electric / electronic device; and the communication unit. A state display device, comprising: an information display unit that outputs information specifying an electric / electronic device received via the computer and information about an operating state in a predetermined display format. 25. The status display device according to claim 24, wherein the communication unit communicates with the monitoring device via a power line that supplies a driving power source. 26. An information input unit for inputting information on a current consumption value in each operating state of the electric / electronic device is further provided, and the input information is transferred to the monitoring device via the communication unit. The status display device according to claim 24, wherein: 27. The state display device according to claim 24, wherein the input unit downloads information on a current consumption value in each operating state of the electronic device from an information providing device on an external network. 28. A state display method for displaying and outputting an operation state of an electric / electronic device driven by electric power, comprising a communication step of communicating with a monitoring device for monitoring the operation state of the electric / electronic device, A state display method comprising: an information display step of outputting information for specifying an electric / electronic device received through the communication step and information about an operating state in a predetermined display format. 29. The state display method according to claim 28, wherein in the communication step, communication with the monitoring device is performed via a power line that supplies a driving power source. 30. An information input step of inputting information on a current consumption value in each operating state of the electric / electronic device is further provided, and the input information is transferred to the monitoring device. 28. A status display method according to item 28. 31. The state display method according to claim 28, wherein in the inputting step, information on a current consumption value in each operating state of the electronic device is downloaded from an information providing device on an external network.