JP2006086943A - Remote controller, server and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a server manages contents for apparatus control to be utilized by a mobile terminal, such as a portable phone in conventional remote control but it is difficult for the server to unitarily manage installed apparatus particularly since there are a number of control items or monitor items different for each apparatus/machine type. <P>SOLUTION: The remote controller in house is provided with: a content storage unit 12 for holding content information for apparatus control to be displayed on a mobile terminal, such as a portable phone; an instruction execution unit 13 for executing an instruction relating to apparatus control; and a server communication unit 10 which includes a WEB server function, for communicating content information and an apparatus control instruction with a server. The server is provided with a relay server unit 20 for communicating with the remote controller and the mobile terminal, transmitting contents for apparatus control acquired from the remote controller to the mobile terminal and transmitting, to the remote controller, an instruction which is returned from the mobile terminal for the contents, relating to the apparatus control. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote controller that remotely controls devices inside and outside the home, a server that transmits and receives control information and display information to and from the remote controller, and a program thereof.

  Conventionally, this type of system has many configurations as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a conventional system described in Patent Document 1.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which a plurality of devices 100 are installed in the house. The device 100 is a normal home appliance such as a bath, a water heater, and a refrigerator. The mobile phone 103 has a WEB browser function. The WEB server unit 102 stores content for device control to be displayed in the mobile phone 103. The user operates the WEB browser in the mobile phone 103 to connect to the WEB server unit 102 and display the stored content. The user gives instructions regarding device control / monitoring by operating the displayed content. This instruction is converted into a control signal by the WEB server unit 102 and transmitted to the device 100 via the router 101 in the home. The device 100 receives this signal and performs an operation according to the control instruction. Such an operation realizes out-of-home control.
JP 2002-186057 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, the WEB server unit 102 manages the content for device control displayed on the mobile phone, and the server manages all the settings for each user and each device, the content for each model, and the like. Must-have. In particular, equipment such as water heaters, baths, floor heating, and air conditioners have many control items and monitor items, and these differ depending on the model of each device. There is a problem that it is difficult to centrally manage all of this information on a server.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, in the present invention, a content storage unit for storing and managing content information for operating a device from a terminal such as a mobile phone on the remote control side, communication of the content information to the server, and server A server communication unit having a WEB server function for communicating commands related to device control and device monitoring. In addition, the server side communicates with the remote controller and the terminal, transmits the device control content acquired from the remote controller to the terminal, and transmits the device control and device monitor commands transmitted from the terminal to the remote controller. A relay server is provided. As a result, it is only necessary for the server side to relay the contents for device control stored in the remote controller, and it is not necessary to manage settings and contents for each user, for each device, for each model.

  By using the remote control and the server of the present invention, it becomes possible to manage content for device control used in an out-of-home terminal such as a mobile phone on the remote control side. This can reduce the management of content and settings on the server.

  In addition, the device control content in the remote control can be used not only in the remote terminal but also in the remote control main body, and can also be used in the home from a WEB browser of a personal computer connected to the same LAN line as the remote control. By having device control content in the remote control, more flexible remote control and remote monitoring can be realized.

  The first invention includes a device control unit that controls and monitors a device, a content storage unit that stores and manages content information for operating the device from a terminal such as a mobile phone, and an ID unique to the remote control An ID storage unit that stores information, a command execution unit that executes commands related to device control and device monitoring, a server that communicates ID information and content information to the server, and commands related to device control and device monitoring from the server A communication unit is provided. Since content for device control is stored in the remote controller, content management on the server side can be reduced.

  According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the content storage unit is a file, an image file, an audio file, or a script program described in a markup language such as HTML or XML for displaying a user interface screen on the terminal. The server communication unit has a WEB server function, and the command execution unit stores a WEB application such as a CGI program for controlling the device control unit in conjunction with the content in the content storage unit. ·Execute. By using a file such as HTML generally used on the Internet or a mechanism such as CGI, device control from a larger number of terminals becomes possible.

  The third invention communicates with a terminal such as a mobile phone and a remote controller, transmits contents for device operation acquired from the remote controller to the terminal, and in response to commands and requests regarding device control and device monitoring transmitted from the terminal. Is provided with a relay server unit for transmitting the message to the remote control. Thereby, the content stored and managed on the remote control side can be accessed from a terminal such as a mobile phone.

  According to a fourth invention, in the third invention, an authentication information management unit for storing authentication information for a user, and an authentication server unit for performing user authentication using information stored in the authentication information management unit when the server is accessed from a terminal And a device information management unit for storing the user information and ID information given to the remote control and the relationship between the two, and the relay server unit (1) searches for the device information management unit from the user information obtained by user authentication. ID information of the remote control owned by the user is acquired, (2) content information is acquired from the remote control having the acquired ID information and transmitted to the terminal, and (3) device control or device generated by the terminal operation from the user Transmitting to a remote controller having ID information acquired by a command related to a monitor is performed.

  Thereby, it is possible to identify the remote controller to which the device to be controlled is connected from the information obtained by the user authentication, and it is easy to use and reliable without requiring the user to input a special remote controller ID or the like. Control can be realized.

  In a fifth aspect based on the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the device information management unit stores and manages user information, remote control ID information, remote control communication destination information (IP address, port number, etc.) in association with each other. The relay server unit searches the device information management unit from the user information obtained by the authentication server unit to acquire communication destination information of the remote control, and acquires content information from the remote control, and remote control of commands related to device control and device monitoring Send. With this mechanism, the relay server unit can easily obtain communication destination information of the remote controller.

  A sixth invention includes a display unit having a WEB browser function and an input unit that receives an input operation from a user in the first or second invention, and the display unit and the input unit are WEB in the server communication unit. The server function is accessed, the display unit displays the content for device operation in the content storage unit, and the user operates the instruction execution unit and the device control unit by operating the input unit according to the display, and the device Have control and equipment monitoring. As a result, the content and mechanism for performing remote control from a terminal such as a mobile phone can be used for control from the remote control main body, and the configuration of the remote control is simplified.

  In a seventh aspect based on any one of the first, second, and sixth aspects, the device control unit changes the content for device operation in the content storage unit according to the type of the connected device. It is characterized by that. As a result, there is no need to change the contents and settings accompanying the increase / decrease of devices on the server side, and there is an advantage that the management cost on the server side can be reduced.

  An eighth invention is a program for causing a computer to realize at least part of the functions of the remote controller described in any one of the first, second, sixth, and seventh inventions.

  A ninth invention is a program for causing a computer to realize at least a part of the functions of the server described in any one of the third, fourth, and fifth inventions.

  Since it is a program, some or all of the functions of the present invention can be easily realized by using hardware resources such as electric / information equipment and a computer in cooperation. Also, program distribution and installation can be simplified by recording on a recording medium or distributing a program using a communication line.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a device 1 is a general device or device installed in a user's home. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a bath water heater (heat source machine), floor heating, and gas meter equipment are used as examples of the equipment 1 (the equipment 1 may be other equipment, for example, (a ) Air-conditioning equipment such as air conditioners, ventilation fans, blowers, fan heaters, etc., (b) other equipment such as drying heaters, power meters, water meters, door phones, etc. (c) white goods such as washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens, etc. It can be equipment).

  The remote controller 2 is a device that communicates with the device 1 and the server 4 and monitors and controls the device 1 and displays information in accordance with instructions from the server 4. Note that the communication between the device 1 and the remote controller 2 is wired communication (such as a light line or twisted pair line) in FIG. 1, but may be wireless communication (such as infrared rays, low-power wireless, and wireless LAN). The remote controller 2 also has a function of monitoring and controlling the device 1 by operating the display unit 15 and the input unit 16 inside the remote control body.

  The home higher-level communication device 3 is a device such as a modem or a router for connecting the remote controller 2 to an external communication network such as the Internet. Specific examples include an ADSL router, a CATV modem, an ISDN dialup router, an optical fiber line terminating device, a media converter, a home PNA device, a router, and a switching hub. In FIG. 1, the home higher-level communication device 3 is illustrated as one configuration, but the configuration may be divided into a plurality of units such as a splitter and an ADSL router.

  The remote controller 2 and the home higher-level communication device 3 are connected by a wired LAN based on the IEEE 802.3 standard, and perform communication based on the TCP / IP protocol (note that wireless LAN connection based on IEEE 802.11 or other Communication method or other communication line may be used).

  The server 4 communicates with a plurality of remote controllers 2 and terminals 5 to provide a service related to device control to the user. Basically, processing related to user authentication and processing for relaying communication between the terminal 5 and the remote controller 2 are performed.

  The terminal 5 indicates a terminal device such as a mobile phone having a WEB browser function, a PHS, a PDA, or a personal computer (PC). These are basically operated outside the home, and the home device 1 is monitored and controlled by the operation.

  The remote controller 2 is composed of the following seven elements.

  (A1) A server communication unit 10 that has a WEB server function and communicates with the server 4.

  (A2) An ID storage unit 11 that stores ID information uniquely set for each remote controller.

  (A3) A content storage unit 12 that stores device control content to be displayed by the WEB browser function of the terminal 5. The device control content is described in a markup language such as HTML or XML, and an image file, an audio file, a script program, or the like is used as necessary. These constitute a user interface screen displayed on the terminal 5.

  (A4) A command execution unit 13 that executes commands related to device control and device status monitoring included in the content. Specifically, it is a part for storing and executing a CGI program called from the content. The CGI program is a program written in C language or the like, and executes it. In the present embodiment, description will be made using CGI, but other WEB applications such as PHP, ASP, and servlet may be used. Since these are called from within the content, as a result, they operate in conjunction with the content.

  (A5) A device control unit 14 that is a communication interface circuit with the device 1. The device control unit 14 differs greatly depending on the communication method between the device 1 and the remote controller 2. For example, in the case of infrared communication, it includes an infrared LED transmission / reception circuit and a control circuit. In the case of wired communication, for example, a circuit for serial communication is used. The command execution unit 13 executes the WEB application designated by the server communication unit 10 to control the device control unit 14 and monitor and control the device 1.

  (A6) Display unit 15 having a WEB browser function. The display unit 15 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal device and its control circuit (the control circuit unit includes a WEB browser function). It communicates with the content storage unit 12 and the command execution unit 13 via the server communication unit 10 to display the acquired content information, a guide screen for controlling the device 1, and a control result. Note that the display unit 15 may use other display devices such as an EL device and a CRT device instead of a liquid crystal device.

  (A7) An input unit that requests input from the user in cooperation with the WEB browser function of the display unit 15. Specifically, it is composed of push buttons, a keyboard, and the like. The display unit 15 and the input unit 16 may be integrated to form a configuration like a touch panel.

  The server 4 is composed of the following four elements.

  (B1) A relay server unit 20 that relays and communicates content for controlling and monitoring the device 1 (device control content) and device control command information between the remote controller 2 and the terminal 5.

  (B2) An authentication server unit 21 that authenticates the user when accessing from the terminal 5.

  (B3) A device information management unit 22 that manages communication destination information such as ID information and IP address of a remote controller held by a user authenticated by the authentication server unit 21. Specifically, the device information management unit 22 manages ID information of the remote controller and communication destination information (IP address, port number, etc.) in association with the user ID.

  (B4) An authentication information management unit 23 that stores and manages authentication information used in the authentication server unit 21. Specifically, information such as a user ID and a password is managed. Note that the authentication server unit 21 may have a function such as billing using these pieces of authentication information.

  The operation of the remote controller and server of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. This flowchart shows the operation of each unit when the remote control is performed from the terminal 5.

  (Step A1) The authentication server unit 21 is accessed using the WEB browser function in the terminal 5. Specifically, the terminal 5 is connected to the authentication server unit 21 when the user inputs predetermined URL information to a WEB browser function such as a mobile phone.

  (Step A2) The authentication server unit 21 returns GUI input screen information (HTML file) for causing the terminal 5 to perform user authentication, and prompts the user to input ID information and the like. A specific example of the authentication screen on the terminal 5 is shown in FIG. In the figure, the user is requested to input a “user ID” and a “password”.

  (Step A3) The user operates the terminal 5 to input authentication information such as “user ID” and “password”. The input information is transmitted to the authentication server unit 21.

  (Step A4) The authentication server unit 21 accesses the authentication information management unit 23, and compares the user authentication information registered in advance with the information transmitted in step A3.

  (Step A5) In the comparison of the authentication information in Step 4, the process is branched depending on whether or not the user having the information input at the terminal 5 is already registered in the authentication information management unit 23. If it is not registered, the process returns to step A2 to allow the user to re-enter authentication information. If registered, the process proceeds to the next step A6.

  (Step A6) The authenticated user ID is transmitted to the relay server unit 20. The relay server unit 20 accesses the device information management unit 22 and acquires the remote controller ID information corresponding to the user ID and communication destination information such as an IP address. The remote controller ID information corresponding to the user ID means ID information given to the remote controller of the authenticated user. This ID information is stored in an ID storage unit inside the remote controller 2. In the present embodiment, the explanation is given on the assumption that one remote controller is provided for one user.

  The device information management unit 22 stores and manages ID information and communication destination information (IP address, port number, etc.) of the corresponding remote controller in association with the user ID. These pieces of information are registered in the device information management unit 22 by the operator when the remote controller is installed.

  (Step A7) The relay server unit 20 starts access to the communication destination acquired in Step A6, and acquires device control and status monitor content (device control content to be displayed on the terminal 5) from the remote controller 2. . Specifically, the relay server unit 20 performs HTTP communication with the server communication unit 10 in the remote controller 2, issues a request regarding acquisition of device control content, and is stored in the content storage unit 12 in the remote controller 2. Get device control content.

  (Step A8) The relay server unit 20 immediately transmits the content information acquired in Step A7 to the terminal 5. The WEB browser in the terminal 5 displays the received content. A display example on the terminal 5 is shown in FIG. This is a device selection screen when a bath water heater, a floor heater, and a gas meter are connected to the remote controller 2. In this embodiment, before the device control is performed, device monitoring is always performed to acquire the current state of the device. Therefore, when a device is selected in FIG. 4B, status acquisition (device monitoring) is performed at that time.

  The device control unit 14 of the remote controller 2 can know what device can be connected to itself and which device is currently connected, and changes the contents of the content storage unit 12 accordingly. The device control unit 14 updates the contents of the content storage unit 12 when the device 1 is installed.

  (Step A9) The user performs an operation on the content displayed by the WEB browser of the terminal 5 to select a device. In the display example of FIG. 4B, the case where “floor heating” is selected is described.

  (Step A10) When “logout” is selected in the content displayed on the WEB browser of the terminal 5, the processing is immediately terminated.

  (Step A11) When a device is selected as shown in FIG. 4B (in the figure, “floor heating” is selected), information linked to the content is transmitted from the terminal 5 to the relay server unit 20. And transmitted by HTTP communication. In general, the link information here is a command related to screen transition, device control, or monitoring.

  In the case of FIG. 4, the link information is command information related to device status monitoring and result display, and more specifically, is a command to call a device monitoring program (CGI). The relay server unit 20 receives this link information (CGI call) and transmits it to the communication destination (remote controller 2) obtained in step A6 as it is. As a result, the command issued by the terminal 5 is relayed to the remote controller 2 owned by the user.

  (Step A12) The server communication unit 10 in the remote controller 2 accepts command information (CGI call) related to device control and monitoring from the relay server unit 20 by the WEB server function, and transmits the information to the command execution unit 13. The command execution unit 13 interprets and executes the command information, controls the device control unit 14 to communicate with the device 1, and controls the device 1 and monitors the status.

  (Step A13) The instruction execution unit 13 acquires the device control result and the state monitor result of the device 1 as the control result of the device control unit 14, and displays HTML content for displaying the result on the terminal 5 according to the CGI program. Generate. This content information is returned to the relay server unit 20 using the WEB server function in the server communication unit 10.

  The CGI program main body relating to device control and monitoring in steps A12 and A13 and conversion of the resulting HTML content is stored in the instruction execution unit 13 for each device, each model, and each function. Usually, the command information received from the relay server unit 20 is centered on the CGI program call and arguments of the command execution unit 13. Depending on which CGI is called with which argument, the contents of device control / monitoring and content generation as a result differ.

  (Step A14) The relay server unit 20 transmits the content information received from the server communication unit 10 in the remote controller 2 to the terminal 5 as it is, as in step A8. Thereby, the terminal 5 can display the result of device monitoring or device control.

  Examples of the result display screen are shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D. FIG. 4C is an example in which a result relating to the device monitor is displayed. In this case, the device control menu screen is displayed simultaneously with the result display. How to display such a result display screen is determined by the CGI program in the instruction execution unit 13. FIG. 4D is an example in which a result related to device control is displayed.

  In order to make a transition to FIG. 4D, it is necessary to press the “switch operation” button in FIG. When this is pressed, the terminal 5 issues a device control command (CGI call) for changing the operation state of the device. Similar to step A11, this command is relay-transmitted to the remote controller 2 by the relay server unit 20, and the operation of the device 1 is switched by the subsequent steps A12 to A13.

  The relay server unit 20 of the present embodiment transmits the content information from the remote controller 2 to the terminal 5 as it is, but it may perform content conversion processing. For example, the content is converted so that it can be appropriately displayed on the terminal 5 according to the type of the terminal 5 (for example, in the case of a mobile phone, the screen size, the number of colors, the model, and the corresponding HTML tag are different). May be.

  By the operation as described above, even when the content to be displayed on the terminal 5 is held inside the remote controller 2, the relay server unit 20 is provided, so that the device 1 can be controlled and monitored from the terminal 5.

  It should be noted that the server 4 of this embodiment performs the same function even if it is functionally divided into two as shown in FIG. The first is a server 4 ′ composed of an authentication server unit 21 and an authentication information management unit 23, and the other is a server 4 ″ composed of a relay server unit 20 and a device information management unit 22. The former server 4 'manages user information, performs membership / unsubscription, personal information management, billing, etc., and does not manage information related to devices. On the other hand, the latter server 4 ″ does not manage user information, but mainly manages device information such as remote controller ID information and transmission destination IP address. These servers 4 ′, 4 ″ may be physically separated from each other, and the management entities may be different.

  The communication between the relay server 20 and the server communication unit 10 may be HTTP communication or communication using another protocol such as SOAP. Further, the terminal 5 has been described as an out-of-home terminal operated outside the home, but the same effect can be obtained even when operated inside the home.

  Note that each unit described in the present embodiment is a program for causing a hardware resource such as a CPU (or microcomputer), RAM, ROM, storage / recording device, electrical / information device including I / O, a computer, and the like to cooperate with each other. You may implement with a form. In the form of a program, new functions can be easily distributed / updated and installed by recording them on a recording medium such as magnetic media or optical media or distributing them via a communication line such as the Internet.

  As described above, in the remote control, the server, and the program thereof according to the present invention, the content to be used for remote control is managed on the remote control side, whereby the management content on the server can be simplified. This can be applied not only to the remote control of equipment, but also to the remote control of other home appliances, the NCU device, and the like.

The figure which shows the whole structure in Example 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the remote control operation | movement of Example 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the remote control operation | movement of Example 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of a screen display at the time of the outside control of Example 1 of this invention The figure which shows the example of the server division | segmentation in Example 1 of this invention The figure which shows the whole structure of a prior art example

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus 2 Remote control 3 Home host communication apparatus 4 Server 5 Terminal 10 Server communication part 11 ID memory | storage part 12 Content memory | storage part 13 Instruction execution part 14 Equipment control part 15 Display part 16 Input part 20 Relay server part 21 Authentication server part 22 Equipment information Manager 23 Authentication Information Manager

Claims (9)

A device control unit for controlling and monitoring the device, a content storage unit for storing and managing content information for operating the device from the terminal, an ID storage unit for storing ID information unique to the remote controller, a device control and a device monitor A remote controller comprising: a command execution unit that executes a command related to the server; and a server communication unit that communicates the ID information and the content information to a server and communicates commands related to device control and device monitoring from the server. The content storage unit stores and manages at least one of a file, an image file, an audio file, and a script program described in a markup language such as HTML or XML, and the server communication unit has a WEB server function, and an instruction execution unit The remote controller according to claim 1, which stores and executes a WEB application such as a CGI program for controlling a device control unit in conjunction with content in the content storage unit. A relay server unit that communicates with the remote control and the terminal, transmits content for device operation acquired from the remote control to the terminal, and transmits commands and requests related to device control and device monitoring transmitted from the terminal to the remote control. A server characterized by that. An authentication information management unit that stores authentication information for a user, an authentication server unit that performs user authentication using information stored in the authentication information management unit when accessing a server from a terminal, and user information and an ID assigned to the remote controller A device information management unit for storing information and the relationship between the two, and the relay server unit (1) searches the device information management unit from the user information obtained by the user authentication and obtains ID information of a remote control owned by the user. (2) Acquisition of content information from a remote controller having the acquired ID information and transmission to the terminal, and (3) ID information acquired for commands related to device control and device monitoring generated by user terminal operations. 4. The server according to claim 3, wherein transmission is performed to a remote controller. The device information management unit stores and manages user information, remote controller ID information, and remote controller communication destination information (IP address, port number, etc.) in association with each other, and the relay server unit uses the user information obtained by the authentication server unit to determine the device 5. The information management unit is searched to acquire communication destination information of the remote controller, content information is acquired from the remote controller, and instructions related to device control and device monitoring are transmitted to the remote controller. Server. A display unit having a WEB browser function; and an input unit for accepting an input operation from a user. The display unit and the input unit access a WEB server function in a server communication unit, and the display unit is in a content storage unit. The content for device operation is displayed, and the user operates the input unit according to the display to operate the instruction execution unit and the device control unit to perform device control and device monitoring. Item 3. The remote control according to item 1 or 2. The remote controller according to claim 1, wherein the device control unit changes content for device operation in the content storage unit in accordance with the type of the connected device. The program for making a computer implement | achieve at least one part of the function of the remote control of any one of Claim 1, 2, 6, 7. The program for making a computer implement | achieve at least one part of the function of the server of any one of Claim 3, 4, 5.

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