JP4838096B2 - Home appliance communication control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control system configured to control home appliances connected to a network via a device adapter.

  A device adapter that connects home appliances to a network is described in Patent Document 1. This device adapter is in charge of communication processing including transmission media, communication processing with connected home appliances, and protocol conversion processing between the two. By using a common communication interface with the home appliance side, it becomes a configuration that realizes versatility on the side of the equipment adapter. Accordingly, it is necessary to install a program related to device object processing and network processing on the home appliance side.

In addition, there is a system that reduces the network compatible processing on the home appliance side by preparing a device adapter exclusively for the home appliance and mounting the device adapter on the device adapter side with respect to processing of the device object and network processing. In such a device adapter, a plurality of device object processing programs that are assumed to be connected are mounted in advance, and the processing program is selectively executed by determining the actually connected device.
JP 2003-283503 A

  However, in order to compensate for the increase in processing load for processing of device objects and network processing mounted on the home appliance side, it is essential to increase the functionality of the CPU and increase the operating clock speed. In addition, the control timing design is complicated, the power consumption is increased, and the cost of home appliances is increased. This increase in processing load does not occur constantly as viewed from home appliances, and for this reason, a configuration in which the CPU processing capacity is enhanced is not realistic.

  Next, in the case of a configuration in which the device adapter side executes device object processing and network processing, the home appliance device side does not need to be aware of the network operation, such as which device the message is transmitted from. It is only necessary to detect and process only the presence / absence of a request related to the control contents, and the configuration is effective in view of the processing burden on the home appliance side.

  However, each time a new home appliance is developed, a new additional function is added, and accordingly, it is necessary to update the contents of the device object held in advance on the device adapter side. The administrative burden associated with the increase will increase.

  In fact, the main functions inherent in home appliances have not changed over the long term. For example, in the case of air conditioners, operation on / off, operation mode setting such as cooling / heating, setting temperature and air volume setting etc. are basic, even if the details of the control method have changed, There is no change as an operation target item. Therefore, it is not realistic to perform the updating of the device adapter only for adding an additional function.

  In view of the characteristics of such additional functions, the present invention provides a communication control system including a device adapter that can flexibly cope with additional functions added to each new model while reducing the processing burden on the home appliance side. The purpose is to provide.

  The communication control system according to the present invention is communicatively connected to an external control device that acquires information such as a control command and an operation state via a common network for a household electric appliance to be controlled, and a household electric appliance to be controlled. This is a home appliance communication control system that includes a home appliance and a device adapter that manages mutual conversion processing between control information with the home appliance and control information on a common network.

  The home appliance has a function of applying a control command detected via a communication means with the device adapter to the control of the main body, and a function of notifying the operation state of the home appliance main body to the device adapter side.

  The device adapter includes first mutual conversion means for the main function of the home appliance in the mutual conversion processing. The device adapter includes a first interconversion storage unit that stores one or more first interconversion units in advance, a connected device recognition unit that identifies the connected home appliance, and an identification result of the connection device recognition unit. Selecting means for selecting a first mutual conversion means corresponding to the home appliance from one mutual conversion storage means.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the device adapter further requests additional function control information from the home appliance and acquires the additional function control information. The device adapter is based on the acquisition result of the additional function acquisition unit. A second mutual conversion means for executing the conversion process.

  When the home appliance detects a request from the additional function acquisition request detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an additional function acquisition request from the equipment adapter, and the additional function acquisition request detecting means detects the request, the additional function control information held in advance is stored. And means for transmitting additional function control information to be transmitted to the device adapter.

  As described above, since only the main function of the home appliance is mounted in advance on the device adapter side, and the additional function can be dynamically set as necessary, this one device adapter can be used. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly cope with additional functions added for each new model.

  On the other hand, the home appliance has an additional function non-transmitting state in which the control command from the device adapter and the notification processing of the main body operating state are invalidated until the request is detected by the additional function acquisition request detecting means. As a result, it is possible to eliminate a control request in an uncertain state with respect to an additional function that is dynamically set on the home appliance side, leading to an improvement in product reliability.

  Further, the home appliance generates and stores predetermined additional function identification information when the request is detected by the additional function acquisition request detection means, and also includes the additional function identification information when the additional function transmission means is executed. introduce. Further, the home appliance extracts the additional function identification information added to the control command from the equipment adapter, and collates with the additional function identification information stored therein, and the result of the collation means And a means for shifting to a state where the additional function is not transmitted.

  On the other hand, the device adapter has means for storing the additional function identification information acquired by the additional function acquisition unit, and transmits the stored additional function identification information together with a control command to the home appliance. As a result, the home appliance can monitor the effectiveness of maintaining the settings for the additional functions that are dynamically set, leading to an improvement in product reliability.

  Furthermore, the additional function control information is configured in association with a control code area assigned in advance for each control attribute. As a result, it is not necessary to set detailed information such as control attributes and data size required for each control code to be set for an additional function that is dynamically set. The processing load is reduced, and in particular, the required memory capacity on the device adapter side is reduced.

  Further, the additional function control information includes identification information of the type of home appliance. The external control device acquires the home appliance identification information, acquires operation information for the additional function defined in advance for each home appliance identification information separately from the network, and reflects it in the operation screen process. Thereby, since the apparatus adapter does not need to know the content with respect to an additional function, it can respond | correspond only by additionally updating about the operation information on a server as a communication control system of a household appliance.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the device adapter is a device adapter dedicated to home appliances equipped with device object processing and network processing on the device adapter side, there is no need to be aware of network operations on the home appliance side, Therefore, it is only necessary to detect and process only the presence or absence of a request regarding the control content of the device, and the processing burden on the home appliance side can be reduced.

  In addition, it is installed on the device adapter side only for the main functions of home appliances, and additional functions are dynamically set as necessary. Therefore, it is possible to provide a device adapter that can flexibly cope with the development, and also to reduce the burden on the development work and management work for the device adapter.

  In addition, until various settings for the additional function between the home appliance and the device adapter are normally completed, the indefinite control request received on the home appliance side is invalidated, and unintended control may be executed. Not leading to improved product reliability.

  In addition, the home appliance side continuously monitors the effectiveness of setting maintenance for the dynamically set additional functions, and if an abnormality is detected, it is invalidated for the control request. No control is performed, leading to improved product reliability.

  Furthermore, fixedly assigning control codes for each control attribute in advance leads to a reduction in the amount of data required for setting information for additional functions that need to be set dynamically. The burden is reduced, and in particular, the required memory capacity on the device adapter side is reduced.

  Furthermore, since the device adapter does not need to know the contents of the dynamically generated additional function, the operation information on the server is added as a communication control system to the introduction of a new model of home appliances. It becomes possible to respond by simply updating.

  FIG. 1 shows a system configuration block diagram of the present invention. The controlled device installed in the house includes an air conditioner 2, a device adapter 3 for connecting the air conditioner 2 to the network, and a home gateway 1 that outputs a control command to the controlled device in the home.

  The in-home gateway 1 is connected to a public line 5 such as the Internet via a router modem 4 by an out-of-home communication processing unit 8. When a remote operation request is made to the home gateway 1 by a browser operation of the mobile phone 7 via the public network 5, a display screen is generated and responded by the Web server 11 in the application processing unit 10. Further, the in-home gateway 1 includes an in-home communication processing unit 9 that communicates with a controlled device in the home, and a registered device management unit 10a that manages device information and address of the controlled device.

  Connected to the public line 5 is a device information external server 6 that publishes template information for additional function information for each controlled device that can be handled by this system. The in-home gateway 1 constitutes an external control device that acquires information such as a control command and an operation state via a common network for home appliances to be controlled. The external control device may be a mobile phone as shown in FIG.

  The air conditioner 2 manages the communication processing unit 14 with the device adapter 3, the message analysis / conversion unit 13 that extracts and analyzes the control content from the control request message acquired via the communication processing unit 14, and the main body control of the air conditioner. And a main body control unit 12.

  In the present embodiment, power is supplied to the device adapter 3 through the communication processing unit 14, but a configuration in which power is supplied from another power source such as an AC adapter on the device adapter 3 side may be used.

  The device adapter 3 performs a first mutual conversion of commands related to main functions with respect to an inter-device communication processing unit 22 that processes communication with home appliances, a control request from the home gateway 1, and operation information from the air conditioner 2. A main function command conversion unit 18 serving as a conversion unit, an additional function command conversion unit 21 serving as a second mutual conversion unit that performs command conversion in accordance with the conversion setting information held in the additional function conversion setting storage unit 23, and for an in-home network And an object management unit 17 that processes object information of home appliances and a home communication processing unit 16 that communicates with the home gateway 1.

  The device adapter 3 stores an air conditioner processing program and a refrigerator processing program which are main functions in the main function command conversion unit 18. The device adapter 3 includes a connected device recognizing unit that identifies a home electric appliance to be connected. This recognition means is provided in the main function command conversion unit 18. The main function command conversion unit 18 selects and executes a processing program corresponding to the connected home appliance from the identification result.

  Further, the device adapter 3 requests additional function control information from the additional function command conversion unit 21 to the home appliance 2 via the inter-device communication processing unit 22. When the home appliance 2 detects the presence or absence of an additional function acquisition request from the device adapter 3 and detects a request for additional function acquisition through the communication processing unit 14 in the message analysis / conversion unit 13, it holds the additional function held in advance. The function object information is transmitted to the device adapter 3.

  In this way, only the main functions of home appliances are pre-installed on the device adapter side, and the additional functions are dynamically set as necessary. There is no need to provide a single device adapter, and it is possible to flexibly cope with additional functions added to each new model.

  Moreover, until the acquisition request of an additional function is detected, the household electrical appliance 2 is set to an additional function non-transmitting state in which the control command from the device adapter 3 and the notification processing of the main body operating state are invalidated.

  The home appliance 2 generates and stores predetermined additional function identification information in the additional function object information section when a request for acquiring the additional function is detected, and the additional function identification information is transmitted when the additional function information is transmitted. Also communicate. Further, the home appliance 2 extracts the additional function identification information added to the control command from the device adapter 3, and collates it with the stored additional function identification information. If the result of the verification does not match, the additional function is not transmitted.

  Further, the device adapter 3 includes an additional function conversion setting storage unit 23 in the additional function command conversion unit 21, stores additional function identification information acquired from the home appliance, and stores the added function identification stored at the time of a control command to the home appliance. Send information together.

  Further, the additional function control information is configured in association with a control code area allocated in advance for each control attribute. This eliminates the need to set detailed information such as control attributes and data size required for each control code to be associated with the dynamically set additional function.

  Further, the additional function control information includes identification information of the type of home appliance. The external control device acquires the home appliance identification information, acquires operation information for the additional function defined in advance for each home appliance identification information from the server 6 on the network, and reflects it in the operation screen processing.

  Here, the home network is assumed to be connected by communication according to the ECHONET (registered trademark, hereinafter the same) standard, and the specific low-power radio is used as a transmission medium for each of the home communication processing units 9 and 16. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to ECHONET as a communication specification for a home network, and the transmission medium may be another one such as a wireless LAN.

  FIG. 2 shows a communication flow sequence diagram from the start to the remote operation in the present invention, and details of the operation will be described in order. First, when power is supplied from the air conditioner 2 (T1), power supply is also started to the device adapter 3 side, and a device information acquisition request message is transmitted from the device adapter 3.

  When the response message of the device information is returned from the air conditioner 2 side (T2), the device adapter 3 responds with the contents of the returned device information and the processing program (19, 20) previously held in the main function command conversion unit 18 Check consistency with.

  In this case, it can be confirmed that the air conditioner 2 is a corresponding air conditioner, and the main function command conversion unit 18 selects the air conditioner processing program 19, and thereafter, the command conversion process for the main function is executed. Subsequently, the device adapter 3 transmits an additional function information acquisition request message (T3).

  When a response message of additional function information is returned from the air conditioner 2 based on the content of the additional function object information held in the air conditioner 2 (T4), the response is made by the additional function command conversion unit 21 of the device adapter 3. Conversion setting information is dynamically generated based on the contents of the additional function information, and the result is stored in the additional function conversion setting storage unit 23.

  Here, details of the setting method of the additional function in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in the table of FIG. 3A, 16 types of additional function codes 0 to 15 are prepared as additional functions that can be set in this system. Further, in order to reduce dynamic setting processing, it is determined in advance which additional function code corresponds to the attribute of the control content.

  When setting an additional function having a flag attribute such as turning on / off a certain function, any one of the additional function codes 0 to 5 is associated. Further, when a certain additional function is operated, when a set value is selected from a level value such as intensity or a plurality of modes, any one of the additional function codes 6 to 9 is associated. Similarly, when a setting with a continuous value such as a numerical value is necessary for a certain additional function, any one of the additional function codes 10 to 15 is associated with the data size.

  As an additional function of the air conditioner 2 in this Embodiment, it demonstrates as what sets a function like FIG.3 (b). Five functions of additional function codes 0, 1, 6, 10, and 14 are assigned according to the control attribute of the additional function. When the response message of the additional function information is sent back by the air conditioner 2, the message (T4) has a message format shown in FIG.

  Each bit of the additional function code mounting flag field 24 represents an additional function code that validates the setting. In the case of the additional function, a value of 0x4443 is set. Similarly, each bit of the notification attribute setting flag field 25 is set to indicate the presence / absence of notification processing for the additional function code, and a value of 0x0043 is set. In the next identification code field 26, an identification code for identifying that the additional function information is responded is generated and added as a random number, and is temporarily held in the memory on the air conditioner 2 side. A model code for identifying the remaining model is added to the model code information field 27.

  Next, the device adapter 3 transmits an operation status acquisition request message to the air conditioner 2 (T5). The response message of the operating state returned from the air conditioner 2 side is configured in a message format shown in FIG. The control request message transmitted from the device adapter 3 described later has the same configuration.

  When the device adapter 3 receives the response message of the operation status from the air conditioner 2 (T6), the inter-device communication processing unit 22 divides the control information in the message into information related to the main function and information related to the additional function. Is transmitted to the main function command converter 18 and the additional function command converter 21. Each command conversion unit performs predetermined code conversion for each control information, transmits the result to the object management unit 17, updates the air conditioner object information on the home network side, and matches the condition of the actual air conditioner.

  In the device adapter 3, when the air conditioner object on the home network side is ready, a start-up sequence according to the ECHONET standard that suggests participation in the home network is executed (T7).

  The home gateway 1 detects that the terminal carrying the air conditioner object has joined the home network, and first transmits a manufacturer code acquisition request message to acquire further detailed information (T8). The response result of the manufacturer code is confirmed (T9), and if it is determined that the air conditioner is the control target of itself, remote control information for the air conditioner is constructed from the template information for the main function of the air conditioner held in advance. Subsequently, a model information acquisition request message is transmitted (T10). The response result of the model information is confirmed (T11), the additional function template information of the corresponding air conditioner model is acquired from the device information external server 6 (T12), and the remote control information is additionally updated based on the obtained template information I do.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of template information for the additional function of the air conditioner 2. Here, the additional function codes 0 to 15 are fixedly assigned to property codes (referred to as EPC) 0xF0 to 0xFF of each device object of the ECHONET standard, and function names and access rules for the additional functions. The presence / absence of notification, a property control code (referred to as EDT), and a name for each control value are described.

  In the residential gateway 1, based on this template information, the display processing related to the function name and the name of each control value / setting value as in (a) of the air conditioner operation screen example shown in FIG. Are correlated with the control code added to the control message. The template information for the main function is stored in the home gateway 1 in advance, but the configuration may be such that the template information is acquired from the device information external server 6.

  Next, a communication flow from the cellular phone 7 to the remote control of the air conditioner 2 will be described. When the home gateway 1 is accessed from the browser of the mobile phone 7 (T14), the operation screen data is returned from the Web server 11 of the home gateway 1 (T15). Actually, before acquiring the operation screen of the air conditioner 2, a user authentication screen for remote operation and an operation device selection screen are passed. The operation screen of the air conditioner 2 shown in FIG. 5 is changed to the desired operation setting, and the operation request content is transmitted (T16).

  The application processing unit 10 of the in-home gateway 1 identifies a device as a communication destination from the registered device management unit 10a, and constructs and transmits a control request message to the air conditioner 2 (T17). The device adapter 3 that has received the control request message transmits a message reception notification to the main function command conversion unit 18 and the additional function command conversion unit 21, and each command conversion unit extracts the requested control content and sends it to the air conditioner 2. A predetermined code conversion is executed for each piece of control information necessary for generating the control request message. Further, an identification code distributed from the air conditioner 2 at T4 is added to the identification code field 30 and transmitted (T18).

  When the air conditioner 2 receives the control request message, the value of the identification code field 30 is extracted and compared with the held identification code. If they match, it is determined that the control message is valid, and the control content in the message is reflected in the main body control.

  In the residential gateway 1, in order to confirm the result for the control request, the acquisition request message of each operation state is continuously transmitted (T19), and the operation result based on the response result of each operation state obtained via the device adapter 3 Screen data is created and a response is made to the mobile phone 7 (T23).

  If the value of the recognition code field 30 in the control request message transmitted from the device adapter 3 is different from the value held in the air conditioner 2 for some reason, the transmitted control request message is inappropriate. It is determined that the message is received, and the message is discarded. If this recognition code mismatch occurs continuously for a predetermined number of times or more, the air conditioner 2 shifts to the initial state and invalidates the control request message until the additional information acquisition request is made again. As a result, it is possible to confirm that processing failures occur continuously for the control request message even on the device adapter 3 side. Therefore, when the device adapter 3 is continuously generated more than a predetermined number of times, it can be retried from the initial device information acquisition request again. It becomes possible to return to the normal state again.

  Similarly, even if only the air conditioner 2 side resets the CPU for some reason, the control request message is invalid until the additional information acquisition request is detected in the air conditioner 2. When it is detected that the processing failure for the electronic message has occurred continuously and occurs continuously for a predetermined number of times or more, it is possible to return to the normal state again by redoing from the initial device information acquisition request.

System configuration block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention Communication flow sequence diagram in the embodiment of the present invention Explanatory drawing of the setting method with respect to the additional function in embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing of the template information with respect to the additional function in the embodiment of the present invention Explanatory drawing of the operation screen in embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-home gateway 2 Air conditioner 3 Equipment adapter 4 Router modem 5 Public line 6 Equipment information external server 7 Mobile phone 8 Out-of-home communication processing part 9 In-home communication processing part 10 Application processing part 10a Registered equipment management part 11 Web server 12 Main body control part 13 Message analysis / conversion unit 14 Communication processing unit 16 Home communication processing unit 17 Object management unit 18 Main function command conversion unit 19 Air conditioner processing program 21 Additional function command conversion unit 22 Inter-device communication processing unit 23 Additional function conversion setting storage unit

Claims (4)

The external control device that obtains information such as control commands and operation status via the common network for the home appliances to be controlled and the home appliances to be controlled are connected in communication and common with the control information of the home appliances A device adapter that performs mutual conversion processing with control information on the network, a function that is applied to the main body control based on a control command detected through a communication means with the device adapter, and a function that notifies the operation state of the main body In home appliance communication control system consisting of home appliances
The device adapter includes a first interconversion storage unit that stores in advance one or more first interconversion units for main functions of home appliances in the interconversion process, and a connected device recognition unit that identifies connected home appliances; A first mutual conversion selection means for selecting the first mutual conversion means from the first mutual conversion storage means from the result of the connected device recognition means; an additional function acquisition means for acquiring additional function control information for the home appliance; Second mutual conversion means for executing the mutual conversion processing based on the result of the additional function acquisition means,
When the home appliance detects a request from the additional function acquisition request detecting unit that detects the presence of an additional function acquisition request from the device adapter, and the additional function acquisition request detecting unit detects the request from the additional function acquisition request detecting unit, A home appliance communication control system comprising an additional function control information transmission means for transmitting to an appliance adapter. 2. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein the household electrical appliance invalidates the control command from the device adapter and the notification processing of the main body operating state until the request is detected by the additional function acquisition request detecting means. Communication control system. The home appliance generates and stores additional function identification information when a request is detected by the additional function acquisition request detection means, and transmits the additional function identification information together with transmission of the additional function control information. The home appliance communication control system according to claim 1. The additional function control information includes identification information of a type of home appliance, and the external control device acquires the home appliance identification information, and separately operates operation information for the additional function defined for each home appliance identification information. The home appliance communication control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , which is acquired from above and reflected in operation screen processing.

Images