KR100453968B1 - User Interface Providing Method in Home Network System - Google Patents

Abstract

In addition to monitoring information on home network devices on PCs, there is no script parser or xml parser, so remote users can easily receive information on home network devices even in a display environment where browsers are difficult to use. There is a purpose.

To this end, the present invention receives and parses the requested description file from the home network device, extracts user setting items to control the operation of the home network device, and combines the extracted user setting items to form a user interface (UI) table. In addition, the user setting items of the UI table are displayed on the operation panel according to the user's key operation. In particular, when the user setting items are displayed on the operation panel, they are displayed on the operation panel sequentially according to the hierarchy by the user's key operation. To this end, the UI table records the extracted user setting items hierarchically up to a predetermined depth and forms a table for outputting.

Description

User Interface Providing Method in Home Network System

The present invention relates to a method of providing a user interface of a home network system so that a user can easily interface information of home network devices using a remote control even in a display environment in which a browser is difficult to use, for example, a display environment of a digital television receiver.

Recently, with the development of information technology, various home network devices such as mobile phones, digital television receivers, PDAs, and game consoles are connected to one network, and home network technology is in the spotlight as the network environment spreads into the home.

This home network technology refers to an environment that connects home network devices in a home to a single network, allowing them to share each other's digital data and to use broadband communication. It means wired and wireless network equipment itself, and broadly encompasses not only the equipment but also middleware or services for integration / control / operation between home network devices.

In particular, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is emerging as a middleware prepared for integration / control / operation between home network devices. The UPnP further develops the existing Plug and Play function to provide different functions. It is a common protocol designed to allow multiple home network devices with specification specifications to interface with each other.

In the UPnP home network, as shown in FIG. 1, UPnP home network devices and UPnP home controllers are connected in a single topology, and these home network devices may be connected to an Internet service through a home gateway. It is connected with ISP (Internet service provider) to receive various internet services.

The operation of the UPnP home network will be described briefly with reference to FIG. 2 as follows.

First, each UPnP home network device and a UPnP home controller are assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.

Then, using the assigned IP address, the UPnP home network device multicasts the URL indicating the location of the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) data and the data stored in the device information to the UPnP home controller. It recognizes each network device through the UUID and requests to retrieve the data indicated by the URL.

In response to the request, the UPnP home network device transmits a description file containing various device details and service information to the UPnP home network control device, and the UPnP home controller is connected to itself through the transmitted description files. The UPnP home network devices can be controlled and operated, and the description file is basically provided in an Extensible Markup Language (xml) specification.

UPnP, which goes through such a series of operations, is currently supported by operating systems such as window ME and XP. As shown in FIG. 3, UPnP home network devices connected to the UPnP home network when the UPnP home controller is a PC are monitored. Is displayed on the screen.

Thus, when a user clicks an icon of a specific UPnP home network device as shown in FIG. 4 through a mouse, the user can control the event information or the current state indicating the current state of the selected UPnP home network device as shown in FIG. The control information is displayed on the screen, and when the user clicks the control information, for example, with the mouse as shown in FIG. 4, the result is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 5.

However, this series of display operations can only be performed if the UPnP home controller has an html parser and a script parser. Not only is it difficult to click with a remote control, which is a key input device, but also has a problem that it is very difficult to show a web page showing information of each home network device in a multi-window like a PC.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above problems, the display environment of the UPnP home network devices not only in the PC monitor environment, but also difficult to use a browser because there is no script parser or xml parser, especially digital television receiver It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for providing a user interface of a home network system that enables a user to easily interface information of home network devices using a remote controller or the like in a display environment.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for providing a user interface of a home network system by requesting a description file from a home network device, receiving and parsing the extracted user setting item to control the operation of the home network device, and extracting the extracted user setting item. To form a UI (User Interface) table, and then display the user setting items of the UI table thus formed on the operation panel according to the user's key operation, especially when the user setting items are displayed on the operation panel. In order to display the extracted user setting items in a hierarchical manner, the UI table is sequentially formed according to the hierarchical layer and outputs the extracted user setting items to a predetermined depth.

1 is a diagram illustrating a general home network configuration.

2 is a diagram illustrating an operation process between devices in a general home network.

3, 4, and 5 are views illustrating a UI screen implemented in a general home network controller.

6 is a view showing a user interface method of the present inventors home network controller device,

7 is a view showing a UI table applied to the present invention,

8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 are diagrams illustrating a UI screen implemented in the home network controller according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, in the method of providing a user interface of the home network system of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the home controller requests the home network devices for a description file in the form of an attribute tag defined in the UPnP middleware (S60). In response to this request, description files transmitted by the home network devices are respectively received (S61).

Then, the description file received in step S61 is parsed to extract the user setting item according to a predetermined algorithm suitably preset to extract data from the attribute tag type structure (S62), and then the extracted user setting item. Is combined according to a predetermined data structure conversion rule suitable for the attribute tag format to generate a user interface (UI) table (S63). The above-described structure of the attribute tag format is a general technique in the field of UPnP networks. The detailed description thereof will be omitted here, and preferred data structure conversion rules usable in the present invention are as follows.

In other words, the UI table creation (S63) according to the present invention may first include a description file, for example, a description file having a Document Object Model (DOM) tree data structure to a predetermined search depth through a depth first search algorithm. Extract the data from

At this time, if there are several description files, each same layer data is arranged in the address indicating the same nodes, and the data of the next lower layer is arranged immediately after the upper layer. If the item data is "device type" and the user setting item data of the second layer is "service type of the device", the data on the service type, which is the second layer, is arranged at an address after the top layer.

Then, the material corresponding to the node of the third lower layer after the second layer is read from the description lower layer of each corresponding home network device and arranged in an address representing the layer.

Thus, in this manner, data from the highest layer to the lowest layer is sequentially arranged to form a sub UI table for the corresponding description files of each home network device, and then the sub UI of each home network device thus formed. The table is sorted, that is, sorted by each layer to form one UI table.

Subsequently, as described above, when a predetermined UI table is created according to the present invention and a request for displaying the user setting item is requested (S64), first, the highest user setting item in the UI table is displayed on the operation panel (S65). .

Then, when the user selects one of the displayed top user setting items (S66), the home controller makes the unselected user setting item disappear from the screen, and then determines whether there is a user setting item of the next layer to be displayed ( S67).

As a result of the determination, if there is a user setting item of the next layer, the user setting item of the corresponding layer is displayed (S68). If not, the interface step of the present invention is terminated. The lowest user setting items can be sequentially selected and displayed one by one, and when these steps are completed, the user setting items selected by the user are displayed hierarchically on the operation panel.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12. In particular, an embodiment of the present invention is an embodiment in which middleware of a home network is set as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP).

First, the UPnP home controller sends a request message requesting description files indicated by SCPD (Service Control Protocol Definition) URLs to the corresponding home network devices, and the "SCPD URL" indicates the description file stored in the home network devices. URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the location, for example, in the form of 192.168.0.10 / data.xml, where "192.168.0.10" is the IP address of the home network device, "data.xml" Indicates the location where the description file is stored.

On the other hand, when UPnP corresponding home network devices receive request messages from UPnP home controllers, they parse them and return description files indicated by their SCPD URLs to UPnP home controllers.

The UPnP home controller then receives and parses the returned description files and extracts a plurality of user setting items from the description files of the corresponding UPnP home network devices.

The description file largely stores 1) device description information related to the device and 2) UPnP service description information related to the service of the device.

1) Device description information includes;

Device Type-> Device Type,

Model name / URL / Number-> device model name / device model site location and model number.

Serial number-> instrument serial number.

Manufacturer name / URL-> device manufacturer name / information that indicates the location of the site where the device manufacturer can be reached.

2) Service description information includes;

Service Type-> Service type, for example, control type, picture type, etc.

State Variable-> Type of device service and its name, for example, channel adjustment or volume adjustment

Action List-> List that defines the actual operation of the device, such as channel up / down or volume up / down.

In addition, the user setting items included in the description file, for example, Service Type, State Variable Name, Action Name, etc., have a DOM (Document Object Model) tree data structure.

For example, in the above description file, the lower layer of the <action List> has the action name of <name> and the state variable name of the <related State Variable>, and the lower layer of the <service State Table> contains the <name> of the <name>. The variable name and the <data Type> record the variable data types in a hierarchical manner.

Meanwhile, when the UPnP home controller parses the description file and extracts a user setting item, the UPnP home controller generates a UI (User Interface) table as shown in FIG. 7 using the extracted item.

The UI table first arranges "Devices" that are the same nodes of the top layer in the DOM tree data structure of the description file, for example, the same nodes of the top layer such as UPnP TV, UPnP refrigerator, and UPnP air conditioner with addresses representing the same layer. .

Then, the material corresponding to the node immediately below the top layer, that is, the node of the "Service Type" is read from the description lower layer of each corresponding home network device and arranged into an address representing the layer. For example, when the item of the top layer is UPnP TV, it becomes "control" or "picture", and this information is arranged after the "UPnP TV" layer which is the top layer.

Next, after arranging the "Service Type" corresponding to the second upper layer, the corresponding data of the node corresponding to the next layer is read and arranged immediately after the upper layer. For example, the item of the highest layer is "UPnP TV." If the item of the second layer is "control", the node data of the next layer, that is, the third layer, is read and arranged after the second layer, "control".

In this manner, data from the highest layer to a predetermined layer, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 7, sequentially arranges data from the highest layer "Device" to the predetermined lowest layer "action name". Then, the sub-UI table is formed, and then, the sub-UI table of each home network device thus formed is combined, that is, sorted for each layer to form one UI table.

In this way, the data from the top layer to the predetermined layer are sequentially extracted from the description file of each home network device, and they are sorted by the same layer, and the sorted data of the same layer is arranged from the top node to the predetermined layer. By using a method of creating a single UI table, the user setting items included in the UI table can be sequentially displayed on the operation panel for each layer according to the user's key operation.

Next, when a display request of a user setting item is received from a user while the UI table is created as described above, the display is sequentially displayed on the operation panel from the top layer of the UI table according to the user's key operation.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a menu window for selecting a UPnP device, that is, "UPnP DEVICE" is displayed on the initial screen, and when the user selects "UPnP DEVICE" using a remote controller, the UPnP home controller is shown. Displays a menu window displaying the "DEVICE" items of the top level of the UI table on the corresponding operation panel.

Then, when the user selects a particular device menu window, for example, "UPnP TV" from the menu window displaying the "DEVICE" item, the UPnP home controller is the second layer after "UPnP TV", that is, after the top layer. 9 is displayed next to the "UPnP TV" menu window as shown in FIG. 9, and the display position can be modified in various ways, in which items of the hierarchy not selected, for example "UPnP refrigerator" and " UPnP air conditioners allow them to disappear on the screen to reduce unnecessary load.

When the next second layer "control" and the corresponding menu window of "picture" are displayed next to the menu window of "UPnP TV" which is the highest layer selected by the user as shown in FIG. 9, the user can select a desired menu. 10 shows an example in which the user selects the "control" menu.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 10, when the user selects the "control" menu, a menu window showing the "channel" and "volume" that is the material of the second layer after the "control" layer, that is, the third layer the second layer Next to the "control" menu window, FIG. 11 shows an example in which the menu window indicating the third layer data described above and the menu window indicating the material of the fourth layer are sequentially shown.

When the user selects the lowest hierarchical item displayed on the operation panel through the above method, as shown in FIG. 12, the items selected by the user are sequentially displayed from the highest hierarchical layer to the lowest hierarchical layer.

As described in detail above, the method of providing a user interface of the home network system according to the present invention displays not only the information of the home network devices in a PC monitor environment, but also is difficult to use a browser because various script parsers or xml parsers are not provided. Environment For example, even in a display environment of a digital television receiver, a user can easily interface information of home network devices using a remote controller.

Although the invention has been described in detail only with respect to the specific examples described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible within the spirit of the invention, and such modifications and variations belong to the appended claims.

Claims (4)

A method of providing a user interface for providing a user with a set of information for allowing a predetermined home network controller connected to a plurality of home network devices through a home network using UPnP middleware to control a plurality of home network devices, respectively, A first step of receiving, by the home network controller, a description file having an attribute tag format defined in UPnP middleware from a plurality of home network devices; Extracting a series of user setting items respectively set to control the operation of the home network device from the description files received in the first step according to a predetermined algorithm suitably preset to extract data from the attribute tag type structure. A second step of doing; A third step of forming a predetermined user interface (UI) table by combining user setting items extracted for each home network device in accordance with a data structure conversion rule preset for the attribute tag type in the second step; And a fourth step of displaying the user setting items recorded in the user interface (UI) table formed in the third step in a hierarchical manner through a key operation. The method of claim 1, wherein the fourth step comprises: And displaying the user setting items of the UI table sequentially on the operation panel according to the hierarchy through the key operation. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the UI table; And a table for hierarchically recording and outputting the extracted user setting items up to a predetermined depth. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the user setting item comprises:; The user interface method of claim 1, wherein the home network device comprises at least one of a type, a service type, a service type, a current state of the corresponding service type, and a detailed service type to control the current state.