KR100510702B1 - Wireless Home Networking module and method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless home networking module and method for providing an environment in which an interface of an information home appliance uses an ultra-wideband wireless communication (UWB) technology and a user interface uses voice recognition to control and acquire information using only voice. The configuration includes a voice recognition module for recognizing a voice command of a user, a voice synthesis module for voice synthesis of a result of performing an operation of the information household appliance, and a first operation of transmitting an operation control signal according to the voice command of the user to the information household appliances A voice recognition UWB module including a UWB transmitter and a second UWB receiver configured to receive a result of performing operations of information appliances; and receiving an operation control signal respectively configured in a plurality of information appliances and transmitted through the first UWB transmitter A second U for transmitting a result of performing its operation to the first UWB receivers and the second UWB receiver And comprises a UWB module consisting of WB transmitters.

Description

Wireless Home Networking module and method for the same

The present invention relates to a home networking, wherein the home appliance's interface uses an ultra-wideband wireless communication (UWB) technology and the user interface uses a voice recognition to provide a wireless home networking module that can control and obtain information using only voice. And to a method.

In the home networking technology, the wired home networking technology belongs to HomePNA (Home Phone-line Networking Alliance) technology, PLC (Power Line Communications) technology, IEEE1394 technology, etc., and the wireless home networking technology includes Bluetooth, WLAN ( IEEE802.11), WPAN (IEEE802.15), Wireless 1394, and the like.

The main advantage of HomePNA is that it uses the telephone lines already installed in the house, so there is no additional burden of installing new lines for connecting home networking devices.

However, in the case of HomePNA, there are a number of bridged taps, which causes attenuation and noise in a signal transmitted on a line, which does not guarantee quality of service (QoS).

In addition, power line communication (PLC) refers to a method of converting a communication signal into a high frequency signal of 100KHz ~ 30MHz through a power line, and transmitting the signal and separating the received signal using a high frequency filter.

High-frequency signals in powerline communications are low-power signals that do not affect the operation of general information appliances.

However, since power line communication communicates power line for the purpose of power delivery through medium, unlike communication using coaxial line or optical fiber manufactured for the previous communication, communication such as limited transmission power, high load interference and noise, variable attenuation and impedance It is an area of difficult development with many technical and environmental factors to consider.

The IEEE 1394 technology is a digital interface technology using a serial bus method generated by the necessity of a common new interface method between them as the digitization of audio and video devices and the multimedia environment have emerged.

Current USB (Universal Serial Bus) V1.0 technology supports only 12 Mbps, and USB Version 2.0, which supports 480 Mbps, is just now available. On the other hand, IEEE1394 technology provides the highest bandwidth among current serial digital interface technologies.

Compared to the above-mentioned wired home networking technology, the biggest advantage of the wireless home networking technology is that there is no need to install a new wire in the house, thereby reducing the installation cost and ensuring that each information appliance is mobile.

Among the technologies capable of realizing such wireless home networking, the IEEE802.11 standard, which secures the largest market with wireless LAN, the Bluetooth standard developed to replace a cable, and the wireless device connecting IEEE1394 devices using the IEEE802.11 technology. 1394 and so on.

Wireless 1394 is limited to inter-device connectivity of information appliances within 4.5 m.

Therefore, to connect each cluster to which these devices are connected with clusters of other IEEE1394 devices over a distance of 4.5 m, IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN technology is used as an intermediate air interface. It is a technology that allows not only control signals but also audio and video signals to be transmitted to all rooms by connecting all devices scattered throughout the network.

However, using wireless comes with a number of constraints. That is, because the characteristics of the communication channel is a fading channel that changes with time, an error correction code (ECC) must be used, and thus the usable bandwidth is reduced by a code rate.

This is an important factor influencing the transmission speed of data to be sent.

In addition, since radio waves are radiated to the air, privacy measures should be established. Therefore, the performance of a wireless network is determined by which security policy is used.

In home networking technology, input from the user interface of information appliances uses a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, a touch screen, a remote controller, and the like. The output uses screens and speakers.

However, in order to solve the inconvenience of the above input devices requiring user's operation, recent research on speech recognition is active.

The research on speech includes speech recognition, speech synthesis and speaker recognition. In particular, speech recognition provides a convenient living environment in which the information appliances can be controlled by human speech.

Voice recognition home networking has been implemented by listening to a user's command using a computer microphone, interpreting the command using a voice recognition program, and controlling information appliances through various wired and wireless communication devices.

In addition, home networking is being implemented by incorporating voice recognition into major information appliances such as refrigerators and TVs. However, these methods do not provide an environment in which users can control information appliances anytime, anywhere.

However, the home networking technology according to the related art described above has the following problems.

First, power line communication (PLC), which is mainly used in wired home networking technology, communicates with power lines for the purpose of power delivery as a medium, and must be considered for communication such as limited transmission power, high load interference and noise, variable attenuation and impedance. There are many technical elements.

Secondly, in the case of home networking using wireless technology, since the characteristics of the communication channel are fading channels because the characteristics of the communication channel change over time, error correction code (ECC) must be used, and thus the available bandwidth is code rate ( Code rate) is reduced by a problem.

In addition, home networking using wireless technology is disadvantageous in terms of privacy protection because radio waves are radiated in the air.

Third, in the case of applying the voice recognition technology in the home networking technology, a method of embedding the voice recognition function in main information appliances such as a refrigerator or a TV, which is used as a master device, is used. It does not provide an environment for controlling the device.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional home networking technology as described above, the interface of the information appliances using ultra-wideband wireless communication (UWB) technology and the user interface is controlled only by voice using speech recognition And a wireless home networking module and method for providing an environment in which information can be obtained.

Wireless home networking module according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a voice recognition module for recognizing a voice command of the user, a voice synthesis module for voice synthesis of the results of the operation of the information home appliance, the user by the stored program A central processing unit for controlling an operation of outputting an operation control signal of the information household appliances and outputting a result according to a voice command of the first home appliance, and a first UWB transmitter and the information household appliances transmitting the operation control signal to the household appliance; A voice recognition UWB module including a second UWB receiver receiving a result of performing an operation; And a second UWB transmitter configured in a plurality of information home appliances and transmitting a result of performing its operation to the first and second UWB receivers receiving the operation control signal transmitted through the first UWB transmitter, respectively. It is characterized in that it comprises a UWB module consisting of.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wireless home networking method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a user attempts to establish a communication by using a voice recognition UWB module, and attempts to establish a UWB communication with a corresponding information appliance selected by the user. Performing the operation by the user's voice command by the user's voice command; notifying the user of the result of performing the operation of the information appliance and determining whether there is another user's command; if there is no user's command, the voice recognition UWB The module may include releasing UWB communication with the corresponding information household appliance and releasing communication with the user.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments.

A preferred embodiment of a wireless home networking module and method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a voice recognition UWB module according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a home network using the voice recognition UWB module according to the present invention.

The present invention wirelessly implements home networking using UWB communication to reduce installation costs and ensure the mobility of each information appliance.

In addition, the UWB communication module has a voice recognition function, so that the user can control the information appliances in the home using only voice from anywhere and provide an environment in which the information can be obtained from the information appliances.

Ultra Wide Band (UWB) used in the home networking technology of the present invention is a wireless technology developed by the US Department of Defense for military purposes.

In addition to using UWB in the GHz band for wireless data transmission, the technology offers ultrafast transmission rates of 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps, compared to 54 Mbps of previous IEEE802.11a technology.

In addition, despite the high transmission speed, power consumption is about one hundredth of the power required by mobile phones and WLAN products, which has advantages in terms of power consumption.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not only developed the technology for military purposes, but has also banned its commercial use because of the wide frequency bands that could lead to collisions with other satellite positioning systems or mobile communications networks.

However, due to the nature of UWB, which can transmit data intermittently while the frequency band is wide, it is not only able to solve the shortage of frequency slots, but also the UWB original technology is owned by the US military research institutes and related companies. The FCC has allowed the commercial use of this technology because of its broader US presence in the US.

The present invention is composed of a module using such UWB communication and speech recognition technology, and is largely composed of a speech recognition UWB module 100 and a UWB module 200.

The UWB module 200 may include a first UWB receiver 16, a second UWB transmitter 17, and a first UWB transmitter 100 configured in a voice recognition UWB module 100. 15) and a second UWB receiver 18.

Here, the first UWB transmitter 15 and the first UWB receiver 16 perform UWB communication with each other, and the second UWB transmitter 17 and the second UWB receiver 18 perform UWB communication with each other.

The voice recognition UWB module 100 includes a voice recognition module 12 that recognizes a user's control command input through the microphone 11, and a voice recognition UWB module 100 and a UWB module by a program stored in the memory 14. The augmentation processing unit 13 for controlling home networking operations using the 200 and the UWB module 200 configured in the voice recognition UWB module 100 and configured in the information home appliance under the control of the central processing unit 13. A first UWB transmitter 15 for transmitting a user control command via the voice recognition module 12 to the first UWB receiver 16 of the first UWB receiver, and configured to transmit information such as an operation state of the information home appliance, The second UWB receiver 18 receiving the communication contents of the second USB transmitter 17 and the second UWB receiver 18 through the central processing unit 13 and outputting the contents received through the speech synthesis process. The speech synthesis module 19 and the speech synthesis module 19 And a voice information speaker 10 for output to the user, consists of a battery 20 for supplying power to the respective constituent blocks of the system.

When the user's voice is transmitted to the microphone 11, the voice recognition module 12 converts the voice signal into a digital signal and transmits the digital signal to the central processing unit 13.

The central processing unit 13 is operated by a program recorded in a memory (ROM + RAM) 14, which includes an OS, a voice recognition program, a voice synthesis program, a control program for information appliances, and a UWB communication program. Etc. are recorded.

The central processing unit 13 converts the user's voice, which has been digitally converted, into a meaningful character using a voice recognition program, and again determines a final command according to a control program for each information appliance. The first UWB transmitter 15 ) To each information appliance.

Each information household appliance receives a command through the first UWB receiver 16, performs a task, and transmits a result of the execution to the voice recognition UWB module 100 through the second UWB transmitter 17.

In addition, the voice recognition UWB module 100 receives the transmitted performance result through the second UWB receiver 18 and performs a voice synthesis program in the central processing unit 13 to transmit a digital signal to the voice synthesis module 19. do.

Then, the voice synthesis module 19 converts the digital signal into an analog signal and delivers it to the speaker 10, and the user hears the result through the sound.

The UWB module 200 is embedded in each information home appliance to enable UWB wireless home networking.

When wireless home networking is configured using the voice recognition UWB module 100 and the UWB module 200 according to the present invention having the above configuration, the configuration is the same as in FIG. 2.

Wireless home networking allows users to change the installation location of each information appliance as well as to move the voice recognition UWB module to any location.

The wireless home networking module according to the present invention is a voice recognition UWB module has a voice recognition module and a built-in UWB transmission and reception module, and each information appliance is a UWB transmission and reception module is configured to configure the wireless home networking.

The home networking method using the wireless home networking module according to the present invention is as follows.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a home networking method using a voice recognition UWB module according to the present invention.

First, when a user attempts to communicate with the voice recognition UWB module 100 (S301), the voice recognition UWB module 100 responds and mutual communication is connected (S302).

When the communication setting is made as described above, the user selects the information appliance to be controlled (S303), and the voice recognition UWB module attempts UWB communication with the corresponding information household appliance (S304).

In response to the response of the information appliance, communication with the information appliance is connected (S305).

After the communication with the information appliance is established as described above, when the user transmits a command to be performed to the information appliance (S306), the information appliance performs the instruction (S307), and the execution result according to the user's command is presented to the user. (S308)

When the transmission result is completed, it is determined whether there is another command of the user (S309).

If there is another command from the user, it is determined whether the current communication is an information home appliance or a new information appliance.

In the case of a new information home appliance, the user performs the operation again from the step of selecting the desired information home appliance (S303), and in the case of the information home appliance in which communication is currently established, the operation starts from the user's command delivery step (S306). Perform.

If there is no other command from the user, the voice recognition UWB module releases the UWB communication with the corresponding information appliance (S311).

When the user releases communication with the voice recognition UWB module (S312), the voice recognition UWB module releases communication with the user (S313).

In the wireless home networking module and method according to the present invention, when a user transmits each information appliance control command to a voice recognition UWB module by voice, the voice recognition UWB module interprets the command to control each information appliance by UWB communication. do.

When the information appliance performs a command and reports to the voice recognition UWB module, the user receives the control result as voice from the voice recognition UWB module. The voice recognition UWB module has a built-in battery that can be used at any location desired by the user.

Such a wireless home networking module and method according to the present invention has the following effects.

First, the wireless home networking according to the present invention provides a convenient living environment by connecting various information appliances using voice to control desired information appliances at a long distance.

Secondly, in the wireless home networking using the UWB communication of the present invention, each information appliance can be moved from time to time without being restricted by the installation place.

Third, since the interface with the user is voice and the voice recognition UWB module is a mobile type with a built-in battery, it is possible to control the information appliances in a wider situation where the user can be placed without being restricted by the user's location.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

1 is a block diagram of a speech recognition UWB module according to the present invention

2 is a diagram illustrating a home network using a voice recognition UWB module according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a home networking method using a voice recognition UWB module according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

100. Speech recognition UWB module 200. UWB module

11. Microphone 12. Voice recognition module

13. central processing unit 14. memory

15. First UWB Transmitter 16. First UWB Receiver

17. Second UWB Transmitter 18. Second UWB Receiver

19. Speech Synthesis Module 20. Storage Battery

Claims (6)

A voice recognition module for recognizing a voice command of a user, A speech synthesis module configured to synthesize speech by performing the operation of the information household appliance; A central processing unit for controlling an operation of outputting an operation control signal of information household appliances according to a voice command of a user by a stored program and outputting a result thereof; A voice recognition UWB module including a first UWB transmitter for transmitting the operation control signal to information appliances and a second UWB receiver for receiving the operation result of the information appliances; And a second UWB transmitter configured in a plurality of information home appliances and transmitting a result of performing its operation to the first and second UWB receivers receiving the operation control signal transmitted through the first UWB transmitter, respectively. UWB module consisting of; And a capacitor in the speech recognition UWB module. The program stored in the memory is an OS, a voice recognition program, a voice synthesis program, a control program for each information appliance, UWB communication required to control an information appliance with a voice signal and to know a result of performing the operation. A wireless home networking module comprising a program. delete Setting up communication by a user attempting communication through a voice recognition UWB module; Attempting UWB communication with the information appliance selected by the user; Performing an operation by the information home appliance according to a voice command of a user when communication with the information home appliance is connected; Notifying the user of the result of performing the operation of the information household appliance and determining whether there is another command from the user; If there is no further instruction by the user, the voice recognition UWB module comprises releasing UWB communication with the information appliance and releasing communication with the user. The method of claim 4, wherein if there is another instruction from the user after the user is informed of the result of performing the operation of the information household appliance, A wireless home networking method, characterized in that it is determined whether the current communication is established information appliances or new information appliances. The method of claim 5, wherein the new information home appliance is operated again from the step of selecting a desired information home appliance, and in the case of the information home appliance in which communication is currently established, the operation is started from the step of delivering a command of the user. Wireless home networking method.