WO2013034835A1

WO2013034835A1 - Domestic gateway

Info

Publication number: WO2013034835A1
Application number: PCT/FR2012/051951
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olivier Fiquet; Philippe DE OLIVEIRA LIMA
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2011-09-07
Filing date: 2012-08-29
Publication date: 2013-03-14
Also published as: EP2754269A1; FR2979780A1

Abstract

Device (TBL) including means (GTW) able to interconnect several networks (RES1, RES2), said device being powered by an energy source whose energy level is variable over time, characterized in that it comprises means of emission for emitting to at least one network an information item relating to the temporal evolution of the energy level of the energy source.

Description

Domestic gateway

Technical area

The invention relates to a gateway capable of interfacing computer networks. The gateway in question is most often used as a residential gateway. This residential gateway is a device having an interface function between a local network of a user and a network of an operator. Such a residential gateway is intended for the exchange of a data stream between a client device connected to a local data transmission network and an external data transmission network.

The gateway is powered by a power source. The invention is particularly applicable to a gateway whose power supply is variable in time and whose variation can prevent the gateway from functioning properly. Such a power supply is for example a battery. The gateway in question is a physical and software resource, or purely software. When it is purely software, the program in question is stored on a data processing device equipped with a processor capable of executing the program. The device in question is for example a telephone, a fixed or mobile computer, etc. State of the art

Today, new devices integrate a gateway function. These devices offer the possibility, unlike a gateway powered by an electrical network, to transport the desired gateway and use it anywhere, especially in places without a power grid. The devices referred to above are in particular mobile phones type ordiphone (French translation of the English term smartphone).

The device offering the gateway function referred to above, hereinafter referred to as the "first device", may therefore be used by a second device so that the second device accesses a communication network through the first device.

Such a first device generally accumulates several sources of energy which are most often a first source constituted by an electrical network and a second source of energy whose level varies over time and whose variation may have an effect on the use the gateway function. Such a second source is for example a battery.

When the first device is not connected to the electrical network, only the second source, for example the battery, supplies the first device. In this configuration, the risk is that the battery level is insufficient to power the first device; if indeed the level is insufficient to supply the first device, the gateway function offered by the first device is no longer provided; consequently, the second device can no longer access the communication network described above through the first device.

One solution might be to periodically check the status of the energy source of the first device to ensure that this level is sufficient and if it is insufficient to take action accordingly. The consultation may for example for a user to visually consult, periodically, the battery level of the first device. This solution is not feasible because requires repetitive consultations from the user and therefore wasted time. These losses of time are accentuated especially as the distance between the first and the second device is large. Indeed, the greater the distance and the more time allocated to the repetitive trips made by the user to consult the state of the energy source is large.

The invention offers a solution that does not have the drawbacks of the state of the art.

The invention For this purpose, according to a material aspect, the invention relates to a device including means capable of interconnecting several networks, said device being powered by a power source whose energy level is variable in time, characterized in that it comprises transmitting means for transmitting information relating to the evolution of the energy level of the energy source to at least one network.

The information relating to the energy source, for example the battery level, is therefore transmitted from the device, said first device, to all or part of the devices, said second devices connected to the first device via a device. network. This information indicates the capacity of the energy source to supply the device object of the invention.

Thanks to the invention, a second device thus knows the energy level of the first device. The invention thus makes it possible to prevent any failures of the energy source and thus of the interconnection means, in this case the gateway. The invention therefore makes it possible, before a possible failure of the energy source, to take measurements such as the saving of data for example of a context relating to a session, a change of energy source, etc.

The invention is particularly advantageous when the state of the energy source supplying the first device is difficult to access visually for example because of the distance separating the first device and the second device. The transmission of information relating to the energy source from the first to a second device thus makes it possible to know the state of the energy source regardless of the location in which the first device of the invention is located. .

If the first device is equipped with means of reproduction, for example a screen or a sound transmitter, able to restore the battery level, the transmission of information relating to the energy source from the first to a second device makes it possible to to know the state of the energy source irrespective of the electrical state of the means of restitution of the first device, in particular when the means of restitution are in a state of standby, that is to say extinguished. The invention thus avoids performing a switchover of the electrical state of the means for restoring the first terminal of a waking state to an active state; thus reducing the consumption of the energy source of the first device, especially as we will see later when the source is a battery; and thus increasing the duration of use of the first device by the second device.

According to a first particular embodiment of the invention, the first device comprises means for activating the transmission means following an activation of the interconnection means. Thus, the invention automates the sending of messages providing information on the energy source. In this way, a user of a second device is notified in real time of the evolution of the state of the energy source of the first device and can take action accordingly. According to a second embodiment, which can be implemented alternately or cumulatively with the previous, the transmission means emit information only in case of failure of the energy source.

According to a third mode of implementation, which can be implemented alternately or cumulatively with the previous, the energy source is a battery. The autonomy of a battery evolving over time, the invention finds particular interest in this type of energy source.

According to a particular implementation of the third mode and the second mode, a failure occurs when the battery level is below a predefined threshold. When the threshold level is crossed, the information is transmitted. This feature avoids sending information when the battery level is high enough and a failure is unlikely. This feature avoids unnecessary consumption of the battery of the first device. According to a third mode of implementation, which can be implemented alternatively or cumulatively with the above, the transmission means are a program capable of responding to a request from the network. In this configuration, the program is a WEB type server. According to another hardware aspect, the invention relates to a computer system comprising a first device including interconnection means capable of interconnecting several networks, said first device being powered by a source of energy whose energy level is variable in time, and at least one second device able to communicate via the first device, characterized in that the first device comprises transmission means for transmitting to at least one second device information relating to the evolution over time of the energy level of the energy source.

According to a particular mode of implementation, the system comprises means for activating the transmission means following an activation of the interconnection means.

According to a functional aspect, the invention relates to a method for managing the interconnection of several networks with each other via interconnection means included in a first device powered by a power source whose level of energy is variable in time, at least a second device being able to communicate via the first device, characterized in that the first device performs a transmission step for transmitting, to at least one second terminal, information relating to the evolution over time of the energy level of the energy source.

According to a particular embodiment, an activation of the interconnection means triggers an activation of the transmission means.

Finally, according to another material aspect, the invention relates to a computer program capable of being implemented on a device as defined above, said program comprising code instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor perform a transmission step to transmit to destination of at least one network information relating to the energy source of the device.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The figures:

FIG. 1 represents a computer system on which is illustrated an exemplary embodiment illustrating a system in which the invention can be implemented.

Figures 2a and 2b schematically show the circuits included in a first and a second device, respectively.

Figure 3 illustrates a data exchange between the first device and the second device.

Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the method of the invention. Detailed description of an exemplary embodiment illustrating the invention

FIG. 1 represents a computer system SYS comprising means of interconnection GTW, also called gateway by the person skilled in the art, able to interconnect several networks. The interconnection means are able to interconnect two networks which are, in our example, a first network RES1 and a second network RES2.

In our example, the gateway is implemented in a software way. For this purpose, the gateway, namely the code instructions, is included in a first TBL data processing device such as a fixed or mobile personal computer. In our example, the computer is a computer known to those skilled in the art. The system also comprises a second PC device able to use the gateway GTW to access the second network RES2.

Figures 2a and 2b are schematic views of the circuits included in the first and second devices, respectively. The devices are both equipped with a first microprocessor

CPU1 and a second microprocessor CPU2, respectively.

Referring to Figure 2a, the first device TBL further comprises a power source illustrated by a battery BAT for powering the device; first communications means COM11 and COM12 for communicating with the first network and the second network, respectively; a first memory MEM1 able to store data and programs such as a GTW program capable of performing an interconnection function capable of interconnecting the first network and the second network; and incidentally means of restitution such as an ECR screen;

The means described above as well as the first CPU1 microprocessor are interconnected via a first bus BUS1.

With reference to FIG. 2b, the second device PC further comprises second communication means COM2 making it possible to communicate with the first network RES; rendering means such as an ECR screen; a second memory MEM2 able to store data; The means described above as well as the first microprocessor CPU1 are interconnected via a first bus BUS1

Note that the buses described above have the function of ensuring the transfer of digital data between the various circuits connected to the microprocessor by a bus. In our example, the bus in question includes a data bus and a control bus.

Note also that, in our example, the memories described above are permanent memories type ROM (acronym for Read Only Memory). The terminals also include a respective RAM (not shown) for unsustainably storing calculation data used in implementing a method according to embodiments. These memories are not shown in the drawings because they are useless for the disclosure of the invention. According to the invention, the first device comprises transmitting means for transmitting information relating to its battery level. In our example, the first device transmits this information to the second device; In our example, the transmission means consist of a PGM program. Figure 3 shows axes illustrating the data exchange taking place between the first device and the second device. In these figures, a time axis indicates the direction of execution of the steps. In this same figure, an exchange of data is symbolized by an arrow having an origin and an end, the origin being associated with the sender of a message, the end being associated with the recipient of the message.

In a first step, a user requires an activation EXE1 of the gateway function GTW via the second PC device. An EXE1 command is transmitted from the second device to the first device destination. The first device TBL receives the command EXE1, and its processor CPU1 executes the received command EXE1.

Following execution, the second PC device can use the GTW gateway function offered by the first device TBL and thus access the second network RES2 via the first device TBL.

Following the activation of the gateway function, the GTW program offering the gateway or interconnection function requires the execution of a PGM program able to periodically recover the battery level and to transmit this battery level to the second device . In our example the PGM program is stored in the first memory MEM1 and the first processor executes the EXE2 command in question.

In our example, the PGM program is a web server.

Thus, periodically, the second PC device sends an interrogation request of type http. In our example, the first device TBL issues two requests, a first REQ1 and a second REQ2.

A request is of the type "http: /192.168.43.1: 8080 / protocol_status" in which "192.168.43.1: 8080" is the port number of the first device on the first network RESl, "8080" is the number of port on which the web server listens and "protocol_status" is the name of the command to be executed by the first CPU1 processor in the first TBL device.

At each request, the web server responds by providing the battery level. Thus, in our example, the Web server responds with a message referenced "BAT: 75%" in FIG. 3, meaning that the battery level is 75% and a message referenced "BAT: 10%" in FIG. the battery level is 10%.

Of course, the example is simplified; The number of queries and answers can naturally be higher; and the number of queries may not match the number of responses. According to a first variant, after activation of the gateway function, and therefore activation of the PGM program, the gateway consults the database BDD for the list of the first device or devices using the gateway GTW in order to obtain the respective network addresses. Then, the information on the battery level is transmitted to the first devices listed.

According to a second variant, the PGM program transmits the information on the battery level referred to above only when the level is below a predefined threshold S. In this configuration, with reference to FIG. 4, and assuming that the PGM program is a WEB type server, the steps are as follows:

In a first step, when the WEB server receives a request REQn (n is integer) for example the first request REQ1.

- Then, in a second step, the web server responds only if the condition relating to the threshold S is met. Thus, upon receipt of the request from the second PC device, the GTW program checks whether the battery level has reached the threshold S; in the affirmative Y, an information message INF is transmitted to the second device PC; in the negative N, the PGM program does not respond. The INF information message referred to above is for example of the "BAT: 10%" type if the remaining battery level is 10%. This verification is carried out for all or part of the requests received.

Note that the information message can obviously take a form other than that described above. The form must at least provide an indication in connection with the state of the energy source of the first device TBL in particular a state that may have a consequence for the device to perform the gateway function.

According to a third variant, when the threshold level S is reached, in order to reduce the energy consumption in the first device, the first microprocessor controls a pausing of circuits included in the first device having no contribution to the implementation. implementation of the function bridge. For example, the first ECR screen is paused if it is not already there.

It should be noted that the first device is powered by a source of energy that may be unique or constituted by a plurality of energy sources able to supply the first device together.

Claims

Device (TBL) including means (GTW) capable of interconnecting several networks (RES1, RES2), said device being powered by a source of energy whose energy level is variable in time, characterized in that it comprises transmission means for transmitting information relating to the evolution over time of the energy level of the energy source to at least one network.

Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means for activating the transmission means following activation of the interconnection means.

Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the transmitting means emit information only in case of failure of the energy source.

Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the energy source is a battery.

Device according to claims 3 and 4, characterized in that a failure occurs when the battery level is below a predefined threshold.

Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the transmitting means are a program capable of responding to a request from the network.

Device according to Claim 6, characterized in that the program is a WEB type server.

Computer system comprising a first device (TBL) including interconnection means (GTW) able to interconnect several networks (RES1, RES2), said first device being powered by a power source (BAT) whose energy level is variable in time, and at least one second device capable of communicating via the first device, characterized in that the first device comprises transmitting means for transmitting, to at least one second device, information relating to the evolution over time of the energy level of the energy source.

9. System according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises means for activating the transmitting means following activation of the interconnection means.

10. A method for managing the interconnection of several networks with each other via interconnection means included in a first device powered by a source of energy whose energy level is variable in time, at least one second device being able to communicate via the first device, characterized in that the first device performs a transmission step for transmitting, to at least one second terminal, information relating to the evolution over time of the level of energy of the energy source.

11. The method of claim 10, characterized in that an activation of the interconnection means triggers an activation of the transmitting means.

12. Computer program capable of being implemented on a device as defined in claim 1, said program comprising code instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor performs a transmission step for transmitting to a destination. at least one network information relating to the energy source of the device.