WO2018207363A1

WO2018207363A1 - Control device, communication management method and program

Info

Publication number: WO2018207363A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/018098
Authority: WO
Inventors: 直之樋原
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2017-05-12
Filing date: 2017-05-12
Publication date: 2018-11-15
Also published as: JPWO2018207363A1; JP6727742B2

Abstract

A display update unit (102) updates the display of a display if a response from electric equipment is not received before the elapse of a first waiting time since the transmission of a command to the electric equipment. An operation restriction unit (103) restricts a user operation for the electric equipment for the shorter period out of a period from the transmission of the command to the reception of the response and a period from the transmission of the command to the elapse of the first waiting time. A communication management unit (101) treats the response as being normally received if the response is received before the elapse of a second waiting time longer than the first waiting time since the transmission of the command, and treats the transmission of the command as having failed if the response is not received before the elapse of the second waiting time.

Description

Control device, communication management method and program

The present invention relates to a control device, a communication management method, and a program.

A system called HEMS (Home Energy Management System) is known in which a plurality of electrical devices having a communication function are connected to a communication network and integratedly managed using a control device. In such a system, the time from when the command is transmitted from the control device to the electric device until the response to the command is returned (hereinafter referred to as response time) is the communication performance, processing performance, etc. of the electric device. Depending on the specifications, there will be variations among electrical devices. Also, a difference in required response time occurs between a plurality of electric devices having similar specifications due to differences in processing content, current operation state, and the like.

On the other hand, a technique is known in which the response time is measured and the response waiting time of each electrical device is set through communication with each actual electrical device (for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2013/085058

In Patent Document 1, the control device transmits control information for controlling the electric device to the electric device every control cycle T. When the control device does not receive a response to the control information within the timeout period t set to a period shorter than the control cycle T after transmitting the control information, the control device changes the timeout period t for the electrical device to be longer than before. I do.

By the way, in the control apparatus in HEMS, not only automatic control for every fixed time like patent document 1 but control of the electric equipment by a user's operation is also performed. For this reason, if the response waiting time is set to be long from the viewpoint of reliably receiving the response from the electric device as described above, the following user operability may be impaired. In other words, if the control device can receive a response from an electrical device in a few seconds in a normal state, but does not return a response due to the occurrence of a communication error, etc., the set response waiting time elapses. Until the user waits for a response, the user is forced to wait for an operation.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a control device or the like that communicates with an electric device without impairing the operability of the user.

In order to achieve the above object, a control device according to the present invention provides:
A communication interface for communicating with electrical equipment;
Display update means for updating the display on the display when a response from the electric device to the command is not received before the first waiting time elapses after the command is transmitted to the electric device;
The user's operation on the electrical device is limited until the response is received after the command is transmitted and until the first waiting time elapses after the command is transmitted. Operation restriction means;
When the response is received from when the command is transmitted until the second waiting time longer than the first waiting time elapses, the response is treated as normally received until the second waiting time elapses. Communication management means for handling that the transmission of the command has failed when the response is not received.

According to the present invention, it is possible to communicate with an electric device without impairing the operability of the user.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the apparatus control system provided with the control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control device according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows the function structure of the control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure for demonstrating the communication management table of Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure for demonstrating the 1st, 2nd response waiting time of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows the transition of a communication state typically in Embodiment 1. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of communication management processing executed by the control device according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the communication sequence between a control apparatus and electric equipment in Embodiment 1. The figure which shows the other example of the communication sequence between a control apparatus and an electric equipment in Embodiment 1. The figure which shows the function structure of the control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a device control system including a control device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This device control system is a so-called HEMS (Home Energy Management System) that manages electric power used in general households, and includes a control device 1 and a plurality of electrical devices 2 (2-1, 2- 2... Are connected to the network 3.

The network 3 is, for example, a network conforming to Echonet Lite (ECHONET Lite). In addition, the network 3 may be a well-known standard wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or a wired LAN. Alternatively, the network 3 may be a network constructed by PLC (Power Line Communication).

Each electric device 2 is an electric device installed in a house (including a site) in a general household, such as an air conditioner, an illuminator, a floor heating system, a refrigerator, a television, an IH (Induction （Heating) cooker, and a rice cooker. , Microwave oven, water heater, etc. Each electric device 2 is communicably connected to the control device 1 via the network 3. In addition, in the electric equipment 2 in which communication hardware is not built in the main body, it may be connected to the network 3 via an external communication adapter (not shown) so as to be able to communicate with the control device 1. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 1 includes an operation receiving unit 10, a display interface 11, a communication interface 12, a processor 13, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 14, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 15, A secondary storage device 16 is provided. These components are connected to each other via a bus 17.

The operation reception unit 10 includes one or more input devices such as a push button, a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, a touch panel, or a touch pad, receives an operation by a user input, and processes a signal related to the received operation. 13 to send.

The display interface 11 is connected to the display 4 via the cable 5, and outputs information related to the screen for user operation and various information related to each electrical device 2 to the display 4 under the control of the processor 13. The display 4 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a plasma display, or a CRT display.

The communication interface 12 is an interface such as a network card for communicating with each electrical device 2 via the network 3.

The processor 13 controls the control device 1 in an integrated manner. Details of the functions realized by the processor 13 will be described later.

The ROM 14 stores a plurality of firmware and data used when the firmware is executed. The RAM 15 is used as a work area for the processor 13.

The secondary storage device 16 includes an EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable-Programmable-Read-Only Memory) or a readable / writable non-volatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or the like. The secondary storage device 16 stores a program for controlling each electrical device 2 (hereinafter referred to as a device control program) and data used when the device control program is executed.

Functionally, the control device 1 includes a device management unit 100, a communication management unit 101, a display update unit 102, and an operation restriction unit 103 as shown in FIG. Each of these functional units is realized when the power of the control device 1 is turned on and the processor 13 executes the device control program stored in the secondary storage device 16.

The device management unit 100 manages the operation of each electric device 2. For example, the device management unit 100 acquires an operation state from each electric device 2. Specifically, the device management unit 100 obtains the operation state of each electric device 2 in order to obtain the operation state of each electric device 2 at a certain time interval (for example, every 60 seconds) (hereinafter, a command requesting the operation state). , A status request command) is transmitted via the communication management unit 101 described later. At that time, the communication management unit 101 generates a message (hereinafter, referred to as a first request message) according to the protocol of the network 3 (for example, Echonet Write), which is a message in which the status request command is stored. Transmit to each electrical device 2. The device management unit 100 may transmit a status request command to each electric device 2 all at once or may transmit asynchronously.

When each electrical device 2 receives the first request message in which the status request command is stored, each electrical device 2 is a message in which the operation status of the own device is stored, and is a message in accordance with the protocol of the network 3 (hereinafter referred to as a first response message). Is generated and transmitted to the control device 1. The device management unit 100 acquires the operation state of each electric device 2 by receiving the first response message.

The device management unit 100 updates a device state database (not shown) stored in the secondary storage device 16 based on the acquired operating state of each electric device 2. The device state database is a database for managing the operation state of each electrical device 2.

In addition, the device management unit 100 automatically controls the operation of any of the electrical devices 2 according to the thermal environment, lighting environment, power usage status, etc. in the home, or an operation schedule created in advance. The operation of any one of the electrical devices 2 is automatically controlled based on the above. At that time, the device management unit 100 requests the electric device 2 to set the specified operation parameter in order to change the operation state of the target electric device 2 (hereinafter referred to as a setting request command). Is transmitted via the communication management unit 101. At that time, the communication management unit 101 generates a message (hereinafter referred to as a second request message) according to the protocol of the network 3, which is a message in which the setting request command is stored, and transmits the message to each electric device 2. .

When receiving the second request message in which the setting request command is stored, the electric device 2 changes the operation state of the own device by setting the specified operation parameter. Thereafter, the electrical device 2 generates a telegram (hereinafter, referred to as a second response telegram) according to the protocol of the network 3, which is a telegram in which the operation parameter setting result is stored, and transmits the telegram to the control device 1. . The operation parameter setting result indicates that either the operation parameter setting has been normally completed or the operation parameter setting has not been normally completed. The electric device 2 may not necessarily set the specified operation parameter depending on the current operation state of the own device. In this case, the second response message transmitted by the electric device 2 includes information indicating that the operation parameter setting has not been normally completed.

Further, the control device 1 acquires the operation state from the operation target electrical device 2 or changes the operation state of the operation target electrical device 2 according to the user operation via the operation reception unit 10 as well as the automatic operation. be able to.

The communication management unit 101 manages communication with each electrical device 2. Specifically, the first request message storing the status request command generated by the device management unit 100 is generated and transmitted to the target electric device 2. Further, the communication management unit 101 generates a second request message in which the setting request command generated by the device management unit 100 is stored, and transmits the second request message to the target electric device 2. The first request message and the second request message are messages according to the network 3 protocol.

In addition, when the communication management unit 101 normally receives a response message (that is, the first response message or the second response message) from the electrical device 2, information (that is, setting of an operation state or an operation parameter) included in the response message is received. Result) to the device management unit 100.

In addition, when new communication with the electrical device 2 is started, the communication management unit 101 registers information related to the communication (hereinafter referred to as communication information) in a communication management table developed in the RAM 15, and the communication Manage. The start of new communication with the electric device 2 means that the first request message or the second request message is transmitted to the target electric device 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the communication management table is a data table in which communication information including items of destination, sequence number, command type, communication state, and elapsed time is registered.

In the communication information registered in the communication management table, the “destination” item stores a communication partner, that is, the communication address of the electrical device 2 that is the communication destination. The “sequence number” item stores a sequence number included in the request message (that is, the first request message or the second request message). The sequence number is a number that is sequentially allocated by the communication management unit 101 when a new request message is generated. However, when the sequence number reaches a predetermined number (for example, 1000), the communication management unit 101 starts a sequence number to be allocated from the next time onward.

Each electric device 2 controls the response message (that is, the first response message or the second response message) in which the same number as the sequence number included in the request message received from the control device 1 is stored as the sequence number. 1 to send.

In the “command type” item, information indicating whether the request message includes a status request command or a setting request command is stored.

The “communication status” item stores the communication status after transmission of the request message. In the present embodiment, the communication state is set by the communication management unit 101 to any one of the first response waiting state, the second response waiting state, the reception completion state, and the reception error state.

The first response waiting state is a default state when a request message is transmitted. The response message from the electric device 2 to the transmitted request message has not been received, and the first response message is transmitted after the request message is transmitted. 1 A state in which the waiting time has not elapsed. The second response waiting state is a state of transition from the first response waiting state, the response message from the electric device 2 to the transmitted request message has not been received, and the first response message is transmitted after the request message is transmitted. A state in which the waiting time has elapsed and the second waiting time has not elapsed. As shown in FIG. 5, the first waiting time and the second waiting time are set in advance for each destination, that is, for each electric device 2.

The first waiting time is a time when communication is completed (for example, with a probability of 80% to 95%) in the electric device 2 when the device control system is operating normally, and is appropriate for the user. The waiting time is set in advance. On the other hand, the second waiting time is set so that variations in the response waiting time of the control device 1 can be covered in communication between the control device 1 and the electrical device 2 when the device control system is operating normally. A time longer than one waiting time is preset.

As shown in FIG. 6, the reception completion state is a first response waiting state or a second response waiting state when a response message from the electrical device 2 can be received before the first waiting time or the second waiting time elapses. It is a state that changes from.

As shown in FIG. 6, the reception error state is a state in which a response message from the electrical device 2 is transitioned from the second response waiting state when the response message from the electric device 2 cannot be received before the second waiting time elapses.

Returning to FIG. 4, the “elapsed time” item stores the elapsed time (unit: second) since the request message was transmitted to the target electrical device 2.

When the response message from the electric device 2 can be received before the second waiting time elapses, that is, when the communication state transitions to the reception completion state, the communication management unit 101 normally returns the response message from the electric device 2. Treat as received. Specifically, the communication management unit 101 notifies the device management unit 100 of information included in the received response message (that is, the operation state of the electric device 2 or the operation parameter setting result of the electric device 2). Upon receiving such notification, the device management unit 100 performs a predetermined process (hereinafter referred to as a process upon normal reception) when the response message is normally received.

For example, when the operation state is notified, the device management unit 100 updates the device state database based on the operation state. When the operation parameter setting result is notified, the device management unit 100 completes the setting operation for the electric device 2 based on the setting result or the setting operation cannot be performed. Is requested to the display update unit 102 to be described later.

On the other hand, when the communication management unit 101 cannot receive a response message from the electrical device 2 before the second waiting time elapses, that is, when the communication state transitions to a reception error state, the communication management unit 101 makes a request to the electrical device 2. Handled as a message transmission failure. In this case, the communication management unit 101 notifies the device management unit 100 that transmission of the request message to the electric device 2 has failed (that is, a communication error has occurred). Upon receiving this notification, the device management unit 100 performs a default process (hereinafter referred to as a process at the time of a communication error) when a communication error occurs. For example, the device management unit 100 requests the display update unit 102 described later to display information indicating that an error has occurred in communication with the electrical device 2 on the display 4. Further, after that, the communication management unit 101 discards the response message even when a response message corresponding to the request message is received.

3, the display update unit 102 refers to the communication management table, and outputs the communication management information based on each communication information to the display 4 for display. The communication management information displayed on the display 4 includes information for identifying the electric device 2 to be operated (for example, name, address, etc.), request contents, and information indicating the communication status. As the request contents, for example, “acquisition of operation state” or “setting of operation parameters” is displayed. Further, the information indicating the communication status is displayed as “communication” if the communication is being performed, and is not displayed if the communication is not being performed.

The display update unit 102 transmits a request message to the electrical device 2 and has not received a response message for the request message before the first waiting time elapses, that is, the communication state is a first response waiting state. When a transition is made to the second response waiting state, the display on the display 4 is updated. Specifically, the display update unit 102 updates the communication management information corresponding to the request message displayed on the display 4 so that the display of “in communication” is not displayed.

Alternatively, information for notifying the user that a response message for the request message has not been received (hereinafter referred to as notification information) may be added to the communication management information, and output to the display 4 for display. .

The operation restriction unit 103 performs processing related to restriction of user operations via the operation reception unit 10 for each electrical device 2. Specifically, when the communication state with a certain electrical device 2 is the first response waiting state, the operation restriction unit 103 restricts user operations on the electrical device 2, that is, prohibits acceptance of user operations (hereinafter, referred to as “user response”). It is called the operation standby state. In this state, the operation restriction unit 103 hides the operation screen corresponding to the electric device 2 or displays the operation screen in gray, that is, in a gray-out state. On the other hand, when the communication state is other than the first response waiting state, the operation restriction unit 103 releases the restriction of the user operation on the electric device 2, that is, sets the acceptance of the user operation to a permitted state.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the communication management process executed by each functional unit of the control device 2. The control device 1 starts the following communication management process every time new communication is started with each electric device 2. When new communication with the electrical device 2 is started, the communication management unit 101 registers communication information related to the communication in the communication management table (step S101). Further, the communication management unit 101 starts timing (step S102).

The communication management unit 101 receives the response message corresponding to the communication from the electric device 2, that is, the response message corresponding to the request message, or the first waiting time after the communication with the electric device 2 is started. Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the second waiting time has elapsed (step S103).

If YES in step S103, the communication management unit 101 changes the communication state as described above (step S104).

When the communication state transitions from the first response waiting state to the second response waiting state by the process of step S104 (step S105; YES), the display update unit 102 updates the information displayed on the display 4 regarding the request message. (Step S106). In addition, the operation restriction unit 103 releases the restriction on the user operation on the electric device 2 (step S107). Thereafter, the process returns to step S103.

When the communication state transitions to the reception completion state by the process of step S104 (step S105; NO and step S108; YES), the communication management unit 101 treats the response message from the electrical device 2 as being normally received, The device management unit 100 executes the above-described normal reception process (step S109). Thereby, the communication management process in the said communication with the said electric equipment 2 is complete | finished.

When the process of step S104 does not change to either the second response waiting state or the reception completion state (step S105; NO and step S108; NO), that is, when the state changes to the reception error state, the communication management unit 101 Is handled as a failure of transmission of a request message to the electrical device 2, and the device management unit 100 executes the above-described processing at the time of a communication error (step S110). Thereby, the communication management process in the said communication with the said electric equipment 2 is complete | finished. In this case, thereafter, the response message corresponding to the communication is treated as invalid, and when received, the communication management unit 101 discards it.

8 and 9 show an example of a communication sequence between the control device 1 and the electric device 2. In the example of FIG. 8, after the control device 1 transmits a request message to the electric device 2, a response message from the electric device 2 before the second waiting time elapses after the first waiting time elapses. Is shown. In this case, when the first waiting time elapses, that is, when the communication state transitions from the first response waiting state to the second response waiting state, the control device 1 releases the restriction on the user operation on the electric device 2 (that is, The operation standby state is canceled), and the information displayed on the display 4 is updated to notify the user that the response message has not been received and the operation standby state has been canceled. Further, since the response message is received before the second waiting time elapses, the control device 1 executes the process at the time of normal reception.

Moreover, in the example of FIG. 9, the case where the control device 1 receives a response message from the electric device 2 after the second waiting time has elapsed after transmitting the request message to the electric device 2 is shown. Yes. In this case, as in the example of FIG. 8, when the first waiting time elapses, that is, when the communication state transitions from the first response waiting state to the second response waiting state, the control device 1 waits for an operation on the electrical device 2. In addition to canceling the state, the information displayed on the display 4 is updated to notify the user that no response message has been received and that the operation standby state has been cancelled. Then, when the second waiting time elapses, the control device 1 considers that the transmission of the request message to the electric device 2 has failed, and executes processing at the time of a communication error. For this reason, the control apparatus 1 discards the response message received thereafter.

As described above, according to the device control system of the present embodiment, the control device 1 uses the two response waiting times (first waiting time and second waiting time) set as described above to Management of communication with the device 2 is performed. That is, when the response waiting time has passed the first waiting time, the control device 1 releases the operation waiting state for the electrical device and updates the display on the display 4 so that no response message is received by the user. It is informed that the operation standby state has been released. Moreover, when the response message is received before the second waiting time elapses, the control device 1 internally treats the response message from the electric device 2 as having been normally received.

For this reason, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience of being processed as a communication error even though the operability of the user is not impaired and the electric device 2 is operating normally.

In the present embodiment, the first waiting time and the second waiting time are set in advance for each electric device 2, but may be common to all the electric devices 2. Even if it does in this way, there can exist said effect which is not in the past.

However, if the first waiting time and the second waiting time are set for each electric device 2 or each model of the electric device 2, the accuracy of communication management can be further improved. Furthermore, if the first waiting time and the second waiting time are set for each command type, further improvement in the accuracy of communication management can be expected.

Note that the communication management unit 101 does not receive a response message corresponding to the request message before the first waiting time after transmission of the first request message after the start of communication with the electrical device 2, that is, The request message may be retransmitted up to a predetermined number of times. In this case, the communication management unit 101 retransmits the request message at regular time intervals (for example, every time the first waiting time elapses). When the communication management unit 101 can receive a response message before the second waiting time elapses, the communication management unit 101 changes the communication state to the reception completion state, and when the response message cannot be received before the second waiting time elapses. The communication state is changed to the reception error state.

(Embodiment 2)
Subsequently, a device control system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the following description, components and the like that are common to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control device 1 according to the second embodiment. Compared with the control device 1 of the first embodiment, a waiting time setting unit 104 is added to the control device 1 of the present embodiment.

The waiting time setting unit 104 sends a request message from the electric device 2 to the request message every time a request message is transmitted to each electric device 2 for a predetermined period after the control device 1 of the present embodiment is installed in the home. Is measured, and a first waiting time corresponding to each electric device 2 is set from a plurality of measurement results. Specifically, for each electrical device 2, the average value or median value of a plurality of measured results is calculated, and the calculated average value or median value is multiplied by a predetermined multiplier to support the electrical device 2. A first waiting time is derived. The waiting time setting unit 104 derives a second waiting time corresponding to the electrical device 2 based on the derived first waiting time. In addition, the control apparatus 1 should just use the time preset for every electric equipment 2 like Embodiment 1 as said 1st waiting time and 2nd waiting time during said period.

Other functions of the control device 1 of the present embodiment are the same as those of the control device 1 of the first embodiment.

Thus, according to the device control system of the present embodiment, the control device 1 waits for the first wait corresponding to the electric device 2 based on the actually measured time until the response message from the electric device 2 is received. Since the time is set, the accuracy of the first waiting time can be improved.

In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, Of course, the various change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention is possible.

For example, an external server may hold data related to the first waiting time and the second waiting time (hereinafter referred to as waiting time data) according to the model, manufacturer, model number, and the like of the electrical device 2. And the control apparatus 1 of Embodiment 1 acquires the waiting time data corresponding from the said server by communication according to the model of the electric equipment 2 to manage, and individual attribute information, and the 1st waiting time and the 2nd waiting time May be set as If it does in this way, appropriate 1st waiting time and the 2nd waiting time can be set also to newly added electric equipment 2.

In each of the above embodiments, when the communication state with the electrical device 2 is the first response waiting state, the control device 1 restricts the user operation on the electrical device 2. However, when the communication state relates to a request not caused by a user operation, the control device 1 may permit acceptance of the user operation. A request not caused by a user operation means that the control device 1 is independent such as a request for a periodic operation state for the electric device 2 or a request for automatic control (operation state change request, that is, an operation parameter setting request). Request. However, the request received from the user (operation state request or operation state change request) is not immediately executed, but is executed after the communication is completed or the communication state transitions to the second response waiting state.

In each of the above embodiments, when the communication state with the electrical device 2 transitions from the first response waiting state to the second response waiting state, the control device 1 releases the operation standby state for the electrical device 2. For this reason, it is assumed that a lot of communication is generated and competes with respect to one electric device 2 by repeatedly performing an operation on the electric device 2 by the user. In such a case, the communication load with the electrical device 2 increases, which may lead to congestion. Therefore, in a state where a plurality of communications are occurring with respect to one electrical device 2, when the total number has reached a predetermined reference number, user operations on the electrical device 2 may not be accepted. Good.

The control device 1 further includes an independent request restriction unit (not shown) that restricts a request not caused by a user operation on each electrical device 2, that is, a request that the control device 1 makes independently (hereinafter referred to as an independent request). You may prepare. Specifically, the independence request restriction unit restricts the independence request based on the communication state and the type of the independence request. Specifically, when the type of the independence request is a request related to automatic control, the independence request restriction unit accepts the request regardless of the communication state, but performs the execution until the communication is completed, that is, the Transmission of the setting request command corresponding to the request to the electric device 2 is restricted.

Further, when the type of the independent request is a request for a periodic operation state, the independent request restriction unit accepts the request when the communication state is the first response waiting state, but executes the request until the communication is completed. That is, transmission of the state request command to the electric device 2 is restricted. Further, when the type of the independent request is a request for a periodic operation state and the communication state is the second response waiting state, the independent request limiting unit does not receive the request.

Further, the device control system does not necessarily have to include a plurality of electric devices 2, and may be configured to include one electric device 2.

Further, the control device 1 may include a display device having the same function as the display 4.

Further, at least a part of each functional unit (see FIG. 3 or FIG. 10) of the control device 1 described above may be transferred to a cloud server that is communicably connected to the control device 1 via the Internet. In this case, the control apparatus 1 should just acquire the process result of the said function part by communication from a cloud server.

In each of the above embodiments, in the control device 1, each function unit of the control device 1 (see FIGS. 3 and 10) is executed by the processor 13 executing the device control program stored in the secondary storage device 16. Was realized.

However, all or part of the functional units of the control device 1 may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof.

The above-mentioned device control program includes CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), magneto-optical disc (Magneto-Optical Disc), USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, memory card, HDD, etc. It is also possible to store and distribute in a computer-readable recording medium. Then, by installing the device control program distributed in this way on a specific or general-purpose computer, it is possible to cause the computer to function as the control device 1 in the above embodiment.

Alternatively, the device control program may be stored in a disk device or the like of another server on the Internet, and the device control program may be downloaded from the server to the control device 1.

The present invention can be variously modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the broad sense. Further, the above-described embodiment is for explaining the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the embodiments but by the claims. Various modifications within the scope of the claims and within the scope of the equivalent invention are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be suitably employed in a system in which various electrical devices and a control device are connected via a network.

1 control device, 2 electrical device, 3 network, 4 display, 5 cable, 10 operation accepting unit, 11 display interface, 12 communication interface, 13 processor, 14 ROM, 15 RAM, 16 secondary storage device, 17 bus, 100 device Management unit, 101 communication management unit, 102 display update unit, 103 operation restriction unit, 104 waiting time setting unit

Claims

A communication interface for communicating with electrical equipment;
Display update means for updating the display on the display when a response from the electric device to the command is not received before the first waiting time elapses after the command is transmitted to the electric device;
The user's operation on the electrical device is limited until the response is received after the command is transmitted and until the first waiting time elapses after the command is transmitted. Operation restriction means;
When the response is received from when the command is transmitted until the second waiting time longer than the first waiting time elapses, the response is treated as normally received until the second waiting time elapses. And a communication management means for handling that the transmission of the command has failed if the response has not been received.
2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the response is not received before the second waiting time elapses, the communication management unit discards the response received thereafter.
The electrical device is one of a plurality of electrical devices,
The control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first waiting time and the second waiting time are set in accordance with each of the plurality of electric devices or each of the plurality of electric devices.
Waiting time setting means for measuring time until receiving a response from the electric device to the command every time the command is transmitted to the electric device, and setting the first waiting time from a plurality of measurement results. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:
The control according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation restriction unit permits the user's operation on the electric device when the transmission of the command is not caused by the operation of the user. apparatus.
Send commands to electrical equipment,
If the response from the electrical device to the command has not been received before the first waiting time has elapsed since the command was transmitted, the display on the display is updated,
The user's operation on the electrical device is limited between the transmission of the command and the reception of the response, and the transmission of the command and the elapse of the first waiting time, whichever is shorter. ,
When the response is received from when the command is transmitted until the second waiting time longer than the first waiting time elapses, the response is treated as normally received until the second waiting time elapses. If the response is not received, the communication management method treats that the transmission of the command has failed.
On the computer,
Sending a command to the electrical device;
Updating the display on the display if a response from the electrical device to the command is not received before the first waiting time elapses after the command is transmitted;
The user's operation on the electrical device is limited until the response is received after the command is transmitted and until the first waiting time elapses after the command is transmitted. Steps,
When the response is received from when the command is transmitted until the second waiting time longer than the first waiting time elapses, the response is treated as normally received until the second waiting time elapses. If the response is not received, the step of handling that the transmission of the command has failed is executed.