JP2005130307A - Home network terminal and room gateway - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a home network terminal and a room gateway capable of easily retrieving a device present in any room. <P>SOLUTION: The device is connected to the home network 10 via room gateways 101A to 101D provided by every room, functions for transmitting information indicating the rooms are provided to each room gateway, when the inquiry message of existing position of other terminal and device from a terminal and the device to be connected to the home network is generated, communication is performed between the room gateways, information about the room where the search target terminal or device is present is obtained from the room gateway of the room and the information is displayed on the display part of the inquired terminal or device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a home network that connects a plurality of electronic devices and household electrical appliances at home and the like, and more particularly, to a home network terminal and a room gateway for notifying a user of the locations of devices connected to the home network.

  In recent years, electronic devices and household appliances used in homes and the like have increased more than ever before, and many of them have a communication function and are connected to a so-called home network and can communicate with each other. ing. Among these electronic devices and home appliances, large-sized TVs, personal computers, refrigerators, etc. rarely move, so users will not be able to know where they are located, but digital cameras, video cameras, and portable personal computers. Small devices such as mobile phones and remote controls are often connected wirelessly (including optical communications) instead of wired, and they are used in various rooms, so their location may be unknown. is there. In addition, even when used in the same room, it may be necessary to search in a room, such as a small device mixed in between books. Furthermore, if a plurality of users use the device alternately, the location may not be known to other users.

As a conventional method for searching for a remote controller lost in a room, there is one described in Patent Document 1 below. In this conventional method, when the power switch of the television is turned on, a predetermined radio wave is transmitted from the television to the remote controller, and the remote controller emits sound in response thereto. Therefore, the user can find the remote control using this sound. On the other hand, Patent Document 2 below discloses a function of displaying devices connected to a home network as a device list for each room.
JP-A-9-312891 JP 2001-309457 A

  However, with the method described in Patent Document 1, it is impossible to search for devices in other rooms. In addition, since the method described in Patent Document 2 is to select a device by specifying a room, in order to search which room has the target device, a list of devices for each room. There is a problem that it takes time and labor to find the target device.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a home network terminal and a room gateway of a home network that can be easily searched for any device in any room.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a device is connected to a home network via a room gateway provided for each room, and each room gateway has a function of transmitting information indicating a room, and is connected to the home network. When an inquiry message about the location of another terminal or device is issued from the terminal or device, communication between room gateways is performed, and information on the room is obtained from the room gateway of the room where the terminal or device to be searched exists. This information is displayed on the display section of the inquired terminal or device.

That is, according to the present invention, there is provided a home network terminal connected to a home network to which a plurality of devices are connected to each other via a room gateway provided in each of a plurality of rooms in the home. An input unit for receiving a search instruction from a user when searching for the location of a device connected to
Transmitting means for transmitting the information indicating the device to be searched received by the input unit to the room gateway to which the device to be searched is connected via the room gateway to which the terminal is connected;
Receiving means for receiving information on a room transmitted from the room gateway to which the device to be searched is connected;
Display means for displaying information indicating the room name or the position of the room based on the information on the room received by the receiving means;
A home network terminal is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, the room gateway of the home network connecting a plurality of devices in the home via a room gateway provided in each room,
In-room connection for connecting to equipment in the room where the room gateway exists,
A gateway connection for connecting to the room gateway of another room;
A storage unit for storing information about a room in which the room gateway itself exists;
A function of interpreting a network message in the home network and generating a response message, and responding only to a room gateway search message transmitted from a device in the room where the room gateway exists, and responding A control unit that controls to transmit information about the room as a response message only through the in-room connection unit,
A room gateway is provided.

  Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to easily search for a search target device using any home network terminal of the present invention in any room such as a home.

  Further, by using the room gateway of the present invention, only the terminal that issued the device search message or the room gateway in the room where the device exists can notify the search result to the terminal or device that issued the device search message.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the entire home network in which the home network terminal and the room gateway according to the present invention are used will be described. FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a home network in which a plurality of electronic devices and home appliances distributed in a home or the like are connected to each other to exchange images (moving images, still images), audio, text information, various commands, etc. It is a schematic diagram which shows. In this example, it is assumed that one or more devices are arranged in each of four rooms in a study, a children's room, a guest room, and a living room, and each room has room gateways 101A to 101D connected to the home network 10. Is provided. Each of the room gateways 101A to 101D is connected to home servers 201 and 203, a television, a VTR, an audio device, a remote controller 202, and the like disposed in the room by wire or wirelessly. Note that wireless connection includes IrDA, Bluetooth, and the like.

  These devices 201 to 203 and the room gateways 101A to 101D can mutually recognize each other as a home network connection device and can exchange images, sounds, character information, and the like with the UPnP function. In addition, mutual control between apparatuses is also possible by transmitting a control command as character information. The user can select and operate a device in the home using the nearest television or remote control, and play and enjoy content such as a moving image on the television.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of each of the room gateways 101A to 101C. Since all the room gateways 101A to 101D have the same structure, only the room gateway 101A will be described. The room gateway 101A includes a gateway connection unit 1011 that is an interface for connecting to the other room gateways 101B to 101D via the home network 10, and devices in the room where the room gateway 101A exists (in the example of FIG. 1). An in-room connection unit 1012 that is an interface for connecting to the home servers 201 and 203 and the remote control 202), a storage unit 1013 that stores information related to the room in advance, and a CPU (central) that controls these units Arithmetic processing unit) 1014. The information regarding the room may be the name of the room or information for indicating the position of the room on the floor plan of the house.

<First embodiment>
Here, the case where the home server 201 in the study is searched using the remote control 202D which is one of the terminals in the living room will be described as a first embodiment. The user operates the remote controller 202D to select a target home server 201 from among a plurality of devices displayed on the display screen. Next, a location notification network message based on the UPnP protocol is transmitted. The location notification network message is a command message that requests the user to be notified of the location of the selected device. This message is transmitted to the other room gateways 101A to 101C via the room gateway 101D and transmitted to each device connected thereto. The home server 201 of the study that has received the location notification message, for example, “study”, which is the room name, as the information about the room acquired from the room gateway 101A in advance after receiving the location notification message, the response message of the location notification message To the remote control 202D.

  The problem here is that when a device acquires a room name or the like from the room gateway in the same room, it broadcasts a room gateway search message based on the UPnP protocol, so that the search message covers the entire home network in the home, Since it reaches the room gateway in another room, and responses from the plurality of room gateways are returned to the search source device, the search source cannot know which room gateway is the room gateway in the same room. In the present invention, in order to prevent the occurrence of such a situation, each of the room gateways 101A to 101D responds only to the room gateway search packet that comes from the in-room connection unit 1012, and the response packet also from only the in-room connection unit 1012. I try to make a call. When searching for the room gateway from the equipment in the room, the response is surely returned only from the room gateway in the room, and the equipment can obtain the correct room name.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when the home server 201 of the study is searched using the remote control 202D which is a terminal of the living room described above. When the remote control 202D transmits a location notification message in step S1, the study home server 201 receives this message in step S2, and transmits a room gateway search message in step S3. The room gateway 101D in the living room that has received this search message determines whether or not the message is from the same room, and ends the processing (does nothing) since it is not from the same room (step S4 to S4). S6).

  On the other hand, the room gateway 101A of the study that has received the search message determines whether or not the message is from the same room, and returns the room name because it is from the same room (steps S7 to S9). . The home server 201 of the study receives and acquires the reply information of the room name in step S10. Next, the home server 201 of the study sends the room name information to the remote control 202D of the living room in step S11, and the remote control 202D of the living room receives and acquires it in step S12, and in the next step S13, the home server 201 which is a study device. “Study”, which is the name of the room where the room exists, is displayed on the display section. As described above, when the information about the room is information indicating the position of the room, the specific room on the floor plan of the house displayed on the display unit is identified and displayed from the other room based on the information. It can also be configured.

  The UPnP protocol is a standard for connecting and controlling home appliances and personal computers established by the UPnP Forum. With the UPnP protocol, all devices based on technologies such as HTTP and XML are used. The same type of messages and transmission methods can be used. Therefore, the above-described location notification message, its reply and room name inquiry message, and its reply can be used with the same content, format and transmission method regardless of the device. With this configuration, the room name that is the location of the home server 201 can be displayed on the remote control 202D of the living room, and the user can also know the room name. In this embodiment, the search source device is a remote controller, but any device type can be used as long as the target device can be displayed and selected.

<Second embodiment>
Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which the user recognizes that the target device to be searched is in a predetermined room, but does not know where in the room. Now, as shown in FIG. 4, the study has home servers 201 and 203, but the user in the study does not know which device is the target device. In this case, the user searches using the remote control 202. That is, the target server 201 displayed on the screen 202A of the remote control 202 is selected by operating the cursor key 202B and the enter key 202C, and a location notification network message based on the UPnP protocol is transmitted.

  Upon receiving the location notification network message, the home server 201 can notify the user of the location by illuminating the notification lamp 2011 attached to the home server 201. As a method of notifying the presence location, an electronic sound, a buzzer sound, or the like may be generated from the notification sound generation device 2012, or a notification lamp 2011 can be used in combination. In the second embodiment, as described in the first embodiment, the search source device is not limited to the remote controller, and may be another device as long as it can display and select the target device.

It is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a home network including a home network terminal and a room gateway according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the room gateway in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a first embodiment of a search operation in the home network of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the search operation in the home network of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Home network 101A-101D Room gateway 201, 203 Home server 202, 202D Remote control 202A Remote control screen (display means)
202B Cursor keys on remote control (input means)
202C Enter key 1011 Gateway connection unit 1012 In-room connection unit 1013 Storage unit 1014 CPU (central processing unit)
2011 Notification lamp 2012 Notification sound generator

Claims (2)

A home network terminal connected to a home network to which a plurality of devices are connected to each other via a room gateway provided in each of a plurality of rooms in the home, and the presence of the device connected to the home network When searching for a place, an input unit that receives a search instruction from the user;
Transmitting means for transmitting the information indicating the device to be searched received by the input unit to the room gateway to which the device to be searched is connected via the room gateway to which the terminal is connected;
Receiving means for receiving information on a room transmitted from the room gateway to which the device to be searched is connected;
Display means for displaying information indicating the room name or the position of the room based on the information on the room received by the receiving means;
Having a home network terminal. The room gateway of the home network connecting a plurality of devices in the home via a room gateway provided in each room,
In-room connection for connecting to equipment in the room where the room gateway exists,
A gateway connection for connecting to the room gateway of another room;
A storage unit for storing information about a room in which the room gateway itself exists;
A function of interpreting a network message in the home network and generating a response message, and responding only to a room gateway search message transmitted from a device in the room where the room gateway exists, and responding A control unit that controls to transmit information about the room as a response message only through the in-room connection unit,
Having a room gateway.

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