CN114500142A - Control device and control method of household appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a control device and a control method for a home appliance. Can solve to a certain extent that a single remote controller can not control multiclass household electrical appliances, or multiclass household electrical appliances' control response speed difference causes the user to feel the remote controller and the problem of control card pause appears, controlling means includes: a display screen; a controller configured to: sending a control instruction input by a user to a target cluster, and triggering a controller to receive first state information fed back by the target cluster; controlling a user interface to display first state information; when the target cluster is a first device cluster with quick response, the first state information is actual state information fed back by the terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the control instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the first state information is theoretical state information of the terminal device of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

Description

Control device and control method of household appliance

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a control device and a control method for a home appliance.

Background

In general, home appliances such as televisions, range hoods, and air conditioners may be controlled by a control device, which may be implemented as a remote controller or a mobile terminal having a control function.

In some implementations of controlling home appliances, each home appliance is usually configured with a dedicated remote controller, such as an independent remote controller that independently controls a certain television, or an air conditioner, or a range hood; or a certain remote controller is used for carrying out centralized control on a plurality of household appliances of the same type in a household, for example, the certain remote controller can control a plurality of air conditioners with slow response speed or a few range hoods with fast response speed.

However, when there are multiple home appliances in a home, multiple remote controllers need to be configured correspondingly, and the situation that the controller operated by the user does not correspond to the home appliances often occurs; or a certain remote controller supports the air conditioner and the smoke machine at the same time, as the result of the received instruction by the air conditioner is fed back to the remote controller slowly, and the result of the received instruction by the smoke machine is fed back to the remote controller quickly, the user can feel obvious blockage when the user switches between the remote control of the air conditioner and the smoke machine.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problem that a single remote controller cannot control multiple types of household appliances or the control response speeds of the multiple types of household appliances are different, so that a user feels that the remote controller is blocked, the application provides a control device and a control method of the household appliances.

The embodiment of the application is realized as follows:

a first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a control apparatus, including: the display screen is used for displaying a user interface, and the user interface comprises state information of the terminal equipment in the target cluster; a controller configured to: sending a control instruction input by a user to a target cluster, wherein the control instruction is used for triggering a controller to receive first state information fed back by the target cluster; controlling the user interface to display the first state information; when the target cluster is a first device cluster with a quick response, the first state information is actual state information fed back by a terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the control instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the first state information is theoretical state information of the terminal device of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for controlling a home appliance, where the method includes: sending a control instruction input by a user to a target cluster, wherein the control instruction is used for triggering and receiving first state information fed back by the target cluster; displaying the first state information; when the target cluster is a first device cluster with a quick response, the first state information is actual state information fed back by a terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the control instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the first state information is theoretical state information of the terminal device of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

The beneficial effect of this application: different display mechanisms related to the first state information can be configured by constructing the first equipment cluster and the second equipment cluster; further, by constructing theoretical state information, the first state information of the time delay response equipment cluster can be rapidly displayed by the user interface; and further, by constructing the second state information, the displayed first state information can be automatically corrected when the time-delay response equipment cluster fails to execute the control instruction, multiple types of household appliances are controlled by using a single remote controller, and the control delay occurring when the remote controller controls different types of household appliance clusters is reduced.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive exercise.

FIG. 1 illustrates a usage scenario of a display device according to some embodiments;

fig. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration block diagram of the control apparatus 100 according to some embodiments;

fig. 3 illustrates a hardware configuration block diagram of the display apparatus 200 according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a software configuration diagram in the display device 200 according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an icon control interface display of an application in display device 200, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a front panel of a remote control according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a panel of a remote control according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram of a panel of a remote control according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6D is a schematic diagram of a panel of a remote control according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6E is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of a cluster of remote controllers controlling home devices according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7C is a schematic diagram of a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8B is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8C is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8D is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9A is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a home device cluster according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9B is a schematic diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9C is a logic diagram of a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10A is a logic diagram of a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10B is a signaling diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10C is a signaling diagram of a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10D is a signaling diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10E is a signaling diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10F is a diagram illustrating signaling interactions when an exception is issued by a remote control command according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10G is a schematic diagram illustrating signaling interaction when a state report of a terminal device is abnormal according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10H is a schematic diagram of a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10I is a schematic diagram of a remote controller controlling a home device cluster according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10J is a diagram illustrating a remote controller controlling a cluster of home devices according to another embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

To make the purpose and embodiments of the present application clearer, the following will clearly and completely describe the exemplary embodiments of the present application with reference to the attached drawings in the exemplary embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described exemplary embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all the embodiments.

It should be noted that the brief descriptions of the terms in the present application are only for the convenience of understanding the embodiments described below, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application. These terms should be understood in their ordinary and customary meaning unless otherwise indicated.

The terms "first," "second," "third," and the like in the description and claims of this application and in the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between similar or analogous objects or entities and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order, unless otherwise indicated. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances.

The terms "comprises" and "comprising," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a product or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to all elements expressly listed, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such product or apparatus.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an operation scenario between a display device and a control apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, a user may operate the display apparatus 200 through the smart device 300 or the control device 100.

In some embodiments, the control apparatus 100 may be a remote controller, and the communication between the remote controller and the display device includes an infrared protocol communication or a bluetooth protocol communication, and other short-distance communication methods, and controls the display device 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The user may input a user instruction through a key on a remote controller, voice input, control panel input, etc., to control the display apparatus 200.

In some embodiments, the smart device 300 (e.g., mobile terminal, tablet, computer, laptop, etc.) may also be used to control the display device 200. For example, the display device 200 is controlled using an application program running on the smart device.

In some embodiments, the display device may not receive instructions using the smart device or control device described above, but rather receive user control through touch or gestures, or the like.

In some embodiments, the display device 200 may also be controlled in a manner other than the control apparatus 100 and the smart device 300, for example, the voice command control of the user may be directly received by a module configured inside the display device 200 to obtain a voice command, or may be received by a voice control device provided outside the display device 200.

In some embodiments, the display device 200 is also in data communication with a server 400. The display device 200 may be allowed to be communicatively connected through a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and other networks. The server 400 may provide various contents and interactions to the display apparatus 200. The server 400 may be a cluster or a plurality of clusters, and may include one or more types of servers.

Fig. 2 exemplarily shows a block diagram of a configuration of the control apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 2, the control device 100 includes a controller 110, a communication interface 130, a user input/output interface 140, a memory, and a power supply. The control apparatus 100 may receive an input operation instruction from a user and convert the operation instruction into an instruction recognizable and responsive by the display device 200, serving as an interaction intermediary between the user and the display device 200.

As shown in fig. 3, the display apparatus 200 includes at least one of a tuner demodulator 210, a communicator 220, a detector 230, an external device interface 240, a controller 250, a display 260, an audio output interface 270, a memory, a power supply, and a user interface.

In some embodiments the controller comprises a processor, a video processor, an audio processor, a graphics processor, a RAM, a ROM, a first interface to an nth interface for input/output.

The display 260 includes a display screen component for presenting a picture, and a driving component for driving image display, a component for receiving an image signal from the controller output, performing display of video content, image content, and a menu manipulation interface, and a user manipulation UI interface.

The display 260 may be a liquid crystal display, an OLED display, and a projection display, and may also be a projection device and a projection screen.

The communicator 220 is a component for communicating with an external device or a server according to various communication protocol types. For example: the communicator may include at least one of a Wifi module, a bluetooth module, a wired ethernet module, and other network communication protocol chips or near field communication protocol chips, and an infrared receiver. The display apparatus 200 may establish transmission and reception of control signals and data signals with the external control apparatus 100 or the server 400 through the communicator 220.

A user interface for receiving control signals for controlling the apparatus 100 (e.g., an infrared remote control, etc.).

The detector 230 is used to collect signals of the external environment or interaction with the outside. For example, detector 230 includes a light receiver, a sensor for collecting ambient light intensity; alternatively, the detector 230 includes an image collector, such as a camera, which may be used to collect external environment scenes, attributes of the user, or user interaction gestures, or the detector 230 includes a sound collector, such as a microphone, which is used to receive external sounds.

The external device interface 240 may include, but is not limited to, the following: high Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), analog or data high definition component input interface (component), composite video input interface (CVBS), USB input interface (USB), RGB port, and the like. The interface may be a composite input/output interface formed by the plurality of interfaces.

The tuner demodulator 210 receives a broadcast television signal through a wired or wireless reception manner, and demodulates an audio/video signal, such as an EPG data signal, from a plurality of wireless or wired broadcast television signals.

In some embodiments, the controller 250 and the modem 210 may be located in different separate devices, that is, the modem 210 may also be located in an external device of the main device where the controller 250 is located, such as an external set-top box.

The controller 250 controls the operation of the display device and responds to the user's operation through various software control programs stored in the memory. The controller 250 controls the overall operation of the display apparatus 200. For example: in response to receiving a user command for selecting a UI object to be displayed on the display 260, the controller 250 may perform an operation related to the object selected by the user command.

Referring to fig. 4, in some embodiments, the system is divided into four layers, which are, from top to bottom, an Application (Applications) layer (referred to as an "Application layer"), an Application Framework (Application Framework) layer (referred to as a "Framework layer"), an Android runtime (Android runtime) layer and a system library layer (referred to as a "system runtime library layer"), and a kernel layer.

In some embodiments, at least one application program runs in the application program layer, and the application programs may be windows (windows) programs carried by an operating system, system setting programs, clock programs or the like; or an application developed by a third party developer. In particular implementations, the application packages in the application layer are not limited to the above examples.

As shown in fig. 4, in the embodiment of the present application, the application framework layer includes a manager (Managers), a Content Provider (Content Provider), and the like, where the manager includes at least one of the following modules: an Activity Manager (Activity Manager) is used for interacting with all activities running in the system; the Location Manager (Location Manager) is used for providing the system service or application with the access of the system Location service; a Package Manager (Package Manager) for retrieving various information related to an application Package currently installed on the device; a Notification Manager (Notification Manager) for controlling display and clearing of Notification messages; a Window Manager (Window Manager) is used to manage the icons, windows, toolbars, wallpapers, and desktop components on a user interface.

In some embodiments, the display device may directly enter the interface of the preset vod program after being activated, and the interface of the vod program may include at least a navigation bar 510 and a content display area located below the navigation bar 510, as shown in fig. 5, where the content displayed in the content display area may change according to the change of the selected control in the navigation bar. The programs in the application program layer can be integrated in the video-on-demand program and displayed through one control of the navigation bar, and can also be further displayed after the application control in the navigation bar is selected.

The embodiment of the application can be applied to various types of independent remote controllers, television remote controllers or mobile terminals. The control method of the control device and the household appliance will be explained below by taking the technical scheme of controlling the air conditioner and the range hood by the television remote controller, the interaction of the user interface and the signaling as examples.

Fig. 6A is a schematic diagram of a panel of a remote control according to an embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the remote control provided herein includes a display screen and physical keys; the display screen can set up in the upside of remote controller panel for show user interface, user interface can show including controllable household electrical appliances icon of remote controller and function icon, join in marriage net, setting and add equipment icon etc. like cigarette machine cluster, air conditioner cluster, a key.

The user clicks the corresponding icon in the display screen, and can enter the corresponding secondary menu for further operation; the physical keys may be disposed on the lower side of the remote control panel, and include a circular direction key and a central key, and the central key may implement a voice input or confirmation function, as shown in fig. 6A.

It should be noted that the circular direction key and the central key may also be configured as virtual keys displayed on the display screen, and when the display screen of the remote controller is lighted, a user may operate the virtual keys; the application does not limit the layout of the keys on the panel of the remote controller.

In some embodiments, the remote control includes a display screen for displaying the user interface. For example, for a remote controller that may have multiple air conditioners or multiple cigarette makers, after a user enters a secondary menu of a user interface device cluster, terminal device information under the device cluster may be displayed, as shown in fig. 6B, which shows a cigarette maker 1 and a cigarette maker 2 included in the cigarette maker cluster, and fig. 6C, which shows air conditioners 1 to 6 included in the air conditioner cluster.

It should be noted that, although only the remote controller is shown in the drawings to control the air conditioner and the range hood, the application does not limit the support of the household electrical appliance by the remote controller; in some embodiments, the remote controller may also control a television cluster, or a refrigerator cluster, or a patch panel cluster, or an intelligent light cluster, or other household appliance cluster.

In some embodiments, the control device provided by the present application can be implemented as a mobile terminal as in fig. 6E, which functions like the centralized control screen of the air conditioner shown in the figure; the difference is that the air-conditioning centralized control screen is usually arranged at a position of a living room in a family, and a plurality of air conditioners in the family can be centrally controlled through the air-conditioning centralized control screen, wherein the centralized control screen comprises the steps of starting up, shutting down, wind speed control, mode control and the like.

The mobile terminal controls a plurality of air conditioners in the cluster through the local area network, the air conditioners feed back execution results to the mobile terminal after receiving the execution of the control instruction, and the execution results are also fed back to the air conditioner centralized control screen to be displayed.

In the system architecture shown in fig. 6E, the centralized control screen of the air conditioner and the mobile terminal can control up to 32 indoor units, 16 outdoor units and heat exchangers; it should be noted that the number of controllable terminal devices in the device cluster can be adjusted by the mobile terminal according to actual conditions.

In some embodiments, the remote controller provided by the present application may communicate with the terminal device in the device cluster through the centralized control screen; for example, the remote controller sends a control instruction to the air conditioner centralized control screen, and then the control instruction is sent to the terminal equipment air conditioner through the communication channel established between the air conditioner centralized control screen and the air conditioner, so that the centralized control of the terminal equipment in the air conditioner cluster is realized.

Similarly, in the system architecture shown in fig. 6E, the air conditioner cluster may also be implemented as a cigarette making machine cluster, a television cluster, a washing machine cluster, or an intelligent lighting cluster.

In some embodiments, a user may input a control command on a user interface of the remote controller, and a controller configured by the remote controller issues the control command to the target cluster. Generally speaking, after the remote controller issues the control instruction to the target cluster, the target cluster feeds back first state information to the remote controller, wherein the first state information represents an execution result of the control instruction;

in this application, the first state information includes actual state information and theoretical state information of the target cluster terminal device, and the first state information is displayed on a remote controller user interface, so that a user can directly read a working state of the terminal device, such as the remote controller user interface shown in fig. 7B.

In some embodiments, when the target cluster is an air-conditioning cluster, the number of air conditioners of the terminal device is large; the remote controller sends a control instruction to the air conditioner of the lower computer, and if the lower computer finishes executing the control instruction and then feeds back an execution result, the delay of displaying the first state information on the user interface is too long due to the large number of the air conditioners, the complex equipment and the slow response;

and when the target cluster is a cigarette machine cluster, the number of cigarette machines of the terminal equipment is usually small, the equipment structure is simple, the response speed is high, and compared with an air conditioner cluster, a user basically cannot perceive delay to the first state information fed back by the cigarette machine cluster.

In some embodiments, when the target cluster controlled by the user through the remote controller is a first equipment cluster formed by the cigarette making machine, the first equipment cluster also has the characteristic of quick response because the cigarette making machine has the characteristic of quick response;

after the remote controller sends out a control instruction, the controller receives first state information fed back by the first equipment cluster, and the first state information is actual state information fed back by all the cigarette machines after the equipment cluster executes the control instruction.

For example, the first equipment cluster comprises a cigarette maker 1 and a cigarette maker 2, and the cigarette maker 1 and the cigarette maker 2 are in a shutdown state; the user starts all the smoke machines through the user interface and adjusts the wind speed to 1 gear, and the user interface of the remote controller and the working state of the smoke machines are shown in figure 7A;

it should be noted that, for a cigarette machine cluster, a corresponding cigarette machine centralized control screen is usually arranged, and the cigarette machine centralized control screen can also be referred to as a cigarette machine screen for short; the cigarette machine centralized control screen can be arranged at a position easy to control, and a user can perform centralized control on the cigarette machines 1 and 2 through the cigarette machine centralized control screen.

The remote controller sends the control instruction to the cigarette machine centralized control screen, and then the cigarette machine centralized control screen sends the control instruction to the cigarette machine 1 and the cigarette machine 2; the cigarette making machine feeds back the actual state information of the cigarette making machine to the cigarette making machine centralized control screen after executing the control command, and the actual state information is fed back to the remote controller through the cigarette making machine centralized control screen.

For example, the actual state information may be fed back to the remote controller, and after receiving the actual state information fed back by the cigarette maker, the controller will control the user interface of the remote controller to update, and display the actual state information on the user interface, as shown in fig. 10B.

After the remote controller receives the first state information fed back by the terminal equipment, the controller controls the user interface to display the first state information.

For example, when the first status information carries the power-on status information and the wind speed information, the remote controller user interface is as shown on the left side of fig. 7C, where the range hood 1 is at the wind speed 1 level and the range hood 2 is at the wind speed 1 level.

It should be noted that the control instruction may also be directly sent to the terminal device, that is, directly sent to the cigarette making machine in the embodiment, and the display screen configured in the cigarette making machine itself may receive the control instruction without receiving and forwarding by the cigarette making machine centralized control screen.

In some embodiments, when the cigarette making machine 2 in the first equipment cluster fails to execute the control instruction due to a communication fault, the remote controller receives actual state information fed back by the cigarette making machine, at the moment, the cigarette making machine 1 is actually in a wind speed 1-gear state, and the cigarette making machine 2 is actually in a shutdown state; correspondingly, the controller user interface will show: the range hood 1 is started and the wind speed is 1 gear, and the range hood 2 is shut down, as shown in fig. 7C.

It can be understood that, when the remote controller controls the first device cluster, the terminal device status information displayed on the user interface of the remote controller is actual status information fed back by the terminal device, and the feedback of the actual status information can be triggered by a control instruction or obtained by a conventional status query mechanism.

In some embodiments, when the target cluster is a second device cluster formed by air conditioners, the second device cluster also has a delayed response characteristic because the air conditioners have the delayed response characteristic.

After the remote controller sends out a control instruction, the controller receives first state information fed back by the second equipment cluster, and after the first state information equipment cluster executes the control instruction, all air conditioners theoretically display theoretical state information.

For example, the second equipment cluster includes air conditioners 1 to 6, and the air conditioners 1 and 6 are in an off state, the wind speed of the air conditioner 2 is 2 steps, the wind speed of the air conditioner 3 is 3 steps, the wind speed of the air conditioner 4 is 4 steps, and the wind speed of the air conditioner 5 is 3 steps, as shown in fig. 8A;

based on the working state of the air conditioner, the user adjusts the air speeds of all the air conditioners to 1 gear, after the control command is sent to the second equipment cluster by the remote controller, the user interface of the remote controller displays first state information, the air speeds of all the air conditioners are all displayed to 1 gear, the first state information is the working state that the air conditioners in the second equipment cluster should be adjusted to achieve after the control command is sent out theoretically, and the user interface is shown in the left side diagram of fig. 8B;

in a short period of time after the control instruction is sent, the air conditioners 1 and 6 are still in the off state, the wind speed of the air conditioner 2 is 2, the wind speed of the air conditioner 3 is 3, the wind speed of the air conditioner 4 is 4, and the wind speed of the air conditioner 5 is 3, which embodies the delay characteristic displayed by the remote controller, as shown in the right-side diagram of fig. 8B.

It should be noted that, in general, the control command may be executed by all air conditioners in the second device cluster, and therefore, the theoretical state information and the actual state information of all air conditioners after the control command is executed should be generally the same;

however, when some air conditioners cannot execute the control command due to a special situation such as a communication error or an equipment failure, the theoretical state information and the actual state information will not be identical.

It should be noted that, although the sending objects of the control instruction in the foregoing embodiment are all terminal devices in the target cluster, in some embodiments, the control instruction may also be sent to some terminal devices in the target cluster, and the control method and the technical solution thereof are the same as those in the foregoing embodiment.

In some embodiments, based on the remote control user interface and the air conditioner operating state shown in fig. 8B, if all the air conditioners in the second equipment cluster execute the control command correctly, all the air conditioners in the second equipment cluster are actually adjusted to the wind speed 1; at this point, the remote control user interface will show that: the air conditioners 1 to 6 are at the wind speed 1 st position, as shown in fig. 8C. It can be understood that the time when the remote controller displays the first status information is earlier than the time when the air conditioner completes the execution of the control command.

In some embodiments, after the remote controller user interface displays the first state information fed back by the second device cluster, a situation that the terminal device cannot completely execute the control instruction or fails to execute the control instruction may also occur.

When the second equipment cluster fails to execute the control instruction, the second equipment cluster feeds back second state information to the remote controller so as to correct the first state information displayed on the user interface; the second state information is the actual state information of all terminal devices after the second device cluster fails to execute the control instruction.

For example, based on the remote controller user interface and the air conditioner operating state shown in fig. 8B, a control instruction for adjusting all the air conditioners to the wind speed 1 gear is sent to the second equipment cluster;

the air conditioners 3 and 6 fail to execute the control command due to special conditions such as communication errors or equipment faults; therefore, only the air conditioners 1, 2, 4, and 5 actually completely execute the above control commands; at this time, the first status information and the actual status information of the air conditioner displayed on the user interface are different.

When the air conditioner of the second equipment cluster does not completely execute the control instruction, the second equipment cluster sends second state information to the remote controller; the second state information carries actual state information of the air conditioner after the control instruction is executed, and may specifically include that the air conditioner 1 is in a wind speed 1 gear, the air conditioner 2 is in a wind speed 1 gear, the air conditioner 3 is in a wind speed 3 gear, the air conditioner 4 is in a wind speed 1 gear, the air conditioner 5 is in a wind speed 1 gear, and the air conditioner 6 is in a shutdown state, for example;

after the remote controller receives the second state information, if it is determined that the second state information is different from the first state information, the controller controls the user interface to display the second state information, and the user interface updates the displayed first state information of the air conditioner, as shown in fig. 8D.

In some embodiments, the user sends the control instruction to the air-conditioning centralized control screen through the built-in application of the remote controller, the air-conditioning centralized control screen replies feedback control, and the user interface of the remote controller displays the first state information; and then, the air conditioner centralized control screen sends the control instruction to the air conditioner so as to execute the control instruction, and the air conditioner needs to reply a received signaling to the air conditioner centralized control screen after receiving the control instruction.

It should be noted that, the air conditioner centralized control screen sends a query status signaling to the air conditioner at preset time intervals, for example, at 500ms time intervals, and performs repeated status query;

when the air-conditioning centralized control screen receives feedback information different from the stored state information, the air-conditioning centralized control screen reports second state information containing the feedback information to the remote controller; after the remote controller receives the second status information, the controller updates the control user interface to display the second status information, as shown in fig. 10C.

In some embodiments, the remote controller may obtain third state information, which is fed back by the target cluster and used for reflecting the device state information, and may display the third state information on the user interface, so as to implement UI interface update.

And when the target cluster is the first equipment cluster with quick response, the third state information is the actual state information fed back by the terminal equipment of the first equipment cluster after the first equipment cluster executes the query instruction.

For example, after the user adjusts the air speed through an entity button of the cigarette machine, the actual state information of the cigarette machine is fed back to the cigarette machine centralized control screen in the form of third state information, and then the third state information is fed back to the remote controller through the cigarette machine centralized control screen;

the remote controller sends the query instruction to the smoke machine centralized control screen, and the smoke machine centralized control screen sends the query instruction to the smoke machine; the cigarette making machine receives the query instruction and then replies the current actual state information to the cigarette making machine centralized control screen, the cigarette making machine centralized control screen further reports the actual state information to the application of the remote controller, and the user interface of the remote controller displays the actual state information fed back by the cigarette making machine to complete interface updating, as shown in fig. 10D.

It should be noted that the smoke machine centralized control screen and the air conditioner centralized control screen mentioned in the specification of the present application can be arranged on the surface of the shell of the household electrical appliance, and can also be arranged separately from the household electrical appliance; the centralized control screen can realize the control and query of the household appliances; the control instruction sent by the control device to the household appliance can be received by the centralized control screen.

In some embodiments, when the target cluster is the second device cluster in the delayed response, the third state information is the latest actual state information of the terminal device, which is acquired and stored by the second device cluster; in some embodiments, the terminal device is configured to periodically feed back the actual state information to the remote controller according to a preset time interval;

for example, the user adjusts the working state of the air conditioner through the air conditioner entity button, the actual state information of the air conditioner is fed back to the air conditioner centralized control screen through the query mechanism of the air conditioner centralized control screen, and then the air conditioner centralized control screen sends the third state information to the remote controller, so that the user can read the actual state information of the air conditioner through the user interface of the remote controller or the air conditioner centralized control screen.

The application of the remote controller sends a query instruction to an air conditioner centralized control screen corresponding to the second equipment cluster, and the air conditioner centralized control screen acquires actual state information of the air conditioner at fixed time intervals according to a query mechanism of the air conditioner centralized control screen;

for example, the air conditioner centralized control screen sends a state query signaling to the air conditioner once every 500 milliseconds, and then actual state information fed back by the air conditioner is stored in a covering manner;

when the air-conditioning centralized control screen feeds back the third state information to the remote controller, the actual state information carried by the third state information is obtained by the air-conditioning centralized control screen latest, as shown in fig. 10E. It can be understood that after the application of the remote controller sends the query instruction to the air-conditioning centralized control screen, the air-conditioning centralized control screen timely replies the latest actual state information recorded locally to the remote controller after receiving the query instruction.

Because the number of the air conditioners in the second equipment cluster is large, in order to ensure that the actual state information stored in the air conditioner centralized control screen can be synchronous with the air conditioners of the lower computers and avoid overlarge query delay, the working condition query of the air conditioners can be set to be performed every 500ms, and the acquired information is recorded to the local.

In some embodiments, the target cluster is a second device cluster, and the first state information may be configured according to the number of terminal devices included in the target cluster.

If the number of the terminal devices in the second device cluster is smaller than the first threshold, the first state information may be configured as actual state information fed back by the terminal devices of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

For example, the first threshold is configured to be 5, the first state information displayable on the user interface of the remote controller in fig. 6C is theoretical state information of the terminal device after the second device cluster executes the control instruction, and the first state information displayable on the user interface in fig. 6D is actual state information fed back by the terminal device after the second device cluster executes the control instruction. It can be understood that in the process of controlling the second equipment cluster terminal equipment by the remote controller, since the response speed of the air-conditioning equipment is slower than that of a smoke machine and the number of air-conditioners is large, the second equipment cluster usually responds to the remote controller slowly, and if the upper layer is notified after the lower-level air-conditioner replies the actual state information, the feedback display delay is too long;

when the number of the second equipment cluster terminal equipment is small, the delayed response problem can be lightened to a certain extent, the control scheme of the cigarette machine cluster can be used for the control scheme of the air conditioner cluster under the condition, the first state information is prevented from being further updated by the second state information, and the control efficiency of the remote controller on the target cluster is improved.

In some embodiments, the remote controller user interface display comprises an air conditioner cluster and a smoke machine cluster application, and when a user controls the clusters, the built-in protocol analysis service of the remote controller judges the type of a target cluster operated by the user;

when the controller judges that the target cluster is a first device cluster of the cigarette machine type, the controller executes the reduced control, the reduced control refers to the control scheme shown in the attached fig. 7A to 7C of the specification, and the first state information displayed on the user interface of the controller is the actual state information fed back by the terminal device of the first device cluster after the control instruction is executed by the first device cluster.

When the controller determines that the target cluster is a second equipment cluster of the air conditioner type, it is further determined whether the second equipment cluster contains the number of air conditioners which is greater than or equal to N, where N is the first threshold mentioned in the foregoing embodiment;

when the controller determines that the number of the air conditioners in the second device cluster is smaller than N, the controller executes the reduced control, which is the control scheme shown in fig. 7A to 7C and 9A to 9C, and the first state information displayed on the user interface of the controller is the actual state information fed back by the terminal device of the target cluster after executing the control instruction.

When the controller judges that the number of the air conditioners in the second equipment cluster is larger than or equal to N, executing ecological control, wherein the ecological control is the theoretical state information of terminal equipment of the second equipment cluster after a control instruction is executed by the second equipment cluster is displayed on a user interface of the control scheme shown in the attached figures 8A to 8D;

when the execution of the control instruction fails, the controller receives second state information fed back by the second equipment cluster, wherein the second state information is actual state information of the terminal equipment after the execution of the control instruction by the second equipment cluster fails;

when the second state information is different from the first state information, the controller controls the user interface to display the second state information so as to modify the first state information displayed on the user interface, so that the user can read the accurate actual state information of the terminal device in the target cluster, and the logic judgment of the logic judgment is as shown in fig. 10A.

The failure to execute the control command may generally include two situations, namely, an exception issued by the command and an exception reported by the terminal device status.

Fig. 10F is a schematic diagram illustrating signaling interaction when a remote control command issues an exception according to another embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the application of the remote controller sends a control command or a query command to the smoke machine/air conditioner centralized control screen; then the smoke machine/air conditioner centralized control screen sends a lower computer instruction to terminal equipment in the equipment cluster;

under the normal condition, for the cigarette making machine equipment with quick response, the cigarette making machine centralized control screen is required to receive the actual state information replied by the cigarette making machine; for the air-conditioning equipment with delayed response, the air-conditioning centralized control screen feeds back theoretical state information of the remote controller air conditioner, and then the air-conditioning centralized control screen searches the lower computer air conditioner in turn to acquire actual state information of the terminal air conditioner;

however, no matter the lower computer replies the result or answers, an abnormal condition that the smoke machine/air conditioner centralized control screen does not receive the response of the lower computer may exist. The remote controller is configured with a retransmission mechanism aiming at the processing of the command issuing abnormity, the smoke machine/air conditioner centralized control screen does not receive the reply of the lower computer terminal within the expected time, and the smoke machine/air conditioner centralized control screen retransmits the lower computer command; in some embodiments, after the retransmission mechanism is configured to retransmit three times, if the lower computer reply cannot be received yet, the smoke machine/air conditioner centralized control screen reports an abnormal state to the remote controller, and the remote controller display screen user interface updates and prompts an operation failure message, as shown in fig. 10F.

Fig. 10G shows a schematic diagram of signaling interaction when a state report of a terminal device is abnormal according to another embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the target cluster is an air conditioning equipment cluster with a delayed response, the air conditioning centralized control screen successfully receives a control instruction issued by the remote controller, and the air conditioning centralized control screen also successfully sends a lower computer instruction to the terminal air conditioner for execution, but the terminal equipment is abnormal in the process of executing the command.

For example, after the application of the remote controller sends a control instruction to the air conditioner centralized control screen, the centralized control screen sends a lower computer instruction and simultaneously feeds back theoretical state information of the remote controller about the terminal air conditioner, and the remote controller controls the user interface to update according to the theoretical state information;

after the terminal air conditioner executes the lower computer instruction, the terminal air conditioner replies the received signaling to the air conditioner centralized control screen; aiming at the execution abnormity, the remote controller is configured with a state change reporting abnormity detection mechanism, and when the air conditioner centralized control screen detects that the state of the air conditioner is not changed within a certain time interval, the air conditioner centralized control screen repeatedly sends a query state signaling to the air conditioner for repeated query until the total query time exceeds a preset time threshold; at this moment, the air-conditioning centralized control screen reports the state, the remote controller updates the control user interface according to the state reporting information, and specifically restores the control user interface to the user interface before the control instruction is sent, so as to realize user interface error correction, as shown in fig. 10G. In some embodiments, the second equipment cluster includes air conditioners 1 to 4, and the air conditioner 1 is in an off state, the air conditioner 2 is in a wind speed range of 2, the air conditioner 3 is in a wind speed range of 3, and the air conditioner 4 is in a wind speed range of 4, and the user adjusts the wind speeds of all the air conditioners to 1 gear through the remote controller user interface, as shown in fig. 9A;

when the controller judges that the number of the second device cluster terminal devices is smaller than the first threshold 5, the controller receives first state information fed back by the second device cluster, and the first state information is configured to be actual state information fed back by the terminal devices of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

For example, after the air conditioners 1 to 4 execute the control commands, the wind speeds are all adjusted to 1; the second device cluster will send the first status information carrying the actual status information to the remote controller, and the remote controller user interface is displayed as shown in fig. 9B.

If part of the air conditioners in the second equipment cluster fail to execute the control instruction, the air conditioner 1 is in a shutdown state, the air conditioner 2 is in a wind speed 1 gear, the air conditioner 3 is in a wind speed 1 gear, and the air conditioner 4 is in a wind speed 4 gear; it can be found that the air conditioners 2 and 3 successfully execute the control command, while the air conditioners 1 and 4 fail to successfully execute the control command, and the remote controller user interface displays the actual status information of the second device cluster terminal device, as shown in fig. 9C.

In some embodiments, a structure may be created in the remote controller system, and configured to store the control commands input by the user, where the structure may forward the stored control commands to the first device cluster one by one according to the order of receiving the control commands;

wherein the structure may be further configured to lock the instruction when it is output, such that the structure suspends receiving instructions; the first device cluster is configured to have an automatic stop protection function in some embodiments, and the terminal device needs to continuously receive a driving instruction sent by the structural body when running; correspondingly, after the structural body output command is finished, the controller can unlock the structural body output command so as to receive a subsequent control command. It can be understood that the application of the remote controller sends the control instruction to the protocol analysis service, and the service stores the received control instruction in the structural body; then the structure body sends the received control instruction to lower computers such as a smoke machine and the like; generally, the equipment of the type of the cigarette machine is provided with automatic stop protection, so when the application of a remote controller sends a control command, the service can always send the control command regularly to drive the cigarette machine to work; because the control command may be updated in the process of sending the command by the structure body, the control command needs to be locked before the structure body updates the control command and unlocked after the control command is updated successfully; the service also needs to be locked before sending the control command and unlocked after sending the control command is completed, as shown in fig. 10H.

In some embodiments, the remote controller controls the air conditioners of the second equipment cluster and sends a control instruction to the structure; when a plurality of control commands are sent consecutively, the controller may store them in a control list in the structure, for example, control command 1, control command 2, and control command 3 may be stored in the control list at the same time, as shown in fig. 10I;

for the second equipment cluster, as the number of the air conditioners contained in the second equipment cluster is larger, the air conditioner centralized control screen is configured to always send a polling instruction to acquire the actual state information of the air conditioners; when the controller judges that the control instruction exists in the control list, the control instruction is preferentially sent, and then the polling instruction is sent.

In some embodiments, the remote controller controls multiple air conditioners of the second device cluster, and multiple control elements may exist in the control list at the same time, for example, the control list includes control element 1, control element 2, and control element 3, as shown in fig. 10J;

the controller simultaneously converts the control elements into point positions of control instructions, sends the control elements together by using one control instruction, and then clears the control list; if only a single control element exists in the subsequent control list, automatically filling other control instructions according to the previously recorded point location; when the lower-level air conditioner does not reply after a single control command is sent, the next control command needs to be suspended from being sent, each control command can comprise a plurality of control elements, and the control commands need to be sent in sequence.

Based on the technical solution for realizing the control of the household electrical appliance by the control device, the present application also provides a control method of the household electrical appliance, and the specific steps thereof refer to those shown in the foregoing embodiments and are not described herein again.

The method and the device have the advantages that different display mechanisms of the first state information can be configured by constructing the first equipment cluster and the second equipment cluster; further, by constructing theoretical state information, the first state information of the delayed response equipment cluster can be quickly displayed on a user interface of the remote controller; and further, by constructing the second state information, the displayed first state information can be corrected when the time-delay response equipment cluster fails to execute the control instruction, multiple types of household appliances are controlled by using a single remote controller, and the control delay caused when the remote controller controls different types of household appliance clusters is reduced.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that aspects of the present application may be illustrated and described in terms of several patentable species or situations, including any new and useful combination of processes, machines, manufacture, or materials, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, various aspects of the present application may be embodied entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as "data block", "controller", "engine", "unit", "component", or "system". Furthermore, aspects of the present application may be represented as a computer product, including computer readable program code, embodied in one or more computer readable media.

The computer storage medium may comprise a propagated data signal with computer program code embodied therewith, for example, on baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, etc., or any suitable combination. A computer storage medium may be any computer-readable medium that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code located on a computer storage medium may be propagated over any suitable medium, including radio, cable, fiber optic cable, RF, or the like, or any combination of the preceding.

Computer program code required for the operation of various portions of the present application may be written in any one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C + +, C #, VB.NET, Python, and the like, a conventional programming language such as C, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, a dynamic programming language such as Python, Ruby, and Groovy, or other programming languages, and the like. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any network format, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet), or in a cloud computing environment, or as a service, such as a software as a service (SaaS).

Additionally, the order in which elements and sequences of the processes described herein are processed, the use of alphanumeric characters, or the use of other designations, is not intended to limit the order of the processes and methods described herein, unless explicitly claimed. While various presently contemplated embodiments of the invention have been discussed in the foregoing disclosure by way of example, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the embodiments herein. For example, although the system components described above may be implemented by hardware devices, they may also be implemented by software-only solutions, such as installing the described system on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be noted that in the preceding description of embodiments of the application, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not intended to require more features than are expressly recited in the claims. Indeed, the embodiments may be characterized as having less than all of the features of a single embodiment disclosed above.

The entire contents of each patent, patent application publication, and other material cited in this application, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, and the like, are hereby incorporated by reference into this application. Except where the application history document is inconsistent or conflicting with the present application as to the extent of the present claims, which are now or later appended to this application. It is noted that the descriptions, definitions and/or use of terms in this application shall control if they are inconsistent or contrary to the statements and/or uses of the present application in the material attached to this application.

Claims (12)

1. A control device, comprising:

the display screen is used for displaying a user interface, and the user interface comprises state information of the terminal equipment in the target cluster;

a controller configured to:

sending a control instruction input by a user to a target cluster, wherein the control instruction is used for triggering a controller to receive first state information fed back by the target cluster;

controlling the user interface to display the first state information; when the target cluster is a first device cluster with a quick response, the first state information is actual state information fed back by a terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the control instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the first state information is theoretical state information of the terminal device of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

2. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein after the controller controls the user interface to display the first status information fed back by the second device cluster, the controller is further configured to:

when the second device cluster fails to execute the control instruction, the controller receives second state information fed back by the second device cluster, wherein the second state information is actual state information of terminal devices of the second device cluster after the second device cluster fails to execute the control instruction;

when the second state information is different from the first state information, controlling the user interface to display the second state information to correct the displayed first state information.

3. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein in the controlling the user interface to display the first state information fed back by the second device cluster, the controller is further configured to:

and when the number of the terminal devices in the second device cluster is smaller than a first threshold, the first state information is actual state information fed back by the terminal devices of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

4. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to, in controlling the user interface to display the current information of the target cluster terminal device, the controller:

controlling third state information fed back by the target cluster to be displayed on the user interface;

when the target cluster is a first device cluster with quick response, the third state information is actual state information fed back by the terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the query instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the third state information is the latest actual state information stored in the second device cluster, and the latest actual state information is fed back by the terminal device at regular time intervals according to a preset time interval.

5. The control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to, in issuing the control instruction input by the user to the first device cluster, the controller:

and storing the control instructions to a structural body, wherein the structural body is used for forwarding the stored control instructions to the first equipment cluster one by one according to a receiving sequence, when the structural body outputs the instructions, the structural body is locked by a controller so as to enable the structural body to suspend receiving the instructions, and the first equipment cluster terminal equipment with an automatic stop protection function continuously receives the driving instructions sent by the structural body when in operation.

6. The control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller, when not receiving the second state information, is further configured to:

and controlling the user interface to cancel the display of the first state information, and restoring the user interface to the user interface before the control instruction is issued.

7. A method for controlling a home device, the method comprising:

sending a control instruction input by a user to a target cluster, wherein the control instruction is used for triggering and receiving first state information fed back by the target cluster;

displaying the first state information; when the target cluster is a first device cluster with a quick response, the first state information is actual state information fed back by a terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the control instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the first state information is theoretical state information of the terminal device of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

8. The method for controlling an electric home appliance according to claim 7, wherein after displaying the first status information fed back by the second device cluster, the method further comprises:

when the second device cluster fails to execute the control instruction, receiving second state information fed back by the second device cluster, wherein the second state information is actual state information of terminal devices of the second device cluster after the second device cluster fails to execute the control instruction;

displaying the second state information to correct the displayed first state information when the second state information is different from the first state information.

9. The method for controlling an electric home appliance according to claim 7, wherein in the step of displaying the first status information fed back by the second device cluster, the method further comprises:

and when the number of the terminal devices in the second device cluster is smaller than a first threshold, the first state information is actual state information fed back by the terminal devices of the second device cluster after the second device cluster executes the control instruction.

10. The method for controlling home devices according to claim 7, wherein in the process of displaying the current information of the target cluster terminal device, the method further comprises:

controlling the third state information fed back by the target cluster to be displayed;

when the target cluster is a first device cluster with quick response, the third state information is actual state information fed back by the terminal device of the first device cluster after the first device cluster executes the query instruction; and when the target cluster is a second device cluster with delayed response, the third state information is the latest actual state information stored in the second device cluster, and the latest actual state information is fed back by the terminal device at regular time intervals according to a preset time interval.

11. The method for controlling home devices of claim 7, wherein in the process of sending the control command input by the user to the first device cluster, the method comprises:

and storing the control instructions to a structural body, wherein the structural body is used for forwarding the stored control instructions to the first equipment cluster one by one according to a receiving sequence, the structural body is locked when the structural body outputs the instructions so as to enable the structural body to suspend receiving the instructions, and the first equipment cluster terminal equipment with an automatic stop protection function continuously receives the driving instructions sent by the structural body when in operation.

12. The method for controlling an electric home appliance according to claim 8, wherein when the second state information is not received, the method further comprises: and canceling the display of the first state information, and restoring the first state information to a user interface before the control instruction is issued.

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