JP2001309457A - In-house network system and remote controller used for the in-house network - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an in-house network in which a user resident in any room can intuitionally operate devices connected to the in-house network. SOLUTION: In the in-house network system, in which devices installed in a house are interconnected by a network and can mutually exchange information, such as moving image data, audio data and character information and which inter-controls the devices, a room hub 11 interconnecting devices installed in one room is placed to each of rooms in the house, a display device connected to each room hub 11 selectively displays a list of the rooms given to the room hubs 11, a list of the devices connected to the room hub 11 of the selected room from this list, and an operation menu the devise selected from the list display, and the selected device from the operation menu is operated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a home network system for connecting devices in a home having a plurality of rooms through a network, and a remote control device capable of operating the network system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At home, there are various electric devices such as a television, a VTR, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, and a personal computer. Some of these devices can be remotely controlled by a remote control device. By using such a remote control device, user operability is improved. However, the remote control devices used for these devices usually do not have a unified operating method, and the remote control devices themselves exist separately for each device.

In order to solve such a problem, a remote control device is provided with a learning function to store a remote control code of a desired operation device.
It is possible to operate a plurality of devices by one remote control device.

In recent years, it has been proposed to construct a network system in a home and connect electric appliances in the home to the home network. When controlling the electric devices connected in this way, in a case where the remote control codes of a plurality of devices are assigned to one remote control device as described above, the electric device that actually controls the remote control device is used. Therefore, it is impossible to actually operate a desired electric device from a place other than the room where the electric device is installed. In addition, there are problems that the number of operation buttons of the remote control device is increased, and it is difficult to find a desired operation button of an electric device when actually using the device.

[0005] Accordingly, it has been proposed to mutually control electric appliances connected to a home network. Thus, for example, it is possible to control all electric devices connected to the home network from a TV, a personal computer, a remote control device, or the like connected to the network.

[0006]

However, there are various types of electrical equipment connected to the home network in addition to the above-mentioned equipment, and the equipment connected to the home network depends on the purpose of use. When controlling all electrical devices connected to the home network from a mutually controllable TV, personal computer, remote control device, or the like, the process of selecting a device to be controlled is very difficult. There is a problem that it becomes complicated, and it is not realistic to actually remotely control the electric devices connected to the home network.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to divide a home into rooms on a display unit such as a TV, a personal computer, and a remote control device connected to a home network, and to provide electric appliances in a room where a user is currently located. By preferentially displaying the operation buttons and the functions that can be operated, it is possible to easily select an electric device to be controlled. Also, by preferentially displaying devices that are expected to be used from a remote place in advance, it is possible to easily select an electric device to be controlled.

[0008]

In view of the above, a plurality of devices installed in a home are connected by a network so that information such as moving images, voices, and character information can be exchanged with each other. A home network system capable of being performed, wherein the home is divided into a plurality of groups, and a hub 11 is provided for each of at least one group.
Is installed, and the display device of the device 14 connected to the hub 11 has a list of the names of the groups attached to the hub 11 and a list of the devices connected to the hub 11 of the group selected from the list. And a home network system characterized by switching and displaying an operation screen of a device selected from the list display, and operating the selected device on the operation screen.

In addition, a plurality of devices installed in the home are connected by a network so that information such as moving images, voices, and character information can be exchanged with each other, and the home can perform mutual control between the devices. A remote control device 1 for use in an internal network system, wherein the home is divided into a plurality of groups, and devices installed in the groups installed in one or more groups are connected. A list of names of the groups attached to the hub 11, a list of devices connected to the hubs 11 of the group selected from the list, and an operation screen of the device selected from the list display are switched and displayed, A remote control device 1 for use in a home network system, wherein the selected device is operated on the operation screen. To.

Further, the remote control device 1 can move between the groups, and obtains the information of the group from the hub 11 of the destination group.
3. The remote control device 1 according to claim 2, wherein a list of devices connected to the hub 11 of the destination group is displayed first.
I will provide a.

Further, a flag is set for a specific device which is assumed to be used from a plurality of the display devices, and the specific device is displayed as a list on the display device. Provide a home network system.

Further, a list of specific devices which are expected to be used from all places in the home is displayed together with a list of devices connected to the hubs 11 of the group. A remote control device for use in the home network system according to claim 3 is provided.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a home network system according to the present invention. In a home in which a home network shown in FIG. 1 is constructed, a room hub 11 is installed in a bedroom, a living room, and an entrance, and the interior of each room is connected to an IEEE 1394 network via an IEEE 1394 cable. At this time, the devices installed in each room are connected in a star type or daisy chain type, but are finally connected to the room hub 11 installed in the room. Room Hub 1
In the same manner as in the connection inside each room described above, IEEE
If there is a problem with a wired connection such as 1394 or a wiring or the like, the connection is made by a wireless high-speed network.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, there are three rooms, a bedroom, a living room, and an entrance, and a TV 12 and a VTR 13 are connected to the room hub 11 in the bedroom. The TV 14 and the home server 15 are connected to the room hub 11 in the living room, and the monitoring camera 16 is connected to the room hub 11 at the entrance. The user can operate a device connected to the room hub 11 at home by using a screen displayed on the remote control device 1, the TVs 12, 14, and the like. In FIG. 1, a home server 15 has a large capacity HD.
D is a unit that can record moving images using VTR.
It is possible to record a broadcasted program and a video from the surveillance camera 16 in the same manner as described above. In addition, surveillance camera 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a device for monitoring the state of the entrance. As described above, in the case of a device such as the home server 15 or the surveillance camera 16, the user often uses the device without being in the room where the device is installed.
Therefore, the device as described above has a special flag as a home global device. Such a home global device, when the device is connected to the room hub 11, determines the presence of the room hub 1 installed in another room.
1, the room hub 11 receiving the notification performs the same treatment as when the global device is directly connected to itself.

Next, the configuration of the room hub 11 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Inside the room hub 11, an in-room connection unit 9 for connecting devices in the room, an inter-hub connection unit 7 for connecting the room hub 11 to another room hub 11, and a radio for communicating with the remote control device 1 by radio A communication unit 8 is provided, and a storage unit 6 for storing information on the own room hub 11 is also provided.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the remote control device 1 according to the present invention, and includes a CPU 2, a memory 3, a wireless communication unit 5 for performing wireless communication with the room hub 11, and a display device 4. The TVs 12 and 14 installed in each room and connected to the home network also include a CPU, a memory, a display device, and a network communication unit instead of a wireless communication unit, similarly to the remote control device 1. This remote control device 1 and TVs 12 and 1
Reference numeral 4 has a function of controlling other devices connected to the home network, and selects one of the devices connected to the home network by a user's button operation or the like. Then, an operation button corresponding to the selected device is displayed on the display device, and the user can operate the device by operating the button.

Here, when the user, for example, the living room TV 14
Let's consider the case where the home server 15 is controlled from. TV
When a request to operate another device is issued by an operation from the TV 14, the TV 14 first activates the room hub 11 in the living room.
Is read from the storage unit 6 provided in the room hub 11, and a list of devices connected to the room hub 11 is displayed with an icon. Display in format etc.
This screen is shown in FIG. According to FIG. 4C, a list of all devices connected to the home network and the home global device in the living room is displayed, and the user selects the home server 15 as a desired operation target from the list. This causes a transition to the operation screen of the home server (F in FIG. 4).

In this way, when operating the device, the user selects the device to be operated from the device connected to the home network and the home global device in the room where the user is currently located. This makes it possible to avoid an increase in choices and complexity when all devices connected to the home network are uniformly presented. Also, although it is not so frequent, in some cases, it may be necessary to operate a device in another room that is not the home global device, so at that time, the screen shown in FIG. Is selected and the screen shifts to the screen shown in FIG. In the screen shown in FIG. 4A, the room hub 1 in the home network is displayed.
All rooms in which 1 is installed can be displayed. In the present embodiment, the rooms “bedroom”, “living room”, and “entrance” are displayed. These names are stored in the storage unit 6 in the room hub 11. Then, for example, when “bedroom” is selected, the screen shifts to the screen of D in FIG. 4 and displays the devices connected to the home network and the home global devices in the bedroom room. Also, when "entrance" is selected,
The screen shifts to the screen B in FIG. 4 and displays the devices connected to the home network and the home global devices at the entrance.

In each of the above-mentioned rooms, the living room TV 14
Is selected, the screen shifts to the screen of FIG.
4 is displayed, and when the home server 15 of the living room is selected from the living room, the bedroom, and the entrance, the process shifts to F in FIG. 4 and the operation screen of the home server 15 is displayed. Also,
When the TV 12 in the bedroom is selected, the screen shifts to the screen H in FIG. 4 and the operation screen of the TV 12 is displayed.
13 is selected, the screen shifts to the screen of FIG.
The operation screen of R13 is displayed. Further, when the surveillance camera 16 at the entrance is selected from the living room, the bedroom, and the entrance, the process shifts to I in FIG. 4 and the operation screen of the surveillance camera 16 is displayed.
In this way, the user selects each room from the list of rooms where the home network room hubs are installed, and further selects the devices connected to the home network and the home global devices installed in each room. By selecting a desired device from, it is possible to operate a desired operation target device in a room where no user is present.

Communication between the remote control device 1 and the wireless communication section 8 of the room hub 11 is performed by weak radio waves or infrared rays. However, since there are a plurality of room hubs 11 in the house, the remote control device 1 is closest. It communicates with the room hub 11, that is, the room hub 11 of the room where the remote control device 1 is usually located. Thereby, when the user carries the remote control device 1 in the house, the remote control device 1 detects a signal from the room hub 11 and specifies the room where the remote control device 1 is currently located from the name of the detected hub. Then, the remote control device 1 receives a list of devices connected to the room hub 11 of the specified room, so that the user can always operate the device while using the same remote control device 1 in the room where the user is located and in the home network. Since the list of devices connected to the device is displayed first, the operability of device selection is improved. At this time, the list of the devices may be displayed when the user enters the room or when the user operates the devices. Also, the remote control device 1
The method for detecting the location of is not limited to the method described above.

These operations can be performed not only by the remote control device 1 but also by using a TV, a mobile phone, a portable terminal, a personal computer or the like instead of the remote control device 1 to operate each device. .

[0022]

As described above in detail, according to the home network system and the remote control device thereof according to the present invention, it is possible to determine in which room the equipment connected to the home network is installed. This has the effect of making it easier to intuitively grasp. In addition, when operating the remote control device for the first time, it is possible to automatically display a list of devices in the room where the user is currently located and global devices in the home that are likely to be used from other rooms. This has the effect of being easier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the concept of a home network system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a room hub used in the home network system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a display device of the remote control device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 remote control device 2 CPU 3 memory 4 display device 5 wireless communication unit 6 storage unit 7 connection unit between hubs 8 wireless communication unit 9 connection unit in room 11 room hub 12, 14 TV 13 VTR 15 home server 16 surveillance camera

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/00 H04L 11/00 320

Claims (5)

[Claims] A home in which a plurality of devices installed in a home are connected by a network so that information such as moving images, voices, and character information can be exchanged with each other, and mutual control between the devices can be performed. An internal network system, wherein the home is divided into a plurality of groups, a hub is installed for each of at least one of the groups, and a display device of a device connected to the hub is attached to the hub. A list of the names of the groups obtained, a list of devices connected to the hubs of the group selected from the list, and an operation screen of the device selected from the list display is switched and displayed. A home network system for operating a selected device. 2. A home in which a plurality of devices installed in the home are connected by a network so that information such as moving images, voices, and character information can be exchanged with each other, and mutual control between the devices can be performed. A remote control device used for an internal network system, wherein the home is divided into a plurality of groups, and a hub is installed for each one or more of the groups and connects devices installed in the group. A list of names of the groups attached to the list, a list of devices connected to the hubs of the group selected from the list, and an operation screen of the device selected from the list display are switched and displayed, and the operation screen is displayed. A remote control device used in a home network system, wherein the remote control device operates the selected device. 3. A list of devices connected to a hub of a destination group by acquiring information of the group from a hub of the destination group, wherein the remote control device is movable between the groups. 3. The remote control device according to claim 2, wherein is displayed first. 4. A flag is set for a specific device expected to be used from a plurality of said display devices, and a list of the specific devices is displayed on the display device.
The home network system according to 1. 5. A list of devices connected to the hubs of the group and a list of specific devices expected to be used from all places in the home are displayed.
A remote control device for use in the home network system according to claim 3.