JP2002016984A - Equipment control method and equipment controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment control method for allowing a user to select and execute only a task executable for contents to be used by the user according to the contents and the connected states of equipment in a network. SOLUTION: This equipment control method comprises a step for preparing contents information including a contents name and task information related with tasks executable related with the contents, a contents selection step for allowing a user to select the contents by using a user interface, task selection steps (S112, S113) for allowing the user to select a task executable related with the contents selected in the contents selecting step by using the user interface, and a step for executing processing corresponding to the task selected in the task selection steps.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling home appliances such as a television and a video, and a home appliance adapted to such a method. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for simply connecting home appliances interconnected by a home network. The present invention relates to a method for operating in cooperation with a user interface and a control device for realizing the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, home electric appliances represented by televisions and videos all have very many functions. Further, with the recent development of digital technology represented by personal computers, home appliances are often connected to a network, and home appliances having a network connection function are appearing.

When a large number of home appliances are interconnected by a network as described above, a function that extends over a plurality of appliances can be naturally considered, and is now being adopted. However, in this case, the user of the device needs to actively select a function that the user wants to execute from a very large number of functions generated from a combination of many devices. For this reason, there is an increasing demand from users to be able to handle as much as possible the functions of a single device and the functions of various combinations across devices connected via a network as easily as possible.

In a network in which a plurality of devices cooperate to operate, a method which has been conventionally proposed as a method for controlling a function over a plurality of devices is disclosed in JP-A-9-44.
No. 971 discloses a video CD (Compact
-Disc) There is a playback device. In this apparatus, information for controlling peripheral devices connected to a network is added to video content, and at the time of playback of the video CD, at a specific time based on the control information added to the content. It is possible to automatically play an electronic piano connected to the video CD reproducing apparatus via a network or to sound a buzzer.

[0005] In addition, the interface for handling conventional home electric appliances is equipped with a remote controller having an extremely large number of buttons in order to cope with many functions of the appliances. Naturally, it is conceivable to use such a conventional remote controller for controlling a plurality of devices connected to a network.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the control information given to the content is sent to the peripheral device without considering the connection state of the peripheral device on the network at all. Therefore, even if the device to be controlled by the information given to the content is not connected to the network, the processing is performed assuming that the device has been controlled, and appropriate processing reflecting the actual connection state is performed. It does not perform any processing. Therefore, although the function required by the content cannot be executed, the content may be processed (reproduced, etc.) as if the function is being executed. In that case,
The content is processed in a mode different from the mode intended at the time of production, and as a result, there is a problem that a user who uses the content is likely to be confused.

Further, as described above, since each device has many functions and various combinations of devices, each device can be appropriately and easily controlled using an interface such as a single remote controller. It is very difficult to be able to. In particular, in a conventional remote controller for controlling home electric appliances, there is always a button corresponding to a specific function of the corresponding appliance. Therefore, even if the function is not executable by the user with respect to the content used by the user, it looks as if the function is selectable because the button corresponding to the function exists. For this reason, there is a problem that the user is not likely to be confused because he or she does not know which function can be actually used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method that uses a content used by a user and a connection state of devices in a network.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device control method that allows a user to select and execute only a task that can be performed on content.

Another object is to allow a user to select a content to be used by a simple operation and select only a task that can be executed on the selected content, according to the content usable on the network and the connection state of the devices in the network. It is to provide a user interface.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device control method, comprising: preparing content information including a content name and task information relating to a task executable in relation to the content; A content selection step of allowing the user to select content using the user interface, and a task selection step of allowing the user to select one of tasks executable in relation to the content selected by the content selection step using the user interface. Executing a process corresponding to the task selected by the task selecting step.

According to this method, when the user selects the content, only the tasks that can be executed in relation to the content can be selected by the user. Operation becomes easy for the user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the device control method, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the task information includes information for specifying a task name of a task performed on the content, User interface information that specifies a user interface component used by a user to select and execute a task, wherein the task selecting step is included in task information in content information corresponding to the content selected by the content selecting step. A user interface using the user interface information to be generated, and causing the user to select one of the tasks using the constructed user interface.

Since a user interface is included in the task information in advance, it is easy to construct a user interface for selecting a task, and a general-purpose system independent of contents can be constructed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the device control method, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the task information further includes function information on a function provided in connection with the task, And I / O device information that specifies the type of I / O device related to the device control method,
The method includes a step of collecting information on a function provided by each device present in the system and a type of an input / output device possessed by each device. On the basis of,
It includes a step of determining a device for executing the task, and a step of controlling the determined device based on the function information and the input / output device information.

[0015] Based on the selected task, the equipment for performing it is automatically selected and controlled, so that the user need not consider the combination of functions of the equipment included in the system.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the device control method, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the task information is such that the task depends on another content. A step of determining whether or not there is a task of another content that is dependent on the content selected in the content selection step and further includes information for specifying whether or not the task is a dependent task; And constructing a user interface for performing the dependent task when exists.

When a certain content is selected, not only a task for the content but also a task for another content subordinate to the content can be controlled, and the user needs to be aware of complicated control for a plurality of devices. Disappears.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device control apparatus for executing a task related to content by receiving content and task information relating to a task executable for the content. Device control device for controlling the device included in the task information, the task information includes information for specifying a user interface component used to select and execute a task by a user, and the task in relation to the content A device that includes information about a provided function and information for specifying a type of an input / output device related to a task, and a device included in the system stores function information for specifying a function of the first storage. Means, and second storage means for storing input / output information for specifying an input / output device owned by the device control apparatus. Management for managing the functions and input / output devices of each device in association with the devices having each function and each input / output device based on the contents of the first and second storage units of all the devices in the system. Means, first user interface construction means for constructing a user interface for selecting one of the contents included in the system, and user interface parts among task information corresponding to the selected content are specified Second user interface construction means for constructing a user interface for presenting to the user based on the information to be performed and for selecting any of the tasks executable for the selected content, Function specified by task information corresponding to the task selected using the user interface Includes information, the information specifying a type of output device, based on the management by the management unit, and a device control means for controlling the equipment included in the system to perform the selected task.

When a content is selected, only a task corresponding to the content can be selected by the user. The device control device according to the invention according to claim 6 is capable of easily giving an appropriate instruction without considering the function for executing the content by the user. Means for detecting that a plurality of same functions are provided by a plurality of devices included in the system; and a user for allowing a user to select one of the plurality of provided functions. And a third user interface construction unit for constructing an interface.

When there are a plurality of the same functions in the system, a user interface for selecting one of them is automatically constructed, so that the user can easily select one of the functions and thereby appropriately select one of the functions. Each device can be controlled.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the device control apparatus further comprises:
Means for detecting that the same input / output device is provided by a plurality of devices included in the system,
A third user interface constructing means for constructing a user interface for allowing a user to select one of the plurality of input / output devices provided.

When there are a plurality of devices having the same type of input / output device in the system, a user interface for selecting one of them is automatically constructed.
The user can easily select a device having one input / output device, and thereby can appropriately control each device.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the device control apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the task information further includes information indicating whether the task is a subordinate task subordinate to another content. The apparatus control device further includes information for identifying, the device control device further includes means for searching for a subordinate task dependent on the selected content, and the second user interface construction means further includes: Construct a user interface specified by task information.

When a certain content is selected, it becomes possible to control not only a task for the content but also a task for another content which is subordinate to the content, and the user needs to be aware of complicated control of a plurality of devices. Disappears.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the device control apparatus further comprises:
An input unit is provided for receiving information on a task selected by the user using the user interface constructed by the second user interface construction unit and providing the device control unit with information for specifying the selected task.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment,
First, a television (hereinafter simply referred to as “TV”) and a DVD (Digital Video Dis)
c) Assuming a network connected to a player, and further assume that a video cassette recorder (VCR) and a liquid crystal display (LCD) are sequentially connected, and finally four home appliances are networked. I do.

In the embodiment described below,
Devices, contents, functions, IO existing on the network
It is assumed that information on devices and tasks is centrally managed in the server. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and such information may be distributed and managed in each device. In the following description, the information for management is described in a document file in XML (extensible Markup Language) format, but may be described in other formats.

XML is an extensible markup language (Markup Language) for exchanging and distributing data on the Internet World Wide Web and the like. In short, XML is characterized in that a data structure of an electronic document can be described, and a language for the structure can be defined by a user.

XML is an XML declaration for declaring an XML version and a character code to be used, and a DTD (Docume) described for defining the language described above.
nt Type Definition) and an XML instance part that constitutes the body of the document.

Very roughly speaking, in XML, by enclosing a part in a document with a start tag and an end tag corresponding to an element defined in the DTD, the part is defined as an element corresponding to the tag. Is shown. For example, in the embodiment described later, the element "name"
This is a portion surrounded by a start tag “<name>” and an end tag “</ name>”. The element “input” is a portion surrounded by a start tag “<input>” and an end tag “</ input>”. Thus, by tagging the contents of the document, the structure of the document can be defined.

Note that the XML declaration portion and the DTD portion have no direct relation to the present invention, and therefore are omitted in the following description for the purpose of simplifying the description.

[Outline of Network] Referring to FIG. 1, a network (hereinafter, referred to as “home network”) 103 including home electric appliances according to the present embodiment is an IE.
It is constructed using an existing digital network construction technology such as EE1394 or Ethernet, is operated by the user 101, and is connected to the home network 10 by optical communication.
3 and a remote controller 102 for controlling each device in the home network 103.
And manages various information related to the home network 103.
A server 104 for configuring a user interface for controlling the devices and realizing it on the remote controller 102, and a T connected to the home network 103
V105, connected to the home network 103,
And a DVD player 106 for playing a DVD disk and playing it on a TV 105 or the like.

Each of the devices 102, 103, 104, 105 and 106 constituting the home network 103
Are capable of recognizing the existence of other devices and transmitting and receiving data between the devices. Such mutual recognition and transmission and reception of data are performed, for example, by Jini (SUN MIC
ROSYSTEMS) or Universal Plug and Play (MICROSOFT)
This is made possible by using a network connection technology such as the one described above. In addition, each device connected to the home network 103 described below, including the server 104, the TV 105, and the DVD player 106, has a wireless transmitting / receiving means, and communicates with the remote controller 102 using infrared rays or RF (radio waves), or other It is possible to transmit and receive data to and from the device.

Each device of the TV 105 and the DVD player 106 can receive data from the remote controller 102 and control the functions of each device in accordance with the contents. This also applies to other devices that will be described later and additionally connected to the home network 103.

The server may exist independently on the network as one server 104 as shown in FIG. 1, or may be realized by being incorporated in a device such as a TV 105 or a DVD player 106. good. Furthermore, the home network 103 may be connected to a communication network represented by the Internet. In this case, server 1
The various types of information described later, which are managed by
It is also possible to acquire from a communication network connected to the home network 103.

[Remote Controller 102] Referring to FIG. 2, remote controller 102 shown in FIG.
It has a wireless transceiver 201 and can transmit and receive data to and from other devices using infrared or RF (radio signals). The remote controller 102 shown in FIG.
Has a liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, remote controller 1
Numeral 02 denotes a processor 301 for executing a predetermined control program to perform processing for controlling each unit of the remote controller 102, and a receiving unit 30 for wirelessly receiving a signal from the server 104 and giving the signal to the processor 301.
2, a transmission unit 303 for wirelessly transmitting a signal from the processor 301 to other devices connected to the home network 103, and an output unit connected to the processor 301 and configuring the liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel. A processor 306 and an input unit 307; a UI element storage unit 304 for storing data for realizing a user interface on the output unit 306 and the input unit 307 based on user interface information to be described later, received from the server 104; And a memory 305 accessible by the processor 301 for storing data received by the processor 301 from the server 104 and data used by a control program executed by the processor 301.

As a device for the receiving unit 302 for wirelessly receiving data, a device for receiving data using light such as infrared rays, a device for receiving data using radio waves, or the like is used. Transmitter 30 for wirelessly transmitting data
As the device for 3, a device that receives data using light such as infrared light, a device that receives data using radio waves, or the like is used.

The UI stored in the UI element storage unit 304
The elements include components for configuring and displaying a general graphical user interface, such as buttons and sliders. By arranging such components on the display screen, a user interface is realized.

Although a liquid crystal display device is assumed in this embodiment as a device used as the output unit 306 for outputting information, a light emitting diode, a speaker, or the like may be used. The input unit 307 includes a device for inputting some information to the remote controller, and converts the input information into an appropriate format and transmits it to the control program 301. In the present embodiment, a touch panel is assumed as a device for the input unit 307, but an input device such as a button or a keyboard may be used.

[Devices such as TV 105 and DVD Player 106] Referring to FIG. 4, a device 550 such as TV 105 and DVD player 106 has a processor 501 for executing a program for controlling the operation of each unit of device 550.
And a receiving unit 502 for receiving data transmitted from the remote controller 102 and other devices in FIG. 1 and providing the received data to the processor 501.
A transmission unit 503 for transmitting data from the processor 501 to another device, a device main body 505 controlled by the processor 501 to realize an original function of the device 550, and accessible from the processor 501, Device information 508, which is a data file described in XML, relating to the device 550, function information 509, which is a data file described in XML, relating to functions of the device main body 505, and data relating to IO devices, which the device 550 has, are stored in XML. And IO device information 510, which is a data file described in, and data received from another device connected to the processor 501 and the processor 50.
1 is connected to the device main body 505, and is controlled by the processor 501 via the device main body 505, and outputs some information according to a command from the device main body 505. An output unit 506 for performing the operation and information corresponding to the user's operation.
And an input unit 507 to be provided to the P.1.

The device 550 is, for example, a DVD player 10
In the case where the device 550 has a content to be provided to another device such as 6, the device 550 further has content information. The content information includes, for example, content 514 such as content 511 and content information 512, content 513 and content information 514, and content information 514 relating to tasks executable for the content and functions necessary for executing the task.
And

Devices for the receiving unit 502 for receiving data include a device for receiving wireless data using light such as infrared rays, a device for receiving wireless data using radio waves, a device for receiving wired data using Ethernet, and an IE.
A device that receives wired data by EE1394 is used.

Devices for transmitting data 503 include a device that performs wireless data transmission using light such as infrared light, a device that performs wireless data transmission using radio waves, a device that performs wired data transmission using Ethernet, and an IE.
A device that performs wired data transmission by EE1394 is used.

The device main body 505 includes hardware and software for realizing the functions of the device. The device main body 505 receives information from the control program executed by the processor 501, executes functions of the device main body 505, and controls the output unit 506, the input unit 507, and the contents 511 and 513. Also,
The information of the device main body 505 is transmitted to the processor 501.

The output unit 506 includes a device for transmitting some information to the user by the device, and outputs some information according to a command from the device main body 505. Devices for outputting information include a liquid crystal display device,
A CRT, a light emitting diode, a speaker and the like are used.

The input unit 507 includes a device for the user to input some information to the device, and converts the input information into an appropriate format and transmits it to the device main body 505. As a device for inputting information, a touch panel, a button, a keyboard, a slider, a microphone, and the like are used.

The contents 511 and 513 are stored in the device 550.
This is the content handled in. For example, if the device is a TV, each program that can be viewed on the TV is a content, and if the device is a DVD, the DVD software inserted in the device is the content. FIG. 4 shows two contents, but the number is variable.

The content information 512, 514 includes information on tasks performed by the user on the content 511 and 513, respectively. Content information 51
2, 514 are data files described in XML.

The device information 508, function information 509, and IO device information 510 may be given to the device 550 in advance, or may be given from outside the device through a public network. The content information may be given to the content in advance, or may be given from outside the device through a public network.

The device information of each device is described in a file, Appliance.xml, existing in each device. The function information of each device is stored in a file
It is described in nction.xml. The IO device information of each device is stored in a file IO-Device.xm that exists in each device.
Described in l.

Referring to FIG. 5, the device information file “Appliance.xml” of TV 105 includes “TV” as a device name.
Is given (name statement). Referring to FIG.
In the device information file Appliance.xml of the player 106, “DVD” is given as a device name.

Referring to FIG. 7, function information file Function.xml of TV 105 includes descriptions 4901, 4902, and 4903. The description 4901 is a function VOLU of the TV.
This is a description of ME. In the case of FIG. 7, this function is SOUN
Input D (input statement) and output SOUND (output
Sentence). The description 4902 is a description of the function IMAGE of the TV. In the case of FIG. 7, this function takes NTSC as input,
Output NTSC. Here, NTSC means "National T
It is an abbreviation of "elevision System Committee" and refers to a signal in accordance with the NTSC system, which is the television signal system adopted in Japan and the United States. Description 4903 is TV1
This is a description of the function TV-PLAY provided by the TV 05. In the case of FIG. 7, this function takes SOUND and NTSC as input and SOUND and NTSC as output.

Referring to FIG. 8, function information file Function.xml of DVD player 106 includes description 5001.
According to the description 5001, the DVD player 106 is a DVD-PL
It has a function named AYBACK. Function DVD-PLAYBACK is SO
Inputs UND and NTSC and outputs SOUND and NTSC.

Referring to FIG. 9, a file IO-Device.xml in which IO device information of TV 105 is described includes a description 5301 about a display as an IO device,
Description 5302 of Speaker as IO Device
And description 5303 of a button that is an IO device
And

According to the description 5301, the device name of the display, which is an IO device, is DISPLAY, and receives an NTSC signal as input.

According to the description 5302, a speaker which is an IO device has SPEAKER as a device name and receives SOUND as input.

According to the description 5303, a button that is an IO device has BUTTON as a device name and VALUE as a output. Here, the button refers to an input device to which a user inputs a certain value by pressing the button.

Referring to FIG. 10, DVD player 106
IO-Device.xm in which IO device information is described
l is a description 540 of a button that is an IO device.
Including 1.

According to the description 5401, the device name of the button that is an IO device is BUTTON, and the output is VA
Have LUE.

Referring to FIG. 11, TV 105 has a plurality of contents, one of which is file "Content-3.xml" which is content information given to the content "Kinki Television". 5701, and descriptions 5702, 5706, and 5710, which are information on three tasks set in the content.

The description 5701 indicates that this content belongs to TV (type sentence), its name is “Kinki TV” (name sentence), and that it has NTSC and SOUND as output (output sentence). Is described.

A description 5702 which is information on a task,
Among the descriptions 5706 and 5710, a description 5702 relating to the first task is a description 5703 describing general information about the task and a description 5 describing a function to receive data output from the content and process the data.
704 and an IO for receiving data output from this function
And a description 5705 describing the device.

Description 5703 relating to general task information
Indicates that the content is named “volume control” (name sentence), is a normal task (not a “subordinate task” as described later), and is displayed on the remote controller 102 for this task. The part as the user interface to be used is PANEL (u
i sentence). Here, the “dependent task” refers to a task belonging to a content (dependent content) that can be handled together with (dependently on) the content selected by the user. When a user interface for controlling this task is displayed on the remote controller 102, information on the user interface described in the ui sentence is sent to the remote controller 102, and the UI elements in the configuration diagram of the remote controller 102 in FIG. Appropriate components are selected from the user interface components stored in the storage unit 304 and displayed.

The description 5704 relating to the function of the task indicates that the function name of this task is VOLUME (name statement), that it has SOUND as input (input statement), and that
Describe that it has UND (output sentence) and that the part as a user interface to be displayed on the remote controller 102 for this function of this task is SLIDER (ui sentence). Here, one task includes only one function, but a plurality of functions and IO devices are connected in series or parallel so that one output of the plurality of functions can be received by the other input. 1
It is also possible to set up one task.

The description 5705 regarding the IO device related to the task indicates that the name of the IO device is SPEAKER (name statement), and that the IO device
D is described (input sentence).

Similarly, description 57 relating to the second task
06 is a description 5707 of general information about the second task and a description 5708 of the function of this task.
And a description 5709 about an IO device to process data output from this function. According to the description 5707, the name of this task is “image quality adjustment”, it is a normal task, and the corresponding user interface component is PANEL. According to description 5708, the function of this task has the name IMAGE, has NTSC as input, has NTSC as output, and the corresponding user interface component is SLIDER. According to description 5709, the name of the IO device corresponding to this task is DISPLAY,
The device has NTSC as input.

Description 5710 regarding the third task
Includes a general description 5711 of the third task, a description 5712 of the function of this task, and descriptions 5713 and 5714 of two IO devices to receive data output from this function. According to the description 5711, this third task is named “viewing”, is a normal type of task, and has a user interface of PANEL. According to the description 5712, the function of this task is named TV-PLAY and has SOUND as input.
It has NTSC, has SOUND and NTSC as output, and has no corresponding user interface components. Description 5713
According to, the first IO device to receive data output from this function has the name SPEAKER and has SOUND as input. The second of the IO devices has the name DISPLAY and NTSC as input
have.

Although only one function of each task is described in this example, one task may have a description of a plurality of functions.

Referring to FIG. 12, DVD player 106
Can also have multiple contents. One of them
Content information on the first content Content-1.xm
l is a general description 5801 and a description 5 about the task.
802, 5806 and 5810.

According to the general description 5801, this content is of type DVD, is named "Titanic", and has NTSC and SOUND as output.

The description 5802 relating to the first task is
A description 5803, a description 5804, and a description 5805 are included. According to the description 5803, the name of the first task is “volume adjustment”, which is a normal type task, and the user interface is PANEL. According to description 5804, the function of this task is named VOLUME, has SOUND as input and SOUND as output, and the corresponding user interface component is SLIDER. Description 5805
According to this, an IO device that should receive data output from the above function has the name SPEAKER and has SOUND as an input.

Similarly, the description 5806 relating to the second task includes a general description 5807, a description 5808 relating to functions, and a description 5809 relating to IO devices. The description 5810 about the third task includes a general description 5811, a description 5812 about functions, and descriptions 5813 and 5814 about IO devices.

[Server 104] Referring to FIG. 13, server 104 executes a control program for controlling server 104 as a whole and
And a receiving unit 402 for receiving data transmitted from devices other than the server 104.
A transmission unit 403 for transmitting data to devices other than the server 104; and a processor 401 for reading, writing, and erasing data to execute data and control programs received from other devices. 1 and a device management table 405 that stores information for managing devices connected to the home network 103 in FIG. 1 and is updated and browsed by the processor 401, and the home network 1 in FIG.
03 stores information that manages the content that can be handled,
A content management table 406 updated and browsed by the processor 401 and information for managing functions of devices connected to the home network 103 in FIG.
The function management table 407 updated and browsed by the processor 401 and information for managing the IO devices of the devices connected to the home network 103 in FIG. 1 are stored, and the IO updated and browsed by the processor 401 is stored.
Device management table 408 and home network 1 in FIG.
03, a task management table 409 updated and browsed by the processor 401 to store information on tasks executed by the user with respect to contents that can be handled in the server 1;
04 is stored in the processor 401.
And device information 410, which is a data file described in XML, which is accessed from.

As a device for the receiving unit 402,
A device that receives wireless data using light such as infrared light, a device that receives wireless data using radio waves, a device that receives wired data using Ethernet, a device that receives wired data using IEEE1394, or the like is used.

As a device for the transmission unit 403,
Devices that perform wireless data transmission using light such as infrared light, devices that perform wireless data transmission using radio waves, devices that perform wired data transmission using Ethernet, devices that perform wired data transmission using IEEE1394, and the like are used.

Referring to FIG. 14, a file Appliance.xm in which device information 410 for server 104 is described
l describes general information of the server 104. In this example, the file Appliance.xml describes that the name of the server 104 is “server” (name sentence).

Referring to FIG. 15, device management table 405 of server 104 stores, for each device connected to the network, its name, its device ID, and the name of the file storing the device information. It is a tabular file that contains For example, in the device management table 405 shown in FIG.
The device name is "DVD", the device ID assigned to it is "A-0002", and the DVD
It is described that the device information of the player 106 is stored in a device information file “Appliance.xml” of the DVD player 106.

The device ID is a device identifier given to each device connected to the network by the control program of the server 104. In the example illustrated in FIG. 15, “A-0000” is assigned to the server 104 and “A-0000” is assigned to the TV 105 according to the order of connection to the network.
0001 ”and the DVD player 106 has“ A-000
The ID “2” has already been assigned.

It is assumed that the server 104 can refer to a file of any device in which device information is described.

Referring to FIG. 16, content management table 40
Numeral 6 is for managing the content connected to the network, and for each content, its name, content ID, device ID of the device where the content is located, and content for the content. Content information, which is a file name describing the information,
The information includes information indicating whether the content has been selected by the user and information indicating whether there is content dependent on the content. The content ID is an identifier of the content given by the control program of the server 104.

For example, a row 2501 corresponding to a content named “Titanic” includes a name of the content (“Titanic”), a content ID (C-0004) given to the content, and DVD player 10 which is an existing device
15 (A-0002, FIG. 15)
See). Further, assuming that the content is selected by the user, information indicating that the content is selected (“O” in FIG. 16) is stored in the “selection” column of the row 2501. Assuming that there is no subordinate task in this content, the “subordinate” column is empty.

Referring to FIG. 17, function management table 407 of server 104 is a table for managing each function of a device connected to the network in units of function. The function management table 407 includes, for each function, a name indicating the function, a function ID assigned to the function, a device ID of a device that provides the function, and a file name in which function information regarding the function is described. Information, information indicating whether or not the function is selected, and a "user" column, which is information indicating which function the user has selected when a plurality of the same functions exist on the network. Managing.

For example, “DVD-
Row 2601 relating to the function "PLAYBACK" (see FIG. 8)
Looking at the "DVD-PLAYBACK" as the name, "Function I
“F-0004” as “D” and D as “device ID”
“A-0002” corresponding to the VD player 106 (see FIG. 15) is “Function.xml” which is the file name of the function information file of the DVD player 106 as the function information.
Are respectively stored. In this example, the DVD-PL
Assuming that the function called AYBACK is selected,
In the “selection” column, information (“○”) indicating that a selection has been made is stored. Also, since the same function as DVD-PLAYBACK does not exist on this network,
Nothing is stored in the “user” column. Function I
D is an identifier assigned to each function by the server 104.

FIG. 18 shows the contents of the IO device management table 408 of the server 104 at this time, and FIG. 19 shows the contents of the task management table 409. In FIG. 18, row 2
Reference numeral 701 denotes a row related to the device of the DVD player 106. In FIG. 19, rows 2801, 2802, and 2803 are rows for tasks related to the DVD player 106. In each of these “device ID” columns, “A-0” which is an ID indicating the DVD player 106
002 "(see FIG. 15).

Here, in this embodiment, if the TV 10
FIG. 20 shows a display on the remote controller 102 when the content No. 5 “Kinki Television” is selected. Referring to FIG. 20, in this case, at the top of the display surface,
Two sliders, which are user interfaces corresponding to two functions (volume adjustment and image quality adjustment) of the television, are displayed. At this point, the DVD player 10 is still
It is assumed that the Titanic 2201 which is the content No. 6 is not selected. At this time, since only the TV 105 and the DVD player 106 can be used on the network, only the user interface for operating them is displayed on the display surface of the liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel of the remote controller 102. Is blank.

Here, it is assumed that the user selects Titanic 2201. Then, as shown in FIG. 21, this area is highlighted to indicate that the Titanic 2201 is selected on the liquid crystal display device 202 with the touch panel, and the volume adjustment is performed as a task that the user can perform on the Titanic 2201. Slider 2301 for image quality, slider 2302 for image quality adjustment
A button 2303 for controlling the reproduction of the DVD player 106 is displayed.

As described above, in this embodiment, when a user selects a certain content, the remote controller 10
On the second liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel, a user interface corresponding to an operation that can be performed by the user on the content is displayed. Therefore, the user can easily perform an operation corresponding to the process that he / she wants to perform. In addition, since a plurality of user interfaces corresponding to the same function are not displayed as a displayed user interface, there is no possibility that the user may get lost in the operation. Hereinafter, how to realize such a user interface will be described focusing on a control structure of a program executed by the remote controller 102 and each device.

The processing when the user makes some input to the remote controller 102 will be described. Referring to FIG. 22, remote controller 102
Waits for a user input (S101). If there is any input, the process proceeds to S102.

In S102, a process for branching to each process (S103, S105, S107, etc.) is performed according to the input from the user. Whether the input from the user is to select content or control a task,
Control proceeds to S103, S105, and S107, respectively, depending on whether the selection is a function / IO device selection.

If the user's input is to select a content, the content ID of the content selected by the user is read in S103, and the selected content ID is sent to the server 104 in S104.
Return to waiting for input.

If it is a task control, S10
In 5, the task ID of the controlled task is read from the memory, and in S106, the value changed by the user interface (such as the value of the volume adjustment slider or the play button is pressed) and the task ID are sent to the server 104. Thereafter, the process returns to waiting for input in S101. Such information is sent from the server 104 to the remote controller 1 every time a new device is connected to the home network 103 or new content is introduced as described later.
02, and is stored in the memory by the remote controller 102.

If the function / IO device is selected, S
At 107, the ID of the duplicated function / IO device is read from the memory, and at S108, a dialog is displayed on the remote controller and the user waits for an input. Function selected by user /
After transmitting the ID of the IO device to the server 104 in S109, the process returns to waiting for input in S101. In step S108, if the user simply selects “close” without selecting a function / IO device in the dialog, the dialog is closed and S1 is performed.
It returns to waiting for the input of 01.

Referring to FIG. 23, when the operation on remote controller 102 is performed as described above, server 104 performs the following processing.

First, in S110, the remote controller 1
Wait for the reception of information from 02. Remote controller 1
When the information is received from the remote controller 102, the process branches to an appropriate process in S111 according to the information received from the remote controller 102. That is, if the information received from the remote controller 102 relates to the selection of the content, the control proceeds to S112. If the received information relates to task control, control proceeds to S115. If the received information relates to the selection of a function / IO device, the control is S
Go to 117.

If the received information relates to the selection of the content, the server 104 updates the content management table 406 of the server 104 in S112. Subsequently, in S113, a task that can be executed for the newly selected content is selected. The details of this step will be described later with reference to FIG. After S113, information of the newly executable task is sent to the remote controller 102 in S114. When the process of this step ends, the control returns to S110. Details of this step will be described with reference to FIG.

If the information from the remote controller 102 relates to the control of the task in S111, the control proceeds to S115, where the received task I
The task information corresponding to D is read out with reference to the task management table 409. Subsequently, in S116, a value changed by the interface of the remote controller 102 is sent to each function set in the task information. For example, in this process, the volume generated by a device determined based on the task information is changed in accordance with the specified task, or the reproduction is started in, for example, the DVD player 106 or the like. When the process of this step ends, the control returns to S110.

In S111, if the information received from the remote controller 102 is a function / IO device selection, control proceeds to S117. In S117, the function management table 407 and the IO device management table 408 are updated. Subsequently, in S118, the changed information is transmitted to a device having a function / IO device to be newly used. When this step ends, the control returns to S110.

[Process Caused by Event Occurring in Home Network 103]
The processing performed by the server 104 due to the event occurring in the server 104 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 24, server 104 first
At 201, an occurrence of an event in the home network 103 is waited. If any event occurs, for example, when a device is newly connected to the home network 103, when the device is disconnected from the home network 103, or when new content is added to a device connected to the home network 103, control is performed in step S202. Proceed to.

In S202, the home network 103
Is performed according to the event that has occurred. If the generated event is addition / deletion of a device, the control is S203.
Control proceeds to S if the content is added or deleted.
Proceed to 206.

If a device has been added to or deleted from the home network 103, in step S 203, the device management table 405 and the content management table 40 of the server 104
6. The function management table 407, the IO device management table 408, and the task management table 409 are all updated. Then S2
04, the remote controller 102
Is sent to the user. Details of this step will be described later with reference to FIG. Further, S205
In the case where there is a duplicate function or IO device on the home network 103,
The device information is sent to the remote controller 102. Details of this step will be described later with reference to FIG. When the processing in S205 ends, the control returns to S201.

In S202, home network 1
If the event that occurred in 03 is the addition or deletion of content, first in S206, the server 10
4 is updated. Subsequently, in S207, the remote controller 1
02, the updated content information is transmitted. Details of this step will be described later with reference to FIG. When this step ends, the control returns to S201.

By this processing, the remote controller 1
No. 02 can maintain content information and functions and IO device information corresponding to the latest configuration of the home network 103.

[Description of Algorithm for Selecting Executable Task] Next, with reference to FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, an algorithm for the server 104 to select a task executable for the selected content will be described. This process is a process executed in S113 of FIG.

When information indicating that a certain content is selected by the user is provided from the remote controller 102 to the server 104, the server 104 selects a task executable for the selected content using the following algorithm. .

First, the processing between S301 and S311 is
This is repeated for all task information set for the selected content. S301 is the start position of this repetition. All task information set for the selected content can be obtained by referring to the content management table 406 and the task management table 409.

During this repetition, S302 to S3
There is a loop denoted by 09. The processing in the nested loop is repeatedly performed for all functions and IO devices included in the task that performs the processing. All the functions and IO device information included in the task to be processed are obtained by obtaining an XML file describing the task to be processed from the task management table 409 and referring to the contents.

In step S303, which is the first step in the nested loop, a function or IO device whose name and input / output match the function or IO device described in the task information to be processed. It is determined whether the IO device exists on the home network 103. The functions and IO devices existing on the home network 103 and their names and inputs / outputs are described in the function management table 407 and the IO device management table 40.
8, an XML file describing each function and IO device is obtained, and the contents are referred to.

In S303, the matching function or I
If it is determined that the O device exists, the control proceeds to S30
Proceed to 4. If it is determined that there is no matching function or IO device, the control returns to S301, and the same processing is performed for the next task.

In S303, the matching function or I
If it is determined that there is an O device, in S304, it is determined whether a plurality of matching functions or IO devices exist on the home network 103. The control is performed in step S305 when there are a plurality of matching functions or IO devices, and in step S305 when there is only one.
Proceed to 308 respectively.

If there are a plurality of matching functions or IO devices, it is determined in S305 whether or not there is a user setting for the function or IO device. Whether or not there is a user setting can be obtained by referring to the “user” column of the function management table 407 of the server 104 and the IO device management table 408.

In S305, if it is determined that there is a user setting, control proceeds to S306. If it is determined that there is no user setting, control proceeds to S307. S306
In, the function or IO device set by the user is selected. Subsequently, control proceeds to S309. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no user setting, in S307,
Among the plurality of found functions or IO devices, the one found first is selected, and control proceeds to S309.

If it is determined in S304 that only one matching function or IO device is found, one found function or IO device is selected in S308, and control proceeds to S309.

In S309, it is determined whether the processing has been completed for all functions and IO devices.
If the processing has been completed for all functions and IO devices, control proceeds to S310. On the other hand, if the processing has not been completed for all functions or IO devices, the control returns to S302, and the above processing is repeated for the next function or IO device.

If it is determined in S309 that the processing has been completed for all functions and IO devices, the process proceeds to S31.
At 0, the tasks processed in the loop from S302 to S309 are selected as executable tasks.

In the next step S311, it is determined whether or not the loop processing for the tasks starting from S301 has been completed for all tasks. If the processing has been completed, the control proceeds to S312 in FIG. If the processing has not been completed, the control returns to S301, and the processing is performed for the next task.

Referring to FIG. 26, in S312, for contents other than the selected contents, S312 to S312 are executed.
The repetition processing up to S328 is started.

In this repetition loop, S31 is further added.
There are nested loops indicated by 3-325. This nested loop processing is for performing processing on all task information set in the content to be processed. First, in S314, it is determined whether the task to be processed is set as a subordinate task. If the task to be processed is a dependent task S315
Proceed to. If it is not a dependent task, the process returns to step S313 to process the next task.

Step S315 is a step for determining whether or not the first of the functions set for the task to be processed can receive the output from the currently selected content. If it can be received, the process proceeds to S316. If not, the process returns to S313 to process the next task.

[0121] S316 and subsequent steps are a loop for performing processing on all function information included in the task to be processed.
Repeat between 316 and S323.

In S317, regarding the function to be processed, the function whose name matches the input / output is
3 is determined. If there is, control proceeds to S318. If not, control is S31.
Return to step 3 and process the next task.

In S318, it is determined whether a plurality of matching functions exist in the network. If there is more than one, control proceeds to S319. If there is only one, control proceeds to S322.

If there are a plurality of matching functions, S31
At 9, it is determined whether there is a user setting for the function. If there is a user setting, control proceeds to S320. If not, the control proceeds to S321.

If there is a user setting, the function set by the user is selected in S320. After this, the control goes to S3
Proceed to 23.

When there is no user setting, in S321, the function found first among the plurality of functions found is selected. Thereafter, the control proceeds to S323.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S318 that there is only one matching function, the found one function is selected in S322. After this, the control
Proceed to 323.

In S323, it is determined whether or not the loop processing for the functions starting from S316 has been completed for all functions. If the loop processing has been completed for all functions, the control proceeds to S324. If the processing has not been completed, the control returns to S316 to perform processing for the next function.

If it is determined that the loop processing of S316 to S324 has been completed for all the functions,
In, the task processed above is selected as an executable subordinate task. Thereafter, the control proceeds to S325.

S325 is the last part of the loop for the tasks starting from S313, and it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all tasks. If the processing has been completed for all tasks, the control proceeds to S326. If the processing is not completed, the control returns to S313, and the next task is executed in S313 to S313.
325 is performed.

When the processing of S313 to S325 is completed,
In S326, it is determined whether a subordinate task exists. If there is a subordinate task, control is S
Proceeding to 327, the content in which the dependent task was present is selected as the dependent content, and proceeding to S328. If no dependent task exists, the control directly proceeds to S328.

S328 is the last part of the loop for all the contents other than the selected contents starting from S312, and it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all the contents other than the selected contents. If the processing has been completed, this processing ends. If the process is not finished,
Returning to S312 in FIG. 26, processing is performed for the next content.

[Algorithm for Displaying UI Corresponding to Executable Task] In the home network 103 of this embodiment, the user corresponding to the task selected as executable by the algorithm shown in FIGS. Interface is remote controller 1
02 is displayed. Hereinafter, an algorithm for performing a process of displaying the user interface on the remote controller 102 will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. FIG. 27 shows a process executed by the server 104, and FIG. 28 shows a process executed by the remote controller 102.

Referring to FIG. 27, the server 104 executes S40 for all tasks selected to be executable.
The loop from 1 to S403 is repeated. That is, the process of S402 is performed on all tasks selected as executable.

In S402, the server 104 transmits the task ID of the executable task, the name and the user interface information to the remote controller 102. The task ID and the name of the task can be obtained from the task management table 409, and the user interface information can be obtained by obtaining an XML file describing the task to be processed from the task management table 409 and referring to the contents. .

In S403, it is determined whether or not the loop processing for executable tasks starting from S401 has been completed for all executable tasks. If the processing has been completed, the processing on the server 104 side ends. If the processing has not been completed, control returns to S401 to perform processing for the next task.

Referring to FIG. 28, the following processing is performed in remote controller 102 at this time. That is, the information (task ID,
S4 for all of name, user interface information)
Steps 04 to S408 are repeated.

First, in S405, the transmitted information is stored in the memory 305 of the remote controller 102.
Subsequently, in step S406, information matching the sent user interface information is stored in the UI element storage unit 30 shown in FIG.
4 is selected. Subsequently, in S407, a user interface corresponding to the selected UI element is displayed on the liquid crystal display device with a touch panel 202 of the remote controller 102. In S408, it is determined whether or not the processing of S404 and subsequent steps has been completed for all the transmitted information. If it has ended, the process ends. If the processing has not been completed, the control returns to S404 to perform processing for the next task.

[Algorithm for Displaying UI for Selecting Content] Next, referring to FIG. 29 and FIG. 30, a user interface for selecting a content that can be handled by the home network 103 by using the remote controller 102 by the user is displayed. An algorithm displayed on the liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel of the controller 102 will be described. FIG. 29 shows the processing performed by the server 104, and FIG. 30 shows the processing performed by the remote controller 102.

[0140] First, the server 104 executes S501 to S501 for all contents that can be handled by the home network 103.
The processing of S503 is repeated. All contents that can be handled on the network can be obtained by referring to the contents management table 406 of the server 104.

The main body of this repetition processing is S502,
In S502, the content ID, the name, and the name of the device holding the content are transmitted from the server 104 to the remote controller. Subsequently, in S503, it is determined whether or not the repetition processing of S501 and subsequent steps has been completed for all contents. If the processing has been completed, the processing on the server 104 side ends. If the processing has not been completed, control returns to S501 to perform processing on the next content.

Referring to FIG. 30, remote controller 102 performs the following processing at this time. In the remote controller 102, the processing of S 504 to S 507 is performed on all information sent from the server 104.

S5 which is a substantial head of this repetitive processing
At 05, the information sent from the server 104 is stored in the memory 305 of the remote controller 102. Subsequently, in S506, the name of the content sent from the server 104 and the name of the device holding the content are displayed on the liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel of the remote controller 102. S at the end of the loop
In step 507, all the transmitted information is processed in step S504.
A determination is made as to whether the following processing has been completed. If the processing of S504 and subsequent steps has been completed for all pieces of information, this processing ends. If the processing has not been completed, control returns to step S504 to perform processing for the next task.

[Algorithm for Informing Duplicate Function or IO Device to Remote Control] Next, FIGS. 31 and 32
, An algorithm for transmitting an overlapping function or IO device on the home network 103 from the server 104 to the remote controller 102 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 31, server 104 performs the following processing. First, the processing of S601 to S603 is performed on all function information and IO device information. In S602, which is the main body of this repetitive processing,
It is determined whether a function / IO device having a similar name and input / output exists in the home network 103. In S603, a determination is made as to whether or not the processing of S601 and subsequent steps has been completed for all functions / IO devices. If the processing has been completed, control is returned to step S604.
Proceed to. If the processing has not been completed, control returns to S601, and processing is performed for the next function / IO device.

In S604, it is determined whether or not a duplicate function / IO device exists in the home network 103 based on the result of the repetition processing of S601 to S603. If it is determined that an overlapping function / IO device exists, the control proceeds to S605. If there is no overlapping function / IO device, the control proceeds to S60.
Proceed to 6.

In S605, the home network 103
Function / IO device information in the server 104
To the remote controller 102. When this step ends, the process on the server 104 side ends.

On the other hand, in S606, the home network 1
The server 104 notifies the remote controller 102 that there is no overlapping function / IO device in the server 03. When this step ends, the process on the server 104 side ends.

Referring to FIG. 32, at this time, remote controller 102 performs the following processing. First, S607
, The information about the function / IO device sent from the server 104 is received. Subsequently, in S608, it is determined from the information received in S607 whether a duplicate function / IO device exists in the home network 103. If there is an overlapping function / IO device, control proceeds to S609. Duplicate functions / I
If there is no O device, control proceeds to S610.

If there is a duplicated function / IO device, the duplicated function / IO device information is written to the memory 305 of the remote controller 102 in S609. When this step ends, the process on the remote controller 102 side ends.

If it is determined that there is no overlapping function / IO device, in step S610, the overlapping function / IO device is determined.
The O device information is deleted from the memory 305 of the remote controller 102. When this step ends, the process on the remote controller side ends.

The above is the outline of the configuration of the home network 103 of this embodiment. [Outline of device control method] Hereinafter, the home network 103
Will be described. In particular, home network 1
03, an example in which a new device or content is added, how the device control method of the present invention manages various information in the home network 103,
A description will be given of how a content-oriented user interface for controlling devices of the home network 103 is configured.

Referring to FIG. 33, it is assumed that a new VCR 107 is added to home network 103 according to the present embodiment. The configuration of a portion of the VCR 107 related to the present invention is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 34 shows the device information 508 of the VCR 107.
Indicates the contents of the file Appliance.xml. According to FIG. 34, the name of the VCR 107 is VCR (name sentence).

FIG. 35 shows the function information 509 of the VCR 107.
This shows the contents of the file Function.xml. Referring to FIG. 35, Function.xml is a description 5 regarding the first function.
101 and a description 5102 for the second function. According to the description 5101 relating to the first function, the name of this function is VCR-PLAYBACK (VCR playback), with SOUND and NTSC as inputs and SOUND and NTSC as outputs.
It can be seen that each has According to the description 5102 regarding the second function, the name of this function is VCR-RECORD.
(VCR recording) with SOUND and NTSC as input
, And SOUND and NTSC as outputs, respectively.

FIG. 36 shows the contents of the file IO-Device.xml, which is the IO device information 510 of the VCR 107.
This IO-Device.xml includes a description 5501 regarding the IO device of the VCR 107. From the description 5501 regarding the IO device, it can be seen that the VCR 107 has an IO device named BUTTON (button) and the output is VALUE.

VCR 107 can also have a plurality of contents. In the following description, the VCR 107 has a content called an empty tape, and the content information is stored in the file Content.
It is assumed to be described in t-1.xml. FIG. 37 shows an example of the content of this file Content-1.xml. Referring to FIG. 37, this file Content-1.xml includes a general description 5901 relating to this content and a description 5 relating to four tasks that can be executed by the user with respect to this content.
902, 5906, 5910 and 5915.

The general description 5901 is information relating to the content itself. The content belongs to the VCR, the name is “empty tape”, NTSC and SOUND are input to the content, and NTSC and SOUND are output from the content. Is described.

The description 5902 for the first task is
A description 5903, a description 5904, and a description 5905 are included. The description 5903 states that the first task that the user can execute on this content has the name volume control, that the task type is normal (not a subordinate task), and that the corresponding user interface
PANEL is described. The description 5904 describes that the function of receiving and processing data output from this content has the name VOLUME, has SOUND as input and output, and states that the corresponding user interface component is SLIDER. The description 5905 describes that an IO device that receives data output from this function is named SPEAKER and has SOUND as an input.

The description 5906 is information on the second task set in the content, and includes a description 5907, a description 5908, and a description 5909. The description 5907 indicates that the name of the task is “image quality adjustment” and is a normal task.
(Not a subordinate task), it describes that the user interface displayed on the remote control is PANEL. Description 5
Reference numeral 908 describes that the function of receiving and processing data output from the content has a name of IMAGE, that NTSC is input and that NTSC is output, and that the corresponding user interface component is SLIDER. The description 5909 describes that the IO device that receives data output from the function has the name DISPLAY and receives NTSC.

The description 5910 is 3
This is information about the second task, and includes a description 5911, a description 5912, a description 5913, and a description 5914. The description 5911 describes that the task name is “playback”, the task is a normal task (not a subordinate task), and the user interface corresponding to this function displayed on the remote controller 102 is PANEL. . Here, the “dependent task” indicates whether or not a certain task is a task belonging to content (dependent content) that can be handled (subordinate) together with the content selected by the user. For example, if there is empty videotape content on the home network 103, if the TV content is selected, the content can be recorded on the videotape.
This content becomes a subordinate content to the TV content, and the task of recording is a subordinate task.

The description 5912 has a function of receiving and processing data output from contents having a name of VCR-PLAYBACK, receiving SOUND and NTSC, outputting SOUND and NTSC, and corresponding user interface parts are PL.
AYBACK BUTTON is described. Description 591
Reference numeral 3 describes that an IO device that receives data output from this function has the name SPEAKER and that SOUND is input. The description 5914 indicates that another IO device that receives data output from this function is DISP
It has the name LAY and states that NTSC will be entered.

The description 5915 is 4
This is information about the second task, and includes a description 5916 and a description 5917. The description 5916 indicates that the name of this task is “recording”, it is a subordinate task, and the corresponding user interface displayed on the remote controller 102 is PANEL. This task is a subordinate task, which receives data output from the content selected by the user and passes it to a function for performing some processing. The description 5917 describes a function of receiving and processing data output from the content selected by the user. Here, this feature is named VCR-RE
It describes that CORD is a function that inputs SOUND and NTSC and outputs SOUND and NTSC, and that the corresponding user interface component is RECORD BUTTON.
Since this fourth task is a dependent task, the description 59
When the content (empty tape) receives the output of the 17 functions, the task of recording is configured.

When VCR 107 having the above configuration is connected to home network 103, the processing shown in FIG. 24 is executed. In the case of this example, S in FIG.
As a result of the determination in 202, the control proceeds to S203, where it is understood that all the management tables of the server 104 are updated. The device management table 405 of the server 104 after being updated,
The states of the content management table 406, function management table 407, IO device management table 408, and task management table 409 are shown in FIGS. 38 to 42, respectively.

As is apparent from a comparison between FIG. 38 and FIG. 15, this update causes the device management table 405 to store the VC
A row 3201 corresponding to R107 has been added. VC
“A-0003” is newly assigned to the R 107 by the server 104 as the device ID. Since the device information of the VCR 107 is described in the file Appliance.xml as described above, the VCR 107 of the device management table 405 is described.
, “Appliance.xml” is stored in the column of “device information” in the row 3201 corresponding to.

39 and FIG. 16, a VCR is added to the content management table 406 of the server 104 by updating.
It can be seen that a row 3301 for 107 has been added. The row 3301 relating to the VCR 107 has “empty tape” which is the name of the content belonging to the VCR 107 as the name of the content, and “C-000” as the content ID.
5 "has been provided by the server 104. "Device I
In the column of "D", V is a device that holds this content.
“A-0003” indicating the CR 107 is stored. The content information column stores the file name “Content-1.xml” that is the content information of the VCR 107.
Assuming that Kinki TV is selected by the user using the remote controller 102 in the “selection” column, a circle indicating that the Kinki TV is selected is stored. Also, since the “blank tape” which is the newly added content of the VCR 107 is subordinate to the content of the selected TV, the row 3 relating to the VCR 107 is
Information indicating the subordination (indicated by “○”) is stored in the “subordination” column 301.

It is assumed that the contents (content IDC-0001 to C-0003) belonging to the TV 105 are given national broadcast, educational broadcast, and Kinki TV, respectively, as names. The name of the content (content IDC-0004) belonging to the DVD player 106 is “Titanic”
It is assumed that

FIG. 40 shows a function management table 407 of the server 104.
Shows the state after updating. As is apparent from comparison with FIG. 17, since the VCR 107 is newly connected, information (rows 3401 and 3402) regarding each function of the VCR 107 is added to the function management table 407.

As shown in FIG. 35, the VCR 107 has VCR-PLAYBACK (play, stop, fast forward, rewind,
It has two items: primary stop) and VCR-RECORD (recording, stop). Rows 3401 and 3402 correspond to these, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 40, rows 3401 and 34
02 has VCR-PLAYBACK, VCR-
RECORD is stored. Further, F-0005 and F-0006 are given by the server 104 as function IDs, respectively. The device ID is given A-0003, which is the device ID of the VCR 107 having these functions. Function.xml is given to all function information.

Looking at the “selection” column, assuming that the content of the TV 105 has been selected by operating the remote controller 102, the functions used by the content of the TV are VOLUME, IMAGE, PLAY and VCR.
-RECORD is selected, and information (indicated by "O") indicating that it is selected is stored in those "selection" columns. In the state of FIG.
Since there is no plurality of functions having the same function in 03, nothing is stored in the “user” column.

FIG. 41 shows the state of the IO device management table 408 of the server 104 after the update. In FIG. 41, information on an IO device of the VCR 107 (line 3501) is added to the IO device management table 408.

As described with reference to FIG. 36, VCR
Reference numeral 107 denotes an IO device called a BUTTON (input device for inputting some value by a user pressing a button) as an IO device. Therefore, in the row 3501 added to the IO device management table 408, an IO device whose name is BUTTON is stored as an IO device existing in the home network 103. D-0005 is assigned by the server 104 to the IO device ID. As the device ID, A-0003 which is the device ID of the VCR 107 having the BUTTON IO device is given. IO-Device.xml is given to the IO device information.

In the example shown in FIG. 41, it is assumed that the user has selected the TV 105 in the "selection" column.
Information indicating that the content of the TV 105 has been selected for DISPLAY and SPEAKER to be used (indicated by “○”) is stored.

In the column of “user”, nothing is described since there are no plurality of IO devices having the same function in the home network 103 in the state of FIG.

FIG. 42 shows the task management table 4 of the server 104.
09 shows an updated state. In the state of FIG. 33, the content management table 40 of FIG.
Since the five contents shown in FIG. 6 can be used, the task management table 409 is provided with information on tasks that the user can execute on those contents.

Here, as described with reference to FIG. 37, there are four tasks that the user can execute on the contents of the VCR 107: volume adjustment, image quality adjustment, playback, and recording. 4 about these tasks
Two rows 3601 to 3604 have been added to the task management table 409.

In the columns of “name” in rows 3601 to 3604, volume adjustment, image quality adjustment, playback, and recording are given, respectively. The task IDs are T-0013 to T-0016, respectively.
Is provided by the server 104. The device ID includes
A-0003, which is the device ID of the VCR 107, is given. As the content ID, C-0005 which is the content ID of the empty tape is given. Task information includes
Content-1.xml which is a file name of content information in which task information is described is given. Looking at the "selection" column, for example, assuming the state of FIG.
Since "Kinki TV" is selected as the content, and thus the tasks of volume control, image quality adjustment, and viewing, which are set for the selected content, Kinki TV, can be used, "Select" in rows 2007 to 2009 is used. Column indicates information indicating the selection.

[0179] Furthermore, since it is possible to record the contents of Kinki Television on a blank tape, a circle is also displayed in the selection column of row 3604. Looking at the column of “dependent”, in the state of FIG. 33, the empty tape of the VCR 107 is the dependent content, and the recording is the dependent task among the tasks that can be executed on it, so the “dependent” of row 3604
("O") indicating the subordination is stored.

When the various management tables are updated as described above,
The result is sent from the server 104 to the remote controller 10.
2 is sent. As a result, the remote controller 10
On the second liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel, a content that can be newly used in the home network 103 is additionally displayed. An example is shown in FIG.

The display on the remote controller 102 in FIG. 43 indicates that the newly connected VCR 107 has the content of the empty tape 3001 and can newly select it. Further, as a user interface corresponding to a task that can be performed by the user with respect to the selected content, Titanic 2201,
Slider 2301 for volume adjustment, slider 2302 for image quality adjustment, button 2 for playback
In addition to 303, a button 3002 for recording is added. By operating this button, it is possible to execute recording on a blank tape. This is because the added content, the empty tape 3001, is dependent on the selected content, Titanic 2201, and the contents of the Titanic 2201 can be recorded on the empty tape 3001.

FIG. 44 shows the Kinki television 1403 displayed on the remote controller 102 in the state of FIG.
Shows a change in the display of the remote controller 102 when the user selects the content.

The display of the selected content, Kinki Television, is inverted, and an interface for controlling tasks that can be performed by the user on Kinki Television 1403 is displayed at the top of the display. In this display, the slider 230 for adjusting the volume displayed in FIG.
1. In addition to a slider 2302 for image quality adjustment, an interface 3101 for performing recording is displayed.

[Connection of LCD 108] Referring to FIG. 45, a case where LCD 108 is newly connected to home network 103 will be considered. Referring to FIG.
The file that describes the device information 508 of the CD 108 is Appl
It is assumed to be iance.xml, and the content is assumed to be as shown in FIG. LCD 108 has the name LCD.

The function information 509 of the LCD 108 is described in the file Function.xml.
Suppose as shown in FIG. According to FIG. 47, L
The CD 108 has VOLUME (volume adjustment) and IMAGE (image quality adjustment) as functions. Further, IO device information 510 of the LCD 108 is described in the file IO-Device.xml,
It is assumed that the contents are as shown in FIG. FIG.
According to No. 8, the LCD 108 is DISPLA as an IO device.
It has Y and SPEAKER. In general, the LCD 108 does not hold content.

Next, how various information management tables managed by the server 104 are updated will be described.

In the following description, after the various information management tables are updated, the function VOLUME and the function IMAGE are respectively displayed on the LCD.
It is assumed that the function of 108 is selected by the user instead of the function of the TV.

FIG. 49 shows the device management table 405 of the server 104.
Shows the state after updating. Home network 10
3 is newly connected to the LCD 108,
8 is newly added. Row 410
Reference numeral 1 denotes device information regarding the LCD 108. “LCD” is stored in the device name column, and the value “A-0004” is given to the device ID by the server 104. Appliance.xml is set in the device information.

Since the LCD 108 has no content, the content management table 406 of the server 104 does not change from the state shown in FIG. Similarly, the task management table 409 of the server 104 does not change from the state of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 50, home network 1
Since the LCD 108 is connected to the server 03, information on each function of the LCD 108 is given to the updated function management table 407 of the server 104. As described with reference to FIG. 47, the LCD 108 has two functions, VOLUME (volume adjustment) and IMAGE (image quality adjustment), as functions. Therefore, rows 4201 and 4202 indicating these pieces of function information are added to the function management table 407. Row 420
VOLUME and IM are included in the names of the function information of 1 and 4202.
AGE is given, and F-0007 and F-0008 are given as function IDs. The device ID includes the device I of the LCD 108.
D-A-0004 is given. Function.xml is given to all function information.

Looking at the "selection" column, TV-PLAY, V-
CR-RECORD and VOLUME and IMA functions of LCD108
The information indicating that a GE has been selected is stored in the “selection” column of each row.

Furthermore, in the state of FIG. 45, there are VOLUME and IMAGE as functions having the same function in the home network 103. For each of these, the user selects one of the same functions. Here, since it is assumed that the user has selected VOLUME and IMAGE of the LCD 108 as described above, information indicating the selection (marked with “○”) is stored in those “user” columns. Have been. According to this user information, when a new content is selected in the future, first, the VOLUME,
IMAGE is selected first.

Referring to FIG. 51, home network 1
03 is connected to the LCD 108, information about the IO device of the LCD 108 is added to the updated IO device management table 408 of the server 104. FIG.
As described with reference to FIG. 8, the LCD 108 has two IO devices as an IO device: DISPLAY (output device for displaying video) and SPEAKER (output device for reproducing sound). Therefore, rows 4301 and 4302 corresponding to these are added to the IO device management table 408.

In the columns of names in rows 4301 and 4302,
DISPLAY and SPEAKER are displayed in the IO device ID column.
0006 and D-0007 are provided, respectively. Equipment I
D is given the device ID A-0004 of the LCD 108. IO device information is IO-D
evice.xml is given.

Looking at the “selection” column, the TV content selected by the user is the DISPLA
Since Y and SPEAKER are used, the corresponding lines 43
Information indicating the selection (indicated by “○”) is stored in the “selection” columns 01 and 4302.

Looking at the “user” column, in the state of FIG. 45, there are DISPLAY and SPEAKER as IO devices in which a plurality of devices having the same function exist in the home network 103. Here, as described above, the user
Since it is assumed that DISPLAY and SPEAKER of the CD 108 have been selected, information indicating that a selection has been made in the “User” column of the rows 4301 and 4302 corresponding to the IO device of the LCD 108 (indicated by a “O” mark). Shown) is stored. With this user information, when new content is selected in the future, DISPLAY and SPEAK
Despite the existence of a plurality of ERs in the home network 103, first, the DISPLAY and SPE
AKER is selected first.

As described above, when there is a duplicate function or IO device in the home network 103, the function or IO device information is transmitted from the server 104 to the remote controller 102 (S205 in FIG. 24).
Therefore, when the LCD 108 is connected, as shown in FIG. 52, a function / IO device selection button 3801 for selecting a function or an IO device is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 202 with a touch panel of the remote controller 102. This is because the newly connected LCD 108 has the function and the IO device that have the same function as the already connected TV 105 and the IO device, so it is necessary to determine which one to select. That's why.

When the user selects the function / IO device selection button 3801 shown in FIG. 52, the remote controller 102 displays a duplicate function / IO selection dialog 3901 shown in FIG. The duplicate function / IO selection dialog 3901 includes a user interface portion for displaying a function or an IO device that is present in duplicate and selecting an overlap function / IO selected by the user, which is arranged at the top.
Located at the bottom and an interface portion for the user to select which function or IO device to use at the top.

Referring to FIG. 53, the user interface portion for selecting the overlapping function / IO device arranged at the top of the dialog includes a button 3902 for DISPLAY of IO device and a button 3903 for SPEAKER of IO device. , Button 3904 for VOLUME of function,
And a button 3905 for IMAGE function. In the example shown in FIG. 53, a button 3902 for DISPLAY of an IO device is selected from the above functions.

When the button 3902 for DISPLAY of an IO device is selected in this way, options for DISPLAY of the IO device selected at the top are displayed at the bottom of the dialog. In the example shown in FIG. 53, these options are the buttons 39 for selecting the display of the TV 105.
06 and a button 3907 for selecting the display of the LCD 108 are displayed. In the example shown in FIG.
Button 3906 for selecting display of TV 105
Is selected. At this point, since “Kinki TV” of the TV 105 is selected as the content as shown in FIG. 52, the video of the content Kinki TV is displayed on the display of the TV 105 on the home network 103.

Referring to FIG. 54, when the user selects the button 3907 for selecting the display of the LCD 108 in the overlapping function / IO selection dialog 3901, the button 3907 for selecting the display of the LCD 108 is highlighted. You. At this point, the content “Kinki T
The image “V” is displayed on the display of the LCD 108. And "Close" button 4 displayed in the dialog
By pressing 001, the dialog 3901 is deleted.

As described above, according to home network 103 of this embodiment, only tasks that can be executed by the user on the content can be easily performed according to the content used by the user and the connection state of the devices in the network. Can be selected and executed. Further, the user can select the content desired to be used by a simple operation according to the content usable in the network and the connection state of the devices in the network, and can select only the tasks that can be executed on the selected content.

As described above, each of the embodiments disclosed above is an example in all respects, and is not restrictive. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but is defined by the appended claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the appended claims. Is done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a home network 103 to which a device control method of the present invention is applied, and a user who uses the home network 103.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a remote controller 102.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of devices 105 to 108 other than the server 104.

FIG. 5 is a file Applia in which device information of a TV is described.
It is a figure showing nce.xml.

FIG. 6 is a file Appl in which device information of a DVD is described.
It is a figure showing iance.xml.

FIG. 7 is a file Functi in which TV function information is described.
It is a figure showing on.xml.

FIG. 8 is a file Func in which function information of a DVD is described.
It is a figure which shows tion.xml.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a file IO-Device.xml in which IO device information of a TV is described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a file IO-Device.xml in which IO device information of a DVD is described.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a file in which content information of the content of the TV is described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing Content-1.xml which is a file in which content information of the content of the DVD is described.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a server 104.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a file Appliance.xml in which device information of a server 104 is described.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state of a device management table 405 of the server 104.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a state of a content management table 406 of the server 104.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state of a function management table 407 of the server 104.

FIG. 18 shows an IO device management table 408 of the server 104.
It is a figure showing the state of.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a state of a task management table 409 of the server 104.

20 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102. FIG.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a flow of a process performed in the remote controller 102 among processes caused by a user input to the remote controller.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a flow of a process performed by the server 104 among processes caused by a user input to the remote controller.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a flow of processing caused by an event occurring in the home network 103.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an algorithm for selecting a task that can be executed for selected content.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an algorithm for selecting a task that can be executed on selected content.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an algorithm for displaying a user interface corresponding to a task selected to be executable on a remote controller.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an algorithm for displaying a user interface corresponding to a task selected to be executable on a remote controller.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an algorithm for displaying a user interface for selecting a content that can be handled by the home network 103 with a remote controller.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an algorithm for displaying a user interface for selecting a content that can be handled by the home network 103 with a remote controller.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an algorithm for transmitting a duplicate function or IO device in the home network 103 to the remote controller.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an algorithm for transmitting a duplicate function or IO device in the home network 103 to the remote controller.

FIG. 33 shows a new VCR in the home network 103.
FIG. 107 is a diagram showing a state in which a connection is made to 107.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a file Appliance.xml in which device information of the VCR 107 is described.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing a file Function.xml in which function information of the VCR 107 is described.

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a file IO-Device.xml in which IO device information of the VCR 107 is described.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing Content-1.xml which is a file in which content information of the content held by the VCR 107 is described.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing a state of a device management table 405 of the server 104.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a state of a content management table 406 of the server 104.

40 is a diagram showing a state of a function management table 407 of the server 104. FIG.

FIG. 41 shows an IO device management table 408 of the server 104.
It is a figure showing the state of.

FIG. 42 is a diagram showing a state of a task management table 409 of the server 104.

FIG. 43 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

FIG. 44 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

FIG. 45: LCD newly added to home network 103
FIG. 108 is a diagram showing a state in which the connection is made.

FIG. 46 is a diagram showing a file Appliance.xml in which device information of the LCD is described.

FIG. 47 is a view showing a file Function.xml in which function information of the LCD is described.

FIG. 48 is a view showing a file IO-Device.xml in which IO device information of the LCD is described.

FIG. 49 is a diagram showing a state of a device management table 405 of the server 104.

50 is a diagram showing a state of a function management table 407 of the server 104. FIG.

FIG. 51 shows an IO device management table 408 of the server 104.
It is a figure showing the state of.

FIG. 52 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

FIG. 53 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

FIG. 54 is an enlarged view of the remote controller 102.

[Explanation of symbols]

102 remote controller, 103 home network, 104 server, 105 television receiver, 106 DVD player, 107 video cassette recorder, 405 equipment management table, 406 content management table, 407 function management table, 408 IO device management table, 409 task management Table, 410 Device information.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) // H04N 5/00 H04N 5/91 L (72) Inventor Naoki Urano 22nd Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 22 F-term in Sharp Corporation (reference) DA15 EA05 EA10 EA17 EB05 FA03 FA08 FA09 FB28 FB44 FB46 5K048 BA02 DB04 DC04 DC07

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. a step of preparing content information including a content name and task information relating to a task executable with respect to the content; a content selecting step of allowing a user to select a content using a user interface; A user selecting, by using a user interface, any of tasks executable in relation to the content selected in the selecting step, and executing a process corresponding to the task selected in the task selecting step And a device control method. 2. The task information includes information for specifying a task name of a task to be performed on the content, and user interface information for specifying a user interface component used by a user to select and execute the task. The task selecting step includes: constructing a user interface using user interface information included in task information in content information corresponding to the content selected by the content selecting step; and the constructed user Causing the user to select one of the tasks by using the interface. 3. The device control according to claim 1, wherein the task information further includes function information on a function provided in connection with the task, and input / output device information for specifying a type of an input / output device related to the task. The method further includes a step of collecting information on a function provided by each device present in the system and a type of an input / output device included in each device, wherein the executing step includes function information related to the selected task. And determining the device to execute the task based on the input / output device information, and controlling the determined device based on the function information and the input / output device information. 2
3. The device control method according to item 1. 4. The task information further includes information for specifying whether or not the task is a subordinate task subordinate to another content. Further, the task information is subordinate to the content selected in the content selection step. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether or not a task of the content exists, and constructing a user interface for executing the dependent task when the dependent task exists. Item 4. The device control method according to any one of Items 3. 5. A system for receiving a content and task information relating to a task executable with respect to the content and executing a task associated with the content, the system comprising: a controller for controlling a device included in the system; The device control device, wherein the task information includes information specifying a user interface component used for a user to select and execute a task, and information regarding a function provided by the task in relation to the content. A device that includes information for specifying the type of an input / output device associated with the task, wherein the device included in the system includes: first storage means for storing function information for specifying a function of the device; Second storage means for storing input / output information for specifying the input / output device possessed by the device control device, Wherein all of said devices in Temu first and second
Management means for managing the functions and input / output devices of each device in association with the devices having each function and each input / output device, based on the contents of the storage means, and one of the contents included in the system. First user interface construction means for constructing a user interface for selecting one, and presenting to a user based on information for identifying a user interface component among task information corresponding to the selected content. A second user interface construction means for constructing a user interface for causing a user to select any of tasks executable for the selected content; and a task selected using the second user interface. Information about the function specified by the task information corresponding to the And information to identify the different,
A device control unit for controlling a device included in the system to execute the selected task based on the management by the management unit. 6. A means for detecting that a plurality of same functions are provided by a plurality of devices included in the system, and providing one of the plurality of provided functions to a user. The device control device according to claim 5, further comprising third user interface construction means for constructing a user interface for making a selection. 7. A means for detecting that a plurality of same input / output devices are provided by a plurality of devices included in the system, and one of the plurality of provided input / output devices. The device control device according to claim 5, further comprising third user interface construction means for constructing a user interface for allowing a user to select one. 8. The task information further includes information for specifying whether the task is a subordinate task subordinate to another content, and the device control device further subordinates to the selected content. Means for searching for dependent tasks, wherein the second user interface construction means further comprises:
The device control device according to claim 5, wherein a user interface specified by task information of the retrieved subordinate task is also constructed. 9. A method for receiving information on a task selected by a user using a user interface constructed by the second user interface construction means and providing information specifying the selected task to the device control means. The device control device according to claim 5, further comprising an input unit.