JP2003018668A - Network apparatus controller and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a network apparatus controller is not facile for realizing the continuity of the operation of a controlled apparatus. SOLUTION: When a user interrupts or ends control of a controlled apparatus 314 from an FAV 312, information for reproducing (restoring) the just resulting state of the controlled apparatus 314 are recorded in a state save file 308. When the user accesses to the controlled apparatus 314 from other FAV thereafter, the last working state of the controlled apparatus 314 is reproduced (restored).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device forming a network, and more particularly to a network device control device for controlling a device connected to the network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a so-called home network for connecting various home devices such as a TV (television), a DVD (digital versatile disc), a VCR (video cassette recorder), etc. to a network and controlling each other. Attention has been paid.

In a home network, a device connected to the network can be controlled by another device connected to the network without depending on the manufacturer or model. For example, it is possible to control the VCR of company B installed in the living room from the TV of company A installed in the bedroom for playback and viewing.

[0004] On the other hand, with regard to home appliances such as DVDs and VCRs, it is general for a plurality of people in a family to share and use one appliance. When a single device is shared by multiple people, it is desirable to reduce mutual interference as much as possible. For example, when a plurality of people share and use a conventional VCR, each person prepares his / her own tape and records the TV program to be recorded on his / her own tape. Is taken. By doing this, even if you want to watch the continuation of the tape that you watched halfway on another day, you can easily continue the continuation by exchanging the media due to the physical characteristics of the tape (the playback position is the winding state of the tape). You can watch continuously. In the case of a randomly accessible medium such as a DVD capable of recording and playing, the last played position information is recorded in the medium or device so that the continuation is continuously watched at another time. It is possible.

As described above, for a VCR tape or a DVD medium, which is separable from a recording / reproducing apparatus, each person owns the medium so that a plurality of people at home can share the same apparatus. It was possible to avoid interference with each other as much as possible even when using the same.

However, in the video recording devices that have been introduced in recent years, it is possible to record a program on a large-capacity hard disk built in the device. In this case, it is not realistic to replace the built-in hard disk and own it. Therefore, in a recording / reproducing device having this large-capacity hard disk built-in, methods such as using an identifier for distinguishing a user and recording the last reproduced / recorded position for each genre are taken.

By allowing the user to input such information, even when a plurality of people share the same device, the continuation of the video that he / she has viewed halfway can be performed regardless of the viewing status of other people. , It is possible to continue viewing.

Further, when such a device is connected to the home network as described at the beginning, not only time continuity but also space continuity is required. Continuity in this space means DVDs and Vs that were being watched in the living room.
Continuity is that CR is suspended and the rest is watched after moving to the bedroom.

In order to realize continuity in this space, the state of the device is saved before the movement, and the state of the device is reproduced (restored) to the state before the movement at another place or time after the movement. Therefore, various ideas have been conventionally proposed for the purpose of improving the convenience and operability by providing continuity between the past operation and the present operation.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-92344, "Remote Control Method and System", a bidirectional remote controller is used to transmit the device status to the remote controller, and the remote controller holds the status of the target device. By transmitting the state held by the remote control to the controlled device that is the operation target at another time or place, it is possible to reproduce (restore) the state of the past device.

As described above, when a plurality of people share and use the same device, in order to realize continuity of their own operations, each one has a dedicated medium, or
A method such as giving information for distinguishing the user to the device or holding the state of the device, and allowing the device that can be occupied by an individual (a mobile phone such as a remote controller) to hold the state of the target device is used. Has been.

[0012]

As described above, in the conventional network device control apparatus and method, in the method in which each owns a dedicated medium in order to realize continuity of each operation, the operation of the controlled device is controlled. There was a problem that it was not convenient to realize the continuity of.

Further, in the method of giving information for distinguishing a user to the device and holding the user information and the state of the device in the device as a pair, the user has to give the information of the user to the device one by one, which is a complicated operation. There was a problem that was necessary.

Further, in the method of storing the state of the target device in a device such as a remote controller, not only a remote controller is required for each user, but also the continuation of the DVD watched in the living room of a bedroom connected to the network. It is necessary to watch using TV of company B. At this time, the same remote controller must function effectively for TVs of different manufacturers, which causes a problem that standardization is required and the cost of the remote controller is increased.

Further, in the conventional device continuation operation means, the continuation of the image or the continuity of the specific control device itself is merely realized, and the continuation of one controlled device is extended to another control device. There was a problem that it was difficult to continue.

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems, and provides a network device control apparatus and method capable of conveniently realizing continuity of device operation for each user. With the goal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a network device control apparatus and method having an easy-to-use interface for continuously operating a device connected to a network.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a network device control apparatus and method which can easily provide a means for distinguishing users of devices.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a controlled device connected to a network is interrupted from a signal generated in response to an operation of a first controlled device by a user. / First detection means for detecting a control signal to be terminated, and a state of the controlled device when the control signal is input to the controlled device when the first detection device detects the control signal Is stored in a storage means that can be stored by a predetermined device connected to the network, and an operation to the controlled device is restarted / started via an operation of the second control device by the user. At this time, the state of the controlled device stored in the storage unit is read from the storage unit, and the state of the controlled device is restored to the read state of the controlled device. To provide a network device control unit being characterized in that a restoring means.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the first detecting means controls the signal connected to the network from the signal generated according to the operation of the first control device by the user. When the storage control means detects the control signal for interrupting / terminating the equipment and the first detection means detects the control signal, the controlled equipment when the control signal is input to the controlled equipment State is stored in a storage unit that can be stored by a predetermined device connected to the network, and the reading unit restarts the operation to the controlled device via the operation of the second control device by the user / When started, the state of the controlled device stored in the storage unit is read from the storage unit, and the restoration unit reads the state of the controlled device of the control unit. Wherein the state to provide a network device control method characterized by restoring the state of the controlled device.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a home network. The home network shown in FIG. 1 is configured using an IEEE1394 bus (hereinafter simply referred to as 1394).

A video cassette recorder (V
CR) 101, digital television (DTV) 10
2. A recording / reproducing apparatus (AV-HDD) 103 and a digital versatile disk (DVD) 104 having a built-in large-capacity hard disk for recording and reproducing video / audio are installed. A personal computer (P
C) 105 is installed, and DTV 106 is installed in the bedroom. Devices in the living room, study, and bedroom are connected by 1394 cables.
You are configuring a network.

In one specific specification of 1394, the length of the cable is limited, so in order to connect the first floor and the second floor,
It may be connected by a device called a bridge 107 or a repeater 108.

The 1394 is capable of transmitting not only commands for controlling the equipment but also data such as video and audio in real time without interruption, and operates the VCR 101 in the living room from the PC 105 in the study or the DTV 106 in the bedroom. You can watch the video.

In the present specification, these devices connected to the 1394 network will be collectively referred to as AV devices.

Various protocols have been proposed for operating AV equipment connected to 1394.
One of them is an AV / C command whose specifications are specified by 1394TA (1394 Trade Association). This AV
The / C command defines a command for controlling each function of the AV device.

For example, in the case of VCR, commands such as recording, reproduction, fast forward, rewind, and pause are specified as a protocol that does not depend on a specific model.

The AV / C command only defines a basic control command for AV equipment, and has insufficient functions to realize a complicated application. As a middleware on 1394 that complements this, Japanese and European and American manufacturers jointly formulate specifications as HAVi (Home
Audio / Video interoperability) standard (http: //www.hav
i.org/).

The present invention is a HAV considering the ease of implementation.
i is used, but not limited to HAVi. First, before describing the embodiment of the present invention, H
An overview of AVi will be explained.

In HAVi, AV equipment is classified into control equipment and controlled equipment. The controlled device receives a control command from the control device and is controlled. The program that controls the device (module that issues control commands) is H
In AVi, it is called DCM / FCM. DCM (De
vice Control Module) is a software module that controls the overall mechanism related to the AV equipment itself.
A CM (Functional Component Module) is a software module that controls each function incorporated in an AV device.

In HAVi, commands for controlling individual AV devices, for example, the above-mentioned AV / C commands are not specified, but APIs of DCM / FCM are specified.

The DCM / FCM bidirectionally converts the HAVi command into a command corresponding to the controlled device. For example, the DCM of the VCR controls the power on / off of the device, and the FCM controls the reproduction / stop / fast-forward as the functions of the VCR. From a control device compatible with HAVi to V
In order to play the CR, the control device sends a Vcr :: Play () command, which is a HAVi message, to the VCR FCM, and the VCR FCM sends a command for controlling the actual VCR, for example, an AV / C command to the actual VCR. Send. Also, the response sent from the VCR is the VCR first.
Received by FCM, converted to HAVi response and returned to the control device.

In HAVi, the DCM / FCM is generally registered in a memory or the like in the controlled device so that the device having the original function of the manufacturer can be controlled by the control device of another manufacturer. This DCM / FCM provides a mechanism to be downloaded to the control device at the connection timing. Since the program for controlling the controlled device is dynamically downloaded to the control device in this way, the control device does not need to have information about the controlled device in advance.

To realize this, the DCM / FCM needs to be able to be executed by an arbitrary model and is described in Java language. DCM / FCM written in Java
The control device that can download and execute is FAV (Full
Audio Video Device) is called.

In order for the FAV, which is the control device, to control the controlled device, the DCM for this controlled device is used.
/ FCM must be installed. Usually DC
The M / FCM is a config ROM (Conf
It is stored in an area called ig ROM) and is downloaded and installed in the FAV when connected to the network. At most one DCM / FCM is installed in the network for one controlled device.

In HAVi, a unit of a software module is called a software element, but DCM / FCM is an example of the software element. The system-level software elements defined in HAVi middleware include: 1394
CMM (Communication Media Mana) that manages level communication
ger), a messaging system (Messaging System) that manages the exchange of messages between software elements, a registry (Registry) that registers various attribute information related to software elements, and an event manager (Event Manager) that distributes changes in the status of AV devices and networks as events.
r), a resource manager (Reso) that manages bandwidth control of isochronous streams and reservation control or exclusive control of equipment.
urce Manager) and DCM / FCM install / uninstall DCM manager (DCM Manager). The ID for identifying the software element is called SEID and is uniquely determined in the network.

The DCM / FCM is a software element that sends a control message (command) to the controlled device, but does not have an interface for the user to operate. The user interface is a software element different from DCM and is obtained by issuing an acquisition request message to DCM. HAVi
Then, this user interface is described in Java and is called a havelet.

In HAVi, the controlled device and its DCM
FAV, which is a control device installed with / FCM
And h, which is an interface for the user to operate
The devices executing the avlet may be separate devices.

Next, the operating principle of HAVi will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic connection configuration of HAVi in which a control device and a controlled device are connected. In FIG. 2, a controlled device DVD and
The FAV202, which is a control device in which DCM / FCM is installed, and the control devices, FAV203 and FAV204, which are devices displaying a havelet, and the controlled device are connected.

DCM / DVD 201 which is the controlled device
The FCM is installed in the FAV202 which is a HAVi control device. As mentioned above, the DC of a device
There is at most one device that installs the M / FCM in the network. When the user wants to operate the DVD from a device different from the FAV202 (for example, another FAV that is the FAV203), a hacklet acquisition message is transmitted to the DCM installed in the FAV202, and the hacklet is downloaded and executed. . Multiple havelets can be installed for one DCM. This allows one device to be operated from multiple locations at the same time. FA
An example is haveletB installed in V204. In HAVi, there is a resource manager as a software element for exclusive control of simultaneous operations.
By using the resource manager, it is possible for a certain user A to prevent the user B from controlling the DVD, which is the controlled device being reproduced, by the control device B.

Next, a network device control apparatus of the present invention utilizing the above-described HAVi operation principle will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a network device control apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 3, the FAV 310 is a 1394 interface 301 and HAVi message input / output unit 30.
2, it comprises a message type determination means 303, an access status determination means 304, a device status storage means 305, a havelet status storage means 306, an access management means 307, a status storage file 308, and a DCM / FCM 309.

Each of the FAV 312 and FAV 313 is composed of a 1394 interface 301, a HAVi message input / output unit 302, and a havelet 311.

The controlled device 314 has a 1394 interface 301.

Next, the operation of the network device control apparatus thus configured will be described in detail. In FIG. 3, a controlled device 314 is an AV device controlled by the HAVi control device and has a 1394 interface 301. This controlled device 314 is a DVD in FIG.
It corresponds to 201.

The FAV 310 is an HA in which DCM / FCM for controlling the controlled device 314 is installed.
It is a control device for Vi and has a 1394 interface 30.
1, HAVi message input / output means 302, message type determination means 303, access status determination means 304, device status storage means 305, havelet status storage means 30
6, access management means 307, state save file 30
8 and DCM / FCM309. This FAV3
10 corresponds to the FAV 202 in FIG.

FAV312 and FAV313 are FAV
DCM / FCM309 installed on the 310
It is a control device of HAVi that downloads and displays the hacklet obtained from
1, HAVi message input / output means 302, 1394 interface 301, and corresponds to FAV203 and FAV204 in FIG.

The 1394 interface 301 is an interface for connecting AV devices to the 1394 network.

The HAVi message input / output unit 302 is
A messaging system which is one of the system software elements of HAVi, and provides a mechanism for exchanging messages between software elements. The messaging system is used not only for exchanging messages not only between software elements in the same device but also between remote software elements such as AV devices connected to a network.

The format of this HAVi message will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the format of the HAVi message. In FIG. 4, the HAVi message follows a destination SEID 401, which is the ID of the destination software element, and a source SEID 402, followed by an operation code (Op
(Aeration Code) 403 and a string 40 of arguments accompanying this
It is composed of 4.

Returning to FIG. 3, the description will be continued. The message type determination means 303 is the HAVi message input / output means 3
02 determines the type of message transmitted, and the determination result is used as the access status determination means 304 and DCM.
/ Output to FCM309. Further, the message type discrimination unit 303 outputs the discrimination result to the device state storage unit 305 only when the discrimination result is an interruption or termination command of the controlled device 314.

This message type includes the controlled device 3
There are a control command according to No. 14, a state change event asynchronously transmitted from the controlled device 314, and a message transmitted from the havelet communicating with this DCM / FCM. These determinations are realized by analyzing the message format shown in FIG. In an actual system, messages other than these are also transmitted, but they are omitted here because they are not particularly related to the operation of the present invention.

When the determination result of the interruption or termination command is input from the message type determination means 303, the device state storage means 305 immediately after the determination result is input, that is, the interruption or termination for the controlled device 314. Information for reproducing (restoring) the state of the device immediately after the command is output is obtained from the DCM / FCM 309 and recorded in the state saving file 308. This state save file 308
Is composed of a recording medium such as a memory or a hard disk drive.

The access status judging means 304 refers to the information recorded in the state saving file 308 when the type of the message sent from the message type judging means 303 is a control command for the controlled device 314. Then, when a specific condition such as access time, date and time, control device, etc. is met, a specific command determined is sent to the controlled device via the DCM / FCM 309. This operation will be described in detail later.

The havelet state storage means 306 is similar to the device state storage means 305 in that it has the FAV 312 or FA.
Information for reproducing (restoring) the state of the havelet displayed in V313 is recorded in the state saving file 308. Hav on FAV312 or FAV313
When the let is uninstalled, FAV312
Alternatively, the GUI such as the operation panel and the video screen disappears from the display screen (not shown) of the FAV 313, and the havl
An event notifying that et has been uninstalled is transmitted to FAV310 by the event manager of FAV312 or FAV313. In the FAV 310, the message type determination unit 303 detects the uninstall event of the havelet, and the havelet state storage unit 306 stores the havelet state in the state storage file 308.

The information for reproducing (restoring) the state of the controlled device 314 immediately after the interruption or termination command is output to the controlled device 314 is uniquely determined for each AV device. For example, in the case of a VCR, the head position of the tape, various mode settings including the channel of the built-in tuner, and the like are set. In other words, even if the AV device is interrupted or the power is turned off, the previous state is pseudo-reproduced (restored), and the information for providing the user with the continuity of the operation of the device is stored in the state save file. . The same applies to the case of the user interface havelet, in which information necessary for realizing continuity of operations such as information of a displayed screen and positions of a cursor, a mouse, and the like is stored.

The access management means 307 is a module that operates in cooperation with the access status determination means 304,
When controlling the controlled device 314 from the FAV 310, the usage status (usage environment) of the control device (here, the FAV 310) is extracted. This control device (here, F
The AV 310) usage status (usage environment) data is recorded in the status save file in combination with the status data of the controlled device (here, controlled device 314) corresponding to the usage status (usage environment). As an example of this usage status (usage environment) data, the time when a command for controlling the controlled device 314 is issued, or a havelet for issuing an instruction command from the user who issued the command is installed. This is information such as the ID of the AV device.

Information stored in the state storage file 308 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a database saved in a state save file of a specific controlled device (for example, a HDD built-in tuner). In this database, the controlled device 314 of the target is controlled.
Information is registered under the various usage environments when was last used.

This state saving file is especially FAV.
It does not need to be included in 310, and may be created on a recording medium that can be recorded / reproduced from a device connected to the network.

In FIG. 5, "control device ID" is the ID of the control device displaying the user interface (UI) of this controlled device 314. HAV for HAVi
It corresponds to the GUID of the FAV that displayed the let.

The "user ID" is an ID for identifying the user and may be unknown.

"Time" is the time of the last access.
That is, it is the time when the user finishes a series of interactive sessions for controlling the controlled device 314 from the control device.

"Control device ID" and "User I" shown in FIG.
D "and" time "are the above-mentioned control devices (here, FAV3
It is data of the usage status (usage environment) of 10).

The “controlled device ID” is the ID of the controlled device 314.

The "video state" is a state relating to the video of the controlled device 314 at the end of the session and is being played (PLA
Y) or pause (PAUSE) or stop (STOP),
Alternatively, a time shift (SHI
FT) state and the like.

The "playback position" is the video playback position at the end of the session. That is, it is the reproduction time from the head position of the HDD or the beginning of the video content.

"Tuner" is the channel number of the tuner at the end of the session. The state save file 30
8 is described as being in the device 310,
The state save file 308 may be stored in another device connected to the network.

The “controlled device ID”, “video state”, “playback position”, and “tuner” shown in FIG. 5 correspond to the above-mentioned usage situation (usage environment) (controlled device 314 here). ) Is the data of the state.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, one "control device usage data" corresponds to one "controlled device status data". If the power of this controlled device is turned off while controlling multiple controlled devices from one controlled device at the same time, a database is created assuming that the controlled devices are also deactivated. May be. In this case, a plurality of data having the same "control device ID", "user ID" and "time" are added to the database.

Further, in the state save file data 308,
The information indicating where the control device is installed is also preset and recorded by the user. This information will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining information indicating where the control device is installed. In FIG. 6, “control device ID” is the ID of the control device displaying the user interface (UI) of this controlled device 314. HaVi for ha
This corresponds to the GUID of the FAV that was displaying vlet.
The installation location is set in advance by the user and is information indicating where each control device is installed. In the example shown in FIG. 6, FAV1 is set in the living room, FAV2 is set in the study room, and FAV3 is set in the bedroom.

The information indicating where the control device shown in FIG. 6 is installed may be stored in the state storage file data 308 as a file of another database. Further, if the capacity of the file may be large, instead of setting it as another file, a new “installation location” may be added to the field of FIG. 5 and recorded as one database.

In order to realize continuity for improving the usability when operating a specific AV device for each user,
The database shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is used.

For example, a person whose user ID is User1 tries to access the controlled device from the control device FAV2 (for example, when the power of the controlled device is turned on, or when the operation of the device is restarted / started). Select a device / display the operation panel of the device, etc.), even if another user uses the same controlled device before that,
The database stores the state when the person with the user ID User1 last used this controlled device. Therefore, the controlled state when the person with the user ID User1 last used the controlled device was controlled. The state of the device can be immediately reproduced (restored).

In the case of the database shown in FIG. 5, user I
Since the controlled device lastly used by the person whose D is User1 is BAV1 as shown in the data on the first line from the top of FIG. 5, the person whose user ID is User1 accesses BAV1 from FAV2 (that is, from FAV2 to BAV1). The FAV310 automatically sets the playback position of the BAV1 to the position 1, the video to the PLAY state, and the tuner channel to the channel 1 just by turning on the power).

The user ID may be explicitly input by the user each time, but may not be input when the operation is complicated. In this case, the control device I
User ID (ie user) based on D and time information
Is estimated by the system. For example, when accessed from FAV2, even if the user ID is unknown, the system knows that FAV2 is in the study and the user can be accessed by using the background rule that access from the study is from a specific user. Can be estimated.

In this case, it is User1 who uses the study
This can be realized by newly providing a database of the installation place and the user ID, such as "only".
Alternatively, by checking the information stored in the state storage file 308, the user ID of the past FAV2 is U.
If it turns out that it was only ser1, the user can be inferred without being explicitly written in the database. The method of this estimation may be estimated using a conventionally known technique such as AI.

As described above, even if the user does not explicitly give the information for distinguishing a plurality of users, the user can be identified from the information such as the device being used, the place where the device is installed, or the time zone used. The estimation has an effect that the user does not need to perform complicated input operation.

Next, when the controlled device accesses the controlled device 314, the flow of the process of selecting which data from the database stored in the state storage file 308 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. explain.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of processing for selecting which data from the database stored in the state storage file 308. In FIG. 7, it is determined whether the user ID is known (step 701). If it is determined in step 701 that it is known, the process proceeds to step 705 described later, and if it is determined that it is not known, the process proceeds to the next step 702.

In step 702, it is determined whether the user ID can be specified from the control device ID. If it is determined in step 702 that the identification is possible, the process proceeds to step 705, which will be described later, and if it is determined that it is not known, the next step 70 is performed.
Go to 3.

In step 703, it is determined whether the user ID can be specified from the current time. If it is determined in step 703 that it can be identified, the process proceeds to step 705 described later,
If it is determined that it is not known, the process proceeds to the next step 704.

In step 704, the user list is displayed on the screen, and the user is allowed to select it, and the process proceeds to the next step 705. As a result, the user is specified at the next step 705.

At step 705, the user I identified can be identified.
The database in the state save file 308 is checked to see if there is a match between D and the control device ID.

If there is a match in step 705, this is the data to be selected, so this match data is selected (step 706).

On the other hand, if there is no match in step 705, the user IDs that match and the time in the database closest to the current time are selected (step 707).

Next, based on the information in the state storage file 308 selected in step 706/707, the target controlled device is reproduced (restored) to the state last used by the same user.

Note that the processing flow in FIG. 7 shows only one embodiment of the present invention, and various applications and modifications are possible.

For example, when the user IDs match in step 707 but the control device IDs are different, the one having the closest time is selected, but the control device ID of the selected result is the user. If it is contrary to the ID, it is necessary to select another item.

Further, in step 707, it means that the users are the same but the control devices are different. Therefore, when the time difference is as small as about 1 minute, for example, the user is in the living room. It is conceivable that the DVD that was being watched was temporarily stopped, and immediately the user took action such as watching the continuation of the same DVD in the bedroom. In consideration of this, various processing flows may be added. For example, if you watch the continuation of DVD in the bedroom, D in the living room
Operations such as turning off the power of the monitor displaying VD can be easily realized as an application of the present invention.

Thus, when the same user moves from the first control device to the second control device with respect to the same controlled device within a relatively short time, There is an effect that an efficient usage method can be obtained by performing a cooperative operation and, for example, turning off unnecessary power of the first control device. As a method of turning off the unnecessary power, a command for releasing the resource may be transmitted to the first control device. Releasing a resource here means turning off the power in the case of a power supply, and releasing the band when the band of the network is secured.

In the above description, an example in which the present invention is implemented on HAVi which is a middleware standard on a 1394 network has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the network need not be wired and may be wireless, or even a combination of wireless and wired. The network itself is not limited to 1394, and Bluetooth, Echonet, telephone line, power line, etc., or a combination thereof may be used.

Further, the control device and the controlled device are not limited to home devices such as AV devices, but PD
A and mobile devices such as mobile phones and various office equipment,
Various equipment and devices are targeted.

[0093]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The continuity of device operation can be conveniently realized for each user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a home network.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic connection configuration of HAVi in which a control device and a controlled device are connected, for explaining the operating principle of HAVi.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a network device control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a HAVi message.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a database stored in a state save file of a specific controlled device (for example, a HDD built-in tuner).

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining information indicating where the control device is installed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a process of selecting which data is selected from the database stored in the state storage file 308.

[Explanation of symbols]

301 ... 1394 interface, 302 ... HAVi message input / output means, 303 ... Message type determination means, 304 ... Access status determination means, 305 ... Device status storage means, 306 ... Havlet status storage means, 307
... access management means, 308 ... state saving file, 30
9 ... DCM / FCM, 310, 312, 313 ... FA
V, 311 ... Havelet, 314 ... Controlled device.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 5/00 H04N 5/00 A 5K033 5/44 5/44 A 5K048 5/76 5/76 Z 5 / 765 5/91 LF term (reference) 5C025 CA02 CA19 5C052 AA01 5C053 LA06 LA11 LA15 5C056 AA07 BA01 BA08 BA10 5K032 BA01 BA08 DB19 EB04 5K033 BA01 BA08 DB12 5K048 AA04 BA03 BA12 DC04 EA16 EB01 EB12 EB12 EB02 EB02 EB12

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A first detection means for detecting a control signal for interrupting / terminating a controlled device connected to a network, from a signal generated in response to a user's operation of the first control device; When the detecting means detects the control signal, the state of the controlled device when the control signal is input to the controlled device is stored in a storage device that can be stored by a predetermined device connected to the network. Storage control means for storing, and a state of the controlled device stored in the storage means when the operation to the controlled device is restarted / started via the operation of the second control device by the user. A network device control apparatus comprising: a restoring unit that reads out from the storage unit and restores the state of the controlled device to the read state of the controlled device. 2. A user identification unit for identifying the user is further provided, the storage control unit stores the state of the controlled device for each user, and the restoration unit restores the state of the controlled device for each user. The network device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The user identification means is provided with an identifier of the control device that resumes / starts an operation on the controlled device or a control device that resumes / starts an operation on the controlled device. The network device control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the user is identified by using at least one of data of a place where the user is present or a time period when the control device is used. 4. The storage control means stores data in the usage state of the first control device and a state of the controlled device as a set in the storage device. Network equipment control device. 5. The second control device within a predetermined time after the first control device puts the controlled device in an interrupted state while the first control device is operating the controlled device. And a means for transmitting a resource release command for releasing a resource to the first control device when the control device restarts the operation on the controlled device. 1. The network device control device according to 1. 6. The network device control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the resource release command turns off a power supply related to display. 7. The network device control device according to claim 1, wherein the first control device and the second control device are the same device. 8. The first detection means detects a control signal for interrupting / terminating a controlled device connected to the network from a signal generated in response to a user's operation of the first control device, and storage control By means of the means, when the first detecting means detects the control signal, the state of the controlled device when the control signal is input to the controlled device is controlled by a predetermined device connected to the network. When the operation of the controlled device is resumed / started by the user through the operation of the second control device by the user, the target device stored in the storage device is stored in the storable storage device. The state of the controlled device is read from the storage means, and the restoring device restores the state of the controlled device to the state of the controlled device read by the reading device. Network device control method.