JP2005102060A - Data structure, external server, home communication device, and communication method of command data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology relating to command data with which household electric appliances in a home can be remotely controlled irrespective of its manufacturer, a model, and a type of control. <P>SOLUTION: A remote household electric appliance control system comprises household electric appliances 401, 402, ... with a function of communicating with a home server 100 constituting a home network 600, and an external server 200 connected with the home server through an external network 500. The data structure of a control instruction transmitted from the external server to be executed by the home server or the electric appliance or of the command data indicating a response from the home server or the electric appliance to the control instruction is configured to contain address information for specifying an appliance to be controlled, property information for specifying the type of the control instruction for the appliance, and identification information for determining whether the command data is for acquisition of the information or for transmission. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a data structure of command data, an external server that transmits command data of the data structure between the home server and the home appliance, and a control instruction instructed by the command data of the data structure to be executed by the corresponding device. The present invention relates to a home communication device for transmission and a command data communication method.

  The development of home appliance networks has been promoted, and various remote operation techniques for a user to operate home appliances at home have been proposed and put into practical use. Among such technologies, if an e-mail is created on a mobile terminal or a PC (computer) on the go, the control information is written in the body of the e-mail and sent to the home terminal of the user's home, There is a method in which the control information is interpreted by a terminal and predetermined control is executed on a corresponding home appliance. In addition, if you connect to the Internet with a mobile terminal or a PC on the go, open a home page with a predetermined URL with a browser, enter control information at a predetermined location on the screen, and send it, the control information is interpreted at the home terminal. There is also known a method for executing predetermined control on the corresponding home appliance.

  However, the remote control method using any of these networks differs for each home appliance manufacturer or home appliance. Various household appliances from different manufacturers are installed in each home. For this reason, if the user tries to perform remote control of home appliances using the above method, the user must correctly remember the manufacturer name, product name, model, etc. for each home appliance installed at home. There is a difficulty that it is impossible to transmit control information correctly to a specific home appliance at home and to perform remote control.

  For example, if you want to remotely control two air conditioners of different manufacturers installed at the home of a user, whether it is a method using e-mail or a method using an Internet browser screen, it is processed for each manufacturer. Since the method is different, the input method and the operation method are different, and it is not easy for the user to use the remote operation.

  In response to this, an ASP (Application Service Provider) service has also been proposed that provides a service by connecting to a home network through the Internet. By using this APS service, a user can connect to an ASP server using a mobile phone or use a PC on the go and input a predetermined control command. It can be transferred to home appliances at home for remote control, driving status can be checked, and security can be checked.

However, since the control command codes differ depending on the manufacturer of the home network device and the type of home appliance, it is impossible to remotely control the home appliance by transmitting a control command to any home appliance in the home.
“Special Feature Home Network Deployment”, Toshiba Review, 2002 VOL. 57 NO. 10, 1-36 pages.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional technical problem, and provides a technique related to command data capable of remotely controlling home appliances in a home regardless of manufacturer, model, or type of control. With the goal.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a remote home appliance control system including a home server constituting a home network and a home appliance having a communication function, and an external server connected to the home server through an external network. A control command for causing the home server or home appliance to be transmitted or a command data data structure indicating a response from the home server or home appliance to the control command, and an address for specifying the control target device Information, property information for specifying the type of control command for the control target device, data information for specifying the content of the control command, and for transmitting whether the command data is for information acquisition And identification information for specifying whether or not.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the data structure of claim 1, object information for specifying a classification of the device to be controlled is included.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the data structure of the first or second aspect, the command data includes version information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the data structure according to the first to third aspects, expiration date information indicating an expiration date of the command data is included.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the data structure of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the data structure includes result information indicating a control result of the home server or home electric appliance for the control command.

  The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that the data structure of claims 1 to 5 includes a plurality of control instructions.

  The invention of claim 7 uses the XML language in the data structure of claims 1 to 6.

  An external server of an invention of claim 8 is a command data transmission control unit that transmits command data having a data structure of any one of claims 1 to 7 with a plurality of home servers or home appliances via an external network. , Receiving the control instruction information of the user terminal via the external network, and transmitting the response information from the home server or home appliance to the user terminal, and the control instruction information from the user terminal On the other hand, a command data generation unit that generates the command data for the corresponding home server or home electric appliance is provided.

  A home communication device according to a ninth aspect of the invention includes a command data transmission control unit that transmits the command data having the data structure according to any one of the first to seventh aspects to an external server via an external network; And a home network communication unit that communicates with a home network of a predetermined protocol, and interprets the command data sent from the external server and transmits a control command indicated by the command data to the corresponding device through the home network communication unit And a command data interpretation unit.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the home communication device according to the ninth aspect, wherein the execution of the control command by the corresponding device is received, and the command data having the data structure according to any one of the first to seventh aspects is generated for the execution result. And a command data generation unit to be passed to the command data transmission control unit.

  The invention according to claim 11 is a command data communication method in a remote home appliance control system comprising a home server constituting a home network and a home appliance having a communication function and an external server connected to the home server through an external network. A control command to be executed by the home server or home appliance transmitted from the external server or a response from the home server or home appliance to the control command is converted into XML language command data, and the command The data includes address information for specifying the control target device, property information for specifying the type of control command for the control target device, and transmission of whether the command data is for acquisition of information. Including identification information for identifying whether the Is shall.

  According to the present invention, when remotely controlling a home appliance via a public network, it is possible to remotely use command data that conforms to the rules in a unified manner regardless of manufacturer, device type, and control type. Can be operated.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a remote home appliance control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The remote home appliance control system of the present embodiment includes a home server 100 installed at a user's home, an ASP server 200 installed at an ASP (application service provider) site, a user's mobile phone, and a PC (computer) on the go It is comprised from the household appliances (1), (2), (3) etc. which incorporated the controller which controls the operation terminal 300, the home server 100, etc. and the controller which controls various functions. The home server 100 and the ASP server 200 are always connected via an external network 500 including a public network and the Internet, and the ASP server 200 and the operation terminal 300 are connected via the external network 500 when necessary. The home server 100 and each home appliance (1), (2), etc. are connected by a wired or wireless home network 600.

  The home appliance group includes a television 401, a computer 402, an air conditioner 403, a home terminal 404, a refrigerator 405, a microwave oven 406, and a washing machine 407. The home network 600 that connects the home server 100 and the home appliance group includes, for example, wireless communication using IEEE 802.11 communication rules, Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication, infrared communication, Ethernet ( Those using wired communication such as registered trademarks are included.

  The home server 100 is a small computer having both a large-capacity storage device and a broadband router. The home server 100 executes necessary arithmetic processing by a software program. If the functions related to the present embodiment are shown as blocks, FIG. It is the structure shown in FIG. That is, the home server 100 includes an external network communication unit 101 having various functions (for example, a router function) necessary for connecting to an external network 100 such as the Internet from each home and executing data communication, and an XML described later. Command data generation unit 102 that generates command data using language, command data received from the external network 100 through the external network communication unit 101, and a function to execute necessary processing in the own device, or connection to the own device A command data interpreter 103 that serves to transfer the home appliance 600 to the corresponding home appliance from the home network 600, and a control command that is received and interpreted by the command data interpreter 103 in the home appliance group. Household appliances that convert data for communication Control unit 104, home network communication unit 105 that converts a control command output from home appliance control unit 104 into a signal for home network communication and transmits it to a group of home appliances, a conversion table between command data and control commands, and each home appliance The data storage unit 106 holds information necessary for execution of control commands such as names 401, 402,..., A unique identification number (for example, a MAC address), a type, and control function information.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ASP server 200 is connected to an external network 500 and performs a necessary data communication with the remote operation terminal 300 and the home server 100, for example, a user name, address, and telephone. Member management server 200-2 that holds the number and other customer information, the IP address of the user's home server, the MAC address of each home electric appliance owned by each user, the models of various home electric appliances of each manufacturer, function information, and remote control commands The database server 200-3 holds job information and the like.

  The member management server 200-2 manages a large number of member registration data, and registers and manages membership procedures, ID issuance, password registration, and member information. The database server 200-3 has a unique identification number for each home server 100 or household electrical appliance installed in the house for each registered member, for example, a MAC address, a global IP address, etc., for each manufacturer, for each product model. Manages function information.

  The functional configuration of the ASP server 200 is as shown in FIG. 3, and the user communicates with the operation terminal 300, the network communication unit 201 that controls data communication with the home server 100 via the external network 500, and the user with the home server 100. The member registration processing and the information registration processing of the owned home appliances are performed, and the control request for the user's home home appliances from the operation terminal 300 is received by the user request processing unit 202 and the user request processing unit 202. A command data generation unit 203 that converts the control request into command data, a command data interpretation unit 204 that interprets command data sent from the home server 100 through the external network 500, and home appliance database management that manages various data of home appliances Part 205, member day for managing user information A base management unit 206; a command storage unit 207 that holds a conversion table of command data and control commands; a home appliance database 208 that holds home appliance information under the management of the home appliance database management unit 205; and under the management of the member database management unit 205 A member database 209 that holds user information is provided.

  Next, the remote household appliance control method by the remote household appliance control system of the said structure is demonstrated. Command data using the XML language is transmitted and received between the home appliance 100 having a data communication function for the home server 100 or the external network 500 and the ASP server 200 at the application level.

  In the procedure described later, the user performs remote home-like home appliances such as a mobile phone, a remote computer, etc., for example, “set the air conditioner to a room temperature of 27 ° C. and start the cooling operation”, such as a remote place When the request is made, the ASP server 200 once holds this job information in its own device, and transmits this job information to the user's home server 100 in order to execute this. The command data using the XML language described above is used to transfer job information between the home server 100 and the ASP server 200 via the external network 500. The format of this command data is as shown in FIG.

  The data format shown in FIG. 4 will be described. When job information (control command) is transferred between the home server 100 and the ASP server 200, each control is “COMMAND”, and control executed in one action as viewed from the user is “JOB”.

  For example, when the instruction from the operation terminal 300 is “Set the air conditioner (1) to“ Set temperature 27 ° C. ”,“ High air flow ”and“ Cooling ””, the user operates As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal 300 is used to create a control command using a browser and “send” it to the ASP server 200 in one action. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the air conditioner control is one job, and the commands included therein are “temperature setting: 27 ° C.”, “air volume setting: strong”, “mode: cooling”, “power supply: ON” 4 commands are included. That is, if the home network is ECHONET (registered trademark) communication, one ECHONET control corresponds to one COMMAND, and a plurality of them are combined into one JOB unit.

  When an execution result (return value) occurs, the execution result is returned from the home server 100 to the ASP server 200 with the same configuration, and the ASP server 200 displays an execution result screen based on the execution result on the operation terminal. 300, and is displayed on the browser screen as shown in FIG.

  In such remote operation, control items of command data using the XML language are shown in Table 1 in FIG. That is, there are a JOB number for identifying a job (JOB) unit, a protocol for setting a code for identifying a protocol used for the home network 600, and a version for setting a language version. These are one setting for one job.

  The command data item further includes a type for identifying whether the command is control (set) or response (get), an address for uniquely specifying the control target device, a microwave oven as a type of the control target device, a washing machine, etc. An object that sets a code for identifying a code, a property that sets a code that identifies a control command, setting data, data for entering acquired data, a timeout for setting a timeout time, an execution result for setting a control execution result, and an execution result Each item of the execution result (message) for filling in the message is prepared. Note that the XML language can be expanded, and items can be added arbitrarily. Job communication between the home server 100 and the ASP server 200 is performed by an XML tag using the code in the “character string” column in Table 1.

  In Table 1 of FIG. 7, items marked with ○ in the “required” column are mandatory items as command data, items marked with △ are mandatory items depending on the type, and items marked with x This indicates that the item may be set as an option. However, it is not limited.

  As shown in the sequence of FIG. 8, the ASP server 200 generates XML language command data in accordance with a control command from the operation terminal 300 or a periodic control command registered in advance in its own device, and sends it to the corresponding home server 100. Transmit (step S1).

  The home server 100 receives and interprets the command data, and transmits a control command to the corresponding home appliance via the home network 600 for execution (step S2). The corresponding home electric appliance executes the received control command, and returns an execution result as to whether or not it is successful to the home server 100 (step S3). The home server 100 determines whether or not this execution result needs to be transferred to the ASP server 200, and transfers the execution result to the ASP server 200 if necessary (step S4).

  For example, the command data D1 in step S2 is the communication protocol shown in FIG. 9, and the command data D2 in step S4 is the communication protocol shown in FIG. For example, in the command data D1, <job jid = “0000001” protocol = “ECHO” version = “1.0”> indicates that the job ID is 0000001, the communication protocol is ECHONET, and the version is 1.0. Is shown. Also, one command is from <command> to </ command>, and for example, <type> get </ type> indicates that the type is a get property. <Ba> 00: 03: 7a: 01: 56: 7b </ ba> indicates that the MAC address of the control target device is 00: 03: 7a: 01: 56: 7b. An IP address or an ECHONET address can also be used as this address. Further, <eoj> 0x013001 </ eoj> indicates that the control target device (object) is 0x013001, which indicates that it is an air conditioner, and <epc> 0xb0 </ epc> indicates an operation mode. In the following command, <epc> 0xb3 </ epc> means the set temperature, and <data> 0x13 </ data> means the set temperature is 19 ° C. In the control execution result job shown in FIG. 10, <result> 0 </ result> of command 1 means that the operation mode has been successfully acquired, and <data> 0x42 </ data> represents the acquired operation. It means that the mode is “cooling”, and <result> 403 </ result> of command 2 means that the remote activation of the air conditioner has failed for some reason. A value 403 indicating the reason for the failure may be retrieved from the ASP home appliance database 208 and the reason for the failure may be shown to the user as a sentence.

  Next, a detailed sequence of the home appliance remote control method by the home appliance remote control system will be described with reference to FIGS. When the user wants to operate any home electrical appliance at home or check the driving state from the outside, he or she uses the operation terminal 300 such as a mobile phone, a PDA, a portable computer, or a computer outside the office. A web browser is started up and the URL of the ASP server 200 is accessed (step S11). In response to this, the ASP server 200 transmits an ID / password input screen and displays it on the operation terminal 300 (step S12).

  If the user inputs an ID and password from the input screen of the operation terminal 300 and transmits them (step S13), the ASP server 200 side refers to the member information stored in the member management server 200-2 and performs personal authentication. (Step S14). If authentication is established, a service menu screen is transmitted to the operation terminal 300 (step S15). This menu screen is a menu screen for selecting various functions of the ASP server 200.

  If the user selects a menu linked to the home server 100 on the operation terminal 300, the ID and password are automatically transmitted to the home server 100 at the member's home (step S17). The home server 100 authenticates the received ID and password (step S18), and transmits the authentication result to the ASP server 200 (step S19).

  If the ASP server 200 receives authentication establishment from the home server 100, it issues session session information (step S20), transmits it to the home server 100, and holds it (steps S21, S22). When the home server 100 confirms reception of the Session information, it returns a confirmation response to the ASP server 200 (step S23).

  As a result, the operation terminal 300 and the home server 100 are virtually connected via the ASP server 200, and thereafter, the operation procedure of the portion surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 11 is repeated. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, it is assumed that an operation instruction for confirming the operating state of the refrigerator at the user's home is input from the operation terminal 300 (step S25). In response to this, the ASP server 200 determines the MAC address of the user's refrigerator, calls a command necessary for checking the operation state, generates XML language command data (step S26), and has already established a Session. Information and operation instruction command data are transmitted to the home server 100 (step S27). Here, the session information is used to guarantee authentication by using the session information once the connection is established without repeatedly transmitting the ID and password.

  The home server 100 confirms the session information, inquires the corresponding home appliance, here the communication device of the refrigerator, according to the protocol of the home network, and receives a response from the refrigerator (step S28). In response to the response from the refrigerator, it is converted into XML language command data and transmitted to the ASP server 200 (step S29). The ASP server 200 converts the received response information into a protocol used for communication with the operation terminal 300, and transfers it to the inquiry operation terminal 300. The operation terminal 300 converts the received information as shown in FIG. (Step S30).

  The operation terminal 300 also powers on a security camera installed at the entrance of the user's home as shown in FIG. 15, and an image of the entrance taken by the security camera as shown in FIG. Can also be received. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 17, one of the two air conditioners on the second floor, “the second floor air conditioner (1)”, is inquired about the operating state, and when the room temperature is high, the power-on operation is performed remotely. It is also possible to have a function to perform. In this case, if the power-on “Yes” button is selected on the state confirmation result screen of FIG. 17, the operation screen of FIG. 5 is developed, and the air conditioner can be remotely operated from the operation screen of FIG.

  When the remote operation from the operation terminal 300 is terminated, as shown in the sequence of FIG. 12, a “logout” button displayed on the operation terminal 300 is pressed (step S31). This logout signal is sent to the ASP server 200, and the ASP server 200 transmits a logout command to the home server 100 (step S32). The home server 100 performs logout processing and returns the processing result to the ASP server 200 (steps S33 and S34).

  If the ASP server 200 receives the logout confirmation, the current session information is discarded (step S35), and the logout confirmation information is transmitted to the operation terminal 300 for display (step S36).

  As described above, in the home appliance remote operation system and the home appliance remote operation method according to the present embodiment, when the user remotely controls home appliances at home using the browser screen from the operation terminal 300, the ASP is used. Since the server 200 and the home server 100 can transmit operation instructions and operation result information using command data using a highly extensible and versatile XML language, it is installed at the user's home. Even if there are a wide variety of manufacturers, product models, and functions of the home appliance group, remote control can be performed using home appliance information registered in the ASP server 200 regardless of the manufacturer, model, and function.

  In the above embodiment, the home server 100 is controlled by the home server 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the function of the home server 100 is incorporated into one of the home appliances that is always energized, thereby It can be set as the structure which manages the household appliances itself and the other household appliances group which can communicate with the household appliances.

  In the above embodiment, household appliances are used as control target devices, and ECHONET is used as the control protocol. However, other devices such as the home server itself and AV devices may be used as control target devices, or other control protocols. May be used. In this case, it can be easily realized by replacing the home appliance control unit 104 executed in response to the result of the command data interpretation unit 103 with, for example, AV device control.

  Further, the functional configurations of the home server 100 and the ASP server 200 are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and the home server 100 and the ASP server 200 are incorporated by incorporating software programs that exhibit the above-described functions into a computer of an appropriate scale. Can work as.

The block diagram of the household appliance remote control system of one embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the home server in the said embodiment. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the ASP server in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the format of the command data used for communication between an ASP server and a home server in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the air-conditioner operation screen displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the display screen of the air-conditioner operation result displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment. 5 is a comparison table of command data control items and tag character strings used for communication between an ASP server and a home server in the embodiment. The sequence diagram of execution of the control command between an ASP server, a home server, and household appliances in the said embodiment, and the return of an execution result. The list figure of the command data transmitted for the household appliance control instruction | indication from an ASP server with respect to a home server in the said embodiment. The list figure of the command data transmitted for the notification of a household appliance control result with respect to an ASP server from a home server in the said embodiment. The sequence diagram 1 of the household appliance remote control by the said embodiment. The sequence diagram 2 of the household appliance remote control by the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the driving | running state inquiry screen of the refrigerator displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the operating condition confirmation screen of the refrigerator displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the start instruction | indication screen of the security camera of the front door displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the picked-up image with the security camera of the entrance displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the operating condition confirmation screen of the air-conditioner displayed on the operation terminal in the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Home server 101 External network communication part 102 Command data generation part 103 Command data interpretation part 104 Household appliance control part 105 Home network communication part 106 Data storage part 200 ASP server 200-1 Web server 200-2 Member information management server 200-3 Database server 201 Network communication unit 202 User request processing unit 203 Command data generation unit 204 Command data interpretation unit 205 Home appliance database management unit 206 Member database management unit 207 Command storage unit 208 Home appliance database 209 Member database 300 Operation terminals 401, 402,. Home appliances 500 External network 600 Home network

Claims (11)

In a remote home appliance control system comprising a home server constituting a home network and home appliances having a communication function, and an external server connected to the home server through an external network, the home server transmitted from the external server or A data structure of command data indicating a control command for causing a home appliance to execute or a response from the home server or the home appliance with respect to the control command,
Address information for specifying the control target device, property information for specifying the type of control command for the control target device, data information for specifying the content of the control command, and the command data for acquiring information Data structure including identification information for specifying whether the data is for transmission or transmission. The data structure according to claim 1, further comprising object information for specifying a classification of the device to be controlled. 3. The data structure according to claim 1, further comprising version information of the command data. 4. The data structure according to claim 1, further comprising expiration date information indicating an expiration date of the command data. The data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising result information indicating a control result of the home server or home electric appliance with respect to the control command. 6. A data structure according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of control instructions. The data structure according to claim 1, wherein an XML language is used. A command data transmission control unit configured to transmit command data having a data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7 between a plurality of home servers or home appliances via an external network;
User terminal control instruction information is received via the external network, and response information from the home server or home appliance is transmitted to the user terminal.
An external server, comprising: a command data generation unit that generates the command data for a corresponding home server or household electrical appliance in response to control instruction information from the user terminal. A command data transmission control unit configured to transmit command data having a data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7 with an external server via an external network;
A home network communication unit that communicates with a group of home appliances through a home network of a predetermined protocol;
Home communication comprising: a command data interpreting unit that interprets the command data sent from the external server and transmits a control command instructed by the command data to the corresponding device through the home network communication unit apparatus. A command data generation unit that receives a result of execution of a control command by the corresponding device, generates command data having a data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and passes the execution result to the command data transmission control unit The home communication device according to claim 9. A command data communication method in a remote home appliance control system including a home server constituting a home network and a home appliance having a communication function, and an external server connected to the home server through an external network,
A control command to be executed by the home server or home appliance transmitted from the external server or a response from the home server or home appliance to the control command is converted into command data in XML language;
In the command data, address information for specifying the control target device, property information for specifying the type of control command for the control target device, and whether the command data is for acquiring information are transmitted. And a command data communication method characterized by including identification information for specifying whether the data is for use in a command.