JP2005198132A - Household electric appliance controller applied to radio network - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a household electric appliance control unit for control at least one household electric appliance simultaneously through a controller by using a radio network. <P>SOLUTION: The household electric appliance controller applied to a radio network includes at least one household electric appliance equipped with a first household electric appliance controlling unit and a second household electric appliance controlling unit. A user operates the first household electric appliance controlling unit to generate at least one control signal. After packet data compatible with radio network standard communications protocol is generated based on the control signal, the packet data is transmitted to the second household electric appliance controlling unit. The second household electric appliance controlling unit receives the packet data and generates a control command so that at least one household electric appliance can be controlled by the first household electric appliance controlling unit. In addition, the second household electric appliance controlling unit may be integrated in the household electric appliance so as to receive the packet data of the first household electric appliance controlling unit, or the second household electric appliance controlling unit can also receive the packet data through an access point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a home appliance control device that controls various home appliances, and more particularly to a home appliance control device applied to a wireless network.

Currently, the data transmission method of the local area network is roughly divided into two.
One is network transmission by wired mediation, that is, wired LAN transmission, and the other is wireless LAN transmission using light (infrared rays, laser, etc.) and radio waves as mediation of transmission. In terms of use, the mobility and convenience of a wireless LAN is not far from that of a wired LAN, and even if you look at the installation cost, the wireless LAN can save considerable wiring costs, so the range of applications is increasing. Wireless network cameras are appearing. In addition, wireless networks are wide-area wireless networks (Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN)), wireless local area networks (WLAN), and wireless personal area networks (WPAN) depending on the transmission range. It is divided into.

Hereinafter, the wireless local area network (WLAN) will be mainly described. For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the wireless local area network refers to a wireless network having a transmission range of about 100 meters, Since it is used in buildings and offices, it is common in practice to increase the elasticity and range of use by combining a wireless LAN with an existing wired LAN through an access point.
Currently, wireless LAN standards include HIPERLAN, HOMERF, and 1394 as well as 802.11 defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). In addition, two types of transmission formats are defined in the main 802.11 series standards. One is an ad-hoc (Ad-Hoc) system, and the other is an infrastructure system. In the infrastructure system, since wireless station data cannot directly enter a wired line, the wireless LAN and the wired LAN must be connected by an access point (AP). The effect is not only to transmit data from the wired device to the wireless device, but also to distribute the data to devices that require a wireless route. The ad hoc method allows data to be transmitted between computers, which is the simplest and most direct method when the distance between two devices is the shortest.

Most home appliance control methods for controlling current home appliances operate home appliances by direct remote control using infrared rays. This method is convenient and inexpensive to use, but unfortunately, each manufacturer's product has its own discriminant settings, so remote control systems from different manufacturers are not compatible, which can cause problems with mutual interference. Is avoided.
In addition, home appliances that are said to be controllable over the phone now only perform simple home appliance control (such as on / off action settings) using voice and push button voice operations after the phone is connected, The drawback is that the home appliance cannot be operated without a wired connection between the phone and the home appliance. Also, only one home appliance can be controlled with a single telephone line.
In addition, there are some home appliances that can be connected to the Internet, but the purpose of the Internet connection is to check related materials, and wireless remote control is not possible. Therefore, the user must go to the panel of the product and operate it when using the appliance.
On the other hand, the above-described remote control method is a one-way operation method, and the user cannot know the operation state of the home appliance at the present stage. Therefore, overcoming the above-mentioned drawbacks is an important issue.
Japanese Patent No. 3251797

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned disadvantages, and its problem is to provide a home appliance control device capable of simultaneously controlling at least one home appliance using a single control device using a wireless network. It is an object of the present invention to provide a home appliance control device having a bidirectional operation that enables a user to simultaneously monitor at least one home appliance using a network.

  To solve the above problems, the present invention is a home appliance control device applied to a wireless network, comprising at least one home appliance comprising a first home appliance control device and a second home appliance control device, The user operates the first home appliance control device to generate a control signal, generates packet data corresponding to the wireless network standard communication protocol based on the control signal, transmits this to the second home appliance control device, The second home appliance control device receives the packet data, thereby enabling the first home appliance control device to control the operation of at least one home appliance.

  That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a home appliance control device applied to a wireless network includes (a) a first home appliance control device, and the first home appliance control device includes a user interface, a data processing calculation unit, and A wireless transmission module, wherein a user operates a user interface to generate at least one control signal for the data processing arithmetic unit, and the data processing arithmetic unit uses the control signal to generate a packet corresponding to a wireless network standard communication protocol. After the data is generated, it is transmitted by a wireless transmission module, and (b) at least one home appliance having a second home appliance control device is provided. The second home appliance control device also has a user interface, a data processing calculation unit. The wireless transmission module receives the packet data and generates a control command. Thus the first home appliance control device is a consumer electronics control apparatus applied to a wireless network, characterized by comprising in to control the operation of at least one home appliance.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the standard of the wireless network is based on an IEEE 802.11 series communication agreement defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and is applied to the wireless network according to claim 1 It is a control device.
The invention according to claim 3 is configured such that the second home appliance control device can receive a response signal of the home appliance and can be transmitted to the first home appliance control device by the second home appliance control device. A home appliance control apparatus applied to the wireless network according to claim 1.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the wireless network according to the first aspect, the second home appliance control device further includes a home appliance transmission interface so that the second home appliance control device can be connected to the home appliance control interface of the home appliance. This is a home appliance control device to be applied.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to the second aspect, wherein the packet data is transmitted to the home appliance using an ad hoc transmission form.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the packet data is transmitted to an access point, and then transmitted to at least one home appliance by the access point. It is a control device.
The invention according to claim 7 is the home appliance control apparatus applied to the wireless network according to claim 6, characterized in that wireless transmission is performed between the first home appliance control apparatus and the access point.
The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the first home appliance control device is a computer host, generates packet data, and transmits the packet data to an access point via a public network. The wireless network according to claim 8, wherein the public network is an ADSL or a cable modem system. This is a home appliance control device to be applied.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the wireless transmission module includes a transmission / reception unit and a wireless transmission unit, and the transmission / reception unit can control the transmission of all signals of the transmission unit and the wireless transmission unit, and can further receive signals. 2. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 1, wherein the unit is configured to manage and control all signal reception of the wireless transmission unit.
The invention of claim 11 is the home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 1, wherein the first home appliance control apparatus is a wireless remote controller.
The invention of claim 12 is the home appliance control apparatus applied to the wireless network according to claim 11, wherein the user interface of the first home appliance control apparatus is a touch pad.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to the first aspect, wherein the second home electric appliance is built in the electric home appliance.
The invention according to claim 14 is the home appliance control apparatus applied to the wireless network according to claim 13, wherein the user interface of the second home appliance control apparatus is a touch pad.

  One or more home appliances can be controlled simultaneously with a single home appliance control device using a wireless network, and the operation status of one or more home appliances can be monitored simultaneously with the control with a bidirectional operation.

The embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, in the configuration diagram of the embodiment of the present invention, the first home appliance control device 100 includes a user interface 109, a data processing and calculation unit 104, The wireless transmission module 110 is configured. The user operates the user interface 109 to generate at least one control signal in the data processing operation unit 104, and the data processing operation unit 104 transmits packet data conforming to the wireless network standard communication protocol based on the control signal. Generated and transmitted by the wireless transmission module 110.
The wireless transmission module 110 includes a transmission / reception unit 105, a transmission unit 107, a reception unit 108, and a wireless transmission unit 106. The transmission / reception unit 105 transmits all signals of the transmission unit 107 and the wireless transmission unit 106. In addition, the reception unit 108 and the wireless transmission unit 106 can control reception of all signals.
Here, the wireless network standard is based on the 802.11 series communication protocol defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), but may be another standard in the future.

As shown in FIG. 2, the second home appliance control device 111 includes a user interface 109, a data processing operation unit 104, a home appliance transmission interface 103, and a wireless transmission module 110. The home appliance control interface 102 in the home appliance 101 is connected through the home appliance transmission interface 103.
The wireless transmission module 110 receives the packet data of the first home appliance control device 100 and generates a control command, and the user directly operates the user interface 109, for example, with a device such as a touch pad, the data At least one control signal can be generated in the processing and operation unit 104.
The data processing operation unit 104 directly generates a control command based on the control signal and directly controls the operation status of the home appliance 101 through the home appliance transmission interface 103 and the home appliance control interface 102.

FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. At least one home appliance 201a, 201b,... Has a second home appliance control device 200a, 200b,.
The second home appliance control device and the home appliance are electrically connected to each other by an external connection or a built-in method, and the user can simultaneously connect a plurality of home appliances 201a and 201b through the first home appliance control device 203. ... can be controlled.
When the user operates the user interface 109 such as a button or a touch pad of the first home appliance control device 203, a control signal is generated in the data processing calculation unit 104, and the data processing calculation unit 104 is 802. After generating packet data conforming to the 11 series communication protocol, it is transmitted by the wireless transmission module 110.

For example, when the wireless transmission module 110 of the second home appliance control device 200a corresponding to the home appliance 201a receives the packet data, the packet is transferred to the data processing operation unit 104 to be decoded and generate a control command to operate the home appliance 201a. The first home appliance control device 203 controls the home appliances 201a, 201b... Using the ad hoc transmission method.
Further, since the wireless network system is a bidirectional transmission system, the second home appliance control devices 200a, 200b,... Can receive response signals generated by the home appliances 201a, 201b,. 200a, 200b... Are transmitted to the first home appliance control device 203. At this time, when the first home appliance control device 203 is built in the wireless remote controller and the user interface 109 is a device such as a touchpad, the response signal is displayed on the touchpad. Data such as temperature / humidity status, channel status, wind power size, operation time, scheduled completion time, etc.
In this manner, the user can not only remotely control at least one home appliance but also know the usage status of the home appliance.

  FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. When the user operates the first home appliance controller 404, packet data conforming to the 802.11 series communication protocol is generated and transmitted by the wireless transmission module 110. Is done. Since the distance between the first home appliance controller 404 and at least one home appliance 401a, 401b,... Is long, the access point 403 transmits the packet data to the corresponding home appliance after receiving the packet data. Thereby, the 1st household appliance control apparatus 404 can control at least 1 household appliance 401a, 401b ... simultaneously. At this time, the first home appliance controller 404 controls at least one home appliance using an infrastructure transmission method.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The first home appliance control device is a computer host 304 that generates packet data according to the 802.11 series communication protocol and transmits the packet data to the access point 303 through the public network 305 by a wired or wireless transmission method. Thus, the operation of at least one home appliance 301a, 301b,... Can be controlled, and the public network 305 can be an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) or a cable modem (cable TV broadcast) system.
The above-described home appliances may be a TV, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a microwave oven, a washing machine, etc., and the first home appliance control device may be incorporated in a wireless remote controller, a wireless keyboard, or a wireless mouse.

It is a structure schematic diagram of the 1st household appliance control apparatus of the Example of this invention. It is the structure schematic when the 2nd household appliance control apparatus of an Example of this invention and household appliances are couple | bonded. 1 is a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a 2nd Example of this invention. It is a 3rd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 First home appliance control apparatus 101 Home appliance 102 Home appliance control interface 103 Home appliance transmission interface 104 Data processing calculation unit 105 Transmission / reception control unit 106 Wireless transmission unit 107 Transmission unit 108 Reception unit 109 User interface 110 Wireless transmission module 111 2nd household appliance control apparatus 200a 2nd household appliance control apparatus 200b 2nd household appliance control apparatus 201a Household appliance 201b Household appliance 202a Household appliance control interface 202b Household appliance control interface 203 1st household appliance control apparatus 300a 2nd household appliance control Device 300b Second home appliance control device 301a Home appliance 301b Home appliance 302a Home appliance control interface 302b Home appliance control interface 303 Access point 304 Computer host 305 Public Co-network 400a second home appliance control device 400b second home appliance control device 401a home appliance 401b home appliance 402a home appliance control interface 402b home appliance control interface 403 access point 404 first home appliance control device

Claims (14)

Home appliance control devices applied to wireless networks
a) The first home appliance control device includes a user interface, a data processing unit, and a wireless transmission module. The user operates the user interface to operate the data processing unit. At least one control signal is generated in the unit, and the data processing unit generates packet data corresponding to the wireless network standard communication protocol based on the control signal, and then transmits the packet data by the wireless transmission module.
b) At least one home appliance having a second home appliance control device. The second home appliance control device also includes a user interface, a data processing operation unit, and a wireless transmission module. The wireless transmission module is packet data. A home appliance control device applied to a wireless network, wherein the first home appliance control device is capable of controlling the operation of at least one home appliance by receiving a control command and generating a control command.   2. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 1, wherein the standard of the wireless network is based on an IEEE 802.11 series communication agreement defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.   2. The second home appliance control device can receive a response signal of a home appliance, and can be transmitted to the first home appliance control device by the second home appliance control device. Home appliance control device applied to the described wireless network.   2. The home appliance control device applied to a wireless network according to claim 1, wherein the second home appliance control device further comprises a home appliance transmission interface, and can be connected to a home appliance control interface of a home appliance.   3. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 2, wherein the packet data is transmitted to home appliances using an ad hoc transmission form.   3. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 2, wherein the packet data is transmitted to at least one home appliance by the access point after being transmitted to the access point.   7. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 6, wherein wireless transmission is performed between the first home appliance control apparatus and the access point.   7. The home appliance control applied to a wireless network according to claim 6, wherein the first home appliance control device is a computer host and generates packet data and transmits the packet data to an access point via a public network. apparatus.   9. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 8, wherein the public network is an ADSL or a cable modem system. The wireless transmission module comprises a transmission / reception unit and a wireless transmission unit,
The transmission / reception unit is characterized in that the transmission unit can manage and control the transmission of all signals of the wireless transmission unit, and the reception unit can manage and control the reception of all signals of the wireless transmission unit. A home appliance control device applied to the wireless network according to claim 1.   2. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 1, wherein the first home appliance control apparatus is a wireless remote controller.   12. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 11, wherein a user interface of the first home appliance control apparatus is a touch pad.   2. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 1, wherein the second home appliance is built in a home appliance. 14. The home appliance control apparatus applied to a wireless network according to claim 13, wherein a user interface of the second home appliance control apparatus is a touch pad.

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