JP2005242877A - Network household electrical appliance system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remotely monitor and control a network household electrical appliance in a house for every client by a first operating terminal when the client is out of the house while securing personal information with high confidentiality obligation by eliminating the danger of causing personal authentication information of each company in various ways flow on a global network. <P>SOLUTION: A household electrical appliance information server 300 connected to the global network 10 manages image information and control information for monitoring and controlling a plurality of types of household electrical appliances 150, and a client information server 200 existing physically separately from the household electrical appliance information server and connected to the household electrical appliance information server through a local network 20 registers and manages client personal information. When the household electrical appliance information server receives access from a first information terminal 401 through the global network 401, the household electrical appliance information server makes access to the client information server through the local network to execute personal authentication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a network home appliance system.

  In recent years, home appliances having a communication function, that is, network home appliances and their utilization technologies have been actively developed. A customer who purchases this network home appliance can connect to the Internet through this router by installing a home server as a gateway, constructing a wired or wireless home network in the house, and connecting this home network to a router. As a result, customers can remotely monitor and remotely access home terminals and network appliances at home using mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs, portable personal computers, and out-of-the-counter computers that have a browsing function. Can be operated.

  Since home appliance manufacturing companies manufacture and sell various network home appliances, customers often use, for example, XX type of washing machine, XX type of refrigerator, △△ type of △ company, and air conditioner XX. In many cases, a wide variety of products from different manufacturers, such as the company's XX type, are purchased. In that case, in order to construct a home network, it is desired that a home server can connect and communicate with various network home appliances of each company without discrimination, and can be remotely monitored and controlled.

  However, in order to incorporate the functions of each company into each product, although communication standardization of network home appliances is being promoted, it communicates with the network home appliances of each company connected to the home server for monitoring and control. On the network home appliance side, the manufacturer can communicate with the communication device and the micro server in advance, and remote monitoring and control software can be installed, but the home server has new software that can be monitored and controlled by communicating with newly entered network home appliances. Need to be incorporated into

  Since network home appliances are also home appliances, customers expect that all functions including communication functions can be used as soon as they are purchased from dealers and installed in the home and connected to the power supply. It is not possible to ask the customer who purchased the product to incorporate new software into the product.

  On the other hand, since the speed of technological innovation is also high for home appliances, it is also impractical to incorporate software that can cover them in advance in the home server assuming various functions for each home appliance.

  If these are taken into consideration, an ASP server in which software necessary for communication functions, remote monitoring and control corresponding to each of a wide variety of network home appliances is registered is installed, and network home appliances are newly connected to the home network. In this case, it is desirable to automatically access the ASP server from the home server so that software corresponding to the home appliance can be downloaded from the minimum network home appliance information and used.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional technical problem, and is a network home appliance in which a home appliance information server is installed as an ASP server on a global network such as the Internet and is connected to a home server in a customer's home. The purpose of each communication monitoring and control software is to provide a network home appliance system in which a home server can be automatically downloaded from a home appliance information server through a global network and used.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a network home appliance system that can manage customer information separately from home appliance information and that can secure customer information management.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a network home appliance system capable of remotely monitoring and controlling home network home appliances from both inside and outside the home.

  The network home appliance system of the invention of claim 1 is a customer information server for registering and managing customer personal information, screen information for monitoring and controlling a plurality of types of home appliances, control information, and information on home appliances to be controlled. The customer information server and the home appliance information server are physically separate hardware, and these servers are connected by a local network.

  In the network home appliance system of the first aspect of the invention, personal information of a customer is registered and managed in the customer information server, and screen information, control information and control for monitoring and controlling a plurality of types of home appliances in the home appliance information server. Register and manage information on home appliances to be used, and make these customer information servers and home appliance information servers physically separate hardware, and these servers cannot be accessed from a global network such as the Internet. By connecting with a secure network, customer information managed by each company cannot be accessed from the home appliance information server that centrally manages the information of each company's network home appliances, while securing highly confidential personal information Remotely monitor and control network home appliances in each customer's home.

  The invention of claim 2 is the network home appliance system of claim 1, wherein the home appliance information server is hardware that physically exists separately, and is connected to the home appliance information server via a local network, An authentication server for registering and managing authentication information, wherein the home appliance information server accepts access from the information terminal through the global network, and accesses the customer information server to execute personal authentication. It is what you have.

  In the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 2, the home appliance information server connected to the global network manages screen information for controlling and controlling a plurality of types of home appliances, control information, and information on the home appliances to be controlled. The registration and management of customer authentication information is performed by an authentication server that is physically separate from the home appliance information server and is connected to the home appliance information server through a local network. When the home appliance information server receives access from the information terminal through the global network, the authentication unit of the home appliance information server accesses the authentication server through the local network and executes personal authentication. In this way, it is possible to remotely monitor and control network home appliances in each customer's home from the outside by using an information terminal while eliminating the risk of passing personal authentication information of each company on the global network and securing personal information with high confidentiality obligations. To.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the network home appliance system according to claim 2, wherein the home appliance having a communication function connected to a home subnet and the home appliance connected to the subnet and connected to the subnet are controlled. A home server having a function to receive, the home server receives information transmitted by home appliances connected to the subnet and transfers the information to the home appliance information server, the home appliance information server The information stored in the home server is stored, and the stored information can be browsed through the global network from the information terminal.

  In the network home appliance system according to the third aspect of the invention, the home server receives information transmitted by the home appliance connected to the subnet in the home and transfers the information to the home appliance information server, and the home appliance information server receives information from the home server. Network functions that are used at home, including those that are newly purchased and used by each customer, by allowing the stored information to be viewed from the outside or from home information terminals. Can be registered and managed in an external home appliance information server through a global network, and a customer can view the information.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the network home appliance system according to the third aspect, the home server includes a display unit, and the home server receives the information transmitted from the home appliance connected to the subnet. Transferring to an information server, displaying an event occurrence on the display means, and returning the display means to a normal display when a browse confirmation command for stored information is received via the home appliance information server. is there.

  In the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 4, when the home server receives the information transmitted from the home appliance connected to the home subnet, the home server transfers the information to the home appliance information server through the global network, and is provided in its own device. If the event is displayed on the display means to notify the customer, the customer accesses the home appliance information server through the information terminal, browses the stored information related to the event, and sends a confirmation command, the home appliance information When the server receives the browsing confirmation command, it sends a command for returning the display means to the normal display to the home server to return the display means to the normal display. Thus, if the customer notices an abnormality of the home appliance connected to the sub-network by the display on the display means of the home server, the customer can browse and confirm the stored information related to the event of the applicable home appliance on the information terminal. After confirmation, the event occurrence display of the home server can be returned to the normal display.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the network home appliance system according to the third or fourth aspect, when the home appliance information server receives information from the home server, the home appliance information server transmits a notification notifying the reception of the information to a predetermined address. It is characterized by having a function, and by notifying the information terminal carried by the customer who is out and the information terminal in the home, the customer has occurred in the home appliance from the outside or at the home information terminal It is possible to check the event and return the display notifying the occurrence of the event to the normal display.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the network home appliance system according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, the service screen displays a list of a plurality of home appliances to be monitored and controlled, and the plurality of home appliances can be displayed by one operation. It is characterized by including an interface that controls simultaneously, and remote monitoring and control operations of the same type of home appliances of each company can be performed using a common GUI.

  According to the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 1, the customer information managed for each company is made inaccessible from the home appliance information server side that centrally manages the information of the network home appliances of each company, and personal information with high confidentiality obligation Remotely monitor and control network home appliances in each customer's home while securing the network.

  According to the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 2, there is no fear of flowing personal authentication information of each company on the global network, and the network home appliance for each customer is secured while securing the highly confidential personal information. It can be remotely monitored and controlled by an information terminal connected to a global network.

  According to the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 3, information related to the home appliance group having the network function used in the home, including those newly purchased and used by each customer, is transmitted through the global network. It can be registered and managed in an external home appliance information server, and a customer can browse the information.

  According to the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 4, even if the second information terminal is not always connected to the sub-network, the customer displays an abnormality of the home appliance connected to the sub-network on the home server. It can be noticed by the display of the means, and thereafter, the information stored in the information terminal can be viewed and confirmed on the information terminal.

  According to the network home appliance system of the invention of claim 5, since the home appliance information server has a function of sending a notification notifying the reception of the information to a predetermined address when receiving information from the home server, By notifying a portable information terminal or a specific information terminal in the home, the customer can confirm the event that has occurred in the home appliance by using the information terminal, and the display for notifying the occurrence of the event can be returned to the normal display. .

  According to the network home appliance system of the sixth aspect of the invention, the service screen displays a list of states of a plurality of home appliances to be monitored and controlled, and includes an interface for simultaneously controlling the plurality of home appliances by one operation. Therefore, it is possible to remotely monitor and control home appliances of the same type of each company using a common GUI.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a network home appliance system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network home appliance system of the present embodiment is a router 110 installed in a customer's home 100, a home server 120, various network home appliances 151 to 153, and a home appliance information server installed on the Internet 10 which is a global network. ASP server 300, a member management server 200 as a customer information management server connected to the ASP server 300 via a dedicated local network 20, and an authentication server 500 for executing a member authentication service. The ASP server 300 can also be connected to an external mobile phone, a portable terminal 401 such as a PDA, or a PC 402 through the Internet 10. In this application, the local network is distinguished from a network that can be connected by an unspecified person such as the Internet, and a network that cannot be physically connected by a person without connection authority. Shall also be included. Further, the member management server 200 and the authentication server 500 may be configured by a single computer system, and the member information management and authentication processing may be executed by individual software.

  In each customer's home 100, a router 110 for connecting to the Internet 10 and a home server 120 for managing a home network 30 as a sub-network are installed, and the home server 120 and home network appliances 151 to 153 in the home are provided. They are connected by a home network that is a wired and / or wireless sub-network. The home network 30 includes a Bluetooth (registered trademark) network, a power line network, an Ethernet network (registered trademark), a wireless network, or a plurality of the networks.

  The home server 120 has the functional configuration shown in FIG. 2, and stores the gateway 1201, the network communication unit 1202 that performs network communication with the home appliance 150 connected to the home network 30, the monitoring control data of various home appliances, Installed in this server 120 when an event such as a failure or abnormality occurs in any one of the appliance control unit 1203 and the appliance that transmits an external command to each appliance and forwards a response from each appliance A display control unit 1205 is provided that causes the LED 1204 to emit light in a predetermined manner according to the event type, and to return the LED 1204 to a normal light emitting manner.

  The network home appliances 151 to 153 are washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens and the like (represented by reference numeral 150). As shown in FIG. 3, the home appliance 150 has a controller 1501 for controlling the operation of the home appliance. In addition, a micro server 1502 that records and stores data of a manufacturer, product name, model number, and operation / failure history, and a communication unit 1503 for network communication with the home server 120 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the ASP server 300 manages screen information for controlling and controlling a plurality of types of home appliances of each company, control information, and information on home appliances to be controlled. Home appliance information management unit 301 including a device, an authentication processing unit 302 that performs customer authentication processing, a service providing unit 303 that collects home appliance monitoring and control information for each customer and provides a monitoring / control screen for each customer, the Internet Communication unit 304, local network communication that collects customer information installed as hardware physically separate from this ASP server 300 and communicates with the managing member management server 200 via the dedicated local network 20 Part 305 is provided.

  The member management server 200 is a server that collects and manages information of registered members who provide services by this system. The member management server 200 is a member's personal information, the product name and model number of a home appliance participating in the home server for each member. Information and member identification number.

  The authentication server 500 executes an authentication process for a person who has accessed the ASP server 300, registers a member identification number and a password for member confirmation, and determines whether or not to log in by the authentication process.

  Next, the operation of the network home appliance system having the above configuration will be described.

[Member registration]
In order to use the network home appliance system of the present embodiment, it is necessary to register as a member. As shown in FIG. 5, the member registration is performed from a device having a browser function such as a home PC 130 or a digital TV, to the ASP server 300. Is accessed (steps S1, 3). This access is connected to the ASP server 300 on the Internet 10 via the router 110, but the member's personal information and identification number are registered in the member management server 200. Each member's identification number and password are registered in the authentication server 500 (steps S5 to S9).

  In the membership registration procedure, the ASP server 300 receives unique identification information of the router 110 and the home server 120, and identification information of network home appliances 151, 152, and 153 connected to the home server 120 through the home network 30, for example, MAC addresses. Is also registered (step S11).

  If member registration is completed, registration information will be notified to the home PC 130 of an access origin via the home server 120 (step S13, S15).

[New registration of home appliances]
As shown in FIG. 6, when a newly purchased network home appliance, for example, a home appliance (1), is connected to the home network 30, the home server 120 detects it and receives information on a newly entered home appliance ( Step S21), automatically logging in to the ASP server 300 with its own unique ID (Steps S23, S25), and transferring information on the newly entered home appliance (1), for example, manufacturer name, product name, model, ID (Step S27). When the ASP server 300 receives the information on the newly registered device, it associates it with the ID of the home server 120 and registers it as home appliance information (step S29). If the registration is completed, the information on the service screen for remote operation including the completion notification and the newly entered home appliances is returned to the home server 120, and the service screen is updated on the home server 120 side (steps S31 and S33).

[Operation history accumulation]
The ASP server 300 accumulates the operation history of the home appliance group 151, 153, 155 connected to each home server 120. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, if any event occurs in any of the household electrical appliance groups, for example, power on, power off, washing completion, filter contamination alarm, etc. The home appliance (2)) transmits the event occurrence to the home server 120 (step S41). In response to the event occurrence notification, the home server 120 accesses the ASP server 300 designated as the link destination in advance and automatically logs in (step S43). If the connection is established, the event information from the home appliance (2) is transferred. (Steps S45 and S47). In the ASP server 300, the received event information is associated with the ID of the home server 120 and registered as a log of the home electric appliance (2) (steps S48 and S49).

  As a result, the ASP server 300 can store and manage logs of network home appliances as shown in FIG. 8 on behalf of each member's home server 200, and does not require an excessive load on the home server 200 side. I'm sorry.

[Access from home PC]
A member can operate the home appliances connected to the home network 30 from the home PC 130 or a digital TV having a browser function. For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the member connects the home PC 130 to the router 110 and accesses the home server 120 (step S51). In response to this, the home server 120 accesses the ASP server 300 linked in advance to the access request through the Internet 10 (step S53). The ASP server 300 requests a login procedure (steps S55 and S57). If the member inputs an ID and a password from the home PC 130 and performs a login procedure (step S59), the home server 120 uses the login information as the ASP. Transfer to the server 300 (step S61). The ASP server 300 communicates with the authentication server 500 through the local network 20 and executes an authentication procedure (steps S63 and S65). If this authentication procedure is successful, the ASP server 300 transmits an access permission for the home PC 130 and provides a service screen that allows the home PC 130 to access any home appliance connected to the home network 30 (steps). S67-S71).

  If the member designates the home appliance from the home PC 130 and transmits an operation request (step S73), the operation request is transmitted again to the linked ASP server 300 via the home server 120 (step S75). Calls the service screen of the corresponding household electrical appliance registered in advance (here, household electrical appliance (1)) and transmits it to the home PC 130 via the home server 120 to display the operation screen of the corresponding household electrical appliance (step S77-S83).

  When the member performs operations such as power-on, power-off, and temperature setting operation from the service screen displayed on the home PC 130 (step S85), the operation command is also transferred from the home server 120 to the ASP server 130 on the Internet. (Step S87), a corresponding operation signal is transmitted (Steps S89, S91), the operation signal is transferred to the corresponding home electric appliance (2) via the home server 120 (Step S93), and the operation is executed. (Step S95). The operation result is returned from the corresponding home appliance (1) to the home server 120 (step S97), and the home server 120 transfers it to the ASP server 300 (step S99). The ASP server 300 calls the corresponding control result screen and returns it to the home PC 130 via the home server 120 (steps S103 and S105). When the home PC 130 receives the screen information of the control result, the home PC 130 displays it and makes the member confirm the operation result (step S107).

  As a result, the operation event of the home appliance group can also be collected and managed as a log for each member on the ASP server 300 side, and the burden on the home server 120 can be reduced.

  For this remote operation, a centralized control screen as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. In FIG. 11, air conditioners are illustrated, but all air conditioners connected to the home network 140 in the house 100 are listed and the operation status of each air conditioner is displayed. Along with this, as a group of parts for simultaneous operation, there are operation parts that are the greatest common denominator of each air conditioner, such as a list box of “set temperature”, an operation mode “cooling”, a “heating” button, and a power on / off button. I have prepared it. Further, together with the air conditioner centralized control window, an individual control window for each air conditioner in the list is prepared by linking to the lower level. For example, when an air conditioner on the second floor is selected, an individual control window for the air conditioner on the second floor is expanded as shown in FIG. 12, and an individual operation component group, here “set temperature”, is displayed together with a display of “current state”. List box, operation mode "automatic", "cooling", "heating", "dehumidification" selection buttons, air volume "automatic", "light wind", "weak wind", "strong wind" selection buttons, power on / off A button is available. By enabling centralized control and individual control in this way, it is possible to grasp the status of each model of the home appliances installed in the home from the centralized control screen of FIG. Various functions can be handled for each model depending on the product and grade.

[Failure occurrence]
When some failure occurs in a certain home appliance, for example, home appliance (3), the home appliance (3) transmits a failure notification to the home server 120 as shown in FIG. 13 (steps S111 and S113). If the home server 120 receives the failure notification, the home server 120 automatically logs into the ASP server 300 and notifies the failure information (steps S115 to S119). If the ASP server 300 receives the failure information, the ASP server 300 registers the failure information of the corresponding home appliance in association with the ID of the corresponding home server (step S121). The ASP server 300 further transmits a failure occurrence display command to the access source home server 120 together with confirmation of failure information reception (step S123), and the home server 120 displays an indication of the failure occurrence to the LED 1204 in response to this command. For example, red blinking is performed (step S125).

[Confirmation of failure information]
As shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, if it is necessary for the member to check the failure information on the LED 1204 of the home server 120 in the home and check the failure information, the home server 120 is accessed from the home PC 130 or the digital TV to check the failure. A request is made (steps S131 to S153). The home server 120 transfers this failure information confirmation request to the ASP server 300 (step S155).

  On the ASP server 300 side, if the failure information confirmation request is received, the failure information of the corresponding home electric appliance stored in correspondence with the home server 120 of the corresponding ID is called and transmitted to the home PC 120 of the access source (steps S157 to S161). ).

  The home PC 120 that has received the failure information displays the failure information of the failed home appliance (3) (step S163). Then, if the member confirms the failure information and performs a confirmation operation such as clicking the “error lamp clear” button shown in FIG. 8 (step S165), the confirmation signal is sent to the ASP server 300 via the home server 120. Transferred (steps S167 and S169). When the ASP server 300 receives this failure information confirmation signal, the failure display reset command for the LED 1204 is transmitted to the home server 120, and the display mode of the LED 1204 in the failure indication state is changed to the normal display mode (for example, the green LED is always lit). ) (Steps S171 and S173).

[Automatic notification of failure]
If a member specifies a notification destination address in advance to the ASP server 300 from the home PC 130 or the like and registers a failure information automatic notification request, when a failure occurs in one of the home appliances in the home, the following is performed. The failure information is notified to the notification destination of the specified address, for example, the portable terminal 401, the PC 402 at the outside, the home PC 130, or the digital television.

  As shown in FIG. 16, when a failure occurs in a certain household electrical appliance (3) and the home server 120 is notified (steps S181 and S183), the home server 120 automatically logs into the ASP server 300 and notifies the failure information. (Steps S185 to S189).

  When the ASP server 300 receives the failure information, the ASP server 300 stores the failure information as a log in correspondence with the ID of the home server 120 (step S191). At the same time, LED failure display is instructed to the access source home server 120 (step S193). The home server 120 receives the LED failure display instruction from the ASP server 300 and displays the failure display in the above-described manner on the LED 1204 (step S195).

  The ASP server 300 calls the address of the failure notification destination of the home server 120 together with the LED failure display instruction, and transmits the failure occurrence to the address via the Internet 10 (steps S197 and S199). This failure notification is usually a predefined message for the e-mail address. For example, “A“ temperature error ”occurred in the“ refrigerator ”at home. ".

  For example, when the member activates the mail software on the portable terminal 401, the failure notification message can be confirmed. In addition, if the digital TV is equipped with a mail transmission / reception function, a malfunction message having the above contents may be displayed on a pop-up screen or on a telop if the Internet is always connected and the power is on. Yes (step S201). The member confirms the failure notification, and performs an operation of clicking the “error lamp clear” button as shown in FIG. 8 prepared together with the failure content message in advance, or an equivalent operation to the portable terminal 401 or the like. If so, a confirmation message is transmitted to the ASP server 300 (steps S203 and S205).

  When the ASP server 300 receives the failure confirmation, the ASP server 300 transmits a command to cancel the LED failure display to the home server 120, and the home server 120 returns the LED failure display to the normal display (steps S207 to S211).

  In this way, when a failure occurs in a household electrical appliance in the member's home, the member can confirm the failure even when he / she is away by automatically reporting failure information to a preset address.

  According to the present invention, the membership management server 200 is a computer system that is physically separate from the ASP server 300 and is connected to the local network 20 so that the membership management server 200 is different as shown in FIG. A single member management server 200 can be used in common for a network home appliance system in which a plurality of ASP servers 300 providing services are arranged side by side, and it is necessary to manage member information redundantly. Can simplify the management of member information.

  Further, according to the present invention, the authentication server 500 is also a computer system that is physically separate from the ASP server 300 and has a system configuration in which the authentication server 500 is connected via the local network 20. A single authentication server 500 can be used in common for a network home appliance system in which a plurality of ASP servers 300 providing services are arranged in parallel, and an ID and a password are duplicated for each service. Management can be eliminated, the processing in the authentication server can be made versatile, and the burden required for the member authentication procedure can be reduced.

  Although the system functions have been described in the above embodiment, the present invention is realized by installing software that executes the above functions in a computer system at various places, and a processing method performed by the computer system using the software, Software itself is also the technical idea of the present invention. Each of the home server and ASP server for realizing the above functions is also a technical idea of the present invention.

The block diagram of the network household appliance 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 household appliances in the said embodiment. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the ASP server in the said embodiment. The sequence diagram of the member registration process by the said embodiment. The sequence diagram of the registration process of the new household appliances by the said embodiment. The sequence diagram of the log storage process of the household appliances group by the said embodiment. The list of logs of the household appliances group by the above-mentioned embodiment. The sequence diagram 1 of the process which remote-controls household appliances from home PC in the said embodiment. The sequence diagram 2 of the process which remote-controls household appliances from home PC in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the batch operation screen at the time of remote-operating household appliances from home PC in the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the separate operation screen at the time of remotely operating household appliances from home PC in the said embodiment. The sequence diagram of the process which displays a failure on LED at the time of failure occurrence of household appliances in the said embodiment. The sequence diagram 1 of the process which performs the failure confirmation of the household appliances from a home PC in the said embodiment. The sequence diagram 2 of the process which performs the failure confirmation of the household appliances from a home PC in the said embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of processing for automatically notifying a mobile terminal when a failure occurs in the home appliance in the embodiment. The block diagram which shows the system which installed the some ASP server and the single member management server in the said embodiment. The block diagram of the system which installed the some ASP server and the single authentication server in the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Internet 20 Local network 30 Home network 100 Home 110 Router 120 Home server 1201 Gateway 1202 Network communication unit 1203 Device control unit 1204 LED
1205 Display control unit 130 Home PC
150, 151, 152, 153 Home appliance 1501 Controller 1502 Micro (μ) server 1503 Communication unit 200 Member management server 300 ASP server 301 Home appliance information management unit 302 Authentication processing unit 303 Service providing unit 304 Internet communication unit 305 Local network communication unit 401 mobile terminal 402 PC (personal computer)
500 Authentication server

Claims (6)

A customer information server for registering and managing personal information of customers, and a home appliance information server for managing screen information, control information, and information on controlled home appliances for monitoring and controlling a plurality of types of home appliances ,
A network home appliance system, wherein the customer information server and the home appliance information server are physically separate hardware, and the servers are connected by a local network. The home appliance information server is hardware that physically exists separately, connected to the home appliance information server through a local network, and includes an authentication server that registers and manages customer authentication information,
The said household appliance information server has an authentication means to receive access from the information terminal through a global network, and to access the said authentication server through the said local network, and to perform a personal authentication. Network home appliance system. A home appliance having a communication function connected to a home subnet, and a home server connected to the subnet and having a function of controlling each of the home appliances connected to the subnet,
The home server receives information transmitted by home appliances connected to the subnet and transfers the information to the home appliance information server,
The network home appliance system according to claim 2, wherein the home appliance information server accumulates information from the home server and enables browsing of the accumulated information from an information terminal through the global network. . The home server has display means,
When the home server receives the information transmitted by the home appliance connected to the subnet, the home server transfers the information to the home appliance information server, displays the event occurrence on the display means, and accumulates it via the home appliance information server. 4. The network home appliance system according to claim 3, wherein when the information browsing confirmation command is received, the display means is returned to a normal display.   5. The network home appliance system according to claim 3, wherein when the home appliance information server receives information from the home server, the home appliance information server transmits a notification notifying the reception of the information to a predetermined address. 6. The service screen includes an interface for displaying a list of a plurality of home appliances to be monitored and controlled in a list and simultaneously controlling a plurality of home appliances by one operation. The network home appliance system described in Crab.

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