JP2005346558A - Home network system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide automatic grouping of AV apparatus by daily use of a remote controller. <P>SOLUTION: A remote control signal reception processing apparatus has an infrared remote control light reception part 201, a remote control signal determination part 202, a reception history storage part 203, and a network transmission/reception part 204. A remote control signal IR transmitted from an infrared remote controller is sent to the remote control signal determination part 202. In the case that it is determined only whether the remote control signal exists within a certain period, for example, one minute or not to find that only the remote control signal exists, the remote control signal determination part 202 sends the result to the reception history storage part 203, and information that the remote control signal exists is recorded as a remote control signal reception history in the reception history storage part 203 together with the date of this determination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a home network system in which a plurality of electronic devices are connected, and more particularly to a system for displaying an AV device to be operated in an operating device related to a technology for constructing a home network composed of AV devices.

  In recent years, homes in which AV devices such as televisions (TVs), video recorders (VRs), stereos (components), etc., are connected to a network via a LAN and can be controlled or played back or recorded from any device. A network system has been developed. For example, when a large LCD TV and a video recorder are arranged in the living room, and a small TV is arranged in a separate bedroom, if a home network is constructed between these devices, it is arranged in the bedroom, for example. By operating a small TV, the content recorded on the video recorder arranged in the living room can be viewed by the small TV.

  At this time, as an example of a small TV operation method, first, a list of connectable devices is displayed on the TV screen, and content that is desired to be viewed from a list of content displayed when a device to be connected is selected from the list. Select. Thus, convenience is enhanced by connecting AV devices in the home to each other, and many devices are connected to the home network. However, when the number of devices connected to the network increases, many devices are displayed in the list of connectable devices. Since the names of the devices displayed in this list are nicknames or model numbers, it is difficult for the person who operates to quickly identify the device to be connected, and it is difficult for the user to select the device.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 1 below, when a user groups and registers AV devices arranged for each room in advance and displays a list of devices that can be connected to the user, the AV devices are separated for each room. A technique for displaying a list and selecting a desired device from the list is described.

JP2002-199447

  According to the method described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the user to perform group registration of AV devices in advance, and it takes time for registration operation. In addition, when there is an AV device wirelessly connected to the home network, there is a problem that the setting of the registration operation needs to be changed every time the AV device is moved.

  In the home network control device of the present invention, each device includes, for example, an infrared remote control light receiving device. The light receiving device has means for storing the history of the received remote control signal together with time, and means for sending the history of the remote control signal in response to a processing request from the operating device. The operating device has means for comparing the history of the remote control signal from each device with its own history. Based on the comparison result, devices that have received the same remote control signal are grouped. In addition, when displaying the device list on the operating device, the device list includes grouping and displaying the device list, and means for preferentially displaying devices in the same group as the operating device. Furthermore, it has means for comparing the number of times of the remote control signal history per group between the groups and giving a predetermined group name in descending order.

  As a result, the grouped AV devices are estimated to be in a spatially close place, that is, in the same room. Therefore, even in a home network where there are many devices in each room, each device is automatically used by daily remote control use. A device list that is grouped as a group and grouped as the same room at the time of operation is displayed.

  According to the present invention, there is no need to previously group devices. In addition, when there is a wirelessly connected device in the home network, the device is automatically grouped at the destination, so that the user can operate the device without considering wireless / wired. . In addition, since the group name is automatically given, the operator can more easily understand the device selection.

  Next, more specific embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, AV devices are arranged in a living room 113, a bedroom 114, and a study 115 in the home, and are connected to a home network 112 to constitute a home network system. Each room is provided with a display device 101, a display device 104, and a display device 107 that can display images like a television receiver TV, and a recording device 102 that can record and distribute images like a video recorder device. , A recording device 103, a recording device 105, a recording device 106, and a recording device 108 are arranged. In each room, the device is operated by the remote control 109, the remote control 110, and the remote control 111. Each room is in an environment where a remote control is used on a daily basis to use the equipment. Normally, AV equipment is placed near the user. The user points the remote control in the direction of the equipment to be operated, and operates the equipment with infrared (IR) signals emitted from the remote controls 109, 110, and 111, respectively. ing.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a remote control signal reception processing device in each device. As shown in FIG. 2, the remote control signal reception processing apparatus includes an infrared remote control light receiving unit 201, a remote control signal determination unit 202, a reception history storage unit 203, and a network transmission / reception unit 204. When the remote control signal IR transmitted from the infrared remote control is received by the infrared remote control light receiving unit 201 of the device, the device can be operated. This operation is common to general remote control signal processing. The received remote control signal IR is sent to the remote control signal determination unit 202.

  In the present embodiment, remote control signal determination unit 202 determines only the presence or absence of a remote control signal within a certain period, for example, one minute. If the result of the determination is that there is a remote control signal, the result is sent to the reception history storage unit 203, and information that there is a remote control signal is recorded as a remote control signal reception history in the reception history storage unit 203 together with the date and time when the determination is made. The

  In order to store the history more accurately, the determination interval may be shorter than one minute, or the determination interval may be longer than one minute in order to store the history for a long time. In the present embodiment, the reception history storage unit 203 describes an example of storing the history of the past 10 times. However, the number of times of storage may be increased or decreased depending on the usage mode. When there is a request from a device connected to the home network 205, the stored remote control signal reception history is sent by the network transmission / reception unit 204 with the time of the current device added.

  3A to 3F show examples of remote control signal reception history transmission data according to the present embodiment. The remote control signal reception history is stored in each device by daily use. When there is a remote control signal reception history transmission request from the display device 101 to be operated, each device from the device 102 to the device 108 stores data on the device name, transmission time, and remote control signal reception history in the home network. 112 (FIG. 1). The display device 101 also acquires its own history as data for comparison with data in each device from the device 102 to the device 108.

  In the present embodiment, the display device 101 is a device that performs operation and display, and the recording devices 102 to 108 (except 107) are devices that can distribute video. 101 data 301, recording device 102 data 302, recording device 103 data 303, recording device 105 data 304, recording device 106 data 305, and recording device 108 data 306. In addition, although different from this example, when the device to display is other than the operation device, the data of all devices is used.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a processing device included in the operating device according to the present embodiment. On the left side of FIG. 4, a remote control signal processing device having the same configuration as the device described in FIG. 2 is provided. When an operator displays a list of devices connected to the home network 401, when a request is made to send a remote control signal history from the network transmission / reception unit 402, a remote control signal reception history is sent from each device. The history of the operating device itself is also acquired from the reception history storage unit 403. These reception history data are temporarily stored in the all-device reception data storage unit 406. Next, the received reception history data is compared by the reception history comparison unit 407 to perform grouping. The comparison method and grouping method will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. Each grouped device is displayed as a group in the device list display unit 408. A specific display example will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that the timing at which a request for processing for grouping can be performed is not limited to when the operator displays the device list, but the request may be periodically made in advance to perform grouping.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the comparison unit in the operating device according to the present embodiment. The operation of the comparison unit will be described with reference to the example of remote control signal reception history data shown in FIG. When the process is started, first, an operating device is selected as a comparison source, data of the display device 101 is prepared, and for example, a group A of operating devices is set (S501). Next, the recording device 102 is selected as a comparison target device from the remaining devices, and data of the recording device 102 is prepared (S502). Next, the remote control signal histories of these data are compared (S503). More specifically, for example, the reception history time is compared with the difference time from the transmission time. As a result of the comparison, for example, if 80% or more of the histories match (S504), the recording device 102 is registered as the same group A as the group A of the operation device, and thereafter excluded from the comparison target (S505). At this time, the numerical value of 80% of the coincidence frequency of the history may be raised or lowered depending on the environment where the device is placed. Further, based on the result of the past processing, the degree of coincidence may be changed to such a degree that grouping is successful with a certain margin.

  Next, it is determined whether there is a remaining device to be compared (S506). In this case, since there is still a remainder, the recording device 103 is selected as a comparison target (S502), and data of the recording device 103 is prepared. Next, the remote control signal histories of these data are compared. In many cases, the clocks possessed by each device are different from each other. Therefore, in order to correct such a time lag between devices, a comparison is performed using a difference time from the request time or the transmission time (S503). With this method, as shown in FIG. 3, even if the clocks of the display device 101 and the recording device 103 are shifted, the difference times all match (S504), so the recording device 103 is registered as group A (S505). Hereinafter, the recording device 105, the recording device 106, and the recording device 108 are compared.

  Next, it is determined whether there is one remaining device (S507). Since the number of remaining devices is not one, it is next determined whether all devices have been registered as a group (S508). In this case, since all the devices have not already been registered, the recording device 105 of the remaining device is selected as a comparison source and set as a new group B (S510). At this time, the recording device 105 is excluded from the comparison target.

  Next, as in the above process, the remote control signal histories are compared, and the recording device 106 is registered as group B. Since there is only one remaining device (S507), the recording device 108 is registered as group C (S509), and the process ends. As a result of the above processing, the display device 101, the recording device 102, and the recording device 103 are registered as the group A, the recording device 105, the recording device 106, and the recording device 108 as the group C are registered.

  FIG. 6 is a display example of a device list list on the display unit of the display device 101 to be operated. As shown in FIG. 6, the recording device 102 and the recording device 103 are preferentially displayed as the same group A as the operation device. The remote control operation position for selection is the recording device 102. This makes it easy to select a device near the operation device, that is, a device that is likely to be used with the display device 101, and the number of operations can be reduced. Also, when selecting a device other than group A, since close devices are grouped together, the information for selection is increased compared to the case where the device name is simply displayed, and the operator can easily select. Become.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example when a name is automatically assigned to a group name according to the frequency of use of the remote control. The reception history comparison unit of the operation device selects one as a representative example from the previous grouped devices. Next, the number of remote control receptions per hour is compared from the transmission data of the device, and a predetermined group name, for example, the group name with the highest number of times is set as the main room, and the next highest group is set as the sub room, and below The name is given as the other group. Referring to the data in FIG. 3 of the present embodiment, group A is called the main room because it has the highest number of operations, group B is the sub-room, and group C is the others because the number of times is next. Here, for example, when the display device 104 is operated to display the device list, the result is as shown in FIG. By displaying in this way, there is an advantage that information for device selection is further increased and the operator can easily select.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which an apparatus having a display device is disposed in each room has been described. However, at least one display device may be disposed in the home network system. In addition, when a simple LCD display unit is provided in the remote control operation unit, it is possible to cause the remote control to display as shown in FIG. 6 or 7 by connecting the remote control to a home network, for example. It is. In particular, providing a wireless LAN function that transmits an infrared signal as a remote control and can be wirelessly connected to a LAN is convenient because the network can be easily accessed. Such a modification is possible in the present embodiment.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, there is an advantage that the operation is simple because there is no need to group devices in advance. In addition, since AV devices usually arranged in the same group, that is, in the same room are often operated, there is an advantage that the number of operations can be reduced by preferentially displaying the devices in the same group at the top of the list. . Further, when there is a wirelessly connected device in the home network, it is automatically grouped at the destination, so that the user can operate without considering that point. Furthermore, since the group name is automatically assigned, the operator can more easily understand the device selection.

  The present invention can be used in a home network system in which home electronic devices are connected via a network.

It is a figure which shows one structural example of the home network system by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the remote control signal reception processing apparatus in each apparatus. 3A to 3F are diagrams showing examples of transmission data of remote control signal history of each device. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structural example of the process part in an operating device. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of a process in the reception log | history comparison part of an operating device. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the apparatus list list in the display part of an operating device. It is a figure which shows the example of a display which gave the name automatically according to the remote control usage frequency.

Explanation of symbols

101-Display device, 102-Recording device, 103-Recording device, 104-Display device, 105-Recording device, 106-Recording device, 107-Display device, 108-Recording device, 109-Remote control, 110-Remote control, 111- Remote control, 112-Home network, 113-Living room, 114-Bedroom, 115-Study, 201-Infrared remote control receiver, 202-Remote control signal determination unit, 203-Reception history storage unit, 204-Network transmission / reception unit, 205- Home network, 301-Display device 101 data, 302-Recording device 102 transmission data, 303-Recording device 103 transmission data, 304-Recording device 105 transmission data, 305-Recording device 106 transmission data, 306-Recording Device 108 transmission data, 401-Home network, 402-Network transmission / reception unit, 403-Reception history transmission / reception unit, 404-Remote control signal determination unit, 405-Infrared remote control light reception unit, 406-All device reception history storage unit, 407-Reception History comparison unit, 408-device list display unit.

Claims (15)

A plurality of electronic devices each having an operation signal receiving unit for receiving an operation signal, a network connecting the electronic devices, and operating the electronic device by directly transmitting the operation signal to the operation signal receiving unit A home network system comprising:
Each of the electronic devices includes an operation signal reception history storage unit that stores reception history data in the operation signal reception unit. The operation signal reception history storage unit stores an operation signal detection unit that detects reception of the operation signal in the operation signal reception unit, and a history of a detection result by the operation signal detection unit and a reception time of the operation signal. The home network system according to claim 1, further comprising operation signal reception history storage means.   The home network system according to claim 1, further comprising means for comparing the reception history data and grouping devices having reception histories at the same time.   4. The home network system according to claim 3, further comprising device list display means for displaying a list of grouped devices.   5. The home network system according to claim 1, further comprising a network transmission / reception unit configured to transmit and receive the history data.   6. The means for correcting a time lag between the devices, wherein the reception time is compared based on a difference time from a request time or a transmission time of transmission / reception data of the history data. Home network system.   The operation device includes means for assigning a group name on the basis of the number of reception history data per unit time, and means for displaying a device list for each assigned group name. 7. The home network system according to any one of 1 to 6.   8. The home network system according to claim 7, further comprising a control for preferentially displaying devices in the same group at the top of the device list. An operation signal receiver for receiving an operation signal;
An interface for network connection;
An electronic device comprising: an operation signal reception history storage unit that stores reception history data of an operation signal transmitted directly from an operation device in the operation signal receiving unit. The operation signal reception history storage unit stores an operation signal detection unit that detects reception of the operation signal in the operation signal reception unit, and a history of a detection result by the operation signal detection unit and a reception time of the operation signal. The electronic apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising an operation signal reception history storage unit.   11. The electronic device according to claim 9, further comprising means for comparing the reception history data and grouping devices having reception histories at the same time.   The electronic device according to claim 11, further comprising device list display means for displaying a list of grouped devices. A plurality of electronic devices each having an operation signal receiving unit for receiving an operation signal, a network connecting the electronic devices, and operating the electronic device by directly transmitting the operation signal to the operation signal receiving unit And a method of grouping the electronic devices,
Generating a reception history of operation signals from the operation device;
The method comprising: comparing the reception histories and combining the electronic device groups having the reception histories equal to or greater than a certain threshold value as one group, until the number of the electronic devices becomes one. .   The method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of comparing the time of the reception history with a difference time from an operation signal transmission time from the operation device.   The program for making a computer perform the step of Claim 13 or 14.

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