JP2007336213A - Monitor system and monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform a user of changes in water temperature state of a bathtub and changes in detection state of gas leakage without using devices or software only for monitoring, in a monitor system and a monitoring device. <P>SOLUTION: A monitoring device 2 functions as a device based on UPnP AV specifications and a content directory, and a television 5 functions as a control point. The television 5 transmits a request for a list of sensors on the side of the monitoring device 2, to the monitoring device 2 (S3). When the user operates an operation part of the television 5 to select acquisition of a content based on the gas detection state from the list acquired from the monitoring device 2, the television 5 transmits an HTTP-GET request for requesting the content based on the gas detection state, to the monitoring device (S5). A sensor control part receives this request to acquire the content requested from the television 5, from a HDD and then transmits the acquired content to the television 5 (S6). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring system and a monitoring device.

  In recent years, information devices such as a television receiver, a personal computer, and a hard disk recorder compatible with DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) are connected via a network, and these devices communicate with each other according to the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard. Things to do are prevalent.

  Conventionally, a monitoring device for monitoring the water temperature state of the bathtub, gas leakage, etc., and a television receiver or the like are connected via a network, and the bathtub is used using a unique protocol based on TCP / IP. There are known devices that notify a change in the water temperature state or gas leakage to a device such as a television receiver. However, in the conventional monitoring device, it is necessary to introduce a dedicated device or software corresponding to the original protocol in order to notify the change of the state of the water temperature of the bathtub and the gas leakage through the network. There is a problem.

  By the way, in this type of monitoring system, the invention of Patent Document 1 is connected to a database storing rule formats corresponding to device types via a network, and a new type of device that has not existed before is connected to the network. In addition, the device type can be smoothly controlled by comparing the device type of the new device with the rule format stored in the database and obtaining the optimum rule format. The invention of Patent Document 2 acquires control information from a plurality of devices existing in a network, and automatically selects a device to be controlled based on the acquired control information.

  Further, the invention of Patent Document 3 enables the device description to be reconstructed even if it is a UPnP specification network device that cannot reconstruct the device description, and notifies the other network device that the reconfiguration has been performed. Is something that can be done. The invention of Patent Document 4 is middleware that enables remote control according to a user's behavior pattern to an information home appliance without a control instruction from the user.

However, the inventions described in Patent Document 1 to Patent Document 4 cannot solve the above problem.
JP-A-2005-260919 JP 2005-217974 A JP 2005-182481 A JP 2004-258809 A

  The present invention provides an inexpensive monitoring system and monitoring device that can notify a user of a change in the water temperature state of a bathtub and a change in the detection state of a gas leak without using a dedicated device or software for monitoring. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 includes a monitoring device that detects indoor gas, a water temperature of a bathtub, and the like, and a television receiver connected to the monitoring device via a network, The monitoring device includes a first sensor means for detecting a state such as a water temperature of the bathtub, a second sensor means for detecting gas, an image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub detected by the first sensor means, Content generating means for generating warning sound content based on the detection state of gas detected by the second sensor means, and image content and warning sound content (hereinafter abbreviated as “content”) generated by the content generating means. Recording means for recording data including data and monitoring control means for controlling each part of the apparatus, and the television receiver is transmitted from the monitoring apparatus. Content receiving means for receiving the content, video display means for outputting the image content received by the content receiving means, and audio output means for outputting the warning sound content received by the content receiving means The monitoring device and the television receiver communicate according to the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard, and the monitoring device changes to the content recorded in the recording means. A message including a recording means state variable indicating that the data recorded in the recording means has changed and a content state variable indicating that the image content or the warning sound content has changed. State change notification to notify the television receiver A request receiving means for receiving a request message transmitted from the television receiver, a content acquisition means for acquiring the content from the recording means in response to the request message received by the request receiving means, Response transmission means for transmitting the content acquired by the content acquisition means to the television receiver as a response message in response to the request message, wherein the television receiver requests the content from the monitoring device. Request transmission means for transmitting a request message to be transmitted, wherein the request message transmitted by the request transmission means is HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) -G. It is an HTTP request message based on the T method, and the monitoring control means detects a change in the water temperature state of the bathtub by the first sensor means or a change in the gas detection state by the second sensor means. Then, the content generation means is used to generate the image content or the warning sound content, and after the generated content is recorded in the recording means, the state change notification means is used to send the message to the television set. The content notified to the receiver and received from the television receiver when the request message for the content transmitted from the television receiver is received using the request receiving means. Is obtained from the recording means, and then the response sending means The acquired content is transmitted to the television receiver, and the television receiver outputs the content transmitted by the response transmission means using the video display means or the audio output means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first sensor means connected via a network to a television receiver for transmitting a request message for requesting image content or warning sound content, and detecting a state such as a water temperature of a bathtub; Second sensor means for detecting the image, image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub detected by the first sensor means, and warning sound content based on the detection state of the gas detected by the second sensor means. Monitoring comprising: content generating means for generating; recording means for recording image content and warning sound content (hereinafter abbreviated as “content”) generated by the content generating means; and monitoring control means for controlling each part of the apparatus In the apparatus, when there is a change in the content recorded in the recording means, the content recorded in the recording means Status change notifying means for notifying the television receiver of a message including a state variable indicating that the content has changed, request receiving means for receiving a request message transmitted from the television receiver, and the request In response to the request message received by the receiving means, the content acquisition means for acquiring content from the recording means, and the content acquired by the content acquisition means as a response message in response to the request message are transmitted to the television receiver. Response transmitting means for communicating with the television receiver in accordance with the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard, and the monitoring control means is configured to control the temperature of the bathtub by the first sensor means. Content is generated by generating the image content or the warning sound content using the content generation means when the gas detection state is detected by the second sensor means. Is recorded in the recording means, the state change notification means is used to notify the television receiver of the message, and the request reception means transmits the content request message transmitted from the television receiver. And receiving the content requested by the television receiver from the recording means using the content acquisition means, and then using the response transmission means to obtain the acquired image content from the television receiver. To send to.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the monitoring device according to the second aspect, when the content recorded in the recording means is changed, the message notified to the television receiver is sent to the recording means. It includes a recording means state variable that indicates that the recorded data has changed, and a content state variable that indicates that the image content or the warning sound content has changed.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when there is a change in the water temperature state of the bathtub or the detection state of the gas, the monitoring device has the image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub, and the warning sound content based on the gas detection state. Can be transmitted to a television receiver compatible with the general-purpose UPnP standard, and the television receiver can output the received image content and warning sound content to the video display means and the audio output means. Therefore, the user can know the water temperature state and gas leakage of the bathtub using a television receiver that supports the general-purpose UPnP standard without incurring the introduction cost of dedicated equipment or software that supports the original protocol. it can. Thereby, the production cost of the whole monitoring system including the monitoring device can be reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 2, when there is a change in the water temperature state of the bathtub or the detection state of the gas, the monitoring device includes image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub, warning sound content based on the gas detection state, Can be transmitted to a general-purpose UPnP standard television receiver, and the television receiver can output the received image content and warning sound content to the video display means and the audio output means. Therefore, the user can know the water temperature state and gas leakage of the bathtub using a television receiver compatible with the general-purpose UPnP standard without incurring the introduction cost of dedicated equipment or dedicated software corresponding to the original protocol. it can. Thereby, the production cost of the whole monitoring system including the monitoring device can be reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the effect of the invention of claim 2 can be obtained accurately.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 shows a monitoring device 2 for detecting a water temperature of a bathtub 3 and a gas leak in a house 6, and a network television 5 connected to the monitoring device 2 via a network 4 (a television receiver in claims) FIG. 2 shows the external appearance of the bathtub 3, FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of the monitoring device 2, and FIG. 4 shows the external appearance of the television 5. FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration of the monitoring device 2, and FIG. 6 shows the internal configuration of the television 5.

  The monitoring device 2 and the television 5 are devices that perform network communication in accordance with UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) AV (Audio Visual) standards. UPnP standard-compliant devices exchange metadata that conforms to XML (extensible Markup Language) between each other's devices, determine the operation method of each device and the procedure for linking each other as a standard, and operate according to that standard To do. Therefore, there is an advantage that addition or deletion of a UPnP standard compatible device on the network can be easily performed.

  The monitoring device 2 is a device corresponding to a media server based on the UPnP AV specification, functions as a content directory for controlling acquisition of a content list, and transmits a command such as Notify to the television 5. . The television 5 functions as a control point for requesting content based on the UPnP AV specification, and transmits a command such as Subscribe or Search to the monitoring device 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the monitoring device 2 includes a water temperature sensor unit 21 (first sensor means) that detects the water temperature state of the bathtub 3, and a gas leak sensor unit 24 (first sensor) that detects gas. 2 sensor means), a content generation unit 26 (content generation means) that creates image content and warning sound content (hereinafter abbreviated as “content”), and a hard disk 25 (recording content generated by the content generation unit 26). Recording means in the claims; hereinafter referred to as HDD). The monitoring device 2 communicates in accordance with the UPnP AV standard and transmits / receives data such as contents to / from the television 5, and a sensor control unit 29 (monitoring control unit) that controls each unit of the device. And a ROM 28 for storing an operation program of the sensor control unit 29, a display 23 for displaying a monitoring state and the like, and a speaker 22 for outputting a warning sound. The content generation unit 26 includes “water temperature image content” that is image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub 3 detected by the water temperature sensor unit 21, and audio based on the gas detection state detected by the gas leak sensor unit 24. The content “gas warning sound content” and the image content “gas warning image content” are generated. In addition, although the case where the content produced | generated based on the water temperature state of the bathtub 3 detected by the water temperature sensor part 21 was only an image content was shown here, it is not restricted to this, The water temperature sensor part 21 detected The content generation unit 26 may create audio content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub 3.

  The sensor control unit 29 functions as a state change notification unit, a request reception unit, a content acquisition unit, and a response transmission unit in the claims. The sensor control unit 29 operates as a content directory service (hereinafter referred to as CDS) based on the UPnP AV specification and an HTTP server that transmits and receives various HTTP messages, and acquires and searches content recorded in the HDD 25. I do.

  4 and 6, the television 5 communicates with the monitoring device 2 in accordance with the UPnP AV standard, receives the content transmitted from the monitoring device 2, and sends a request message for requesting the content to the monitoring device 2. A network interface 54 (content receiving means, request sending means) for performing transmission, an operation unit 53 having buttons and the like for operation by a user, a control microcomputer 55 for controlling each part of the device, and a control microcomputer 55 And a ROM 56 for storing an operation program. The television 5 includes a display 51 (video display means) that outputs image content received by the network interface 54 and a speaker 52 (audio output means) that outputs audio content received by the network interface 54. Note that the request message transmitted from the television 5 to the monitoring device 2 is an HTTP request message based on an HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) -GET method.

  Next, the processing procedure of the monitoring apparatus 2 and the television 5 when a request for content based on the gas detection state is made from the television 5 to the monitoring apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the television 5 transmits an event notification request (Subscribe) command for notifying the television 5 when there is a change in the content recorded in the HDD 25 to the monitoring device 2 (S1). In response to this, the sensor control unit 29 of the monitoring device 2 returns a message indicating that the command registration such as “200 OK” is successful to the television 5. Next, the television 5 transmits a command (Browse, Search) requesting a list of sensors detected by the monitoring device to the monitoring device 2 (S3). In response to this, the sensor control unit 29 returns a list indicating the water temperature state and gas detection state of the bathtub 3 detected by the water temperature sensor unit 21 and the gas leak sensor unit 24 to the television 5 (S4). The list is metadata conforming to XML and will be described in detail later.

  When the user operates the operation unit 53 of the television 5 to select content acquisition based on the gas detection state from the list acquired in S4, the television 5 detects the gas to the monitoring device 2. An HTTP-GET request for requesting content based on the state is transmitted (S5). The sensor control unit 29 that has received this HTTP-GET request acquires the content requested from the television 5 from the HDD 25, and then transmits the acquired content to the television 5 (S6).

  Next, an example of a list transmitted from the monitoring device 2 to the television 5 will be described with reference to FIG. List 7 is described in the DIDL-Lite schema by XML, and each sensor unit is listed using a <item> tag. A URI (Uniform Resource Identifiers; hereinafter referred to as a content URI) indicating the location of the content is indicated by using a <res> tag, and the <res> tag is surrounded by <item> tags. A dotted line portion 71 shown in FIG. 7 is a description including a content URI indicating the location of “water temperature image content” based on the state detected by the water temperature sensor unit 21. A dotted line portion 72 illustrated in FIG. 7 is a description including a content URI indicating the location of “gas warning image content” and “gas warning sound content” based on the detection state detected by the gas leak sensor unit 24. The HTTP-GET request transmitted from the television 5 to the monitoring device 2 shown in FIG. 7 is a URI such as “http://192.168.0.2/gas_jpg”, which is a sensor control unit. 29 acquires the content indicated by this URI from the HDD 25 and transmits it to the television 5. Further, when a change in the detection state is detected by the water temperature sensor unit 21 or the gas leak sensor unit 24, only the content of the content generated by the content generation unit 26 changes, and the above-described content URI does not change.

  Next, an example of content that the monitoring device 2 transmits to the television 5 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that the television 5 has made a content acquisition request based on the gas detection state, and FIG. 9 shows an example of “gas warning image content” 8 based on the gas detection state. The “gas warning image content” 8 has, for example, a file name of gas_status. It is a JPEG format image content file such as jpg, and indicates that there is no abnormality in the gas detection state. The television 5 can notify the user that no gas has leaked by displaying the image content 8 shown in FIG. 9 on the display 51. Here, an example in which the file format of the image content is the JPEG format has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any format that can be displayed on the television 5 may be used. Alternatively, the television 5 may acquire “gas warning sound content” based on the gas detection state, output the content using the speaker 52, and notify the user of the gas detection state. .

  Next, processing procedures of the monitoring device 2 and the television 5 when a change in the gas detection state is detected will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12. 10 and 11 show the processing of the monitoring device 2 and the television 5, and FIG. 12 shows the “gas warning image content” 9 acquired by the television 5. It is assumed that the television 5 has previously transmitted an event notification request command to the monitoring device 2. The gas leak sensor unit 24 detects whether or not the gas detection state has changed at any time (S11), and when detecting that the gas detection state has changed, the gas generation state is detected with respect to the content generation unit 26. Is notified that the change has occurred (S12). Note that the timing for notifying that the gas detection state has changed can be arbitrarily set by the user. For example, a threshold value may be provided for the gas concentration, and when the gas concentration exceeds the threshold value, the gas leak sensor unit 24 may perform the process of S12. The threshold can be set to an arbitrary value by the user.

  The content generation unit 26 that has received the notification from the gas leak sensor unit 24 in S12 generates a content based on the gas detection state, records the generated content in the HDD 25 (S13), generates the content, and generates the content in the HDD 25. Is notified to the sensor control unit 29 (CDS) (S14). The sensor control unit 29 that has received the notification from the content generation unit 26 notifies the television 5 of a message that the content recorded in the HDD 25 has changed, and the television 5 receives this message (S15). The message notified to the television 5 in S15 includes an HDD state variable (recording means state variable in claims; SystemUpdateID in UPnP AV standard) for notifying that there is a change in the HDD 25 that records the content, and “water temperature image”. It includes a content state variable (ContainerUpdateID in the UPnP AV standard) that can notify a change in each content of “content”, “gas warning image content”, and “gas warning sound content”. The content state variable can be provided for each public content. Therefore, the television 5 can know from the HDD state variable that the HDD 25 has changed. In addition, since the television 5 can know which content has changed from the content state variable, it is possible to reduce the trouble of acquiring all the content of the monitoring device 2 and determining the content that has changed. , It is possible to easily know the content whose detection state has changed.

  In S15, the television 5 that has received the message from the monitoring device 2 performs the same processing as S3 and S4 shown in FIG. 7 and obtains a list of each sensor unit (S16, S17). The content whose state has changed is determined from the content state variable included in the message received from the device 2, and the URI of the content whose state has changed is acquired. Then, the television 5 transmits an HTTP-GET request based on the acquired URI to the monitoring device 2 (S18), and the sensor control unit 29 of the monitoring device 2 that has received the HTTP-GET request receives a request from the television 5. After the acquired content is acquired from the HDD 25, the acquired content is transmitted to the television 5 (S19). For example, when the content state variable included in the message received by the television 5 indicates a change of “gas warning image content” in S15, the television 5 requests the HTTP-GET request for “gas warning image content”. Is transmitted to the monitoring device 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the television 5 acquires “gas warning image content” 9 that is a message indicating that gas leakage has occurred, and displays the acquired “gas warning image content” 9 on the display 51. To do. Accordingly, the user can use the television 5 to know that the gas detection state has changed, for example, “gas leak has occurred”.

  According to the above embodiment, when there is a change in the water temperature state of the bathtub 3 or the gas detection state, the monitoring device 2 displays the image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub 3 and the warning sound content based on the gas detection state. Can be transmitted to the television 5 compliant with the general-purpose UPnP standard, and the television 5 can output the received image content and warning sound content to the display 51 and the speaker 52. Therefore, the user can know the water temperature state and gas leakage of the bathtub 3 using the television 5 compatible with the general-purpose UPnP standard without incurring the introduction cost of dedicated equipment or dedicated software corresponding to the unique protocol. .

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the television 5 acquires content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub 3 and the gas detection state has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a personal computer corresponding to the UPnP standard acquires content. It may be a thing.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring system including a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a television. FIG. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the said bathtub. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the said monitoring apparatus. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the said television. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of the said monitoring apparatus. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of the said television. The flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of the said television making the request | requirement of the content based on the detection state of gas with respect to the monitoring apparatus. The figure which shows the example of the list | wrist which the said monitoring apparatus transmits to television. The figure which shows the example of the content based on the detection state of the gas which the said monitoring apparatus transmits. The flowchart which shows the procedure of a process of the monitoring apparatus when the said monitoring apparatus detects the change of the detection state of gas. The flowchart which shows the procedure of a process of a monitoring apparatus and a television when the said monitoring apparatus detects the change of the detection state of gas. The figure which shows the example of the image content based on the detection state of the said gas.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Monitoring system 2 Monitoring apparatus 3 Bathtub 4 Network 5 Television (television receiver)
6 Image content 7 Image content 8 Image content 21 Water temperature sensor (first sensor means)
24 Gas leak sensor (second sensor means)
25 HDD (recording means)
26 Content generation unit (content generation means)
29 Sensor control unit (monitoring control means)
51 Display (Video display means)
52 Speaker (Audio output means)

Claims (3)

Including a monitoring device for detecting indoor gas, water temperature of a bathtub, and the like, and a television receiver connected to the monitoring device via a network;
The monitoring device
First sensor means for detecting a state such as a water temperature of the bathtub;
Second sensor means for detecting gas;
Content generating means for generating image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub detected by the first sensor means and warning sound content based on the detection state of the gas detected by the second sensor means;
Recording means for recording data including image content and warning sound content (hereinafter abbreviated as “content”) generated by the content generation means;
Monitoring control means for controlling each part of the device,
The television receiver is
Content receiving means for receiving the content transmitted from the monitoring device;
Video display means for outputting the image content received by the content receiving means;
In a monitoring system comprising audio output means for outputting the warning sound content received by the content receiving means,
The monitoring device and the television receiver communicate according to the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard,
The monitoring device
When there is a change in the content recorded in the recording means, there is a change in the recording means state variable indicating that the data recorded in the recording means has changed, and in the image content or warning sound content. State change notification means for notifying the television receiver of a message including a content state variable indicating that;
Request receiving means for receiving a request message transmitted from the television receiver;
Content acquisition means for acquiring the content from the recording means in response to a request message received by the request receiving means;
Response response means for responding to the request message, further comprising response transmission means for transmitting the content acquired by the content acquisition means to the television receiver,
The television receiver is
Request transmission means for transmitting a request message requesting the content to the monitoring device;
The request message transmitted by the request transmission unit is an HTTP request message based on an HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) -GET method,
The monitoring control means includes
When the change in the water temperature state of the bathtub is detected by the first sensor means or the change in the gas detection state is detected by the second sensor means, the image content or the After generating warning sound content and recording the generated content in the recording means, the state change notification means is used to notify the message to the television receiver,
When the request message of the content transmitted from the television receiver is received using the request receiving means, the content requested from the television receiver is acquired from the recording means using the content acquisition means. After that, the response transmission means transmits the acquired content to the television receiver,
The television receiver is
A monitoring system, wherein the content transmitted by the response transmission means is output using the video display means or the audio output means. Connected via a network to a television receiver that transmits a request message requesting image content or warning sound content;
First sensor means for detecting a state such as a water temperature of the bathtub;
Second sensor means for detecting gas;
Content generating means for generating image content based on the water temperature state of the bathtub detected by the first sensor means and warning sound content based on the detection state of the gas detected by the second sensor means;
Recording means for recording image content and warning sound content (hereinafter abbreviated as “content”) generated by the content generation means;
In a monitoring device comprising monitoring control means for controlling each part of the device,
State change notification means for notifying the television receiver of a message including a state variable indicating that the content recorded in the recording means has changed when the content recorded in the recording means has changed. When,
Request receiving means for receiving a request message transmitted from the television receiver;
Content acquisition means for acquiring content from the recording means in response to a request message received by the request receiving means;
Response response means for responding to the request message, further comprising response transmission means for transmitting the content acquired by the content acquisition means to the television receiver,
Communicate with the television receiver according to the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard,
The monitoring control means includes
When the change in the water temperature state of the bathtub is detected by the first sensor means, or when the change in the gas detection state is detected by the second sensor means, the image content, or After generating the warning sound content and recording the generated content in the recording unit, the state change notification unit is used to notify the message to the television receiver,
When the request message of the content transmitted from the television receiver is received using the request receiving means, the content requested from the television receiver is acquired from the recording means using the content acquisition means. Then, the monitoring apparatus is characterized in that the acquired image content is transmitted to the television receiver by the response transmission means.   When there is a change in the content recorded in the recording means, the message notified to the television receiver is a recording means state variable indicating that there is a change in the data recorded in the recording means. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a content state variable indicating that the image content or the warning sound content has changed.

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