JP2008242861A - Network system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network system for enabling only authenticated/registered information electrical appliance to perform the operation/monitor of home facility equipment with high security for authentication/registration. <P>SOLUTION: A network device 4 receives registering operation information from information electrical appliance 1, and when a switch SW for authentication/registration is operated within a fixed time after receiving the registering operation information, the network device 4 performs the authentication/registration of the information electrical appliance based on the unique identification information of the information electrical appliance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network system that performs authentication and registration of information home appliances provided in a home.

  In recent years, information home appliances that give and receive added value to home appliance functions by exchanging information via a network have begun to spread. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, an operation screen for operating equipment such as an electric lock 2 is displayed on the display (display unit) 10 a of the digital television which is the information home appliance 1, and the remote control operation of the digital television is performed. Locking and unlocking the network device 4 connected to the home network (hereinafter referred to as LAN) 3 from the digital television as the home information appliance 1 by operating the locking and unlocking operation of the electric lock 2 using a device or the like Such a system has started to be provided, in which the electric lock 2 is locked and unlocked by the control function provided in the network device 4.

In addition, a home appliance control system that enables operation and control of home information home appliances by providing a control terminal equipped with a Web server that provides control content in the home and the home information appliance acquires control content. Provided (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-67189 A

  Incidentally, as shown in the system shown in FIG. 14, for example, a wireless access point 6 for connecting a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) 5 to the LAN 3 is provided, and no security setting is set for the wireless access point 6. As shown in the figure, information can be exchanged with the wireless adapter 7 provided in the neighborhood home X, and the information home appliance (digital TV in the illustrated example) 1 connected to the wireless adapter 7 can be connected to the home. There is a problem that the electric lock 2 of Y can be locked and unlocked. Similarly, when there is a modem or the like connected to the Internet via a communication network provided by an Internet connection provider on the LAN 3, the electric lock 2 may be locked and unlocked through the Internet.

  Further, in the system as disclosed in Patent Document 1, only the information home appliance that has acquired the control content is effective, but a wireless access point is provided on the LAN as in the case of FIG. When the LAN is connected to the Internet, there is a possibility that the control content is stolen.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the purpose of the present invention is that only an authenticated and registered information home appliance can perform operation / monitoring on in-home equipment and is high in authentication / registration. It is to provide a network system with security.

In order to achieve the above-described object, in the invention of claim 1, an information home appliance having a value added to a home appliance function by exchanging information via a network, and provided in the same home as the information home appliance A network system connected to the network and comprising a network device for controlling / monitoring facility equipment based on information from the information home appliance,
The network device receives the registration operation information from the content home appliance, the content server function unit that provides the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance, the authentication / registration switch, and the registration operation information. When there is an operation of the authentication / registration switch within a certain time, an authentication / registration function unit that performs authentication / registration of the information home appliance based on the unique identification information of the information home appliance,
The information home appliance includes a display unit, an operation unit that can perform at least an operation of accessing content provided by the content server function unit from the network device and an authentication / registration operation, and an authentication / reception received from the content server function unit. A browser function unit that displays an authentication / registration screen on the display unit according to registration content data, and when there is an authentication / registration operation from the operation unit in response to the display of the authentication / registration screen, registration operation information And the unique identification information of the information home appliance is transmitted to the network device.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when a wireless access point is provided on the network or when the network is connected to the Internet, authentication / registration operations cannot be performed from outside the house. It is possible to prevent unfair operation and monitoring of equipment using the information home appliances, and to ensure high security.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the network device includes a detection function unit that detects an information home appliance connected to the network, and a unique identification of the information home appliance detected by the detection function. A storage unit that stores information that has been authenticated / registered / unregistered for the information home appliance in association with the information,
The content server function unit determines whether the information home appliance that has accessed the content for authentication / registration is authenticated / registered based on the stored information in the storage unit. The content data for authentication / registration is transmitted.

  The invention of claim 2 can display authentication / registration content only on information home appliances that require authentication.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the network device includes a detection function unit that detects an information home appliance connected to the network, and a unique identification of the information home appliance detected by the detection function. A storage unit for storing the authenticated / registered / unregistered information of the information home appliance in association with the information,
The content server function unit has content data to be provided only to an authenticated / registered information home appliance, and if there is an access from the information home appliance to the content, whether the information home appliance has been authenticated / registered. Whether or not the content data is authenticated and registered, and the content data for authentication and registration is transmitted when it is not registered.

  According to the invention of claim 3, authentication / registration is performed when there is access to the content server function unit of the network device from the unregistered information home appliance to the content provided only to the authenticated / registered information home appliance. Content data is transmitted, the user who sees the authentication / registration screen with the content for authentication / registration can know that the information home appliance is not registered, and the screen displays the authentication / registration. Can prompt the user of the operation.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the network device includes a detection function unit that detects an information home appliance connected to the network, and a unique identification of the information home appliance detected by the detection function. A storage unit that stores authentication / registered / unregistered information of the information home appliance in association with information, and when the content server function unit detects an unregistered information home appliance, The content data for authentication / registration is transmitted to the information home appliance.

  According to the invention of claim 4, when an unregistered information home appliance is detected, the authentication / registration content data is automatically transmitted from the network device to the information home appliance. It is possible to indicate to the user that it is possible to prompt the user to perform an authentication / registration operation and prevent forgetting the authentication / registration.

  In the invention of claim 5, in the invention of claim 4, the content server function unit confirms content information transmission confirmation with respect to the information home appliance before transmitting the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance. The content data for authentication / registration is transmitted to the information home appliance when the information can be transmitted and received.

  In the invention of claim 5, when an unregistered information home appliance is not in use or the home appliance function is activated, it is used for authentication / registration regardless of the user's intention at the timing when content display is unnecessary. It is possible to prevent the screen from being displayed on the display unit.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, an information home electric appliance that transmits and receives information over a network to give added value to the home electric appliance function, and an information home electric appliance connected to the information home electric appliance via the network is authenticated. A network system that has a network device for registration in the same house,
A network device connected to the network and provided in the same home as the information home appliance;
Provided in the home with a network terminal that has a function of operating and monitoring devices by exchanging information with devices on the network including information home appliances connected to the network,
When the network device receives the registration content information from the content terminal function unit that provides authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance and the network terminal, the network device An authentication / registration function unit that performs authentication / registration of the information home appliance based on the unique identification information. The information home appliance accesses a content provided by the content server function unit from a display unit and the network device. An operation unit that can perform at least an operation and an authentication / registration operation; and a browser function unit that displays an authentication / registration screen on the display unit based on the content data for authentication / registration received from the content server function unit. If there is an authentication / registration operation from the operation unit corresponding to the display of the registration screen, the network terminal Send the registration operation information and the unique identification information of the information home appliance,
The network terminal has an operation function for performing authentication / registration work based on registration operation information received from an information home appliance, and when the authentication / registration work starts or ends within a predetermined time after receiving registration operation information. And a function of transmitting registration content information to the network device.

  According to the invention of claim 6, since it is a condition for authentication / registration to receive the registration operation of the information home appliance and to perform the authentication / registration work at the home network terminal within a certain time, Even when a wireless access point is provided or the network is connected to the Internet, authentication / registration operations cannot be performed from outside the house. It is possible to prevent operation / monitoring, ensure high security, and even when direct operation on network devices is not possible, authentication / registration work is performed on frequently used network terminals, so it is convenient Becomes higher.

In the invention of claim 7, an information home appliance having a value added to a home appliance function by performing exchange of information through a network, and the information home appliance provided in the same home and connected to the network, A network system comprising a network device that controls and monitors equipment based on information from information home appliances,
An authentication / registration relay device that exchanges information between the information home appliance and the network device, and performs authentication / registration information processing between the information home appliance and the network device. Set up in the house,
The authentication / registration relay device receives the information for accessing the network device from the information home appliance after the authentication / registration operation switch and the authentication / registration operation switch are operated. An authentication / registration relay function unit that acquires the unique identification information of the information home appliance and transmits the unique identification information to the network device in a state in which access to the device is suspended;
The network device corresponds to the unique identification information received from the authentication / registration relay device, and a storage unit that stores the authenticated / registered information of the information household appliance in association with the unique identification information of the information household appliance And an authentication / registration function unit that performs authentication / registration of the information home appliance when the information home appliance to be registered is unregistered.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the authentication / registration of the information home appliance can be performed only when there is an operation of the operation switch for authentication / registration of the relay device provided in the home. Even if it is installed or the network is connected to the Internet, authentication / registration operations cannot be performed from outside the house, so that equipment devices are illegally operated and monitored using information home appliances outside the house. Since the relay device performs the authentication / registration work, the information home appliance does not have the necessary control conditions for authentication / registration.

  Even if a wireless access point is provided on the network or the network is connected to the Internet, the present invention makes it impossible to perform authentication / registration operations from outside the house. It is possible to prevent unfair operation and monitoring of equipment by using it, and to secure high security.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1A shows the system configuration of this embodiment. In this system, as in the case of FIG. 14, the home network device 4 and the information home appliance 1 such as a digital TV are connected to Ethernet (registered trademark) or the like. The network device 4 is connected via a LAN 3 compatible with the information home appliance 1 and can exchange information between the home information appliance 1 and the network device 4 can be operated or monitored by the information home appliance 1 (for example, The electric lock 2) is connected to a control monitoring function unit 40 (see FIG. 1B) described later. The LAN 3 is connected to the above-described wireless access point 6 and an operation display device 8 for monitoring and controlling the equipment described later.

  The network device 4 is a network including a control monitoring function unit 40 that monitors and controls equipment such as JEMA standards (for example, electric lock 2 in the embodiment), a LAN communication unit 41, and a plurality of information home appliances 1. A hub unit 42 for connecting a terminal, a storage unit 43 that stores and holds information on the authenticated and registered information home appliances 1 and Web contents to be described later, a microcomputer that performs control and arithmetic processing of the network device 4 as a whole, and the like The arithmetic processing unit 44 creates content including authentication / registration content to be described later and holds it in the storage unit 43. When there is access to the URL of the content, Data of the accessed content is transmitted to the network terminal (information home appliance 1 in this embodiment), and the browser function ( authentication of the information server 1 and the content server function unit 44a having a function of receiving input data from a network terminal transmitted using a form or CGI under the eb browser function and passing it to the arithmetic processing unit 44 An authentication / registration function unit 44b for performing registration is provided.

  The arithmetic processing unit 44 connects an authentication / registration switch SW for finally completing authentication / registration to the input port, and the state of the authentication / registration switch SW is changed during an authentication / registration process to be described later. Has a function to check.

  The information home appliance 1 used in this embodiment includes a home appliance function unit 10, a LAN communication unit 11, a storage unit 12 that stores unique identification information (for example, a MAC address) of the device, and a control process for the entire device. The home appliance function unit 10 has functions (hardware and software) as home appliances, and at least a display unit 10a for use in authentication and registration, and a browser function unit 10b. Have Here, when the information home appliance 1 is a digital television, a display that is hardware of the home appliance function unit 10 serves as a display unit 10a, and the remote controller 10c constitutes an operation unit used for authentication and registration.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the operation display device 8 has a display unit 80a, an operation unit 80b composed of a touch panel and a push button switch, performs information processing and control of the entire device, has a browser function, an arithmetic processing unit 81, and a LAN The network unit is configured with a communication unit 82 and does not require authentication / registration in the network device 1.

  Next, operation | movement is demonstrated based on the sequence shown in FIG. 3 about authentication and registration of the information household appliances 1 of this embodiment.

  First, when the user wants to use the home information appliance 1 as a home device, first, the user operates the remote controller 10c to activate the browser function unit 10b of the home appliance function unit 10 of the information home appliance 1 to display a browsing screen on the display unit 10a. The URL of authentication / registration content provided by the network device 4 is accessed from this browsing screen. With this access, in the network device 4, the content server function 44 b of the arithmetic processing unit 44 reads out the data of the authentication / registration content from the storage unit 43, and sends it to the information home appliance 1 for the LAN 41, the hub unit 42, Transmit via LAN3.

  The arithmetic processing unit 13 of the information home appliance 1 that has received the authentication / registration content data via the LAN communication unit 11 passes the authentication / registration content data to the browser function unit 10 in the home appliance function unit 10. As a result, the browser function unit 10b displays the authentication / registration content screen on the display unit 10a as shown in FIG.

  On this screen, a message is displayed asking the user whether to register the information home appliance 1 as a home device, and an operation button for inputting the reply, that is, the “Yes” button BT1, “No” Button BT2 is displayed. Any one of the buttons BT1 and BT2 is selected by operating, for example, a direction key of the remote controller 10c. In this case, the selection is indicated to the user by changing the display color of the button on the selection side. Here, when the user selects, for example, the “Yes” button BT1 and presses the enter key provided on the remote controller 10c, the display screen on the display unit 10a changes to FIG. 4B. When the “No” button BT2 is selected, the authentication / registration work is canceled and the display on the display unit 10a returns to the initial state.

  The screen shown in FIG. 4B is a screen prompting the user to register, and a message about the authentication / registration operation method, a “registration” button BT1, and a “return” for returning to the previous screen. Button BT2 'is displayed.

  Here, when the registration button BT1 is selected and operated with the remote controller 10c, the arithmetic processing unit 13 of the information home appliance 1 receives registration operation information from the home appliance function unit 10, and through the LAN communication unit 10 based on the registration operation information. Notification information for registration processing execution is transmitted to the network device 4.

  When the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 receives the notification information through the hub unit 42 and the LAN communication unit 41, the arithmetic processing unit 44 starts counting the time by the built-in timer, It is checked whether or not the registration switch SW is pressed down.

  If there is a push-down operation within a certain period of time, information home appliance information indicating that it has been registered in association with the unique identification information (MAC address) of the information home appliance 1 and the IP address on the network is stored in the storage unit 43. Remember. Thereby, the authentication / registration of the information home appliance 1 is completed.

  On the other hand, if there is no depressing operation of the authentication / registration switch SW within a certain time, the notification information is invalidated and the information home appliance 1 is not authenticated / registered. In other words, even if a person who cannot push down the authentication / registration switch SW provided in the network device 4 in the home performs a series of authentication / registration operations from the outside, it will not be authenticated / registered in the end. In the case of the equipment, from the information home appliance 1 through the wireless access point 6, the operation of locking and unlocking the electric lock 2 cannot be performed, and a highly secure system can be constructed.

  Now, a case will be described where control / monitoring of equipment (the electric lock 2 in the embodiment) is performed using the authenticated / registered information home appliance 1.

  First, the information home appliance 1 starts up the browser function unit 10b in the home appliance function unit 10 by operating the remote controller 10c, and accesses the URL of the content on the menu screen for control and monitoring provided by the network device 4. In response to this access, the browser function unit 10b that has received the content data of the menu screen sent from the network device 4 displays it on the display unit 10a. The electric lock 2 is selected from the menu screen and switched to the operation screen, and the operation of locking or unlocking the electric lock 2 is performed by the remote controller 10c from the switched operation screen. By this operation, control information is sent to the network device 4 together with the unique identification information of the information home appliance 1. The arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 determines whether or not the information home appliance 1 is the authenticated / registered information home appliance 1 held in the storage unit 43 based on the unique identification information, and has been authenticated / registered. The control monitoring function unit 40 sends a lock / unlock control signal to the electric lock 2 based on the control information.

  On the other hand, if authentication / registration has not been completed, control signals are not transmitted. In other words, the electric lock 2 is not unlocked or locked against unauthorized access.

  In addition, after locking or unlocking the electric lock 2, the arithmetic processing unit 44 performs processing to send the status information of the electric lock 2 received from the control monitoring function unit 40 to the information home appliance 1 side as monitoring information, so that the information home appliance 1 On the side, the state of the electric lock 2 can be monitored.

  Further, the operation display device 8 is a system-specific network terminal that does not require authentication / registration and in which an IP address and unique identification information are registered in advance. The operation display device 8 is an electrical device that is a facility device without authentication / registration. Lock 2 can be unlocked.

In addition to the electric lock 2, there are various equipment such as an air conditioner as the equipment, and the configuration of the embodiment is not particularly limited. Moreover, you may make it perform control and monitoring between the information household appliances 1 connected on LAN3.
(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, when there is access to the authentication / registration content from the information home appliance 1, the authentication / registration content data is always sent from the network device 4 to the information home appliance 1. In this case, the authentication / registration content data is transmitted to the information home appliance 1 only in response to the access to the authentication / registration content from the information home appliance 1 that has not been authenticated / registered.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the information processing home appliance connected to the LAN 3 by this detection function unit 44c is provided with a detection function unit 44c having a UPnP control point function in the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4. 1 and the operation display device 8 which is a network terminal are detected, and their IP address and MAC address are stored as unique identification information, and the unique identification information of the information home appliance 1 is authenticated or registered. Add information.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, when the information home appliance 1 accesses the URL of the content of the menu screen, for example, the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 has the unique identification information (MAC) of the information home appliance 1. Based on the address), it is checked whether or not the information home appliance 1 has been authenticated / registered from the storage information of the storage unit 43. To the user, indicating that the information home appliance 1 is not registered, and prompting the user to register. Since this registration procedure is the same as that in the first embodiment, a description thereof will be omitted.

  On the other hand, if it is known from the unique identification information (MAC address) that the device that has accessed the content is the operation display device 8, the network device 4 does not need to be authenticated / registered. Transmit to device 8.

  Similarly, when it is determined that the request is a content request from the registered information home appliance 1, the data of the accessed content is transmitted to the information home appliance 1.

  In this way, in this embodiment, when there is an access to the content from the information home appliance 1 that requires authentication / registration, the authentication / registration data is sent first to prompt the user to perform the authentication / registration work. is there.

  When the user accesses the authentication / registration content from the unregistered information home appliance 1 for registration, the authentication / registration work is performed in the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

  By the way, the content provided from the network device 4 to the information home appliance 1 includes content that does not require authentication / registration and content that is provided only to the information home appliance 1 that has been authenticated / registered. The operation when there is from the information home appliance 1 will be described with reference to FIG. A case in which content is accessed from the operation display device 8 that does not require authentication / registration will also be described.

First, as shown in the figure, when there is access to the content A that does not require authentication / registration from the information home appliance 1 and the operation display device 8, the network device 4 accesses the information home appliance 1 and the operation display device 8 that accessed the data of the content A. Send to. On the other hand, when the access to the content B that requires authentication / registration is from the information home appliance 1 and the operation display device 8, the network device 4 transmits the content B data to the operation display device 8 that has accessed the data unconditionally, For the information home appliance 1, it is checked whether or not the information home appliance 1 is authenticated / registered. If the information home appliance 1 is not registered, the authentication / registration content data is sent to the information home appliance 1. This information is sent to the user, indicating that the information home appliance 1 has not been registered, and prompting registration.
(Embodiment 3)
In the first embodiment, when there is access to the authentication / registration content from the information home appliance 1, the network device 4 transmits the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance 1, and the second embodiment Then, when there is an access to any content provided by the network device 4 from the unregistered information home appliance 1, the network device 4 transmits the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance 1. However, in this embodiment, the detection function unit 44c including the UPnP control point function provided in the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 detects that the unregistered information home appliance 1 is connected to the LAN 3. Then, the function of automatically transmitting the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance 1 It is characterized in that gave the over server function unit 44a. Note that the configuration of the network device 4 is the same as the configuration of FIG.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 8, when the detection function unit 44c including the UPnP control point function provided in the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 detects that the unregistered information home appliance 1 is connected to the LAN 3, Data of authentication / registration content is automatically transmitted to the information home appliance 1.

As a result, in the information home appliance 1, the browser function unit 10 b of the home appliance function unit 10 stands up and displays the authentication / registration content screen on the display unit 10 a to ensure the user's authentication / registration work of the information home appliance 1. To encourage.
(Embodiment 4)
In the third embodiment, the authentication / registration content data is automatically transmitted from the network device 4 to the unregistered information home appliance 1, but the authentication / registration content screen is displayed at an unnecessary timing. In this embodiment, the display unit 10a is prevented from being displayed.

  That is, when the detection function unit 44c including the UPnP control point function provided in the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 of the present embodiment detects that the unregistered information home appliance 1 is connected to the LAN 3, the information home appliance 1, the content server function unit 44 a further has a function of notifying the content transmission confirmation to the information processing unit 13, and the arithmetic processing unit 13 of the information home appliance 1 detects the operation state of the home appliance function unit 10, and the network device 4 is characterized in that it has a function of returning the operation state information of the home appliance function unit 10 when a notification of whether or not content transmission is possible is received from 4. As the operation state information, for example, information such as whether a digital TV is watching a broadcast (video) or using the Internet is used.

  Note that the configuration of the network device 4 is the same as the configuration of FIG. Moreover, since the structure of the information household appliance 1 is the same as the structure of FIG.1 (b), illustration and description are abbreviate | omitted.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 9, when the detection function unit 44c including the UPnP control point function provided in the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 detects that the unregistered information home appliance 1 is connected to the LAN 3, The content home appliance 1 is notified of content transmission confirmation.

  Receiving this notification, the information home appliance 1 transmits the operation state information of the home appliance function unit 1 to the network device 4. The content server function unit 44a of the arithmetic processing unit 44 of the network device 4 determines the state of the information home appliance 1 from the operation state information, and determines whether authentication / registration content data can be transmitted. For example, if it is a digital television and the Internet is being used, it is determined that there is no problem even if data for authentication / registration content is transmitted, and the data is automatically transmitted. If the broadcast (video) is being watched, the transmission of authentication / registration content data is stopped.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent the authentication / registration content screen from being displayed on the display unit 10a at an unnecessary timing.

Of course, when the transmission is possible, the authentication / registration content screen is automatically displayed on the display unit 10a, so that the user can be surely prompted to authenticate / register the information home appliance 1.
(Embodiment 5)
In the first embodiment (and 2 to 4) described above, the final processing of the authentication / registration work is performed by operating the authentication / registration switch SW of the network device 4, but in this embodiment, on the LAN 3 This is characterized in that the operation display device 8 is used.

  The configuration of the network device 4 of the present embodiment is the same as the configuration of FIG. 1B or FIG. 5 except that the authentication / registration switch SW is not provided.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, when the user wants to use the home information appliance 1 as a home device, the information home appliance 1 accesses the URL of the authentication / registration content provided by the network device 4 as in the first embodiment. To do. By this access, the information is transmitted from the network device 4 to the information home appliance 1, and the content screen shown in FIG. 11A is displayed on the display unit 10 a of the information home appliance 1.

  On this screen, a message asking whether or not to register the information home appliance 1 is displayed in the same way as the screen of FIG. 4A, and an operation button for inputting a reply, that is, a “Yes” button BT1, “NO” button BT2 is displayed. When the “Yes” button BT1 is selected on this screen, the display screen on the display unit 10a changes to FIG. This screen is a screen that prompts the user to register, similar to the screen of FIG. 4B, a message about the authentication registration operation method, the “registration” button BT1, and “return” to return to the previous screen. "Button BT2 'is displayed. Unlike the case of the first embodiment, the displayed message is a content that prompts the user to perform the registration work on the operation display device 8 within 5 minutes.

  When the registration button BT1 is selected and operated with the remote controller 10c, the arithmetic processing unit 13 of the information home appliance 1 receives registration operation information from the home appliance function unit 10, and corresponds to the registration operation information, the LAN communication unit 10 The registration process execution notification information is transmitted to the operation display device 8 through

  When the operation display device 8 receives the notification information, the operation display device 8 starts time counting by the built-in timer, and checks whether or not the registration work is performed before a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) elapses.

  If the operation display device 8 performs a registration operation using the operation unit 80b within a certain period of time, the registered contents, that is, the unique identification information (MAC address) of the information home appliance 1 to be registered and the IP address on the network are displayed. Information home appliance information indicating that registration has been completed is transmitted to the network apparatus 4 as registered contents.

  When the network device 4 receives the registered content, the network device 4 stores the registered content, that is, the information home appliance information in the storage unit 43 under the arithmetic processing unit 44. Thereby, the authentication / registration of the information home appliance 1 is completed.

  On the other hand, if the registration operation is not performed within a predetermined time, the notification information is invalidated and the registration contents are not transmitted from the operation display device 8 to the network device 4.

As described above, in this embodiment, unless the registration work is performed on the operation display device 8 in the house, authentication / registration of the information home appliance 1 outside the house is performed illegally because authentication / registration is not performed finally. It is impossible to build a highly secure system. Moreover, there is also an advantage that convenience is enhanced by using the operation display device 8 that is frequently used by the user.
(Embodiment 6)
In the present embodiment, authentication / registration between the information home appliance 1 and the network device 4 is performed by exchanging information with the information home appliance 1 and with the network device 4 as the authentication device shown in FIG. It is characterized in that an authentication / registration relay device 9 for relaying information for the purpose is provided in the house.

  When relay device 9 receives authentication / registration operation switch SW0 and information for accessing network device 4 from information home appliance 1 after operation of authentication / registration operation switch SW0 as shown in the figure, In-house device information acquisition function 90a for acquiring unique identification information (MAC address) of the information home appliance 1 in a state where access to the network device 4 is suspended, and in-home device information for transmitting the unique identification information to the network device 4 An authentication / registration relay function unit 90 including a notification function 90b and a LAN communication unit 91 are provided.

  Next, authentication registration of the information home appliance 1 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the user wants to authenticate / register the information home appliance 1, the user presses down the authentication / registration switch SW 0 of the authentication / registration relay device 9, and then the information home appliance 1 to be registered is connected to the network device 4. The access operation is performed by the remote controller 10c. Thereby, access information is sent from the information home appliance 1 to the authentication / registration relay device 9. The authentication / registration relay function unit 90 of the authentication / registration relay device 9 temporarily stops the access information based on the fact that the authentication / registration switch SW0 has been pressed first, and acquires it by the home device information acquisition function 90a. The unique identification information (MAC address) of the information home appliance 1 is transmitted to the network device 4.

  The network device 4 checks whether or not the information home appliance 1 is registered based on the information of the registered information home appliance 1 stored in the storage unit 43. If the information home appliance 1 is not registered, the network home appliance 1 1 is authenticated and registered as home information appliance 1 in association with the MAC address and IP address of 1. After this registration is completed, a registration completion notification is sent to the authentication / registration relay device 9. The authentication / registration relay function unit 90 of the authentication / registration relay device 9 that has received the registration completion notification transfers the access information for the network device 4 received from the information home appliance 1 to the network device 4.

  As a result, the network device 4 performs processing based on the received access information. For example, in the case of access to content, the content data is sent to the information home appliance 1.

  As described above, by providing the authentication / registration relay device 9 in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to provide the network device 4 with a detection function such as UPnP. That is, the network device 4 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment may be provided.

(A) is the system block diagram of this invention, (b) is the block diagram of the network apparatus and information household appliances of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a block diagram of the operation display apparatus used for Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation of the first embodiment. It is screen explanatory drawing of the content for authentication and registration displayed on the display part of the information household appliances of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a block diagram of the network apparatus used for Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation of the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is another operation explanation sequence diagram of the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation of the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation of the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the fifth embodiment. It is screen explanatory drawing of the content for authentication and registration displayed on the display part of the information household appliances of Embodiment 5. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of an authentication / registration relay device used in Embodiment 6. FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram for explaining an operation of the sixth embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of a conventional system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Home information appliance 10 Home appliance function part 10a Display part 10b Browser function part 10c Remote control 11 LAN communication part 12 Equipment information storage part 13 Processing unit 2 Electric lock 3 LAN
4 Network device 40 Control monitoring function unit 41 LAN communication unit 42 Hub unit 43 Storage unit 44 Calculation processing unit 44a Content server function unit 44b Authentication / registration function unit 8 Operation display device 6 Wireless access point SW Authentication / registration switch

Claims (7)

Information home appliances that have added value to home appliance functions by exchanging information via the network, and are connected to the network provided in the same home as the information home appliances, and information from the information home appliances A network system comprising a network device for controlling and monitoring equipment based on
The network device receives the registration operation information from the content home appliance, the content server function unit that provides the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance, the authentication / registration switch, and the registration operation information. An authentication / registration function unit that performs authentication / registration of the information home appliance based on the unique identification information of the information home appliance when the authentication / registration switch is operated within a certain period of time;
The information home appliance includes a display unit, an operation unit that can perform at least an operation of accessing content provided by the content server function unit from the network device and an authentication / registration operation, and an authentication / reception received from the content server function unit. A browser function unit that displays an authentication / registration screen on the display unit according to registration content data, and when there is an authentication / registration operation from the operation unit in response to the display of the authentication / registration screen, registration operation information And the unique identification information of the information home appliance is transmitted to the network device. The network device is authenticated / registered in association with a detection function unit that detects an information home appliance connected to the network, and unique identification information of the information home appliance detected by the detection function. A storage unit for storing unregistered information,
The content server function unit determines whether the information home appliance that has accessed the content for authentication / registration is authenticated / registered based on the stored information in the storage unit. The network system according to claim 1, wherein the content data for authentication / registration is transmitted. The network device is authenticated / registered in association with a detection function unit that detects an information home appliance connected to the network, and unique identification information of the information home appliance detected by the detection function. A storage unit for storing unregistered information,
The content server function unit has content data to be provided only to an authenticated / registered information home appliance, and if there is an access from the information home appliance to the content, whether the information home appliance has been authenticated / registered. The content data is determined if it is authenticated or registered, and the content data for authentication / registration is transmitted if it is not registered. Item 4. The network system according to Item 1. The network device is authenticated / registered in association with a detection function unit that detects an information home appliance connected to the network, and unique identification information of the information home appliance detected by the detection function. / The storage part which memorize | stores unregistered information, The said content server function part will transmit the said content data for authentication and registration to the said information household appliances, if the said detection function part detects an unregistered information household appliances The network system according to claim 1, wherein: The content server function unit transmits and receives the authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance when the information can be transmitted to the information home appliance by transmitting and receiving the content information transmission confirmation. 5. The network system according to claim 4, wherein the registration content data is transmitted to the information home appliance. An information home appliance that exchanges information over the network and adds value to the home appliance function, and a network device that is connected to the information home appliance over the network and authenticates and registers the information home appliance on the network; Is a network system equipped in the same house,
A network device connected to the network and provided in the same home as the information home appliance;
Provided in the home with a network terminal that has a function of operating and monitoring devices by exchanging information with devices on the network including information home appliances connected to the network,
When the network device receives the registration content information from the content terminal function unit that provides authentication / registration content data to the information home appliance and the network terminal, the network device An authentication / registration function unit that performs authentication / registration of the information home appliance based on the unique identification information. The information home appliance accesses a content provided by the content server function unit from a display unit and the network device. An operation unit that can perform at least an operation and an authentication / registration operation; and a browser function unit that displays an authentication / registration screen on the display unit based on the content data for authentication / registration received from the content server function unit. If there is an authentication / registration operation from the operation unit corresponding to the display of the registration screen, the network terminal Send the registration operation information and the unique identification information of the information home appliance,
The network terminal has an operation function for performing authentication / registration work based on registration operation information received from an information home appliance, and when the authentication / registration work starts or ends within a predetermined time after receiving registration operation information. A network system comprising a function of transmitting registration content information to the network device. Information home appliances that have added value to home appliance functions by exchanging information via the network, and are connected to the network provided in the same home as the information home appliances, and information from the information home appliances A network system comprising a network device for controlling and monitoring equipment based on
An authentication / registration relay device that exchanges information between the information home appliance and the network device, and performs authentication / registration information processing between the information home appliance and the network device. Set up in the house,
The authentication / registration relay device receives an information for accessing the network device from the information home appliance after the authentication / registration operation switch and the authentication / registration operation switch are operated. An authentication / registration relay function unit that acquires the unique identification information of the information home appliance and transmits the unique identification information to the network device in a state where access to the device is suspended,
The network device corresponds to the unique identification information received from the authentication / registration relay device, and a storage unit that stores the authenticated / registered information of the information household appliance in association with the unique identification information of the information household appliance A network system comprising: an authentication / registration function unit that performs authentication / registration of the information home appliance when the information home appliance to be registered is unregistered.

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