JP2012196016A - Power supply management system, portable terminal, control method for power supply management system, and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a user know a power supply state of an electric appliance without utilizing locking with a key.SOLUTION: A power supply management system 10 comprises: a monitoring part 11 for acquiring a power supply state of an electric appliance 20; a detection part for 12 detecting a portable terminal 60 being out of a communication range of a radio LAN; and a communication part 13 for communicating with the portable terminal 60. At timing that the detection part 12 detects the portable terminal 60 being out of the communication range of the radio LAN, the communication part 13 notifies the portable terminal 60 of the power supply state of the electric appliance 20 acquired by the monitoring part 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a power management system, a portable terminal, a power management system control method, and a program thereof.

  Many household appliances (hereinafter, “electric appliances”) are used in the home. In recent years, the convenience of these electric appliances has been improved. For example, a system that manages the operating state of electrical appliances from a remote location and performs remote operation has been proposed. By using this system, lighting of the home can be turned on before returning home, or an air conditioner can be used. It is possible to adjust the room temperature in advance.

  Patent Document 1 forgets to confirm the power status of an electrical appliance when going out without accidentally operating the power source of the electrical appliance from the outside by letting the user know the power status by focusing on a specific electrical appliance. A power management device for electrical appliances that is difficult to perform is disclosed. More specifically, this power management device carries an e-mail describing the power status of an electrical appliance designated as a monitoring target in advance when a request from a mobile phone or a door lock is locked. By sending it to the phone, the user is notified of the power status of the appliance.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a power supply control device that performs power operation without setting a control code in a subject or text part of an e-mail by setting a destination e-mail address according to the power operation content and performing e-mail transmission. It is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 3, when the power consumption in the home exceeds the allowable amount, all the appliances are forcibly turned off by turning off the breakers of the appliances according to a predetermined priority order. A power management system for electrical appliances that avoids this is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 4, it is possible to control ON / OFF of power supply from a power outlet, and it is possible to suppress power consumption. On the other hand, even when the power is turned off from the power outlet, A power management system that can be controlled to ON is disclosed.

JP 2009-033287 A JP 2006-011624 A JP 2008-099448 A JP 2009-271917 A

  However, the power management device disclosed in Patent Document 1 recognizes the user's going out based on key locking. Therefore, the power management device disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied to buildings that do not require key locking. In addition, when the user goes out without locking the key, the power management device cannot recognize the user's going out, so the user cannot be informed of forgetting to turn off the electrical appliance. .

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and controls the power management system, the portable terminal, and the power management system to notify the user of the power state of the electrical appliance without using the key lock. It is an object to provide a method and a program thereof.

  A power management system according to the present invention includes a monitoring unit that acquires a power state of an electrical appliance, a detection unit that detects that the mobile terminal is out of a communication range of a wireless LAN, and a communication unit that performs communication with the mobile terminal. , And the communication unit detects the power state of the appliance acquired by the monitoring unit when the detection unit detects that the portable terminal is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN. Notify the terminal.

  In addition, the mobile terminal according to the present invention requests the power management system to acquire information on the power state of the electrical appliance when the mobile terminal is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN, and the electrical appliance from the power management system Get power status information for.

  Also, the control method of the power management system according to the present invention acquires the power state of the electrical appliance, detects that the mobile terminal is out of the wireless LAN communication range, and the mobile terminal is out of the wireless LAN communication range. The detected power state of the electrical appliance is transmitted to the mobile terminal.

  Further, the program according to the present invention acquires the power state of the electrical appliance, detects that the mobile terminal is out of the wireless LAN communication range, and detects that the mobile terminal is out of the wireless LAN communication range. As a trigger, the computer is caused to transmit the acquired power state of the appliance to the portable terminal.

  A power management system, a portable terminal, a control method for the power management system, and a program for the power management system that can inform the user of the power state of the electrical appliance without using the key lock can be provided.

1 is a diagram of a communication system according to a first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a communication system according to a second exemplary embodiment. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the mobile terminal according to the second exemplary embodiment. It is a figure of the power supply state change table concerning Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the power supply control device according to the second exemplary embodiment. It is a figure of the power supply state table concerning Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the wireless LAN device according to the second exemplary embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state of a wireless LAN device according to a second embodiment. FIG.

Embodiment 1
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for managing electrical appliances using the power management system according to the present embodiment.

  The communication system 1 includes a power management system 10, an appliance 20, a wireless LAN device 30, a public network 40, a base station 50, and a mobile terminal 60.

  The power management system 10 includes a monitoring unit 11, a detection unit 12, and a communication unit 13. The power management system 10 is connected to the electrical appliance 20, the wireless LAN device 30, and the public network 40. The power management system 10 has a function of controlling the power state of the electrical appliance 20.

The monitoring unit 11 monitors the power supply state of the appliance 20. Typically, the monitoring unit 11 monitors the ON / OFF state of the power supply of the electrical appliance 20. The power supply state of the appliance 20 to be monitored by the monitoring unit 11 is not limited to the power ON / OFF state. For example, the power supply state to be monitored may include at least one of the remaining amount of the battery mounted on the electrical appliance, the power consumption, and other parameters that affect the power consumption. The parameters that affect the power consumption are a load of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a data packet transmission / reception amount, an internal temperature of the electrical appliance 20, and the like.
Note that the monitoring unit 11 may monitor the strength state of the operation of the appliance 20 and the setting state of the timer. For example, when the electrical appliance 20 is an air conditioner, the operation of strong winds and weak winds may be monitored.

The detection unit 12 detects that the mobile terminal 60 is outside the communication range (out of area) of the wireless LAN device 30. The method for detecting that the wireless LAN device 30 is out of the communication range is not limited.
For example, the detection unit 12 monitors the IP address communicating with the wireless LAN device 30 and determines whether or not the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range based on the presence or absence of data transmission / reception from the IP address of the mobile terminal 60. It may be detected. Further, for example, the detection unit 12 receives information related to communication between the base station 50 and the mobile terminal 60 from the base station 50, thereby grasping the position of the mobile terminal 60, so that the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30. It may be detected. For example, the detection unit 12 receives information transmitted from the mobile terminal 60 via the public network 40 when the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30, so that the mobile terminal 60 can receive the wireless LAN. It may be detected that the device 30 is out of the communication range.

  The communication unit 13 has a function of notifying the portable terminal 60 of the power state of the appliance 20. Typically, the communication unit 13 transmits an e-mail (hereinafter referred to as “e-mail”) describing the power state of the appliance 20 to the portable terminal 60 via the public network 40.

  Note that the operation of the power management system 10 can be realized by a CPU provided in the power management system 10 performing arithmetic processing based on a program stored in a ROM provided in the power management system 10.

The electrical appliance 20 is typically various electrical appliances installed in a house. The electrical appliance 20 is monitored and controlled by the power management system 10. For example, the electrical appliance 20 is a stereo, a video deck, a television, an electric stove, an iron, a dryer, a washing machine, or the like. Furthermore, the appliance 20 may include a wireless LAN device 30. The electrical appliance 20 is not limited to these.
Various electrical appliances 20 are connected to the power management system 10 so as to communicate with each other. What is necessary is just to connect between the power management system 10 and the electrical appliance 20 by wired LAN (Local Area Network), wireless LAN, or power line communication, for example.

The wireless LAN device 30 communicates with the mobile terminal 60 in the communication area (in the area) centering on the wireless LAN device 30. The wireless LAN device 30 preferably has a means for recognizing whether or not the mobile terminal 60 exists within the communication range.
In FIG. 1, the wireless LAN device 30 is described as a device separate from the power management system 10, but may be a device integrated with the power management system 10.

  The public network 40 is a network serving as a path for transmitting information between the power management system 10 and the portable terminal 60. Typically, the public network 40 is an Internet network connected by the TCP / IP protocol.

  The base station 50 is a terminal of the public network 40 and includes a communication device that performs wireless communication with the mobile terminal 60.

  The mobile terminal 60 is, for example, a mobile phone terminal, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a notebook PC (Personal Computer) or the like. The portable terminal 60 is connected to the public network 40 via the base station 50. Further, the portable terminal 60 communicates with the wireless LAN device 30 within the area constructed by the wireless LAN device 30.

  Next, a procedure for the user to manage the power state of the appliance 20 using the power management system 10 will be described.

First, the detection unit 12 detects whether or not the position of the mobile terminal 60 is outside the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30.
For example, the detection unit 12 monitors the IP address with which the wireless LAN device 30 performs communication, and determines that the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range if there is no inquiry from the IP address of the mobile terminal 60.
Further, for example, the detection unit 12 receives information related to communication between the base station 50 and the mobile terminal 60 from the base station 50, grasps the position of the mobile terminal 60 based on the position information of the base station 50, and the mobile terminal 60 It is determined that the wireless LAN device 30 is out of the communication range.
For example, when the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30, the mobile terminal 60 transmits information via the public network 40, and when the detection unit 12 receives this information, the mobile terminal 60 receives the information from the wireless LAN device 30. It is determined that it is out of the communication range. For example, e-mail is used to transmit information from the portable terminal 60 to the detection unit 12.

When it is determined that the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30, the monitoring unit 11 acquires the power state of the electrical appliance 20 connected to the power management system 10.
Thereafter, the communication unit 13 transmits the power state of the electrical appliance 20 acquired by the monitoring unit 11 to the portable terminal 60 via the public network 40. Thereby, the user can confirm the power supply state of the electrical appliance 20.

  When it is determined that the mobile terminal 60 is within the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30, the detection unit 12 repeatedly determines whether or not the mobile terminal 60 is outside the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30.

In addition, when the user's operation of the mobile terminal 60 transmits information on an instruction to acquire information on the power state of the electrical appliance 20 from the mobile terminal 60 to the power management system 10, the monitoring unit 11 The information on the power state of the electric appliance 20 is acquired, and the communication unit 13 transmits the power state of the electric appliance 20 acquired by the monitoring unit 11 to the mobile terminal 60.
Furthermore, when the user operates the portable terminal 60 to transmit information that instructs the power management system 10 to change the power state of the electrical appliance 20 from the portable terminal 60, the power management system 10 changes the received change. Based on the instructed information, the power supply state of the appliance 20 is changed.

  At this time, when the mobile terminal 60 is outside the communication range of the wireless LAN device 30, the mobile terminal 60 transmits information via the public network 40. When the portable terminal 60 is within the communication range of the wireless LAN device, the portable terminal 60 may transmit information via the public network 40, or may transmit information through direct communication with the wireless LAN device 30. good.

Thereby, the power management system 10 can recognize the user's going out based on the out-of-service recognition of the wireless LAN device 30 and can notify the user of the power state of the appliance 20.
According to the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to make the power management system 10 recognize the key locking, there is no need to modify the facility so that the key locking can be recognized, and even the facility where the key locking cannot be performed is used. Is possible. Further, the power management system 10 can notify the power state of the appliance 20 even when the user forgets to lock the key of the facility that requires the key locking.

Embodiment 2
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration for managing appliance 20 using communication system 2 according to the present embodiment. In addition, about the component which has the function similar to the component shown in Embodiment 1, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The communication system 2 includes a power management system 15, an appliance 20, a wireless LAN device 31, a public network 40, a base station 50, and a mobile terminal 60.

  The power management system 15 includes a monitoring unit 11 that monitors the power state of the connected electrical appliance 20 and a communication unit 13 that communicates with the wireless LAN device 30.

The wireless LAN device 31 is connected to the power management system 15 and the public network 4. In addition to the function of a wireless LAN access point, the wireless LAN device 31 has a gateway function for relaying data packets between the public network 4 and the LAN. That is, communication between the power management system 15 and the portable terminal 60 is performed via the wireless LAN device 31 regardless of whether or not the public network 40 is used.
Further, the wireless LAN device 31 determines whether or not the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range and monitors the communication state. That is, the wireless LAN device 31 includes the detection unit 12.

  Next, an operation for managing the power state of the electrical appliance 20 using the power management system 15 in the communication system 2 will be described. Here, the power supply state managed by the power supply management system 15 is a power ON / OFF state. First, the operation of the portable terminal 60 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

When the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range of the wireless LAN device 31, the mobile terminal 60 waits for a power control mail transmitted from the wireless LAN device 31. For example, the mobile terminal 60 determines whether or not the communication area is within the communication range depending on whether or not communication with the wireless LAN device 31 is possible.
In the mail reception waiting state, the mobile terminal 60 confirms reception of power control mail from the wireless LAN device 31 (step S11).

If the portable terminal 60 receives a power control mail from the wireless LAN device 31 (Yes in step S11), the portable terminal 60 proceeds to step S12. Here, it is assumed that the power state of the various electric appliances 20 is described in the power control mail.
When the portable terminal 60 does not receive the power control mail from the wireless LAN device 31 (No in step S11), the portable terminal 60 continues to receive mail.

The portable terminal 60 displays the power ON / OFF states of various electrical appliances 20 based on the received power control mail (step S12).
Here, based on the displayed information, the user determines whether or not to change the power state of various appliances 20, and when changing the power state, requests the mobile terminal 60 to send an email. Do. If the user does not change the power state, the user does not request the portable terminal 60 to send an email.

The portable terminal 60 checks whether or not there is a request for mail transmission for changing the power supply state of various electrical appliances 20 (step S13).
If there is no mail transmission request by the user (No in step S13), the process returns to the power reception mail waiting state.

  When there is a mail transmission request by the user (Yes in Step S13), the mobile terminal 60 creates a power state change table based on the power control request by the user (Step S14). FIG. 4 is an example of a power state change table created by the mobile terminal 60. In the power supply state change table, information on the name of the connected device, the power supply state, and whether there is a change request is described. The power status change table is typically described in the mail text. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S15.

  The portable terminal 60 transmits a mail describing the power state change table to the wireless LAN device 31 through the public network 40 (step S15). Thereafter, the portable terminal 60 returns to a state waiting for receiving a power control mail.

  Next, the operation of the power management system 15 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The power management system 15 checks whether or not the electrical appliance 20 that performs power control is connected (step S21).
If not connected (No in step S21), the connection determination is repeated until the electrical appliance 20 is connected.

  When the electrical appliance 20 that performs power control is connected (Yes in step S21), the power management system 15 acquires the power ON / OFF information of the connected device and creates a power state table (step S22). ). FIG. 6 is an example of a power state table. In the power status table, the name of the connected device and the power status are described. The power management system 15 updates the power supply state table when it retains the information of the previous power supply state table.

  The power management system 15 checks whether there is a connection information acquisition request (connection information acquisition request) from the wireless LAN device 31 to the electrical appliance 20 (step S23). If there is a connection information acquisition request from the wireless LAN device 31 (Yes in step S23), the power management system 15 transmits the power state table to the wireless LAN device 31 (step S24), and proceeds to step S25. If there is no connection information acquisition request from the wireless LAN device 31 (No in step S23), the process proceeds to step S25.

The power management system 15 checks whether or not there is a power control request for the electrical appliance 20 from the wireless LAN device 31 (step S25). Specifically, the power management system 15 checks whether there is a power control request based on the power state change table transmitted from the wireless LAN device 31.
When there is a power control request from the wireless LAN device 31 (Yes in step S25), the power management system 15 performs power ON / OFF control of the connected appliance 20 based on the power status change table. This is performed (step S26). The power status change table updates information after power control of the electrical appliance 20 is performed, and records the latest power status and change request. Then, it returns to step S21 and it is confirmed whether there exists any electric appliance 20 which controls power supply.
If there is no power control request from the wireless LAN device 31 (No in step S25), the process returns to step S21 to check whether or not there is an electrical appliance 20 for power control.

  Next, the operation of the wireless LAN device 31 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The wireless LAN device 31 monitors whether or not the mobile terminal 60 has moved out of the wireless LAN (step S31). FIG. 8 is an example of a table indicating connection devices registered in the wireless LAN device 31 and their connection states.

  When the wireless LAN device 31 recognizes that the mobile terminal 60 has moved from the wireless LAN area to the outside area (Yes in step S31), the power ON / OFF state information of the appliance 20 acquired by the power management system 15 is obtained. Is acquired (step S32). Acquisition of the power ON / OFF state from the power management system 15 is performed by receiving the power state table shown in FIG.

  The wireless LAN device 31 creates a power control mail by writing the power state table in the mail text (step S33), and transmits it to the portable terminal 60 (step S34).

  As a result, the information in the power management table is transmitted to the mobile terminal 60 via the public network 40 connected to the wireless LAN device 31. After transmitting the power control mail to the mobile terminal 60, the wireless LAN device 31 returns to step S31 and monitors whether the mobile terminal 60 has moved from the wireless LAN area to the outside area.

  If the wireless LAN device 31 does not recognize that the mobile terminal 60 has moved from the outside of the wireless LAN area (No in step S31), the wireless LAN device 31 requests power control from the mobile terminal 60 via the public network 40 by e-mail. It is confirmed whether there is any (step S35).

If there is a request for power operation from the portable terminal 60 (Yes in step S35), the wireless LAN device 31 transmits the power state change table shown in FIG. 3 to the power management system 15 to the power management system 15. The control of the ON / OFF state of the power supply of the connected appliance 20 is requested (step S36).
Thereafter, the process returns to step S31, and the wireless LAN device 31 monitors whether or not the mobile terminal 60 has moved out of the wireless LAN.

  If there is no request for power operation from the mobile terminal 60 (No in step S35), the process returns to step S31, and the wireless LAN device 31 monitors whether the mobile terminal 60 has moved out of the wireless LAN. To do.

As a result, the power management system 15 can recognize the user's going out based on the out-of-service recognition of the wireless LAN device 31 and can notify the user of the power state of the appliance 20. In addition, the user can control the power state of the electrical appliance 20 by operating the portable terminal 60 from the outside.
According to the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to make the power management system 11 recognize the key locking, there is no need to modify the facility so that the key locking can be recognized, and even the facility where the key locking cannot be performed is used. Is possible. Further, the power management system 11 can notify the power state of the appliance 20 even when the user forgets to lock the key of the facility that requires the key locking.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
In the first embodiment, the monitoring unit 11 determines that the mobile terminal 60 is out of the communication range by the detection unit 12 or receives the instruction from the mobile terminal 60 to acquire the power state of the appliance 20. Although it was assumed, it is good also as acquiring the power supply state of the electric appliance 20 for every fixed time.
In the second embodiment, the power supply state table and the power supply state change table are used to collectively handle the power supply states of the plurality of appliances 20, but the power supply information and the power supply state are changed for each individual appliance. It may be handled as information.
In the second embodiment, the wireless LAN device 31 is used as a device that performs out-of-service / recognition-recognition. However, a small-sized base station having a small communication area such as a femtocell or a private base station for home use is used. It is also possible.
Although it has been described that mail is used for transmission / reception of information between the portable terminal 60 and the power management system 10 or the wireless LAN device 30, information transmission / reception may be performed by communication without using mail.

  In the above example, the various programs installed in the storage means such as the hard disk and memory of the system are stored using various types of non-transitory computer readable media, and the computer. Can be supplied to. Non-transitory computer readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (for example, flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (for example, magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / W and semiconductor memory (for example, mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory)) are included. The program may also be supplied to the computer by various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication system 2 Communication system 10 Power supply management system 11 Monitoring part 12 Detection part 13 Communication part 20 Electrical appliance 30 Wireless LAN equipment 31 Wireless LAN equipment 40 Public network 50 Base station 60 Portable terminal

Claims (8)

A monitoring unit for obtaining the power status of the electrical appliance;
A detection unit for detecting that the mobile terminal is out of a wireless LAN communication range;
A communication unit that communicates with the mobile terminal,
When the detection unit detects that the mobile terminal is out of the wireless LAN communication range, the communication unit notifies the mobile terminal of the power state of the appliance acquired by the monitoring unit. , Power management system. The detection unit detects that the mobile terminal is out of a wireless LAN communication range based on information on a communication state of a wireless LAN device performing communication with the mobile terminal and the wireless LAN.
The power management system according to claim 1. The detection unit detects that the mobile terminal is out of a communication range of a wireless LAN based on information transmitted from a base station connected to the mobile terminal for communication via a public network.
The power management system according to claim 1 or 2. The detection unit detects that the mobile terminal is out of a communication range of a wireless LAN based on position information transmitted from the base station.
The power management system according to claim 3. The detection unit receives information transmitted from the mobile terminal via the public network when the mobile terminal is out of a wireless LAN communication range, thereby confirming that the mobile terminal is out of a wireless LAN communication range. To detect,
The power management system as described in any one of Claims 1-4.   When the wireless LAN is out of communication range, a request is made to the power management system to acquire information on the power state of the appliance, and the power state information of the appliance is acquired from the power management system. Terminal. Get the power status of the appliance
Detect that the mobile terminal is outside the wireless LAN communication range,
Triggered when the mobile terminal is detected to be out of the communication range of the wireless LAN, the acquired power state of the appliance is transmitted to the mobile terminal.
Control method of power management system.   The program for making a computer perform the control method of the power management system of Claim 7.

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