JP2018182457A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system capable of rejecting a request with respect to housing equipment from a communication terminal of a former resident.SOLUTION: A communication system comprises housing equipment, a relay device for performing communication with the housing equipment, and a management device for performing communication with the relay device via a communication network. The management device is configured to store association information obtained by associating user identification information transmitted from a communication terminal for performing communication with the management device via the communication network with identification information on the relay device transmitted from the relay device; permit first communication, via the management device, between the communication terminal and the relay device that are associated in the association information; and when no communication to the management device from the relay device or the communication terminal is performed during a predetermined first period after the permission of the first communication, inhibit the first communication after the first period is terminated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system for performing remote control of home equipment such as a water heater.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a system for remotely operating home equipment using a communication terminal such as a mobile phone. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for remotely controlling an electric device or gas device in a house using an external terminal such as a mobile phone. Further, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, the equipment device and the center device perform data communication via the communication network, and the terminal device performing remote control of the equipment device performs data communication with the center device via the communication network. A configuration is disclosed in which a center device exchanges data between a terminal device and a facility device.

Patent No. 5046416 Patent No. 4441430 Patent 4695423

  By the way, in order for a resident of a house to remotely operate home equipment using a communication terminal such as a mobile phone, a management apparatus connected to a communication network receives a remote control command for home equipment from the communication terminal. The remote control command may be configured to be transmitted to the home equipment through the communication network. In this case, the management device is configured to transfer the remote control command from the communication terminal to the home equipment based on the association information between the communication terminal and the home equipment.

  In addition, in order for the resident of the house to confirm the state of the home installation equipment using the communication terminal, the home installation equipment is configured to transmit information indicating the state of the home installation equipment to the management apparatus, When receiving a request for information indicating the state of the home equipment from the communication terminal, the information indicating the state of the home equipment may be transmitted to the communication terminal based on the association information.

  In the above cases, when the resident (old resident) of the house where the housing equipment is installed moves, if the above association information is not changed, the communication terminal by the old resident is used It may be possible to remotely control the home equipment and check the state of the home equipment.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication system capable of eliminating a request for home equipment by a former resident's communication terminal.

  In order to achieve the above object, a communication system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a housing equipment device, a relay device that communicates with the home equipment device, and a management device that communicates with the relay device through a communication network. And the management apparatus includes user identification information transmitted from a communication terminal that communicates with the management apparatus via the communication network, and identification information of the relay apparatus transmitted from the relay apparatus. The association information associated with each other is stored, the first communication between the communication terminal associated in the association information and the relay apparatus is permitted via the management device, and the first communication is permitted, and then the predetermined communication is performed. When the communication from the relay apparatus or the communication terminal to the management apparatus is not performed during the first period, the first communication after the first period is prohibited.

  According to this configuration, the first communication via the management device is permitted between the relay device that communicates with the home equipment device and the communication terminal owned by the user (resident) of the home equipment device. Thus, the user of the home equipment can use the communication terminal to make various requests for the home equipment (acquisition of information on the home equipment, remote control of the home equipment, and the like). Furthermore, after the first communication is permitted, if there is no communication from the relay apparatus or the communication terminal to the management apparatus for a predetermined first period, the first communication after the first period is prohibited. That is, by detecting that communication from the relay device or the communication terminal to the management device is not performed during the first period, the management device is transferred to the tenant and the use of the home equipment is interrupted. judge. As a result, the management device prohibits the first communication to the relay device for various requests for the home equipment by the communication terminal of the moved old tenant. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the request for the home equipment by the communication terminal of the old resident.

  The communication from the relay device to the management device includes a predetermined second communication periodically communicated every second period shorter than the first period, and the management device is permitted to perform the first communication. After that, when the second communication does not exist in the first period, the first communication after the first period may be prohibited. According to this configuration, the first communication is prohibited when the second communication periodically communicated from the relay device to the management device every second period shorter than the first period is not performed during the first period. Ru. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect that communication from the relay device to the management device, which should have been performed during normal operation (when using the resident), is not performed during the first period.

  The relay device may be configured to receive device state information indicating a state of the home equipment device from the home equipment device, and periodically transmit the equipment state information to the management device as the second communication. . According to this configuration, it is possible to eliminate the need to separately perform communication for determination by using communication for accumulating the state of the home equipment in the management apparatus for determination of the availability of the first communication.

  The management apparatus may be configured to transmit information to that effect to the corresponding communication terminal when the first communication is prohibited. According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the user of the communication terminal who is the old resident that the request for the home equipment can not be made.

  The present invention has an effect that it is possible to provide a communication system which has the configuration described above and can eliminate the request for the home equipment by the communication terminal of the old resident.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for associating a user account or the like with the serial number of the relay apparatus. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the first communication prohibition determination process based on the periodic communication in the present embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout all the drawings, and the redundant description will be omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This communication system is a relay device dedicated to a water heater communicably connected to a water heater 1 (for example, a combustion heating water heater), which is an example of housing equipment, and a controller 1 a built in the water heater 1. 2 and a management device 5 comprising a computer connected to a communication network 4 such as the Internet. The management device 5 communicates with the relay device 2 via the communication network 4 and the wireless LAN router 3 connected to the communication network 4. The communication terminal 6 formed of a mobile phone or the like communicates with the management apparatus 5 via the communication network 4 or the like. This communication system utilizes the communication network 4, the wireless LAN router 3 and the communication terminal 6. The wireless LAN router 3 and the communication terminal 6 are owned by a resident (user) of a home where the water heater 1 is installed.

  In addition, although there may be one house in which the water heater 1 is installed, there are usually a large number of houses, and there may usually be a large number of water heaters 1 constituting the communication system. Here, as a representative, only one water heater 1 is illustrated, and the relay device 2, the wireless LAN router 3, and the communication terminal 6 corresponding to only the water heater 1 are illustrated. Below, what was illustrated is demonstrated.

  The hot water heater 1 is installed at a predetermined place outside or indoors of a house, and has a hot water supply function of supplying hot water to a kitchen, a bathtub or the like. The water heater 1 has a power supply unit (not shown) that converts an AC voltage supplied from an external AC power supply (commercial power supply) to generate a predetermined DC voltage, and internally converts the DC voltage generated by the power supply unit. The relay apparatus 2 is supplied as its operation power supply voltage via the two-core cable C1.

  The relay device 2 is installed at a predetermined place outside or indoors of a house, and is connected to the controller 1a of the water heater 1 by a two-core cable C1. Thereby, mutual communication (two-way communication) is performed between the relay device 2 and the controller 1a of the water heater 1 through the two-core cable C1. Here, communication information is superimposed on the operation power supply voltage supplied from the power supply unit described above to the relay device 2 on the two-core cable C1.

  In addition, the relay device 2 can perform wireless communication with the wireless LAN router 3 by wireless LAN when the connection setting between the wireless LAN router 3 and the wireless LAN is performed. The relay device 2 executes communication processing with the controller 1 a of the water heater 1 and also executes communication processing with the management device 5 performed via the wireless LAN router 3 and the communication network 4. For example, the relay device 2 converts the communication format of the device information transmitted from the controller 1 a of the water heater 1 and transmits the device information to the management device 5 via the wireless LAN router 3 and the communication network 4. Further, the information transmitted from the management device 5 through the communication network 4 and the wireless LAN router 3 is converted into a communication format and transmitted to the controller 1 a of the water heater 1.

  The relay device 2 also has an AP (Access Point) function, and an AP button 2a for enabling this function is provided.

  The wireless LAN router 3 has a 48-bit Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) set as its identification information, and transmits information such as the BSSID and SSID (Service Set Identifier) as a beacon at predetermined time intervals (for example, 100 ms). doing.

  The management device 5 includes a storage unit 5a that stores association information. The association information is information in which a user account (user identification information) transmitted from the communication terminal 6 is associated with the serial number of the relay device 2 (identification information of the relay device 2). Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the identification information (BSSID) of the wireless LAN router 3 is included in the association information.

  The management device 5 further includes a storage unit 5 b that stores the device information transmitted from the relay device 2. Here, as the device information, the device configuration information transmitted to the relay device 2 first after the controller 1a of the water heater 1 is turned on, the relay device 2 periodically (for example, one hour interval) from the controller 1a of the water heater 1 There are operating state information indicating the operating state of the water heater 1, the error information, and the like, which are transmitted. Here, the device configuration information is information indicating the type and the like of the water heater 1, and the operation state information is information including the hot water supply set temperature of the water heater 1, the number of combustion operations, the combustion operation time and the like. The error information is information indicating an abnormality when some abnormality occurs in the water heater 1, and is information displayed also on a remote controller (not shown) of the water heater 1. The remote controller is connected to the controller 1a by a two-core cable.

  The device information is transmitted from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 together with the serial number of the relay device 2. Then, in the management device 5, the received device information is stored in the storage unit 5b in association with the serial number of the relay device 2.

  The communication terminal 6 is a portable terminal such as a smartphone, and can be connected to the communication network 4 via a base station or the like of a 3G (third generation) or 4G (fourth generation) mobile phone network. Further, the communication terminal 6 is capable of wireless LAN connection.

  If the communication terminal 6 is installed with an application program dedicated to the communication system (hereinafter referred to as “system dedicated application”) and the association information is stored in the storage unit 5 a of the management device 5, the serial number of the relay device 2 The remote control and status confirmation of the water heater 1 can be performed via the management device 5 or the like using the user account associated with the above. That is, the management device 5 permits the first communication via the management device 5 between the communication terminal 6 and the relay device 2 associated in the association information stored in the storage unit 5a.

  Next, the procedure etc. which link a user account etc. with the serial number of the relay apparatus 2 (perform pairing) etc. are demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for associating a user account and the like with the serial number of the relay apparatus 2.

  Here, for example, it is assumed that the water heater 1 and the relay device 2 are newly installed and the power supply of the water heater 1 is started. Alternatively, the resident may move to a house where the water heater 1 and the relay device 2 are installed, and the power supply of the water heater 1 may be started. Among the following procedures, the procedure performed by the resident is described in the instruction manual of the relay device 2.

  In step S1, the resident operates the communication terminal 6, logs in to the service site provided by the smartphone OS vendor, and downloads and installs the system dedicated application described above to the communication terminal 6. Thereafter, the resident activates the system dedicated application installed in the communication terminal 6, and logs in to the user management site provided by the management device 5. When the user management site is logged in, a user account is transmitted from the communication terminal 6 to the management apparatus 5. At this time, if there is no user account yet, the tenant creates a user account, and the created user account is transmitted to the management device 5. Thereby, the management device 5 acquires the user account transmitted from the communication terminal 6. The user account comprises, for example, an ID (for example, an e-mail address of the communication terminal 6) and a password.

  Next, in step S2, the resident presses the AP button 2a of the relay device 2 to activate the AP function. Thus, the relay device 2 transmits a beacon including the SSID.

  Next, in step S3, the communication terminal 6 is connected to the relay device 2 with the AP function of the relay device 2 enabled. Specifically, the relay apparatus 2 is selected from the list of access points (list of SSIDs) displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 6, and the encryption key is input. The SSID of the AP function of the relay device 2 and the encryption key are described on a label attached to the relay device 2.

  Next, in step S4, when the communication terminal 6 is connected to the relay device 2 in the above step S3, the communication terminal 6 acquires the serial number of the relay device 2 from the relay device 2 by the system dedicated application and the communication terminal 6 In the internal storage unit of Specifically, the system-dedicated application transmits a request for a serial number to the relay device 2, and the relay device 2 transmits a serial number to the communication terminal 6 in response thereto. After that, the communication terminal 6 automatically transmits a command to the relay device 2 to invalidate the AP function of the relay device 2 by the system dedicated application. By disabling the AP function, the connection between the communication terminal 6 and the relay device 2 is cut off.

  Next, in step S5, the resident performs connection setting of the wireless LAN between the relay device 2 and the wireless LAN router 3. For example, by pressing the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) button 2 w of the relay device 2 and the WPS button 3 w of the wireless LAN router 3, connection setting is automatically performed. At this time, the relay device 2 acquires BSSID (MAC address of the wireless LAN router 3), which is identification information of the wireless LAN router 3, and stores the BSSID in the internal storage unit.

  Next, in step S6, when the relay device 2 is connected to the wireless LAN router 3 as described above, the serial number of the relay device 2 (the relay device 2) and the identification information (BSSID) of the wireless LAN router 3 Are transmitted to the management apparatus 5 via the wireless LAN router 3 and the communication network 4. At this time, the relay device 2 transmits the device configuration information of the water heater 1 acquired first from the controller 1 a of the water heater 1 together. The device configuration information is stored in the storage unit 5 b in the management device 5.

  Next, in step S7, the communication terminal 6 transmits the serial number of the relay device 2 stored in the communication terminal 6 to the management device 5 by a system dedicated application. Thereby, the management device 5 acquires the serial number of the relay device 2 transmitted from the communication terminal 6.

  Next, in step S8, the management apparatus 5 receives the user account acquired from the communication terminal 6 in step S1, the serial number of the relay apparatus 2 acquired from the relay apparatus 2 in step S6, and the identification information of the wireless LAN router 3 (BSSID And the serial number of the same relay device 2 acquired in steps S6 and S7 based on the serial number of the relay device 2 acquired from the communication terminal 6 in step S7, the user account and the wireless LAN router 3 Are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit 5a as association information. At this time, the association information is stored in the storage unit 5a as valid information.

  After the connection setting is performed in step S5 described above, and the device configuration information is transmitted from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 in step S6, the relay device 2 periodically receives the operating condition information of the water heater 1 from the controller 1a. It acquires and transmits to the management apparatus 5 (a 2nd communication is performed). The interval of the second communication is a second period (for example, one hour) shorter than a first period described later. Further, when receiving the error information from the controller 1 a, the relay device 2 transmits the error information to the management device 5. The driving state information and the error information are stored in the storage unit 5 b in the management device 5.

  The management device 5 stores a plurality of association information by associating the plurality of relay devices 2 connected to the plurality of water heaters 1 with the corresponding (resident) communication terminal 6. Store in 5a. In addition, one water heater 1 and a plurality of communication terminals 6 or a plurality of user accounts may be associated.

  Then, after step S8, the management device 5 permits the first communication via the management device 5 between the communication terminal 6 and the relay device 2 associated in the association information. Thereby, the resident can perform remote control and status check of the water heater 1 (perform the first communication) using the communication terminal 6.

  Specifically, when the remote control of the water heater 1 is performed, the resident operates the communication terminal 6 to log in to the user management site provided by the management device 5 to remotely control the water heater 1. The remote control information (command) is transmitted to the management device 5. Then, the management device 5 refers to the association information including the user account acquired at the time of login, and transmits the remote control information to the relay device 2 having the serial number included in the association information. The relay device 2 transmits the received remote control information to the controller 1a. The controller 1a controls the water heater 1 based on the received remote control information. The remote control information includes an operation start command of the water heater 1, an operation stop command, setting information of the hot water supply temperature, and the like.

  Also, when checking the status of the water heater 1, the resident operates the communication terminal 6, logs in to the user management site provided by the management device 5, and requests information on the status of the water heater 1. The device status request information is transmitted to the management device 5. Then, the management apparatus 5 refers to the association information including the user account acquired at the time of login, and receives the device state information stored in the storage unit 5b from the relay apparatus 2 having the serial number included in the association information Are transmitted to the communication terminal 6. Here, the device state information is information including the above-described operating state information, and may be configured by only the operating state information, or may be configured by operating state information and error information, for example.

  Here, after the management device 5 permits the first communication between the communication terminal 6 and the relay device 2, when the resident moves out, the water heater 1 is not used in a state where the power is turned off for a while . As a result, the state in which the power supply to the relay device 2 is not performed is maintained, and the periodic second communication from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 is not performed.

  In the present embodiment, after the first communication is permitted, if there is no second communication from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 for a predetermined first period after the first communication is permitted, the first communication after the first period is performed. Prohibit The first period is not particularly limited as long as it is longer than the second period, and is set, for example, as a period of one day or more, preferably between several days and several weeks.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the first communication prohibition determination process based on the periodic communication in the present embodiment. The management device 5 stores the date and time when the first communication is permitted to be included in the association information. Furthermore, when the management device 5 receives the second communication from the relay device 2 to the management device 5, the management device 5 stores the received operation state information of the water heater 1 in the storage unit 5b and the date and time when the second communication is received. As the last update date and time, it is updated and stored in the storage unit 5a in association with the corresponding association information. The last update date is updated and stored each time the management device 5 receives the second communication. In addition, after the first communication is permitted, until the first second communication is received, the final update date and time is set to the date and time when the first communication is permitted.

  The management device 5 reads the last update date and time associated with the association information stored in the storage unit 5a at each predetermined timing (step SA1). The management device 5 determines whether the first period has elapsed from the read date and time at the read time (step SA2).

  When the first period has elapsed (Yes in step SA2), the management apparatus 5 invalidates the corresponding association information (cancels the pairing) to allow the relay apparatus 2 and the communication terminal 6 to communicate with each other. The first communication is prohibited (step SA3). The management apparatus 5 may delete the association information from the storage unit 5a in order to invalidate the association information. Alternatively, the management apparatus 5 may re-store the association information stored as valid information in the storage unit 5a as invalidation information (information in which the association is invalid), while leaving the association information itself in the storage unit 5a. Good.

  According to this configuration, when there is no communication from the relay apparatus 2 to the management apparatus 5 for a predetermined first period after the first communication is permitted, the first communication after the first period is prohibited. That is, by detecting that communication from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 is not performed during the first period, it is assumed that the tenant is transferred to the management device 5 and the use of the water heater 1 is interrupted. judge. As a result, the management device 5 prohibits the first communication to the relay device 2 for various requests to the water heater 1 by the communication terminal 6 of the transferred old resident. Therefore, the request regarding the water heater 1 by the communication terminal 6 of the old resident can be eliminated.

  Furthermore, as described above, in the present embodiment, the second communication in which communication is periodically performed from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 periodically every second period shorter than the first period is not performed during the first period. , The first communication is prohibited. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect that the communication from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 which is supposed to be performed at the normal time (when the resident is used) is not performed during the first period.

  Further, by using the second communication for accumulating the state of the water heater 1 in the management device 5 for the determination of the availability of the first communication, it is possible to eliminate the need for separately performing the communication for the determination. Therefore, an increase in the number of times of communication can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, when the first communication is prohibited, the management device 5 is configured to transmit information to that effect to the corresponding communication terminal 6. For example, the management device 5 may transmit an e-mail or the like to the communication terminal 6 to the effect that the first communication has been prohibited (that the association information has become invalid). Alternatively, when the management apparatus 5 logs in to the user management site using the corresponding user account using the communication terminal 6 after the first communication is prohibited, communication after logging in indicates that the first communication is prohibited. It may be displayed on the display screen of the terminal 6. According to such a configuration, it is possible to notify the user of the communication terminal 6 who is a former resident that the request for the water heater 1 can not be made.

  From the above description, many modifications and other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description should be taken as exemplary only, and is provided for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the present invention. The structural and / or functional details may be substantially altered without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, whether to prohibit the first communication is determined according to whether or not the second communication periodically performed from the relay device 2 to the management device 5 is performed during the first period. Instead, the management device 5 determines whether or not the first communication can be prohibited depending on whether all the communication performed between the relay device 2 and the management device 5 has been performed during the first period. Alternatively, whether to prohibit the first communication may be determined according to whether or not the predetermined communication performed between the relay device 2 and the management device 5 has been performed during the first period. Further, the management device 5 may determine whether or not the first communication can be prohibited depending on whether communication performed between the communication terminal 6 and the management device 5 has been performed during the first period.

  Further, the management device 5 monitors both the communication performed between the relay device 2 and the management device 5 and the communication performed between the communication terminal 6 and the management device 5, and one of the communication is If not performed during one period, the first communication may be prohibited even if the other communication is performed during the first period.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the identification information (BSSID) of the wireless LAN router 3 is included in the association information in the association information has been described. In order to determine whether or not to prohibit 1 communication, the identification information of the wireless LAN router 3 may not be included in the association information.

  Further, in the present embodiment, both the remote control and the status confirmation of the water heater 1 can be performed using the communication terminal 6, but either of the remote control and the status confirmation of the water heater 1 is possible. It may be configured such that only one can be performed.

  Further, the management device 5 may be divided into a plurality of devices, and the plurality of devices may be configured to function as the management device 5 in cooperation. For example, the storage units 5a and 5b of the management device 5 may be configured as devices separate from the computer that performs various operations. In addition, the communication system may be configured to perform various operations of the management apparatus 5 by a plurality of computers.

  Moreover, although the hot water heater 1 was mentioned as the example as a housing equipment apparatus, it is not restricted to this, and should just be the apparatus comprised so that communication with the management apparatus 5 was possible via the relay apparatus 2 and the wireless LAN router 3.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as a communication system etc. that can eliminate a request for home equipment by a former resident's communication terminal.

1 Water heater (house equipment equipment)
2 relay device 4 communication network 5 management device 6 communication terminal

Claims (4)

Housing equipment equipment,
A relay device that communicates with the home equipment device;
A management device that communicates with the relay device via a communication network;
The management device is
Storing association information in which user identification information transmitted from a communication terminal that communicates with the management apparatus via the communication network is associated with identification information of the relay apparatus transmitted from the relay apparatus;
Permitting first communication between the communication terminal associated in the association information and the relay apparatus via the management device,
After the first communication is permitted, when there is no communication from the relay apparatus or the communication terminal to the management apparatus for a predetermined first period, the first communication after the first period is prohibited. Communication system. The communication from the relay device to the management device includes a predetermined second communication periodically communicated every second period shorter than the first period,
The management device is configured to forbid the first communication after the first period if the second communication does not exist for the first period after the first communication is permitted. The communication system described in.   The relay device is configured to receive device state information indicating the state of the home equipment device from the home equipment device, and periodically transmit the equipment state information to the management device as the second communication. The communication system according to Item 2.   The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the management device is configured to transmit information to that effect to the corresponding communication terminal when the first communication is prohibited.

Images