JP4715499B2 - Remote monitoring and control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention comprises a plurality of controllers that respectively control and monitor one or a plurality of devices installed in a home, and a communication terminal that accesses each controller through a network and gives control requests and monitoring requests for the devices. The present invention relates to a remote monitoring control system in which each controller controls and monitors devices in a house in response to a control request and a monitoring request given from a terminal via a network.

  Conventionally, it is composed of a controller that controls and monitors one or more devices installed in a home, and a communication terminal that accesses the controller through a network and gives control requests and monitoring requests for the devices, and is given from the communication terminal via the network. There has been provided a remote monitoring control system in which a controller controls and monitors devices in a house in response to a control request and a monitoring request (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Further, in the remote monitoring and control system as described above, a web page that discloses information (operating state and setting state) about the device is created by the controller, and the web page transmitted via the network is displayed on the user's mobile phone or personal computer. Some are displayed on the computer screen.
JP 2003-18175 A

  By the way, when there are a plurality of controllers installed in the home, if the user does not know which of the plurality of controllers controls and monitors the target device, a web page that discloses information on the device There is a problem that browsing takes a lot of time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a remote monitoring control system in which a web page disclosing device information can be easily viewed on a communication terminal.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a plurality of controllers that respectively control and monitor one or more devices installed in a home, and access to each controller through a network to control and monitor the devices. In a remote monitoring control system that includes a communication terminal that gives a request, and each controller controls and monitors a device in the house in response to a control request and a monitoring request given from the communication terminal via a network, a plurality of controllers are one All controllers are allocated to a master station and a slave station other than the master station, and all controllers transmit data for communication with a communication terminal via a network and a control signal to one or more devices. And device interface means for receiving a monitoring signal indicating the status of the device from each device, and the control. When the request is received, the control signal is generated and the control signal is transmitted from the device interface means to the target device, and when the monitoring request is received, the monitoring signal is generated and the target is received from the device interface means. A control unit that transmits a monitoring signal to the device and acquires the status of the device, and a web page that discloses information on all the devices connected to the device interface unit is created and the data communication unit transmits the data via the network. Device information providing means for providing to the communication terminal in the master station controller, the device information providing means in the controller of the master station, information about the equipment connected to its own device interface means, and the device interface means of the controller of each slave station The web page that displays information related to devices connected to the Characterized in that it created.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, when the state of the one or more devices is changed, the changed state is transmitted from the device to the controller of the slave station, and the controller of the slave station Is transmitted to the controller of the parent station, and the device information providing means of the controller of the parent station rewrites the state of the device of the web page based on the received state.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the device information providing means in the controller of the master station groups information about each device in addition to the web page for collective display or hierarchizes the information. A web page to be displayed is created, and the plurality of types of web pages are appropriately selected and provided according to a request from a communication terminal.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any of the first to third aspects of the invention, all the controllers are provided with notifying means for notifying an abnormality when a plurality of parent stations exist or when the parent station does not exist. It is characterized by.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, all the controllers search for another controller via a network at the time of start-up, and if they are not found, set themselves as a master station If another controller is found, a master station / slave station distribution means for setting itself as a slave station is provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, all the controllers detect and detect the storage means storing the respective priorities, and other controllers via the network at the time of activation. If the priority order of the other controller is lower than its own priority order stored in the storage means, it sets itself as the master station, and if the priority order of the other controller is higher than its own priority order, It is characterized by comprising a master station / slave station sorting means for setting a slave station to a slave station.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the master station / slave station allocating means periodically confirms the presence / absence of the master station controller, and if the presence of the master station controller cannot be confirmed, If the controller detects the controller again and the detected priority of the other controller is lower than its own priority stored in the storage means, it sets itself as the master station, and the priority of the other controller is its own priority. If it is higher, it sets itself as a slave station.

The invention of claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 5 to 7 , wherein the master station / slave station distributing means searches for or detects another controller by distributing broadcast packets from the communication means. To do.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the device information providing means in the controller of the master station is connected to information related to the device connected to its own device interface means and the device interface means of the controller of each slave station. Since a web page is created that displays information related to the device in a batch, it is not necessary for the user to identify which controller controls and monitors each device, and the device information is disclosed. Web pages can be easily viewed on a communication terminal.

According to the invention of claim 2, since the controller of the master station rewrites the web page based on the changed information, the communication terminal can confirm that the state of the device that has made the control request has been changed as requested.
According to the invention of claim 3, for example, a web page is created in which the devices are grouped or hierarchized for each installation location (living room, kitchen, first floor and second floor, etc.). It can be easily found.

According to the invention of claim 4 , it is possible to prevent the system from being operated without the master station controller being present.

According to the invention of claim 5 , since the newly added controller can automatically recognize itself as a slave station and does not break the parent-child relationship of a plurality of controllers, it can still continue to operate suitably. The construction work can be simplified.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the unique priority order of the controllers is stored in the storage means, when a plurality of controllers are newly connected and activated, each controller assigns itself according to the unique priority order. Whether it is a master station or a slave station can be recognized automatically and reliably, and construction work can be simplified.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, if a failure occurs in the controller of the master station and it does not function, other controllers are assigned to the master station in accordance with the priority order, so that a system down due to the absence of the master station can be avoided. it can.

According to invention of Claim 8 , a controller can be searched or detected efficiently.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the remote monitoring and control system of the present embodiment includes a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) controllers CT1, CT2, and CT3 that control and monitor a plurality of devices 2 installed in a home, and a network ( And a communication terminal 5 that accesses each controller CTn (n = 1, 2, 3) through a LAN (local area network) and the Internet) and gives a control request and a monitoring request for the in-home device 2. Here, each controller CTn and a communication terminal (for example, a personal computer) 5 with a monitor screen at home are provided with a plurality of configuration management servers 3 via communication cables (enhance category 5 or category 6 LAN cables) 7. Each is individually connected to a communication port (not shown). The configuration management server 3 creates a home page HP (see FIG. 3A) that serves as an entrance to a web page for controlling and monitoring the in-home device 2 and provides it to the communication terminal 5; It has a function of transferring packets between the LAN and the Internet. Note that the configuration management server 3 has an Internet connection device 4 such as an ADSL modem, a cable modem, or an ONU (Optical Network Unit) according to the type of line (phone line, CATV line, optical fiber line, etc.) for connecting to the Internet. Are connected by the communication cable 7 and the Internet connection device 4 is interposed, whereby the center device 6 and each controller CTn described later can perform data communication via the Internet. However, since the configuration management server 3 and the Internet connection device 4 can be realized by using a conventionally known technique, detailed illustration and description of the configuration are omitted.

The center device 6 has a function of verifying whether a user who wants to control and monitor the home device 2 by the communication terminal 5 via the Internet is a legitimate user, and is configured with the communication terminal 5 of the legitimate user. The center device 6 has a function of mediating data communication with the management server 3 and the controller CTn. For example, the center device 6 is accessed via the Internet from a communication terminal 5 such as a mobile phone or a laptop computer having an Internet connection function. The control request and the monitoring request can be given (requested) to the controller CTn in the home via the terminal and a response (response) to the request can be received. However, since the center device 6 and the communication terminal 5 having such functions are conventionally known, detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the controller CTn includes a microcomputer 10, a LAN interface unit 11 to which the configuration management server 3 is connected via a communication cable 7, and a device (air conditioner) conforming to the Japan Electric Manufacturers Association (JEMA) unified standard. HA interface unit 12 that interfaces the microcomputer 10 with the microcomputer 10, a first terminal unit 13 having an HA (home automation) terminal (not shown) conforming to the JEMA standard, and the JEMA standard The second terminal unit 15 having a relay (not shown) inserted in a power feeding path to the non-conforming device 2 (lighting fixture) and the relay included in the second terminal unit 15 are driven under the control of the microcomputer 10. A luminaire interface unit 14, a memory unit 16 for storing control information and monitoring information such as a program to be described later and the operating state of the device 2, and the like. It includes a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode (not shown) and a surrounding notification unit 17 having a buzzer that emits an alarm sound. Although not shown, a power supply circuit is also provided for generating a desired DC power supply from a commercial power supply and supplying operating power to the microcomputer 10 and other components.

  The LAN interface unit 11 conforms to Fast Ethernet (registered trademark) such as 100BASE-TX standardized as, for example, IEEE 802.3u, and converts data received from the microcomputer 10 into an Ethernet (registered trademark) packet. It has a function of transmitting an Ethernet (registered trademark) packet transmitted via the communication cable 7 and receiving the packet via the communication cable 7 to the original data and passing it to the microcomputer 10. Further, in the microcomputer 10, various functions are realized by executing a program stored in the memory unit 16, and in the following, among the various functions, functions related to the present invention are realized for the sake of simplicity. Are referred to as control means 18, device information providing means 19, and master / slave station sorting means 20.

  The master station / slave station allocating means 20 distributes a plurality (three in this embodiment) of controllers CT1, CT2, CT3 to one master station and two slave stations. 11, when a broadcast packet is transmitted to the home (LAN) and no response is received from another controller CTn that has already been activated, it is set as a master station and registered in the memory unit 16 and already activated. When a response from another controller CTn is received, it sets itself as a slave station and registers it in the memory unit 16. Alternatively, UPnP (universal plug and play) device and control point functions are mounted on the microcomputer 10, and at the time of start-up, the master station / slave station distribution means 20 uses the control point function to provide another controller CTn as a device. (M-SEARCH), if another controller CTn is not found, the self may be set as a master station, and if another controller CTn is found, the self may be set as a slave station. Here, in each controller CTn, the master station / slave station allocating means 20 acquires information indicating whether each is set to the master station or the slave station from the response to the broadcast at the time of activation, and stores it in the memory unit 16. is doing. Further, in the controller CTn that has become the master station, the master station / slave station distribution means 20 periodically transmits a packet to the slave station controller CTn to check the survival, and the slave station controller CTn is added or deleted. If so, the changed contents are stored in the memory unit 16. When there are two or more master stations stored in the memory unit 16 or when no master station exists, the master station / slave station sorting unit 20 turns on a specific light emitting element of the surrounding notification unit 17 or In addition to blinking in a short cycle, etc., an alarm is issued by issuing an alarm sound from the buzzer, etc., the controller CTn is restarted, and the master station / slave station distribution means 20 has one master station and two slave stations. Make sure it is properly distributed to the slave stations. However, in order to notify the abnormality as described above, not only the surrounding notification unit 17 included in the controller CTn but also a web page for the abnormality notification is created by the microcomputer 10 and transmitted to the communication terminal 5, and the communication terminal 5 is provided. You may make it display the said web page on a display device (liquid crystal display etc.).

  When receiving a control request from the communication terminal 5, the control means 18 individually controls each device 2 via the HA interface unit 12 or the lighting fixture interface unit 14 to operate (lights up in the case of a lighting fixture) and stops ( When the lighting device is switched off, and when a monitoring request is received from the communication terminal 5, the operating state of each device 2 (running <lighting> or stopping <lighting off>) via the HA interface unit 12 or the lighting device interface unit 14 ) Individually.

  The device information providing unit 19 basically creates a web page that discloses the operation state of the device 2 acquired by the control unit 18, and communicates the web page from the LAN interface unit 11 in response to a request from the communication terminal 5. Although provided (transmitted) to the terminal 5, the operation is slightly different between the controller CTn serving as the master station and the controller CTn serving as the slave station. That is, the device information providing means 19 of the controller (for example, CT1) serving as the master station is information (operating state) regarding all devices 2 controlled and monitored by the controller (for example, CT2 and CT3) serving as the slave stations. And a web page (see FIG. 3B) that collectively displays information on all the devices 2 controlled and monitored by itself. Therefore, when the home device 2 is controlled or the operation state is monitored, the communication terminal 5 first accesses the configuration management server 3 and accesses the home page HP provided by the configuration management server 3 (see FIG. 3A). A web page (referred to as the top page) created by the device information providing means 19 of the controller CT1 of the master station when the user clicks a link to “controller” described on the homepage HP. .) TP is displayed on the screen of the display device (see FIG. 3B). In this top page TP, information on all devices 2 to be controlled and monitored installed in the home, that is, names of the devices 2 (device A, device B, device C, device D, device E) and their operations. Since the status ("running" or "stopped") is displayed in a lump, links to the controllers CT1, CT2, CT3 are displayed on the home page provided by the configuration management server 3 as in the past, and the link is clicked As a result, the user can determine which of the plurality of controllers CTn is the controller CTn for controlling and monitoring each device 2 as compared with the case where the top page created by each controller CT1, CT2, CT3 is displayed. There is an advantage that a web page (top page TP) disclosing information on the device 2 can be easily viewed on the communication terminal 5 without having to grasp.

  In addition, the device information providing means 19 in the controller CT1 of the master station creates a web page that displays information related to each device 2 in a grouped or hierarchized manner in addition to the batch display web page (top page TP), It is also possible to appropriately select and provide a plurality of types of web pages in response to a request from the communication terminal 5. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), a web page WP1 grouped at a place (living room, bedroom, child room) where the device 2 is installed is created, and when a link of each group (installation place) is clicked, Layered to link to a web page WP2 (see FIG. 3D) that collectively displays the names and operation states of the devices 2 belonging to a group (for example, living room), or shown in FIG. As described above, the web page WP3 for grouping the installation locations (first floor and second floor) of the device 2 and displaying the group at once may be created.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the operation in the case of controlling and monitoring the home device 2 from the communication terminal 5 will be described.

  First, in the communication terminal 5, for example, when the link of the operation state of the device 2 displayed on the top page TP (the device connected to the controller CT2 of the slave station) is clicked, the communication terminal 5 sends the center device 6 Then, a control request is transmitted from the communication terminal 5 to the controller CT1 of the master station via the Internet connection device 4 and the configuration management server 3 (S1). In the controller CT1 of the master station, the control means 18 transfers the control request to the controller CT2 of the slave station that is the link destination (S2). Then, in the controller CT2 of the slave station that has received the control request, the control means 18 gives a control command for controlling the device 2 to the HA interface unit 12, and the HA interface unit 12 via the first terminal unit 13 A control signal is output to the device 2 to change the operation state of the device 2 (S3). From the device 2 whose operating state has been changed, the changed operating state is returned as a control result to the controller CT2 of the slave station (S4). Then, the control result from the slave station CT2 is returned from the controller CT2 of the slave station to the controller CT1 of the master station (S5), and the equipment information providing means 19 receives the control received from the controller CT1 of the master station. Based on the result, the operation state of the device 2 on the top page TP is rewritten and returned to the communication terminal 5 (S6). As a result, it can be confirmed that the operating state of the device 2 has been changed as requested by the top page TP displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 5. Note that the operation state of the device 2 or the monitoring request procedure (S7 to S12) is also the same as the above-described control procedure, and the description thereof is omitted.

  By the way, as a method of allocating a plurality of controllers CTn to a master station and a slave station, in addition to the method of allocating in order of activation as described above, a unique identifier (for example, a MAC address or UUID) assigned to each controller CTn. <Universally Unique IDentifier> etc.) is registered in the memory unit 16 of each controller CTn, and the controller CTn activated later compares the priority with the controller CTn activated earlier, and the priority is higher. A method in which the controller CTn becomes a master station can also be adopted. Further, if the master station controller CTn becomes unable to communicate with the system due to some failure or failure, the slave station controller CTn is not checked for survival from the master station controller CTn, so that each slave station controller CTn is connected to the master station controller CT1. When the disconnection is detected, the master station / slave station allocating means 20 of the slave station controller CTn executes UPnP search (M-SEARCH) in the same way as when starting, and the controller CTn that can still communicate is set to the priorities. Based on this, the task of reassigning to the master station and the slave station is performed again. In the description of the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the star topology in which the three controllers CTn are all connected to the configuration management server 3 on an equal basis is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, a plurality of controllers may be cascade-connected (multistage connection) like Hub. In this case, however, the upstream controller to which the controller is connected downstream requires a second LAN interface unit for connection to the downstream controller.

  Here, the use of a device-embedded network technology called EMIT (Embedded Micro Internetworking Technology) (a network technology having a function capable of easily incorporating middleware into a device and connecting to the network, hereinafter referred to as EMIT technology). From various external devices (not shown) such as mobile phones, PCs (Personal Computers), PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and PHSs (Personal Handy phone Systems), various equipment (lighting devices, air conditioners, power units, sensors) , An electric lock, a web camera, etc., hereinafter referred to as an EMIT terminal.) By accessing <not shown>, the EMIT terminal can be remotely monitored and controlled.

  Note that the EMIT terminal is a built-in device equipped with a microcomputer, and is a device-embedded middleware for connecting to the network and is equipped with EMIT software that realizes the EMIT technology. For example, EMIT software can be mounted on the controller CTn in this embodiment and used as an EMIT terminal.

It is a system configuration figure showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the controller in the same as the above. (A)-(e) is a figure explaining the web page in the same as the above. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

CT1, CT2, CT3 Controller 2 Device 3 Configuration management server 4 Internet connection device 5 Communication terminal 6 Center device

Claims (8)

Consists of a plurality of controllers that respectively control and monitor one or more devices installed in the home, and a communication terminal that accesses each controller through the network and gives a control request and a monitoring request for the devices. In a remote monitoring and control system in which each controller controls and monitors devices in the house in response to control requests and monitoring requests given in
A plurality of controllers are distributed to one master station and slave stations other than the master station,
All the controllers transmit data signals for data communication with a communication terminal via a network, a control signal to one or more devices, and a monitoring signal indicating the state of the device from each device. Receiving device interface means, generating the control signal when receiving the control request, causing the device interface means to transmit the control signal to the target device, and receiving the monitoring request, the monitoring signal A control means for acquiring a state of the device by transmitting a monitoring signal from the device interface means to the target device, and a web page disclosing information on all devices connected to the device interface means Equipment information providing means for creating and providing to the communication terminal via the network from the data communication means,
The device information providing means in the master station controller collectively displays information related to devices connected to its own device interface means and information related to devices connected to the device interface means of each slave station controller. A remote monitoring and control system that creates the web page. When the state of the one or more devices is changed, the changed state is transmitted from the device to the controller of the slave station, the state is transmitted from the controller of the slave station to the controller of the master station, The remote monitoring control system according to claim 1, wherein the device information providing means of the controller of the master station rewrites the state of the device on the web page based on the received state . In addition to the web page for batch display, the device information providing means in the controller of the master station creates a web page that displays information related to each device in a grouped or hierarchical manner, and responds to a request from a communication terminal. The remote monitoring control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of types of web pages are appropriately selected and provided . All the controllers are provided with the alerting | reporting means which alert | reports abnormality when there exist several master stations, or when there is no master station , The remote monitoring control system in any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned . All controllers search for other controllers via the network at the time of start-up. If other controllers are not found, they set themselves as parent stations, and if other controllers are found, they set themselves as slave stations. The remote monitoring control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising sorting means . All the controllers have storage means storing their own priority, and other controllers are detected via the network at the time of startup, and the detected priority of other controllers is higher than its own priority stored in the storage means. If there is also a lower level, it is provided with a master station / slave station allocating means that sets itself as a master station and sets the other controller as a slave station if the priority of other controllers is higher than its own priority. The remote monitoring control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . The master station / slave station allocating means periodically checks the presence / absence of the master station controller, and when the presence of the master station controller cannot be confirmed, the master station / slave station sorting means detects another controller again and detects the priority of the other controller Is set lower than its own priority stored in the storage means, it sets itself as a master station, and if the priority of another controller is higher than its own priority, it sets itself as a slave station The remote monitoring control system according to claim 6 . The remote monitoring control system according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the master station / slave station distributing unit searches for or detects another controller by distributing a broadcast packet from the communication unit.

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