JPH11237905A - Control system and method for electric appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means which can always provide proper software to an operation terminal without imposing any software management burden to a user in an electric appliance which performs its control by means of a general- purpose operation terminal device that introduces the software. SOLUTION: This control method incorporates a storage 11 which stores operation control software and a program server 12 which transfers the control software to an operation terminal via a network 20 in an electric appliance 10. When the appliance 10 is used, the control software is downloaded into an operation terminal device 40 and the control method controls each of the appliance 10 from the device 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric appliance control system and a control method, and more particularly to an electric appliance control system and a control method for controlling an electric appliance via a communication means such as a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An appliance control system has been envisioned in which communication means such as a network or infrared communication is installed in a house, and the operation and control of the appliance are remotely and centrally performed by a terminal device through the communication means. . The advantage of using such a system is that the user can operate an electric appliance without moving around the house, and can unifyly operate devices having functions related to each other such as AV devices. Further, if a telephone line is used, the operation of the electronic device in the house can be performed in exactly the same way as when the electronic device is operated in the house from outside. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-7561 discloses an absence management system using such a control system. In the system shown here, a program for operating and controlling appliances is installed in a computer installed in the home or a portable terminal device used outside the home, and control is performed in accordance with the program, thereby enabling the user to operate. Respond to various situations that can occur while you are away.

Another advantage of controlling appliances with a general-purpose terminal device is that it eliminates the need for engineering and economical provision of a separate display device for each product, and reduces the hardware such as the shape and size of the product housing. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly expressive user interface that is not restricted by hardware restrictions.

[0004]

However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-7 / 1995
In the technology described in Japanese Patent No. 561, a program appropriate for operating an electric appliance must be installed in a terminal device in advance according to the type of the electric appliance to be used. This is not only troublesome for the user, but also when a large number of appliances and operation terminal devices are used, when the appliances are frequently replaced, or when the operation terminal device is portable. When the terminal device is used after being moved to an environment, it becomes difficult to manage software to be installed in the terminal device. As described above, in the conventional method, when the general-purpose terminal device into which the software is introduced is used to operate the electric appliance, there is a problem that a burden of software management is imposed on the user.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide appropriate software to a control terminal without burdening a user with software management in an electric appliance controlled by a general-purpose operation terminal device into which software is introduced. It is to make.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an electric appliance control system according to the present invention comprises a storage device and a program server provided inside an electric appliance, and an operation terminal operated by a user. Device. The storage device inside the product stores a program for the user to operate the electric appliance from the terminal device, and when the product is used, the program server inside the product transfers the program to the operation terminal device and transfers it to the operation terminal device. Load on memory. By downloading the program stored in the storage device by the development and sales company of the electric appliance to the terminal when using the product and using it, the user can control the individual product to use without being conscious of software management An appropriate control program is always available.

[0007] Even when a new appliance or terminal device is introduced into the user's environment, or when the product or terminal device is moved to another environment constituted by the control system of the present invention, the appliance itself operates. In addition, no special software introduction work is required due to the configuration for holding the programs necessary for control.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a system conceptual diagram showing an overview of an electric appliance control system according to the present invention. Air conditioner 10A, TV 10B, video tape recorder (VT
R) An electric appliance 10 represented by 10C is connected to a terminal device 40A at home by a network 30.
The user operates these home appliances 10 in the home by using the terminal device 40A. The appliance 10 can also be operated from a portable terminal 40B connected to the network 30 via a public line 31 such as a telephone line or an ISDN network. The terminal device 40A in the house is not necessarily required to be one, and a plurality of terminal devices may be provided.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more specific configuration of the appliance control system according to the present invention. In addition,
FIG. 2 omits illustration of mechanical units, circuits, and the like that are not directly related to the present invention and that are provided for individual appliances to realize their original functions.

Each electric appliance 10 (air conditioner 10A, television 10B, VTR 10C) has a storage device 11,
Program server 12 and control interface 1
3 is included.

The storage device 11 stores each of the electric appliances 10
And a product information 15 for operating and controlling the product. The product information 15 is used for identifying each electric appliance from the operation terminal, and specifically includes a “product name”, “icon image data”, and the like. In the present embodiment, the storage device 11 is configured by a ROM, which is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, or a flash memory.
A storage device including a large-capacity medium such as a D-ROM) or a writable medium such as a hard disk device (HD) can also be used.

The program server 12 has a network interface and has a function of transferring the operation program 14 stored in the storage device 11 to the operation terminal device 40 via the network 30. For this reason, the program server 12 is realized as hardware or software capable of performing processing described later, and can access the storage device 11 through a bus inside the product.

The control interface 13 controls each electric appliance 10 in accordance with an instruction sent from the operation terminal device 40 via the network 30.

The operation terminal device 40 is realized as a general-purpose personal computer into which basic software for operating the control system is introduced, or a terminal device dedicated to the control system. The operation terminal device 40 includes a program loader 42 for downloading the product operation program 14 through the network 30, a processor 41 having a function as a visual shell 43 for instructing the electric appliance 10 used by the user, and a download from the electric appliance 10. A memory 45 for holding a product information table 46 created based on the operation program 14 and the product information 15, a display device 47 including a liquid crystal panel, a CRT, and the like, and an instruction device 4 such as a mouse or a touch panel
8 is provided.

The visual shell 43 is realized as software, and displays a list of the electric appliances 10 available to the user through characters and icons through the display device 47. When the user selects the appliance 10 to be used using the pointing device 48, the visual shell 43 requests the program loader 42 for a necessary operation program.

The program loader 42 is realized as software for realizing the processing described later in order to download the necessary operation program 14. The product names and icons used by the visual shell 43 are the product information 15 stored in the storage device 11 of each electric appliance 10, and are acquired by the program loader 42 by a process described later. The program loader 42 sets the correspondence between the product information 15 and the network address in the product information table 46.

The operation program 14 downloaded to the memory 45 is controlled by the user in accordance with an operation performed on the operation terminal device 40 through an interface provided by the program 14 in the appliance 10 corresponding to the operation program 14. The operation of the electric appliance 10 is controlled by communicating with the interface 13 for use.

Next, the operation of each part of the control system shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the control flow charts shown in FIGS. The processing shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is such that when the configuration of the system changes due to the removal of the electric appliance 10 or the operation terminal device 40, the operation terminal device 40
9 is a control flow of a product information acquisition process performed to create the product information table 46 by grasping the information. On the other hand, the process illustrated in FIG. 5 is a control flow of a program load process performed when the user actually operates the electric appliance 10 in the present control system. In order for the control system to operate properly, the product information acquisition process needs to be performed prior to the program loading process.

FIG. 3 is first executed when a new operation terminal device 40 is connected and activated for a group of appliances already connected to the network 30 and operating, and after the operation terminal device 40 is activated. FIG. 7 is a control flow chart of the product information acquisition processing that is also executed periodically (for example, every 0.5 seconds, etc., in a sufficiently short cycle for the user who operates the electric appliance 10).

In this process, first, the program loader 42 of the operation terminal device 40 broadcasts, and issues an acquisition request 52 of the product information 15 to all the electric appliances 10 existing in the control system. In response to this, the program server 12 incorporated in each appliance 10 retrieves the product information 15 such as “product name” and “icon image data” stored in the storage device 11 and combines it with its own network address to program loader. Reply to 42.

The program loader 42 stores the obtained product information in the product information table 46. At this time, if it is detected that there is an electric appliance removed from the network 30, the program corresponding to the unnecessary electric appliance is deleted from the memory. The detection of the detached electric appliance is performed, for example, by causing the electric appliance 10 such that a response to the product information acquisition request 52 is not obtained within a predetermined time.
What is necessary is just to detect as what was removed from the network 30.

By executing the above-described product information acquisition processing periodically even after the operation of the operation terminal device 40, the electric appliance removed after the operation of the operation terminal device 40 or the processing described below fails for some reason. It is possible to detect the presence of the electrical appliance.

FIG. 4 is a control flow chart of the product information acquisition process executed when the appliance 10 newly connected to the network is started for the operation terminal device that is already operating.

When the program server 12 incorporated in the electric appliance 10 is started, it broadcasts 62 on the network 30 with its own product information 15 and its own network address as a pair. The program loader 42 of the operation terminal device 40 adds this information to the product information table 46, and performs a reception confirmation notification 63 for confirming that the information has been received. Since the operation terminal device 40 periodically performs the information acquisition process illustrated in FIG. 3, the process described here is not necessarily performed. Since the operation terminal device 40 grasps the configuration information of the network by broadcasting in the information acquisition process, it is not necessary for the user to register the network address of the operation terminal device 40 or the electric appliance 10 in the system when using this control system. Absent. Therefore, the present control system can be used immediately just by physically connecting the appliance 10 and the operation terminal device 40 and turning on the switch.

FIG. 5 is a control flow chart when operating the electric appliance using the control system.

The operation terminal device 40 first receives a list display request 71 of available products from the user through the visual shell 43. In response to this, the visual shell 43 refers to the product information table 46 held by the program loader 42 and displays a product list 72 on the display device 47. The user selects 73 a product to be used from a list of products listed by characters or icons.

When the operation terminal device 40 receives a selection 73 of a product to be used from the user, the operation terminal device 40
The address of the program server 12 corresponding to the appliance selected by the user is stored in the product information table 46.
Find out and get in. Based on the acquired address, the program accesses the program server 12 of the selected electric appliance and issues a program transfer instruction 74.

The program server 12 of the appliance selected by the user receives the program transfer instruction 74 from the operation terminal device 40, reads out the program 14 necessary for operating the appliance from the memory, and The data is transferred 75 to the program loader 42 at 40.

The program loader 42 expands the received program 14 on a memory and executes it as a new execution process 76. Thereafter, control of the user interface is performed by the downloaded program 14. That is, the operation terminal device 40 accesses the control interface 13 of the electric appliance 10 through the network 30 according to the night control of the program 14, and controls the electric appliance 10 based on the operation performed by the user.

In the embodiment described above, a program necessary for operation, control and operation of the electric appliance is held in the electric appliance itself, and the operation terminal device operates each electric appliance via the network. In addition, since the program is downloaded to the operation terminal device, maintenance of the program when adding or replacing an electric appliance becomes unnecessary, and the user is made aware of the management of the software for controlling the electric appliance. Instead, a sophisticated and flexible interface by software can be provided.

In the above-described embodiment, the network is used as an example of the communication means. However, the present invention can be similarly realized by using other communication means such as using an infrared light receiving / emitting element.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an advanced and flexible interface using software without making the user aware of software management.

Also, even when the network configuration is changed by removing or attaching an operation terminal or an electric appliance, necessary software is automatically introduced, and the user is not burdened with management.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an electric appliance control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the appliance control system.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of a product information acquisition process.

FIG. 4 is a control flow chart of a product information acquisition process when a new electric appliance is activated.

FIG. 5 is a control flow chart at the time of operating an appliance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ・ ・ ・ Electric appliances 11 ・ ・ ・ Storage device 12 ・ ・ ・ Program server 13 ・ ・ ・ Control interface 14 ・ ・ ・ Electric appliance control program 15 ・ ・ ・ Electric appliance product information 30 ・ ・ ・ Network 31 ・・ ・ Public line 40 ・ ・ ・ Operation terminal device 41 ・ ・ ・ Control processor 42 ・ ・ ・ Program loader 43 ・ ・ ・ Visual shell 46 ・ ・ ・ Product information table 47 ・ ・ ・ Display device 48 ・ ・ ・ Product table

Claims (2)

[Claims] An electric appliance control system for connecting an electric appliance to a control terminal device via a network and controlling the electric appliance from the control terminal device, wherein the electric appliance controls the electric appliance. The control terminal device includes means for downloading a program held by the appliance via the network, and control for controlling the appliance based on the downloaded program. Means for controlling an electric appliance. 2. An electric appliance control system comprising an electric appliance, an operation terminal device for operating the electric appliance, and a network for connecting the electric appliance and the operation terminal device. In the appliance control method, a program to be executed on the operation terminal device and operating the appliance is stored in a storage device in the appliance in advance, and the operation terminal device is operated by a user. Downloading the program to the operation terminal device via the network in response to an instruction to operate the appliance, executing the program on the operation terminal device, and controlling the appliance. How to control appliances.