KR100258963B1 - Domain Name Processing Method in Accessing Home Network of External Network and Home Network System Supporting It - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for processing a domain name is provided to convert a domain name address into a virtual IP(Internet Protocol) address by using a mapping table, so that a user can easily access devices included in a home network from an exterior of the home network. CONSTITUTION: A home network system converts a domain name address relating to a predetermined device into an intermediate address including a substantial IP(Internet Protocol) address assigned in a home network(404). The home network system converts the intermediate address into a virtual IP address recognizable in the home network, by referring to a preset mapping table(406). The home network system accesses the predetermined device by using the virtual IP address(408).

Description

Domain Name Processing Method in Accessing Home Network of External Network and Home Network System Supporting It

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a home network, and more particularly, to a domain name processing method and a home network system supporting the same when accessing a home network from an external network in a network environment based on a web browser.

Recently, various digital devices such as digital TV (DTV), digital video camera (DVC), digital versatile disk player (DVDP), digital set-top box have been introduced, and home network construction of these devices has been introduced. For this purpose, the IEEE 1394 standard, which has been approved by the IEEE Committee as a digital network interface, is drawing attention. In general, all home appliances provide a method for allowing a user to operate various functions provided by the home appliance. A representative method is a method using an operation button and a remote controller.

In devices that meet the IEEE1394 standard, control commands are used to control devices. The most representative control command is A / V Control Command and Transaction Set (AV / C CTS). This method defines a hexadecimal code for each function of the device. For example, the play command for the VCR is defined as "OxC8" in hexadecimal. Currently, in IEEE1394 TA, standardization of all control commands for each device group (eg, VCR group, disk group, camera group, etc.) is in progress.

In the digitalized home network system using the IEEE 1394 network, control between devices will be performed by configuring one device as a control device and a plurality of devices as control devices as target devices. This type of home network system has the following problems. First, one device to be a control device must have all the instruction sets for each target device, thus bringing considerable software and hardware burden. Secondly, the control device does not know commands other than those provided at the time of product release, and thus does not have a control method for the new target device. Third, it is not easy to provide a graphical user interface (GUI). In other words, the unified GUI form that can be applied to all kinds of devices is inherently difficult to define, and there is a limit in defining the product type.

As a method for solving such a problem, a method has been sought to remove various spatial restrictions in operating various devices and to effectively display various information by employing a web server in devices employing IEEE1394. In this case, an IEEE1394 device having a display device such as a DTV or a PC may have a built-in web browser to generate a device page so that it is easier to control the IEEE1394 device having a web server.

The web server must exist on the IEEE 1394 layer based on the Internet protocol layer, and if so, each of the devices employing the web server must have an Internet protocol address (IP address). However, the home network based on the web browser may be assigned an IP address representatively, but unlike a network such as a general office, it is difficult for each device included in the home network to be assigned an IP address. Because IP addresses are finite and are currently assigned to many networks, it will be difficult to obtain an IP address for each of the devices included in the home network. As an alternative to this problem, consider using a virtual IP address only within the home network.

In this case, when a user outside the home network wants to access a device connected to the home network through a computer in an office, that is, a device assigned with a virtual IP, the user uses a domain name address to select the device. There must be a way to process the domain name address to make it accessible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a home network of an external network in which a user can easily access devices included in the home network from outside the home network by converting a domain name address into a virtual IP address using a mapping table. This is to provide a domain name processing method in access.

Another technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a home network system supporting a domain name process by providing a home network manager having the mapping table.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a relationship between a home network and an external network using an IEEE 1394 bus to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a protocol stack of a device operating as a web server.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device page viewed on a web browser.

4 is a flowchart for explaining a domain name processing method according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a home network system according to the present invention supporting domain name processing.

6 is a diagram illustrating a preferred example of a mapping table included in a home network manager.

In order to achieve the above object, when the user accesses a predetermined device connected to the home network using a domain name address outside the home network, the domain name processing method when the external network accesses the home network,

Converting a domain name address for a predetermined device into an intermediate address including a real IP address assigned to the home network, converting the intermediate address into a virtual IP address recognizable in the home network with reference to a preset mapping table; And accessing a predetermined device using the virtual IP address.

In order to achieve the above object, when the user accesses a device connected to the home network by using a domain name address outside the home network, a home network system supporting domain name processing is provided.

The domain name address transmitted from the home network and the outside of the home network to which at least one client device and the plurality of server devices are connected is converted into a virtual IP address by referring to a preset mapping table, and is included in the home network according to the conversion result. Among the devices is characterized in that it comprises a home network manager to access the device.

Hereinafter, a domain name processing method and a home network system supporting the same when accessing a home network of an external network according to the present invention will be described as follows.

First, we will briefly look at the digital home network environment consisting of IEEE1394 devices and the protocol stack of the device containing the web server.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a relationship between a home network and an external network using an IEEE 1394 bus to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, a DTV 114, a DVCR 116, a DVDP 118, a DVC 120, and the like are connected through an IEEE1394 bus to form a home network 110, and the home network 110 is a home network. The manager 112 is connected to an external network, that is, the Internet 100. Here, the DTV 114 (or other device including a display device such as a PC) and the like have a built-in web browser and operate as a client device, and the DVCR 116, DVDP 118 and DVC ( 120) includes a web server and operates as a server device.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a protocol stack of a device operating as a web server.

Each device shown in FIG. 1 operates like a web server on the Internet. At this time, IEEE 1394 is used as a network interface. The IEEE 1394 device includes layers marked with hatched. Here, the part marked with one side is basically included in the IEEE 1394 device, and the part marked with both sides may be selectively included. An IP over 1394 layer on top of IEEE1394, an IP and ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) layer on top of it, and a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) layer on top of it so that IEEE1394 devices can operate as a web server on the Internet. This goes up. And every device acts as a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server, or web server, and has an HTML document hierarchy that describes its capabilities. The user may use the web browser embedded in the client device to call up each home page from the devices in which the web server is embedded to control the corresponding device.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device page viewed on a web browser.

The DTV 114 operating as a client device in the home network 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a built-in web browser, which is easy to control server devices DVCR 116, DVDP 118, DVC 120, and the like. A device page for representing information is generated as shown in FIG. Each server device has its own unique bitmap file or icon file that represents the device itself, which can be used to display devices currently connected to the IEEE1394 network from a client device with a built-in web browser. Can be used to create a device page. Referring to FIG. 3, the icons displayed through the web browser 304 on the screen 302 of the client device DTV 114 according to the generated device page are connected to the top level HTML page of each server device.

In FIG. 3, the address indicated by the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) 306 is the IP address of the home network 110. Devices on the Internet 100 shown in FIG. 1 are assigned a real IP address, and the home network 110 is also assigned a real IP address so that it can be accessed from the Internet 100 side. However, devices in the home network 110 are assigned a private IP address if a real IP address is not obtained. Here, the virtual IP address may be pre-assigned by a user, for example, or may be automatically assigned by a device serving as a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server.

However, since the use of the virtual IP address in place of the insufficient real IP address is possible only in the home network 110, the Internet 100 should also be able to access devices included in the home network 110. In particular, since the user accesses the desired web page using the domain name address substantially, the user should be able to access the desired device using the domain name address outside the home network.

4 is a flowchart for explaining a domain name processing method according to the present invention.

First, in order to access a predetermined device connected to the home network from outside the home network, the user inputs a domain name address (step 402). Domain name is a term used to refer to a name and address of a host connected through a communication network in the Internet. In general, an English letter is used for convenience of a user. However, in real networks, instead of English names, IP addresses consisting of a combination of numbers are used, so English domain names can be obtained through a reference to a file with a list of addresses for sites that users frequently access, or in the following ways. It is converted to a numeric IP address using a name server (DNS).

In the present invention, although the home network has a domain name mapped to a real IP address, devices included in the home network have a domain name mapped to a virtual IP address. Preferably, the domain name address input by the user through a PC or the like outside the home network is hierarchically defined as at least a device name representing a predetermined device, a group name to which the device name belongs, and a real domain name address assigned to the home network. It is composed. For example, if a user enters "http://dvcr.livingroom.myhome.unitel.com" when accessing DVCR in a home network, "dvcr" is the device name, "livingroom" is the group name, " myhome.unitel.co.kr "is the real domain name address assigned to the home network.

After the step 402, the domain name address for the predetermined device is converted into an intermediate address including the real IP address assigned to the home network (step 404). When a user inputs a domain name address through a PC or the like outside the home network, the home network manager (112 in FIG. 1) is accessed through a domain name server (DNS). When accessing the home network manager 112 from outside the home network, a real IP address mapped to a real domain name address can be found, but a real IP address mapped to a group name and a device name cannot be found. It can only be converted to "Home Network Internet Protocol Address / livingroom / dvcr". That is, the intermediate address is composed of a real IP address mapped to the real domain name address and a group name and device name as additional information.

After the step 404, the intermediate address is converted into a virtual IP address recognizable in the home network by referring to the preset mapping table (step 406). After checking the real IP address of the home network from the converted intermediate address, the home network manager 112 searches the virtual IP address corresponding to the group name and the device name input by the user with reference to the mapping table. Finally, a predetermined device desired by the user is accessed using the virtual IP address (step 408).

5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a home network system according to the present invention supporting domain name processing.

Referring to FIG. 5, the above-described step 404 will be described in detail. When the device 500 under the Internet, which is representatively represented outside the home network, accesses the device 520 under the home network, the device 500 under the home network may substantially correspond to the domain name address. Send an IP packet 502. The header of the IP packet includes a source IP address and a destination IP address, that is, a real IP address of the home network, and a portion where the real IP address cannot be found corresponding to the domain name address is followed by additional information. The home network manager 510 checks the real IP address from the IP packet 502, converts it into a virtual IP address with reference to the preset mapping table 512, and moves the device 520 under the home network according to the virtual IP address. Access.

6 is a diagram illustrating a preferred example of a mapping table included in a home network manager.

Referring to FIG. 6 in detail, the mapping table 512 shown in FIG. 5 includes at least group names that divide devices into predetermined groups in a home network, device names of devices belonging to each group name, and device names. Stores the virtual IP address that is mapped. This mapping table is dynamically upgraded by collecting information from the attribute table of each of the devices connected to the home network upon bus reset of the home network. Here, the attribute table has at least a device name and a group name for the corresponding device. Virtual IP addresses for devices in the home network can be automatically assigned using a DHCP server. The DHCP server allocates when devices request an IP address, that is, when the bus is reset, an IP address request and assignment is made automatically. At this time, the mapping table included in the home network manager collects device name and the like information from the attribute table of each device and stores the allocated virtual IP address.

So far, the method of processing a domain name in accessing a home network of an external network has been described. The home network system according to the present invention, which supports domain name processing, has a home network manager (510 in FIG. 5) for managing a home network to which at least one client device and a plurality of server devices are connected as described above. The home network manager 510 converts a domain name address transmitted from outside the home network into a virtual Internet protocol address by referring to a preset mapping table, and accesses the corresponding device among the devices included in the home network according to the conversion result. There is this.

The home network manager 510 is different from a conventional NAT (Net Address Translation) device that hardwarely translates a real IP address into a virtual IP address. The home network manager 510 may be configured such that its function is embedded in a DTV that operates as a client device in the home network, unlike that shown in FIG. 5. In addition, if there is a separate home network administrator, DTV performs the task of creating a device page instead of DTV. In this case, the DTV simply performs a web browser function and accesses the home network administrator to read the device page. Can be configured.

On the other hand, the embodiments of the present invention described above can be written as a program that can be executed on a computer. And may be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer for running the program from a medium used in the computer. The media includes storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g. ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, etc.), optical reading media (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) and carrier waves (e.g., transmitted over the Internet). .

The recording medium converts a domain name address for a predetermined device into an intermediate address including a real Internet protocol address assigned to a home network, and converts the intermediate address into a virtual internet protocol that can be recognized in a home network by referring to a preset mapping table. Stores program code that can be executed by a computer to convert to an address and to access a predetermined device using a virtual Internet protocol address.

And functional programs, codes and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers in the art to which the present invention belongs.

As described above, the domain name processing method and the home network system supporting the external network when the external network accesses the home network according to the present invention allow a user to easily access devices included in the home network from outside the home network. This has the advantage.

Claims (8)

In the domain name processing method when a user outside the home network accesses a predetermined device connected to the home network using a domain name address, (a) converting a domain name address for the given device into an intermediate address including a real Internet protocol address assigned to the home network; (b) converting the intermediate address into a virtual Internet protocol address recognizable in the home network by referring to a preset mapping table; And and (c) accessing the predetermined device by using the virtual internet protocol address. The method of claim 1, wherein in the step (a), the domain name address, Hierarchically, at least, a device name representing the predetermined device, a group name to which the device name belongs, and a real domain name address assigned to the home network, The converted intermediate address comprises a real internet protocol address mapped to the real domain name address, and the group name as the additional information and the device name. The domain name processing method when accessing a home network of an external network is performed. . The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the mapping table, Storing at least a group name of devices in a predetermined group in the home network, a device name of a device belonging to each group name, and a virtual internet protocol address mapped to each device name. How to handle domain names when accessing. The method of claim 3, wherein the mapping table, And at the time of bus reset of the home network, information is collected from an attribute table of each of the devices connected to the home network and dynamically upgraded. In a home network system that supports domain name processing when a user outside the home network accesses a device connected to the home network by using a domain name address, A home network to which at least one client device and a plurality of server devices are connected; And A home network manager converting a domain name address transmitted from outside the home network into a virtual internet protocol address by referring to a preset mapping table and accessing a corresponding device among the devices included in the home network according to a result of the conversion; Home network system, characterized in that. The method of claim 5, wherein the mapping table, And storing group names that divide devices into predetermined groups in at least the home network, device names of devices belonging to each group name, and virtual internet protocol addresses mapped to each device name. The device of claim 6, wherein the devices in the home network include: It supports a predetermined protocol required by the home network, and has an attribute table including at least a group name and a device name to enable grouping, And the mapping table is dynamically upgraded by collecting information from an attribute table of each of the devices upon bus reset of the home network. The method of claim 5, wherein the home network administrator, And be embedded in the client device of the home network.