KR100466361B1 - Telephone having a function of a home-gateway - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention can minimize the overall installation cost of the home networking system by incorporating the home gateway function and the relay server function in the general telephone, and control the home networking system through the general public telephone network as well as independent control in each home. Relates to a home gateway telephone that enables it. According to the present invention, a communication device is connected to various electronic devices in a home, and transmits a control command for controlling the electronic device to each electronic device, and receives an operation state and a result of performing the control command provided from each electronic device. ; A memory unit for storing a control program for controlling a home networking system and information set by a user; An internet access device connected to the internet network to transmit and receive data; A telephone module connected to a general public telephone network (PSTN) for transmitting and receiving a telephone signal and processing the telephone signal; And, if a control command in the form of a key signal is received through the telephone module or a control command is received through the Internet access device, the control program is executed to transmit the received control command to the communication device to control the electronic device. It provides a home gateway telephone comprising a main control unit for transmitting the operation state and the control command execution result of the electronic device provided through the telephone module or the Internet access device.

Description

Home gateway phone {TELEPHONE HAVING A FUNCTION OF A HOME-GATEWAY}

The present invention relates to a home gateway device, and more particularly, in a home networking system, a home gateway device provided for connection to an external network is embedded in a general telephone, and the home network is provided through a mobile terminal as well as an internet network and a wired telephone network. It relates to a home gateway telephone to enable control of the.

As is well known, due to the development of digital technology, the spread of various types of home appliances is rapidly spreading. In recent years, the high-speed information and communication technology has been combined with these digital technologies, and thus, various kinds of home appliances can be connected to each other and connected to external networks. Development of a home networking system that enables remote control of home appliances is actively underway. In other words, in such a home networking system, data can be transmitted through the Internet by connecting various electronic devices and PCs in a network form, and thus, it is possible to directly control and control the operation status of various electronic devices in the home from a remote location. It becomes possible.

As such, a home gateway device is necessary for the home networking system to be connected to an external network to transmit and receive data. Typically, the gateway device is located between two communication networks using different data communication protocols to transmit data between networks. It converts the data to the data for each network.

In this regard, Figure 1 is a view showing the overall configuration of a conventional home networking system, a home appliance 10, security / disaster prevention device 20, remote meter reading device 30, gateway device 40, control The terminal 50 includes a hub 60, a PC 70, and a relay server 80.

Referring to FIG. 1, the home appliance 10, the crime prevention / disaster prevention device 20, and the remote meter reading device 30 are electronic devices in a home that can build a home network, and are typically power line communication. Built-in power line communication module for) is connected to the gateway device 40 in the form of a network. Here, the home appliance 10 shown in the drawing may be a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a microwave oven, and the like, and the crime prevention and disaster prevention device 20 may include, for example, a monitoring camera, a monitoring monitor, and various alarm devices. have. In addition, examples of the remote meter reading device 30 may include water and sewage meters, gas meters, and electricity meters.

The gateway device 40 is a device for controlling data transmission and reception between the various devices 10, 20, and 30 as described above by connecting to an external network such as an internet network, and the hub 60 and the relay server 80 described later. It is configured to connect with internet network through).

In addition, the control terminal 50 shown in the drawing is typically configured as an information terminal such as a web pad (Web-Pad), and is a means for performing overall environment setting and control of a home networking system by a user's operation. (Access Point) and the hub 60 can be connected to the Internet network.

The hub 60 is a means for allowing the gateway device 40, the control terminal 50, and the PC 70 to share the Internet line, and the relay server 80 may be configured with the respective constituent means as described above (reference numeral). 10 to 70) is a server for relaying interconnection and data transmission and reception between the home network and the Internet network, and typically performs a function of providing home networking services from each home in a large residential area such as an apartment. Therefore, the relay server 80 is not provided individually in each home, but is installed one per predetermined residential unit. On the other hand, when building a home networking system in a typical home that does not belong to a large residential area, a separate web server that configures the function of the relay server 80 to replace the PC 70 or provides a home networking service may be used. It will function as a relay server.

As a result, in the related art, such a home networking system can be used to control electronic devices in a home through an external network. An expensive web pad (control terminal 50) and a gateway from a user's point of view of building such a system. Since the apparatus 40 must be provided, there is a problem that the initial equipment cost is excessive.

In particular, in the conventional home networking system described above, a relay server (not only when a user wants to control each electronic device externally through an external network but also controls a home networking system in a home that is not external) 80) to control over the Internet. However, the Internet network is a general public network, not an independent communication network, and is relatively easy to hack. Therefore, there is a high possibility of personal information leakage due to home networking, and in case of an abnormality of the relay server 80 itself, There is a problem that it is impossible to control all home networking systems connected to the relay server 80.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, it is possible to minimize the overall installation cost of the home networking system by incorporating the home gateway function and the relay server function in the ordinary telephone at the same time in each home It is an object of the present invention to provide a home gateway telephone that enables control of a home networking system through an independent public telephone network as well as independent control.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object,

A home gateway telephone incorporating a home gateway function for connecting a network in a home to an external network in a home networking system, the home gateway telephone being connected to various electronic devices in a home, and providing control commands for controlling the electronic devices to the electronic devices. A communication device for transmitting and receiving an operation state and a control command execution result provided from each electronic device; A memory unit for storing a control program for controlling the home networking system and information set by a user; An internet access device connected to the internet network to transmit and receive data; A telephone module connected to a general public telephone network (PSTN) for transmitting and receiving a telephone signal and processing the telephone signal; And when the control command in the form of a key signal is received through the telephone module or when the control command is received through the Internet access device, executing the control program to transmit the received control command to the communication device. And a main control unit configured to control the control unit and to transmit an operation state and a control command execution result of the electronic device provided through the communication device through the phone module or the Internet access device.

1 is a view showing the overall configuration of a conventional general home networking system.

2 is a view showing the overall configuration of a home networking system using a home gateway telephone according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the home gateway telephone shown in FIG.

4A and 4B are flowcharts illustrating a control process of a home networking system through a home gateway telephone according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a menu screen and a control state displayed through a display unit of a home gateway telephone or a display unit of a mobile terminal according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

205: power line communication device 210: main control unit

215: memory unit 220: touch panel and display unit

225: Internet connection device 230: voice recognition module

235 telephone module 240 wireless transceiver

245: voice interface unit 250: key pad

260: wireless portable device

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing the overall configuration of a home networking system using a home gateway phone according to the present invention, the home appliance 110, security / disaster prevention device 120, remote meter reading device 130, home gateway phone 200 ), Hub 300 and PC 400. Here, the functions of the home appliance 110, the crime prevention / disaster prevention device 120, the remote meter reading device 130, the hub 300, the PC 400 is the respective components 10, 20, 30 described in FIG. , 60, 70).

Referring to FIG. 2, first, the home networking system according to the present invention is used instead of the control terminal 40, the gateway device 50, and the relay server 80 compared to the conventional home networking system shown in FIG. 1. It can be seen that the home gateway phone 200 is further configured. That is, the home gateway telephone 200 shown in FIG. 2 is a telephone incorporating the functions of the control terminal 40, the gateway device 50, and the relay server 80 required in the conventional home networking system according to the present invention. It is connected to the Internet line provided through the hub 300, and can be connected through the Internet network.

In addition, the home gateway telephone 200 is also connected to the general public telephone network (PSTN) to be able to control the operation of each electronic device (110, 120, 130) by a control command provided through the general public telephone network.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the home gateway telephone 200. The power line communication apparatus 205, the main control unit 210, the memory unit 215, the touch panel and the display unit 220, and the Internet connection are shown in FIG. The device 225, the voice recognition processor 230, the telephone module 235, the wireless transceiver 240, the voice interface unit 245, the keypad 250, and the wireless portable device 260 are configured.

The home gateway telephone 200 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 as follows.

First, the power line communication device 205 is a means for performing power line communication by connecting to each of the electronic devices 110, 120, 130 shown in FIG. 2 through a power line, and from each of the electronic devices 110, 120, 130. It transmits the provided state information to the main control unit 210 to be described later, or transmits a control command provided from the main control unit 210 to each electronic device (110, 120, 130). Therefore, each of the electronic devices 110, 120, and 130 is also built in a module for power line communication.

The main control unit 210 shown in the figure is a main processor for controlling the overall operation of the home networking system according to the present invention can be configured as a processor with a built-in digital signal processing (DSP) function, home gateway telephone 200 It controls the overall operation and mutual data transmission and reception of each component included in the). That is, the main controller 210 switches the operation mode of the home gateway phone 200 to the home networking control mode or the general phone mode, and performs the control process accordingly.

For example, in the general telephone mode, the voice signal between the telephone module 235 and the voice interface unit 245 is transmitted and received through a predetermined signal processing process and based on a key signal input through the keypad 250. Controls the operation mode of the dialing and the phone, and controls to enable wireless communication using the wireless portable device 260 through the wireless transceiver 240.

In the home networking control mode, a voice command or DTMF type control command inputted from the telephone module 235 and the wireless portable device 260 through the voice recognition processor 230 is analyzed and the home networking system correspondingly is analyzed. To control. In addition, even when a connection to a home networking system is required from a general telephone or a mobile communication terminal through a public switched telephone network (PSTN), an overall control process is performed accordingly.

Detailed control of the main control unit 210 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying flowchart below.

The memory unit 215 shown in the drawing shows various control algorithms for controlling and executing the operation mode of the home gateway telephone 200 and corresponding voice guidance messages in the form of a program. Loaded and executed by 210. In addition, the memory unit 215 also stores information set or input by the user through the keypad 250 or the touch panel and the display unit 220 which will be described later. Therefore, the memory unit 215 is generally preferably composed of a plurality of different memory means (for example, flash memory, ROM, SDRAM, etc.), but in the present embodiment is integrated into one memory means for convenience of description. Shown.

The touch panel and the display unit 220 are provided on the front portion of the home gateway telephone 200, and means for displaying the operation status of the home networking system and various function setting menus, and input of data through the surface of the display means. It is configured to include a touch panel to enable. The touch panel and the display unit 220 performing such a function may be configured with a conventional LCD and a touch screen mounted on the LCD surface, and the user may use the touch panel and display unit 220 to perform overall functions of the home gateway system. Can be controlled.

The Internet access device 225 is connected to the hub 300 shown in FIG. 2 so that the home gateway phone 200 can access the Internet network. The Internet access device 225 may be a conventional LAN card and a data communication modem. Configuration is possible.

The voice recognition processor 230 is a means for recognizing a control command in the form of a voice signal input from a user and converting the command into a corresponding command signal. The voice signal input from the general public telephone network or the wireless portable device 260 is a telephone module. Received through the 235 or the wireless transmission and reception unit 240 to recognize the control command, and transmits the control command corresponding to the control unit 210. To this end, the voice recognition processor 230 stores a plurality of reference voice signals and control commands corresponding to the respective reference voice signals.

In addition, the telephone module 235 is connected to a general public telephone network (PSTN) to perform a general telephone function of the home gateway telephone 200. The voice signal processing means and the ring signal are performed as in the ordinary telephone. Detecting and generating means, dialing means, switching means and the like.

The wireless transceiver 240 is a means for performing wireless transmission and reception with the wireless portable device 260 as in a general wired / wireless combined telephone. The wireless transceiver 240 controls various signals and data generated by the home gateway telephone body under the control of the main controller 210. The wireless signal is converted into a wireless signal and transmitted, and a voice signal and a key signal provided wirelessly are received from the wireless portable device 260 and provided to the main controller 210. Accordingly, the wireless portable device 260 is a wireless terminal used in a conventional wired / wireless combined telephone, and can transmit and receive voice signals through a home gateway telephone body and an interphone function. In addition, the wireless portable device 260 may include a display means so that the user can easily control the home networking system through a displayed menu.

The voice interface unit 245 refers to a conventional handset (not shown) provided in the home gateway telephone 200 or a means connected to a speaker and a microphone to interface transmission and reception of a voice signal. Comprised of a number of keys and function keys provided in the phone of the to enable the overall operation mode switching and dialing of the home gateway telephone 200, and if necessary for the control of the home networking system according to the present invention You can also configure additional function keys.

As a result, the home gateway telephone 200 according to the present invention incorporates a gateway function and a simple relay server function and a voice recognition function capable of controlling a home networking system in a wired / wireless general purpose telephone, and simultaneously provides a touch panel and a display unit 220. By accommodating all the functions of the conventional web pad, the home networking system can be controlled from the outside through the Internet network or a general public telephone network. In addition, the home networking system may be controlled by inputting a voice command or a key signal through the wireless portable device 260 even in the home. Particularly, in the conventional home networking system, even when the home networking system is to be controlled in the home rather than the outside, it is possible to access the relay server (80 of FIG. 1) provided in the outside and then control only through the Internet network. In the home networking system using the home gateway phone 200 according to the present invention, independent control is possible using the home gateway phone 200. In this case, the wireless portable device 260 enables the user to control a home networking system using a voice recognition function while moving, rather than a specific location fixed in the home.

FIG. 4A illustrates a process of first connecting a home networking system to the home networking system through a public public telephone network and controlling each electronic device among the methods of controlling the home networking system using the gateway phone 200. As a flowchart, it will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the user attempts to dial in to his home by using a normal telephone or a mobile communication terminal (step S401), and thus, the telephone module 235 in the home gateway telephone 200 connected with the general public telephone network has a ring signal. Is detected to generate a predetermined ring signal (step S403). Accordingly, a ring tone is output to the telephone or mobile communication terminal to which the user currently dials. At this time, the user attempts to connect to the home networking system by inputting a predetermined code number (key signal) (step S405). . Here, the predetermined predetermined code number is a code number in the form of a password preset in the home gateway phone 200 for the control of the home networking system, and can be arbitrarily set and changed by the user, and the set code number is the home gateway. It is stored in the memory unit 215 in the phone 200. The main controller 210 of the home gateway telephone 200 recognizes that the tone number corresponding to the stored code number is received while receiving a ring signal by the telephone connection.

Therefore, if the code number input by the user through the above-described process is transmitted through the public telephone network and provided to the main controller 210 via the telephone module 235, the main controller 210 is stored in the memory unit 215. It is judged whether or not they coincide with each other by comparing with the preset code number (step S407). Here, the code number provided through the telephone module 235 is provided in the form of a tone signal, and the main controller 210 uses a DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency) processing function widely used in a conventional telephone. Tone signals can be recognized.

On the other hand, the main control unit 210 outputs a predetermined error message in the form of a voice signal if the input code number does not match the preset code number as a result of the determination in the above-described step (S407), the telephone module 235 ) To the user's telephone or mobile communication terminal (step S409).

On the contrary, if the input code number and the preset code number coincide with each other, the main control unit 210 executes the ARS function and outputs a predetermined guide message for controlling the home networking system. The voice recognition unit 230 and the telephone module 235 ) Is transmitted to the user's telephone or mobile communication terminal (step S411). Accordingly, the user selects the electronic device to be controlled according to the guide message, and then controls the home networking system by inputting a control command for the selected electronic device (step S413). Here, the electronic device selection signal and the control command input by the user mean a predetermined code number corresponding to the ARS function of the main controller 210 as described above.

As a result, through each of these processes, the user can access the home networking system through the general public telephone network and control the operation of various electronic devices connected to the home networking system. In the case of controlling the system, it is possible to solve the security problem that occurs when connecting through the existing Internet network.

On the other hand, in the home networking control process as described above has been described as a user to control the respective electronic devices by inputting a code number corresponding to the ARS guidance message provided by the home networking system, unlike the voice command input The same control is also possible in the case of the control. That is, when a user inputs a voice command, the telephone module 235 receives the voice command through the public public telephone network and transmits it to the main controller 210. The main controller 210 transmits the voice command to the voice recognition processor 230. To send). Accordingly, the voice recognition processor 230 analyzes the voice command and transmits a control command corresponding to the voice command to the main controller 210, and the main controller 210 can control each electronic device based on the voice command.

On the other hand, in the home gateway phone 200 according to the present invention, as described above, as well as connecting using a general public telephone network, it is also possible to accommodate a connection method through the Internet as in the prior art, where the Internet network It includes both a wireless Internet network using a wireless terminal (mobile communication terminal or a wireless PDA, etc.) capable of Internet service, and a wired Internet network connected using a general PC. Therefore, the user can be connected to the home networking system according to the present invention by using a wireless terminal or a PC from the outside, thereby controlling each electronic device.

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating this process and described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a user connects to an internet network using a wireless terminal or a general PC, and then accesses an internet relay system (not shown) (step S451). ). Here, the Internet relay system does not mean a relay server that performs a function of a conventional home networking system, but a system that provides a service for accessing a home networking system in a home through the Internet. It means the internet service system subscribed through the procedure.

Accordingly, the user can access the home networking system after performing a login process through a user information input process required by the Internet relay system through a web page (step S453).

When the user selects an electronic device to be controlled through a web page and inputs a control command for the selected electronic device (step S455), the Internet relay system transmits the control command input by the user through a hub through the Internet network. 300, the hub 300 receives the message and transmits it to the home gateway phone 200.

Therefore, the Internet access device 225 in the home gateway telephone 200 receives this control command and transmits it to the main control unit 210 (step S547). Therefore, the main controller 210 analyzes the control command provided through the Internet network and controls the state of the electronic device corresponding thereto (step S549).

On the other hand, when the home networking system is built using the home gateway phone 200 according to the present invention, there is another feature that enables independent control in the home. That is, in the conventional general home networking system as shown in FIG. 1, even when the user wants to control the home networking system in the home rather than outside, the independent control is not possible because it is configured to access and control the relay server. In the home networking system according to the present invention, independent control is possible without being connected to the relay server 80 provided in the conventional home networking system.

In this regard, in order to control the home networking system in the home, the home networking system may be controlled using the keypad 250 or the touch panel of the home gateway phone 200 and the touch panel of the display unit 220. In this case, the main controller 210 executes a control program stored in the memory unit 215 based on an operation signal input from the keypad 250 or an operation signal provided through the touch panel and the display unit 220. Done.

Therefore, a menu screen or the like corresponding to the operation signal input by the user is displayed through the touch panel and the display unit 220, and the user inputs a control command according to the guidance of the menu screen, and various electronic devices configured in the home networking system. It is possible to control the operation of.

In particular, since the home gateway telephone 200 according to the present invention includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wireless portable device 260 as in the general wired / wireless combined telephone as shown in FIG. The home networking system can be controlled using the wireless portable device 260 at any location in the home. At this time, the control command inputted through the wireless portable device 260 is received by the wireless transceiver 240 and the main controller ( 230, the electronic devices can be controlled.

5 exemplarily illustrates a menu screen and a control state displayed on the touch panel and the display unit 220 of the home gateway phone 200 or the display unit (not shown) of the wireless portable device 260 during the home networking process. It is a figure shown.

In addition, in the home gateway telephone 200 according to the present invention, in order to be able to voice a command execution result by voice, a guide message or a voice message corresponding to each control mode of the home networking system is provided to the memory unit 215. The main control unit 215 displays the processing result of the control command executed by the user through the display window of the touch panel and the display unit 200 or outputs a voice through the speaker.

For example, when the user drives the washing machine connected to the home gateway phone 200 through each process as described above, the washing machine performs the washing process according to the control command, and then the washing line is completed through the power line. You will be notified. Accordingly, the home gateway phone 200 receives the message through the power line communication device 205, and the main control unit 215 reads a message indicating that the washing process is completed from the memory unit 215 and sends the message to the user by text or voice. You will be notified.

As a result, in the case of implementing a home networking system using the home gateway telephone 200 according to the present invention, it is possible to control the home networking system from the outside through the public network as well as the Internet network, and is independent within each home. Control is possible.

On the other hand, the above embodiments and drawings are merely for the purpose of describing the contents of the present invention in detail, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the invention, the present invention also has a general knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs Various substitutions, modifications and variations are possible within the technical scope of the invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to control the home networking system using the public network as well as the Internet network, which has the effect of solving the security problems caused by Internet hacking, and can be independently controlled in the home. There is. In addition, by providing a home gateway function and a web pad function to the general telephone, it is possible to reduce the initial installation cost for the home networking system.

Claims (7)

A home gateway telephone with a built-in home gateway function for connecting a home network to an external network in a home networking system, A communication device connected to various electronic devices in a home, and transmitting a control command for controlling the electronic device to each electronic device, and receiving an operation state and a result of performing the control command provided from each electronic device; A memory unit for storing a control program for controlling the home networking system and information set by a user; An internet access device connected to the internet network to transmit and receive data; A telephone module connected to a general public telephone network (PSTN) for transmitting and receiving a telephone signal and processing the telephone signal; A plurality of reference voice commands and control commands corresponding to the respective reference voice commands are stored therein, and when a voice command is input through the phone module, the voice command is recognized to detect the corresponding voice command. A voice recognition processor for transmitting a control command corresponding to the detected reference voice command to the main controller; And The reception is performed by executing the control program by any one of the control command in the form of a key signal received through the telephone module, the control command received through the Internet access device, and the control command transmitted from the voice recognition processing unit. Performing control of the electronic device by transmitting the control command to the communication device, and transmitting an operation state of the electronic device and a control command execution result provided through the communication device through the telephone module or the Internet access device. Home gateway telephone comprising a main control. The method of claim 1, A display unit for displaying various menus provided by the control program, an operation state of each electronic device, and a result of performing a control command under control of the main control unit; and a control command input by a surface contact of the display unit; The home gateway telephone further comprises a touch panel for transmitting to the main control unit. The method of claim 1, And a key pad having a plurality of numeric keys and function keys for transmitting the control command input by a user's operation to the main control unit. The method of claim 1, A wireless portable device spaced apart from the home gateway telephone and converting a control command in the form of a key signal input by a user into a wireless signal; The wireless controller further includes a wireless transceiver configured to convert the signal generated from the home gateway telephone into the wireless signal under the control of the main controller, and wirelessly receive the control command provided from the wireless portable device and transmit the signal to the main controller. Home gateway telephone, characterized in that configured to. The method of claim 1, The memory unit pre-stores a plurality of voice messages corresponding to the control command execution result of each electronic device, When the control command execution result from each of the electronic devices is received through the communication module, the main controller transmits a voice message corresponding to the received control command execution result to the path through which the control command is input. Home gateway phone. delete The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, Each electronic device has a built-in power line communication module, And the communication device is a power line communication device for communicating with each of the electronic devices using a power line.