KR100648513B1 - Home Network System and Method for Network Device to be linked with each other - Google Patents

Abstract

In a home network system including a home gateway to which a plurality of devices are connected through a home network, and a mediation server to which a plurality of home gateways are connected through an external network, the mediation server includes an application program interface (API), When a new device is added, the home network support module of the device discloses a home network system for controlling other devices connected to the home gateway by executing an API of an intermediate server via the home gateway.

API, home network, platform, integration, integration

Description

Home Network System and Method for Interworking Devices Applied {Home Network System and Method for Network Device to be linked with each other}             

1 is a network diagram illustrating a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a conceptual diagram showing the operation of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart showing a device interworking method according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a home network system and a method for controlling a device applied thereto, and more particularly, a home that can minimize time and economic losses required to control another device from a device newly added to the home network. The present invention relates to a network system and a device control method applied thereto.

The home network system not only allows automatic control of PCs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, household appliances, video or audio devices, telephones, fax machines, and other communication devices connected to the home network. The meter can remotely read the amount of water, gas, etc., and residents can use one device at home to control other devices, as well as to control the devices at home by using communication means such as mobile phones. Can be.

The home network system consists of an intermediary server connected to a backbone network such as the Internet, an access network, a home network, and a home gateway for interconnecting them. Therefore, a plurality of home gateways, one for each home, are connected to the intermediate server.

The home gateway has a function of accessing an external network and a function of distributing signals to a home network, and together with a home router having a LAN interface.

In addition to the standard protocols such as TCP / IP, the home gateway should be able to recognize devices with IP addresses or devices without IP addresses with separate protocol information. In addition, it may have a bridge function for matching between protocols for mutual control between devices having different protocols.

In such a conventional home network system, a developer of a newly added device has a problem in that it is necessary to develop a protocol that can be interworked with various devices connected to a home gateway.

 The present invention has been proposed to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a home gateway to each home from a service server connected via the Internet outside the home for new devices or new services. To control existing devices connected to the gateway, it is to provide a home network system that can minimize the time and economic losses incurred.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a device applied to such a home network system.

Other objects and features of the present invention will be more clearly understood through the embodiments described below.

According to an aspect of the present invention, in a home network system including a home gateway to which a plurality of devices are connected through a home network, and a mediation server to which a plurality of home gateways are connected through an external network, the mediation server may include an application program interface (API). When a new device is added to the home gateway, the home network support module of the device discloses a home network system for controlling other devices connected to the home gateway by executing an API of the intermediate server via the home gateway.

Preferably, the intermediary server has information on the status and control method of a plurality of devices connected to the home gateway from the home gateway, and provides information on the status and control method of the connected devices at the request of the home network support module of the device. .

According to another aspect of the present invention, it is applied to a home network system comprising a home gateway to which a plurality of devices are connected through a home network, and a mediation server to which a plurality of home gateways are connected through an external network. The device connected to the home gateway includes a home network support module, and one device newly added to the home gateway is connected; Accessing, by a home network support module of one device, an API of an intermediate server via a home gateway; Performing a process for interworking between one device and other devices connected to a home gateway through an API of an intermediate server; And controlling other devices from one device by executing an API.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a home gateway connected to a plurality of devices through a home network, and a home network system is connected to a plurality of home gateways via an external network and is provided with an intermediary server having an API, It has information about the status and control method of a plurality of devices connected to the home gateway from the home gateway through the API, and the service provider server installs an API execution module that can execute the API and accesses the intermediate server to execute the API. A service providing method using a home network system for requesting and receiving information collected from a specific device connected to a home gateway and providing a service based on the received information is disclosed.

For example, a service provider includes a remote meter reading company and receives remote meter reading data from an intermediary server.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a network diagram illustrating a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the home network, a plurality of devices 10, 20, and 30, for example, home appliances 50, home appliances, communication devices, crime prevention devices, metering devices, exercise equipment, or blood pressure monitors Are connected.

A plurality of connected devices may be of a type that is assigned with or without an IP to apply the TCP / IP protocol. Therefore, the applied communication is in the form of a wired network, such as Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA), Power Line Communication (Power Line Communication) or wireless, Bluetooth, HomeRF (Home Radio Frequency), WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network) and IrDA (Infrared Data). Association).

The home gateway 50 is connected to the home network relay server 100 through an access network and a backbone network, and is connected to the mobile device 310 or the computer system 300 via a backbone network such as the Internet 200.

2 is a conceptual diagram showing the operation of the present invention, Figure 3 is a flowchart showing a device interworking method according to the present invention.

For convenience of explanation, a new intelligent treadmill is added to control other devices from the treadmill.

A plurality of devices are connected to the home gateway 50 and store information on the state and control method of the connected devices in the device information database 55.

The intermediary server 100 is provided with an API 110 and receives information about the state and control method of various devices connected from the home gateway 50 through the API 110 and stores the backup on its own. Preferably, the API 110 may be classified into, for example, a home appliance API, a communication device API, and a multimedia device API for each type of device for convenience of management.

Devices connected to the home gateway 50 may be provided with a home network support module 12 to perform communication with the home gateway 50 or the home network intermediation server 100. For example, XML / SOAP may be applied. have.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the intelligent treadmill 30 is newly added and connected to the home gateway 50 (step S31), the home gateway 50 automatically assigns an IP if necessary according to the added device (step S31). S32).

If the IP is not provided because TCP / IP is not used, the corresponding separate protocol is extracted to enable communication with the intermediate server 100.

Subsequently, the home network support module 12 installed in the intelligent treadmill 30 connects to the intermediary server 100 via the home gateway 50 (step S33).

In addition, the home network support module 12 executes the API 110 of the mediation server 100 to perform a process for interworking with other devices connected to the treadmill 30 and the home gateway 50 (step) S34).

The interworking process includes a series of processes for testing protocol matching or commands output from the treadmill based on information related to the devices collected from the home gateway 50.

Thereafter, the treadmill 30 may control other devices connected to the home gateway 50 through the API 110 or check the status of other devices.

In the case of adding a new device through such a method, there is an advantage that the home network system installed in each home is different from the conventional method, and additional development work for the control of each device is not necessary. In particular, the same device has hundreds of homes. In the case of new additions, the effect is obvious in terms of time and cost of installation.

As described above, looking at the process of checking and controlling the state of the other device in detail, for example, when checking the washing state while exercising with the treadmill 30 and treadmill 30 to control the washing machine The intermediary server 100 is connected to the home server through the home network support module 12 to request the state information of the washing machine from the API 110, and the API 110 retrieves the state information of the washing machine connected to the corresponding home gateway 50. By providing the user can check the washing state through the screen of the treadmill (30).

In addition, when a control command of the washing machine is provided through the screen, for example, a turn-off command, the home network support module 12 transmits the control command to the intermediary server 100, and the API of the intermediary server 100 is provided. 110 transmits the received control command to the home gateway 50 to stop the operation of the washing machine.

On the other hand, the device manufacturer or service company accesses the mediation server 100 to execute the API (110) to provide information about a device or a third-party device or a specific device to be managed by the home gateway 50 of each home Since it can be provided upon request, there is an advantage that the service can be performed without violating the privacy of other devices installed in each home.

This will be described in detail as follows.

For example, in order for an online telemetering provider to provide telemetering services, information about electricity, gas, or water use must be available from all eligible homes.

However, this requires installation of a remote metering device in every home to which the on-line telemetering provider is targeted, which is not practical in practice.

According to the present invention, the server of the remote meter reading company is connected to the home network intermediation server 100 receives and installs an API execution module capable of executing the API 110 of the mediation server.

The home network relay server 100 is connected to the home gateway 50 of each home, and each home gateway 50 is linked with various remote meter reading devices, so the home network relay server 100 is the home of each home. Through the gateway 50, the meter data of the remote meter devices, for example, electricity, gas, or water consumption may be collected.

Accordingly, the server of the remote meter reading company may access the intermediary server 100 to receive the meter reading data collected by executing the API 110 by the API execution module.

As such, service providers wishing to provide new services through the home network system may easily use the collected information.

In the above described the center of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it can be variously changed at the level of those skilled in the art. Therefore, in consideration of such modifications and variations, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiments, but should be determined by the claims described below.

As described above, in the case of adding a new device, unlike the conventional method, it is advantageous to check a home network system installed in each home and do not need additional development work for controlling each device. In the case of new additions in the home, the effect is obvious in terms of time and cost of installation.

In addition, device manufacturers or service providers can request and receive information about their own devices connected to the home gateway of each home or specific devices they want to manage from the API of the intermediary server, thereby controlling other devices installed in each home. There is an advantage in that the service can be eliminated without the inconvenience of implementing the protocol and the possibility of leakage of related device usage due to personal privacy.

Claims (5)

In a home network system comprising a home gateway to which a plurality of devices having a home network support module are connected through a home network, and an intermediate server to which the home gateway is connected through an external network, The mediation server has an application program interface (API), and has information on the status and control scheme of a plurality of devices connected to the home gateway provided from the home gateway, When a device is newly added to the home gateway, the home network support module of the added device executes the API of the intermediary server via the home gateway, and controls the state and control scheme of the devices through the API. Home network system, characterized in that the interworking with other devices connected to the home gateway based on the information. delete Applied to a home network system comprising a home gateway where a plurality of devices having a home network support module are connected through a home network, and an intermediary server connected to the home gateway through an external network, The mediation server has an application program interface (API), and has information on the status and control scheme of a plurality of devices connected to the home gateway provided from the home gateway, Adding a new device to the home gateway newly; Executing, by the home network support module of the added device, the API of the intermediate server via the home gateway; And And a process for interworking with the added device and the plurality of devices based on information on the state and control method of the devices through the API of the intermediate server. Interworking method between devices applied to. Applied to a home network system comprising a home gateway in which a plurality of devices having a home network support module are connected through a home network, and the home gateway is connected through an external network, and an intermediate server having an application program interface (API). , The intermediate server has information on the status and control method of the remote meter reading device connected to the home gateway provided from the home gateway through the API, The remote meter reading company server receives and installs an API execution module capable of executing the API from the intermediary server, and accesses the intermediate server to execute the API to execute the API from the remote meter reading device connected to the home gateway. Method for providing a remote meter reading service using a home network system, characterized in that the request is received by receiving the remote meter reading data collected based on the information on the state and control method, and provides a remote meter reading service based on the received remote meter reading data . delete

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