KR100698111B1 - Emboding method of the A/V network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an A / V network implementation method. The present invention provides a method for implementing an A / V network in which an A / V network including a master device and at least one slave device informs other devices on the network of status information of each device using a notification message packet. do. Therefore, there is an effect of increasing user convenience through a linkage control scenario between the master TV and the slave devices through the notification message packet.

A / V network, Xlink, master device, slave device

Description

Emboding method of the A / V network

1 is a diagram illustrating a control screen for controlling an A / V device through a GUI of a general master TV.

2 illustrates a message format of an Xlink protocol according to the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a code for each message type according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating an instruction of a notification message packet according to the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a notification message packet informing the power state of each slave device according to the present invention;

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a notification message packet informing a state of each device in each slave device or master device according to the present invention;

7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation scenario of an A / V device that can be implemented using a notification message packet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a diagram illustrating a network connection form between an internal component block and slave devices of a master TV according to the present invention;

-Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings-

10: tuner 30: demultiplexer

50: video decoder 70: PSIP decoder

90: UI / GUI module 120: microcomputer

The present invention relates to an A / V network implementation, and more particularly, to a method for implementing an A / V network using a packet by defining a new packet type for interworking control between in-home A / V products.

Recently, the importance of home networking has emerged in the electronic industry due to the arrival of the ubiquitous era.

Accordingly, in order to implement the home network function, all the products in the home are connected to the HA (Home Automatic) product by using a living network control protocol (LnCP) using a power line, and a remote control function is implemented on the TV. Sometimes we use a protocol called Xlink to control only the / V device.

The basic purpose of Xlink, a control protocol between A / V devices, is to easily control other A / V devices together with one TV remote control.

In other words, in the past, as the number of A / V devices increased, the number of remote controllers increased so that the user had to alternately operate them, and there was a difficulty in changing the external input of the TV one by one to operate the corresponding devices. The Xlink protocol is designed to easily control such complex functions through the GUI (Graphic User Interface) of the TV, and to solve the inconvenience of manually manipulating the external input by the TV's automatic input detection. Proposed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a control screen for controlling an A / V device through a GUI of a master TV using the Xlink protocol.

As shown in FIG. 1, a user can view / view a corresponding A / V device by launching an Xlink GUI using a remote control of a master TV, and selecting an A / V device to be operated.

That is, the A / V devices that can be controlled around the master TV, for example, a set top box (STB), a DVD player, a PVR (Personal Video Recorder), a VCR (Video Cassette Recorder), etc. are connected to a network. The A / V device can be controlled through the Xlink protocol.

At this time, the user can control the play, stop, pause, fast-forward, etc. of the A / V device using the TV remote control, and the effect is as if the remote control of the device.

However, this method is to check the connection state and operation state of the A / V devices present in the home through the UI (User Interface) or GUI in the state that the master TV is powered on, if the power of the master TV If it is off, there is a problem that there is no way to control the A / V device.

That is, the control of the A / V device while the master TV is turned off has to find and directly control the remote control of the corresponding A / V device, which is inconvenient for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to add a Notify packet to the packet format presented in the Xlink spec, so that the interlocking control is possible even when the master TV is turned off. To propose a V network implementation method.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, in the A / V network having a master device and at least one slave device, using the notification message packet to inform the other devices on the network of the status information of each device Provides an A / V network implementation method.

The status information is information of any one of which no response is required, and is characterized in that the power on / off status, network connection status, current operation status, reservation notification, and current time information of the devices.

The notification message packet is characterized by including a field in which the contents of the command are recorded, and a field in which additional information according to the command is recorded.

The instruction contents are characterized in that "PowerStatus" indicating the on / off state of the power supply, "DeviceStatus" indicating the status of each device, and "CurrentTime" indicating the current time.

The notification message packet includes an "Hdr Type" field, a "Dest. Addr" field, a "Src. Addr" field, a "Length" field, a "Command" field, at least one "Data block" field, and a "Checksum" field. It is done by

The "Hdr Type" field includes a "Msg Type" field which is information for identifying packets, and the notification message packet is characterized in that the value of the "Msg Type" field is '00100'.

The present invention, in the interlocking control scenario between the master device and each device in the A / V network having at least one slave device, the state change of the slave device via the notification message packet to the master device, and Checking that the master device is powered on; turning on the master device and switching to a GUI screen according to the message content if the master device is powered off; A / V network implementation method comprising the step of outputting the A / V according to the selection.

When the power of the master device is turned on, switching to the GUI screen according to the message content, and outputting the A / V according to the user's selection is characterized in that it further comprises.

The present invention provides an A / V network having a master device configured to include a microcomputer that communicates with at least one slave device using a request message packet, a response message packet, and a notification message packet.

The communication protocol may be wired communication using RS232C or wireless communication using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is an effect of increasing user convenience through a linkage control scenario between the master TV and the slave devices through the notification message packet.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention that can specifically realize the above object will be described.

In addition, the term used in the present invention was selected a general term that is widely used at present, but according to the emergence of a new technology, the term that the applicant deemed most appropriate in the present invention was arbitrarily used, and the meaning of the term in the corresponding description. It will be explained clearly. Therefore, in the understanding of the present invention, it is intended that the present invention should be understood as the meaning of terms rather than simple names of terms.

In this regard, the term " master device " used in the present invention refers to a device that manages / controls a slave device in an A / V network, and mainly allows a TV to perform the role of the master device. do.

In addition, the "slave device" means all A / V devices other than the master device.

The message format of the Xlink protocol according to the network implementation between the master device and the slave device defined as above will be described first.

2 is a diagram illustrating a message format of an Xlink protocol according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a message of an Xlink protocol includes a request message packet, a response message packet, and a notify message packet according to the present invention.

Looking at the format of the request message packet, a "Header Type" field which is information for distinguishing the start of the message and its packet type, a "Destination Address" field which is the address information of the receiver, and address information of the sender are described. "Source Address" field, "Length" field for full length information of the message, "Command" field for the specific command contents to be transmitted, a plurality of "Data block" fields for recording additional information, and for detecting the error The "Checksum" fields are placed in order.

In addition, the format of the response message packet includes a "Header Type" field, a "Dest Addr" field, a "Src. Addr" field, a "Length" field, a "Command" field, and whether the request message is successful (OK, ERR). The "Resp. Code" field, a plurality of "Data block" fields, and a "Checksum" field in which information is recorded are placed in this order.

The basic communication method using the request message packet and the response message packet configured as described above takes a method in which the slave device transmits a response message to the request message of the master device according to the RS232C protocol.

That is, a slave device configured as a low-performance Micom is limited to a specification so that only the request message of the master device is responded with a response message packet.

Accordingly, only the request message packet and the response message packet may not be able to check the interlocking control between the slave devices and the state change of the slave device in real time without the master device.

In order to solve this problem, the Notify Message Packet according to the present invention is used for the purpose of informing the state change of the slave device.

The notification message packet is configured to have the same structure as the response message packet in order to alleviate the burden on the low-performance microcomputer installed in the slave device.

That is, the notification message packet includes a "Header Type" field, a "Dest. Addr" field, a "Src. Addr" field, a "Length" field, a "Command" field, a "Resp. Code" field, a "Data block" field, The "Checksum" fields are organized in order.

Accordingly, the distinction between the message packets uses the "Header Type" field information, which is shown in FIG. 3.

3 is a diagram illustrating a code for each message type according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the message type is “Request,” “00001” is used as a code recorded in the “Message Type” field in the “Header Type” field, which is used as a meaning of notifying the start of control of the master device. do.

In addition, when the message type is "Response", a code recorded in the "Message Type" field is used as '00010', which is used as a message indicating the control result of the slave device.

In addition, when the message type is "Notify", a code recorded in the "Message Type" field is used as '00100', which is used as a message for notifying a change of status of a slave device.

The notification message packet informs and confirms the status of the slave device on the network. Each slave device on the network does not respond to the notification packet. That is, the slave device notifies the change of its own state using the notification message packet.

An example of an interlocking operation applied to a slave device on an actual network using the notification message packet is as follows.

First, even when the power of the master device is turned off, each slave device can notify the master device of a change in state. This is possible even if the power of the master device is turned off, as long as the power jack is connected, since the internal microcomputer of the master device is in a standby state.

That is, for example, assuming that a user inserts a disc into a DVD player (DVD_P), which is one of slave devices, the master device informs that the disc is inserted into the DVD player even when the master device is turned off. Will let you know. Similarly, assuming that the recording is completed in the VCR (Video Cassette Recorder), one of the slave devices, the master device can be notified that the recording is completed.

In addition, the master device may perform a reservation notification function for each slave product. That is, for example, the set-top box, a DVD recorder having a reservation function, a VCR, etc., can be notified of the contents scheduled for recording.

In addition, when the notification message packet is used, the standard time may be displayed on the slave device by informing the slave device that the slave device does not have the standard time information.

In addition, when the notification message packet is used, the network state can be known even when the power of the master device is turned off. That is, when the slave device is connected to the network, the slave device informs the master device of its own state so that the master device can sufficiently grasp the network state.

As such, the notification message packet can be used to inform other devices on the network of the status change for which no response is required.

4 is a diagram illustrating a command of a notification message packet for enabling such an interlocking operation.

As shown in FIG. 4, the command set to be included in the "command" field of the notification message packet may include a "PowerStatus" command for indicating a power status of each slave device, a "DeviceStatus" command for indicating a status of each slave device, There is a "CurrentTime" command that tells you the current time.

An example of the actual configuration of the notification message packet using the commands as shown in FIG. 4 is described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 6, which will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a configuration example of a notification message packet indicating a power state of each slave device according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a notification message packet informing a master TV of a state in which a player is turned on in a DVD player. Is illustrated.

As shown in Figure 5, the message packet indicating the power state, '00100' is first recorded in the "Message Type" field included in the header portion of the packet to inform that the packet is a notification message packet.

The current version is recorded in the "Version" field below, and the physical address (Physica ID) and the logical ID (Logical ID) of the receiving device are recorded separately in the "Dest. Addr" field where the recipient's address is displayed. The physical ID refers to an ID of a general A / V device and means an identification code according to a product family. The logical ID refers to a logical ID of a specific device and is used to classify and control a composite product into a logical ID. That is, a particular product may have one physical ID and one or more logical IDs.

Therefore, the physical and logical ID of the master TV, which is the receiving address, is recorded in the field in which the physical ID and the logical ID are recorded.

In addition, the address of the sender is recorded in the next "Src. Addr" field, and the physical and logical ID of the DVD player is recorded.

The length of the entire notification message packet is recorded in the next "Length" field, and "PowerStatus", which is a command indicating the power status according to the present invention, is recorded in the next "command" field.

In the following "Resp. Code" field, success / error information of message transmission is recorded, but according to an embodiment of the present invention, the "Resp. Code" field may not be included.

In addition, in the next "Data block" field, actual information on the on / off state of the power is recorded according to the "PowerStatus" command, and in the following "Checksum" field, the header "" is detected from the header in order to detect the error of the message. Record the value of XOR all messages except "Checksum" field.

That is, the DVD player constructs such a notification message packet and transmits it to the master TV, so that the master TV can know its power supply state.

On the other hand, the embodiment of not including the "Data block" field, including the information indicating the power supply state in the "Command" field, and the like will be apparent from the technical idea of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a notification message packet indicating a state of a device in each slave device or master device according to the present invention.

First, FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a notification message packet informing a master TV of a DVD player to a master TV.

As shown in FIG. 6A, a "CommandStatus" field includes a "DeviceStatus" command indicating a device status, and according to the command indicating the device status, a "Data block" field includes a status of the DVD player, that is, an example. For example, "Disc insert" information indicating that the disc has been inserted by the user may be included.

Therefore, the slave device, that is, the DVD player, can inform the TV that is the master device that the disc has been inserted.

In this case, in the case of a general DVD player, the power is automatically turned on when a disc is inserted by the user, and when the master TV receives the disc insertion information, the master TV is set to recognize that the DVD player is turned on with the disc insertion. It is possible.

6B illustrates an example of a notification message packet that can be configured when delivering recording reservation information from the master TV to the DVD player.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 6B, the "Command" field includes "DeviceStatus", which indicates a device status, and the reservation recording information may be recorded in the "Data block" field.

Accordingly, the slave device receiving the message, that is, the DVD player, performs reservation recording according to the reservation recording information.

In addition, FIG. 6C illustrates a notification message packet configurable when the current time information is transmitted from the master TV to all slave devices connected to the network.

In this case, as shown in (c) of FIG. 6, an address indicating all slave devices connected to the network will be recorded in the "Dest. Addr" field indicating the address of the receiver.

In addition, a "Current Time" command indicating the current time is recorded in the "Command" field, and the current time is recorded and transmitted in the "Data Block".

Therefore, the current message may be transmitted to the slave device connected to the network using the notification message packet. In particular, such a command may be useful for the slave device that cannot receive standard time information separately.

Meanwhile, FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation scenario of an A / V device that can be implemented using a notification message packet according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this case, for convenience of description, a case where a user inserts a disc into a DVD player connected on an A / V network will be described as follows.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the state of the slave device changes, the master device notifies the master device of the changed state. (S10) For example, when a user inserts a disc into the DVD player, the disc is inserted and the power is supplied due to the disc insertion. Is notified to the master device via a notification packet.

When the master TV receiving the message is turned on (S20), the screen is switched to the GUI screen according to the delivered contents (S30), and the A / V is output according to the user's selection (S40). When turned on, the control menu of the DVD player with the information that the disk is inserted through the GUI screen, and the user selects the desired menu using an input means such as a remote control to watch the movie stored on the disk.

Meanwhile, when the master TV receiving the message is turned off (S20), the TV is turned on according to the contents delivered (S50), and the screen is switched to a GUI screen (S60) to output A / V according to the user's selection. (S70) In other words, when the master TV is turned off, the user can watch the movie according to the user's selection by exporting the control menu of the DVD player to the GUI screen with the operation of turning on the TV for the user's convenience. .

8 is a diagram illustrating a network connection form between an internal component block and slave devices of a master TV to which the technical idea according to the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 8, the master TV selects a signal of a specific channel among the signals received through an antenna (which may be a cable) through the tuner 10, and demodulates the selected signal through the demodulator 20. The demodulated signal is demultiplexed into audio, video, and program and system information protocol (PSIP) data through the demultiplexer 30 and output.

The demultiplexed audio signal is decoded by the audio decoder 40 and output through a speaker (not shown). The demultiplexed video signal is decoded by the video decoder 50 and output to the screen through a VDP (Video Diplay Processor) 60.

Meanwhile, the PSIP data includes virtual channel and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information. The PSIP data is decoded by the PSIP decoder 70 and output to the VDP 60 through the EPG controller 80. That is, the VDP 60 synthesizes or selectively outputs the EPG data and the signal decoded by the video decoder 50.

Meanwhile, the UI / GUI (User Interface / Graphic User Interface) module (Module) 90 exists for the interface between the TV and the user, and serves to provide a GUI screen as described above. In addition, each of the building blocks is controlled by the CPU 100 connected by a data bus.

Meanwhile, the MICOM 120 receives a signal transmitted from an external input device such as a remote controller, or exists for communication and power management with each slave device.

The communication between the master TV and each slave device using the microcomputer 120 is made through the RS232C protocol in a wired manner, and in the wireless case, through a wireless communication platform such as Bluetooth, Wifi, or the like.

When the notification message packet according to the present invention is transmitted through the slave devices in the master TV configured and operated as described above, the microcomputer 120 parses the packet so that the master TV operates according to the command contents included in the packet. Control.

That is, as described above, for example, when the notification message packet indicating that the disc is inserted into the DVD player, the microcomputer 120 controls the power supply 130 to turn on the master TV when the power of the master TV is turned off. The GUI screen is output through the UI / GUI module 90.

At this time, the microcomputer 120 is always in a standby state (stanby) when the power is connected, and receives the notification message packet.

Thereafter, the user controls the DVD player using the GUI screen to watch a title such as a movie recorded on the disc.

On the other hand, such a receiving step may be different depending on the transmission method of the digital TV, the principle to which the technical idea according to the present invention is applied is similar, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the configuration block illustrated by the applicant Not will be self explanatory.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and as can be seen in the appended claims, modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

The effect of the A / V network implementation method according to the present invention described above is as follows.

First, there is an effect of increasing user convenience through the interlocking control scenario between the master TV and the slave devices through the notification message packet.

Second, there is an effect of efficiently notifying the master TV of the state change of each slave device.

Third, it is equipped with a notification function rather than a forced packet to respond to each device, it is effective to deliver information that does not require a response, such as current time information.

Claims (11)

In controlling the interworking between the devices in the A / V network having a master device and at least one slave device, Transmitting a notification message packet indicating a state of the slave device to the master device; And And switching on a screen according to the contents of the notification message packet received by turning on the power of the master device. The method of claim 1, Determining whether the power of the master device is in an off state. The method of claim 1, Outputting the A / V according to an external input. The method of claim 1, The notification message packet has a structure identical to that of packets already included in a communication protocol implementing the network. The method of claim 1, The notification message packet is one-sided information that does not require a response, and includes information indicating a changed state of a corresponding device including a network state and a power state and corresponding information. The method of claim 5, The notification message packet includes information indicating that the packet is a notification message packet, information indicating a current version, information indicating an address of a device for transmitting / receiving the packet, information indicating success / error of transmission of the packet, whether the corresponding packet is an error. And at least one of information capable of detecting the information and information representing the total length of the packet. In controlling the interworking between the devices in the A / V network having a master device and at least one slave device, Transmitting a notification message packet indicating a current time to the slave device; And And setting a standard time of a system based on a current time included in the receiving packet. In controlling the interworking between the respective devices in the A / V network having a master device and at least one slave device, Transmitting a notification message packet including information on a change in a state of a slave device or a state of a power supply, information on a current time, or information on a reservation function, to at least one device on the network; And And switching a screen, performing a reservation function, or setting a standard time according to the contents of the received packet. In an A / V network having a master device and at least one slave device, And transmitting status information of the power on / off status, network connection status, current operation status, reservation notification, and current time information of the devices to another device on the network by using the notification message packet. delete delete

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