KR100730613B1 - Home-server for controlling home-network system and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A home server for controlling a home network system is disclosed. The home server includes a user interface generation unit for generating a user interface window for giving priority to a home device existing on a home network system, a storage unit for storing the priority given through the user interface window, and a home network. Interface unit for relaying communication with home devices existing in the system, if the overload of the home network system is detected while communicating with a plurality of home devices through the interface unit, the priority among the plurality of home devices in communication is the lower priority. And a control unit for stopping communication with the in-home device. Accordingly, the user directly assigns a priority to the home device, thereby reducing the overload of the home server or the home devices that process the home device, thereby enabling the use of a smooth network.

Home Network, Home Server, Home Device, User Interface (UI)

Description

Home server controlling the home network system and its control method {Home-server for controlling home-network system and method

1 is a view showing the structure of a home network according to the present invention;

2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a home server according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a home network system according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

210: UI generation unit 220: Storage unit

230: control unit 240: interface unit

The present invention relates to a home server for controlling a home network system and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a home server for controlling a home network system according to a priority given to home devices by a user and a control method thereof. will be.

Many people use the Internet to connect telecommunications terminals around the world into one huge network. And this Internet has been used in the home. Various home devices are being introduced that add network functions such as Internet refrigerators, digital TVs, and set-top boxes designed to access the Internet.

A home network is a system that can be connected to the Internet as well as to communication between home devices by giving a separate communication function in home appliances. In other words, it is a technology that can control major home appliances such as a refrigerator, air conditioner, microwave oven, and TV through wired and wireless Internet. The home device can be controlled using a remote controller or a portable terminal at home or outside the home.

Home devices include information systems such as personal computers, scanners, faxes, and prints, A / V devices such as TVs, set-top boxes, VCRs, DVDs, camcorders, and audio, control systems such as rice cookers, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, and cameras. The device may be classified into a dummy device such as a remote controller, an interphone, and a sensor. These home devices are connected to a telephone line, a wireless LAN or a Bluetooth, USB, IEEE1394, power line, respectively. Such a home network system is composed of many home devices, and its functions have been diversified. Therefore, when performing a command required by a user, a collision between data and a lack of data transmission resources may overload the home network system. In order to reduce the overload of such a home network system and to perform a smooth communication, a number of researches have been conducted to give priority to processing.

However, in the conventional home network, UPnP, JINI, HAVI, etc. adopt middleware to select devices and set priorities, or home devices that require communication first regardless of the importance of information, or traffic, And since the priority is given to the data transmission speed, there was a problem that it is difficult to properly respond to the needs of the user.

The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and an object of the present invention is to give a priority to each home device at the time of data transmission of the home network, thereby reducing the overload of the home device and home server, To provide a home server and a method for controlling a home network system that can create a home network required by the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, the home server for controlling the home network system, generating a user interface window for receiving priority over the home devices existing on the home network system Communication with a plurality of home devices through a user interface generation unit, a storage unit for storing the priority given through the user interface window, an interface unit for relaying communication with the home device existing on the home network system, and an interface unit And a control unit for stopping communication with a home device having a lower priority among a plurality of home devices that are performing communication when an overload of the home network system is detected.

Preferably, the control unit is one of a case in which a communication resource used to communicate with all of the plurality of home devices that are performing communication is greater than or equal to all of the communication resources on the home network system, and a collision occurs between data transmitted from the plurality of home devices. When at least one case occurs, it may be determined that the home network system is overloaded.

More preferably, when it is determined that the overload of the home network system has been eliminated, the controller may resume communication with the home device which has been suspended.

Meanwhile, the method for controlling a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include generating a user interface window to be given priority to a home device existing on the home network system, and priority given through the user interface window. Storing communication with a plurality of home devices and stopping communication with a home device having a lower priority among the plurality of home devices that are performing communication when the overload of the home network system is detected. Include.

Preferably, the method may further include resuming communication with the stopped home device when the overload of the home network system is eliminated.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail with respect to the present invention.

1 is a diagram showing the structure of a home network system according to the present invention.

The home network system includes a home gateway 105, a home server 110, and various types of home devices 115 to 145. The home device may include a personal computer 115, an IP-phone 120, a washing machine 125, a camcorder 130, a boiler 135, a DVD 140, a digital TV 145, and the like. Each home device 115 to 145 is connected to the home server 110 through an interface such as IEEE1394, USB, LAN, Bluetooth, or the like.

The home gateway 105 connects internal and external networks.

The home server 115 serves to control the home network system. Specifically, data may be received from or transmitted to home devices that communicate with each other. In addition, the home server 115 provides various services so that home devices in the home can communicate with each other, and the user can grasp the state of other home devices in the home through such services.

The home server 115 controls the user to execute the command set by the user on the home device, and the user directly inputs and stores each home device priority in the user interface window, and the home device and the home device according to the priority input in the event of overload. Perform communication.

2 is a block diagram showing the structure of a home server according to the present invention. According to FIG. 2, a user interface (UI) generation unit 210, a storage unit 220, a control unit 230, and an interface unit 240 are included.

The user interface (UI) generator 210 inputs a command or a program used to control data input or operation requested by the user in the home server so that the user can use the home device according to his or her needs. Create an interface window. The user interface generated by the user interface generator 210 is displayed on the screen of the home server so that the user can check it. Alternatively, information may be provided to users by using a home device having a display function, that is, a TV, a computer, a camcorder, and the like as a home server.

Priority is given to each home device in order to prevent overloading of the home network due to resource shortage when transmitting data or external data that may occur when data is simultaneously transmitted by multiple home device commands. The priority is determined by the importance of the data and is directly input by the user through a user interface (UI) window.

The storage unit 220 stores various programs necessary for the home network. In particular, the storage unit 220 stores a priority list assigned by the user as a recording medium for storing the user interface. [Table 1] shows an example of the priority list of the home device.

         Table 1

Home device Priority  washer  5  TV  2  computer  3  IP-phone  One  DVD  6  camcorder  4

By the order of the priority list, the controller 230 controls to reduce the collision between the data and process the data.

In addition, when a new home device is connected from the interface unit, the storage unit 220 generates a user interface according to the home device setting and gives a priority. Update and save the previously saved user interface.

The interface unit 240 allows the home server and the home device to communicate. Through the interface unit, the user sets commands for each home device to the home server.

The controller 230 controls the home server to determine the priority of the home device using a priority list set by the user of the storage 220 and to perform a user command in order to reduce the overload of the home network. When the current home network lacks data transmission resources, if a home device command with a higher priority than the home device executing the command is started, the low priority home device is stopped and the high priority home device and home server are stopped. Control to communicate. Alternatively, when a user commands several home devices to operate during the same time, a collision between data may occur and resources for transmitting data may be insufficient. In this case, the control unit 230 controls to process according to the home device priority specified by the user.

The operation of the controller 230 according to the priority may be described with reference to Table [1].

If the IP-phone and the computer require communication while the washing machine, TV, and camcorder are in operation, the network status is checked, and if it is overloaded, the data transmission from the washing machine with the lowest priority among the currently running home devices is temporarily stopped. do. If overload is resolved, it communicates with IP-phones, TVs, computers, and camcorders. If overload is not resolved, the low-priority camcorder stops communicating for a while. After data processing of the highest priority IP-phone is completed and a data transmission resource is secured, the camcorder with a higher priority among the camcorder and the washing machine which have been paused is processed first, and then the washing machine is processed. However, you can handle both the camcorder and the washing machine if it is not overloaded.

As such, when the state of the home network is overloaded, it can be seen that the controller 230 processes the data by determining the priority list of the storage 220.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a home network system according to an exemplary embodiment.

The user directly assigns a priority according to the importance of the home device in order to solve the collision of data and the lack of data transmission resources (S310). The assigned priority is stored in a list form (S320).

The home server checks the status of the home network and handles the home device priorities when it is overloaded. That is, it is checked whether the state of the home network is overloaded to transmit data according to a user's command (S330).

If the home network can handle all home devices that are currently communicating, all home device communication is performed (S340). However, when a home server processes data through commands of several home devices, or when there is a conflict between data or the network is overloaded due to lack of resources to process the data, the home server determines the priority of the home device. In operation S350, it is determined whether or not current data transmission is possible by comparing the priority of each home device.

If the current home device has a high priority, communication with the low priority home device is stopped (S360), and communication with the high priority home device is preferentially performed (S370). Accordingly, it is checked whether the overload of the home network system is eliminated (S380). If it is determined that the overload has been resolved, communication with the low priority home device which has been suspended is resumed (S390), and when it is still overloaded, the home server again compares the priorities as described above, according to the priority. Communicate with your home device.

As described above, according to the present invention, although the home network adopts middleware such as UPnP, JINI, and HAVI to select a device and set the priority, the user is given a priority regardless of the importance of the actual information. It was difficult to respond appropriately to the needs of By determining the priority of the home device and assigning the priority, the user can efficiently transmit the priority data instead of preemptive data regardless of the importance of the data. In other words, by reducing the load on the network or home server to increase the transmission speed, it is possible to use a smooth network that meets the needs of users.

 In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiment, the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

Claims (5)

In the home server for controlling a home network system, A user interface generator configured to generate a user interface window for receiving priority with respect to home devices existing on the home network system; A storage unit for storing the priorities given through the user interface window; An interface unit for relaying communication with a home device existing on the home network system; And, And a controller configured to stop communication with a home device having a lower priority among the plurality of home devices in communication when the overload of the home network system is detected while communicating with a plurality of home devices through the interface unit. , The control unit, And if it is determined that the overload of the home network system is removed, resuming communication with the home device which has been suspended. The method of claim 1, The control unit, At least one of a case in which a communication resource used to communicate with the entire plurality of home devices that are performing communication is greater than or equal to all communication resources on the home network system, and a collision between data transmitted from the plurality of home devices occurs. If it occurs, it is determined that the home network system is overloaded. delete In the home network system control method, Generating a user interface window for receiving priority with respect to home devices existing on the home network system; Storing the priorities given through the user interface window; Stopping communication with a home device having a lower priority among the plurality of home devices in communication when the overload of the home network system is detected while communicating with a plurality of home devices; And, And resuming communication with the home device that has stopped communication when the overload of the home network system is eliminated. delete

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