KR101067333B1 - Method for managing layer structure in living network control system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hierarchical structure management method in a living network control system. For example, an RS-485 network, a small output RF network, a power line network, or the like, installed in a home by a user located inside or outside the home, may be used. Through the same living network, it is possible to control the operation of various home appliances such as a refrigerator or a washing machine or to monitor the operation state, thereby providing a user with the convenience of remote control and monitoring. By managing the living network in a hierarchical structure including a physical layer, a data link layer, a network layer, and an application layer, the operation of various household appliances connected and connected through the living network can be more efficiently using a four-layer structure. It is a very useful invention that can be controlled.

Living network control system, LnCP network, LnCP hierarchy, physical layer, data link layer, network layer, application layer

Description

{Method for managing layer structure in living network control system}             

1 illustrates a configuration of a living network control system according to the present invention,

2 and 3 illustrate a master-slave based communication structure applied to the present invention,

4 illustrates a hierarchical structure of an LnCP network applied to the present invention;

5 to 7 illustrate embodiments of a communication cycle service applied to the present invention.

8 illustrates a hierarchical structure of the LnCP protocol according to the present invention,

9 illustrates an embodiment of a primitive for an interface between a network management sublayer and a parameter management layer in accordance with the present invention.

[Description of Drawings]

100: LnCP Internet server 200: communication terminal

300: Internet 400: Living Network Control System

40: home gateway 41: network manager

42: LnCP Router 43: LnCP Adapter

44: home appliances

The present invention relates to a hierarchical structure management method in a living network control system. For example, a user located inside or outside a home can efficiently use home appliances such as a refrigerator or a washing machine connected to a living network. The present invention relates to a hierarchy management method in a living network control system for enabling control.

In general, a home network refers to a network in which various digital home appliances are connected to each other so that a user can conveniently and economically enjoy life services at home or outside the home. Or various types of home appliances such as washing machines are increasingly digital.

On the other hand, home networks have been developed in recent years as operating system technology for home appliances and high-speed multi-media communication technologies have been applied to digital home appliances, and new types of information home appliances have emerged. have.

In addition, a network constructed to provide file exchange or Internet service between a personal computer (PC) and peripheral devices, a network between home appliances that handle audio or video information, and a refrigerator or a washing machine. Living networks are generally referred to as networks that are built to control various home appliances and home appliances such as home automation and remote meter reading.

In addition, the main communication purpose of the small-scale data transmission for the remote control or monitoring of the operation state of various home appliances, such as refrigerators or washing machines, etc. included in the living network In the living network service, the minimum communication resources are used, and the network managers included in the living network must be directly controlled to control the connected home appliances. As it is not prepared, the solution solution is urgently required,

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and for example, a user who is located inside or outside the home may use various household appliances such as a refrigerator or a washing machine connected to a living network, or the like. The hierarchical structure management method of the living network control system for controlling the operation of the home appliances more efficiently by using only communication resources and controlling the operation of the home appliances more efficiently using a four-layer structure. It is to provide the purpose.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hierarchy management method in a living network control system, including: a physical layer providing a physical interface and a signal transmission / reception function between devices included in the living network control system; A data link layer providing a media access control function for using a shared transmission medium in the living network control system; A network layer providing address management and transmission / reception control functions of each device, for a reliable network connection between the devices; And managing a hierarchical structure including an application layer which provides a transmission / reception control function and a flow control function for a download and upload service to perform a service of an application software.

The hierarchical structure further includes a home code control sublayer, wherein the home code control sublayer is configured by a living network using power line communication, a non-independent transmission medium of at least one of IEEE 802.11, ZigBee, and low power RF. When necessary, it provides a function of setting, managing and processing home codes to logically separate individual networks.

The hierarchical structure further includes a network management sublayer, wherein the network management sublayer provides a parameter management function for setting parameters and a network management function for network configuration and management. ,

The hierarchical structure may further include a parameter management layer, wherein the parameter management layer provides a function of setting or reading parameters used in each layer according to a request of a network management sublayer. do.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a hierarchy management method in a living network control system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 illustrates a configuration of a living network control system according to the present invention. For example, a LnCP internet server 100 to which a living network control protocol (LnCP) newly defined in the present invention is applied. 1 and the living network control system 400 are connected and connected through the Internet 300 as shown in FIG. 1, and the LnCP Internet server 100 includes a personal computer (PC), a PDA, Interface operation with various communication terminals 200 such as PCS is performed.

Meanwhile, the living network control system 400 includes a home gateway 40, a network manager 41, an LnCP router 42, an LnCP adapter 43, And appliances 44, wherein the constituent means includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a non-standardized transmission of a data link layer such as an RS-485 network or a small output RF network. A medium (Non-Standard Transmission Medium) or power line communication or a data link layer such as IEEE 802.11 or ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) may be used as a transmission medium.

In addition, the living network control system 400 may be referred to as an 'LnCP network', for example, where the LnCP network is a home appliance belonging to the living network category in an independent home, as shown in FIG. 1. It consists of a standalone network that connects (Appliances) to wired or wireless transmission media.

On the other hand, the LnCP network, and informs the master device (Master Device) that can control the operation or monitor the operation state of the other home appliances, the function in response to the request of the master device and the information about the change of their own state A slave device having a function is connected.

And, the environment setting and management functions of the home appliances 44 connected to the LnCP network, as shown in Figure 1, will be in charge of the network manager 41, the home appliances 44, It may be directly connected to the network or indirectly through the LnCP adapter 43, and the RS-485 network, the RF network, and the power line network in the LnCP network are connected through the LnCP router 42. .

In addition, the LnCP network, by connecting to the external Internet 300 to provide a function that allows the user outside to check or control the status of the home appliances installed in the home, for this purpose LnCP network and external The home gateway 40 is responsible for the connection function between the Internet, and when the user accesses the LnCP Internet server 100 from the outside and performs an authentication process, the user checks the status of the home appliance connected to the LnCP network or Or the function to control can be used.

In addition, after accessing the LnCP Internet server 100 through the home gateway 40 from the home appliance connected to the LnCP network, the content provided by the LnCP Internet server may be downloaded, which is the main feature of the LnCP network. When described in detail as follows.

First of all, digital information appliances have a microcontroller with various performances so as to perform unique functions. In the LnCP network according to the present invention, the digital information home appliances can operate with such a microcontroller with various performances. In order to simplify the function more efficiently, it is possible to use the resources of the microcontroller installed in the home appliance to a minimum, and the low performance microcontroller can handle the LnCP communication function while performing the functions of the home appliance. In addition, the high performance microcontroller controller supports multitasking functions.

In addition, the main features of the LnCP network according to the present invention, the master-slave-based communication structure, event-based communication support, a plurality of network manager support, four-layer structure, communication cycle service, flexible address management, variable length packet communication, And can be classified as providing a standard message set.

Meanwhile, the master-slave based communication structure is used as a connection communication structure between home appliances in the LnCP network, and there must be at least one master device, and the master device includes information on slave devices to be controlled and In this case, the master device controls another slave device according to a program already input or receiving input from a user.

For example, the message flow between the master device and the slave device, as shown in Figure 2, by sending a request (Request) message from the master to the slave, by sending a response message to the slave (Response) to the master In operation, the LnCP network may have a multi-master and multi-slave based communication structure, as shown in FIG. 3.

In the LnCP network, an event-driven communication service is supported, for example, a user may set an event required by the home appliance, and then, in the home appliance, perform an arbitrary operation. In the meantime, when an event set by the user occurs, the fact or content of the event is notified to another home appliance or, in response to the event, the operation state of the other home appliance is controlled.

In addition, the LnCP network includes at least one network manager that is responsible for environment setting and management functions of home appliances, and may support multiple network managers as needed. In order to prepare for errors, management information of home appliances should be synchronized.

In the LnCP network, as shown in FIG. 4, a four-layer structure of a physical layer, a data link layer, a network layer, and an application layer is illustrated. In the LnCP network, a service is provided in units of communication cycles. In a slave device, only one communication cycle may exist at a given time.

That is, while a communication cycle is performed in one slave device, it cannot be controlled by any master device, but in the master device, a plurality of communication cycles for a plurality of slave devices may be performed at a given time. There are four types of cycles: {1-Request, 1-Response}, {1-Request, Multi-Response}, {1-Notification}, and {Repeated-Notification}.

For example, in the {1-Request, 1-Response} communication cycle, one master transmits one request packet to one slave, and the slave responds with one response packet ( As a communication cycle for transmitting a response packet, if an error occurs in the received packet, as shown in FIG. 5, the master transmits a re-request packet, and the slave responds to the response packet. (Response Packet) will be delivered again.

In addition, in the {1-Request, Multi-Response} communication cycle, as shown in FIG. 6, one master transmits one request packet having a group address to multiple slaves, and each slave transmits a request packet. The master will end the cycle when the maximum allowed time is received, and the master will ignore the error even if an error occurs in the response packet received from the slave.

The {1-Notification} communication cycle is a cycle in which the master device transmits one notification packet to one or more devices and immediately terminates communication, as shown in FIG. 7. The {Repeated-Notification} communication cycle is a cycle for terminating communication after repeatedly transmitting the same packet in order to secure transmission reliability in the {1-Notification} communication cycle.

Meanwhile, in the PnCP network, flexible address management is supported. For example, home appliances equipped with the LnCP function are assigned at the time of factory shipment to automatically configure the network without user intervention. In this case, since the same kind of home appliances are initialized to the same address, the network manager has an algorithm for assigning a unique unique address when the home appliances are connected.

In addition, in the LnCP network, by assigning a unique group address to the home appliances belonging to the same type, it is possible to enable group communication using a single message, clustering various types of home appliances according to the user's needs You can classify as (Cluster) and assign a group address to each cluster.

In the PnCP network, packet communication of variable length is supported, for example, in the case of downloading content such as an application program related to the operation of a home appliance or uploading data stored in the home appliance, The length of the packet is adjusted using the buffer size information of the home appliance.

In addition, the LnCP network provides a standard message set. For example, the message layer defines a standard message set suitable for various home appliances in the application layer so that the master device can control another home appliance. Common Area Message Set for basic LnCP communication, Product Application Area Message Set to support the unique functions of home appliances, and Developer Area to provide unique functions of manufacturers It is divided into a Developer Area Message Set.

On the other hand, the message set as described above may be extended as needed, and may also add an argument to a previously defined message, hereinafter, one of the main features of the LnCP network according to the present invention, a hierarchical structure It will be described in more detail.

FIG. 8 illustrates a hierarchical structure of the LnCP protocol according to the present invention. As described above, in the LnCP network to which the present invention is applied, for the operation control and monitoring of home appliances such as a refrigerator or a washing machine, a physical layer, It has a four-layer structure of data link layer, network layer, and application layer.

Meanwhile, the physical layer provides a physical interface between devices and a function of transmitting and receiving a physical signal such as a bit to be transmitted. The physical layer includes a data link such as RS-485 and a small output RF. Non-standardized transmission media, standardized wired and wireless transmission media such as power line communication, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, and ZigBee may be used. In order to implement a physical layer of a device in the LnCP network, a separate physical layer may be LnCP. Adapters can be used.

The Data Link Layer provides a medium access control (MAC) function for using a shared transmission medium. In the LnCP network, the data link layer is de-standardized. When using a transmission medium, pba-DCSMA (probabilistic Delayed Carrier Sense Multiple Access) should be used as the medium access control (MAC) protocol.

However, in the LnCP network, when the data link layer uses a standardized transmission medium, the medium access control function defined in the protocol can be used.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 8, the Home Code Control Sublayer is a separate code, when the LnCP network is configured using power line communication or non-independent transmission media such as IEEE 802.11, ZigBee, and low power RF. It provides a function of setting, managing, and processing a home code for logically dividing a network. The home code control sublayer is configured to physically separate individual networks by a standalone transmission medium such as RS-485. In this case, it is preferable not to implement.

The network layer provides functions such as address management and transmission / reception control of home appliances for reliable network connection between devices, and the application layer provides services of application software. In order to perform, it provides a transmission and reception control function, and also provides a flow control function for a download and upload service.

In addition, the application layer defines a message set for network management or control and monitoring of the home appliance, the application software performs a unique function of the home appliance, and through the interface defined in the application layer, It exchanges data with the application layer.

As shown in FIG. 8, the network management sublayer provides a parameter management function for setting a parameter and a network management function for network configuration and management. The Parameter Management Layer may set or read parameters used in each layer according to the requirements of the network management sublayer.

In addition, primitives for interfacing with the network management sublayer may include primitives for passing parameter values from the network management sublayer to the parameter management layer, as shown in FIG. For example, there is a structure GetPar for passing parameter values from the parameter management layer to the network management sublayer.

On the other hand, the primitive (structure SetPar) for passing the value of the parameter to the parameter management layer, 'uchar DestLayer' indicating the layer to pass the parameter value, and the value of the layer-specific parameters according to the DestLayer value 'structure SetLayerPar' is recorded, and the DestLayer has a layer to which parameter values are to be transmitted, '1' for application layer, '2' for network layer, '3' for data link layer, and physical layer. If it is '4'.

The SetLayerPar becomes 'SetALPar' for an application layer, 'SetNLPar' for a network layer, 'SetDLLPar' for a data link layer, and 'SetPHYPar' for a physical layer.

In addition, a structure GetPar for passing a parameter value to the network management sublayer includes a 'uchar SreLayer' indicating a layer that transmitted the parameter value, and indicating whether the parameter value was successfully taken from each layer. 'uchar PMLResult' and 'structure GetLayerPar', whose value varies depending on the SrcLayer value, are recorded as layer-specific parameters. In the SrcLayer, if the layer transmitting the parameter value is an application layer, '1', the network '2' for the layer, '3' for the data link layer, and '4' for the physical layer.

The PMLResult becomes PAR_OK (1) when the parameter value is successfully taken from each layer, and PAR_FAILD (0) when the parameter value is not taken successfully, and the GetLayerPar is 'RptALPar' when the application layer is used. It is 'RptNLPar' for the layer, 'RptDLLPar' for the data link layer, and 'RptPHYPar' for the physical layer.

On the other hand, the parameter used in the parameter management layer is 'const unit ParTimeOut', which waits to receive RptALPar (or RptNLPar, RptDLLPar, RptPHYPar) after passing GetALPar (or GetNLPar, GetDLLPar, GetPHYPar) to each layer. Represents the time (ms).

When the parameter management layer receives the SetPar primitive from the network management sublayer, the parameter management layer delivers the SetALPar, SetNLPar, SetDLLPar, or SetPHYPar primitive to the layer specified in the primitive, and in each layer, all bit values are '1'. Variable is ignored (eg 0xFF, 0xFFFF).

In addition, if a GetPar primitive is received from the network management sublayer, GetALPar, GetNLPar, GetDLLPar, and GetPHYPar are delivered to the layer specified in the primitive. If a RptALPar, RptNLPar, RptDLLPar, or RptPHYPar is received from each layer, the GetPar primitive is included. In this case, the PARResult value is transmitted to the network management sublayer with PAR_OK. If the primitive is not received from each layer within the ParTimeOut time, the PARResult value is transferred to the network management sublayer with PAR_FAILD.

On the other hand, the network management sublayer provides a parameter management function for setting parameters (Node Parameters) in individual devices and a function for network configuration, environment setting, and network operation management. When requested from the software and master, the parameter management layer sets or reads the following parameter values in the layer.

For example, set the parameter values of AddressResult, NP_Alivelnt, SvcTimeOut, NP_BufferSize, NP_LogicalAddress, NP_ClusterCode, NP_HomeCode, SendRetries, MinPktInterval for the data link layer, and NP_bps for the physical layer, for the application layer. Or read.

In particular, if the slave's network management sublayer receives a UserReqRcv primitive containing an application service belonging to the 'device node parameter setting service' or 'device node parameter acquisition service' from the application layer, The parameter value is set or read in the layer, and the result is transmitted to the application layer through the UserResSend primitive. Application services for parameter management by layer are as follows.

For example, for the application layer, SetOption service, SetAliveTiem service, SetClock service, GetBufferSize service, Network layer, SetTempAddress service, SetAddress service, GetAddress service, Data link layer. There is a SetSpeed service.

On the other hand, the network management sublayer provides network management functions, such as configuration of LnCP networks, environment settings, and operation management of the network. The general network management functions operate on a master application layer, and provide a plurality of network management periods. Some of the network information synchronization functions operate on the slave's application layer.

The interface with the application layer includes an interface between the slave application layer and the slave application layer. In the interface with the slave application layer, UserReqRcv and UserResSend primitives are used. The interface with the application layer is UserReq, UserDLReq, UserULReq. You will use the UserRes, UserEventRcv, and ALCompleted primitives.

As described above, the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for the purpose of illustration, and a living network to which the present invention is applied can be connected to more various home appliances, and those skilled in the art will appreciate the following appended claims. Within the technical spirit of the disclosed invention and its technical scope, other various embodiments may be improved, changed, replaced or added.

The hierarchical structure management method of the living network control system according to the present invention constructed and constructed as described above may include, for example, an RS-485 network, a small output RF network, and a power line installed in a home by a user located inside or outside the home. Through a living network such as a line network, various home appliances, such as a refrigerator or a washing machine, can be controlled or monitored to provide a user with convenience of remote control and monitoring. Also, by managing the living network in a hierarchical structure including a physical layer, a data link layer, a network layer, and an application layer, the operation of various household appliances connected and connected through the living network can be managed using a four-layer structure. Is a very useful invention that allows for more efficient control Will.

Claims (7)

A physical layer providing a physical interface and a signal transmitting / receiving function between the devices included in the living network control system; A data link layer providing a media access control function for using a shared transmission medium in the living network control system; A network layer providing address management and transmission / reception control functions of each device, for a reliable network connection between the devices; And In order to perform the service of the application software, to manage the hierarchical structure including the application layer that provides a transmission and reception control function, and also provides a flow control function for the download and upload services, The hierarchical structure further includes a network management sublayer and a parameter management layer, wherein the network management sublayer provides a parameter management function for setting parameters and a network management function for network configuration and management, And the parameter management layer provides a function of setting or reading parameters used in each layer according to a request of a network management sublayer. The method of claim 1, The hierarchical structure further includes a home code control sublayer, wherein the home code control sublayer is configured when the living network is configured using power line communication or a non-standalone transmission medium of any one of IEEE 802.11, ZigBee, and low power RF. And a method of setting, managing, and processing home codes for logically dividing individual networks. 3. The method of claim 2, The home code control sublayer is not included in the hierarchical structure when an individual network is physically separated by an independent transmission medium. delete delete The method of claim 1, The primitive for the interface between the network management sublayer and the parameter management layer includes a primitive for passing parameter values from the network management sublayer to the parameter management layer and a parameter from the parameter management layer to the network management sublayer. A hierarchy management method in a living network control system, characterized in that there is a primitive for passing a value of. The method of claim 6, In the network management sublayer, when there is a request from an application software and a master, a hierarchy structure in a living network control system, wherein the parameter setting layer is set or read through the parameter management layer. How to manage.

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