KR101259552B1 - Method for controlling service overlapping of home network and Universal Plug and Play device providing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A competitive algorithm is provided for integrating redundant services within a home network. In the redundant function control method of the present invention, the first device that provides a specific service in a home network enters, and whether there is a single service provider that provides the specific service in the home network and the specific information in the home network. Acquiring information of a candidate device group providing the same service as a service; if the single service provider does not exist, waiting for a predetermined delay time by the first device; and during the delay time, the home network If an event from another candidate device in the network is not received, generating an event indicating that the first device has been selected as the sole service provider of the specific service. This ensures compatibility with existing UPnP protocols, while allowing similar services to be integrated and managed within the home network.

Description

Method for controlling service overlapping of home network and Universal Plug and Play device providing the same

The present invention relates to a method for controlling redundancy in a home network, and more particularly, to provide a single service provider to integrate and manage duplicate functions in a universal plug and play (UPnP) home network. The present invention relates to a method for electing and providing a UPnP device.

As the home multimedia appliances and PCs become more popular, the demand for a method of sharing multimedia is increasing day by day. Home appliances and IT companies have been developing and developing home network technologies for about 10 years to meet these demands. Among them, UPnP has been expanding its area with support from leading companies such as Microsoft, and is now the most promising home network technology.

UPnP is an IP network-based home network technology that provides a framework for easily sharing multimedia on a home network with minimal user setup. UPnP maximizes convenience by minimizing user settings. With UPnP, users can watch videos stored on their PCs on their living room TVs, and remotely play and control music files stored on NAS (Network-attached Storage) via MP3 Player. .

UPnP uses IP Network as its physical infrastructure. That is, each device has a function to access an IP network, and is assigned an IP address to access a home network. When a UPnP compatible device is connected to an IP network, a total of five functions can be used to transmit a multimedia file owned by the device on a home network or to play an external multimedia file existing on a home network.

The five functions used in UPnP are Discovery to inform you that you have entered the home network, Description to convey your information, Control to control external devices, Eventing to notify external devices of your status change, External devices A presentation that informs its status to each of them, each of which is closely related to the IP Protocols established by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

The UPnP compatible device has the following characteristics.

-IP-based equipment: It has an independent IP address and operates according to the IP protocol.

Using HTTP / XML: By default, the HTTP protocol is used, and the syntax follows XML.

-Minimize user's setting: In each setting including addressing step, home network is designed to operate without user's separate setting.

-Supports multimedia sharing: It is developed for the purpose of transmitting multimedia files, and users can directly access, play and control the media files in the home network.

-Acting as middleware: Even if there is a network access function, the home network can be accessed only when UPnP middleware is installed.

The following disadvantages exist for duplicated functions in the home network.

In other words, if the same or similar service in the home network is to be integrated and managed, the format for the service is not defined in the UPnP Protocol and the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) guideline. . For example, DLNA defines a Home Interoperability Unit (HIU) that can manage the contents of a home network. However, DLNA does not define the details of the unity or operation of HIU. However, such an arbitrary implementation (Proprietary Implementation) is different in the internal protocol according to each implementation method, and can not guarantee the compatibility between the home network devices. Therefore, in this case, a plurality of HIUs may exist in the same home network, causing unnecessary duplication of functions, and the network usage of the home network increases by the number of HIUs.

Therefore, for a service or a device that must exist alone in a home network, a competition protocol is required for setting a candidate device group and selecting an appropriate single server from the candidate device group.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in the technical background as described above, and the present invention provides a method and a UPnP device for providing a single service provider when a single service provider is to be integrated and managed in the UPnP home network. It is the task to do it.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for integrating and managing a specific service and a UPnP device providing the method while ensuring compatibility with the existing UPnP protocol.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention uses a contention algorithm for integrating overlapping services in a home network.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a redundancy function of a home network. Acquiring information of a candidate device group providing the same service as the specific service in the home network; if the single service provider does not exist, waiting for a predetermined delay time determined by the first device; If an event from another candidate device in the home network is not received during the delay time, generating an event indicating that the first device has been selected as the sole service provider of the specific service.

Here, the first device uses a service name variable that stores the name of the specific service and an election result variable that stores a result of whether the service is selected as the sole service provider of the specific service. Information may be obtained by reading the service name variable and the election result variable of another device included in the home network.

Meanwhile, before acquiring the information, the method may further include informing that the first device enters the home network and that the first device may be included in the candidate device group. The method may further include a step in which a consumer device enters to acquire information of the single service provider and information of the candidate device group.

When the second device included in the service candidate device group receives an event for leaving the home network from the sole service provider of the specific service, the second device provides the specific service in the home network. Acquiring information on whether a provider exists and information on a group of candidate devices providing the same service as the specific service in the home network; and if the single service provider does not exist, a predetermined delay predetermined by the second device. Waiting for a time, and if an event from another candidate device in the home network is not received during the delay time, generating an event indicating that the second device has been selected as the sole service provider of the specific service. It is desirable to.

The universal plug and play device according to another aspect of the present invention is a universal plug and play device used in a home network, and is selected as a service name variable storing a name of a service provided by the device and a single service provider of the service. It uses an election result variable to store the result for and uses a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) function to provide a service name for forming a single service candidate group that can provide a specific service alone in the home network. It features.

The universal plug and play device may enter into the home network and provide information on whether there is a single service provider that provides the specific service in the home network and a candidate device that provides the same service as the specific service in the home network. Acquires group information, waits for a predetermined constant delay time if the sole service provider does not exist, and if an event from another candidate device in the home network is not received during the delay time, It may generate an event indicating that the single service provider has been selected.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent duplication of services by integrating and managing similar services in a home network while ensuring compatibility with the existing UPnP protocol. As a result, an increase in network usage due to duplication of unnecessary functions can be obtained.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling redundancy of a home network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods of achieving the same will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is noted that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" used in the specification are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the components, steps, operations, and / Or additions.

Hereinafter, a redundant function control method of a home network according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention forms a candidate device group (Candidate) supporting the service from the home network devices in the home network when a service that needs to be present in the home network is required, and selects an appropriate single service provider from the candidate device groups. Define how to remove duplicate services in the home network.

To this end, the present invention provides a contention algorithm that removes duplicate services. To this end, first, UPnP service functions and variables are selected.

A UPnP device for supporting a contention algorithm uses the following variables and functions to store contention information.

* variable

-Service name: service name for providing a single service.

Election Results: The result of whether you have been selected as a sole service provider.

* function

Service name acquirer: A SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) Action that can provide a service name to form a single service candidate group.

Now, referring to FIG. 1, a redundant function control method of a home network according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling redundancy functions in a home network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a device providing a specific service enters a home network (S110), information on whether there is a single service provider providing a specific service in a corresponding home network is acquired (S120). Information of candidate device groups that provide the same service as the specific service is acquired (S130).

If there is a single service provider based on the information of the steps S120 and S130 (YES in S140), the specific service provided by the newly entered device is already overlapped with the service provided in the corresponding home network. One device does not provide a specific service.

If it is determined based on the information of steps S120 and S130 and there is no single service provider (No in S140), the newly entered device waits for a predetermined predetermined delay time (S150).

If an event from another candidate device is received during the waiting time (YES in S160), since a specific service is provided by another candidate device that has entered first, the newly entered device is selected to prevent duplication of services. Do not provide services.

However, if an event from another candidate device is not received during the waiting time (No in S160), it is determined that a service provided by a newly entered device in the home network is not currently provided, and thus the newly entered device is identified. The provider is elected as a service provider and accordingly generates an election event (S170).

By the above process, when a new device enters the home network, duplicate services can be excluded.

In the above process, 1) selection of a candidate group for the same service in the home network, 2) selection of a single service provider for providing a single service from the candidate group, and 3) a function of selecting a single service provider is required. It describes in detail how to implement.

First, in order to select a candidate group for the same service in the home network, when the service provider enters the home network, it may be informed that he or she may be included in the service candidate group based on the simple service discovery protocol (SSDP) protocol. When the service consumer enters the network, the service can be obtained by using the broadcast to obtain information about the service candidate group and the single service provider.

The process of selecting a single service provider to provide a single service from a candidate group is performed for each device alone due to the nature of UPnP / DLNA using a peer-to-peer network. This process corresponds to the steps S140 to S170 of FIG. 1 above.

Each candidate device first checks whether a single service provider has already been selected in the same home network, and then, if there is no single service provider, enters a candidate as a single service provider. In order to elect itself as a sole service provider, the candidate device waits for an exclusive service provider election event from another candidate device for a predetermined time, and when the candidate device does not have a service provider election event for a certain time, the candidate device Elect as the sole service provider.

When a single service provider is elected, a function of notifying the home network is required. For this purpose, after a candidate device is elected as a single service provider, the candidate device changes an internal state variable and generates an UPnP event corresponding to the state variable. Inform other candidates that they have been elected. This corresponds to step S170 of FIG.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates the operation of a newly entered device, a flow related to the operation of another device is not illustrated. However, as shown in step S170 of FIG. 1, a UPnP event including single service provider selection information of a candidate device is transmitted. If so, the operation of the competition algorithm of the other candidate device is stopped.

On the other hand, due to the characteristics of a home network where devices are free to enter and leave, new service candidates may enter the home network or a single service provider may leave the home network.

Therefore, 4) when entering a service candidate in the home network, a function of searching for an existing single service provider and 5) a function of restarting the election algorithm of the home network when the single service provider leaves the home network.

When a service candidate enters a home network, the service candidate device must determine whether to start a contention algorithm, which can be implemented by reading a service state variable of another device existing in the home network. This corresponds to steps S120 and S130 of FIG. 1.

That is, when the candidate device enters the home network, the state variable for the device providing the same service as the candidate device through the SOAP Action or similar control is read, so that the information of the single service provider (S120) and the candidate device group ( S130) can be obtained.

On the contrary, when the sole service provider leaves the home network, the election algorithm of the home network must be restarted.

At this time, the departure of the sole service provider may be recognized as a BYE packet of UPnP, and the candidate device receiving the packet restarts the election algorithm.

Each function of the method for controlling the redundancy function of the home network according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above is defined according to the characteristics of the home network of the peer-to-peer structure, but the extension to the master-slave structure is also possible. Each function is accomplished through communication between the candidate group and the control point for controlling the candidate group.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the apparatus and method of the present invention are not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to embrace all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

Claims (8)

A first device that provides a specific service in a home network enters, and a candidate device that provides information on whether there is a single service provider that provides the specific service in the home network and provides the same service as the specific service in the home network. Obtaining military information,
If the single service provider does not exist, the first device waits for a predetermined delay time;
Generating an event indicating that the first device has been selected as the sole service provider of the specific service if an event from another candidate device in the home network is not received during the delay time; . The method of claim 1,
And the first device uses a service name variable for storing a name of the specific service and an election result variable for storing a result of whether the service is selected as the sole service provider of the specific service. The method of claim 2, wherein in the obtaining of the information,
And obtaining information by reading the service name variable and the election result variable of another device included in the home network. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to acquiring the information,
And informing that the first device enters the home network and that the first device is included in the candidate device group. The method of claim 1,
And entering a service consumer device into the home network and acquiring information of the single service provider and information of the candidate device group. The method of claim 1,
When a second device included in the service candidate device group receives an event of leaving the home network from a single service provider of the specific service,
Acquiring, by the second device, information on whether there is a single service provider providing the specific service in the home network and information on a candidate device group providing the same service as the specific service in the home network;
If the single service provider does not exist, waiting for the predetermined delay time by the second device;
If an event from another candidate device in the home network is not received during the delay time, generating an event indicating that the second device has been selected as the sole service provider of the specific service; Way. delete delete

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