KR101696803B1 - Method and apparatus for controlling operations of devices based on information of power consumption of the devices - Google Patents

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention is an operation including an operation comprising power consumption levels representing the relative magnitudes of power consumption of permissible operation combinations and allowable operation combinations generated by combining permissible operations among operations that each of the participating controlled devices can perform From each of the participating controlled devices, sets the power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information about the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information thereof, A method of controlling an operation of a device that controls operations of participating controlled devices based on consumption levels is disclosed.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling operations of devices based on information on the power consumption of devices,

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling operations of devices, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for controlling operations of devices based on information on the power consumption of the devices.

Intelligent power grid is a system that integrates information and communication technology into a unidirectional energy supply structure that leads to power generation, transmission / distribution, and sales. By exchanging real-time information in both directions between the power supplier and the consumer, It is a new concept of electric power network.

In the intelligent power grid, the concept of demand response (DR) is used, which means that the consumer uses electric power in response to price, monetary compensation, or the power company's instructions, deviating from everyday consumption patterns. This allows the supplier to induce or suppress consumer electricity usage at specific times of day, and consumers can consume electricity at a cheaper price.

Conventionally, in order to control the amount of power consumption in such an intelligent power network, a control device, which has received information on a power rate by time slot, turns on or off the power of home appliances connected to the control device in a wired or wireless manner Technology has been proposed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for controlling operations of devices based on information on the power consumption of the devices.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling operations of participating controlled devices in a network including a controlling device and a plurality of participating controlled devices, Receiving operation restriction information from each of the participating controlled devices, the operation restriction information including power consumption levels representing a relative magnitude of power consumption amounts of the permissible operation combinations and the permissible operation combinations generated by combining permissible operations among the operations; Setting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information; And controlling operations of the participating controlled devices based on the set power consumption level.

Advantageously, said operation restriction information further comprises information on at least one of the power consumption consumed in performing said allowance action combinations, the minimum action times required to perform said allowance action combinations and the preferences of said allowance action combinations do.

Preferably, an operation control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention further includes registering an non-participation controlled device not included in the network with the network, wherein the non-participation controlled device is registered in the network ≪ / RTI > receiving a association request frame requesting association for the network from the non-participation controlled device; And transmitting an association response frame to the non-participation controlled device to approve the association request for the network.

Advantageously, the step of registering the non-participation controlled device with the network comprises: receiving device information for the non-participating controlled device from the non-participating controlled device; Outputting a user interface for receiving a response to the registration of the non-participation controlled device using the device information; Receiving a response to the registration through the output user interface; And selectively transmitting a registration notification frame indicating that the non-participation controlled device is registered in the network, based on the input response.

Preferably, the step of receiving the association request frame receives the identifier of the network or receives the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device having received the identifier of the network.

Advantageously, the step of receiving the association request frame comprises transmitting the association request frame to the network having the strongest network signal among the network including the participating controlled devices and the at least one other network, And receives the association request frame from the device.

Advantageously, the step of receiving the association request frame comprises receiving a registration wait signal indicating that the device is in a standby state for receiving the association request frame from the network including the participating controlled devices and at least one other network, And receives the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device configured to transmit the association request frame to a network that transmits the association request frame to the controlled device.

Preferably, the operation control method according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes: checking whether a sudden power-off has occurred to the control device immediately before power-on when the control device is powered on; If it is determined that the sudden power cut-off has occurred, the operation restriction information, the identifier of the network, and the participating controlled devices, respectively, from at least one of the storage unit of the control device, the external server and each of the participating controlled devices The time at which each of the participating controlled devices started their operation, the final power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices, and the actual state of each of the participating controlled devices before the sudden power-off occurs Information on at least one of a power consumption, an actual accumulated power consumption obtained by summing actual power consumption of each of the participating controlled devices, a priority of each of the participating controlled devices, and a current operating state of each of the participating controlled devices Reading or receiving data; Resetting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the at least one piece of information and the information about the power rate by time slot; And controlling operations of the participating controlled devices based on the reset power consumption level.

Advantageously, said at least one information is received encrypted.

Preferably, an operation control method according to an embodiment of the present invention further comprises setting a maximum power rate, which is a maximum value of a power rate desired to be consumed by the participating controlled devices during a predetermined period, Setting the consumption level is performed further based on the maximum power rate.

Preferably, the controlling of the operations of the participating controlled devices may include controlling the operations of the participating controlled devices such that the participating controlled devices having the highest priority among the participating controlled devices have power And controls the participating controlled devices having the lowest priority among the participating controlled devices to operate at a power consuming level consuming the least power among the power consuming levels possessed by the participating controlled devices .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for controlling operations of participating controlled devices in a network including a plurality of participating controlled devices, the apparatus comprising: Receiving from each of the participating controlled devices, operation limit information including power consumption levels representing a relative magnitude of power consumption of the allowable operation combinations and the allowable operation combinations generated by combining permitted operations among the participating controlled devices; A power consumption level setting unit for setting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information; And an operation control unit for controlling operations of the participating controlled devices based on the set power consumption level.

Preferably, in one embodiment of the present invention, the operation control device includes a registration unit for registering an unparticipant controlled device not included in the network in the network; And a receiving unit configured to receive a combining request frame requesting coupling of the network from the non-participation controlled device to the non-participation controlled device, And a transmission unit for transmitting the data.

Preferably, in one embodiment of the present invention, the operation control apparatus controls the non-participation controlled device, when receiving the device information for the non-participating controlled device from the non-participating controlled device, And an interface management unit for outputting a user interface for receiving a response as to whether or not the registration of the terminal is registered. When a response to the registration is input through the output user interface, And selectively transmits a registration notification frame indicating that the non-participation controlled device is registered in the network.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is a control method for controlling a power consumption level indicating a relative magnitude of power consumption amounts of combinations of allowed operation combinations generated by combining allowed operations among operations that each of the participating controlled devices can perform, Receiving operation restriction information from each of the participating controlled devices; Setting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information; And controlling the operations of the participating controlled devices based on the set power consumption level. The present invention also provides a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing an operation control method.

1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of controlling operations of devices included in a network in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of operation restriction information according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling operations of devices included in a network according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of registering an unparticipant controlled device in a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart of a method by which a control device resets the power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices after an abrupt power down occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing an operation according to a reset power consumption level of participating controlled devices after a sudden power shutdown occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a view for explaining an operation control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view for explaining an operation control apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

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

1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of controlling operations of devices included in a network in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

In an embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that a network including a control device and a plurality of participating controlled devices, and a control device controls the operation of participating controlled devices in the network.

In step 110, operation restriction information including power consumption levels representing the relative magnitudes of the power consumption amounts of the allowed operation combinations and the allowable operation combinations generated by combining the allowed operations among the operations that can be performed by each of the participating controlled devices From each of the participating controlled devices.

At this time, the operation restriction information may further include at least one of the power consumption consumed in performing the allowable operation combinations, the minimum operation times required to perform the allowable operation combinations, and the preferences of the allowable operation combinations . Such operation restriction information may be stored in the participating controlled devices when the manufacturers of the participating controlled devices manufacture the participating controlled devices.

Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, the participating controlled device refers to a device that is capable of bidirectional communication with the control device by wire or wireless, and is configured to limit the permitted operation according to the power consumption level. In another embodiment, the participating controlled devices may measure the actual power consumption they consume.

The reason why the participating controlled device must be able to perform bidirectional communication with the control device is to notify the control device of the amount of power consumed by the participating controlled device in order for the controlling device to control the operation of the participating controlled device using the intelligent power network , The control device must be able to notify the participating controlled devices of the power consumption level corresponding to the participating controlled devices. At this time, the actual controlled power consumed by the participating controlled devices can be directly measured by the participating controlled devices themselves as described above, or the added controlled devices can be added to the participating controlled devices and the actual power consumption can be measured You may.

For example, the participating controlled devices include all devices capable of communicating with home control devices such as washing machines, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, lights, hair dryers, mobile phone chargers, computers,

On the other hand, the control device refers to a device capable of bidirectional communication with participating controlled devices and capable of controlling participating controlled devices. For example, all devices capable of bidirectional communication with participating controlled devices such as a wall pad, a set top box, a computer, a notebook, and the like, and capable of controlling participating controlled devices.

At this time, the network including the control device and the participating controlled devices may be a wired network such as a PLC (Pipe Line Communication) network or a wireless network such as a Bluetooth network, a Wi-Fi network, a ZigBee network and the like.

Hereinafter, a structure of operation restriction information according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of operation restriction information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, it is assumed that the participating controlled device is a washing machine. 2, operation restriction information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a power consumption level item 210, a power consumption item 220, a minimum operation time item 230, a preference item 240, Item (250).

The power consumption level item 210 is an item indicating the power consumption level indicating the relative magnitude of the power consumption amount corresponding to the permissible operation combinations in the allowable operation combination item 250 of the washing machine. In FIG. 2, the power consumption level item 210 has a power consumption level of 1 to 4 depending on the relative size of the power consumption. At this time, the larger the relative size of the power consumption, the lower the power consumption level of the power consumption level item 210 is.

For example, when the power consumption amount is the largest in FIG. 2, the power consumption level item 210 indicates the power consumption level 1. [

The power consumption item 220 indicates the amount of power consumption corresponding to the allowed operation combinations of the allowed operation combination item 250. [

The power consumption amounts of the first permissible operation combination to the fourth permissible operation combination in the permissible operation combination item 250 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 are respectively 1.13 kWh, 0.14 kWh, 0.11 kWh and 0.019 kWh. At this time, the power consumption amounts indicated in the power consumption item 220 may be the initial values recorded by the manufacturer when manufacturing the washing machine.

In another embodiment, after the washing machine directly measures the power consumption of the combination of the first permissible operation combination to the fourth permissible operation combination in the allowable operation combination item 250 directly, the measured power consumption amount is stored in the power consumption item 220 It can also record.

The minimum operation time item 230 refers to the minimum operation time required to perform each of the first permissible operation combination to the fourth permissible operation combination of the permissible operation combination item 250. [

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the minimum operation times corresponding to each of the first permissible operation combination to the fourth permissible operation combination of the permissible operation combination item 250 are 200 minutes, 120 minutes, 60 minutes, and 13 minutes.

The preference item 240 indicates the user's preferred power consumption level from the power consumption level 1 to the power consumption level 4 of the power consumption level item 210. [

However, since the manufacturer can not know the user's preference when the washing machine is first introduced, the power consumption level 3 may be determined as the initial value of the preference item 240 as in the embodiment of FIG.

The user can change the preferred power consumption level previously recorded in the preference item 240 by the manufacturer to his or her preferred power consumption level.

For example, when the manufacturer records the power consumption level 3 as the preferred power consumption level in the preference item 240, the user can change the preferred power consumption level of the preference item 240 to the power consumption level 1.

The permissible operation combination item 250 represents combinations of the operations generated by combining the permissible operations among the operations that the washing machine can perform.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the permissible operation combination item 250 is composed of four permissible operation combinations.

The first permissible combination is a combination of Full Wash / Rinse operation, Full Spin Dry operation, and Full Heat Dry operation among the operations that the washing machine can perform. Full Wash / Rinse operation refers to strong washing / rinse operation, Full Spin Dry operation refers to strong dehydration operation, and Full Heat Dry operation refers to strong drying operation.

At this time, the first permissible operation combination has the highest power consumption and the longest minimum operation time when compared with the other permissible operation combinations, because it permits the washing machine to perform more operations than the second to fourth permissible operation combinations.

The second permissible action combination is a combination of Full Wash / Rinse action and Full Spin Dry action.

The third permissible action combination is a combination of Full Wash / Rinse operation and Simple Spin Dry operation, and it is also possible to temporarily stop the operation.

Here, the Simple Spin Dry operation refers to a weak drying operation, and temporarily stopping the operation refers to performing a Full wash / Rinse operation or a Full Spin Dry operation and then temporarily stopping the operation.

The fourth permissible operation combination waits for the operation of the washing machine. This is because the washing machine is performing the operations included in the first to third permissible operation combinations only until the operation currently being performed is completed, . At this time, the minimum operation time of the fourth permissible operation combination is set to 13 minutes, assuming that at least 13 minutes will be required to complete the current operation. However, the minimum operating time of the fourth permissible operation combination is not limited to 13 minutes, but can be set to a time longer than 13 minutes or a short time.

On the other hand, the type of permissible operation combination included in the operation restriction information is not limited to the permissible operation combinations indicated in the permissible operation combination item 250 of FIG. For example, in another embodiment, the permissible operation combination item 250 may further include a permissive operation combination including an operation of powering off the washing machine.

In step 120, the power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices is set based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information.

At this time, the information on the electric power charges by the time zone is information indicating the electric power charges in the time zone and the time zone in which the different electric power charges are applied when the electric power charges are differentiated according to the time zone. For example, if the power is frequently used from 2:00 am to 4:00 pm, the electricity charge from 2:00 am to 4:00 pm can be made more expensive than other time zones, Daytime power costs up to 4 will be displayed more expensive than other time periods. Here, the information on the electric power rate by the time slot may be displayed in the form of a continuous graph, or the time slot charge may be displayed as discrete.

The information on the electric power charges for each time slot may be read out from the storage unit of the control device or used periodically from the outside (for example, a power supply company). For example, information on a power rate by time zone may be received on an hourly, daily, or monthly basis.

On the other hand, the information on the power rate by time slot may be directly input to the control device through the input device mounted on the control device.

In step 130, the operations of the participating controlled devices are controlled based on the set power consumption level.

More specifically, it controls the participating controlled devices having the highest priority among the participating controlled devices to operate according to the power consuming level consuming the largest amount of power among the power consuming levels possessed by the participating controlled devices, The participating controlled devices having the same priority among the participating controlled devices control to operate according to the same power consumption level among the power consumption levels of the participating controlled devices.

For example, if the washing machine having operation restriction information of FIG. 2 has the highest priority when compared with other participating controlled devices, the washing machine may operate according to the power consumption level 1, such as Full Wash / Rinse operation, Full Spin Dry operation, Dry operation can be performed. However, even if the washing machine can perform both Full Wash / Rinse operation, Full Spin Dry operation and Full Heat Dry operation according to the power consumption level 1, the user can perform Full Wash / Rinse operation, Full Spin Dry operation, The washing machine may be instructed to perform only a part of the washing process.

As described above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the power consumption of the participating controlled devices can be controlled by controlling the operations of the participating controlled devices based on the power consumption level of the participating controlled devices, The power consumption of the participating controlled devices can be controlled more effectively than the technique of the related art.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling operations of devices included in a network according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In step 310, information on the power rate by time zone is received from the outside.

At this time, if the control device uses the information on the power rate by time slot stored in its storage unit, the step 310 may be omitted.

In step 320, operation restriction information is received from each of the participating controlled devices.

In step 330, the participating controlled devices set a maximum power rate that is the maximum value of the power rate desired to be consumed during a predetermined period.

For example, a user wants to pay only 300,000 won per month for a power bill, so that the maximum power bill can be set at 300,000 won. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the maximum power rate may be set in units of one day or one year.

In step 340, a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices is set based on the information on the power rate by time slot, the operation restriction information, and the maximum power rate.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method of setting the power consumption level according to step 340 will be described.

Firstly, assuming that the user sets the maximum power charge to 10,000 won per day, the control device calculates the maximum allowable power amount Pd, which is the maximum amount of power that can be used in a day with a power charge of 10,000 won .

Second, the power consumption consumed by the participating controlled devices included in the network at the power consumption level consuming the most power is checked. That is, the power consumption amount consumed by the participating controlled devices when the power consumption level is 1 is checked.

Third, the checked power consumption amounts are arranged in descending order based on the priority of each of the participating controlled devices.

Fourthly, the power consumption amounts arranged in descending order are summed up to calculate the cumulative power consumption amount. If the calculated cumulative power consumption amount is equal to or less than the maximum allowable power amount Pd, the operation of all participating controlled devices is controlled according to the power consumption level 1, And sets the power consumption level corresponding to each of the participation controlled devices based on the priority of each of the participating controlled devices when the calculated accumulated electric power consumption exceeds the maximum allowed power amount Pd.

For example, when the cumulative power consumption of participating controlled devices A, B, C, D, and E exists only in the network and the power consumption of participating controlled devices E is excluded The control device can set the power consumption level corresponding to the power-off (off) among the power consumption levels of the participating controlled devices E to the participating controlled device E.

However, in the above example, if it is assumed that the participating controlled devices A, B, C have a higher priority than the participating controlled devices D, E and the participating controlled devices D and E have the same priority, The device changes the power consumption level of the participating controlled devices D and E to the power consumption level 2 or 3 in the same manner so that the participating controlled devices A, B, C, and D And the cumulative power consumption amount of E can be equal to or less than the maximum allowable power amount Pd.

In another embodiment, the current operation state of the participating controlled devices may be considered when setting the power consumption level. In this case, the participating controlled devices performing the current operation have the highest priority. For example, if the washing machine is already performing the washing operation, the washing machine will have the highest priority. In another embodiment, the control device transmits a query inquiring whether it is possible to change the current operation state or the power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices to the participating controlled devices, The feedback information for the query may be received, and the received feedback information may be used to change the power consumption level. Here, the feedback information includes information on the current operation state of each of the participating controlled devices, a response as to whether or not the power consumption level can be changed, information on the power consumption amount corresponding to the power consumption levels, Information on the minimum operation time, information on a result of self-diagnosis of the hardware status of each of the participating controlled devices, and the like.

In step 350, the operations of the participating controlled devices are controlled based on the set power consumption level.

Up to now, a control device has described a method for controlling participating controlled devices included in the network. At this time, the control device may control the participating controlled devices already included in the network as described above, but may register the non-participating controlled devices not included in the network as a new participating controlled device in the network, It is possible to control the operation of both the new participating controlled device and the existing participating controlled devices included in the network.

Hereinafter, a method for registering the non-participation controlled devices in the network will be described with reference to FIG.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of registering an unparticipant controlled device in a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 410, the non-participant controlled device obtains network identifiers for the network including the participating controlled devices and for at least one other network.

At this time, the non-participation controlled device searches for a network including the participating controlled devices and at least one other network when a power is applied to the non-participating controlled device or a button mounted on the non-participating controlled device is pressed, And obtain network identifiers for those networks.

If the non-participation controlled device is already registered in a certain network and a button mounted on the non-participating controlled device is pressed, registration of the currently registered network may be canceled and other networks may be searched .

In another embodiment, the non-participant controlled device may obtain only the network identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices.

For example, if the identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices is inputted through the input device mounted on the non-participating controlled device or the removable storage device storing the identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices in the non-participating controlled devices And if it is inserted, receives an identifier of the network from the inserted removable storage device, thereby obtaining only the network identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices. Also, a method of reading the identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices from the storage device on which the RFID module is mounted through the RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) reader mounted on the non-participating controlled device, Only the network identifier of the network can be obtained.

Thus, the reason for obtaining network identifiers is that in some networks network identification is required for communication between devices included in the network. For example, in a ZigBee network or the like, communication is possible only between devices having the same PANID (Personal Area Network Identifier).

In step 420, the non-participant controlled device sends a join request frame requesting the controlling device to join the network based on the obtained network identifiers.

If the non-participation controlled device acquires only the network identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices in step 410, the association request frame may be transmitted to the control device using the acquired network identifier.

However, when the non-participation controlled device acquires not only the network identifier of the network including the participating controlled devices but also the network identifiers for other networks, the participating controlled devices are included in the acquired network identifiers It is necessary to judge which network identifier of the network is.

Hereinafter, a method of detecting a network identifier of a network in which an non-participation controlled device includes participating controlled devices among a plurality of network identifiers will be described. At this time, the network including the participating controlled devices is referred to as a preferred network.

The first method is a method of detecting the network identifier of the network having the strongest network signal among the networks retrieved by the non-participation controlled device as an identifier of the preferred network. Such a method is characterized in that the network signal transmitted from the control device in the home network of the user's home is stronger than the network signal transmitted from the control device in the other home network. However, in this method, when the network signal transmitted from the control device of another home is stronger than the network signal transmitted from the control device of the user's home, the non-participation controlled device transmits a combining request frame to a network other than the preferred network There is a problem.

The second method is to output the network identifiers of the networks retrieved by the non-entrusted controlled device through the display unit on which the non-entrusted controlled device is mounted, and by selecting the identifier of the preferred network from among the output network identifiers, And the identifier of the preferred network is detected.

A third method is to send a registration wait signal indicating that the control device is in a waiting state for receiving the association request frame to the non-participation controlled device, and the non-participation controlled device includes a control device for transmitting the registration wait signal And detects the network identifier of the network as the identifier of the preferred network.

In this case, the third method is troublesome to transmit the registration wait signal to the non-participation controlled device in the control device, but it is possible to accurately transmit the non-participation controlled device to the preferred network Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > network identifier < / RTI >

When the non-participation controlled device detects the network identifier of the preferred network through the above methods, the non-participation controlled device transmits the association request frame to the preferred network using the detected network identifier.

If the preferred network is a ZigBee network, only the control device can receive signals transmitted from the outside in the ZigBee network, so that the association request frame transmitted by the non-participation controlled device to the preferred network is transmitted to the control device.

In step 430, the control device sends a join response frame to the non-participating controlled device to approve the join request for the network.

When the non-participant controlled device receives the association response frame to approve the association request from the control device, the non-participation controlled device succeeds in the association with the preferred network.

In the present embodiment, even after the non-participation controlled device successfully joins to the preferred network, a procedure for confirming whether to register the non-participating controlled device in its preferred network is performed, but in another embodiment, Participating controlled device can be registered in the preferred network without confirming whether to register the non-participating controlled device in the preferred network.

In step 440, device information for the non-participating controlled device is received from the non-participating controlled device.

At this time, the device information for the non-participation controlled device refers to information about the product model, the manufacturer, and the product name of the non-participation controlled device.

In step 450, a user interface for receiving a response to the registration of the non-participation controlled device using the device information is output.

The user can confirm the information on the product model, the manufacturer, the product name, etc. of the non-participation controlled device through the user interface, and the user can select the non-participation controlled device It can be determined whether or not the controlled device is a participating controlled device. At this time, the user interface may be a graphical user interface.

In step 460, a response to the registration request is input through the output user interface.

In step 470, based on the input response, the non-participation controlled device is selectively transmitted with a registration notification frame indicating that it is registered in the network.

More specifically, if the user inputs a response to approve network registration of the non-participation controlled device, the registration notification frame will be transmitted to the non-participation controlled device. However, if the user inputs a response rejecting the network registration of the non-participation controlled device, the rejection notification frame will be transmitted to the non-participating controlled device.

At this time, if the non-participation controlled device receives the rejection notification frame or fails to receive the registration notification frame within a predetermined time after receiving the association response frame from the control device, the non-participation controlled device sends a join request frame to a network other than the preferred network Lt; / RTI >

In addition, if it is determined that the non-participation controlled device is registered in a network other than the preferred network, the non-participation controlled device transmits a registration release request frame requesting the other network to cancel the registration, and when the registration from the other network is released, It may send a join request frame to the network.

Up to now, it has been assumed that an ideal situation in which power is continuously supplied to a control device or a participating controlled device, however, in practice, sudden power-off may occur to the controlling device or participating controlled devices due to power failure or the like. In order for the control device to effectively control the power consumption consumed by the participating controlled devices, it is necessary to minimize the influence of the control device on controlling the operation of the participating controlled devices due to abrupt power interruption.

In order to do this, it is necessary to reset the power consumption level for the participating controlled devices in order to reflect the change in the environment before and after the power shutdown occurs. Hereinafter, this will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a method by which a control device resets the power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices after an abrupt power down occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 510, when power is applied to the control device, it is checked whether or not a sudden power-off to the control device occurs immediately before the power is applied.

At this time, if it is determined that the control device suddenly cuts off the power, a process of checking the time when the power cut-off occurs and storing the time when the power cut-off occurs and the time when the power is newly applied can be further performed .

In step 520, if it is determined that the control device has suddenly been powered off, the operation restriction information, the identifier of the network, the participation control target device The time at which each of the participating controlled devices started their operation, the final power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices, the actual power of each of the participating controlled devices until the sudden power down occurs The actual amount of power consumed by adding the actual power consumption of each of the participating controlled devices, the priority of each of the participating controlled devices, and the current operating state of each of the participating controlled devices .

In one embodiment of the present invention, the control device first determines whether the at least one piece of information is stored in its storage unit, and if there is no desired piece of information, the controlling device searches the external server for desired information. If desired information is not retrieved from both the storage unit of the control device itself and the external server, the control device requests the participating controlled devices with desired information and receives the desired information.

The control device can recover information that the control device can not receive or lose due to sudden power cut-off through the above process, and can acquire the information necessary for resetting the power consumption levels of the participating controlled devices.

At this time, in order to perform the same procedure as the step 520, a prerequisite is required that the control device periodically stores important information such as the at least one information in its own storage unit, an external server or the like.

On the other hand, the control device can receive encrypted information when receiving information from an external server or participating controlled devices. This is to prevent a third party from hacking and using information received from the external server or participating controlled devices to the controlling device. In another embodiment, only important information among information received from an external server or participating controlled devices may be received in encrypted form.

In another embodiment, before the control device receives the information from the participating controlled devices, the participating controlled devices are controlled by sending and receiving a join request frame and a join response frame between the control device and the participating controlled devices A process of registering with the network may be further performed. However, in this case, since the participating controlled devices are already included in the network including the controlling device, a procedure for confirming whether the participating controlled devices are to be registered in the network need not be performed.

In step 530, the power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices is reset based on the at least one piece of information and information on the power rate by time slot.

For example, if the information about the power rate by time zone is changed over a long period of time after the power is suddenly turned off and the power is newly applied to the control device, the power consumption corresponding to each participating controlled devices The level should be reset.

When the power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices is reset, the controlling device controls the operations of the participating controlled devices based on the reset power consumption level.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing an operation according to a reset power consumption level of participating controlled devices after a sudden power shutdown occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 610, if power is applied to the participating controlled device, it is checked whether a sudden power-off to the participating controlled device occurs immediately before the power is applied.

At this time, if it is determined that the participating controlled device suddenly cuts off the power, the process of checking the time at which the power cutoff occurs and storing the time at which the power cutoff occurs and the time at which the power is newly applied .

In step 620, it is determined whether or not the participating controlled device has an identifier of the network stored in its storage unit, a time when each of the participating controlled devices started its operation, a final power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices, The actual power consumption amount of each of the participating controlled devices before the generation of the controlled devices, and the actual accumulated power consumption amount obtained by summing the actual power consumption amount of each of the participating controlled devices.

At this time, in order to perform the same procedure as in step 620, a precondition is required that the participating controlled device periodically stores important information such as the at least one information in its storage unit.

Here, the storage unit may be a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, or the like.

In step 630, the participating controlled device transmits a join request frame to the controlling device.

In step 640, the control device sends a join response frame to the participating controlled device to approve the join request.

In step 650, the control device requests the necessary information from at least one piece of information read by the participating controlled device.

In step 660, the participating controlled device transmits the information requested by the controlling device to the controlling device.

In step 670, the participating controlled device receives a power consumption level corresponding to the participating controlled device from the controlling device.

In step 680, the participating controlled device performs an operation based on the received power consumption level.

7 is a view for explaining an operation control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7, the operation control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a receiver 710, a power consumption level selector 720, and an operation controller 730. At this time, the operation control device may correspond to the control device described above, and in other embodiments, the operation control device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be included in the control device.

The receiving unit 710 may include an operation limiter 710 that includes power consumption levels representing the relative magnitude of the power consumption of the allowed operation combinations and the allowable operation combinations generated by combining the allowed operations among the operations that each of the participating controlled devices can perform Information from each of the participating controlled devices.

The power consumption level setting unit 720 sets a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information.

The operation control unit 730 controls operations of the participating controlled devices based on the set power consumption level.

8 is a view for explaining an operation control apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

8, an operation control apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a receiver 810, a power consumption level selector 820, an operation controller 830, a power shutdown checker 840, 850, a transmitting unit 860, and a registering unit 870.

The power consumption level selector 820 and the operation controller 830 perform the same operations as the receiver 710, the power consumption level selector 720, and the operation controller 730 of FIG. 7, Is omitted.

The power-off check unit 840 checks whether a sudden power-off to the operation control device occurs immediately before the power is applied to the operation control device.

The charge setting unit 850 sets a maximum power charge, which is the maximum value of the electric charges desired to be consumed by the participating controlled devices in a predetermined period.

More specifically, the user sets the maximum power charge through the charge setting unit 850. [

When the maximum power charge is set by the charge setting unit 850, the power consumption level selecting unit 820 selects the maximum power charge corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power charge per time slot, the operation restriction information, Set the power consumption level.

When the receiving unit 810 receives the combining request frame requesting the combining from the non-participation controlled device to the network, the transmitting unit 860 transmits a combining response frame for approving the combining request for the network to the non-participating controlled device send.

Meanwhile, the operation control unit 830 can control the operation of the participating controlled devices by instructing the transmitting unit 860 to transmit the power consumption levels corresponding to the participating controlled devices to the participating controlled devices.

The registration unit 870 registers the non-participation controlled devices not included in the preferred network in the preferred network. In addition, the registering unit 870 may instruct the transmitting unit 860 to transmit an association response frame to approve the association request to the non-participation controlled device.

In another embodiment, when a response to approve the network registration of the non-participation controlled device is inputted from the user through the user interface for receiving a response to the registration of the participation controlled device, the registration unit 870 registers the non- The controlled device can be registered in the network.

Preferably, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the operation control apparatus may further include an interface management unit (not shown) for outputting a user interface for receiving a response to the registration of the non-participation controlled device.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention can be embodied in a general-purpose digital computer that can be embodied as a program that can be executed by a computer and operates the program using a computer-readable recording medium.

The computer readable recording medium includes a magnetic storage medium (e.g., ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical reading medium (e.g., CD ROM, DVD, etc.).

The present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope of equivalents thereof should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims (27)

A method for controlling operations of participating controlled devices in a network including a controlling device and a plurality of participating controlled devices,
A plurality of permissible operation combinations generated by combining permissible operations among a plurality of permissible operations in each of the participating controlled devices of the participating controlled devices, and a relative magnitude of the power consumptions of each of the permissive operation combinations Receiving operation restriction information from each of the participating controlled devices, the operation restriction information including power consumption levels representing the power consumption levels;
Setting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information; And
And controlling operations of the participating controlled devices based on the set power consumption level. The method according to claim 1,
The operation restriction information
At least one of the power consumption amounts consumed to perform each of the plurality of permissible operation combinations, the minimum operation times required to perform each of the plurality of permissible operation combinations, and the preferences of each of the permissive operation combinations Further comprising the steps of: The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising the step of registering in the network an non-participating controlled device not included in the network,
Wherein registering the non-participant controlled device in the network comprises:
Receiving an association request frame requesting association from the non-participation controlled device to the network; And
And transmitting an association response frame for approving the association request for the network to the non-participation controlled device. The method of claim 3,
Wherein registering the non-participant controlled device in the network comprises:
Receiving device information for the non-participating controlled device from the non-participating controlled device;
Outputting a user interface for receiving a response to the registration of the non-participation controlled device using the device information;
Receiving a response to the registration through the output user interface; And
Further comprising selectively transmitting a registration notification frame indicating that the non-participation controlled device is registered in the network, based on the input response. The method of claim 3,
The step of receiving the association request frame
And receiving the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device receiving the identifier of the network or receiving the identifier of the network. The method of claim 3,
The step of receiving the association request frame
And receives the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device configured to send the association request frame to a network having the strongest network signal among the network including the participating controlled devices and the at least one other network. A method of controlling operation. The method of claim 3,
The step of receiving the association request frame
To the network that transmits a registration wait signal indicating that the network is in a standby state for receiving the association request frame from the network including the participated controlled devices and at least one other network to the non-participation controlled device, And to receive the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device configured to transmit the association request frame. The method according to claim 1,
When the power is applied to the control device, checking whether a sudden power-off to the control device occurred immediately before the power-on;
If it is determined that the sudden power cut-off has occurred, the operation restriction information, the identifier of the network, and the participating controlled devices, respectively, from at least one of the storage unit of the control device, the external server and each of the participating controlled devices The time at which each of the participating controlled devices started their operation, the final power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices, and the actual state of each of the participating controlled devices before the sudden power-off occurs Information on at least one of a power consumption, an actual accumulated power consumption obtained by summing actual power consumption of each of the participating controlled devices, a priority of each of the participating controlled devices, and a current operating state of each of the participating controlled devices Reading or receiving data;
Resetting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the at least one piece of information and the information about the power rate by time slot; And
And controlling operations of the participating controlled devices based on the reset power consumption level. 9. The method of claim 8,
The at least one information
And encrypted and received. The method according to claim 1,
Setting a maximum power rate, which is a maximum value of a power rate desired to be consumed by the participating controlled devices for a predetermined period of time,
Wherein the step of setting the power consumption level is performed further based on the maximum power charge. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein controlling operations of the participating controlled devices comprises:
Controlling the participating controlled devices having the highest priority among the participating controlled devices to operate according to a power consuming level consuming the most power among the power consuming levels possessed by the participating controlled devices,
Wherein the participating controlled devices having the same priority among the participating controlled devices are controlled to operate according to the same power consumption levels among the power consumption levels of the participating controlled devices. An apparatus for controlling operations of participating controlled devices in a network including a plurality of participating controlled devices,
A plurality of permissible operation combinations generated by combining permissible operations among a plurality of permissible operations in each of the participating controlled devices of the participating controlled devices, and a relative magnitude of the power consumption amount of each of the permissible operation combinations Receiving from each of the participating controlled devices operation limit information including a plurality of power consumption levels indicating the participating controlled devices;
A power consumption level setting unit for setting a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the information on the power rate by time slot and the operation restriction information; And
And an operation control unit for controlling operations of the participating controlled devices based on the set power consumption level. 13. The method of claim 12,
The operation restriction information
Information on at least one of the power consumption consumed to perform each of the plurality of permissible operation combinations, the minimum operation times required to perform each of the plurality of permissible operation combinations, and the preferences of the plurality of permissible operation combinations And a control unit for controlling the operation of the operation control device. 13. The method of claim 12,
A registration unit for registering an unparticipant controlled device not included in the network in the network; And
When the receiver receives the association request frame requesting the association with the network from the non-participation controlled device, the association unit transmits a association response frame for approving the association request for the network to the non-participation controlled device in accordance with the instruction of the registration unit And a transmission unit for transmitting the control signal. 15. The method of claim 14,
When the receiver receives the device information for the non-participation controlled device from the non-participation controlled device, the receiver outputs a user interface for receiving a response to the registration of the non-participation controlled device using the device information Further comprising an interface management unit,
When a response to the registration request is input through the output user interface, the transmitting unit selectively transmits a registration notification frame indicating that the non-participation controlled device is registered in the network, based on the input response . 15. The method of claim 14,
The non-participation controlled device
When a power is applied to the non-participation controlled device or a button mounted on the non-participation controlled device is pressed, network identifiers of the network including the participating controlled devices and at least one other network are obtained, And transmits the association request frame to the operation control device based on the network identifiers. 16. The method of claim 15,
The non-participation controlled device
When receiving a rejection notification frame indicating that registration for the network has been rejected or receiving the registration notification frame within a predetermined time after receiving the association response frame, And transmits the association request frame to the network. 15. The method of claim 14,
The non-participation controlled device
When the non-participation controlled device determines that the non-participation controlled device is registered in a network other than the network including the participating controlled devices, transmits a registration release request frame requesting the other network to cancel the registration,
And transmits the association request frame to the network including the participating controlled devices when the registration from the other network is released. 15. The method of claim 14,
The receiving unit
And receives the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device that receives the identifier of the network or receives the identifier of the network. 20. The method of claim 19,
The non-participation controlled device
Receiving an identifier of the network through an input device mounted on the non-participation controlled device,
Receiving an identifier of the network from the inserted removable storage device when the removable storage device storing the identifier of the network is inserted into the non-participation controlled device,
Wherein the identifier of the network is received by reading an identifier of the network from a storage device on which the RFID module is mounted through an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) reader mounted on the non-participation controlled device. 15. The method of claim 14,
The receiving unit
And receives the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device configured to transmit the association request frame to a network having the strongest network signal among the network including the participating controlled devices and the at least one other network. A motion control device. 15. The method of claim 14,
The receiving unit
To the network that transmits a registration wait signal indicating that the network is in a standby state for receiving the association request frame from the network including the participating controlled devices and at least one other network to the non-participation controlled device, And receives the association request frame from the non-participation controlled device configured to transmit the association request frame. 13. The method of claim 12,
Further comprising a power cut-off check unit for checking whether a sudden power cut-off to the control device occurs immediately before the power is applied when power is applied to the control device,
If it is determined that the sudden power cut-off has occurred, the receiving unit extracts the operation restriction information, the identifier of the network, the participating controlled device from at least one of the storage unit of the control device, Wherein each of the participating controlled devices has an identifier of each of the participating controlled devices, an identifier of each of the participating controlled devices, a time at which each of the participating controlled devices started their operation, a final power consumption level of each of the participating controlled devices, At least one of an actual power consumption amount of each of the participating controlled devices, an actual accumulated power consumption amount obtained by summing actual power consumption of each of the participating controlled devices, a priority of each of the participating controlled devices, and a current operation state of each of the participating controlled devices Reads or receives the information of < RTI ID = 0.0 >
Wherein the power consumption level setting unit resets a power consumption level corresponding to each of the participating controlled devices based on the at least one piece of information and the information about the power rate by time zone,
Wherein the operation control unit controls operations of the participating controlled devices based on the reset power consumption level. 24. The method of claim 23,
The at least one information
And encrypted and received. 13. The method of claim 12,
Further comprising a rate setting unit for setting a maximum power rate that is a maximum value of a power rate desired to be consumed by the participating controlled devices in a predetermined period, and the power consumption level setting unit sets the maximum power rate, And sets a power consumption level corresponding to each of the control devices. 13. The method of claim 12,
The operation control unit
Controlling the participating controlled devices having the highest priority among the participating controlled devices to operate according to a power consuming level consuming the most power among the power consuming levels possessed by the participating controlled devices,
Wherein the participating controlled devices having the same priority among the participating controlled devices are controlled to operate according to the same power consumption level among the power consumption levels possessed by the participating controlled devices. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is recorded.

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