KR20030008799A - Home Appliance Controlling System and Operating Method for the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method of operating a home appliance control system is provided to store serial numbers of controlled home appliances, and to include a home appliance controlling server connected to the home appliances when a user logs in, thereby controlling the home appliances without additionally assigning fixed IP addresses. CONSTITUTION: A user inputs an ID and a password given to a home appliance controlling server(S1). The home appliance controlling server confirms whether the user is a legal user(S2). If so, the server calls serial numbers of many home appliances through an Internet network(S3). A home appliance built-in communication module stores the called serial numbers in a buffer(S4), and decides whether the serial numbers are the same as serial numbers stored in a serial number storage(S5). If so, the communication module transmits information on flexible IP addresses of the home appliances to the server(S6). The server is connected to the home appliances according to the flexible IP addresses(S7). A user interface is transmitted to the server, and the server executes the user interface(S8). The user inputs control commands of the home appliances, and the home appliances are controlled(S9).

Description

Home Appliance Controlling System and Operating Method for the Same}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a home appliance control system and a method of operating the same, and more particularly, to a home appliance control system and a method for operating the home appliance having a floating IP address to be remotely controlled by a user outside the building.

Recently, a plurality of home appliances are connected through a network in a home, and the home network apparatus enables the user to control the home appliance in any space in the home or outside the home by allowing the network to be connected to an external Internet network. Networking systems are in the spotlight.

In particular, in the case of the home appliance networking system, a user can grasp the status information of a specific home appliance in any space in the home and can control the home appliance through a computer or the like from the outside. Consumers have been receiving a response, and as a result, the application range of home appliance networking systems is widening day by day.

The conventional home appliance networking system uses a method of controlling the home appliance by assigning a fixed IP address to a plurality of home appliances installed in a building and making the plurality of home appliances accessible through any Internet network through the fixed IP address. Doing.

Therefore, in order for the home appliance to be connected to the network network and to transmit and receive control and status information with the network network, the home appliance should be equipped with a high-cost LAN card and equipped with a PC-class CPU capable of communication processing. .

In reality, however, when a LAN card is mounted on a home appliance and a PC-class CPU is provided, the manufacturing cost of the home appliance is increased, so that there is a problem in that the market is less competitive. In addition, unlike the home appliances that were designed and manufactured in the existing production line, a new production line is needed to attach a new-grade PC-class CPU and LAN card to the home appliance. There is a problem that acts as a factor to further increase the price of the device.

In addition, in order to assign a fixed IP address to each home appliance, a separate fixed IP address must be opened, thereby increasing consumer costs.

In addition, in the home, the ISP is generally assigned a floating IP address and uses the Internet at low cost. In this case, since the IP address assigned to the home appliance is not fixed, it is practical to connect to the home appliance from the outside. There is a problem that is impossible.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, the object of which is to enable the remote control of a plurality of home appliances installed in the home by using a floating IP address method commonly used in homes It is to provide a home appliance control system and its operation method.

1A and 1B are block diagrams showing the configuration of a home appliance control system according to the present invention;

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication module built-in home appliances according to the present invention;

3 is a block diagram showing the flow of a method of operation of a home appliance control system according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the flow of a method of receiving a home appliance is assigned an IP address in the home appliance control system according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

A1 ~ A6: Home Appliance B1 ~ B6: Home Appliance Communication Module

1: Server for controlling home appliances

According to a feature of the home appliance control system according to the present invention for solving the above problems, a plurality of installed in the building to be controlled according to the control signal transmitted through the Internet network and to generate the state information accordingly to transmit through the Internet network A home appliance control system comprising: a home appliance and network equipment for connecting the home appliance to the internet network and managing the connection so that the home appliance can transmit and receive signals to and from the internet network. Give the user a login ID to control the home appliances, and connect to a plurality of home appliances that can be controlled by the user according to the input ID so that the user can control the plurality of home appliances. Control device for home appliances installed on the internet network other than the building connected to the network And a home appliance for storing a serial number of the home appliance and a dynamic IP address assigned to the home appliance, and simultaneously transmitting an interface for controlling the home appliance to the home appliance control server when connected to the home appliance control server. It consists of built-in communication module.

In addition, the operation method of the home appliance control system according to the present invention is a home appliance control server that stores the serial number of the home appliance to give the ID to the user who wants to control a plurality of home appliances and control by each ID is installed in the building A first step established in an internet network connected to an internet network, a second step of a user logging in to the home appliance control server established in the first step through the assigned ID, and a user logged in in the second step Is a legitimate user who logs in by inputting a legitimate password, a third step of connecting the plurality of home appliances that can be controlled by the user of the ID and the server for controlling the home appliance, and the home appliance connected to the home appliance in the third step A fourth step of executing a user interface suitable for controlling the home appliance in a control server; In accordance with a user interface implemented in the step 4 and the user inputs a control command of the appliance therefore comprises a fifth step in which the control electronics unit.

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

Home appliance control system according to the present invention, as shown in Figure 1a, 1b, the home appliance control server (1) is built in the Internet network outside the home or building to control the home appliances in the home or building from the outside And, connected to the home appliance control server (1) is controlled according to the home appliance control server (1) and transmits the state information generated according to the home appliance control server (1) a plurality of home appliances (A1 ~) A6), and stored in the plurality of home appliances (A1 ~ A6) and serial numbers of the plurality of home appliances (A1 ~ A6) and the dynamic IP address assigned to the plurality of home appliances (A1 ~ A6) In particular, when the user interface is connected to the home appliance control server 1 and the home appliance by storing a user interface suitable for controlling the plurality of home appliances A1 to A6, the user interface is actually executed in the home appliance control server 1. It consists of a plurality of home appliances built-in communication module (B1 ~ B6) to be performed.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, the plurality of home appliances A1 to A6 are installed in each of the homes I1 and I2 so that the homes I1 and I2 can be connected to an external Internet network. As it is connected to the network equipment such as the hub (N1) or gateway (N2) installed in 2) is assigned a dynamic IP address every time connecting to the Internet network through the ISP company (2).

In addition, the plurality of home appliances A1 to A6 are installed in the cyber apartment complexes I3 and I4, as shown in FIG. 1B, and the hub N1 or gateway installed when the cyber apartment complex is completed. In connection with the network equipment such as N2, the apartment complex may be assigned a floating IP address by itself.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the home appliance built-in communication module (B1 ~ B6) used in the home appliance control system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the built-in home appliance communication module B1 includes a serial number storage unit 11 for storing a serial number of the mounted home appliance A1, and a floating IP assigned to the home appliance A1. An IP address storage unit 12 for storing an address, an interface storage unit 13 storing a user interface suitable for controlling the home appliance A1 equipped with the built-in communication module B1, and the home appliance When the serial number called from the device control server 1 matches the serial number stored in the serial number storage unit 11, the floating IP address stored in the IP address storage unit 12 to the home appliance control server 1 It is configured to communicate with the home appliance control server (1) by transmitting the user interface stored in the interface storage unit 13 to the communication processing unit 14 to be executed in the home appliance control server (1).

In addition, the home appliance control server 1 is a user of a plurality of home appliances (A1 ~ A6) installed in the home or building to control the home appliances (A1 ~ A6) through the home appliance control server (1). In order to provide a login ID and a password to the user, the serial number of the controllable home appliance can be stored for each of the given IDs, and the serial number of the controllable home appliance can be controlled according to the ID input by the user through the Internet network. Configured to call.

The home appliance built-in communication module of the home appliance having a serial number corresponding to the serial number is mounted by calling the serial number of the controllable home appliance through the Internet network according to the user ID logged in by the home appliance control server 1. The home appliance control server 1 and the home appliance are connected by transmitting the floating IP address assigned to the home appliance control server 1 to the home appliance control server 1. Here, the home appliance control server 1 has a fixed IP address to be connected to the home appliance.

Referring to Figure 3 the operation of the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

First, in the first step, a home appliance control server that gives an ID to a user who wants to control a plurality of home appliances and stores serial numbers of the home appliances that can be controlled for each ID is connected to an internet network connected to the internet network installed in the building. As constructed, the user inputs the ID and password given to the server for controlling the home appliance to the server for controlling the home appliance. (S1)

In a second step, the home appliance control server checks the ID and password of the logged-in user to determine whether the logged-in user is a legitimate user who inputs a legitimate password. (S2)

If it is determined in step 2 that the logged-in user is a legitimate user, in step 3 the server for controlling home appliances calls the serial numbers of a plurality of home appliances that can be controlled by the user of the ID through the Internet network. do. (S3)

In step 4, 5, the built-in home appliance communication module embedded in the home appliance stores the called serial number in a buffer (S4), the serial number stored in the serial number storage unit is a serial number of the home appliance Determine if it matches the number. (S5)

In a sixth step, the home appliance built-in communication module embedded in the home appliances that match the serial number transmits the information on the floating IP address used by the home appliance to the server for controlling the home appliance. Here, since the server for controlling the home appliance has a fixed IP address, the built-in communication module for the home appliance may access the server for controlling the home appliance. On the other hand, the home appliance built-in communication module embedded in the home appliances that do not match the serial number ignores the call of the home appliance control server.

In a seventh step, the home appliance control server is connected to the home appliance according to the transmitted floating IP address. (S7)

In the eighth step, as the home appliance control server and the home appliance are connected, the user interface stored in the interface storage unit of the built-in communication module of the home appliance is transmitted to the server for controlling the home appliance, and the home appliance control server The user interface is launched. (S8)

In the ninth step, the user who logs in to the home appliance control server inputs a control command of the home appliance through a user interface executed by the home appliance control server, and the home appliance is controlled accordingly. (S9)

Finally, Figure 4 shows the bar is assigned an IP address to the home appliance in the home appliance control system according to the present invention.

First, in step 11, the home appliance requests an allocation of a floating IP address through an ISP or a management office managing a hub and a gateway of a cyber apartment. (S11)

In a twelfth step, the ISP operator or the management office of the cyber apartment determines whether to allocate the floating IP address of the home appliance. (S12)

If the floating IP address is allocated in the twelfth step, the built-in home appliance communication module embedded in the home appliance stores the allocated floating IP address in the thirteenth step. (S13)

In a fourteenth step, the home appliance is connected to an internet network built in a home or building through the floating IP address assigned in the thirteenth step. (S14)

According to the home appliance control system and the operation method of the present invention configured as described above, the home appliance connected to the Internet network can be remotely controlled through a method of assigning a floating IP address through an ADSL network built in a home or building. By storing the serial number of the home appliance that can be controlled by the user of the home appliance so that the user can log in and comprises a home appliance control server connected to the home appliance at the time of user login, to control the home appliance without additional assignment of a fixed IP address The cost of IP address allocation is reduced, and in particular, the existing ADSL network can be utilized to prevent the trouble of establishing a separate leased line for remote control of home appliances.

Claims (6)

A plurality of home appliances controlled in accordance with a control signal transmitted through an internet network and installed in a building to generate state information according to the control signal and transmit the same through the internet network; In the home appliance control system comprising a network equipment for connecting the home appliance to the Internet network and managing the connection so that the home appliance sends and receives a signal with the Internet network, Give the user a login ID so that the home appliance user can control the home appliance outside the building, and the user is connected to a plurality of home appliances that can be controlled by the user according to the input ID, so that the user A home appliance control server installed in an internet network outside the building connected to the internet network in the building so as to be controlled; Built-in communication for home appliances that stores the serial number of the home appliance and the floating IP address assigned to the home appliance, and transmits an interface for controlling the home appliance to the home appliance control server when connected to the home appliance control server Home appliance control system comprising a module. The method of claim 1, The home appliance control server is configured to store the serial number of the controllable home appliance for each given ID and call the serial number of the controllable home appliance according to the ID input by the user through the Internet network. Home appliance control system. The method of claim 2, The built-in communication module for home appliances includes a serial number storage unit for storing serial numbers of mounted home appliances; An IP address storage unit for storing the dynamic IP address assigned to the home appliance; An interface storage unit storing a user interface suitable for controlling a home appliance equipped with the built-in communication module of the home appliance; When the serial number called from the home appliance control server matches the serial number stored in the serial number storage unit, the home appliance control server transmits the floating IP address stored in the IP address storage unit to connect with the home appliance control server. And a communication processor configured to execute the user interface stored in the interface storage unit in the home appliance control server. A plurality of home appliances controlled in accordance with a control signal transmitted through an internet network and installed in a building to generate state information according to the control signal and transmit the same through the internet network; In the operating method of the home appliance control system comprising a network equipment for connecting the home appliance to the Internet network and manages the connection so that the home appliance sends and receives a signal with the Internet network, A first step in which a home appliance control server which gives an ID to a user who wants to control the plurality of home appliances and stores serial numbers of the home appliances that can be controlled for each ID is established in an internet network connected to an internet network installed in the building; ; A second step of a user logging in to the home appliance control server established in the first step through the assigned ID; A third step of connecting the plurality of home appliances that can be controlled by the user of the ID and the server for controlling the home appliance, when the user who logged in in the second step is a legitimate user who has entered the right password; A fourth step of executing a user interface suitable for controlling the home appliance in the home appliance control server connected to the home appliance in the third step; And a fifth step in which the user inputs a control command of the home appliance through the user interface executed in the fourth step, and accordingly, the home appliance is controlled. The method of claim 4, wherein An operation method of the home appliance control system includes: an IP address assignment step in which the home appliance is assigned a floating IP address through an ISP operator; An IP address storing step of storing, by the home appliance, the dynamic IP address allocated in the IP address assignment step; And an internet network connection step in which the home appliance is connected to the internet network through the floating IP address allocated in the IP address assignment step. The method of claim 4, wherein The third step may include: calling a serial number of a plurality of home appliances that can be controlled by the user of the ID through the Internet network, when the logged-in user is a legitimate user; An IP address transmitting step of transmitting, by the home appliance having a serial number corresponding to the serial number called in the calling step, information about the floating IP address used by the home appliance to the server for controlling the home appliance; And a home appliance control step of connecting the home appliance control server to the home appliance according to the IP address transmitted through the IP address transmitting step.