KR20040067282A - Method for defining and judging the state of controlled device in home network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for defining and determining a state of a control-subject device in a home network is provided to effectively define a state of control-subject devices and provide accurate state information reflecting characteristics of the control-subject devices to users. CONSTITUTION: A control device divides a state of plural control-subject devices into a non-registered state and a registered state. The registered state is divided into a plug cutoff state and a plug connected state. The plug connected state is divided into a power-off state and a power-on state. The power-on state is divided into an operation-off state and an operation temporarily-off state. The non-registered state and the registered state are determined depending on whether information related to a corresponding control-subject device is stored in a database provided in the control device. In case of the registered state, the control device and the control-subject device transmits a packet to each other, and the plug connected state and the plug cutoff state are determined depending on whether a packet is transmitted. In case of the plug connected state, the power-off state or the power-on state is determined depending on information of a response packet received from the control-subject device.

Description

Method for defining and judging the state of controlled device in home network

The present invention defines the states of controlled devices, which are various digital home appliances, including air conditioners, washing machines, and microwave ovens connected by a home network to a control device such as a digital television receiver having a predetermined display screen. The present invention relates to a method of defining and determining a state of a controlled device in a home network that determines a current state of the controlled devices in a state.

The growing interest in home networking has led to a number of studies and efforts on the standardization of home networking protocols based on underlying technologies such as Power Line Communication (PLC), IEEE 1394, and the Home Phone Network Alliance (PNA). In addition, as consumers' interest in intelligent digital home appliances equipped with home networking functions increases, various digital home appliances for home networking are being released.

Digital home appliances such as digital television receivers and set-top boxes, and information technology devices such as laptop computers, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and tablet personal computers (Tablet PCs), as well as air conditioners, washing machines, and electronics. The range of home networking devices ranging from white appliances, such as ranges and refrigerators, to lighting fixtures, is continually expanding, so digital appliances such as the home server (Media Center), a central unit that can manage them as one, are integrated. At the same time, interest in home gateways is increasing.

1 is a view schematically showing the overall configuration of a general home network. As shown in the drawing, a home network includes an AV network 100 such as HAVi (Home Audio / Videointeroperability) based on digital video and audio devices such as a digital television receiver and a digital audio device, and a white such as a refrigerator, an air conditioner and a washing machine. It is divided into a living network 110 such as a living network control protocol (LnCP) based on home appliances and an information technology network 120 based on a computer system and a printer.

The AV network 100, the living network 110, and the information technology network 120 are classified to help general understanding of the home network. When the home network is actually configured, the transmission media, the communication protocol, and the product standard are used. As a result, they can be expressed in various and complex forms. For example, in the case of a digital television receiver that is expected to grow as a central device of the home network in the future, it will play a central role within the category of the AV network 100, but reflects the characteristics of communication media and the products of the living network 110. In case of implementing TCP / IP among the communication protocols, communication may be performed directly with products of the information technology network 120 to control the operation.

In addition, the AV network 100 and the information technology network 120 are connected to the external Internet network 140 through the gateway 130, and the living network 110 is connected to the network manager / bridge 150 and the gateway 130. Are sequentially connected to the external Internet network 140, and externally connected to the AV network 100, the living network 110 and the information technology network 120 through the Internet network 140 It allows you to control the operation.

In such a home network, the digital television receiver used as the control device must monitor and display in real time the current state of the controlled devices connected to the home network.

However, in the conventional home network, when the controlling device displays the controlled devices without displaying the current operating state, the user displays the current operating state of the plurality of controlled devices through the user interface control screen of the controlling device. It was difficult to judge accurately.

An object of the present invention is to define a state of a plurality of controlled devices connected to a control device by a home network according to characteristics of the controlled devices, and to determine the state of the controlled devices in the defined state. To provide a state definition and determination method of the.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for defining and determining a state of a controlled device in a home network that can efficiently provide state information of the controlled devices according to the characteristics of the controlled devices through the controlling device.

In the home network of the present invention having the above object, a method of defining a state of a controlled device in a home network defining a current state of a plurality of controlled devices connected to a controlling device by a home network, The control device divides the states of the plurality of controlled devices into an unregistered state and a registered state, wherein the registered state is divided into a plug disconnected state and a plug connection state, and the plug connection state is a power off state and a power on state. The power-on state is characterized by being divided into an operation off state, an operation pause state, and an operation on state.

The unregistered state and the registered state are whether registration information of the controlled devices is stored in the database of the control device, and the plug disconnection state and the plug connection state are whether the control device and the controlled device communicate with each other. The power-off state and the power-on state are power off and on states of the controlled device, and the operation off state, operation on state, and operation pause state are states in which operation of the controlled device is stopped and operation is being performed. The state and the operation is characterized in that the paused state.

In the home network of the present invention, the method for determining a state of a controlled device may include determining whether an unregistered state and a registered state of the controlled device are determined by storing information related to the controlled device in a database included in the controlled device. In the registered state, the controlling device and the controlled device transmit packets between each other, and determine the plug connection state and the plug blocking state based on whether the packet is transmitted.In case of the plug connection state, the information of the response packet received from the controlled device. In addition to determining the power-off state or the power-on state, characterized in that the operating on state, the driving off state or the operation pause state of the power on state.

The plug connection state and the plug disconnection state determination may be performed by the controlling device generating a packet requesting a current state and transmitting the packet to the controlled device, and generating a response packet according to the transmitted request packet to the controlled device by transmitting the packet to the controlled device. When the transmitted response packet is received by the control device, the controlled device is determined to be in a plug connection state, and when the transmitted response packet is not received by the control device, it is determined that the plug is blocked.

If the response packet is not received by the control device, the packet requesting the current status is retransmitted, and if the response packet is not received even after retransmitting for a predetermined number of times, it is determined that the plug is blocked and the packet requesting the current status is determined. In case of retransmission, after adjusting the number of retransmissions and the reception setting time for determining the reception of response packet, retransmission is performed.In the case of the plug connection state, an event occurs in the device to be controlled so that the event packet powers off or powers on. In addition to determining the state, it is characterized in that the operating on state, the driving off state or the operation pause state of the power-on state.

1 is a view schematically showing the overall configuration of a typical home network,

2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a home network to which the definition and determination method of the present invention is applied.

3 is a diagram showing a state of a device defined in the definition method of the present invention in a tree structure.

4 is a diagram showing a state of a device defined in the definition method of the present invention,

5 is a diagram illustrating whether or not a state defined in a definition method of the present invention exists in devices,

FIG. 6 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a process of determining whether a plug cut-off state of a controlled device is determined in the determining method of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a state definition and a determination method of a controlled device in a home network of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of FIGS. 2 to 6.

2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a home network to which the definition and determination method of the present invention is applied. Here, reference numeral 200 denotes a control device provided with a predetermined display screen, such as a digital television receiver, and reference numeral 210 denotes various controlled devices including an air conditioner, a washing machine, a microwave oven, and the like.

The control device 200 and the plurality of controlled devices 210 are connected to the home network 230 through a predetermined interface unit 220 including a PLC modem or the like to perform data communication with each other in a predetermined packet. do.

The definition and determination method of the present invention applied to the home network having such a configuration divides the states of the controlled devices 210 in the control device 200 into an unregistered state and a registered state, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The registration state is divided into a plug disconnection state and a plug connection state, and the plug connection state is divided into a power off state and a power on state, and the power on state is an operation off state, an operation pause state, and an operation on state. Defined by state.

Here, each state defined above will be described in detail.

1. Unregistered Status and Registered Status

In order to perform data communication with the plurality of controlled devices 210 via the home network 230, the control device 200 is stored in a database (not shown) provided in the control device 200. It is necessary to store and register information about the control devices 210 in advance, and the controlled devices 210 having predetermined information stored in the database of the control device 200 are registered in the registered state through the registration process. In this case, the controlled devices 210 whose predetermined information is not stored in the database of the control device 200 are defined as an unregistered state.

2. Plug disconnection status and plug connection status

The control device 200 and the plurality of controlled devices 210 connected to the home network 230 communicate with each other by transmitting a communication packet based on a predetermined protocol, and there is a problem with the home network 230 itself, or There is a case in which the devices 210 are not connected to the home network 230 through the interface unit 220 or the communication is not performed because there is no response of the controlled device 210.

Therefore, in the present invention, a state in which communication with the controlled devices 210 in the registered state is not made is defined as a plug blocking state, and a state in which communication with the controlled devices 210 is smoothly performed is plugged. define.

3. Power off state and power on state

Looking at the operation characteristics of the devices, the products connected to the home network, there are devices that must be turned on by operating the power switch, etc. before being driven, and when the device is registered and the power is turned off while plugged in Defined as the power off state, and defined as the power on state when the power is on.

4. Driving off state

Defines a state in which the device is powered on because the device is powered on, but in which the device's performance does not operate. For example, in the case of a digital television receiver, the standby state in which the power is turned on corresponds to this state, and in the case of a lamp, it corresponds to a state in which it is not lit. In addition, in the case of a device such as a refrigerator, since the power-on state itself is operating simultaneously, the refrigerator does not have an off state. The state corresponding to the driving off state is the driving on state, and there are some devices in which the driving pause state exists due to the characteristics of the device.

5. Driving on state

It defines the state that the device's execution function actually operates as the operation on state. For example, the case where cooking is actually performed in a microwave oven corresponds to a driving-on state.

6. Operation pause state

Defines the paused state of the device's performance. For example, devices such as a washing machine or a microwave oven may pause during operation of a predetermined performance function, and this state is defined as pause.

5 is a state defined as described above according to the characteristics of a plurality of devices, that is, an air conditioner, a washing machine, a drum washing machine, a microwave oven, a gas oven range, a refrigerator, and a digital television receiver. It is a chart showing whether there are states, an operation off state, an operation on state, and an operation pause state. As shown in the drawing, the plurality of devices may or may not have a state defined as described above according to their characteristics. For example, an air conditioner has an unregistered state, a plug disconnected state, an operating off state and an operating on state, there is no power off state and an operating pause state, and a washing machine has an unregistered state, a plug disconnected state, an operating off state, The operation on state and the operation pause state exist, the power off state does not exist, and the drum washing machine has an unregistered state, a plug disconnect state, a power off state, an operation off state, an operation on state, and an operation pause state. As such, the presence of the states defined as described above is determined by the characteristics of the devices.

On the other hand, when the controlling device 200 determines the current state of the controlled device 210 as the defined state as described above, it is first determined whether or not the non-registered state.

The determination of the non-registration state is determined by whether the registration information of the device, for example, a product name, a performance function, and the like, is stored in a database in which the control device 200 is embedded. If it is not stored in the database, it is determined as an unregistered state, and if it is stored in the database, it is determined as a registered state.

Storing and deleting registration information of the controlled devices 210 in the database of the controlling device 200 is in accordance with a conventional method defined in the protocol of the home network.

In the case where the controlled devices 210 are determined to be in the plug-off state, the control device 200 and the controlled device 210 do not communicate with each other when the controlled device 210 is registered. ), There is an error in the interface unit 220, the home network 230, or the controlled device 210, and the operation control and status information between the controlling device 200 and the controlled device 210 may lose synchronization. And there is no response within a predetermined reference time. Therefore, in the present invention, the control device 200 and the controlled device 210 communicate with each other through a predetermined determination process, and determine whether or not the plug is blocked.

6 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a process of determining whether or not a plug is blocked by a device to be controlled. As shown in the drawing, the control device 200 generates a packet for requesting the current status in step 600, and transmits the packet of the current status request generated in step 600 to the interface unit 220 and the home network 230. After requesting the current status by transmitting to the controlled device 210 through the request, the response packet to the packet of the current status request is transmitted from the controlled device 210 to the interface unit 220 and the home network 230 in step 602. It is determined whether or not it is received by the control device 200 through.

When the response packet is received within the set time as a result of the determination of step 602, the controlling device 200 determines in step 604 the plugged device 210 as a plugged state and stores it in a database. At 606, the number of judgments for determining the state of the controlled device 210 is cleared to '0' and then terminated.

When the response packet is not received in step 602, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time elapsed in step 608, and when the response packet is not received until the predetermined time elapses. In step 610, the number of judgments is increased by '1', and then in step 612, it is determined whether the number of judgments is more than a preset number of times, for example, six or more times.

If the determination result of the step 612 is not more than a preset number of times, the control device 200 adjusts the number of retransmissions to retransmit the packet of the current status request and a reception setup time to receive the response packet in step 614. And generating a packet requesting a current state in step 616, transmitting the packet to the controlled device 210, and returning to step 602 to determine whether a response packet is received within the reset time. Do this.

If the control device 200 does not receive an abnormal number of response packets in step 612, the control device 200 determines whether the corresponding controlled device 210 is already stored in the database in the plug blocking state in step 618. If it is not already stored in the plug blocking state is determined in step 620, the device to be controlled 210 is determined to be plugged off and stored in the database, and in step 622, the device to be controlled ( After notifying the user interface that the plug 210 is in the plug-off state so that the user can confirm it, in step 606, the number of times of determining the state of the controlled device 210 is cleared to '0' and ends.

The determination of the power-on state or the power-off state in the plug connection state, and the determination of the operation off state, the operation pause state or the operation on state in the power on state is currently performed in the determination process of the plug disconnection state or the plug connection state. A response packet transmitted by the controlled device 210 according to the status request packet, or stored in an event packet generated and transmitted by the controlled device 210 when a predetermined event occurs in the controlled device 210. Determination is made using the current state information, and the determined state is stored in the database.

On the other hand, while the present invention has been shown and described with respect to specific preferred embodiments, various modifications and changes of the present invention without departing from the spirit or field of the invention provided by the claims below It can be easily understood by those skilled in the art.

As described above, the present invention enables the control device to efficiently define the states of the devices to be controlled in the home network, and accurately provide users with state information reflecting the characteristics of the devices to be controlled, In addition to determining the status in real time, it is possible to prepare a criterion that can be applied to the home network in the future.

Claims (10)

A first step of determining an unregistered state and a registered state of the controlled device based on whether information related to the controlled device is stored in a database provided in the controlling device; A second step of the control device and the controlled device transmitting a packet between the control device and the controlled device and determining a plug connection state and a plug blocking state based on whether the packet is transmitted when the registration state is in the first step; In the second process, in the plugged-in state, the power-off state or the power-on state is determined based on the information of the response packet received from the controlled device, and the operation on state, the operation off state, or the operation pause of the power on state. A method of determining a state of a device to be controlled in a home network comprising a third step of determining a state. The method of claim 1, wherein the plug connection state and the plug blocking state of the second process are determined; A twenty-first step of generating, by the controlling device, a packet requesting a current state and transmitting the packet to the controlled device; A twenty-second step of generating, by a controlled device, a response packet according to the request packet transmitted in the twenty-first step to a controlling device; A twenty-third step of determining, when the response packet transmitted in the twenty-second step is received by the controlling device, the controlled device as a plug connection state; And And a twenty-fourth step of determining that the plug is blocked when the response packet transmitted in the twenty-second step is not received by the controlling device. The method of claim 2, wherein the twenty-fourth process comprises: If the response packet is not received by the controlling device, the packet requesting the current status is retransmitted, and if the response packet is not received even after retransmitting for a predetermined number of times, it is determined that the plug is blocked. How to determine the state of the device. The method of claim 3, wherein When retransmitting a packet requesting the current status, the method for determining the state of the controlled device in the home network, characterized in that the retransmission after adjusting the number of retransmission and the reception setting time to determine the reception of the response packet in advance. The method of claim 1, In the plugged state, an event occurs in the controlled device to determine a power off state or a power on state of an event packet, and to determine an operation on state, an operation off state, or an operation pause state of the power on state. And determining a state of the device to be controlled in the home network. A method of defining a state of a controlled device in a home network that defines a current state of a plurality of controlled devices connected to a controlling device by a home network, The control device divides the states of the plurality of controlled devices into an unregistered state and a registered state, The registration state is divided into a plug blocking state and a plug connection state, The plug connection state is divided into a power off state and a power on state, And a state in which the power-on state is divided into an operation off state, an operation pause state, and an operation on state. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the unregistered state and registered state; A method of defining a state of a controlled device in a home network, characterized in that whether or not registration information of the controlled devices is stored in a database of the controlling device. The method of claim 6, wherein the plug blocking state and plug connection state; A method for defining a state of a controlled device in a home network, characterized in that the controlling device and the controlled device communicate with each other. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the power off state and the power on state; A method of defining a state of a controlled device in a home network, wherein the controlled device is in a power off and on state. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the driving off state, the driving on state, and the driving pause state; A method of defining a state of a controlled device in a home network, wherein the controlled device is in a stopped state, a running state, and a suspended state.