KR20060021514A - Method for processing device event in home network system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for processing an event occurring in a slave device in a home network system shared by a master device and a plurality of slave devices through a PLC line, the method comprising: transmitting a monitoring command from the master device to the slave device; And transmitting an event monitoring command from the master device to the slave device when the response message is received from the device to the master device, and processing an event of the slave device when the response message is received from the slave device to the master device. According to the present invention, since the packet structure can be limited only by the request message and the response message of the master device, the PLC line shared by the home network system can be efficiently used, and the overall processing speed of the home network system can be improved. Can be.

Description

Event handling in home network system {METHOD FOR PROCESSING DEVICE EVENT IN HOME NETWORK SYSTEM}

1 is a block diagram illustrating a typical home network system;

2 is a flowchart of an event processing procedure in a conventional home network system;

3 is a flowchart of an event processing procedure in a home network system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: slave device 101: PLC line

102: master device 104: gateway

106: Internet

The present invention relates to a home network system control technology, and more particularly, to an event processing method in a home network system suitable for improving the event processing speed of electronic products connected on a home network.

Unlike the environment in which a personal computer (PC) or certain related equipment connected to the Internet, the Internet environment is rapidly changing to an environment in which all devices are connected and connected to each other. In particular, the current Internet environment is rapidly increasing the number of users who want to access a desired service during the move due to the development of mobile communication technology.

With these changes, the environment in the home is also changing significantly. In addition to simply performing unique functions, consumer electronics products are actively moving toward networking with each other and sharing mutually desired information.

In addition, users are demanding an environment that can perform a desired function anytime and anywhere more intelligently than a simple remote control that used to control an existing TV or air conditioner. Various home network technologies are being developed to connect TVs and audio to each other and to connect products in the home.

Current technologies are not difficult if only communication in the home, but users want to freely connect to the devices of the home network from the outside, and the devices of the home network also requires an environment that can connect to the external Internet network.

Internet access at home requires a variety of settings, including your address. Unlike PCs, devices on the home network do not have the environment to set a separate address. Therefore, a function for automatically obtaining an address without setting an address is essential.

1 is a schematic configuration block diagram of such a home network system, in which a plurality of slave devices 100, a master device 101, and a power line communication (PLC) line 102 are provided. , Gateway 104, and internet 106.

The slave device 100 refers to home appliances connected to a home network system. For example, the slave device 100 may correspond to a TV, an audio, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, and the like.

The master device 102 is a means for connecting the plurality of slave devices 100 to the external internet 106 through the gateway 104. The master device 102 may perform address assignment, control environment setting, event management, etc. of each slave device 100. Take control.

These master device 102 and slave device 100 share with each other via PLC line 101. That is, the master device 102 and the slave device 100 are connected to each other via an RS232 serial line via a PLC line 101 and a PLC modem (not shown).

In addition, each home network device serves as both a transmitter and a receiver. That is, the slave device 100 should transmit a response signal to the request message transmitted from the master device 102, and must transmit an event that occurs itself to the master device 102 through the PLC line 101. do.

The home network system handles various kinds of events. The types are as follows.

1) user event: Occurs when the user issues a command directly to the device via a key.

2) Periodic event: Automatic occurrence at regular time intervals.

3) Status event: It occurs due to the voluntary state change of the device while monitoring the status of the system.

4) Error event: occurs when an error related to the operation of the system.

5) external event: occurs when requested from outside the system such as web server.

When these events occur, the packet information is sent from the slave device 100 to the master device 102.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an event processing procedure in a conventional home network system.

First, in step S200, a control or monitoring command is transmitted from the master device 102 to the slave device 100.

When the monitoring command is transmitted to the slave device 100, the corresponding slave device transmits a response message thereto to the master device 102 (S202).

Accordingly, the master device 102 recognizes the corresponding slave device (S204).

At this time, the master device 102 determines whether an event has occurred from any slave device as in step S206.

If an event occurs, the master device 102 proceeds to step S208 to process the generated event.

In such a home network system, the process of sending a request message from the master device 102 and sending a response message from the corresponding slave device 100 is generally performed in one cycle. That is, the master device 102 can perform the next command only when the master device 102 receives an appropriate response message for the request message sent by the master device 102. If the master device 102 does not receive the proper response, three retransmissions are performed.

In current home network systems, this one-cycle command typically takes several seconds. The biggest reason is that if another signal exists in the shared PLC line 101, the original signal is damaged and cannot be transmitted properly.

For this purpose, although retransmission rules exist and various error correction techniques exist, the situation in which processing speed reduction due to packet loss is not solved in the situation where the PLC line 101 is shared.

In addition, since the above-described events are not only disorderly and unscheduled, packet loss may occur due to mutual packet collision.

The present invention has been implemented to overcome the above limitations of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an event processing method in a home network system that processes an event only when there is an event request from a master device to a slave device.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for achieving this object, a method for processing an event occurring in the slave device in a home network system in which a master device and a plurality of slave devices are shared through a PLC line, Transmitting a monitoring command to the slave device; transmitting an event monitoring command from the master device to the slave device when a response message is received from the slave device to the master device; and from the slave device to the master device When the response message is received provides an event processing method in a home network system comprising the step of processing the event of the slave device.

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

Prior to the description, the present embodiment may be implemented by configuring the typical home network system of FIG. 1 described above, and thus description of the configuration of the system will be omitted to avoid duplication.

3 illustrates a process of processing an event generated in a slave device 100 in a home network system shared by a master device 102 and a plurality of slave devices 100 according to the present embodiment. Drawing.

First, in step S300, the monitoring command is transmitted from the master device 102 to the slave device 100.

When the monitoring command is transmitted to the slave device 100, the slave device 100 transmits a male answer message to the master device 102 (S302).

When the response message is received from the master device 102, the process proceeds to step S304 and step S306 to recognize the corresponding slave device 100, and transmits an event monitoring command from the master device 102 to the slave device 100. do.

In step S308, it is determined whether a response message for an event monitoring command is received from the slave device 100 to the master device 102, and if a response message is received from the slave device 100 to the master device 102, the step ( The process proceeds to S312 to process an event of the slave device 100.

As described above, such events include user events, periodic events, status events, error events, external events, and the like, but all of them may be delivered to the user with a slight disparity as a reporting event except for a very small portion such as an error event. will be.

In this case, the event monitoring command is characterized in that it is transmitted periodically to the last slave device.

That is, as in step S314, after processing the event of the slave device, it is determined whether the preset time has elapsed, and if the preset time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S316 and step S306 to the next slave device. Send event monitoring command periodically.

If the event monitoring command is transmitted to the last slave device (S310), the process ends.

Meanwhile, the slave device 100 applied to the present invention is characterized by implementing an event queue while having its own storage space, and transmitting a corresponding response message when there is an event monitoring command from the master device 102. Try emptying these event queues afterwards.

Currently, in the home network system, each device and PLC modem are connected by RS232. Assuming a transmission speed of 9600bps, it can accommodate about 10,000 bits per second, so it can theoretically transmit about 1,000 bytes (start bit, stop bit). 1 byte = 10 bits).

Assuming that the message consists of 10 bytes, 100 messages can be sent per second. Since the request / response process is 1 cycle considering only pure network time, 50 commands can be sent per second. This command execution time is a time when a user hardly notices assuming there is no actual packet loss.

As described above, the present invention does not unilaterally transmit an event occurrence packet from a slave device to the master device, but periodically inquires and responds to whether an event has occurred in the master device, that is, an event only when there is a request from the master device. It is implemented to send outgoing packet.

According to the present invention, since the packet structure can be limited only by the request message and the response message of the master device, the PLC line shared by the home network system can be efficiently used, and the overall processing speed of the home network system can be improved. Can be.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated concretely based on an Example, this invention is not limited to such an Example, Of course, various changes are possible within a range which does not deviate from the summary of a claim mentioned later.

Claims (4)

A method of processing an event occurring in the slave device in a home network system in which a master device and a plurality of slave devices are shared through a PLC line, Transmitting a monitoring command from the master device to the slave device; Transmitting an event monitoring command from the master device to the slave device when a response message is received from the slave device; Processing an event of the slave device when a response message is received from the slave device to the master device; Event processing method in a home network system comprising a. The method of claim 1, The event monitoring command is a method for event processing in a home network system, characterized in that periodically transmitted to the last slave device. The method of claim 1, The slave device implements an event queue while having its own storage space. The method according to claim 1 or 3, And the slave device emptyes the event queue after transmitting a response message when there is an event monitoring command from the master device.

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