KR20070098168A - Home network system and control method of home network system - Google Patents

Abstract

A home network system and a control method thereof are provided to control each of electric appliances on a home network and use VOIP through a home gateway. A home network system comprises plural household electronic appliances(132-138), a terminal(120) and a home gateway(110). The household electronic appliances(132-138) are arranged on a home network such that they are interlinked with the home network. The terminal(120) performs a remote control function for controlling the household electronic appliances(132-138) at a remote place or a communication function based on VoIP at the selection of the user. The home gateway(110) connects the home network to an external network, and has a VoIP communication unit for performing a VoIP based communication.

Description

Home network system and control method of home network system

1 is a simplified diagram showing a home network system according to the present invention.

2A is a block diagram showing the configuration of a home gateway, which is an essential part of the present invention.

Figure 2a is a block diagram showing the configuration of a VoIP terminal which is the main part of the present invention.

3A to 3C are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the home network system according to the present invention.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings **

100: home network system

110: home gateway

120: terminal

130: home appliances

The present invention relates to a home network system, and more particularly, to control a device on a home network using a terminal having a VoIP function and to make a VoIP call through a home gateway on a home network. The present invention relates to a home network system and a control method of a home network system.

In recent years, the rapid development of wired and wireless data communication technology and the expansion and spread of the communication network on which it is based have led to the popularization of high-speed communication services such as the Internet. In particular, as the high-speed Internet is spreading into homes, existing PC-based network construction technologies are evolving into home network technologies for remote control of digital information appliances in homes.

This home network system is developed from the home automation system of the past, and can provide basic automation functions such as opening and closing of door, intruder detection, gas alarm, and fire alarm in the home automation system in an upgraded form. In addition, entertainment services such as high-quality multimedia services, distance education and video-on-demand services, information services such as personal and family information management, home shopping, e-commerce, home security, and integrated control of information appliances , Communication services such as remote energy resource management, and the like.

Typically, such a home network system includes a plurality of home appliances connected to a home communication network, a home gateway for connecting an external communication network such as the Internet to a home communication network, and a home server for controlling a plurality of home appliances connected to the home communication network. It is composed.

On the other hand, home appliances connected to the home network are provided with a separate remote control for remote control of each device independently for the convenience of the user using each device.

Such a remote control refers to a remote control device that can easily operate the functions of home appliances (for example, TVs, video tape recorders, audio devices, gas ranges, DVD players, etc.) installed in a home network. It is adopted and used for home appliances.

In addition, most electronic products are provided with a dedicated remote controller for remote control for the convenience of the user. In response, the electronic product controlled by the remote controller has an infrared signal receiver configured to receive an infrared signal transmitted from the remote controller in the front of the electronic product. The remote control is to use a different frequency for each product of each manufacturer in order to prevent malfunction, it is necessary to have a remote control corresponding to each home appliance installed in the home.

In order to solve this problem, an integrated remote controller that can remotely control a plurality of home appliances installed in a home has also been released, and now a single remote controller can control a plurality of home appliances.

On the other hand, in recent years, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for transmitting and receiving voice data using an internet network used for data communication has been developed and used. An example is an Internet phone, and an Internet phone (also called an "IP phone") modulates a voice data signal and transmits it in a packet manner, and a telephone service is provided through an Internet line.

In other words, VoIP-based Internet telephony is different from the circuit-switching scheme in which lines must be kept exclusively connected for the duration of a call, so that multiple calls can be used as a common network, and thus the line can be efficiently used. Recently, the VoIP Internet phone as described above has been used a lot.

However, as described above, each of the technologies is operated as a system independently, resulting in inconvenience to the user. That is, a communication network for building a home network, a remote controller for independently controlling various home appliances connected to the home network, and a terminal for VoIP-based communication connected to the communication network must be separately constructed. Not only financial waste, but also brings inconvenience to the user to manage each component.

Furthermore, in order to make VoIP-based calls, VoIP Internet phones must manage VoIP gateways separately from the home network because VoIP gateways can be made only when VoIP gateways that connect VoIP internet phones and telecommunication networks are constantly running. There was an inconvenience.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the control method of each home appliance provided on the home network and the control method of the home network system and home network system to enable the use of VoIP through the home gateway The purpose is to provide.

Home network system according to the present invention for achieving the above object, a plurality of home appliances provided to be interlocked with the home network of the home; A terminal for performing a remote control function or a VoIP-based communication function for remotely controlling the home appliance according to a user's selection; And a home gateway that connects the home network and an external communication network and is provided with a VoIP communication unit for performing VoIP-based communication according to a request of the terminal.

The home gateway includes a broadband interface for connecting to the external communication network; A narrowband interface for connecting to the home network and a WLAN interface for performing wireless data communication with the terminal; And a controller for interworking with the respective interfaces to switch the communication scheme between the communication network and the home network and to perform a VoIP function through the terminal.

The terminal includes a display unit for providing a user interface; A keypad unit for inputting information; A remote control unit for remotely controlling the home appliance; A wireless telephone unit for communicating with a wireless telephone connected to a telephone network; A VoIP terminal communication unit for VoIP communication with the home gateway; It is preferable that the terminal control unit for switching the use state of the remote control unit, the wireless telephone unit, the VoIP terminal communication unit according to the user's selection.

The remote control unit includes a database for storing operation information and communication information of various home appliances connected to the home network or installed independently, and a signal for controlling the home appliance based on the information of the home appliances stored in the database. It is preferable to further include a transmitter for transmitting.

It is preferable that the radiotelephone unit includes an RF transmitter / receiver for radio communication with the radiotelephone.

A control method of a home network system according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of switching the terminal to a remote control mode or a VoIP call mode according to a user's selection; Remotely controlling a home appliance connected to a home network when the terminal is switched to a remote control mode according to a user's operation; And when connected to the VoIP call mode according to a user's operation, is connected to a home gateway of a home network to perform a VoIP call.

Remotely controlling the home appliance comprises: extracting information of a home appliance designated by a user from a database; And transmitting a control signal based on the information of the home appliance extracted from the database as a user inputs a control command of the home appliance.

The performing of the VoIP call may include: connecting a VoIP terminal communication unit of the terminal and a VoIP communication unit of a home gateway; When the outgoing signal is input to the terminal by the user, the step of connecting to an external communication network through the home gateway; preferably further comprises a.

In the step of switching the mode of the terminal according to the user's selection, the user is further provided with a wireless telephone mode switched by the selection, and when the terminal is switched to the wireless telephone mode, separate for wireless communication using the terminal It is preferable to further include a; connecting to the provided radiotelephone.

Hereinafter, a home network system and a control method of a home network system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the description of the present invention, the names of the elements defined are defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and should not be understood as meanings that limit the technical elements of the present invention. May be referred to by other names in the art. In addition, the code added to each component is described for convenience of description, and the contents shown in the drawings in which these codes are described do not limit each component to the range in the drawing. In addition, as long as the functional similarity and identity thereof, even if the modified embodiment is adopted, it can be seen as an equivalent configuration, and even if the embodiment in which the modified part of the configuration is employed, it can be seen as an equivalent configuration.

First, a home network system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a simplified diagram showing a home network system according to the present invention, Figure 2a is a block diagram showing the configuration of the home gateway, which is the main part of the present invention, Figure 2a is a block diagram showing the configuration of a VoIP terminal, the main part of the present invention to be.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the home network system 100 according to the present invention includes various home appliances such as a wireless telephone 132, a TV 134, an audio 136, and an air conditioner 138 connected to a home network. An external communication network (eg, a terminal 120) that controls the devices 130 (hereinafter, referred to as home appliances) and provides VoIP-based call service, and various home appliances 130 connected on a home network For example, the home gateway 110 is connected to the terminal 120 and simultaneously connected to the terminal 120 to implement VoIP-based communication.

The home appliance 130, the home gateway 110, and the terminal 120 are provided to interoperate with each other through a home network 102 built in the home. On the other hand, the home network 102 may be implemented in a form of a wired or wireless network and a mixture of wired and wireless.

Examples of wired networks include power line communication (PLC) networks using power lines installed in homes, home phone network (HomePNA) networks using telephone lines installed in homes, and real-time high-speed data of AV devices. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 network, a serial bus method used for transmission, and an RS-485 network using a multipoint communication line can be used.

In addition, the wireless network includes a wireless LAN network using the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band as an IEEE 802.11 series, a Bluetooth network that is an industry standard for wireless access in the 2.4 GHz band to support communication between short-range devices, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) networks, which are short-range broadband communications technologies, and ZigBee networks, which are industry standards for home automation and data networks with low transmission rates, may be used.

The home gateway 110 (refer to FIG. 2A) is for connecting home appliances (eg, TV, audio, air conditioner, boiler, etc.) on the home network 102 provided in the home with the external communication network 200. This is for properly converting different communication schemes between the communication network 200 and the home network 102.

The home gateway 110 communicates wireless data with the wideband interface 112 for connecting to the communication network 200, the narrowband interface 114 for connecting to the home network 102 of the home, and the terminal 120. A wireless local area network (WLAN) interface 116 to perform and interworking with each of the interfaces 112, 114, and 116, and simultaneously switch the communication scheme between the communication network 200 and the home network 102, The controller 118 is provided to perform the VoIP function through 120.

Here, the broadband interface 112 provides an interface function so that the home gateway 110 can interwork with an external communication network 200. In this case, the broadband interface 112 may be a wired or wireless Internet, a mobile communication network, or the like. In addition, the broadband interface 112 is provided to satisfy the communication protocol (for example, TCP / IP) of the communication network.

In addition, the narrowband interface 114 provides an interface function so that the home gateway 110 can interwork with the home appliance 130 in the home. In this case, the narrowband interface 114 is provided to satisfy the communication protocol of the home network 102, which is implemented in a wired or wireless network and a mixture of wired and wireless. These communication protocols can be variously modified and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, the WLAN interface 116 is connected to the WLAN terminal interface 121 of the terminal 120 to be described later through a wireless data communication network. The WLAN terminal interface 121 preferably satisfies communication protocols such as 802.11b / g / a, HiperLAN2, Wireless IEEE1394 for WLAN (Wireless LAN).

On the other hand, the control unit 118 is provided with a VoIP communication unit 118a for performing VoIP-based communication with the terminal 120 to be described later, such a VoIP communication unit 118a is ITU-T recommended G.729 or G.723.1, etc. Can be used.

The terminal 120 (see FIG. 2B) includes a display unit (not shown) for providing a user interface and a keypad unit (not shown) for inputting information, and each home appliance connected to the home network 102. A remote control unit 122 for controlling the 130, a radiotelephone unit 124 for communicating with a radio frequency (RF) type radiotelephone 132 connected or separately provided to the home network 102, and VoIP The terminal is provided with a WLAN terminal interface 121 for wireless communication with the home gateway 110 of the home network 102 for communication, and is provided with a terminal control unit 128 that interlocks with each component to control each component.

The terminal 120 is a remote control for independently controlling the home appliance 130 connected on the home network 102, a VoIP phone for performing VoIP-based communication through the home gateway 110 of the home network 102, home Each can be used as a wireless telephone connected to the network 102 or independently connected to a telephone network (not shown), and can be switched to a remote control mode, a VoIP telephone mode, and a wireless telephone mode by a user's operation.

Here, the display unit 123 may be provided only with a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the keypad 125 may be provided with a number button and a plurality of function buttons. However, when a touch screen panel (not shown) is provided in the liquid crystal display device forming the display unit 123, the function of the keypad 125 may be implemented through the touch screen.

In addition, the remote controller 122 includes a database 122a and a database 122a for storing operation information and communication information (for example, an infrared communication standard) of various home appliances 130 connected or connected to the home network 102 independently. Infrared transmitter 122b is provided to control the home appliance 130 using information of various home appliances 130 stored in the home appliance 130.

In addition, the wireless telephone unit 124 is provided in connection with the home network 102, or is provided with an RF transmitter and receiver 124a for wireless communication with the wireless telephone 132 is provided alone, the wireless telephone and RF transmission and Since the receiver 124a is a well-known technique, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, the WLAN terminal interface 121 is for a wireless network with the WLAN interface of the home gateway 110 provided on the home network 102, 802.11b / g / a, HiperLAN2, and Wireless IEEE1394 for WLAN (Wireless LAN). It is desirable to satisfy a communication protocol such as the above.

In addition, the terminal control unit 128 as described above is provided with a VoIP terminal communication unit 128a for performing VoIP-based communication with the VoIP communication unit 118a of the home gateway 110 described above. And the respective components of the terminal 120 as described above are controlled in conjunction with each other by the terminal control unit 128,

On the other hand, the terminal 120 including the configuration as described above may be manufactured by itself as a terminal with a built-in wireless data communication function. However, it can be selected from PDA phones, smart phones, and wireless VoIP phones. In addition, description of the microphone and the speaker provided for the VoIP-based call and the call using the wireless telephone in the configuration of the terminal will be omitted.

The home appliance 130 is linked to the home gateway 110 through the home network 102 and performs its own function according to an operation control signal applied from the home gateway 110. In this case, the home appliance 130 may include a TV, audio, air conditioner, refrigerator, lighting device, air purifier, washing machine, gas range, microwave oven, and the like.

In addition, the home appliance 130 is provided with an infrared receiver (not shown) for receiving a control signal of the home appliance 130 generated by the infrared transmitter 122b of the remote controller 122 provided in the terminal 120, respectively. do.

Hereinafter, an operation of a home network system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 3A to 3C are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the home network system according to the present invention.

Referring to the operation of the home network system according to the present invention as shown, first, as shown in Figure 3a, the home appliance connected to the terminal 120 of the home network system 100 to the home network 102 in the present invention ( When using the remote control 130 to independently control, the terminal 120 is switched to the remote control mode as the user operates the terminal 120 (step S110).

Thereafter, the user adjusts the keypad of the terminal 120 to select the home appliance 130 to be controlled among the home appliances 130 connected to the home network 102 (step S112). Accordingly, the terminal controller 128 of the terminal 120 extracts and loads the information of the selected home appliance 130 from the database 122a and waits for a user input (step S114).

Here, when the user inputs a command for controlling the home appliance 130, the control unit transmits a signal according to the input command through the infrared transmitter (step S116). In response to this, the infrared receiver of the home appliance receives the control of the home appliance is completed (step S118).

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, when the terminal 120 of the home network system 100 according to the present invention is used as a VoIP phone through the home gateway 110 of the home network 102, the user may use the terminal 120. By operating the terminal 120 is switched to the VoIP phone mode (step S120).

Accordingly, the WLAN terminal interface 121 of the terminal 120 and the WLAN interface 116 of the home gateway 110 are connected to the wireless data communication protocol by the VoIP terminal communication unit 128a provided in the terminal control unit 128 of the terminal 120. Are connected accordingly (step S122).

In this case, the VoIP communication unit 118a of the home gateway 110 connected to the WLAN terminal interface 121 of the terminal 120 serves as a VoIP gateway for VoIP-based communication of the terminal 120. In this case, since the VoIP communication unit 118a serving as a VoIP gateway exists in the home gateway 110, the VoIP-based communication may be performed at any time while the home gateway 110 is operating.

In other words, the home gateway should always be enabled for the home network 102 in the home to operate. Therefore, the VoIP-based communication can be performed at any time while the home gateway 110 is operating.

After that, the user inputs an outgoing signal through the terminal 120 (step S124). Accordingly, the VoIP communication unit 118a of the home gateway 110 is connected to an external communication network through the broadband interface 112 to perform VoIP communication (step S126).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3c, the terminal 120 of the home network system 100 according to the present invention is a wireless telephone for interworking with the wireless telephone 132 connected to the home network 102 or independently connected to the telephone network. In use, as the user manipulates the terminal 120, the terminal 120 is switched to the wireless telephone mode (step S130), and the terminal 120 is connected to the wireless telephone (step S132). Thereafter, when the user inputs an outgoing signal through the terminal 120 (step S134), wireless communication is performed through the wireless telephone and the terminal (step S136). Here, the terminal 120 always maintains a standby state for an incoming signal of the wireless telephone 132 even when the terminal 120 is in a mode other than the wireless telephone mode.

As described above, according to the control method of the home network system and the home network system according to the present invention, it is possible to control the respective home appliances provided on the home network and use VoIP through the home gateway, thereby providing the user with more control. There is an effect that can give convenience.

Claims (8)

A plurality of home appliances are provided to be linked to the home network of the home; A terminal for performing a remote control function or a VoIP-based communication function for remotely controlling the home appliance according to a user's selection; And a home gateway which connects the home network and an external communication network and is provided with a VoIP communication unit for performing VoIP-based communication according to a request of the terminal. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal A display unit for providing a user interface; A keypad unit for inputting information; A remote control unit for remotely controlling the home appliance; A wireless telephone unit for communicating with a wireless telephone connected to a telephone network; A VoIP terminal communication unit for VoIP communication with the home gateway; And a terminal control unit for switching the use state of the remote control unit, the wireless telephone unit, and the VoIP terminal communication unit according to a user's selection. The method of claim 2, wherein the remote control unit, A database for storing operation information and communication information of various home appliances connected to the home network or installed independently, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal for controlling the home appliances based on the information of the home appliances stored in the database A home network system, further comprising. According to claim 2, The wireless telephone unit, And an RF transmitter / receiver for wireless communication with the radiotelephone. Switching the terminal to a remote control mode or a VoIP call mode according to a user's selection; Remotely controlling a home appliance connected to a home network when the terminal is switched to a remote control mode according to a user's operation; And when connected to the VoIP call mode according to a user's operation, is connected to a home gateway of a home network to perform a VoIP call. The method of claim 5, wherein controlling the home appliance remotely comprises: Extracting information of a home appliance designated by a user from a database; And transmitting a control signal based on the information of the home appliance, which is extracted from the database, as a user inputs a control command of the home appliance. The method of claim 5, wherein performing a VoIP call comprises: Connecting the VoIP terminal communication unit of the terminal and the VoIP communication unit of the home gateway; Connecting to an external communication network through the home gateway when an outgoing signal is input by the user to the terminal. The method of claim 5, In the step of switching the mode of the terminal according to the user's selection, the user is provided with a radiotelephone mode to be switched by the selection, And when the terminal is switched to a wireless telephone mode, connecting to a wireless telephone separately provided for wireless communication using the terminal.

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