KR20080041824A - Home network managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A home network management system is provided to perform new setting by wireless without the input of physical human resources when devices with various protocols have to be linked with each other in the installation and construction of a home network, thereby improving the scalability and flexibility of the home network. A DCU(Device Connection Unit)(30) is connected to heterogeneous home network devices and processes mutual linking between the home network devices for forming a network between the home network devices. A home server(20) processes and stores events transferred from the DCU in a lower layer, transmits the event to an upper layer, analyzes and stores data transmitted from the upper layer and transmits the data to the DCU in the lower layer. A central management center(10) transceives data to the home server through the Internet and monitors and stores a home network state.

Description

Home network managing system

1 is a block diagram of a home network management system according to the present invention.

2 is an operation understanding diagram of a home network management system according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: Central Management Center 11: Database

20: home server 30: device connection device

The present invention relates to a home network management system. In particular, when a new home network device is connected to a device access device to participate in a home network area, the central management center remotely loads the communication protocol of the new home network device to a new home. It relates to a home network management system that enables network equipment and physical communication channel settings to be made remotely.

Recently, many home automation and home network technologies have been developed and applied to real life. The concept of home automation and home network are mixed and developed. Continuously, the home environment of the future will provide a complex and converged home service by processing, transmitting, sharing and managing digital data by forming an environment in which various information devices are connected by one network.

The home network is a future-oriented home environment where various information appliances in the home, A / V devices, and data communication devices can be connected to each other and receive various services. Building a home network requires three components: connecting devices in the home, an external network that delivers home network services to the home, and content and solutions that implement home digital services.

Network configuration in the house is a mixture of devices connected to various protocols, communication media. The home server / home gateway manages heterogeneous devices, forms a network, and works with external networks.

In addition to network device interworking, an external home network system that supports the maintenance of home services based on the home network infrastructure communicates with the home server to manage the home network for each generation as a server. Home digital services are currently under continuous efforts to develop home network-based killer applications, and ultimately aim to realize a ubiquitous society.

The home network type is based on the data network based on large data processing such as IP-based PCs, printers, PDAs, and various control devices (gas, boiler thermostats, lights, door locks, It is classified into three categories: control network for control and meter reading of electric curtains, and entertainment network for providing multimedia and content services.

As described above, the technology of easily interworking various types of networks is the most important element technology for the growth of home networks.

In order to integrate the above-mentioned networks, protocols for device control and interworking, such as UPNP, HAVi, and OSGi based on middleware, are standardized. However, the above approach has a limitation in connecting existing devices that lack or lack computing capability such as CPU and memory since a separate standard interface must be equipped with a protocol stack in a device.

In addition, many organizations are fiercely competing to preempt the standard, so there is no leading protocol for home network standards.

The types of equipment participating in the home network range from simple control equipment to high-performance equipment with computing power. The data link media used by each equipment, communication protocols, and control data values for each device vary.

 Considering these characteristics, the current home network system construction implements a home network system by presetting a specific interface of each device. Today's home networks have a closed feature that is limited to predefined equipment and requires the creation of a separate manpower for network operations management.

When adding a new home network device or changing a network address due to a change of seat, or a software change to improve system performance, physically change the system port of the existing home network structure and update related programs for each generation. do.

In addition, considering the characteristics of a home network composed of various information appliances and a set of devices according to a user's preference, the existing built-in closed network configuration has a limitation.

The lack of compatibility due to the emergence of various standardization technologies is not only applicable to home network configuration and management of devices and control / monitoring / event processing functions between devices, but also to diversify, evolve, and change home network services. Converge on the issue of renewal.

In addition, there is a need to develop a generalized continuous home network service maintenance model and related services in the future.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems of the prior art, when the new home network equipment is connected to the device connection device to participate in the home network area, the central management center in the communication protocol of the new home network equipment It is an object of the present invention to provide a home network management system for remotely loading a new home network device and establishing a physical communication channel.

The construction means constituting the home network management system of the present invention proposed to solve the above technical problem is connected to heterogeneous home network equipment, and physically interoperating to form a network between the home network equipment Process and store the device connection device and the event transmitted from the device connection device, which is the lower layer, transmit it to the higher layer, analyze and store data transmitted from the higher layer, and then transmit the device connection device to the lower layer. And a central management center for transmitting and receiving data through the home server and the internet network, and monitoring and storing a home network state.

The central management center may include a database storing information of home network devices connected to the device connection device, and storage means for storing driving software of the home server and the device connection device.

In addition, the device connection device is provided with a plurality of ports, it characterized in that it supports PLC, Ethernet and RS232 / 485/422 communication channels.

In addition, the device connection apparatus monitors whether the new home network equipment is connected to any one of the ports, and automatically extracts the connection state of the new home network equipment and transmits the home server.

In addition, the home server checks the port address to which the new home network equipment is connected, and requests new home network information to the central management center.

In addition, the central management center is recorded in the database and the storage means, characterized in that for transmitting the information and control command information of the new home network equipment predefined in advance to the home server.

In addition, the home server stores and updates the information and control command information of the new home network equipment, and transmits the communication channel setting value of the port to which the new home network equipment is connected to the device connection device, the device connection device is It is characterized in that the connection to the new home network equipment by assigning a communication channel setting value to the port.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of a home network management system consisting of the above configuration means.

1 is a configuration diagram of a home network management system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an understanding diagram showing an operation procedure of the home network management system according to the present invention.

1 and 2, the home network management system according to the present invention has a device connection device 30 connected to heterogeneous home network equipment, and the device connection device 30 as a lower layer, It comprises a home server 20, which is an upper layer, and the home server 20, which is an upper layer, and a central management center 10, which is an upper layer.

The device connection device 30 is connected to heterogeneous home network equipment that communicates through various protocols. And it is processed to be physically interoperable to form a network between the heterogeneous home network equipment.

The device connection device 30 is provided with a plurality of ports to be connected to the heterogeneous home network equipment, and to support the PLC, Ethernet and RS232 / 485/422 communication channels to form a network connected to them It is configured to be.

The device connection device 30 continuously monitors whether the new home network equipment is connected to one of the plurality of ports. As a result of the monitoring, the connection state of the new home network equipment is extracted and transmitted to the home server 20. That is, when the new home network device is connected, the connection port information of the new home network device is transmitted to the home server 20.

Events such as connection port information of the new home network equipment transmitted from the device access device 30 which is the lower layer are processed and stored in the home server 20. The home server 20 transmits the processed and stored events to the central management center 10 corresponding to the upper layer.

As such, the home server 20 transmits data such as connection port information of the new home network equipment transmitted from the device access device 30 corresponding to the lower layer to the central management center 10 which is the upper layer. It plays an intermediate role. On the other hand, the home server 20 is transmitted from the central management center 10 of the upper layer, as well as the mediation role of the data transmission from the device connection device 30 of the lower layer to the central management center 10 of the upper layer. After analyzing and storing the data, it also plays a mediating role of transmitting to the device access device 30, which is the lower layer.

When the home server 20 receives the connection port information of the new home network equipment from the device access device 30, which is the lower layer, the home server 20 checks the port address to which the new home network equipment is connected, stores it, and then stores the central management. The center 10 requests information about the new home network while transmitting connection port information of the new home network equipment.

Then, the central management center 10 finds equipment setting information such as information of new home network equipment and control command information defined in advance, and transmits them back to the home server 20. The central management center 10 transmits and receives data with the home server 20 through the internet network, monitors the home network status as a whole, and stores the result.

The central management center 10 has a database 11 for storing information of a plurality of home network devices that can be connected to the device connection device 30 and the driving software of the home server 20 and the device connection device 30. It includes a storage means for storing the (not shown). Data stored in the database and storage means is remotely transmitted from the central management center 10 to the home server 20 and the device connection device 30.

When the central management center 10 transmits the device setting information such as the information of the new home network equipment and the control command information previously defined to the home server 20, the home server 20 of the new home network equipment Save and update information and control command information. Then, the communication channel setting value of the port to which the new home network equipment is connected is transferred to the device access device 30 that is the lower layer.

The device access device 30 receiving the communication channel setting value of the port to which the new home network equipment is connected from the home server 20 allocates the communication channel setting value to the port so that the new home network equipment can be finally connected. do.

The configuration of the home network management system described above is summarized as follows.

As shown in FIG. 1, the home network management system of the present invention is composed of a central management server 10, a home server 20, and a device connection device 10, and constitutes a hierarchical network.

Since the central management center 10 located at the top can maintain communication with the home server through the Internet network, it overcomes geographical limitations through remote control. It exchanges data at all times by TCP / IP communication with home server by generation and records and monitors home network status. Through the centralized home network management system of the central management center 10, it is possible to remotely and automate device status inquiry and protocol change in a household.

The home server 20 located for each household provides a control, home service program, and user interface channel of a home device in the home. Intermediate between the central management center (10) and the device connection device (10) constituting the lower equipment network to process events occurring in the home network of the house, and to store and deliver monitoring information and service information related to the central management center. Perform. A new home service management policy program can be downloaded from the central management center 10 to dynamically change the software in the home server.

 Device Connection Unit (DCU) 30 for physically interworking to form a network between heterogeneous home network equipments is composed of several ports and includes PLC, Ethernet, RS232 / 485/422 communication channels. Support.

The device connection device 30 automatically extracts the connection state of the new device and transmits it to the home server when the home network device is connected to the port. The home server checks the port address where the new device is added and requests the device protocol from the central management center.

The central management center sends a set of predefined equipment information and control commands to the home server. By analyzing the transmitted data, the home server updates the device control information for the home network equipment and transmits it to the device access device. Device access device allocates communication channel setting value to corresponding port and finally connects with home network equipment.

This protocol update processing method is characterized by being remotely and automated without the involvement of a real user.

According to the home network management system of the present invention having the configuration and the preferred embodiment as described above, in the environment where devices of various protocols are mixed and interworking when home network installation and construction are possible, new setting can be performed remotely without physical human resource input. There is an advantage.

In addition, since it supports the acceptance of new protocols that occur in the future, it is advantageous to improve the scalability and flexibility of the home network by ensuring network participation of new home network equipment.

In addition, since the device connection device is automatically connected to the home network equipment, and the communication channel setting value change per connection port is performed remotely under the control of the central management system, the network structure of the house through the addition of new equipment and the movement of existing equipment Even if is changed, there is an advantage that can easily converge the communication protocol characteristics between different devices.

In addition, the device control values generated in the home server are also updated at the same time, so that the administrator does not have to visit the home and take action on the network structure change.

In addition, the present invention has the advantage that the support for interoperability between home network equipment can be connected to the network without changing the existing protocol through the device connection device and the remote access, unlike the conventional need to mount a separate stack of other standardized middleware and protocols.

In addition, the present invention is a great vitality for the home network market, which shows limitations due to the absence of inter-compatibility between devices, can reduce the burden of device developers need to know all the home network middleware, and have a small and medium-sized company having its own protocol It also has the advantage of providing an opportunity to connect to home network services.

In addition, the present invention has the advantage of providing an infrastructure that can provide a home network entry path of the new device in the future, and provide ubiquitous services beyond the limitations of the existing closed home network environment.

Claims (7)

In the home network management system, A device connection device connected to heterogeneous home network devices and physically interworking to form a network between the home network devices; A home server for processing and storing an event transmitted from the lower layer device access device, transmitting the same to the upper layer, analyzing and storing data transmitted from the upper layer, and transmitting the same to the lower layer device access device; And a central management center for transmitting and receiving data through the home server and the internet network, and monitoring and storing a home network state. The method according to claim 1, The central management center includes a database for storing information of home network devices connected to the device connection device, and a storage means for storing driving software of the home server and the device connection device. The method according to claim 2, The device connecting apparatus has a plurality of ports, and supports a PLC, Ethernet, and RS232 / 485/422 communication channel. The method according to claim 3, The device connection apparatus monitors whether the new home network equipment is connected to any one of the ports, and automatically extracts the connection state of the new home network equipment and transmits the home network management system to the home server. The method according to claim 4, The home server checks the port address to which the new home network equipment is connected, and requests the home network information to the central management center. The method according to claim 5, The central management center is a home network management system, characterized in that for transmitting the information and control command information of the new home network equipment previously defined in the database and storage means to the home server. The method according to claim 6, The home server stores and updates the information and control command information of the new home network device, and transmits a communication channel setting value of a port to which the new home network device is connected to the device access device, and the device access device sends the port. Home network management system, characterized in that connected to the new home network equipment by assigning a communication channel setting value to.

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