KR20120084021A - Method and apparatus for network control according to command ontology - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A network control method based on command ontology and a device thereof are provided to find devices for receiving user commands by referring to command ontology about devices in a network and find a state of a device which can perform user commands. CONSTITUTION: A control unit collects command ontology about devices in a network(S230). If a user command is inputted, the control unit finds devices for receiving inputted user commands by referring to the collected command ontology(S240,S250). The control unit finds devices of states which can perform the user commands(S260).

Description

Method ontotology based network control method and apparatus {Method and apparatus for network control according to command ontology}

The present invention relates to a network control method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a network control method and apparatus for controlling devices constituting the network according to a user command.

The number of home devices constituting the home network is increasing and the types are also diversified. Accordingly, a user command system for manipulating home devices is complicated.

Specifically, the user must input a user command through two acts of inputting a 'what home device' to give a command and then 'what command' to give the home device.

The user command input system over the two acts can only be inconvenient to the user, but the above inconvenience can be doubled in a command input system that is difficult to recognize, such as a voice command.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention, after identifying the devices that can receive a user command by referring to the command-ontologies for devices existing on the network, the user command It is to provide a network control method and apparatus for identifying a device in a state capable of performing.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network control method comprising: collecting command-ontologies for devices existing on a network; Identifying a command input capable device capable of receiving an input user command by referring to the collected command-ontologies when a user command is input; And identifying a command execution capable device which is a device in a state capable of executing the user command among the command input capable devices.

In the command performing device identifying step, the command input capable devices may be inquired whether the command can be executed, and the command performing device may be identified.

The network control method may further include transmitting the user command to the command executable device if the command executable device is singular.

The network control method may further include: receiving an input from a user of a device to perform the user command if the command execution device is plural; And transmitting the user command to the device input by the user.

The network control method may further include transmitting the user command to a device that has recently performed a user command if there are a plurality of the device capable of performing the command.

The user command may be input by voice from a user.

In addition, the command-ontology is preferably information associated with 'inputable user commands' and 'functions related to the user commands'.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, a network control device, Communication unit for collecting command-ontologies from devices existing on the network; And a command input device capable of receiving a user command by referring to the collected command-ontologies when the user command is input, and being a device in a state capable of performing the user command among the command input enabled devices. And a controller for identifying a performable device.

As described above, according to the present invention, after identifying devices capable of receiving a user command by referring to command-ontologies for devices existing on a network, the device in a state capable of executing a user command can be identified. This allows the user to enter user commands more conveniently and simply.

1 is a diagram showing a home network system to which the present invention is applicable;
2 to 4 illustrate command-ontologies of home appliances;
5 is a detailed block diagram of the home network controller shown in FIG. 1;
6 is a flowchart provided to explain a home network control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described the present invention in more detail.

1. Home network system capable of grasping situation based on command-ontology

1 is a diagram illustrating a home network system to which the present invention is applicable. In the home network system illustrated in FIG. 1, the lighting system 10, the air conditioner 20, and the TV 30 are connected to the home network control apparatus 100 so as to communicate with each other.

When the user command is input by voice, the home network controller 100 determines which home device of the home devices 10, 20, and 30 is the voice input user command, and sends the user command to the home device. To pass.

To this end, the home network control apparatus 100 collects and holds a 'command-ontology' for each home device.

Command-ontology is information that associates 'inputable user commands' with 'functions related to user commands'. 2 illustrates the command-ontology of the lighting system 10, FIG. 3 illustrates the command-ontology of the air conditioner 20, and FIG. 4 illustrates the command-ontology of the TV 30.

In FIG. 2, "ON", "OFF" are user commands inputable to the lighting system 10, and "Power", "UI Commands" are functions of the lighting system 10. In FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the "Power" function is controlled by the user commands "ON" and "OFF", and the "UI Commands" function is also controlled by the user commands "ON" and "OFF".

In FIG. 3, "ON", "OFF", "UP", and "DOWN" are user commands that can be input to the air conditioner 20, and "Power", "UI Commands" and "Temperature" are air conditioners 20. Are the functions of. As shown in Fig. 3, the "Power" function is controlled by the user commands "ON" and "OFF", and the "UI Commands" by the user commands "ON", "OFF", "UP" and "DOWN". The function is controlled, and it can be seen that the "Temperature" function is controlled by the user commands "UP" and "DOWN".

4, "ON", "OFF", "UP", and "DOWN" are user commands inputtable to the TV 30, and "Power", "UI Commands" and "Volumn" are TV 30 Are the functions of. As shown in Fig. 4, the "Power" function is controlled by the user commands "ON" and "OFF", and the "UI Commands" by the user commands "ON", "OFF", "UP" and "DOWN". The function is controlled, and it can be seen that the "Volumn" function is controlled by the user commands "UP" and "DOWN".

Referring to the command-ontologies shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, it is possible to determine which user command can be processed in which home device (ie, user commands input to the home device).

Therefore, even when the user presents only a user command without specifying a home device to be executed, the home network control apparatus 100 refers to the command-ontologies held by the home devices and sends the user command to the home device. It can be delivered automatically.

2. Home Network Control Device

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of the home network control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the home network control apparatus 100 may include a microphone 110, a voice signal processor 120, a communicator 130, a controller 140, a user interface 150, and a storage 160. It is provided.

The microphone 110 receives a user's voice and converts the user's voice into an electrical voice signal, and the voice signal processor 120 performs signal processing necessary for the voice signal applied from the microphone 110.

The communication unit 130 is connected to communicate with the aforementioned home devices 10, 20, and 30, and the user interface 150 displays input means for receiving a user command and other necessary information in a manner other than voice. And display means.

The controller 140 analyzes the voice signal processed by the voice signal processor 120 to recognize a user command. The controller 140 collects command-ontologies from the home devices 10, 20, and 30 through the communication unit 130 and stores the command-ontologies in the storage unit 160.

In addition, the controller 140 transmits the recognized user command to the corresponding home device through the communication unit 130. In this case, the command-ontologies of the home devices 10, 20, and 30 stored in the storage 160 may be referred to. The process will be described in detail below.

3. Command-Ontology Based Home Network Control Method

Hereinafter, a process of controlling a home network according to a method of transmitting a user command to a corresponding home device based on the command-ontology will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6. 6 is a flowchart provided to explain a home network control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, first, the control unit 140 of the home network control apparatus 100 searches for home devices existing in the home network through the communication unit 130 (S210). In step S210, the control unit 140 may search for home devices using a protocol such as WS-Discovery (WS-Discovery) or Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP).

Thereafter, the controller 140 creates a home device list and stores it in the storage unit 160 based on the search result in step S210 (S220). The controller 140 collects command-ontologies from the home devices included in the home device list stored in step S220 through the communication unit 130 and stores the command-ontologies in the storage unit 160 (S230).

In operation S230, the controller 140 may transmit a "GetDeviceOntology" message to the home devices, and then may receive command-ontologies from the home devices in response thereto.

On the other hand, if a user command is input to the voice through the microphone 110 (S240-Y), the controller 140 refers to the command-ontologies of the home devices (10, 20 and 30) stored in the storage unit 160 In operation S250, grasp command input capable home devices.

The command input capable home device is a home device that can receive a user command in step S240, and is a home device in which the user command in step S240 is stored in the command-ontology.

For example, assuming that the user command input in step S240 is "UP" and the command-ontologies of the home devices 10, 20, and 30 are as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, 1) command-ontology The air conditioner 20 and the TV 30 in which "UP" is recorded correspond to the command input home device, but 2) the lighting system 10 in which the "UP" is not included in the command-ontology is connected to the command input home device. Not applicable

Subsequently, the controller 140 determines whether the command can be executed by inquiring whether the command can be executed by the command input capable home devices through the communication unit 130 (S260).

The command executable home device is a device capable of performing a user command in operation S240 and is a device capable of actually executing a current user command.

Whether or not the home device corresponds to a commandable home device depends on the situation of the home device since the home device judges according to its operation-rule. For example, the air conditioner 20 has an operation rule of "the current upper limit is 29 ° C". If the current temperature is 29 ° C, "UP" cannot be performed, so the air conditioner 20 can carry out the command. It is not a home appliance.

As another example, the TV 30 has an operation-rule that " volume upper limit is 40 levels ", if the current volume is 30 levels, then the TV 30 can perform " UP " Corresponds to the device.

In this case, in step S260, the control unit 140 transmits a CheckCommand ("UP") message to the air conditioner 20 and the TV 30 through the communication unit 130, and receives the air conditioner 20 and the TV 30. Responds to the process of transmitting a ResponseCommand ("VALID" or "INVALID") message to the control unit 140 in response. "VALID" in the ResponseCommand message means "command enabled" and "INVALID" means "command disabled".

When the command execution capable home device identified in step S260 is singular (S270 -N), the controller 140 transmits a user command to the identified command execution capable device (S300).

However, when there are a plurality of command execution capable home devices identified through step S260 (S270-Y), the controller 140 presents the user with command execution capable home devices and receives a home device to perform a user command. (S280). Thereafter, the control unit 140 transmits a user command to the home device selected by the user in step S280 (S290).

4. Variant

In the above embodiment, when there are a plurality of command execution capable devices, it is assumed that the user command is transmitted only to the home device selected by the user, which is merely an example for convenience of description and may be implemented differently.

As another example, the user command may be implemented by transmitting the user command to the home device which has performed the user command most recently. This is based on the rule of thumb that the user command is likely to be a subsequent command for the home device that has performed the most recent user command.

As another example, it is possible to implement by transmitting a user command to all of the command-enabled home devices.

On the other hand, in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the user command is input by voice, this also corresponds to an example for convenience of description. Even if the user command is input in a manner other than voice, the technical idea of the present invention can be applied.

In addition, the home network assumed in the above embodiment also corresponds to an example for convenience of description. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to networks other than the home network.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

10: lighting system 20: air conditioning
30: TV 100: home network control device
110: microphone 120: voice signal processing unit
130: communication unit 140: control unit
150: user interface 160: storage

Claims (8)

Collecting command-ontologies for devices present on the network;
Identifying a command input capable device capable of receiving an input user command by referring to the collected command-ontologies when a user command is input; And
Identifying a command-operable device which is a device in a state capable of executing the user command among the command-inputable devices.
The method of claim 1,
The command performing device identifying step,
And inquiring whether the command can be executed by the command input capable devices to identify the command executable device.
The method of claim 1,
And if the command execution capable device is singular, transmitting the user command to the command execution capable device.
The method of claim 1,
Receiving a user's input of a device to execute the user's command, if the device is capable of performing the command; And
And transmitting the user command to the device input by the user.
The method of claim 1,
And transmitting the user command to a device which has performed the user command most recently if the command execution device is plural.
The method of claim 1,
And the user command is input from a user by voice.
The method of claim 1,
The command-ontology,
And 'input user commands' and 'functions related to the user commands'.
A communication unit collecting command-ontologies from devices present on the network; And
When a user command is input, the command input devices capable of receiving the user command may be identified by referring to the collected command-ontologies, and the command execution device may be a device that is in a state capable of executing the user command. And a controller for identifying possible devices.

Images