KR20190100983A - Integrated IoT Solution for general-purpose, Using IoT Device Module and Mobile APP and IoT Cloud System and it's operation method. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a general-purpose IoT solution and a method of operating the same. The present invention is designed to provide the general-purpose IoT solution comprising a micro IoT device module equipped with common communication functions of IoT devices, and an entire cloud system which works to interoperate with an application for a mobile device for the control of the micro IoT module, so that it can be used for many purposes without any expertise in IoT technology. Accordingly, manufacturers who want to manufacture IoT devices can easily upgrade their own products into IoT devices by introducing the IoT solution, and users can control products through the same application even if they buy products from various manufacturers, thereby providing convenience and cost savings to the manufacturers and the users.

Description

Integrated IoT Solution for general-purpose, Using IoT Device Module and Mobile APP and IoT Cloud System and it's operation method.

The present invention operates to interoperate with both a micro communication device, an IoT device module and a mobile device APP for controlling the device, which are built for multi-purpose use by embedding a common communication function, an input / output interface, an on / off switching switch, etc. of an IoT device. The present invention relates to a general-purpose IoT solution and its operation method to provide a method for easily applying all IoT functions to SMEs that want to add IoT functions to their products by providing all-cloud systems, and more specifically, to a short range such as Bluetooth WIFI. Built-in control unit to control wireless communication function and all functions, input interface such as external power terminal and various sensor terminals such as temperature sensor for input, and output interface such as power output terminal and output signal terminal for controlling external equipment Ultra-compact IoT device built for universal use Universal IoT that integrates the module and software functions such as APP for mobile devices such as smartphones that can be set up and operated externally, and also cloud server that operates the module and APP through the Internet. A solution and a method of operating the same.

As IoT technology is commercialized, IoT functions are added to home appliances such as electric appliances such as electric lamps, electric heaters, heating rice cookers, boilers, and air conditioners, etc. Home appliances are in the process of being upgraded to IoT devices.

However, the functions added in order to change the existing home appliances and the like into IoT devices are often common. That is, a communication function such as Bluetooth or WIFI should be included, and a function of controlling a power supply or outputting a separate control signal according to a condition such as a sensor. In addition, APP function for mobile devices to control the equipment from the outside in accordance with the name of IoT is required, and cloud services with security functions such as accommodating and authorizing various devices and many users at the same time are common.

Since these three functions of IoT devices, APPs, and cloud servers are already generalized technologies, they can be developed without great effort with the help of experts in the respective H / W, server S / W, and APP development fields. Manufacturers can build their devices into IoT devices by adding IoT capabilities to their existing electrical devices. In addition, users will be able to purchase new home appliances with added IoT functions to the market, and operate the devices using dedicated APPs and cloud services provided by the manufacturers, and use them according to the purpose.

However, manufacturers and users face some difficulties in this process. For manufacturers, large manufacturers can pay for the cost of converting to IoT devices and have no difficulty in providing cloud services, but for small and medium businesses, all of these are new investments and server operations to continue services. In addition, late investments such as recruiting new employees will have to be considered.

And for the 10 IoT devices used in the residential environment, if the manufacturers are different, they install 10 APPs separately on the smartphone, and move between the different user interfaces and the APPs made by the operation method. You will have to control it. In addition, it is necessary to expect interlocking services such as controlling various devices at the same time or connecting other IoT devices according to the conditions of an IoT device. There is a problem of incompatibility intertwined with different communication protocols and service methods.

Firstly, many small and medium-sized manufacturers are incurring redundant investments in terms of cost and acquisition of completely new technology to develop and provide IoT devices with common functions, dedicated APPs and continuous cloud services. . There is a desperate need for services that unify these redundant investments and irrational costs.

Second, from the user's point of view, using different types of APPs to control various home appliances is inconvenient, and the inability to use interoperability between IoT devices due to different incompatible protocols has led to the potential of IoT devices. Like sand grains, there is a problem of resource waste that is limited to each function. There is an urgent need to provide a unified APP and interworking solutions between IoT devices to avoid such unreasonable consumption.

Third, the incompatibility issue also needs to be improved from the standpoint of manufacturers of IoT peripherals separately from the above two parties. In order to manufacture IoT peripherals, the types of input / output protocols and interfaces and voltage / current values of IoT devices are very important. But if a lot of IoT device manufacturers use their protocols, interfaces, and voltage / current values on the market, peripheral manufacturers will have to adapt their products to numerous incompatibilities and pay for them.

Fourth, all of these problems have a common denominator of inconvenience and additional cost, and the adverse effect of the common denominator is rising costs. In other words, these problems inevitably raise the price of IoT services in the market, and inexpensive technologies, especially those produced in China, penetrate into the domestic market, gradually increasing the market share, and finally, foreign technologies act as domestic industry standards. There is a fear that Korean companies will be taken away from the IoT-based technology market. This is a national waste of resources and a loss of opportunity.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized module to the IoT device common sector using a communication function and the same standard interface using the same protocol to provide small and medium-sized home appliance manufacturers at low cost, and to provide the IoT device module It is to provide a general-purpose IoT device solution that provides a dedicated APP and cloud services to control and its operation method.

In other words, small and medium-sized home appliance manufacturers eliminate the difficulties in investment, technology and operating costs, eliminate incompatibilities for users to enable the control of IoT home appliances by the same APP, and also by upgrading the APP function to different manufacturers Implement interlocking control between IoT devices to expand the potential of IoT technology, and offer the same interface and standardized protocol to IoT peripheral manufacturers, so that the same product can be sold to various home appliance manufacturers without changing specifications or user consumption market. We want to open the way to direct access to.

The operation method of the general-purpose IoT device solution according to the present invention for achieving the above object is an IoT device module having a built-in IoT common function and having a standardized external interface terminal and an APP for mobile devices developed for controlling the module; It includes a cloud server operated through the Internet by interworking both the module and the APP, and the power source, sensor and control cable, etc. to the external interface terminal of the IoT module to meet the control purposes of the home appliance. The step of connecting and manufacturing, the user who purchased the IoT device device of the small and medium manufacturer embedded with the IoT module to download the dedicated APP by the method specified in the product manual to set the purchased IoT device device to connect to the cloud server , The user runs the APP to save himself through a cloud server on the Internet Controlling one IoT device and storing 'schedule control' of IoT device according to time condition according to APP function and APP function, or saving 'Sensor Interlocking Control' to operate by sensor value connected to IoT device or other user connected to cloud And storing the 'information interlocking control' so as to acquire the sensor value or the information of the sensor and use the information as the control information of the IoT device.

In addition, since the external interface terminal of the IoT device module is provided in a pin type according to the purpose of ultra-small production, the IoT device module docking module can be provided together so that small and medium-sized home appliance manufacturers can more easily connect power, sensors, and control cables. . Using this docking module, it will be easy to connect when connecting various kinds of cables and IoT peripherals such as sensors.

According to the present invention, provision of a general purpose IoT device solution can reduce the cost of all development and investment that can overlap for the same purpose. IoT peripheral manufacturers can also engage in the market in the same way, which can lead to the reduction of national overlapping investment.

In addition, the use of a general-purpose IoT device solution allows simultaneous control of IoT devices from different manufacturers, allowing users to move out of a feature-specific environment that depends on a closed network of a particular company. Users can share their information, sensor values, etc. with various network users in the same cloud service using the standardized method of APP. In particular, IoT devices that are intended for common use can be used more and more and can be expected to be more applicable and efficient.

In addition, users of home appliances that adopt the general-purpose IoT device module can purchase a docking module whose external interface is changed as needed and apply it to their purpose, so that the reuse of equipment is increased, thereby minimizing the additional purchase cost and expecting the overall economic effect. Can be. In addition, small and medium-sized consumer electronics manufacturers employing general-purpose IoT device modules can easily convert the module into their own IoT devices without any additional investment in IoT technology, thereby achieving various cost savings.

In addition, users may encounter compatibility problems when a user purchases and installs various manufacturers' products on the market. However, unified use by dedicated APPs of products with embedded IoT device modules that provide a standardized interface is possible, and integration and interworking control between IoT devices of different manufacturers is possible.

In addition, standard cloud, modular IoT devices and standard APP development methods, and standardized communication methods enable the entire solution to be uniquely adapted for specific purposes. This feature enables plant-based total solutions for mid-to-large companies that want to build their own networks to deliver customer service.

1 is a diagram referred to for schematically illustrating a general purpose IoT device solution according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram referred to schematically illustrate a main body and an input / output terminal of an IoT device module according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
3 is a view referred to to schematically describe the display contents of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a block diagram of an IoT device module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of operating an IoT device module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a block diagram of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 5 is a flow chart provided in the description of the operation method of the dedicated APP installed in the mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and
7A to 7E are detailed flowcharts illustrating a method of operating a dedicated APP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

1 to 3 are views referred to to schematically describe an IoT device solution according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the IoT device solution includes an IoT device 20 having an IoT device module 10 embedded in an existing home appliance, a mobile device 30 having a wireless communication function and a dedicated APP, and the Internet. The mobile device and the IoT device module may be connected to each other to include an IoT cloud server 40 for uploading or downloading user rights, control information, schedule information, sharing and linkage information, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 2, the IoT device module 10 includes a board 11 in which unique identification information is stored. The board 11 is equipped with an interface terminal 12 for connecting power input / output, sensor input, control out, and the like, and is capable of mutually recognizing peripheral devices such as sensors and transmitting and receiving data, and a cloud server through WiFi / Bluetooth. I can communicate with the APP of the mobile device.

The mobile device 30 may include a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, etc. in addition to a smart phone.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, when a user installs an IoT device in which the IoT device module 10 is embedded through a dedicated APP installed in the mobile device 30 and registers control information such as schedule and sensor interworking information, The information is stored together in the corresponding IoT device module through the cloud server, and the IoT device module 10 automatically executes the specified control according to a predetermined schedule or interlocked information.

4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an IoT device module.

Referring to FIG. 4, the IoT device module 10 may include a memory unit 11, a sensor input / output unit 12, a user input / output unit 13, a wireless communication unit (WiFi) unit 14, a Bluetooth unit 15, and a wireless unit. It may include a communication (RF) unit 16, a power management unit 17, and a control unit 18.

The memory unit 11 is a space for storing various setting values transmitted by the user to the IoT device module 10 using the dedicated APP 30, that is, ssid and password, user information, and a schedule control list designated by the user.

The sensor input / output unit 12 connects a temperature sensor, rain water sensor, wind speed sensor, etc. to the IoT device module 10, inputs the measured value to the controller 18 of the IoT device module 10, and sets a value previously set by the user. This is an interface terminal to connect the sensor for the purpose of executing the specified control in comparison with

The user I / O unit 13 is an interface terminal for connecting a control cable for transmitting a control value from the control unit 18 to the IoT device device 20 in which the IoT device module 10 is embedded.

The wireless communication (WiFi) unit 14 and the Bluetooth unit 15 are connected to the user via the dedicated APP 30 for the first time to install the IoT device module 10, or after the setting operation is completed, the module 10 is IoT It is used to communicate by connecting to the cloud server 40 and the dedicated APP (30).

The wireless communication (RF) unit 16 is used to operate a power switch of the IoT device module 10 or to operate an external RF device by using an RF remote control.

The power management unit 17 is responsible for converting the power input through the interface terminal of the sensor I / O unit 12 or switching the output switch under the instruction of the control unit 18.

The control unit 18 reads control values and schedule lists stored in the memory unit 11 or controls commands through communication with the dedicated APP 30 and the IoT cloud server 40 through the wireless communication units 14, 15, and 16. Take it and perform it. At this time, the control unit 18 controls or communicates with the input / output units 12 and 13 terminals, and performs the command by controlling the power management unit 17.

5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an operation of the controller 18 of the IoT device module 10.

Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 18 of the IoT device module 10 boots the system (181), determines whether there is existing information previously stored in the memory unit 11 (182) and again if there is no information. Initialization operation is executed (181), if the information is reset to the existing information. Thereafter, by checking the schedule list, it is determined whether the cron job is performed (183). If there is a job content (184), if there is no job content, the standby state for recognizing a new command is entered (185). After waiting for a predetermined time, it is again determined whether the cron operation 183 is repeated in this manner. If a new command comes in, it executes it, and if an end command comes in (186), otherwise it returns to the cron job decision operation again (183).

6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a mobile device.

Referring to FIG. 6, the mobile device 30 includes a wireless communication unit 31, a camera 32, a user input unit 33, a Bluetooth unit 34, an interface unit 35, a display unit 36, and an audio input / output unit. 37, the memory 38, and the controller 39 may be included.

The display unit 36 displays and outputs information processed by the dedicated APP 30. The dedicated APP 30 provides a user interface (UI) and a graphical user interface (GUI) to control the IoT device module 10 or check the status.

7 is a flowchart provided to explain a method of operating a mobile device APP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the control unit 39 of the mobile device 30 displays a main menu screen on the display unit according to a user command or the like (300). The main menu screen includes 'user registration (310)', 'device registration management (320)', 'schedule registration management (330),' device sharing management (340), 'device interworking management (350)', 'end' An item such as 'select 360'.

When the 'user registration 310' item is selected on the main menu screen, the controller 39 controls the process shown in FIG. 7A to be performed (310).

When the 'device registration management 320' item is selected on the main menu screen, the controller 39 controls the process shown in FIG. 7B to be performed (320).

When the 'schedule registration management 330' item is selected on the main menu screen, the controller 39 controls the process shown in FIG. 7C to be performed (330).

When the 'device sharing management 340' item is selected on the main menu screen, the controller 39 controls the process shown in FIG. 7D to be performed (340).

When the 'device interworking management 350' item is selected on the main menu screen, the controller 39 controls the process shown in FIG. 7E to be performed (350).

This process is repeated 360 until the end is selected.

7A is a flowchart provided to explain a user registration operation method of a mobile device dedicated APP 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7A, when the 'user registration' item is selected in the main menu screen (310), the controller 39 displays a user new registration menu on the display unit 36 (311) and through the wireless communication unit 31. The user ID is checked from the IoT cloud server 40 for duplicate user ID (312), and the user ID is stored. The user ID information is transmitted to the cloud server 40 to generate a user DB record. In addition, the user information such as ssid / password is acquired and transmitted to the IoT device module 10 for storage. The controller 39 determines whether to proceed with this process repeatedly and if so, returns to step 311 before returning to step 318.

7B is a flowchart provided to explain a device registration management operation method of the mobile device dedicated APP 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7B, when the 'device registration management' item is selected in the main menu screen (320), the controller 39 displays the device registration menu on the display unit 36 and lists the recognized IoT device 20 list. When the user selects and inputs a specific IoT device 20, the user receives and stores a connection value such as ssid / password of the user's wireless LAN environment and then uses the IoT to store the connection value. Access to the cloud server 40 to register the server device (323). The cloud server 40 generates a DB record of the corresponding device (324), and the APP 30 stores the corresponding device information in the registration menu (325). The controller 39 determines whether to proceed with this process repeatedly and if so, returns to step 321 and returns to step 321.

7C is a flowchart provided to explain a schedule registration management operation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7C, when the 'schedule registration management' item is selected on the main menu screen (330), the controller 39 displays the schedule registration management menu on the display unit 36 (331), and receives the user's selection. A new schedule is created and stored (333). This stored information is immediately transmitted to the IoT device 20 and stored (334). The controller 39 determines whether to proceed with the process repeatedly, and if so, returns to step 331 (335).

7d is a flowchart provided to explain a device sharing management method of a mobile device APP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7D, when the 'device sharing management' item is selected on the main menu screen (340), the controller 39 displays the device sharing management menu on the display unit 36 (341) and receives a user input. Among the registered IoT devices 20, contents to be shared to other users are selected (343) and stored in the APP (344). This information is immediately sent to the IoT device 20 and stored (345), and a new shared combination is selected again. The controller 39 determines whether to proceed with the process repeatedly and if so, returns to step 341 (346).

7E is a flowchart provided to explain a device interworking management method of a mobile device APP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7D, when the 'device interlocking management' item is selected on the main menu screen (350), the controller 39 displays the device interlocking management menu on the display unit 36 (351) and receives a user input. In operation 354, the control information of the specific device may be set to be used simultaneously for the control of another device (354) or the device control information of the specific user may be simultaneously used for controlling the device of another user (354). This information is immediately transmitted to the IoT device 20 and stored (355), and the new device interworking combination is selected again. The controller 39 determines whether to proceed with this process repeatedly and if so, returns to step 351 to return to step 351.

According to the present invention, as mentioned several times, the IoT module is manufactured in a small body having a plurality of pins, and the sockets are manufactured and supplied together so that manufacturers can use the sockets when applying the IoT module to their devices. Is expected.

As a result, users will be able to secure IoT modules for error, replacement, or reusability, and provide IoT modules as options. In addition, the general user can select the IoT module as an option or purchase a socket on the market and switch to another use.

For example, when purchasing an IoT fan in the summer, the option module can be purchased and used together.When the IoT electric blanket is purchased in the winter, the module is embedded in the electric fan after the purchase without the module. It would be possible to use it as well.

10: IoT device module
20: IoT device (home appliance product equipped with IoT device module)
30: dedicated mobile device APP
40: IoT cloud server

Claims (1)

According to the present invention, small and medium-sized consumer electronics / industrial device manufacturers can easily provide IoT functions to their home appliances by providing functions, interlocking software, and server services that are commonly included when manufacturing IoT devices by adding IoT functions to home appliances. This is a general-purpose IoT solution to provide a method that can be applied to a small IoT device module and its control, including communication functions such as WIFI, Bluetooth, RF, interface terminal for sensor input / output and device control, and power switch switching function. In the method of operating a general-purpose IoT solution of providing a mobile device APP for the mobile device and sharing the IoT cloud system operating in conjunction with the module and the APP, the manufacturer turns its home appliance / industrial device into an IoT device, that is, an IoT device Embedding the IoT device module in its device to modify; And downloading a dedicated APP provided with a user who purchased the IoT device. And a user executing user registration and device registration through a dedicated APP to initially set the IoT device in which the module is embedded, and transmitting each information to the APP and the IoT cloud server. And configuring a control command so that a user directly controls an IoT device registered in the APP or schedules a specific condition and automatically operates the same, and transmits the control command to the IoT device through the cloud server. And sharing, by the user, the control authority of the IoT device registered by the user through a function of the APP to a specific user ID. And the user publishes the measured values of the sensor connected to his registered IoT device for other users to use through the function of the APP, and the other users share the measured values of the published sensor through their APP to the control of their IoT device. Enabling it; And an IoT device module embedded in the IoT device connected to the cloud server performs a corresponding control operation according to a user's control command or schedule list transmitted through the server or inputs / outputs a control signal through a sensor or a control cable connected to an input / output terminal. Method of operation of a general-purpose IoT device solution comprising the step of performing a control operation by

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