WO2008023934A1

WO2008023934A1 - Outdoor remote control system and method for home network device

Info

Publication number: WO2008023934A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/004018
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jae Wook Lee; Young Soo Choi
Original assignee: Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date: 2006-08-24
Filing date: 2007-08-22
Publication date: 2008-02-28

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for remotely controlling home network devices from outside a home. In the present invention, for example, an independent gateway device, including a Virtual Digital Media Server (VDMS), a UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD), and a device security, may be additionally installed in a home network. Alternatively, a VDMS and a device security may be implemented in a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, such as a home server, and only a UPnP IGD may be implemented using a gateway device. As a result, a user, located outside a home, can remotely access household appliances, installed in the home, via a mobile device, and can stream data. Accordingly, media transmission service restricted within a home, which is the limitation of the existing UPnP and DLNA devices, can be extended and used via an external network. Furthermore, interworking between a mobile device and a home network, which is widely used at present, can be more conveniently realized due to the extension, so that service based on interworking between a home network and a broadband network can be provided.

Description

DESCRIPTION

OUTEXX)R REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HOME NETWORK DEVICE

1. Technical Field The present invention relates to an outdoor remote control system and method for home network devices, which allow a user carrying a mobile device to remotely access various home network devices, connected to and used through a home network inside a home, from outside the home, thus streaming data.

2. Background Art

Generally, the term "home network" means a network in which various digital electronic appliances are connected to each other so that a user can conveniently and safely enjoy economical domestic services at any time inside or outside a home.

Meanwhile, to date, many solutions for sharing media while operating and controlling information household appliances in homes have been developed and commercialized. For example, a solution for operating and controlling household appliances is called home automation, and a system for sharing and utilizing media is called a home AV network system.

Further, the home AV network system is technology that generally emphasizes the transmission and sharing of A/V media data. Recently, Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) , based on Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) AV architecture, has gradually been accepted as the standard for home AV networks .

Further, UPnP is service for referring to the location of a host or permitting the use of a device in a local network such as a home network, and provides, for example, a function of allowing a user, unaware of the structure of a network, to simply add and install a new digital household appliance or the like in a home network.

Meanwhile, DLNA is a protocol allowing various types of media content, such as music, pictures or video, to be freely shared through a home network, on the basis of industrial standards, such as Internet Protocol (IP) , HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) , UPnP, and Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) , which are widely used by wireless communication device manufacturing companies. Currently, since the number of digital household appliances based on UPnP and DLNA is rapidly increasing, the DLNA is expected to be adopted in digital household appliances in homes in the future. However, the above-described technology based on UPnP and DLNA has been developed to emphasize only the transmission and application of media data in a home. Accordingly, when the current situation, in which mobile devices, such as mobile information terminals, are widely used outside a home, as well as inside a home, is taken into account, the technology has low technical applicability, and thus an efficient solution for allowing the operation of transmitting media data between home appliances installed in the home to be conveniently performed even outside the home using the mobile information terminals is urgently required.

3. Disclosure of the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an outdoor remote control system and method for home network devices, in which, for example, an independent gateway device, including a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD) , and a device security unit, may be additionally installed in a home network, or alternatively, a virtual DMS and a device security unit may be implemented in a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, such as a home server, and a UPnP IGD alone may be implemented using an independent gateway device, so that a user, located outside a home, can remotely access household appliances, installed in the home, via a mobile device or the like, and can subsequently stream datai

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an outdoor remote control system for home network devices, comprising a gateway device additionally installed in a home network to connect an external mobile device to at least one home network device located inside a home, wherein the gateway device comprises a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Internet Gateway Device (IGD) , and a device security unit.

Further, the present invention provides an outdoor remote control system for home network devices, comprising a gateway device, additionally installed in a home network to connect an external mobile device to at least one home network device located inside a home, wherein the gateway device is a UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD), wherein the home network device comprises a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a UPnP device security unit, and a UPnP security console, and wherein the mobile device comprises a UPnP security console and a UPnP gateway control point.

In addition, the present invention provides a method performed by an outdoor remote control system for home network devices, the outdoor remote control system comprising a UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD) , a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, including a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a UPnP device security unit, and a UPnP security console, and a mobile device, including a UPnP security console and a UPnP gateway control point, the method comprising a first step of performing a port mapping operation between the UPnP IGD and the virtual DMS of the DUMA device using the UPnP gateway control point of the mobile device; and a second step of setting up security with the UPnP device security unit of the DLNA device using the UPnP security console of the mobile device.

4. Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of an outdoor remote control system for home network devices according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the construction of a detailed embodiment of an outdoor remote control system for home network devices according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the construction of the services provided by a UPnP Internet gateway device according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure for setting up security according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure for discovering a secured control point or security console according to the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure for setting up a session key according to the present invention.

5. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of an outdoor remote control system and method for home network devices according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings .

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of an outdoor remote control system for home network devices according to the present invention, in which various home network devices installed in a home, for example, an Internet Digital Television (Internet D-TV) 10, functioning as a home server, is connected to a mobile device located outside the home, for example, an Internet Portable Media Player (PMP) 20, through a gateway 30.

Meanwhile, the gateway 30 includes a virtual Digital

Media Server (DMS) 300, a UPnP Internet Gateway Device

(IGD) 301, and a device security unit 302. For example, the virtual DMS 300 and the device security unit 302 may be implemented in a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, such as a home server, and the UPnP IGD alone may be installed as an independent gateway.

Further, for example, a control signal output from the Internet PMP 20 is input to the Internet D-TV 10 via a Wide Area Network (WAN) and the gateway 30, and data transmitted from the Internet D-TV 10 is output to the gateway 30 through streaming in a home network (in-home streaming) .

Further, the data output to the gateway 30 is provided to the Internet PMP 20 through broadband streaming for a broadband communication network, thus allowing a user located outside the home to remotely and conveniently share and utilize media data from various household appliances installed in the home using the mobile device, such as the Internet PMP 20. This operation is described in detail. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing in detail an embodiment of an outdoor remote control system for home network devices according to the present invention. For example, in a home network implemented in a home, the UPnP IGD 30 according to the present invention is independently and additionally installed. Further, a DLNA device 11, such as a home server, includes an original DLNA function unit 110, a virtual DMS unit 111, a UPnP device security unit 112, and a UPnP security console unit 113.

A mobile device 12 applied to the present invention includes a UPnP security console unit 120 and a UPnP gateway control point unit 121, and the UPnP security console unit 120 functions both as a UPnP security console and as a UPnP security control point (CP) .

Further, the UPnP IGD 30 can be connected to the mobile device 12, located inside the home, through the home network. When the mobile device 12 moves outside the home, the UPnP IGD 30 is connected to the mobile device 12 through a WAN 40. The mobile device 12 moving outside the home, the UPnP IGD 30, and the virtual DMS unit 111 of the DLNA device are connected to each other through IP connection, as shown in FIG. 2. The virtual DMS unit 111 of the DLNA device 11 transmits or receives UPnP messages to or from the mobile device 12 through the UPnP IGD 30.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, the UPnP IGD 30 includes a layer 3 forwarding service, a WANConnection device including a WANIPConnection service, and a LAN device.

Further, the UPnP gateway control point unit 121 of the mobile device 12, located inside the home, maps the public IP of the UPnP IGD 30 to the private IP of the DLNA device, using information of the UPnP IGD 30 and information of the DLNA device 11, obtained through a device discovery procedure in the home network.

For example, if the user requests a port mapping service when the mobile device 12 is located inside the home, the mobile device 12 invokes the AddPortMapping action of the WANIPConnection service, which is one of the services provided by the WANConnectionDevice included in the UPnP IGD 30. At this time, since the external IP address of the mobile device has not been determined yet, the mobile device 12 transmits the RemoteHost (for example: 150.150.0.*) message corresponding to the mobile device to the UPnP IGD 30 so as to enable all addresses to be accessible. Thereafter, a unique port number, generated using Media Access Control (MAC) within the mobile device 12, is transmitted as an ExternalPort message. Further, the mobile device 12 transmits a port number, agreed upon with the virtual DMS unit 111 (for example: 3000) , as an InternalPort message, and also transmits the IP address of the virtual DMS unit 111, for example, a private IP (for example: 192.168.0.5) obtained through a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) , as an InternalClient message. For example,

PortMappingDescription, indicating ^λFor outdoor remote access using virtual DMS' and NewLeaseDuration ^λ0', indicating that the duration of use of a port is unrestricted, can be set in the port as additional information.

Further, information required for the mobile device to perform remote access outside the home is implemented by storing the IP address of the UPnP IGD, obtained by invoking the GetExternallPAddress Action of the WANIPConnection service, which is one of the services of the WANConnectionDevice included in the UPnP IGD 30, and various port numbers, generated in the UPnP IGD 30 itself, in the mobile device 12. In this way, the PortMappingService procedure for mapping the port of the virtual DMS 111 to the port of the UPnP IGD 30 is completed .

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure for setting up security according to the present invention. A user requests a security setup operation to permit the connection between the DLNA device 11 and the mobile device

12 by manipulating the mobile device 12.

Accordingly, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device discovers the UPnP device security unit 112 of the DLNA device 11, using a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) .

Further, the UPnP security console unit 120 transmits a GetPublicKeys message to the UPnP device security unit 112 of the DLNA device 11, and thus receives a public key from the UPnP device security unit 112. Thereafter, the UPnP security console unit 120 generates a security ID using the public key, and thus displays the security ID to allow the user to see the security ID.

Meanwhile, the user compares the security ID, which has been generated and displayed through the above process, with a security ID, personally checked by the user using the DLNA device 11, selects a matching security ID, and enters a name corresponding thereto . Upon receiving the security ID and the name selected and entered by the user, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device sets the values of the security ID and the name in the mobile device. Further, when the user enters the initial password of the device, which has been personally checked using the DLJNFA device 11, the UPnP security console unit 120 receives the password, and sets the password as a password to be used for user authentication. Thereafter, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device generates a GetLifetimeSequenceBase message, required to set a user authentication period, transmits the GetLifetimeSequenceBase message to the UPnP device security unit 112 of the DLNA device, and then sets the user authentication period.

Meanwhile, when user authentication is desired to be changed, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device generates a TakeOwnership message, transmits the TakeOwnership message to the UPnP device security unit 112 of the DLNA device, and changes ownership information, previously set for user authentication. Therefore, when the mobile device 12 is located inside the home, or even if it is located outside the home, a security function of selectively restricting the connection to the DLNA device 11 can be performed using the security ID and password, which have been set through the security setup procedure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure for discovering a secured Control Point (CP) or Security Console (SC) according to the present invention. For example, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device 12 discovers the UPnP security console unit 113 of the DLNA device 11 using the Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) .

The UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device 12 transmits a PresentKey message, and generates and displays a security ID using a present key value received from the UPnP security console unit 113 of the DLJNTA device

11.

Meanwhile, the user compares the security ID, generated and displayed through the above process, with the security ID personally checked by the user using the DLNA device 11, selects a matched security ID, and enters a name corresponding thereto. When receiving the security ID and the name selected and entered by the user, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device sets the values of the security ID and the name in the mobile device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure for setting up a session key according to the present invention. For example, the UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device 12, located outside the home, performs the session key setup procedure so as to perform all security actions in the device. The UPnP security console unit 120 of the mobile device 12 obtains a public key value by transmitting a GetPublicKeys message to the UPnP device security unit 112 of the DLJNTA device 11. Further, the UPnP security console unit 120 obtains an algorithm and a protocol, required for the setup of a session key, by transmitting and receiving GetAlgorithmsAndProtocols messages, and thereafter obtains a value corresponding to a GetLifetimeSequenceBase message by receiving the GetLifetimeSequenceBase message.

Further, the UPnP security console unit 120 generates a session key encrypted using the public key, through the use of the obtained public key, algorithm, and protocol, and then sets security by transmitting the session key to the UPnP device security unit 112 of the DLNA device, thus enabling all actions conducted in the device to be secure.

Accordingly, even if the user is located outside the home, the virtual DMS unit 111 of the DNLA device 11, installed in the home, can be remotely accessed using the mobile device 12 for which port mapping and security setup have been completed, as described above. Further, media content included in various home network household appliances connected to the virtual DMS unit 111 can be shared and utilized.

According to the present invention, the restriction of the conventional UPnP and DLNA device, which is that media transmission service is limited to a home, can be overcome so that service can be extended to and used through an external network, so that interworking between a mobile device and home network devices, which is currently and generally used, can be more conveniently realized thanks to the extension of the network, thus enabling interworking service between a home network and a broadband network to be performed. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. An outdoor remote control system for home network devices, comprising: a gateway device additionally installed in a home network to connect an external mobile device to at least one home network device located inside a home, wherein the gateway device comprises a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Internet Gateway Device (IGD) , and a device security unit.

2. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the home network device transmits data to the gateway device through streaming in the home (In-Home Streaming) , and the gateway device transmits data to the external mobile device through broadband streaming.

3. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the external mobile device comprises a UPnP security console and a UPnP gateway control point.

4. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the external mobile device and the gateway device are connected to each other over a Wide Area Network (WAN) through Internet Protocol (IP) connection.

5. An outdoor remote control system for home network devices, comprising: a gateway device, additionally installed in a home network to connect an external mobile device to at least one home network device located inside a home, wherein the gateway device is a UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD), wherein the home network device comprises a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a UPnP device security unit, and a UPnP security console, and wherein the mobile device comprises a UPnP security console and a UPnP gateway control point .

6. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 5, wherein the UPnP security console of the mobile device functions both as a UPnP security console and as a UPnP security control point .

7. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 5, wherein the home network device is a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, which is a home server connected to the UPnP IGD through a private IP.

8. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 5, wherein the home network device transmits data to the UPnP IGD through streaming in a home (In-Home Streaming) , and the UPnP IGD transmits data to the external mobile device through broadband streaming.

9. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 5, wherein the external mobile device and the UPnP IGD are connected to each other over a Wide Area Network (WAN) through IP connection.

10. The outdoor remote control system according to claim 5, wherein the UPnP IGD comprises a layer 3 forwarding service, a WANConnection device including a WANIPConnection service, and a Local Area Network (LAN) device .

11. A method performed by an outdoor remote control system for home network devices, the outdoor remote control system comprising a UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD) , a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, including a virtual Digital Media Server (DMS) , a UPnP device security unit, and a UPnP security console, and a mobile device, including a UPnP security console and a UPnP gateway control point, the method comprising: a first step of performing a port mapping operation between the UPnP IGD and the virtual DMS of the DLNA device using the UPnP gateway control point of the mobile device; and a second step of setting up security with the UPnP device security unit of the DLJNTA device using the UPnP security console of the mobile device.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first step is performed such that the port mapping operation is performed by invoking an AddPortMapping action of a WANIPConnection service, which is one of WANConnection device services included in the UPnP IGD.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the UPnP gateway control point of the mobile device is operated to transmit a message to enable all IP addresses to be accessible because an external IP address of the mobile device is not determined yet when the AddPortMapping action of the UPnP IGD is invoked, to transmit a unique port number, generated using Media Access control (MAC) of the mobile device, and to transmit both a port number, agreed upon with the virtual DMS of the DLNA device, and a private IP.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the port mapping operation is completed after an IP address of the UPnP IGD, which is obtained by invoking a GetExternallPAddress Action of the WANIPConnection Service, and a port number, which is generated by the UPnP IGD itself, are stored in the mobile device.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second step is performed such that, after a public key, set up in the UPnP device security unit of the DLNA device, has been received using the UPnP security console of the mobile device, a security ID is generated and displayed, and a security ID and a name, corresponding to a security ID and a name selected by a user, are set if the user selects and designates the security ID and the name.

16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising, after the second step, a step of performing at least one of an operating of setting a password for user authentication, an operation of designating a duration of use, and an operation of changing ownership.

17. The method according to claim 11, further comprising a step of receiving a present key, set in the

UPnP security console of the DI-NA device, using the UPnP security console of the mobile device, generating and displaying a security ID, and then setting a security ID and a name corresponding to a security ID and a name selected by the user if the user selects and designates the security ID and the name.

18. The method according to claim 11, further comprising a step of receiving a public key, set in the UPnP device security unit of the DIiNA device, an algorithm and a protocol required to set up a session key, and information required to designate a duration of use, using the UPnP security console of the mobile device, and then setting up a session key for message encryption using the public key, the algorithm, and the protocol.