WO2012111344A1 - 制御装置、中継方法、及びそのプログラム - Google Patents
制御装置、中継方法、及びそのプログラム Download PDFInfo
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- WO2012111344A1 WO2012111344A1 PCT/JP2012/001058 JP2012001058W WO2012111344A1 WO 2012111344 A1 WO2012111344 A1 WO 2012111344A1 JP 2012001058 W JP2012001058 W JP 2012001058W WO 2012111344 A1 WO2012111344 A1 WO 2012111344A1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/02—Details
- H04L12/16—Arrangements for providing special services to substations
- H04L12/18—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast
- H04L12/189—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast in combination with wireless systems
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L51/00—User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
- H04L51/48—Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/02—Details
- H04L12/16—Arrangements for providing special services to substations
- H04L12/18—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast
- H04L12/1886—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast with traffic restrictions for efficiency improvement, e.g. involving subnets or subdomains
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L51/00—User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
- H04L51/21—Monitoring or handling of messages
- H04L51/214—Monitoring or handling of messages using selective forwarding
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L61/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
- H04L61/09—Mapping addresses
- H04L61/25—Mapping addresses of the same type
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a control device.
- the present invention relates to a control device that controls electric machine appliances connected via a network.
- CE Consumer Electronics
- an object of the present invention is to provide a control device with higher power efficiency in a network.
- One aspect of the control device is the control device in a network including the control device and a plurality of terminal devices, the receiving unit receiving a broadcast message transmitted from each terminal device in the network; Determining whether the received broadcast message should be converted into a unicast message for a specific terminal device that is a part of the plurality of terminal devices based on information included in the broadcast message.
- a determination unit that converts the broadcast message into a unicast message when the determination unit determines that conversion is necessary, and a transmission unit that transmits the unicast message to the specific terminal device. Is provided.
- the present invention can be realized not only as such a control device but also as a data relay method using characteristic means included in the control device as a step, or executing such characteristic steps in a computer. It can also be realized as a program to be executed. Needless to say, such a program can be distributed via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Only Memory) and a transmission medium such as the Internet.
- a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Only Memory)
- a transmission medium such as the Internet.
- the present invention can be realized as a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI) that realizes part or all of the functions of such a control device, or can be realized as a control system including such a control device.
- LSI semiconductor integrated circuit
- a control device that improves the power efficiency of the entire network can be provided.
- FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic network.
- FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the relay apparatus.
- FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the interactive device evaluation means.
- FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the interactive device evaluation unit and the user presence evaluation unit.
- FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the protocol presence evaluation means.
- FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a protocol presence evaluation unit and a function presence evaluation unit.
- FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an address translation entity having all evaluation means and state switching means.
- FIG. 10 is a state diagram of the state switching means.
- FIG. 10 is a state diagram of the state switching means.
- FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the basic processing of the present invention.
- FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the interactive device evaluation means in the address translation entity.
- FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the user presence evaluation means in the address translation entity.
- FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the application protocol evaluation unit in the address translation entity.
- FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the function existence evaluation unit in the address translation entity.
- FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of the communication standard evaluation means in the address translation entity.
- FIG. 17 shows fields of the interactive device database.
- FIG. 18 shows fields of the user presence database.
- FIG. 19 shows fields of the application protocol database.
- FIG. 20 shows fields of the device function database.
- FIG. 21 shows fields of the communication standard database.
- FIG. 22 is an example of node classification.
- FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the format of the IN-TRANSFORMATION message.
- FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram without the interactive device evaluation means and the user presence evaluation means.
- FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram including an interactive device evaluation unit and a user presence evaluation unit.
- FIG. 26 is a sequence diagram without the application protocol evaluation unit and the function presence evaluation unit.
- FIG. 27 is a sequence diagram including an application protocol evaluation unit and a function existence evaluation unit.
- FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram without communication standard evaluation means.
- FIG. 29 is a sequence diagram with communication standard evaluation means.
- One aspect of the control device is the control device in a network including the control device and a plurality of terminal devices, the receiving unit receiving a broadcast message transmitted from each terminal device in the network; Determining whether the received broadcast message should be converted into a unicast message for a specific terminal device that is a part of the plurality of terminal devices based on information included in the broadcast message.
- a determination unit that converts the broadcast message into a unicast message when the determination unit determines that conversion is necessary, and a transmission unit that transmits the unicast message to the specific terminal device. Is provided.
- the control device can generate a group of terminal devices that require the message based on the information included in the message received from the source node (also referred to as the source device). Moreover, it is possible to prevent the terminal device from receiving an unnecessary broadcast message by performing unicast transmission only to the terminal device included in the generated group. As a result, the time during which the communication function of the terminal device can be put to sleep is extended. Therefore, it is possible to provide a control device that improves the power efficiency of the entire network.
- a plurality of protocols may be mixed in the data link layer in the network.
- control device When a plurality of protocols are mixed in the data link layer, it is necessary for a control device that supports the plurality of protocols to relay the broadcast message. Therefore, the control device according to this aspect can be applied more effectively.
- the transmission unit converts the broadcast message into each of the plurality of protocols and transmits the broadcast message. Also good.
- the determination unit may specify a terminal device having a display unit that presents information to a user among the plurality of terminal devices as the specific terminal device.
- the determination unit may specify a terminal device that has been input by a user within a specific period as the specific terminal device among the plurality of terminal devices.
- information that requires urgency can be transmitted only to a terminal device that is likely to have a user nearby.
- the plurality of terminal devices are home electric machine appliances
- the determination unit inputs the home electric machine appliances operated by the user within a specific period of time by the user. It may be specified as the specific terminal device performed.
- the determination unit may specify a terminal device corresponding to a specific communication protocol among the plurality of terminal devices as the specific terminal device.
- the specific communication protocol may be a protocol using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).
- UPnP Universal Plug and Play
- the determination unit may specify a terminal device having a specific function among the plurality of terminal devices as the specific terminal device.
- a message can be unicasted only to a terminal device having a function closely related to the function of the source node that has transmitted the broadcast message received by the control device.
- the determination unit may further determine whether the broadcast message should be converted into a unicast message and transmitted for each communication protocol supported by the plurality of terminal devices.
- control device can perform unicast transmission to all the terminal devices.
- the communication protocol is ZigBee, IEEE (Institut of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, IEEE 802.15.4, Z-Wave, ECHONET, KNX, Bluetooth (registered trademark), at least one of them. It may be.
- a power saving method for extending the usage time of a home appliance (CE) device is very important particularly for a CE device (hereinafter also referred to as a wireless CE device) equipped with a wireless communication function.
- the broadcast communication method is widely used to notify an information message for the entire system to all devices in the same network. Specifically, by using broadcast or multicast transmission (hereinafter also referred to as broadcast transmission), without knowing the communication request or characteristics of the device, “interactive device presence”, “user presence”, “application Specific messages such as “protocol presence”, “functionality presence” and “communication standard presence” may be distributed.
- broadcast transmission broadcast or multicast transmission
- the present invention provides a new technology relating to power saving of household electrical appliance (CE) devices, particularly wireless CE devices.
- CE household electrical appliance
- These new technologies improve the energy efficiency of the CE device by delivering a specific message only to the target device in consideration of the communication request of the device.
- a relay device that analyzes the semantic content of the received broadcast / multicast is provided. As a result, it is possible to determine whether to properly convert broadcast transmission to unicast transmission or to maintain broadcast transmission based on an understanding of the semantic content of communication requested by the CE device. Therefore, it is possible to realize energy saving of the non-target terminal device.
- the present invention improves energy efficiency. In addition, it improves network bandwidth and reduces network latency.
- Source A terminal device that transmits a message that can be generated from a wired or wireless medium to a relay device. Also called a source node.
- Relay device An intermediate device that receives a message, converts the message, and sends it to the target device. Also called a control device.
- Address translation entity An entity responsible for evaluating and determining whether an incoming message needs to be converted to broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission.
- Evaluation means A generic term for entities that are responsible for evaluating and determining the need for communication transmission for each message, taking into account energy consumption, bandwidth and latency.
- Interactive device evaluation means Evaluation means for tagging broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission to an input message based on the presence of an interactive terminal device.
- the interactivity of the device may be in the form of seeing, listening, smelling, touching and tasting.
- User presence evaluation means Evaluation means for tagging broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission to an input message based on the user presence of the terminal device.
- Application protocol evaluation means An evaluation means for tagging broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission to an input message based on the message protocol and the application protocol of the destination node.
- Function presence evaluation means Evaluation means for tagging broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission to the input message based on the relationship between the source node and the destination node.
- Communication standard evaluation means Evaluation means for tagging broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission as an input message based on the communication standard of the destination node.
- Node A device that receives a message from a relay device and transmits it to the relay device. Also called a terminal device.
- Dormant wireless node A common coordinator, usually a power-saving wireless device, which sends a time beacon to notify the resting node whether there is an input pending message.
- the power-saving wireless device may use, for example, indirect polling technology.
- Message analysis means Receives an input message and transfers the input message to the database updater or the state switching means or to the evaluation means.
- the input message for updating the database shall be transferred to the database updater.
- the input message for address conversion is transferred to the state switching means or the evaluation means.
- Database updater Updates to the database based on the input message transferred by the message analysis means.
- Message constructor Removes the embedded information excluding the original message from the IN_TRANSFORMATION message 2100.
- the output from the message constructor may be in the form of multiple unicast transmissions or a single broadcast / multicast transmission.
- Database search means Search the database for the queried information.
- In-Transformation message An input message with embedded support information used for address translation. As shown in FIG. 23, this format includes MSG_PAYLOAD, IN_TRANS_STATE, and DEST_ADDRESS 0 to N.
- the broadcast message relayed by the control device includes MSG_PAYLOAD.
- MSG_PAYLOAD includes type information necessary for each evaluation unit to determine whether or not to convert the message into unicast transmission.
- IN_TRANS_STATE and DEST_ADDRESS0 to N indicate information necessary for internal processing of the control device. Therefore, IN_TRANS_STATE and DEST_ADDRESS0 to N are added and deleted by the control device.
- Tagging is performed with support information such as IN_TRANS_STATE and DET_ADDRESS 0 to N of the IN-TRANSFORMATION message.
- Address untagging means: Support information such as IN_TRANS_STATE and DET_ADDRESS 0 to N in the IN-TRANSFORMATION message is removed.
- Interactive_Threshold a trigger in the interactive device evaluation means 700 for keeping the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 in broadcast / multicast transmission when the specified limit is exceeded. Specifically, the upper limit of the number of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) is indicated. In order to ensure that the total amount of energy consumed by multiple unicasts (terminal device wake-up is short) is less than broadcasting / multicasting (terminal device wake-up is long) Quantitatively defined from the number of devices.
- User_Presence_Threshold a trigger in the user presence evaluation means 708 for keeping IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation 2100 message in broadcast / multicast transmission when the specified limit is exceeded.
- DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 22110 indicates the upper limit of the number.
- the trigger indicates that the total amount of energy consumed in a plurality of unicasts (terminal device wakeup is short) is broadcast / multicasting ( In order to guarantee that the terminal device wakeup is less (long), it is quantitatively defined from the number of terminal devices.
- Application_Protocol_Threshold a trigger in the application protocol evaluation means 716 for keeping the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 in broadcast / multicast transmission when the specified limit is exceeded. Specifically, the upper limit of the number of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) is indicated. In order to ensure that the total amount of energy consumed by multiple unicasts (terminal device wake-up is short) is less than broadcasting / multicasting (terminal device wake-up is long) Quantitatively defined from the number of devices.
- Communication_Protocol_Threshold a trigger in the communication standard evaluation means 732 for keeping the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 in broadcast / multicast transmission when the specified limit is exceeded. Specifically, the upper limit of the number of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) is indicated. In order to ensure that the total amount of energy consumed by multiple unicasts (terminal device wake-up is short) is less than broadcasting / multicasting (terminal device wake-up is long) Quantitatively defined from the number of devices.
- Communication_Protocol_Battery_Threshold a trigger in the communication standard evaluation means 732 for keeping the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 in broadcast / multicast transmission within the specified limit. Specifically, it indicates a limit on the number of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110). The total amount of energy consumed by a plurality of unicasts (short terminal wake-up) is less than broadcasting / multicasting (long terminal wake-up) for battery-powered devices. In order to guarantee this, it is quantitatively defined from the number of terminal devices.
- the present invention relates to a technology for further realizing energy saving of a dormant wireless node with respect to a carrier detection wireless power saving standard based on x standard. Ensuring message content delivery to target devices by broadcast / multicast or unicast transmission not only saves energy, but also improves network bandwidth and latency.
- the relay apparatus has at least one of five main evaluation means that enable this, namely, an interactive apparatus evaluation means, a user presence evaluation means, an application protocol evaluation means, a function presence evaluation means, and a communication standard evaluation means. Have When these systems and techniques are used, a plurality of conditions are evaluated together with the database search, and the result of the relay message is determined.
- all wireless devices in the dormant state wake up based on the synchronization of beacon frames transmitted by the relay device that is the base station. If the current beacon frame indicates a broadcast / multicast transmission, all devices will wait until a broadcast / multicast message is received. However, the broadcast / multicast message is only useful for a few devices, and not all devices understand or target it. Therefore, after the beacon frame instruction, the broadcast / multicast is converted into unicast for the target device by the relay device so that all devices do not wait for receiving the broadcast / multicast message. Therefore, the relay device does not sequentially transmit the broadcast / multicast message to all the devices, but performs unicast transmission by narrowing down the transmission destination target only to the device that needs the broadcast / multicast message.
- the wake-up period can be reduced by reducing broadcast / multicast UPnP messages. Life is extended and overall power consumption is reduced. If a broadcast / multicast message is sent every 30 seconds, the broadcast / multicast message is sent 2880 times in 24 hours. This causes a long wakeup. Also, unnecessary message analysis for multiple dormant wireless devices results in shorter battery life and increased overall power consumption. Therefore, it is useful for the present invention to convert these broadcast / multicast messages to unicast transmissions without losing the semantic content of the target receiving device.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network topology.
- a plurality of networks A to N (116, 118, 120, 122) and nodes 1 to M + 2 (140, 142, 144, 146, 148, which are dormant radio nodes) shown in FIG. 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162), the source nodes A to N, and the relay apparatus 100.
- the relay device 100 is also referred to as a control device 100.
- the relay device 100 includes an address translation entity.
- Source A is connected to network A 116 via connection 109.
- the network A 116 is connected to the relay device 100 via the connection 124.
- This connection layout is also applied to the other source nodes B to N connected to the network (118, 120, 122) via the connections (110, 112, 114). Further, the present invention is also applied to other networks (118, 120, 122) connected to the relay apparatus 100 via the connections (126, 128, 130).
- connection (109, 110, 112, 114, 124, 126, 128, 130) is not limited to a specific wired or wireless medium.
- the relay apparatus 100 provided with a wireless communication interface 136 that can support various standards is connected to a dormant wireless node (140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152, 154, 156, via a connection 138). 158, 160, 162) wirelessly.
- the source nodes (100, 102, 104, 106) may be dormant radio nodes (140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162). Absent.
- FIG. 2 shows functional blocks of the control device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- the control device 100 is a control device in a network including the control device 100 and a plurality of terminal devices.
- the control device 100 includes a reception unit 102, a storage unit 103, a determination unit 104, a conversion unit 106, and a transmission unit 108.
- the address conversion entity includes a storage unit 103, a determination unit 104, and a conversion unit 106.
- the receiving unit 102 receives a broadcast message transmitted from each terminal device wirelessly or by wire within the network.
- the storage unit 103 stores information regarding each terminal device.
- the storage unit 103 may be a database installed outside the control device 100, for example. In this case, even if the control device 100 does not include the storage unit 103, it is possible to acquire necessary information by making an inquiry to an external database via the network. Details will be described later.
- the determination unit 104 converts the broadcast message received by the reception unit 102 into a unicast message for a specific terminal device that is a part of the plurality of terminal devices, and determines whether or not the broadcast message should be transmitted. Judgment is based on the information contained.
- the conversion unit 106 converts the broadcast message into a unicast message when the determination unit 104 determines that conversion into a unicast message is necessary.
- the transmission unit 108 transmits a unicast message to a specific terminal device wirelessly or by wire.
- FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed by the control device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- the determining unit 104 determines whether or not the received broadcast message should be converted into a unicast message (S104).
- the conversion unit 106 converts the received broadcast message into a unicast message (S106).
- the transmission unit 108 transmits the broadcast message as a broadcast message to the terminal device (S108). .
- the transmission unit 108 converts the broadcast message into each of the plurality of protocols, and then transmits the same message for each terminal device that performs communication using the corresponding protocol. It may be sent as an information message.
- FIG. 4 shows a hardware configuration of the relay apparatus 100 including the processing unit 200, the input / output unit 202, the memory 204, and the storage 206.
- the processing means 200 executes arithmetic processing necessary for an address translation entity function described later.
- the processing means 200 may be a discrete device or an embedded processor.
- the memory 204 caches processing packets for the address translation entity.
- the memory 204 may be an internal register, an internal memory, or an external memory.
- the storage 206 holds a database for managing terminal device information.
- the storage 206 may be an internal permanent storage disk or an external permanent storage disk.
- the input / output means 202 may be provided with one or more interfaces. Further, as an interface for input / output packets from the network, a wired and wireless interface may be used, and an all wireless interface may be used.
- An address translation entity to be described later can be implemented as a hardware or software solution of the relay device 100.
- FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 each show an example of the configuration of the address translation entity provided in the control device 100 according to the present embodiment. Each figure shows the configuration of separate address translation entities that can be executed independently. As described above, the address translation entity corresponds to the storage unit 103, the determination unit 104, and the conversion unit 106 included in the control device 100.
- FIG. 5 is a diagram showing devices in and around the interactive device evaluation means 300.
- the interactive device evaluation unit 300 and the message analysis unit 310 correspond to the determination unit 104.
- the interactive device database corresponds to the storage unit 103.
- the message constructor 314 corresponds to the conversion unit 106.
- the interactive device evaluation unit 300 includes a database search unit 302, an address tagging unit 304, and an interactive threshold detection unit 306. Means around the interactive device evaluation means 300 include a message analysis means 310, a database updater 312, an interactive device database 308, and a message constructor 314.
- the received input message that is, the In-Transformation message 2100 shown in FIG. 23 including only the MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 at this time is input to the address translation entity via the connection 316.
- This In-Transformation message 2100 is input to the message analysis means 310.
- the message analysis means 310 analyzes the contents of the In-Transformation message 2100. Thereafter, the type information of the In-Transformation message 2100 obtained by the analysis is transferred to the database updater 312 via the connection 318.
- the type information of the In-Transformation message 2100 is information included in MSG_PAYLOAD of the In-Transformation message 2100, and is information used when the address translation entity determines whether or not unicast translation is necessary.
- the In-Transformation message 2100 includes type information indicating whether the message is an interactive message that can be included in the layer 2 protocol format.
- type information indicating whether the message is an interactive message that can be included in the layer 2 protocol format.
- IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- LLDP Link Layer Discovery Protocol
- Microsoft LLTD Linkolayer is limited.
- the database updater 312 updates the interactive device database 308 via the bus connection 320.
- the message analysis unit 310 activates the interactive device evaluation unit 300. Further, the message analysis unit 310 inputs the In-Transformation message 2100 to the database search unit 302 via the connection 324.
- the message analysis unit 310 when the message analysis unit 310 receives the In-Transformation message, the message analysis unit 310 refers to the type information included in the message. Thereby, the message analysis means 310 determines the type of the message.
- the message analysis unit 310 displays the message as an interactive device evaluation unit. Input to 300.
- the database search unit 302 searches the interactive device database 308 for an information list related to the interactive device via the connection 322. Further, the database search means 302 activates the address tagging means 304 via the connection 326.
- the address tagging means 304 tags the In-Transformation message 2100 with the unique device ID (2106, 2108, 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS0 to DEST_ADDRESSSN (hereinafter also referred to as DEST_ADDRESS0 to N) fields. Further, the address tagging means 304 sets information indicating broadcast transmission (for example, broadcast / multicast transmission) or information indicating unicast transmission in the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100. To decide.
- the address tagging means 304 tags the ID of the terminal device that is the interactive device acquired from the interactive device database 308 in the unique device ID column of the In-Transformation message 2100. Also, information indicating unicast transmission is set in IN_TRANS_STATE 2104. If the number of IDs of terminal devices that are interactive devices acquired from the interactive device database 308 is 0, the address tagging unit 304 may set information indicating that broadcast transmission is performed in the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104. Good.
- the address tagging unit 304 may activate the interactive threshold detection unit 306 via the connection 328.
- the interactive threshold detection means 306 sends a broadcast to the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104. You may set the information which shows that there exists. This is because it is considered that communication efficiency is better when one broadcast message is transmitted than when many unicast messages are transmitted.
- the interactive device evaluation unit 300 may not include the interactive threshold value detection unit 306.
- the message constructor 314 receives the In-Transformation message via the connection 330. Furthermore, an In-Transformation message is transmitted via the connection 332.
- the interactive device is specifically a terminal device having a display unit such as a liquid crystal display. Therefore, the determination unit 104 may specify a terminal device having a display unit that presents information to the user among a plurality of terminal devices as a specific terminal device to be subjected to unicast transmission.
- FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the interactive device evaluation means 400, the user presence evaluation means 408, and their surroundings.
- FIG. 6 is obtained by adding user presence evaluation means 408 to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 that are similarly described with the same reference numerals are (316, 428), (312, 424), (320, 432), (308, 418), (322, 434), (324, 436), (300, 400), (302, 402), (326, 438), (304, 404), (328, 440), (306, 406), (314, 426), and (332, 454).
- the interactive device evaluation unit 400, the user presence evaluation unit 408, and the message analysis unit 422 correspond to the determination unit 104.
- the interactive device database 418 and the user presence database 420 correspond to the storage unit 103.
- the message constructor 426 corresponds to the conversion unit 106.
- the user presence evaluation unit 408 includes a database search unit 410, a user presence threshold value detection unit 412, and an address untagging unit 414.
- Additional means around the user presence evaluation means 408 are the user presence database 420 and the frame storage 416.
- the message analysis unit 422 analyzes the contents of the In-Transformation message 2100. Thereafter, the type information of the In-Transformation message obtained by the analysis is transferred to the database updater 424 via the connections (318, 430).
- the In-Transformation message 2100 includes type information indicating whether the message is related to user presence information that can be included in the format of the layer 2 protocol.
- This type information is information indicating whether the user has exchanged information with the terminal device. For example, the last user command issued by the remote control (1602, 1604 in FIG. 18) regarding the interaction with the human, the person paying attention to the device (1602, 1604 in FIG. 18), the device status (1606 in FIG. 18). ) Etc.
- the user presence information is not limited to these.
- the database updater (312, 424) updates the user presence database 420 via the bus connection (320, 432).
- the interactive threshold detection means (306, 406) receives the In-Transformation message 2100, it refers to the type information of the message.
- the message analysis unit 422 transmits the message to the user. Input to the presence evaluation means 408.
- the database search means 410 included in the user presence evaluation means 408 is activated via the connection 442.
- the message analysis unit 422 first sends an In ⁇ to the interactive device evaluation unit 400.
- a Transformation message 2100 may be output.
- the database search means 410 searches the user presence database 420 for an information list related to the user presence via the connection 444.
- the database search unit 410 activates the user presence threshold value detection unit 412 via the connection 446 and untagged the unique device IDs (2106, 2108, and 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS 0 to N fields transferred from the interactive device evaluation unit 400. Decide if you want to.
- the user presence threshold detection unit 412 activates the address untagging unit and appropriately untagged the unique device IDs (2106, 2108, and 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS0 to N fields from the In-Transform message 2100 via the connection 448.
- the user presence threshold detection unit 412 may delete the ID of the terminal device tagged in the In-Transformation message as a unicast transmission target by the interactive device evaluation unit 400. Note that the user presence evaluation unit 408 may not include the user presence threshold value detection unit 412.
- the address untagging means 414 sets the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 to broadcast / multicast transmission, unicast transmission, or frame storage 416 based on a predetermined condition (FIG. 13, step 1118). Decide what to transfer to.
- the address untagging means 414 is connected to the frame storage 416 via the connection 450. If the DEST_ADDRESS0 to N fields do not exist in the In-Transformation message 2100 based on a predetermined condition (FIG. 13, step 1118), the In-Transformation message 2100 is stored in the frame storage 416. It is assumed that the In-Transformation message 2100 in the frame storage 416 is transmitted when the user is present or transmitted via another network (116, 118, 120, 122) where the user is present.
- the address untagging means 414 activates the message constructor 426 via the connection 452.
- the user presence information is specifically information indicating a terminal device in which an input by the user to the terminal device is performed within a specific period. For example, when a user changes a TV program with a remote controller within 30 minutes, an ID indicating the TV is recorded in the user presence database. Similarly, when a user uses an IH (Induction Heating) cooker within 5 minutes, an ID indicating the IH cooker is recorded in the user presence database.
- IH Induction Heating
- the determination unit 104 may identify a terminal device that has been input by the user within a specific period among the plurality of terminal devices as a specific terminal device to be subjected to unicast transmission. More specifically, the plurality of terminal devices are household electric machine appliances, and the determination unit 104 inputs information on household electric machine appliances operated by the user within a specific period by the user. You may specify as a specific terminal device.
- FIG. 7 is a diagram showing devices in and around the application protocol evaluation unit 500. 5 and 7 are similarly described with the same reference numerals (316, 516), (320, 520), (314, 514), and (332, 532).
- the application protocol evaluation unit 500 and the message analysis unit 510 correspond to the determination unit 104.
- the application protocol database 508 corresponds to the storage unit 103.
- the message constructor 514 corresponds to the conversion unit 106.
- the application protocol evaluation unit 500 includes a database search unit 502, an address tagging unit 504, and an application protocol threshold value detection unit 506.
- An additional means around the application protocol evaluation means 500 is an application protocol database 508.
- This In-Transformation message is input to the message analysis means 510.
- the message analysis means 510 analyzes the contents of the In-Transformation message.
- the message analysis unit 510 transfers the type information of the In-Transformation message obtained by the analysis to the database updater 512 via the connection 518.
- the In-Transformation message includes type information indicating the type of application protocol that can be used in the layer 2 protocol format.
- Examples of the layer 2 protocol include an IEEE LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) and a Microsoft LLTD (Link Layer Discovery Discovery) protocol. However, it is not limited to these.
- a source that supports the corresponding application protocol can also be found from the MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 of the In-Transformation message 2100 by the layer 4 protocol header. Then, the database updater 512 updates the application protocol database 508 via the bus connection 520.
- the message analysis unit 510 also activates the application protocol evaluation unit 500, and the In-Transformation message 2100 is input to the database search unit 502 via the connection 524.
- the message analysis means 310 receives the In-Transformation message, it refers to the type information of the message.
- the message analysis unit 510 inputs the message to the application protocol evaluation unit 500.
- the database search means 302 searches the application protocol database 508 for an information list related to the application protocol supported by the terminal device via the connection 522.
- the database search unit 502 activates the address tagging unit 504 via the connection 526.
- the address tagging means 504 tags the In-Transformation 2100 message with the unique device IDs (2106, 2108, and 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS0 to N fields.
- the application protocol threshold value detecting means 506 is activated via the connection 528, and it is determined whether the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to broadcast / multicast transmission or unicast transmission. decide.
- Application protocol threshold detection means 506 activates message constructor 514 via connection 530.
- the message constructor 514 transmits a message via the connection 532.
- the determination unit 104 may identify a terminal device corresponding to a specific communication protocol among a plurality of terminal devices as a specific terminal device to be subjected to unicast transmission.
- the specific communication protocol may be a protocol using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).
- FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the application protocol evaluation means 600, the function existence evaluation means 608, and their peripheral devices.
- FIG. 8 is obtained by adding function existence evaluation means 608 to FIG. 7 and 8 that are similarly described with the same reference numerals are (516, 628), (512, 624), (520, 632), (508, 618), (522, 634), (524, 636), (500, 600), (502, 602), (526, 638), (504, 604), (528, 640), (506, 606), (514, 626), and (532, 654). 6 and FIG. 8 are similarly described with the same reference numerals (416, 616).
- the function existence evaluation unit 608 includes a database search unit 610, a device / service function mapping unit 612, and an address untagging unit 614. Additional means around the function presence evaluation means 608 are the device function database 620 and the frame storage 616.
- the application protocol evaluation unit 600, the function existence evaluation unit 608, and the message analysis unit 622 correspond to the determination unit 104.
- the application protocol database 618 and the device function database 620 correspond to the storage unit 103.
- the message constructor 626 corresponds to the conversion unit 106.
- the message analysis means 622 analyzes the contents of the In-Transformation message 2100. Thereafter, the type information of the In-Transformation message 2100 obtained by the analysis is transferred to the database updater 624 via the connection 630.
- the In-Transformation message 2100 includes type information indicating the functions of the terminal device that can be included in the layer 2 protocol format.
- As the layer 2 protocol IEEE LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol), Microsoft LLTD (Link Layer Topology Discovery) protocol, or the like can be considered. However, it is not limited to these.
- the device / function mapping relationship can also be found from the MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 of the In-Transformation message 2100 by the layer 4 protocol payload.
- the database updater (512, 624) updates the device function database 620 via the bus connection (520, 632).
- the database search means 610 of the function existence evaluation means 608 activated via the connection 642 causes the information list related to the device function relation via the connection 644. Is retrieved from the device function database 620.
- the database search unit 610 activates the device / service function mapping unit 612 via the connection 646, and the unique device IDs in the DEST_ADDRESS 0 to N fields transferred from the application protocol evaluation unit 600 (2106, 2108, and 2110 in FIG. 23). Determine whether to untagged.
- the device / service function mapping unit 612 activates the address untagging unit and appropriately untagged the unique device IDs (2106, 2108, and 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS0 to N fields from the In-Transformation message 2100 via the connection 648. .
- the function existence evaluation unit 608 refers to the device function database 620 to determine whether or not the number of terminal devices having a specific function specified in the In-Transformation message 2100 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. To do. If it is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it may be determined that communication efficiency is better when broadcast transmission is performed to all terminal devices. In this case, the function existence evaluation unit 608 may delete the ID of the terminal device tagged in the In-Transformation message as a unicast transmission target by the application protocol evaluation unit 600.
- the address untagging means 614 sets the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 to broadcast / multicast transmission, unicast transmission, or frame storage 616 based on a predetermined condition (FIG. 15, step 1312). Decide what to transfer to.
- the address untagging means 614 is connected to the frame storage 616 via the connection 650. If the DEST_ADDRESS 0 to N fields do not exist in the In-Transformation message 2100 based on a predetermined condition (FIG. 15, step 1312), the In-Transformation message 2100 is stored in the frame storage 616. If any of the connected devices matches the functional relationship of the device, an In-Transformation message in the frame storage 616 is transmitted. The address untagging means 614 activates the message constructor 626 via the connection 652.
- the function recorded by the device function database 620 for each terminal device may be, for example, a server function and a client function in video distribution at home, an energy saving function, an AV (Audio Visual) data reproduction function, and the like.
- the determination unit 104 may specify a terminal device having a specific function among the plurality of terminal devices as a specific terminal device to be subjected to unicast transmission.
- the control device 100 may include the above-described interactive device evaluation unit, user presence evaluation unit, application protocol evaluation unit, and function presence evaluation unit in any combination. Further, for each communication protocol supported by a plurality of terminal devices, it may be determined whether or not the broadcast message should be converted into a unicast message and transmitted.
- FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the overall interconnection of the main components.
- the interactive device evaluation means 700, the user presence evaluation means 708, the application protocol evaluation means 716, the function presence evaluation means 724, and the communication standard evaluation means 732 are shown.
- And state switching means 756 are included.
- the introduced additional entities are a communication standard evaluation unit 732 and a state switching unit 756.
- FIG. 5 FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. (316, 428, 516, 628, 760), (320, 432, 520, 632, 764), (308, 418, 742), (322, 434, 766), (300, 400, 700), (302 , 402, 702), (326, 438, 770), (304, 404, 704), (328, 440, 772), (306, 406, 706), (444, 795), (408, 708), (410, 710), (446, 776), (412, 712), (448, 778), (414, 714), (522, 634, 796), (500, 600, 716), (502, 602) , 718), (526, 638, 780), (504, 604, 720), (528, 640, 782), (506, 606, 722), (644, 797) (608, 724), (610, 726), (646, 784), (612, 728), (648, 786), (614
- the interactive device evaluation unit 700, the user presence evaluation unit 708, the application protocol evaluation unit 716, the function presence evaluation unit 724, the communication standard evaluation unit 732, the message analysis unit 752, and the state switching unit 756 correspond to the determination unit 104. To do.
- the interactive device database 742, the user presence database 744, the application protocol database 746, the device function database 748, and the communication standard database 750 correspond to the storage unit 103.
- a message constructor 758 corresponds to the conversion unit 106.
- the communication standard evaluation unit 732 includes a database search unit 734, a communication standard threshold value detection unit 736, and an address tagging unit 738.
- An additional unit that supports the communication standard evaluation unit 732 is a communication standard database 750.
- Message analysis means (312, 422, 510, 622, 752) analyzes the contents of the In-Transformation message 2100. Thereafter, the type information of the In-Transformation message 2100 obtained by the analysis is transferred to the database updater (310, 424, 512, 624, 754) via the connection (318, 430, 518, 630, 762).
- This In-Transformation message 2100 includes type information indicating contents related to communication standards and battery power that can be included in the format of the layer 2 protocol.
- layer 2 protocol IEEE LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) or Microsoft LLTD (Link Layer Discovery Discovery) protocol can be considered, but is not limited thereto.
- the database updater (318, 430, 518, 630, 762) updates the communication standard database 750 via the bus connection (320, 432, 520, 632, 764).
- the state switching unit 756 receives the In-Transformation message 2100 called by the message analysis unit 752 via the connection 767. Thereafter, when the database search unit 734 receives the In-Transformation message 2100 from the state switching unit 756 via the connection 768, the database search unit 734 of the communication standard evaluation unit 732 transmits the device from the communication standard database 750 via the connection 798. Search a list of communication standards and power supply information.
- the database search unit 734 activates the communication standard threshold value detection unit 736 via the connection 788, and the unique device IDs (2106, 2108, and 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS0 to N fields from the state switching unit 756 indicate the communication standard with the relevant device. (1404 in FIG. 16).
- the control device 100 groups terminal devices based on the communication standard (1406 in FIG. 16).
- the communication standard threshold value detection means 736 increases the communication standard threshold value 1410 and the communication standard battery threshold value 1432 so that the number of terminal devices corresponding to the communication standard specified by the type information and the number of terminal devices that can be driven by a battery are increased. Determine if you are turning.
- the broadcast message is transmitted as it is.
- the broadcast message may be converted into a unicast message and transmitted.
- the determination unit 104 may determine whether the broadcast message should be converted into a unicast message and transmitted for each communication protocol supported by a plurality of terminal devices.
- any communication protocol used by the determination unit 104 for determination can be used.
- the communication standard threshold detection means 736 may use only one of the communication standard threshold and the communication standard battery threshold.
- the communication standard threshold value detecting means 736 activates the address tagging means 738 via the connection 790.
- the address tagging unit 738 tags the In-Transformation message 2100 with respect to the unique device IDs (2106, 2108, and 2110) in the DEST_ADDRESS0 to N fields as determined by the communication standard threshold value detection unit 732. Further, the result calculated by the communication standard threshold value detection means 736 is searched, and IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 is set to broadcast / multicast transmission or unicast transmission.
- the address tagging unit 738 then activates the state switching unit 756 that passes the In-Transformation message 2100 via the connection 774 by the bus.
- the state switching unit 756 is a component for the determination unit 104 having a plurality of evaluation units in parallel to integrate the outputs of the respective evaluation units so that the determination unit 104 makes a final determination.
- the state switching unit 756 has an option to activate the message constructor 758 via the connection 793.
- FIG. 10 is a state diagram of the state switching unit 756 that determines which internal state (800, 802, 804, 806, 808) to use which evaluation unit is to be used.
- the state transition must start with INT-DEV-EVAL 800 or APP-PT-EVAL 806 based on the message type. This state transition may be ended in any state (800, 802, 804, 806, 808). If there are several transition path candidates, the longest path to the transmission destination is selected to obtain better results. This is because more filtering is performed.
- an In-Transformation message 2100 with MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 including a user warning message 810 is input to INT-DEV-EVAL (700, 800). If the output of IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 from the INT-DEV-EVAL (700, 800) is broadcast / multicast transmission, the connection 816 for transitioning to COM-STD-EVAL (716, 804) is selected. The Otherwise, the connection 812 for transitioning to USR-PS-EVAL (708, 802) is selected.
- USR-PS-EVAL (708, 802) uses connection 814. To COM-STD-EVAL (732, 804).
- an In-Transformation message 2100 with MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 including a device message 818 is input to APP-PT-EVAL (716, 806).
- the connection 824 for transitioning to the COM-STD-EVAL (716, 804) is established. Selected. Otherwise, the connection 820 for transitioning to FUNC-PS-EVAL (724, 808) is selected.
- the FUNC-PS-EVAL (724, 808) is connected via the connection 822. Transition to COM-STD-EVAL (732, 804).
- FIG. 11 shows a basic processing flow of the entire apparatus.
- the message analysis means 752 receives the In-Transformation message 2100 via the connection 760, all databases are initialized and the status is determined (step 902). Thereafter, the entity (700, 708, 716, 724, 732) starts address translation (step 904).
- the In-Transformation 2100 message is embedded, the In-Transformation 2100 message is reconstructed by the message constructor 758 and then sent via the connection 794.
- FIG. 12 shows more detailed processing performed by the interactive device evaluation means 700. This is started when the database search means (302, 702) receives an activation message including the In-Transformation message from the state switching means 756 or the message analysis means (310, 752) (step 1000).
- the database search means (302, 702) searches the interactive device information (1500, 1502) from the interactive device database (308, 742) and makes a list (step 1002).
- step 1004 the list is queried so that only the interactive device remains. For each record in this list, the corresponding Unique_Device_ID 1500 is extracted (step 1006, step 1008, step 1022, step 1010). When the list is finished (step 1008), the process proceeds to the next (step 1024).
- step 1012 the extracted Unique_Device_ID is tagged in the DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) of the In-Transform message 2100 by the address tagging means (304, 704).
- the address tagging means (304, 704) activates the interactive threshold detection means (306, 706), and counts the number of registered items in the DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) of the In-Transform message 2100 (step 1014).
- the number of registered items represents the number of interactive devices that exist.
- the Interactive_Threshold acquired from the memory 204 is compared with the number of registered items (step 1016). If the result of the condition determination 1016 in step 1016 is true (Yes in step 1016, step 1026), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to broadcast / multicast transmission (step 1020). Otherwise (No in Step 1016, Step 1028), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to unicast (Step 1018).
- FIG. 13 shows more detailed processing performed by the user presence evaluation means (408, 708).
- the database search means (410, 710) starts when the database search means (410, 710) receives an activation message including the In-Transformation message 2100 from the state switching means 756 or the message analysis means (422, 752) (step 1100).
- the database search means (410, 710) searches the user presence database (420, 744) for the online or No_Status unique_device_ID, last_user_interacted_date, last_user_interacted_time, device_status (160, 1601 of FIG. (Step 1102, Step 1104).
- the database search means (410, 710) executes a query for the current time of the system.
- the database search means (410, 710) activates the user presence threshold value detection means (412, 712).
- the user presence evaluation means (408, 708) is a terminal device whose Unique_Device_ID matches each DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110 in FIG. 23) included in the In-Transformation message 2100, and has Device_Status of online or No_Status.
- the presence / absence of a terminal device is determined (step 1108). If the result of the condition determination (step 1108) is false, it becomes a pass (No in step 1108, step 1126).
- Last_User_Interacted_Date 1602 and Last_User_Interacted_Time 1604 of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) and the current time is taken to determine whether this value is greater than User_Presence_Threshold (step 1110). If the determination result of the condition (step 1110) is true, it becomes a pass (Yes in step 1110, step 1130).
- the address untagging means (414, 714) untagged 1112 this DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) from the In-Transformation message 2100.
- step 1108 If the result of the condition determination in step 1108 is Yes (step 1124), the result of the condition determination in step 1110 is No (step 1128), and the result of the condition determination in step 1114 is No (step 1132). If so, the next DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) is acquired (step 1116) until step 1114 becomes true (step 1134).
- the address untagging means (414, 714) checks whether there is at least one DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) in the In-Transformation message 2100. If the result of the condition determination (step 1118) is Yes (step 1136), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 is set to broadcast / multicast transmission or the In-Transformation message 2100 is sent to the frame storage (450, 792) via the connection (450, 792). 416, 740) (step 1122). If the result of the condition determination (step 1118) is No (step 1138), the address untagging means (414, 714) sets IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 to unicast.
- FIG. 14 shows more detailed processing performed by the application protocol evaluation unit 716.
- the database search unit (502, 718) receives the activation message including the In-Transformation message from the state switching unit 756 or the message analysis unit (510, 752) (step 1200).
- the database retrieval means (502, 718) retrieves the Unique_Device_ID 1700 and Application_Protocol 1702 from the application protocol database (508, 746) and lists them (step 1202). In step 1204, the list is queried so that only the matching application protocol of the IN-TRANSFORMATION message 2100 remains.
- the application protocol evaluation unit 716 extracts the corresponding Unique_Device_ID 1700 for each record in the list (Step 1206, Step 1208, Step 1222, and Step 1210).
- the extracted Unique_Device_ID 1700 in Step 1212 is sent to the DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108) of the In-Transformation message 2100 by the address tagging means (504, 720). 2110).
- the address tagging means (504, 720) activates the application protocol threshold value detection means (506, 722), and counts the number of registered items of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) in the In-Transformation message 2100 (step 1214). .
- the number of registered items represents the number of existing application protocol devices.
- the application protocol evaluation unit 716 compares Application_Protocol_Threshold acquired from the memory 204 with the number of registered items (Step 1216). If the result of the condition determination (step 1216) is Yes (step 1226), the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to broadcast / multicast transmission (step 1220). Otherwise (No in step 1216, step 1228), the application protocol evaluation means 716 sets IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 to unicast (step 1218).
- broadcast transmission such as broadcast / multicast that wakes all the dormant devices is selected rather than unicast that wakes each dormant device. This is because when the number of terminal devices is large, the broadcast transmission is more energy efficient.
- FIG. 15 shows more detailed processing performed by the function existence evaluation means (610, 724).
- the database search unit 726 receives the activation message including the In-Transformation message 2100 from the state switching unit 756 or the message analysis unit (622, 752) (Step 1300).
- the database search means (610, 726) obtains the source device identifier Source_Device_Device_ID (1800 in FIG. 20), Function_Related_Device_ID_1 (1802 in FIG. 20), Function_Related_D2 in FIG. , Function_Related_Device_ID_N (1808 in FIG. 20) is retrieved and listed (step 1302).
- the database search means (610, 726) activates the device / service function mapping means (612, 728). For each DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) included in the In-Transformation message 2100, the transmission source of the message corresponds to the Source_Unique_Device_ID 1800.
- the function existence evaluation means (610, 724) checks whether there is a matching Function_Related_Device_Id_ [1 to n] (1802, 1804, 1808) (step 1304). If the result of the condition determination (step 1304) is No (step 1320), the address untagging means (614, 730) untagged this DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) from the In-Transformation message 2100 (step 1306). If the result of the condition determination (step 1304) is Yes (step 1318), the next DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) is acquired (step 1310).
- step 1322 when the result of the condition determination (step 1308) is No (step 1322), the next DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) is acquired (step 1310).
- the address untagging means (614, 730) checks whether there is at least one DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) in the In-Transformation 2100 message (step 1312). If DEST_ADDRESS does not exist (Yes in step 1312, step 1326), IN_TRANS_STATE (2104 in FIG. 23) is set to broadcast / multicast transmission. Alternatively, the In-Transformation message 2100 is stored in the frame storage (416, 740) via the connection (650, 792) (step 1316). If DEST_ADDRESS exists (No in step 1312, step 1328), the address tagging means (614, 730) sets IN_TRANS_STATE (2104) to unicast.
- FIG. 16 shows more detailed processing performed by the communication standard evaluation means 732.
- the database search unit 734 receives the activation message including the In-Transformation message from the state switching unit 756 or the message analysis unit 752 (Step 1400).
- the database search means 734 searches the communication standard database 750 for the Unique_Device_ID (1900 in FIG. 21) and the Communication_Standard (1902 in FIG. 21) and lists them (step 1402).
- the database search means 734 activates the communication standard threshold value detection means 736 and counts the number of registered items of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) of the In-Transformation message 2100 (step 1404).
- the number of registered items represents the number of existing terminal devices.
- the communication standard threshold value detection unit 736 determines whether each terminal device is associated with only one communication standard (step 1404). If the determination result is Yes (Yes in Step 1404, Step 1420), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to unicast (Step 1408).
- Step 1406 the registration items of DEST_ADDRESS (2106, 2108, 2110) are grouped based on each list of Communication_Standard (Step 1406). In step 1406, it is assumed that each element in the Communication_Standard list has a new In-Transformation message 2100 format.
- the communication standard evaluation unit 732 determines whether the number of DEST_ADDRESS exceeds the Communication_Protocol_Threshold acquired from the memory 204 for each Communication_Standard (Step 1416, Step 1428, Step 1418) until the end of the list is reached (Step 1410). ). As a result of the determination, if the number of DEST_ADDRESS does not exceed (No in step 1410, step 1426), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to unicast (step 1414).
- Step 1424 further comparison is performed to determine whether or not the number of BAT_DEV, that is, the number of battery devices is greater than Communication_Protocol_Battery_Threshold (Step 1432).
- Communication_Protocol_Battery_Threshold 1432 is retrieved from memory 204.
- BAT_DEV is derived from the number of battery-powered devices indicated by Battery_Powered (1904 in FIG. 21) among the fields of the communication standard database 750 for the target parameter being compared.
- the total number of devices of the same Communication_Standard 1902 in which Yes is set in Battery_Powered 1904 is defined as BAT_DEV.
- the user presence evaluation means (408, 708)
- Yes is set in Battery_Powered 1904
- the total number of devices including the operation history within a predetermined period in the user presence field (1602, 1604, 1606) is defined as BAT_DEV. Is done. If the result of determination in step 1432 is Yes (step 1436), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to unicast transmission (step 1414). If the result of determination in step 1432 is No (step 1434), IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 of the In-Transformation message 2100 is set to broadcast / multicast transmission (step 1412).
- step 1432 is designated to promote unicast transmission to extend the battery life of the battery powered device. If the end of the list has been reached (Yes in step 1416, step 1430), the process ends.
- FIG. 17 is an example showing the contents of the interactive device database (308, 418, 742) possessed by the interactive device evaluation means (300, 400, 700).
- This database includes two fields: Unique_Device_ID 1500 and Interactive_Status 1502. 17 to 21, Unique_Device_ID1500, Unique_Device_ID1600, Unique_Device_ID1700, Source_Unique_Device_ID1800, and Unique_Device1 are all unique.
- Interactive_Status 1502 defines whether the terminal device can exchange information with a human. For example, if the terminal device has a display unit, “Yes” is set in Interactive_Status 1502. Moreover, when it does not have a display part, No is set.
- FIG. 18 is an example showing the contents of the user presence database (420, 744) possessed by the user presence evaluation means (408, 708).
- This database includes four fields: Unique_Device_ID 1600, Last_User_Interacted_Date 1602, Last_User_Interacted_Time 1604, and Device_Status 1606.
- Last_User_Interacted_Date 1602 indicates the date of the last interaction with the user. That is, it shows the date when the last operation from the user was accepted.
- Last_User_Interacted_Time 1604 indicates the time of the last exchange. That is, the time when the last operation from the user was received is shown.
- Device_Status 1606 indicates the device status of the device. Any status can be used. Specifically, a status used for an instant messenger, a status indicating an operating state, a status indicating a power supply state for energy saving, and the like can be considered. For example, as a status used for an instant messenger, it may be possible to set online, busy, or NA (Not Applicable) in the Device_Status 1606 record.
- Online indicates an internal device status regarding whether or not the exchange of information between the user and the terminal device has expired.
- Busy indicates an internal device status in which the user exists but is only interested if the message is important.
- NA indicates a terminal device such as a washing machine that does not support the Device_Status characteristic.
- FIG. 19 is an example showing the contents of the application protocol database (508, 618, 746) of the application protocol evaluation means (500, 600, 716).
- This database includes two fields: Unique_Device_ID 1700 and Application_Protocol 1702.
- Application_Protocol 1702 defines a protocol supported by the terminal device.
- the protocol may be UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), for example, but is not limited to this.
- FIG. 20 is an example showing the contents of the device function database (620, 748) possessed by the function existence evaluation means (608, 724).
- This database includes fields of Unique_Device_ID 1800 and Function_Related_Device_ID_ [1 to N] (1802, 1804, 1808).
- Function_Related_Device_ID_ [1 to N] may be in the form of a linked list with N elements, for example.
- the functional relationship is not limited to the presence or absence of a single function relationship.
- a terminal device having a functional relationship may be specified by combining a plurality of functions.
- Function_Related_Device_ID_ [1 to N] (1802, 1804, 1808) represents a linked list of transmission destination devices having a functional relationship with the source node.
- the air conditioners (2400, 2500) have a functional relationship with the light shielding doors (2404, 2504), but the washing machines (2408, 2506). There is no functional relationship with. Therefore, when Source_Unique_Device_ID indicates an air conditioner, the ID of the light-shielding door is set in Functional_Related_Device_ID_1. Further, when there is no other terminal device that has a functional relationship with the air conditioner, NA is set after Functional_Related_Device_ID_2.
- FIG. 21 shows the contents of the communication standard database 750 of the communication standard evaluation means 732.
- This database includes three fields: Unique_Device_ID 1900, Communication_Standard 1902, and Battery_Powered 1904.
- Communication_Standard 1902 indicates whether a layer 1 or layer 2 type protocol is used in the apparatus. Although any protocol can be used, for example, 802.15.4, 802.11, Ethernet (registered trademark), and the like are conceivable.
- Battery_Powered 1904 indicates whether the terminal device is operating with the energy supply restricted.
- the terminal device whose energy supply is limited is, for example, a terminal device driven by a primary battery or a secondary battery, but is not limited thereto.
- a terminal device in which a target value of power consumption is set in advance may be considered.
- the Battery_Powered 1904 field may exist in another database (742, 744, 746, 748) used by the relay apparatus 100.
- FIG. 22 is a Venn diagram showing the interrelationship of nodes (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) which are terminal devices in the network 2022.
- the group X2018 includes a node 1 (2000), a node 2 (2002), a node 3 (2004), a node 5 (2008), a node 6 (2010), a node 7 (2012), and a node 8 (2014). It is. Further, the node 3 (2004), the node 6 (2010), the node 7 (2012), and the node 8 (2014) belong to the group Y (2020). Node 4 (2006) and node 9 (2016) do not belong to group X (2016) or group Y (2020).
- group X (2016) can be regarded as a grouping of interactive devices or a grouping of application protocols.
- Group Y (2020) can be considered as a grouping of user presence or a grouping of function presence.
- the number of nodes is not limited to one group. In this case, the same node (2004, 2010, 2012, 2014) may belong to a plurality of groups. In this case, the node 4 (2006) and the node 9 (2016) do not correspond to any group.
- Group X (2018) has a wider range than group Y (2020) and can target more nodes. The group Y narrows the range to only a limited target node.
- FIG. 23 shows the format of the In-Transformation message 2100.
- the In-Transformation message 2100 has three main fields including MSG_PAYLOAD 2102, IN_TRANS_STATE 2104, and DEST_ADDRESS0 to N (2106, 2108, and 2110).
- MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 includes information included in the message received by the relay device 100 from the source device.
- IN_TRANS_STATE 2104 includes information indicating whether the In-Transformation message 2100 is broadcast or transmitted as unicast.
- the address tagging means (714, 730) or the address tagging means (704, 720, 738) sets information indicating that broadcast transmission (for example, broadcast / multicast transmission) is to be performed in the IN_TRANS_STATE 2104, the control apparatus 100 thereafter , DEST_ADDRESS0 to N (2106, 2108, 2110) and IN_TRANS_STATE are ignored. Also, DEST_ADDRESS0-N (2106, 2108, 2110) and IN_TRANS_STATE are removed by message constructor 758 before sending the message.
- DEST_ADDRESS0 to N (2106, 2108, and 2110) are converted into unicast frames based on the destination protocol standards by the conversion unit 106 before transmission. Converted.
- DEST_ADDRESS0 to N (2106, 2108, 2110) include a plurality of Unique_Device_IDs that are tagged by the address tagging means (706, 722, 738) and untagged by the address untagging means (714, 730).
- the relay device transmits a beacon frame to the terminal device in advance, and the terminal device that receives the beacon frame acquires a broadcast message from the relay device at a designated timing. That is, when viewed from the relay device, it is a PULL type broadcast communication by the terminal device.
- the present invention can be similarly applied to PUSH type broadcast communication in which a relay device transmits a broadcast message to a terminal device.
- FIG. 24 shows a use case of the relay device when the relay device 2202 according to the related technology of the present invention relays the broadcast message transmitted from the source node 2200.
- This use case includes a rice cooker that is a source node 2200, a relay device 2202 according to related technology, and terminal devices that are four wireless nodes in a dormant state, that is, a television 2204, a notebook computer 2208, and a video player 2210. There is an air conditioner 2212. Further, it is assumed that the broadcast message relayed by the relay device 2202 is an interactive device having a display unit and is meaningful only to a terminal device near the user.
- the source node 2200 may be a dormant wireless node (2204, 2208, 2210, 2212). Here, the user 2206 is watching the television 2204.
- the relay device 2202 has been in a wake state (time 2272).
- the rice cooker that is the source node 2200 transmits a broadcast / multicast type user warning message in step 2214 to notify that the cooking is complete.
- the relay device 2202 receives the broadcast / multicast message.
- the relay device 2202 buffers the received broadcast / multicast message and sets a flag in the hold field of the next beacon frame (step 2218).
- step 2220 step 2222, step 2224, and step 2226
- the dormant wireless terminal devices (2204, 2208, 2210, and 2212) wake up at the time notified in advance by the previous beacon frame, and the relay device Wait for a beacon frame transmitted from 2202.
- step 2228 the beacon frame is broadcast / multicast to all devices and received in step 2230, step 2232, step 2234, and step 2236.
- This beacon frame includes a hold frame field for notifying all receiving side devices (2204, 2208, 2210, 2212) of the input broadcast / multicast.
- the relay device 2202 transmits the buffered broadcast / multicast message.
- all the receiving side devices receive this broadcast / multicast message (Step 2240, Step 2242, Step 2244, Step 2246).
- Broadcast / multicast messages received by the source nodes (2204, 2208, 2210, 2212) are analyzed in steps 2248, 2250, 2252, 2254. In this case, only the television 2204 and the notebook personal computer 2208, which are interactive devices, process the received broadcast / multicast message.
- Step 2256, Step 2258, Step 2260, and Step 2262 the terminal device (2204, 2208, 2210, 2212) determines the next wake-up schedule and returns to the dormant state.
- the wake-up times of the terminal devices (2204, 2208, 2210, 2212) are time 2264, time 2266, time 2268, and time 2270, regardless of whether the received message content is beneficial to them.
- FIG. 25 shows a use case in which the control device according to the embodiment of the present invention having the interactive device evaluation means 700 and the user presence evaluation means 708 relays the same broadcast message as the case of FIG. 24 and 25 are similarly described with the same reference numerals (2200, 2300), (2204, 2304), (2208, 2306), (2210, 2308), (2212, 2310), (2214, 2318), (2216, 2320), (2220, 2324), (2222, 2326), (2224, 2328), (2226, 2330), (2256, 2358), (2258, 2342), (2260, 2344) , (2262, 2346), (2272, 2368).
- the relay device 2302 which is a control device having the interactive device evaluation unit 700 and the user presence evaluation unit 708, classifies the television 2304 and the notebook personal computer 2306 into the interactive device 2316. Furthermore, the relay device 2302 classifies the television 2304 into the terminal device 2314 in which the user 2312 exists nearby.
- the interactive device evaluation means 700 and the user presence evaluation means 708 set the flag of the hold field included in the beacon frame to be transmitted next to unicast for the transmission destination device.
- the beacon frame is transmitted by the broadcast transmission method in step 2322 and received in step 2334, step 2336, step 2338, and step 2340.
- This beacon frame notifies each terminal device that there is a buffered unicast message to be received on the television 2304 but not on all other terminal devices (2306, 2308, 2310). . Thereafter, in steps 2342, 2344, and 2346, the terminal devices (2306, 2308, and 2310) determine the next wake-up schedule and return to the dormant state.
- the television 2304 transmits a request message for acquiring a buffered message from the relay apparatus 2302 by unicast.
- the relay device 2302 receives a request message from the television 2304.
- the relay apparatus 2302 responds to the request message from the television 2304 by unicast transmission.
- step 2354 only television 2304 receives the unicast message.
- the received message is processed by the television 2304 at step 2356. Thereafter, the television 2304 determines the next wake-up schedule and returns to the sleep state.
- the time (2362, 2364, 2366) in which the terminal device other than the television 2304 is activated is shorter than the time (2266, 2268, 2270) shown in FIG.
- the time 2360 that the television 2304 is on may be shorter than in the case of a broadcast where the physical data rate is low in step 2238. This is because the communication (2348, 2352) performed at time 2360 can use a faster data transfer rate than unicast.
- FIG. 26 shows a use case of the relay device when the relay device 2402 according to the related technology of the present invention relays the broadcast message transmitted from the source node 2400.
- This use case includes an air conditioner 2400 that is a source node, a relay device 2402, and four dormant wireless nodes that are terminal devices: a light shielding door 2404, a washing machine 2408, a video player 2410, and a television 2412. Exists.
- the broadcast message relayed by the relay device 2402 is meaningful only for a terminal device that supports UPnP as an application protocol and functionally related to the source node 2500 that is an air conditioner. Suppose that it is a message.
- the light shielding door 2404 and the washing machine 2408 are compatible with application protocols such as UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).
- the relay device 2402 is always in a wake state (time 2472).
- the air conditioner 2400 transmits a broadcast / multicast device message in step 2414 to update to the latest device status information.
- the relay device 2402 receives the broadcast / multicast message.
- the relay device 2402 buffers the received broadcast / multicast message and sets a flag in the hold field of the next beacon frame (step 2418).
- the terminal devices (2404, 2408, 2410, and 2412) that are dormant wireless nodes wake up and wait for a beacon frame transmitted from the relay device 2402.
- the beacon frame is broadcast / multicast to all devices.
- each terminal apparatus receives a beacon frame.
- This beacon frame includes a hold frame field for notifying all terminal devices (2404, 2408, 2410, 2412) of the input broadcast / multicast.
- the relay device 2402 transmits the buffered broadcast / multicast message. This broadcast / multicast message is received by all terminal devices (step 2440, step 2442, step 2444, step 2446).
- Broadcast / multicast messages received by the terminal devices (2404, 2408, 2410, 2412) are analyzed in steps 2448, 2450, 2452, and 2454.
- the terminal device (2404, 2408, 2410, 2412) determines the next wake-up schedule and returns to the dormant state.
- the wake-up times of the terminal devices (2404, 2408, 2410, 2412) are time 2464, time 2466, time 2468, and time 2470, regardless of whether the message content is useful.
- FIG. 27 shows a use case in which the control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention having the application protocol evaluation means and the function existence evaluation means relays the same broadcast message as the case of FIG. 26 and FIG. 27 that are similarly described with the same reference numerals are (2400, 2500), (2404, 2504), (2408, 2506), (2410, 2508), (2412, 2510), (2414, 2516), (2416, 2518), (2420, 2522), (2422, 2524), (2424, 2526), (2426, 2528), (2456, 2556), (2458, 2540), (2460, 2542) , (2462, 2544), (2472, 2566).
- the relay device 2502 that is a control device according to the present embodiment classifies the light shielding door 2504 and the washing machine 2506 into the application protocol device 2514, and further functions the light shielding door 2504 in relation to the source node 2500 that is an air conditioner.
- the terminal device 2512 is classified.
- step 2520 the application protocol evaluation unit 716 and the function presence evaluation unit 724 set the flag of the hold field included in the beacon frame to be transmitted next to unicast for the transmission destination device.
- a broadcast beacon is transmitted at step 2530.
- step 2532, step 2534, step 2536, and step 2538 the data is received by each terminal device.
- This beacon frame notifies that there is a buffered unicast message in the light blocking door 2504 but not in all other terminal devices (2506, 2508, 2510).
- step 2540, step 2542, and step 2544 the terminal device (2506, 2508, 2510) determines the next wake-up schedule and returns to the dormant state.
- Step 2546 the light shielding door 2504 transmits a request message for acquiring a buffered message from the relay device 2502 by unicast. Thereafter, in step 2548, the relay device 2502 receives a request message from the light shielding door 2504. Thereafter, in step 2550, the relay device 2502 responds to the request message by unicast. In Step 2552, the light shielding door 2504 receives a unicast message.
- the received message is processed by the light shielding door 2504 in step 2554.
- the light blocking door 2504 determines the next wake-up schedule and returns to the resting state.
- the wake-up times at time 2560, time 2562, and time 2564 are shorter than time 2466, time 2468, and time 2470 in FIG.
- FIG. 28 shows a use case of the relay device when the relay device 2602 according to the related technology of the present invention relays the broadcast message transmitted from the source node 2600.
- This use case includes a source node 2600 which may be a wired node or a wireless node, a relay device 2602 related to a related technology which may be a wired node or a wireless node, five terminal devices (2604) based on the 802.11 standard, and based on the ZigBee standard.
- One terminal device (2606), one terminal device based on 6LoWPAN standard (2608), one terminal device based on WM-Bus standard (2610), one terminal device based on Z-Wave standard (2612), Bluetooth standard 1 terminal device (2614) based on the Ethernet standard, one terminal device based on the Ethernet standard (2616), and one terminal device based on the M-Bus standard (2618).
- the broadcast message relayed by the relay device 2602 is a message that is meaningful only to terminal devices that support 802.11, ZigBee, and 6LoWPAN as communication standards.
- the source node 2600 may be either a terminal device (2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614) that is a dormant wireless node or a terminal device (2616, 2618) that is a wired node.
- Terminal devices (2602, 2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614) that perform all wireless communication communicate on the same frequency band.
- the relay apparatus 2602 is always in a wake state, and has a plurality of wired and wireless interfaces.
- the source node 2600 sends a broadcast / multicast device message in step 2620 to update to the latest device status information.
- step 2622 the relay apparatus 2602 receives the broadcast / multicast message.
- the relay apparatus 2602 buffers the received broadcast / multicast message, and in step 2624, step 2636, step 2644, step 2652, step 2660, and step 2668, sets a flag in the hold field of the next beacon frame for each radio interface. Stand up.
- step 2624 the wired broadcast / multicast message is broadcast / multicast to the wired device. Specifically, in step 2628, broadcast transmission is made to the Ethernet device 2616. In step 2630, broadcast transmission is performed to the M-BUS device 2618.
- step 2624 step 2636, step 2644, step 2652, step 2660, step 2668, the beacon frame is broadcast to all wireless devices (2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614).
- the beacon frame is received by each terminal device in step 2626, step 2638, step 2646, step 2654, step 2662, and step 2670.
- This beacon frame includes a hold frame field for notifying all terminal devices (2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614) of the input broadcast / multicast.
- step 2632, step 2640, step 2648, step 2656, step 2664, and step 2672 the relay device 2602 transmits a buffered broadcast / multicast message.
- Step 2634, Step 2642, Step 2650, Step 2658, Step 2666, Step 2674 this broadcast / multicast message is received by all the terminal devices (2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614).
- the broadcast / multicast message received by the terminal device is analyzed in all terminal devices (2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614, 2616, 2618) regardless of whether the message content is useful.
- all terminal devices 2604, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2614, 2616, 2618
- the message content is useless for the remaining terminal devices (2610, 2612, 2614, 2616, 2618).
- time 2680 is required for the message delivery waiting time.
- the waiting time of the terminal devices (2604, 2606, 2608) is indicated by time 2678.
- a clear clear channel evaluation period requires time 2676.
- FIG. 29 shows a use case where the control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention having the communication standard evaluation means 732 relays the same broadcast message as the case of FIG.
- the same reference numerals are also used to describe (2600, 2700), (2604, 2704), (2606, 2706), (2608, 2708), (2610, 2710), (2612, 2712), (2614, 2714), (2616, 2716), (2618, 2718), (2620, 2720), (2622, 2722).
- the relay apparatus 2702 which is a control apparatus having the communication standard evaluation unit 732, is a terminal apparatus 2704, a terminal apparatus 2706, and a terminal whose contents of the broadcast / multicast message correspond to a specific communication standard. It is understood that the message is intended only for the device 2708.
- the communication standard evaluation unit 732 determines that the number of 802.11 standard terminal devices, the number of ZigBee standard terminal devices, and the number of 6LoWPAN standard terminal devices exceed three, respectively. Instructs the terminal device corresponding to the communication standard exceeding the broadcast transmission.
- the number of terminal devices 2704 is five, exceeding three.
- the number of terminal devices 2706 and 2708 is within the threshold. Therefore, a message having five 802.11 terminal devices 2704 as transmission destinations is transmitted as a beacon frame in step 2724.
- the buffered message is then broadcast / multicast in step 2732.
- the terminal device 2704 receives a beacon frame in step 2726, and receives a message broadcast from the relay device 2702 in step 2734.
- step 2736 one beacon frame for the ZigBee standard terminal device 2706 is transmitted.
- the beacon frame is received by the terminal device 2706 in step 2738.
- a request message for requesting transmission of MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 is unicast transmitted by one ZigBee standard terminal device 2706 in step 2740.
- the transmitted request message is received by the relay device 2702 in step 2742.
- relay apparatus 2702 unicasts MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 to terminal apparatus 2706.
- the transmitted MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 is received by one ZigBee standard terminal device 2706 in step 2746.
- one beacon frame for 6LoWPAN standard terminal device 2708 is transmitted.
- the beacon frame is received by terminal device 2708 in step 2750.
- a request message for requesting transmission of MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 is unicast transmitted by one 6LoWPAN standard terminal device 2708 in step 2752.
- the transmitted request message is received by relay device 2702 in step 2754.
- relay apparatus 2702 transmits MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 to terminal apparatus 2708 in a unicast manner.
- the transmitted MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 is received by one 6LoWPAN standard terminal device 2708 in step 2758.
- the unicast made at time 2762 can use a faster data transfer rate, so the waiting time can be improved.
- an improvement in the waiting time (time 2678 and time 2680) for completing message delivery to the terminal devices (2704, 2706, 2708) to be transmitted by MSG_PAYLOAD 2102 is shown at time 2760.
- terminal devices (2710, 2712, 2714, 2716, 2718) including communication standards are classified as broadcast / multicast messages 2720. Therefore, compared with the terminal device (2610, 2612, 2614, 2616, 2618) of FIG. 28, the bandwidth and the waiting time are improved as a result.
- the received broadcast / multicast message burst is converted to unicast by the relay device 2702, thereby improving the message delivery latency.
- the network A 116 to the network N 122 are interposed in the path from the source nodes A to N to the relay device 100.
- the network A116 to the network N122 may be a network outside the home or a network inside the home.
- the evaluation result of one evaluation means is used as an input to another evaluation means.
- the output of interactive threshold detection means 406 included in interactive apparatus evaluation means 400 is the input of database search means 410 included in user presence evaluation means 408. That is, the first evaluation means among the plurality of evaluation means and the second evaluation means other than the first evaluation means are connected in a so-called cascade. However, a plurality of evaluation means may be connected in parallel. In this case, the address translation entity selects one based on an arbitrary criterion from among the judgments made by the plurality of evaluation means.
- the logical sum of the terminal devices specified as unicast transmission targets for each evaluation unit may be selected as the terminal device finally specified. Or you may select the logical product of the terminal device specified as the object of unicast transmission for every evaluation means as a terminal device finally specified. Alternatively, when at least one evaluation unit determines that broadcast transmission should be performed, broadcast transmission may be performed for all terminal devices.
- the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Unless it deviates from the meaning of this invention, the form which carried out the various deformation
- the present invention can be applied to a control device, and in particular to a control device in a network including a control device and a plurality of terminal devices.
- Relay device 100, 2202, 2302, 2402, 2502, 2602, 2702 Relay device (control device) 102 Reception unit 103 Storage unit 104 Determination unit 106 Conversion unit 108 Transmission unit 109, 110, 112, 114, 124, 126, 128, 130, 138, 316, 318, 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, 330, 332 428, 430, 432, 434, 436, 438, 440, 442, 444, 446, 448, 450, 452, 454, 516, 518, 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, 530, 532, 628, 630 632, 634, 636, 638, 640, 642, 644, 646, 648, 650, 652, 654, 760, 762, 764, 766, 767, 768, 770, 772, 774, 776, 778, 780, 782 , 784, 786, 788, 790,
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Abstract
Description
102 受信部
103 記憶部
104 判断部
106 変換部
108 送信部
109、110、112、114、124、126、128、130、138、316、318、320、322、324、326、328、330、332、428、430、432、434、436、438、440、442、444、446、448、450、452、454、516、518、520、522、524、526、528、530、532、628、630、632、634、636、638、640、642、644、646、648、650、652、654、760、762、764、766、767、768、770、772、774、776、778、780、782、784、786、788、790、792、794、795、796、797、798 コネクション
116、118、120、122 ネットワーク
136 無線通信インタフェース
140、142、144、146、148、150、152、154、156、158、160、162、2000、2002、2004、2006、2008、2010、2012、2014、2016 無線ノード(端末装置)
200 処理手段
202 入出力手段
204 メモリ
206 ストレージ
300、400、700 対話型装置評価手段
302、402、502、602、610、702、710、718、726、734 データベース検索手段
304、404、504、604、704、720、738 アドレスタギング手段
306、406、706 対話型閾値検出手段
308、418、742 対話型装置データベース
310、422、510、622、752 メッセージ解析手段
312、424、512、624、754 データベースアップデータ
314、426、514、626、758 メッセージコンストラクタ
408、708 ユーザ存在評価手段
410 データベース検索手段
412、712 ユーザ存在閾値検出手段
414、614、714、730 アドレスアンタギング手段
416、616、740 フレームストレージ
420、744 ユーザ存在データベース
500、600、716 アプリケーションプロトコル評価手段
506、606、722 アプリケーションプロトコル閾値検出手段
508、618、746 アプリケーションプロトコルデータベース
608、724 機能存在評価手段
612、728 装置/サービス機能マッピング手段
620、748 装置機能データベース
732 通信規格評価手段
736 通信規格閾値検出手段
750 通信規格データベース
756 状態切換手段
1500、1600、1900 Unique_Device_ID
1502 Interactive_Status
1602 Last_User_Interacted_Date
1604 Last_User_Interacted_Time
1606 Device_Status
1902 Communication_Standard
1904 Battery_Powered
2018 グループX
2020 グループY
2022 ネットワーク
2100 In-Transformationメッセージ
2102 MSG_PAYLOAD
2104 IN_TRANS_STATE
2106、2108、2110 DEST_ADDRESS(0 to N)
2200、2300、2600、2700 ソース(ソースノード)
2204、2304、2412、2510 テレビ
2206、2312 ユーザ
2208、2306 ノートパソコン
2210、2308、2410、2508 ビデオ再生機
2212、2310、2400、2500 空調機器
2316 対話型装置
2404、2504 遮光扉
2408、2506 洗濯機
2604、2704 802.11規格に基づく端末装置5台
2606、2706 ZigBee規格に基づく端末装置1台
2608、2708 6LoWPAN規格に基づく端末装置1台
2610、2710 WM-Bus規格に基づく端末装置1台
2612、2712 Z-Wave規格に基づく端末装置1台
2614、2714 ブルートゥース規格に基づく端末装置1台
2616、2716 イーサネット規格に基づく端末装置1台
2618、2718 M-Bus規格に基づく端末装置1台
Claims (15)
- 制御装置と複数の端末装置とを含むネットワークにおける前記制御装置であって、
前記ネットワーク内で、各端末装置が送信した同報メッセージを受信する受信部と、
受信した前記同報メッセージを、前記複数の端末装置のうちの一部である特定の端末装置に対してユニキャストメッセージに変換して送信すべきかを、前記同報メッセージに含まれる情報に基づいて判断する判断部と、
前記判断部が、前記変換が必要と判断した場合に、前記同報メッセージをユニキャストメッセージに変換する変換部と、
前記ユニキャストメッセージを前記特定の端末装置に送信する送信部とを備える
制御装置。 - 前記ネットワークには、データリンク層において複数のプロトコルが混在する
請求項1に記載の制御装置。 - 前記判断部が、前記同報メッセージをユニキャストメッセージに変換しないと判断した場合に、前記送信部は、前記同報メッセージを、前記複数のプロトコルの各々に変換して同報送信する
請求項2に記載の制御装置。 - 前記判断部は、前記複数の端末装置のうち、ユーザに対して情報を提示する表示部を有する端末装置を前記特定の端末装置として特定する
請求項1~3のいずれか1項に記載の制御装置。 - 前記判断部は、前記複数の端末装置のうち特定期間内にユーザによる情報の入力が行われた端末装置を前記特定の端末装置として特定する
請求項1~4のいずれか1項に記載の制御装置。 - 前記複数の端末装置は、家庭用電気機械器具であり、
前記判断部は、特定期間内に前記ユーザにより操作された前記家庭用電気機械器具を、当該ユーザによる情報の入力が行われた前記特定の端末装置として特定する
請求項5に記載の制御装置。 - 前記判断部は、前記複数の端末装置のうち、特定の通信プロトコルに対応した端末装置を前記特定の端末装置として特定する
請求項1~6のいずれか1項に記載の制御装置。 - 前記特定の通信プロトコルは、UPnP(Universal Plug and Play)を利用したプロトコルである
請求項7に記載の制御装置。 - 前記判断部は、前記複数の端末装置のうち、特定の機能を有する端末装置を前記特定の端末装置として特定する
請求項1~8のいずれか1項に記載の制御装置。 - 前記判断部は、さらに、前記複数の端末装置が対応する通信プロトコル毎に、前記同報メッセージをユニキャストメッセージに変換して送信すべきかを判断する
請求項1~9のいずれか1項に記載の制御装置。 - 前記通信プロトコルは、ZigBee、IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11、IEEE 802.15.4、Z-Wave、ECHONET、KNX、及びBluetooth(登録商標)のうち、少なくとも1つである
請求項10に記載の制御装置。 - 制御装置と複数の端末装置とを含むネットワークにおけるデータの中継方法であって、
前記ネットワーク内で、各端末装置が送信した同報メッセージを受信する受信ステップと、
受信した前記同報メッセージを、前記複数の端末装置のうちの一部である特定の端末装置に対するユニキャストメッセージに変換して送信すべきかを、前記同報メッセージに含まれる情報に基づいて判断する判断ステップと、
前記判断部が、変換が必要と判断した場合に、前記同報メッセージをユニキャストメッセージに変換する変換ステップと、
前記ユニキャストメッセージを前記特定の端末装置に送信する送信ステップとを含む
中継方法。 - 請求項12に記載の中継方法をコンピュータに実行させる
プログラム。 - 請求項13に記載のプログラムを記録した
コンピュータ読み取り可能な記録媒体。 - 請求項12に記載の中継方法を実現する
集積回路。
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CN2012800012008A CN102907123A (zh) | 2011-02-18 | 2012-02-17 | 控制装置、中继方法及其程序 |
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WO2015198087A1 (en) * | 2014-06-24 | 2015-12-30 | Emad Abdulrazzak Felemban | A method, apparatus and system for enabling communication using multi-protocol gateway and virtual resource manager |
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US10735913B2 (en) * | 2018-09-11 | 2020-08-04 | Silicon Laboratories, Inc. | Simultaneous control of a group in a mesh network |
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