KR20060076645A - Upgrade system of home network controller - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an upgrade system of a home network controller, and more particularly, to an upgrade system of a home network controller for upgrading a control program corresponding to an electric device controlled and / or checked by the home network controller.

The upgrade system of the present inventors' home network controller performs control and / or status checks for a plurality of electrical devices, stores product information for these electrical devices, is connected to a computer, and, upon request of the computer, the product information. A home network controller for receiving the upgrade module corresponding to the product information, requesting and receiving the product information from the home network controller, accessing a service server through the Internet, and transmitting the product information, A computer for receiving an upgrade module corresponding to the product information from the service server and transmitting the upgrade module to the home network controller, and store product information and upgrade module for a predetermined electric device, receive product information from the computer, and Upgrade module corresponding to product information It has done as a service to be transmitted to the server computer.

Description

Upgrade system of home network controller {UPGRADE SYSTEM OF HOME NETWORK CONTROLLER}             

1 is a conceptual diagram of a general home network system.

2 is a block diagram of a home network system according to the prior art.

3 is a configuration diagram of an upgrade system of a home network controller according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart of a method of upgrading a home network controller according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10, 11: home network controller 21 to 24: slave device

30: Computer 40: Internet

50: service server

The present invention relates to an upgrade system of a home network controller, and more particularly, to an upgrade system of a home network controller for upgrading a control program corresponding to an electric device controlled and / or checked by the home network controller.

At present, home automation for automatic control of home appliances in each home or remote is almost commercialized. In the early days of home automation, each device was controlled separately using a telephone or infrared ray, and there was no linkage between the devices, but now there is a controller that controls the network by establishing a network between home appliances using communication means. A method for integrated management is used.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a general home network system. As shown, a home network means that various digital home appliances can be connected to each other to enjoy convenient, safe and economical living services at home and at any time.

In the background of the appearance of the home network, refrigerators and washing machines, which have been called white household appliances, have been gradually digitized due to the development of digital signal processing technology. Also, due to the rapid development of home appliance operating system technology and high-speed multimedia communication technology, This is because these technologies are emerging as a form of integrated new information appliances.

Here, the IT network refers to a network type established for exchanging data or providing Internet services between a personal computer and peripheral devices, and the AV network refers to a network type between home appliances that handle audio or video information. And, the living network is a network constructed for the purpose of simple control of home appliances, such as home automation or remote meter reading, and may include a refrigerator, a washing machine, a microwave oven, a light gas alarm, an air conditioner, a telephone, and the like.

2 is a block diagram of a home network system according to the prior art. The home network system configured in the home is a home network controller 10, which is an electric device that can control the operation or monitor the status of other electric devices, and meet the needs of the home network controller 10 according to the characteristics or other factors of the electric devices. It consists of slave devices (21 to 24), which are electric appliances having a function of responding and of notifying information about a change in their state. As used herein, the electric appliance is meant to include not only home appliances for living network services described above, such as a washing machine and a refrigerator, but also home appliances for IT network services and AV network services. Here, the slave devices 21 to 24 are composed of an air conditioner A 21, an air conditioner B 22, a washing machine A 23, and a washing machine B 24.

In detail, the home network controller 10 includes a control program for controlling and checking the status of the air conditioner air conditioner A 21, the air conditioner B 22, the washing machine A 23, and the washing machine B 24, which are slave devices, and The product information (the date of manufacture, the version of the installed software, the control command, the product name, etc.) is stored in a predetermined storage location (not shown). Here, the control program is related to the product information, and performs the generation and transmission of a packet including a control command for performing control and status check of the installed electric device, the reception and processing of a packet including the status information, and the like.

The conventional home network controller 10 does not have a control program for this electric device when a new electric device (new product) is connected to the home network system, so that the control program of the electric device compatible with the electric device can be used. There was only. In this case, the home network controller 10 will not be able to fully control the new electrical equipment or perform the status check. For example, when only the air conditioner A 21 is connected to the home network system, and when the air conditioner B 22 is newly connected, the air conditioner B 22 has more than the air conditioner A 21 but the home network controller 10 ) Has a control program for the air conditioner A 21, but may not have a control program for the air conditioner B 22. As such, the home network controller 10 can control the air conditioner B 22 with the control program of the air conditioner A 21 (ie, control of common functions), but control the functions unique to the air conditioner B 22. It becomes impossible.

In addition, if the home network controller 10 according to the related art includes all the control programs of the electric devices belonging to the same product family but having different functions, the control of all the electric devices is possible, but the storage for not having such a control program Since space (memory) has to be increased, there is a problem that an increase in cost is caused.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an upgrade system of a home network controller that relies on product information of a newly connected electric device to upgrade a control program corresponding thereto to perform optimal control. do.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an upgrade system of a home network controller that reduces the cost of storage space by reducing the size of a control program to be provided in the home network controller.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an upgrade system of a home network controller that allows a user to easily upgrade by connecting a service server and a home network controller through a computer.

Perform control and / or status checks for a plurality of electrical devices of the present invention, store product information for these electrical devices, connect with a computer, transmit the product information at the request of the computer, and the product information A home network controller for receiving an upgrade module corresponding to the home network controller, requesting and receiving the product information from the home network controller, accessing a service server through the Internet, transmitting the product information, and transmitting the product information from the service server. A computer receiving and transmitting the upgrade module corresponding to the home network controller to the home network controller, and storing the product information and the upgrade module for a predetermined electric device, receiving the product information from the computer, and upgrading the corresponding product information. As a service server for sending to the computer The.                     

Further, when the service server first transmits the upgrade module list for the product information to the computer, the computer receives and displays the user, and requests the service server to transmit the upgrade module selected by the user, Preferably, the service server sends the selected upgrade module to the computer.

In addition, the upgrade module is preferably associated with the control and / or status check for the electrical device.

In addition, the home network controller requests product information from the electric device, and receives and stores the product information transmitted by the electric device.

The method of upgrading the home network controller of the present invention includes the steps of connecting a computer to a home network controller, receiving and requesting product information from the computer by the home network controller, connecting the computer to a service server, and Transmitting, by the computer, product information to the service server; receiving, by the service server, searching for the upgrade module corresponding thereto; and sending, by the service server, the retrieved upgrade module to the computer. And receiving, by the computer, the upgrade module from the service server and transmitting the upgrade module to the home network controller, and receiving and storing the upgrade module by the home network controller.

In addition, the upgrade method includes the step of the service server transmits the upgrade module list for the product information to the computer, the computer receives and displays to the user, the computer to the upgrade module selected by the user And requesting the service server to send the upgrade server, wherein the service server sends the upgrade module to the computer, preferably, the service server transmits the selected upgrade module to the computer.

In the following, the invention is explained in detail based on the embodiments of the invention and the accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the following embodiments and drawings, and the scope of the present invention will be limited only by the contents described in the claims below.

3 is a configuration diagram of an upgrade system of a home network controller according to the present invention. As shown, the upgrade system is a home network controller 11, which is an electrical device that can control the operation or monitor the status of other electrical devices, and the needs of the home network controller 11 according to the characteristics or other factors of the electrical devices. And slave devices 21 to 24, which are electric devices having a function of responding to the information and an information of a change in their state, and a predetermined upgrade program to be connected to the service server 50 through the Internet 40. The computer 30 performs upgrade of the control program of the home network controller 11 and the service server 50 stores product information of a plurality of electric devices and upgrade modules of the control program corresponding thereto.

In detail, the home network controller 11 includes a control program for controlling and checking the status of the air conditioner air conditioner A 21, the air conditioner B 22, the washing machine A 23, and the washing machine B 24, which are slave devices, and Stores product information (date of manufacture, version of software installed on the product, control commands, product name, etc.).

Here, the control program is related to the product information, and generates and transmits a packet including a control command for performing control and status check of the installed electrical device, receiving and processing a packet including the status information, and the home. The network controller 11 also has a version of the control program for identifying a plurality of control programs in the same product family. In addition, these control programs are configured in the form of modules, so that the home network controller 11 receives and stores upgrade modules to be started later, thereby upgrading the control programs.

In addition, the slave devices 21 to 24 store predetermined product information, and transmit this product information to the home network controller 11 automatically or at the request of the home network controller 11, and thus the home network controller. 11 stores product information.

Next, the computer 30 is connected to the home network controller 11 by a predetermined connection means (for example, a cable, a USB port, etc.) to be able to communicate. The computer 30 executes the upgrade program by the user with a predetermined upgrade program installed, requests and receives product information (including the version of the control program) from the home network controller 11, and receives the Internet 30. It connects to the service server 50 through, and downloads the upgrade module (or upgrade module list) from the service server 50 using the received product information. In addition, the computer 30 displays the upgrade module (or upgrade module list) received, performs only the download of the upgrade module selected by the user, and transmits the downloaded upgrade module to the home network controller 11 by the upgrade program. To exit. If the upgrade program is not installed in the computer 30, the user may access the service server 50 to download and install the upgrade program.

The computer 30 stores the transmission / reception data between the home network controller 11 and the transmission / reception data between the service server 50 and the information of the upgrade module downloaded from the service server 50 and transmitted to the home network controller 11. For example, a version) may be stored and the service server 50 may be searched for a corresponding upgrade module later using information of the upgrade module.

In addition, the computer 30 includes not only a personal computer but also an electric device capable of connecting to the Internet and the home network controller 11.

Next, the service server 50 is connected to the computer 30 through the Internet 40, receives the product information by executing the upgrade program of the computer 30, searches for the upgrade module corresponding thereto, and retrieves The upgrade module (or upgrade module list) is provided to the computer 30, and finally the upgrade module selected by the user is transmitted to the computer 30. The service server 50 may receive and store an upgrade module of a control program by a manufacturer (not shown) of an electric device. Here, the upgrade module may be an entire control program or may include an upgrade program for a part of a predetermined control program.

Each upgrade module also has a unique version. Thus, when the above-described computer 30 transmits the information of the upgrade module, it is possible to search for and provide a new upgrade module according to this version.

4 is a flowchart of a method of upgrading a home network controller according to the present invention.

In detail, in step S41, the home network controller 11 and the computer 30 are connected by a predetermined connection means to enable communication.

In step S42, the upgrade program installed in the computer 30 is executed by the user, whereby the upgrade operation is performed.

In step S43, the upgrade program executed in the computer 30 sends a packet to the home network controller 11 for requesting product information of all the electric devices (home network controller 11 and slave devices 21 to 24). In response to this request, the home network controller 11 transmits a packet including the pre-stored product information to the computer 30, and the computer 30 receives and stores the product information.

In step S44, the computer 30 is connected to the service server 50 via the Internet 40 so as to be communicable. Here, steps S41 and S44 may be performed at the same time.

In step S45, the upgrade program of the computer 30 transmits the received product information to the service server 50 via the Internet 40, and the service server 50 receives the product information.

In step S46, the service server 50 searches whether there is an upgrade module corresponding to the received product information. At this time, the service server 50 uses a part of the product information (for example, the version or product name of the control program) to determine whether it matches the previously stored product information, and according to the determination, the upgrade corresponding to the matching product information. Search for the module. If there is no upgrade module found, the process proceeds to step S47, otherwise the process proceeds to step S49.

In step S47, the service server 50 transmits a message indicating that there is no corresponding upgrade module to the computer 30 via the Internet 40, and the computer 30 receives the message.

In step S48, the computer 30 (or the upgrade program) displays the received message to the user, and proceeds to step S54.

In step S49, the service server 50 transmits a packet including the upgraded module list of the retrieved upgrade module to the computer 30, which the computer 30 receives and stores.

In step S50, the computer 30 (or upgrade program) displays a list of received upgrade modules. At this time, the computer 30 displays the classified according to the product type of the slave devices (21 to 24). For example, it may be displayed as an upgrade module for the air conditioner A 21 or an upgrade module for the washing machine B 24. Thus, the user can recognize the upgrade module applicable to the electric device in the home network system.                     

In step S51, the computer 30 (or the upgrade program) determines whether the upgrade module has been selected by the user. In this step S51, the user can select to download only the upgrade module of the electric device he / she wants to upgrade. If there is a selected upgrade module, the process proceeds to step S52, otherwise, the process proceeds to step S54.

In step S52, the computer 30 (or the upgrade program) transmits the upgrade module (upgrade module list) selected by the user to the service server 50, so that the service server 50 sends the selected upgrade module to the computer ( 30).

In step S53, the computer 30 receives the upgrade module and sends it back to the home network controller 11. The home network controller 11 receives and stores the upgrade module. At this time, the home network controller 11 performs the upgrade process by updating part or all of the corresponding control program.

In step S54, the computer 30 ends the upgrade program by user input or automatically, thereby terminating the entire upgrade process.

In the flowchart of the upgrade method described above, steps S49 to S52 are steps for enabling a user's selection, and instead the service server 50 searches for a corresponding upgrade module, and the entire upgraded upgrade module is found. May be downloaded to the computer 30, and the computer 30 may display the downloaded upgrade module and transmit only the upgrade module selected by the user to the home network controller 11. Alternatively, in place of steps S49 to S52, the service server 50 searches for the corresponding upgrade module, downloads the entire upgraded module to the computer 30, and the computer 30 upgrades the entire. The module may be sent directly to the home network controller 11 regardless of the user's choice.

The present invention having such a configuration has an effect of performing an optimal control by upgrading a control program corresponding thereto depending on product information of a newly connected electric device.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of reducing the cost of storage by reducing the size of the control program to be provided in the home network controller by having only the control program associated with the actually connected electrical device.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of connecting the service server and the home network controller via a computer to facilitate the user upgrade.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of being able to receive the upgrade module of the whole or part of the electric device by the user's selection.

Claims (6)

Perform control and / or status checks for a plurality of electrical devices, store product information for these electrical devices, connect with a computer, transmit the product information at the request of the computer, and respond to the product information A home network controller receiving the upgrade module; Request and receive the product information from the home network controller, access the service server via the Internet, transmit the product information, and receive an upgrade module corresponding to the product information from the service server to the home network controller. A transmitting computer; A service server configured to store product information and an upgrade module for a predetermined electric device, receive product information from the computer, and transmit an upgrade module corresponding to the product information to the computer. Upgrade system. The method of claim 1, The service server first sends an upgrade module list for the product information to the computer, when the computer receives and displays the user, and requests the service server to transmit the upgrade module selected by the user, the service And a server transmits the selected upgrade module to the computer. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Wherein said upgrade module is associated with control and / or status check of said electrical device. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the home network controller requests product information from the electric device, and receives and stores the product information transmitted by the electric device. Connecting the computer with a home network controller; The computer requesting and receiving product information from the home network controller; Connecting the computer to a service server; The computer sending product information to the service server; Receiving, by the service server, the product information and searching for an upgrade module corresponding thereto; Sending, by the service server, the retrieved upgrade module to the computer; The computer receiving the upgrade module from the service server and transmitting the upgrade module to the home network controller; And receiving and storing the upgrade module by the home network controller. The method of claim 5, The upgrade method includes the steps of the service server transmitting the upgrade module list for the product information to the computer, the computer receiving and displaying the upgrade module to the user, and the computer transmitting the upgrade module selected by the user. And requesting the service server to the service server, wherein the service server transmits the selected upgrade module to the computer when the service server transmits the upgrade module to the computer. How to upgrade.

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