KR20080101553A - Apparatus and method for protocol automatic installation of home network system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system that enables various selection and use of a plurality of home network devices using different protocols, comprising: a plurality of home network devices using different protocols; A home server that monitors the current status of the home network devices and controls its operation and includes all protocols applied to the home network device; When the plurality of home network devices are connected and a new home network device is added, after checking the protocol used by the added home network device, if the identified protocol is not loaded, the checked protocol from the home server is checked. It is preferable to include a gateway to download and install the.

Description

{APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY INSTALLING PROTOCOL IN HOME NETWORK SYSTEM}

1 is a view schematically showing the configuration of a protocol automatic installation device of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view schematically showing the configuration of a gateway applied to the present invention.

3 is a view showing the internal structure of a gateway applied to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

10. home server, 20. gateway,

21. home server interface unit, 23. protocol conversion unit,

25. device interface unit, 27. protocol automatic installation unit,

29. Control unit, 30-1, 30-2,... , 30-n. Home network devices

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system that enables various selection and use of a plurality of home network devices using different protocols. .

Generally, a home network system is a network home appliance connected to a gateway (TV, washing machine, microwave oven, gas range, audio, air conditioner, boiler, etc.), lighting, gas valve, front door, etc. Outside is a system that allows remote control via the Internet and mobile communication terminals.

In the above-described home network system, there is no standard protocol for data size, execution command, etc. for providing a user with status information on each home network device connected to the gateway.

Accordingly, every home network device manufacturer has developed and uses its own protocol.

Protocols currently applied to home network devices include Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Living Network Control Protocol (LnCP), Home Network Control Protocol (HNCP), Home Audio Video interoperability (HAVi), and JINI.

Accordingly, the home network devices of Company A, D, and E use UPnP, the Company B's home network devices use LnCP, the Company C and H home network devices use HNCP, and the Company G, I Assuming that home network devices of company use HAVi and home network devices of company F use JINI, a home network system manufacturer adopts home network devices of company A, company B and company D to construct a home network. In addition, manufacturers should deploy UPnP and LnCP in their gateways to enable A, B and D home network devices to send and receive data to and from each other.

As mentioned above, gateways must be equipped with protocols used by the home network devices chosen by the manufacturer, and it is difficult to install all the protocols in the gateway, which limits the use of various products of various companies. There is a problem.

In addition, when a user who uses a home network system conventionally purchases a home network device that uses a protocol (for example, HNCP) other than the protocol (for example, UPnP, LnCP) installed in the gateway, Even if the purchased home network device supports the home networking function, there is a problem in that the home network device cannot be efficiently used because the gateway does not include a protocol supporting the home network device purchased by the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by using all protocols applied to a home network device in a home server, and downloading a protocol required by a gateway from a home server and automatically installing a plurality of protocols using different protocols. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system, which allows various home network devices to be selected and used.

The apparatus for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes: a plurality of home network devices using different protocols; A home server that monitors the current status of the home network devices and controls its operation and includes all protocols applied to the home network device; When the plurality of home network devices are connected and a new home network device is added, after checking the protocol used by the added home network device, if the identified protocol is not loaded, the checked protocol from the home server is checked. It is preferable to include a gateway to download and install the.

Furthermore, the gateway may include a home server interface unit that is responsible for data transmission and reception with the home server; A device interface unit responsible for transmitting and receiving data with the home network devices; A protocol converter installed between the home server interface and the device interface to convert protocols of data transmitted and received between the home network devices and the home server; When a new home network device is added, check the protocol used by the added home network device under the control of the controller, and if the protocol is not loaded, request the protocol to the home server through the home server interface unit, Preferably, the protocol includes a protocol automatic installation unit for downloading and installing a protocol provided by the home server according to the request.

Meanwhile, in the method of automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a new home network device is connected to a gateway, the protocol of the connected home network device is checked and used by the connected home network device. Checking whether the protocol is already loaded; Requesting the home server to download the protocol used by the connected home network device when the protocol used by the connected home network device is not loaded; In accordance with the download request, it is preferable to include the step of downloading and installing the protocol provided by the home server.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a road, a home server 10, a gateway 20, and a plurality of home network devices 30-1 schematically showing a configuration of an apparatus for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. , 30-2, ..., 30-n).

In such a configuration, the home server 10 has a plurality of gateways 20 installed in each home connected to each other, and home network devices 30-1 and 30-belonging to the respective gateways 20. 2, ..., 30-n to monitor the current state and control the operation of the home network devices (30-1, 30-2, ..., 30-n), the remote control pad (not shown) through the gateway 20 Control the operation of the home network devices 30-1, 30-2,..., 30-n belonging to the gateway 20 based on a control signal received from the control panel or a control signal received through an external Internet network. .

In addition, the home server 10 includes all protocols applied to the home network device, and when a download request is received from the gateway 20, the home server 10 downloads the protocol to the gateway 20.

Meanwhile, the gateway 20 is connected to a plurality of home network devices 30-1, 30-2,..., 30-n using different protocols, and the home network devices 30-1, respectively. 30-2, ..., 30-n by converting the protocol of the data received from the home server 10, by converting the protocol of the data received from the home server 10 and transmitted to the home network device, It serves as a relay between the home server 10 and the home network devices 30-1, 30-2, ..., 30-n using different protocols.

In addition, when a new home network device is added, the gateway 20 checks a protocol used by the added home network device, and then checks whether the checked protocol is already mounted in the gateway 20, and thereby adds the added home network device. If the protocol to be used is not installed in the gateway 20, request to download the protocol used by the home network device added to the home server 10, and download and install the protocol provided by the home server 10. .

2 is a road, a home server interface unit 21, a protocol conversion unit 23, a device interface unit 25, a protocol automatic installation unit 27, and a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a gateway according to the present invention. And a control unit 29.

In such a configuration, the home server interface unit 21 is responsible for data transmission and reception with the home server 10, receives the data transmitted by the home server 10 and applies it to the protocol conversion unit 23, protocol conversion The unit 23 receives the data converted into the home server protocol and transmits the data to the home server 10.

The protocol conversion unit 23 mutually converts a protocol of data transmitted and received between the home servers 10 and the plurality of home network devices 30-1, 30-2,..., 30-n using different protocols. The data received through the device interface unit 25 is converted into a protocol used by the home server 10 and applied to the home server interface unit 21, and the data received from the home server interface unit 21 is applied. The data is converted into a protocol used by the home network device to be received, and then applied to the device interface unit 25.

The device interface unit 25 is responsible for data transmission and reception with each of the home network devices 30-1, 30-2,..., 30-n, and each home network device 30-1, 30-2,. , 30-n) receives the data transmitted to the protocol conversion unit 23, and the protocol conversion unit 23 receives the data converted to the protocol used by the home network device and transmits it to the corresponding home network device. do.

The device interface 25 described above includes WLAN, RF, UWB, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Ethernet, Power Line Communication (PLC), It is implemented with the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (PNA), IEEE 1394, and USB.

When the new home network device is added to the gateway 20, the protocol automatic installation unit 27 checks the protocol used by the added home network device, and the protocol used by the added home network device is mounted on the gateway 20. If not, request to download the protocol used by the home network device added to the home server 10 through the home server interface 21, and download and install the protocol provided by the home server 10.

The controller 29 controls the flow of data transmitted and received between the plurality of home network devices 30-1, 30-2,..., 30-n and the home server 10.

Figure 3 is a road showing the internal structure of the gateway to be applied to the present invention, the gateway 20 is WLAN, RF, UWB, Bluetooth (Bluetooth), ZigBee (Interface) for the interface with the home network devices that are connected wirelessly , WPAN, IrDA and other interfaces are installed, and interfaces such as Ethernet, PLC, home PNA, IEEE 1394, and USB are provided for interfacing with wired home network devices.

Each interface controls which home network device is being used and manages which home network device requests transmission and reception.

In addition, the gateway 20 includes a protocol used by the home network devices 30-1, 30-2,..., 30-n connected to the gateway 20. If a home network device using HNCP is additionally connected while only UPnP and LnCP are mounted, the gateway 20 downloads and installs HNCP from the home server 10 and mounts UPnP, LnCP, and HNCP.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, when a new home network device is added to access the gateway 20 and transmits a message requesting registration (S10), the gateway 20 further receiving the registration request message from the additionally connected home network device is further connected. After checking the type of the home network device that has been used (S12), it is determined whether the protocol used by the additionally connected home network device is already installed in the gateway 20 (S14).

As a result of the determination in step S14, when the protocol used by the connected home network device is already installed in the gateway 20, the protocol used by the connected home network device is further driven, and then further connected. The protocol converts the registration request message received from the home network device into a registration request message that can be recognized by the home server 10 and transmits the protocol to the home server 10 through the home server interface 21 (S16).

On the other hand, if the protocol used by the home network device additionally connected as a result of the determination in step S14 is not installed in the gateway 20, the protocol used by the home network device additionally connected to the home server 10 is determined. Request download (S18), and download and install the protocol provided by the home server 10 in accordance with the protocol download request (S20).

Subsequently, the protocol downloaded and installed through the above-described process S20 is driven, and the protocol is converted into a registration request message that can be recognized by the home server 10. The server interface unit 21 transmits the data to the home server 10 (S22).

The apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to the present invention can be variously modified and implemented within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention without being limited to the above-described embodiments.

According to the apparatus and method for automatically installing a protocol of a home network system according to the present invention as described above, a home network device using different protocols is installed by downloading and installing a protocol used in a newly added home network device from a home server. Various choices are available.

Claims (3)

A plurality of home network devices using different protocols; A home server that monitors the current status of the home network devices and controls its operation and includes all protocols applied to the home network device; When the home network devices are connected and a new home network device is added, after checking the protocol used by the added home network device, if the checked protocol is not loaded, the checked protocol is downloaded from the home server. A protocol automatic installation device for a home network system including a gateway for receiving and installing. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway, A home server interface unit responsible for transmitting and receiving data with the home server; A device interface unit responsible for transmitting and receiving data with the home network devices; A protocol converter installed between the home server interface and the device interface to convert protocols of data transmitted and received between the home network devices and the home server; When a new home network device is added, the protocol used by the added home network device is checked under the control of the controller, and if the protocol is not loaded, the protocol is requested to the home server through the home server interface unit. And a protocol automatic installation unit for downloading and installing a protocol provided by the home server according to a protocol request. When a new home network device is connected to a gateway, checking a type of the connected home network device to determine whether a protocol used by the connected home network device is already loaded; Requesting the home server to download the protocol used by the connected home network device when the protocol used by the connected home network device is not loaded; Method of automatically installing a protocol of a home network system comprising the step of downloading and installing the protocol provided by the home server in response to the download request.

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