JP6739645B2 - Remote control system and home appliances - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a remote control system and a home electric appliance, and more particularly to a home electric appliance that is remotely controlled via a server and a mobile terminal connected to the Internet, and a remote control system including such a home electric appliance.

There is a demand to control home electric appliances such as an air conditioner at home by using a mobile terminal such as a smart phone from outside, and such a service has been started.
For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe systems that can be remotely operated from a mobile terminal or the like by connecting home electric appliances to a network.

Normally, home electric appliances such as air conditioners do not have a function of directly connecting to the Internet, but connect to the IPv4 Internet via a router for connecting to the Internet (IPv4) of the IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). Only the router can be connected from the mobile terminal on the go, and the mobile terminal cannot be connected to home electric appliances in the firewall. Furthermore, since the mobile terminal does not have a means for knowing the IPv4 Internet address assigned to the router, it is difficult to connect to the router at home.

Therefore, in the current remote control system for home electric appliances, home electric appliances in the home are generally connected to a server operated by a home electric appliance maker via IPv4 Internet. A mobile terminal that performs remote control also connects to this server and registers operation information in the server. The home electric appliance reads the operation information from the server at regular time intervals and reflects the operation. Therefore, the operation from the mobile terminal is delayed and reflected on the home electric appliance.

On the other hand, with the exhaustion of IPv4 Internet addresses, the spread of IPv6 Internet has begun. In IPv6, normally, an IPv6 global internet address (hereinafter, IPv6 global address) is also given to home electric appliances in the router. Therefore, it is possible to connect to a home electric appliance from a mobile terminal on the go. On the other hand, the situation in which it is difficult for a mobile terminal to know the IPv6 global address assigned to a home electric appliance has not changed.

JP, 2007-53530, A JP, 2008-135882, A

Internet addresses given to mobile terminals such as smartphones are expected to shift to IPv6. The Internet at home has started migrating to IPv6 from time to time, and the environment where a mobile terminal is directly connected to a home electric device at home is starting to be set up. However, it is difficult for the mobile terminal to know the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance.
For example, if a direct connection from a mobile terminal to a home electric appliance becomes possible, the role of the central server will be reduced or unnecessary, and the problem of operation delay will be solved.

On the other hand, since it is considered that the existing remote control system via a server using IPv4 Internet will continue to be used for a long time, it is desirable to avoid independently constructing a system for directly remote controlling home electric appliances by IPv6 global address.

In addition, it is not preferable to allow a general user to check the Internet environment at home or to determine whether the mobile terminal is IPv4 or IPv6 and select an appropriate remote control system. Therefore, a system that automatically selects the optimum remote control method without the user's awareness is desirable. For that purpose, it is necessary to have a mechanism for automatically determining whether or not the portable terminal outside the home can directly connect to the home electric appliance in the home.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to automatically determine whether or not it is possible to connect to a home electric appliance from the Internet.

A remote control system according to an aspect of the present invention is a remote control system that remotely controls a home electric appliance via a server and a mobile terminal connected to the Internet, wherein the home electric appliance communicates with the Internet. From the server via the side communication unit and the device-side communication unit, the server receives the IP address of the communication partner recognized by the server in communication with the home electric appliance as a recognition IP address, and the home electric appliance is based on the recognized IP address. In addition, it is determined whether or not it is possible to connect from the Internet, and when it is possible to connect to the home electric appliance from the Internet, the IP address assigned to the home electric appliance is transmitted via the device side communication unit. Ri sent to the server as a connection IP address, when said home appliance can not be connected from the Internet, and a device-side control unit not to send the connection IP address to the server, the server A mobile communication terminal that communicates with the Internet, and a server storage unit that stores the connection IP address received by the server communication unit, wherein the mobile terminal communicates with the Internet. When the connection-side IP address is stored in the server-side communication unit and the server-side storage unit, the connection-side IP address is acquired from the server via the terminal-side communication unit and the terminal-side communication unit A terminal-side control unit that connects to the home electric appliance from the Internet using the connection IP address via a communication unit and performs remote control of the home electric appliance.

An electric home appliance according to an aspect of the present invention is an electric home appliance that is remotely controlled via a server and a mobile terminal connected to the Internet, and includes a device-side communication unit that communicates with the Internet, and the device-side communication. Via the unit, the server can receive an IP address of a communication partner recognized by the server in communication with the home electric appliance as a recognition IP address, and can connect to the home electric appliance from the Internet by the recognized IP address. If it is possible to connect to the home electric appliance from the Internet, the IP address assigned to the home electric appliance is sent to the server as a connection IP address via the device side communication unit. If the home electric appliance cannot be connected from the Internet, the connection IP address is not sent to the server, and the portable terminal is connected from the Internet using the connection IP address acquired from the server. In this case, a device-side control unit that receives the remote operation from the mobile terminal via the device-side communication unit is provided.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not it is possible to connect to a home electric appliance from the Internet.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a remote control system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a home electric appliance according to the first embodiment. (A) And (B) is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions roughly. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a server in the first embodiment. (A) And (B) is the schematic which shows the example of the equipment relevant information in Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the mobile terminal in the first embodiment. (A) And (B) is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation when the router is changed in the first embodiment. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a remote control system according to a second embodiment. FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a device-related table as device-related information in the second embodiment.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a remote control system 100 according to the first embodiment.
The remote control system 100 includes a home electric appliance 110, a server 120, and a mobile terminal 130.

The home electric appliance 110 is connected to the Internet 102 by using a general Internet connection router 101. In other words, the home electric appliance 110 is connected to the router 101 via a LAN (Local Area Network) 103. The router 101 is compatible with both IPv4 and IPv6, and can assign an IPv6 global address to the home electric appliance 110 connected to the LAN 103.
Further, the server 120 and the mobile terminal 130 are connected to the Internet 102.
The remote control system 100 is a system that remotely operates the home electric appliance 110 via a server 120 and a mobile terminal 130 connected to the Internet 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the home electric appliance 110.
The home electric appliance 110 includes a device-side storage unit 111, a device-side communication unit 112, a device body 113, a notification unit 114, and a device-side control unit 115.

The device-side storage unit 111 stores information necessary for the processing of the home electric appliance 110. For example, the device-side storage unit 111 stores the IP address assigned to the home electric appliance 110 in the LAN 103 as the assigned IP address.
The device-side communication unit 112 communicates with the Internet 102 via the router 101. In other words, the device-side communication unit 112 is connected to the LAN 103 connected to the Internet 102 via the router 101.
The device body 113 is a part that executes the function of the home electric appliance 110.
The notification unit 114 notifies whether or not the home electric appliance 110 is connectable from the Internet 102. For example, the notification unit 114 is composed of a lamp such as an LED. When it is determined that the home electric appliance 110 can be directly connected to the Internet 102, the appliance-side control unit 115 notifies the user by turning on a lamp.

The device-side control unit 115 controls processing in the home electric appliance 110.
For example, the home electric appliance 110 cannot know, as it is, whether or not a device outside the home can connect to the assigned IP address. Therefore, the device-side control unit 115 determines whether or not it is possible to directly connect to the home electric device 110 from the Internet 102.

Specifically, the device-side control unit 115 connects to the server 120 when the IP address is assigned to the home electric device 110. For example, the device-side control unit 115 sends a predetermined request (address confirmation request: first request) to the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112 in accordance with Hypertext Transport Protocol (hereinafter, HTTP). The request here is a request for confirming the IP address.

When connected by HTTP, in other words, when the address confirmation request is received, the server 120 sends back the REMOTE_ADDR variable of the HTTP header to the home electric appliance 110 as a response. When arbitrary IPv6 communication is performed without using HTTP, the server 120 may send the transmission source address back to the home electric appliance 110. That is, the server 120 sends back the IP address of the communication partner recognized by the server 120 in the communication with the home electric appliance 110. Here, the IP address recognized by the server 120 is also referred to as a recognized IP address.

In the home electric appliance 110 that has received the response from the server 120, the device-side control unit 115 has the IP address (recognized IP address) indicated by the REMOTE_ADDR variable described in the response and the IP stored in the device-side storage unit 111. The address (IP address of the device itself: assigned IP address) is compared. Then, when these match, the device-side control unit 115 determines that the IPv6 global address is given to the own device. In this case, the device-side control unit 115 determines that the home electric appliance 110 can be connected from the Internet 102. In other words, the device-side control unit 115 determines that the connection to the home electric appliance 110 can be started from the Internet 102 side.

For example, when a local address is assigned to the home electric appliance 110, the router 101 operates NAT (Network Address Translation). When the home electric appliance 110 connects to the external server 120, the source address is converted by the NAT into the global address given to the router 101 and reaches the server 120. As a result, in the case of HTTP, the REMOTE_ADDR variable is the global address of the router 101. Therefore, when the server 120 sends back the REMOTE_ADDR variable, the device-side control unit 115 detects that the IPv6 global address is not assigned to the own device because it is different from the local address which is the IP address given to the own device. can do.

When the IP address of the device itself is only the IPv4 address, the device-side control unit 115 determines that the IPv6 global address is not assigned, and determines that the home electric device 110 cannot be connected from the Internet 102.
When both the IPv4 address and the IPv6 address are given to the IP address of the device itself, the device-side control unit 115 can give priority to the IPv6 address and connect to the home electric appliance 110 from the Internet 102. Determine whether or not.

The device-side control unit 115 periodically sends the state information indicating the state of the home electric appliance 110 to the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112.
The state information includes an identifier (device identification information) for identifying the home electric appliance 110 and device information necessary for operating the home electric appliance 110. The identifier is the serial number of the home electric appliance 110, the MAC address, or the like. For example, when the household electrical appliance 110 is an air conditioner, the device information is all information necessary for operating the air conditioner, such as an operating state, heating or cooling, a set temperature and an air volume.
Here, the device-side control unit 115 adds the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110 to the state information when it determines that the home electric appliance 110 can be connected from the Internet 102. Here, the IPv6 global address added to the status information is also referred to as a connection IP address.
The periodic transmission of the status information to the server 120 may be IPv4 or IPv6.

The device-side control unit 115 periodically connects to the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112 and confirms whether or not operation information is registered in the server 120. For example, the device-side control unit 115 periodically requests the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112 to acquire operation information (operation information acquisition request: third request). You can make detailed confirmations. When the operation information is registered in the server 120, the device-side control unit 115 acquires the operation information from the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112, and the operation indicated by the operation information is performed. The device main body 113 is caused to perform the above operation. In other words, the device-side control unit 115 reflects the operation content indicated by the operation information on the device body 113.

When the mobile terminal 130 is connected, the device-side control unit 115 determines whether the mobile terminal 130 is connected to the LAN 103 or the Internet 102.

For example, when the mobile terminal 130 and the home electric appliance 110 do not support IPv6, the mobile terminal 130 transmits an IPv4 broadcast to the LAN 103, and the home electric appliance 110 responds to the IPv4 broadcast so that the mobile terminal 130 transmits the home electric appliance 110. It knows the IPv4 address of and makes a direct connection.
Therefore, when the IP address of the mobile terminal 130 is the IPv4 address, the device-side control unit 115 determines that the mobile terminal 130 is connected to the LAN 103.

In addition, when the mobile terminal 130 and the home electric appliance 110 are compatible with IPv6, the mobile terminal 130 transmits an IPv6 link local multicast to the LAN 103 when connecting to the LAN 103. The household electrical appliance 110 responds with the IPv6 link local address, and the mobile terminal 130 and the household electrical appliance 110 directly connect with the IPv6 link local address.
Therefore, the device-side control unit 115 can determine whether the mobile terminal 130 is connected to the LAN 103 or the Internet 102 by confirming the transmission source of the data received from the mobile terminal 130. .. For example, in the case of HTTP connection, the device-side control unit 115 determines whether the mobile terminal 130 is connected to the LAN 103 or the Internet 102 based on whether the REMOTE_ADDR variable in the HTTP header is the IPv6 link local address. can do.

Then, the device-side control unit 115 determines that the mobile terminal 130 is connected to the Internet 102 when the mobile terminal 130 is connected by the IPv6 global address. In this case, since the mobile terminal 130 is directly connected to the home electric appliance 110, the server 120 is not necessary for operating the home electric appliance 110 thereafter. Therefore, the transmission frequency of the status information that is periodically transmitted from the home electric appliance 110 to the server 120 and the transmission frequency of the operation information acquisition request that is regularly transmitted from the home electric appliance 110 to the server 120 are remotely controlled. Lower than before. It should be noted that it is desirable to maintain the minimum regular transmission in preparation for the initialization of the mobile terminal 130 and the change of the global address of the router 101.

Note that the device-side control unit 115, when acquiring operation information directly from the mobile terminal 130 via the device-side communication unit 112, performs the operation when the operation indicated by the operation information is performed in the device body. Let 113 do it.

Part or all of the device-side control unit 115 described above is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a memory 10 and a CPU (Central) that executes a program stored in the memory 10. Processing unit) and the like. Such a program may be provided via a network, or may be provided by being recorded in a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.

Part or all of the device-side control unit 115 may be, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application). It can also be configured with a processing circuit 12 such as a Specific Integrated Circuits (FPGA) or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

The device-side storage unit 111 can be configured by a storage device such as a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, or an HDD (Hard Disc Device).
In addition, the device-side communication unit 112 can be configured by a communication device such as a NIC (Network Interface Card).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the server 120.
The server 120 includes a device database (hereinafter referred to as device DB) 121, a server-side communication unit 122, and a server-side control unit 123.

The device DB 121 is a server-side storage unit that stores device-related information including state information sent from the home electric appliance 110 and operation information sent from the mobile terminal 130. The device-related information is information for each home electric appliance 110.
When the home device 110 cannot be connected from the Internet 102, the device-related information includes an identifier, device information, and operation information, as shown in FIG.
When it is possible to connect to the home electric appliance 110 from the Internet 102, the device-related information includes an identifier, device information, operation information, and an IPv6 global address, as shown in FIG. Including.

The server-side communication unit 122 communicates with the Internet 102. The server-side communication unit 122 supports both IPv4 and IPv6 communication. If the server 120 supports only IPv4 and the mobile terminal 130 complies with IPv6, it is converted to IPv4 by protocol conversion such as NAT64. Therefore, the server 120 determines whether the mobile terminal 130 is IPv4 or IPv6. Can't do it.

The server-side control unit 123 controls the processing in the server 120.
For example, when the server-side control unit 123 receives the address confirmation request via the server-side communication unit 122, the IP address of the transmission source included in the address confirmation request is used as the authentication IP address for the home electric appliance. Respond to 110.

Further, when the server-side control unit 123 receives the status information from the home electric appliance 110 via the server-side communication unit 122, the server-side control unit 123 stores the status information in the device DB 121. When the device DB 121 includes state information including the same identifier as the identifier included in the state information, the newly received state information replaces the old state information stored in the device DB 121.
The server-side control unit 123 connects the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110 together with the identifier and the device information if the IPv6 global address is included in the status information sent from the home electric appliance 110 on a regular basis. It is stored in the corresponding device-related information of the device DB 121 as the use IP address. If the state information from the home electric appliance 110 does not include the IPv6 global address and the device-related information stored in the device DB 121 includes the corresponding IPv6 global address, the server-side control is performed. The unit 123 deletes the IPv6 global address from the device-related information.

Further, the server-side control unit 123 determines whether the mobile terminal 130 complies with IPv4 or IPv6 when there is a connection from the mobile terminal 130. For example, when the mobile terminal 130 connects according to HTTP, the server-side control unit 123 extracts the REMOTE_ADDR variable from the HTTP header and determines the protocol of the mobile terminal 130 based on the IP address indicated by the extracted REMOTE_ADDR variable. Even when HTTP is not used, the server-side control unit 123 can determine the protocol of the mobile terminal 130 from the source address.

When the server-side control unit 123 receives a request (device information acquisition request: second request) including the identifier of the home electric appliance 110 to be operated from the mobile terminal 130 via the server-side communication unit 122, the device DB 121. At, the device-related information corresponding to the identifier is referred to. When the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110 is included in the corresponding device-related information and the protocol of the mobile terminal 130 determined as described above is IPv6, the server-side control unit 123 causes the server-side communication unit. By notifying the mobile terminal 130 of the IPv6 global address via 122, the mobile terminal 130 can be directly connected to the home electric appliance 110 via the Internet 102. For example, the server-side control unit 123 guides the mobile terminal 130 to the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110 corresponding to the identifier included in the request by using a transfer unit such as HTTP redirect.

Note that the mobile terminal 130, which has received the notification of the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110, directly connects to the electric home appliance 110 to be operated by the IPv6 global address. When the connection is successful, the mobile terminal 130 stores the notified IPv6 global address. From the next time onward, when the mobile terminal 130 operates the home electric appliance 110, the mobile terminal 130 directly connects to the saved IPv6 global address without connecting to the server 120.
On the other hand, as a result of the redirect from the server 120 to the home electric appliance 110, the mobile terminal 130, when unable to connect to the home electric appliance 110 due to the interruption by the firewall of the router 101 or other reasons, connects again to the server 120 and returns to the home electric appliance. The server 120 is notified that the direct connection to 110 has failed. If the information received via the server-side communication unit 122 includes the information of the direct connection failure when the mobile terminal 130 is connected, the server-side control unit 123 subsequently fails the direct connection. The operation of redirecting to the home electric appliance 110 is not performed.

In addition, when the protocol of the mobile terminal 130 is IPv4, when the device-related information of the operation target home appliance 110 does not include the IPv6 global address, or when the direct connection to the operation target home appliance 110 fails. In addition, the server-side control unit 123 reads the device information of the home electric appliance 110 corresponding to the identifier included in the device information acquisition request from the device DB 121, and reads the read device information through the server-side communication unit 122. And sends it to the mobile terminal 130. Then, the server-side control unit 123 receives, via the server-side communication unit 122, from the mobile terminal 130, the identifier of the electrical home appliance 110 to be operated and operation information indicating the operation content such as setting change. Then, the server-side control unit 123 stores the received operation information in the device-related information corresponding to the received identifier.
When the server side control unit 123 receives the operation information acquisition request from the home electric appliance 110 via the server communication unit 122, the server side control unit 123 sends the operation information to the home electric device 110 via the server communication unit 122, By causing the home electric appliance 110 to perform an operation when the operation content indicated by the operation information is performed, the operation content is reflected in the device body 113.
When the server-side control unit 123 sends the operation information to the home electric appliance 110, the server-side control unit 123 deletes the operation information from the device-related information.

Part or all of the server-side control unit 123 described above includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a memory 10 and a CPU that executes a program stored in the memory 10. It can be configured by the processor 11. Such a program may be provided via a network, or may be provided by being recorded in a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.

Further, a part of the server-side control unit 123 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or the like. The processing circuit 12 can also be used.

The device DB 121 can be configured by a storage device such as a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, or an HDD.
The server-side communication unit 122 can be configured by a communication device such as NIC.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 130.
The mobile terminal 130 includes a terminal storage unit 131, a first terminal communication unit 132A, a second terminal communication unit 132B, a display unit 133, an input unit 134, and a terminal control unit 135.

The terminal-side storage unit 131 stores information necessary for processing on the mobile terminal 130. For example, when the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110 is notified from the server 120, the terminal-side storage unit 131 stores the IPv6 global address in association with the identifier of the home electric appliance 110.
The first terminal side communication unit 132A communicates with the Internet 102 wirelessly.
The second terminal side communication unit 132B communicates with the LAN 103 wirelessly.
The display unit 133 displays various screen images.
The input unit 134 receives input of instructions.

The terminal-side control unit 135 controls the processing in the mobile terminal 130.
For example, when the user operates the electrical home appliance 110, the user uses the input unit 134 to input the identifier of the electrical home appliance 110 that is the operation target. The terminal-side control unit 135 determines whether the IPv6 global address, the IPv6 link local address, or the IPv4 private address corresponding to the input identifier is stored in the terminal-side storage unit 131.

When the IPv6 global address, the IPv6 link local address, or the IPv4 private address corresponding to the input identifier is not stored, the terminal-side control unit 135 uses the input identifier via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. And sends a device information acquisition request including This request is a request for acquiring information on the home electric appliance 110.
Upon receiving the device information from the server 120 via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the display unit 133 to display a screen image indicating the received device information. Then, when the user refers to the displayed device information and inputs the operation content of the home electric appliance 110 that is the operation target using the input unit 134, the terminal-side control unit 135 indicates the input operation content. The operation information and the identifier of the home electric appliance 110 to be operated are sent to the server 120 via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A.

On the other hand, when the server 120 notifies the device information acquisition request of the IPv6 global address of the home electric appliance 110, the terminal-side control unit 135 stores the IPv6 global address in the terminal-side storage unit 131, and Via the first terminal side communication unit 132A, the home electric appliance 110 to which the IPv6 global address is assigned is connected via the Internet 102, and the home electric appliance 110 is remotely controlled.

Specifically, when the terminal-side control unit 135 receives the device information from the home electric appliance 110 via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the display unit 133 to display a screen image indicating the received device information. Then, when the user refers to the displayed device information and inputs the operation content of the home electric appliance 110 that is the operation target using the input unit 134, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. The operation information indicating the input operation content is sent to the household electrical appliance 110 to be operated via the.

"
In addition, when the home electric appliance 110 to which the notified IPv6 global address is assigned cannot be connected, the terminal-side control unit 135 indicates that the direct connection cannot be established via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. A device information acquisition request including information on direct connection failure is sent to the server 120, and the IPv6 global address that could not be connected is deleted from the terminal side storage unit 131.

When the IPv6 global address corresponding to the input identifier is stored, the terminal-side control unit 135, via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A, the home electric appliance to which the IPv6 global address is assigned. Connect to 110. Then, when the terminal-side control unit 135 receives the device information from the home electric appliance 110 via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the display unit 133 to display a screen image indicating the received device information. Then, when the user refers to the displayed device information and inputs the operation content of the home electric appliance 110 that is the operation target using the input unit 134, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. The operation information indicating the input operation content is sent to the household electrical appliance 110 to be operated via the.

When the IPv6 link local address or IPv4 private address corresponding to the entered identifier is stored, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the IPv6 link local address or IPv4 private address via the second terminal-side communication unit 132B. Is connected to the household electric appliance 110 to which is assigned. Then, when the terminal-side control unit 135 receives the device information from the home electric appliance 110 via the second terminal-side communication unit 132B, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the display unit 133 to display a screen image indicating the received device information. Then, when the user refers to the displayed device information and inputs the operation content of the home electric appliance 110 that is the operation target using the input unit 134, the terminal-side control unit 135 causes the second terminal-side communication unit 132B. The operation information indicating the input operation content is sent to the household electrical appliance 110 to be operated via the.

Part or all of the terminal-side control unit 135 described above is, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, a memory 10 and a CPU or the like that executes a program stored in the memory 10. It can be configured by the processor 11. Such a program may be provided via a network, or may be provided by being recorded in a recording medium. That is, such a program may be provided as a program product, for example.

Further, a part of the terminal-side control unit 135 may be, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or the like. The processing circuit 12 can also be used.

The terminal-side storage unit 131 can be configured by a storage device such as a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory.
Further, the first terminal side communication unit 132A can be configured by a wireless communication device for connecting to the Internet wirelessly.
Further, the second terminal side communication unit 132B can be configured by a wireless communication device for connecting to the LAN wirelessly.

According to the first embodiment, it is possible to coexist with the currently operating IPv4 remote control system by using the router 101 for connecting to the general Internet 102 without requiring a specially created gateway device. It is possible to provide a system for directly controlling the mobile terminal 130 and the home electric appliance 110.

The first embodiment provides a means for determining whether or not it is possible to directly connect to the home electric appliance 110 at home from the mobile terminal 130 that is out, and which of the local address and the global address is assigned to the home electric appliance 110. It is possible to provide a system capable of remote control in any case without the user knowing.

In the existing IPv4 remote control system, the communication load of the server 120 is dominated by the regular transmission of the home electric appliances 110, and the load of the server 120 increases as the number of the home electric appliances 110 increases. According to the first embodiment, it becomes possible to sequentially reduce the periodic transmission to the server 120 as IPv6 spreads while coexisting with the existing system.

7A and 7B are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation when the router is changed.
As shown in FIG. 7(A), the router 101#1 compatible with IPv6 assigns an IPv6 global address to the home electric appliance 110 so that it can be connected from the Internet 102.
When such a router 101#1 is changed to a router 101#2 that supports only IPv4, as shown in FIG. 7B, the device-side control unit 115 of the home electric appliance 110 causes the device-side control unit 115 to change its own device. It is detected that the IP address assigned to the IPv4 address is only the IPv4 address. In such a case, the device-side control unit 115 returns the transmission frequency of the state information and the transmission frequency of the operation information acquisition request to the frequency before the reduction.

The IPv6 global address is still stored in the terminal-side storage unit 131 of the mobile terminal 130. In this state, when the user operates the home electric appliance 110 via the mobile terminal 130, the terminal-side control unit 135 of the mobile terminal 130 acquires the IPv6 global address stored in the terminal-side storage unit 131, The IPv6 global address is connected via the first terminal side communication unit 132A. However, this connection fails because the home electric appliance 110 having the relevant IPv6 global address no longer exists.

When the connection of the stored IPv6 global address fails, the terminal-side control unit 135 of the mobile terminal 130 deletes the stored address, connects to the server 120 again, sends operation information, and performs remote control. To recover.

When the connection of the address stored in the mobile terminal 130 fails, the mobile terminal 130 is temporarily unresponsive because it times out in many cases, and the mobile terminal 130 may not be operated during this period. Therefore, the mobile terminal 130 may be provided with a means for deleting the address stored in the mobile terminal 130.

Since the case where the mobile terminal 130 directly operates the home electric appliance 110 and the case where the mobile terminal 130 operates via the server 120 are mixed, the terminal-side control unit 135 displays whether or not the home electric appliance 110 is currently directly operated. It may be displayed on the section 133. That is, this display indicates that the home appliance 110 can be connected using the IP address notified from the server 120.

Embodiment 2.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the remote control system 200 according to the second embodiment.
The remote control system 200 includes an electric home appliance 210A, an electric home appliance 210B, a server 220, a mobile terminal 230A, and a mobile terminal 230B.
Here, the electric home appliance 210A is an electric home appliance compatible with IPv6, and is hereinafter referred to as a new electric home appliance 210A. The home electric appliance 210B is an electric home appliance that does not support IPv6 but is compatible with IPv4, and is hereinafter referred to as an old home electric appliance 210B.
The mobile terminal 230A is a mobile terminal compatible with IPv6, and will be referred to as a new mobile terminal 230A below. The mobile terminal 230B is a mobile terminal that does not support IPv6 but does support IPv4, and is hereinafter referred to as an old mobile terminal 230B.

As shown in FIG. 2, the new home electric appliance 210A includes a device-side storage unit 111, a device-side communication unit 112, a device body 113, a notification unit 114, and a device-side control unit 215A. Regarding the device-side storage unit 111, the device-side communication unit 112, the device body 113, and the notification unit 114 of the new home electric appliance 210A, the device-side storage unit 111, the device-side communication unit 112, the device body 113, and the notification unit according to the first embodiment. Similar to 114.

The device-side control unit 215A controls processing in the home electric appliance 110.
For example, when the IP address is assigned, the device-side control unit 215A determines whether the assigned IP address can be connected from a device outside the home (whether the Internet 102 can connect). to decide. The processing here is the same as the operation in the first embodiment.

In addition, the device-side control unit 215A periodically sends the state information indicating the state of the new home electric device 210A to the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112. Similar to the first embodiment, the status information includes an identifier and device information, and further includes an IPv6 global address when the new home appliance 210A can be connected from the Internet 102.

The device-side control unit 215A periodically connects to the server 120 via the device-side communication unit 112 and confirms whether or not operation information is registered in the server 120. The processing here is also the same as in the first embodiment.

When there is a connection from the new mobile terminal 230A or the old mobile terminal 230B, the device-side control unit 215A determines whether the new mobile terminal 230A or the old mobile terminal 230B is connected to the LAN 103 or the Internet 102. to decide. The processing here is also similar to that of the first embodiment.

Even when the device side control unit 215A according to the second embodiment is connected from the new mobile terminal 230A with the IPv6 global address, the frequency of the status information periodically transmitted from the new home electric device 210A to the server 220, and the new information The process of reducing the frequency of operation information acquisition requests that are periodically transmitted from the home electric appliance 210 to the server 220 is not performed.

When the device-side control unit 215 directly acquires the operation information from the new mobile terminal 230A or the old mobile terminal 230B via the device-side communication unit 112, the operation indicated by the operation information is performed. In this case, the device body 113 is caused to perform the operation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the old home electric appliance 210B includes a device-side storage unit 111, a device-side communication unit 112, a device body 113, a notification unit 114, and a device-side control unit 215B. Regarding the device-side storage unit 111, the device-side communication unit 112, the device body 113, and the notification unit 114 of the old home electric appliance 210B, the device-side storage unit 111, the device-side communication unit 112, the device body 113, and the notification unit according to the first embodiment. Similar to 114.
The old home electric appliance 210B may not include the notification unit 114.

The device-side control unit 215B controls processing in the old home electric device 210B.
The device-side control unit 215B periodically sends the state information indicating the state of the home electric device 110 to the server 220 via the device-side communication unit 112. The status information includes an identifier and device information.
In addition, the device-side control unit 215B periodically connects to the server 220 via the device-side communication unit 112, and confirms whether or not operation information is registered in the server 220. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.
Furthermore, when a connection is made from the old mobile terminal 230B via the LAN 103, the device-side control unit 215B acquires operation information directly from the old mobile terminal 230B and performs the operation indicated by the acquired operation information. The device main body 113 is caused to perform the operation in the case where

As shown in FIG. 4, the server 220 includes a device DB 221, a server-side communication unit 122, and a control unit 223. The server-side communication unit 122 of the server 220 is the same as the server-side communication unit 122 of the server 120 according to the first embodiment.

The device DB 221 is a server-side storage that stores state information sent from the new home electric device 210A and the old home electric device 210B, and device-related information including operation information sent from the new mobile terminal 230A and the old mobile terminal 230B. It is a department.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a device-related table 221a as device-related information.
The device relation table 221a includes an identifier column 221b, a device information column 221c, an operation information column 221d, a global address column 221e, and an external connection column 221f.
Information corresponding to one home electric appliance is stored in each row of the appliance-related table 221a.

The identifier column 221b stores the identifiers of the new home electric appliance 210A or the old home electric appliance 210B.
The device information column 221c stores the device information included in the status information sent from the new home electric device 210A or the old home electric device 210B.
The operation information column 221d stores the operation information sent from the new mobile terminal 230A or the old mobile terminal 230B.
The global address column 221e stores the IPv6 global address included in the status information sent from the new home electric appliance 210A. Since the IPv6 global address is not included in the state information from the old home electric appliance 210B, “none” is stored.
The external connection column 221f stores whether or not the IPv6 global address stored in the global address column 221e can be connected from the Internet 102. If the connection cannot be established, "NG" is stored, and if the connection has not been made yet or if the connection has been established, "OK" is stored. It should be noted that "none" is stored in the old home electric appliance 210B because it cannot be connected from the Internet 102.

The control unit 223 controls the processing in the server 220.
For example, when the control unit 223 receives the status information from the new home electric device 210A or the old home electric device 210B via the server-side communication unit 122, the control unit 223 stores the state information in the device DB 221. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.

In addition, when there is a connection from the new mobile terminal 230A or the old mobile terminal 230B, the control unit 223 determines whether the connected terminal complies with IPv4 or IPv6.
When the connected terminal complies with IPv6, the terminal becomes the new mobile terminal 230A. When the control unit 223 receives the device information acquisition request including the identifier of the device to be operated from the new mobile terminal 230A via the server-side communication unit 122, the control unit 223 displays the device-related information corresponding to the identifier in the device DB 221. refer. When the IPv6 global address of the new home appliance 210A is included in the corresponding device-related information and the external connection is “OK”, the control unit 223 causes the new mobile terminal 230A via the server-side communication unit 122. Then, the new mobile terminal 230A can be directly connected to the new home electric appliance 210A via the Internet 102 by notifying the IPv6 global address. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.
If the device-related information of the operation target device does not include the IPv6 global address, or if the external connection of the operation target device is “NG”, the control unit 223 causes the server-side communication unit 122. The new mobile terminal 230A or the old mobile terminal 230B receives the identifier of the new home electric appliance 210A or the old home electric appliance 210B to be operated and the operation information indicating the operation such as the setting change via the. The process when the operation information is received is the same as that in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, when the connected terminal complies with IPv4, the terminal becomes the old mobile terminal 230B. The control unit 223 receives the identifier of the device to be operated and the operation information from the old mobile terminal 230B via the server-side communication unit 122, and performs the same process as in the first embodiment.

When there is an operation information acquisition request from the new home electric appliance 210A or the old home electric appliance 210B via the server-side communication unit 122, the control unit 223 transmits the operation information to the new home electric appliance via the server-side communication unit 122. The new electric home appliance 210A or the old electric home appliance 210B is caused to perform the operation when the operation indicated by the operation information is performed by sending the electric power to the equipment 210A or the old electric home appliance 210B. The processing here is the same as that in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, the new mobile terminal 230A includes a terminal-side storage unit 131, a first terminal-side communication unit 132A, a second terminal-side communication unit 132B, a display unit 133, and an input unit 134. , And a terminal-side control unit 235A. The terminal-side storage unit 131, the first terminal-side communication unit 132A, the second terminal-side communication unit 132B, the display unit 133, and the input unit 134 of the new mobile terminal 230A are the terminal-side storage unit 131 of the mobile terminal 130 according to the first embodiment. The same as the first terminal side communication unit 132A, the second terminal side communication unit 132B, the display unit 133, and the input unit 134.

The terminal-side control unit 235A controls the processing in the new mobile terminal 230A.
For example, when the user operates the new home electric appliance 210A or the old home electric appliance 210B, the user uses the input unit 134 to input the identifier of the electric home appliance to be operated. The terminal-side control unit 235A determines whether the IPv6 global address or IPv6 link local address corresponding to the input identifier is stored in the terminal-side storage unit 131.

When the IPv6 global address or IPv6 link local address corresponding to the input identifier is not stored, the terminal-side control unit 235A causes the device information including the input identifier via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. The acquisition request is sent to the server 220. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.

When the IPv6 global address corresponding to the input identifier is stored, the terminal-side control unit 235A causes the new home appliance to which the IPv6 global address is assigned via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. Connect to device 210A. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.

If the IPv6 link local address corresponding to the input identifier is stored, the terminal-side control unit 235A causes the new home electric appliance to which the IPv6 link local address is assigned via the second terminal-side communication unit 132B. Connect to 210A. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, the old mobile terminal 230B includes a terminal-side storage unit 131, a first terminal-side communication unit 132A, a second terminal-side communication unit 132B, a display unit 133, and an input unit 134. , And a terminal-side control unit 235B. The terminal-side storage unit 131, the first terminal-side communication unit 132A, the second terminal-side communication unit 132B, the display unit 133, and the input unit 134 of the old mobile terminal 230B are the terminal-side storage unit 131 of the mobile terminal 130 according to the first embodiment. The same as the first terminal side communication unit 132A, the second terminal side communication unit 132B, the display unit 133, and the input unit 134.

The terminal-side control unit 235B controls the processing in the old mobile terminal 230B.
For example, when the user operates the new home electric appliance 210A or the old home electric appliance 210B, the user uses the input unit 134 to input the identifier of the electric home appliance to be operated. The terminal-side control unit 235B determines whether the IPv4 private address corresponding to the input identifier is stored in the terminal-side storage unit 131.

When the IPv4 private address corresponding to the input identifier is not stored, the terminal-side control unit 235B sends a device information acquisition request including the input identifier to the server via the first terminal-side communication unit 132A. Send to 220. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.

When the IPv4 private address corresponding to the input identifier is stored, the terminal-side control unit 235B causes the old home electric appliance 210B to which the IPv4 private address is assigned via the second terminal-side communication unit 132B. Connecting. The processing here is the same as that of the first embodiment.

The new mobile terminal 230A and the old mobile terminal 230B may notify the remote control system version when connecting to the server 220. It is assumed that the remote control system version can determine whether it is compatible with IPv4 or IPv6. The server 220 may notify the old mobile terminal 230B of a software update in order to reduce the server load.

100 Remote Control System, 101 Router, 102 Internet, 103 LAN, 110 Home Appliance, 111 Device Side Storage Unit, 112 Device Side Communication Unit, 113 Device Main Body, 114 Notification Unit, 115 Device Side Control Unit, 120 Server, 121 Device DB , 122 server side communication unit, 123 server side control unit, 130 mobile terminal, 131 terminal side storage unit, 132A first terminal side communication unit, 132B second terminal side communication unit, 133 display unit, 134 input unit, 135 terminal side Control unit.

Claims (10)

A remote control system for remotely controlling home appliances via a server and a mobile terminal connected to the Internet,
The household appliances are
A device-side communication unit that communicates with the Internet,
Via the device-side communication unit, the server receives an IP address of a communication partner recognized by the server in communication with the home electric appliance as a recognition IP address, and connects to the home electric appliance from the Internet by the recognized IP address. When it is possible to connect to the home electric appliance from the Internet, the IP address assigned to the home electric appliance is connected via the device side communication unit. Ri sent to the server as, when said home appliance can not be connected from the Internet, and a device-side control unit not to send the connection IP address to the server,
The server is
A server-side communication unit that communicates with the Internet,
A server-side storage unit that stores the connection IP address received by the server-side communication unit;
The mobile terminal is
A terminal side communication unit that communicates with the Internet,
When the connection-side IP address is stored in the server-side storage unit, the connection-side IP address is acquired from the server via the terminal-side communication unit, and also via the terminal-side communication unit. And a terminal-side control unit that performs remote control of the home electric appliance by connecting to the home electric appliance from the Internet using the connection IP address. The device-side communication unit is connected to a local area network connected to the Internet,
The home electric device further includes a device-side storage unit,
The device-side control unit stores the IP address assigned to the home electric device in the device-side storage unit as an assigned IP address when the IP address is assigned to the home electric device in the local area network, A first request for confirming an IP address is sent to the server via the device-side communication unit,
When the server receives the first request via the server-side communication unit, the server-side communication unit uses the IP address of the transmission source included in the first request as the recognized IP address. Server side control unit that stores the connection IP address in the server side storage unit when the connection IP address is received via the server side communication unit while responding to the home electric appliance via Further equipped with,
The remote control according to claim 1, wherein the device-side control unit determines that the home electric device can be connected from the Internet when the recognized IP address matches the assigned IP address. system. The terminal-side control unit sends a second request for acquiring information on the home electric appliance to the server via the terminal-side communication unit,
When the server-side control unit stores the connection IP address in the server-side storage unit when the second request is received through the server-side communication unit, the server-side communication unit Via the connection-side IP address to the mobile terminal, and when the connection-side IP address is not stored in the server-side storage unit, the connection from the mobile terminal to the home electric appliance is performed via the server-side communication unit. 3. The remote control system according to claim 2, wherein the remote control system receives operation information indicating the operation content of, and stores the operation information in the server-side storage unit. The home electric appliance further includes a device body that performs the function of the home electric appliance,
The device-side control unit sends a third request for acquiring the operation information to the server via the device-side communication unit,
When the server side control unit receives the third request via the server side communication unit and the operation information is stored in the server side storage unit, the server side control unit receives the third operation request via the server side communication unit. , Send the operation information to the home appliance,
The device-side control unit, when receiving the operation information via the device-side communication unit, reflects the operation content indicated by the operation information on the device body. The remote control system according to item 3. When the device-side control unit receives the remote operation using the connection IP address from the mobile terminal, the device-side control unit determines the frequency of sending the third request to the server via the device-side communication unit. The remote control system according to claim 4, wherein the frequency is lower than the frequency before receiving the remote control using the connection IP address. The device-side control unit, via the device-side communication unit, sends device information necessary for operating the home electric appliance to the server,
When the server-side control unit receives the device information via the server-side communication unit, the server-side storage unit stores the device information, and the server-side communication unit causes the server-side communication unit to store the device information. 2 is received, and when the connection IP address is not stored in the server side storage unit, the device information is sent to the mobile terminal via the server side communication unit,
The mobile terminal further includes a display unit and an input unit,
When the terminal-side control unit receives the device information via the terminal-side communication unit, the terminal-side control unit displays the device information on the display unit and receives an input of the operation content via the input unit. The remote operation system according to claim 3, wherein the operation information is sent to the server via the terminal-side communication unit. When the terminal-side control unit can connect to the home electric appliance by using the connection IP address, information indicating that the terminal side control unit can connect to the home electric appliance by using the connection IP address Is displayed on said display part. The remote control system according to claim 6. When the device side control unit receives the remote operation using the connection IP address from the mobile terminal, the device side control unit determines the frequency of sending the device information to the server via the device side communication unit. The remote control system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the frequency is lower than the frequency before receiving the remote control using a dedicated IP address. The electric home appliance further includes a notification unit that notifies the electric home appliance that the electric home device can be connected from the Internet, when the device side control unit determines that the electric home electric device can be connected from the Internet. 9. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the remote control system is a remote control system. A home electric device that is remotely controlled via a server and a mobile terminal connected to the Internet,
A device-side communication unit that communicates with the Internet,
Via the device-side communication unit, the server receives an IP address of a communication partner recognized by the server in communication with the home electric appliance as a recognition IP address, and connects to the home electric appliance from the Internet by the recognized IP address. If it is possible to connect to the home electric appliance from the Internet, the IP address assigned to the home electric appliance is used as the connection IP address via the device side communication unit. If the portable terminal cannot be connected to the home electric appliance from the Internet, the connection IP address is not sent to the server, and the mobile terminal uses the connection IP address acquired from the server. A home electric device comprising: a device-side control unit that receives the remote operation from the mobile terminal via the device-side communication unit when connecting from the Internet.

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