JP7314340B2 - Device control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device control method for controlling a device from a communication terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a method of controlling a home appliance from a communication terminal such as a smart phone via a network. Patent Literature 1 discloses a system capable of controlling a home appliance using an application program for controlling the home appliance by downloading the application program to a mobile terminal.

JP 2015-056779 A

Conventionally, in order to control a home appliance, application software dedicated to the home appliance to be controlled had to be installed in a communication terminal. For example, when a user wants to control a lighting device manufactured by Company A from outside the house, the user must use a communication terminal provided by Company A and installed with application software for the lighting device manufactured by Company A to control the lighting device manufactured by Company A.

In this way, when it is necessary to install application software dedicated to a home appliance to be controlled in a communication terminal, when the user purchases a new home appliance to be controlled, it is necessary to re-install application software dedicated to the new home appliance. Application software generally has different user interfaces depending on the manufacturer. Therefore, when a user purchases a new device such as a home appliance to be controlled, the user needs to relearn how to use the application software.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a device control method that enables control of various devices using a single application software.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device control method for controlling a controlled device connected to a plurality of communication terminals via a network, comprising: obtaining from the communication terminal, via a communication line, a first user ID for identifying a first user who uses the communication terminal; and first control information for controlling the controlled device generated by executing application software installed in the communication terminal for controlling the controlled device; A device control method comprising: identifying a device ID stored in association with a second user ID for identifying a second user different from a user; generating second control information for causing the device to be controlled corresponding to the identified device ID to execute control content indicated by the first control information based on the first control information; and transmitting the second control information.

The device control method may further include charging the second user for transmission of the first control information from the communication terminal via the communication line.

The second control information may be information in a format according to the manufacturer of the device. The second control information may be information in a format corresponding to the model name of the device.

The first control information may include information for specifying a type of the controlled device. The generating step may generate the second control information based on information for specifying a type of the device to be controlled.

The first control information may include specific information for identifying the controlled device selected from the plurality of devices, and the specific information may include the device ID for identifying the controlled device.

The identification information for identifying the device to be controlled may be generated by executing application software for controlling a device of a specific type installed in the communication terminal, and the type of device may be information indicating a type of function possessed by the device.

The identification information for identifying the device to be controlled may be stored in a storage unit in association with information indicating an installation location of the device.

The identification information for identifying the controlled device may include device-specific information.

The first control information may be generated based on the device-independent API.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it is effective in being able to control various devices using one application software.

1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a device control system according to a first embodiment; FIG. It is an example of a screen of a communication terminal. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device control device; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of user information DB which the user memory|storage part memorize|stores. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining control information; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data flow when a device is controlled by a communication terminal; FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a procedure for newly registering a device to be controlled using a communication terminal; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation sequence when a device control apparatus controls a device; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user information DB in modification 1; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of first control information transmitted from a communication terminal in modified example 1; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a device control system according to a second embodiment; FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a device control system according to a third embodiment; FIG.

<First Embodiment>
[Outline of device control system S]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a device control system S according to the first embodiment. The device control system S has a device control apparatus 1 , communication terminals 2 ( 2 a, 2 b ), devices 3 ( 3 a, 3 b, 3 c ), and a router 4 . The device control apparatus 1, communication terminal 2 and router 4 are connected to a network N via a wired communication line or a wireless communication line.

The network N includes the Internet, mobile phone networks, Wi-Fi (registered trademark) lines, and the like. Although FIG. 1 shows two communication terminals 2 and three devices 3, the device control apparatus 1 can transmit and receive data to and from more communication terminals 2 and devices 3.

The device control apparatus 1 is, for example, a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage medium. The device control apparatus 1 can communicate with the communication terminal 2 and the device 3 via the network N. FIG.

The communication terminal 2 is, for example, a mobile terminal having a wireless communication function. The communication terminal 2 is, for example, a smart phone, a tablet, a phablet, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), a desktop PC, or the like. The communication terminal 2 transmits the first control information for controlling the device 3 to the device control apparatus 1 by executing the application software. In FIG. 1, the communication terminal 2a is outside the home of the user where the device 3 is installed, and the communication terminal 2b is inside the home where the device 3 is installed. The communication terminal 2 can communicate with the device control apparatus 1 via the network N regardless of location.

The device 3 is a device having a communication function, and is, for example, an electric device installed in the home of the user of the communication terminal 2 . In the example shown in FIG. 1, the device 3a is a lighting fixture (hereinafter referred to as a light), the device 3b is an air conditioner, and the device 3c is a video recorder, but the device 3 includes any device capable of receiving data from the device controller 1. The router 4 is connected to the network N, and transfers data received from the device control apparatus 1 to either the device 3a, the device 3b, or the device 3c.

When the device control apparatus 1 receives the first control information for controlling the device 3 transmitted from the communication terminal 2 executing the application software, the device control apparatus 1 selects the device 3 to be controlled from the plurality of devices 3 based on the contents of the received first control information, and generates the second control information for controlling the selected device 3. The first control information is information generated by application software created based on a general-purpose API (Application Programming Interface) that does not depend on the device 3 . The second control information is information described in accordance with API, which is a device-specific format for controlling a specific device 3 . The second control information is, for example, information in a different format for each manufacturer and model name of the device 3 .

The application software is general-purpose software for controlling a specific type of device 3 (for example, a light), and can transmit first control information for controlling the same type of device 3 to the device control device 1 regardless of the manufacturer or model name. Since the format of the first control information output by the communication terminal 2 executing the application software is different from that of the second control information, the communication terminal 2 cannot directly control the device 3 . However, in the device control system S, the device control apparatus 1 generates second control information based on the first control information, and transmits the second control information to the device 3 controlled by the user of the communication terminal 2 . Therefore, the user can control various devices 3 using the communication terminal 2 in which general-purpose application software is installed.

FIG. 2 is an example of a screen of the communication terminal 2. As shown in FIG. Various types of application software for controlling various types of devices 3 are installed in the communication terminal 2 . In the example shown in FIG. 2A, an air conditioner application for controlling an air conditioner, a light application for controlling lights, a recorder application for controlling a video recorder, a camera application for controlling a surveillance camera, a refrigerator application for controlling a refrigerator, and a washing machine application for controlling a washing machine are installed, and icons corresponding to each are displayed.

For example, when a user wants to control one of the devices 3 installed at home, the desired device 3 can be controlled at a location away from the home by activating application software corresponding to the device 3 to be controlled. FIG. 2A shows an example in which application software is installed for each type of device 3, but as shown in FIG. In this case, the communication terminal 2 executes one piece of application software to output, for example, the first control information for lights and the first control information for air conditioners.

An integrated application capable of displaying a list of devices 3 that can be controlled by the user may be installed in the communication terminal 2 . When the user activates the integrated application and performs a predetermined operation, a screen such as that shown in FIG. 2 may be displayed for activating application software for controlling each device.

[Configuration of device control device 1]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the device control apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. The device control apparatus 1 has a communication section 11 , a storage section 12 and a control section 13 .

The communication unit 11 has, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) controller. The communication unit 11 transmits and receives data to and from the communication terminal 2 and the device 3 via the network N. FIG.

The storage unit 12 includes a storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a hard disk. The storage unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 13 . The storage unit 12 also stores data used when the control unit 13 operates and data generated by the control unit 13 .

The storage unit 12 has a user storage unit 121 and an API storage unit 122 as areas for storing data used by the control unit 13 . The user storage unit 121 stores identification information (hereinafter referred to as a device ID) of a device 3 registered in advance as an object to be controlled by the user in association with identification information of the user of the communication terminal 2 (hereinafter referred to as a user ID). The API storage unit 122 also stores information used by the control unit 13 to generate the second control information based on the content of the first control information transmitted from the communication terminal 2 . Information used to generate the second control information is, for example, an API defined for each manufacturer or device model name.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a user information database (hereinafter referred to as user information DB) stored in the user storage unit 121. As shown in FIG. In the user information DB, the user ID is associated with the type of device 3 controllable by the user, the device ID, the manufacturer name, and the address.

A user ID is identification information unique to a user, and is associated with, for example, contract information with a communication company that provides a communication line used by the user's communication terminal 2 .
The device type is information indicating the type of function that the device 3 has, and is used to specify the type of the device such as a light, an air conditioner, a recorder, a monitoring camera, or a clock. Application software for controlling the device 3 installed in the communication terminal 2 is created for each device type.

The device ID is identification information assigned to the user-controllable device 3, and includes, for example, the product model name. In the example shown in FIG. 4, when a user has a plurality of devices 3 with the same model name, such as a light from company C owned by a user with a user ID of 0001, information obtained by adding a serial number to the model name is used as the device ID.
The maker name is the name of the manufacturer of each device 3, and the device 3 is specified by a combination of the device ID and the maker name.

The address is information indicating the destination to which the second control information is sent to the device 3, and is information unique to the device 3, such as a global IP address or MAC address. If a global IP address is assigned to the router 4 and the device control device 1 stores the address of the router 4 in association with the user, the address included in the first control information may be the local IP address.

Returning to FIG. 3, details of the control unit 13 will be described. The control unit 13 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 13 functions as an acquisition unit 131 , a device identification unit 132 , an information generation unit 133 , a transmission unit 134 and a charging unit 135 by executing programs stored in the storage unit 12 .

The acquisition unit 131 acquires first control information for controlling the device 3 registered in advance in the device control apparatus 1 from the communication terminal 2 of the user who can receive the service. The first control information is information for controlling the type of device 3 that can be controlled by the user using application software installed in the communication terminal 2 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining control information. 5A shows the contents included in the first control information transmitted from the communication terminal 2 to the device control apparatus 1. FIG. FIG. 5(b) shows the contents included in the second control information transmitted from the device control apparatus 1 to the device 3. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the flow of data when the device 3 is controlled by the communication terminal 2. As shown in FIG. The communication terminal 2a transmits first control information including control details such as "lighting", "lighting out", "absence mode setting", and "timer setting" described in a format conforming to the API for light control. Upon receiving the first control information, the device control apparatus 1 generates second control information described using an API for controlling the device 3a, and transmits the second control information to the device 3a via the network N and the router 4.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the first control information acquired by the acquisition unit 131 includes an application ID, device identification information, and control content information. The application ID is information indicating the type of the first control information, and is used to specify the type of device to be controlled. The application ID is, for example, information for specifying whether the application software used by the user is for air conditioner control or light control.

The device identification information is information including the device ID included in the user information DB shown in FIG.
The control content information is information indicating how to control the device 3 specified by the device ID. For example, in FIG. 4, the first control information with the user ID of "0001", the application ID of "air conditioner application", and the device ID of "AA0001" indicates the control content of setting the temperature of the air conditioner to 25°C. The control content information has a format determined for each device type regardless of the model name of the device 3 . Therefore, application software developers can develop application software using common APIs without being aware of the model name of the device 3 .

Returning to FIG. 3, the device specifying unit 132 to charging unit 135 will be described.
The device identification unit 132 identifies a device to be controlled based on the first control information. The device identification unit 132 refers to the user information DB of the user corresponding to the user ID included in the first control information, and identifies the device 3 having the device ID corresponding to the device identification information included in the first control information as a device to be controlled. The device identifying unit 132 notifies the model name of the identified device 3 to the information generating unit 133 and notifies the address of the identified device 3 to the transmitting unit 134 .

The information generating unit 133 identifies the format of the first control information based on the application ID included in the first control information, thereby generating second control information for causing the controlled device to execute the control content included in the first control information. The information generation unit 133 generates the second control information based on the API for the control target device stored in the storage unit 12, for example. Specifically, the information generation unit 133 generates the second control information by inserting the control content included in the first control information into the API corresponding to the model name of the device 3 identified by the device identification unit 132 . The information generator 133 can convert the first control information into second control information in different formats for each manufacturer and model name of the device 3, as shown in FIG. 5(b).

Referring to the second control information for LB0002 in FIG. 5B, although the first control information indicates "lighting", the second control information indicates "brightness=5". Some lights are not compatible with the API for controlling "lighting" and "lighting out", and can be controlled only by the second control information created by the API for controlling by specifying the brightness. In such a case, the information generation unit 133 generates the second control information by describing the control content included in the first control information in the format of the dedicated API of the device 3 . In this way, an application software developer can develop application software without being conscious of a different dedicated API for each device 3, and a user can control devices 3 with different model names using a single application software.

The transmitting unit 134 transmits the second control information for executing the control content indicated by the first control information to the address of the controlled device notified from the device identifying unit 132 .
The billing unit 135 calculates a billing amount for the user in response to the user controlling the device 3 using the communication terminal 2 . The billing unit 135 causes the storage unit 12 to store the calculated billing amount in association with the user ID. The billing unit 135 may transmit the billing amount to a communication company server that manages the usage fee of the communication terminal 2 . By doing so, the service usage fee can be billed to the user by adding it to the usage fee of the communication terminal 2, so that billing processing can be made more efficient.

Further, when the user controls the device 3 using application software installed in the communication terminal 2, the billing unit 135 may bill the company that provides the application software. For example, the billing unit 135 charges the application software provider an amount corresponding to the number of times the information generating unit 133 generates the second control information based on the first control information transmitted from the communication terminal 2 using the application software.

[Procedure for registering control target devices]
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a procedure when a user newly registers a device 3 to be controlled using the communication terminal 2. As shown in FIG. FIG. 7A is a login screen for using the device control service. By inputting a preset user ID, the user can add a new device to be controlled or change the settings.

FIG. 7B shows the screen after login. It is displayed that the user has already registered the air conditioner. By touching the "additional registration" icon, the user can display a screen for registering a new device to be controlled.

FIG. 7(c) is a screen for registering a new device to be controlled. When the user touches an icon corresponding to the type of the device 3 to be registered among the icons displayed on this screen, the communication terminal 2 searches for the device 3 to be registered. Specifically, the communication terminal 2 searches for a communicable device 3 using a wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The communication terminal 2 displays a screen for registering the device 3 when the device 3 of the type selected by the user is found. At this point, the communication terminal 2 stores the model name information, manufacturer name, and MAC address acquired from each device 3 in its memory.

FIG. 7(d) is a screen for registering the device 3 found by the search. The user can register the device 3 by inputting the name (for example, installation location such as "living room" or "entrance") of the device 3 to be registered and then touching the registration button. The communication terminal 2 generates a device ID including the model name information acquired from the device 3, and stores the device ID in an internal memory in association with the name input by the user. The communication terminal 2 also transmits the user ID, device ID, manufacturer name, and MAC address of the user using the communication terminal 2 to the device control apparatus 1 . By doing so, the user can register the device to be controlled in the device control apparatus 1 .

[Operation Sequence When Controlling Device 3]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation sequence when the device control apparatus 1 controls the device 3. As shown in FIG. First, when the user activates application software for controlling the device to be controlled in the communication terminal 2 (S11), the communication terminal 2 acquires the control contents input by the user (S12). The communication terminal 2 generates first control information including the acquired control content, and transmits the first control information to the device control apparatus 1 via the network N (S13).

When the device control apparatus 1 receives the first control information, the device identification unit 132 identifies the device 3 to be controlled based on the received first control information (S14). Subsequently, the information generation unit 133 generates second control information corresponding to the device 3 to be controlled, and the transmission unit 134 transmits the second control information to the device 3 to be controlled (S15).

When the device 3 receives the second control information, the device 3 performs an operation according to the control content included in the second control information (S16). After executing the operation, the device 3 transmits first state information indicating the state of the device 3 itself to the device control apparatus 1 (S17). When the device 3 is a light and the control content is "lighting", the device 3 transmits the first state information indicating that the lighting is completed. Further, when the device 3 is an air conditioner and the control content is "set the temperature to 25° C.", the device 3 periodically measures the room temperature from the time the second control information is received until the temperature reaches the temperature indicated by the control content, and transmits the first state information indicating the measured room temperature to the device control device 1. Here, it is assumed that the first state information is information created in a different format for each device 3 .

In the device control apparatus 1, when the acquisition unit 131 acquires the first state information, the information generation unit 133 converts the first state information into second state information in a format common to the devices 3 of the same type that can be recognized by the application software of the communication terminal 2 (S18). The transmitting unit 134 transmits the second state information converted and generated by the information generating unit 133 to the communication terminal 2 via the network N (S19). Upon receiving the second state information, the communication terminal 2 displays the state of the device 3 indicated by the second state information on the screen (S20).
By operating the communication terminal 2, the user can control the desired device 3 and check the state of the device 3 by the above procedure.

[Modification 1]
Although FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which a device ID is used as the device identification information included in the first control information, the present invention is not limited to this. In the user information DB, the device specifying information in the first control information may be the serial number as long as the serial number indicating the number of the device 3 among the devices 3 of the same type owned by the user is associated with the model name of the device 3 for each device type owned by the user. The serial number is associated with information indicating the installation location of the device 3, such as "living room" or "entrance" shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user information DB in modification 1; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the first control information transmitted from the communication terminal 2 in Modification 1. As shown in FIG. In the user information DB shown in FIG. 9, the device ID indicates the model name of the device, and when the user owns multiple devices 3 with the same model name, the device IDs have the same content. The device identification unit 132 can identify to which device 3 of the devices 3 having the same model name the second control information needs to be transmitted, based on the application ID and the serial number as the device identification information included in the first control information. Note that if the device identification information includes information specific to the device 3, such as the MAC address, the first control information may not include the user ID.

[Modification 2]
In the above description, the case where one communication terminal 2 controls the device 3 has been described, but a plurality of communication terminals 2 may control the device 3 . For example, the device control system S may control the device 3 registered in the communication terminal 2a using the communication terminal 2b if the communication terminal 2b is the communication terminal 2 of a family whose communication charge is to be paid by adding it to the communication charge of the communication terminal 2a.

In order to enable a plurality of communication terminals 2 to control the device 3 in this manner, the storage unit 12 stores a plurality of user IDs of a plurality of users in association with each other. For example, the acquisition unit 131 acquires a plurality of user IDs for which communication charges are to be paid together from a server managed by a communication company, and stores the acquired plurality of user IDs in the storage unit 12 .

When the first user ID is included in the first control information acquired by the acquisition unit 131, the device identification unit 132 checks whether the storage unit 12 stores a user information DB corresponding to the second user ID stored in the storage unit 12 in association with the first user ID. When the user information DB corresponding to the second user ID is stored in the storage unit 12, the device identification unit 132 identifies the device to be controlled by identifying the device ID associated with the second user ID in this user information DB.

In this way, when the device 3 can be controlled from a plurality of communication terminals 2, the billing unit 135 may bill a user who is registered as a representative among a plurality of users. That is, the billing unit 135 may bill the user corresponding to the second user ID for the cost of transmitting the first control information from the communication terminal 2 corresponding to the first user ID. In this way, the user of the first user ID who pays the communication charge can pay the usage charge of the device control service together with the communication charge, so that other users do not have to pay the service usage charge individually.

[Effects of Device Control System S of First Embodiment]
As described above, in the device control system S, the first control information in a common format for each type of device is transmitted to the device control apparatus 1 by the user's operation using the application software installed in the communication terminal 2 and capable of controlling a plurality of devices of the same type with different model names. The device control apparatus 1 generates second control information using a device-specific API based on the received first control information, and transmits the second control information to the device 3 specified in the first control information.

By doing so, the user can control various devices 3 by using one application software without installing different application software for each device, so there is no need to replace the application software when replacing the device 3.例文帳に追加In addition, the manufacturer of the device 3 does not have to provide application software each time a new device 3 is sold, and only needs to publish the API, so development costs can be reduced.

In addition, the device control apparatus 1 enables a user who pays the total communication charges, for example, to control the common device 3 . By doing so, by registering the device 3 to be controlled by one of the family members, other users can control the device 3, thereby saving the trouble of registration.
Furthermore, when a user who pays communication charges by adding up uses the service, the charges are added up, so there is no need to pay the service use charges individually for each user.

<Second embodiment>
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the device control system S of the second embodiment. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the device 3 is controlled via servers of other service providers, such as the servers 5a and 5b. The servers 5a and 5b are, for example, device servers for providing a service for controlling the device 3 of the manufacturer of the device 3, and transmit a control signal based on the second control information to the device to be controlled. In this case, upon receiving the first control information from the communication terminal 2, the information generation unit 133 generates second control information for causing the server 5 to control the device to be controlled based on the control content included in the first control information. Then, the transmission unit 134 transmits the second control information generated by the information generation unit 133 to the server 5 as a device server.

The storage unit 12 of the present embodiment stores the API of the server 5 of each service provider in association with the provider of the service that controls the device 3 . The information generation unit 133 generates the second control information based on the API of the server 5 stored in the storage unit 12, for example. Specifically, the information generator 133 converts the control content included in the first control information into second control information in a format different from that of the first control information. The second control information includes the user ID, device identification information, etc. included in the first control information.

A company that provides services using the device control system S and a company that provides services using the server 5a or 5b share a common user ID in advance. The server 5a or the server 5b can control the device 3 according to the operation on the communication terminal 2 based on the user ID, device identification information, etc. included in the second control information.

As shown in FIG. 11, when there are a plurality of servers 5 that provide services for controlling the device 3, the user storage unit 121 of the device control apparatus 1 stores usage service information indicating which service the user uses, out of the services using the server 5a and the services using the server 5b. The information generating unit 133 refers to the used service information and generates the second control information corresponding to the API corresponding to the service used by the user.

If user IDs are not shared among a company that provides services using the device control system S, a company that provides services using the server 5a, and a company that provides services using the server 5b, the device control device 1 may convert the user IDs. In this case, the storage unit 12 is provided with a user DB (not shown) that associates and stores the user ID of the device control system S and the user ID of the service using the server 5a and the server 5b. The information generation unit 133 may refer to the user DB using the service information to convert the user ID.

The servers 5a and 5b (hereinafter referred to as servers 5) receive the second control information from the device control device 1 connected via the network, and if the content of the second control information includes an operation instruction to the device 3 to be controlled, they transmit information (signal) indicating an operation instruction to the device 3 to the device 3. On the other hand, when the received second control information includes a request for the data acquired by the device 3, the server 5 transmits the operation data, collected data, etc. of the device 3 acquired in advance from the device 3 to the device control apparatus 1. Note that if the server 5 has not previously acquired the operation data, collected data, etc. of the device 3 and has accumulated them in the device 3, the server 5 may request the operation data, collected data, etc. from the device 3 based on the received second control information, and transmit the acquired data from the server 5 to the device control apparatus 1.

[Effects of Device Control System S of Second Embodiment]
As described above, the device control apparatus 1 of the second embodiment generates second control information corresponding to the API of another server 5 that controls the device 3 . By doing so, the user can control the device 3 using arbitrary application software installed in the communication terminal 2 even when the user has already received the service for controlling the device 3 via the server 5.例文帳に追加

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the device control system S of the third embodiment. The third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the device to be controlled is not an electrical device in the user's home, but a server 6 to which a company or the like distributes information.

The server 6a is a server used in a service that provides restaurant information posted by users. The server 6b is a server used in a service that provides price information of various products posted by users. A user can use application software installed in the communication terminal 2 to upload information to the server 6 that the user wants to convey to other people.

The servers 6a and 6b have different types of interfaces for receiving information. Therefore, in order to upload information to the servers 6a and 6b, it is necessary to process the information into a format suitable for each server before transmitting. However, it is inconvenient if the user needs to use dedicated application software for each of the servers 6a and 6b when providing information to each service site.

Therefore, in the communication terminal 2 of the device control apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, application software for uploading information to the servers 6 of various information providing services is installed. In the application software, an icon corresponding to the service for which information is to be provided is displayed. When the user touches the icon corresponding to the service for which information is to be provided and then inputs information, the communication terminal 2 transmits first control information including the input information and information specifying the service selected by the user to the device control device 1.

In the device control apparatus 1, the device specifying unit 132 specifies the server 6 to which the content included in the first control information is transmitted based on the first control information. The device identification unit 132 identifies the server 6 based on, for example, information identifying the service included in the first control information. The device identification unit 132 may identify the server 6 to which the content is to be transmitted based on the keyword included in the content created by the user. Then, the information generation unit 133 generates second control information in a format corresponding to the specified server 6 , and the transmission unit 134 transmits the generated second control information to the server 6 .

Note that the billing unit 135 in this embodiment may determine the billing amount based on the number of times the user accesses the server 6 using the communication terminal 2 or the amount of data transmitted and received with the server 6 . In this case, the billing unit 135 may calculate part of the determined billing amount as the amount to be paid to the company or the like that operates the server 6 .

[Effects of the device control system S of the third embodiment]
The device control system S in the present embodiment identifies the server 6 to which the content included in the first control information is to be sent based on the first control information, and sends second control information in a format corresponding to the server 6 to the server 6. By doing so, the company or the like that operates the server 6 does not need to disclose the interface for accessing the server 6 to the general public, and only needs to disclose it to the operator of the device control apparatus 1 . As a result, the company that operates the server 6 does not need to make the interface public.

Also, in the device control system S, the billing unit 135 can calculate the billing amount for the user and return part of the amount to the company or the like that operates the server 6 . In this way, billing for the use of the server 6 by the user can be centrally performed by the operator such as the communication carrier who operates the device control device 1 instead of the company which operates the server 6, so that both the user and the company which operates the server 6 can save time and effort.

The present invention has been described above based on several embodiments. New embodiments resulting from any combination of these are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment caused by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment.

Moreover, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. In particular, specific embodiments of device distribution/integration are not limited to those illustrated above, and all or part of them can be functionally or physically distributed/integrated in arbitrary units according to various additions or functional loads.

1 Device control device 2 Communication terminal 3 Device 4 Router 5 Server 6 Server 11 Communication unit 12 Storage unit 13 Control unit 121 User storage unit 122 API storage unit 131 Acquisition unit 132 Device identification unit 133 Information generation unit 134 Transmission unit 135 Billing unit S Device control system

Claims (7)

A device control method for controlling a controlled device connected to a plurality of communication terminals via a network,
obtaining from the communication terminal, via a communication line, a first user ID for identifying a first user who uses the communication terminal and first control information including a first device ID corresponding to the control target device generated by executing application software installed in the communication terminal for controlling the control target device;
identifying a second device ID associated with the second user ID in the user information when user information corresponding to the second user ID stored in the storage unit in association with the first user ID is stored in the storage unit;
a step of generating, based on the first control information, second control information for causing the controlled device corresponding to the obtained first device ID and the identified second device ID to execute the control content indicated by the first control information;
transmitting the second control information;
A device control method comprising: 2. The device control method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of charging said second user for transmission of said first control information from said communication terminal via said communication line. 3. The device control method according to claim 1, wherein said second control information is information in a format according to a device manufacturer. 4. The device control method according to claim 1, wherein said second control information is information in a format corresponding to a device model name. The device control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said first control information includes information for specifying a type of said device to be controlled. 6. The device control method according to claim 5, wherein said generating step generates said second control information based on information for specifying a type of said device to be controlled. 7. The device control method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein said first control information is generated based on an API in a format independent of said device to be controlled.

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