KR101718215B1

KR101718215B1 - Home appliance

Info

Publication number: KR101718215B1
Application number: KR1020150083924A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 박민영; 김재홍; 박형준; 장봉문
Original assignee: 엘지전자 주식회사
Priority date: 2015-06-15
Filing date: 2015-06-15
Publication date: 2017-03-20
Also published as: KR20160147330A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a household appliance.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a household appliance including: a product microcomputer for controlling a driving unit; A communication modem capable of communicating with the product microcomputer; And a local network communication module capable of communicating with other home appliances using the communication modem and a communication protocol other than the communication modem, Event, or query from the other appliances, and the received control command, event, or query is transmitted to the product microcomputer through the communication modem .

Description

Home Appliances {Home appliance}

The present invention relates to a household appliance.

Generally, home appliances provided in the home include a washing machine, a refrigerator, a cooking appliance, a cleaner, and the like. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Modern household appliances have a communication unit and can receive various information related to energy information and household appliances through communication with a server installed or operated by a power company or a manufacturer of household appliances.

A network system is disclosed in WO 2006/015557 (International Application published on December 15, 2011) which is a prior art international patent application (international application published under the Patent Cooperation Treaty).

The network system of the prior art includes home and utility components, and can communicate with each other by a terminal component acting as a gateway. Further, a plurality of components constituting a home component can also communicate with a terminal component.

However, in the case of the prior art, a plurality of components constituting a home component can not directly communicate with each other and can indirectly communicate by a terminal component. Therefore, there is a problem that not only communication with a utility component is impossible as long as a terminal component does not exist, and communication between home components is impossible.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a home appliance in which information can be transmitted or received by directly communicating with other home appliances.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a household appliance including: a product microcomputer for controlling a driving unit; A communication modem capable of communicating with the product microcomputer; And a local network communication module capable of communicating with other home appliances using the communication modem and a communication protocol other than the communication modem, Event, or query from the other appliances, and the received control command, event, or query is transmitted to the product microcomputer through the communication modem .

The local network communication module may include a search manager for searching for other home appliances and a simple service discovery protocol (SSDP) 132 for performing a response to a search message received from another home appliance.

The local network communication module may further include a database control manager for managing a list and information of other household appliances existing in the local network through the SSDP and the search manager as a database.

The local network communication module includes a RESTful client capable of transmitting a control command or a query to another home appliance existing in the local network and receiving an event as a response from a rest pool server of another appliance, And may include a RESTful server that receives a control command or a query from a rest pool client of another home appliance existing in the network and can respond to the result of processing the event in the form of an event.

The local network communication module can communicate with the rest pool client and the rest pool server. When the rest pool server receives a control command, an event, or a query, the local network communication module processes the received request. .

The local network manager can transmit the received control command, event, or query to the communication modem through the interface.

The local network manager may include a control that the appliance can process, an event that can be generated by the appliance, and a management table in which the type of a query that the appliance itself can be requested from another appliance is stored .

The management table may further store control commands, events, or queries received from other home appliances. When receiving a response from the communication modem indicating completion of the function of the product microcomputer, Or a query may be deleted from the management table.

The local network communication module may further include a monitoring manager for monitoring the receipt of a file from the communication modem and transmitting the received file to the local network manager.

According to the present invention, since the home appliance includes a local network communication module, there is an advantage that direct communication can be performed between home appliances without a separate gateway.

In addition, since communication between appliances is possible, it is possible to input commands to one appliances from other appliances or to easily confirm the operating status information of appliances from other appliances without directly inputting commands from the appliances There is an advantage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a network device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a household appliance constituting the network device of Fig. 1; Fig.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a process in which a home appliance receives and processes a control command from another home appliance; Fig.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a process in which a home appliance receives and processes an event from another home appliance; FIG.
5 and 6 illustrate a process in which a household appliance receives and processes a query from another household appliance.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals whenever possible, even if they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the difference that the embodiments of the present invention are not conclusive.

In describing the components of the embodiment of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. When a component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "connected" to another component, the component may be directly connected or connected to the other component, Quot; may be "connected," "coupled," or "connected. &Quot;

1 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention may include home appliances 10 and 11 connected through a network.

The household appliances 10, 11 may include various products such as a refrigerator, a cooking appliance, a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, a water purifier, an air conditioner, and the like.

The home appliances (10, 11) can communicate with the external server (30). The external server 30 may be a server operated by a power company, a server operated by a manufacturer of the home appliances 10 and 11, a web server, or the like.

The home appliances 10 and 11 can communicate with the external server 30 by way of a Wi-Fi communication modem, for example. At this time, the home appliances 10 and 11 can communicate with the external server 30 through the wireless router 40.

The appliances 10, 11 can communicate directly with other appliances. That is, the home appliances 10 and 11 can communicate with the other home appliances 10 and 11 as well as communicate with the external server 30. At this time, the other household appliances may be the same kind or different kinds of the household appliances 10, 11.

2 is a block diagram schematically showing a household appliance constituting the network device of FIG.

2, the household appliances 10 and 11 include a product microcomputer 100, a driving unit 105 controlled by the product microcomputer 100, a product microcomputer 100, And a communication modem 110 that is capable of communicating with the base station 30.

The driving unit 105 may include, but is not limited to, a motor, a heater, a lamp, a valve, and the like that can be operated by receiving power.

The communication modem 110 may be, for example, a Wi-Fi communication modem.

The home appliances 10 and 11 may further include a local network communication module 130 for enabling local network communication with other household appliances.

The local network communication module 130 may communicate with the communication modem 110 via the interface 120.

That is, each of the home appliances 10 and 11 can directly communicate with other household appliances by the local network communication module 130 without a separate gateway.

At this time, the local network communication module 130 can communicate using a communication protocol different from the communication protocol of the communication modem 110.

The local network communication module 130 may include a search manager (M-Search manager) 131 for searching for other home appliances (or devices).

The search manager 131 is a module that can multicast a search message to identify other household appliances operating on a local network, and can transmit a search message at predetermined time intervals.

The local network communication module 130 may further include a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) 132.

The SSDP 132 is a module for providing a response to a search message received from other household appliances. The SSDP 132 may forward the search message received from other appliances to the search manager 131.

When the SSDP 132 receives a search message from another household appliance, the SSDP 132 stores information on its service description (e.g., IP and Port information) as a response to the received search message URL address, etc.) to be transmitted.

In this case, when the search manager 131 receives another home appliance search message from the SSDP 132, if there is no information about the home appliance in the local network management table 134, The search message can be periodically transmitted.

The local network communication module 130 may further include a database control manager 133.

The search manager 131 transmits the service description of other household appliances existing in the local network to the database control manager 133 based on the response information received from the SSDP of the other home appliances for the search message transmitted by the search manager 131 .

The database control manager 133 is a module for managing a list of household appliances existing in the local network through the SSDP 132 and the search manager 131 and information on a database basis.

The database control manager 133 may update the information in the local network management table 134 when the SSDP 132 receives a response to the search message transmitted from the search manager 131 .

For example, the database control manager 133 may store, in the local network management table 134, information of other appliances transmitting a response to the search message transmitted by the search manager 131.

In addition, the database control manager 133 may delete information on other home appliances that do not transmit a response to the search message transmitted by the search manager 131, from the local network management table 134.

In addition, the information stored in the local network management table 134 may include a product ID, a service list, and the like as one example of all information of the IP, Port information, and service description of other home appliances.

The local network communication module 130 may further include a RESTful client 141 and a RESTful server 142.

The rest pool client 141 may transmit a control command or a query to another household appliance existing in the local network and receive an event as a response from a rest pool server of another home appliance.

That is, the rest pool client 141 is connected to the rest pool server of other household appliances when it is necessary to connect to other household appliances existing in the local network.

The rest pool server 142 receives a control command or a query from a rest pool client of another home appliance existing in the local network and can respond to the result of the processing in the form of an event.

The local network communication module 130 may further include a local network manager 150.

When the rest pool server 142 receives a service request (control command or query), the local network manager 150 processes the received request.

That is, the local network manager 150 may analyze and store the received control command or query.

Also, the local network manager 150 calls a function of the interface 130 to transmit a control command or a query analyzing the communication modem 110.

The local network manager 150 can manage control commands, events, and queries in the form of a table.

That is, the local network manager 150 may include a management table 152, and the management table 152 may include a control table 153, an event table 154, and a query table 155 .

The information that can be included in each of the tables 153, 154, and 155 includes a service type, a device ID, a device type, a user ID, an opcode, and the like . &Lt; / RTI >

The control table 153 may include controls supported by the home appliance itself.

The event table 154 may include an event type that the home appliance itself can generate.

The query table 155 may include a query type that the appliance itself can request from other appliances.

At this time, the event stored in the event table 154 may be matched with a control stored in the control table 153 or a query stored in the query table 155.

That is, the information stored in the management table 152 may include service information that the home appliance itself can support.

In addition, the management table 152 may further store control commands or queries received from other home appliances, and when a response to a further stored control command or query is completed, Can be deleted.

The local network communication module 130 may further include a monitoring manager 160.

The communication modem 110 may store a file generated by a function call, analyze the stored file, and transmit the contents of the file to the product microcomputer 100.

The product microcomputer 100 performs a function corresponding to the information transmitted from the communication modem 110 and may perform a response to the processing completion to the communication modem 110 when the function execution is completed.

The communication modem 110 may store a response file indicating completion of processing from the product microcomputer 100 and may transmit the response file to the monitoring manager 160. The monitoring manager 160 can detect a change in the file, read the file, and transfer the contents of the file to the local network manager 150.

Hereinafter, a communication process between home appliances will be described.

3 is a view showing a process in which a home appliance receives and processes a control command from another home appliance.

2 and 3, the rest pool server 142 of the appliance may receive a control command from the rest pool client of another appliance.

When the rest pool server 142 of the household appliance receives the control command, the retool server 142 transmits the response to the other household appliances.

The control command received by the rest pool server 142 may be transmitted to the local network manager 150 and stored in the control table 153.

The local network manager 150 may perform a function call to the interface 120 to transmit a control command received by the communication modem 110.

The communication modem 110 may store a file for the received control command, and may transmit the received control command to the product microcomputer 100.

The product microcomputer 100 may perform a function corresponding to the received control command.

At this time, the control command is driven by a variety of operating methods such as a home electric appliance drive command, a drive stop command, a command for operating based on energy information, a home appliance product course or an option An operation command or an operation command of an additional function module such as a camera, a command to store a file for updating, a command to start or stop a diagnosis or a monitoring, And the like.

When the product microcomputer 100 completes the function corresponding to the received control command, the product microcomputer 100 can transmit a response to the completion of the process to the communication modem 110. [

The communication modem 110 may transmit a file of a processing completion response to the monitoring manager 160. The monitoring manager 160 may detect a file change and send information on the completion of the processing to the local network manager 150. [ . Then, the local network manager 150 can check and delete the control command, which was additionally stored in the control table 153.

If the communication modem 110 transmits a control command to the product microcomputer 100 but does not receive a response from the product microcomputer 100, the communication modem 110 notifies the monitoring manager 160 of the non- Can transfer the file to.

Then, the monitoring manager 160 detects the change of the file and transmits information on the non-response to the local network manager 150.

The local network manager 150 may transmit a failure event to the rest pool client 141. [ The rest pool client 141 communicates with the database control manager 133 to identify a home appliance to which a failure event is to be transmitted, and can transmit a failure event to the home appliance.

Other appliances receiving the failure event may retransmit control commands to the appliances.

4 is a diagram illustrating a process of receiving and processing events from other home appliances.

Referring to Figures 2 and 4, the rest pool server 142 of the appliance may receive events from the rest pool clients of other appliances.

When the rest pool server 142 of the appliance receives the event, the retool server 142 transmits the response to the other household appliances.

The event received by the rest pool server 142 may be transmitted to the local network manager 150 and may be stored in the event table 154.

Hereinafter, only the difference from the case of receiving the control command described in FIG. 3 will be described.

The event received by the rest pool server 142 may be a failure event in which the appliance transmits a control command or a query to another appliance but the appliance does not process the appliance or the appliance and the appliance transmits a control command or a query to the appliances.

If the event received by the rest pool server 142 is a failure event, the local network manager 150 attempts retransmission of a control command or a query. The local network manager 150 retransmits a control command or a query to the rest pool client 141. The event stored in the event table 154 may be deleted.

The rest pool client 141 communicates with the database control manager 133 to identify a home appliance for retransmitting a control command or a query and to retransmit a control command or a query to the home appliance.

5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating a process in which a home appliance receives and processes a query from another household appliance.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, the rest pool server 142 of the appliance can receive queries from rest pool clients of other appliances.

When the rest pool server 142 of the household appliance receives the query, the retool server 142 transmits the response to the other household appliances.

The query received by the rest pool server 142 may be transmitted to the local network manager 150 and stored in the query table 155.

The local network manager 150 may perform a function call to the interface 120 to transmit a query received by the communication modem 110.

The communication modem 110 may store a file for the received query, and may forward the received query to the product microcomputer 100.

The product microcomputer 100 may perform a function corresponding to the received query.

At this time, the function execution for the received query may be a confirmation and a response preparation for a response to the query.

The query can also be an inquiry about the current state of the appliance or the information held by the appliance, a request for past operating history of the appliance, and the like.

When the product microcomputer 100 completes the function corresponding to the received query, it can respond to the completion of the process.

The communication modem 110 may transmit a file of a processing completion response to the monitoring manager 160. The monitoring manager 160 may detect a file change and send information on the completion of the processing to the local network manager 150. [ . Then, the local network manager 150 can check the query stored in the query table 155 and delete the query.

Then, the local network manager 150 delivers the event, which is a response to the received query, to the rest pool client 141. Then, it communicates with the database control manager 133 to confirm the household appliance to which the event is to be transmitted, and can transmit the event as a response to the query to the household appliance.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. That is, within the scope of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively coupled to one or more of them. Furthermore, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or "having" described above mean that a component can be implanted unless otherwise specifically stated, But should be construed as including other elements. All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

10, 11: Household appliances 100: Product microcomputer
110: communication modem 120: interface
130: Local network communication module
141: Rest pool client 142: Rest pool server
150: Local Network Manager

Claims

A product microcomputer for controlling the driving unit;
A communication modem capable of communicating with the product microcomputer; And
And a local network communication module capable of communicating with the communication modem and communicating with other appliances using a communication protocol different from the communication modem,
Wherein the local network communication module comprises:
A database control manager for managing a list and information of other household appliances existing in the local network in a database,
A rest pool client capable of transmitting control commands or queries from the other appliances and receiving events as responses from rest pool servers of other appliances;
A rest pool server which receives a control command or a query from a rest pool client of the other appliance and responds to the result of the processing in the event type,
And a local network manager for transmitting a control command, an event, or a query received to the rest pool server to the communication modem through an interface,
When the communication modem transmits a control command to the product microcomputer but does not receive a response from the product microcomputer, the restful client communicates with the database control manager to identify a home appliance to which a failure event is to be transmitted, And transmits the failure event to the home appliance.

The method according to claim 1,
The local network communication module includes a search manager for searching for another household appliance,
And a Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) 132 for performing a response to the search message received from other home appliances.

3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the database control manager manages a list and information of other home appliances existing in the local network through the SSDP and the search manager.

delete

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the local network manager is capable of communicating with the rest pool client and the rest pool server, and when the rest pool server receives a control command, an event, or a query, it processes the received request.

delete

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the local network manager comprises: a control unit that can control the home appliances, an event that can be generated by the home appliances, and a management table in which the types of queries that the home appliances themselves can request from other appliances are stored .

8. The method of claim 7,
The management table may further store control commands, events or queries received from other home appliances,
Wherein a further stored control command, event or query is deleted from the management table when receiving a response from the communication modem indicating completion of the function of the product microcomputer.

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the local network communication module comprises:
Further comprising a monitoring manager monitoring the receipt of a file from the communication modem and transmitting the received file to the local network manager.