Apparatus and system for providing remote control service through communication network, and method thereof

• US 20030171113A1
• Filed: 03/04/2003
• Published: 09/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Choi, Moon-jeong
• Granted Patent: US 7,489,924 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/420
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2807 Exchanging configuration information on appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving network analysis for automatically determining the actual topology of a network H04L41/12; hardware or software tools for network management using graphical user interfaces H04L41/22; address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40032 Details regarding a bus interface enhancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method for providing remote control service to devices in a home network are disclosed. A web page provider provides a master page of the home network, information on the devices in the home network, and a list of remote control service to remote and in-house users in a web page form. An identifier identifies the remote users. A message processor processes message inputs and outputs related to service registration, service validness, etc. of the devices in the home network. A storage device stores device and service information on the devices in the home network. A main controller controls operations of each element. Accordingly, a remote control service limited to a specific household device becomes applicable to various devices. Not only remote control and management, but also program download, installation and upgrade necessary for the remote control is possible.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing remote control service through a communication network, comprising:

a web page provider that provides information on a household device having remote control/management services available in a web page form;

a message processor that receives a registration request message from the household device and outputs a polling message to determine whether the household device is active; and

a storage device that stores device and service information of the household device.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the web page provider further comprises an identifier that identifies a user.

3. A remote control system for providing remote control service through a communication network in a household device coupled to a home network, comprising:

an external server coupled to the communication network, said external server providing coupling means to a user so that the user can be coupled to the household device; and

a master server that has device and remote control service information of the household device and provides the device and remote control service information to the external server in a web page form.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the master server comprises:

a message processor that receives a registration request message from the household device and outputs a polling message to check whether the household device is active;

a web page provider that provides information of the household devices having remote control/management services available in a web page form; and

a storage device that stores device and service information of the household device.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the web page provider has an identifier that identifies the user.

6. The system according to claim 3, wherein the master server downloads a program to provide the remote control service from the external server, and provides the program to the household device.

12. The system of claim 3, wherein said control service comprises at least one of fault management, charge management, performance management and security management.

13. The system of claim 3, wherein said master server is coupled to at least one of a wide area network (WAN) module, an IEEE 1394 module, a Bluetooth module, an home PNA module, and wide LAN module and an Ethernet module.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said home PNA module is coupled to an Internet protocol (IP) subnet and a non-IP subnet.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said IP subnet is coupled to a first device and said non-IP network is coupled to a second device.

7. A method for providing a remote control service through a communication network comprising:

(a) providing home network information in a web page form;

(b) inputting characteristic information on a household device to be controlled/managed remotely from a user;

(c) providing the information of the household device corresponding to the characteristic information in the web page form;

(d) selecting the household device to be controlled/managed remotely, from the user;

(e) providing an item of remote control/management service on the household device selected by the user in the web page form; and

(f) providing the remote/management service corresponding to the item of the remote control/management service selected by the user.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of storing device and service information of the household device based on a registration request message received from the household device before step (a).

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the characteristic information is category information including at least one of a type and a manufacturer of the household device.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the information of the household device comprises basic information including at least one of the kind, the manufacturer and a location of the device and information on a list of respective ones of the household device providing the remote control/management service.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein the item of the remote control/management information comprises at least one of fault management, charge management, performance management and security management.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein said communication network is coupled to at least one of a wide area network (WAN) module, an IEEE 1394 module, a Bluetooth module, an home PNA module, and wide LAN module and an Ethernet module.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said home PNA module is coupled to an Internet protocol (IP) subnet and a non-IP subnet.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said IP subnet is coupled to a first device and said non-IP network is coupled to a second device.