HOME SERVER FOR CONTROLLING NETWORK AND NETWORK CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND HOME NETWORK CONTROL SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20150192939A1
• Filed: 11/04/2014
• Published: 07/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: JOO, Ga-hyun, KIM, Chang-won, SHIM, Jung-hyun
• Granted Patent: US 10,018,975 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house

Abstract

A home server, method, and system are provided. The method includes receiving user request information from a user terminal; collecting characteristic information of an environment in which the home server is provided; predicting a driving condition for driving a device in the home network so that the characteristic information matches the user request information; transmitting the driving condition to the user terminal; and controlling the at device according to the driving condition in response to receiving a confirm command for the driving condition from the user terminal.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a home server which manages a home network, the method comprising:

receiving user request information from a user terminal apparatus;

collecting characteristic information of an environment in which the home server is provided;

predicting a driving condition for driving at least one device in the home network so that the characteristic information matches the user request information;

transmitting the driving condition to the user terminal apparatus; and

controlling the at least one device according to the driving condition in response to receiving a confirm command for the driving condition from the user terminal apparatus.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user request information includes at least one of a temperature, a humidity, a user arrival time, a washing start time, a washing completion time, an operation time of a multimedia content reproduction apparatus, and a content name to be reproduced.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the characteristic information includes at least one of an internal temperature of the environment, an internal humidity of the environment, an electronic program guide (EPG) information, and information related to a road traffic condition.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in response to the user request information including a temperature and a user arrival time, and the characteristic information including an internal temperature of the environment, the predicting of the driving condition includes calculating an operation start time and an operation duration of an heating and cooling device to change the internal temperature to the temperature.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in response to the user request information including a washing start time and the characteristic information including an internal temperature and internal humidity of the environment, the predicting of the driving condition includes calculating a laundry drying time or a washing completion prediction time according to the internal temperature and internal humidity.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in response to the user request information including a name of multimedia content to be displayed and information for a user location, and the characteristic information including electronic program guide (EPG) information and information related to a road traffic condition, the predicting of the driving condition includes calculating a time it will take for the user to arrive home to the environment according to the user location and the road traffic condition, and calculating a user departure time based on a broadcast time of the multimedia content and the time it will take for the user to arrive home.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the environment comprises an internal environment and an external environment of the home server.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising periodically collecting updated characteristic information of the environment, and re-predicting the driving conditions based on the updated characteristic information.

7. A home server which manages a home network, the home server comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive user request information from a user terminal apparatus;

a sensor configured to collect characteristic information of an environment in which the home server is provided;

a storage device; and

a controller configured to predict a driving condition for driving at least one device in the home network so that the characteristic information matches the user request information, store the driving condition in the storage device, and transmit the driving condition to the user terminal apparatus through the communication interface,

wherein, in response to receiving a confirm command for the driving condition from the user terminal apparatus through the communication interface, the controller controls the at least one device according to the driving condition stored in the storage device.

8. The home server as claimed in claim 7, wherein the user request information includes at least one of a temperature, a humidity, a user arrival time, a washing start time, a washing completion time, an operation time of a multimedia content reproduction apparatus, and a content name to be reproduced.

9. The home server as claimed in claim 8, wherein the characteristic information includes at least one of an internal temperature of the environment, an internal humidity of the environment, an electronic program guide (EPG) information, and information related to a road traffic condition.

10. The home server as claimed in claim 7, wherein, in response to the user request information including a temperature and a user arrival time, and the characteristic information including an internal temperature of the environment, the controller predicts the driving condition by calculating an operation start time and an operation duration of a heating and cooling device to change the internal temperature to the temperature.

11. The home server as claimed in claim 7, wherein, in response to the user request information including a washing start time, and the characteristic information including an internal temperature and internal humidity of the environment, the controller predicts the driving condition by calculating a laundry drying time or a washing completion prediction time according to the internal temperature and internal humidity.

12. The home server as claimed in claim 7, wherein the driving condition for driving at least one device corresponds to notifying the user terminal device, and wherein, in response to the user request information including a name of multimedia content to be displayed and information for a user location, and the characteristic information including electronic program guide (EPG) information and information related to a road traffic condition, the controller calculates a time it will take for the user to arrive home to the environment according to the user location and the road traffic condition, and predicts the driving condition by calculating a user departure time based on a broadcast time of the multimedia content and the time it will take for the user to arrive home.

16. The home server as claimed in claim 7, wherein the environment comprises an internal environment and an external environment of the home server.

13. A home network control system, comprising:

a user terminal apparatus configured to receive user request information and transmit the received user request information to a home server; and

the home server configured to collect characteristic information of an environment in which the home server is provided, predict a driving condition for driving at least one device in a home network including the home server so that the characteristic information matches the received user request information, and transmits the predicted driving condition to the user terminal apparatus,

wherein the user terminal apparatus displays the driving condition received from the home server, and, in response to receiving a confirm command input by the user, transmits a confirm command to the home server.

14. A method comprising:

receiving an input of user request information and transmitting the input user request information to a home server, by a user terminal apparatus;

collecting characteristic information of an environment of the home server by the home server;

predicting a driving condition for driving at least one device in a home network that includes the home server so that the characteristic information matches the received user request information and transmitting the predicted driving condition to the user terminal apparatus, by the home server;

displaying the driving condition received from the home server, by the user terminal apparatus; and

transmitting a confirm command to the home server from the user terminal apparatus in response to input of the confirm command by the user at the user terminal apparatus.

18. A home server communicatively coupled to a home network, the home server comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive control information;

a sensor configured to collect characteristic information of an environment of a home associated with the home server;

a storage device; and

a controller configured to predict a control condition for controlling a device communicatively coupled to the home server according to the received control information and the collected characteristic information, store the control condition in the storage device, and transmit the control condition through the communication interface,

wherein, in response to receiving a confirm command through the communication interface, the controller controls the device according to the control condition stored in the storage device.

19. The home server as claimed in claim 18, wherein the device is a user terminal apparatus from which the control information is received.

20. The home server as claimed in claim 19, wherein the control information is received from a user terminal apparatus, and the device is a device included in the home network.