HOME DEVICE, REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM AND PROGRAM

• US 20160056970A1
• Filed: 05/16/2014
• Published: 02/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: YABE, Masaaki, MINEZAWA, Satoshi, YOSHIKAWA, Toshiaki, YANO, Hirotoshi, IIZAWA, Daisuke, MARUYAMA, Ichiro, TANAKA, Kenichiro, OGINO, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 9,960,927 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/00 Arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless electrical link
• 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

Abstract

A controller of an in-home controller receives, via a terminal communicator, input data related to a manager registration transmitted from a terminal device. The controller performs a manager registration based on the received input data. Also, the controller generates user registration request data containing a user ID and a password extracted from the received input data, a controller ID read from data storage. The controller transmits the generated user registration request data to an external server via a wide-area communicator.

Claims

1. An in-home device for use in a home, the in-home device comprising:

a first communicator configured to communicate with a terminal device;

a second communicator configured to communicate with a server located outside the home;

a manager registry configured to accept a manager registration operation by a user via the terminal device and perform a manager registration based on information inputted by the user during the manager registration operation; and

a registration request data generator configured to generate user registration request data information included in the information inputted by the user and a preliminarily held device identification of the in home device; and

a data transmitter configured, when the manager registration operation is accepted,

if the second communicator and the server are in a communicative state with each other, to transmit data to the server via the second communicator, the data containing information included in the information inputted by the user and a device identification of the in-home device, and

if the second communicator and the server are in a non-communicative state with each other, to not transmit the data to the server via the second communicator, and thereafter upon the non-communicative state changing to the communicative state, to transmit the data to the server via the second communicator.

2. The in-home device according to claim 1, wherein the information inputted by the user during the manager registration includes a user identification and a password.

3. The in-home device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a device controller configured to control an electrical device installed in the home, wherein

when the manager registration is completed by the manager registry, upon the device controller receiving control request data related to control of the electrical device from the terminal device, the device controller controls the electrical device according to content of the control request data.

4. A remote control system comprising an in-home device for use in a home, a terminal device, and a server located outside the home,

the in-home device comprising:

a first communicator configured to communicate with the terminal device;

a second communicator configured to communicate with the server;

a manager registry configured to accept a manager registration operation by a user via the terminal device and perform a manager registration based on information inputted by the user during the manager registration operation; and

a data transmitter configured, when the manager registration operation is accepted,

if the second communicator and the server are in a communicative state with each other, to transmit data to the server via the second communicator, the data containing information included in the information inputted by the user and a device identification of the in-home device, and

if the second communicator and the server are in a non-communicative state with each other, to not transmit the data to the server via the second communicator, and thereafter upon the non-communicative state changing to the communicative state, to transmit the data to the server via the second communicator,

the server comprising;

a third communicator configured to communicate with the in-home device and the terminal device;

a database in which customer information is registered; and

a controller configured to update, upon receiving the data from the in-home device via the third communicator, the database based on content of the received data.

5. The remote control system according to claim 4, wherein, in the server,

the customer information registered in the database includes a user identification, a password and an identification of the in-home device, and

the controller is configured

to search the database for relevant customer information using the user identification and the password extracted from the data,

when the relevant customer information exists in the database, to update the identification of the in-home device included in the customer information to the device identification extracted from the data, and

when the relevant customer information does not exist in the database, to register, in the database, customer information newly generated based on the content of the data.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored thereof a program that causes a computer, including a communication interface for communicating with a sever located outside a home, to function as:

a manager registry configured to accept a manager registration operation by a user via a terminal device and perform a manager registration based on information inputted by the user during the manager registration operation; and

a data transmitter configured, when the manager registration operation is accepted,

if the communication interface and the server are in a communicative state with each other, to transmit data to the server via the communication interface, the data containing information included in the information inputted by the user and a device identification of itself, and

if the communication interface and the server are in a non-communicative state with each other, to not transmit the data to the server via the communication interface, and thereafter upon the non-communicative state changing to the communicative state, to transmit the data to the server via the communication interface.