Home networking system having alive and connection termination messages and method for operating same

• US 7,124,184 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2004
• Issued: 10/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smiths Interconnect Microwave Components, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Chung, Jong Hoon, Lee, Sang Kyun
• Primary Examiner(s): BARNES-BULLOCK, CRYSTAL JOY
• Application Number:
  US10/913,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20050234568A1
• Time in Patent Office: 803 Days
• Field of Search: 700/9, 700/12, 700/21, 702/188, 709/203, 709/208, 709/223, 709/224, 709/217, 709/238, 710/3, 710/4, 710 15- 19, 710/44, 710/46, 710/109, 714/1, 714/25, 714/43, 714/44, 714/46, 714/47, 379/92.01, 379/93.01, 370/310, 370/242, 370/245, 370/346, 370/449, 370/451, 370/420, 340/500, 340/533, 340/538, 340/539.1, 340/539.14, 340/3.1, 340/3.5, 340/3.51, 340/3.6, 340/825.52, 340/310.11, 340/286.01, 340/286.02, 340/310.16
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality

Abstract

A home network system for controlling one or more home appliances connected to a network and a method for operating the same. If an alive message or a connection termination message is normally generated from the home appliance, or if the alive message or the connection termination message is not normally transmitted to a network manager due to a transmission failure in a communication path, the network manager automatically recognizes a network connection state of the home appliance using a network search process, performs a connection termination operation according to the recognized information, and updates network information, resulting in increased reliability and user'"'"'s convenience of the home network system.

Claims

1. A home network system comprising:

one or more home appliances controlled by a control signal communicating with a network configured in a building, transmitting a connection termination message indicative of a disconnection state; and

a network manager for transmitting/receiving signals to/from the home appliance over the network to perform an operation control function and a state monitoring function of the home appliance, and disconnecting a corresponding home appliance from the network when receiving the connection termination message from the home appliance.

2. The home network system according to claim 1, wherein the network manager includes:

a microprocessor for generating a control signal to control operations of the home appliance, and deleting information of the home appliance either when receiving the connection termination message from the home appliance or when the home appliance is not found in the network on the condition that no alive message is received during a predetermined period of time;

a database (DB) for storing device information of one or more home appliances connected to the network and network setup information; and

a communication module for enabling one or more home appliances to transmit/receive a control command, an alive message, and a connection termination message over the network.

3. The home network system according to claim 2, wherein the microprocessor includes:

a timer for counting or timing the predetermined period of time;

a connection-state search module for determining whether a corresponding home appliance is connected to the network upon receiving no alive message during the predetermined period of time; and

a controller for automatically canceling a connection state between the home appliance and the network either when the connection-state search module does not search for the home appliance or when receiving the connection termination message from the home appliance, and at the same time transmitting an operation control signal to a specific home appliance having transmitted the alive message within the predetermined period of time.

4. The home network system according to claim 2, wherein the network manager includes:

an input unit for receiving a control command from a user, and transmitting the control command to the microprocessor; and

an output unit for generating setup information, control result information, and network connection state information of the home appliance.

5. The home network system according to claim 2, wherein the communication module is a wireless communication module for establishing data communication based on RF (Radio Frequency) signals.

6. The home network system according to claim 2, wherein the communication module is a power-line communication module for establishing data communication using power lines contained in a building.

7. The home network system according to claim 1, wherein the home appliance includes:

a microprocessor for generating a control signal upon receiving a control command from the network manager, transmitting an alive message indicative of a normal operation state and an alive-message transmission period, and transmitting a connection termination message when the connection between the home appliance and the network is severed; and

a communication module for enabling a control message, an alive message, and a connection termination message to communicate with the network manager.

8. The home network system according to claim 7, wherein the home appliance further includes:

a master home appliance for generating a state monitoring signal of the home appliance connected to the network and a control signal of the same; and

a slave home appliance for receiving a control command from an external device or receiving a control signal from the network so that it performs a predetermined operation associated with the received control command or control signal.

9. The home network system according to claim 8, wherein the master home appliance includes a memory for storing state information of the home appliance connected to the network.

10. The home network system according to claim 1, wherein one or more home appliances further transmits an alive message indicative of a normal operation state, and wherein the network manager automatically disconnects a corresponding home appliance from the network when the home appliance is not found in the network on the condition that there is no alive message received from the home appliance during a predetermined period of time.

11. A method for operating a home network system including one or more home appliances for transmitting/receiving signals over a network, and a network manager communicating with the home appliances over the network, comprising the steps of:

a) transmitting a connection termination message to the network manager indicating the home appliance is in a disconnection state;

b) upon receiving the connection termination message determining whether the network is connected to the home appliance; and

c) deleting network information of the home appliance when the home appliance does not exist in the network, acquiring information of the home appliance when the home appliance exists in the network, updating information stored in a database (DB), and storing the updated information in the DB.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step c) includes the steps of:

c1) if it is determined that the home appliance exists in the network, determining whether information of the home appliance is stored in the DB; and

c2) if the home appliance'"'"'s information is not stored in the DB, directly acquiring the information from the home appliance using a network communication method, and updating/storing the acquired information in the DB.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises transmitting an alive message and its transmission period to the network manager to indicate that the home appliance connected to the network is in a normal operation state, and if no alive message is received from any one of home appliances during the transmission period, determining whether the network is connected to the home appliance.