Remote control system and home gateway apparatus

• US 7,237,029 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2001
• Issued: 06/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kato, Masao, Hino, Tetsuya, Yamaguchi, Naoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): MANIWANG, JOSEPH R
• Application Number:
  US09/916,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20020069276A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,160 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/224, 709/225, 709/227, 345/736, 345/740, 379/102.01, 379/102.05, 700/83
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• 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 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators

Abstract

A gateway apparatus is provided which connects to appliances via a home network. The gateway apparatus includes means for acquiring appliance panel information indicating panel parts of the appliance and an operational range of the panel parts, and means for memorizing gateway apparatus information indicating whether a control command input to the appliance thorough a network built outside the home. The gateway apparatus further includes means for determining whether or not it is possible to accept the input by making reference to the gateway apparatus information when the control command input is received through the outside network and for producing a control command to the appliance based on the appliance panel information when the acceptance is possible. This makes it possible to perform remote control in a similar feeling obtained in operating a front panel of an actual home appliance. Through the outside network, the home appliance can be controlled with easier operations. A higher-reliable remote control system can be provided.

Claims

1. A gateway apparatus connected to at least one appliance through a first network, comprising:

an appliance control panel information inputting unit which is adapted to acquire appliance control panel information indicating panel parts of the appliance on a display screen and an operational range of the panel parts;

a gateway apparatus information memorizing unit which is adapted to memorize gateway apparatus information indicative of whether or not a control instruction, from one of a plurality of control devices through either one of a first network and/or a second network, to the appliance will be allowed to be accepted; and

an appliance control command producing unit which is adapted to determine, with reference to the gateway apparatus information, whether or not a control instruction from one of the control devices can be accepted in cases where the control instruction has been received through either one of the first and/or second networks, and for producing a control command on the basis of the appliance panel information in cases where it is determined that the control instruction can be accepted, wherein the appliance is adapted to be operated in response to the control command,

wherein the gateway apparatus further comprises appliance operation status inputting unit which is adapted to preserve appliance operation status information, including priority control device ID information and an operation table that comprises a current operation status of the appliance, an operable operation at all statuses that the appliance can take, and an indication of what the status will be after the operation is performed,

wherein the control device comprises a first control device that is adapted to output a control instruction indicating a series of operations, and

wherein the appliance control command producing unit determines, with reference to the gateway apparatus information and the appliance operation status information, whether or not it is possible for the apparatus to accept the received control instruction, records the control device ID of the first control device as the priority control device ID information of the appliance operation status information when the appliance at a current status requires the appliance control command producing unit to accept in preference the control instruction of the first control device indicating the series of operations, accept in preference the control instruction sent from the first control device on the basis of both a control device ID of each of one or more control devices including the first control device and the priority control device ID information when control instructions sent from the control devices are received, and determines whether to produce a control command that is valid for the desired series of operations, wherein the appliance is adapted to preferably perform the series of operations in response to the control command.

2. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gateway apparatus information memorizing unit is configured into a unit that is adapted to memorize the gateway apparatus information indicative of whether or not it is possible for the control instruction from the second network to the appliance to be accepted, and

the appliance control command producing unit is configured into a unit that determines, with reference to the gateway apparatus information, whether or not the control instruction can be accepted in cases where the control instruction has been received through the second network, and for producing the control command for the appliance on the basis of the appliance panel information in cases where it is determined that it is possible for the control instruction to be accepted.

3. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the appliance control command producing unit is configured into a unit that determines, with reference to the gateway apparatus information, whether or not it is possible for the control instruction to be accepted in cases where the control instruction has been received without being routed through both of the first and second networks, and for producing the control command of the appliance on the basis of the appliance panel information in cases where it is determined that it is possible for the control instruction to be accepted.

4. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control command to the appliance through the first network is produced from a control instruction sent from a remote control to control the appliance.

5. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control command to the appliance through the first network is produced from a control instruction sent from the appliance having a front panel that has been operated.

6. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a command outputting unit that outputs the control command produced by the appliance control command producing unit.

7. The gateway apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the command outputting unit is configured to transmit the control command to the appliance through the first network or to display the control command on an appliance directly connected to the gateway apparatus.

8. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an appliance panel information updating unit that is adapted to update the appliance panel information in accordance with changes in a state of the appliance that can be viewed on the panel.

9. The gateway apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the appliance panel information updating unit is configured to update the appliance panel information in response to reception of a notification that will indicate a changes in the state of the panel of the appliance.

10. The gateway apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the appliance panel information updating unit is adapted to acquire the state of the panel of the appliance and to update the appliance panel information.

11. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a gateway service list producing unit that is adapted to provide a remote control device with gateway service list information produced based on the appliance panel information, wherein the gateway service list information is adapted to be requested by the remote control device via the second network.

12. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the appliance panel information is adapted to have been memorized by the appliance panel information inputting unit.

13. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the gateway service list producing unit is adapted to be configured to produce and store the gateway service list information based on the appliance panel information that has been memorized by the appliance panel information inputting unit, and to provide the stored gateway service list information, in response to the request from the remote control device.

14. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the gateway service list producing unit is configured to provide browser-displaying data as the gateway service list information, the browser-displaying data being according to a type of a set of tags supporting a browser installed in the remote control device.

15. The gateway apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the gateway service list producing unit is configured to provide a program as the gateway service list information, the program being according to a type of a virtual machine (VM) supported by a browser installed in the remote control device.

16. The gateway apparatus according to claim 15, comprising a command memorizing unit, in cases where the appliance has a status that exclusively permits acceptance of an operation on a button at a certain control device, for memorizing commands produced by the appliance control command producing unit and for transmitting to the appliance the memorized commands in a memorized order, provided the status is updated so as not to require exclusive acceptance.

17. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a use key information inputting unit which is adapted to preserve use key information indicative of a condition needed to usably connect the appliance to the first network, wherein the appliance control command producing unit includes a unit that is adapted to determine whether or not it is possible to accept the control instruction depending on the use key information.

18. The gateway apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the use key information includes at least one of:

accepted time zone data of the control instruction, location identification data, terminal identification data, and user identification data.

19. The gateway apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the use key information corresponds to each state of the appliance operation status information, and the appliance control command producing unit is configured to use the use key information corresponding to a current status to determine whether or not it is possible to accept the control instruction.

20. The gateway apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the gateway service list producing unit is configured to produce gateway service list information that is adapted to determine an operational range coming from the remote control device, based on the use key information and the appliance operation status information, and transmit the produced information to the remote control device.

21. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a contents managing unit that is adapted to memorize a content list, including contents IDs, preserved by the device connected to the first network and numbers of use keys each corresponding to each contents ID and detecting an access from the appliance to the contents, wherein the appliance control command producing unit includes a unit that is adapted to examine a right of use based on the use key in detecting the access and determining whether or not it is possible to access the contents.

22. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the appliance panel information inputting unit is configured to preserve, in addition to the appliance panel information, linked appliance information indicating, for each function of the appliance, an objective appliance to be operationally linked, the function, and identification data of a gateway apparatus to be linked and further comprising;

an input distributing unit which, in cases where control instructions are acquired from the control device or other gateway apparatuses, is adapted to accept only a control instruction directed to the gateway apparatus itself and adapted to deliver the remaining control instructions to the other gateway apparatuses, thereby enabling the performance of a linked operation among a plurality of desired gateway apparatuses.

23. The gateway apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the control instructions include information about distributing conditions, and the input distributing unit includes a unit which decides a situation that each gateway apparatus re-delivers the remaining instructions to a particular gateway apparatus.

24. The gateway apparatus according to claim 1, connected via both a service server producing credit information and a network so as to be adapted to acquire a control instruction from a terminal together with the credit information, comprising an accepting unit that is adapted to memorize acceptance information in which a condition for allowing the control instruction to be accepted and determining whether or not it is possible for the control instruction to be accepted on the basis of the control instruction and the acceptance information.

25. The gateway apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the acceptance information includes the condition specified every request input for acquiring the panel information and every control instruction.

26. The gateway apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the condition of the acceptance information includes supply of information about certification of settlement issued by the service server, and further comprising a unit which accepts only control instructions that have been charged by the service server.

27. A remote control system, comprising:

an outside network built outside a home;

a home network connected to a home appliance; and

a gateway apparatus connected to the outside network and the home network, wherein the home appliance is adapted to be remotely-controlled through the outside network and wherein the remote control is adapted to be mediated by the gateway apparatus,

wherein the gateway apparatus is configured to output appliance panel information of the home appliance to each of a plurality of control devices to remote-control the home appliance through the outside network such that a figure approximating a front panel of the appliance is displayed on a screen of the control device, to receive a control instruction indicating an operation on the panel displayed on the screen of the control device, to convert the control instruction into a control command to the home appliance, and to send the produced control command to the home appliance such that the home appliance performs an operation corresponding to the operation done on the panel displayed by the control device,

wherein the control devices include a first control device which outputs a control instruction indicating a series of operations, and

the gateway apparatus determines whether or not it is possible to accept the received control instruction, records a control device ID of the first control device as priority control device ID information when the appliance at a current status requires the gateway apparatus to accept, in preference, the control instruction of the first control device indicating the series of operations, accept, in preference, the control instruction sent from the first control device on the basis of both a control device ID of each of one or more control devices including the first control device and the priority control device ID information when control instructions sent from the control devices are received, and determines whether to produce a control command that is valid for the series of operations, the appliance performing, in preference, the series of operations in response to the control command.

28. The remote control system according to claim 27, wherein a control instruction for direct control of the home appliance is once inputted to the gateway apparatus, and the gateway apparatus generates the control command from the control instruction and sends the control command to the home appliance.

29. The remote control system according to claim 27, wherein information about an operated status of the home appliance is sent to the gateway apparatus, wherein the gateway apparatus is configured to hold information about a current operated state of the home appliance.

30. The remote control system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway apparatus includes a unit that is adapted to determine whether the current status of the home appliance is adapted to enable transit to a status commanded by control based on an operation performed on a panel at the control device and a unit that is adapted to make the control command invalid when it is determined that the transition is impossible.

31. The remote control system according to claim 27, wherein a use condition to allow the control device to remote-control the home appliance is set, wherein the gateway apparatus includes a unit that is adapted to stop the meditation unless the use condition is met.

32. The remote control system according to claim 31, wherein the use condition is set in association with the status of the home appliance.

33. The remote control system according to claim 32, wherein the gateway apparatus includes a unit which, according to an operation on a panel at the control device, is adapted to provide the control device with appliance panel information explicitly showing a next operational range of the panel operable by the control device.

34. The remote control system according to claim 27, comprising a plurality of gateway apparatuses and a plurality of home appliances, wherein each gateway apparatus comprises a unit which receives a control instruction, directed to the gateway itself, from control instructions issued by the control device to the plurality of home appliances and a unit which sends a control command produced from the received control instruction to a specific home appliance whereby the plurality of home appliances are enabled to perform a linked operation.

35. The remote control system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway apparatus includes a unit which allows the mediation only when the control instruction from the control device includes a guarantee given by a service server.

36. The remote control system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway apparatus includes a unit that is adapted to allow the mediation only when the control instruction from the control device includes a certification for settlement of charges, the certification being given by a service server.