Apparatus for home network middleware interoperability service using home gateway and OSGi platform and method thereof

• US 7,392,304 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2004
• Issued: 06/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Jeun Woo, Kang, Kyu Chang, Kang, Dong Oh
• Primary Examiner(s): WANG, LIANG CHE A
• Application Number:
  US10/898,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20050144262A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,429 Days
• Field of Search: 709217-219, 709/223, 709/224, 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] 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 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2832 Interconnection of the control functionalities between home networks single bridge functionality H04L12/4625
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

Provided is an apparatus for a home network middleware interoperability service using a home gateway and an OSGi platform and method thereof, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of home network devices in which various types of middlewares are mounted; a home gateway in which a plurality of middleware bundles for supporting the various types of middlewares and an OSGi platform are mounted, and with which information on the home network devices is transferred to an external network; and a service provider connected to the home gateway via an external network and receiving information on the home network devices and downloading to the home gateway the middleware bundles appropriate to the user'"'"'s home network to provide the middleware interoperability service.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a home network middleware interoperability service, comprising:

a home network that includes;

a plurality of home network devices that include different types of middleware; and

a home gateway comprising;

a plurality of middleware bundles that support the different types of middleware; and

an OSGi (Open Standards Gateway Initiative) platform configured to transfer information on the home network devices to an external network external to the home network; and

a service provider connected to the home gateway via the external network, the service provider configured to receive the information on the home network devices and download middleware conversion bundles based on the received information to the home gateway to provide the middleware interoperability service;

wherein the OSGi platform includes;

a middleware bundle module having a plurality of middleware bundles configured to collect information on the home network devices and export the collected information through a OSGi service;

an interoperability processing bundle configured to collect the information exported from each middleware bundle and send the information to the service provider;

a middleware conversion bundle configured to interact with each middleware bundle using the OSGi service to perform device level conversion among the different types of middleware, and export middleware device messages to the different middleware devices; and

an OSGi framework configured to control the plurality of middleware tare bundles and enable OSGi service registration and in middleware bundles utilization.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each middleware bundle, the interoperability-processing bundle and the middleware conversion bundle is downloaded from the service provider.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the service provider is configured to download a new middle conversion bundle to the home gateway whenever the home network environment is changed.

4. A method for servicing middleware devices in a home network comprising an OSGi (Open Standards Gateway Initiative) framework, the OSGi framework comprising:

plurality of middle ware bundles supporting different types of middleware, the plurality of middleware bundles including a interoperability -processing bundle and a middleware conversion bundle;

an OSGi platform configured to transfer information on the home network devices to a network external to the home network via a home gateway; and

a service provider connected to the home gateway via the external network;

the method comprising the steps of;

(a) receiving on the home network an interoperability processing bundle downloaded from a service;

(b) the interoperability-processing bundle requesting, via OSGi service, device information from each middleware bundle;

(c) the interoperability-processing bundle collecting the device information exported from each middleware bundle;

(d) the interoperability-processing bundle forwarding the device information to the service provider;

(e) the service provider generating a home network specific middleware conversion bundle for middleware interoperability servicing based on the device information received from the home gateway;

(f) downloading the generated home network specific middleware conversion bundle to the home gateway; and

(g) the middleware conversion bundle interacting with each middleware bundle using the OSGi service to perform device level conversion among the different types of middleware, and export middleware device messages to different middleware devices;

whereby the OSGi framework controls the plurality of middleware bundles and enable OSQi service registration and middleware bundle utilization.

5. The service method according to claim 4, wherein the step (f) further comprises a step of downloading a new middleware conversion bundle by the service provider to the home gateway automatically, whenever the home network is changed.