Remote control system for home appliances and method thereof

• US 20030076240A1
• Filed: 10/17/2002
• Published: 04/24/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Moon, Kyeong Deok, Kim, Chae Kyu, Bae, Yu Seok, Oh, Bong Jin
• Granted Patent: US 6,987,462 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/825.72
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23051 Remote control, enter program remote, detachable programmer
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23386 Voice, vocal command or message
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23462 No local entry panel, only central remote programmer for all appliances
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25186 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25187 Transmission of signals, medium, ultrasonic, radio
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25192 Infrared
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25196 Radio link, transponder
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house

Abstract

Disclosed are system and method of remotely controlling the home appliance by employing the voice/character recognition technique. The appliance detects a connection relationship between the appliance and the mobile terminal and dynamically transmits the control code and a module for transmission. If the appliance control command is inputted through the voice control command input screen or the handwriting control command input screen, after the inputted command is interpreted through the voice/character recognition technique and is transformed to the control code of the appliance to be sent to the home appliance, the control code is sent to the home appliance to remotely control it. The function thereof may be extended to the environment capable of implementing the bi-directional communication with the appliance by receiving the control code from the appliance, while overcoming the limitation of the conventional terminal having a fixed function. In addition, since it is easy to add or delete the control function, a plurality of appliances can be effectively controlled by use of one terminal.

Claims

1. A method of remotely controlling a plurality of home appliances using one mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

setting a network connection between the appliance and the terminal, when the terminal approaches within a certain distance from the appliance;

if the network connection is set between the appliance and the terminal, receiving a plurality of control codes from the appliance;

if a voice or character control command is inputted by a user to control the appliance, interpreting the inputted voice or character control command and transforming the command to a control code; and

comparing the received control code with the transformed control code for controlling the appliance, and if the same control code exists, transmitting the corresponding control code to the appliance to be controlled through a radio protocol.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is at least any one of a PDA, an HPC, a cellular phone, a PCS, and a wireless remote controller.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the radio protocol is at least any one of infrared rays communication, Bluetooth, and radio frequency.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of setting the network connection between the appliance and the terminal comprises steps of detecting whether the terminal approaches the appliance;

and if the terminal approaches within a certain distance from the appliance, receiving an information related to the appliance transmitted from the corresponding appliance, and after storing the received information, setting the network connection between the appliance and the terminal.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the information related to the appliance comprises at least any one of a manufacturing company, a model number, manufacturing data, a kind of appliance, an address of manufacturing company, and a telephone number of manufacturing company.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of, after wirelessly transmitting the control code to the appliance, receiving control result information from the corresponding appliance and display the information to identify the control result by the user.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the appliance control result information is displayed on a screen or is outputted as a voice.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control code received from the appliance is stored in a memory, and simultaneously, is displayed to allow the user to identify the control code.

9. A method of controlling an appliance, comprising the steps of:

detecting at a certain period whether a terminal for remotely controlling the appliance approaches the appliance;

if the terminal approaches within a certain distance from the appliance, transmitting information related to the appliance and a control code to the terminal through a radio protocol, and setting a network connection between the appliance and the terminal;

if the control code is received from the terminal through the radio protocol, comparing the received control code with a predetermined control code; and

if the same control code exists, controlling a function of the appliance corresponding to the pertinent control code.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of setting the network connection between the appliance and the terminal comprises a step of switching to a receiving mode from the terminal.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the information related to the appliance comprises at least any one of a manufacturing company, a model number, manufacturing data, a kind of appliance, an address of manufacturing company, and a telephone number of manufacturing company.

12. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising the step of, after controlling the function of the appliance, transmitting control result information to the terminal through a radio protocol.

13. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the radio protocol is at least any one of infrared rays communication, Bluetooth, and radio frequency.

14. A system of remotely controlling a plurality of home appliances using one mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

network managing means for setting a network connection between the terminal and one appliance to be controlled among the plurality of appliances;

control command input means for inputting a voice or character control command for controlling one function of one appliance to be controlled;

transmitting/receiving means for receiving detailed information related to the appliance and a control code from one appliance to be controlled through a radio protocol, and transmitting the appliance control code corresponding to the control command to the pertinent to be controlled through the radio protocol; and

control code transforming means for transforming the voice or character control command inputted from the control command input means, and supplying the transformed command to the transmitting/receiving means.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14, further comprising

memory means for storing the information related to the appliance and the appliance control code received through the transmitting/receiving means;

and

display means for displaying control result information from the appliance and the control code received from the appliance.

16. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the transmitting/receiving means for transmitting/receiving data through the radio protocol uses at least any one of infrared rays communication, Bluetooth, and radio frequency.

17. The system as claimed in claim 14, further comprising voice output means for outputting the control result of the appliance as a voice signal.

18. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the control command input means includes a voice input section of inputting the control command for controlling the appliance, and a character input section for directly writing and inputting the control command for controlling the appliance by handwriting.

19. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the mobile terminal is at least any one of a PDA, an HPC, a cellular phone, a PCS, and a wireless remote controller.

20. An apparatus of controlling a home appliance by use of a control code supplied from a mobile terminal, the apparatus comprising:

transmitting/receiving means for transmitting detailed information related to the appliance to the terminal through a radio protocol, and receiving a control code of the appliance transmitted from the terminal;

detecting means for detecting approach of the terminal at a certain period;

network connecting setting means for setting a network connection between the terminal and the appliance, if the terminal approaches within a certain distance from the detecting means;

appliance controlling means for comparing the control code received through the transmitting/receiving means with a previously stored appliance control code, and in case of the controllable control code of the appliance, controlling a corresponding function of the appliance; and

response processing means for generating result information, in case one function of the appliance is controlled by the appliance control means, and transmitting the information to the terminal through the transmitting/receiving means.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, further comprising memory means for storing the information related to the appliance and the control code.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the radio protocol uses at least any one of infrared rays communication, Bluetooth, and radio frequency.

23. A computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of remotely controlling a plurality of home appliances using one mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

setting a network connection between the appliance and the terminal, when the terminal approaches within a certain distance from the appliance;

if the network connection is set between the appliance and the terminal, receiving a plurality of control codes from the appliance;

if a voice or character control command is inputted by a user to control the appliance, interpreting the inputted voice or character control command and transforming the command to a control code; and

comparing the received control code with the transformed control code for controlling the appliance, and if the same control code exists, transmitting the corresponding control code to the appliance to be controlled through a radio protocol.

24. A computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of controlling an appliance, comprising the steps of:

detecting at a certain period whether a terminal for remotely controlling the appliance approaches the appliance;

if the terminal approaches within a certain distance from the appliance, transmitting information related to the appliance and a control code to the terminal through a radio protocol, and setting a network connection between the appliance and the terminal;

if the control code is received from the terminal through the radio protocol, comparing the received control code with a predetermined control code; and

if the same control code exists, controlling a function of the appliance corresponding to the pertinent control code.