WO2011033611A1 - Communication apparatus - Google Patents

Communication apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2011033611A1
WO2011033611A1 PCT/JP2009/066104 JP2009066104W WO2011033611A1 WO 2011033611 A1 WO2011033611 A1 WO 2011033611A1 JP 2009066104 W JP2009066104 W JP 2009066104W WO 2011033611 A1 WO2011033611 A1 WO 2011033611A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
information
protocol
device information
registration
communication
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PCT/JP2009/066104
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French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
泰如 西林
寺本　圭一
寺島　芳樹
田中　康之
翼 湯村
斉藤　健
Original Assignee
株式会社 東芝
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Publication date
Application filed by 株式会社 東芝 filed Critical 株式会社 東芝
Priority to PCT/JP2009/066104 priority Critical patent/WO2011033611A1/en
Publication of WO2011033611A1 publication Critical patent/WO2011033611A1/en

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a communication device for transmitting device information of home appliances to a server device on the Internet.
  • a method is disclosed in which an information terminal device (gateway) collects device information including the operating state of home appliances on a network and registers it in a server device on the Internet (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Furthermore, a method is disclosed in which a communication terminal performs registration by transmitting its device information to a server device, and displays a registration result on a display unit (for example, see Patent Document 2). A method of generating an ID (IDentification) that does not overlap with other home appliances by using a random number and adding the ID to the appliance is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 3).
  • the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a communication device capable of guaranteeing traceability of a plurality of home appliances in a server device while guaranteeing uniqueness of information unique to the home appliances. The purpose is to do.
  • a communication device is a communication device that communicates with a first device and a server device, and receives device information indicating unique information of the first device from the first device.
  • a first communication unit; and a device information registration determination unit that determines whether the first device itself can register the device information of the first device in the server device from the device information. It is characterized by doing.
  • the communication device of the present invention it is possible to guarantee the traceability of a plurality of home appliances in the server device while guaranteeing the uniqueness of the information unique to the home appliance.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a home network system according to a first embodiment.
  • the block diagram which shows the registration determination apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment.
  • the figure which shows an example of the apparatus information which an in-region protocol process part acquires.
  • the figure which shows an example of the registration structure information memorize
  • the flowchart which shows operation
  • the block diagram which shows the conversion determination apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.
  • the communication apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a home appliance 101, a registration determination device 102, and a server device 103.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example of a home network system according to the present embodiment.
  • a home appliance 104 and a registration determination device 102 exist in the user's home 104, and a server device 103 exists on the Internet.
  • a server device 103 exists on the Internet.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example of a home network system according to the present embodiment.
  • a home appliance 104 and a registration determination device 102 exist in the user's home 104, and a server device 103 exists on the Internet.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example of a home network system according to the present embodiment.
  • a home appliance 104 and a registration determination device 102 exist in the user's home 104, and a server device 103 exists on the Internet.
  • only one home appliance 101, registration determination device 102, and server device 103 are shown, but a plurality of home appliances 101, registration determination device 102, and
  • the household electrical appliance 101 is a PC / AV device such as a PC, a digital television, or an HDD recorder, and can transmit device information directly to the server device 103 depending on the processing capability.
  • the device information is information specific to each individual that can uniquely identify a sold device, which is configured by an ID, a serial number, or a manufacturing date.
  • the home appliance 101 transmits and receives messages using the UPnP protocol in the home network system.
  • UPnP protocol various types of information are defined in XML (extensible Markup Language), which is an extensible structured text, to disclose device information, control devices, and notify device status changes.
  • XML extensible Markup Language
  • the home appliance 101 that communicates with the UPnP protocol handles a large amount of data. Therefore, it conforms to Ethernet (registered trademark) that conforms to the IEEE 802.3 standard as a wired communication medium and conforms to the IEEE 802.11 standard as a wireless communication medium.
  • a wireless LAN Local Area Network
  • the communication medium indicates a communication method used by the device to transmit and receive information.
  • the registration determination device 102 is a device that includes a display unit that can display information to the user, and is also referred to as a display device.
  • the registration determination device 102 determines whether or not the home appliance 101 can register device information by itself. The operation of the registration determination apparatus 102 will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the server device 103 exists on the Internet and receives device information from the home appliance 101 or the registration determination device 102 in order to register the device information of the home appliance 101.
  • the home appliance 101, the registration determination device 102, and the server device 103 each have communication capability and can send and receive messages to and from each other.
  • the first method is a method of registering device information of all home appliances 101 in the server device 103, with the registration determination device 102 displaying permission confirmation as a representative.
  • the second method is a method in which each home appliance 101 registers its own device information in the server device 103. If the user's permission has been confirmed, the device information can be registered using either method.
  • the second method is that the home appliance 101 directly acquires its device information and then the server. Since it is transmitted to the apparatus 103, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication by exchanging messages including device information.
  • the device information is linked to the privacy of the individual user, from the viewpoint of protecting the personal information, the device information is transmitted to the server device 103 after obtaining confirmation from the user whether the device information may be registered in the server device 103. It is desirable to do.
  • the home appliance 101 encrypts the information and then the Internet. It is necessary to be able to transmit directly to the server apparatus 103 above. In order to perform these processes, the home appliance 101 needs to have a relatively high processing capability and communication capability.
  • NAS Network Attached Storage
  • the device information of the home appliance 101 is displayed on the display unit of the display device (registration determination device 102), and after obtaining the user's permission confirmation, the device information is transmitted to the server device 103 to register the device information.
  • the server device 103 To solve the problem.
  • a MAC address that is a solid identifier in a communication medium is referred to as a HW (HardWare) address.
  • the registration determination apparatus 102 includes a communication unit 201, an in-region protocol processing unit 202, an out-of-region protocol processing unit 203, a device identifier management unit 204, a device information registration determination unit 205, and a registered configuration information storage unit. 206, a device information registration management unit 207, a permission confirmation display management unit 208, an input / output processing unit 209, a display unit 210, and an input unit 211.
  • the communication unit 201 receives a communication message regarding an operating state from an external device or device, and then receives a public message.
  • the communication message regarding the operation state is a message indicating a change in the state of operation start or operation stop of the home appliance 101.
  • the public message is information on the home appliance 101 that is disclosed on the home network. The structure of the public message will be described later with reference to FIG. Further, the communication message relating to the operating state may be realized by being included in the public message.
  • the communication unit 201 when the communication unit 201 receives a registration instruction message from the intra-area protocol processing unit 202 described later, the communication unit 201 transmits a registration instruction message to the home appliance 101.
  • the registration message is sent to the server apparatus 103.
  • the registration instruction message is information for instructing the home appliance 101 itself to register the device information in the server apparatus 103, and the structure of the registration instruction message will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the registration message is information for registering device information in the server apparatus 103, and the structure of the registration message will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the communication unit 201 when the registration determination device performs communication processing by wire, it is conceivable to perform communication using a wired LAN compliant with Ethernet typified by the IEEE 802.3 standard. On the other hand, when the registration determination apparatus performs communication processing wirelessly, it is conceivable to perform communication using a wireless LAN compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard. Note that the configuration of the communication unit 201 is not limited to a specific communication medium as long as it can communicate with an external apparatus or device.
  • the regional protocol processing unit 202 receives a public message from the communication unit 201 and acquires a public identifier and device information from the XML text of the public message.
  • the public identifier is identification information that is uniquely determined for specifying that the message is a public message.
  • the intra-area protocol processing unit 202 generates a registration instruction message based on an instruction from a device information registration management unit 207 described later.
  • the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message based on an instruction from the device information registration management unit 207 described later.
  • the device identifier management unit 204 receives a communication message from the communication unit 201 and stores the identifier information of the home appliance 101.
  • the identifier information is device-specific information that identifies the home appliance 101. The identifier information will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the device information registration determination unit 205 receives device information from the intra-region protocol processing unit 202, performs a determination process on whether or not the home appliance 101 itself can register the device information in the server device 103 based on the device information, and performs registration. Obtain the judgment result.
  • the registered configuration information storage unit 206 stores registered configuration information.
  • the registered configuration information is information that specifies device information necessary for generating a registration message to be transmitted to the server apparatus 103.
  • the registered configuration information will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the device information registration management unit 207 receives device information from the intra-area protocol processing unit 202, a solid identifier and identification information from the device identifier management unit 204, a registration determination result from the device information registration determination unit 205, and a registration configuration information storage unit 206.
  • the registration confirmation information is received from the permission confirmation display management unit 208 described later. Then, an instruction to generate a registration message or an instruction to generate a registration instruction message is sent according to the registration determination result and the permission confirmation information.
  • the permission confirmation display management unit 208 finds a new home appliance 101, that is, acquires device information from the contents of the public message, the device information of the home appliance 101 is transmitted to the server apparatus 103 on the Internet and registered. Confirm whether to allow or reject the request. And the permission confirmation information which shows the information of the result of the confirmation is stored. Privacy confirmation can be performed by taking this confirmation.
  • the input / output processing unit 209 sends image information representing a selection screen for the user to select whether to permit or reject registration of the device information to the display unit 210 described later. Also, the input / output processing unit 209 receives input information from the input unit 211 described later, and sends it to the permission confirmation display management unit 208 as permission confirmation information.
  • the input information indicates information input by a user operation.
  • the display unit 210 receives image information from the input / output processing unit 209 and displays it to the user using a display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).
  • a display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).
  • the input unit 211 receives a user operation, and obtains input information by a remote control operation in the case of a digital television and a mouse operation or a keyboard operation in the case of a PC.
  • the device information includes element information 302 and content information 303.
  • the element information 302 is information commonly defined in the plurality of home appliances 101, whereas the content information 303 is information unique to the home appliance 101.
  • the element information 302 and the content information 303 are described as character strings in the XML sentence.
  • the element information 302 there are device name, serial number, manufacturing company, and service information as the element information 302, and corresponding friendlyName, serialNumber, manufacture, and service are defined as definition names of the element information 302. Furthermore, as content information 303 corresponding to the element information 302, “GeneralLighting” is described in friendlyName, “01234456789ABCD” is described in serialNumber, “EFG” is described in manufacture, and two types of information are described in service. An example in which “GeneralLightingService” and “RegistrationService” are described is shown.
  • Service information is information for notifying other devices existing in the network of functions that the device can provide.
  • “GeneralLightingService” indicates that the home appliance 101 can provide a control function related to lighting, for example, a function of switching lighting on and off.
  • “Registration Service” indicates that the home appliance 101 has a function of registering device information in the server apparatus 103.
  • the device information 301 is an example, and the device information includes URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information for displaying detailed information about the home appliance 101, subscription information for receiving a change in the state of the device in a communication message, and the like. 301 may be included.
  • URL Uniform Resource Locator
  • the identifier information includes a network identifier 401 of the home appliance 101, a solid identifier 402 in the communication medium, and identification information 403 of the communication medium.
  • the network identifier 401 stores an IP (Internet Protocol) address
  • the solid identifier 402 stores an HW address of a communication medium.
  • a character string “00-00-00-00-00-01” is stored as the HW address.
  • the identification information 403 is information for identifying a communication medium such as Ethernet or Bluetooth (registered trademark), and may be character string information.
  • the communication medium and an integer value are defined in advance in association with each other. A method that uses numerical values is conceivable.
  • the identification information 403 can be acquired from a device driver or the like that controls the communication unit 201. However, when a plurality of communication media are provided, the communication that has received and processed the communication message (or public message) from the home appliance 101. Information acquisition is performed for the medium.
  • the registered configuration information is information selected from the device information and the identifier information in order to register the information on the home appliance 101 in the server device 103.
  • information on (A) device ID 501, (B) serial number 502, and (C) manufacturing company 503 is included.
  • the device ID 501 is an identifier that uniquely identifies a device, and is included in the identifier information stored in the device identifier management unit 204 in order to solve the information collision problem caused by the same manufacturing number existing in the server apparatus 103.
  • the manufacturing number 502 and the manufacturing company 503 are acquired from the device information acquired by the intra-area protocol processing unit 202.
  • the device ID 501 is generated as “Ethernet.HW address” which is character string information that combines the individual identifier 402 in the communication medium and the identification information 403 of the communication medium, for example.
  • a specific example of the device ID 501 is, for example, “Ethernet.00-00-00-00-00-01”.
  • the production number 502 the content information “01234456789ABCD” corresponding to the definition name serialNumber is obtained.
  • the manufacturing company 503 the content information “EFG” corresponding to the definition name manufacturer is acquired.
  • a registration message is generated by the out-of-range protocol processing unit 203 based on the extracted information.
  • a method using a value obtained by adding the solid identifier 402 and the identification information 403 as integer values may be used.
  • the public message includes a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) header 701, a public identifier 702, and device information 301.
  • the TCP / IP header 701 is used for specifying a destination of a communication message and performing retransmission control.
  • the device information 301 includes unique information such as a device name, a manufacturing number, a manufacturing company, and service information as shown in FIG.
  • the registration instruction message includes a TCP / IP header 701 and a registration instruction identifier 801.
  • the registration instruction identifier 801 is identification information uniquely determined to specify that the message is a registration instruction message.
  • the registration message includes a TCP / IP header 701, a registration identifier 901, and device information 902.
  • the registration identifier 901 is identification information uniquely determined to specify that the message is a registration message.
  • Device information 902 includes device information of home appliance 101 corresponding to the registered configuration information shown in FIG.
  • step S ⁇ b> 1001 the registration determination apparatus receives a communication message from the home appliance 101 on the network, then receives a public message, and acquires device information in the regional protocol processing unit 202 to perform device discovery. That is, the UPnP protocol defines a procedure in which the home appliance 101 transmits a communication message to a plurality of specific devices on the network by IP multicast. When performing multicast communication, a UDP / IP (User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol) header is used instead of the TCP / IP header. After receiving the multicast communication message from the home appliance 101, the registration determination device receives a public message by IP unicast in order to acquire detailed device information.
  • UDP / IP User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol
  • step S1002 based on an instruction from the permission confirmation display management unit 208, a permission confirmation for the user is displayed on the display unit 210.
  • step S1003 it is determined whether the user has given permission or rejection. When the user performs an input operation for refusing registration of device information, the process ends. If the user performs an input operation for permitting registration of device information, the process advances to step S1004.
  • step S1004 it is determined whether the state of the home appliance 101 has changed within a predetermined period. If a change in a specific operation state of the corresponding home appliance 101 is detected within a predetermined period, the process proceeds to step S1005, and a change in the specific operation state of the corresponding home appliance 101 is not detected within a predetermined period. If so, the process ends.
  • the reason for determining the change in state is whether the registration determination device or the home appliance 101 communicates wirelessly, obtains device information of the home appliance of the other person's home adjacent to the home appliance 101 existing in the user's home. This is because there is a possibility of erroneous transmission to the server apparatus 103 as described above. Therefore, as a method of avoiding this erroneous transmission, if a specific operation on the home appliance 101 is prompted together with the display of the permission confirmation, it can be determined that the home appliance 101 exists in the user's home by the user's operation. As a specific method, the following method may be applied. (1) Power off and start up the home appliance 101 within a predetermined time. (2) An operation of pressing a specific button on the remote controller is performed.
  • the method (1) determines registration by receiving a specific communication message at the time of power-off and power-up from the home appliance 101.
  • the device only needs to detect a change in state.
  • the method of (2) should just detect the change of the state of the household appliance 101 by receiving the event notification message accompanying the change of the operation state of the household appliance 101 by a registration determination apparatus.
  • buttons that are not pressed by the user in normal remote control operations may be arranged.
  • a display example for allowing the user to perform a specific operation “If you are allowed to register device information, please press the OK button after pressing the OK button” May be displayed. Of course, the operation for specifying such a device can be omitted.
  • step S1005 the device information registration determination unit 205 starts determination processing.
  • the registration permission / inhibition determination process may be performed by the home appliance 101 itself registering device information in the server device 103 in the device information acquired from the XML text of the public message by the intra-area protocol processing unit 202. Judgment is made based on whether service information indicating that it is possible is included. The specific example mentioned above is demonstrated using FIG.
  • the device information registration determination unit 205 confirms the service information included in the device information, and confirms whether “Registration Service” information exists. If the “Registration Service” information is present, the device information registration determination unit 205 determines that the home appliance 101 itself can register the device information in the server device 103, and the process proceeds to step S1006.
  • the device information registration determination unit 205 determines that the home appliance 101 itself cannot register the device information in the server device 103, and the process advances to step S1007.
  • the service information has been described by way of example as “GeneralLightingService” or “RegistrationService”, but information defined by other character strings or integer values may be used.
  • information that clearly indicates that the home appliance 101 itself cannot register the device information in the server apparatus 103 may be included in the service information.
  • step S1006 based on an instruction from the device information registration management unit 207, the regional protocol processing unit 202 generates a registration instruction message for starting registration. Then, a registration instruction message is transmitted to home appliance 101 through communication unit 201. The home appliance 101 that has received the registration instruction message generates a registration message and transmits the registration message to the server apparatus 103. The server apparatus 103 records device information 902 in the database using the device ID as a key value.
  • step S1007 the device information registration management unit 207 generates a device ID based on the identification information of the communication medium stored in the device identifier management unit 204 and the solid identifier in the communication medium. Then, the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message for registering device information, and the registration message is transmitted to the server apparatus 103 through the communication unit 201. In the server apparatus 103, as in step S1006, the device information 902 is recorded in the database using the device ID as a key value.
  • the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 is performed by SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) that defines a message exchange procedure mainly using XML texts and HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) that performs stream-type data transmission by request / response. Conceivable.
  • SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol
  • HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
  • the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message including the device information 902 (device ID, manufacturing number, manufacturing company) shown in FIG.
  • the permission confirmation process in step S1003 and the state change determination process for the device in step S1004 can be omitted. That is, when the device information registration management unit 207 determines that the home appliance 101 itself cannot register the device information based on the determination result of the device information registration determination unit 205, the device information registration management unit 207 displays the device information of the home appliance 101. Generation of the registration message including it may be started.
  • FIG. 11 shows a processing sequence when the registration determination apparatus 102 determines that the home appliance 101 itself can register device information.
  • the registration determination apparatus receives a disclosure message from home appliance 101 and acquires device information, and then performs the determination process of step S1005 shown in FIG. 10 based on the device information. It is determined that registration is possible.
  • step S1102 the registration determination apparatus transmits a registration instruction message to the home appliance 101.
  • step S ⁇ b> 1103 the household electrical appliance 101 transmits a registration message including its own device information to the server device 103 when receiving the registration instruction message.
  • FIG. 12 shows a processing sequence in a case where the registration determination device determines that the home appliance 101 cannot register itself.
  • step S1201 the registration determination apparatus receives a disclosure message from home appliance 101 and acquires device information, and then performs the determination process of step S1005 shown in FIG. 10 based on the device information, and home appliance 101 registers itself. It is determined that it is impossible.
  • step S ⁇ b> 1202 the registration determination device generates a registration message including device information of the home appliance 101 and transmits it to the server device 103.
  • the registration determination device that displays the permission confirmation takes into consideration the communication capability and processing capability that are different for each type of home appliance, and the appliance of the home appliance is connected to the server device on the Internet. Since the main device capable of registering information is determined, the registration determination device can register the device information of the home appliance even when the home appliance has a minimum processing capability. Therefore, it is possible to guarantee the traceability of a plurality of home appliances in the server device while guaranteeing the uniqueness of the information unique to the device.
  • the first embodiment it is mainly assumed that a single communication medium is used, such as Ethernet for wired communication and wireless LAN for wireless communication.
  • a plurality of communication media are used simultaneously, such as Ethernet for a device that communicates using the UPnP protocol and Bluetooth for a device that communicates using the ECHONET protocol. This is different from the first embodiment.
  • the communication apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
  • the communication device includes a home appliance 101, a registration determination device 102, a server device 103, a conversion determination device 1301, and a home appliance 1302. Since the home appliance 101, the registration determination device 102, and the server device 103 operate in the same manner as in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted here.
  • the conversion determination device 1301 converts the UPnP protocol and the ECHONET protocol to each other, and provides a registration determination determination material to the registration determination device.
  • the reason for performing the conversion is that the home appliance 101 that communicates using the UPnP protocol and the device 1302 that communicates using the ECHONET protocol cannot directly send and receive messages. Therefore, by using the conversion determination device 1301 that mutually converts the protocol, an application of confirming the operating state of the white goods from the digital television becomes possible.
  • the conversion determination device 1301 is also referred to as a gateway device. Detailed operation of the conversion determination device 1301 will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the home appliance 1302 is a white home appliance such as a lighting, a refrigerator, and a washing machine, for example, and performs communication using the ECHONET protocol.
  • the home appliance 1302 unlike the home appliance 101 of the UPnP protocol that uses Ethernet or a wireless LAN as a wired communication medium, the home appliance 1302 often uses a power-saving radio such as Bluetooth or infrared in consideration of power saving. .
  • the home appliance 101 transmits and receives a message using the UPnP protocol.
  • the home appliance 1302 is prescribed to send and receive messages using the ECHONET protocol.
  • ECHONET protocol various definition information is described as an integer value in a message called a message, thereby disclosing device information, device control, and device state change notification.
  • the first method is a method of registering device information of all home devices in the server device 103, with the registration determination device 102 displaying permission confirmation as a representative.
  • the second method is a method in which device information of all home devices is registered in the server device 103 on behalf of the conversion determination device.
  • a device ID for registering device information is generated based on a solid identifier in a communication medium. Therefore, in the first method, when the registration determination device 102 using Ethernet as the communication medium acquires the device information of the home appliance 1302 that uses Bluetooth as the communication medium via the conversion determination device 1301, it is unique on Bluetooth. There is a possibility that a solid identifier whose reliability is guaranteed collides with information of a solid identifier that already exists on the Ethernet.
  • the conversion determination device 1301 capable of communication using a plurality of communication protocols and a plurality of communication media collects device information and instructs the registration determination device 102 to display a permission confirmation.
  • the device information is registered in the server device 103 based on the registration instruction message from the registration determination device 102.
  • the gateway device converts device information, the amount of communication may increase.
  • the conversion determination apparatus 1301 includes an out-of-range protocol processing unit 203, a device identifier management unit 204, a communication unit 1401, an in-region first protocol processing unit 1402, an in-region second protocol processing unit 1403, a conversion protocol information storage unit 1404, A protocol conversion unit 1405, a registered configuration information storage unit 1406, a device information conversion determination unit 1407, and a device information registration management unit 1408 are included.
  • the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 and the device identifier management unit 204 perform the same operation as in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.
  • the communication unit 1401 transmits and receives messages through a plurality of communication interfaces to enable exchange of communication messages between devices having different communication media. To do.
  • the communication unit 201 specifies the protocol information and then passes the communication message to either the intra-region first protocol processing unit 1402 or the intra-region second protocol processing unit 1403.
  • the communication message is transmitted from the communication interface associated with each protocol.
  • the registration message generated by the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 is transmitted to the server apparatus 103.
  • the intra-region first protocol processing unit 1402 receives a communication message from the communication unit 1401, and performs generation of a communication message and analysis processing of the communication message by the ECHONET protocol. Device information acquired by the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402 will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 generates an open message in response to an instruction from the device information registration management unit 1408 described later in addition to the operation of the in-region protocol processing unit 202 in the communication apparatus according to the first embodiment.
  • the public message has the same configuration as the public message in the first embodiment.
  • the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 receives and analyzes the registration instruction message from the registration determination apparatus 102. When the registration instruction message is received, the device information registration management unit 1408 described later is notified of the start of device information registration.
  • the conversion rule information storage unit 1404 stores conversion rule information.
  • the conversion protocol information indicates information for converting information between different protocols. The conversion rule information will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the protocol conversion unit 1405 receives the conversion protocol information from the conversion protocol information storage unit 1404, receives the communication message from the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402, and receives the communication message from the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403. Convert messages to each other. Then, based on the conversion protocol information, it is determined whether or not all the device information has been converted without causing loss of information, and missing information that is the determination result is obtained.
  • the registered configuration information storage unit 1406 stores the registered configuration information in the same manner as the registered configuration information storage unit 206 of the first embodiment.
  • the registered configuration information will be described later with reference to FIG.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 receives registration configuration information from the registration configuration information storage unit 1406, missing information from the protocol conversion unit 1405, and identification information from the device identifier management unit 204, and can the home appliance 1302 be converted? Make a conversion decision. Note that the conversion processing in the conversion determination apparatus also performs processing for generating a virtual communication interface based on the individual identifier information of the device in addition to the conversion of the device information by the protocol conversion unit described above. And instructing the communication unit 1401.
  • the device information registration management unit 1408 receives a result of the conversion determination from the device information conversion determination unit 1407, and an open message indicating that the home appliance 101 can register the device information to the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403, Alternatively, the home appliance 101 itself instructs generation of a public message indicating that device information cannot be registered. In addition, the device information registration management unit 1408 receives a device information registration start notification from the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 and instructs the out-of-region protocol processing unit 203 to generate a registration message.
  • 0x8D, 0x8A, and 0x8E are defined as element information for each manufacturing number, manufacturing company, and manufacturing date, which are element information constituting the device information 1501, as element names.
  • Content information 1503 is associated with the element information 1502, and “01234456789ABCD” is described as the manufacturing number of the definition name 0x8D, “0x00001B” is defined as the definition name 0x8A, and “20090605” is described as the content information 1503 in the definition name 0x8E.
  • the element information 1502 is information common to the plurality of home appliances 101, but the content information 1503 is information specific to each individual.
  • FIG. 16 shows an example of registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406 according to the present embodiment.
  • the case where the manufacturing date 1601 is further added to the registered configuration information including the device ID 501, the manufacturing number 502, and the manufacturing company 503 shown in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment is shown.
  • device information 1701 including element information and content information of the ECHONET protocol, and device information including element information and content information of the UPnP protocol for each element information of the manufacturing number, manufacturing date, and manufacturing company.
  • Information 1702 is stored correspondingly.
  • the element information of the manufacturing date the element information of the manufacturing date is defined in the device information 1701 of the ECHONET protocol, but the element information of the manufacturing date is defined in the device information 1702 of the UPnP protocol. It has not been. Therefore, when the device information 1701 acquired by the ECHONET protocol is converted into the device information 1702 of the UPnP protocol, information is lost.
  • the device ID 501 is generated based on the HW address as in the first embodiment.
  • the conversion determination device 1301 converts the information to the registration determination device 102 that performs communication using the UPnP protocol.
  • the registration determination device 102 that performs communication using the UPnP protocol does not recognize the existence of the conversion determination device 1301 as a gateway device, and may actually be the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the ECHONET protocol.
  • the device identifier management unit 204 of the registration determination device 102 misrecognizes the HW address of the home appliance 101 even though the information acquired using ARP or the like is actually the HW address of the conversion determination device 1301. there is a possibility. For this reason, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a virtual communication interface, that is, a network identifier based on the solid identifier of the home appliance 1302 when it is determined that the device information of the home appliance 1302 can be converted. Then, a public message related to the home appliance 1302 is transmitted via the communication interface.
  • the conversion determination device 1301 When the registration determination device 102 tries to acquire the HW address based on the transmission source IP address of the TCP / IP header 701 when receiving the public message, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a virtual communication interface, so that the home appliance 1302 It is possible to correctly acquire the HW address related to.
  • the conversion processing of the conversion determination apparatus 1301 in this embodiment is performed by the protocol conversion unit 1405 when the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the device information of the home appliance 1302 can be converted. And virtual communication interface generation processing in the communication unit 1401.
  • the protocol conversion unit 1405 receives the appliance information of the household electrical appliance 1302 from the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402 and the conversion protocol information from the conversion protocol information storage unit 1404, and generates them from these information.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 is notified of the missing information.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 is connected to the device identifier management unit 204 of the home appliance 1302 that communicates with the first protocol in the region (here, refers to the ECHONET protocol) and the second protocol in the region (here, refers to the UPnP protocol). Whether or not a virtual communication interface can be generated is determined based on the identification information with the device identifier management unit 204 of the registration determination apparatus 102 that communicates with each other.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the device information cannot be converted when any element information included in the device information is lost after the protocol conversion.
  • identification information Bluetooth, solid identifier: 00-00-00-00-00-00-01” of the device ID 501 before the conversion process is “identification information: Ethernet, solid identifier: 00-” of the device ID 501 after the conversion process. Compared with “00-00-00-00-01”, the solid identifier has the same value.
  • the home appliance 1302 of the first protocol in the region uses Bluetooth as the communication medium and the registration determination device 102 of the second protocol in the region uses Ethernet as the communication medium, the uniqueness on the same communication medium If the guaranteed HW address is converted into the HW address of a different communication medium, there is a possibility that an information collision will occur with the HW address that already exists in the destination communication medium.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 uses a different communication medium between the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the first intra-area protocol and the registration determination apparatus 102 that performs communication using the second intra-area protocol. It is determined that the device information cannot be converted.
  • the device ID 501 is generated from the solid identifier of the home appliance 1302 that uses Bluetooth as a communication medium.
  • the content information is described as an integer value in the case of the first protocol in the region, but in the case of the second protocol in the region after conversion, the content information is expressed as a character string in the XML text. Is described.
  • the public message includes a UDP / IP header 2101, a public identifier 702, and device information 301.
  • a communication message including device information defined by an integer value is transmitted by UDP / IP regardless of IP unicast / IP multicast.
  • the device information shows an example composed of the manufacturing number, the manufacturing company, the manufacturing date, etc. shown in FIG. 15, but other information such as information on the manufacturing location may be included.
  • the public message generated by the conversion determination device 1301 toward the registration determination device 102 that communicates with the second protocol in the region has the same configuration as the public message in FIG. 7 according to the first embodiment. The detailed description of is omitted.
  • the registration message includes a TCP / IP header 701, a registration identifier 901, and device information 2201.
  • the device information 2201 is composed of a device ID, a serial number, a manufacturing date, and manufacturing company information according to an example of the registered configuration information. Is done. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and other device information may be added or some device information may be deleted.
  • step S2301 the conversion determination device 1301 acquires information for determination, that is, a public message from the home appliance 1302 that communicates with the first protocol in the region.
  • step S2302 the device information conversion determination unit 1407, based on the identification information of the communication medium in the device identifier management unit, It is determined whether the registration medium used by the registration determination apparatus 102 that performs communication using the second protocol is the same or different. If it is determined that the communication medium used by home appliance 1302 and registration determination device 102 is the same, the process proceeds to step S2303, and it is determined that the communication medium used by home appliance 1302 and registration determination device 102 is different. In the case, the process proceeds to step S2304. In step S2303, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 receives information defined in the conversion source protocol based on the missing information from the protocol conversion unit 1405 and the conversion protocol information from the conversion protocol information storage unit 1404. Judge whether it is defined in the conversion destination protocol.
  • step S2304 If the information defined in the conversion source protocol is not defined in the conversion destination protocol and a part of the device information is missing, the process proceeds to step S2304. On the other hand, if the information defined in the conversion source protocol is defined in the conversion destination protocol and there is no missing device information, the process advances to step S2305.
  • step S2304 if the communication media used by the home appliance 1302 and the registration determination device 102 are different, there is a possibility that the HW address information as a solid identifier may collide, so that the device information conversion determination unit 1407 converts the device information. It is determined that it is impossible. If a part of the device information is lost after the conversion processing by the protocol conversion unit 1405 is performed, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the device information cannot be converted. In step S2305, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the home appliance 101 can be converted, and ends the process.
  • the determination result of this conversion is notified to the device information registration management unit 1408 and the communication unit 1401. Note that these determinations may be performed on device information necessary for generating a registration message to be transmitted to the server apparatus 103 based on the registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406. desirable.
  • step S2401 the conversion determination apparatus 1301 performs the conversion determination process shown in FIG. 24 when the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 acquires device information from the public message, that is, when a device is found. If the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the home appliance 101 can be converted, the processing proceeds to step S2403. If the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the home appliance 101 cannot be converted, the process advances to step S2405.
  • step S2403 the device information conversion determination unit 1407 instructs the communication unit 1401 to generate a virtual communication interface based on the solid identifier stored in the device identifier management unit 204.
  • the protocol conversion unit 1405 converts the device information of the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402 into the device information of the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 based on the conversion rule information stored in the conversion rule information storage unit 1404. To do.
  • the device information registration management unit 1408 instructs the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 to generate a public message, and transmits the public message via the virtual communication interface newly generated by the communication unit 1401.
  • the virtual communication interface is generated based on the HW address information of the home appliance 1302 and the IP address information that is not used by other devices in the network.
  • step S2405 the device information registration management unit 1408 generates a public message including service information indicating that the home appliance 101 itself can register the device information in the server apparatus 103 with respect to the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403. Instruct.
  • the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 generates a public message converted into the in-region second protocol, and transmits it to the registration determination apparatus 102.
  • step S2406 the process waits until a registration instruction message is received from the registration determination apparatus 102.
  • step S2407 after receiving the registration instruction message from the registration determination apparatus 102, the device information registration management unit 1408 instructs the out-of-range protocol processing unit 203 to generate a registration message. Thereafter, the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message based on the content of the registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406 and transmits it to the server device 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 When the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that conversion is possible, the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message including the device ID. Therefore, a virtual communication interface based on the solid identifier of the home appliance 101 is used. However, if it is determined that conversion is not possible, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a registration message including the device ID. Therefore, generation of a virtual communication interface may or may not be performed. It does not have to be.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 may determine that conversion is possible for all home appliances 101 in order to reduce the processing load of the conversion determination device 1301 related to device information registration in the server device 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 acquires the device information of the home appliances existing in both the intra-region first protocol and the intra-region second protocol networks, and registers the device information.
  • the device ID of the household electrical appliance 101 that performs communication using the first intra-region protocol can be acquired, but the device ID of the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the second intra-region protocol cannot be acquired if it is normal.
  • the conversion determination device 1301 defines a device ID generated from a solid identifier of a home appliance, identification information of a communication medium, protocol information, etc. as part of device information in a public message
  • a method of sending a public message is conceivable.
  • the registration determination apparatus 102 can acquire the device ID and generate a registration message even when the HW address of the home appliance 1302 cannot be directly acquired. If this registration method is applied to each home appliance, it is conceivable to reduce the processing load of the device identifier management unit 204 in the registration determination apparatus 102.
  • the device information conversion determination unit 1407 may determine that conversion cannot be performed for all home appliances 101 in order to reduce the processing load of the registration determination device 102 related to device information registration in the server device 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 displays the device information of the household electrical appliance. What is necessary is just to produce
  • the processing sequence of the communication apparatus 1300 in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
  • FIG. 25 is an example of a case where the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance 101 or the home appliance 1302 (hereinafter collectively referred to as a home appliance) can be converted.
  • the home appliance transmits a public message to the conversion determination device 1301.
  • step S2502 after the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the household electrical appliance cannot be converted, it generates a public message including service information indicating that the household appliance itself can register the device information, It transmits to the registration determination device 102.
  • step S2503 after receiving the disclosure message, the registration determination device 102 determines that the device information can be registered by the home appliance itself, generates a registration instruction message, and transmits it to the conversion determination device 1301.
  • step S2504 the conversion determination device 1301 generates a registration message related to the device information of the home appliance and transmits it to the server device 103 when receiving the registration instruction message.
  • the registration instruction message is actually received by the conversion determination apparatus 1301 that has generated a virtual communication interface. Therefore, the second protocol processing unit 1403 in the conversion determination apparatus 1301 receives the registration instruction message. Is received, the device information registration management unit 1408 is notified. Then, the protocol conversion unit 1405 converts the device information of the home appliance that performs communication using the first intra-region protocol for the second intra-region protocol.
  • a registration message is generated by the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 based on the device information of the home appliances that communicate with the first protocol in the area, and the registration message is transmitted from the communication unit 1401 to the server apparatus 103.
  • FIG. 26 shows a processing sequence when the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance can be converted.
  • step S2601 the home appliance transmits a public message to the conversion determination device 1301, as in step S2501.
  • step S2602 after the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance can be converted, a public message that does not include service information indicating that the home appliance itself can perform device information registration is generated. Send.
  • the registration determination device 102 determines that the home appliance itself cannot register the device information, and the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message regarding the home appliance device information. It transmits to the server apparatus 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 determines that the home appliance itself cannot register the device information, and the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message regarding the home appliance device information. It transmits to the server apparatus 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 determines that the home appliance itself cannot register the device information, and the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message regarding the home appliance device information. It transmits to the server apparatus 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 determines that the home appliance itself cannot register the device information, and the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message regarding the home appliance device information. It transmits to the server apparatus 103.
  • the registration determination device 102 determines that the home appliance itself cannot register the device information. It transmits to the server apparatus 103.
  • the ECHONET protocol is used as the first intra-region protocol and the UPnP protocol is used as the second intra-region protocol.
  • other protocols may be used.
  • the same protocol may be used for the first intra-region protocol and the second intra-region protocol.
  • the conversion permission determination mainly consists of determining whether or not the communication medium is the same, but considering the processing capability of the registration determination device, It is also possible to apply a determination process.
  • device information registration by the registration determination device and device information registration by the conversion determination device may be selected and performed.
  • the registration determination process and the conversion determination process are separately performed by the registration determination apparatus and the conversion determination apparatus.
  • the present invention is not limited to this, and the process may be executed by one apparatus. .
  • the server device when registering device information of home appliances in a server device on the Internet, the information of information resulting from converting information between different communication media For each type of home appliance, by making a registration determination as to whether or not device information can be converted between communication media by the conversion determination device, and providing the determination result to the registration determination device for the missing and converted information collision
  • the server device guarantees the traceability of multiple home appliances while ensuring the uniqueness of information unique to home appliances on a network intervening multiple communication protocols and communication media. It becomes possible.
  • the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage.
  • various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment.
  • constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.
  • the communication apparatus is effective, for example, for registering information by transmitting home appliance information in a home to a server.
  • Permission confirmation display management unit 209... Input / output processing unit, 210... Display unit, 211 ... input unit, 301, 902, 1501, 2102, 2201 ..

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Abstract

A communication apparatus, which is adapted to communicate with a first device and a server apparatus, comprises a first communication unit (201) that receives, from the first device, device information indicating information that is unique to the first device; and a device information registration determining unit (205) that determines, from the device information, whether the first device by itself can register the device information of the first device with the server apparatus.

Description

通信装置Communication device
　本発明は、家電機器の機器情報をインターネット上のサーバ装置へ送信するための通信装置に関する。 The present invention relates to a communication device for transmitting device information of home appliances to a server device on the Internet.
　近年、リコール発生時等において異常が発覚した機種に該当する家電機器を特定し、機器を介してユーザに直接告知する販売製品のトレーサビリティ機能が、ネットワーク技術を用いることで可能となっている。近年の宅内ネットワークシステムにおいては、ＰＣ（Ｐｅｒｓｏｎａｌ　Ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ）やデジタルテレビ、ＨＤＤ（Ｈａｒｄ　Ｄｉｓｋ　Ｄｒｉｖｅ）レコーダといったＰＣ／ＡＶ（Ａｕｄｉｏ　Ｖｉｓｕａｌ）家電機器が相互にメッセージを送受信するための通信プロトコルとしてＵＰｎＰ（登録商標）規格が存在する。また、照明や冷蔵庫、洗濯機といった白物家電機器が相互にメッセージを送受信するための通信プロトコルとしてＥＣＨＯＮＥＴ（登録商標）規格が存在する。さらに、これらの通信プロトコルを相互に変換するためのゲートウェイ装置をネットワーク内に設置することで、デジタルテレビを介して照明の動作状態を制御することなどが実現できる。機器情報は各通信プロトコルのメッセージを用いて送受信する。 In recent years, it has become possible to use a network technology for the traceability function of a sales product that identifies a home appliance that corresponds to a model in which an abnormality is detected when a recall occurs, etc., and notifies the user directly via the device. In recent home network systems, UPnP (registered trademark) is a communication protocol for PC / AV (Audio Visual) home appliances such as PCs (Personal Computers), digital TVs, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) recorders to send and receive messages to and from each other. ) There is a standard. There is also an ECHONET (registered trademark) standard as a communication protocol for white goods such as lighting, refrigerators and washing machines to send and receive messages to and from each other. Furthermore, by installing a gateway device for mutually converting these communication protocols in the network, it is possible to control the operation state of lighting via a digital television. Device information is transmitted and received using messages of each communication protocol.
　情報端末装置（ゲートウェイ）がネットワーク上の家電機器の動作状態を含む機器情報を収集し、インターネット上のサーバ装置に登録する方法が開示されている（例えば、特許文献１参照）。さらに、通信端末が自身の機器情報をサーバ装置に送信することで登録を行い、登録結果を表示部に表示する方法が開示されている（例えば、特許文献２参照）。宅内の家電機器に対して、他の家電機器と重複しないＩＤ（ＩＤｅｎｔｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎ）を乱数によって生成し機器に付加する方法が開示されている（例えば、特許文献３参照）。 A method is disclosed in which an information terminal device (gateway) collects device information including the operating state of home appliances on a network and registers it in a server device on the Internet (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Furthermore, a method is disclosed in which a communication terminal performs registration by transmitting its device information to a server device, and displays a registration result on a display unit (for example, see Patent Document 2). A method of generating an ID (IDentification) that does not overlap with other home appliances by using a random number and adding the ID to the appliance is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 3).
特開２００６－１４０５６９号公報JP 2006-140569 A 特開２００８－１０４０８３号公報JP 2008-104083 A 特開２００４－１３５３５１号公報JP 2004-135351 A
　しかし、サーバ装置における機器情報収集時に、機器を一意に特定するためのＩＤの具体的な実現方法が開示されておらず、サーバ装置側で機器情報の情報衝突が発生する問題や、機器を一意に特定可能なはずのＩＤが通信プロトコルの違いから衝突するため、家電機器固有の情報の一意性を保証したまま、複数の家電機器のトレーサビリティを保証できない問題がある。　
　本発明は、上述の課題を解決するためになされたものであり、家電機器固有の情報の一意性を保証したまま、サーバ装置における複数の家電機器のトレーサビリティを保証することができる通信装置を提供することを目的とする。 However, when collecting device information in the server device, a specific method for realizing an ID for uniquely identifying the device is not disclosed, and there is a problem that information collision of device information occurs on the server device side, or the device is uniquely identified. Since IDs that should be identifiable collide with each other due to differences in communication protocols, there is a problem that the traceability of a plurality of home appliances cannot be guaranteed while guaranteeing the uniqueness of information unique to the home appliances.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a communication device capable of guaranteeing traceability of a plurality of home appliances in a server device while guaranteeing uniqueness of information unique to the home appliances. The purpose is to do.
　上述の課題を解決するため、本発明に係る通信装置は、第１機器およびサーバ装置と通信する通信装置であって、第１機器から該第１機器の固有の情報を示す機器情報を受信する第１通信部と、前記機器情報から、前記第１機器自身で前記サーバ装置に該第１機器の機器情報を登録することが可能であるかどうかを判定する機器情報登録判定部と、を具備することを特徴とする。 In order to solve the above-described problem, a communication device according to the present invention is a communication device that communicates with a first device and a server device, and receives device information indicating unique information of the first device from the first device. A first communication unit; and a device information registration determination unit that determines whether the first device itself can register the device information of the first device in the server device from the device information. It is characterized by doing.
　本発明の通信装置によれば、家電機器固有の情報の一意性を保証したまま、サーバ装置における複数の家電機器のトレーサビリティを保証することができる。 According to the communication device of the present invention, it is possible to guarantee the traceability of a plurality of home appliances in the server device while guaranteeing the uniqueness of the information unique to the home appliance.
第１の実施形態に係る宅内ネットワークシステムの一例を示す図。1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a home network system according to a first embodiment. 第１の実施形態に係る登録判定装置を示すブロック図。The block diagram which shows the registration determination apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 域内プロトコル処理部が取得する機器情報の一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the apparatus information which an in-region protocol process part acquires. 機器識別子管理部に格納される識別子情報の一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the identifier information stored in an apparatus identifier management part. 登録構成情報記憶部に記憶される登録構成情報の一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the registration structure information memorize | stored in a registration structure information storage part. 第１の実施形態に係る通信装置によりサーバ装置に送信される機器情報を示す図。The figure which shows the apparatus information transmitted to a server apparatus by the communication apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 公開メッセージの構成例を示す図。The figure which shows the structural example of a public message. 登録指示メッセージの構成例を示す図。The figure which shows the structural example of a registration instruction | indication message. 登録判定装置により生成される登録メッセージの構成例を示す図。The figure which shows the structural example of the registration message produced | generated by the registration determination apparatus. 第１の実施形態に係る登録判定装置の動作を示すフローチャート。The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the registration determination apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 登録判定装置で登録可能と判定された場合の処理シーケンスの一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of a process sequence when it determines with registration registration apparatus being able to register. 登録判定装置で登録不可能と判定された場合の処理シーケンスの一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of a process sequence when it determines with registration determination apparatus being unable to register. 第２の実施形態に係る宅内ネットワークの一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the home network which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 第２の実施形態に係る変換判定装置を示すブロック図。The block diagram which shows the conversion determination apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 第２の実施形態に係る域内第１プロトコル処理部が取得する機器情報の一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the apparatus information which the area | region 1st protocol process part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment acquires. 第２の実施形態に係る登録構成情報記憶部の登録構成情報の一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the registration structure information of the registration structure information storage part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 第２の実施形態に係る変換規約情報記憶部の変換規約情報の一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of the conversion rule information of the conversion rule information storage part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 変換判定処理の一例を説明する図。The figure explaining an example of a conversion determination process. 変換判定処理の別例を説明する図。The figure explaining the other example of a conversion determination process. 第２の実施形態に係る通信装置によりサーバ装置に送信される機器情報を示す図。The figure which shows the apparatus information transmitted to a server apparatus by the communication apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. 公開メッセージの別例を示す図。The figure which shows another example of a public message. 変換判定装置により生成される登録メッセージの構成例を示す図。The figure which shows the structural example of the registration message produced | generated by the conversion determination apparatus. 変換判定処理を示すフローチャート。The flowchart which shows a conversion determination process. 変換判定装置の動作を示すフローチャート。The flowchart which shows operation | movement of a conversion determination apparatus. 変換判定装置で登録不可能と判定された場合の処理シーケンスの一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of a process sequence when it determines with registration determination being impossible with a conversion determination apparatus. 変換判定装置で登録可能と判定された場合の処理シーケンスの一例を示す図。The figure which shows an example of a processing sequence when it determines with registration determination being possible with a conversion determination apparatus.
　以下、図面を参照しながら本発明の実施形態に係る通信装置について詳細に説明する。なお、以下の実施形態では、同一の番号を付した部分については同様の動作を行うものとして、重ねての説明を省略する。 Hereinafter, a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that, in the following embodiments, the same numbered portions are assumed to perform the same operation, and repeated description is omitted.
　（第１の実施形態）　
　本実施形態に係る通信装置を図１および図２を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　本実施形態に係る通信装置は、家電機器１０１と、登録判定装置１０２と、サーバ装置１０３とを含む。図１に本実施形態に係る宅内ネットワークシステムの一例を示す。　
　ユーザの宅内１０４には家電機器１０１および登録判定装置１０２が存在し、インターネット上にはサーバ装置１０３が存在する。ここでは簡単のため、家電機器１０１、登録判定装置１０２、および、サーバ装置１０３は、それぞれ１つしか図示していないが、複数存在してもよい。 (First embodiment)
The communication apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The communication device according to the present embodiment includes a home appliance 101, a registration determination device 102, and a server device 103. FIG. 1 shows an example of a home network system according to the present embodiment.
A home appliance 104 and a registration determination device 102 exist in the user's home 104, and a server device 103 exists on the Internet. Here, for simplicity, only one home appliance 101, registration determination device 102, and server device 103 are shown, but a plurality of home appliances 101, registration determination device 102, and server device 103 may exist.
　家電機器１０１は、例えばＰＣやデジタルテレビ、ＨＤＤレコーダといったＰＣ／ＡＶ機器であり、処理能力によっては機器情報を直接サーバ装置１０３に送信することも可能である。機器情報は、ＩＤ、製造番号または、製造年月日から構成される、販売した機器を一意に識別することが可能な固体固有の情報である。 The household electrical appliance 101 is a PC / AV device such as a PC, a digital television, or an HDD recorder, and can transmit device information directly to the server device 103 depending on the processing capability. The device information is information specific to each individual that can uniquely identify a sold device, which is configured by an ID, a serial number, or a manufacturing date.
　また、家電機器１０１は、宅内ネットワークシステムにおいて、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルを用いてメッセージの送受信を行う。ＵＰｎＰプロトコルでは、拡張可能な構造化文章であるＸＭＬ（ｅＸｔｅｎｓｉｂｌｅ　Ｍａｒｋｕｐ　Ｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ）に各種情報を定義することで、機器情報の公開や、機器の制御、機器の状態変化通知を行う。例えば、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルを用いることで、ネットワーク上のＨＤＤレコーダに録画された映像コンテンツを、デジタルテレビがストリーミング再生するといった応用が可能となる。ＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器１０１は、大容量のデータを取り扱うことから、有線通信媒体としてＩＥＥＥ８０２．３規格等に準拠したＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ（登録商標）、無線通信媒体としてＩＥＥＥ８０２．１１規格等に準拠した無線ＬＡＮ（Ｌｏｃａｌ　Ａｒｅａ　Ｎｅｔｗｏｒｋ）を使用することが多い。ここで、通信媒体とは、機器が情報を送受信するために使用する通信方式を示す。 In addition, the home appliance 101 transmits and receives messages using the UPnP protocol in the home network system. In the UPnP protocol, various types of information are defined in XML (extensible Markup Language), which is an extensible structured text, to disclose device information, control devices, and notify device status changes. For example, by using the UPnP protocol, an application in which video content recorded on an HDD recorder on a network is streamed and played back by a digital television can be realized. The home appliance 101 that communicates with the UPnP protocol handles a large amount of data. Therefore, it conforms to Ethernet (registered trademark) that conforms to the IEEE 802.3 standard as a wired communication medium and conforms to the IEEE 802.11 standard as a wireless communication medium. In many cases, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is used. Here, the communication medium indicates a communication method used by the device to transmit and receive information.
　登録判定装置１０２は、情報をユーザに表示することが可能な表示部を備えた機器であり、表示機器ともいう。登録判定装置１０２は、家電機器１０１が自身で機器情報を登録することが可能か否かを判定する。登録判定装置１０２の動作については図２を参照して後述する。　
　サーバ装置１０３は、インターネット上に存在し、家電機器１０１の機器情報の登録を行うために、家電機器１０１または登録判定装置１０２から機器情報を受け取る。　
　家電機器１０１、登録判定装置１０２、および、サーバ装置１０３はそれぞれ通信能力を備え、相互にメッセージを送受信することができる。 The registration determination device 102 is a device that includes a display unit that can display information to the user, and is also referred to as a display device. The registration determination device 102 determines whether or not the home appliance 101 can register device information by itself. The operation of the registration determination apparatus 102 will be described later with reference to FIG.
The server device 103 exists on the Internet and receives device information from the home appliance 101 or the registration determination device 102 in order to register the device information of the home appliance 101.
The home appliance 101, the registration determination device 102, and the server device 103 each have communication capability and can send and receive messages to and from each other.
　さて、家電機器１０１の機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する方法としては２通りの方法が考えられる。　
　１つ目の方法は、許諾確認を表示する登録判定装置１０２が代表となって、全ての家電機器１０１の機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する方法である。２つ目の方法は、各家電機器１０１が自身の機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する方法である。　
　ユーザの許諾確認が取れている場合、どちらの方法を用いても機器情報の登録は可能であるが、特に２つ目の方法は、家電機器１０１が自身の機器情報を直接取得した上でサーバ装置１０３に送信するため、機器情報を含むメッセージの交換による通信量を削減することが可能である。 There are two possible methods for registering the device information of the home appliance 101 in the server device 103.
The first method is a method of registering device information of all home appliances 101 in the server device 103, with the registration determination device 102 displaying permission confirmation as a representative. The second method is a method in which each home appliance 101 registers its own device information in the server device 103.
If the user's permission has been confirmed, the device information can be registered using either method. In particular, the second method is that the home appliance 101 directly acquires its device information and then the server. Since it is transmitted to the apparatus 103, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication by exchanging messages including device information.
　ただし、機器情報は、ユーザ個人のプライバシーと結び付くため、個人情報保護の観点から、ユーザからサーバ装置１０３へ機器情報を登録してもよいかどうかの許諾確認を得た上でサーバ装置１０３に送信することが望ましい。一般にインターネット上のサーバ装置１０３に個人情報を送信する際は暗号化処理を適用することが考えられるため、２つ目の方法を行う場合は、家電機器１０１が情報を暗号化した上で、インターネット上のサーバ装置１０３に対して直接送信可能であることが必要となる。　
　これらの処理を行うためには、家電機器１０１が比較的高い処理能力と通信能力を備える必要がある。ＨＤＤに記憶したコンテンツを宅内ネットワーク上の機器に配信することを目的としたＮＡＳ（Ｎｅｔｗｏｒｋ　Ａｔｔａｃｈｅｄ　Ｓｔｏｒａｇｅ）装置等は、装置の構成要素が最低限の処理能力しか有していない場合が多く、表示部を持たない場合が多い。本実施形態では、家電機器１０１の機器情報を表示機器（登録判定装置１０２）の表示部に表示させ、ユーザの許諾確認を得た後に機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に送信することで機器情報の登録を行うことにより解決する。　
　ＩＤは、同一通信媒体での一意性が保証されているＭＡＣ（Ｍｅｄｉｕｍ　Ａｃｃｅｓｓ　Ｃｏｎｔｒｏｌ）アドレスと呼ばれる固体識別子をもとに生成することでサーバ装置１０３上での情報衝突を回避することが可能となる。以後、通信媒体における固体識別子であるＭＡＣアドレスをＨＷ（ＨａｒｄＷａｒｅ）アドレスと呼ぶ。 However, since the device information is linked to the privacy of the individual user, from the viewpoint of protecting the personal information, the device information is transmitted to the server device 103 after obtaining confirmation from the user whether the device information may be registered in the server device 103. It is desirable to do. In general, when personal information is transmitted to the server apparatus 103 on the Internet, it is conceivable to apply encryption processing. Therefore, when performing the second method, the home appliance 101 encrypts the information and then the Internet. It is necessary to be able to transmit directly to the server apparatus 103 above.
In order to perform these processes, the home appliance 101 needs to have a relatively high processing capability and communication capability. In many cases, NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices for distributing contents stored in the HDD to devices on the home network have a minimum processing capability as a component of the device. Often does not have. In the present embodiment, the device information of the home appliance 101 is displayed on the display unit of the display device (registration determination device 102), and after obtaining the user's permission confirmation, the device information is transmitted to the server device 103 to register the device information. To solve the problem.
By generating the ID based on a solid identifier called a MAC (Medium Access Control) address that guarantees uniqueness in the same communication medium, it becomes possible to avoid information collision on the server apparatus 103. . Hereinafter, a MAC address that is a solid identifier in a communication medium is referred to as a HW (HardWare) address.
　ここで、本実施形態に係る登録判定装置の構成について図２を参照して詳細に説明する。本実施形態に係る登録判定装置１０２は、通信部２０１と、域内プロトコル処理部２０２と、域外プロトコル処理部２０３と、機器識別子管理部２０４と、機器情報登録判定部２０５と、登録構成情報記憶部２０６と、機器情報登録管理部２０７と、許諾確認表示管理部２０８と、入出力処理部２０９と、表示部２１０と、入力部２１１とを含む。　
　通信部２０１は、外部の装置または機器から稼動状態に関する通信メッセージを受信し、その後公開メッセージを受信する。稼動状態に関する通信メッセージは、家電機器１０１の稼動開始や稼動停止の状態変化を示すメッセージである。公開メッセージは、宅内ネットワークで公開される家電機器１０１の情報である。公開メッセージの構造については図７を参照して後述する。また、稼動状態に関する通信メッセージは公開メッセージに包含させる形で実現してもよい。 Here, the configuration of the registration determination apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The registration determination apparatus 102 according to the present embodiment includes a communication unit 201, an in-region protocol processing unit 202, an out-of-region protocol processing unit 203, a device identifier management unit 204, a device information registration determination unit 205, and a registered configuration information storage unit. 206, a device information registration management unit 207, a permission confirmation display management unit 208, an input / output processing unit 209, a display unit 210, and an input unit 211.
The communication unit 201 receives a communication message regarding an operating state from an external device or device, and then receives a public message. The communication message regarding the operation state is a message indicating a change in the state of operation start or operation stop of the home appliance 101. The public message is information on the home appliance 101 that is disclosed on the home network. The structure of the public message will be described later with reference to FIG. Further, the communication message relating to the operating state may be realized by being included in the public message.
　また、通信部２０１は、後述する域内プロトコル処理部２０２から登録指示メッセージを受け取った場合は、家電機器１０１へ登録指示メッセージを送る。一方、域外プロトコル処理部２０３から登録メッセージを受け取った場合は、サーバ装置１０３へ登録メッセージを送る。登録指示メッセージは、家電機器１０１自身で機器情報をサーバ装置１０３へ登録するように指示をする情報であり、登録指示メッセージの構造については図８を参照して後述する。登録メッセージは、サーバ装置１０３に機器情報を登録するための情報であり、登録メッセージの構造については図９を参照して後述する。 In addition, when the communication unit 201 receives a registration instruction message from the intra-area protocol processing unit 202 described later, the communication unit 201 transmits a registration instruction message to the home appliance 101. On the other hand, when a registration message is received from the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203, the registration message is sent to the server apparatus 103. The registration instruction message is information for instructing the home appliance 101 itself to register the device information in the server apparatus 103, and the structure of the registration instruction message will be described later with reference to FIG. The registration message is information for registering device information in the server apparatus 103, and the structure of the registration message will be described later with reference to FIG.
　さらに、通信部２０１では、登録判定装置が有線により通信処理を行う場合は、ＩＥＥＥ８０２．３規格に代表されるＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔに準拠した有線ＬＡＮを用いて通信を行うことが考えられる。一方、登録判定装置が無線により通信処理を行う場合は、ＩＥＥＥ８０２．１１規格に準拠した無線ＬＡＮを用いて通信を行うことが考えられる。なお、通信部２０１の構成は特定の通信媒体に制限されず、外部の装置または機器と通信を行うことができればよい。 Furthermore, in the communication unit 201, when the registration determination device performs communication processing by wire, it is conceivable to perform communication using a wired LAN compliant with Ethernet typified by the IEEE 802.3 standard. On the other hand, when the registration determination apparatus performs communication processing wirelessly, it is conceivable to perform communication using a wireless LAN compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard. Note that the configuration of the communication unit 201 is not limited to a specific communication medium as long as it can communicate with an external apparatus or device.
　域内プロトコル処理部２０２は、通信部２０１から公開メッセージを受け取り、公開メッセージのＸＭＬ文章から公開識別子と機器情報とを取得する。公開識別子は、メッセージが公開メッセージであることを特定するための一意に定まる識別情報である。また、域内プロトコル処理部２０２は、後述する機器情報登録管理部２０７からの指示に基づいて登録指示メッセージを生成する。 The regional protocol processing unit 202 receives a public message from the communication unit 201 and acquires a public identifier and device information from the XML text of the public message. The public identifier is identification information that is uniquely determined for specifying that the message is a public message. Further, the intra-area protocol processing unit 202 generates a registration instruction message based on an instruction from a device information registration management unit 207 described later.
　域外プロトコル処理部２０３は、後述する機器情報登録管理部２０７からの指示に基づいて登録メッセージを生成する。 The out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message based on an instruction from the device information registration management unit 207 described later.
　機器識別子管理部２０４は、通信部２０１から通信メッセージを受け取り、家電機器１０１の識別子情報を格納する。識別子情報は、家電機器１０１を特定する機器固有の情報である。識別子情報については図４を参照して後述する。 The device identifier management unit 204 receives a communication message from the communication unit 201 and stores the identifier information of the home appliance 101. The identifier information is device-specific information that identifies the home appliance 101. The identifier information will be described later with reference to FIG.
　機器情報登録判定部２０５は、域内プロトコル処理部２０２から機器情報を受け取り、機器情報に基づいて家電機器１０１自身が機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録可能であるか否かの判定処理を行い、登録判定結果を得る。 The device information registration determination unit 205 receives device information from the intra-region protocol processing unit 202, performs a determination process on whether or not the home appliance 101 itself can register the device information in the server device 103 based on the device information, and performs registration. Obtain the judgment result.
　登録構成情報記憶部２０６は、登録構成情報を記憶する。登録構成情報は、サーバ装置１０３に送信する登録メッセージを生成するために必要な機器情報を指定する情報である。登録構成情報については図５を参照して後述する。　
　機器情報登録管理部２０７は、域内プロトコル処理部２０２から機器情報を、機器識別子管理部２０４から固体識別子および識別情報を、機器情報登録判定部２０５から登録判定結果を、登録構成情報記憶部２０６から登録構成情報を、後述する許諾確認表示管理部２０８から許諾確認情報をそれぞれ受け取る。そして、登録判定結果および許諾確認情報に応じて登録メッセージを生成する指示または登録指示メッセージを生成する指示を送る。 The registered configuration information storage unit 206 stores registered configuration information. The registered configuration information is information that specifies device information necessary for generating a registration message to be transmitted to the server apparatus 103. The registered configuration information will be described later with reference to FIG.
The device information registration management unit 207 receives device information from the intra-area protocol processing unit 202, a solid identifier and identification information from the device identifier management unit 204, a registration determination result from the device information registration determination unit 205, and a registration configuration information storage unit 206. The registration confirmation information is received from the permission confirmation display management unit 208 described later. Then, an instruction to generate a registration message or an instruction to generate a registration instruction message is sent according to the registration determination result and the permission confirmation information.
　許諾確認表示管理部２０８は、新しい家電機器１０１を発見、すなわち公開メッセージの内容から機器情報を取得した場合に、家電機器１０１の機器情報をインターネット上のサーバ装置１０３に対して送信して登録することを許諾するかまたは拒否するかの確認をユーザに対して行う。そして、その確認の結果の情報を示す許諾確認情報を格納する。この確認を取ることでプライバシー保護を行うことができる。 When the permission confirmation display management unit 208 finds a new home appliance 101, that is, acquires device information from the contents of the public message, the device information of the home appliance 101 is transmitted to the server apparatus 103 on the Internet and registered. Confirm whether to allow or reject the request. And the permission confirmation information which shows the information of the result of the confirmation is stored. Privacy confirmation can be performed by taking this confirmation.
　入出力処理部２０９は、ユーザが機器情報の登録を許諾するか拒否するかを選択するための選択画面を表す画像情報を後述する表示部２１０へ送る。また、入出力処理部２０９は、後述する入力部２１１から入力情報を受け取り、許諾確認情報として許諾確認表示管理部２０８へ送る。入力情報は、ユーザの操作により入力された情報を示す。 The input / output processing unit 209 sends image information representing a selection screen for the user to select whether to permit or reject registration of the device information to the display unit 210 described later. Also, the input / output processing unit 209 receives input information from the input unit 211 described later, and sends it to the permission confirmation display management unit 208 as permission confirmation information. The input information indicates information input by a user operation.
　表示部２１０は、入出力処理部２０９から画像情報を受け取り、ＬＣＤ（Ｌｉｑｕｉｄ　Ｃｒｙｓｔａｌ　Ｄｉｓｐｌａｙ）等のディスプレイを用いてユーザに表示を行う。 The display unit 210 receives image information from the input / output processing unit 209 and displays it to the user using a display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).
　入力部２１１は、ユーザの操作を受け付け、デジタルテレビの場合はリモコン操作、ＰＣの場合はマウス操作やキーボード操作により入力情報を得る。 The input unit 211 receives a user operation, and obtains input information by a remote control operation in the case of a digital television and a mouse operation or a keyboard operation in the case of a PC.
　ここで、域内プロトコル処理部２０２において取得される機器情報の一例を図３を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　ＵＰｎＰプロトコルでは、拡張可能な構造化文章であるＸＭＬに各種情報を定義して、機器情報の公開、機器の制御指示、および、機器の状態変化通知を行う。　
　機器情報は要素情報３０２および内容情報３０３を含む。要素情報３０２は、複数の家電機器１０１において共通に定義された情報であるのに対して、内容情報３０３は家電機器１０１固有の情報である。要素情報３０２および内容情報３０３は、ＸＭＬ文章中に文字列として記載される。具体的には、例えば、要素情報３０２として機器名、製造番号、製造会社、サービス情報があり、それぞれ対応するｆｒｉｅｎｄｌｙＮａｍｅ、ｓｅｒｉａｌＮｕｍｂｅｒ、ｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｅ、ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅが要素情報３０２の定義名として定義されている。さらに、要素情報３０２に対応する内容情報３０３として、ｆｒｉｅｎｄｌｙＮａｍｅには「ＧｅｎｅｒａｌＬｉｇｈｔｉｎｇ」、ｓｅｒｉａｌＮｕｍｂｅｒには「０１２３４５６７８９ＡＢＣＤ」、ｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｅには「ＥＦＧ」が対応付いて記載されており、ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅには２種類の情報、「ＧｅｎｅｒａｌＬｉｇｈｔｉｎｇＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」および「ＲｅｇｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」が記載されている例を示している。 Here, an example of device information acquired by the intra-area protocol processing unit 202 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
In the UPnP protocol, various types of information are defined in XML, which is an extensible structured text, and disclosure of device information, device control instructions, and device state change notification are performed.
The device information includes element information 302 and content information 303. The element information 302 is information commonly defined in the plurality of home appliances 101, whereas the content information 303 is information unique to the home appliance 101. The element information 302 and the content information 303 are described as character strings in the XML sentence. Specifically, for example, there are device name, serial number, manufacturing company, and service information as the element information 302, and corresponding friendlyName, serialNumber, manufacture, and service are defined as definition names of the element information 302. Furthermore, as content information 303 corresponding to the element information 302, “GeneralLighting” is described in friendlyName, “01234456789ABCD” is described in serialNumber, “EFG” is described in manufacture, and two types of information are described in service. An example in which “GeneralLightingService” and “RegistrationService” are described is shown.
　サービス情報は、機器が提供可能な機能をネットワーク内に存在する他の機器に対して通知する情報である。例えば、「ＧｅｎｅｒａｌＬｉｇｈｔｉｎｇＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」は、家電機器１０１が照明に関する制御機能、一例を挙げると、照明のオンオフを切り替える機能を提供できることを示す。また、「ＲｅｇｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」は、家電機器１０１自身が機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する機能を有することを示す。 Service information is information for notifying other devices existing in the network of functions that the device can provide. For example, “GeneralLightingService” indicates that the home appliance 101 can provide a control function related to lighting, for example, a function of switching lighting on and off. “Registration Service” indicates that the home appliance 101 has a function of registering device information in the server apparatus 103.
　なお、機器情報３０１は一例であり、家電機器１０１に関する詳細情報を表示するためのＵＲＬ（Ｕｎｉｆｏｒｍ　Ｒｅｓｏｕｒｃｅ　Ｌｏｃａｔｏｒ）情報や、機器の状態変化を通信メッセージにて受信するための購読用情報等を機器情報３０１に含めてもよい。 The device information 301 is an example, and the device information includes URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information for displaying detailed information about the home appliance 101, subscription information for receiving a change in the state of the device in a communication message, and the like. 301 may be included.
　次に、機器識別子管理部２０４に格納される識別子情報の一例について図４を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　識別子情報は、家電機器１０１のネットワーク識別子４０１、通信媒体における固体識別子４０２、通信媒体の識別情報４０３を含む。ネットワーク識別子４０１としてはＩＰ（Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ）アドレス、固体識別子４０２としては通信媒体のＨＷアドレスをそれぞれ格納する。ＨＷアドレスとして例えば、「００－００－００－００－００－０１」という文字列が格納される。また、識別情報４０３は、ＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔまたはＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈ（登録商標）等の通信媒体を識別するための情報で、文字列の情報でもよいし、予め通信媒体と整数値とを対応付けて定義し、その整数値を用いて実現する方法などが考えられる。　
　ＩＰアドレスからＨＷアドレスを取得する方法としては、ＡＲＰ（Ａｄｄｒｅｓｓ　Ｒｅｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ）などが存在する。識別情報４０３は、通信部２０１を制御するデバイスドライバ等から取得することが可能であるが、複数の通信媒体を備える場合は、家電機器１０１からの通信メッセージ（または公開メッセージ）を受信処理した通信媒体を対象に情報取得を行う。 Next, an example of identifier information stored in the device identifier management unit 204 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The identifier information includes a network identifier 401 of the home appliance 101, a solid identifier 402 in the communication medium, and identification information 403 of the communication medium. The network identifier 401 stores an IP (Internet Protocol) address, and the solid identifier 402 stores an HW address of a communication medium. For example, a character string “00-00-00-00-00-01” is stored as the HW address. The identification information 403 is information for identifying a communication medium such as Ethernet or Bluetooth (registered trademark), and may be character string information. The communication medium and an integer value are defined in advance in association with each other. A method that uses numerical values is conceivable.
As a method for acquiring the HW address from the IP address, there is ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) and the like. The identification information 403 can be acquired from a device driver or the like that controls the communication unit 201. However, when a plurality of communication media are provided, the communication that has received and processed the communication message (or public message) from the home appliance 101. Information acquisition is performed for the medium.
　登録構成情報記憶部２０６に格納される登録構成情報の一例について図５を参照して詳細に説明する。登録構成情報は、サーバ装置１０３に家電機器１０１の情報を登録するために機器情報および識別子情報から選択された情報である。具体例として、（Ａ）機器ＩＤ５０１、（Ｂ）製造番号５０２、（Ｃ）製造会社５０３の情報を含む。機器ＩＤ５０１は、機器固体を一意に特定する識別子であり、サーバ装置１０３において同じ製造番号が存在することによる情報の衝突問題を解決するために、機器識別子管理部２０４に格納される識別子情報に含まれる固体識別子４０２と識別情報４０３とをもとに生成される。また、製造番号５０２および製造会社５０３は、域内プロトコル処理部２０２において取得した機器情報から取得する。 An example of registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 206 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The registered configuration information is information selected from the device information and the identifier information in order to register the information on the home appliance 101 in the server device 103. As a specific example, information on (A) device ID 501, (B) serial number 502, and (C) manufacturing company 503 is included. The device ID 501 is an identifier that uniquely identifies a device, and is included in the identifier information stored in the device identifier management unit 204 in order to solve the information collision problem caused by the same manufacturing number existing in the server apparatus 103. Generated based on the solid identifier 402 and the identification information 403. Further, the manufacturing number 502 and the manufacturing company 503 are acquired from the device information acquired by the intra-area protocol processing unit 202.
　機器情報登録管理部２０７において登録構成情報に従って機器情報から抽出された情報の具体例を図６に示す。機器ＩＤ５０１は、例えば、通信媒体における固体識別子４０２と通信媒体の識別情報４０３とを組み合わせた文字列情報である「Ｅｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ．ＨＷアドレス」のように生成することが考えられる。機器ＩＤ５０１の具体例としては、例えば「Ｅｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ．００－００－００－００－００－０１」となる。製造番号５０２としては、定義名ｓｅｒｉａｌＮｕｍｂｅｒに対応する内容情報「０１２３４５６７８９ＡＢＣＤ」を得る。また、製造会社５０３としては、定義名ｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｅｒに対応する内容情報「ＥＦＧ」を取得する。これらの抽出した情報をもとに、登録メッセージが域外プロトコル処理部２０３で生成される。　
　なお、機器ＩＤ５０１としては、固体識別子４０２と識別情報４０３とを整数値として加算して得た値を用いる方法を用いてもよい。 A specific example of information extracted from the device information in accordance with the registered configuration information in the device information registration management unit 207 is shown in FIG. It is conceivable that the device ID 501 is generated as “Ethernet.HW address” which is character string information that combines the individual identifier 402 in the communication medium and the identification information 403 of the communication medium, for example. A specific example of the device ID 501 is, for example, “Ethernet.00-00-00-00-00-01”. As the production number 502, the content information “01234456789ABCD” corresponding to the definition name serialNumber is obtained. In addition, as the manufacturing company 503, the content information “EFG” corresponding to the definition name manufacturer is acquired. A registration message is generated by the out-of-range protocol processing unit 203 based on the extracted information.
As the device ID 501, a method using a value obtained by adding the solid identifier 402 and the identification information 403 as integer values may be used.
　ここで、家電機器１０１が生成する公開メッセージの一例について図７を参照して詳細に説明する。公開メッセージは、ＴＣＰ／ＩＰ（Ｔｒａｎｓｍｉｓｓｉｏｎ　Ｃｏｎｔｒｏｌ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ／Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ）ヘッダ７０１、公開識別子７０２、機器情報３０１を含む。ＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダ７０１は、通信メッセージの宛先指定や再送制御を行うために用いる。機器情報３０１は、図３で示すような機器名、製造番号、製造会社、およびサービス情報といった固体固有の情報が含まれる。 Here, an example of a public message generated by the home appliance 101 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The public message includes a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) header 701, a public identifier 702, and device information 301. The TCP / IP header 701 is used for specifying a destination of a communication message and performing retransmission control. The device information 301 includes unique information such as a device name, a manufacturing number, a manufacturing company, and service information as shown in FIG.
　域内プロトコル処理部２０２が生成する登録指示メッセージの一例を図８を参照して詳細に説明する。登録指示メッセージは、ＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダ７０１、登録指示識別子８０１を含む。登録指示識別子８０１は、メッセージが登録指示メッセージであることを特定するために一意に定めた識別情報である。 An example of the registration instruction message generated by the regional protocol processing unit 202 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The registration instruction message includes a TCP / IP header 701 and a registration instruction identifier 801. The registration instruction identifier 801 is identification information uniquely determined to specify that the message is a registration instruction message.
　域外プロトコル処理部２０３が生成する登録メッセージの一例を図９を参照して詳細に説明する。登録メッセージは、ＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダ７０１、登録識別子９０１、機器情報９０２を含む。登録識別子９０１は、当該メッセージが登録メッセージであることを特定するために一意に定めた識別情報である。機器情報９０２には、図５に示す登録構成情報に対応する家電機器１０１の機器情報が含まれる。 An example of the registration message generated by the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The registration message includes a TCP / IP header 701, a registration identifier 901, and device information 902. The registration identifier 901 is identification information uniquely determined to specify that the message is a registration message. Device information 902 includes device information of home appliance 101 corresponding to the registered configuration information shown in FIG.
　次に、本実施形態における登録判定装置の動作について図１０のフローチャートを参照して詳細に説明する。　
　始めに、ステップＳ１００１では、登録判定装置は、ネットワーク上の家電機器１０１から通信メッセージを受信した後、公開メッセージを受信し、域内プロトコル処理部２０２において機器情報を取得することで機器発見を行う。　
　すなわち、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルでは、家電機器１０１が通信メッセージをネットワーク上の特定の複数の機器に向けてＩＰマルチキャストにて送信する手順が規定されている。マルチキャスト通信を行う場合は、ＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダの代わりに、ＵＤＰ／ＩＰ（Ｕｓｅｒ　Ｄａｔａｇｒａｍ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ／Ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ）ヘッダを用いる。登録判定装置は、家電機器１０１からのマルチキャストされた通信メッセージを受信した後、詳細な機器情報を取得するために、公開メッセージをＩＰユニキャストにて受信する。 Next, the operation of the registration determination apparatus in the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in step S <b> 1001, the registration determination apparatus receives a communication message from the home appliance 101 on the network, then receives a public message, and acquires device information in the regional protocol processing unit 202 to perform device discovery.
That is, the UPnP protocol defines a procedure in which the home appliance 101 transmits a communication message to a plurality of specific devices on the network by IP multicast. When performing multicast communication, a UDP / IP (User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol) header is used instead of the TCP / IP header. After receiving the multicast communication message from the home appliance 101, the registration determination device receives a public message by IP unicast in order to acquire detailed device information.
　次に、ステップＳ１００２では、許諾確認表示管理部２０８からの指示に基づいて、ユーザへの許諾確認を表示部２１０に表示させる。　
　ステップＳ１００３では、ユーザが許諾したかまたは拒否したかの判定を行う。ユーザが機器情報の登録を拒否する入力操作を行った場合は、処理を終了する。ユーザが機器情報の登録を許諾する入力操作を行った場合は、ステップＳ１００４へ進む。 In step S1002, based on an instruction from the permission confirmation display management unit 208, a permission confirmation for the user is displayed on the display unit 210.
In step S1003, it is determined whether the user has given permission or rejection. When the user performs an input operation for refusing registration of device information, the process ends. If the user performs an input operation for permitting registration of device information, the process advances to step S1004.
　ステップＳ１００４では、所定の期間内に家電機器１０１の状態が変化したかどうかを判定する。所定の期間以内に該当する家電機器１０１の特定の動作状態の変化を検出した場合は、ステップＳ１００５へ進み、所定の期間以内に該当する家電機器１０１の特定の動作状態の変化を検出しなかった場合は、処理を終了する。 In step S1004, it is determined whether the state of the home appliance 101 has changed within a predetermined period. If a change in a specific operation state of the corresponding home appliance 101 is detected within a predetermined period, the process proceeds to step S1005, and a change in the specific operation state of the corresponding home appliance 101 is not detected within a predetermined period. If so, the process ends.
　状態の変化を判定する理由は、登録判定装置や家電機器１０１が無線通信する場合、隣接する他人の宅内の家電機器の機器情報を取得し、ユーザの宅内に存在する家電機器１０１であるかのようにサーバ装置１０３に誤送信してしまう可能性が考えられるからである。よって、この誤送信を回避する方法として、許諾確認の表示と共に、家電機器１０１に対する特定の操作を促せば、ユーザの操作によりユーザ宅内に存在する家電機器１０１であると判定することができる。具体的な方法としては、以下の方法を適用すればよい。　
　（１）家電機器１０１に対する電源切断と起動を所定の時間以内に行わせる。　
　（２）リモコンの特定のボタンを押下する操作を行わせる。　
　このような特定の操作を行うことにより、サーバ装置１０３に機器情報を送信する対象となっている家電機器１０１が、実際にユーザの宅内に存在する機器であることを特定することが可能である。　
　上述の（１）および（２）の方法により状態の変化を判定するには、（１）の方法は、家電機器１０１から電源切断および電源起動時の特定の通信メッセージを受信することによって登録判定装置が状態の変化を検出すればよい。（２）の方法は、家電機器１０１の動作状態の変化に伴うイベント通知メッセージを、登録判定装置が受信することによって家電機器１０１の状態の変化を検出すればよい。（２）の方法の具体例としては、通常のリモコン操作ではユーザが押下しないようなボタンを配置しておけばよい。また、ユーザに特定の動作を行わせるための表示例としては、「機器情報の登録に許諾される場合は、決定ボタンを押した後に、機器に対して○○の操作を行ってください」などと表示すればよい。無論、このような機器を特定するための操作は省略することも可能である。 The reason for determining the change in state is whether the registration determination device or the home appliance 101 communicates wirelessly, obtains device information of the home appliance of the other person's home adjacent to the home appliance 101 existing in the user's home. This is because there is a possibility of erroneous transmission to the server apparatus 103 as described above. Therefore, as a method of avoiding this erroneous transmission, if a specific operation on the home appliance 101 is prompted together with the display of the permission confirmation, it can be determined that the home appliance 101 exists in the user's home by the user's operation. As a specific method, the following method may be applied.
(1) Power off and start up the home appliance 101 within a predetermined time.
(2) An operation of pressing a specific button on the remote controller is performed.
By performing such a specific operation, it is possible to specify that the home appliance 101 that is the target of transmitting the device information to the server apparatus 103 is a device that actually exists in the user's home. .
In order to determine a change in state by the above-described methods (1) and (2), the method (1) determines registration by receiving a specific communication message at the time of power-off and power-up from the home appliance 101. The device only needs to detect a change in state. The method of (2) should just detect the change of the state of the household appliance 101 by receiving the event notification message accompanying the change of the operation state of the household appliance 101 by a registration determination apparatus. As a specific example of the method (2), buttons that are not pressed by the user in normal remote control operations may be arranged. In addition, as a display example for allowing the user to perform a specific operation, “If you are allowed to register device information, please press the OK button after pressing the OK button” May be displayed. Of course, the operation for specifying such a device can be omitted.
　ステップＳ１００５では、機器情報登録判定部２０５において判定処理を開始する。機器情報登録判定部２０５における登録可否の判定処理は、域内プロトコル処理部２０２が公開メッセージのＸＭＬ文章から取得した機器情報の中に、家電機器１０１自身がサーバ装置１０３へ機器情報を登録することが可能であることを示すサービス情報が含まれるかどうかにより判定を行う。　
　上述した具体例について図３を用いて説明する。　
　機器情報登録判定部２０５は、機器情報に含まれるサービス情報を確認し、「ＲｅｇｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」の情報が存在するかどうかを確認する。そして、「ＲｅｇｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」の情報が存在した場合に、機器情報登録判定部２０５は、家電機器１０１自身が機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録することが可能であると判定し、ステップＳ１００６へ進む。一方、サービス情報に「ＲｅｇｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」の情報がなければ、機器情報登録判定部２０５は、家電機器１０１自身が機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録することが不可能である判定し、ステップＳ１００７に進む。なお、サービス情報は、「ＧｅｎｅｒａｌＬｉｇｈｔｉｎｇＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」や「ＲｅｇｉｓｔｒａｔｉｏｎＳｅｒｖｉｃｅ」といった記載を一例として説明したが、他の文字列や整数値で定義された情報を用いてもよい。また、家電機器１０１自身が機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録することが不可能であることを明示する情報をサービス情報に含めてもよい。 In step S1005, the device information registration determination unit 205 starts determination processing. In the device information registration determination unit 205, the registration permission / inhibition determination process may be performed by the home appliance 101 itself registering device information in the server device 103 in the device information acquired from the XML text of the public message by the intra-area protocol processing unit 202. Judgment is made based on whether service information indicating that it is possible is included.
The specific example mentioned above is demonstrated using FIG.
The device information registration determination unit 205 confirms the service information included in the device information, and confirms whether “Registration Service” information exists. If the “Registration Service” information is present, the device information registration determination unit 205 determines that the home appliance 101 itself can register the device information in the server device 103, and the process proceeds to step S1006. On the other hand, if there is no “Registration Service” information in the service information, the device information registration determination unit 205 determines that the home appliance 101 itself cannot register the device information in the server device 103, and the process advances to step S1007. The service information has been described by way of example as “GeneralLightingService” or “RegistrationService”, but information defined by other character strings or integer values may be used. In addition, information that clearly indicates that the home appliance 101 itself cannot register the device information in the server apparatus 103 may be included in the service information.
　ステップＳ１００６では、機器情報登録管理部２０７の指示に基づいて、域内プロトコル処理部２０２が登録を開始させるための登録指示メッセージを生成する。そして、通信部２０１を通して家電機器１０１に登録指示メッセージが送信される。登録指示メッセージを受信した家電機器１０１は、登録メッセージの生成を行い、サーバ装置１０３に対して登録メッセージを送信する。サーバ装置１０３では、機器ＩＤをキー値として、機器情報９０２をデータベースに記録する。 In step S1006, based on an instruction from the device information registration management unit 207, the regional protocol processing unit 202 generates a registration instruction message for starting registration. Then, a registration instruction message is transmitted to home appliance 101 through communication unit 201. The home appliance 101 that has received the registration instruction message generates a registration message and transmits the registration message to the server apparatus 103. The server apparatus 103 records device information 902 in the database using the device ID as a key value.
　ステップＳ１００７では、機器情報登録管理部２０７は、機器識別子管理部２０４に格納される通信媒体の識別情報と通信媒体における固体識別子とに基づいて機器ＩＤを生成する。そして、域外プロトコル処理部２０３が機器情報を登録するための登録メッセージを生成し、通信部２０１を通してサーバ装置１０３に登録メッセージが送信される。サーバ装置１０３では、ステップＳ１００６と同様に、機器ＩＤをキー値として機器情報９０２をデータベースに記録する。域外プロトコル処理部２０３は、ＸＭＬ文章を主体としたメッセージ交換手順を規定したＳＯＡＰ（Ｓｉｍｐｌｅ　Ｏｂｊｅｃｔ　Ａｃｃｅｓｓ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ）と、リクエスト／レスポンスによってストリーム型のデータ伝送を行うＨＴＴＰ（Ｈｙｐｅｒ　Ｔｅｘｔ　Ｔｒａｎｓｆｅｒ　Ｐｒｏｔｏｃｏｌ）によって行う方法が考えられる。域外プロトコル処理部２０３は、図９に示した機器情報９０２（機器ＩＤ、製造番号、製造会社）を含む登録メッセージを生成する。 In step S1007, the device information registration management unit 207 generates a device ID based on the identification information of the communication medium stored in the device identifier management unit 204 and the solid identifier in the communication medium. Then, the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message for registering device information, and the registration message is transmitted to the server apparatus 103 through the communication unit 201. In the server apparatus 103, as in step S1006, the device information 902 is recorded in the database using the device ID as a key value. The out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 is performed by SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) that defines a message exchange procedure mainly using XML texts and HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) that performs stream-type data transmission by request / response. Conceivable. The out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message including the device information 902 (device ID, manufacturing number, manufacturing company) shown in FIG.
　なお、ユーザの利便性を考慮し、ステップＳ１００３における許諾確認処理やステップＳ１００４における機器に対する状態変化の判定処理は省略させることも可能である。すなわち、機器情報登録管理部２０７は、機器情報登録判定部２０５の判定結果に基づき、家電機器１０１自身が機器情報の登録を行うことができないと判定した時点で、その家電機器１０１の機器情報を含む登録メッセージの生成を開始してもよい。 In consideration of user convenience, the permission confirmation process in step S1003 and the state change determination process for the device in step S1004 can be omitted. That is, when the device information registration management unit 207 determines that the home appliance 101 itself cannot register the device information based on the determination result of the device information registration determination unit 205, the device information registration management unit 207 displays the device information of the home appliance 101. Generation of the registration message including it may be started.
　本実施形態における通信装置１００の処理シーケンスを図１１および図１２を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　図１１は、登録判定装置１０２が家電機器１０１自身で機器情報を登録可能であると判定する場合の処理シーケンスを示す。　
　ステップＳ１１０１では、登録判定装置において、家電機器１０１から公開メッセージを受信して機器情報を取得したのち、機器情報に基づいて、図１０に示すステップＳ１００５の判定処理を行い、家電機器１０１が自身で登録可能であると判定する。 A processing sequence of the communication apparatus 100 in the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.
FIG. 11 shows a processing sequence when the registration determination apparatus 102 determines that the home appliance 101 itself can register device information.
In step S1101, the registration determination apparatus receives a disclosure message from home appliance 101 and acquires device information, and then performs the determination process of step S1005 shown in FIG. 10 based on the device information. It is determined that registration is possible.
　ステップＳ１１０２では、登録判定装置は、家電機器１０１に対して登録指示メッセージを送信する。　
　ステップＳ１１０３では、家電機器１０１は、登録指示メッセージの受信を契機に、サーバ装置１０３に対して自身の機器情報を含む登録メッセージを送信する。　
　反対に図１２は、登録判定装置が家電機器１０１は自身で登録不可であると判定する場合の処理シーケンスを示す。　
　ステップＳ１２０１では、登録判定装置において、家電機器１０１から公開メッセージを受信して機器情報を取得したのち、機器情報に基づいて図１０に示すステップＳ１００５の判定処理を行い、家電機器１０１が自身で登録不可であると判定する。 In step S1102, the registration determination apparatus transmits a registration instruction message to the home appliance 101.
In step S <b> 1103, the household electrical appliance 101 transmits a registration message including its own device information to the server device 103 when receiving the registration instruction message.
On the other hand, FIG. 12 shows a processing sequence in a case where the registration determination device determines that the home appliance 101 cannot register itself.
In step S1201, the registration determination apparatus receives a disclosure message from home appliance 101 and acquires device information, and then performs the determination process of step S1005 shown in FIG. 10 based on the device information, and home appliance 101 registers itself. It is determined that it is impossible.
　ステップＳ１２０２では、登録判定装置は、家電機器１０１の機器情報を含む登録メッセージを生成してサーバ装置１０３に送信する。 In step S <b> 1202, the registration determination device generates a registration message including device information of the home appliance 101 and transmits it to the server device 103.
　以上に示した第１の実施形態によれば、許諾確認を表示する登録判定装置が、家電機器の種類ごとに異なる通信能力および処理能力を勘案して、インターネット上のサーバ装置に家電機器の機器情報を登録することができる主体装置を判定するので、家電機器が最低限の処理能力しか有していない場合でも、登録判定装置が家電機器の機器情報を登録することができる。よって、機器固有の情報の一意性を保証したまま、サーバ装置において複数の家電機器のトレーサビリティを保証することが可能となる。 According to the first embodiment described above, the registration determination device that displays the permission confirmation takes into consideration the communication capability and processing capability that are different for each type of home appliance, and the appliance of the home appliance is connected to the server device on the Internet. Since the main device capable of registering information is determined, the registration determination device can register the device information of the home appliance even when the home appliance has a minimum processing capability. Therefore, it is possible to guarantee the traceability of a plurality of home appliances in the server device while guaranteeing the uniqueness of the information unique to the device.
　（第２の実施形態）　
　第１の実施形態では、有線通信の場合はＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ、無線通信の場合は無線ＬＡＮのように１つの通信媒体を使用する場合を主に想定している。　
　一方、本実施形態では、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信を行う機器に対してはＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルにて通信を行う機器に対してはＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈといったように、複数の通信媒体を同時に使用することを想定している点が第１の実施形態と異なる。 (Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, it is mainly assumed that a single communication medium is used, such as Ethernet for wired communication and wireless LAN for wireless communication.
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that a plurality of communication media are used simultaneously, such as Ethernet for a device that communicates using the UPnP protocol and Bluetooth for a device that communicates using the ECHONET protocol. This is different from the first embodiment.
　本実施形態に係る通信装置について図１３を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　本実施形態に係る通信装置は、家電機器１０１と、登録判定装置１０２と、サーバ装置１０３と、変換判定装置１３０１と、家電機器１３０２とを含む。家電機器１０１、登録判定装置１０２、および、サーバ装置１０３は第１の実施形態と同様の動作をするためここでの詳細な説明は省略する。 The communication apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The communication device according to the present embodiment includes a home appliance 101, a registration determination device 102, a server device 103, a conversion determination device 1301, and a home appliance 1302. Since the home appliance 101, the registration determination device 102, and the server device 103 operate in the same manner as in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted here.
　変換判定装置１３０１は、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルとＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルを相互に変換して、登録判定装置に対して登録判定の判定材料を提供する。変換を行う理由は、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信する家電機器１０１と、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルにて通信する機器１３０２は、そのままでは直接メッセージを送受信することが不可能であるからである。よって、相互にプロトコルを変換する変換判定装置１３０１を介することで、デジタルテレビから白物家電機器の動作状態を確認するといった応用が可能となる。また、変換判定装置１３０１は、ゲートウェイ装置ともいう。変換判定装置１３０１の詳細な動作については、図１４を参照して後述する。　
　家電機器１３０２は、例えば、照明や冷蔵庫、洗濯機といった白物家電機器であり、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルにて通信を行う。また、有線通信媒体としてＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔや無線ＬＡＮを用いるＵＰｎＰプロトコルの家電機器１０１とは異なり、家電機器１３０２は、通信媒体として省電力性を考慮してＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈや赤外線などの省電力無線を用いることが多い。 The conversion determination device 1301 converts the UPnP protocol and the ECHONET protocol to each other, and provides a registration determination determination material to the registration determination device. The reason for performing the conversion is that the home appliance 101 that communicates using the UPnP protocol and the device 1302 that communicates using the ECHONET protocol cannot directly send and receive messages. Therefore, by using the conversion determination device 1301 that mutually converts the protocol, an application of confirming the operating state of the white goods from the digital television becomes possible. The conversion determination device 1301 is also referred to as a gateway device. Detailed operation of the conversion determination device 1301 will be described later with reference to FIG.
The home appliance 1302 is a white home appliance such as a lighting, a refrigerator, and a washing machine, for example, and performs communication using the ECHONET protocol. In addition, unlike the home appliance 101 of the UPnP protocol that uses Ethernet or a wireless LAN as a wired communication medium, the home appliance 1302 often uses a power-saving radio such as Bluetooth or infrared in consideration of power saving. .
　第１の実施形態にて述べたように、宅内ネットワークシステムにおいて、家電機器１０１は、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルを用いてメッセージの送受信を行う。一方、家電機器１３０２は、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルによるメッセージの送受信が規定されている。ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルでは電文と呼ばれるメッセージに各種定義情報を整数値として記載することで、機器情報の公開や、機器の制御、機器の状態変化通知を行う。　
　さて、本実施形態においては、家電機器１０１および家電機器１３０２の機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する方法は２通りの方法が考えられる。　
　１つ目の方法は、許諾確認を表示する登録判定装置１０２が代表となって、全ての宅内機器の機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する方法である。２つ目の方法は、変換判定装置が代表して、全ての宅内機器の機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録する方法である。 As described in the first embodiment, in the home network system, the home appliance 101 transmits and receives a message using the UPnP protocol. On the other hand, the home appliance 1302 is prescribed to send and receive messages using the ECHONET protocol. In the ECHONET protocol, various definition information is described as an integer value in a message called a message, thereby disclosing device information, device control, and device state change notification.
In the present embodiment, there are two possible methods for registering the device information of the home appliance 101 and the home appliance 1302 in the server apparatus 103.
The first method is a method of registering device information of all home devices in the server device 103, with the registration determination device 102 displaying permission confirmation as a representative. The second method is a method in which device information of all home devices is registered in the server device 103 on behalf of the conversion determination device.
　第１の実施形態にて述べたように、機器情報登録を行うための機器ＩＤは通信媒体における固体識別子をもとに生成する。このため、１つ目の方法では、通信媒体にＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈを用いる家電機器１３０２の機器情報を、変換判定装置１３０１を介して通信媒体にＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔを用いる登録判定装置１０２が取得する場合、Ｂｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈ上では一意性が保証されている固体識別子がＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ上で既に存在する固体識別子の情報と衝突する可能性がある。 As described in the first embodiment, a device ID for registering device information is generated based on a solid identifier in a communication medium. Therefore, in the first method, when the registration determination device 102 using Ethernet as the communication medium acquires the device information of the home appliance 1302 that uses Bluetooth as the communication medium via the conversion determination device 1301, it is unique on Bluetooth. There is a possibility that a solid identifier whose reliability is guaranteed collides with information of a solid identifier that already exists on the Ethernet.
　一方、２つ目の方法では、複数の通信プロトコルと複数の通信媒体にて通信可能な変換判定装置１３０１が機器情報を収集し、登録判定装置１０２に対して許諾確認の表示指示を行った後、登録判定装置１０２からの登録指示メッセージをもとに、機器情報をサーバ装置１０３に登録するが、登録判定装置１０２と同じ通信プロトコル、通信媒体にて通信する家電機器１０１が存在する場合、必ず機器情報をゲートウェイ装置（変換判定装置１３０１）が収集するため、通信量が増加する可能性がある。　
　そこで、本実施形態では、複数の通信プロトコルおよび通信媒体が介在するネットワーク上の家電機器の機器情報をインターネット上のサーバ装置に登録する際、変換判定装置における情報の欠落や変換後の情報衝突の問題を、変換判定装置により登録判定の判定材料を登録判定装置へ提供することにより解決する。 On the other hand, in the second method, after the conversion determination device 1301 capable of communication using a plurality of communication protocols and a plurality of communication media collects device information and instructs the registration determination device 102 to display a permission confirmation. The device information is registered in the server device 103 based on the registration instruction message from the registration determination device 102. When there is a home appliance 101 that communicates using the same communication protocol and communication medium as the registration determination device 102, Since the gateway device (conversion determination device 1301) collects device information, the amount of communication may increase.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, when registering device information of home appliances on a network intervening with a plurality of communication protocols and communication media in a server device on the Internet, information loss in the conversion determination device or information collision after conversion The problem is solved by providing the registration determination device with a determination material for registration determination by the conversion determination device.
　ここで、本実施形態に係る変換判定装置の構成について図１４を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　本実施形態に係る変換判定装置１３０１は、域外プロトコル処理部２０３、機器識別子管理部２０４、通信部１４０１、域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３、変換規約情報記憶部１４０４、プロトコル変換部１４０５、登録構成情報記憶部１４０６、機器情報変換判定部１４０７、機器情報登録管理部１４０８を含む。ここで、域外プロトコル処理部２０３および機器識別子管理部２０４は、第１の実施形態と同様の動作を行うので、ここでの詳細な説明は省略する。 Here, the configuration of the conversion determination apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The conversion determination apparatus 1301 according to this embodiment includes an out-of-range protocol processing unit 203, a device identifier management unit 204, a communication unit 1401, an in-region first protocol processing unit 1402, an in-region second protocol processing unit 1403, a conversion protocol information storage unit 1404, A protocol conversion unit 1405, a registered configuration information storage unit 1406, a device information conversion determination unit 1407, and a device information registration management unit 1408 are included. Here, the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 and the device identifier management unit 204 perform the same operation as in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.
　通信部１４０１は、第１の実施形態に係る通信装置の通信部２０１の動作に加え、通信媒体が異なる機器間での通信メッセージの交換を可能とするため、複数の通信インターフェースにてメッセージを送受信する。また、通信部２０１は、通信メッセージの受信時、プロトコル情報を特定した上で、域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２、または域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３のいずれかに通信メッセージを渡す。また、域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３からメッセージの送信指示を受け取った場合、各プロトコルに対応付けた通信インターフェースから通信メッセージの送信を行う。また、域外プロトコル処理部２０３で生成した登録メッセージをサーバ装置１０３へ送信する。　
　域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２は、通信部１４０１から通信メッセージを受け取り、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルによる通信メッセージの生成と通信メッセージの解析処理とを行う。域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２が取得する機器情報については図１５を参照して後述する。 In addition to the operation of the communication unit 201 of the communication apparatus according to the first embodiment, the communication unit 1401 transmits and receives messages through a plurality of communication interfaces to enable exchange of communication messages between devices having different communication media. To do. In addition, when receiving the communication message, the communication unit 201 specifies the protocol information and then passes the communication message to either the intra-region first protocol processing unit 1402 or the intra-region second protocol processing unit 1403. When receiving a message transmission instruction from the first intra-region protocol processing unit 1402 or the second intra-region protocol processing unit 1403, the communication message is transmitted from the communication interface associated with each protocol. Also, the registration message generated by the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 is transmitted to the server apparatus 103.
The intra-region first protocol processing unit 1402 receives a communication message from the communication unit 1401, and performs generation of a communication message and analysis processing of the communication message by the ECHONET protocol. Device information acquired by the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402 will be described later with reference to FIG.
　域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３は、第１の実施形態に係る通信装置における域内プロトコル処理部２０２の動作に加え、後述する機器情報登録管理部１４０８からの指示を受け公開メッセージを生成する。公開メッセージは、第１の実施形態における公開メッセージと同様の構成である。また、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３は、登録判定装置１０２からの登録指示メッセージを受信して解析する。そして、登録指示メッセージを受信した場合、後述する機器情報登録管理部１４０８に対して機器情報登録の開始通知を行う。 The in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 generates an open message in response to an instruction from the device information registration management unit 1408 described later in addition to the operation of the in-region protocol processing unit 202 in the communication apparatus according to the first embodiment. The public message has the same configuration as the public message in the first embodiment. In addition, the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 receives and analyzes the registration instruction message from the registration determination apparatus 102. When the registration instruction message is received, the device information registration management unit 1408 described later is notified of the start of device information registration.
　変換規約情報記憶部１４０４は、変換規約情報を記憶する。変換規約情報は、異なるプロトコル間で相互に情報を変換するための情報を示す。変換規約情報は図１７を参照して後述する。 The conversion rule information storage unit 1404 stores conversion rule information. The conversion protocol information indicates information for converting information between different protocols. The conversion rule information will be described later with reference to FIG.
　プロトコル変換部１４０５は、変換規約情報記憶部１４０４から変換規約情報を受け取り、域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２から通信メッセージを、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３から通信メッセージをそれぞれ受け取り、受け取った２つの通信メッセージを相互に変換する。そして、変換規約情報をもとに情報の欠落を生じずに、機器情報を全て変換できたかどうかの判定を行い、この判定結果である欠落情報を得る。 The protocol conversion unit 1405 receives the conversion protocol information from the conversion protocol information storage unit 1404, receives the communication message from the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402, and receives the communication message from the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403. Convert messages to each other. Then, based on the conversion protocol information, it is determined whether or not all the device information has been converted without causing loss of information, and missing information that is the determination result is obtained.
　登録構成情報記憶部１４０６は、第１の実施形態の登録構成情報記憶部２０６と同様に、登録構成情報を記憶する。登録構成情報については図１６を参照して後述する。 The registered configuration information storage unit 1406 stores the registered configuration information in the same manner as the registered configuration information storage unit 206 of the first embodiment. The registered configuration information will be described later with reference to FIG.
　機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、登録構成情報記憶部１４０６から登録構成情報を、プロトコル変換部１４０５から欠落情報を、機器識別子管理部２０４から識別情報をそれぞれ受け取り、家電機器１３０２が変換可能であるかどうかの変換判定を行う。　
　なお、変換判定装置における変換処理は、前述のプロトコル変換部による機器情報の変換に加えて、機器の固体識別子情報をもとに仮想的な通信インターフェースを生成する処理も行うため、プロトコル変換部１４０５および通信部１４０１に対してそれぞれ指示を行う。 The device information conversion determination unit 1407 receives registration configuration information from the registration configuration information storage unit 1406, missing information from the protocol conversion unit 1405, and identification information from the device identifier management unit 204, and can the home appliance 1302 be converted? Make a conversion decision.
Note that the conversion processing in the conversion determination apparatus also performs processing for generating a virtual communication interface based on the individual identifier information of the device in addition to the conversion of the device information by the protocol conversion unit described above. And instructing the communication unit 1401.
　機器情報登録管理部１４０８は、機器情報変換判定部１４０７から変換判定の結果を受け取り、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３に対して家電機器１０１自身で機器情報を登録可能であることを示す公開メッセージ、または家電機器１０１自身で機器情報を登録不可能であることを示す公開メッセージの生成を指示する。また、機器情報登録管理部１４０８は、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３から機器情報登録の開始通知を受けとり、登録メッセージの生成を域外プロトコル処理部２０３へ指示する。 The device information registration management unit 1408 receives a result of the conversion determination from the device information conversion determination unit 1407, and an open message indicating that the home appliance 101 can register the device information to the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403, Alternatively, the home appliance 101 itself instructs generation of a public message indicating that device information cannot be registered. In addition, the device information registration management unit 1408 receives a device information registration start notification from the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 and instructs the out-of-region protocol processing unit 203 to generate a registration message.
　ここで、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルによって提供される機器情報の一例を図１５に示す。ＵＰｎＰプロトコルの場合と同様、機器情報１５０１を構成する要素情報である製造番号、製造会社、製造年月日ごとに、０ｘ８Ｄ、０ｘ８Ａ、０ｘ８Ｅが定義名として要素情報として定義されている。要素情報１５０２には内容情報１５０３が対応付けられており、定義名０ｘ８Ｄの製造番号には「０１２３４５６７８９ＡＢＣＤ」、定義名０ｘ８Ａには「０ｘ００００１Ｂ」、定義名０ｘ８Ｅには「２００９０６０５」が内容情報１５０３として記載されている。第１の実施形態のＵＰｎＰプロトコルの場合と同様、要素情報１５０２は複数の家電機器１０１間で共通の情報であるが、内容情報１５０３は固体固有の情報である。 Here, an example of device information provided by the ECHONET protocol is shown in FIG. As in the case of the UPnP protocol, 0x8D, 0x8A, and 0x8E are defined as element information for each manufacturing number, manufacturing company, and manufacturing date, which are element information constituting the device information 1501, as element names. Content information 1503 is associated with the element information 1502, and “01234456789ABCD” is described as the manufacturing number of the definition name 0x8D, “0x00001B” is defined as the definition name 0x8A, and “20090605” is described as the content information 1503 in the definition name 0x8E. Has been. As in the case of the UPnP protocol of the first embodiment, the element information 1502 is information common to the plurality of home appliances 101, but the content information 1503 is information specific to each individual.
　本実施形態に係る登録構成情報記憶部１４０６に記憶される登録構成情報の一例を図１６に示す。第１の実施形態に係る図５に示した、機器ＩＤ５０１、製造番号５０２、製造会社５０３を含む登録構成情報に、さらに製造年月日１６０１が追加された場合を示す。 FIG. 16 shows an example of registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406 according to the present embodiment. The case where the manufacturing date 1601 is further added to the registered configuration information including the device ID 501, the manufacturing number 502, and the manufacturing company 503 shown in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment is shown.
　変換規約情報の一例について図１７を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　図１７では、製造番号、製造年月日、および、製造会社の各要素情報に対して、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルの要素情報および内容情報を含む機器情報１７０１と、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルの要素情報および内容情報を含む機器情報１７０２がそれぞれ対応して記憶されている。なお、製造年月日の要素情報について、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルの機器情報１７０１には製造年月日の要素情報が定義されているが、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルの機器情報１７０２には製造年月日の要素情報が定義されていない。よって、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルにて取得した機器情報１７０１をＵＰｎＰプロトコルの機器情報１７０２に変換する場合は情報の欠落が発生する。 An example of the conversion rule information will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 17, device information 1701 including element information and content information of the ECHONET protocol, and device information including element information and content information of the UPnP protocol for each element information of the manufacturing number, manufacturing date, and manufacturing company. Information 1702 is stored correspondingly. Regarding the element information of the manufacturing date, the element information of the manufacturing date is defined in the device information 1701 of the ECHONET protocol, but the element information of the manufacturing date is defined in the device information 1702 of the UPnP protocol. It has not been. Therefore, when the device information 1701 acquired by the ECHONET protocol is converted into the device information 1702 of the UPnP protocol, information is lost.
　機器情報変換判定部１４０７の変換判定を行うために必要な情報構成の一例を図１８を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　上述のように、機器ＩＤ５０１は、第１の実施形態同様、ＨＷアドレスをもとに生成する。変換判定装置１３０１は、例えばＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器１３０２の機器情報を取得した後、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信を行う登録判定装置１０２に対して、情報を変換して公開する。この変換処理により、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信を行う登録判定装置１０２は、ゲートウェイ装置としての変換判定装置１３０１の存在を認識することなく、実際はＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器１３０２であったとしても、登録判定装置１０２と同様のＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器１０１として認識することができる。　
　ただし、登録判定装置１０２の機器識別子管理部２０４は、ＡＲＰ等を用いて取得した情報が実際には変換判定装置１３０１のＨＷアドレスであるにもかかわらず、家電機器１０１のＨＷアドレスとして誤認識する可能性がある。このため、変換判定装置１３０１は、家電機器１３０２の機器情報が変換可能であると判定した場合に、家電機器１３０２の固体識別子をもとに、仮想的な通信インターフェース、すなわち、ネットワーク識別子を生成して、通信インターフェースを介して家電機器１３０２に関する公開メッセージを送信する。登録判定装置１０２は、公開メッセージ受信時にＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダ７０１の送信元ＩＰアドレスをもとにＨＷアドレス取得を試みる際、変換判定装置１３０１が仮想的な通信インターフェースを生成することによって、家電機器１３０２に関するＨＷアドレスを正しく取得することが可能となる。 An example of an information configuration necessary for performing conversion determination by the device information conversion determination unit 1407 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
As described above, the device ID 501 is generated based on the HW address as in the first embodiment. For example, after obtaining device information of the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the ECHONET protocol, the conversion determination device 1301 converts the information to the registration determination device 102 that performs communication using the UPnP protocol. With this conversion processing, the registration determination device 102 that performs communication using the UPnP protocol does not recognize the existence of the conversion determination device 1301 as a gateway device, and may actually be the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the ECHONET protocol. It can be recognized as the home appliance 101 that performs communication using the same UPnP protocol as the registration determination apparatus 102.
However, the device identifier management unit 204 of the registration determination device 102 misrecognizes the HW address of the home appliance 101 even though the information acquired using ARP or the like is actually the HW address of the conversion determination device 1301. there is a possibility. For this reason, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a virtual communication interface, that is, a network identifier based on the solid identifier of the home appliance 1302 when it is determined that the device information of the home appliance 1302 can be converted. Then, a public message related to the home appliance 1302 is transmitted via the communication interface. When the registration determination device 102 tries to acquire the HW address based on the transmission source IP address of the TCP / IP header 701 when receiving the public message, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a virtual communication interface, so that the home appliance 1302 It is possible to correctly acquire the HW address related to.
　本実施形態における変換判定装置１３０１の変換処理は上述したように、機器情報変換判定部１４０７が、家電機器１３０２の機器情報の変換が可能であると判定した場合に、プロトコル変換部１４０５における変換処理と、通信部１４０１における仮想的な通信インターフェース生成処理とにより行われる。なお、図１８の例では、プロトコル変換部１４０５は、域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２から家電機器１３０２の機器情報を、変換規約情報記憶部１４０４から変換規約情報をそれぞれ受け取り、これらの情報から生成した欠落情報を機器情報変換判定部１４０７に通知する。機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、域内第１プロトコル（ここでは、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルを指す）にて通信する家電機器１３０２の機器識別子管理部２０４と、域内第２プロトコル（ここでは、ＵＰｎＰプロトコルを指す）にて通信する登録判定装置１０２の機器識別子管理部２０４との識別情報をもとに、仮想的な通信インターフェースの生成が可能か否かの判定を行う。 As described above, the conversion processing of the conversion determination apparatus 1301 in this embodiment is performed by the protocol conversion unit 1405 when the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the device information of the home appliance 1302 can be converted. And virtual communication interface generation processing in the communication unit 1401. In the example of FIG. 18, the protocol conversion unit 1405 receives the appliance information of the household electrical appliance 1302 from the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402 and the conversion protocol information from the conversion protocol information storage unit 1404, and generates them from these information. The device information conversion determination unit 1407 is notified of the missing information. The device information conversion determination unit 1407 is connected to the device identifier management unit 204 of the home appliance 1302 that communicates with the first protocol in the region (here, refers to the ECHONET protocol) and the second protocol in the region (here, refers to the UPnP protocol). Whether or not a virtual communication interface can be generated is determined based on the identification information with the device identifier management unit 204 of the registration determination apparatus 102 that communicates with each other.
　変換処理前と変換処理後の機器情報を図１９を参照して詳細に説明する。　
　図１９では、変換処理前の域内第１プロトコルで通信される機器情報から域内第２プロトコルで通信される機器情報への変換時に、サーバ装置１０３に対する登録メッセージを構成する登録構成情報の中で、変換処理前の製造番号５０２の「定義名：０ｘ８Ｄ、値：０１２３４５６７８９ＡＢＣＤ」および製造会社５０３の「定義名：０ｘ８Ａ、値：０ｘ００００１Ｂ」は、変換処理後の「定義名：ｓｅｒｉａｌＮｕｍｂｅｒ、値：０１２３４５６７８９ＡＢＣＤ」および製造会社５０３の「定義名：ｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｅ、値：ＥＦＧ」と対応付いており、双方のプロトコルに対応する要素情報が定義されているため変換可能である。 Device information before and after the conversion process will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 19, among the registration configuration information constituting the registration message for the server apparatus 103 at the time of conversion from device information communicated by the first protocol in the region before conversion processing to device information communicated by the second protocol in the region, “Definition name: 0x8D, value: 0123456789ABCD” of the manufacturing number 502 before conversion processing and “Definition name: 0x8A, value: 0x00001B” of the manufacturing company 503 are “definition name: serialNumber, value: 0123456789 ABCD” after conversion processing and Since it is associated with “definition name: manufacture, value: EFG” of the manufacturing company 503 and element information corresponding to both protocols is defined, conversion is possible.
　しかし、製造年月日１６０１の「定義名：０ｘ８Ｅ、値：２００９０６０５」に関しては、変換先のプロトコルに製造年月日１６０１の要素情報が定義されていないため、情報の欠落が発生する。よって、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、プロトコル変換後に機器情報に含まれる要素情報が１つでも欠落した場合に、機器情報が変換不可能であると判定する。 However, regarding the “definition name: 0x8E, value: 20090905” of the manufacturing date 1601, the element information of the manufacturing date 1601 is not defined in the conversion destination protocol, and thus information is lost. Therefore, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the device information cannot be converted when any element information included in the device information is lost after the protocol conversion.
　また、変換処理前の機器ＩＤ５０１の「識別情報：Ｂｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈ、固体識別子：００－００－００－００－００－０１」は、変換処理後の機器ＩＤ５０１の「識別情報：Ｅｔｈｅｒｎｅｔ、固体識別子：００－００－００－００－００－０１」と比較して、固体識別子は同じ値となっている。このように、域内第１プロトコルの家電機器１３０２が通信媒体としてＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈを使用し、域内第２プロトコルの登録判定装置１０２が通信媒体としてＥｔｈｅｒｎｅｔを使用している場合、同一通信媒体上では一意性が保証されているＨＷアドレスを異なる通信媒体のＨＷアドレスに変換させると、変換先の通信媒体で既に存在するＨＷアドレスとの間で情報衝突が発生する可能性が生じる。このため、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、域内第１プロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器１３０２と域内第２プロトコルにて通信を行う登録判定装置１０２とが異なる通信媒体を使用している場合には、機器情報は変換不可能であると判定する。 Further, “identification information: Bluetooth, solid identifier: 00-00-00-00-00-01” of the device ID 501 before the conversion process is “identification information: Ethernet, solid identifier: 00-” of the device ID 501 after the conversion process. Compared with “00-00-00-00-01”, the solid identifier has the same value. In this way, when the home appliance 1302 of the first protocol in the region uses Bluetooth as the communication medium and the registration determination device 102 of the second protocol in the region uses Ethernet as the communication medium, the uniqueness on the same communication medium If the guaranteed HW address is converted into the HW address of a different communication medium, there is a possibility that an information collision will occur with the HW address that already exists in the destination communication medium. For this reason, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 uses a different communication medium between the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the first intra-area protocol and the registration determination apparatus 102 that performs communication using the second intra-area protocol. It is determined that the device information cannot be converted.
　本実施形態における変換判定装置１３０１の域外プロトコル処理部２０３が生成する登録メッセージに含まれる機器情報の一例を図２０を用いて詳細に説明する。　
　サーバ装置１０３に登録する機器情報の取得方法および生成方法は、登録判定装置１０２と同様の手順で行う。図２０の例では、通信媒体としてＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈを使用する家電機器１３０２の固体識別子から機器ＩＤ５０１を生成している。また、製造会社の機器情報に関しては、域内第１プロトコルの場合は、整数値にて内容情報が記載されるが、変換後の域内第２プロトコルの場合は、ＸＭＬ文章中の文字列として内容情報が記載される。このため、サーバ装置１０３に機器情報を送信する場合は、どのプロトコルにて定義された機器情報をもとに登録メッセージを生成したかを識別するための情報を付加することが望ましい。これを行うためには、例えば、図２０の例では、機器ＩＤをＢｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈ．ＨＷアドレスの形で記載しているが、これに加えて、ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴ．Ｂｌｕｅｔｏｏｔｈ．ＨＷアドレスといったプロトコルの記載を含んだ方法が考えられる。あるいは、プロトコルを一意に識別する文字列もしくは整数値の情報を登録メッセージに含める方法を用いてもよい。　
　ここで、域内第１プロトコルにて通信する家電機器１３０２が生成する公開メッセージの一例を図２１を参照して詳細に説明する。公開メッセージは、ＵＤＰ／ＩＰヘッダ２１０１、公開識別子７０２、機器情報３０１を含む。ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコルでは、ＩＰユニキャスト／ＩＰマルチキャストに係わらず、整数値で定義された機器情報を含む通信メッセージをＵＤＰ／ＩＰにて送信する。機器情報は、図１５に示す製造番号、製造会社、製造年月日等から構成される一例を示しているが、これ以外の情報、例えば製造地等の情報を含めてもよい。なお、域内第２プロトコルにて通信する登録判定装置１０２に向けて変換判定装置１３０１が生成する公開メッセージは、第１の実施形態にかかる図７の公開メッセージと同様の構成であるため、ここでの詳細な説明は省略する。 An example of device information included in the registration message generated by the out-of-range protocol processing unit 203 of the conversion determination apparatus 1301 in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The acquisition method and generation method of the device information registered in the server apparatus 103 are performed in the same procedure as the registration determination apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 20, the device ID 501 is generated from the solid identifier of the home appliance 1302 that uses Bluetooth as a communication medium. Regarding the device information of the manufacturing company, the content information is described as an integer value in the case of the first protocol in the region, but in the case of the second protocol in the region after conversion, the content information is expressed as a character string in the XML text. Is described. For this reason, when device information is transmitted to the server apparatus 103, it is desirable to add information for identifying which protocol is used to generate the registration message based on the device information defined. In order to do this, for example, in the example of FIG. Although described in the form of an HW address, in addition to this, ECHONET. Bluetooth. A method including a description of a protocol such as an HW address is conceivable. Alternatively, a method of including information on a character string or an integer value that uniquely identifies the protocol in the registration message may be used.
Here, an example of a public message generated by the home appliance 1302 that communicates with the first protocol in the area will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The public message includes a UDP / IP header 2101, a public identifier 702, and device information 301. In the ECHONET protocol, a communication message including device information defined by an integer value is transmitted by UDP / IP regardless of IP unicast / IP multicast. The device information shows an example composed of the manufacturing number, the manufacturing company, the manufacturing date, etc. shown in FIG. 15, but other information such as information on the manufacturing location may be included. The public message generated by the conversion determination device 1301 toward the registration determination device 102 that communicates with the second protocol in the region has the same configuration as the public message in FIG. 7 according to the first embodiment. The detailed description of is omitted.
　変換判定装置１３０１が生成する登録メッセージの一例を図２２を参照して詳細に説明する。登録メッセージは、ＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダ７０１、登録識別子９０１、機器情報２２０１を含む。登録構成情報記憶部１４０６に記憶される登録構成情報をもとに生成するため、機器情報２２０１は、登録構成情報の一例に従って、機器ＩＤ、製造番号、製造年月日、製造会社の情報から構成される。しかし、これらに限定されることはなく、他の機器情報を追加したり、一部の機器情報を削除してもよい。 An example of a registration message generated by the conversion determination device 1301 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The registration message includes a TCP / IP header 701, a registration identifier 901, and device information 2201. In order to generate based on the registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406, the device information 2201 is composed of a device ID, a serial number, a manufacturing date, and manufacturing company information according to an example of the registered configuration information. Is done. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and other device information may be added or some device information may be deleted.
　本実施形態に係る変換判定装置１３０１の変換判定処理について図２３のフローチャートを参照して詳細に説明する。　
　始めに、ステップＳ２３０１では、変換判定装置１３０１は、判定用の情報、すなわち域内第１プロトコルで通信する家電機器１３０２から公開メッセージを取得する。 The conversion determination process of the conversion determination apparatus 1301 according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in step S2301, the conversion determination device 1301 acquires information for determination, that is, a public message from the home appliance 1302 that communicates with the first protocol in the region.
　次に、ステップＳ２３０２では、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、機器識別子管理部における通信媒体の識別情報をもとに、域内第１プロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器１３０２が使用する通信媒体と、域内第２プロトコルにて通信を行う登録判定装置１０２が使用する通信媒体とが同一であるかまたは異なるかを判定する。家電機器１３０２および登録判定装置１０２で使用される通信媒体が同一であると判定された場合は、ステップＳ２３０３に進み、家電機器１３０２および登録判定装置１０２で使用される通信媒体が異なると判定された場合は、ステップＳ２３０４へ進む。　
　ステップＳ２３０３では、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、プロトコル変換部１４０５からの欠落情報と、変換規約情報記憶部１４０４からの変換規約情報とをもとに、変換元プロトコルにて定義されている情報が、変換先プロトコルにて定義されているかどうかについて判定をおこなう。変換元プロトコルにて定義されている情報が、変換先プロトコルにて定義されておらず機器情報の一部が欠落する場合は、ステップＳ２３０４に進む。一方、変換元プロトコルにて定義されている情報が、変換先プロトコルにて定義されており機器情報の欠落がない場合は、ステップＳ２３０５に進む。 Next, in step S2302, the device information conversion determination unit 1407, based on the identification information of the communication medium in the device identifier management unit, It is determined whether the registration medium used by the registration determination apparatus 102 that performs communication using the second protocol is the same or different. If it is determined that the communication medium used by home appliance 1302 and registration determination device 102 is the same, the process proceeds to step S2303, and it is determined that the communication medium used by home appliance 1302 and registration determination device 102 is different. In the case, the process proceeds to step S2304.
In step S2303, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 receives information defined in the conversion source protocol based on the missing information from the protocol conversion unit 1405 and the conversion protocol information from the conversion protocol information storage unit 1404. Judge whether it is defined in the conversion destination protocol. If the information defined in the conversion source protocol is not defined in the conversion destination protocol and a part of the device information is missing, the process proceeds to step S2304. On the other hand, if the information defined in the conversion source protocol is defined in the conversion destination protocol and there is no missing device information, the process advances to step S2305.
　ステップＳ２３０４では、家電機器１３０２および登録判定装置１０２で使用される通信媒体が異なる場合は、固体識別子としてのＨＷアドレス情報が衝突する可能性があるため、機器情報変換判定部１４０７において機器情報は変換不可であると判定される。また、プロトコル変換部１４０５での変換処理を行った後に機器情報の一部が欠落すると、機器情報変換判定部１４０７において機器情報は変換不可であると判定する。　
　ステップＳ２３０５では、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、家電機器１０１が変換可能であると判定して処理を終了する。 In step S2304, if the communication media used by the home appliance 1302 and the registration determination device 102 are different, there is a possibility that the HW address information as a solid identifier may collide, so that the device information conversion determination unit 1407 converts the device information. It is determined that it is impossible. If a part of the device information is lost after the conversion processing by the protocol conversion unit 1405 is performed, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the device information cannot be converted.
In step S2305, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the home appliance 101 can be converted, and ends the process.
　この変換の判定結果は、機器情報登録管理部１４０８と通信部１４０１に対して通知される。なお、これらの判定は、さらに登録構成情報記憶部１４０６に記憶される登録構成情報をもとに、サーバ装置１０３に送信する登録メッセージを生成するために必要な機器情報を対象として実施することが望ましい。 The determination result of this conversion is notified to the device information registration management unit 1408 and the communication unit 1401. Note that these determinations may be performed on device information necessary for generating a registration message to be transmitted to the server apparatus 103 based on the registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406. desirable.
　本実施形態における変換判定装置１３０１の動作について図２４のフローチャートを参照して詳細に説明する。　
　はじめに、ステップＳ２４０１では、変換判定装置１３０１は域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３が公開メッセージから機器情報を取得、すなわち機器を発見した場合に、図２４に示す変換判定処理を行う。機器情報変換判定部１４０７が家電機器１０１に対して変換可能であると判定した場合は、ステップＳ２４０３に進む。機器情報変換判定部１４０７が家電機器１０１に対して変換不可能であると判定した場合は、ステップＳ２４０５に進む。 The operation of the conversion determination apparatus 1301 in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in step S2401, the conversion determination apparatus 1301 performs the conversion determination process shown in FIG. 24 when the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 acquires device information from the public message, that is, when a device is found. If the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the home appliance 101 can be converted, the processing proceeds to step S2403. If the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that the home appliance 101 cannot be converted, the process advances to step S2405.
　ステップＳ２４０３では、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、機器識別子管理部２０４に格納される固体識別子をもとに、通信部１４０１に対して仮想的な通信インターフェースの生成を指示する。　
　ステップＳ２４０４では、プロトコル変換部１４０５が変換規約情報記憶部１４０４に記憶される変換規約情報をもとに、域内第１プロトコル処理部１４０２の機器情報を域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３の機器情報に変換する。その後、機器情報登録管理部１４０８は域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３に対して公開メッセージの生成を指示し、通信部１４０１が新たに生成した仮想的な通信インターフェースを介して公開メッセージを送信する。なお、仮想的な通信インターフェースは、家電機器１３０２のＨＷアドレス情報と、ネットワーク内で他の機器が使用していないＩＰアドレス情報とをもとに生成される。 In step S2403, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 instructs the communication unit 1401 to generate a virtual communication interface based on the solid identifier stored in the device identifier management unit 204.
In step S2404, the protocol conversion unit 1405 converts the device information of the in-region first protocol processing unit 1402 into the device information of the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 based on the conversion rule information stored in the conversion rule information storage unit 1404. To do. Thereafter, the device information registration management unit 1408 instructs the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 to generate a public message, and transmits the public message via the virtual communication interface newly generated by the communication unit 1401. Note that the virtual communication interface is generated based on the HW address information of the home appliance 1302 and the IP address information that is not used by other devices in the network.
　ステップＳ２４０５では、機器情報登録管理部１４０８は、域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３に対して、家電機器１０１自身でサーバ装置１０３に機器情報を登録可能であることを示すサービス情報を含む公開メッセージの生成を指示する。域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３は、域内第２プロトコルに変換した公開メッセージを生成して、登録判定装置１０２に送信する。 In step S2405, the device information registration management unit 1408 generates a public message including service information indicating that the home appliance 101 itself can register the device information in the server apparatus 103 with respect to the in-region second protocol processing unit 1403. Instruct. The in-region second protocol processing unit 1403 generates a public message converted into the in-region second protocol, and transmits it to the registration determination apparatus 102.
　ステップＳ２４０６では、登録判定装置１０２から登録指示メッセージを受信するまで待機を行う。 In step S2406, the process waits until a registration instruction message is received from the registration determination apparatus 102.
　ステップＳ２４０７では、登録判定装置１０２から登録指示メッセージを受信したのち、機器情報登録管理部１４０８は、域外プロトコル処理部２０３に対して登録メッセージの生成を指示する。その後、域外プロトコル処理部２０３は、登録構成情報記憶部１４０６に記憶される登録構成情報の内容をもとに、登録メッセージを生成し、サーバ装置１０３に送信する。 In step S2407, after receiving the registration instruction message from the registration determination apparatus 102, the device information registration management unit 1408 instructs the out-of-range protocol processing unit 203 to generate a registration message. Thereafter, the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 generates a registration message based on the content of the registered configuration information stored in the registered configuration information storage unit 1406 and transmits it to the server device 103.
　なお、機器情報変換判定部１４０７が変換可能であると判定した場合、機器ＩＤを含む登録メッセージの生成を登録判定装置１０２が行うため、家電機器１０１の固体識別子をもとに仮想的な通信インターフェースの生成が必要であるが、変換不可を判定した場合は、機器ＩＤを含む登録メッセージの生成を変換判定装置１３０１が行うため、仮想的な通信インターフェースの生成は実施してもよいし、実施しなくてもよい。 When the device information conversion determination unit 1407 determines that conversion is possible, the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message including the device ID. Therefore, a virtual communication interface based on the solid identifier of the home appliance 101 is used. However, if it is determined that conversion is not possible, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a registration message including the device ID. Therefore, generation of a virtual communication interface may or may not be performed. It does not have to be.
　なお、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、サーバ装置１０３への機器情報登録に関する変換判定装置１３０１の処理負荷を軽減するために、全ての家電機器１０１に対して変換可能と判定してもよい。この場合、登録判定装置１０２が、域内第１プロトコルおよび域内第２プロトコル双方のネットワークに存在する家電機器の機器情報を取得して、機器情報を登録することになる。この場合、域内第１プロトコルによって通信を行う家電機器１０１の機器ＩＤは取得することができるが、域内第２プロトコルによって通信を行う家電機器１３０２の機器ＩＤは通常であれば取得することができない。このため機器情報の登録方法としては、例えば変換判定装置１３０１は家電機器の固体識別子と通信媒体の識別情報、プロトコル情報等から生成した機器ＩＤを公開メッセージにおける機器情報の一部に定義して、公開メッセージを送信する方法が考えられる。これによって、登録判定装置１０２は、家電機器１３０２のＨＷアドレスを直接取得できない場合でも、機器ＩＤを取得し、登録メッセージを生成することが可能となる。この登録方法を各家電機器に適用すれば、登録判定装置１０２における機器識別子管理部２０４の処理の負荷を低減することも考えられる。　
　あるいは、機器情報変換判定部１４０７は、サーバ装置１０３への機器情報登録に関する登録判定装置１０２の処理負荷を軽減するために、全ての家電機器１０１に対して変換不可能と判定してもよい。この場合、域内第１プロトコルにて通信する家電機器１０１の中で、サーバ装置１０３への機器情報登録を実施することが不可能な機器に関しては、登録判定装置１０２がその家電機器の機器情報を含む登録指示メッセージを生成して、変換判定装置１３０１に送信すればよい。　
　本実施形態における通信装置１３００の処理シーケンスを図２５および図２６を参照して詳細に説明する。 Note that the device information conversion determination unit 1407 may determine that conversion is possible for all home appliances 101 in order to reduce the processing load of the conversion determination device 1301 related to device information registration in the server device 103. In this case, the registration determination device 102 acquires the device information of the home appliances existing in both the intra-region first protocol and the intra-region second protocol networks, and registers the device information. In this case, the device ID of the household electrical appliance 101 that performs communication using the first intra-region protocol can be acquired, but the device ID of the home appliance 1302 that performs communication using the second intra-region protocol cannot be acquired if it is normal. For this reason, as a method for registering device information, for example, the conversion determination device 1301 defines a device ID generated from a solid identifier of a home appliance, identification information of a communication medium, protocol information, etc. as part of device information in a public message, A method of sending a public message is conceivable. As a result, the registration determination apparatus 102 can acquire the device ID and generate a registration message even when the HW address of the home appliance 1302 cannot be directly acquired. If this registration method is applied to each home appliance, it is conceivable to reduce the processing load of the device identifier management unit 204 in the registration determination apparatus 102.
Alternatively, the device information conversion determination unit 1407 may determine that conversion cannot be performed for all home appliances 101 in order to reduce the processing load of the registration determination device 102 related to device information registration in the server device 103. In this case, among the household electrical appliances 101 that communicate with the first protocol in the region, for a device that cannot be registered in the server device 103, the registration determination device 102 displays the device information of the household electrical appliance. What is necessary is just to produce | generate the registration instruction message containing and to transmit to the conversion determination apparatus 1301.
The processing sequence of the communication apparatus 1300 in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
　図２５は、変換判定装置１３０１が、家電機器１０１または家電機器１３０２（以下、まとめて家電機器と呼ぶ）の機器情報を変換可能であると判定する場合の例である。　
　ステップＳ２５０１では、家電機器は、公開メッセージを変換判定装置１３０１に送信する。 FIG. 25 is an example of a case where the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance 101 or the home appliance 1302 (hereinafter collectively referred to as a home appliance) can be converted.
In step S2501, the home appliance transmits a public message to the conversion determination device 1301.
　ステップＳ２５０２では、変換判定装置１３０１が家電機器の機器情報を変換不可能であると判定した後、家電機器自身で機器情報を登録可能であることを示すサービス情報を含む公開メッセージを生成して、登録判定装置１０２へ送信する。 In step S2502, after the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the household electrical appliance cannot be converted, it generates a public message including service information indicating that the household appliance itself can register the device information, It transmits to the registration determination device 102.
　ステップＳ２５０３では、登録判定装置１０２は、公開メッセージを受信後、家電機器自身で機器情報を登録可能であると判定し、登録指示メッセージを生成して変換判定装置１３０１へ送信する。 In step S2503, after receiving the disclosure message, the registration determination device 102 determines that the device information can be registered by the home appliance itself, generates a registration instruction message, and transmits it to the conversion determination device 1301.
　ステップＳ２５０４では、変換判定装置１３０１は、登録指示メッセージの受信を契機に、家電機器の機器情報に関する登録メッセージを生成してサーバ装置１０３へ送信する。以上で、変換判定装置１３０１が家電機器の機器情報を変換可能であると判定した場合の処理シーケンスを終了する。なお、本実施形態において、登録指示メッセージを実際に受信するのは仮想的な通信インターフェースを生成した変換判定装置１３０１であるため、変換判定装置１３０１の域内第２プロトコル処理部１４０３は、登録指示メッセージを受信後、機器情報登録管理部１４０８に通知する。そして、プロトコル変換部１４０５で、域内第１プロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器の機器情報を域内第２プロトコル用に変換する。最後に、域内第１プロトコルにて通信を行う家電機器の機器情報をもとに、域外プロトコル処理部２０３で登録メッセージを生成し、通信部１４０１から登録メッセージをサーバ装置１０３へ送信する。 In step S2504, the conversion determination device 1301 generates a registration message related to the device information of the home appliance and transmits it to the server device 103 when receiving the registration instruction message. This is the end of the processing sequence when the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance can be converted. In the present embodiment, the registration instruction message is actually received by the conversion determination apparatus 1301 that has generated a virtual communication interface. Therefore, the second protocol processing unit 1403 in the conversion determination apparatus 1301 receives the registration instruction message. Is received, the device information registration management unit 1408 is notified. Then, the protocol conversion unit 1405 converts the device information of the home appliance that performs communication using the first intra-region protocol for the second intra-region protocol. Finally, a registration message is generated by the out-of-area protocol processing unit 203 based on the device information of the home appliances that communicate with the first protocol in the area, and the registration message is transmitted from the communication unit 1401 to the server apparatus 103.
　次に、図２６は、変換判定装置１３０１が家電機器の機器情報を変換可能であると判定した場合の処理シーケンスを示す。 Next, FIG. 26 shows a processing sequence when the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance can be converted.
　ステップＳ２６０１では、ステップＳ２５０１と同様に、家電機器が公開メッセージを変換判定装置１３０１に送信する。 In step S2601, the home appliance transmits a public message to the conversion determination device 1301, as in step S2501.
　ステップＳ２６０２では、変換判定装置１３０１が家電機器の機器情報を変換可能であると判定した後、家電機器自身が機器情報登録を実施可能であることを示すサービス情報を含まない公開メッセージを生成して送信する。 In step S2602, after the conversion determination device 1301 determines that the device information of the home appliance can be converted, a public message that does not include service information indicating that the home appliance itself can perform device information registration is generated. Send.
　ステップＳ２６０３では、登録判定装置１０２は、公開メッセージを受信後、家電機器自身で機器情報を登録不可能であると判定し、登録判定装置１０２が、家電機器の機器情報に関する登録メッセージを生成してサーバ装置１０３へ送信する。なお、第１の実施形態と同様に、家電機器自身で機器情報を登録可能であることを示すサービス情報を公開メッセージに含ませない方法だけではなく、家電機器自身では機器情報を登録不可能であることを明示するサービス情報を公開メッセージに含める方法によって代替してもよい。 In step S2603, after receiving the disclosure message, the registration determination device 102 determines that the home appliance itself cannot register the device information, and the registration determination device 102 generates a registration message regarding the home appliance device information. It transmits to the server apparatus 103. As in the first embodiment, not only the method of not including the service information indicating that the device information can be registered by the home appliance itself in the public message, but also the device information cannot be registered by the home appliance itself. You may substitute by the method of including the service information which specifies that in a public message.
　なお、本実施形態において、域内第１プロトコルはＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコル、域内第２プロトコルはＵＰｎＰプロトコルを例に説明を行ったが、これ以外のプロトコルを用いてもよい。さらに、域内第１プロトコルと域内第２プロトコルは同一のプロトコルを用いてもよい。例えば、登録判定装置と変換判定装置の双方がＵＰｎＰプロトコルにて通信を行う場合、変換可否判定は通信媒体が同一か否かの判定が主体となるが、登録判定装置の処理能力を勘案し、判定処理を適用することも考えられる。これによって、宅内の家電機器が同一のプロトコルにて通信を行うシステムにおいて、登録判定装置による機器情報登録と変換判定装置による機器情報登録とを選択して行ってもよい。 In the present embodiment, the ECHONET protocol is used as the first intra-region protocol and the UPnP protocol is used as the second intra-region protocol. However, other protocols may be used. Furthermore, the same protocol may be used for the first intra-region protocol and the second intra-region protocol. For example, when both the registration determination device and the conversion determination device communicate with each other using the UPnP protocol, the conversion permission determination mainly consists of determining whether or not the communication medium is the same, but considering the processing capability of the registration determination device, It is also possible to apply a determination process. Thus, in a system in which home appliances in the home communicate using the same protocol, device information registration by the registration determination device and device information registration by the conversion determination device may be selected and performed.
　また、上述した実施形態では、登録判定および変換判定の処理を、登録判定装置および変換判定装置にそれぞれ分離させて動作させているが、これに限らず１つの装置により処理を実行してもよい。 In the above-described embodiment, the registration determination process and the conversion determination process are separately performed by the registration determination apparatus and the conversion determination apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the process may be executed by one apparatus. .
　以上に示した第２の実施形態によれば、家電機器の機器情報をインターネット上のサーバ装置に家電機器の機器情報を登録する際、異なる通信媒体間で情報を変換することに起因する情報の欠落および変換後の情報衝突を、変換判定装置により機器情報を通信媒体間で変換可能であるか否かの登録判定を行い、判定結果を登録判定装置へ提供することで、家電機器の種類ごとに異なる通信能力、処理能力を勘案すると共に、複数の通信プロトコルおよび通信媒体が介在するネットワーク上の家電機器固有の情報の一意性を保証したまま、サーバ装置において複数の家電機器のトレーサビリティを保証することが可能となる。 According to the second embodiment described above, when registering device information of home appliances in a server device on the Internet, the information of information resulting from converting information between different communication media For each type of home appliance, by making a registration determination as to whether or not device information can be converted between communication media by the conversion determination device, and providing the determination result to the registration determination device for the missing and converted information collision In addition, the server device guarantees the traceability of multiple home appliances while ensuring the uniqueness of information unique to home appliances on a network intervening multiple communication protocols and communication media. It becomes possible.
　なお、本発明は上記実施形態そのままに限定されるものではなく、実施段階ではその要旨を逸脱しない範囲で構成要素を変形して具体化できる。また、上記実施形態に開示されている複数の構成要素の適宜な組み合わせにより、種々の発明を形成できる。例えば、実施形態に示される全構成要素から幾つかの構成要素を削除してもよい。さらに、異なる実施形態にわたる構成要素を適宜組み合わせてもよい。 Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.
　本発明に係る通信装置は、例えば、宅内の家電機器の情報をサーバに送信して登録を行うのに有効である。 The communication apparatus according to the present invention is effective, for example, for registering information by transmitting home appliance information in a home to a server.
１００，１３００・・・通信装置、１０１，１３０２・・・家電機器、１０２・・・登録判定装置、１０３・・・サーバ装置、１０４・・・宅内、２０１，１４０１・・・通信部、２０２・・・域内プロトコル処理部、２０３・・・域外プロトコル処理部、２０４・・・機器識別子管理部、２０５・・・機器情報登録判定部、２０６・・・登録構成情報記憶部、２０７，１４０８・・・機器情報登録管理部、２０８・・・許諾確認表示管理部、２０９・・・入出力処理部、２１０・・・表示部、２１１・・・入力部、３０１，９０２，１５０１，２１０２，２２０１・・・機器情報、３０２，１５０２・・・要素情報、３０３，１５０３・・・内容情報、４０１・・・ネットワーク識別子、４０２・・・固体識別子、４０３・・・識別情報、５０１・・・機器ＩＤ、５０２・・・製造番号、５０３・・・製造会社、７０１・・・ＴＣＰ／ＩＰヘッダ、７０２・・・公開識別子、８０１・・・登録指示識別子、９０１・・・登録識別子、１３０１・・・変換判定装置、１４０２・・・域内第１プロトコル処理部、１４０３・・・域内第２プロトコル処理部、１４０４・・・変換規約情報記憶部、１４０５・・・プロトコル変換部、１４０６・・・登録構成情報記憶部、１４０７・・・機器情報変換判定部、１６０１・・・製造年月日、１７０１・・・機器情報（ＥＣＨＯＮＥＴプロトコル）、１７０２・・・機器情報（ＵＰｎＰプロトコル）、２１０１・・・ＵＤＰ／ＩＰヘッダ。 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 1300 ... Communication apparatus, 101, 1302 ... Home appliance, 102 ... Registration determination apparatus, 103 ... Server apparatus, 104 ... In-home, 201, 1401 ... Communication part, 202. · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Device information registration management unit, 208... Permission confirmation display management unit, 209... Input / output processing unit, 210... Display unit, 211 ... input unit, 301, 902, 1501, 2102, 2201 .. Device information 302, 1502 ... Element information 303, 1503 ... Content information 401 ... Network identifier 402 ... Solid identifier 403 ... Identification information 01 ... Device ID, 502 ... Manufacturing number, 503 ... Manufacturing company, 701 ... TCP / IP header, 702 ... Public identifier, 801 ... Registration instruction identifier, 901 ... Registration Identifier, 1301... Conversion determination device, 1402... First intra-region protocol processing unit, 1403... Second intra-region protocol processing unit, 1404... Conversion protocol information storage unit, 1405. 1406: Registration configuration information storage unit, 1407: Device information conversion determination unit, 1601 ... Manufacturing date, 1701 ... Device information (ECHONET protocol), 1702 ... Device information (UPnP protocol) 2101 ... UDP / IP header.

Claims (9)

  1. 　第１機器およびサーバ装置と通信する通信装置であって、
    　第１機器から該第１機器の固有の情報を示す機器情報を受信する第１通信部と、
    　前記機器情報から、前記第１機器自身で前記サーバ装置に該第１機器の機器情報を登録することが可能であるかどうかを判定する機器情報登録判定部と、を具備することを特徴とする通信装置。     A communication device that communicates with a first device and a server device,
    A first communication unit that receives device information indicating unique information of the first device from the first device;
    A device information registration determination unit that determines whether the device information of the first device can be registered in the server device from the device information by itself. Communication device.
  2. 　前記第１機器が情報を送受信するために使用する通信方式を示す通信媒体を識別する識別情報と、該通信媒体内では前記第１機器を一意に特定する第１識別子とを格納する機器識別子管理部と、
    　前記機器情報登録判定部によって前記第１機器自身で機器情報を登録することが可能でないと判定された場合、前記識別情報と前記第１識別子とを組合せて、前記通信媒体によらずに前記第１機器を一意に特定する第２識別子を生成する第１機器情報登録管理部と、をさらに具備することを特徴とする請求項１に記載の通信装置。     Device identifier management for storing identification information for identifying a communication medium indicating a communication method used for transmitting and receiving information by the first device, and a first identifier for uniquely identifying the first device in the communication medium And
    When the device information registration determination unit determines that the device information cannot be registered by the first device itself, the identification information and the first identifier are combined and the first information is used regardless of the communication medium. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising: a first device information registration management unit that generates a second identifier that uniquely identifies one device.
  3. 　前記機器情報登録判定部によって前記第１機器自身で機器情報を登録することが可能であると判定された場合、前記第１機器自身で機器情報を前記サーバ装置に登録させることを指示する指示メッセージを生成する域内プロトコル処理部をさらに具備することを特徴とする請求項２に記載の通信装置。 When the device information registration determining unit determines that the device information can be registered by the first device itself, an instruction message for instructing the server device to register the device information by the first device itself The communication apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an intra-area protocol processing unit for generating
  4. 　前記機器情報登録判定部は、前記機器情報に特定の内容情報が含まれている場合に、該第１機器自身で登録可能であると判定し、前記機器情報に該内容情報が含まれない場合は、該第１機器自身で登録可能でないと判定することを特徴とする請求項３に記載の通信装置。 The device information registration determination unit determines that the first device itself can be registered when specific content information is included in the device information, and the content information is not included in the device information. The communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first apparatus itself determines that registration is not possible.
  5. 　前記第１機器が通信を行う第１プロトコルとは異なる第２プロトコルで通信を行う第２機器から、該第２機器の機器情報を受信する第２通信部と、
    　前記第２機器の機器情報を、前記サーバ装置における情報の欠落および情報の衝突を生じさせずに、第１プロトコルで通信可能な機器情報に変換可能であるかどうかを判定する機器情報変換判定部と、
    　前記機器情報変換判定部によって変換可能であると判定された場合に、前記第１プロトコルで通信可能な第２機器の機器情報に変換するプロトコル変換部と、をさらに具備することを特徴とする請求項４に記載の通信装置。     A second communication unit that receives device information of the second device from a second device that communicates with a second protocol different from the first protocol with which the first device communicates;
    A device information conversion determination unit that determines whether the device information of the second device can be converted into device information communicable with the first protocol without causing information loss and information collision in the server device. When,
    The apparatus further comprises a protocol conversion unit for converting into device information of a second device that can communicate with the first protocol when it is determined by the device information conversion determination unit that conversion is possible. Item 5. The communication device according to Item 4.
  6. 　前記第１プロトコルでの機器情報と前記第２プロトコルでの機器情報とを対応付けて変換するための情報である変換規約情報を記憶する変換規約情報記憶部をさらに具備し、
    　前記プロトコル変換部は、前記変換規約情報を参照して、前記第２機器の機器情報を前記第１プロトコルで通信可能な機器情報に変換し、該機器情報を変換した際に、該機器情報が全て変換できたかどうかを示す欠落情報を得ることを特徴とする請求項５に記載の通信装置。     A conversion rule information storage unit that stores conversion rule information that is information for converting device information in the first protocol and device information in the second protocol in association with each other;
    The protocol conversion unit refers to the conversion protocol information, converts the device information of the second device into device information communicable with the first protocol, and when the device information is converted, 6. The communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein missing information indicating whether or not all conversion has been performed is obtained.
  7. 　前記機器情報変換判定部は、前記第１機器が使用する通信媒体と前記第２機器が使用する通信媒体とが異なる場合、変換可能でないと判定し、
    　前記第１機器が使用する通信媒体と前記第２機器が使用する通信媒体とが同一であり、かつ前記欠落情報が前記機器情報を全て変換できたことを示す場合は、変換可能であると判定することを特徴とする請求項６に記載の通信装置。     The device information conversion determination unit determines that conversion is not possible when the communication medium used by the first device is different from the communication medium used by the second device,
    When the communication medium used by the first device is the same as the communication medium used by the second device and the missing information indicates that all the device information has been converted, it is determined that conversion is possible. The communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein:
  8. 　前記機器情報変換判定部が前記第２機器の機器情報を第１プロトコルで通信可能な機器情報へ変換可能でないと判定した場合、前記第２機器自身で機器情報を前記サーバ装置へ登録可能であることを示す内容情報を含むメッセージの生成を指示する第２機器情報登録管理部をさらに具備することを特徴とする請求項７に記載の通信装置。 When the device information conversion determination unit determines that the device information of the second device cannot be converted into device information communicable with the first protocol, the device information can be registered in the server device by the second device itself. The communication apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a second device information registration management unit that instructs generation of a message including content information indicating the fact.
  9. 　前記第２機器情報登録管理部は、前記機器情報変換判定部が前記第２機器の機器情報を第１プロトコルで通信可能な機器情報へ変換可能であると判定した場合、前記内容情報を含まないメッセージの生成を指示することを特徴とする請求項８に記載の通信装置。 The second device information registration management unit does not include the content information when the device information conversion determination unit determines that the device information of the second device can be converted into device information communicable with the first protocol. The communication apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the communication apparatus instructs generation of a message.
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