Method and apparatus for registering home appliance apparatus in wireless communication system

Abstract

One embodiment relates to a home appliance device comprising: a communication unit that receives a router network profile and information related to the number of devices to be registered from a mobile terminal on which an application is installed; and a control unit that controls the transmission of information indicating that the at least one first home appliance device acts as a bridge host and a router network profile to the at least one first home appliance device, and control to transmit to the at least one second home appliance device information indicating that the at least one second home appliance device acts as a bridge visitor and to transmit a network profile of a bridge host, where the communication unit includes a WiFi Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device, the method comprises the following steps: transmitting and receiving signals based on a BLE concurrence function among household appliance devices, a mobile terminal, at least one first household appliance device and at least one second household appliance device, when the at least one first household appliance device is connected to a router, using a router network configuration file, when at least one second home appliance device is connected to the bridge host, the bridge host network configuration file is used.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following description relates to a method and apparatus for registering a plurality of home appliance devices at one time. Background Art

[0002] Recently, with the popularization of mobile terminals such as smartphones and the development of IoT (Internet of Things) technology, home appliances having a communication function are rapidly coming into widespread use.

[0003] Home appliances with communication functions can be connected to a server or a mobile terminal through an access point (AP) such as a router at home. In addition, users can conveniently check the status of home appliances through mobile terminals and remotely control the operation of home appliances. In addition, users can easily perform device registration of home appliances through mobile terminals.

[0004] The conventional method of registering a home appliance with a server has been configured to receive the main information of the device through device-to-device wired communication. Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , in order to simultaneously register devices such as a washing and drying tower, the conventional method can receive the main information of the devices through device-to-device wired communication, and can simultaneously register up to two devices in the server. However, this conventional method has such problems that since the main information is transmitted via a wired connection, registration cannot be performed without a wired connection between the devices, and the two devices are included in the router as a plurality of STAs (stations), so that the performance of the router may become a problem. Summary of the invention

[0005] Technical issues

[0006] The present disclosure aims to provide a method and device for collectively registering a plurality of home appliance devices based on grouping and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) concurrency.

[0007] Technical Solution

[0008] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a household appliance device may include: a communication unit configured to receive information related to an access point (AP) network profile and information related to the number of devices to be registered from a mobile terminal installed with an application; and a controller configured to send information indicating that at least one first household appliance device acts as a bridge host and the access point (AP) network profile to at least one first household appliance device, and to send information indicating that at least one second household appliance device acts as a bridge guest and the bridge host network profile to at least one second household appliance device, wherein the communication unit includes a Wi-Fi low-power Bluetooth (BLE) device configured to process signal communication between the household appliance device, the mobile terminal, at least one first household appliance device and at least one second household appliance device based on a BLE concurrent function; and when at least one first household appliance device is connected to an access point (AP), the access point (AP) network profile is used, and when at least one second household appliance device is connected to the bridge host, the bridge host network profile is used.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for registering a household appliance device may include the following steps: receiving information related to an access point (AP) network profile and information related to the number of devices to be registered from a mobile terminal on which an application is installed; and sending information indicating that at least one first household appliance device acts as a bridge host and the access point (AP) network profile; and sending information indicating that at least one second household appliance device acts as a bridge guest and the bridge host network profile to at least one second household appliance device, wherein a Wi-Fi low-power Bluetooth (BLE) device of the household appliance device is configured to process signal communication between the household appliance device, the mobile terminal, at least one first household appliance device and at least one second household appliance device based on a BLE concurrent function; and when at least one first household appliance device is connected to an access point (AP), the access point (AP) network profile is used, and when at least one second household appliance device is connected to the bridge host, the bridge host network profile is used.

[0010] The controller may receive a device information request from the mobile terminal, may check the number of registrable devices that can be registered, may transmit information about the number of registrable devices and information about the home appliance device, and may perform an authentication process.

[0011] The Wi-Fi BLE device may be configured to operate based on time division operation between a first logical interface and a second logical interface, the first logical interface being related to registration-related signal communication between the home appliance device and the application, and the second logical interface being related to signal communication between the home appliance device and at least one first home appliance device.

[0012] Home appliances can connect to an access point (AP) using an access point (AP) network profile.

[0013] The maximum number of the first household electrical devices may be 4, and the maximum number of the second household electrical devices may be 3.

[0014] The information about the number of devices to be registered may be information input through an interface of the mobile terminal.

[0015] The bridge master may be determined among the plurality of home electrical devices in ascending order of received signal strength index (RSSI).

[0016] The bridge guest may correspond to a home appliance device having a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) similar to the RSSI of the bridge host.

[0017] The household electrical appliance device may be one of a shoe rack, a washing machine, and a refrigerator.

[0018] At least one first home appliance device may be registered with the server via an access point (AP), and at least one second home appliance device may be registered with the server via a bridge host.

[0019] Beneficial Effects

[0020] As is apparent from the above description, the embodiments of the present disclosure can collectively (simultaneously) register multiple home appliances through a single registration process. In addition, multiple home appliances can be prevented from being regarded as stations (STA) by grouping, thereby preventing the performance of the router (or AP) from being degraded. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this application. The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and together with the description are used to explain the principles of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional method of registering a home appliance in a server according to the related art.

[0023] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a home appliance control system for providing a home appliance control service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 3 It is shown Figure 2 A block diagram of a household appliance is shown.

[0025] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for registering a home appliance device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 5This is an example of the network configuration when the connection is complete.

[0027] 6 and 7 are flow charts according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating a Wi-Fi BLE device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, " / " and "," should be interpreted as "and / or". For example, "A / B" may mean "A and / or B". In addition, "A, B" may mean "A and / or B". In addition, "A / B / C" may mean "at least one of A, B and / or C". In addition, "A, B, C" may mean "at least one of A, B and / or C".

[0030] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, "or" should be interpreted as "and / or". For example, "A or B" may include "only A", "only B" and / or "both A and B". In other words, "or" should be interpreted as "additionally or alternatively".

[0031] Below, we will refer to Figure 2 A home appliance control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0032] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a home appliance control system providing a home appliance control service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Reference Figure 2 The home appliance control system may correspond to a system that provides services for remotely controlling home appliances ( 10 a , 10 b ) at home through the mobile terminal 20 .

[0034] Such a home appliance control system may include at least one home appliance ( 10 a , 10 b ), a mobile terminal 20 , an access point (AP) 30 serving as a router, and a server 40 .

[0035] At least one home appliance (10a, 10b; collectively referred to as 10) is a device installed in a space such as a home and performs various operations. Figure 2 A shoe styler is shown as an example of at least one home appliance (10a, 10b), but the type and number of home appliances are not limited thereto.

[0036] The mobile terminal 20 may include a terminal that a user can carry while moving, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch, smart glasses, etc.

[0037] In addition, according to an embodiment, the home appliance control system may include not only a mobile terminal but also a fixed terminal such as a PC.

[0038] An application for using the service provided by the home appliance control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be installed in the mobile terminal 20. A user may remotely control the operation of home appliances (10a, 10b) at home or remotely check the status of home appliances (10a, 10b) through the application installed in the mobile terminal 20. The application may be installed in a personal computer (PC) or other home appliances as well as a mobile terminal.

[0039] In addition, the user can register the home appliance (10a, 10b) with the server 40 in order to use the services provided by the home appliance control system. At this time, the user can register the home appliance (10a, 10b) with the server 40 using the mobile terminal 20.

[0040] The AP 30 used as a router can communicate with the server 40 and connect the home appliances (10a, 10b). For example, the home appliances (10a, 10b) may include a Wi-Fi BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) device supporting Wi-Fi wireless communication and can be connected to the AP 30 through the Wi-Fi device. The AP 30 may correspond to a router or AP generally provided in the home.

[0041] The server 40 is a device that provides home appliance control services and can be managed by a manufacturer or a service provider. The server 40 can store information about each user who uses the service. For example, the information about each user may include user accounts, terminal information, AP (router) information, registered home appliance information, etc.

[0042] When the server 40 receives a control command for a specific home appliance (eg, the shoe rack 10b) from the mobile terminal 20, the server 40 may transmit the received control command to the shoe rack 10b through the AP 30. At this time, the shoe rack 10b may operate based on the received control command.

[0043] Figure 3 It is shown Figure 2 A block diagram of a household appliance is shown.

[0044] Reference Figure 2 , the home appliance 10a may include a communication unit 110a, an input unit 120a, an output unit 130a, a driving unit 140a, a memory 150a, and a controller 160a. However, Figure 2 Some configurations of the illustrated home appliance 10a may be added or omitted depending on the type of the home appliance 10a.

[0045] The communication unit 110a may include at least one communication device for connecting the home appliance 10a to the AP (router) 30 or the pre-registered home appliance 10b. For example, the communication unit 110a may include a Wi-Fi BLE device 112a supporting Wi-Fi wireless communication and a short-range communication device 114a such as NFC (near field communication).

[0046] The Wi-Fi BLE device 112 a may operate in an AP (router) mode or a station (STA) mode under the control of the controller 160 a or a microcomputer within the Wi-Fi BLE device 112 a .

[0047] The AP mode may be a mode in which a connection between another peripheral device (e.g., another peripheral home appliance, etc.) and the home appliance 10a is established by connecting another peripheral device (e.g., another peripheral home appliance, etc.) to the Wi-Fi BLE device 112a. On the other hand, the STA (station) mode may be a mode in which a connection between the home appliance 10a and the AP 30 is established by connecting the Wi-Fi BLE device 112a to the AP 30.

[0048] The input unit 120a may include at least one input device for a user to input a predetermined signal or data into the home appliance 10a. For example, the at least one input device may include a button, a dial, a touch pad, a microphone, and the like.

[0049] In addition, the input unit 120a may include an interface connected to a remote control device (not shown). That is, the input unit 120a may receive a control signal from the remote control device through the interface.

[0050] The output unit 130a may include an output device for informing the user of various information related to the operation of the home appliance 10a. For example, the output unit 130a may include a display or an optical output unit as a graphic or text output device, and may include a speaker or a buzzer as an audio output device.

[0051] The driving unit 140a is a configuration for performing operations related to the functions provided by the home appliance 10a, and may differ according to the type of the home appliance 10a. For example, if the home appliance 10a is a washing machine, the driving unit 140a may include a drum motor, a water supply device, and the like.

[0052] In the memory 150a, various data such as various algorithms for operation of the home appliance 10a, control data for controlling the home appliance 10a, data for determining whether an error occurs in the home appliance 10a, and a hidden SSID list may be stored.

[0053] The controller 160a may control the overall operation of the home appliance 10a. The controller 160a may control the driving unit 140a based on a control command or a function execution command input by a user. The controller 160a may include at least one CPU, a microcomputer, a processor, an integrated circuit (IC), etc.

[0054] In addition, in order to Figure 2 To control the home appliance 10 a using the service provided by the home appliance control system, the user must register information about the home appliance 10 a with the server 40 .

[0055] In order to register information about the home appliance 10a with the server 40, a communication connection must be established between the home appliance 10a and the server 40. To this end, the Wi-Fi BLE device 112a of the home appliance 10a can be connected to the server 40 through the AP 30 by connecting to the AP 30 serving as a router.

[0056] In order for the home appliance 10a to be connected to the AP 30, the home appliance 10a must obtain information about the AP 30. Generally, a user may receive the information about the AP 30 from the home appliance 10a through the mobile terminal 20.

[0057] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the Wi-Fi BLE device 112a of the home appliance 10a may be implemented to have at least one virtual interface. Therefore, the home appliance 10a may be connected to two devices at the same time through the Wi-Fi BLE device 112a having at least one virtual interface.

[0058] The at least one virtual interface is a virtual interface added by time-sharing one physical Wi-Fi interface so that the Wi-Fi BLE device 112a can perform a communication function as if two physical Wi-Fi interfaces operate through the at least one virtual interface.

[0059] Thus, the home appliance 10a can be connected to the pre-registered home appliance 10b, can acquire information about the AP 30, and can try to connect to the AP 30 while maintaining the connection with the pre-registered home appliance 10b.

[0060] Here, the information about the AP 30 may include a service set identifier (SSID) and a password of the AP 30 .

[0061] Of course, the home appliance 10a may not use at least one virtual interface when trying to connect to the AP 30. That is, the home appliance 10a may connect to the pre-registered home appliance 10b, obtain information about the AP 30, terminate the connection with the pre-registered home appliance 10b, and then try to connect to the AP 30.

[0062] For reference, when performing connection (i.e., communication) between the home appliance 10a and the pre-registered home appliance 10b, for security, an authentication process may be performed by a certificate-based server. That is, the communication between the home appliance 10a and the pre-registered home appliance 10b may be performed through a secure channel (e.g., a communication channel used by the pre-registered home appliance 10b).

[0063] Based on the above, a household appliance device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a communication unit and a controller. The communication unit may receive information about an AP network profile and the number of devices to be registered from a mobile terminal on which an application is installed. The controller may control at least one first household appliance device to send information indicating the role of a bridge host and an AP network profile, and may control at least one second household appliance device to send information indicating the role of a bridge visitor and a bridge host network profile. The household appliance device, the first household appliance device, and the second household appliance device may all be shoe racks. Alternatively, the household appliance device, the first household appliance device, and the second household appliance device may be household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, and may also be composed of different types of household appliances.

[0064] Here, the communication unit may include a Wi-Fi BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) device, which processes signal communication based on BLE concurrent functions between a home appliance device, a mobile terminal, at least one first home appliance device, and at least one second home appliance device. Specifically, the Wi-Fi BLE device included in the home appliance device can be operated based on a time-division operation between a first logical interface (or virtual interface) and a second logical interface, the first logical interface being related to the signal communication related to registration between the home appliance device and the application, and the second logical interface being related to the signal communication between the home appliance device and at least one first home appliance device. In other words, the home appliance device and the application can send and receive signals through the first logical interface, the home appliance device and the first home appliance device can send and receive signals through the second logical interface, and the first logical interface and the second logical interface can be used by time-division of a physically single Wi-Fi BLE device. Similarly, the home appliance device and the second home appliance device can send and receive signals through the third logical interface, and the third logical interface can also be regarded as using the Wi-Fi BLE device based on time division. The home appliance device that performs the above functions may correspond to the main device.

[0065] When at least one first home appliance device is connected to an AP used as a router, the AP network profile may be used, and when at least one second home appliance device is connected to a bridge host, the bridge host network profile may be used.

[0066] In addition, the controller may receive a device information request from the mobile terminal, may check the number of registrable devices, may transmit information about the number of registrable devices and information about the home appliance device, and may perform an authentication process.

[0067] The Wi-Fi BLE device can operate based on time division operation between a first logical interface and a second logical interface, wherein the first logical interface is related to registration-related signal communication between the home appliance device and the mobile terminal, and the second logical interface is related to signal communication between the home appliance device and at least one first home appliance device.

[0068] The home appliance device can be connected to the AP using the AP network profile. In addition, at least one first home appliance device can be registered with the server via the AP, and at least one second home appliance device can be registered with the server via the bridge host.

[0069] At least one first home appliance device can be connected to the AP using the AP network profile, and at least one second home appliance device can be connected to the bridge host using the bridge host network profile. The above-mentioned home appliance devices can be connected to the AP using the AP network profile. At least one first home appliance device can register with the server via the AP, and at least one second home appliance device can register with the server via the bridge host.

[0070] That is, representative devices of the bridge host can be selected by dividing into four groups so that four devices can be directly connected to the AP while providing a hotspot function. As a result, the remaining devices in the group can provide network services. Here, the number of the first home appliance devices can be up to 4, and the number of the second home appliance devices can be up to 3. However, this is only an example, and the number of devices can be expanded / changed. Figure 5 An example of a network configuration when connection is completed in this way is shown. Figure 5 , each of the four bridge master devices can be connected to an AP, and three bridge guest devices can be connected to each bridge master device.

[0071] Hereinafter, a method of registering a home appliance device based on the above description will be described in detail. Figure 4 A flowchart related to a method for registering a household appliance device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. However, this is only an example, and steps supported by the entire content of the present disclosure may be added, or specific steps may be excluded. In addition, the order of the various steps is an example, and the order of the various steps may be changed as needed.

[0072] Reference Figure 4, the home appliance device may receive information about the AP network profile and the number of devices to be registered from the mobile terminal on which the application is installed. Information indicating that at least one first home appliance device acts as a bridge host and the AP network profile may be sent to at least one first home appliance device. In addition, information indicating that at least one second home appliance device acts as a bridge guest and the bridge host network profile may be sent to at least one second home appliance device.

[0073] Here, the Wi-Fi BLE device of the home appliance may process signal communication based on the BLE concurrent function between the home appliance device, the mobile terminal, at least one first home appliance device, and at least one second home appliance device.

[0074] At least one first home appliance device can be connected to the AP using the AP network profile, and at least one second home appliance device can be connected to the bridge host using the bridge host network profile. The home appliance device can be connected to the AP using the AP network profile. At least one first home appliance device can register with the server through the AP, and at least one second home appliance device can register with the server through the bridge host.

[0075] like Figures 6a to 6d As shown, the method may further include: receiving a device information request from an application (S601); checking the number of registrable devices (S602); sending information related to the number of registrable devices and information related to home appliance devices (S603); and performing an authentication process (S605 to S606). The information related to the number of devices to be registered may be information input through an interface of a user equipment (UE). Figures 6a to 6d , ThinQServer may correspond to the above-mentioned server, ThinQapp may correspond to the application, SHOECASE_MASTER may correspond to the master device, SHOECASE_BRIDGE_HOST may correspond to the bridge host device, and SHOECASE_BRIDGE_GUEST may correspond to the bridge guest device.

[0076] In step S605 , as described above, the master device may receive information about the AP network profile and the number of devices to be registered from the application.

[0077] In step S631, the master device may send information indicating the bridge master role and the AP network profile to at least one or more first home appliance devices. Through the steps shown, the first home appliance device may register with the AP and the server using the AP network profile.

[0078] In step S651, the main device may send information indicating the bridge guest role and the bridge host network profile to at least one second home appliance device. Through the illustrated process, the second home appliance device may register with the bridge host using the bridge host network profile, and may register with the router and the server through the bridge host.

[0079] Thus, the registration process for the bridge host device can be performed for up to four devices, and the registration process for the bridge guest device can be performed for up to three devices. This repeated registration sequence will refer to Figures 7a to 7d describe.

[0080] Figure 8 A Wi-Fi BLE device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. As described above, Figure 8 The Wi-Fi BLE device can process signal communication between the home appliance device, the mobile terminal, at least one first home appliance device and at least one second home appliance device based on the BLE concurrent function. Figure 8 As shown, the Wi-Fi BLE device can communicate with the mobile phone application (App) through the BLE concurrent function and perform inter-product communication at the same time. The Wi-Fi bridge mode means the function of operating as a Wi-Fi station and also operating in the Wi-Fi AP mode at the same time to enable other products to connect to its own AP mode and provide Internet services. The multi-product registration task refers to the task of performing network configuration to register products through inter-product communication, etc. according to the roles of the main device, bridge host, and bridge guest.

[0081] The home appliance may be a home appliance including a Wi-Fi BLE device. For example, the home appliance may be one of home appliances such as a shoe rack, a washing machine, a refrigerator, and the like.

[0082] Industrial Applicability

[0083] The above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to various mobile communication systems.

Claims

1. A household electrical appliance device, comprising: a communication unit configured to receive information about an access point AP network profile and information about the number of devices to be registered from a mobile terminal on which an application is installed; as well as a controller configured to send information indicating that at least one first home appliance device acts as a bridge host and the access point AP network profile to the at least one first home appliance device, and to send information indicating that at least one second home appliance device acts as a bridge guest and the bridge host network profile to the at least one second home appliance device, Wherein, the communication unit includes a Wi-Fi low-power Bluetooth BLE device, which is configured to process signal communication between the household appliance device, the mobile terminal, the at least one first household appliance device and the at least one second household appliance device based on a BLE concurrent function; and When the at least one first home appliance device is connected to the access point AP, the access point AP network profile is used, and when the at least one second home appliance device is connected to the bridge host, the bridge host network profile is used.

2. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The controller is configured to: receiving a device information request from the mobile terminal; Checking the number of registrable devices that can be registered; transmitting information about the number of devices capable of registration and information about the home appliance device; and Perform the authentication process.

3. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The Wi-Fi BLE device is configured to operate based on time-division operation between a first logical interface and a second logical interface, wherein the first logical interface is related to registration-related signal communication between the home appliance device and the application, and the second logical interface is related to signal communication between the home appliance device and the at least one first home appliance device.

4. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The home appliance device is connected to an access point AP using the access point AP network profile.

5. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The maximum number of the first household electrical devices is four, and the maximum number of the second household electrical devices is three.

6. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The information on the number of devices to be registered is information input through an interface of the mobile terminal.

7. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The network bridge host is determined among a plurality of household electrical appliances in ascending order of received signal strength indicators RSSI.

8. The household electrical appliance according to claim 7, wherein: The bridge guest corresponds to a home appliance device having a received signal strength indicator RSSI similar to the RSSI of the bridge host.

9. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The household appliance device is one of a shoe rack, a washing machine and a refrigerator.

10. The household electrical appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one first home appliance device is registered with the server via the access point AP; and The at least one second household device is registered with the server via the bridge host.

11. A method for registering a household electrical device, the method comprising the following steps: receiving, from a mobile terminal having an application installed therein, information on an access point (AP) network profile and information on the number of devices to be registered; as well as Sending information indicating at least one first household electrical device to act as a bridge host and the access point AP network configuration file; as well as sending information indicating that at least one second home device acts as a bridge guest and a bridge host network configuration file to the at least one second home device, The Wi-Fi low-power Bluetooth BLE device of the household appliance device is configured to process signal communication between the household appliance device, the mobile terminal, the at least one first household appliance device and the at least one second household appliance device based on the BLE concurrent function; and When the at least one first home appliance device is connected to the access point AP, the access point AP network profile is used, and when the at least one second home appliance device is connected to the bridge host, the bridge host network profile is used.

Images