Household appliance capable of automatic registration and method for household appliance

Abstract

A first home appliance according to an embodiment includes: a Wi-Fi module configured to receive, from a server, MAC information of a second home appliance and broadcast information of the second home appliance; and a control unit that determines whether or not the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module coincides with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, and controls the Wi-Fi module. On the basis that the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module matches the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit requests the server to register the second home appliance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically registering if a newly purchased household appliance is delivered. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the popularization of mobile terminals such as smartphones and the development of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, home appliances having a communication function have become increasingly popular.

[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 in the home. In addition, users can conveniently confirm the status of home appliances through mobile terminals and remotely control the actions of home appliances. Furthermore, users can easily perform device registration of home appliances through mobile terminals.

[0004] In the related prior art (Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2014-0081270, published on July 1, 2014), a mobile terminal, a communication device and an operation method thereof capable of receiving remote control information and power information for home appliances are disclosed. According to the prior art, the following content is disclosed: the mobile terminal can use the network identifier information received from the communication device to connect to the communication device, and after receiving the product information of the home appliance from the communication device, the product information is transmitted to the server to perform product registration of the home appliance. However, according to the existing product registration method as described above, the product recommended (Suggestion) for product registration may not be the user's own product (for example, the product of the neighbor), or at the time of receiving the recommendation (Suggestion), the user may not be at home (for example, at work), in which case, inefficiency of the registration step may occur. Summary of the invention

[0005] Problem that the invention aims to solve

[0006] The technical problem of the embodiment (or embodiments) is to provide a method for automatically registering a newly purchased home appliance with a server after it is delivered to a customer and installed, and a home appliance that executes the method.

[0007] Technical solutions to the problem

[0008] In one embodiment, a first household appliance includes: a Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) module, which receives MAC information of a second household appliance and broadcast information of the second household appliance from a server; a control unit, which determines whether the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information and controls the Wi-Fi module; based on the fact that the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit requests the server to register the second household appliance.

[0009] An operation method of a first household appliance in one embodiment includes: receiving MAC information of a second household appliance and broadcast information of the second household appliance from a server; and determining whether the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information; based on the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module being consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, requesting the server to register the second household appliance.

[0010] Based on the consistency between the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module and the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit may issue a command to the second home appliance to connect to the server.

[0011] The instructions may include router information.

[0012] The MAC information of the second home appliance may be information transmitted based on the purchase of the second home appliance by a user of the first home appliance.

[0013] The MAC information of the second home appliance may be information transmitted after the second home appliance is purchased and delivered.

[0014] The MAC information of the second home appliance may be information transmitted based on a production information system, a distribution information system, and customer information associated with the second home appliance.

[0015] The delivery information system may provide the server with the serial number and customer information of the second home appliance.

[0016] The production information system may provide the serial number of the second home appliance and the MAC information of the second home appliance.

[0017] The first home appliance may be a home appliance registered in the customer information.

[0018] The server may transmit MAC information of the second home appliance corresponding to the serial number to the first home appliance registered in the customer information.

[0019] The instructions requesting registration and connecting may be executed independently of a user application associated with the first household appliance.

[0020] Effects of the Invention

[0021] According to one embodiment, a newly purchased home appliance can be directly registered without running an App or operating a product. That is, the home appliance can be registered while being installed after the product is delivered, and can be registered without operating a product or App for registration, thereby maximizing user convenience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The drawings in this specification are intended to provide an understanding of the embodiment (or embodiments), to illustrate various implementations, and to explain the principles together with the description of the specification.

[0023] Figure 1 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a home appliance control system that provides a home appliance control service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 Yes Description Figure 1 Block diagram of an unregistered household appliance.

[0025] Figure 3 Yes Description Figure 1 Block diagram of registered home appliances.

[0026] Figure 4 Yes Description Figure 1 Block diagram of a mobile terminal.

[0027] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 6 to Figure 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 8 This is a WiFi module of an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages are described in detail, so that a person skilled in the art of the present invention can easily implement the technical idea of ​​the present invention. In the process of describing the present invention, when it is determined that the specific description of the known technology associated with the present invention will unnecessarily confuse the gist of the present invention, its detailed description is omitted. Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are used to represent the same or similar components.

[0031] Hereinafter, when referring to a certain constituent element being “connected”, “combined” or “joined” to another constituent element, a plurality of the constituent elements may be directly connected or directly joined to each other, but it can also be understood that other constituent elements are “disposed” between each constituent element, or that each constituent element is “connected”, “combined” or “joined” through other constituent elements.

[0032] Below, refer to Figure 1 , a household appliance control system according to an embodiment of the present invention is described.

[0033] Figure 1 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a home appliance control system that provides a home appliance control service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Reference Figure 1 The home appliance control system may be equivalent to a system that provides a service of remotely controlling a plurality of home appliances 10 a and 10 b in the home through the mobile terminal 20 .

[0035] Such a home appliance control system may include at least one home appliance 10 a , 10 b , a mobile terminal 20 , an access point 30 (AP; Access Point) and a server 40 .

[0036] At least one home appliance 10a, 10b (collectively referred to as 10) is a device installed in a home or other space and performs various operations. As an example of at least one home appliance 10a, 10b, Figure 1 A washing machine 10a and a refrigerator 10b are shown, but the types and number of home appliances are not limited thereto.

[0037] As a reference, Figure 1 One of the at least one home appliance 10a, 10b shown may be an unregistered home appliance 10a (ie, a home appliance not registered with the server 40), and the other may be a registered home appliance 10b (ie, a home appliance registered with the server 40).

[0038] The mobile terminal 20 may include a terminal that a user can move and carry, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch, or smart glasses.

[0039] On the other hand, the home appliance control system of the embodiment may include not only mobile terminals but also fixed type terminals such as PC (Personal Computer).

[0040] The mobile terminal 20 may be installed with an application that utilizes the services provided by the home appliance control system of the present invention. The user may remotely control the actions of the home appliances 10a and 10b at home or remotely check the status of the home appliances 10a and 10b through the application installed on the mobile terminal 20.

[0041] On the other hand, in order to use the services provided by the home appliance control system, the user can register the home appliances 10a and 10b on the server 40. At this time, the user can register the home appliances 10a and 10b on the server 40 using the mobile terminal 20. Figure 6 to Figure 1 5 for explanation.

[0042] The AP 30 can enable the home appliances 10a and 10b to communicate with the server 40. For example, the home appliances 10a and 10b may include a Wi-Fi module that supports wireless high fidelity (Wi-Fi) wireless communication, and can be connected to the AP 30 through the Wi-Fi module.

[0043] Such AP30 may be a router or wireless router generally installed in a house. In order to avoid terminological confusion with the AP mode of the Wi-Fi module of a registered home appliance (eg, 10b) described later, AP30 is defined as a user AP30.

[0044] As a device providing home appliance control services, the server 40 may be managed by a manufacturer or a service provider. The server 40 may store information for each user utilizing the service. For example, the information for each user may include user account, terminal information, user AP information, registered home appliance information, etc.

[0045] When receiving a control instruction for a specific home appliance (eg, refrigerator 10b) from mobile terminal 20, server 40 may transmit the received control instruction to refrigerator 10b via user AP 30. At this time, refrigerator 10b may perform an action based on the received control instruction.

[0046] Below, refer to Figures 2 to 4 , the control structure of the household appliances 10a, 10b and the mobile terminal 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention is briefly described.

[0047] Figure 2 Yes Description Figure 1 Block diagram of an unregistered household appliance.

[0048] Reference Figure 2 , the unregistered 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 The plurality of structures of the unregistered home appliance 10a shown may be added or partially omitted depending on the type of the unregistered home appliance 10a.

[0049] The communication unit 110a may include at least one communication module, and the communication module is used to connect the unregistered home appliance 10a with the user AP 30 or the registered home appliance 10b, etc. For example, the communication unit 110a may include a Wi-Fi module 112a supporting Wi-Fi wireless communication, a short-range communication module 114a such as Bluetooth and near field communication (NFC; near field communication).

[0050] The Wi-Fi module 112 a may operate in either an AP (access point) mode or a station mode according to the control of the controller 160 a or a microcomputer in the Wi-Fi module 112 a .

[0051] The AP mode may be a mode in which other peripheral devices (e.g., other peripheral home appliances, etc.) are connected to the Wi-Fi module 112a to establish a connection between the peripheral devices and the unregistered home appliance 10a. Conversely, the station mode may be a mode in which the Wi-Fi module 112a is connected to the user AP30 to establish a connection between the unregistered home appliance 10a and the user AP30.

[0052] The input unit 120a may include at least one input means for inputting a predetermined signal or data to the unregistered home appliance 10a by a user's operation. For example, the at least one input means may include a key, a dial, a touch pad, a microphone, and the like.

[0053] On the other hand, 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.

[0054] The output unit 130a may have an output means for notifying the user of various information associated with the actions of the unregistered home appliance 10a. For example, the output unit 130a may include a display or an optical output unit as a graphic or text output means, and may include a speaker or a buzzer as an audio output means.

[0055] As a configuration for performing actions associated with the functions provided by the unregistered home appliance 10a, the drive unit 140a may be different from one type of the unregistered home appliance 10a to another. For example, if the unregistered home appliance 10a is a washing machine, the drive unit 140a may include a drum motor, a water supply device, and the like.

[0056] The memory 150a may store various data such as various algorithms for the operation of the unregistered home appliance 10a, control data for controlling the unregistered home appliance 10a, data for determining whether an error occurs in the unregistered home appliance 10a, and a hidden SSID (Service Set Identifier) ​​list.

[0057] The controller 160a can control the overall action of the unregistered home appliance 10a. The controller 160a can control the driving unit 140a based on a control instruction input by a user or an execution instruction of a function, etc. The controller 160a can include at least one CPU (central processing unit), a microcomputer, a processor, an integrated circuit, etc.

[0058] On the other hand, in order to Figure 1 To control the unregistered home appliance 10 a using the service provided by the home appliance control system, the user needs to register the information of the unregistered home appliance 10 a in the server 40 .

[0059] In order to register the information of the unregistered home appliance 10a in the server, it is necessary to establish a communication connection between the unregistered home appliance 10a and the server 40. To this end, the Wi-Fi module 112a of the unregistered home appliance 10a can be connected to the user AP30, thereby connecting to the server 40 through the user AP30.

[0060] In order to connect with the user AP30, the unregistered home appliance 10a needs to obtain the information of the user AP30. Generally, the user provides the information of the user AP30 to the unregistered home appliance 10a through the mobile terminal 20, but in the embodiment of the present invention, the unregistered home appliance 10a can receive the information of the user AP30 from the registered home appliance 10b.

[0061] On the other hand, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the Wi-Fi module 112a of the unregistered home appliance 10a can be implemented as having a virtual interface 113a. Thus, the unregistered home appliance 10a can be connected to two devices at the same time through the Wi-Fi module 112a having the virtual interface 113a.

[0062] For reference, the virtual interface 113a is a virtual interface added by time-dividing a physical Wi-Fi interface, so the Wi-Fi module 112a can perform a communication function similar to the actions of two physical Wi-Fi interfaces through such a virtual interface 113a.

[0063] Thus, the unregistered home appliance 10a can obtain the information of the user AP30 by connecting to the registered home appliance 10b, and can try to connect to the user AP30 while maintaining the connection with the registered home appliance 10b.

[0064] Here, the information of the user AP30 may include a service set identifier (SSID; Service Set Identifier) ​​and a password (password) of the user AP30.

[0065] Of course, the unregistered home appliance 10a may not use the virtual interface 113a when trying to connect to the user AP30. That is, the unregistered home appliance 10a may connect to the registered home appliance 10b to obtain the information of the user AP30, and try to connect to the user AP30 after terminating the connection with the registered home appliance 10b.

[0066] For reference, if the unregistered home appliance 10a and the registered home appliance 10b are connected (i.e., communication connected), in order to ensure security, the authentication operation can be performed by a certificate-based server. That is, the communication between the unregistered home appliance 10a and the registered home appliance 10b can be performed through a secure channel (e.g., the communication channel used by the registered home appliance 10b).

[0067] Figure 3 Yes Description Figure 1 Block diagram of registered home appliances.

[0068] Reference Figure 3 , the registered home appliance 10b may include a communication unit 110b, an input unit 120b, an output unit 130b, a driving unit 140b, a memory 150b, and a controller 160b. However, Figure 3 The plurality of structures of the registered home appliance 10b shown may be added or partially omitted depending on the type of the registered home appliance 10b.

[0069] The communication unit 110b may include at least one communication module, and the communication module is used to connect the registered home appliance 10b with the server 40 or the unregistered home appliance 10a, etc. For example, the communication unit 110b may include a Wi-Fi module 112b supporting Wi-Fi wireless communication, a short-range communication module 114b such as Bluetooth and near field communication (NFC; near field communication).

[0070] The Wi-Fi module 112 b may operate in either an AP (access point) mode or a station mode according to the control of the controller 160 b or a microcomputer within the Wi-Fi module 112 b .

[0071] The AP mode may be a mode in which other peripheral devices (e.g., other peripheral home appliances, etc.) are connected to the Wi-Fi module 112b to establish a connection between the peripheral devices and the registered home appliance 10b. Conversely, the station mode may be a mode in which the Wi-Fi module 112b is connected to the user AP30 to establish a connection between the registered home appliance 10b and the user AP30.

[0072] The input unit 120b may include at least one input means for inputting a prescribed signal or data to the registered home appliance 10b by a user's operation. For example, the at least one input means may include a key, a dial, a touch pad, a microphone, and the like.

[0073] On the other hand, the input unit 120b may include an interface connected to a remote control device (not shown). That is, the input unit 120b may receive a control signal from the remote control device through the interface.

[0074] The output unit 130b may have an output means for notifying the user of various information associated with the actions of the registered home appliance 10b. For example, the output unit 130b may include a display or an optical output unit as a graphic or text output means, and may include a speaker or a buzzer as an audio output means.

[0075] As a configuration for performing actions associated with the functions provided by the registered home appliance 10b, the drive unit 140b may be different from one another according to the type of the registered home appliance 10b. For example, if the registered home appliance 10b is a refrigerator, the drive unit 140b may include a compressor, an evaporator, a defrosting heater, and the like.

[0076] The memory 150b may store various data such as various algorithms for the operation of the registered home appliance 10b, control data for controlling the registered home appliance 10b, data for determining whether an error occurs in the registered home appliance 10b, and a hidden SSID list.

[0077] The controller 160b may control the overall action of the registered home appliance 10b. The controller 160b may control the driving unit 140b based on a control instruction input by a user or an execution instruction of a function, etc. The controller 160b may include at least one CPU, a microcomputer, a processor, an integrated circuit, etc.

[0078] On the other hand, since the registered home appliance 10b is registered with the server 40 and connected to the user AP30, the user can Figure 1 The registered home appliance 10b is controlled by the service provided by the home appliance control system.

[0079] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the Wi-Fi module 112b of the registered home appliance 10b can be implemented as having a virtual interface 113b. Thus, the registered home appliance 10b can be connected to two devices at the same time through the Wi-Fi module 112b having the virtual interface 113b.

[0080] For reference, the virtual interface 113b is a virtual interface added by time-splitting a physical Wi-Fi interface, and the Wi-Fi module 112b can perform a communication function similar to the actions of two physical Wi-Fi interfaces through such a virtual interface 113b.

[0081] Thus, the registered home appliance 10b can connect to the user AP30 through the Wi-Fi module 112b to obtain the information of the user AP30, and can periodically operate in AP mode through the virtual interface 113b. In addition, when the Wi-Fi module 112b operates in AP mode, it can generate a beacon signal and use a hidden SSID to search for unregistered home appliances in the surrounding area.

[0082] In addition, in the case of receiving a connection request from the unregistered home appliance 10a identifying the hidden SSID through the virtual interface 113b, the Wi-Fi module 112b may be connected to the unregistered home appliance 10a identifying the hidden SSID through the control of the controller 160b.

[0083] In addition, the Wi-Fi module 112 b may receive a push signal from the connected unregistered home appliance 10 a , and may also provide information related to the user AP 30 to the connected unregistered home appliance 10 a .

[0084] That is, the registered home appliance 10b can also be connected to the unregistered home appliance 10a through the virtual interface 113b while maintaining the connection with the user AP30.

[0085] Figure 4 Yes Description Figure 1 Block diagram of a mobile terminal.

[0086] Reference Figure 4 The mobile terminal 20 may include a wireless communication unit 210 , an input unit 220 , an output unit 230 , a memory 240 , and a control unit 250 . Figure 4 The plurality of components shown are not essential for implementing the mobile terminal 20 , and thus the mobile terminal 20 may include more or fewer components.

[0087] The wireless communication unit 210 may include at least one communication module, and the communication module is used to connect the mobile terminal 20 to the server 40, etc. For example, the wireless communication unit 210 may include a mobile communication module 212 such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), a Wi-Fi module 214, other short-range communication modules or wireless network modules.

[0088] The input unit 220 may include a camera or image input unit for image signal input, a microphone or audio input unit for audio signal input, and a user input unit (e.g., touch key, mechanical key, etc.) for receiving information from a user.

[0089] The output unit 230 is a component for generating output associated with vision, hearing, touch, etc., and may include, for example, a display unit 232 and a sound output unit 234 .

[0090] On the other hand, the display unit 232 can be formed with the touch sensor in a stacked structure or integrally formed to realize a touch screen. Such a touch screen serves as a user input unit (i.e., capable of receiving touch input from the user) that provides an input interface between the mobile terminal 20 and the user, while providing an output interface between the mobile terminal 20 and the user.

[0091] For reference, an image displayed on the display portion 232 may be controlled by the control portion 250 , and the display portion 232 may provide the control portion 250 with a touch input received from a user.

[0092] The memory 240 can store data supporting various functions of the mobile terminal 20. The memory 240 can store a plurality of applications driven by the mobile terminal 20, data for the actions of the mobile terminal 20, a plurality of command words, and a hidden SSID list. At least a part of such applications can be downloaded from an external server via wireless communication.

[0093] The control unit 250 may control the overall operation of the mobile terminal 20 .

[0094] The control unit 250 may process signals, data, information, etc. input or output through the above-mentioned plurality of components, or drive applications stored in the memory 240 to provide appropriate information or functions to the user or perform processing thereon.

[0095] In particular, the control unit 250 of the mobile terminal 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention may drive a home appliance control application (APP) 260 capable of controlling a home appliance registered on a service provided by the home appliance control system (ie, the registered home appliance 10b).

[0096] The home appliance control APP 260 may be downloaded from the server 40 or a server providing an application download service and then stored in the memory 240 .

[0097] The user can perform various managements through the home appliance control APP 260, for example, controlling the registered home appliance 10b or registering the unregistered home appliance 10a on the service or removing the registered home appliance 10b on the service.

[0098] For reference, when the home appliance control APP 260 is executed, the registered home appliances may be automatically searched (eg, searched by transmitting a beacon signal) or searched by a user's manual operation.

[0099] Specifically, a hidden SSID (i.e., a hidden SSID consistent with the hidden SSID list stored in the memory 240 of the mobile terminal 20) can be used to search for all registered home appliances operating in AP mode and all registered home appliances connected to the same user AP 30 as the mobile terminal 20. In addition, all registered home appliances searched by the mobile terminal 20 can provide a push signal to the mobile terminal 20.

[0100] In this case, the control unit 250 of the mobile terminal 20 can control the display unit 232 to display the connection selection screen with the registered home appliance in response to the push signal of the registered home appliance, and receive the connection selection input of the registered home appliance from the user through the input unit 220 or the display unit 232. In addition, the control unit 250 can control the display unit 232 based on the received connection selection input to display the registration confirmation key input guide screen of the registered home appliance. In addition, if the registration confirmation key input of the registered home appliance is completed by the user, the registered home appliance can be directly controlled by the home appliance control APP 260.

[0101] As described above, the household appliance control system of the embodiment of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure and features. Figure 5 to Figure 1 5, an embodiment related to the operation of registering the unregistered home appliance 10a on the home appliance control service provided by the home appliance control system is described. Figures 1 to 4 Provide explanation.

[0102] Based on the above description, the automatic registration method of a household appliance device according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below. In the following description, the first household appliance is a registered product previously purchased and owned by a specific customer / user, and the second household appliance is a new product newly purchased, delivered and installed by the specific customer / user (in a mall).

[0103] In one embodiment, a first home appliance may include: a Wi-Fi module, which receives medium access control (MAC) information of a second home appliance and broadcast information of the second home appliance from a server; and a control unit, which determines whether the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information and controls the Wi-Fi module.

[0104] Based on the consistency between the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module and the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit may request the server to register the second home appliance. In addition, based on the consistency between the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module and the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit may issue an instruction to the second home appliance to connect to the server, and the instruction may include router information.

[0105] The MAC information of the second home appliance may be information transmitted after the user of the first home appliance purchases the second home appliance. Alternatively, the MAC information of the second home appliance may be information transmitted after the second home appliance is purchased and delivered.

[0106] In this regard, see Figure 5 , the MAC information of the second household appliance may be information transmitted based on the production information system, the distribution information system, and the customer information associated with the second household appliance. The distribution information system may provide the serial number and customer information of the second household appliance to the server. The production information system may provide the serial number of the second household appliance and the MAC information of the second household appliance. The first household appliance may be a household appliance registered to the customer information. Therefore, the server may transmit the MAC information of the second household appliance corresponding to the serial number to the first household appliance registered to the customer information.

[0107] In summary, the distribution information system and the production information system are used to notify the user of the registered product of the purchase information. As a result, the server can grasp the registered product through the customer information and ensure the MAC of the purchased product based on the serial number of the distribution information. That is, the corresponding MAC is transmitted to the registered product to be used as a factor that can identify the product purchased by the user. In addition, during the post-delivery registration process, as a way to identify the purchased product by using communication between products, the new product broadcasts its own existence at a specific time point. As described above, when the existing user product receives the MAC of the purchased product, it periodically scans the surrounding area to confirm whether the product purchased by the user is broadcasting.

[0108] According to the embodiment, automatic registration using communication between products can be performed. Specifically, all scenarios of executing the existing ThinQ App, clicking registration, selecting a product in the category, operating the product according to the guidance, and inputting network information are omitted. Without the need for an App, if the existing user product recognizes the purchased product, it will automatically register with the server by communicating with each other to share known network information. That is, the execution of the request for registration and the indication of the connection is independent of the user application associated with the first home appliance.

[0109] Figure 6 The product registration steps / methods of the above-mentioned embodiments are shown. Figure 6 The server may receive MAC information based on the user of the first home appliance purchasing the second home appliance (S601). For contents related to this, please refer to the above description.

[0110] In step S602, the first home appliance may receive MAC (Medium Access Control) information of the second home appliance and broadcast information of the second home appliance from the server.

[0111] After determining whether the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the first household appliance may request the server to register the second household appliance based on the consistency of the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module and the MAC information included in the broadcast information (S604). In addition, based on the consistency of the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module and the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit may issue an instruction to the second household appliance to connect to the server, and the instruction may include router information (S605).

[0112] That is, the Wi-Fi module installed in the product can be used according to the scenario, such as Figure 6 As shown, the MAC of the new product purchased by the user at the electronics retailer Best Shop is received from the server and periodic detection is performed. If the information broadcast by the product corresponding to the MAC is confirmed, a connection instruction including the router information is issued, and the new product is registered on the server instead of the App function.

[0113] Figure 7 A flow chart showing the above-described embodiment.

[0114] Reference Figure 7 , the first home appliance receives MAC (Medium Access Control) information of the second home appliance from the server (S701).

[0115] If the second home appliance is installed, broadcast information of the second home appliance may be received (S702).

[0116] It may be determined whether the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information to confirm whether it is a newly pre-registered home appliance (S703).

[0117] Based on the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module being consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit may request the server to register the second home appliance (S704). In addition, based on the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module being consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, the control unit may issue an instruction to the second home appliance to connect to the server, and the instruction may include router information (S705).

[0118] Figure 8 A WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) module according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0119] The WiFi module includes a server communication function, a Wi-Fi default on mode, and an additional product registration task.

[0120] The server communication function is a communication function for receiving new product information from the ThinQ server, and the above description replaces the details. The Wi-Fi default on mode means that the new product broadcasts and operates in AP mode when the power is turned on to enable communication with existing products.

[0121] The additional product registration task is to replace the App to register the product in the ThinQ server when it is confirmed that the purchased new product information is consistent with the detected products in the surrounding area, which represents the automatic registration method of the second home appliance in the above embodiment.

[0122] The household appliance may be a household appliance including a WiFi Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device. For example, the household appliance may be one of household appliances such as a shoe care machine, a washing machine, a refrigerator, etc.

[0123] Industrial Applicability

[0124] The plurality of embodiments described above can be applied to various home appliances.

Claims

1. A first household appliance, wherein: include: The Wi-Fi module receives MAC information of the second home appliance and broadcast information of the second home appliance from the server; as well as a control unit, which determines whether the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information and controls the Wi-Fi module; The control unit requests the server to register the second home appliance based on that the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information.

2. The first household appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit issues a command to the second home appliance to connect to the server based on the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module being consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information.

3. The first household appliance according to claim 2, wherein: The instructions include router information.

4. The first household appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC information of the second home appliance is information transmitted based on the purchase of the second home appliance by a user of the first home appliance.

5. The first household appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The MAC information of the second home appliance is information transmitted after the second home appliance is purchased and delivered.

6. The first household appliance according to claim 5, wherein: The MAC information of the second home appliance is information transmitted based on a production information system, a delivery information system, and customer information associated with the second home appliance.

7. The first household appliance according to claim 6, wherein: The delivery information system provides the server with the serial number and customer information of the second home appliance.

8. The first household appliance according to claim 7, wherein: The production information system provides the serial number of the second household appliance and the MAC information of the second household appliance.

9. The first household appliance according to claim 8, wherein: The first home appliance is a home appliance registered in the customer information.

10. The first household appliance according to claim 9, wherein: The server transmits MAC information of the second home appliance corresponding to the serial number to the first home appliance registered in the customer information.

11. The first household appliance according to claim 1, wherein: The instructions requesting registration and connecting are executed independently of a user application associated with the first household appliance.

12. A method for operating a first household appliance, wherein: include: a step of receiving MAC information of a second home appliance and broadcast information of the second home appliance from a server; as well as A step of determining whether the MAC information received by the Wi-Fi module is consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information; Based on the MAC information received through the Wi-Fi module being consistent with the MAC information included in the broadcast information, registering the second home appliance is requested to the server.

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