Relay device

Abstract

To provide a relay device capable of reducing a data communication amount required for updating update object information in a timely manner.SOLUTION: A relay device comprises: a control unit 21 which receives apparatus information about a housing apparatus 1 from the housing apparatus 1, and transmits the received apparatus information to a server 33 via an external communication network 32 by wireless communication of a volume-based charging system; and a storage unit 22 in which update object information which is information used for processing in the control unit 21, and may be updated is stored. The control unit 21: transmits inquiry request which periodically inquires presence / absence of update data of the update object information to the server 33 by unencrypted communication; transmits transmission request of the update data to the server 33 by encrypted communication, on receiving a response indicative of the presence of the update data from the server 33; and updates the update object information stored in the storage unit 22 by using the update data received from the server 33.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a relay device that relays communication between residential equipment and a server.

Background Art

[0002] Among residential equipment such as water heaters, there are some to which a relay device for transmitting device information related to the residential equipment to a server via an external communication network is connected.

[0003] In this relay device, by the control unit executing firmware stored in advance, functions such as a function of collecting device information related to the residential equipment from the residential equipment and a function of transmitting the device information collected from the residential equipment to the server are realized. Therefore, by updating the firmware stored in the relay device, it is possible to upgrade various functions.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a system in which a plurality of multifunction devices and a remote management device are connected to the same network such as a LAN, and an old version of an application program stored in the multifunction device is updated to the latest version of the application program transmitted from the remote management device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] By the way, when updating the firmware of the above relay device, the relay device is configured to acquire the latest firmware from the server and update it. Then, in order to update the firmware of the relay device in a timely manner, the relay device frequently queries the server as to whether the server has the latest firmware. Therefore, there is a problem that the data traffic increases and the communication cost increases when a communication with a usage-based charging system such as the cellular LPWA system is used. In addition, the relay device stores, as update target information that is preferably updated in a timely manner, in addition to the above firmware, an electronic certificate used when performing encrypted communication with the server.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a relay device capable of reducing the data traffic required to update update target information in a timely manner.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] To achieve the above object, a relay device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a control unit that receives device information regarding the residential equipment from the residential equipment and transmits the received device information to a server via an external communication network by usage-based charging wireless communication, and a storage unit that stores update target information that is information used for processing in the control unit and that can be updated. The control unit transmits an inquiry request for periodically inquiring whether there is update data for the update target information to the server by non-encrypted communication, and when there is a response from the server indicating that the update data is available, transmits a transmission request for the update data to the server by encrypted communication, and updates the update target information stored in the storage unit using the update data received from the server.

[0009] According to this configuration, by periodically sending a query request to the server to inquire about the existence of update data for the information to be updated stored in the storage unit, when there is update data in the server, the information to be updated can be updated in a timely manner. Also, by sending the above query request periodically through non-encrypted communication, the handshake required for encrypted communication becomes unnecessary, so the data communication volume can be reduced, and the communication fee based on the metered charging system can be reduced.

[0010] The control unit may execute the transmission of the query request through non-encrypted communication using the HEAD method in HTTP, and execute the transmission request for the update data through SSL / TLS encrypted communication using the GET method in HTTP.

[0011] The information to be updated may include the firmware executed by the control unit or the certificate used when the control unit performs a handshake for enabling encrypted communication with the server.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] The present invention has the configuration described above, and has the effect of being able to provide a relay device capable of reducing the data communication volume required for timely updating of the information to be updated.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0015] (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication system including a relay device according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. This communication system includes, for example, a residential equipment 1 composed of a water heater, a relay device 2, and a server 33 composed of a computer connected to an external communication network 32 such as the Internet.

[0016] The residential equipment 1 is, for example, a combustion heating type water heater provided with a combustion unit that burns fuel gas to heat hot water. The residential equipment 1 includes a control unit 11 composed of a microcontroller or the like that controls the entire residential equipment 1. This control unit 11 is connected to the control unit 21 of the relay device 2 in a manner capable of wired communication, and transmits device information regarding the residential equipment 1 to the server 33 via the relay device 2. The server 33 is a server for managing the residential equipment 1. Here, as the device information regarding the residential equipment 1, there are operation history information indicating the operation history of the residential equipment 1 periodically (for example, every 24 hours) transmitted from the control unit 11 of the residential equipment 1 to the relay device 2, error information, and the like. The operation history information is information including the hot water supply set temperature, the number of combustion operations, the combustion operation time, etc. when the residential equipment 1 is a water heater.

[0017] The relay device 2 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22 composed of a rewritable nonvolatile memory or the like, and an antenna 23 for wireless communication. The control unit 21 is composed of a microcontroller or the like having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The storage unit 22 stores a program that the CPU of the control unit 21 executes to operate the relay device 2, such as firmware which is update target information. By executing the firmware, the control unit 21 can perform wired communication with the control unit 11 of the residential equipment 1, perform wireless communication with the wireless base station 31 of the mobile phone via the antenna 23, and perform wireless communication with the server 33 which is an external device via the wireless base station 31 and the external communication network 32. Note that the storage unit 22 may be included in the control unit 21.

[0018] The wireless communication by the control unit 21 uses, for example, a communication method of LPWA (Low Power Wide Area). That is, the relay device 2 is compatible with cellular LPWA and communicates with the server 33 via the radio base station 31 and the external communication network 32 by performing wireless communication with the radio base station 31 using LPWA. The wireless communication here is a pay-per-use system, and it is preferable that the data communication volume is small.

[0019] The relay device 2 transmits the device information regarding the residential equipment 1 received from the aforementioned residential equipment 1 to the radio base station 31 by wireless communication, and transmits it to the server 33 via the radio base station 31 and the external communication network 32. The server 33 stores the received device information regarding the residential equipment 1.

[0020] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of an example of the operation of the relay device 2. The operation shown in this Figure 2 is an operation for updating the firmware stored in the storage unit 22 of the relay device 2, and is periodically (for example, every 24 hours) executed by the control unit 21 of the relay device 2.

[0021] Here, the server 33 is provided with a storage unit for storing update data (data of the latest firmware) for the firmware stored in the storage unit 22 of the relay device 2, and the update data is stored in the storage unit of the server 33 by the operation of the administrator. In this embodiment, the update data is the data of the latest firmware itself, but it may be the difference data between the latest firmware and the firmware before the update.

[0022] In the following description, the communication between the control unit 21 of the relay device 2 and the server 33 is performed via the radio base station 31 and the external communication network 32 as described above.

[0023] When a predetermined time arrives, for example, the control unit 21 transmits an inquiry request to the server 33 to inquire about the presence or absence of firmware update data stored in the storage unit 22 through non-encrypted communication (step S1). This inquiry request includes the identification information of the relay device 2 and the reception date and time of the firmware stored in the storage unit 22. The transmission of the above inquiry request is executed through non-encrypted communication (communication using unencrypted plain text) using the HEAD method in the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) of the communication protocol.

[0024] If the firmware of the update data stored in the storage unit of the server 33 has been updated after the reception date and time of the firmware included in the above inquiry request, the server 33 transmits a response indicating that there is update data to the relay device 2. Otherwise, the server 33 transmits a response indicating that there is no update data to the relay device 2. Since the HEAD method is used in the above inquiry request, even if there is update data in the server 33, the update data itself is not transmitted as a response to the above inquiry request.

[0025] Then, when the response received from the server 33 indicates that there is no update data (No in step S2), the control unit 21 of the relay device 2 ends the flow of FIG. 2.

[0026] On the other hand, when the response received from the server 33 indicates that there is update data (Yes in step S2), the control unit 21 transmits a transmission request for requesting the transmission of update data to the server 33 through encrypted communication (step S3). The transmission of this transmission request is executed through SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) / TLS (Transport Layer Security) encrypted communication using the GET method in HTTP.

[0027] When the server 33 receives the above transmission request, it transmits the update data to the relay device 2 via the SSL / TLS encrypted communication. The control unit 21 of the relay device 2 decrypts the received update data and updates the firmware stored in the storage unit 22 (step S4).

[0028] In this embodiment, by periodically transmitting an inquiry request to the server 33 to inquire about the presence or absence of update data for the firmware of the relay device 2, when the server 33 has the update data, the firmware stored in the storage unit 22 can be updated in a timely manner. Also, by transmitting the above inquiry request periodically via non-encrypted communication, the TLS handshake required for encrypted communication becomes unnecessary, so the data communication volume can be reduced and the communication fee based on the volume-based charging system can be reduced. Further, when the server 33 has the update data, after transmitting a transmission request for the update data from the relay device 2 to the server 33 via encrypted communication, the update data itself is transmitted from the server 33 to the relay device 2 via encrypted communication, so it is possible to prevent the update data from being tampered with by a malicious third party.

[0029] Note that in this embodiment, as an example of the update target information stored in the storage unit 22 of the relay device 2, the firmware executed by the control unit 21 is cited, but it may be a certificate (for example, a root certificate) used when the control unit 21 performs a handshake to enable encrypted communication with the server 33. The root certificate is used to verify the server certificate received from the server 33 when performing the TLS handshake.

[0030] Also, in this embodiment, as an example of the residential equipment 1, a water heater is cited, but the water heater may have other functions in addition to the hot water supply function. For example, it may have a pouring function of connecting to a bathtub and filling the bathtub with hot water and a function of reheating the bathtub water. Also, it may have a hot water heating function of connecting to a hot water type heating terminal and circulating hot water between the hot water type heating terminal. Further, the residential equipment 1 is not limited to a water heater, and may be, for example, kitchen equipment such as a stove provided in a kitchen.

[0031] From the above description, many improvements and other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the above description should be construed as illustrative only and provided for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the present invention. Without departing from the spirit of the present invention, the details of its structure and / or function can be substantially changed.

Industrial Applicability

[0032] The present invention is useful as a relay device or the like that can reduce the data traffic required to update update target information in a timely manner.

Explanation of Signs

[0033] 1 Residential equipment, 2 Relay device, 21 Control unit, 22 Storage unit, 32 External communication network, 33 Server

Claims

1. A control unit that receives device information related to the housing equipment from the housing equipment and transmits the received device information to a server via an external communication network by pay-per-use wireless communication; A storage unit that stores update target information which is information used for processing in the control unit and can be updated. The control unit Periodically sends an inquiry request to the server by non-encrypted communication to inquire about the presence or absence of update data for the update target information, When there is a response from the server indicating that the update data is available, sends a transmission request for the update data to the server by encrypted communication, Updates the update target information stored in the storage unit using the update data received from the server. A relay device.

2. The control unit Executes the transmission of the inquiry request by non-encrypted communication using the HEAD method in HTTP, and executes the transmission request for the update data by SSL / TLS encrypted communication using the GET method in HTTP. The relay device according to Claim 1.

3. The update target information includes firmware executed by the control unit or a certificate used when the control unit performs a handshake to enable encrypted communication with the server. The relay device according to Claim 1 or 2.

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