gateway

Abstract

We will provide a gateway with improved convenience. [Solution] The system comprises a first communication unit that sends and receives information with multiple types of devices within the building, a second communication unit that sends and receives information with a server device, a sensor management unit that receives sensor information from the first communication unit, and a device operation management unit that controls at least one device based on the sensor information received by the sensor management unit. The sensor management unit has the function of a sensor network system that can output the received sensor information to both the server device and the device operation management unit. The device operation management unit is a gateway that, without receiving commands from the server device, determines whether or not to execute device control based on the sensor information obtained from the sensor management unit, and if it determines to execute device control, determines whether or not predetermined conditions are met based on the sensor information, and if the predetermined conditions are met, executes the operation of the device associated with the predetermined conditions.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a gateway.

Background Art

[0002] A HEMS (Home Energy Management System) has been proposed to network home appliances in a house and manage the energy consumption of home appliances (see Patent Document 1 and the like). For example, in a HEMS, the power consumption of home appliances can be transmitted to a server device on a network via a gateway for the HEMS, and the power consumption of home appliances can be viewed from a user's portable information terminal or the like.

[0003] In recent years, a sensor network system that provides the detection results of sensors such as temperature sensors and human body detection sensors installed in a building to a server device or the like, and a home automation system that controls home appliances using information such as signals from a server device as a trigger have been proposed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, at present, dedicated gateways are used in sensor network systems and home automation systems, respectively. For example, in one building, three gateways need to be used to construct a HMES, a sensor network system, and a home automation system, and there is room for improvement from the perspective of convenience.

[0006] This disclosure is made in light of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a gateway with improved convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One aspect of this disclosure is a gateway comprising: a first communication unit that transmits and receives information via wired or wireless connection to a plurality of types of devices installed in a building; a second communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from a server device via an internet line; an energy management unit that manages the energy within the building by transmitting and receiving information to and from one or more of the devices via the first communication unit; a sensor management unit that receives sensor information from the first communication unit, which is information from at least one of the following sensors: a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an opening / closing sensor that detects whether or not the opening / closing body of the building is in an open state, an illuminance sensor, and a human body detection sensor; and a device operation management unit that controls at least one of the plurality of types of devices, which electrically opens and closes the opening / closing body, via the second communication unit based on the sensor information received by the sensor management unit, wherein the energy management unit, the sensor management unit, and the device operation management unit are integrated, and the HEMS, home automation, and sensor network are mutually compatible. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram of the information processing system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] A schematic diagram of the gateway in this embodiment. [Figure 3] A schematic diagram of the server device of this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 1 according to this embodiment is a home network system in which a user remotely operates a device 200 installed in the user's building 100 via the internet using a communication terminal such as a smartphone, and acquires information from the device 200. The building 100 can be a residence such as an apartment building or a detached house, a hospital, or a facility. In this embodiment, the case where the building 100 is the user's residence will be described.

[0010] The devices 200 installed in building 100 are home appliances, sensors, etc., installed in one or more spaces within the premises of building 100.

[0011] Home appliances include, for example, lighting fixtures, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, smart speakers, electric windows, electric shutters, electric blinds, electric curtains, electronic locks, intercoms, water heaters, solar power generation systems, smart distribution boards, smart meters, hot water supply equipment, energy storage devices, and cameras that photograph the interior or exterior of a building. Sensors include, for example, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, open / close sensors that detect whether a building's opening or closing mechanism is open or closed, illuminance sensors, and human detection sensors. Building opening and closing mechanisms include doors, windows, and entrance doors.

[0012] Within the building 100, there are multiple spaces, such as a living room, kitchen, bathroom, entrance hall, children's room, study, and bedroom. For example, one or more devices 200 are installed in each of these spaces.

[0013] As shown in Figure 1, the information processing system 1 includes a communication interface 10 and a server device 20. The communication interface 10 includes a router 11 and a gateway 12. The communication interface 10 is installed, for example, within a building 100.

[0014] Router 11 is connected to server device 20 via an internet line NW. Router 11 is connected to gateway 12 via wireless or wired (e.g., wired LAN). Router 11 relays information between server device 20 and gateway 12.

[0015] Gateway 12 is connected to one or more devices 200 by wire or wireless. In this embodiment, gateway 12 is connected to multiple devices 200 by wire or wireless.

[0016] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the gateway 12 of this embodiment. The gateway 12 includes, for example, a first communication unit 30, a second communication unit 31, an energy management unit 32, a sensor management unit 33, and a device operation management unit 34. These components are realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or by the cooperation of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or flash memory (a storage device equipped with a non-transient storage medium), or it may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM (a non-transient storage medium) and installed in the storage device when the storage medium is mounted on a drive device. Storage devices consist of, for example, HDDs, flash memory, EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), or RAM (Random Access Memory).

[0017] The first communication unit 30 transmits and receives information via wired or wireless connection to one or more devices 200 installed within the building 100. For example, the first communication unit 30 transmits and receives information via wired or wireless connection to multiple devices 200 installed within the building 100. The transmission path between the first communication unit 30 and the multiple devices 200 may be a wireless communication transmission path (e.g., a wireless LAN), a wired communication transmission path, or a combination of a wireless communication transmission path and a wired communication transmission path. The transmission path between the first communication unit 30 and the multiple devices 200 may, for example, be a Low-power Wide-area Network (LPWAN), or a short-range wireless communication standard such as ZigBee®, WiFi®, or Bluetooth®. The transmission paths between the first communication unit 30 and the multiple devices 200 do not all have to be the same transmission path.

[0018] The first communication unit 30 has, for example, communication functions for multiple different communication methods. Among the multiple devices 200, there are devices whose wireless communication method differs from that of the other devices. The first communication unit 30 is configured to communicate with each of the multiple devices 200, even when there are multiple devices among the multiple devices 200 that use different wireless communication methods.

[0019] The second communication unit 31 sends and receives information with the server device 20 via the internet line NW. For example, the second communication unit 31 sends and receives information with the server device 20 via the router 11.

[0020] The energy management unit 32 manages energy within the building 100 by sending and receiving information with one or more devices 200 via the first communication unit 30. The energy management unit 32 functions as a controller for the HEMS (Home Energy Management System).

[0021] The energy management unit 32 controls or monitors HEMS devices (hereinafter referred to as "HEMS devices") among the plurality of devices 200 via the first communication unit 30. The HEMS devices include, for example, smart meters, solar power generation systems, power storage devices, air conditioners, lighting fixtures, water heaters, refrigerators, electric curtains, electric shutters, TVs, etc. However, the HEMS devices are not limited to these devices.

[0022] For example, the energy management unit 32 receives energy information including information on the energy consumed by the HEMS device via the first communication unit 30. Based on the received energy information, the energy management unit 32 controls one or more HEMS devices so that the energy consumption by the HEMS device is suppressed. The energy is at least one of electricity, gas, and water.

[0023] As an example, the energy management unit 32 receives energy information including information such as the amount of electricity measured by the smart meter, the amount of power stored in the power storage device, and the generated power of the solar power generation system via the first communication unit 30. The energy management unit 32 transmits the received energy information from the second communication unit 31 to the server device 20 via the router 11. The energy management unit 32 causes the amount of power stored in the power storage device and the generated power of the solar power generation system to be supplied to air conditioners, lighting fixtures, water heaters, refrigerators, etc. so as to suppress the amount of electricity measured by the smart meter, or stops unnecessary operations of the HEMS devices.

[0024] The sensor management unit 33 receives sensor information, which is information from at least one of temperature sensors, humidity sensors, open / close sensors, illuminance sensors, and human body detection sensors among the plurality of devices 200, via the first communication unit 30. The sensor management unit 33 transmits the received sensor information to the server device 20 via the second communication unit 31. The sensor management unit 33 may output the received sensor information to the device operation management unit 34. The sensor management unit 33 has the function of a sensor network system that receives sensor information from a plurality of devices 200 and transmits it to other devices or functional units.

[0025] The device operation management unit 34 has the function of a home automation system that controls the operation of devices 200 (home appliances) in response to some signal. For example, the device operation management unit 34 controls one or more home appliances from among multiple devices 200 via the second communication unit 31 based on sensor information received by the sensor management unit 33. The devices 200 controlled by the device operation management unit 34 can be home appliances, and may be HEMS devices or home appliances that are not HEMS devices.

[0026] For example, the device operation management unit 34 determines whether predetermined conditions are met based on the sensor information received by the sensor management unit 33. If the predetermined conditions are met, the device operation management unit 34 causes the home appliance to perform the operation associated with those predetermined conditions. The predetermined conditions can be arbitrarily set by the user. There may be one predetermined condition or multiple predetermined conditions.

[0027] For example, a predetermined condition is that the room temperature falls below a predetermined value, and this condition is associated with information about starting the heating operation of the air conditioner. In this case, the device operation management unit 34 determines whether the detection result of the temperature sensor from the sensor management unit 33 falls below the predetermined value, and if the detection result of the temperature sensor falls below the predetermined value, it starts the heating operation of the air conditioner via the first communication unit 30.

[0028] For example, a predetermined condition is that a person is present in the room, and this condition is associated with information about the operation of turning on the room's lighting fixtures. In this case, the device operation management unit 34 determines whether or not a person is present in the room based on the signal from the human body detection sensor. If the device operation management unit 34 determines that a person is present in the room based on the signal from the human body detection sensor, it turns on the lighting fixtures in that room. However, the predetermined condition is not limited to the example described above.

[0029] The trigger for controlling the device 200 in the device operation management unit 34 is not limited to sensor information, but may also be information from, for example, the server device 20. For example, the device operation management unit 34 may control the operation of the device 200 based on a control command obtained from the server device 20. For example, when the device operation management unit 34 obtains a control command from the server device 20, it controls the operation of one or more devices 200 based on that control command. For example, a control command is command information that includes information identifying the device 200 and an operation instruction for that device, such as operating the device 200 or stopping the operation of the device 200.

[0030] The device operation management unit 34 may control the operation of the device 200 according to pre-set rules. For example, the device operation management unit 34 may start supplying hot water to the bath or control the electric shutter to the closed state when a pre-set time is reached.

[0031] The energy management unit 32, the sensor management unit 33, and the device operation management unit 34 are integrated into a single gateway 12. This eliminates the need to use separate gateways when constructing an HMES, sensor network system, and home automation system for a building 100, allowing for construction using only one gateway 12 and improving convenience.

[0032] The energy management unit 32, the sensor management unit 33, and the device operation management unit 34 are all capable of coordinating with each other. Sensor information obtained by the sensor management unit 33 is not transmitted to the energy management unit 32 or the device operation management unit 34 via the router 11 or server device 20, but is transmitted directly from the sensor management unit 33 to the energy management unit 32 or the device operation management unit 34. This allows the gateway 12 to quickly perform control over the device 200.

[0033] An example of the server device 20 in this embodiment will be described. The server device 20 may be located on the internet or in the cloud. The server device 20 is connected to the router 11 via an internet line NW. The server device 20 sends and receives various information with the gateway 12 via the internet line NW. The server device 20 communicates with the user's communication terminal 300 by wired or wireless connection.

[0034] The communication terminal 300 is, for example, a portable communication terminal that the user can carry. For example, the communication terminal 300 is one of the following: a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet device, or a laptop computer. The communication terminal 300 may also be a wearable device, etc. The communication terminal 300 is not particularly limited to whether or not it is portable by the user. For example, the communication terminal 300 may be a computer.

[0035] The user can establish communication between the server device 20 and the communication terminal 300 by operating the communication terminal 300 to launch a predetermined application and perform user authentication. The communication terminal 300 can acquire at least one of the following from the server device 20: energy information and sensor information, and display the acquired information on the display screen of the communication terminal 300. This allows the user to understand the energy consumption within the building 100, the operating status of the devices 200, and the situation within the building 100.

[0036] Communication between the server device 20 and the communication terminal 300 may be via a wireless communication transmission path (e.g., wireless LAN), a wired communication transmission path, or a combination of both. Communication between the server device 20 and the communication terminal 300 may use, for example, a low-power wide-area network, or a short-range wireless communication standard such as ZigBee, WiFi, or Bluetooth.

[0037] The user can send control commands to the gateway 12 via the server device 20 by operating the communication terminal 300. Therefore, the user can remotely control the operation of any device 200 in the building 100 by operating the communication terminal 300.

[0038] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the server device 20 of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 3, the server device 20 includes a storage unit 21 and a control unit 22.

[0039] The storage unit 21 stores correspondence information, which associates user information with the identification information of the communication control device (e.g., gateway 12). User information can be any information relating to a user; for example, user information refers to information about a user who uses the services provided by the information processing system 1. User information is pre-registered in the storage unit 21. For example, user information is information for logging into the server device 20 and includes the user's identification information (e.g., ID) and password.

[0040] The control unit 22 performs user authentication in response to a user authentication request from the communication terminal 300. For example, the control unit 22 performs user authentication by determining whether the information included in the user authentication request matches any of the multiple user information stored in the storage unit 21. If user authentication is successful, the control unit 22 connects to the gateway 12 associated with that user information.

[0041] Once user authentication is complete, the control unit 22 transmits and receives information via a mobile communication network such as a cellular network to and from the communication terminal 300. For example, the control unit 22 receives at least one of the energy information and sensor information from the gateway 12 via the internet line NW2, and transmits the received information to the communication terminal 300. When the control unit 22 receives a control command from the communication terminal 300, it transmits the control command to the gateway 12 via the internet line.

[0042] The gateway 12 of this embodiment has a configuration that integrates the gateway functions used for HEMS, home automation, and sensor networks. As a result, users can purchase a single gateway 12 and access a variety of services such as HEMS, home automation, and sensor networks, improving convenience. Rather than treating the functions of HEMS, home automation, and sensor networks as independent, the gateway 12 allows them to work together in conjunction with each other.

[0043] When using gateways for home automation and sensor networks, the server device controls the device 200 based on sensor information. For example, the server device obtains sensor information from the sensor network gateway via the internet and sends a command to the home automation gateway to control the devices in the building based on the obtained sensor information. Upon receiving the command, the home automation gateway controls the device 200 according to that command.

[0044] In this embodiment, the gateway 12 does not need to transmit sensor information to the server device 20 when controlling the device 200 based on sensor information. The gateway 12 in this embodiment determines whether or not to execute control of the device 200 based on sensor information without receiving a command from the server device. If the gateway 12 in this embodiment determines that it should execute control of the device 200, it executes control of the device 200. With this configuration, control of the device 200 based on sensor information can be performed more quickly.

[0045] The gateway 12 in this embodiment manages energy within the building 100 by sending and receiving information with one or more devices 200 via the first communication unit 30. The gateway 12 receives sensor information from at least one of the following sensors among the multiple devices 200: a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an open / close sensor, an illuminance sensor, and a human body detection sensor, via the first communication unit 30. Based on the received sensor information, the gateway 12 controls one or more home appliances among the multiple devices 200 via the second communication unit 31. This makes it possible to realize three functions—HEMS, home automation, and a sensor network—with a single gateway 12, without using multiple gateways for each of these functions.

[0046] While embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments and may include designs and other elements that do not depart from the gist of this disclosure.

[0047] The predetermined conditions described above can be set by the user's communication terminal 300. For example, the user logs in to the server device 20 using the communication terminal 300 and inputs the predetermined conditions and information about the operation of the device 200 corresponding to those conditions. The server device 20 registers the predetermined conditions and the information about the operation of the device 200 corresponding to those conditions, which were input by the communication terminal 300, with the gateway 12. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1…Information processing system, 10…Communication interface, 11…Router, 12…Gateway, 20…Server device, 30…First communication unit, 31…Second communication unit, 32…Energy management unit, 33…Sensor management unit, 34…Device operation management unit

Claims

[Claim 1] A first communication unit that transmits and receives information via wired or wireless connections to multiple types of devices installed within the building, The second communication unit transmits and receives information to and from the server device via the internet, A sensor management unit receives sensor information from the first communication unit, which is information from at least one of the following sensors: a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an open / close sensor that detects whether the building's opening / closing mechanism is in an open state, an illuminance sensor, and a human body detection sensor. A device operation management unit controls at least one of the multiple types of devices based on the sensor information received by the sensor management unit, Equipped with, The sensor management unit has the function of a sensor network system that can output the received sensor information to both the server device and the device operation management unit. The device operation management unit, without receiving a command from the server device, determines whether or not to execute control of the device based on the sensor information obtained from the sensor management unit, and if it determines to execute control of the device, it determines whether or not predetermined conditions are met based on the sensor information, and if the predetermined conditions are met, it executes the operation of the device associated with the predetermined conditions. gateway.

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