Home appliance systems and programs

Abstract

To provide a consumer electronics system and program that can improve convenience.SOLUTION: A consumer electronics system according to an embodiment includes an information management unit and a registration unit. The information management unit associates and manages connection information required when performing connection registration of consumer electronics with respect to a network and special information for approving or identifying a user. The registration unit acquires the connection information managed in association with the special information when the special information is input in performing connection registration of the consumer electronics with the network, and performs connection registration of the consumer electronics by using the acquired connection information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a home appliance system and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In a known home appliance system, when a user registers a home appliance to a network, the user inputs information required for the registration into a terminal device, and the information is transmitted from the terminal device to the home appliance, thereby enabling the home appliance to be registered. However, further improvements in the convenience of home appliance systems are expected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-207527 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a home appliance system and a program that can improve convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The home appliance system of the embodiment includes an information management unit and a registration unit. The information management unit manages connection information required for registering a home appliance to a network in association with special information for approving or identifying a user. When registering a home appliance to the network, if the special information is input, the registration unit acquires the connection information managed in association with the special information, and registers the home appliance to the network using the acquired connection information. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1]1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a home appliance system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a home electric appliance according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a terminal device according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of correspondence relationship information according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a first example of a registration operation of the first home electric device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a second example of the registration operation of the first home electric device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a registration operation of a second home electric device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a terminal device according to a first modified example of the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a terminal device according to a second modified example of the first embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a home appliance system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a device sharing operation of home electric appliances according to the second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of device sharing among home electric appliances according to a modified example of the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] Hereinafter, a home appliance system and a program according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having the same or similar functions are given the same reference numerals. Then, duplicated descriptions of those components may be omitted. "Based on XX" means "based on at least XX" and may include a case where the component is based on another element in addition to XX. "XX or YY" is not limited to either XX or YY, but may include both XX and YY. This also applies to a case where there are three or more selective elements. "XX" and "YY" are any element (e.g., any information).

[0008] (First embodiment) <1. Overall configuration of home appliance system> 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a home appliance system 1 according to a first embodiment. The home appliance system 1 includes, for example, one or more home appliances 100, a wireless router R, a server 200, and a terminal device 300. Note that one or more of the home appliances 100, the wireless router R, the server 200, and the terminal device 300 may be provided as external components of the home appliance system 1. The network NW described below may be, for example, the Internet, a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, a Low Power Wide Area (LPWA), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Local Area Network (LAN), or other public lines or dedicated lines, depending on the situation.

[0009] The home appliances 100 are placed in the residence of a user U. The home appliances 100 are, for example, but not limited to, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, an air conditioner, a microwave oven, a rice cooker, or an iron. The home appliances 100 are connected to a network NW via a wireless router R and a modem M installed in the residence of the user U. The home appliances 100 can communicate with a server 200 or a terminal device 300 via the network NW. The home appliances 100 include, for example, a first home appliance 100A that is registered for connection to the network NW first, and a second home appliance 100B that is registered for connection to the network NW after the first home appliance 100A.

[0010] The wireless router R is a part of the network NW and functions as an access point AP of the network NW. In this application, "registering the home appliance 100 for connection to the network NW" means, for example, establishing a connection between the wireless router R and the home appliance 100. The wireless router R includes, for example, a WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) button Ra. The WPS button Ra is a button for easily setting up a wireless LAN connection.

[0011] The server 200 is composed of one or more server devices (e.g., cloud servers). The server 200 may be referred to as a "server system." The server 200 is capable of communicating with the home appliance 100 or the terminal device 300 via the network NW. The server 200 is a management server that manages the home appliance 100. The server 200 may include an information processing unit that performs edge computing or fog computing, such as an information processing unit included in a router in the network NW. The server 200 is not limited to a cloud server, and may be a computer in the residence of the user U1, or a home router (e.g., wireless router R).

[0012] The terminal device 300 is a terminal device used by a user U of the home appliance 100. The terminal device 300 is, for example, a mobile terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal device. However, the terminal device 300 is not limited to a mobile terminal device and may be a personal computer or the like. The terminal device 300 has a display device 301 including a display screen capable of displaying various information, and an input receiving unit 302 capable of receiving input from the user U. The input receiving unit 302 is, for example, a touch panel provided on top of the display screen of the display device 301. The input receiving unit 302 may include a camera, a microphone, and the like provided in the terminal device 300.

[0013] In the terminal device 300, for example, an operating system P, a first application program P1, and a second application program P2 (home appliance management application program) are installed. The first application program P1 is an application program with a purpose different from that of managing the home appliance 100, and is an application program related to games, shopping, or use of financial institutions. The first application program P1 provides functions that require high security, such as payment and checking a deposit balance, and has an authentication function using biometric authentication as described below. The second application program P2 is an application program for managing the home appliance 100, and is used, for example, to check the status of the home appliance 100, to remotely control it, to use a monitoring function, and the like.

[0014] <2. Configuration of home appliances> Next, the home appliance 100 will be described in detail. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the home appliance 100. The home appliance 100 includes, for example, an actuator 110, an operation unit 120, a main body control unit 130, a communication control unit 140, and a storage unit 150.

[0015] Actuator 110 is a drive unit for operating the main functions of home appliance 100. For example, if home appliance 100 is a refrigerator, actuator 110 is a compressor that compresses a refrigerant, a blower that circulates cool air inside the refrigerator, etc. If home appliance 100 is a washing machine, actuator 110 is a motor that rotates a washing tub, etc.

[0016] Operation unit 120 is an operation button or a touch panel provided on home appliance 100. Operation unit 120 is capable of accepting operations from user U. Operation unit 120 includes, for example, a WPS button 120a. WPS button 120a is a button for easily performing connection settings for a wireless LAN.

[0017] The main body control unit 130 and the communication control unit 140 are realized by executing a program using one or more hardware processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) mounted on the home appliance 100. However, some or all of these functional units may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

[0018] The main body control unit 130 performs overall control of the home appliance 100. For example, the main body control unit 130 controls the actuator 110 based on the detection result of a sensor provided in the home appliance 100, thereby causing the home appliance 100 to operate.

[0019] The communication control unit 140 includes a wireless communication module, and is wirelessly connected to the wireless router R. The communication control unit 140 controls communication between the home appliance 100 and the wireless router R. For example, when registering the connection of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, the communication control unit 140 performs processing required for the connection registration between the home appliance 100 and the wireless router R, using registration information 151 (information on the home appliance 100 side required for connection registration) stored in the storage unit 150.

[0020] In this embodiment, the communication control unit 140 can switch the operation state of the home appliance 100 between a station mode and an access point mode, for example, in response to an operation of the user U on the operation unit 120. When the home appliance 100 operates in the station mode, it operates as a client of the wireless router R (access point AP) using an SSID (Service Set Identifier) ​​and a password (encryption key) of the wireless router R. On the other hand, when the home appliance 100 operates in the access point mode, it can use the terminal device 300 as a client.

[0021] The storage unit 150 is realized by a combination of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), an SSD (Solid State Drive), etc. The storage unit 150 stores registration information 151 required for connection registration between the home appliance 100 and the wireless router R.

[0022] <3. Server configuration> Next, the server 200 will be described in detail. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the server 200. The server 200 has, for example, a home appliance management unit 210, a communication control unit 220, a registration unit 230, and a storage unit 240. The home appliance management unit 210, the communication control unit 220, and the registration unit 230 are realized by one or more hardware processors such as a CPU mounted on the server 200 executing a program. However, some or all of these functional units may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC, a PLD, or an FPGA, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware.

[0023] The home appliance management unit 210 manages the home appliance 100 for which appliance registration, which will be described later, has been performed. For example, when the home appliance management unit 210 receives a confirmation request from the terminal device 300 to confirm the state of the home appliance 100, the home appliance management unit 210 notifies the home appliance 100 of a request to transmit state information indicating the state of the home appliance 100. Then, the home appliance management unit 210 transmits information indicating the state of the home appliance 100 to the terminal device 300 based on the state information received from the home appliance 100. Furthermore, when the home appliance management unit 210 receives a remote control request to remotely control the home appliance 100 from the terminal device 300, the home appliance management unit 210 remotely controls the home appliance 100 by notifying the home appliance 100 of a control command corresponding to the received remote control request.

[0024] The communication control unit 220 is connected to the home appliance 100 via the network NW, the wireless router R, and the like. The communication control unit 220 controls communication between the home appliance 100 and the wireless router R. For example, the communication control unit 220 performs processing required for connection registration between the home appliance 100 and the wireless router R, using connection information 372 (information on the wireless router R side required for connection registration of the home appliance 100) described later. This processing will be described in detail later.

[0025] The registration unit 230 performs connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW (establishment of communication between the home appliance 100 and the wireless router R) and performs device registration of the home appliance 100 including association between user information and the home appliance 100. In this application, for convenience of explanation, "connection registration" and "device registration" are described separately, but "connection registration" and "device registration" may be performed together as one registration. In this embodiment, when authentication information of a user U is input to the terminal device 300 when performing connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, the registration unit 230 acquires connection information 372 managed in association with the authentication information from the terminal device 300, and performs connection registration of the home appliance 100 using the acquired connection information 372. This process will be described in detail later.

[0026] The storage unit 240 is realized by a combination of a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an SSD, etc. The storage unit 240 stores, for example, product information 241, connection registration information 242, and device registration information 243.

[0027] The product information 241 is information including the model, type name, and serial number of the home appliance 100 that has been shipped. The "model" refers to the type of home appliance 100. The "type name" is a more detailed classification than the model, and is information that can distinguish between different colors of the home appliance 100, for example. The "serial number" is unique identification information given to each home appliance 100.

[0028] The connection registration information 242 is information indicating the contents of the connection registration of each home appliance 100 to the network NW. For each combination of the wireless router R and the home appliance 100 for which a connection has been established, the connection registration information 242 includes, for example, connection information 372 of the wireless router R (for example, one or more of the SSID, password, IP address (Internet Protocol Address), or MAC address (Media Access Control address) of the wireless router R) and registration information of the home appliance 100 (for example, one or more of the IP address or MAC address of the home appliance 100). In this embodiment, the connection information 372 includes, for example, the SSID and password of the wireless router R. Note that in this embodiment, the connection information 372 may include at least one of the IP address and MAC address of the wireless router R in addition to the SSID and password of the wireless router R. After the connection registration of the home appliance 100 is performed, the communication control unit 220 communicates between the server 200 and the home appliance 100 based on the connection registration information 242.

[0029] The device registration information 243 is information indicating the details of device registration of the home appliance 100. The device registration information 243 includes a correspondence relationship between the home appliance 100 and user information of a user U who uses the home appliance 100. The user information includes, for example, a user ID (account), a name, and an address of the user U. The user ID is an example of identification information of the user U.

[0030] <4. Terminal device configuration> Next, the terminal device 300 will be described in detail. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the terminal device 300. The terminal device 300 includes, for example, a first authentication unit 310, a control unit 320, a home appliance management unit 330, a registration support unit 340, an information management unit 350, a second authentication unit 360, and a storage unit 370.

[0031] The first authentication unit 310 and the control unit 320 are realized by one or more hardware processors, such as a CPU, mounted on the terminal device 300 executing an operating system P or a first application program P1.

[0032] The first authentication unit 310 is an authentication unit that authenticates the user U in association with the function of the operating system P or the first application program P1. In this embodiment, the first authentication unit 310 performs biometric authentication using authentication information 371 related to the biometric authentication of the user U stored in the storage unit 370. The authentication information 371 includes one or more pieces of authentication information such as a fingerprint, DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), palm shape, retina, iris, face, blood vessels, voice, and ear shape. The authentication information 371 of the user U is acquired in advance by the input reception unit 302 (such as a touch panel, a camera, or a microphone) of the terminal device 300 and stored in the storage unit 370.

[0033] For example, the first authentication unit 310 requests the user U to input authentication information 371 before the operating system P or the first application program P1 executes a predetermined process. Then, the first authentication unit 310 compares the input authentication information 371 with the authentication information 371 stored in the storage unit 370. If the input authentication information 371 matches the authentication information 371 stored in the storage unit 370, the first authentication unit 310 determines that the user U is a legitimate user and proceeds to subsequent processing by the operating system P or the first application program P1. On the other hand, if the input authentication information 371 does not match the authentication information 371 stored in the storage unit 370, the first authentication unit 310 determines that the user U is not a legitimate user and causes the display device 301 to display information indicating an error.

[0034] The process by the operating system P or the first application program P1 that performs authentication by the first authentication unit 310 is, for example, a process for unlocking the terminal device 300, or a process for checking a payment or a deposit balance. In other words, the authentication information 371 is information that is registered in advance in the terminal device 300 of the user U for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW. The authentication information 371 is information for approving or identifying the user U, and is an example of "special information."

[0035] In this application, "approval" is used in a broader sense than "authentication." In this application, "approval of user U" is not limited to approval (authentication) that user U is a valid user, but may be approval that the operation of user U performed (or will be performed) on terminal device 300 is valid.

[0036] The control unit 320 is a control unit that controls the terminal device 300 in accordance with processing by the operating system P or the first application program P1. For example, the control unit 320 controls the display device 301 and the input receiving unit 302.

[0037] The home appliance management unit 330, the registration support unit 340, the information management unit 350, and the second authentication unit 360 are realized by one or more hardware processors, such as a CPU, mounted on the terminal device 300 executing a second application program P2 (home appliance management application program).

[0038] The home appliance management unit 330 manages the home appliance 100 for which device registration has been performed, via the server 200. For example, the home appliance management unit 330 accepts an operation of the user U to check the state of the home appliance 100, via the input reception unit 302. In this case, the home appliance management unit 330 transmits a confirmation request to the server 200 to check the state of the home appliance 100. Then, the home appliance management unit 330 receives information indicating the state of the home appliance 100 from the server 200, and displays the received information on the display device 301. In addition, the home appliance management unit 330 accepts an operation of the user U to remotely control the home appliance 100, via the input reception unit 302. In this case, the home appliance management unit 330 transmits a remote control request to remotely control the home appliance 100, to the server 200.

[0039] The registration support unit 340 supports the operation of the user U to perform "connection registration" and "device registration". For example, the registration support unit 340 displays the procedure for performing "connection registration" and "device registration" on the display device 301. This process will be described in detail later.

[0040] The information management unit 350 manages connection information 372 (e.g., information on the wireless router R side) required when registering the connection of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, in association with authentication information 371 of the user U. In this embodiment, the information management unit 350 manages connection information 372 used when registering the connection of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW, in association with authentication information 371 of the user U. In this embodiment, the information management unit 350 uses authentication information 371 used in authentication by the first authentication unit 310 (authentication information registered in the terminal device 300 for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance 100) as authentication information 371 to be associated with the connection information 372. The processing of the information management unit 350 will be described in detail later.

[0041] The second authentication unit 360 is an authentication unit that authenticates the user U in relation to the processing of the second application program P2 (processing of connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW). In this embodiment, the second authentication unit 360 performs biometric authentication using authentication information 371 related to the biometric authentication of the user U. In this embodiment, the second authentication unit 360 performs authentication using the same authentication information 371 as the first authentication unit 310.

[0042] For example, the second authentication unit 360 requests the user U to input authentication information 371 before the second application program P2 executes a predetermined process (processing of connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW). Then, the second authentication unit 360 compares the input authentication information 371 with the authentication information 371 stored in the storage unit 370. If the input authentication information 371 matches the authentication information 371 stored in the storage unit 370, the second authentication unit 360 determines that the user U is a legitimate user, and proceeds to the subsequent process by the second application program P2 (processing of connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW). On the other hand, if the input authentication information 371 does not match the authentication information 371 stored in the storage unit 370, the second authentication unit 360 determines that the user U is not a legitimate user, and causes the display device 301 to display error information.

[0043] The storage unit 370 is realized by a combination of a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an SSD, etc. The storage unit 370 stores, for example, authentication information 371, connection information 372, user information 373, and correspondence information 374. The contents of the authentication information 371 are as described above.

[0044] The connection information 372 is information required when registering the connection of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, and is information related to the wireless router R (access point AP) to be connected. For example, the connection information 372 is information for the home appliance 100 to connect to the wireless router R to be connected. For example, the connection information 372 includes one or more of the SSID, password, IP address, and MAC address of the wireless router R to be connected. As described above, in this embodiment, the connection information 372 includes, for example, the SSID and password of the wireless router R. Note that in this embodiment, the connection information 372 may include at least one of the IP address and MAC address of the wireless router R in addition to the SSID and password of the wireless router R. The wireless router R to be connected means, for example, the wireless router R arranged in the same residence as the home appliance 100 to be connected. The connection information 372 is information for identifying the wireless router R arranged in the same residence as the home appliance 100 to be connected.

[0045] The user information 373 is information that is managed in association with the home appliance 100 during appliance registration of the home appliance 100. As described above, the user information 373 includes the user U's user ID (account), name, address, and the like.

[0046] The correspondence information 374 is information indicating a correspondence between the authentication information 371 and the connection information 372. In this embodiment, the correspondence information 374 is information indicating a correspondence between the authentication information 371, the connection information 372, and the user information 373. In this embodiment, when performing connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW, the information management unit 350 registers a correspondence between the connection information 372 used in connection registration of the first home appliance 100A and the authentication information 371 of the user U in the correspondence information 374, thereby managing the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 of the user U in association with each other.

[0047] 5 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence information 374. In the correspondence information 374, for example, authentication information 371, connection information 372 (for example, the SSID, password, IP address, and MAC address of the wireless router R), and user information 373 (for example, a user ID, a name, and an address) are registered in association with each other.

[0048] <5. Registration operation> <5.1 Registration of the first home appliance> Next, the registration operation of the home appliance 100 will be described. First, the registration operation of the first home appliance 100 (first home appliance 100A) to the network NW will be described. In this embodiment, two types of registration operation of the first home appliance 100, "easy connection operation" and "normal connection operation", are available. Therefore, the above two types of registration operation will be described here. In the following description, it is assumed that user registration (obtaining a user ID, etc.) has been completed using the second application program P2 installed in the terminal device 300.

[0049] <5.1.1 Example of using the Easy Connection operation> 6 is a sequence diagram showing a first example (simple connection) of the registration operation of the first home electric appliance 100A. The following steps required for the registration operation are displayed on the display device 301 by the registration support unit 340 of the terminal device 300, and are sequentially guided to the user U.

[0050] First, the registration support unit 340 of the terminal device 300 accepts an operation by the user U indicating the start of device registration of the first home appliance 100A (S101). In this case, the registration support unit 340 accepts the selection of the model of the first home appliance 100A through the input acceptance unit 302 (S102). Next, the registration support unit 340 guides the user U to read a QR code (registered trademark) attached to the home appliance 100 (S103). As a result, the user U reads the QR code using the camera of the terminal device 300. The QR code is an example of a "two-dimensional barcode."

[0051] Next, the registration support unit 340 transmits to the server 200 model information indicating the selected model and QR code information indicating the read QR code (S104). In this case, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 identifies the first home appliance 100A based on the received model information and QR code information and the product information 241 stored in the storage unit 370 (S105). The registration unit 230 of the server 200 transmits information indicating the model name and product number of the identified first home appliance 100A to the terminal device 300 (S106). Then, the registration support unit 340 displays the model name and product number of the first home appliance 100A on the display device 301, and asks the user U to confirm whether the first home appliance 100A is indeed the home appliance 100 to be registered.

[0052] Next, the registration support unit 340 inquires of the user U whether to select a simple connection operation or a normal connection operation as a connection method for the first home appliance 100A to the network NW, and accepts the user U's selection (S111). If the user U selects the simple connection operation, the user U operates the WPS button Ra of the wireless router R and also operates the WPS button 120a of the home appliance 100. In this case, the wireless router R accepts the operation of the WPS button Ra (S112). The first home appliance 100A accepts the operation of the WPS 120a (S113).

[0053] When the WPS button Ra is operated, the wireless router R authenticates the first home appliance 100A whose WPS button 120a has also been operated, and transmits the connection information 372 (for example, the SSID and password of the wireless router R) of the wireless router R to the authenticated first home appliance 100A (S114). Next, the first home appliance 100A transmits the registration information 151 of the first home appliance 100A to the wireless router R using the connection information 372 received from the wireless router R (S115). Then, a predetermined setting including an encryption setting is performed between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A, and a wireless connection between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A is established. Then, the information is registered in the connection registration information 242 required for future communication between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A by the registration unit 230 of the server 200. This completes the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW (S116). In this embodiment, after the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW is completed, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 transmits the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW to the terminal device 300 (S117). The terminal device 300 stores the connection information 372 received from the server 200 in the storage unit 370 so that the connection information 372 can be used for the next and subsequent connection registrations of the home appliance 100 (S118).

[0054] Next, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 inquires of the terminal device 300 about the user information 373 (S121). The registration support unit 340 of the terminal device 300 accepts the input of the user information 373 through the input acceptance unit 302 (S122). The registration support unit 340 of the terminal device 300 stores the input user information 373 in the storage unit 370 and transmits the input user information 373 to the server 200 (S123). The registration unit 230 of the server 200 performs device registration of the first home appliance 100A based on the user information 373 received from the terminal device 300 and information indicating the first home appliance 100A identified in the process of S105 (S124).

[0055] Next, the information management unit 350 of the terminal device 300 confirms through the display device 301 that the connection information 372 used in the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A will be used for the connection registration of the next home appliance 100 and that the authentication information 371 will be used to approve the use of the connection information 372 through the display device 301 (S131). That is, the information management unit 350 inquires of the user U whether or not to associate and manage the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 used in the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A. When an affirmative response from the user U is received in response to the above confirmation, the information management unit 350 associates and manages the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 used in the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A (S132). That is, the information management unit 350 generates correspondence information 374 that associates the connection information 372 with the authentication information 371. On the other hand, when a negative response from the user U to the above confirmation is received, the information management unit 350 does not associate the connection information 372 used in the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A with the authentication information 371, and discards the stored connection information 372. This completes a series of registration operations for the first home appliance 100A.

[0056] In the above example, the process of managing the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 in association with each other (correspondence management process) is performed at the end of the registration operation of the first home appliance 100A. However, the correspondence management process may be performed at a timing different from that in the above example. For example, the correspondence management process may be performed immediately after the connection between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A is established. Moreover, the correspondence management process may be performed before the connection between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A is established. The same applies to the normal connection operation described below.

[0057] <5.1.2 Example of normal connection operation> 7 is a sequence diagram showing a second example (normal connection operation) of the registration operation of the first home electric device 100A. Note that the same operations as those in the simple connection operation are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0058] In the normal connection operation, after the processes of S101 to S106, the registration support unit 340 inquires of the user U whether to select the simple connection operation or the normal connection operation as the connection method of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW, and accepts the user U's selection (S111). If the user U selects the normal connection operation, the user U performs a predetermined operation on the operation unit 120 of the first home appliance 100A to cause the first home appliance 100A to transition to an access point mode (AP mode) (S141). Note that, if the terminal device 300 and the first home appliance 100A are capable of direct wireless communication (for example, wireless communication by Bluetooth (registered trademark)), the first home appliance 100A may transition to the AP mode based on a predetermined operation on the terminal device 300.

[0059] In the normal connection operation, the registration support unit 340 of the terminal device 300 accepts input of connection information 372 of the wireless router R by an operation of the user U via the input acceptance unit 302 (S142). Then, the registration support unit 340 stores the input connection information 372 in the storage unit 370 (S143).

[0060] Next, the terminal device 300 switches the connection destination of the terminal device 300 from the wireless router R to the first home appliance 100A based on the operation of the user U through the input receiving unit 302. Here, the SSID of the first home appliance 100A in the access point mode is set according to the model name of the first home appliance 100A or the like, and can be recognized by the user U. In addition, the password of the first home appliance 100A in the access point mode is either known in advance to the user U or registered in advance in the second application program P2. As a result, the terminal device 300 and the first home appliance 100A are wirelessly connected.

[0061] Next, the registration support unit 340 transmits the connection information 372 input by the user U to the first home appliance 100A in the access point mode (S144). When the first home appliance 100A receives the connection information 372 from the terminal device 300, it switches the home appliance 100 to the station mode (S145). The first home appliance 100A transmits the registration information 151 of the first home appliance 100A to the wireless router R using the connection information 372 received from the terminal device 300 (S146). Then, a predetermined setting including an encryption setting is performed between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A, and a wireless connection between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A is established. Then, the information is registered in the connection registration information 242 required for future communication between the wireless router R and the first home appliance 100A by the registration unit 230 of the server 200. This completes the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW (S147). The subsequent processing is the same as in the simple connection operation.

[0062] <5.2 Registration of the second home appliance> Next, a registration operation of the second home appliance 100 (second home appliance 100B) will be described. Note that the registration operation of the third and subsequent home appliances 100 is similar to the registration operation of the second home appliance 100.

[0063] 8 is a sequence diagram showing the registration operation of the second home appliance 100B. The processes of S201 to S206 are similar to the processes of S101 to S106 of the registration operation of the first home appliance 100A. That is, the processes of S201 to S206 can be read by replacing "first home appliance 100A" with "second home appliance 100B" in the above description of the processes of S101 to S106.

[0064] In the registration operation of the second home electric appliance 100B, the second authentication unit 360 performs authentication using the authentication information 371 of the user U after the processes of S201 to S206 (S211). When the information management unit 350 determines that the user U is a legitimate user through authentication by the second authentication unit 360, the information management unit 350 acquires the user information 373 and the connection information 372 managed in association with the authentication information 371 of the user U from the storage unit 370 based on the correspondence information 374. Then, the information management unit 350 transmits the acquired user information 373 and the connection information 372 to the server 200 (S212). As a result, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 acquires the user information 373 and the connection information 372 managed in association with the authentication information 371 of the user U from the terminal device 300.

[0065] Next, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 identifies the wireless router R connected to the second home appliance 100B based on the connection information 372 acquired from the terminal device 300 (S213). For example, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 identifies the wireless router R connected to the second home appliance 100B based on the SSID of the wireless router R included in the connection information 372 acquired from the terminal device 300. The registration unit 230 of the server 200 performs a connection operation to connect the second home appliance 100B identified by the process of S205 to the wireless router R identified by the process of S213. For example, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 transmits the connection information 372 acquired from the terminal device 300 to the second home appliance 100B through the wireless router R (S221).

[0066] More specifically, in one example, the second home appliance 100B transitions to the AP mode based on the operation of the user U. The method of transitioning the second home appliance 100B to the AP mode is the same as the method of transitioning the first home appliance 100A to the AP mode, for example. That is, the method of transitioning the second home appliance 100B to the AP mode is, for example, that the user U performs a predetermined operation on the operation unit 120 of the second home appliance 100B, or, if the terminal device 300 and the second home appliance 100B are capable of direct wireless communication (for example, wireless communication by Bluetooth), that the user U performs a predetermined operation on the terminal device 300. In addition, instead of the above method, the second home appliance 100B may be transitioned to the AP mode by voice input (voice operation) using a voice dialogue device provided as a part of the second home appliance 100B or a voice dialogue device capable of communicating with the second home appliance 100B.

[0067] Here, by setting an upper limit on the time that the second home appliance 100B continuously operates in the AP mode, the connection information of the AP mode of the second home appliance 100B (SSID and password of the second home appliance 100B) can be the same connection information, instead of being different for each device. The connection information of the AP mode of the second home appliance 100B is held in the server 200. Note that it is also possible to set not to set a password for the second home appliance 100B, and not to encrypt communication with the second home appliance 100B.

[0068] When an operation to switch the second home appliance 100B to the AP mode is performed, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 connects to the second home appliance 100B in the AP mode using the connection information of the second home appliance 100B held by the server 200. The registration unit 230 of the server 200 then transmits the connection information 372 acquired from the terminal device 300 to the second home appliance 100B via the wireless router R. This allows the connection information 372 to be passed to the second home appliance 100B. The second home appliance 100B that has acquired the connection information 372 switches to the client mode.

[0069] The method of passing the connection information 372 from the server 200 to the second home appliance 100B is not limited to the method of switching the second home appliance 100B to the AP mode. For example, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 may identify a wireless router R located in the same subnet as the second home appliance 100B, and transmit the connection information 372 by broadcast to the home appliance 100 located in the same subnet as the wireless router R through the identified wireless router R. The connection information 372 can be passed to the second home appliance 100B by such a method as well.

[0070] When the second home appliance 100B receives the connection information 372 by any of the above methods, the second home appliance 100B transmits the registration information 151 of the second home appliance 100B to the wireless router R using the received connection information 372 (S222). Then, a predetermined setting including an encryption setting is performed between the wireless router R and the second home appliance 100B, and a wireless connection between the wireless router R and the second home appliance 100B is established. Then, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 registers information required for future communication between the wireless router R and the second home appliance 100B in the connection registration information 242. This completes the connection registration of the second home appliance 100B to the network NW (S223). Next, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 performs device registration of the second home appliance 100B based on the user information 373 received from the terminal device 300 in the process of S212 and the information indicating the second home appliance 100B identified in the process of S205 (S224). This completes the registration operation of the second home appliance 100B.

[0071] <6. Advantages> As a comparative example, consider a case where the information management unit 350 and the registration unit 230 described above do not exist. In this case, in order to register the second or subsequent home appliance 100 to the network NW, the user U needs to repeat the operations performed in registering the first home appliance 100 (for example, pressing the WPS button Ra of the wireless router R and the WPS button 120a of the home appliance 100, switching the home appliance 100 to the access point mode, inputting the SSID of the wireless router R, etc., into the terminal device 300 and transmitting it to the home appliance 100). For this reason, there is room for improvement in terms of convenience.

[0072] On the other hand, in this embodiment, the information management unit 350 manages the connection information 372 required for registering the connection of the home appliance 100 to the network NW in association with special information (e.g., authentication information 371) for approving or identifying the user U. When the special information is inputted in registering the connection of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, the registration unit 230 acquires the connection information 372 managed in association with the special information, and performs the connection registration of the home appliance 100 using the acquired connection information 372. With this configuration, the user U can register the connection of the home appliance 100 to the network NW by inputting the special information, without having to input the connection information 372 each time. This can improve convenience.

[0073] In this embodiment, the information management unit 350 manages the connection information 372 used when performing connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW in association with the special information. When performing connection registration of the second home appliance 100B to the network NW, if the special information is input, the registration unit 230 acquires the connection information 372 managed in association with the special information, and performs connection registration of the second home appliance 100B using the acquired connection information 372. With this configuration, when performing connection registration of the second or subsequent home appliances 100, the information used for connection registration of the first home appliance 100 can be used. This can further improve convenience.

[0074] In this embodiment, when performing connection registration of the first home appliance 100A to the network NW, the information management unit 350 inquires of the user U whether or not to associate and manage the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A with the special information. When an affirmative answer from the user U is received, the information management unit 350 manages the connection information 372 with the special information in association with each other. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the connection information 372 and the special information from being associated and managed without the user U's intention. This makes it possible to provide the user U with a high sense of security.

[0075] In this embodiment, the special information is authentication information related to biometric authentication of the user U. According to such a configuration, compared to a case where the special information is a password or the like, it may be possible to realize higher security and to prevent input errors by the user U. This makes it possible to further improve convenience.

[0076] In this embodiment, when special information has already been registered in the terminal device 300 of the user U for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, the information management unit 350 manages the connection information 372 and the special information in association with each other. With this configuration, the user U does not need to register new special information by using the special information that has already been registered. In addition, since there is no need to manage special information in the second application program P2, the development cost of the second application program P2 can be reduced.

[0077] <7. Variations> Next, a description will be given of some modified examples of the first embodiment. In each modified example, the configuration other than that described below is the same as that of the first embodiment.

[0078] <7.1 First modified example> 9 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the terminal device 300 of the first modified example. In the first modified example, the authentication information 371 includes a plurality of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... of different types. For example, the authentication information 371a is any one of a fingerprint, DNA, palm shape, retina, iris, face, blood vessels, voice, ear shape, etc. The authentication information 371b is another one of a fingerprint, DNA, palm shape, retina, iris, face, blood vessels, voice, ear shape, etc.

[0079] In this modification, the multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... are authentication information used in authentication by the first authentication unit 310. In other words, the multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... are authentication information that have been registered in the terminal device 300 for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW. The multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... may be authentication information used simultaneously in authentication by the first authentication unit 310, or may be authentication information used independently of each other (for example, used separately by the operation system P and the first application program P1).

[0080] In this modification, when there are multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... registered in the storage unit 370, the information management unit 350 collectively manages the connection information 372 and the multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... in association with each other. When performing connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW and authentication information (e.g., one piece of authentication information) included in the multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, ... is input to the terminal device 300, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 acquires the connection information 372 managed in association with the authentication information 371 from the terminal device 300, and performs connection registration of the home appliance 100 using the acquired connection information 372.

[0081] According to this configuration, the connection registration of the home appliance 100 is performed using authentication information that the user U desires to use from among the multiple pieces of authentication information 371a, 371b, .... This can further improve convenience.

[0082] <7.2 Second modified example> 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the terminal device 300 of the second modified example. In the second modified example, the authentication information 371 includes first authentication information 371X and second authentication information 371Y that are used independently of each other. The first authentication information 371X is, for example, any one of a fingerprint, DNA, palm shape, retina, iris, face, blood vessels, voice, ear shape, etc. The second authentication information 371Y is, for example, any other one of a fingerprint, DNA, palm shape, retina, iris, face, blood vessels, voice, ear shape, etc.

[0083] The first authentication information 371X is authentication information used in authentication by the first authentication unit 310. The first authentication information 371X is authentication information that has been registered for a purpose other than connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW, and is an example of "first special information." The second authentication information 371Y is information that is used in authentication by the second authentication unit 360. The second authentication information 371Y is authentication information 371 that is managed in association with the connection information 372, and is an example of "second special information."

[0084] In this modified example, the second authentication information 371Y is authentication information that is not used in authentication by the first authentication unit 310. In other words, the information management unit 350 in this modified example manages the second authentication information 371Y, which is different from the first authentication information 371X, in association with the connection information 372. In this modified example, after the process of S131 shown in Fig. 6 or 7, a process of registering the second authentication information 371Y is performed. In this process, a guide such as "Please enter your fingerprint" is given to the user U.

[0085] According to this configuration, the authentication information not used in the authentication by the first authentication unit 310 is managed in association with the connection information 372, so that security can be improved.

[0086] Second embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that when the home appliance 100 is shared by a plurality of users U, the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100 is shared by the plurality of users U who share the home appliance 100. Note that the configuration other than that described below is the same as that of the first embodiment. In the following, among the plurality of users U, the user U who has performed the connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW (the user U who is the source of sharing the home appliance 100) is referred to as a "first user UA", and the user U who has not performed the connection registration of the home appliance 100 to the network NW and receives the sharing of the home appliance 100 (the user U who is the destination of sharing the home appliance 100) is referred to as a "second user UB".

[0087] 11 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a home appliance system 1A according to the second embodiment. The home appliance system 1A includes, for example, one or more home appliances 100, a wireless router R, a server 200, a first terminal device 300A, and a second terminal device 300B. The first terminal device 300A is a terminal device 300 used by a first user UA. The second terminal device 300B is a terminal device 300 used by a second user UB.

[0088] 12 is a sequence diagram showing the device sharing operation of the home appliance 100. "Device sharing" means that various functions (such as checking the status of the home appliance 100, remote operation, and monitoring function) of the second application program P2 of each of the terminal devices 300 of the multiple users U become available for the home appliance 100 to be shared. For ease of explanation, the home appliance 100 shared between the first user UA and the second user UB will be referred to as "home appliance 100S" below.

[0089] First, the first terminal device 300A accepts an operation of the first user UA indicating the start of device sharing of the home appliance 100S (S301). In this case, the registration support unit 340 of the first terminal device 300A accepts the selection of the home appliance 100S to be shared through the input acceptance unit 302 (S302). Next, the registration support unit 340 of the first terminal device 300A accepts the selection of the user U (second user UB) who will share the home appliance 100S through the input acceptance unit 302 (S303).

[0090] Then, the information management unit 350 of the first terminal device 300A associates information indicating the home appliance 100S and the second user UB with the connection information 372 used when the home appliance 100S was registered in the network NW, and transmits the information to the server 200 (S304). Next, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 transmits an inquiry to the second terminal device 300B used by the second user UB as to whether or not to share the home appliance 100S (S305).

[0091] When the second user UB inputs an affirmative response to the inquiry to the input receiving unit 302, the registration support unit 340 of the second terminal device 300B accepts consent to sharing the home appliance 100S (S306). In this case, the registration support unit 340 of the second terminal device 300B transmits state information indicating consent to sharing the home appliance 100S to the server 200 (S307). When the registration unit 230 of the server 200 receives the state information from the second terminal device 300B, it performs sharing registration of the home appliance 100S (S308). This allows the second user UB (second terminal device 300B) to use various functions (such as checking the state of the home appliance 100, remote control, and monitoring function) of the second application program P2 (home appliance management application program) in the same way as the first user UA (first terminal device 300A).

[0092] When the home appliance 100S is registered for sharing, the registration unit 230 of the server 200 transmits the connection information 372 used by the first user UA when the home appliance 100S is registered for connection to the second terminal device 300B of the second user UB who shares the home appliance 100S. In this case, the information management unit 350 of the second terminal device 300B stores the connection information 372 received from the server 200 in the storage unit 370.

[0093] Next, the information management unit 350 of the second terminal device 300B confirms through the display device 301 that the connection information 372 used by the first user UA when registering the home appliance 100S will be used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100 performed by the second user UB in the future, and that the authentication information 371 of the second user UB will be used to approve the use of the connection information 372 by the second user UB in the future (S313). That is, the information management unit 350 inquires of the second user UB whether or not to associate and manage the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100S and the authentication information 371 of the second user UB. If an affirmative response from the second user UB is received in response to the above confirmation, the information management unit 350 associates and manages the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100S and the authentication information 371 of the second user UB (S314). That is, the information management unit 350 of the second terminal device 300B generates correspondence relationship information 374 that associates the connection information 372 with the authentication information 371 of the second user UB. This completes the sharing operation of the home appliance 100S. As a result, the second user UB can perform future connection registration of the home appliance 100 by the procedure shown in FIG.

[0094] According to such a configuration, the second user UB can use the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100S that the second user UB has not directly performed, to perform the connection registration of the home appliance 100 in the future. This can further improve the convenience.

[0095] <Modification> Next, a description will be given of a modified example of the second embodiment. In this modified example, the configuration other than that described below is the same as that of the second embodiment.

[0096] 13 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of sharing registration of the home appliance 100 in the modified example. In this modified example, the second authentication unit 360 of the first terminal device 300A authenticates the first user UA using the authentication information 371 of the first user UA (321) before the process of transmitting the connection information 372 used in the connection registration of the home appliance 100S to the server 200 (i.e., before the process of S304). Then, when the information management unit 350 of the first terminal device 300A determines that the first user UA is a legitimate first user UA through the authentication by the second authentication unit 360, it transmits information indicating the home appliance 100S and the second user UB and the connection information 372 used in the connection registration of the home appliance 100S to the server 200 (S304).

[0097] In this modification, the second authentication unit 360 of the second terminal device 300B authenticates the second user UB using the authentication information 371 of the second user UB (322) before the process of managing the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100S in association with the authentication information 371 of the second user UB (i.e., before the process of S314). Then, when it is determined that the second user UB is the legitimate second user UB by the authentication by the second authentication unit 360, the information management unit 350 of the second terminal device 300B manages the connection information 372 used for the connection registration of the home appliance 100S in association with the authentication information 371 of the second user UB (S314).

[0098] According to such a configuration, it is possible to ensure high security in both sharing the connection information 372 used at the time of connection registration of the home appliance 100S and in managing the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 of the second user UB in association with each other. Note that either one of the process of S321 or the process of S322 may be omitted.

[0099] Some embodiments and modifications have been described above. However, the embodiments and modifications are not limited to the above examples. For example, two or more of the above-described embodiments and modifications may be realized in combination with each other.

[0100] For example, the authentication information 371 (special information) may be managed by a functional unit realized by the second application program P2 of the terminal device 300, or may be managed by the memory unit 370 of the terminal device 300, or may be managed by the server 200.

[0101] The authentication information 371 (special information) is not limited to biometric authentication, and may be a password set for each user U. For example, if a login using a password is required to use a function realized by the second application program P2 (home appliance application program), the login may correspond to "authentication using authentication information." In this case, the logged-in user U may be able to perform a process of transmitting the connection information 372 and the user information 373 from the terminal device 300 to the server 200 (the process of S212 in FIG. 8) without requiring any special additional authentication.

[0102] Either or both of the registration support unit 340 and the information management unit 350 may be provided in the server 200, instead of the terminal device 300, or in the home appliance 100. The second authentication unit 360 may be provided in the home appliance 100, instead of the terminal device 300. The registration unit 230 may be provided in the terminal device 300, instead of the server 200, or in the home appliance 100. The device in which the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 (special information) are associated with each other and managed (stored) may be the server 200, instead of the terminal device 300, or in the home appliance 100.

[0103] When the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 are managed in association with each other in the server 200, for example, the process flow is as follows. That is, when the terminal device 300 performs authentication using the authentication information 371 and determines that the user is a legitimate user U, the terminal device 300 transmits the authentication information 371 to the server 200, and the server 200 acquires the connection information 372 corresponding to the authentication information 371. The server 200 then performs connection registration of the home appliance 100 using the acquired connection information 372.

[0104] Note that the "special information" may be information that can identify the user U, instead of the information that approves the user U. The "information that can identify the user U" is, for example, identification information (such as a user ID) of the user U. When the connection information 372 and the user ID are associated and managed in the server 200, for example, the process flow is as follows. That is, when the terminal device 300 performs authentication using the authentication information 371 and determines that the user U is a legitimate user U, the authentication result indicating that the user U is a legitimate user U is associated with the user ID and transmitted to the server 200 from the terminal device 300, and the connection information 372 corresponding to the user ID is acquired in the server 200. The server 200 then performs connection registration of the home appliance 100 using the acquired connection information 372.

[0105] Also, the first home appliance 100A may manage the connection information 372 used at the time of the connection registration of the first home appliance 100A. When the first home appliance 100A manages the connection information 372 and the user ID in association with each other, for example, the following process flow is performed. That is, when the terminal device 300 performs authentication using the authentication information 371 and determines that the user is a legitimate user U, the terminal device 300 transmits the authentication result indicating that the user is a legitimate user U and the user ID in association with each other to the server 200. The server 200 acquires the connection information 372 managed by the first home appliance 100A in association with the received user ID from the first home appliance 100A. Then, the server 200 performs the connection registration of the second home appliance 100B using the acquired connection information 372.

[0106] In the present application, "A and B are associated" or "A and B are associated and managed" is not limited to the case where A and B are directly associated, but also includes the case where A and C are associated and C and B are associated, so that C can be acquired based on A. "A", "B", and "C" referred to here are, for example, any information. In other words, the connection information 372 and the authentication information 371 (special information) are not directly associated, but may be stored separately in different devices (for example, the terminal device 300 and the server 200) and associated with each other via another element.

[0107] According to at least one of the embodiments described above, the home appliance system includes an information management unit and a registration unit. The information management unit manages connection information required for registering a home appliance to a network in association with special information for approving or identifying a user. When registering a home appliance to a network in association with special information, the registration unit acquires the connection information managed in association with the special information and registers the home appliance using the acquired connection information. This configuration can improve convenience.

[0108] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims, as well as in the scope and spirit of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0109] 1...home appliance system, 100...home appliance, 100A...first home appliance, 100B...second home appliance, 200...server, 230...registration unit, 300...terminal device, 350...information management unit, P2...second application program.

Claims

1. an information management unit that manages connection information required for registering a home appliance to connect to a network and special information for approving or identifying a user in association with each other; a registration unit that, when the special information is input, acquires the connection information managed in association with the special information when registering a connection of a home appliance to the network, and registers the connection of the home appliance using the acquired connection information; A home appliance system equipped with

2. The information management unit manages the connection information used when registering a connection of the first home electric appliance to the network and the special information in association with each other; When performing connection registration of a second home electric device to the network, if the special information is input, the registration unit acquires the connection information managed in association with the special information, and performs connection registration of the second home electric device using the acquired connection information. The home appliance system according to claim 1 .

3. the information management unit, when performing connection registration of the first home appliance to the network, inquires of the user as to whether or not to associate and manage the connection information used for connection registration of the first home appliance with the special information, and, when an affirmative answer from the user is received, manages the connection information and the special information in association with each other. The home appliance system according to claim 2 .

4. The connection information includes information about an access point installed in the user's residence. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The special information is authentication information related to biometric authentication of the user. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. When the special information has already been registered in the terminal device of the user for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance to the network, the information management unit manages the connection information and the special information in association with each other. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. When a plurality of pieces of special information have been registered in the terminal device of the user for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance to the network, the information management unit manages the connection information and the plurality of pieces of special information in association with each other; When performing connection registration of a home appliance to the network, if special information included in the plurality of special information is input, the registration unit acquires the connection information managed in association with the special information, and performs connection registration of the home appliance using the acquired connection information. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. When the connection information used when registering a home appliance to the network and the special information of a first user are managed in association with each other, the information management unit manages the connection information and the special information of the second user in association with each other when device sharing of the home appliance is registered for a second user. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The terminal device of the user includes first special information that has been registered for a purpose other than the connection registration of the home appliance to the network, The information management unit manages second special information different from the first special information in association with the connection information. The home appliance system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and claim 8.

10. To your computer managing connection information required for registering a home appliance to connect to a network and special information for authorizing or identifying a user in association with each other; When registering a home appliance to the network, if the special information is input, the connection information managed in association with the special information is acquired. program.

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