Server and method for managing content installed in home appliance

Abstract

The present invention relates to technology related to a server and a method for managing content installed in a home appliance. The server for managing content installed in a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a server communication unit for communicating with a first home appliance and receiving an experience history of first content installed in the first home appliance; a server control unit for using the experience history to set a usage group of the first home appliance, and controlling the management of the first content installed in the first home appliance according to a content management rule applying to the usage group; and a database for storing the usage group and the experience history.

Description

Server and method for managing content installed on home appliances

[0001] The present invention relates to a server and a method for managing content installed in a home appliance.

[0002] Home appliances and electronic devices are deployed and operate in various environments, and changes to their structure or components may occur based on the time of shipment. For example, various functions may be added after a product has been shipped and sold.

[0003] In other words, the home appliance may store specific programs, images, videos, sounds, etc., and after shipment, it may download and install new programs, images, videos, sounds, etc. from a server and operate accordingly.

[0004] Such changes in the functions of home appliances enhance their usability. However, home appliances may differ in the functions provided depending on the user's usage behavior or patterns.

[0005] For example, even with the same home appliance, the first user may primarily use only the first function, and the second user may primarily use only the second function.

[0006] In other words, as the functions of home appliances become more diverse, usage patterns vary by user, and there is a growing need to perform management or upgrades that reflect these patterns.

[0007] Therefore, this specification examines ways for home appliances to function efficiently.

[0008] This specification aims to solve the aforementioned problems by periodically monitoring the usage frequency of content installed in multiple home appliances or the usage status of the appliance functions, thereby increasing the efficiency of content maintenance.

[0009] In addition, this specification aims to provide a content management method optimized for users by establishing a user group of home appliances or users of home appliances in relation to the use of content, and then providing the same guidance on the use of content or notifying matters related to the deletion of content to users belonging to the same user group.

[0010] The objects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other unmentioned objects and advantages of the present invention may be understood from the following description and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, it will be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means and combinations thereof set forth in the claims.

[0011] A server for managing content installed in a home appliance according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a server communication unit that communicates with a first home appliance and receives an experience history of a first content installed in the first home appliance, a server control unit that sets a user group of the first home appliance using the experience history and controls the management of the first content installed in the first home appliance according to content management rules applied to the user group, and a database that stores the user group and the experience history.

[0012] A method for managing content installed in a home appliance according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: a server communication unit of a server communicating with a first home appliance and receiving an experience history of a first content installed in the first home appliance and storing it in a database; a server control unit of a server setting a user group of the first home appliance using the experience history; and a server control unit controlling the management of the first content installed in the first home appliance according to content management rules applied to the user group.

[0013] When the present invention is applied, the efficiency of content maintenance can be increased by periodically monitoring the usage frequency of content installed in multiple home appliances or the usage status of home appliance functions.

[0014] When applying the present invention, a user group of home appliances or users of home appliances can be established in relation to the use of content, and users belonging to the same user group can be guided on the use of content or notified of matters related to the deletion of content, thereby providing a content management method optimized for users.

[0015] The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects described above, and various effects of the present invention can be easily derived from the configuration of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a server according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the configuration of a home appliance according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the process of downloading content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the content management process between a server and home appliances according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the life cycle of content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the process of a server operating in a first cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the process of a server operating in a second cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a process of identifying a user group to control content in an extinction determination section according to an embodiment of the present invention and providing a deletion mechanism or a retention mechanism accordingly.

[0024] FIGS. 9, FIGS. 10 and FIGS. 11 are graphs showing the process of classifying usage groups according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the process of securing data constituting an experience history necessary for diagnosing the life cycle of content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the correlation between a home appliance and a user according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 14 is a drawing showing an interface displayed on a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 15 is a drawing showing an interface displayed on a user terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 16 is an interface displayed on a user terminal of a user with high usability for content determined to be extinct content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 17 is an interface displayed on a user terminal of a user with low usability for content determined to be extinct content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the process of deleting content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the invention. The present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0033] To clearly explain the present invention, parts unrelated to the description have been omitted, and the same reference numerals are assigned to identical or similar components throughout the specification. Furthermore, some embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the exemplary drawings. In assigning reference numerals to the components of each drawing, identical components may have the same reference numeral whenever possible, even if they are shown in different drawings. Additionally, in describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known components or functions could obscure the essence of the present invention, such detailed description may be omitted.

[0034] In describing the components of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc., may be used. These terms are intended only to distinguish the components from other components, and the nature, order, sequence, or number of the components are not limited by these terms. Where it is stated that a component is "connected," "combined," or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that the component may be directly connected or connected to the other component, but that other components may be "interposed" between each component, or that each component may be "connected," "combined," or "connected" through other components.

[0035] In addition, for convenience of explanation in implementing the present invention, the components may be described in detail; however, these components may be implemented within a single device or module, or a single component may be divided and implemented across multiple devices or modules.

[0036] In this specification, home appliances encompass electronic products, home appliances, etc., that are placed in homes, offices, stores, etc., and provide specific functions.

[0037] In this specification, "Contents" include all software, programs, images, videos, sounds, or files necessary to control the functions of a home appliance that are pre-stored in the home appliance or transferred from an external source and installed in the home appliance. Therefore, even for the same home appliance, different functions may be provided if the installed content is different.

[0038] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a server according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] The server (500) includes a server control unit (550), a server communication unit (510), and a database (590). The server (500) may be logically one but physically implemented by multiple devices. For example, multiple devices may operate as a single server group.

[0040] The server communication unit (510) communicates with a plurality of home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c) and receives the experience history of the content installed on each of the home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c). The experience history includes one or more of information about when the content is downloaded or used, or evaluation information performed by a user regarding the content. Additionally, the experience history may include connection information between the home appliance and another home appliance in relation to the content.

[0041] The server control unit (550) sets up a user group for each home appliance (100a, 100b, 100c) using the experience history and controls the management of content installed on each home appliance (100a, 100b, 100c) according to the content management rules applied to each user group.

[0042] The database (590) stores the experience history transmitted by each of the home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c). The database (590) can also store information related to the user group.

[0043] The home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c) can automatically run the content after downloading and installing it, or run the content according to the user's control. The content can be deleted according to the user's choice after being installed on the home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c). Alternatively, the content can be deleted from the home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c) according to a deletion instruction from the server (500).

[0044] User terminals (300a, 300b) connected to home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c) can control the operation of home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c), check information related to content installed on home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c), or manage content. User terminals (300a, 300b) can control home appliances through a server (500) or control home appliances directly.

[0045] One user terminal (300a) can control multiple home appliances (100a, 100b). Also, one user terminal (300b) can control one home appliance (100c).

[0046] When content is downloaded and installed on a home appliance, the home appliance may provide functions different from before. In this case, the home appliance may be referred to as an upgraded home appliance (abbreviated as upgraded appliance), and the downloaded content may be referred to as upgraded content (abbreviated as UP content). When applying an embodiment of the present invention, the server (500) of FIG. 1 can manage the content installed on each of the home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c).

[0047] For example, to manage content downloaded to home appliances (100a, 100b, 100c), the server (500) may group users or home appliances according to the usage status of the content and whether the function is used. The server (500) may instruct the processing and deletion of the downloaded content according to the group, or send a message suggesting the deletion of the content to the home appliance or user terminal.

[0048] The server (500) periodically diagnoses the maintenance and extinction cycles for each content and, accordingly, classifies the user or home appliance into one of the specific COGs (Center of gravity). That is, the server (500) sets the home appliance or the user of the home appliance into a specific user group.

[0049] The server (500) can provide guidance on usage or instruct deletion for content downloaded to home appliances belonging to a specific COG or to home appliances of users belonging to a specific COG, and provide a corresponding UX.

[0050] Since the use of content downloaded to the home appliance can be subdivided according to the user's use of the home appliance, the server (500) can provide an optimized service by guiding the deletion / organization / processing of content in the same way to home appliances or users of home appliances belonging to the same COG.

[0051] The server (500) of FIG. 1 can periodically monitor the usage frequency of content installed on multiple home appliances or the usage status of the functions of the home appliances. In addition, the server (500) can classify home appliances or users using home appliances in relation to the use of content into a user group (e.g., COG), and then guide users belonging to the user group to use the content in the same way or notify them of matters related to the deletion of the content, thereby increasing the efficiency of home appliance usage and the efficiency of content maintenance.

[0052]

[0053] FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the configuration of a home appliance according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] The home appliance (100) is an electronic device that is placed in a specific space and provides specific functions, such as a washing machine, refrigerator, oven, TV, air conditioner, and air purifier. The device control unit (150) controls the operation of the home appliance (100). The device communication unit (110) can communicate with a server (500) or a user terminal (300).

[0055] The device communication unit (110) can perform communication according to a communication protocol. For example, in one embodiment of the device communication unit (110), if a Wi-Fi module is placed in the home appliance (100), the home appliance (100) can communicate with a server (500) or a user terminal (300) via an internet router or an AP (Access Point), etc.

[0056] The function module (190) provides a function specific to the home appliance (100). For example, the function module (190) of a washing machine includes various components for providing a washing function, and the function module (190) of a refrigerator includes various components for providing a refrigeration and freezing function.

[0057] The device control unit (150) may include a storage medium in which content can be stored or installed. Additionally, the device control unit (150) may exist in multiple locations within the home appliance (100). For example, each device control unit may be placed within the home appliance (100), such as a first device control unit that controls a first function of the home appliance (100) (e.g., 150a of Fig. 3) and a second device control unit that controls a second function of the home appliance (100) (e.g., 150b of Fig. 3). In this case, the content for each device control unit may be stored in a storage medium within each device control unit.

[0058]

[0059] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the process of downloading content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0060] The server (500) notifies the user terminal (300) of information regarding new content, and the user terminal (300) confirms this and instructs the home appliance (100) to download it (S1, S2b, S3). Alternatively, the server (500) provides the new content to the home appliance (100a) so that the home appliance (100a) can download it (S2a, S3).

[0061] Through the internet router (210), the device communication unit (190) downloads content (S3), and the home appliance (100a) installs the downloaded content on the corresponding microcomputer (150a, 150b, ..., 150n) to complete the upgrade.

[0062] That is, N pieces of content are downloaded, and when a user terminal (300) or home appliance (100a), etc., selects to upgrade these N pieces of content, the upgrade is completed.

[0063] In this way, home appliances can be upgraded by downloading personalized content (UP content) from external sources according to user needs, and in this case, users can utilize the appliance's functions in various ways using the downloaded content. Home appliances that can be upgraded in this manner are referred to as "Up Appliances" (UP Appliances) for short.

[0064] To use various content, the server (500) may provide a specific application (e.g., ThinQ APP). When a user selects an item labeled "UP Home Appliance Center" in the ThinQ app running on the user terminal (300), the user can check the content that can be used by home appliances (e.g., UP appliances) connected to the server (e.g., ThinQ server). If the user checks the content and proceeds with the download (upgrade), the content is installed on the home appliance through the aforementioned process. Then, the user can use the installed content through the App / Home Appliance.

[0065] UP content installed on home appliances can be classified into functions used within the app and functions that can be used through the home appliance.

[0066] As shown in Fig. 3, when multiple contents are installed on a home appliance, users can utilize the rich functions of the home appliance. However, since trends related to home appliances are constantly changing, it is difficult to guarantee that the content will be continuously used after installation. In addition, new content may be created again depending on trends, and users have different preferences for content.

[0067] In other words, after content is distributed, there is a possibility that it may not be used or its usability may decrease depending on user characteristics or changes in trends. Therefore, by deleting content installed on home appliances as needed, it is possible to improve the performance of the appliances and secure storage space.

[0068] As the lifespan of home appliances lengthens and the number of appliances increases, the amount of content installed on these devices is bound to increase. Therefore, to improve the quality of content, a method is needed to manage it by quantifying user satisfaction.

[0069] To this end, the server (500) selects popular content and manages content of low interest to users, thereby providing high-quality content and enabling the improvement of the quality of the content.

[0070] In order to provide high-quality content, the server (500) can quantify the user's satisfaction with the content installed on the home appliance (100) and estimate the life cycle of the content, thereby allowing the manufacturer's SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) to plan, create, and manage the content to become more sophisticated.

[0071]

[0072] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the content management process between a server and home appliances according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0073] When new content is registered on the server (500), the server (500) may notify the user terminal (300) or home appliance (100a, 100b) of the registration of new content according to the process described in FIG. 3. The content may be transmitted to home appliances and stored and installed (upgraded) on the home appliances through FIG. 3 or various content download methods not described in FIG. 3.

[0074] When new content is uploaded, the server (500) registers the content and notifies multiple home appliances (100a, 100b). Each home appliance (100a, 100b) downloads and installs the content and completes the upgrade (S22a, S22b).

[0075] Afterward, users of each home appliance (100a, 100b) may use the installed content (S23a) or not use it (S23b). Each home appliance (100a, 100b) transmits an experience history related to the use of the content to the server (500) (S24a, S24b). The transmission of the experience history may be repeated for a certain period of time.

[0076] The server (500) stores the experience history in the database (590) and sets up a usage group for each home appliance (100a, 100b) (S25). The setting of the usage group can be performed after the experience history has been accumulated and stored. Additionally, the server (500) can determine whether to remove or retain the content during the usage group setting process.

[0077] And the server (500) performs content management control for the content stored in the first home appliance (100a) and the content stored in the second home appliance (100b) respectively, according to the user group (S26).

[0078] For example, the server (500) can control the content stored in the first home appliance (100a) to be maintained (S26), and accordingly, the content stored in the first home appliance (100a) is maintained (S27).

[0079] Meanwhile, the server (500) can control the deletion of content stored in the second home appliance (100b) (S28), and accordingly, the content stored in the second home appliance (100b) is deleted (S29).

[0080] Of course, during the content deletion process, a user terminal connected to the second home appliance (100b) may display a notification message related to content deletion, and the deletion process may proceed accordingly.

[0081] Experience history may include information on content downloaded to home appliances.

[0082] Experience history may include information on how content was used on home appliances.

[0083] Experience history may include connection information between home appliances and other home appliances through content. For example, this applies when a user terminal, etc., performs the installation or management of content.

[0084] Experience history may include evaluation information about the content.

[0085] As the number of contents providing a personalized home appliance experience increases, it is necessary for users to use the home appliance's content smoothly. The server (500) provides the home appliance or the user terminal with a mechanism (deletion mechanism and maintenance mechanism) to improve the home appliance's content usage infrastructure (performance, device / APP memory, cache, etc.) through the home appliance and the application of the user terminal linked to the home appliance, thereby enabling high-quality content to be continuously used on the home appliance and allowing for periodic management even after the content has been downloaded. In particular, the server (500) can provide a service that can build an infrastructure optimized for using the content installed on the home appliance (100) through the application (APP) installed on the user terminal (300).

[0086]

[0087] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the life cycle of content according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0088] During M time intervals, the content undergoes the processes of downloading, using, and disappearing. The server control unit (550) can acquire an experience history during the time interval in which the first content is installed or maintained, from the time interval from when the content is distributed until it disappears. For example, in FIG. 5, an experience history related to the content during the first cycle (Cycl_1) and the second cycle (Cycle_2) can be stored in the server (500).

[0089] The M intervals can be broadly divided into three cycles, for example, the first cycle (Cycle_1), the second cycle (Cycle_2), and the third cycle (Cycle_3).

[0090] In the first section, the second section, or the third section, the server (500) can set up a user group of a home appliance or a user of the home appliance using the experience history transmitted by the home appliance. The operation of collecting the experience history by the server (500) may be performed only in a specific section. Alternatively, the server (500) may continuously receive and store the experience history from the home appliances (100) after the time of content distribution.

[0091] The first cycle (Cycle_1) corresponds to a certain period (e.g., 6 months after distribution) after the content is distributed. The first cycle (Cycle_1), corresponding to the first section, corresponds to an initial monitoring period for the content, and allows for the verification of users' initial interest in the new content. For example, the server control unit (550) performs initial monitoring during the section corresponding to the first cycle. The execution period is set as a certain period (6 months) after distribution as an example. The certain period (e.g., 6 months) after the content is distributed is a time to utilize the initial interest of the content users.

[0092] Since user inflow and outflow are active immediately after deployment, the server (500) may collect experience history but focus on monitoring until the second cycle, the stable phase, arrives. In this case, the server (500) may not store the experience history. Alternatively, the server (500) may periodically delete some of the experience history or include information that the experience history is from the monitoring phase when storing it in the database.

[0093] The first cycle, which corresponds to the initial distribution period of the content, is the indicator instability period. The period in which the experience indicators of the home appliance (100) are used for monitoring the previously distributed content may be set differently depending on the characteristics of the content, the temporal / seasonal characteristics of the home appliance (100), etc. For example, for home appliances that are not seasonal appliances, the first cycle may be set for a period of 6 months after the content distribution.

[0094] This period is after an alarm message regarding the distribution of content has been sent, and marketing messages related to new content may be sent to user terminals or home appliances, and accordingly, fluctuations in indicators may occur due to the rapid influx / exit of home appliances regarding the content. Therefore, in the first cycle, the server (500) can use the experience history as monitoring information to confirm initial interest in the content.

[0095] The start or end of the first cycle may vary depending on the home appliance to which the content is distributed. Additionally, the content may be distributed to various home appliances without being limited to a specific appliance; in this case, the start or end of the first cycle may be determined based on the attributes of the content or a pre-set prediction value.

[0096] To confirm initial interest, the server (500) can receive experience history from each home appliance (100), such as the number of times the content has been downloaded or installed. Of course, if the content is used in the home appliance during the first cycle or is deleted or deactivated by the user, such operation also becomes part of the experience history of the home appliance (100), and the home appliance (100) can transmit the experience history collected during the first cycle to the server (500).

[0097] The second cycle (Cycle_2), which corresponds to one or more sections in the second section, is a section where content is maintained and may consist of one or more subcycles (Subcycle_1, Sybcycle_2, etc.). A subcycle may be a temporal unit for collecting experience history. During the second cycle, the home appliance (100) may store the experience history and transmit it to the server (500) in real time or at regular time intervals.

[0098] One embodiment of the experience history includes content experience rate, satisfaction indicators, churn rate, usage cycle, etc. The content experience rate includes the number of content downloads, the number of times the content was used on the relevant home appliance, the number of home appliances connected to an app installed on the user terminal (e.g., ThinQ App), etc.

[0099] Satisfaction indicators include whether the content was retained within the home appliance, the probability of the content surviving on the home appliance, etc. The churn rate includes the percentage of new users who no longer use the content after using it k times (e.g., once or twice) during a certain period (e.g., within one month of download or installation).

[0100] Of course, experience history also includes data related to the user's use or deletion / maintenance of various home appliances.

[0101] The third cycle (Cycle_3), corresponding to the M-section, is a section for determining the extinction of content, for example, a point in time to check the overall usage status of the content after a certain period of time (e.g., 12 months or 24 months, etc.) has elapsed since the content was distributed. The server (500) can determine whether to manage content within individual home appliances and whether to provide services for the content by using the experience history of the content stored during the first and second cycles.

[0102] Meanwhile, if the deletion of content is determined in the third cycle corresponding to the M-section, the server control unit (550) can determine a deletion mechanism for the content according to the user group to which the home appliance or the user of the home appliance belongs and control the management of the content within the home appliance accordingly. The deletion mechanism may include a UI (User Interface) that can delete content installed in the home appliance, a command that automatically deletes the content, etc.

[0103] As shown in FIG. 5, the server control unit (550) periodically diagnoses whether the content is maintained or destroyed (deleted) according to the life cycle of the content to manage the lifespan of the content, and the server (500) can provide a customized alarm service (i.e., a personalized alarm service) to the home appliance or user terminal according to the user / home appliance.

[0104] That is, after the content is registered and distributed, the server control unit (550) can manage the content's life cycle as an organic process according to the initial monitoring (1st cycle), the content-specific standard setting section (2nd cycle), and the extinction judgment section (3rd cycle) to improve the quality of the content installed in the home appliance (100).

[0105]

[0106] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the process of a server operating in a first cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention. An embodiment of the first cycle is an initial monitoring section.

[0107] The server control unit (550) stores an experience history related to usage versus download of content (S31). For example, the server control unit (550) can extract usage data relative to content download from the experience history for home appliances (new inflow) that have newly installed content.

[0108] And the server control unit (550) reflects the initial response to the content in the content management (S32). For example, the server control unit (550) can reflect the initial response to the content when setting the interval of the second cycle. If the number of uses relative to downloads is greater than a standard, the interval of the second cycle can be set longer.

[0109] The server control unit (550) can measure the initial reactions of users of each content by utilizing data indicators (experience rate, retention rate, survival probability, etc.) during a monitoring period (e.g., the first 6 months), calculate content characteristics, and manage the content accordingly.

[0110] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the process of a server operating in a second cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention. The second cycle may include a plurality of different sub-cycles depending on the type of experience history collected, the number of times experience history is received, etc.

[0111] The start of the second cycle is after the point in time when the first cycle ends following the registration of the content, and the start and end times of the second cycle may be determined in advance or set according to the usage trends of the content. For example, the second cycle may correspond to a time interval of 7 to 12 months after the registration of the content.

[0112] Additionally, the second cycle may include two or more subcycles, for example, 7-9 months may be set as the second-1st subcycle and 10-12 months as the second-1st subcycle, and the server control unit (550) may vary the interval for acquiring, storing, or deleting the experience history for each subcycle. The server control unit (550) may acquire the experience history of the home appliance regarding the content and calculate the satisfaction level for the content.

[0113] The second cycle is a phase focused on usage after distribution has been established to a certain extent; for example, it can be set as a metric stabilization phase. During the second cycle, content installations (new user influx) triggered by initial distribution alerts are minimized. During the second cycle, metrics for newly acquired home appliances downloaded by users who showed interest in the content name or usage instructions, as well as metrics for existing appliances confirmed to be continuously used due to user satisfaction, are aggregated into the experience history.

[0114] The server control unit (550) acquires experience history related to new installations to perform the collection of experience history (e.g., indicator monitoring) (S33). For example, the server control unit (550) extracts usage data relative to content downloads for home appliances that have newly installed content. As seen in FIG. 6, the initial response of users of each content can be measured by utilizing data indicators (experience rate, retention, survival probability, etc.) during the initial K months (e.g., 6 months) after installation, and the content characteristics can be calculated.

[0115] Meanwhile, the server control unit (550) obtains the experience history generated from the continuously used home appliance that downloaded and installed the content during the initial monitoring period (first cycle).

[0116] More specifically, the server control unit (550) can obtain experience history related to the experience rate (download rate) of the content (S34). This is an indicator that can verify how much the name or description of the content has been transmitted through a user terminal or home appliance.

[0117] In one embodiment, the server control unit (550) checks the ratio of home appliances that have downloaded each content to the number of user terminals (corresponding to the number of users who have registered home appliances within the APP) or registered home appliances that have entered a state where monthly content can be downloaded. This can be confirmed by (number of home appliances that have downloaded monthly) / (number of users who have registered home appliances in the app of the user terminal or number of registered home appliances).

[0118] Next, the server control unit (550) can obtain an experience history related to a satisfaction indicator for the content (S35). The satisfaction indicator is obtained by obtaining the satisfaction of users regarding the content installed on the home appliance, and the probability of the content being maintained or surviving is used as an example.

[0119] This serves as a criterion for determining whether user satisfaction with the use of the content lasts for a long time, and the server control unit (550) can obtain the retention rate of the content for each home appliance. In addition, the server control unit (550) can measure the survival probability of the content. The retention rate or survival probability can be calculated based on experience history, such as whether the content is used, the number of times it is used repeatedly, and the duration of use.

[0120] In the case of retention (continuous usage rate), the server control unit (550) can measure the continuous usage rate and usage satisfaction by using this rate in a method of measuring the rate of reuse after a specific period (e.g., 8 weeks) in home appliances that are confirmed to be used for a certain period (week / month / quarter, etc.).

[0121] The server control unit (550) can obtain the dropout rate from the experience history (S36). For example, the rate at which the content is no longer used or is deactivated after being used within a predetermined number of times, such as once or twice, is an example of the dropout rate.

[0122] The server control unit (550) can measure the initial satisfaction with use by measuring the dropout rate among home appliances that have newly installed content within a certain period (e.g., one month).

[0123] The server control unit (550) can obtain the content usage cycle (S37). The server control unit (550) measures the content usage cycle of individual users using each home appliance or multiple home appliances and monitors the increase or decrease in the cycle. The server control unit (550) can determine that the satisfaction level is higher and the content is used more frequently as the content usage cycle becomes shorter, and can determine that the satisfaction level is lower if the content usage cycle becomes longer.

[0124] Meanwhile, the server control unit (550) may vary the criteria, indicator measurement method, or calculation method of S34 to S37 depending on the content. That is, the server control unit (550) may vary the criteria, indicator measurement method, or calculation method of S34 to S37 depending on the type or category of the content, or the content characteristics of the content.

[0125] Accordingly, the server control unit (550) may have a different method of collecting the first experience history corresponding to the first content and the second experience history corresponding to the second content. In addition, the server control unit (550) may set different judgment criteria or criteria values ​​for the collected first experience history and second experience history.

[0126] In one embodiment, if the content belongs to a mounted content that is continuously maintained after being stored and set, the server control unit (550) measures the period of maintenance after one-time setting as usage, and the retention rate can be measured based on whether the setting is being maintained after 4 months from the first setting.

[0127] On the other hand, if the content belongs to a required type of content that is used simply once after being stored and set, the server control unit (550) can measure whether the content is being used continuously after 4 months from the first setting, based on the cycle start time related to actual use.

[0128] These measurement methods and periods are exemplary and can be implemented with various modifications.

[0129] The server control unit (550) stores and manages the experience history obtained from S33 to S37 (S38). In this process, the server control unit (550) may store the experience history of S33 separately from the experience history of S34 to S37. Alternatively, the experience history obtained by each subcycle within the second cycle may also be stored separately.

[0130] When applying the embodiment of FIG. 7, the server (500) stores content download / usage data as an experience history for home appliances that newly install and use content. Additionally, the server (500) stores it as an experience history for home appliances that are continuously used (home appliances that installed content in the first cycle).

[0131] The server (500) can accumulate and store the experience history and determine whether to delete or retain the content in the subsequent deletion period (third cycle), and accordingly notify the user group of a suitable deletion / retention mechanism.

[0132]

[0133] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a process of identifying a user group to control content in an extinction determination section according to an embodiment of the present invention and providing a deletion mechanism or a retention mechanism accordingly.

[0134] After the content is registered, during the time (first cycle and second cycle) when it is installed and used on multiple home appliances, the server (500) receives and stores the experience history generated by the home appliances. This corresponds to the stabilization period following the registration and distribution of the content. Meanwhile, to determine whether there is a need for continued use or installation of the content, the server (500) may enter a third cycle for the content to determine whether to determine whether to expire it. For example, upon entering the third cycle, the server (500) may determine whether to maintain the content by calculating the need for expiry of the content according to a certain period (month / quarter, etc.).

[0135] Additionally, the server (500) may store the start time of the third cycle together with the content at the time of initial registration (i.e., when distribution begins) or store conditions that can be determined as the third cycle.

[0136] For example, the server control unit (550) may set the point in time of the third cycle to one year after the content distribution. Alternatively, the server control unit (550) may set condition information such that the cumulative number of downloads or installations after one year after the content distribution is less than a preset value. Of course, the start time of such a third cycle may be set after the content has been distributed.

[0137] That is, the server control unit (550) can set time information or condition information as the start time of the third cycle of the content at the time of registration or distribution of the content or at any time thereafter. If no special setting is made, a certain period (time information of one year after the registration or distribution of the content) can be automatically set as the start time of the third cycle.

[0138] Subsequently, the server control unit (550) confirms that the start time of the third cycle set in the content has been reached (S41) and calculates the need for the content to be extinguished (S42). The server control unit (550) can determine whether the content is extinguished based on the experience history of multiple home appliances regarding the content.

[0139] The server control unit (550) can calculate the necessity of the content's extinction by using the experience history of various home appliances that occurred with respect to the content.

[0140] In one embodiment, the server control unit (550) may increase the need for extinction when the experience rate of the content is below a certain value. In one embodiment, the experience rate is the number of downloads of the content or the number of home appliances connected within the app of the user terminal (e.g., ThinQ App). In one embodiment, the server control unit (550) increases the need for extinction when the experience rate of the content falls below a specific value (e.g., 30% or 50%) compared to a preset threshold.

[0141] Alternatively, the server control unit (550) may calculate a satisfaction index for the content and increase the need for extinction if it is below a certain value. The satisfaction index includes the probability of the content being retained within the home appliance, the survival of the content, or the user making a positive judgment about the content. As an example, the server control unit (550) increases the need for extinction when the satisfaction index for the content falls below a specific value (e.g., 30% or 50%) compared to a preset threshold.

[0142] Alternatively, the server control unit (550) may calculate the dropout rate after the content is installed and increase the need for deletion. The dropout rate may correspond to the rate at which the content is not used or is deleted after a preset number of uses (e.g., 1 or 2 times) following the installation of the content on the home appliance (100), i.e., the dropout rate after installation. As an example, if the dropout rate is above a certain standard (e.g., 70%, 80%, etc.), the server control unit (550) increases the need for deletion.

[0143] The server control unit (550) can increase the need for extinction by calculating the usage cycle of the content over a certain period. For example, if the usage cycle of the content becomes longer than the 2 / 3 point of the observation period (e.g., 90 days, 120 days, etc.) during an observation period related to content usage, the server control unit (550) can increase the need for extinction.

[0144] The necessity for extinction can be calculated according to the various exemplary criteria mentioned above. Alternatively, the necessity for extinction can be calculated by accumulating from the various exemplary criteria mentioned above.

[0145] The server control unit (550) calculates the need for the content to be destroyed and compares it with a reference value (TH_Del) (S43). TH_Del can be pre-set and can be pre-set according to the category of the content or the content itself.

[0146] If the comparison result shows that the need for the content to be destroyed is less than or equal to TH_Del, the server control unit (550) performs the processes of S45 to S48 (maintenance mechanism). If the need for the content to be destroyed is greater than TH_Del, the server control unit (550) performs the processes of S55 to S58 (deletion mechanism).

[0147] The maintenance mechanism is the case where the relevant content is maintained and provided to home appliances, and the deletion mechanism is the case where the home appliance is instructed to delete the content stored on the home appliance.

[0148] When the server control unit (550) determines that the need for the content to be destroyed is TH_Del or less, the server control unit (550) may set a usage group for each user or home appliance and send an alarm or guidance message to each group to induce the retention or installation of the content. Let's examine this in detail.

[0149] The server control unit (550) classifies user groups for content-related home appliances or users of home appliances (S55). For example, to set these user groups, the server control unit (550) may cluster the data after placing data related to the experience history by home appliance or by user into N dimensions.

[0150] In one embodiment, the server control unit (550) performs Center of Gravity (COG) classification using content, device usability, and app usability data by applying a clustering technique based on mixture modeling. The server control unit (550) then provides a personalized alarm service based on whether each home appliance has upgraded its content or the COG to which each home appliance or user belongs.

[0151] That is, the server control unit (550) creates a maintenance mechanism for each user group (S45) and sends a maintenance mechanism guidance message corresponding to the user group to the home appliance or user terminal for each user group (S47).

[0152] For example, the server control unit (550) does not send unnecessary alarms or maintenance guidance messages related to maintenance to users / home appliances belonging to a COG that frequently uses content. The server control unit (550) can provide alarms to home appliances or users whose period of non-use is greater than the average period of non-use within the COG.

[0153] Subsequently, the server control unit (550) performs follow-up monitoring of the content (S48). That is, the server control unit (550) provides maintenance guidance or alarms focusing on home appliances that have a long period of non-use of the content or low usage rates, and the server control unit (550) monitors the actual users of the content to check whether the content is being actively used and can confirm the necessity of extinction of S41 to S43.

[0154] Next, we will look at the deletion mechanism.

[0155] When the server control unit (550) determines that the need for deletion of content exceeds TH_Del, the server control unit (550) may set up a usage group for each user or home appliance and send a deletion alarm or guidance message to each group. Let's examine this in detail.

[0156] The server control unit (550) classifies user groups for content-related home appliances or users of home appliances (S55). For example, to set these user groups, the server control unit (550) may cluster the data after placing data related to the experience history by home appliance or by user into N dimensions.

[0157] In one embodiment, the server control unit (550) performs Center of Gravity (COG) classification using content, device usability, and app usability data by applying a clustering technique based on mixture modeling. The server control unit (550) then provides a personalized alarm service based on whether each home appliance has upgraded its content or the COG to which each home appliance or user belongs.

[0158] That is, the server control unit (550) creates a deletion mechanism for each user group (S56) and sends a deletion mechanism guidance message corresponding to the user group to the home appliance or user terminal for each user group (S57).

[0159] For example, the server control unit (550) does not send unnecessary alarms or deletion guidance messages related to deletion to users / home appliances belonging to a COG that frequently uses the content. The server control unit (550) can provide alarms to home appliances or users whose period of non-use is greater than the average period of non-use within the COG.

[0160] Subsequently, the server control unit (550) performs follow-up monitoring of the content (S58). That is, it provides deletion notices or alarms focusing on home appliances where the content has not been used for a long time or has a low usage rate, and the server control unit (550) monitors the actual users of the content diagnosed as expired and stops the service related to the content when it becomes 0 or reaches a certain standard. Therefore, by inducing the deletion of unnecessary content, unnecessary resource waste of home appliances can be minimized.

[0161] The COG classified by the server control unit (550) can be divided into three types of COG as follows, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0162] For users or home appliances that have no upgrade history in relation to the content, the server control unit (550) can set a user group indicated as COG_NO_UP.

[0163] For users or home appliances that have completed an upgrade related to the content but have accumulated a low experience history such as usage frequency or cycle of the content, the server control unit (550) can set a user group indicated as COG_UP_LOW. It is a user group with low involvement related to the content.

[0164] For users or home appliances that have completed upgrades related to the content and have accumulated a large amount of experience history such as usage frequency or cycle of the content, the server control unit (550) can set a user group indicated as COG_UP_HIGH. It is a user group with high involvement related to the content.

[0165] The server control unit (550) may provide a different deletion mechanism depending on the user group. For example, for home appliances or user terminals corresponding to the COG_NO_UP user group, the content is visually disabled from the list of downloadable content (a menu where upgradeable content can be checked, such as the UP Home Appliance Center in the THINQ app), thereby preventing the content from being downloaded or upgraded thereafter.

[0166] Meanwhile, the server control unit (550) may send a message or alarm to a home appliance or user terminal corresponding to the COG_UP_LOW usage group to induce content deletion by reflecting the usage cycle of the usage group. In this case, a user who confirms the message inducing content deletion on the home appliance or user terminal may press a delete button. Alternatively, depending on the settings, if a certain amount of time elapses after the message inducing deletion is confirmed, the content may be automatically deleted from the home appliance.

[0167] The server control unit (550) can send a message or alarm to induce content deletion to home appliances or user terminals belonging to the COG_UP_HIGH user group where content-related experience history is not accumulated or where the accumulation rate of experience history is low. For example, depending on the content usage cycle of the user's home appliance or the COG to which the user belongs, or the home appliance whose content usage status is not confirmed, an alarm suggesting deletion can be pushed periodically from a specific menu of the user terminal or home appliance (e.g., content deletion and popular content recommendation in the ThinQ app).

[0168] Figure 8 can be summarized as follows.

[0169] In the extinction section following the content retention section of specific content, the server control unit (550) can set the usage group of the home appliance according to the experience history. The server control unit (550) then provides a content deletion mechanism based on the set usage group to the home appliance or a user terminal linked to the home appliance.

[0170] In the embodiments of FIGS. 5 to 8, the cycle for specific content may vary depending on the type of home appliance or the seasonal utilization of the content. Content that is utilized only in a specific season due to its characteristics is defined as seasonal content, and home appliances that provide functions only in a specific season are defined as seasonal home appliances.

[0171] In this case, for seasonal appliances (e.g., air conditioners, aerotowers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, etc.) or content, the timing for the first cycle and the timing for the second cycle may be predetermined.

[0172] For example, the first cycle may correspond to the new metric monitoring period and can be set up to the first target point in time after the distribution of content (e.g., the season start month). The first target point in time refers to the season start month, start week, or start date when the season begins. Taking an air conditioner as an example, it may be June, and for a dehumidifier or an appliance performing aerotower (natural purification), it may be December. The target season set for seasonal content or seasonal appliances may be set by month according to spring, summer, autumn, winter, etc., or by specific dates.

[0173] The server control unit (550) can monitor the experience history during the first cycle to check the initial interest in the content, for monitoring seasonal content or content installed on seasonal home appliances.

[0174] The second cycle is a period during which the content is maintained stably, and the server control unit (550) can perform monitoring to collect experience history during the period after the end of the first cycle (e.g., a 12-month period starting from the first target season month).

[0175] When home appliances or content are used during a specific season or period, the section where the content is installed or the section where the content is maintained may be set in correspondence with the season or period. That is, the start time, end time, or length of each cycle of the first cycle / second cycle / third cycle may be set in correspondence with the season or period.

[0176] The server control unit (550) can set appropriate standards for weekly indicators during the season in which the home appliance or content is primarily used (e.g., 3 months or 4 months). For example, it can accumulate and store experience history related to the aforementioned content experience rate (number of downloads / number of home appliance connections within ThinQ App), satisfaction indicators (Retention, survival probability, ... etc.), the rate of new users who drop out after one use within one month, usage cycle, etc. And the server control unit (550) can perform a cessation determination according to the process illustrated in FIG. 8.

[0177] For seasonal content or seasonal home appliances, the server control unit (550) can set a target time and season period for using the said home appliance or content.

[0178] For air conditioners, the target time can be June, and the season period can be from June to September (4 months). For air quality-related appliances such as humidifiers or AeroTowers, the target time can be set to December, and the season period can be from December to March (4 months).

[0179] When applying the aforementioned embodiment, the lifecycle of each content can be managed to optimally maintain the home appliance infrastructure (home appliance / APP memory efficiency, etc.), thereby providing user-customized services and optimized content usage environments. Additionally, if deletion is required for content installed on the home appliance through downloads / upgrades, etc., the server (500) can provide a deletion mechanism. The server (500) can periodically diagnose the lifecycle of maintenance and extinction (deletion) for each content to provide user-customized alarm services.

[0180] In addition, the server (500) according to an embodiment of the present invention can periodically diagnose the life cycle of maintenance and extinction (deletion) of the contents and provide a customized alarm service for each user.

[0181] The embodiment of FIG. 8 relates to a extinction determination interval, namely the third cycle, which allows for determining whether to maintain or destroy the content.

[0182] The server (500) performs monitoring of indicators related to experience history according to temporal standards such as monthly, weekly, or daily, and collects information on whether the content is properly delivered to, installed, and used by home appliances. The second cycle corresponds to a stabilization period for the content, and the server control unit (550) can collect the experience history of the content for a certain period (e.g., one year) after the content is distributed.

[0183] The server control unit (550) can delete unnecessary content that is not used in the home appliance (100) through diagnosis of content retention / destruction, and enables infrastructure improvement. In addition, since there is no need to retain unnecessary content in the server group, efficiency can be increased by adjusting priorities in the utilization of development / maintenance / promotion resources. That is, the server control unit (550) can provide a deletion mechanism to the home appliance or user terminal for content where the number of actual users is counted as 0 or below a certain standard in order to minimize unnecessary resource waste.

[0184] The server control unit (550) can select content that has entered the extinction section. In one embodiment, the server control unit (550) checks the point at which the usage pattern changes based on a reference value set in the previous initial distribution section or maintenance section. A change in the usage pattern means that a change in a specific value occurred during the process of collecting the experience history.

[0185] In one embodiment, the experience history (content experience rate) related to content experience can be calculated as “number of content downloads / number of home appliance connections within ThinQ App”, and when this value drops below a certain threshold (e.g., 30%) compared to a threshold, the server control unit (550) determines that the usage pattern has changed.

[0186] In addition, if the value of the experience history (satisfaction indicator) related to content satisfaction (Retention, survival probability, ... etc.) falls below a certain standard (e.g., 30%) compared to the standard value, the server control unit (550) determines that the usage pattern has changed.

[0187] In addition, the server control unit (550) may determine that the usage pattern has changed if the rate of new users dropping out after one use within a certain period (e.g., one month) is higher than a certain standard (80%), or if the usage cycle within an observation period (e.g., 90 days) becomes longer than the 2 / 3 point of the observation period (60 days).

[0188] For content that has entered the extinction section during the aforementioned judgment process, the server control unit (550) can provide a personalized deletion mechanism (including UX) based on content usage data obtained through the characteristics of each home appliance / user (age, number of family members, gender, region, country, etc.) and experience history.

[0189]

[0190] FIGS. 9, FIGS. 10 and FIGS. 11 are graphs showing the process of classifying usage groups according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0191] FIG. 9 shows a diagram in which each home appliance (or user of the home appliance) is placed on a predetermined two-dimensional plane based on experience history. The server control unit (550) converts the accumulated experience history into two specific factors. For example, when home appliances are distributed with the number of repeated uses within a certain period of the home appliance's experience history as the first factor (Factor 1) and the time spent using the content in the experience history as the second factor (Factor 2), it can be displayed as in FIG. 9.

[0192] Mixture Modeling can be applied to clustering models designated as COG1 and COG2. This is a machine learning methodology based on statistical algorithms used to identify different groups or types within a dataset.

[0193] The server control unit (550) performs statistical inference on the characteristics of the subgroups of the observed sample based on the fact that the data is composed of several subgroups or categories during the process of clustering the data by applying a Mixture Modeling algorithm. The clustering method is a method of finding the optimal variable by marginalizing the distribution of the observed variables for all latent variables.

[0194] The server control unit (550) identifies the pattern of each group and simultaneously estimates the group of each individual data point to find a point where the estimated value stably converges and performs clustering.

[0195] That is, the server control unit (550) can change the number of clusters to select the optimal number of clusters, check the change in Log Likelihood (see FIG. 10) and the change in AIC (Akaike Information Criterion) value according to the change in the number of clusters (Fig. 11), and then find the point where the change becomes gradual and set it as the optimal cluster.

[0196] Figures 10 and 11 are both drawings showing an example where the optimal number of clusters is set to 5.

[0197] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the process of securing data constituting an experience history necessary for diagnosing the life cycle of content according to an embodiment of the present invention. To secure an experience history, such as when content is used or installed in a home appliance, the server (500) may collect information accumulated in a database. Alternatively, the server (500) may continuously receive and store data related to the use of content or home appliances from home appliances or user terminals. Records of use in home appliances or information retrieval from an app (user terminal) related to home appliances are examples of data constituting the experience history.

[0198] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the classification of usage data generated from home appliances and apps (user terminals) to be used for classifying user groups (Cog, Center of Gravity) with a customer group as one embodiment.

[0199] The server (500) collects app usage data (S61). App usage data includes data performed by an application (e.g., ThinQ App) installed on a user terminal that is linked to the home appliance to control the home appliance or to control the installation or deletion of the home appliance's content, in relation to the home appliance or the home appliance's content. Therefore, the user performing tasks such as installing, running, or playing the home appliance's content using the user terminal can be included in the experience history of the home appliance's content.

[0200] Examples of app usage data include the exemplary data in Table 1.

[0201] Data Characteristics Data Name Data Description Home Appliance Control Activity Number of Connected Appliances The number of home appliances connected for control within the ThinQ App. *Connected appliances are provided as cards on the Main Page Number of Home Appliances Controlled in ThinQ App Monthly number of home appliances controlled via the ThinQ App ThinQ App Activity Number of App Main Accesses Monthly Average Number of ThinQ App Connections App Main Stay Time Monthly Average Stay Time within the ThinQ App Connected Appliance Connections Entrophy Uniformity of Connection Counts for Connected Home Appliance Cards within the ThinQ App (Various: Value ↑, Single: ↓) [ThinQ > Discover] Stay Time Monthly average stay time utilizing content within [ThinQ > Discover] [ThinQ > Reports] Stay Time Monthly average stay time utilizing content within [ThinQ > Reports] Home Appliance Automation Utilization Number of Smart Routine Settings Number of automation settings using the ThinQ App Number of Devices Linked to Smart Routines Number of Devices Suggested Using Smart Routines Interest in UP Content Number of UP Home Appliance Center Visits ThinQ App UP Monthly Average Number of Home Appliance Center Visits UP Home Appliance Center Stay Time ThinQ app UP Home Appliance Center Average Monthly Time Spent Number of UP Content Idea Suggestions Number of UP Content Idea Post Uploads Content Availability Average Z-Score by Product Category (Number of Completed Content / Number of Downloadable Content) Content Download Speed ​​Average (Download Time – Content Distribution Time) for Each Content

[0202] Meanwhile, the server (500) collects usage data of the home appliance (S62). As an example, this involves collecting data on the usage of the home appliance where the expiring content is installed or downloaded, and the usage of the content. Here, expiring content refers to content that has entered the expiring cycle.

[0203] Examples of home appliance usage data include the exemplary data in Table 2.

[0204] Data Characteristics Data Name Data Description Usage of Extinct Content on Home Appliances Monthly usage per appliance (Times / Day) * Data measurement varies depending on the content usage measurement method (Cycle status) Times: Total usage (Cycle) / Number of owned devices Day: Number of days with usage history / Number of owned devices Usage of Extinct Content Monthly usage per appliance (Times / Day) * Data measurement varies depending on the content usage measurement method (Cycle status) Times: Total usage (Cycle) / Number of owned devices Day: Number of days with usage history / Number of owned devices

[0205] Here, the usage rate of home appliances for expired content is data related to the use of home appliances, and the usage rate of expired content is data related to the use of content.

[0206] The data in Table 2 can all be divided into product groups with cycles (washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, etc.) and product groups where cycle measurement is difficult (air conditioners, refrigerators, etc.).

[0207] When applying Table 1 and Table 2, in order to optimally maintain the home appliance infrastructure (home appliance / APP memory efficiency, etc.), the server (500) can provide user-customized services and content usage environment optimization services through lifecycle management for each content. In addition, the server (500) provides a UI related to content deletion so that the user can intuitively delete or manage content.

[0208] The server (500) uses the collected data to set a usage group for each home appliance (or user of the home appliance) and provides a deletion mechanism (S63).

[0209]

[0210] Next is a diagram showing the process of the deletion mechanism being executed by the user terminal.

[0211] The deletion mechanism may include a first interface (see FIG. 14) capable of deleting content or a second interface (see FIG. 13) capable of optimizing a home appliance on which content is installed. Such interfaces can be transmitted to a user terminal connected to the server to manage the home appliance, and the server can instruct the user terminal to display the interfaces.

[0212] And, after displaying the first interface or the second interface, the user terminal may receive a selection input from the user regarding deletion or optimization. If received, the user terminal may request the server or the home appliance to execute the deletion mechanism. This will be examined in more detail.

[0213] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the correlation between a home appliance and a user according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 13, there are a total of three users of the home appliance (Users 1, 2, and 3). Here, User 1 and User 2 are family members (Home 1) and use a washing machine 106 and a dryer 290. User 3 is a member of Home 2 and uses a washing machine 32.

[0214] For example, if User 1 or User 2 runs the app on the user terminal, two connected home appliances (washing machine 106 and dryer 290) may be displayed.

[0215] In order to extract APP / home appliance data of the content user in this configuration, data can be extracted based on Home in the configuration of Fig. 13.

[0216] In other words, the data architecture structure of APP / device data can be distinguished as follows depending on whether it is based on Home or the user.

[0217] In the case of the HOME standard, usage data for multiple app accounts, the HOME environment, and multiple home appliances can be secured.

[0218] Meanwhile, in the case of a user-based system, usage data of the user, multiple HOMEs, and connected home appliances can be secured.

[0219] A server (500) according to one embodiment of the present invention can collect APP / device usage data by HOME in a user group (Cog) analysis for managing content, and can extract data as follows in this process.

[0220] First, data is extracted based on the HOME environment. Next, APP data (APP data for each user) is extracted. Then, device usage data (device usage data calculated based on connected devices linked to the HOME environment frequently used by each user) is extracted. Finally, regarding content, user groups of content users can be classified by utilizing data categorized by Home, App, and Device for home appliances.

[0221] In one embodiment, the server (500) can extract data for each user, classify Cog (Group) using a Mixture Modeling method, and classify Cog characteristics based on the representative value (average) of each variable within Cog (Group).

[0222] In one embodiment, the server (500) may classify groups as shown in Table 3 below. The values ​​and percentages set in each group may be set differently depending on the characteristics of the content or home appliance or a specific region or country.

[0223] Group Group A Group B...Number of Users Number (Percentage) Number (Percentage)...Number of Connections Number of Device Cards with ThinQ Connection History Number of Home Appliance Connections (C) Content Criteria Number of Upgraded Home Appliances Content Ownership Z-Score (C) ThinQ App Criteria Average Monthly ThinQ Main Connection Count (C) Device Card Connection Diversity (C)

[0224] Based on these criteria, the server (500) can classify various user groups for home appliances or user terminals.

[0225] For example, the server (500) can set a high-involvement group when the number of home appliances connected to the app is large and the number of ThinQ connections or the diversity of connected devices is high.

[0226] Additionally, the server (500) can be set as a medium-involvement group when the content retention rate is high (Z-Score).

[0227] In addition, the server (500) can further subdivide the low-involvement group into a multi-household low-involvement group, a two-household low-involvement group, and a single low-involvement group depending on the number of household appliances connected to the app.

[0228] For example, the server (500) can classify the number of home appliances connected to the app into a multi-home appliance low-involvement group if the number of home appliances connected to the app is 3 or more, a 2-home appliance low-involvement group if the number of home appliances connected to the app is 2, and a single-home appliance low-involvement group if the number of home appliances connected to the app is 1. Depending on these groups, the server (500) can set a different deletion mechanism.

[0229] As in the above-described embodiment, the server (500) can set the home appliance or the user to a specific user group based on the experience history of the content or the home appliance on which the content is installed or the user terminal linked to one or more home appliances. The server (500) can optimize the performance of the home appliance by providing a deletion mechanism suitable for the user group.

[0230]

[0231] FIG. 14 is a drawing showing an interface displayed on a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0232] As a result of the server (500) providing a deletion mechanism for content installed on a specific home appliance (e.g., a washing machine) to the user terminal, an interface for optimizing the washing machine is displayed as shown in 65. When the user presses the "Optimize" button of 65, the server (500) can instruct the home appliance to delete content that needs to be deleted from the washing machine connected to the user terminal according to the deletion mechanism. Alternatively, when the "Optimize" button is pressed on the user terminal, the user terminal can instruct the home appliance to delete content that needs to be deleted. As a result, unnecessary content is deleted as shown in 66.

[0233] When applying the embodiment of FIG. 14, a content optimization service can be provided in a content infrastructure environment where various content is installed and operating on home appliances, thereby providing home appliance infrastructure optimization services such as deleting essential and unused content. That is, the home appliance infrastructure can be optimized automatically or manually through the interface of the home appliance or application. When optimization is performed, optimization activities can be carried out on the devices owned by the user to make the home appliance infrastructure optimal. In this process, the home appliance can automatically delete unused content and automatically download essential content.

[0234]

[0235] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an interface displayed on a user terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention. When an app on the user terminal is launched, a list of content that has been updated or installed for each home appliance is displayed as in 67. 67 is an example of an interface for deletion in addition to upgrading content. In 67, the app on the user terminal provides a list of previously upgraded (or installed, etc.) content to enable manual deletion.

[0236] Among these, if the user selects content that they deem unnecessary and presses the "Delete" button, it displays that the deletion of the content is complete, as shown in 68.

[0237] Fig. 15 also allows a user terminal to request the server (500) to delete content, and the server (500) to instruct the home appliance to delete it. Alternatively, if the “Stone” button is pressed on the user terminal, the user terminal can instruct the home appliance to delete the selected content.

[0238] In addition to Fig. 15, for content identified as unused, a new list of unused content can be reminded through a separate tab to encourage deletion. Alternatively, unused content can be displayed in the interface of 67 so that the user can delete the content.

[0239] The user terminal can display the screens of FIGS. 13 and FIGS. 14 in a push manner by repeating them over a period of time. For example, the user terminal pushes the optimized interface of FIGS. 13 on a quarterly or six-month basis so that the user can maintain the content infrastructure of the home appliance optimally.

[0240] In addition, the user terminal pushes the deletion interface of FIG. 14 every month or every two months so that the user can optimally maintain the content infrastructure of the home appliance. Also, when the number of unused content exceeds a certain standard, the user terminal may display the deletion interface of FIG. 14 and suggest using or deleting the unused content.

[0241] FIG. 16 is an interface displayed on a user terminal of a user with high usability for content determined to be expired content according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is an interface displayed on a user terminal of a user with high usability for APP / device (device / content usage of the content determined to be expired). Here, usability includes cases where the usability for the content is high or cases where the usability of other content on the device is high, etc.

[0242]

[0243] FIG. 17 is an interface displayed on a user terminal of a user with low usability regarding content determined to be expired content according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is an interface displayed on a user terminal of a user with low usability regarding APP / device (device / content usage of content determined to be expired). If usage by the user is not confirmed for a certain period, the user terminal may suggest deleting unused content as shown in FIG. 16.

[0244]

[0245] When applying the embodiments of FIGS. 14 to 17, the server (500) can manage the maintenance / deletion of content, thereby optimizing the resources of the home appliance and the content provision server. Additionally, the home appliance (100) can provide memory efficiency by deleting unnecessary content so that other installed content or new content can be properly used. Through a specific menu of the user terminal (300) (e.g., content management within ThinQ UP Home Appliance Center), the user can optimize the resources of the home appliance to increase the usage efficiency of the home appliance.

[0246]

[0247] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a process of deleting content according to an embodiment of the present invention. The deletion of content is performed during processes such as when content deletion is indicated or optimization is performed in the processes of FIG. 14 to 17.

[0248] Deletion instructions from the user terminal (300) or server (500) are transmitted to the home appliance (100a) (S71, S72b, S73).

[0249] Through the internet router (210), the device communication unit (190) is instructed to delete content (S73), and the home appliance (100a) performs the deletion of content named Upgrade #1 on the microcomputer #1 (150a) where the content to be deleted (e.g. Upgrade #1 corresponding to Download #1) is installed.

[0250] That is, in a situation where N pieces of content are installed, the content that the server (500) or user terminal (300) instructs to delete is removed from the home appliance (100a), thereby enabling the securing of resources and efficient operation of the home appliance (100a).

[0251] According to one embodiment of the present invention, during the upgrade process of a home appliance, content that is unnecessary, or content that the user has chosen to delete, or content that the server (500) has instructed to be automatically deleted, can be implemented by deleting the firmware installed on the microcomputer of the product.

[0252] In the embodiment of FIG. 18, the server communication unit (510) can communicate with a user terminal (300) linked to a home appliance (100a). The server communication unit (510) can transmit information related to the deletion of content to the user terminal (300). A specific application installed on the user terminal (300) displays the received information as in the interface of FIG. 14 to 17 and displays information related to optimization or the deletion of content.

[0253] And the server communication unit (510) can receive a message requesting the deletion of content from the user terminal (300) (S70), and in this case, the server communication unit (510) can instruct the home appliance to delete the content (S72a).

[0254] When applying the aforementioned embodiment, the entity that develops, maintains, and manages content to install multiple contents on home appliances can build a qualitatively improved content ecosystem by diagnosing the value of each content and adjusting the priority of resource utilization.

[0255] That is, the server (500) can verify data-based indicators necessary to determine how long the content will be provided, managed, and maintained through the accumulation of experience history. The server (500) can determine the time when users' interest in the content declines through changes in various experience history and determine the time of extinction of the content through data analysis based on customer characteristics.

[0256] Additionally, the server (500) can provide a deletion mechanism to the home appliance or connected user terminal when the value of the content has decreased based on customer data including experience history, such as when the content download rate is low, or when the content usage is low, or when the usage retention rate is low.

[0257] If the content value is high, the server (500) can generate a content maintenance report specifying that there is a need for development / maintenance / marketing resources for the content, and if the content value is low, it generates a content deletion report to minimize the use of resources of the home appliance.

[0258] The server (500) can group multiple home appliances into usage groups and provide a maintenance mechanism or deletion mechanism suitable for each home appliance, and in this process, the server (500) can automatically generate a report related to the content or home appliance to which the maintenance mechanism / deletion mechanism is to be applied.

[0259] In particular, in the case of a server (500) that provides various content to multiple home appliances, it can provide an interface to notify the installation and maintenance of necessary content and the deletion of unnecessary content so that the infrastructure composed of home appliances (100) and applications of user terminals (300) linked to home appliances can be optimally maintained.

[0260] That is, in order for users to properly download newly distributed essential download content, the server (500) provides an interface that allows users to select content installation through a user terminal (300) or a home appliance (100).

[0261] In addition, to prevent the possibility of infrastructure shortage in home appliances occurring due to the continuous accumulation of unused content, the server (500) may provide an interface for deletion through the user terminal (300) or home appliance (100).

[0262] In addition, regarding the distribution method of content through the server (500), the download method of essential content and optional content can be different.

[0263] For example, essential content that is required is automatically downloaded from the server (500) to the home appliance (100). Optional content that has not been used for a long time is optimized so that the user can delete it.

[0264] Although it has been described that all components constituting an embodiment of the present invention are combined or operate as a single unit, the present invention is not necessarily limited to such an embodiment, and within the scope of the purpose of the present invention, all components may be selectively combined in one or more ways to operate. Furthermore, while all components may each be implemented as a single independent piece of hardware, some or all of the components may be selectively combined to be implemented as a computer program having a program module that performs some or all of the combined functions on one or more pieces of hardware. The codes and code segments constituting the computer program can be easily inferred by those skilled in the art of the present invention. An embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by storing such a computer-readable storage medium and reading and executing it by a computer. The storage medium for the computer program includes a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, and a storage medium including a semiconductor recording element. Additionally, a computer program implementing an embodiment of the present invention includes a program module that is transmitted in real time through an external device.

[0265] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to embodiments, various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it should be understood that such changes and modifications are included within the scope of the present invention as long as they do not depart from the scope of the invention.

[0266]

[0267] [Explanation of the symbol]

[0268] 100: Home Appliances 210: Access Point

[0269] 300: User terminal 500: Server

[0270]

[0271]

Claims

1. A server communication unit that communicates with a first home appliance and receives the experience history of a first content installed on the first home appliance; A server control unit that sets a user group of the first home appliance using the above experience history and controls the management of the first content installed in the first home appliance according to content management rules applied to the user group; and A server for managing content installed on a home appliance, comprising a database that stores the above-mentioned user groups and experience history.

2. In Paragraph 1, The above experience history is a server managing content installed on a home appliance, comprising one or more of the following: information that the first content is downloaded to the home appliance, information that the first content is used on the first home appliance, connection information between the first home appliance and the second home appliance by the first content, and evaluation information for the first content.

3. In Paragraph 1, The server control unit above is a server that manages content installed in a home appliance, which sets a method of collecting a first experience history corresponding to the first content and a second experience history corresponding to the second content, or a judgment criterion or criterion value for the collected first experience history and the second experience history differently.

4. In Paragraph 1, The server control unit above is a server that manages content installed in a home appliance, which acquires the experience history during the time interval in which the first content is installed or maintained during the time interval from when the first content is distributed until it is lost.

5. In Paragraph 4, In the extinction section following the first content maintenance section, the server control unit sets the usage group of the first home appliance according to the experience history, and The server control unit above is a server that manages content installed in a home appliance, which provides a deletion mechanism for the first content based on the set user group to the home appliance or a user terminal linked to the home appliance.

6. In Paragraph 4, A server managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the server control unit determines whether the content is to be extinguished after the first content maintenance period, and if the necessity for extinguishment is below a standard, provides a content maintenance mechanism to the home appliance or a user terminal linked to the home appliance.

7. In Paragraph 1, The server control unit above is a server that manages content installed in a home appliance, which determines whether the first content has disappeared based on the experience history of a plurality of home appliances regarding the first content.

8. In Paragraph 4, A server managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the section where the installation or maintenance is performed is set in correspondence with the season or time when the home appliance or the content is used in a specific season or time.

9. In Paragraph 1, The above server communication unit communicates with a user terminal linked to the above first home appliance, and The above server communication unit transmits information related to the deletion of the first content to the user terminal, and A server managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein when a deletion request message for the first content is received from the user terminal, the server communication unit instructs the home appliance to delete the first content.

10. In Paragraph 5, The above deletion mechanism includes a first interface capable of deleting the first content or a second interface for performing optimization of a home appliance on which the first content is installed, and The user terminal receives a selection input for deletion or optimization after displaying the first interface or the second interface, and The above user terminal is a server that manages content installed on a home appliance, which requests the execution of the above deletion mechanism from the server or the home appliance.

11. A server communication unit of the server communicates with the first home appliance and receives the experience history of the first content installed on the first home appliance and stores it in a database; A step in which the server control unit of the above server sets the usage group of the first home appliance using the experience history; and A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, comprising the step of the server control unit controlling the management of the first content installed in the first home appliance according to content management rules applied to the user group.

12. In Paragraph 11, A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the above experience history includes one or more of the following: information that the first content is downloaded to the home appliance, information that the first content is used in the first home appliance, connection information between the first home appliance and the second home appliance by the first content, and evaluation information for the first content.

13. In Paragraph 11, Before the step of setting the above-mentioned user group A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, further comprising the step of the server control unit setting a method for collecting a first experience history corresponding to the first content and a second experience history corresponding to the second content, or a judgment criterion or criterion value for the collected first experience history and the second experience history differently.

14. In Paragraph 11, The above-mentioned storage step A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the server control unit further includes the step of acquiring the experience history during the time interval in which the first content is installed or maintained during the time interval in which the first content is installed or maintained, from the time interval in which the first content is distributed until it is lost.

15. In Paragraph 14, A method for managing content installed on a home appliance, comprising the step of the server control unit setting a user group of the first home appliance according to the experience history in the extinction section following the first content maintenance section, and the server control unit providing a deletion mechanism for the first content based on the set user group to the home appliance or a user terminal linked to the home appliance.

16. In Paragraph 14, A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the server control unit determines whether the content is to be extinguished after the first content maintenance period, and if the necessity for extinguishment is below a standard, provides a content maintenance mechanism to the home appliance or a user terminal linked to the home appliance.

17. In Paragraph 11, Before the above setting step A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the server control unit further includes the step of determining whether the first content has been removed based on the experience history of a plurality of home appliances regarding the first content.

18. In Paragraph 14, A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, wherein the installed section or maintained section is set in correspondence with the season or time when the home appliance or the content is used in a specific season or time.

19. In Paragraph 11, The above server communication unit communicates with a user terminal linked to the above first home appliance, and The above-mentioned controlling step The step of the server communication unit transmitting information related to the deletion of the first content to the user terminal; and A method for managing content installed in a home appliance, further comprising the step of instructing the home appliance to delete the first content when a deletion request message for the first content is received from the user terminal.

20. In Paragraph 15, The above deletion mechanism includes a first interface capable of deleting the first content or a second interface for performing optimization of a home appliance on which the first content is installed, and The step of the user terminal receiving a selection input for deletion or optimization after displaying the first interface or the second interface; and A method for managing content installed on a home appliance, further comprising the step of the user terminal requesting the server or the home appliance to execute the deletion mechanism.

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