Home Network Gateway for Device Information via Web
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional home-network systems face difficulties in providing comprehensive control and information services for all domestic devices across different hardware and software platforms, especially when accessing the internet, due to the use of various communication protocols and middleware structures that lack integration and internet connectivity.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus comprising a message processing unit, storage unit, data processing unit, and information producing unit that converts device information into XML format, stores it, and provides it in web page format to users, enabling device information access and control across the home network via the internet, with features like polling and user authentication for access authority management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional home-network systems use multiple communication protocols and middleware structures to support various domestic devices, then device compatibility and control capability are improved, but system complexity and difficulty of internet integration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway server as an intermediary component between domestic devices and external networks. The gateway server includes a message processing unit that receives device information from various domestic devices through different communication protocols, converts it to a standardized format, and provides it to external user devices. This mediator approach allows the system to support multiple device types and protocols without increasing overall system complexity, as the gateway handles the protocol conversion and data standardization centrally.
2Ease of operation
If middleware structures are used to control devices in home networks, then device control function is improved, but internet service provision capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the home network system into two distinct functional parts: a local control layer using middleware for device control, and a remote access layer using web technologies for internet service provision. The gateway server acts as the interface between these layers, converting local device control requests into web-compatible formats. This segmentation allows each layer to optimize for its specific function while maintaining overall system versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway server serves as a mediator that translates between the middleware-based local control protocol and the web-based remote access protocol. It receives device control requests from external user devices via web pages, converts them into the appropriate middleware commands, and executes them on local devices. This intermediary translation mechanism enables both device control and internet service provision without compromise.
3Speed
If device information is provided directly to external networks without conversion, then data transmission speed is improved, but system security and access control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway server acts as a security intermediary between the internal home network and external networks. It receives and validates all access requests, authenticates user credentials, and controls which devices and functions are accessible from external networks. The message processing unit converts external web requests into secure local commands, ensuring that only authorized access is granted. This intermediary security layer protects the internal network while maintaining efficient data transmission through standardized conversion processes.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an apparatus for providing device information via a network and method thereof. A message processing unit processes input and output messages. The information producing unit dynamically produces updated information based on the data stored in the database and provides it in a web document format. The information managing unit manages characteristic information and additional information of a device. The data processing unit processes a transaction of the data stored in the database. The characteristic information and the additional information of the device existing in the home network created in an XML format is converted into a predetermined document structure and stored in the database. Accordingly, the remote users can have different access authority from each other by assuring independence between the domestic devices and the remote devices, and easily use the home network service by providing the device information in a web document format.