Server-Based Function Update for Household Appliance Cooperation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Household appliances often lack the necessary control programs to perform cooperative processing with newly purchased devices, limiting their functionality when integrated with existing appliances in a home environment.
Innovation Solution
A function update method that registers new appliances on a server, which stores identification information, combination data, and update information, allowing the server to transmit necessary updates to enable cooperative processing between registered appliances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a control program for cooperative processing is incorporated into each household appliance in advance, then cooperative processing can be performed between appliances, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase, and not all appliances need the same cooperative functions
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary actions by storing combination information about which appliances work together cooperatively. When a new appliance is registered, the server proactively identifies the appropriate control programs needed for cooperative processing and transmits them to the relevant appliances before cooperative processing is attempted, rather than requiring all appliances to have all possible cooperative programs pre-installed.
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as an intermediary between appliances, managing the distribution of control programs. Instead of each appliance needing to have direct knowledge of all cooperative processing programs, the server mediates by receiving appliance identification information, looking up combination information, and transmitting the appropriate update information containing control programs to the specific appliances that need them.
2Ease of manufacture
If a new household appliance is purchased without pre-equipped control programs for cooperative processing, then manufacturing cost and device complexity are reduced, but the appliance cannot perform cooperative processing with existing appliances in the home
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic adaptability where appliances start with basic functionality and acquire cooperative processing capabilities dynamically when needed. When a new appliance is registered with the server, the system dynamically determines which cooperative processing functions are required based on the appliance combination information, and dynamically transmits the appropriate control programs to enable cooperative processing, allowing appliances to adapt to their specific home environment rather than having fixed pre-installed capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliance's functional parameters change from a basic state without cooperative processing capabilities to an enhanced state with specific cooperative processing functions. This is achieved by the server transmitting update information that modifies the appliance's control program parameters based on the identified appliance combinations, allowing the appliance to gain the specific cooperative processing adaptability needed for its particular home configuration.
3Adaptability or versatility
If control programs are pre-installed in all household appliances for all possible cooperative scenarios, then any appliance combination can perform cooperative processing, but the loss of information storage space and increased manufacturing cost occur
Solution Approach 1:
The server implements a universal solution by maintaining a comprehensive database of combination information that covers multiple appliance scenarios. This single universal system can serve any appliance combination by looking up the appropriate configuration in the combination information and transmitting only the specific control programs needed for that particular combination, eliminating the need for each individual appliance to store multiple duplicate sets of cooperative processing programs.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the server stores and manages update information for all appliance combinations, then cooperative processing can be enabled for any new appliance, but the device complexity and information storage requirements of the server increase
Solution Approach 1:
The server segments the comprehensive combination information into individual appliance-specific records. Each record in the combination information corresponds to a specific appliance and contains only the update information needed for that particular appliance's cooperative processing scenarios. This segmentation allows the server to efficiently retrieve and transmit only the relevant control programs for the specific appliance being registered, rather than managing and processing all possible appliance combinations as a single complex unit.
Data Source
AI summary
A function update method improving household appliance functions by enabling new and existing household appliances to perform cooperative processing. In the method, a server stores registration information listing identification information for each household appliance owned by a user, combination information listing combinations each including household appliances performing cooperative processing, and update information for each household appliance in each combination, for updating a function for performing the cooperative processing. The method includes: receiving, from a household appliance having identification information not listed in the registration information, a request to list the identification information in the registration information, and listing the identification information in the registration information; selecting a combination listed in the combination information, the combination including the household appliance and all other household appliances in the combination being registered in the registration information; and transmitting update information to each household appliance requiring a function update in the combination.