Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method and system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message and a storage medium accessible by electronic devices applicable to a first electronic device transmitting a groupcast message to at least a remote second electronic device. The method comprises steps of: setting a plurality of second electronic devices to at least a group; setting one of the plurality of second electronic devices in the group as a remote transceiver; the first electronic device transmitting the groupcast message to the remote transceiver; and the remote transceiver transmitting a broadcast message to the plurality of second electronic devices in the group. Thereby, transmission of a groupcast message to the second electronic devices can be ensured without adding extra transmission cost.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to communication, and particularly to a transmission method and system for groupcast message to at least a remote electronic device, and to a storage medium accessible by electronic devices. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    As the Internet is developing rapidly, the technology of Internet of Things (IoT) attracts attention increasingly and is applied to various fields in people&#39;s everyday lives. 
         [0003]    The IoT is a network based the Internet and enabling physical entities therein having networking capability to communicate with one another. In the IoT, each physical entity can be accessed or manipulated through the network. Equipment, machines, and articles can be managed and manipulated concentrically via the IoT. Its application range is very extensive, such as smart living environment, health and medical, and burglarproof applications. 
         [0004]    The methods for manipulating physical entities in the IoT can be categorized into two types. The first is to command the physical entities to be manipulated directly. If the client commands a physical entity inside the IoT, direct manipulation is an easily achievable method. Nonetheless, as the client is at a remote site and wishes to manipulate the physical entity in the IoT, the manipulation command needs to be delivered via the network media. If the physical entity is disposed nearby the network media, the manipulation command submitted by the client can certainly be delivered smoothly. Unfortunately, if the physical entity is disposed so remote to the network media that the manipulation command cannot be delivered via the network media, the second type of method should be adopted for delivering the manipulation command. 
         [0005]    The second type of method for manipulating physical entities in the IoT is to transmit groupcast messages containing manipulation command to all the physical entities in the IoT. This transmission method is that the client uses an electronic device, for example, a mobile phone, to transmit remotely groupcast messages to physical entities in the IoT. 
         [0006]    Nonetheless, current methods of transmitting remotely groupcast messages to physical entities in the IoT for manipulating physical objects are relatively complicated. Using these methods according to the prior art sometimes induces extra transmission costs and system complexity. Accordingly, how to transmit a groupcast message to a physical entity in the IoT with certainty without increasing extra transmission costs and system complexity has become a major subject in the present day. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    An objective of the present invention is to provide a method and system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message and a storage medium accessible by electronic devices, which can transmit groupcast messages to remote electronic devices without increasing extra transmission costs and system complexity. 
         [0008]    In order to achieve the objectives and efficacies as described above, an embodiment according to the present invention discloses a method for transmitting remotely a groupcast message applicable to a first electronic device transmitting a groupcast message to at least a remote second electronic device. The method comprises steps of: setting a plurality of second electronic devices to at least a group; setting one of the plurality of second electronic devices in the group as a remote transceiver; the first electronic device transmitting the groupcast message to the remote transceiver; and the remote transceiver transmitting a broadcast message to the plurality of second electronic devices in the group. 
         [0009]    Furthermore, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message is disclosed and applicable to transmitting remotely a groupcast message to at least a second electronic device. The system comprises a first electronic device and a plurality of second electronic devices. The first electronic device transmits a groupcast message. The plurality of second electronic devices are grouped to at least a group. One of the plurality of second electronic devices in the group is set as a remote transceiver. The first electronic device transmits the groupcast message to the remote transceiver. The remote transceiver transmits a broadcast message to the plurality of second electronic devices in the group. 
         [0010]    Moreover, according another embodiment of the present invention, a storage medium accessible by electronic devices is disclosed. A program is stored in the storage medium accessible by electronic devices and used for executing a method for transmitting remotely a groupcast message. The method is applicable to a first electronic device transmitting remotely a groupcast message to at least a second electronic device. The method comprises steps of: setting a plurality of second electronic devices to at least a group: setting one of the plurality of second electronic devices in the group as a remote transceiver; the first electronic device transmitting the groupcast message to the remote transceiver; and the remote transceiver transmitting a broadcast message to the plurality of second electronic devices in the group. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B  show schematic diagrams of the system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  shows a flowchart of the method for transmitting remotely a groupcast message according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic diagram of grouping according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIGS. 4A to 4E  show schematic diagrams of the system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  shows a flowchart of the method for transmitting remotely a groupcast message according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    In order to make the structure and characteristics as well as the effectiveness of the present invention to be further understood and recognized, the detailed description of the present invention is provided as follows along with embodiments and accompanying figures. 
         [0017]    Please refer to  FIG. 1A . As shown in the figure, the present embodiment provides a system  1  for transmitting remotely a groupcast message, which comprises a first electronic device  10 , a medium  30 , and a plurality of second electronic devices  50 . According to the present embodiment, the first electronic device  10  and the plurality of second electronic devices  50  transmit information via the medium  30 . 
         [0018]    The first electronic device  10  according to the present embodiment includes a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, or other electronic devices capable of transmitting information. 
         [0019]    The plurality of second electronic devices  50  according to the present invention include smartphones, PDAs, tablet computers, notebook computers, desktop computers, webcams, smart plugs, or other electronic devices capable of transmitting information. In addition, each of the plurality of second electronic devices  50  includes a connecting unit, respectively and is capable of connecting to one another through the respective connecting unit. The connecting unit includes infrared, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, or physical networks. 
         [0020]    The medium  30  according to the present embodiment includes a router, a switch, a hub, a cloud server, a relay, or other media capable of network transmission. 
         [0021]    The system  1  according to the present embodiment is used for transmitting a groupcast message to at least a second electronic device  50  by the first electronic device  10  for controlling or configuring the plurality of second electronic devices  50  in the group or transmitting data to the plurality of second electronic devices  50  in the group. For example, the first electronic device  10  according to the present embodiment is a smartphone while the plurality of second electronic devices  50  are smart appliances. When a user operates the first electronic device  10  and transmits a control signal to the plurality of second electronic devices  50 , the signal can be transmitted using the method and system  1  for transmitting a groupcast message disclosed in the present embodiment. 
         [0022]    Please refer to  FIG. 1A, 1B, and 2 . As shown in the figures, when the transmission system  1  according to the present embodiment operates, the step ST 1  is first executed for setting the plurality of second electronic device  50  as at least one group. As shown in  FIG. 1A  and according to the present embodiment, the first electronic device  10  groups the plurality of second electronic devices  50  to the same group G 1 . Nonetheless, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. Alternatively, the plurality of second electronic devices  50  can be set to the same group G 1  prior to delivery. Furthermore, the plurality of second electronic devices  50  can be set by the user to the same group G 1  while installing or at another moment. The method for grouping includes setting the plurality of second electronic devices  50  having the same properties, for example, all being computers, to the same group, setting the plurality of second electronic devices  50  capable of executing the same actions, for example, lights, air conditioners, and fans, all executing turning on or off actions, to the same group, setting the plurality of second electronic devices  50  dependent on one another, for example, computers and printers, which should be turned on for printing documents, to the same group, or setting groups according to the user&#39;s requirements. 
         [0023]    After the step ST 1  is finished, the step ST 3  is executed for setting one of the plurality of second electronic devices  50  in the group G 1  as a remote transceiver  50 A. As shown in  FIG. 1A , according to the present embodiment, a second electronic device  50  in the group G 1  is assigned as the remote transceiver  50 A. 
         [0024]    According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the step ST 1  is executed, the step ST 3  will be executed concurrently. In other words, when the group G 1  is set, the remote transceiver  50 A will be set at the same time. Then the preparation process before the first electronic device  10  can transmit the groupcast message is finished. Afterwards, when the first electronic device  10  transmits the groupcast message, it is no more required to ser the remote transceiver  50 A. Instead, the first electronic device  10  can transmit directly the groupcast message to the configured remote transceiver  50 A. 
         [0025]    Please refer again to  FIG. 2 . The step ST 5  is executed, in which the first electronic device  10  transmits the groupcast message to the remote transceiver  50 A. 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 1A , the first electronic device  10  transmits the groupcast message to the remote transceiver  50 A via the medium  30 . The remote transceiver  50 A receives the groupcast message. The groupcast message described above includes the control signal to be transmitted by the first electronic device  10 . According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first electronic device  10  transmits the groupcast message to the remote transceiver  50 A via the TCP or UDP. 
         [0027]    Please refer again to  FIG. 2 . Finally, the step ST 7  is executed, in which the remote transceiver  50 A transmits a broadcast message according to the received groupcast message to the plurality of second electronic devices  50 , as shown in  FIG. 1B . That is to say, the broadcast message will be transmitted to all of the plurality of second electronic devices  50  in the group G 1 . The content of the broadcast message includes the groupcast message, namely, the control signal transmitted by the first electronic device  10 . According to the above, the present embodiment provides a method and system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message. While setting the group G 1 , one of the second electronic devices  50  in the group G 1  is further assigned as the remote transceiver  50 A. When the first electronic device  10  needs to control the plurality of second electronic devices  50  in the group G 1 , the remote transceiver  50 A can be used to connect with the plurality of second electronic devices  50  in the group G 1 . 
         [0028]    According to another embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of second electronic devices  50  can be defined into multiple groups. As shown in  FIG. 3 , each group includes at least a second electronic device  50 . The second electronic devices  50  in the same group can transmit information to one another; the second electronic devices  50  in different groups can transmit information to one another as well. The first electronic device  10  can transmit a groupcast message to a group or a plurality of groups. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the group G 2  and the group G 3  are groups including a plurality of second electronic devices  50 . The group G 4 , on the other hand, is a group including only a single second electronic device  50 . In addition, only one second electronic device  50  in the groups G 2 ˜G 4  is assigned as the remote transceiver  50 A. 
         [0029]    Next, the system for transmitting remotely a groupcast message according to another embodiment will be described. Please refer to  FIG. 4A . As shown in the figure, the embodiment provides another system  2  for transmitting remotely a groupcast message. The system  2  comprises a first electronic device  10 , a medium  30 , and a plurality of second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505 . According to the present embodiment, the second electronic device  501  includes a neighborhood table  5011 , a neighborhood quantity  5013 , and a piece of communication quality information  5015 . The neighborhood table  5011  records the other second electronic devices nearby the second electronic device  501 . The neighborhood quantity represents the quantity of the other second electronic devices nearby the second electronic device  501 . 
         [0030]    The communication quality information as described above represents the connection quality between each second electronic device  50  and nearby devices, which include the other second electronic devices  502 ,  503  and the medium  30 . Thereby, the communication quality information of the second electronic device  501  includes the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or the signal to noise ratio (SNR), representing the transmission intensity of the second electronic device  501 . 
         [0031]    Please refer again to  FIG. 4A . The second electronic device  502  includes a neighborhood table  5021 , a neighborhood quantity  5023 , and a piece of communication quality information  5025 . The neighborhood table  5021  records the other second electronic devices nearby the second electronic device  502 . The neighborhood quantity  5023  represents the quantity of the other second electronic devices nearby the second electronic device  502 . The communication quality information  5025  is the connection quality between the second electronic devices  502  the nearby other electronic devices and includes the communication quality between the second electronic device  502  and the medium  30 . As the above description, the rest second electronic devices  503 ,  504 ,  505  also include neighborhood tables  5031 ,  5041 ,  5051 , neighborhood quantities  5033 ,  5043 ,  5053 , and communication quality information  5035 ,  5045 ,  5055 . Each of the above second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505  searches the nearby devices at startup, records the search result in the respective neighborhood table  5011 ,  5012 ,  5031 ,  5041 ,  5051 , and records the quantities of nearby devices. Besides, according an embodiment of the present invention, the nearby devices that each of the above second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505  searches at startup include the medium  30 . 
         [0032]    Please refer to  FIG. 5  as well as  FIGS. 4A to 4E . When the system  2  according to the present embodiment is operating, the step ST 21  is first executed, in which the first electronic device  10  acquires respective communication quality information  5015 - 5055  and neighborhood quantities  5013 - 5053  of each of the second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505 . Then the step ST 23  is executed for defining the plurality of second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505  to at least one group. According to the present embodiment, the plurality of second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505  belong to one group. In this step, the plurality of second electronic devices  501 - 505  may have no neighborhood quantity, for example, when the second electronic device is placed at remote places such as the balcony or the roof. This means that this second electronic device cannot transmit information with the other electronic devices. In order to make sure that the control signal or information can be transmitted to each second electronic device, the second electronic device having no neighborhood quantity is set to a group. The purpose is that when the neighborhood quantity of the second electronic device is zero, it means that the second electronic device cannot connected with any other second electronic device. If the second electronic device does not form a group independently, it cannot receive the messages transmitted from the first electronic device  10 . As the second electronic device is set to a group, the first electronic device  10  can transmit the groupcast message directly to the second electronic device. Thereby, it is ensured that the second electronic device can receive the control signal or information of the first electronic device  10 . 
         [0033]    Next, the step ST 251  or ST 253  is executed. When the step ST 251  is executed and the first electronic device  10  sets one of the plurality of second electronic devices in the group as the remote transceiver, the communication quality information  5015 - 5055  of the second electronic devices  501 - 505  collected in the step ST 21  is used as a reference. The method by which the first electronic device  10  selects the remote transceiver is based on the respective communication quality information of each of the second electronic devices  501 ,  502 ,  503 ,  504 ,  505 . The one having the best connection quality is selected as the remote transceiver. According to the present embodiment, the communication quality information  5015 ˜ 5055  of the plurality of second electronic devices  501 ˜ 505  is the RSSI having the values −10 dBm, −20 dBm, −40 dBm, −30 dBm, −25 dBm, respectively. In the step ST 253 , the neighborhood quantities  5013 ˜ 5053  of the second electronic devices  501 ˜ 505  collected in the step ST 21  are used as a reference. The second electronic device having the most neighborhood quantity is selected as the remote transceiver. According to the present embodiment, the plurality of neighborhood quantities  5013 ˜ 5053  of the plurality of second electronic devices  501 ˜ 505  are 2, 1, 2, 1, and 3, respectively. 
         [0034]    If the present embodiment executes the step ST 251 , then the second electronic device  501  owns the best connection quality. Consequently, the second electronic device  501  is set as the remote transceiver. On the other hand, if the present embodiment executes the step ST 253 , then the neighborhood quantity of the second electronic device  505  is the most, meaning that the second electronic device  505  has the most nearby second electronic devices. Then, the second electronic device  505  is assigned as the remote transceiver. According to the present embodiment, the step ST 251  is executed. As shown in  FIG. 4B , the second electronic device  501  is selected as the remote transceiver. In the situation of having multiple groups, the first electronic device  10  can choose to execute the step ST 251  or ST 253 , respectively, for determining the remote transceiver of each group. That is to say, different groups can set the remote transceiver in the groups according to the communication quality information or the neighborhood quantity. 
         [0035]    Please refer to  FIG. 5 . Next, the step ST 27  is executed. As shown in  FIG. 4C , the first electronic device  10  transmits the groupcast message to the second electronic device  501  via the medium  30 . The second electronic device  501  receives the groupcast message. Afterwards, the step ST 29  is executed, in which the second electronic device  501  (the remote transceiver) transmits a broadcast message according to the groupcast message. The content of the broadcast message includes the content of the groupcast message and the neighborhood table of the remote transceiver. In other words, the broadcast message transmitted by the second electronic device  501  includes the content of the groupcast message and the neighborhood table  5011 . The second electronic device  501  transmits the broadcast message according to the neighborhood table  5011 . As shown in  FIG. 4D , the second electronic device  501  transmits the broadcast message to the second electronic device  502  and the second electronic device  503  according to the neighborhood table  5011 . 
         [0036]    Moreover, the plurality of second electronic devices having received the broadcast message will compare their own neighborhood tables with that of the remote transceiver. When their own neighborhood tables include the second electronic device not recorded in the neighborhood tables of the remote transceiver, they will transmit the received broadcast message according to their own neighborhood tables. As shown in  FIG. 4E , when the plurality of second electronic device  502 ,  503  receive the broadcast messages transmitted by the second electronic device  501  (the remote transceiver), the plurality of second electronic devices  502 ,  503  compares the neighborhood table  5011  in the broadcast messages. According to the present embodiment, the neighborhood table  5011  does not include the second electronic devices  504 ,  505  recorded in the neighborhood table  5031  of the second electronic device  503 . Thereby, as shown in  FIG. 4E , the second electronic device  503  transmits the received broadcast message to the plurality of second electronic devices  504 ,  505  according to its own neighborhood table  5031 , and thus ensuring that the broadcast message can be transmitted to all second electronic devices. Namely, it is ensured that all second electronic devices in the group can receive the control signal or information transmitted by the first electronic device  10 . 
         [0037]    The transmission method for groupcast message according to the present invention can be implemented as a program and stored in a storage medium accessible by an electronic device. Thereby, after the electronic device reads the storage medium, the transmission method for groupcast message is executed. A computer accessible storage medium can be a read-only memory, a flash memory, a floppy disk. A hard disk, a compact disk, a USB flash drive, a magnetic tape, a network accessible database, or any other storage medium accessible by electronic devices well known to a personal having ordinary skill in the art. 
         [0038]    Accordingly, the present invention conforms to the legal requirements owing to its novelty, nonobviousness, and utility. However, the foregoing description is only embodiments of the present invention, not used to limit the scope and range of the present invention. Those equivalent changes or modifications made according to the shape, structure, feature, or spirit described in the claims of the present invention are included in the appended claims of the present invention.