Abstract:
A system where a home server can recognize a location of a home device in a home network. The home device includes a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag which stores information about the home device, and each plug receptacle constituting the home network has an RFID reader. Accordingly, the RFID reader checks the location of the RFID tag in real time and transfers the information about the RFID tag and a receptacle identifier to a home server, so that the home server recognizes the location of the home device in real time using the information transferred. Therefore, using the transferred information, the home server can recognize in real-time the location of the home device, and also transfer necessary information to the home device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Korean Patent Application No. 2005-13572 filed on Feb. 18, 2005 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     Devices, systems, and methods consistent with the invention relate to a home network, and more particularly, to efficiently controlling home devices by recognizing locations of home devices having a communicating function and home devices without a communicating function, as elements of a home network.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     A home network is a future home electronic appliance connection system which connects electronic appliances (e.g., a TV, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, etc.) at respective places in a house (e.g., a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, an entrance, etc.) to the Internet, and therefore enables users to operate the connected electronic appliances by using a device such as a mobile phone.  
         [0006]     Many uses of such a home network are possible. For example, if the home network is installed in a home, a home network user in the bedroom can identify a person ringing a doorbell, or a currently running cycle of a washing machine. Further, the home network user can monitor his house from outside the house, control the home&#39;s temperature from the office before leaving the office, and undergo a medical examination by using a PDA or the cellular phone. Still further, the television in the home can be automatically turned on to provide various kinds of information by recognizing the home network user through a fingerprint identification device. Still further, the home network user can check traffic states on a route to the office according to real-time traffic information provided from a traffic information service center, and thereby determine a route to the office.  
         [0007]     The related art home network is implemented either by using a wired technique or a wireless technique. The wired technique includes home PNA, IEEE1394, PLC, Ethernet, etc., and the wireless technique includes Bluetooth, home RF, IrDA, etc. The wired home network technique has the benefit that it controls a PC, peripheral devices of the PC, information devices, digital electric appliances, etc. at a home using a single protocol. In comparison with the wired home network technique, the wireless technique has the benefit that it needs no cable and provides mobility of terminals. In addition, the wireless technique has the benefit that it allows a structure of the network to be easily changed, and that an installation process and a maintenance process can be more easily performed in comparison to the wired home network technique. On the other hand, the wireless technique has weak points such as a chance of transmission errors due to interference and attenuation of the same frequency, a problem of security, etc. Further with respect to the wireless technique, the home RF and Bluetooth use a radio wave method while the IrDA uses an infrared ray method. The infrared ray method has the benefit that it can prevent radio wave interference, but has a weak point that its effective range is reduced. In comparison with the infrared ray method, the radio wave method has a benefit of a wider effective range, but has a weak point that security is reduced.  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a related art home network. In accordance with  FIG. 1 , the home network includes a home server  100  and a plurality of home devices  110  to  116 . In addition, the home network can include at least two home servers  100 . Hereinafter, the general home network will be described in detail by referring to  FIG. 1 .  
         [0009]     The home server  100  controls the home devices  110  to  116  included in the home network and the home devices  110  to  116  perform corresponding operations according to control commands from the home server  100 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the home server  100  recognizes locations of the home devices  110  to  116  in order to control efficiently the home devices  110  to  116 . Namely, the home server  100  can transmit necessary control commands to the home devices  110  to  116  by recognizing the locations of the home devices  110  to  116 .  
         [0010]     However, the home devices  110  to  116  with middleware thereon can be connected to the home network or operated with the home network only when receiving electric power and performing a communication function. In addition, a home device operated by simple controls cannot load Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) middleware since the load due to the UPnP middleware is added to a CPU and a software of the home device. Still further, in a case of the home device on which the middleware is loaded, the home server  100  can recognize the operation of the home device connected to the home network, but cannot recognize the location of the home device in the home. Furthermore, the home server  100  cannot recognize the location of the home device within the home network if the home device does not have the communication function.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     It is a aspect of the invention to correctly recognize locations of the home devices, on which middlewares are loaded, by a home server, and to correctly recognize locations of the home devices of which the middleware is not loaded by the home server.  
         [0012]     It is another aspect of the invention to correctly recognize the locations of the home devices in the home without adding loads to the home devices for performing simple control operations.  
         [0013]     It is yet another aspect of the invention to efficiently control the home devices by using location information of the home devices as elements of a home network, which are recognized by the home server.  
         [0014]     It is yet another aspect of the invention to allow the home server to control the home devices by recognizing the states of the home devices operated by a user.  
         [0015]     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a location recognition system for a home network, including: a home device comprising a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag that stores information about the home device; and an RFID reader, at a first position, that receives the information stored on the RFID tag.  
         [0016]     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a home server, including: a communication module communicating with an RFID reader; and a database storing information about a home device obtained from an RFID tag on the home device via the RFID reader.  
         [0017]     Hereinafter, RFID, as used for various devices or various products, will be described in detail before describing the home server and the home devices included in the home network of the invention. RFID is a system developed by a change in production methods, a change of consumer senses, innovation of culture and technology, and a requirement for solving weak points of a bar code and a magnetic card. RFID is a kind of contactless card and the term contactless card generally refers to RFID.  
         [0018]     In comparison with a contact card, RFID does not require a user to waste time inserting an RFID tag into an RFID reader, prevents friction and damage due to the mechanical contact, and reduces influences of contamination and environment. The RFID reader continuously generates radio waves, while the RFID tag transmits an identifier and data to the RFID reader when the RFID tag approaches an effective range of the radio waves generated from the RFID reader. The RFID reader transmits the data received from the RFID tag to a server, which then compares the data stored into the database with the data received from the RFID reader and provides necessary services. At this time, in the signal transmission and reception processes, signals corresponding to a frequency band of 10 kHz to 300 GHz are used, and the low frequency of 134.2 kHz is mainly used. Hereinafter, properties of the RFID will be described in detail.  
         [0019]     An RFID system saves time since it simultaneously recognizes a plurality of RFID tags. Thus, RFID is replacing the bar code or the magnetic tag in the field of physical distribution because of the first feature. Further, RFID also is easily applicable according to system properties and environmental conditions and can widen the applicable field. Thus, the RFID tag is replacing a contact smart card used in the conventional parking control system. Further, RFID systems also have a long lifetime since they has a prominent environment-resistant property. Thus, RFID has a low error rate under unfavorable conditions such as when the RFID tag is damaged due to friction, dust, moisture, temperature, snow, rain, and etc. since the user doesn&#39;t have to insert the RFID tag into the RFID reader and the RFID is not in mechanical contact. Accordingly, RFID is mainly applied to a systems in open space. Still further, RFID is able to pass through nonmetallic materials. Still further, RFID is able to recognize a moving body with high speed by a recognition method. Thus, RFID can be used in an unmanned parking management system or an automatic fare collection system of an expressway or a tunnel since the RFID reader can recognize the RFID tag within 0.01 to 0.1 second. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]     The above and other aspects of the invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a home network including a home server and a plurality of home devices;  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating a home device having an RFID tag and a plug receptacle having an RFID reader according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating elements of a home server according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating operations performed between a plug receptacle and a home server according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating operations of the plug receptacle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0026]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating operations of the home server according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]     Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described below by reference to the attached Figures. The described exemplary embodiments are intended to assist the understanding of the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating home devices (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ) each of which have an RFID tag (e.g.,  212   a ,  212   b ,  212   c ) thereon, and a plug receptacle  200  having an RFID reader  202 , according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In  FIG. 2 , home device  180   a  has a plug  210   a  (on which RFID tag  212   a  is provided) which is connected to the plug receptacle  200  to provide power to the home device  180   a . Alternatively, a home device  180   c  may be provided that does not have a plug, but which has an RFID tag  212   c  thereon. Other configurations may be provided according to a user setup mode. The RFID tags  212   a ,  212   b ,  212   c  each include information about the respective home devices  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c  (e.g., a maker, kind, model, date, serial number, and web address of the home device).  
         [0029]     The RFID reader  202  has a recognizing range, which is adjustable according to a user setup mode, wherein it is able to recognize an RFID tag. Further, the RFID reader  202  can recognize a location of RFID tag when the RFID reader  202  has a narrow recognizing range. In this embodiment, the RFID reader  202  controls the recognizing range to recognize the RFID tags  212   a ,  212   b ,  212   c  when they are located within 1 meter.  
         [0030]     The RFID reader  202  receives the information about a home device (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ) from the RFID tag (e.g.,  212   a ,  212   b ,  212   c ) and transmits the received information to a communication module  206 , which then transmits the received information, along with a plug receptacle identifier, to a communication module  306  of the home server. In addition, the communication module  206  receives plug insertion information that indicates whether the plug is inserted into the plug receptacle  200  or not. Namely, when the plug  210   a  is inserted into the plug receptacle  200 , a power setup process is performed to apply power to both ends of the plug  210   a,  and to an AC/DC converter  204  through the plug. The AC/DC converter  204  converts AC power to DC power. The communication module  206  then receives the DC power and thereby recognizes whether the plug  210   a  is inserted into the plug receptacle  200 .  
         [0031]     Hereinafter, elements of the home server and operations thereof will be described in detail.  FIG. 3  illustrates each of the elements of the home server according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In  FIG. 3 , the home server includes an application program part  300 , a data management part  302 , a service management part  304 , a communication module  306 , a database (DB)  308 , and a user interface (UI)  310 .  
         [0032]     The communication module  306  receives the information about the home device (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ) and the plug receptacle identifier (i.e., identifying information) from the communication module  206  of the plug receptacle  200  and transmits the identifying information to the data management part  302 . The data management part  302  analyzes the identifying information to classify home devices. This identifying information is stored in a database  308  by a command from the data management part  302 . The following table 1 shows how the identifying information is stored in the database  308 .  
                               TABLE 1                                   plug           home device   maker   serial number   receptacle number   location                   coffeepot   A   1234567890   C-7   kitchen       refrigerator   B   9876543210   C-9   kitchen       . . .   . . .   . . .   . . .   . . .       TV   C   4567891230   C-3   living room                  
 
         [0033]     The service management part  304  controls the home devices by using the identifying information received from the data management part  302 . Namely, the service management part  304  transmits necessary control commands to the data management part  302  in order to control the home devices by using the identifying information received from the data management part  302 . The data management part  302  then transmits the received control commands to the communication module  306 , which transmits the control commands to the corresponding home devices (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ). A detailed description of the operation of the service management part  304  will be provided below.  
         [0034]     The user interface  310  receives information from the user. Namely, the user transmits the location information of the plug receptacle  200  to the home server by using the user interface  310 . The application program part  300  stores application programs which may be used to drive the home server, if necessary. In addition, the home server may receive information from a web address using the communication module  306 .  
         [0035]     In  FIG. 3 , the database  308  is directly connected to the data management part  302 , however the database  308  can be connected to both of the data management part  302  and the service management part  304  or only the service management part  304 , according to the user setup mode.  
         [0036]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating operations performed between a plug receptacle  200  and a home server according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. By referring to  FIG. 4  and also to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , an information transmission process according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described in detail.  
         [0037]     In operation S 400 , the RFID reader  202  recognizes an RFID tag (e.g.,  212   a ,  212   b ,  212   c ) and receives information about a home device (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ) from the recognized RFID tag (e.g.,  212   a ,  212   b ,  212   c ).  
         [0038]     In operation S 402 , the RFID reader  202  transmits the received information about the home device, along with the identifier of the plug receptacle  200  to which a plug (e.g.,  210   a ,  210   b ,  210   c ) is connected, to the data management part  302  using the communication modules  206 ,  306 .  
         [0039]     In operation S 404 , the data management part  302  updates the database  308  by using the received identifying information. Namely, the data management part  302  updates the database  308  by adding the received identifying information to the database  308 .  
         [0040]     In operation S 406 , the user interface  310  transmits the location information of the plug receptacle  200  to the data management part  302 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the user interface  310  transmits the location information of the plug receptacle  200  through the service management part  304 , however the user interface  310  may transmit the location information of the plug receptacle  200  directly to the data management part  302  according to the user setup mode. Needless to say, the data management part  302  updates the database  308  by using the received location information of the plug receptacle  200 .  
         [0041]     In  FIG. 4 , the operation S 404  is performed prior to the operation S 406 , however the operation S 406  may be performed prior to the operation S 404 , according to the user setup mode. Namely, the operations of S 400  to S 404  and the operation S 406  can be performed in any order, or simultaneously.  
         [0042]     In operation S 408 , the service management part  304  requests the identifying information about the home devices (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ) in order to control the home devices. In operation S 410 , the data management part  302  transmits the identifying information about the home devices requested by the service management part  304 . However, the data management part  302  can transmit the identifying information about the home devices to the service management part  304  without the request of the service management part  304  in a constant time interval or a real-time interval.  
         [0043]     In operation S 412 , the service management part  304  generates control information. Namely, the service management part  304  generates control information to control the home devices (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ) by using the identifying information about the home devices.  
         [0044]     In operation S 414 , the service management part  304  transfers the generated control information to the data management part  302 . The data management part  302  then transfers the received control information to the home device (e.g.,  180   a ,  180   b ,  180   c ), via the communication module  306 . When the service management part  304  is connected with the communication module  306 , the generated control information may be directly transferred to the communication module  306 .  
         [0045]     As an illustrative exemplary embodiment, a remote controller is provided for controlling a plurality of televisions, having different options, located at different spaces in a house. In this case, the remote controller has control information to control the televisions before they are arranged at the different spaces in the house. The remote controller is then configured to reset its control information to control the various televisions at the different spaces in the house.  
         [0046]     At this time, if the remote controller (an example of a device  180   c ) having an RFID tag is moved to a new region, the RFID reader  202  located at the new region receives the information of the remote controller from the RFID tag thereon. The RFID reader  202  then transmits the received information to the home server (service management part), and the service management part  304  receives, from the data management part  302 , the options of the televisions located at the new region. Then, the service management part  304  generates control information adapted to the options of the televisions, and transmits the generated control information to the remote controller (using its RFID tag). The remote controller then resets its control information by using the received control information for the television in the new region. By performing the described processes, the remote controller can reset the control information without the user&#39;s additional operation.  
         [0047]      FIG. 5  shows operations of the plug receptacle  200  having the RFID reader  202  according to the exemplary embodiment of the prevent invention.  
         [0048]     In operation S 500 , the plug receptacle  200  determines whether one of the RFID tags  212   a ,  212   b  or  212   c  is a new RFID tag (i.e., not registered with, or authenticated on, the network) or not. If a new RFID tag is detected, operation S 502  is performed. If a new RFID tag is not detected (i.e., if the RFID tag is already registered), operation S 508  is performed.  
         [0049]     In the operation S 502 , the plug receptacle  200  determines whether the device on which the new RFID tag is provided is a plugged in to the plug receptacle  200  or not. In  FIG. 2 , devices  180   a  and  180   b  are plugged in to the plug receptacle, while device  180   c  is not. If the device on which the detected RFID tag is provided is plugged in, operation S 504  is performed. If the device  180   a  on which the detected RFID tag is provided is not plugged in, operation S 506  is performed.  
         [0050]     In the operation S 504 , the plug receptacle  200  transmits the plug receptacle identifier, plugged in information indicating that the device is plugged in to the pug receptacle  200 , and the RFID tag information to the home server.  
         [0051]     In the operation S 506 , the plug receptacle  200  transmits the plug receptacle identifier and the RFID tag information to the home server.  
         [0052]     In the operation S 508 , the plug receptacle  200  determines whether the device on which the already registered RFID tag is provided is plugged in to the plug receptacle  200  or not. If the device on which the already registered RFID tag is provided is plugged in, operation S 510  is performed. If the device on which the detected RFID tag is provided is not plugged in operation S 512  is performed.  
         [0053]     In the operation S 510 , the plug receptacle  200  transmits the plug receptacle identifier, and plugged in information to the home server.  
         [0054]     In the operation S 514 , the plug receptacle  200  transmits the plug receptacle identifier to the home server.  
         [0055]      FIG. 6  shows operations of the home server according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention.  
         [0056]     In the operation S 600 , the home server receives the information transmitted from the plug receptacle  200 .  
         [0057]     In the operation S 602 , the home server determines whether the information from the plug receptacle contains RFID tag information, or not. If RFID tag information is received, operation S 614  is performed. If RFID tag information is not received, operation S 604  is performed.  
         [0058]     In the operation S 604 , the home server determines whether plugged in information is detected, or not. If plugged in information is detected, operation S 606  is performed. If plugged in information is not detected, operation S 610  is performed.  
         [0059]     In the operation S 606 , the home server updates the location information of the plugged in home device. Namely, the home server updates the location information of the home device by using a received plug identifier.  
         [0060]     In the operation S 608 , the home server gives a command to supply electric power to the plugged in home device. An example of such a home device is an electric heating device.  
         [0061]     In the operation S 610 , the home server updates the location information of a movable home device (e.g., a device that does not need to be plugged in, such as the remote controller discussed above).  
         [0062]     In the operation S 612 , the home server transmits control codes for various home devices, located around the plug receptacle  200 , to the movable home device having an RFID tag.  
         [0063]     In the operation S 614 , the home server updates the location information of the new home device.  
         [0064]     In the operation S 616 , the home server gives a command to supply electric power to the new home device. The home server supplies the electric power to the new home device only when the device is authenticated through an authentication process of the home server. In this manner, unnecessary power consumption by the new home device is prevented when it is not authenticated.  
         [0065]     As described above, the invention is related to adding RFID tags to home devices in order to recognize the locations of home devices included in the home network. Since the home server recognizes the locations of the home devices in the real-time interval, the home server can provide a desirable service to the user without the user&#39;s additional operation. In addition, when an unrecognized new home device enters into the home network, the home server can prevent unnecessary power consumption by the unrecognized new home device by performing a recognition process for the unrecognized new home device.  
         [0066]     While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to the these embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.