Patent Publication Number: US-2007118863-A1

Title: Apparatus and method for controlling household electronic appliances using broadcasting middleware in home network environment

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling household electronic appliances supporting a control middleware in a home network environment by using a broadcasting middleware, and a method thereof; and, more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling household electronic appliances using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment by transforming the control data for controlling household electronic appliances and the household electronic appliances in the home network receiving broadcasting signals together with broadcasting data, and processing the broadcasting signals in a set-top box, which is a broadcasting middleware of a system for processing the broadcasting signal so that the user use broadcasting data and control data, i.e., a service program, in the same method.  
     DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART  
      There are two methods for controlling household electronic appliances in a conventional home network environment. One is to control a fixed terminal through wire or wirelessly through the Internet and perform data communication between a mobile terminal and the fixed terminal controlling the household electronic appliances. The other is to control and monitor each electronic home appliance with a user terminal by individually setting up a server system to provide a home network service.  
      However, since the conventional methods require to individually set up a control device to control the household electronic appliances in the home network environment and be individually equipped with a management device to manage the control device, there is a problem that the system is large due to additional devices added to the home network system.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for controlling household electronic appliances using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment, which controls household electronic appliances through a home network by collecting and using information on household electronic appliances, processing control data, i.e., a service program, in a broadcasting middleware, which processes a broadcasting signal so that users can use the broadcasting signals in the same method as they use broadcasting data.  
      Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by the following description and become more apparent from the embodiments in accordance with the present invention, which are set forth hereinafter. It will be also apparent that objects and advantages of the invention can be embodied easily by the means defined in claims and combinations thereof.  
      In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for controlling household electronic appliances using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment, the apparatus including: a data separator for receiving broadcasting signals in a broadcasting receiving unit and separating broadcasting data and control data out of the broadcasting signals; a broadcasting data analyzer for analyzing the control data obtained in the data separator; an application program executor for executing an application program based on the control data analyzed in the broadcasting data analyzer; and a home network controller for receiving a control command from the application program executer and controlling the household electronic appliances of a home network.  
      In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling household electronic appliances using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment, the method including the steps of: a) initializing a system of a broadcasting receiving unit, receiving broadcasting signals and separating the broadcasting signals into broadcasting data and control data; b) determining a kind of the control data by transmitting the broadcasting data among the broadcasting data and the control data to a broadcasting.middleware, restoring the broadcasting data, and executing the control data in an application program execution engine; and c) controlling the household electronic appliances by connecting the control data to an embedded home network application program when the control data are of a TV user interface application program, and controlling the household electronic appliances by connecting the control data to a command execution module of the home network application program when the control data are of a broadcasting control application program. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram describing a household electronic appliances controlling apparatus using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus using the broadcasting middleware in the home network environment in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are block diagrams showing a connection relationship between an application program execution engine of the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus and a home network control unit in the home network environment in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIGS. 4A  to  4 D are exemplary views showing TV screens obtained by using the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus in the home network environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart describing a household electronic appliances controlling method using the broadcasting middleware in the home network environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, those skilled in the art that the present invention is included can embody the technological concept and scope of the invention easily. In addition, if it is considered that detailed description on the related art may obscure the points of the present invention, the detailed description will not be provided herein. The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings.  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram describing a household electronic appliances controlling apparatus using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. It shows a physical environment of a broadcasting and home network.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , a broadcasting system includes a broadcasting transmitting unit  101 , a broadcasting transmitter  103 , a broadcasting receiver  106  and a broadcasting receiving unit  108 .  
      The broadcasting transmitting unit  101  transmits a control data  104  and a broadcasting data  105  in the form of broadcasting signals.  
      The broadcasting transmitter  103  transmits the broadcasting signal outputted from the broadcasting transmitting unit  101 . The broadcasting receiver  106  receives the broadcasting signal outputted from the broadcasting transmitter  103 . The broadcasting receiving unit  108  processes the signal transmitted from the broadcasting receiver  106 .  
      The home network environment includes a home network control unit  109  and a home network  113 .  
      The home network control unit  109  collects and manages information on household electronic appliances  114 . The home network  113  connects the household electronic appliances  114 .  
      Meanwhile, a set-top box  107  connecting the broadcasting environment with the home network environment shows that a broadcasting middleware  110 , a TV user interface (UI) application program  111  and a home network application program  112  of the home network  113  are in operation.  
      Herein, the broadcasting middleware  110  recognizes the control data  104  as the broadcasting data  105  and synthetically manages the control data  104 . The TV UI application program  111  is an application program of the broadcasting middleware  110 .  
      The broadcasting transmitting unit  101  includes a data scrambler  102  for transforming the broadcasting data  105  and the control data  104  into broadcasting signals. Herein, the broadcasting data  105  includes image and image-related information, and the control data  104  controls household electronic appliances.  
      Informations on diverse household electronic appliances  114  connected to the home network are collected in the home network control unit  109  and managed by a home network database.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a household electronic appliances controlling apparatus using a broadcasting middleware in a home network environment in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. It shows a formation of the set-top box  107  which is in charge of a major role.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus using a broadcasting middleware of the present invention has the same structure as a general broadcasting receiver. However, the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus further includes a part for separating control data and broadcasting data from the transmitted broadcasting data, and controlling the household electronic appliances connected to the home network based on the control data.  
      The general broadcasting receiver will be described in detail hereinafter.  
      The general broadcasting receiver includes a tuner  211 , a Conditional Access System (CAS)  212 , a demultiplexer  213 , a media decoder  242 , a broadcasting middleware  220 , a user interface  243  and a graphic device  244 .  
      The tuner  211  selects a specific channel through a tuner controller  223  of the in broadcasting stream inputted into a broadcasting receiving unit  210 . Also, the tuner  211  receives and demodulates a broadcasting signal of a frequency band mapped to the channel. The tuner  211  also generates Moving Picture Experts Group 2 (MPEG-2) transmission stream (TS) through a media controller  241 .  
      The CAS  212  is controlled by a CAS controller  222  of the broadcasting middleware  220  such that only a receiver approved for a pay broadcasting service can receive the transmission stream outputted from the tuner  211 .  
      The demultiplexer  213  separates an audio/video (AV) and additional information and control data to be transmitted to a broadcasting data analyzer  225  of the broadcasting middleware  220  out of the transmission stream outputted from the CAS  212  based on Program Specific Information/Program and system information protocol (PSI/PSIP) information.  
      The media decoder  242  decodes the AV information obtained in the demultiplexer  213 , and the broadcasting middleware  220  analyzes the additional information.  
      The user interface  243  processes the user input and the graphic device  244  displays contents of the user interface  243 .  
      Therefore, the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus of the present invention uses the set-top box as described above.  
      The household electronic appliances controlling apparatus is as follows to control the household electronic appliances based on the broadcasting middleware.  
      The broadcasting transmitter includes a data scrambler  102  scrambling broadcasting data and control data for household electronic appliances control.  
      The broadcasting receiving unit  210  includes a demultiplexer  213 , a broadcasting data analyzer  225 , an application execution engine  221  and a home network control unit  230 .  
      The demultiplexer  213  receives broadcasting signals and divides the broadcasting signal into the broadcasting data and the control data.  
      The broadcasting data analyzer  225  receives the control data obtained in the demultiplexer  213  and analyzes the control data.  
      The application execution engine  221  executes an application program based on the control data of the broadcasting data analyzer  225 .  
      The home network control unit  230  receives a control command of the application execution engine  221  and controls the household electronic appliances of the home network.  
      The control data are transmitted to the broadcasting data analyzer  225  and the rest data are transmitted to the module for processing the broadcasting data.  
      The broadcasting middleware  220 , which are divided into a broadcasting data processing unit and a control data processing unit, also includes an MPEG-2 section filter  224 .  
      The control data processing unit has a broadcasting data analyzer  225  and executes the TV user interface application program  111  or the home network application program  112  in the application program execution engine  221  by collecting the control data.  
      The home network control unit  230  includes a home network database for collecting and storing household electronic appliances condition information on the home network.  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are block diagrams showing a connection relationship between an application program execution engine of the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus and a home network control unit in the home network environment in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.  
      The diverse broadcasting-related TV user interface application programs  111  can be operated in an application program execution engine  310 .  
       FIG. 3A  shows a case that a control logic module  312  and a control execution module  313 , which are related to the household electronic appliances control, are included in the inside of a broadcasting control application program  311  among the application program execution engine  310 .  
      The TV user interface application program  111  is executed by collecting the control data in the broadcasting data analyzer  330 . In this case, a control command is formed in the control logic module  312  and the control execution module  313 , which are inside processes. Subsequently, the control command is transmitted to a command execution module  322  of a home network application program  321  based on a home network DB  323  in a home network control unit  320  and the control command of the command execution module  322  is executed in the home network.  
       FIG. 3B  shows a case that only a TV user interface application program  351  is included in the application program among an application program execution engine  350 . Also, it shows that a control logic module  362  and a control execution module  363 , which are related to the actual household electronic appliances control, are included in an embedded home network application program  361  which is executed in a home network control unit  360  based on a home network DB  364 .  
      The TV user interface application program  351  is executed in a broadcasting data analyzer  370  by collecting the control data.  
      In the above case, the TV user interface application program  351  transmits a command for controlling an embedded home network application program  361 . Also, the control command is formed in the control logic module  362  and the control execution module  363 , which are internal processes of the embedded home network application program  361  and is operated in the home network.  
       FIGS. 4A  to  4 D are views showing TV screens using the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus using the broadcasting middleware in the home network environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
      That is, the household electronic appliances controlling apparatus provides information to the user by providing information changes in the home network and the service through the screen in real-time. The user can control and monitor the household electronic appliances of the home network through the screen.  
       FIG. 4A  is an exemplary view of the TV screen showing a list of available broadcasting services and home network services. It shows available broadcasting data application programs and home network application programs in an application program execution engine, on the screen as a list.  
       FIG. 4B  is an exemplary view of the TV screen showing a condition of the home network service by executing the control data of the household electronic appliances. Since the present broadcasting is continuously operated in a part of the screen and a home appliances control screen is also shown on the screen, the user can control the household electronic appliances.  
       FIG. 4C  shows that a service condition change  430  in the home network is on the screen in real-time such that the user can recognize the service condition change and control the service.  
       FIG. 4D  shows that a service condition change  440  in the home network is on the screen in real-time such that the user can recognize the service condition change and control the service.  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart describing a household electronic appliances controlling method using the broadcasting middleware in the home network environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
      As shown in  FIG. 5 , the household electronic appliances controlling method using the broadcasting middleware in the home network environment includes steps of initializing a system of the broadcasting receiving unit at step S 501 , receiving broadcasting data at step S 502  and dividing the transmitted broadcasting data into broadcasting data and control data at step S 503 .  
      In the separated broadcasting data and control data, the broadcasting data are transmitted to the broadcasting middleware and a broadcasting restoring process is performed at step S 510 . The control data are executed in the application program execution engine at step S 504  and the kind of control data is determined at step S 505 .  
      When it turns out that the control data are of the TV user interface application program, the control data connects a household electronic appliance to the embedded home network application program at step S 506  and controls the household electronic appliance at step S 508 . When it turns out that the control data are of the broadcasting control application program, the control data connects a household electronic appliance to a command execution module of the home network application program at step S 507  and controls the household electronic appliances at step S 508 .  
      The present invention has the control data, i.e., service program, which is set up through the broadcasting in the home network environment of each home where there are diverse household electronic appliances, control the household electronic appliances based on the home network information. Accordingly, the user can control the household electronic appliances by the method for operating the broadcasting data and a home network service provider can easily provide massive home network services through broadcasting.  
      As described in detail, the technology of the present invention can be realized as a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium, such as CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk and a magneto-optical disk. Since the process can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art of the present invention, further description will not be provided herein.  
      The present application contains subject matter related to Korean patent application No. 2005-0112871, filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Nov. 24, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
      While the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.