HK1173872A1 - A network-enabled home appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

The objective of the present invention is to provide an Internet connection system capable of bi-directional communications between the home network and the Internet by relatively simple means, enabling manufacturers of client-end home network appliances to create added values for users. In order to attain the above objective, there is provided a method for connecting a client device and a server. The method is implemented on an Internet connection system, which has the client device, a relay device, and the server, the server being connected to the Internet and also to the client device through the relay device and the Internet. The method includes the steps of: (a) notifying the relay device of an IP address of the server; (b) enabling the relay device to establish a TCP/IP session by means of a tunneling connection between the relay device and the server by use of the IP address; and (c) enabling the relay device to route communications via the TCP/IP session from the server to theclient device.

Description

Network corresponding household appliance

This application is a divisional application entitled "server for routing a connection to a client" with application number 200380107948.7, application date 11/28/2003.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for connecting a client and a server that enable bidirectional communication between a home network and the internet by a relatively simple means in a current infrastructure environment in which IPv4 has become widespread, and to a home appliance corresponding to the server and the network used for the method.

Background

In general, in a service providing environment through a public network centered on the internet, the value of all information is not concentrated on the client side but on the server side.

That is, each terminal device as a client is basically a simple viewer for viewing information on the internet. In addition, each client sends various information requests to the internet side, and the internet side can obtain such information of each client. That is, all information is concentrated on the internet side, and only the fixed information is unilaterally provided from the internet side. Therefore, it is now the case that it is difficult for manufacturers who manufacture client terminals to generate added value.

To change this situation, the access direction must be reversed, reversing the server and client perspectives. That is, when there is an in-home network connected to the internet, when the in-home network is accessed from the internet side, a state in which a service is provided from the in-home network to the internet side must be generated.

Therefore, each machine connected to the home network must solve the problem of routing within the home that can be uniquely determined from the internet side and the security problem. In response to such a problem, there is IPv6(Internet protocol version 6: 6 th version Internet protocol) as one of the solutions found.

However, in view of the environment surrounding the current japanese communication bearers and internet service providers, it is considered that the popularization of IPv6 takes a considerable time. For example, the IPv4 material used at present takes a minimum of 2 to 3 years for depreciation, and only performs test service.

Although the immediate implementation of IPv6 by manufacturers for networks now only allows services to reach ISL levels, it is impractical for many manufacturers because of the very high cost. The conditions of in-home networks are widely varied and the structures connected by communication carriers and ISPs are also widely varied, and it is necessary to have a structure for realizing the IPv6 environment in a uniform manner by taking care of these differences.

Although the novelty and inventive step of the invention according to the present application will not be denied, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-274845 is a prior art related to the above-mentioned case.

In the existing IPv4 environment, in a case where bidirectional access between an in-home network implemented in an IPv6 network and the internet is to be implemented, there are the following problems.

For example, in the current IPv4 environment, when a network home appliance is installed in a home, the home appliance is used by being linked to a router connected to the internet via a home network. Therefore, the IP address of the network home appliance becomes a private address, and cannot be accessed from outside the home network.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to access a home network home appliance, it is necessary to use a dedicated router having a function of controlling the network home appliance or to store information for controlling the network home appliance in a data center provided on the internet and to retrieve the information by polling the network home appliance.

However, when a dedicated router is used, the versatility is low and the cost increases. When polling is performed to acquire control information, real-time access is not possible, and the load on the network and the server increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an internet connection system which enables bidirectional communication between a home network and the internet by relatively simple means, and enables a manufacturer who manufactures a client-side network home appliance or the like to find a unique added value.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first main aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for connecting a client to a server in a connection system including a client, a relay device, and a server connected to the internet and connected to the client via the relay device and the internet, the method comprising: (a) notifying the relay device of the IP address of the server; (b) establishing a TCP/IP session between the relay device and the server through a protocol tunnel connection using the allocated IP address; and (c) the relay device routing the communication through the TCP/IP session from the server to the client.

According to this configuration, since all communications of clients relating to network home appliances and the like are performed by the server on the internet regardless of the communication carrier and ISP, the network home appliances and the server on the home network of the home and work units can be freely set and controlled by the owner of the server. As a result, all the problems of individual identification, in-home routing, and security of a client in a non-public network from a server on the internet, which have been conventionally problems, can be solved, and extremely open and closed network construction can be realized.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the relay device is installed in each client.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the step (a) is a step in which the relay device is connected to a tunnel broker server provided on the internet, and receives an IP address of the server from the broker server.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the step (b) includes: (b-1) a step in which the relay device connects to the server using the IP address of the server assigned thereto; (b-2) a step in which the server notifies the relay device of an IP address for the relay device for establishing a TCP/IP session using a protocol tunnel; and (b-3) establishing a TCP/IP session using a protocol tunnel between the server and the relay device. In this case, it is preferable that the step (b-1) includes a step of performing connection authentication of the relay device by the server, and the step (b-2) includes a step of generating an IP address of the relay device in accordance with a result of the connection authentication.

Further, according to a 2 nd main aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network-compatible home appliance, comprising: a control unit for receiving a packet including a predetermined command and controlling the network home appliance based on the command; a server address storage unit that stores a global address of a server provided on the internet; a protocol path establishing unit for establishing a protocol path connection between the home appliance and the server corresponding to the network based on the server address; and a packet processing device for packetizing/depacketizing packets communicated with the server connected via the protocol tunnel and routing the packets to the control unit or the server. Preferably, the network-compatible home appliance includes an intermediary server address storage unit for storing an address of a protocol tunnel intermediary server provided on the internet; a server address acquisition unit which accesses the broker server based on the broker server address and receives the address of the server from the broker server.

According to this configuration, all communications related to the network-compatible home appliances are performed by the server on the internet regardless of the communication carrier and the ISP, so that the network home appliances and the server on the home network of the home and work can be freely set and controlled by the owner of the server. As a result, all the problems of individual identification, in-home routing, and security of network-compatible devices in the non-public network from the server on the internet, which have been conventionally problems, can be solved, and extremely open and closed network construction can be realized.

According to a 3 rd main aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server used in a connection system including a client, a relay device, and a server connected to the internet and connected to the client via the relay device and the internet, the server comprising: a protocol path establishing unit for establishing a protocol path connection with the relay device; a client management device for performing association management by connecting a client to the relay device or the protocol tunnel; and a routing device for routing a connection from the internet to the client to a protocol tunnel connection to a relay device connected to the client based on management by the management device.

According to this configuration, all communications related to the network-compatible home appliances are performed by the server on the server regardless of the communication carrier and the ISP, so that the network home appliances and the server on the home network of the home and work can be freely set and controlled by the owner of the server. As a result, all the problems of individual identification, in-home routing, and security of network-compatible devices in the non-public network from the server on the internet, which have been conventionally problems, can be solved, and extremely open and closed network construction can be realized.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the server further includes a model determination unit that determines whether the client and/or the relay device is of a predetermined model, and a command conversion unit that converts a command transmitted to the client into a command of a predetermined format for controlling the client based on a determination result of the model determination unit. In this case, it is preferable that the communication apparatus includes a model determination unit configured to determine whether the client and/or the relay device is of a predetermined model, and a command conversion unit configured to convert a command transmitted to the client into a command of a predetermined format for controlling the client based on a determination result of the model determination unit. Preferably, the server further includes a communication session disconnection unit configured to disconnect the communication session or to restrict transmission and reception of the packet in response to the determination by the model determination unit that the client or the relay device is not of the predetermined model.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the client may communicate with the relay device and may include a peripheral device which cannot be connected to the internet.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the server further includes a network type determination unit configured to determine whether or not an environment of the 1 st network connected to the client and/or the relay device is of a predetermined type. In this case, it is preferable that a communication session disconnection unit be further provided for disconnecting the communication session or limiting transmission and reception of the packet in response to a determination that the non-public network environment connected to the client or the relay device is not of the predetermined type.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the server further includes a state information acquiring unit that acquires at least one or more of an operating state, a use state, and position information of the client and/or the relay device.

According to this configuration, since all the communications of the clients relating to the network home appliance and the like are performed by the server on the network regardless of the communication carrier and the ISP, the network home appliance and the server on the home network of the home and work unit can be freely set and controlled by the owner of the server. As a result, all the problems of individual identification, in-home routing, and security of network-compatible devices in the non-public network from the server on the internet, which have been conventionally problems, can be solved, and extremely open and closed network construction can be realized.

Still other features and significant effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are set forth in the best mode for carrying out the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the same relay device.

Fig. 3(a) is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the same InterServer.

Fig. 3(B) is a diagram showing an example of the same protocol tunnel session establishment section.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the filter unit.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing in the filter portion.

Fig. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a network home appliance search unit.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the retrieval screen.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a search result list display relating to the relay apparatus.

Fig. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating control by the network home appliance control unit.

Fig. 10 is a functional diagram showing a communication example of this embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a functional diagram showing another communication example of this embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the relay device or the network home appliance.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of protocol path connection between a relay device and an InterServer.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a network configuration according to the present embodiment.

In fig. 1, a home network is formed by connecting various clients and network home appliances 2 (hereinafter referred to as "network home appliances") that communicate with each other by IPv4 (1 st communication protocol). The home network 1 is constituted by, for example, a LAN introduced into each home. Each network home appliance 2 is provided with the relay device 3 according to the present invention.

The home network 1 is then connected to the internet 4 via a communication carrier/ISP. The internet 4 communicates using IPv4 (2 nd communication protocol).

Then, the internet 4 is connected to an InterServer6 (a "server" according to the present invention) that controls communication with the network home appliance 2 on the home network 1. As will be described in detail later, the InterServer6 has a function of mediating connection between the network home appliance 2, all the network home appliances 2a on the internet 4 or other home/global network 1a, the personal computer 2b, and the server 2 c.

The relay device 3 and the InterServer6 are devices that are intended to be manufactured by the same manufacturer or under a unified specification and are designed in advance to be interlocked. Then, as will be described later, the relay device 3 assigns a non-public address in IPv4 of the InterServer6, and establishes a TCP/IP session for a protocol tunnel connection with the InterServer6 regardless of the ISP and the communication bearer, thereby enabling communication. The network home appliance 2 connected to the home network 1 is also intended to be manufactured by the same manufacturer as the relay device 3 or under a unified specification, and for example, the IP address of the relay device 3 is uniquely generated based on the model of the network home appliance 2 and other information.

The network home appliance 2 may be a home appliance such as a video recorder or a television which cannot be connected to the internet. In this case, the relay device 3 and the network home appliance 2 may be connected via a predetermined communication interface (IEEE1394), and a virtual IP address may be assigned to an ID (unique ID) of each home appliance 2.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the network home appliance 2 and the relay device 3.

The relay device 3 includes: a server address storage unit 10 for storing the global address in the IPv4 of the InterServer 6; a relay device address storage unit 9 for storing the non-public address in IPv4 assigned to the relay device 3; a protocol tunnel session establishing unit 11 for establishing a protocol tunnel connection with an InterServer6 based on an address of the InterServer 6; a packet processing unit 12 for packetizing/depacketizing packets in IPv4 in IPv4 to perform protocol tunnel transmission/reception with the I/F and control unit 20 of the network home appliance of the InterServer 6; a routing processing unit 13 for routing the depacketized packet from the InterServer6 to the network home appliance 2; and a packet transmitting/receiving unit 14 for transmitting and receiving packets. The relay device 3 is provided with an address generation unit 15 for generating an address of the network home appliance 2.

With this configuration, it is possible to transmit and receive a packet from the network home appliance 2 or a packet addressed to the network home appliance 2 through a channel established between the InterServer6 and the relay apparatus 3 by using IPv 4.

Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the InterServer 6.

The InterServer6 includes: an address storage unit 16 for storing a non-public address 16a (information for specifying a protocol tunnel session) in the IPv4 of the relay device 3 and a global address 16b in the IPv6 of the client in association with each other; a protocol tunnel session establishing unit 17 for establishing a protocol tunnel connection with the relay device 3 based on the address of the relay device 3; a packet processing unit 18 for packetizing/depacketizing the packet in IPv4 in IPv4 so as to enable communication with the network home appliance 2; and a routing unit 19 for routing communication between the network home appliance 2 and another terminal or server. Further, the InterServer6 includes: a model identification unit 21 for identifying the type of the network appliance 2 based on the IPv4 address of the network appliance 2 or the relay device 3; a command setting unit 22 for converting a command to be issued to the network home appliance 2 into a predetermined command and setting the predetermined command based on the determination result; a filter unit 23 for filtering the IPv4 packet transmitted from the tunnel according to a predetermined rule; and a communication session disconnection unit 24 for disconnecting a communication session of a predetermined occasion. Then, the transmission/reception processing unit 25 transmits/receives the packet.

The InterServer6 is connected to the user management server 30. As described in detail below, the user management server 30 is a server that manages information of users of the relay devices 3 and the network home appliances 2, and includes a user information management DB31 that stores model information, network information, and the like in addition to member information such as IDs, passwords, and credit information of the users.

The information of the user management DB31 is used for establishing the tunneling protocol session by the tunneling protocol session establishing unit 17. That is, as shown in fig. 3A, the protocol tunnel session establishing unit 17 is further provided with a user authentication unit 28 for authenticating each user based on the user information, and a relay device IP address assigning unit 29 for assigning an IPv4 private address for establishing a protocol tunnel session to the relay device 3. If the IP address assigned to each relay device is IPv4, any address system can be used, and for example, a non-public address such as 10. xxx. The information is generated according to the user, model, and network information and according to a predetermined rule. The method of generating the address of the relay device 3 is not limited to this.

The InterServer6 has a Web server 32 disclosed on the internet 4(IPv4 network), and can perform various settings in response to requests from the users of the relay device 3 and the network home appliance 2. For example, at least a part of the filtering rules of the filtering unit 23 can be changed by the user as appropriate through the Web server 32. The access to the Web server 32 may be performed via the relay device 3 and the InterServer6, or may be performed via the internet 4 without passing through these devices.

As shown in fig. 4, the filter unit 23 includes a filter rule storage unit 33 and a filter rule setting unit 34. The filter rule storage 33 and the filter rule setting unit 34 are connected to the Web server 32 disclosed on the internet, and as shown in fig. 3, an InterServer session interface generation unit 35 is installed in the Web server 32. The user connected to the Web server 32 can input and change the filtering rule by displaying the interface generated by the interface generating unit 35 on the terminal of the user. As the filter rules that can be set here, for example, filter rules relating to security can be considered.

As a filtering rule in terms of security, there are roughly: first, no access to the home network side from outside is approved; no access from outside to the home network side is authorized except for the server (Web site) and the network which are authorized in advance; and there is no restriction on any access to the home network from the outside. In this case, the filtering method may be a method of not granting any access, or may be a method of passing only a specific port.

Here, if access to the outside from the home network 1 can be restricted so that access to a server set in advance is not possible, it is possible to prevent children from accessing harmful contents or users from accessing a site (which is provided with a trap) which is generally illegal.

The filtering rule may be set after authentication using an IP address and a password of the user authentication unit 36 connected to the user management server 30 provided in the Web server 32.

The filtering rule setting unit 34 may set the filtering rule based on the input of the user as described above, or may have a function of automatically generating the filtering rule based on the member information (the credit information and the terminal model information) stored in the user management server 30 without depending on the setting from the user. For example, a gateway that does not permit connection or only allows connection to a specific server or the like is set according to the attributes of the members and the payment situation.

As a filtering rule for this gateway, it can be used to control the providers that provide the charging service through this InterServer 6. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the InterServer6 may be provided with a proxy server 38 and the DB39 may manage the access destination of the user, or the user may be allowed to connect only the access destination set by the filter rule setting unit 34. In this case, it is desirable that the user management DB31 be provided with a function of managing under what conditions the user signs on what service (server) and controlling the transaction processing in accordance with the conditions, in addition to the user ID and password. In addition, for a specific vendor, it may be set so that a user who has not completed the login procedure can only see the sample page and not the main body part.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing in this filter section 23. First, after the protocol tunnel session is started, a filtering rule is set based on the member information received from the user management server 30 (step S1). Next, information of the connection request destination of the user (for example, the address of the Web site) is received from the proxy server 38 (step S2). Next, the information of the connection destination is applied to the filter rule to determine whether or not the connection is possible (step S3), and when the connection is not permitted, the communication session is disconnected by the communication session disconnection unit 24 (step S4). When connection is permitted, it is determined whether or not the session is still valid (step S5), and if so, the above-described steps S2 to S5 are repeated. If not, the process ends.

The proxy server 38 may measure the amount of data traffic and not grant access from the unpaid payer. In this case, the provider is notified of only the ID of the user, and does not introduce the password and IP address of the user. Therefore, the user can manage only one pair of ID and password for the InterServer 6. Further, since the IP address may change depending on the relationship of the user or other reasons, it is preferable to confirm the ID with the key every time in terms of the consistency of the system, and it is preferable to eliminate the risk that the provider side holds data and makes an unauthorized access.

The execution of the filtering rule and the disconnection and connection of the communication session based on the filtering rule can be performed by the communication session disconnection unit 24. Note that, since a filtering method using a set filtering rule, a gateway method, and other methods are well known, descriptions thereof are omitted.

The InterServer6 has a network home appliance search unit 26 (fig. 3) that provides a function for allowing a person who does not know the address of the network home appliance 2 to search for the network home appliance 2. The search unit 26 searches for and specifies a required network home appliance 2 based on information specified by the user, for example, the operating state of the network home appliance 2 and the operating state of the network.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 6, the network home appliance search unit 26 includes a status information receiving unit 40 that receives status information such as the operating status of the network home appliance 2 and the status of the network; a status information accumulation unit 41 for associating and accumulating this information with the IP address of the network home appliance and the IP address of the relay device 3; and a network home appliance control unit 42.

The state information receiving unit 40 receives the state of each network home appliance 2 for each protocol tunnel domain (home network or relay device 3) in which the network home appliance 2 is stored. The status information receiving unit 40 may receive the status by inquiring the status of each of the domains at a predetermined cycle, or may acquire the status by inquiring when there is a request for reference to each domain. In the former method, for example, the inquiry of the ON/OFF of the power of each terminal 2 is made every 1 minute for each relay device registered in the relay device address storage unit 16 a.

The state information accumulation unit 41 stores the state information of each network home appliance 2 in association with the network home appliance 2 and the relay device 3. Here, the acquired state information can be roughly classified into: information indicating an operation state, a use state, position information, and a characteristic; information held by the nodes (the relay device 3 and the network home appliance 2); at least one or more of the information valid for determining the other nodes.

The operation information includes at least one or more of a power supply state, a network connection state, and a communication state. The usage state is at least one or more of information relating to the user, information relating to the operation time, and information relating to the load. Location information, at least geographic location and coordinate information, postal numbers, house numbers, and the like. The information showing the characteristics is one or more of the type, function, shape, color, device information, software information, information of a function, administrator, and the like of the node.

The model determined by the model determining unit 21 is also stored as status information. The state information receiving unit 40 specifies information obtained from the network home appliance 2 based on the model information, and can acquire necessary information in a form suitable therefor.

The search unit 26 further includes a connection request authentication unit 27 for performing authentication, permission search, and a connection request to a person who is connected to the user management server 30 and performs the search or the connection request. For example, for a user's home network (relay device 3), the network is not permitted to search and connect other than a specific user who is permitted to connect. When the authentication unit 27 determines that the determination is positive, the search unit 26 accesses the state information accumulation unit 41 and the address storage unit 16 to search for the address of the requested terminal 2 (identify the relay device 3).

As a result of the search, for example, when the user searches for the relay device 3 of his home network from the outside using a personal computer, all the network home appliances 2 connected to the relay device 3 and the status thereof may be displayed in a list. Fig. 7 shows an example of the search screen, and fig. 8 shows an example of list display concerning the relay apparatuses 3/the home network 1 specified by the search result. In the example of the search interface shown in fig. 7, an input field 43 for searching the relay device 3 and an input field 44 for searching the network home appliance 2 are provided, and the search can be performed from either one of them.

In the example of the search result list display in fig. 8, all the terminals 2 connected to the relay device 3 are displayed in a list together with information on the owner, the state, the type, and the model name. Then, by pressing an operation screen display button shown at 45 in the drawing, the network home appliance control unit 42 is activated to display an operation screen (not shown) corresponding to the type and model of the terminal 2.

Fig. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating control performed by the control unit 42.

First, when the relay device 3 is connected to the InterServer6 through the protocol tunnel session, the network home appliance 2 notifies the operating state thereof in response to a request from the state information receiving unit 40 (step S11). In this case, the operation state may not be acquired without registering the network home appliance 2 to the control unit 42. The operation state is acquired at a constant cycle, and is accumulated in the state information accumulation unit 41 and updated (step S12).

Next, the user of the network home appliance 2 logs in from the outside using the ID and the password, specifies a terminal to be controlled from the list as described above, and activates the control unit 42 (step S13). The control unit 42 performs control so that all commands are processed at the server site and appropriate commands are transmitted to the terminal.

Alternatively, the selected network home appliance 2 may be connected to by routing by selecting a terminal name from the list. Alternatively, the terminal may be directly connected to the terminal when the terminal is found by inputting the state determined by the search condition and searching. Even when the terminal is searched for by the Web site from the outside regardless of the protocol tunnel connection via the InterServer6, the connection with the terminal is performed after the protocol tunnel connection is established.

Here, the "protocol tunneling" is a technique for connecting IPv4 and IPv6 related networks (routers) via an IPv4 network, and in particular, it means that protocol tunneling is performed for terminating a VPN (virtual non-public network) between related machines belonging to different networks. Thus, in this embodiment, IPv4 packets communicated between machines are exchanged as IPv4 packets.

Each of the components 10 to 42 of the relay device 3 and the InterServer6 is actually constituted by a fixed area secured by a hard disk provided in a computer system and a peripheral device such as a CPU, a RAM, or other input/output device installed in the fixed area for controlling the hard disk to read and execute the program.

The relay device 3 is preferably configured by one computer system including each network home appliance 2, and the InterServer6 is preferably configured by a plurality of computer systems connected to each other for load distribution. For example, the network home appliance search unit 26 that manages the states of the relay device 3, the network home appliance 2, and the home network is preferably configured by a server having a dedicated transmission/reception interface and a control unit. This is because it is assumed that so-called sessions for managing ON/OFF and other states of each device are expanded, and the load must be distributed. In the case where one InterServer6 corresponds to a plurality of relay devices and network home appliances of different manufacturers, a plurality of packet processing units 18, command setting units 22, filtering units 23, and the like may be provided.

The operation of the relay device 3 and the InterServer6 will be described in detail with reference to the following communication example of fig. 10.

Fig. 10 shows a case where the network home appliance 2 of the home network connected to the relay device 3 and another terminal not provided with the relay device 3 communicate via an InterServer 6.

In this figure, a state is shown in which the protocol tunnel session establishing unit 17 or 11 establishes a communication session in a protocol tunnel connection with the relay device 3 based on the address of the InterServer6, the IP address assigned to the relay device 3, and the address of the network home appliance 2.

After the protocol tunnel communication session is established, the packet addressed to the network home appliance 2 is packetized and transmitted by the packet processing unit 18 as an IPv4 packet addressed to the relay device 3. The relay device 3 unpacks the packet by the packet processing unit 12, and performs the routing process to the network home appliance 2 by the routing processing unit 13 based on the address of the network home appliance 2 included in the packet. In this way, for example, connection to the network home appliance 2 on the home network can be performed by activation from the external IPv6 server 7.

For example, when the network home appliance 2 is an in-home monitoring camera, even when the network home appliance is out, the camera can be activated and controlled via the InterServer6 and the relay device 3 by connecting a PDA or the like of the network home appliance to a nearby IPv6 network.

In this example, the network home appliance type determination unit 21, the command setting unit 22, and the filter unit 23 provided in the InterServer6 may be operated in accordance with the type of the network home appliance 2.

The model determination unit 21 may be configured to determine the model and the network environment of the network home appliance 2 based on, for example, the address (the address itself or information associated with the address) of the relay device 3 or the network home appliance 2. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the network home appliance 2, the relay device 3, and the InterServer6 are manufactured by the same manufacturer or according to a uniform specification. In this case, by setting a predetermined rule for the IP address assigned (or generated) in advance to the network home appliance 2 or the relay device 3 connected thereto, it is possible to easily determine the model and the network environment if the address is known.

When a special command is required for controlling the network home appliance 2, the model-by-model command setting unit 22 sets a command included in the communication from the IPv6 server 7 to be converted into a command for the model. For example, a prescribed command may be generated from a message described in Html language. Further, the command issued by one server 7 may be converted into a command for a plurality of network home appliances 2.

The filter unit 23 has a function of filtering packets passing through the InterServer6 based on a predetermined rule. The rule of this filtering may be set for each of the relay device 3 and the network home appliance 2 as connection destinations, or may be set for each network. In addition, the communication session disconnection unit disconnects the communication session when the model determination unit 21 determines that the model and the network environment are not the predetermined model and when the filter unit 23 determines that the model is not appropriate. Even when the network home appliance to which the connection is made cannot be connected, for example, when the power supply of the network home appliance is OFF, if the network home appliance can be replaced by another IPv6 appliance connected to the same relay device, the network home appliance can be routed to the other network home appliance based on the type and kind information.

Fig. 11 shows an example in which IPv6 home networks having both relay devices 3 and 3' are connected to each other via an InterServer 6. The case where the network home appliance a and the network home appliance B are connected to each home network and the two network home appliances A, B communicate with each other will be described as an example.

In this case, in the InterServer6, the address of each network home appliance A, B and other information are stored in association with the IPv4 address of each relay device 3.

When a connection is requested from one network home appliance a to another network home appliance B, first, a communication session is established between the relay device 3 on the network home appliance a side and the InterServer6 in the tunneling protocol connection. Then, the relay device 3 'is identified based on the address of the network home appliance B included in the packet, and as a result, protocol tunnel communication between the InterServer6 and the relay device 3' is established. Then, in this relay device 3', a route is selected in the network based on the IPv6 address included in the network home appliance B in the packet.

Thus, the two related network home appliances 2 can communicate with each other via the InterServer 6.

When two network home appliances 2 are to communicate with each other in this way, the address of the network home appliance to which the connection is made may not be known. In this case, the user of the connection source accesses the InterServer6 and activates the network home appliance search unit 26. In this case, for the sake of safety, the connection request authentication unit 27 authenticates the user, determines whether or not the connection request is valid, and then permits the search for the network home appliance and the user of the connection destination. When a desired network appliance is identified, a communication session can be established based on the IPv6 address of the network appliance.

With the above configuration, all communications related to the network home appliance 2 are performed by the InterServer6 regardless of the communication carrier and ISP, so that the network home appliance 2 and the server 7 on the home network of the home and work can be freely set and controlled by the owner of the InterServer 6. As a result, all the problems of individual identification, in-home routing, and security of the network home appliance 2 in the non-public network, which have been conventionally problems, from the server on the internet can be solved, and an extremely open and closed network configuration can be realized.

It is assumed that the owner of the InterServer6 is a manufacturer that is a manufacturer of a normal network home appliance 2. Therefore, the manufacturer can generate added value by using the internet by preparing a survey of the IPv6 equipment of the company corresponding to the InterServer 6.

Next, the adjustment of the network home appliance 2 will be described with reference to fig. 12.

That is, in the above description, the IP address of the network home appliance 2 is an address received from the relay device 3, and actually, various methods other than this method can be considered. It is considered that the owner of the manufacturer and the InterServer6 want to know information about the owner (user) of the network home appliance 2. As described above, the address generation method of the network home appliance 2 may be determined depending on the IPv6 prefix of the connected relay device 3, in some cases, when the fixed IPv6 address of each network home appliance is written into the RAM or the like at the time of shipment.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, for example, as shown in fig. 12, the user of the network home appliance 2 or the relay device 3 first connects to the user management server 30 and performs user login. This user registration may be performed by the network home appliance 2 via the relay device 3, or by an IPv4 communication-compliant device such as an existing computer. The following describes the case of the network home appliance 2 and the relay device 3. In the following description, a case will be described as an example where the network home appliance 2 itself is a terminal that cannot be connected to a network, and the address of the network home appliance 2 is generated by the relay device 3 as a virtual address using the MAC address of each network home appliance 2.

In this case, first, after the user connects the network home appliance to the relay device 3, the relay device 3 is connected to the user management server 30 via the ISP/communication carrier. In this way, the user management server 30 can be notified of information necessary for the protocol tunnel connection with the InterServer6 from the relay device 3. The user can notify the user management server 30 of information for specifying the user, the relay device 3, or the network home appliance 2, information relating to the type of the network home appliance 2, information relating to the network 1, information necessary for other credit, and the like via the relay device 3. In this example, an ID and a password are issued to the relay apparatus 3 or each user, and the information of the relay apparatus 3 and the user is registered in the database 31 in association with the ID and the password. The information that must be registered is not limited to this, and other information may be necessary, and conversely, when password, payment verification information, or the like is not necessary, it is not necessary to register such information.

The user management server 30 may be a server connected to the InterServer6, or may be provided separately from the InterServer6 on the internet.

On the other hand, fig. 13 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a specific method concerning establishment of a protocol tunnel connection and a communication session therein. The symbols S21 to S26 shown in the figure correspond to the following steps S21 to S27.

First, in the embodiment described above, the relay device 3 stores the IPv4 address of the InterServer6, but this may be a method of recording the address in the RAM at the time of shipment from the manufacturer or a method of receiving and setting the address from another server at the time of actual protocol path connection. It is believed that the former method is better in the case where the InterServer6 is single, and the latter method is more efficient in the case where the InterServer6 is multiple.

The example of this figure is the latter scenario, and channel mediator 52 is provided accordingly. To cope with this, the IPv4 global address of the tunnel broker 52 is set in advance in the tunnel broker address storage unit of the relay device 3. The relay device 3 is provided with the ID and the password already set (if necessary).

In this case, the relay device 3 is first connected to the tunnel mediator 52 (step S21). The tunnel broker 52 selects an InterServer6 for establishing a tunnel connection destination from the address database 53 (step S22), and notifies the relay apparatus 3 of the IPv4 address of the InterServer6 (step S23). Thus, the relay device 3 recognizes the InterServer6 and establishes the tunneling session (steps S24 and S25). That is, the protocol tunnel server performs authentication for establishing a protocol tunnel connection and assignment of an IP address based on the authentication, and establishes a TCP/IP connection using the protocol tunnel.

Next, the InterServer6 notifies the other InterServer6 of the routing of the relay device 3 and/or the connection to the network home appliance 2, for which the protocol tunnel connection is established (step S26). Accordingly, all the routing to the relay device 3 and/or the network home appliance 2 is performed by the InterServer 6.

With this configuration, even when there are a plurality of interservers 6, it is possible to reliably establish a protocol tunnel connection with one of them.

The embodiment described above is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without changing the main idea thereof.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the protocol tunnel connection is established from both the relay device 3 side and the InterServer6 side, but it is considered that the protocol tunnel connection is generally started only from the relay device 3 side in actual commercial service. This is because the fixed IP service of IPv4 is itself rare. That is, in this case, since the setting is left unchanged after the protocol tunnel (actually, IPv4 is connected to itself) is established once, and it is extremely rare that the IPv4 of the relay device 3 is the same next time the session of IPv4 is disconnected, it is impossible to perform routing even after the session of IPv4 is disconnected in practice.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the 1 st protocol is IPv4 and the 2 nd protocol is IPv4 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The 1 st protocol may also be IPv 6. In addition, the 1 st and 2 nd protocols may be both IPv 6. Further, both protocols may be other than the above.

In the above-described embodiment, the relay device 3 is provided integrally with each network home appliance, but may be provided separately or one common relay device 3 may be provided in a plurality of network home appliances. In addition, the network household electrical appliance and the relay apparatus may be connected via a LAN.

Claims (2)

1. A network-correspondent appliance, comprising:

a control unit configured to receive a packet including a predetermined command from a server provided on the internet and control the network-compliant home appliance based on the predetermined command;

a server address storage unit for storing a global address of the server;

a protocol tunnel session establishing unit for establishing a protocol tunnel connection between the home appliance and the server corresponding to the network based on the global address of the server;

a packet processing unit for packetizing/depacketizing packets communicated with the server connected via the protocol tunnel; and

and a routing processing unit for routing the packetized/unpacked packet to the control unit or the server.

2. The network-correspondent appliance of claim 1, further comprising:

a channel broker address storage unit for storing the address of a channel broker provided on the Internet; and

a server address acquisition unit that accesses the tunnel broker based on the address of the tunnel broker and receives the address of the server from the tunnel broker.