Title of Invention

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE DEVICES IN HOME NETWORK

Abstract A method is provided for managing services provided by devices in a home network. A home network apparatus manages information related to services provided by all devices in a home network, and requests from a second device a substitute service capable of substituting for a service of a first device when the first device fails to provide the service. Accordingly, when a device from which a user requests a service cannot provide the service, the user does not need to directly search for a different device and again request the service from the different device.
Full Text FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10, rule 13)
'METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING SERVICES PROVIDED BY DEVICES IN HOME NETWORK'
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD., a Korean Corporation of 416 Maetan-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
This application claims priority from Korean Patent
Application No. 10-2006-0082937, filed on August 30, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention
relate to a home network, and more particularly, to a method for effectively providing services of home network devices to users in a home network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As research into and standardization of home network
technologies has progressed, an environment in which users can operate various home network devices using a single remote controller in the home is increasingly required. For example, in an environment in which a home network is established, a user can receive digital content from various network devices, such as a personal computer, a DVD player, etc., and watch the received digital content on a television.





Meanwhile, as various digital devices have become widely
popular and a convergence phenomenon of such digital devices has been accelerated, instances of several devices providing the same or similar services in a home has increased. For example, two or more digital televisions installed in a home is commonplace.
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a method of using services
provided by devices in a general home network.
A user controls a control point (for example, a remote
controller) including a user interface, thereby controlling a home network device, that is, a controlled device. The controlled device receives a service request from the control point, and informs the control point whether the corresponding service was successfully transmitted, through a response message.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a control point CP can
control a controlled device CD1 and a controlled device CD2, thus using services of the respective controlled devices CD1 and CD2. In this example, it is assumed that the controlled device CD1 and the controlled device CD2 provide the same service. When a user requests a service of the controlled device GDI, if a response indicating that the corresponding service is not available is received, the user has to search for a device of the same type as the controlled device CDl. If the controlled device CD2 is searched for, it is determined whether the controlled device CD2 and the controlled device CDl can provide the same service. If it is determined that the controlled device



CD2 provides the same service, the user has to again request the service to the controlled device CD2.
That is, in a related art home network, when a user controls a
control point and uses a service of a controlled device, if the controlled device cannot provide the service, the user has to search for a different controlled device and again request the service from the different controlled device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention overcome the
above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present invention is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problems described above.
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for
searching for and requesting a different service from a device which is capable of substituting for a service without user intervention, when an arbitrary device cannot provide the service in a home network.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method of managing a home network, including: recognizing that a first device fails to provide a service requested by a second device; searching for a substitute service among a plurality of services provided by a plurality of devices in the home network; and requesting the substitute service from a third device which provides the substitute service, according to the search result.



The method further includes: generating a database in which a
substitute service and an address of a device which provides the substitute
service are mapped with respect to each of the services provided by the
devices in the home network, wherein the searching is performed with
reference to the database.
The home network is a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)
network, and the generating of the database is perfonned with reference to a
plurality of UPnP description documents received from the devices in the
home network.
If a plurality of substitute services exist in correspondence to a
service, the generating of the database comprises setting a priority for each of
the substitute services.
In the setting of the priority, the priority is set according to
network response speeds of a plurality of devices that provide the substitute
services and/or hardware specifications of the devices that provide the
substitute services.
In the setting of the priority, the priority of the devices that
provide the substitute services is set according to a user input.
The method further includes subscribing for event messages for
the services provided by the devices in the home network, wherein the home
network is a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network, and recognizing that
the first device fails to provide the service requested by the second device
comprises receiving an event message from the first device.


A computer readable recording medium has embodied thereon
a computer program for executing the method of managing a home network, including: recognizing that a first device fails to provide a service requested by a second device; searching for a substitute service among a plurality of services provided by a plurality of devices in the home network; and requesting the substitute service from a third device which provides the substitute service, according to the search result.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an apparatus for managing a home network, including: a recognition unit recognizing that a first device fails to provide a service requested by a second device; a search unit searching for a substitute service among a plurality of services provided by a plurality of devices in the home network; and a service request unit requesting the substitute service from a third device which provides the substitute service, according to the search result.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects of the present invention will
become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a method of using services
provided by devices in a related art home network;
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a method of using a substitute
service in a home network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;


FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method in which a home
network management apparatus manages services provided by devices,
according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates a structure of a service management database
generated by a home network management apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a process in which a substitute
service is provided in a home network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 illustrates a home network environment according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a home network management
apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF
THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention
will be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings.
In this specification, it is assumed that the home network is a
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) home network. UPnP allows communication between devices connected to a network, without complicated settings between the devices. UPnP allows a device to automatically search for a service belonging to a different device. In a UpnP home network, when a user only connects a device to the UPnP home network, other devices connected to

the UPnP home network automatically find the newly connected device and
perform various processes required for communication through information
exchange. Accordingly, since UPnP allows easy installation of home network
devices, UPnP is regarded as a core middleware for estimating a home
network.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a method of using a substitute
service in a home network, according to an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
In FIG. 2, like FIG. 1, it is assumed that a first controlled
device CDl and a second controlled device CD2 provide the same service.
When a user requests a service to the first controlled device
CDl using a control point CP, if a response message indicating that the
corresponding service is not provided is received from the first controlled
device CDl, a home network management apparatus HNM according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention receives the response message
as an event message.
When a change occurs in a variable indicating a status of a
service provided by a controlled device in a UPnP network, an event message
is used to notify the change to a device which subscribes for event messages.
Accordingly, the home network management apparatus HNM has to subscribe
for event messages from all of the controlled devices in a home network.
If the home network management apparatus recognizes that the
first controlled device CDl cannot provide the service by receiving the event



message from the first controlled device CDl, the home network management apparatus HNM determines whether a device providing a service capable of substituting for the service of the first controlled device CDl exists in the home network. If the second controlled device CD2 is located, the home network management apparatus HNM requests the corresponding service from the second controlled device CD2, together with service request content (that is, a status variable, etc. included in a control message which the control point CP transfers to the first controlled device CDl) recognizable through the event message. Since the control message for requesting the service includes information indicating that the service is requested by the control point CP, the second controlled device CD2 transmits to the control point CP a response message indicating whether the service is successfully provided. It is also possible that the home network management apparatus HNM receives the response message from the second controlled device CD2 and transmits it to the control point CP.
In FIG. 2, the home network management apparatus HNM is
shown as a separate device. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the home network management apparatus HNM according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention is a functional component (for example, the control point CP) capable of being included in a different home network device.





FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method in which a home
network management apparatus manages services provided by devices,
according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
In operation 310, the home network management apparatus
subscribes for event messages with respect to all of the controlled devices in a home network. The home network management apparatus subscribes for event messages with respect to controlled devices newly connected to the home network, as well as with respect to controlled devices already in the home network.
In operation 320, the home network management apparatus
generates a service management database, wherein information for generating the service management database can be obtained by a UPnP description document. That is, if the home network management apparatus is initially connected to the home network, the home network management apparatus receives UPnP description documents for all controlled devices in the home network and generates the service management database with reference to the UPnP description documents. The service management database maps substitute services capable of respectively substituting for services, to addresses of controlled devices that provide the substitute services, and stores the results. "Substitute services" refer to services that can be substantially compatible with the corresponding services and do not indicate services provided by the same product with the same specification. In the UPnP description document, services capable of being used with the same type of


device and services of the same type can be considered as substitutable services.
Meanwhile, when a new controlled device is connected to the
home network while the home network management apparatus is connected to
the home network, the home network management apparatus checks a device
type and a service type of the new controlled device through a UPnP
description document of the new controlled device, and updates the service
management database. That is, if the same device type as the device type of
the new controlled device does not exist in the service management database,
the home network management apparatus newly registers the device type of
the new controlled device, and if the same device type as the device type of
the new controlled device exists in the service management database, the
home network management apparatus searches for a service (services) capable
of substituting for a service of the new controlled device from services
mapped to the device type. If no service capable of substituting for the service
of the new controlled device exists in the service management database, the
home network management apparatus registers the service of the new-
controlled device as a new service, and if a service (services) capable of
substituting for the service of the new controlled device exists in the service
management database, the home network management apparatus maps the
service of the new controlled device to an address of the new controlled device.
In operation 330, the home network management apparatus
receives an event message indicating that provision of the service has failed.


That is, since the home network management apparatus has subscribed for
event messages from all of the controlled devices in operation 310, the home
network management apparatus can recognize that a certain controlled device
fails to respond to a service request from a control point. Here, the event
message includes all contents of a response message which the controlled
device which cannot provide the service transfers to the control point
requesting the service.
In operation 340, the home network management apparatus
searches for a substitute service capable of substituting for the service
requested by the control point with reference to the service management
database.
Then, in operation 350, the home network management
apparatus requests the substitute service from a controlled device that provides
the substitute service.
FIG. 4 illustrates the structure of the service management
database generated by the home network management apparatus, according to
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, related service types are mapped to
device types of controlled devices belonging to a home network. Also, if a
plurality of substitute services are mapped to the same device type, the
substitute services are mapped to address information of devices that provide
the substitute services. That is, in FIG. 4, service locations A, B, C. ... refer to
address information of the devices.




If three or more substitute services exist, that is, if a plurality of
substitute services exist with respect to a service, it is preferable that priority is
assigned to the plurality of substitute services. Priority of the substitute
services can be set, according to a network response speed of each of a
plurality of devices that provide the substitute services and/or a hardware
specification of each of the devices that provide the substitute services.
Also, priority of the substitute services can be set arbitrarily by
a user through a user interface.
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a process in which a substitute
service is provided in a home network, according to an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, it is assumed that in the home
network, a controlled device A, a controlled device B, and a controlled device
C provide the same service.
In operation 501, a home network management apparatus finds
controlled devices in the home network, receives UPnP description documents
from the controlled devices, and subscribes for event messages from all of the
controlled devices.
In operation 502, the home network apparatus generates (or
updates) a service management database with reference to the UPnP
description documents received from the controlled devices.
In operation 503, a control point transmits a control message
for requesting a service to the controlled device A.


In operation 504, when the controlled device A fails to provide
the service, the controlled device A transmits a response message indicating the failure to provide the service to the control point, in operation 505, and simultaneously transmits an event message to the home network management apparatus, in operation 506. As described above, content included in the response message transmitted in operation 505 is included in the event message transmitted in operation 506.
In operation 507, the home network management apparatus
searches for a substitute service and requests the substitute service from the controlled device C. That is, although the controlled devices A, B, and C can provide the substitute service, the home network management apparatus transmits the control message to the controlled device C having the highest priority with reference to the service management database. Here, variables required for requesting the substitute service are the same as variables included in the control message transmitted in operation 503. The variables are included in the event message transmitted in operation 506 and transmitted to the home network management apparatus.
In operation 508, the controlled device C, which receives the
substitute service request, transmits to the home network management apparatus a response message indicating whether the substitute service is successfully provided. In operation 509, the home network management apparatus forwards the response message to the control point.


It is also possible that the controlled device C directly transmits
a response message to the control point instead of the home network
management apparatus when the control message transmitted in operation 507
is equal to the control message transmitted in operation 503.
FIG. 6 illustrates a home network environment according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
In the current exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that a TV
located in a living room can provide a broadcast display service and cannot
provide a recording service due to errors, but a TV located in a bedroom can
provide both a broadcast display service and a recording service, when a user
wants to record a channel No. 1 while watching it on the living room TV.
In operation 610, the user, who does not recognize that the
living room TV cannot provide the recording service, requests the recording service from the living room. TV using a remote controller (that is, a control point). In operation 620, the living room TV informs a home network management apparatus that the recording service cannot be provided by the living room TV, through an event message.
In operation 630, the home network management apparatus
searches for a substitute service with reference to the event massage, recognizes that the bedroom TV can provide the recording service, and requests the bedroom TV to record the channel No. 1 using variables included in the event message.




In operation 640, if recording of the channel No. 1 is complete,
recorded data stored in the bedroom TV is transmitted to the living room TV through the home network. If the recorded data is transmitted to the living room TV, the user can watch his or her desired broadcast on the living room TV.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a home network management
apparatus 700 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 7, the home network management apparatus
700 includes an event subscription unit 710, a database generator 720, a recognition unit 730, a search unit 740, a service request unit 750, a storage unit 760, and a network management module 770.
The event subscription unit 710 subscribes for event messages
of all controlled devices connected to a home network.
. The database generator 720 generates a service management
database so that the home network management apparatus 700 can find a substitute service (substitute services) with respect to a service (services) provided through the home network, with reference to UPnP description documents received from the controlled devices in the home network. As described above, if a plurality of substitute services exist with respect to a service, priority of the substitute services can be set, according to network response speeds of respective devices that provide the plurality of substitute services and/or hardware specifications of the respective devices that provide the plurality of substitute services. Also, priority of the substitute services can



be set based on a value input through a user interface (not shown). The
service management database is stored in the storage unit 760.
The recognition unit 730 recognizes that a controlled device
cannot provide a requested service, through an event message received from
the controlled device, and requests the search unit 740 to search for a
substitute service.
The search unit 740 searches for a substitute service for a
service specified by the event message, with reference to the service
management database. If the corresponding substitute service is searched for,
the search unit 740 transfers information required for requesting the substitute
service to the service request unit 750.
The service request unit 750 requests the substitute service
using the information received from the search unit 750.
The network management module 770 performs basic
connection management so that all devices in the home network can
communicate with each other. That is, in a UPnP home network, the network
management module 770 executes basic protocols, such as Simple Object
Access Protocol (SOAP), Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP), etc.,
and receives or transmits messages related to respective operations for UPnP
networking.
Meanwhile, the present invention can also be embodied as
computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The
computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store


data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices.
[ As described above, according to the exemplary embodiments
of the present invention, when a device from which a user requests a service cannot provide the service in a home network including a plurality of devices, the user does not need to directly search for a different device and again request the service.
Also, by combining a plurality of substitute services that are
provided to a plurality of devices in a home network with each other, on the basis of priority of the substitute services set according to the performance of the devices, users can be optimized.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, 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 present invention as defined by the following claims.



We claim
1. A method of managing a home network, the method
comprising:
recognizing that a first device fails to provide a service requested by a second device;
searching for a substitute service among a plurality of services provided by a plurality of devices in the home network; and
requesting the substitute service from a third device which provides the substitute service, according to a result of the searching.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
generating a database in which the substitute service and an address of the device which provides the substitute service are mapped with respect to each of the services provided by the devices in the home network,
wherein the searching is performed with reference to the database.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the home network is a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network, and the generating of the database is perfomed with reference to a plurality of UPnP description documents received from the devices in the home network.
4. The method of claim 2. wherein, if a plurality of substitute services exist in correspondence to the requested service, the generating of the


database comprises setting a priority for each of the substitute services.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein, in the setting o( the priority, the priority is set according to network response speeds of a plurality of devices that provide the substitute services or hardware specifications of the devices that provide the substitute services.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein, in the setting of the priority, a priority of the devices that provide the substitute services is set according to a user input.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising subscribing for event messages for the services provided by the devices in the home network, wherein the home network is a Universal Plug and Play network, and the recognizing that the first device fails to provide the service requested by the second device comprises receiving an event message from the first device.
8. A computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method of managing a home network, comprising:
recognizing that a first device fails to provide a service requested by a second device;
searching for a substitute service among a plurality of services


provided by a plurality of devices in the home network; and
requesting the substitute service from a third device which provides the substitute service, according to a result of the searching.
9. An apparatus for managing a home network, the apparatus
comprising:
a recognition unit which recognizes that a first device fails to provide a service requested by a second device;
a search unit which searches for a substitute service among a plurality of services provided by a plurality of devices in the home network; and
a service request unit which requests the substitute service from a third device which provides the substitute service, according to a result of the search by the search unit.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a database
generator which generates a database in which a substitute service and an
address of a device which provides the substitute service are mapped with
respect to each of the services provided by the devices in the home network,
wherein the search unit searches for the substitute service with reference to the database.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the home network is a
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network, and the database generator

generates the database with reference to UPnP description documents received from the devices in the home network.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, if a plurality of substitute services exist in correspondence to a service, the database generator sets a priority for each of the substitute services,
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the database generator sets the priority according to network response speeds of a plurality of devices that provide the substitute services or hardware specifications of the devices that provide the substitute services.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the database generator sets a priority for devices that provide the substitute services, according to a user input.
15. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising an event subscribing unit which subscribes for event messages for the services provided by the devices in the home network, wherein the home network is a Universal Plug and Play (network, and the recognition unit recognizes that the first device fails to provide the service requested by the second device with reference to a message received from the first device.
Dated this 11th Day of May, 2007





ABSTRACT
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING SERVICES PROVIDED BY
DEVICES IN HOME NETWORK
A method is provided for managing services provided by devices in a home network. A home network apparatus manages information related to services provided by all devices in a home network, and requests from a second device a substitute service capable of substituting for a service of a first device when the first device fails to provide the service. Accordingly, when a device from which a user requests a service cannot provide the service, the user does not need to directly search for a different device and again request the service from the different device.

Documents:

907-MUM-2007-ABSTRACT(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-abstract.doc

907-mum-2007-abstract.pdf

907-mum-2007-cancelled pages(12-5-2010).pdf

907-MUM-2007-CLAIMS(AMENDED)-(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-claims.doc

907-mum-2007-claims.pdf

907-mum-2007-correspondence(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-correspondence(ipo)-(9-2-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-correspondence-received.pdf

907-mum-2007-description (complete).pdf

907-MUM-2007-DRAWING(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-drawings.pdf

907-MUM-2007-FORM 1(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-form 1(14-5-2007).pdf

907-mum-2007-form 2(title page)-(14-5-2007).pdf

907-mum-2007-form 26(10-4-2006).pdf

907-MUM-2007-FORM 26(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-form 3(11-12-2007).pdf

907-MUM-2007-FORM 3(12-5-2010).pdf

907-mum-2007-form 3(14-5-2007).pdf

907-mum-2007-form-1.pdf

907-mum-2007-form-18.pdf

907-mum-2007-form-2.doc

907-mum-2007-form-2.pdf

907-mum-2007-form-3.pdf

907-mum-2007-form-5.pdf

907-mum-2007-general power of attorney(14-5-2007).pdf

907-MUM-2007-OTHER DOCUMENT(12-5-2010).pdf

907-MUM-2007-PETITION UNDER RULE 137(1)-(12-5-2010).pdf

907-MUM-2007-PETITION UNDER RULE 137(12-5-2010).pdf

907-MUM-2007-REPLY TO EXAMINATION REPORT(12-5-2010).pdf

907-MUM-2007-REPLY TO HEARING(25-01-2011).pdf

abstract1.jpg


Patent Number 245793
Indian Patent Application Number 907/MUM/2007
PG Journal Number 05/2011
Publication Date 04-Feb-2011
Grant Date 01-Feb-2011
Date of Filing 14-May-2007
Name of Patentee SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Applicant Address 416, MAETAN-DONG, YEONGTONG-GU,SUWON-SI, GYEONGGI-DO,
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 SON KYOUNG-HO 553-1506 SHINNAMUSHIL 5 DANJI APT, YEONGTONG-DONG,YEONGTONG-GU, SUWON-SI, GYEONGGI-DO,
PCT International Classification Number H04L9/08; H04L9/08
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 10-2006-0082937 2006-08-30 Republic of Korea