JP4605028B2 - Remote control system, remote control communication device, and controlled communication device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a remote control system capable of remotely operating home electric appliances such as a VTR and a cooler installed at home from the outside, a remote control communication device constituting the remote control system, and a controlled communication device It is about.

In recent years, mobile phones that can handle video including moving images are rapidly spreading. Mobile phones having a videophone function which is a two-way video communication function are also beginning to be widely used. Under such circumstances, for example, there is a demand for means for remotely controlling AV equipment at home and viewing videos stored in these equipment from outside. Similarly, there is a need for means for remotely controlling devices such as air conditioners from the outside.

As a method of remote control using a telephone, a menu screen based on text information in which a telephone numeric key is associated with device operation contents is presented to the operator, and the operator selects and presses the numeric key on the telephone so that the DTMF ( A method for generating a (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) signal is described in Patent Document 1 below. In DTMF, a total of 16 states can be expressed by combining one sound each from four types of high-pitched sounds and four types of low-pitched sounds.

JP-A-2005-236676

However, in order to control many target devices by the conventional method, there is a problem that 16 types of information by DTMF is insufficient. Although it is possible in principle to increase the amount of information that can be transmitted by transmitting this DTMF multiple times, it is necessary to present a menu screen with text information multiple times, which complicates the operation by the operator and is desired. It took a long time to perform this operation, and there was a problem that it was not practical. In addition, since the operation information presented to the operator is a menu screen using text information, information can be presented only in a limited expression format, such as the correspondence between the numeric keys and the operation content, and the degree of freedom is high and the operability is high. There was a problem that a good operating environment could not be provided. In addition, if the DTMF transmitted to the target device side is misunderstood by the target device as to which operation screen corresponds to the operation of the operator, control different from the operator's intention may be executed. There was also a problem.

The present invention relates to a remote control system capable of easily performing operations on a large number of target devices in a short time and realizing highly reliable control in remote control of target devices, and a remote control constituting the remote control system. An object is to provide a communication device and a controlled communication device.

In the remote control system according to the present invention, the controlled communication device to which the controlled device is connected transmits the operation image to the remote control communication device, the remote control communication device displays the operation image, The control image generated based on the screen instruction position input based on the operation image is transmitted to the controlled communication device, and the controlled communication device transmits the controlled device based on the control image. It is intended to be controlled.

In the remote control system according to the present invention, the controlled communication device to which the controlled device is connected transmits the operation image to the remote control communication device, and the remote control communication device displays the operation image. The control audio signal generated based on the screen instruction position input based on the operation image and the control image that is the same image as the operation image are transmitted to the controlled communication device, The controlled communication apparatus controls the controlled device based on the control audio signal and the control image.

According to the present invention, since the remote control communication device presents the operation image acquired from the controlled communication device to the operator, more various operation information can be presented to the operator at a time. In addition, since the operator inputs the screen instruction position based on the operation image, the controlled device can be remotely operated with a simpler operation.

Further, according to the present invention, the control image generated based on the screen indication position input by the operator is transmitted to the controlled communication device, so that the operator's intention can be transmitted without error. Therefore, remote control of the controlled device with higher certainty is possible.

Further, according to the present invention, the control sound signal generated based on the screen instruction position input by the operator and the control image that is the same image as the operation image are transmitted to the controlled communication device. As a result, the intention of the operator can be transmitted without error, and remote control of the controlled device with higher certainty becomes possible.

Further, according to the present invention, since the operation information is acquired from the controlled communication device as an operation image, various operation information corresponding to each individual controlled device is stored in the remote control communication device in advance. There is no need to keep it. In addition, since control of all controlled devices can be processed in a common procedure regardless of the type of each controlled device, processing in the remote control communication device can be simplified. For this reason, it is also effective in reducing the processing load and cost of the remote control communication device. Therefore, there is an effect of cost reduction for the entire remote control system.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
A remote control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a remote control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The remote control system of the present invention includes a controlled communication device 2 to which a controlled device 1 is connected, and a remote control communication device 3 that communicates with the controlled communication device 2 via a communication network. Here, the controlled device 1 is, for example, a household electrical product having a video storage / playback function such as a DVD or a VTR, or a household electrical product other than a video-related device such as an air conditioner or a lighting device.

The controlled side communication device 2 and the controlled device 1 are connected by a cable or the like so that the controlled side communication device 2 can input the video signal and the audio signal output from the controlled device 1. The communication device 2 can remotely control the controlled device 1 using infrared rays. The communication network that connects the controlled-side communication device 2 and the remote control communication device 3 is a mobile phone line network, and is a communication network that can make a videophone call.

The remote control communication device 3 is also used as a mobile phone with a videophone function. The remote control communication device 3 includes a camera 10 as an imaging means, a display unit 11 composed of a liquid crystal screen, a microphone 12, a speaker 13, and a key input unit 14. Have. The key input unit 14 includes a numeric key 14a, a direction key 14b includes a direction key, and a confirmation key 14c for confirming selection. Here, for example, the camera 10 is used for imaging during a videophone call, and the display unit 11 is used for displaying an image sent from a communication partner during a videophone call, as described later. When the controlled device 1 is remotely controlled, it is also used to display an image received from the controlled communication device 2. As shown in the figure, the display unit 11 includes a received video display area 11a and a GUI (graphical user interface) display area 11b. Further, a pointer 11c is displayed on the display unit 11 for a position instruction on the screen by the operator of the remote control communication device 3. The microphone 12 is used, for example, to input sound during a videophone call, and the speaker 13 is used, for example, to output sound during a videophone call. The key input unit 14 is used for, for example, an operation of a videophone, and is used for an operator to specify a screen position instruction on the display unit 11 when performing remote control of the controlled device 1 as described later.

Next, the overall operation of the remote control system will be described. First, when the remote control communication device 3 is connected to the controlled communication device 2 via the communication network, the controlled communication device 2 displays the video signal including the operation image 20 in the communication network as indicated by the arrow 21. To the remote control communication device 3. Hereinafter, a case where the controlled device 1 is a VTR will be described as an example.

The operation image 20 includes an operation button display for selecting and instructing an operation on the controlled device 1. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the operation image 20. The operation image 20 includes an operation display portion 20a used for device operation of the controlled device 1 and a general-purpose display portion 20b for displaying video and the like. The operation display portion 20 a includes an operation button 30, position reference information 31 used for position reference in the operation image 20, and screen identification information 32 indicating the screen type of the operation image 20.

The operation buttons 30 include operation buttons such as “play”, “stop”, “fast forward”, “rewind”, and “end” which means that the display of the operation image 20 is ended. The screen identification information 32 is an array of white or black unit cells, and each cell represents 1-bit information. For example, white represents a first value, eg “0”, and black represents a second value, eg “1”. Thereby, for example, it is displayed that the operation image 20 is a VTR operation image. The position reference information 31 is displayed in the upper right region and the lower left region of the operation display portion 20a, and has a rectangular shape with a black center and a white center, and an image inside the remote control communication device 3 described later. In the processing, the figure has a clear feature so that it can be easily processed.

The remote control communication device 3 displays the operation image 20 included in the received video signal on the display unit 11. When the pointer 11c is displayed on the front surface of the display unit 11 and the operator presses the enter key 14c, the remote control communication device 3 generates a control image 22 representing the designated position in the screen indicated by the pointer 11c. Then, the video signal including the control image 22 is transmitted to the controlled communication device 2 via the communication network as indicated by an arrow 23.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the control image 22. The control image 22 is obtained by superimposing a vertical line image 33a representing a vertical line and a horizontal line image 33b representing a horizontal line on an image having the same content as the operation image 20. Here, the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b are displayed so that the position of the pointer 11c when the operator presses the enter key 14c matches the position of the intersection of the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b. To do. That is, the intersection of the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b indicates the screen instruction position designated by the operator.

The controlled-side communication device 2 determines the operation content selected by the operator by analyzing the control image 22 included in the video signal received from the remote control communication device 3 according to the procedure described later. Then, a control signal corresponding to the operation content is transmitted to the controlled device 1 as indicated by an arrow 45 using infrared communication. For example, when the operation selected by the operator is “fast forward”, a control signal of “fast forward” instruction is transmitted to the controlled device 1. Upon receiving the control signal, the controlled device 1 performs an operation based on an operation instruction corresponding to the control signal, and transmits the output data as a result, for example, the fast-forwarded video data as indicated by an arrow 46. The controlled communication device 2 transmits the video data received from the controlled device 1 to the remote control device 3 as indicated by an arrow 21.

In this way, the remote control communication device 3 transmits the screen position instruction information for the operation image 20 received from the controlled communication device 2 to the controlled communication device 2 as the control image 22. As a result, in the above-described case, the “fast forward” video is displayed on the display unit 11. That is, the video data stored in the controlled device 1 is as if the video data was stored in the remote control communication device 3 itself, and a playback process including special playback such as fast-forwarding was performed according to the operation. Can be watched.

Next, the internal operation of the remote control communication device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the remote control communication device 3, the communication processing unit 40 receives the video signal including the operation image 20 transmitted by the controlled communication device 2. At this time, the communication processing unit 40 functions as an operation image receiving unit. The received video signal is output to the video decoding processing unit 42 via the signal separation processing unit 41. The signal separation processing unit 41 outputs to the video decoding processing unit 42 when the received signal is a video signal, and outputs to the audio decoding processing unit 43 when the received signal is an audio signal. The video decoding processing unit 42 decodes the received video signal and outputs the decoded video signal to the video display processing unit 44.

The video display processing unit 44 outputs the decoded video signal input from the video decoding processing unit 42 to the video acquisition unit 47, and displays a GUI image to be displayed in the GUI display area 11b output from the GUI image generation processing unit 45, as will be described later. The pointer display processing unit 46 that outputs the image of the pointer 11c is combined with the decoded video signal and output to the display unit 11. The composite video output by the video display processing unit 44 is displayed on the display unit 11 as shown in FIG. At this time, the display unit 11 functions as an operation image display unit. On the other hand, the video acquisition unit 47 outputs a still image obtained by capturing the entire input composite video as the operation image 20 to the control image generation processing unit 48 described later.

Next, an operation when the operator inputs a key of the key input unit 14 will be described. When the operator inputs the key of the key input unit 14, the key operation detection unit 49 determines the type of the input key. When the input key is the direction key 14b, information such as the key type is output to the pointer coordinate processing unit 50. When the input key is the confirmation key 14c, the information such as the key type is output to the control image generation processing unit 48. Output to. Although not shown, when other input keys 14 a are input, information such as the key type is output to the overall control unit 55.

When the key input is notified from the key operation detection unit 49, the pointer coordinate processing unit 50 calculates the position coordinates in the display unit 11 where the pointer 11c is to be displayed. The pointer coordinate processing unit 50 outputs the calculated position coordinates to the pointer display processing unit 46 and the control image generation processing unit 48. The pointer display processing unit 46 generates a pointer image obtained by redrawing the pointer 11 c at the calculated position coordinates, and outputs the pointer image to the video display processing unit 44. As described above, the video display processing unit 44 synthesizes the images so that the pointer 11c is displayed on the front surface, and causes the display unit 11 to display the images.

Next, when the operator performs a “fast forward” operation on the VTR that is the controlled device 1, the direction key 14 b is operated to move the pointer 11 c to the position of the “fast forward” operation button 30, and then confirm. The key 14c is pressed. At this time, the key type input from the key operation detection unit 49 by the control image generation processing unit 48 is the confirmation key. When the key type input from the key operation detection unit 49 is a confirmation key, the control image generation processing unit 48 places the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b on the entire operation image 20 input from the video acquisition unit 47. Is drawn and superimposed. At this time, the control image 22 as shown in FIG. 3 is generated by making the position of the intersection of the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b coincide with the position coordinates calculated by the pointer coordinate processing unit 50. At this time, the control image generation processing unit 48 functions as control image generation means. The control image generation processing unit 48 outputs the generated control image 22 to the video switching processing unit 51. The video switching processing unit 51 normally outputs the video captured by the camera 10 to the video encoding processing unit 52. However, when the control image generation processing unit 48 outputs the control image 22, the video output of the camera 10 is output. Instead, the control image 22 is selected and output to the video encoding processing unit 52. Note that the video switching processing unit 51 may perform video switching by overwriting the control image 22 with respect to the video output of the camera 10.

The control image 22 output from the video switching processing unit 51 is subjected to video encoding processing such as image compression by the video encoding unit 52 and then output to the multiprocessing unit 53 as a video signal. The multiplex processing unit 53 multiplexes the audio signal obtained by encoding the audio input from the microphone 12 by the audio encoding processing unit 54 and the above-described video signal output by the video encoding unit 52 to multiplex the communication processing unit 40. Output to. The communication processing unit 40 transmits the multiplexed signal output from the multiprocessing unit 53 to the controlled communication device 2 via the communication network. At this time, the communication processing unit 40 functions as a control image transmission unit. In this way, the control image 22 is transmitted to the controlled communication device 2 as indicated by the arrow 23 in FIG.

Next, the operation of the controlled communication device 2 will be described based on the operation flow shown in FIG. When communication is established between the controlled communication device 2 and the remote control communication device 3 via the communication network, the operation image transmitting means in the controlled communication device 2 displays the operation image 20 corresponding to the controlled device 1. The included video signal is transmitted to the remote control communication device 3 (step a1).

The controlled communication device 2 waits for the control image 22 to be transmitted from the remote control communication device 3. As described above, when the operator performs a remote operation using the remote control communication device 3, the remote control communication device 3 transmits the control image 22 to the controlled communication device 2. The control image receiving means of the device 2 receives the control image 22 transmitted by the remote control communication device 3 (step a2).

The controlled-side communication device 2 performs image processing on the received control image 22 to check whether the control image 22 includes position reference information 31 as shown in FIG. If the position reference information 31 is not included, the received control image 22 is discarded because the received control image 22 is invalid, and the process waits until a new control image 22 is received (step). a3).

When the position reference information 31 is included in the received control image 22, the coordinate system of the control image 22 is determined using the detected position reference information 31. Thereby, the coordinates of an arbitrary position in the control image 22 can be determined (step a4).

Next, it is inspected whether the screen identification information 32 as shown in FIG. If the screen identification information 32 is not included, it is determined that the received control image 22 is invalid, the control image 22 is discarded, and a new control image 22 is received (step a5). .

When the screen identification information 32 is included in the received control image 22, the screen type is determined from the detected screen identification information 32. When the control image 22 thus received corresponds to an operation on the controlled device 1, and when the operation image 20 for the controlled device 1 is composed of a plurality of images, which operation image corresponds to it. Can be recognized (step a6).

Next, the coordinates corresponding to the intersection position of the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b in the control image 22 are calculated based on the in-screen coordinate system obtained in step a4 (step a7). Then, it is checked whether the operation button 30 exists at the coordinates of the intersection point position. Since the region position of each operation button 30 in the control image 22 is known in advance when the operation image 20 is generated, it is easy to check whether or not the operation button 30 exists at the coordinates of the intersection position. Can do. If no operation button 30 exists at the coordinate position, the controllable device 1 is not subjected to any control and waits until a new control image 22 is received (step a8).

When the operation button 30 exists at the intersection position of the vertical line image 33a and the horizontal line image 33b, the type of the operation button 30 is examined. If the operation button 30 is “END”, it is determined that the remote control communication device 3 has ended the remote control, and the process ends (step a9). When the operation button 30 corresponds to an operation other than “end”, the controlled device control means in the controlled communication device 2 sends a control signal corresponding to the operation button 30 to the controlled device 1 by infrared communication. Send. For example, when the operation button 30 is “fast forward”, a control signal for “fast forward” is transmitted to the controlled device 1. Thereby, the video output from the controlled device 1 (VTR in this example) is fast-forwarded. After sending out the control signal, it waits until a new control image 22 is received (step a10).

In the above description, the VTR is taken as an example of the controlled device 1, but a home electric product other than the video-related device, for example, an air conditioner may be controlled, and the operator is as if in the room with the air conditioner. The device can be remotely controlled as if the remote control is operating the air conditioner. In this case, the operation image transmitted from the controlled device 1 is, for example, an operation image 61 shown in FIG. Similar to the operation image 20, the operation image 61 includes position reference information 62, screen identification information 63, and various operation buttons 64. Since the air conditioner does not output video / audio, the controlled communication device 2 does not input video / audio from the controlled device 1, and the controlled communication device 2 is controlled by infrared communication. It only controls. Therefore, during remote operation of the air conditioner, no video is displayed on the display unit 11 of the remote control communication device 3, and only the operation image 61 is displayed on the display unit 11.

Further, as a communication network connecting the controlled communication device 2 and the remote control communication device 3, a communication network other than the mobile phone network may be used. For example, the Internet may be used.

Further, the controlled communication device 2 and the controlled device 1 may be connected by a method other than infrared communication. For example, it is possible to use a low-power radio or a wireless LAN.

In the internal configuration of the remote control communication device 3, the key operation detection unit 49 outputs information on input keys other than the direction key 14b and the confirmation key 14c to the overall control unit 55. The input key information is output to the overall control unit 55, and the overall control unit 55 outputs the key information to the control image generation processing unit 48, the pointer coordinate processing unit 50, etc. according to the information content of the input key. It may be.

In the system configuration of FIG. 1, the controlled communication device 2 and the controlled device 1 are separate devices, but these devices may be integrated. In FIG. 1, the controlled communication device 2 analyzes the received control image 22 and transmits a control signal to the controlled device 1 by infrared communication, but the controlled communication device 2 Alternatively, the received control image 22 may be transferred to the controlled device 1 so that the controlled device 1 performs an analysis process on the control image 22.

In FIG. 1, one controlled device 1 is connected to the controlled communication device 2, but a plurality of controlled devices may be installed in the controlled communication device 2. In this case, the operation image transmitted first by the controlled communication device 2 includes a list of controllable controlled devices, and the remote control communication device 3 first selects the controlled device to be controlled. You can do it.

In addition, the control image 22 generated by the control image generation processing unit 48 includes the entire operation image 20 output from the video acquisition unit 47, but the control image 22 includes the operation image 20. Only a main part may be included. Thereby, the information amount of the control image 22 can be reduced, and the load on the communication network can be reduced.

As described above, since the remote control communication device presents the operation image acquired from the controlled communication device to the operator, more various operation information can be presented to the operator at a time. . In addition, since the operator inputs the screen instruction position based on the operation image, the controlled device can be remotely operated with a simpler operation.

In addition, since the control image generated based on the screen instruction position input by the operator is transmitted to the controlled communication device, the operator's intention can be transmitted without error, so that there is more certainty. Remote control of high controlled devices becomes possible.

In addition, since the operation information is acquired from the controlled communication device as an operation image, there is no need to previously store various operation information corresponding to each individual controlled device in the remote control communication device. In addition, since control of all controlled devices can be processed in a common procedure regardless of the type of each controlled device, processing in the remote control communication device can be simplified. For this reason, it is also effective in reducing the processing load and cost of the remote control communication device.

In addition, since the remote control communication apparatus operates the controlled device using only the operation image and the control image, various controls on the controlled device can be performed with simple operations.

In addition, since the remote control communication device acquires the operation information from the controlled communication device as an operation image, various operation information corresponding to each individual controlled device is stored in the remote control communication device in advance. There is no need to keep it. In addition, since control of all controlled devices can be processed in a common procedure regardless of the type of each controlled device, processing in the remote control communication device can be simplified. For this reason, it is also effective in reducing the processing load and cost of the remote control communication device.

In addition, the controlled communication device can process all controlled devices in a common procedure, simplifying internal processing, and controlling controlled devices based on the control image. Stable control is possible without being affected by transmission errors in the network.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the remote control communication device 3 generates the control image 22 representing the content operated by the operator and transmits it to the controlled communication device 2, but instead of the control image 22 Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which an audio signal representing the content operated by the operator is generated and transmitted to the controlled communication device 2. In the remote control system according to the second embodiment, the remote control communication device 3 generates a voice signal including screen indication position information indicating the contents operated by the operator, and transmits this to the controlled communication device 2. Thus, the controlled device 1 is controlled remotely.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a remote control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. First, the operation of the entire system will be described. The controlled communication device 2 transmits an operation image 20 for operating the controlled device 1 to the remote control communication device 3, and the operator uses the operation image displayed on the display unit 11 of the remote control communication device 3. While viewing the image 20, the operation button 30 is designated by the pointer 11c, and the operation content is selected by pressing the enter key 14c.

When the operator presses the enter key 14c, the remote control communication device 3 generates an audio signal representing the coordinates of the position designated by the pointer 11c. This audio signal is obtained by converting the X coordinate and Y coordinate of the designated position into sound data by the DTMF method. Specifically, when the X coordinate and the Y coordinate are represented by two-digit numerical values, the tenth digit of the X coordinate, the first digit of the X coordinate, the tenth digit of the Y coordinate, Y A total of four numbers of the first digit of coordinates are converted into DTMF audio signals.

The remote control communication device 3 transmits the audio signal as the control audio signal 24 to the controlled communication device 2. At this time, in synchronization with the transmission timing of the control audio signal 24, an image having the same content as the operation image 20 is transmitted as the control image 25 to the controlled communication device 2. Although the detailed processing content will be described later, the controlled-side communication device 2 grasps the operation content performed by the operator using the received control image 25 and control audio signal 24. Thereafter, as in the case of the first embodiment, the control of the controlled device 1 is performed by transmitting a control signal corresponding to the operation performed by the operator to the controlled device 1 by infrared communication.

Next, the internal operation of the remote control communication device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the remote control communication device 3. In FIG. 8, the same parts as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. The operation in which the remote control communication device 3 receives the operation image 20 and displays it on the display unit 11 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

The difference from the first embodiment is that a control sound generation processing unit 56 and a sound multiplex processing unit 57 are newly provided. The pointer coordinate processing unit 50 outputs the calculated position coordinates to the control sound generation processing unit 56 instead of the control image generation processing unit 48. Note that the pointer coordinate processing unit 50 outputs the calculated position coordinates to the pointer display processing unit 46 as in the first embodiment. Further, the key operation detection unit 49 outputs the input information of the direction key 14b to the pointer coordinate processing unit 50, and also inputs the input information of the confirmation key 14c to both the control sound generation processing unit 56 and the control image generation processing unit 48. Output to.

When the operator depresses the confirmation key 14 c and the key operation detection unit 49 outputs the input information of the confirmation key 14 c to the control sound generation processing unit 56, the control sound generation processing unit 56 inputs from the pointer coordinate processing unit 50. The value of the position coordinate of the pointer 11c is converted into an audio signal in DTMF format. As described above, the conversion is performed for each digit of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate. The control sound generation processing unit 56 outputs the generated sound signal as the control sound signal 24 to the sound multiplex processing unit 57. The audio multiplex processing unit 57 multiplexes the audio signal input from the microphone 12 and the control audio signal 24 output from the control audio generation processing unit 56 and outputs the multiplexed signal to the audio encoding processing unit 54. The audio encoding processing unit 54 performs audio encoding processing on the audio signal in which the microphone audio and the control audio signal 24 are multiplexed, and outputs the audio encoded signal to the multiplexing processing unit 53.

On the other hand, when the control image generation processing unit 48 receives the input information of the confirmation key 14 c from the key operation detection unit 49, the control image generation processing unit 48 takes in the operation image 20 output from the video acquisition unit 47 and inputs it to the video switching processing unit 51. Is output as 25. Therefore, the control image 25 is an image having the same configuration as the operation image 20. The control image 25 is output to the multiplexing processing unit 53 through the video switching processing unit 51 and the video encoding processing unit 46 as in the case of the first embodiment. The multiplexing processing unit 53 multiplexes the encoded video signal and audio signal, and the multiplexed signal is transmitted by the transmission processing unit 40 to the controlled communication device 2 via the communication network.

In this way, when the operator presses the enter key 14c, the control screen 25 that is the same as the contents of the operation image 20 at that time and the position coordinates in the operation image 20 designated by the operator are displayed. The control audio signal 24 shown is transmitted to the controlled communication device 2 in synchronization.

Next, the operation of the controlled-side communication apparatus 2 will be described based on the operation flow shown in FIG. 9 while focusing on the differences from the case of the first embodiment. When communication is established between the controlled communication device 2 and the remote control communication device 3 via the communication network, the operation image transmitting means in the controlled communication device 2 transmits the operation image 20 corresponding to the controlled device 1. The video signal is transmitted to the remote control communication device 3 (step b1).

Next, the controlled communication device 2 waits for the control audio signal 24 and the control image signal 25 to be transmitted from the remote control communication device 3. As described above, when the operator performs remote operation using the remote control communication device 3, the remote control communication device 3 sends the control audio signal 24 and the control image signal 25 to the controlled communication device 2. Since the transmission is performed synchronously, the control audio receiving means and the control image receiving means in the controlled communication device 2 receive the control audio signal 24 and the control image 25 transmitted by the remote control communication device 3, respectively. (Step b2). Although not shown in the figure, there may be a case where only one of the control audio signal 24 and the control image signal 25 is received due to a communication network failure or the like. In this case, after receiving one, if the other is not received within a certain time, the received signal may be discarded.

Next, the controlled communication device 2 performs image processing on the received control image 25 to check whether the control image 22 includes position reference information 31 as shown in FIG. If the position reference information 31 is not included, the received control image 25 and control audio signal 24 are discarded because the received control image 25 is invalid, and a new control audio signal 24 and Wait until control image 25 is received (step b3).

When the position reference information 31 is included in the received control image 25, the coordinate system of the control image 25 is determined using the detected position reference information 31. Thereby, the coordinates of an arbitrary position in the control image 25 are determined. (Step b4).

Next, it is inspected whether the screen identification information 32 as shown in FIG. If the screen identification information 32 is not included, the received control image 25 and control audio signal 24 are discarded because the received control image 22 is invalid, and a new control audio signal 24 and Wait until control image 25 is received (step b5).

When the screen identification information 32 is included in the received control image 22, the screen type is determined from the detected screen identification information 32. As a result, the received control image 25 corresponds to an operation on the controlled device 1, and when the operation image 25 for the controlled device 1 is composed of a plurality of screens, it recognizes which screen it corresponds to. (Step b6). Next, the numbers included in the received control audio signal 24 are extracted based on the DTMF method, and the X and Y coordinates of the screen indication position designated by the operator are acquired (step b7).

The subsequent processing is the same as the processing in the first embodiment. That is, it is checked whether the operation button 30 exists at the coordinates of the screen instruction position (step b8). If the operation button 30 exists at the screen instruction position, the type of the operation button 30 is checked (step b9). If the operation button 30 is “end”, the process is terminated. If the operation button 30 is for an operation other than “end”, a control signal corresponding to the operation button 30 is transmitted by infrared communication. Transmit to controlled device 1. (Step b10).

As described above, since the operator remotely controls the controlled device based on the operation image transmitted by the controlled communication device, it is possible to remotely control various types of controlled devices with simpler operations. effective. In addition, there is no need to prepare a separate operation screen for each controlled device in advance on the remote control communication device side, and remote control can be performed with a processing procedure common to all the controlled devices. It is possible to construct a rich remote control system.

In addition, the control audio signal generated based on the screen instruction position input by the operator and the control image that is the same image as the operation image are transmitted to the controlled communication device. Since the intention can be transmitted without error, there is an effect that remote control of the controlled device with higher reliability becomes possible.

In addition, since the remote control communication device acquires the operation information from the controlled communication device as an operation image, various operation information corresponding to each individual controlled device is stored in the remote control communication device in advance. There is no need to keep it. In addition, since control of all controlled devices can be processed in a common procedure regardless of the type of each controlled device, processing in the remote control communication device can be simplified. For this reason, it is also effective in reducing the processing load and cost of the remote control communication device.

In addition, the controlled communication device can process all controlled devices in a common procedure, simplifying internal processing, and controlling controlled devices based on the control image. Stable control is possible without being affected by transmission errors in the network.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a remote control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image for operation by Embodiment 1, 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image for control by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the communication apparatus for remote control by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an operation | movement flow of the to-be-controlled communication apparatus 2 by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image for control by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a system block diagram of the remote control system by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the communication apparatus for remote control by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is an operation | movement flow of the to-be-controlled communication apparatus 2 by Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Controlled device 2 ... Controlled side communication device 3 ... Remote control communication device 20 ... Operation image 22 ... Control image 31 ... Position Reference information 32 ... Screen identification information 33a ... Vertical line image 33b ... Horizontal line image

Claims (11)

In a remote control system comprising a controlled communication device to which a controlled device is connected and a remote control communication device that communicates with the controlled communication device via a communication network and remotely controls the controlled communication device ,
The controlled communication device is:
An operation image transmitting unit that transmits an operation image for operating the controlled device to the remote control communication device, a control image receiving unit that receives a control image from the remote control communication device, and the control Controlled device control means for controlling the controlled device based on an image,
The remote control communication device is
An operation image receiving unit that receives the operation image from the controlled communication device, an operation image display unit that displays the received operation image, and an input based on the displayed operation image Remote control comprising control image generation means for generating a control image indicating a screen indication position and control image transmission means for transmitting the generated control image to the controlled communication device system. In a remote control system comprising a controlled communication device to which a controlled device is connected and a remote control communication device that communicates with the controlled communication device via a communication network and remotely controls the controlled communication device ,
The controlled communication device is:
An operation image transmitting means for transmitting an operation image for operating the controlled device to the remote control communication device; a control audio signal receiving means for receiving a control audio signal from the remote control communication device; Control image receiving means for receiving a control image corresponding to the control audio signal from a remote control communication device, and controlled device control for controlling the controlled device based on the control audio signal and the control image Means,
The remote control communication device is
Operation image receiving means for receiving the operation image from the controlled communication device, operation image display means for displaying the received operation image, and a screen input based on the displayed operation image Control audio signal generating means for generating a control audio signal indicating the indicated position, control audio signal transmitting means for transmitting the generated control audio signal to the controlled communication device, and the transmitted control audio A remote control system comprising: control image transmission means for transmitting the received operation image as the control image to the controlled communication device in synchronization with signal transmission. 2. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the control image generating unit generates the control image by combining the operation image, the vertical line image indicating the screen instruction position, and the horizontal line image. The operation image has an area indicating image identification information given to each operation image, and the control image has an area indicating image identification information included in the operation image. The remote control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The operation image has an area indicating position reference information serving as a reference for the position in the operation image, and the control image has an area indicating position reference information included in the operation image. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the remote control system is a remote control system. 6. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the control image includes a part or the whole of the operation image. 7. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the remote control communication device is a mobile phone. An operation image transmitting means for transmitting an operation image for operating the controlled device to the remote control communication device, and a control image indicating a screen instruction position corresponding to the operation image from the remote control communication device. A controlled-side communication apparatus comprising: a control image receiving unit; and a controlled device control unit that controls the controlled device based on the control image. An operation image receiving unit that receives an operation image for operating the controlled device from the controlled communication device, an operation image display unit that displays the received operation image, and the displayed operation image Control image generation means for generating a control image indicating the screen instruction position input based on the control, and control image transmission means for transmitting the generated control image to the controlled communication device. A remote control communication device characterized by the above. An operation image transmitting means for transmitting an operation image for operating the controlled device to the remote control communication device, and a control audio signal indicating a screen instruction position corresponding to the operation image from the remote control communication device Control audio signal receiving means, control image receiving means for receiving the same control image as the operation image corresponding to the control audio signal from the remote control communication device, the control audio signal and the control image A controlled-side communication device comprising controlled device control means for controlling the controlled device based on a control image. An operation image receiving unit that receives an operation image for operating the controlled device from the controlled communication device, an operation image display unit that displays the received operation image, and the displayed operation image A control audio signal generating means for generating a control audio signal indicating a screen indication position input based on the control, a control audio signal transmitting means for transmitting the generated control audio signal to the controlled communication device, Control image transmission means for transmitting the same control image as the received operation image to the controlled communication device in synchronization with the transmission of the transmitted control audio signal. Remote control communication device.

Images