AbstractâA URC(universal remote control) unit is a device for controlling many different CE(Consumer Electronics) devices with a single one. To control the ...
P2-28 ZigBee based Dynamic Control Scheme for Multiple Legacy IR Controllable Digital Consumer Devices Wan-Ki Park, Intark Han, Kwang-Roh Park, Member, IEEE Abstract—A URC(universal remote control) unit is a device for controlling many different CE(Consumer Electronics) devices with a single one. To control the various CE devices based on IR(infra-red) control signal, the URC unit has to have many preprogrammed control codes for controlling them because they are controlled with many different types of IR profile stated with lead code, carrier frequency, duty cycle, duration and so forth. In this paper, we propose a dynamic control scheme for multiple legacy IR controllable digital CE devices based on IEEE802.15.4, especially ZigBee protocol. The proposed scheme uses a URC unit using ZigBee based wireless network technique, WPAN(Wireless Personal Area Network), and a ‘Z2IR(ZigBee to IR)’ conversion module, converted a control message transferred through ZigBee network into IR typed control signal. In this scheme, we can configure controllable CE devices based on user’s mobility and minimize power consumption based on ZigBee ON/OFF control technique using multiple level timers.
digital home environment. We can consider that the many different CE devices are working under the control of the URC using legacy IR control mechanism. Our proposed control scheme is for these circumstances.
I. INTRODUCTION In these days, more and more various digital household CE(Consumer Electronics) devices, high definition television(HDTV), entertainment system, personal computers(PCs) and other Internet consumer devices are popularized. The various devices are controlled and managed generally with a remote control unit based on IR signal. In the IR based remote control, the IR control signal is composed of lead code and control code with different carrier frequency, duty cycle and duration, which is up to the vendors. That is to say, the control code and signal are not standardized yet. So, many different remote control units are required to control all home appliances. It’s very annoying to consumers. A URC(Universal Remote Control)[1] unit is a device for controlling many different CE devices with a single one. To control the various CE devices with IR signal, the URC unit has to have preprogrammed many control codes with different types of IR profile for controlling them In this paper, we propose a dynamic control scheme for multiple legacy IR controllable CE devices based on IEEE802.15.4[2], especially ZigBee[3] protocol. The proposed scheme uses a URC unit using ZigBee[3] based WPAN technology and a ‘Z2IR(ZigBee to IR)’ conversion module, converted a control message transferred through ZigBee network into IR typed control signal. In this scheme, we can configure the controllable CE devices based on user’s mobility and minimize power consumption based on ZigBee ON/OFF control technique using multi level timer. II. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENTS As shown in Fig. 1, there are many different types, vendors and kinds of home appliances and systems in these days
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Fig. 1 IR based CE Devices Control by Universal Remote Control Unit
Generally, all CE devices and systems are controlled by legacy IR signal, but their control codes are not same format in whether the lead code exists or not, carrier frequency, each bit’s duty cycle, duration so forth. We can use all devices at any spaces, living room, room #1, room #2 and room #3 in our home. In considering the home environments shown in Fig. 1, we can control air conditioner, home server, refrigerator and television with a single URC unit in the living room. To control all four devices with a single URC unit, the URC has to have four different IR control code group. If a user with the URC moves to room #1, #2 or #3, the embedded IR control code group is changed into new IR control code group to control the devices in new room. If the URC has all IR control code group in the home environments, we can control all devices wherever the user is. But, the user has to select his control item from the many contents according to its philosophy. III. THE PROPOSED DYNAMIC CONTROL SCHEME A. Overall Control Architecture in Digital Home Fig 2 shows the overall system configuration for the proposed dynamic control scheme based on IEEE802.15.4[2] for multiple legacy IR controllable CE devices. All control commands to control the multiple CE devices are generated by Z-URC(ZigBee based Universal Remote Control) and the control command generated and transferred to Z2IR(ZigBee to Infra-Red) module is converted IR control stream in the
module for controlling a target device. Internetworking between a home server and Z-URC is for getting the control profile. Communication between Z-URC and Z2IR modules is based on IEEE802.15.4 ZigBee WPAN network. The WPAN network is reconfigured dynamically with a user mobility with Z-URC.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Fig. 2 System Configurations to Control with Z-URC
B. Control Signal Conversion Module Fan
Air Conditioner
ZigBee to IR Module
consists of two phases, one is a phase to configure a WPAN and the other is normal operation phase. The Z-URC configures a new WPAN if Z2IR module receives WPAN configuration command during periodic check for WPAN configuration command using Timer. A user selects a CE device to control, which is based on display information on ZURC. On selecting the command on the Z-URC by user, the selected command transferred to target Z2IR conversion module based on IEEE802.15.4 ZigBee protocol. Finally, the target Z2IR module makes and transmits an IR command stream corresponding to the control command received from ZigBee based WPAN. Fig. 5 shows an operation procedure in the proposed Z2IR module. The procedure consists of initialization and configuration phase and normal operation phase. The normal operation phase is specified in detail on the right side in Fig. 5. The procedure functions based on multiple level timer scheme. That may minimize the power consumption for the Z2IR conversion module.
Television Set
Fig. 3 Example of CE Devices with Z2IR for the Proposed Control Scheme
Fig. 3 shows an example of CE devices with Z2IR module in the system configuration for the proposed Z-URC based control scheme. As shown in Fig. 3, all CE devices have a Z2IR conversion module with configurable vendor and product ID(Identifier). The two types of ID are transferred to Z-URC to inform the CE devices’ information using bidirectional communication characteristics. Using the two IDs, Z-URC configures a new controllable CE devices’ list.
Fig. 5 Operation Procedure for Z2IR Module
C. Control Flow and Procedures
IV.
CONCLUSIONS
We proposed a dynamic control scheme for multiple legacy IR controllable CE devices based on IEEE802.15.4, especially ZigBee protocol. The proposed scheme, Z-URC uses a ZigBee based WPAN technology and Z2IR conversion module, converted a control message transferred through ZigBee network into IR typed control signal. In this scheme, we can configure controllable CE devices based on user’s mobility and minimize power consumption based on ZigBee ON/OFF control technique using multi level timer. REFERENCES [1] [2] Fig. 4 Overall Control Procedure using Z-URC
Fig 4 shows the overall control procedure in the proposed dynamic control scheme for multiple legacy IR devices. According to the procedure shown in Fig. 3, the procedure
[3]
C. S. Choy, “An Infra-Red Remote Control System Designed for Universal Control,” IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, vol. 41, pp. 1089-1094, Nov. 1995. IEEE Std 802.15.4 Wireless Wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications for Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-WPANs), May, 2003. Jin-Shyan Lee, “An Experiment on Performance Study of IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Networks,” Proceedings of 10th IEEE Conference on Emerging Technology and Factory Automation, vol. 2, pp. 4511-458, Sep. 2005.
