| US 7,565,209 B2 | ||
| Device control apparatus | ||
| Kakuya Yamamoto, Ashiya (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Panasonic Corporation, Osaka (Japan) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/587,321 PCT Filed Jun. 21, 2005, PCT No. PCT/JP2005/011362 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Jul. 26, 2006, PCT Pub. No. WO2006/003817, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 12, 2006. |
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| Claims priority of application No. 2004-196530 (JP), filed on Jul. 02, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0176786 A1, Aug. 02, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G05B 11/01 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 700—19 [700/3; 700/9; 700/295; 700/296] | 12 Claims |
| 1. A device control apparatus that controls a plurality of devices, said device control apparatus comprising:
a specification association table obtainment unit operable to obtain a specification association table in which the plurality
of devices and a specification of each of the devices are associated with each other;
a use situation association table obtainment unit operable to obtain a use situation association table in which the devices
and a use situation of each of the devices are associated with each other;
an application obtainment unit operable to obtain an application program in which a device to be controlled is described by
an abstract name;
a condition definition table obtainment unit operable to obtain a condition definition table in which conditions that should
be satisfied by the device with the abstract name are defined, the conditions being a specification-related condition and
a use situation-related condition;
a specification-conforming device identification unit operable to identify, by referring to the condition definition table,
the specification-related condition that should be satisfied by the device with the abstract name described in the application
program, and to identify, by referring to the specification association table, each of the devices having the specification
which conforms to the identified specification-related condition;
a use situation-conforming device identification unit operable to identify, by referring to the condition definition table,
the use situation-related condition that should be satisfied by the device with the abstract name described in the application
program, and to identify, by referring to the use situation association table, each of the devices having the use situation
which conforms to the identified use situation-related condition;
a device identification unit operable to identify, based on each of the devices identified by said specification-conforming
device identification unit and each of the devices identified by said use situation-conforming device identification unit,
the device to be controlled, wherein the device to be controlled is a device identified by both of the specification-conforming
device identification unit and the use situation-conforming device identification unit; and
a device control unit operable to control, based on the application program, the device to be controlled that is identified
by said device identification unit,
wherein the identification performed by the specification-conforming device identification unit of each of the devices having
the specification which conforms to the identified specification-related condition is carried out independently from the identification
performed by the use situation-conforming device identification unit of each of the devices having the use situation which
conforms to the identified use situation-related condition,
wherein, for each of the devices, the use situation of the device includes a physical location and a time, and
wherein, for each of the devices, the specification of the device includes a functional specification of the device, and at
least one of a shape, a size, a mass, a color, and a use environment condition.
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