阅读说明：本技术 用于控制外部设备的方法和电子设备 (Method for controlling external device and electronic device ) 是由 特提亚纳·伊格纳托娃 于 2020-01-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供了一种由电子设备执行的控制外部设备的方法。该方法包括：感测由外部设备的运行产生的噪声；基于所感测的噪声确定外部设备是否在空闲状态下运行；当外部设备在空闲状态下运行时,获得在运行期间消耗的电力量；以及基于所获得的电力量控制外部设备。(A method of controlling an external device performed by an electronic device is provided. The method comprises the following steps: sensing noise generated by operation of an external device; determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise; obtaining an amount of power consumed during operation when the external device is operating in an idle state; and controlling the external device based on the obtained power amount.)

1. A method performed by an electronic device of controlling an external device, the method comprising:

sensing noise generated by operation of the external device;

determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise;

obtaining an amount of power consumed by the external device during operation when the external device is operating in the idle state; and

controlling the external device based on the obtained power amount.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the amount of power consumed by the external device during operation in the idle state is obtained based on at least one of:

a period during which the external device is operating in an idle state, or

Information about an amount of power consumed by the external device for a certain period of time during which the external device is operating in an idle state.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state comprises:

determining an operating state of the external device as one of a power-off state, the idle state, and an active state based on the sensed noise; and

determining whether the external device is operating in the idle state based on the determined operating state.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein an amount of power consumed by the external device during the idle state operation is substantially equal to an amount of power consumed by the external device continuously operating in the idle state from a first point in time until a current point in time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state comprises:

identifying the external device corresponding to the sensed noise;

obtaining information about a characteristic of the sensed noise, wherein the characteristic corresponds to at least one operating state of the identified external device; and

determining an operation state of the external device corresponding to the sensed noise based on the information on the characteristics of the sensed noise.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the external device comprises:

obtaining information about an operation mode of the external device;

determining whether an idle state of the external device will last for at least a reference time based on the information of the operation mode; and

controlling the external device based on the obtained amount of power and a result of determining whether the idle state of the external device will last for at least the reference time.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the external device comprises: controlling the external device by changing the external device from the idle state to a power-off state based on the obtained amount of power.

8. An electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

a sensor;

a communicator;

a memory storing one or more instructions; and

at least one processor configured to execute one or more instructions stored in the memory to:

controlling the sensor to sense noise generated by operation of a device external to the electronic device,

determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise,

obtaining an amount of power consumed by the external device during operation when the external device is operating in an idle state,

generating a signal for controlling the external device based on the obtained amount of electric power, an

Controlling the communicator to transmit the generated signal to the external device.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the amount of power consumed by the external device during operation in the idle state is obtained based on at least one of:

a period during which the external device is operating in an idle state, or

Information about the amount of power consumed by the external device for a certain period of time during which the external device is operating in an idle state.

10. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

determining an operating state of the external device as one of a power-off state, the idle state, and an active state based on the sensed noise; and

determining whether the external device is operating in the idle state based on the determined operating state.

11. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein an amount of power consumed by the external device during the idle state operation is substantially equal to an amount of power consumed by the external device continuously operating in the idle state from a first point in time until a current point in time.

12. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

identifying the external device corresponding to the sensed noise;

obtaining information about a characteristic of the sensed noise, wherein the characteristic corresponds to at least one operating state of the identified external device; and

determining an operation state of the external device corresponding to the sensed noise based on the information on the characteristics of the sensed noise.

13. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to:

obtaining information about an operation mode of the external device;

determining whether an idle state of the external device will last for a reference time or more based on the information of the operation mode; and

controlling the external device based on the obtained amount of power and a result of determining whether an idle state of the external device will last for the reference time or more.

14. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to: controlling the external device by changing the external device from the idle state to a power-off state based on the obtained amount of power.

15. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon instructions for executing any one of claims 1 to 7.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device for sensing noise generated by an external device and controlling the external device based on the sensed noise, and a method of operating the electronic device.

Background

According to the development of technology, electronic products having various functions have been supplied and used in various environments such as homes, offices, and stores. However, as the number of electronic products increases in various environments, the consumption amount of electric energy rapidly increases.

In addition, some electronic products may be operated in an idle state so that a user operates the electronic products using a remote controller when necessary, or so that the electronic products are operated at a predetermined time. Therefore, there is a need for a method capable of minimizing standby power of an electronic product, which may be unnecessarily consumed even when a user does not use the electronic product.

The above information is presented merely as background information to aid in understanding the present disclosure. No determination is made, nor is an assertion made, as to whether any of the above may apply to the prior art regarding the present disclosure.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

An aspect of the present disclosure is to address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic device that controls an external device to minimize standby power by determining a state of the external device based on noise generated by the external device, and a method of operating the electronic device.

Drawings

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 illustrates an example of sensing noise of an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing internal configurations of electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which an electronic device controls an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numerals are used to depict the same or similar elements, features and structures.

Detailed Description

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a computer program product including a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the above-described method on a computer is recorded.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of controlling an external device performed by an electronic device. The method comprises the following steps: sensing noise generated by operation of the external device; determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise; obtaining an amount of power consumed by the external device during operation when the external device is operating in an idle state; and controlling the external device based on the obtained power amount.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes: a sensor; a communicator; a memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute one or more instructions stored in the memory to: controlling the sensor to sense noise generated by operation of an external device, determining whether the external device is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise, obtaining an amount of power consumed by the external device during the operation when the external device is operating in the idle state, generating a signal for controlling the external device based on the obtained amount of power, and controlling the communicator to transmit the generated signal to the external device.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer program product includes a recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to aid understanding, but these are to be regarded as exemplary only. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Moreover, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographic meanings, but are used only to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more such surfaces.

Throughout this disclosure, when an element such as a component, layer, portion, region, or the like is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be "directly connected to" the other element, or it can be "electrically connected to" the other element with intervening elements therebetween. Further, when an element such as a component, layer, portion, region or the like is referred to as "including (or including)" a certain component, the element may also include (or include) another component rather than excluding the other component unless specifically stated otherwise.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Throughout the specification, an external device refers to a device external to an electronic device.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example of sensing noise of an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 1, an electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may sense noise of an external device 100 and may control the external device 100 based on the sensed noise.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms as a device for sensing noise of the external device 100 and controlling the external device 100 based on the sensed noise.

For example, the electronic device 1000 described herein may include various types of electronic devices capable of sensing noise, such as, but not limited to, smartphones, tablet Personal Computers (PCs), digital cameras, laptop computers, wearable devices, and the like.

In addition, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a smart speaker apparatus or a robot cleaner as an example of an apparatus for sensing noise and executing a control command to the external apparatus 100.

Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include various types of electronic apparatuses as apparatuses for sensing noise and executing a control command to the external apparatus 100.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the operation state of the external device 100 as one of a power-off state, an idle state, and an active state based on the sensed noise. The electronic device 1000 may determine whether the external device 100 operates in an idle state based on the determined operation state.

The power-off state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may refer to a state in which power supplied to the external device 100 is cut off, that is, a state in which the external device 100 does not consume power.

The idle state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may refer to a state in which standby power is being consumed in the idle state although power is supplied to the external device 100.

The active state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may refer to a state in which the external device 100 is performing a specific operation according to a user input or predetermined information, that is, a state in which the external device 100 is being largely used by a user.

Not limited to the above example, the electronic device 1000 may determine various operating states of the external device 100.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the noise of the external device 100 that may be sensed by the electronic device 1000 may include various types of noise generated according to the operation of the electronic device 1000. For example, the noise of the external device 100 may include sound and vibration unwanted by a user generated by the operation of the external device 100.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the noise of the external device 100, which may be sensed by the electronic device 1000, may include a coil whining sound, which is a vibration noise due to a vibration generated by a current flowing through a coil included in the external device 100. For example, the above noise may include electromagnetic induction noise caused by vibration generated by electromagnetic induction of the coil.

As another example, the noise of the external device 100 may include mechanical noise, such as motor noise, fan noise, etc., which may be generated due to the operation of various components included in the external device 100.

Not limited to the above example, the noise of the external device 100 may include various types of noise generated according to various operation states of the external device 100.

The electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 by analyzing characteristics of noise generated by the external apparatus 100.

For example, the noise level when the external device 100 is in the active state may be different from the noise level when the external device 100 is in the idle state. As another example, the pattern of noise generated when the external device 100 is in the active state may be different from the pattern of noise generated when the external device 100 is in the idle state. The pattern set forth above may refer to a pattern of noise magnitudes that change during a unit time. As yet another example, noise generated when the external device 100 is in an active state is different in acoustic characteristics (e.g., frequency, waveform, etc.) from noise generated when the external device 100 is in an idle state. Accordingly, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on a characteristic of noise generated by the external apparatus 100, for example, at least one of a magnitude of the noise, a pattern of the noise, or an acoustic characteristic (e.g., a frequency characteristic, a waveform characteristic, etc.) of the noise.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, different noises may be generated according to an operation of driving in the external device 100. For example, when an operation of decrypting a password is performed in the external device 100, noise having a pattern, acoustic characteristics, or magnitude different from that generated during another operation may be generated.

Throughout the disclosure, the expression "at least one of a, b or c" means only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, all of a, b and c, or variants thereof.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, noise generated during the operation of the external device 100 may differ due to various factors, such as the type, model year, serial number or manufacturing place of the manufacturer, the surrounding environment in which the external device 100 is located, and the like of the external device 100, and due to the operation state of the external device 100. Accordingly, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may identify the external apparatus 100 corresponding to the noise based on the characteristics of the noise generated by the external apparatus 100. For example, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 1000 may identify the external device 100 existing in a house based on the sensed noise, and may obtain information about the identified external device 100.

Further, the electronic device 1000 may determine an operation state of the external device 100 corresponding to the sensed noise based on the information on the characteristics of the noise corresponding to the identified at least one operation state of the external device 100.

The above-mentioned information on the noise characteristics of the external device 100 may include information on the characteristics of the noise analyzed in at least one of the time domain or the frequency domain.

Further, the information on the noise characteristics of the external device 100 may be information stored in advance in the electronic device 1000. For example, information on characteristics of noise corresponding to various operation states of the external device 100 may be stored in the electronic device 1000 in the form of a database. As another example, the information on the characteristics of the noise may be stored in a server (not shown) in the form of a database and transmitted to the electronic device 1000 according to a request of the electronic device 1000.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the database regarding the noise characteristics may be continuously updated based on various information collected with respect to the at least one external device 100. For example, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the database regarding the noise characteristics may be continuously updated based on the result of the electronic device 1000 controlling the external device 100. Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the database regarding the noise characteristics may be updated by the electronic device 1000 or a server (not shown) in which the database is built.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may sense noise of the external device 100 by using at least one sensor. The sensor capable of sensing noise of the external device 100 may include, for example, a microphone, a vibration sensor, a noise detection sensor, and the like. Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may sense noise of the external apparatus 100 by using at least one sensor of various types, which may sense sound, vibration noise, and the like.

Accordingly, the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the operation state of the external device 100 by using a sensor capable of sensing noise and included in the electronic device 1000 even though there is no separate device for determining the state of the external device 100.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 1000 may determine whether the external device 100 is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise, and may control the external device 100 such that the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 is minimized according to a result of the determination. For example, when the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state exceeds a reference value, the electronic device 1000 may change the operation state of the external device 100 to a power-off state.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state may be an amount of power consumed by the external device 100 continuously operating in the idle state from a first time point until a current time point when the external device 100 continuously operates. The first time point may be determined as one of time points when the external device 100 continuously operates in the idle state. For example, the first time point may be determined as a time point at which the external device 100 starts to operate in an idle state.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state may be obtained based on at least one of the capability information on the external device 100 or the information on the noise generated by the operation of the external device 100.

For example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on information on noise generated by the operation of the external apparatus 100, and may obtain the amount of power consumed per unit time from the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on capability information on the external apparatus 100.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state may be obtained based on at least one of a period of time taken for the external device 100 to operate in the idle state or information on the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 for a specific period of time. The information on the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during a certain period of time may include, for example, information on an average amount of power consumed by the external device 100 per unit time in an idle state.

Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may obtain the amount of power consumed by the external apparatus 100 during the operation in which the external apparatus 100 is in the idle state based on various information.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic apparatus 1000 may control the external apparatus 100 such that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed by the external apparatus 100 may be minimized, based on various information and the amount of power consumed by the external apparatus 100 during the operation in which the external apparatus 100 is in the idle state.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when it is determined that the idle state of the external device 100 will last for the reference time or more, the electronic device 1000 may control the external device 100 such that an amount of power consumed due to the operation of the electronic device 1000 in the idle state may be minimized.

For example, the electronic device 1000 may obtain information on an operation mode of the external device 100 and may determine whether an idle state of the external device 100 will last for a reference time or more based on the information on the operation mode. Further, the electronic apparatus 1000 may control the external apparatus 100 based on the amount of power consumed by the external apparatus 100 to operate in the idle state until the current time point and the result of the above determination.

As an example, although the amount of power consumed is equal to or less than the reference value, when it is determined that the idle state of the external device 100 will last for the reference time or more based on the operation mode of the external device 100, the electronic device 1000 may control the external device 100 such that the external device 100 operates in the power-off state for the first period of time. The first period may be determined based on a period in which the external device 100 is predicted to operate in an idle state according to an operation mode of the external device 100.

Further, when it is predicted that the external device 100 changes from the idle state to the active state within the reference time based on the operation mode of the external device 100, the electronic device 1000 may operate such that the external device 100 remains in the idle state.

As an example, although the amount of power consumed is equal to or greater than the reference value, when it is predicted that the external device 100 changes from the idle state to the active state within the reference time based on the operation mode of the external device 100, the electronic device 1000 may operate such that the idle state of the external device 100 is maintained.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the operation mode of the external device 100 may be determined through continuous learning based on the operation state of the external device 100 determined by the electronic device 1000. Further, the operation mode of the external device 100 may be determined based on information provided from the outside of the electronic device 1000. Without being limited to the above example, the electronic device 1000 may obtain the operation mode of the external device 100 through various methods.

Further, when it is predicted that the operation state of the external device 100 will be changed from the idle state to the active state within the reference time based on the information on the predetermined operation of the external device 100, the electronic device 1000 may operate such that the operation state of the external device 100 remains in the idle state instead of being changed to the power-off state. As an example, although the amount of power consumed is equal to or greater than the reference value, when it is predicted that the external device 100 changes from the idle state to the active state within the reference time based on the information on the predetermined operation, the electronic device 1000 may operate such that the idle state of the external device 100 is maintained.

Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in consideration of convenience of a user and the fact that the amount of power required to change from the power-off state to the active state is greater than the amount of power required to change from the idle state to the active state, when it is determined that the operation state of the external device 100 is to be changed from the idle state to the active state within the reference time, the electronic device 1000 may operate such that the idle state of the external device 100 is maintained.

Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may control the external apparatus 100 based on various information regarding the operation of the external apparatus 100, so that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed by the external apparatus 100 may be minimized.

The external device 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is a device other than the electronic device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, and may include various types of devices that generate noise in various operation states. For example, the external device 100 may include various types of home appliances, such as a washing machine 110, a set-top box 120, a charger 130, and the like, which can continuously use power provided in a house. Not limited to the above example, the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include various types of devices that consume power.

The external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be a device that may use power continuously supplied from the outside thereof. For example, the external device 100 may be a device that stably supplies power from the outside thereof through a socket in a house.

Since the external device 100 is stably powered even in the idle state, the external device 100 can maintain the idle state in which the user input can be received. However, when the idle state in which the user does not use the external device 100 continues, there is a disadvantage in that unnecessary standby power is excessively consumed.

Accordingly, the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may sense that the external device 100 consumes unnecessary power equal to or greater than a reference value in an idle state and may control the external device 100 so as to prevent the external device 100 from excessively consuming the unnecessary power.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the washing machine 110 in the external device 100 may be operated in an idle state for a remaining period of time except for a period of time for performing various operations such as washing, dehydrating, drying, etc., according to a user input. For example, assuming that the time period in which the washing machine 110 is operated in the active state is about 3 hours a day, when power is continuously and stably supplied to the washing machine 110, the washing machine 110 is operated in the idle state for the remaining 21 hours. For example, by operating in the idle state, the washing machine 110 may be maintained in a state allowing user input to be received, or may stand by so that a predetermined operation may be performed at a predetermined time. However, even though the amount of power consumed per unit time by the washing machine 110 in the idle state is small, a large amount of power may be unnecessarily consumed when the washing machine 110 is operated in the idle state for a long time.

Accordingly, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may control the washing machine 110 such that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed due to the operation of the washing machine 110 in the idle state may be minimized. For example, when the washing machine 110 operates in the idle state and the amount of power consumed during the operation of the washing machine 110 in the idle state is equal to or greater than a reference value, the electronic device 1000 may control the washing machine 110 such that the washing machine 110 operates in the power-off state.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the set-top box 120 in the external device 100 may operate in an idle state for the remaining period of time, except for the period of time when the user views the content through the set-top box 120. For example, assuming that the set-top box 120 operates in the active state for a period of time of about 4 hours a day, when power continues to be stably supplied to the set-top box 120, the set-top box 120 operates in the idle state for the remaining 20 hours. By operating in the idle state, the set-top box 120 may maintain a state allowing reception of an input of a user through a button or a remote controller, or may stand by so that a predetermined operation such as video recording, playback, or the like may be performed at a predetermined time. However, even if the amount of power consumed per unit time by the set-top box 120 in the idle state is small, a large amount of power may be unnecessarily consumed when the set-top box 120 is operated in the idle state for a long time.

Accordingly, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may control the set-top box 120 such that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed due to the operation of the set-top box 120 in the idle state may be minimized. For example, when the set-top box 120 operates in the idle state and the amount of power consumed during the operation of the set-top box 120 in the idle state is equal to or greater than a reference value, the electronic device 1000 may control the set-top box 120 such that the set-top box 120 operates in the power-off state.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the charger 130 in the external device 100 may operate in an idle state after the charging of the battery is completed. The charger 130 may operate in an idle state until a time when the charger 130 can perform a charging operation on the battery. However, even if the amount of power consumed by the charger 130 per unit time in the idle state is small, a large amount of power may be unnecessarily consumed when the charger 130 operates in the idle state for a long time.

Accordingly, the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may control the charger 130 such that an amount of power unnecessarily consumed due to the operation of the charger 130 in the idle state may be minimized. For example, when the charger 130 operates in the idle state and the amount of power consumed during the operation of the charger 130 in the idle state is equal to or greater than a reference value, the electronic device 1000 may control the charger 130 such that the charger 130 operates in the power-off state.

The electronic apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may determine whether the noise output from the charger 130 is abnormal. For example, the electronic device 1000 may determine that the charger 130 is in an abnormal state when sensing that the noise output from the charger 130 is greater than the noise generated in the normal state of the charger 130. When it is determined that the charger 130 is in the abnormal state, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may cut off power transmitted to the charger 130. The electronic device 1000 may also notify the user that the charger 130 is in an abnormal state.

For example, when the user carries the electronic device 1000 and moves to a place where the charger 130 is located, the electronic device 1000 may sense noise output from the charger 130. The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the state of the charger 130 based on the sensed noise and may notify the user of the determination result. The user can cut off the power of the charger 130 according to the notification of the electronic device 1000.

The external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a component that may execute a control command of the electronic device 1000. For example, the external device 100 may include a smart plug that receives a control command of the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and performs an operation according to the received control command.

When coupled to the external device 100, the smart plug according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may receive a control command of the electronic device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure and may perform an operation of controlling the external device 100 according to the received control command.

As another example, the electronic device 1000 may include components corresponding to the smart plug described above internally.

Not limited to the above example, the external device 100 may include various types of components that may execute a control command of the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic apparatus 1000 may perform various operations based on the information about the operation state of the external apparatus 100, and is not limited to controlling the external apparatus 100 based on the operation state of the external apparatus 100, which is determined based on noise.

For example, the electronic device 1000 may provide information to a user regarding the operational state of the external device 100 determined based on the noise sensed according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example, the electronic device 1000 may provide information regarding the operation state of the external device 100 determined according to an embodiment of the present disclosure to a user, whereby the electronic device 1000 may guide the user to turn off power supplied to the external device 100. In addition, the electronic device 1000 may provide the user with information about the external device 100 that the user can currently control, based on the information about the operation state of the external device 100 determined according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

As another example, the electronic device 1000 may obtain information on an operation mode of at least one external device 100 owned by a user based on information on an operation state of the at least one external device 100, which is determined based on noise according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As yet another example, the electronic device 1000 may obtain information on the amount of power consumed according to the operation state of the external device 100, which is determined based on noise according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the information on the operation state of the external device 100.

Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may perform various operations based on the information on the operation state of the external apparatus 100. The external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be registered with at least one of the electronic device 1000 or a server (not shown) in advance before performing a control operation of the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, when the electronic device 1000 senses noise in a certain area and thus identifies a new external device 100, the electronic device 1000 may obtain information on the identified external device 100 and register the obtained information to at least one of the electronic device 1000 or a server (not shown). The electronic device 1000 may perform a control operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure based on previously registered information about the external device 100.

The aforementioned information about the external device 100 may include, for example, at least one of noise characteristic-related information, identification information, function information, or category information as information required to perform a control operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Without being limited to the above-described example, the information about the external device 100 may include various types of information as information required to perform a control operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In addition, the information about the external device 100 may include information received from the external device 100, information about the external device 100 collected by using at least one sensor included in the electronic device 1000, for example, information about noise characteristics according to an operation state of the external device 100, information related to the external device 100 and received by the electronic device 1000 from another device (e.g., a server), and the like. Without being limited to the above example, the information about the external device 100 may be obtained by various methods and registered to at least one of the electronic device 1000 or a server (not shown).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when sensing noise having new characteristics different from those of various devices registered in advance in the electronic device 1000, the electronic device 1000 may determine whether the state of the external device 100 in the house is in an abnormal state. For example, when noise having different frequency and amplitude characteristics is sensed, the electronic device 1000 may determine whether at least one device in the house is in an abnormal state.

The electronic apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 by further using other information related to the external apparatus 100 and by using noise sensed for the external apparatus 100, and may control the external apparatus 100 according to the determination result thereof.

For example, the quality of the noise sensed by the electronic device 1000 for the external device 100 may be low due to ambient noise. The accuracy of the operating state of the external device 100 that may be determined by the electronic device 1000 may be low due to the low quality of the sensed noise. Accordingly, when the accuracy of the operation state of the external device 100, which can be determined based on the noise sensed by the electronic device 1000, is equal to or less than the reference value, the electronic device 1000 can determine the operation state of the external device 100 by further using other information related to the external device 100.

Other information related to the external device 100 may include various types of information, such as information about electromagnetic waves generated from the external device 100, information obtained from a photographed image of the external device 100, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 1000 may sense electromagnetic waves generated from a surrounding environment and may determine an operation state of the external device 100 by further using information about the sensed electromagnetic waves. For example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on the intensity of the electromagnetic wave sensed for the external apparatus 100.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic apparatus 1000 may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 by further using the photographed image of the external apparatus 100. The photographed image of the external device 100 may include various types of photographed images including still images, videos, and the like, including the external device 100. For example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on the external state of the external apparatus 100 contained in the image.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 1000 may obtain noise generated by the external device 100 from audio data collected by the electronic device 1000 by using various methods for sensing a sound source, such as non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and degradation separation estimation techniques (DUET). Without being limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may obtain noise generated by the external apparatus 100 from audio data collected through the microphone by using various methods.

The method of controlling the external device 100 by the electronic device 1000 may further include an operation performed by a server (not shown) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

A server (not shown) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented with at least one computer device. For example, the server (not shown) may include various types of server devices, such as cloud servers, edge servers, and so forth. Servers (not shown) may be distributed in the form of a cloud and may provide commands, code, files, content, and the like.

A server (not shown) may perform operations that may be performed by the electronic device 1000. For example, a server (not shown) may perform an operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure based on information about noise sensed by the electronic device 1000, and may transmit a result of performing the operation to the electronic device 1000. The operation according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of an operation of determining an operation state of the external device 100 based on information about noise sensed by the electronic device 1000, an operation of obtaining an amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during an operation in which the external device 100 is in an idle state based on a determination result of the operation state, or an operation of controlling the external device 100 based on the obtained amount of power.

The server (not shown) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may perform at least one of the above-described operations based on information stored in the server, for example, various information such as information on noise characteristics of the external device 100, information on the amount of power consumed by the external device 100.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may receive a result of performing at least one of the above-described operations from a server (not shown), and may perform an operation of controlling the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure based on the received result.

Fig. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing internal configurations of electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 2, the electronic device 1000 may include a sensing unit or sensor 1400, at least one processor 1300, and a communication unit, transceiver, or communicator 1500. However, not all of the components shown in fig. 2 are necessary components of the electronic device 1000. Electronic device 1000 may be implemented with many more components than those shown in FIG. 2. Or may be implemented with fewer components than shown in fig. 2.

For example, referring to fig. 3, an electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a user input 1100, an output 1200, an audio/video (a/V) input 1600, and a memory 1700 in addition to a sensor 1400, a processor 1300, and a communicator 1500.

The user input device 1100 is used for a user to input data for controlling the electronic apparatus 1000. For example, user input device 1100 may include, but is not limited to, a keyboard, a dome switch, a touch pad (touch capacitive overlay, piezoresistive overlay, infrared beam sensing, surface acoustic wave, global strain gauge, piezoelectric, etc.), a scroll wheel switch, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user input unit 1100 may receive a user input for performing a specific operation. For example, according to a user input received by the user inputter 1100, the electronic device 1000 may sense noise of the external device 100 and may perform an operation of controlling the external device 100 based on the sensed noise.

The outputter 1200 may output an audio signal, a video signal, or a vibration signal, and may include a display unit or display 1210, a sound outputter 1220, and a vibration motor 1230.

The outputter 1200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may output a result of performing an operation according to a user request. For example, the outputter 1200 may output information about at least one of the operation states of the external device 100, which is determined based on the sensed noise of the external device 100 or the amount of power consumed by the external device 100. Further, the outputter 1200 may output information on controlling an operation of the external device 100, the operation being performed according to sensing of noise of the external device 100.

The display 1210 displays and outputs information processed by the electronic device 1000.

When the display 1210 and the touch panel form a layer structure to constitute a touch screen, the display 1210 may also function as an input device in addition to an output device. The display 1210 may include at least one of a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, a flexible display, a three-dimensional (3D) display, or an electrophoretic display. Further, depending on the type of implementation of the electronic device 1000, the electronic device 1000 may include two or more displays 1210.

The sound outputter 1220 outputs audio data received from the communication unit 1500 or stored in the memory 1700.

The vibration motor 1230 may output a vibration signal. In addition, the vibration motor 1230 may output a vibration signal when a touch is input to the touch screen.

The processor 1300 generally controls the overall operation of the electronic device 1000. For example, the processor 1300 may integrally control the user input 1100, the output 1200, the sensor 1400, the communicator 1500, the a/V input 1600, etc. by executing a program stored in the memory 1700. The electronic device 1000 may include, but is not limited to, at least one processor 1300.

The processor 1300 may be configured to process commands of a computer program by performing basic arithmetic, logical, and input/output operations. Commands may be provided to the processor 1300 from the memory 1700 or may be received by the communicator 1500 and provided to the processor 1300 accordingly. For example, the processor 1300 may be configured to execute commands according to program code stored in a recording device such as a memory.

The processor 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine an operation state of the external device 100 based on noise of the external device 100 sensed by the sensor 1400, may generate a signal for controlling the external device 100 based on the operation state of the external device 100, and may transmit the generated signal to the external device 100 via the communicator 1500. For example, the processor 1300 may determine whether the external device 100 operates in the idle state by determining an operating state of the external device 100 as one of a power-off state, an idle state, and an active state based on the sensed noise.

Further, the processor 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may also identify the external device 100 corresponding to the sensed noise, and may obtain information on a characteristic of the noise, which corresponds to at least one operation state of the identified external device 100. The processor 1300 may determine an operation state of the external device 100 corresponding to the sensed noise based on the information on the characteristics of the noise.

Further, the processor 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may also obtain the amount of power consumed by the external apparatus 100 during the operation of the external apparatus 100 in the idle state according to the determination result of the operation state, and may control the external apparatus 100 based thereon. For example, the processor 1300 may control the external apparatus 100 when the amount of power consumed by the external apparatus 100 during the operation of the external apparatus 100 in the idle state exceeds a reference value. As an example, the processor 1300 may control the external device 100 by changing the external device 100 from an idle state to a power-off state based on the obtained amount of power. The amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state may be an amount of power consumed by the external device 100 when the external device 100 continuously operates in the idle state from a first time point to a current time point.

Further, the processor 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may also obtain information on an operation mode of the external device 100 and may determine whether an idle state of the external device 100 will continue for a reference time or more based on the information on the operation mode. The processor 1300 may control the external device 100 based on the amount of power obtained from the sensed noise and the result of the above determination.

Furthermore, the processor 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may also perform an operation of controlling the external apparatus 100 such that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed by the external apparatus 100 may be minimized based on the determined operation state of the external apparatus 100 and the amount of power consumed by the external apparatus 100 during the operation of the external apparatus 100 in the idle state.

Further, the processor 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may also perform various operations based on information about the operation state of the external device 100, not limited to controlling the external device 100 based on the operation state of the external device 100, which is determined based on noise.

The sensor 1400 may sense a state of the electronic device 1000 or an environmental state of the electronic device 1000 and may transmit the sensed information to the processor 1300. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, information sensed by the sensor 400 may be transmitted to the processor 1300 as collected behavioral data about the user.

The sensors 1400 may include, but are not limited to, a magnetic sensor 1410, an acceleration sensor 1420, a temperature/humidity sensor 1430, an infrared sensor 1440, a gyroscope sensor 1450, a location sensor (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS))1460, an atmospheric pressure sensor 1470, a proximity sensor 1480, and/or at least one of a red, green, blue (RGB) sensor (illumination sensor) 1490.

The sensor 1400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a microphone, a vibration sensor, a noise detection sensor, etc., as a sensor capable of sensing external noise and vibration. Not limited to the above example, the sensor 1400 may include at least one sensor of various types, which may sense sound, vibration noise, or the like.

Communicator 1500 may include one or more components that allow electronic device 1000 to communicate with a server (not shown) or its external devices (not shown). For example, the communicator 1500 may include a short-range wireless communication unit or communicator 1510, a mobile communication unit or communicator 1520, and/or a broadcast receiver 1530.

The communicator 1500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may transmit a signal for controlling the external device 100 to the external device 100, the signal being generated by the processor 1300.

The short-range wireless communication unit 1510 may include, but is not limited to, a bluetooth communication unit, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication unit, a near field communication (NFC/RFID) unit, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)) (Wi-Fi) communication unit, a Zigbee communication unit, an infrared data association (IrDA) communication unit, a Wi-Fi direct (WFD) communication unit, an Ultra Wideband (UWB) communication unit, an ANT + communication unit, and the like.

The mobile communicator 1520 transmits and receives wireless signals to and from at least one of a base station, an external terminal, or a server through a mobile communication network. Here, the wireless signal may include various types of data according to transmission and reception of a voice call signal, a video call signal, or a text/multimedia message.

The broadcast receiver 1530 receives a broadcast signal and/or broadcast associated information from outside the electronic device 1000 via a broadcast channel. The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel or a terrestrial channel. According to an implementation example, the electronic device 1000 may not include the broadcast receiver 1530.

The a/V input 1600 is used to input an audio signal or a video signal and may include a camera 1610, a microphone 1620, and the like. The camera 1610 may obtain image frames of still images, video, and the like via an image sensor in a video call mode or a photographing mode. The image captured by the image sensor may be processed by the processor 1300 or a separate image processing unit (not shown).

The microphone 1620 receives as input acoustic signals external to the electronic device 1000 and processes the acoustic signals into electrical audio data. Although the microphone 1620 may serve as an input device for receiving an external acoustic signal as an input and performing a specific operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the microphone 1620 is not limited thereto and may serve as a sensor of the sensor 1400 for sensing noise outside the electronic device 1000.

The memory 1700 may store programs for processing and control of the processor 1300, and may store data input to or output from the electronic device 1000.

The memory 1700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may store one or more instructions, and the at least one processor 1300 of the electronic device 1000 may perform controlling the operation of the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure by executing the one or more instructions stored in the memory 1700.

For example, the at least one processor 1300 may control the sensor 1400 to sense noise generated by the operation of the external device 100, may determine whether the external device 100 is operating in an idle state based on the sensed noise, may obtain an amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state when the external device 100 is operating in the idle state, may generate a signal for controlling the external device 100 based on the obtained amount of power, and may control the communicator 1500 to transmit the generated signal to the external device 100.

In addition, the memory 1700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may store information regarding the operation of the external device 100. For example, the memory 1700 may store information on an operation mode of the external device 100, information on characteristics of noise generated according to an operation state of the external device 100, information on an amount of power consumed according to the operation state of the external device 100, and the like. Not limited to the above example, the memory 1700 may store information required for the processor 1300 to generate a signal for controlling the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The memory 1700 may include a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a memory card type (e.g., a Secure Digital (SD) or extreme digital (XD) memory, etc.), a Random Access Memory (RAM) type, a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) type, a Read Only Memory (ROM) type, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) type, a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM) type, a magnetic memory type, a magnetic disk type, or an optical disk type.

The program stored in the memory 1700 may be divided into a plurality of modules according to its functions, for example, a User Interface (UI) module 1710, a touch screen module 1720, a notification module 1730, and the like.

UI module 1710 may provide a dedicated UI, a Graphical User Interface (GUI), and the like, for each application, to interlock with electronic device 1000. Touch screen module 1720 may sense a touch gesture of a user on the touch screen and may communicate information regarding the touch gesture to processor 1300. Touch screen module 1720 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may recognize and analyze touch codes. The touch screen module 1720 may be configured as separate hardware including a controller.

In order to sense a touch or a proximity touch with respect to the touch screen, various sensors may be provided inside or near the touch screen. An example of a sensor for sensing a touch on a touch screen is a tactile sensor. The tactile sensor refers to a sensor that senses contact with a specific object to a degree that a human feels or higher. The tactile sensor may sense various information such as roughness of a contact surface, hardness of a contact object, temperature of a contact point, and the like.

The user's touch gestures may include a tap, touch and hold, double click, drag, pan, flick, drag and drop, slide, and the like.

The notification module 1730 may generate a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event of the electronic device 1000.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 4, in operation 410, the electronic device 1000 may sense noise generated according to the operation of the external device 100 via a sensor 1400 included in the electronic device 1000.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the noise generated according to the operation of the external device 100, that is, the noise of the external device 100 that can be sensed by the electronic device 1000, may include various types of noise, vibration noise, and the like generated according to the operation of the external device 100.

In operation 420, the electronic device 1000 may determine whether the external device 100 is operating in an idle state based on the noise sensed in operation 420. For example, the electronic device 1000 may determine which state of the power-off state, the idle state, and the active state the external device 100 operates in based on the sensed noise.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may identify the external device 100 for sensed noise based on information about noise that may be generated by the external device 100. Further, the electronic apparatus 1000 may determine the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on the information about the identified noise of the external apparatus 100.

When the external device 100 is not operating in the idle state, for example, when the external device 100 is operating in the power-off state or the active state, the electronic device 1000 may determine that the external device 100 does not unnecessarily consume power. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 1000 does not perform an operation of controlling the external device 100 and may repeatedly perform the operation 410 of sensing noise of the external device 100.

In operation 430, when it is determined that the external device 100 operates in the idle state, the electronic device 1000 may obtain an amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state.

For example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may obtain the amount of power consumed per unit time according to the operation state of the external apparatus 100 based on the information about the amount of power consumed according to the operation state of the external apparatus 100. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, information regarding the amount of power consumed according to the operation state of the external device 100 may be previously stored in a memory of the electronic device 1000 before operation 430 is performed.

In operation 440, the electronic apparatus 1000 may control the external apparatus 100 based on the amount of power obtained in operation 430, so that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed by the external apparatus 100 may be minimized.

For example, when the amount of power consumed by the external device 100 during the operation of the external device 100 in the idle state exceeds a reference value, the electronic device 1000 may control the external device 100 such that the amount of power unnecessarily consumed by the external device 100 may be minimized. As an example, the electronic device 1000 may control the external device 100 such that the operation state of the external device 100 is changed from an idle state to a power-off state.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may continuously or cyclically perform the aforementioned operations of controlling the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As another example, when the electronic device 1000 senses noise newly generated by the external device 100 or senses a change in characteristics of noise previously sensed from the external device 100, the electronic device 1000 may perform the above-described operation of controlling the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may perform an operation of controlling the external apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure under various conditions.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 5, at least one electronic device 510, 520, or 530 may sense noise of the external device 100 and may control the external device 100. At least one of the electronic devices 510, 520, or 530 in fig. 5 may correspond to the electronic device 1000 in fig. 1.

As an example shown in fig. 5, at least one electronic device 510, 520, or 530 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a robot cleaner 510, a smart phone 520, and a smart speaker device 530.

The robotic vacuum cleaner 510 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may sense various noises generated by various external devices 100 while moving to various places in a house. The robotic vacuum cleaner 510 may control the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure based on information about the sensed noise. Alternatively, the robotic vacuum cleaner 510 may transmit information regarding the sensed noise to another electronic device (e.g., 520 or 530), whereby the other electronic device (e.g., 520 or 530) may perform controlling the operation of the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure based on the transmitted information.

In addition, the robotic vacuum cleaner 510 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may inform the user of information on the state of the external device 100, which is determined based on the information on the sensed noise, through other electronic devices (e.g., 520 or 530). Accordingly, the user may control the external device 100 based on the information on the state of the external device 100, so that the external device 100 may perform various operations.

Further, the robotic vacuum cleaner 510 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may identify at least one external device 100 based on the sensed noise, and may generate information about the external device 100 existing in the house based on the information about the identified at least one external device 100. The information on the external devices 100 present in the house may include, for example, location information of each external device 100 in the house, an operation state of each external device 100 determined based on the sensed noise, an amount of power consumed by each external device 100, and the like. In order to allow various operations to be performed based on information about the external device 100 present in the house, the robotic vacuum cleaner 510 may transmit the above information to a server or a smartphone 520 outside thereof. For example, the smartphone 520 may determine an operation mode of each external device 100 based on the above information, and may perform various operations based on the operation mode. The smart phone 520 may also obtain information about the behavior or habits of the user based on the operation mode of each external device 100.

The robot vacuum cleaner 510 and the smart phone 520 like the embodiments according to the present disclosure may sense various noises generated by various external devices 100 while moving to various places in a house, and may control the external devices 100 based on the sensed noises. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the smart phone 520 may perform an operation of controlling the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure by further considering noise-related information received from the robotic vacuum cleaner 510. The smart speaker device 530 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure at a fixed location in a house may sense various noises generated by various external devices 100 and may control the external devices 100 based on the sensed noises.

For example, the smart speaker device 530 may determine whether charging of the charger 130 is complete based on the sensed noise. When it is determined that the charging is completed, the smart speaker device 530 may output information indicating that the charging of the charger 130 is completed through a speaker of the smart speaker device 530 or may transmit the information to the smart phone 520.

Further, the smart speaker device 530 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may notify the user of information about the states of various external devices 100 in the house, which is determined based on the sensed noise. For example, when it is determined that the user is in a house, the smart speaker device 530 placed in the house may output an audio signal indicating the information through a speaker. When it is determined that the user is not present in the house, the smart speaker device 530 may communicate information to the user's smart phone 520. The user may receive information via the smartphone 520.

In addition, the smart speaker device 530 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may perform an operation of controlling the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure by further considering noise-related information received from the robotic vacuum cleaner 510.

Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one electronic device 510, 520, or 530 may control the external device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure based on information about noise of the external device 100 sensed by the at least one electronic device 510, 520, or 530.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which an electronic device controls an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 6, the electronic device 1000 may sense noise generated by a charger 610, which is one of the external devices 100, and may selectively perform one or more of operations 630, 640, 650, and 660 based on the sensed noise. The one or more operations 630, 640, 650, and 660 may be performed concurrently in a specified order (hierarchy) or in an order that depends on the results of previously performed operations.

The charger 610 may perform a charging operation on the device 620 including the battery and may operate in an idle state when the charging of the battery is completed.

When the charger 610 operates in the idle state, noise different from that in the case where the charger 610 operates in the power-off state or the active state is generated. For example, when the charger 610 operates in a power-off state, noise is not generated. In addition, when the charger 610 operates in an active state, noise due to a charging operation may be generated. In addition, when the charger 610 operates in the idle state, noise having a lower intensity than that generated in the active state may be generated. Further, when the charger 610 is in an abnormal state, noise larger than that in the active state is generated.

The electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may determine whether the charger 610 operates in an idle state based on noise sensed from the charger 610. Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 1000 may control the charger 610 based on an amount of power consumed by the charger 610 during the charger 610 operates in an idle state.

For example, the electronic device 1000 may periodically determine the operating state of the charger 610, and may obtain the amount of power consumed by the charger 610 based on the operating state of the charger 610 at each point in time. Based on the operating state of the charger 610 from at least one previous point in time, the electronic device 1000 may predict the amount of power the charger 610 consumes in the idle state until the current point in time. As an example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may predict the amount of power consumed by the charger 610 in the idle state based on information about the amount of power consumed according to the type, model year, operating state, and the like of the charger 610.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the amount of power consumed by the charger 610 in the idle state is equal to or greater than a reference value, the electronic device 1000 may determine that the amount of standby power consumed by the charger 610 is excessive, and may control the charger 610 such that the standby power may be minimized.

Further, in operation 630, the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may notify the user of information about the amount of power consumed by the charger 610 in the idle state. For example, the electronic device 1000 may output information about standby power consumed by the charger 610 through a display, thereby guiding a user to turn off power provided by the charger 610.

Further, in operation 640, when the amount of power consumed by the charger 610 in the idle state is equal to or greater than the reference value, the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may control the charger 610 such that the charger 610 is allowed to not consume power by disabling power output to the charger 610.

Further, in operation 650, the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may remove the connection between the outlet and the charger 610, thereby not allowing the charger 610 to operate in an idle state. For example, the electronic device 1000 may control a separate device (not shown) that connects the charger 610 to the outlet so that the power supplied from the outlet to the charger 610 is cut off.

Further, in operation 660, the electronic device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may add information about standby power consumed by the charger 610 and determined based on the sensed noise to the power consumption log. The above-described power consumption log may include information on the amount of power consumed by the at least one external device 100. The electronic apparatus 1000 may provide the user with information on the amount of power consumed by the at least one external apparatus 100 by making a power consumption log based on information on standby power obtained according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Not limited to the above example, the electronic apparatus 1000 may perform various operations based on the power consumption log and may provide the result thereof to the user.

Not limited to the above-described embodiments, the electronic apparatus 1000 may control the external apparatus 100 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure in various cases.

For example, when the electronic device 1000 is moved by a user around an area where the charger 610 is placed, the electronic device 1000 may sense noise generated by the charger 610. Alternatively, the electronic device 1000 may continuously or periodically sense noise generated by the charger 610 at a fixed location. When the electronic device 1000 determines that the charger 610 operates in the idle state based on noise generated by the charger 610, the electronic device 1000 may control the charger 610 based on an amount of power consumed in the idle state.

Further, the electronic device 1000 may notify the user that the amount of power consumed by the charger 610 in the idle state is equal to or greater than the reference value, whereby the electronic device 1000 may guide the user to turn off the power supplied to the charger 610. For example, the electronic device 1000 may display the aforementioned information about the charger 610 on a display of the electronic device 1000, or may operate to allow information about the charger 610 to be displayed on a display of another device (e.g., a smartphone) carried by the user.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, even without a separate additional device, an external device may be controlled based on noise generated by the external device so that unnecessary standby power is not consumed.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be embodied in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer, such as program modules, executed by a computer. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, and removable and non-removable media. Additionally, computer readable media may include computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, and removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, or program modules and includes any information delivery media.

Furthermore, as used herein, the term "unit" may refer to a hardware component, such as a processor or a circuit, and/or a software component executed by a hardware component, such as a processor.

It will be understood that the foregoing description is provided for purposes of illustration and that various changes in form and details may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustration purposes in all respects and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure in any way. For example, each component described as a single type can be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed can be implemented in a combined manner.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.