Smart home controller refrigerator and control method therefor

A method for controlling a smart home controller refrigerator, comprising:

• transmitting, from a portable device to a controller in a refrigerator or an external server, control information to control a home appliance provided external to the refrigerator, the control information being transmitted in accordance with a first protocol;
• and
• receiving, by the portable device from the controller of the refrigerator or the external server, control result information corresponding to the control information indicating a result of an operation signal transferred to control the home appliance based on the control information, and
• wherein the control information includes information to turn the home appliance on or off, to set a schedules to turn the home appliance on or off based on the schedule, or to control an operation of the home appliance,
• wherein the operation signal is a signal transmitted from the controller of the refrigerator to the home appliance to control the home appliance based on the control information, the operation signal being generated according to a second protocol that is different than the first protocol,
• wherein the second protocol comprises any one of Infrared communication, Zigbee communication, Bluetooth, or Ultra WideBand (UWB),
• wherein a signal transmitting unit that transmits the operation signal corresponding to the operation protocol to the home appliance is arranged on a door of refrigerator,
• wherein a control interface is configured to receive inputs to control an operation of the refrigerator,
• wherein the signal transmitting unit includes an infrared light emitter and an infrared light receiver configured to sense a touch on the control interface,
• wherein the infrared light emitter transmits an infrared signal for controlling the home appliance according to the operating protocol,
• wherein two or more infrared light emitters are arranged in the control interface, and
• wherein at least two of the infrared light emitters are positioned to emit the infrared signal in a different direction from each other.

A method for controlling a smart home controller refrigerator by a controller of a refrigerator that comprises one or more storage spaces to refrigerate or freeze contents and one or more doors that open or close the storage spaces, and a control interface that is provided on the one or more doors the controller being provided on the one or more doors, comprising:

• controlling, by the controller of the refrigerator, a control protocol communication unit to receive control information from an external server or a portable device to control a home appliance provided external to the refrigerator;
• storing the received control information in a storage unit;
• controlling, by the controller of the refrigerator, an operation protocol communication unit to generate a operation signal based on the control information;
• transmitting, by a signal transmitting unit, the operation signal to the home appliance to control the home appliance according to the control information;
• and
• wherein the operation protocol communication unit is configured to communicate based an operation protocol including any one or more of Infrared communication, Zigbee communication, Bluetooth, or UWB (Ultra WideBand),
• wherein the signal transmitting unit that transmits the operation signal corresponding to the operation protocol to the home appliance is arranged on the door,
• wherein the control interface is configured to receive inputs to control an operation of the refrigerator,
• wherein the signal transmitting unit includes an infrared light emitter and an infrared light receiver configured to sense a touch on the control interface,
• wherein the infrared light emitter transmits an infrared signal for controlling the home appliance according to the operating protocol, and
• when the infrared light emitter transmits the infrared signal according to the operation protocol, the controller controls the infrared light receiver to not sense or process the infrared signal.