WO2009128173A1

WO2009128173A1 - Gateway apparatus, home device aggregator, and online marketplace system

Info

Publication number: WO2009128173A1
Application number: PCT/JP2008/062978
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johan Hjelm; Takeshi Matsumura; Shingo Murakami; Toshikane Oda
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2008-04-16
Filing date: 2008-07-11
Publication date: 2009-10-22

Abstract

One aspect of the present invention will provide techniques to enable to provide presence information including basic operability test results of devices to be sold on the online marketplace. Another aspect of the present invention will provide techniques to enable to provide an interoperability test between a device to be sold on the online marketplace and a device of the buyer via the network.

Description

DESCRIPTION

GATEWAY APPARATUS, HOME DEVICE AGGREGATOR, AND ONLINE

MARKETPLACE SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a gateway apparatus, a home device aggregator, and an online marketplace system.

BACKGROUND

[0002] There are a number of online marketplaces in the Internet where people can sell and buy pre-owned goods. Consumer electronic/electric devices, such as a television (TV) , a media server, a hard disc recorder, a DVD player, a personal computer (PC) , a refrigerator, could have functionality of discovery and control over a local network, such as UPnP and DLNA. [0003] When people want to sell their devices in the online marketplace, they will prepare descriptions associated with the devices and attach pictures to show their conditions. People those who want to buy something in the online marketplace, check the descriptions and pictures to find what they want. They can check the condition of items to be sold according to the descriptions and pictures; however, it is not possible for them to confirm following points. [0004] 1. Presence: Malicious sellers may publish information of items to receive money without the shipping, even if they really don't have them.

2. Interoperability: There is a risk that the purchased item does not work well with buyer' s other home apparatuses.

3. Failure: Pictures and descriptions don't tell if the item really works or not.

SUMMARY

[0005] One aspect of the present invention will provide techniques to enable to provide presence information including basic operability test results of devices to be sold on the online marketplace. Another aspect of the present invention will provide techniques to enable to provide an interoperability test between a device to be sold on the online marketplace and a device of the buyer via the network. [0006] Note that the present invention is not limited to the context of an online marketplace system, an auction system, and the like. The feature of the present invention is to enable a given entity to remotely confirm the presence of devices, how they work (e.g., whether or not they normally work), and so on. [0007] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a gateway apparatus for detecting a home device comprising, a device discovery unit operable to detect the home device, a receiving unit operable to receive a device information corresponding to the home device, a transmitting unit operable to transmit the device information to a home device aggregator collecting the device information, via a network.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a home device aggregator for collecting device information corresponding to a home device communicatively coupled to a gateway apparatus, comprising, a receiving unit operable to receive the device information from the gateway apparatus, a storing unit operable to store the device information associated with the corresponding gateway apparatus, an notice reception unit operable to receive a notice from a online marketplace system that the home device ■ is requested to be sold in an online auction, a transmitting unit operable to transmit a test program for testing the home device to be sold, to the gateway apparatus to which the home device to be sold is communicatively coupled.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an online marketplace system comprising, a web server operable to providing an online auction on a network, a receiving unit operable to receive a request to publish a home device communicatively coupled to a gateway apparatus to be sold on the online auction from the home device aggregator, a instruction unit operable to instruct a home device aggregator collecting device information corresponding to the home device, to execute a test program for the home device, a receiving unit operable to receive a test result from the home device aggregator, a determination unit operable to determine whether the home device is to be published on the auction site or not according to the test result. [0010] Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] Fig. IA shows an exemplary system according to one embodiment of the present invention/ [0012] Fig. IB shows an exemplary system using an IMS deployment according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0013]^' Fig. 2A shows an exemplary home device 101, 111 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention;

[0014] Fig. 2B shows an exemplary HIGA 102, 112 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention; [0015] Fig. 2C shows an exemplary home device aggregator 130 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention;

[0016] Fig. 2D shows an exemplary online marketplace system 150 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention; [0017] Fig. 3A shows an exemplary ID-Map table stored in ID-Map DB 140 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention; [0018] Fig. 3B shows an exemplary device information table in device DB 221 of the home device aggregator 130 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention;

[0019] Fig. 4 shows an exemplary sequence diagram describing how a seller puts his home device to the online marketplace system 150 for sale, and the online marketplace system 150 publishes it with predefined test result according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention;

[0020] Fig. 5 shows an example of the alternative way to publish the device information from the HIGA 102 to the home device aggregator 130 via a PGM; [0021] Fig. 6 shows an exemplary sequence diagram describing how to execute the interoperability test between a seller's home device 101 to be sold at the auction and a buyer's home device 111 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention; [0022] Fig. 7 is the sequence diagram describing extension of integrity checking of interoperability test where the home device aggregator 130 monitors the interoperability test procedure according to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention; [0023] Fig. 8 shows one example of a web page listing up all home devices communicatively coupled to the HIGA according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention;

[0024] Fig. 9 shows an example of a web page displaying device information to be sold at an online auction and permitting user input regarding the home device, according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention;

[0025] Fig. 10 shows an example of a web page displaying device information to be sold at an online auction and permitting a user input regarding the interoperability test, according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings . Each embodiment described below will be helpful in understanding a variety of concepts from the generic to the more specific. [0027] It should be noted that the technical scope of the present invention is defined by claims, and is not limited by each embodiment described below. In addition, not all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are always indispensable for the present invention.

[0028] Fig. IA shows an exemplary system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this system, home gateways (GW) 102 and 112 are communicatively coupled to the Internet 120, respectively. To each of home gateways 102 and 112, home devices 101 and 111 are communicatively coupled, respectively. Personal computers (PCs) 103 and 113 also communicatively coupled to the Internet 120 according to TCP/IP protocols. A home device aggregator 130, an Identity-Map database (ID-Map DB) 140 and an online marketplace system 150 are also communicatively coupled to the Internet 120, respectively. Each component will be explained one by one below.

[0029] The home devices 101a and 101b are devices each communicatively coupled to home GW 102. In the following, the home devices 101a and 101b will be called as "home devices 101" as generic name. The home devices Ilia and 111b are devices each communicatively coupled to home GW 112. In the following, the home devices Ilia and 111b will be called as "home devices 111" as generic name. In Fig. IA, although the number of the home devices 101 and 111 are two, this is described as an example and the number should not be limited to it.

[0030] Each of the home devices 101 and 111 has a network interface and has a control mechanism over the network such as UPnP, HDMI or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) . It also has a pair of a public key (UKl) and a private key (IKl) , and has function to digitally sign a document by using the private key IKl. It further contains an X.509 certificate document digitally which includes the public key of the device UKl. The certificate is signed by the device vendor' s private key (IK2) and the corresponding public key (UK2) is stored in the Home device aggregator 130. [0031] The home GWs 102 and 112 are communicatively coupled to home devices 101 and 111, respectively. Each of the home GWs 102, 112 is capable of device discovery and collects device information corresponding to the home devices 101 or 111. Each of the home GWs 102 and 112 transmits the device information to the Home device aggregator 130. Each of the home GWs 102 and 112 has a unique contact address, which is used for identification by the Home device aggregator 130. The home GWs 102 and 112 have capabilities to install software and run it remotely, and the interface is open to the Home device aggregator 130. This is true when the home GWs 102 and 112 is distributed by a telecom operator and the operator owns the home device aggregator 130, for instance. [0032] The PCs 103 and 113 may be general purpose computer such as, a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistance (PDA) , smart phone, or mobile terminal. The PCs 103 and 113 may be located outside of the user's home, for example, at cafeteria, a hotel, a park or any other places where connections to the Internet 120 are available. The PCs 103 and 113 have a processing unit to control its overall operation, memory unit to store control program to be executed by the processing unit and application program including web browsing program. The PCs 103 and 113 also have a display and communication unit as an interface to communicatively couple to the Internet 120.

[0033] The home device aggregator 130 aggregates device information received from a plurality of Home GWs 102, 112, for instance through the mediation of the IMS Presence system. The product vendor has a pair of a public key (UK2) and a private key (IK2) , and the public key (UK2) is stored in the Home device aggregator 130.

[0034] An ID-Map DB 140 is a database where a contact address of each home GW 102, 112 is stored in association with sign-in information corresponding to each user of the home GW 102, 112. Accordingly, it is possible to retrieve the contact address of any home GW based on the sign-in information used by the user to sign-in or log-in to the online marketplace system 150. The contact address may be configured by, for example, a network operator.

[0035] The online marketplace system 150 provides a web portal of an online auction site where people can sell and buy items including home devices communicatively coupled to the home GWs 102, 112. [0036] In embodiments of the present invention, a seller means a user of the online marketplace who wants to sell a home device 101. The seller has own home devices 101 (101a and 101b), home GW 102, and PC(S-PC) 103.

[0037] The seller can log-in the online marketplace system 150 and sell any one of home devices 102 at the online auction. The seller may be an individual or a store selling, for example, electronic devices. The seller is authenticated by the online marketplace system 150 or by a trusted third party such as a SSO (Single Sign On) system.

[0038] In embodiments of the present invention, a buyer means a user of the online marketplace who wants to buy a home device to be sold from the seller. The buyer can log-in the online marketplace system 150 and buy any one of home devices at the online auction. The buyer is authenticated by the online marketplace system 150 or by a trusted third party such as the SSO system. The home GW 112 is capable of discovering appropriate one of the home devices 111, if the buyer prefers to execute an interoperability test between the home device to be sold and his own home device according to the embodiments of the present invention. [0039] In Fig. IA, although the Home device aggregator 130 and the online marketplace system 150 are depicted as being separately located to each other, they may be integrated into a single entity or node. [0040] In the embodiment of the present invention, for example, a network operator or telecom operator may deploy the Home GWs 102 and 112 to each home and operates the network. The operator may also own the Home device aggregator 130 and may be responsible to maintain the trust relationship between each of Home GWs 102 and 112 and the Home device aggregator 130. [0041] An online marketplace company may run the online marketplace system 150. It should be noted that no direct trust relationship is required between the online marketplace system 150 and the home GWs 102 and 112, in terms of device control. Any operations to the home GWs such as a test software installation may be done by the Home device aggregator 130. [0042] In some embodiments, the following configurations may be applied:

- The identity of the user and the Home GW can be verified in a secure and non-repudiation way by a trusted third party, which is trusted by both the seller and the buyer.

- Both the buyer and the seller can be mutually authenticated by the trusted third party.

- There is an authorization process for the home GW, which implies both mutual authentication and authorization, so that the software can be authenticated and the installation authorized.

[0043] By referring to Fig. IB, another embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail. Fig. IB shows an exemplary system using an IMS deployment according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the IMS deployment, the description of system components can be more specific as below.

[0044] In Fig. IB, a Home IMS Gateways (HIGA) are equivalent to the home GWs 102 and 112 of Fig. IA. HIGA 102 and 112 are communicatively coupled to an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network 160. IMS network 160 is communicatively coupled to the Internet 120, the Home device aggregator 130, ID-Map DB 140 and the online marketplace system 150, respectively. IMS network 160 may include a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) 161, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 162 and an IMS application server (AS) 163. The CSCF 161 is a SIP server controlling sessions established between terminals in SIP communication and accessing the AS 163 to initiate certain services. The CSCF 161 is connected over the Internet 120 to the online marketplace system 150. The CSCF 161 may include a Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF), an Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) and a Serving CSCF (S- CSCF) . The HSS 162 is a database where IMS user's subscription information is stored. The AS 163 is a server which provides various applications to the home device 101 and 111 and the HIGA 102/112. [0045] In the following, each node included in the exemplary system of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 2A through 2D. Note that each block in these figures may be implemented by dedicated hardware, software executed by a processor (not shown), or a combination thereof.

[0046] Fig. 2A shows an exemplary home device 101 and 111 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary home devices 101 and 111 include a processing unit 201, a memory 202, an UPnP device 204, a communication unit 205, a SIP User Agent (UA) 206, a software execution platform (SW ExePF) 207 and a device description generator.

[0047] In Fig. 2A, each module may be implemented as an independent hardware module which executing corresponding processing program to achieve desired functions, or a software module including corresponding process codes executed in a processor, such as CPU, MPU, VGA, FPGA, ASIC or DSP. [0048] The processing unit 201 executes processing necessary for controlling overall operation of the home devices 101 and 111. The memory 202 stores programs to be used by the processing unit 201 to control the home devices 101 and 111. The memory 202 further stores a device certificate 203 which is X.509 document including UKl and digitally signed by device vendor's private key IK2. The UPnP device 204 comprises a device supporting necessary protocols such as SSDP, HTTP and SOAP.

[0049] The communication unit 205 is an interface to communicatively couple to the HIGA 102 or 112, respectively. The communication unit 205 may be any one of LAN interface, HDMI, USB, IEEE1394 and IEEE802.il, depending on the device type. The SIP UA 206 interacts with other SIP User Agent including HIGA. The SW ExePF 207 is a software execution platform where the HIGAs 102 and 112 can install test software and execute it. The device description generator 208 includes a pair of public key (UKl) 209 and private key (IKl) 210. The device description generator 208 generates a device description document as device information, and digitally signs the document using IKl 210. [0050] Fig. 2B shows an exemplary HIGAs 102 and 112 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary HIGAs 102 and 112 include a ISIM/USIM 211, a Remote Access Server/Remote Access Client (RAS/RAC) 212, an UPnP Control Point (CP) 213, a SIP registration unit 214, a SIP Back-to-Back User Agent (B2BUA) 215, a software execution platform (SW ExePF) 216, a presence agent 217 and a communication unit 218.

[0051] In Fig. 2B, each module may be implemented as an independent hardware module which executing corresponding processing program to achieve desired functions, or a software module including corresponding process codes executed in a processor, such as CPU, MPU, VGA, FPGA, ASIC or DSP.

[0052] In Fig. 2B, the ISIM/USIM stores essential information for each HIGA to work as an IMS client, such as shared secret for the authentication and IMS public identity (IMPU) . RAS/RAC 212 are used to establish remote access session, exchanges device information, device control command and its result with another RAS/RAC. This is implemented to operate using UPnP, but not limited thereto.

[0053] The UPnP CP 213 performs the device discovery and controls the discovered devices. Particularly, the UPnP CP 213 controls the home device communicatively coupled to that HIGA using control information received from other HIGA via remote access control session in embodiment according to Fig. 6. In this case the UPnP CP checks whether commands included in the control information satisfy an access policy or not.

[0054] The SIP Registration unit 214 accepts a registration of SIP devices in the residential network and manages the registration. The SIP B2BUA 215 performs the conversion between IETF SIP and IMS SIP so that the^' home device 101, 111 that is not IMS-enabled can access the IMS network.

[0055] The SW ExePF 216 is a software execution platform where the home device aggregator 130 can install software remotely and execute it. The presence agent 217 publishes presence information including device information relating to home device communicatively coupled to the HIGA. The communication unit 218 is an interface to communicatively couple to the IMS network 160 and the LAN (which is UPnP-based and/or SIP-based) . The communication unit 218 may include interfaces to home devices 101 and 111 such as HDMI, USB, IEEE1394 or IEEE802.il. [0056] Fig. 2C shows an exemplary home device aggregator 130 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary home device aggregator 130 is an IMS Application Server (AS 163) and it can be owned by the IMS operator. It includes a device database (DB) 221, a test software database (SW DB) 222, a public key DB 223, a remote access (RA) manager 224, a Remote Access Server/Remote Access Client (RAS/RAC) 225, a presence watcher 226, a control logic 227, a device description hander 228 and a communication unit 229.

[0057] In Fig. 2C, each module may be implemented as an independent hardware module which executing corresponding processing program to achieve desired functions, or a software -module including corresponding process codes executed in a processor, such as CPU, MPU, VGA, FPGA, ASIC or DSP.

[0058] The device DB 221 stores device information published by the HIGAs 102 and 112. Detailed contents stored in the device DB 221 are described later in reference with Fig. 3A. The test SW DB 222 stores test programs to be sent to each HIGA for testing operations of each home device communicatively coupled to that HIGA. The device DB 221 may also stores an access policy associated with IMPU of each user. Detailed description about the access policy will be provided later.

[0059] The public Key DB 223 is a database storing public keys of device vendors (UK2) . The RA manager 224 performs provisioning of RAS/RAC to the HIGAs 102 and 112, and installs RAS/RAC software to the HIGA, if it is necessary. The RAS/RAC are used to establish remote access session, exchanges device information, device control command and its result with another RAS/RAC. This is implemented to operate using UPnP, but not limited thereto. [0060] The presence watcher 226 enables the embodiment where the Presence and Group Management system (PGM) is utilized as will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The control logic 227 is a logic unit to control overall operations of the home device aggregator 130 and installs software into each HIGA to execute it. The control logic 227 also checks control information for controlling a home device to be sold at an auction in light of a seller' s access policy as is described in relation to Fig. 7.

[0061] The device description handler 228 verifies digital signature attached to the published device information. The communication unit 229 is an interface to communicatively couple to the ID map DB 140 and the online marketplace 150 via the IMS network 160 and the Internet 120. t0062] Fig. 2D shows an exemplary online marketplace system 150 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The exemplary online marketplace system 150 includes a web server 231, a device aggregator interaction logic 232 and communication unit 233.

[0063] In Fig. 2D, each module may be implemented as an independent hardware module which executing corresponding processing program to achieve desired functions, or a software module including corresponding process codes executed in a processor, such as CPU, MPU, VGA, FPGA, ASIC or DSP .

[0064] The web server 231 is a server to provide an online auction site on the Internet 120. The web server includes a database storing an application software and information relating to items to be sold on the online auction and users attending the auction. [0065] The device aggregator interaction logic 232 requests test execution to the home device aggregator 130 and receives the result from it. Moreover, the logic 232 retrieves list of home devices of the specific user from the device DB 221 in the home device aggregator 130. The Communication unit 233 is an interface to the home device aggregator. This interface doesn' t have to be an IMS interface even in the embodiments where IMS architecture is employed. [0066] Fig. 3A shows an exemplary ID-Map table stored in ID-Map DB 140 according to the embodiment of the present invention. ID-Map table 300 includes IMPU 301 of the HIGAs 102 and 112 and user ID 302. [0067] The IMPU 301 is an authenticated public identity as a contact address of the HIGA. IMPU 301 is used in the IMS network 160 to establish a remote access session between HIGAs in a safe manner. [0068] The user ID 302 is uniquely assigned information to each user of the online marketplace system 150. The users can use their own user IDs to sign-in the online marketplace system 150. According to Fig. 3A, one user is assigned a user ID of "alice" and her own HIGA has the IMPU 301 of

"sip: alice . higaβims . operator .net" . Thus, based on the user ID, it is possible to identify the HIGA of each user.

[0069] The ID-Map table 300 may be implemented in the IMS AS 163, in HSS 162, or a separate application in the home device aggregator 130 or in the online marketplace system 150.

[0070] Fig. 3B shows an exemplary device information table in device DB 221 of the home device aggregator 130. The device information table 310 includes IMPU 311 of the HIGAs 102 and 112, device ID

312, type 313 and 112 and vendor 314, etc.

[0071] The IMPU 311 corresponds to the IMPU 301 stored in the ID-Map table 300. The device ID 312 is a

UUID of the home device which is used to identify the home device. The type 313 indicates a type of the home device. The vendor 314 indicates a vendor of the home device. Thus, the IMPU 311 of the user's HIGA is associated with the device information in the device information table 310. For example, Alice's HIGA

(IMPU: sip:alice. higa@ims.operator.net) is associated with the coupled device of a media server, plasma television and a refrigerator.

[0072] Fig. 3B shows examples of the device information to be listed on the device information table 310. Thus, the device information table 310 may include further information relating to the home device, for example, display size of the television. [0073] In the following, operation of the exemplary system according the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the present invention will be described in an exemplary situation where Alice as one user is going to sell her home device at an online auction provided by the online marketplace system 150 and Bob as another user is going to buy the home device from Alice.

[0074] Alice opens a web browser using her PC 103 and signs in the online marketplace system 150. When she selects "sell" menu in the web browser, the web page 800 listing up all home devices 801 communicatively coupled to her HIGA as is illustrated in Fig. 8. Fig. 8 shows one example of a web page listing up all home devices communicatively coupled to the HIGA according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention. She can select one of them and press submit button 802. If she wants to cancel the selection, she can press a reset button 803. [0075] In response to the press to the submit button 802, a next page 900 as is illustrated in Fig. 9 will be displayed on her web browser. Fig. 9 shows an example of a web page displaying device information to be sold on an online auction and permitting user input regarding the home device, according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention. [0076] In this page 900, some information corresponding to the selected home device is shown, such as a type, a vendor, production year, and a device identity. This information corresponds to the device information stored in the device information table 310. In Fig, 9, such a situation that the home device is a refrigerator is illustrated.

[0077] In the page 900, Alice may input short description relating to the home device in a message field 902 and attach a picture showing an outlook of it if she likes using address field 903. In addition, she can select two options; predefined test 904 by the online marketplace system 150 and interoperability test 905 by other users. She may check both options because buyers will buy even if she sets a bit higher price. She can press a submit button 906 to complete the input operation. Furthermore, she can input a selling price of the home device, although Fig. 9 does not describe it. If she wants to cancel the input contents, she can press a reset button 907.

[0078] Bob opens a web browser using his PC 113 and signs in to the online marketplace system 150 and looks for a fridge to buy. When he selects the one offered by Alice, he can see a web page on the web browser as is illustrated in Fig. 10. Fig. 10 shows an example of a web page displaying device information to be sold on an online auction and permitting a user input regarding the interoperability test, according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention. [0079] The web page 1000 shows information 1001 relating to the refrigerator including the vendor, the production year, the device identity and a price. [0080] The web page 1000 further includes a message 1002 from the seller (Alice) and a comment 1003 regarding the predefined test by the online marketplace system 150. A comment 1004 describes the interoperability test of the home device to be sold and a home device of the buyer. In Fig. 10, The comment 1004 indicates the interoperability test between the refrigerator and Bob's TV, as an example. The comment 1004 will be provided in case that the seller offers the interoperability test. If the buyer prefers to execute the interoperability test, he can check a box 1005. When the buyer press continue button 1006, if the box 1005 has been clicked, the interoperability test will be executed. The buyer can determine whether he buy the device or not according to the interoperability test result. When the buyer press back button 1007, a previous page including a list of items to be sold will be displayed on the web browser.

[0081] Fig. 4 shows an exemplary sequence diagram describing how a seller puts his home device to the online marketplace system 150 for sale, and the online marketplace system 150 publishes it with predefined test result according to one embodiment of the present invention. This process assures that the device to be sold does exist and work to some extent. Below it is described step by step.

[0082] In the situation according to Fig.4, SIP

URIs each assigned to the home device aggregator 130, the CSCF 161, the HIGA 102, and the HIGA 112 are as follows .

- Home device aggregator 130: devaggr@ims.operator.net

- CSCF 161: cscf.ims.operator.net

- HIGA 102: alice.higa@ims.operator.net

- HIGA 112: bob.higa@ims.operator.net

[0083] In step S401, the HIGA 102 discovers home devices 101. Each of the Home devices 101 creates a device description document as device information and digitally signs it by using the device's private key IKl 210, and sends the signed device information to the HIGA 102 together with the X.509 certificate. The device information may include a type, a manufacture, and a vendor of the home device.

[0084] In this step, if the home device 101 is an UPnP device, the HIGA 102 discovers the device by using SSDP. If the home device 101 is a SIP device, the HIGA 102 works as a SIP registrar and the home device 101 registers itself there. If the home device 101 is neither a SIP nor UPnP device, applicable discovery and management protocols are assumed to be implemented in the HIGA 102 and the device, enabling the use of this invention (for instance, it will work also with HDMI, but this assumes that the HIGA has an HDMI interface) . [0085] In step S402, the HIGA 102 publishes the received device information to the home device aggregator 130 by using SIP Presence mechanism. The home device aggregator 130 verifies the digital signature to assure that the device information is created by the device and not by the seller. [0086] The home device aggregator 130 stores the received device information in association with the IMPU as a contact address of the HIGA 102 as is illustrated in Fig. 3B.

[0087] An example of the header portions of SIP PUBLISH message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

PUBLISH sip: alice.higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Event: presence

Content-Length: 1398

From: <sip : alice . higaSims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higa@ims . operator . net>

Expires: 3600 Cseq: 1 PUBLISH

Route : <sip : cscf . ims . operator . net : 6060; lr>

Content-Type : application/pidf+xml

Call-Id: 12345678

[0088] In Fig. 4 and also Fig. 5, 6 and 7 described later, a doted line indicates the "200 OK" response according to the SIP protocol corresponding to the SIP request immediately before it. [0089] According to the SIP PUBLISH message in step S402, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the home device aggregator 130 to the HIGA 102. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

Sip-Etag: u6hhfydB

Expires: 3600

From: <sip: alice.higaSims . operator. net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaSims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

Cseq: 1 PUBLISH

Call-Id: 12345678

[0090] In step S403, the seller signs in to the online marketplace system 150 using the seller's user ID from the seller's PC (S-PC) 103. According to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention, Alice signs in to the online marketplace system 150 using her user ID ^XΛalice".

[0091] In step S404, the online marketplace system

150 sends a request of a device list of the seller to the home device aggregator 130 with the seller's user

ID in the online marketplace system 150.

[0092] In step S405, the home device aggregator

130 retrieve a contact address of the HIGA 102 from the

ID-Map database 140 using the user ID received in step

S404.

[0093] In step S406, The home device aggregator

130 retrieves the device list from the device information table 310 using the received contact address of the HIGA 102.

[0094] In step S407, the device list is returned to the online marketplace system 150. The online

^'marketplace system 150 provides the S-PC 103 with the device list to be displayed on the web browser. Note that the device list here is only visible to the seller on the S-PC 103, not to the other users signed to the online marketplace system 150.

[0095] When the seller receives the device list, in step S408 the seller can sees the device list using the web browser on the S-PC 103 as is illustrated in

Fig. 8.

[0096] If the seller decides to sell one of the home devices 101 listed on the device list, the seller can check a box 801 and press submit button 802. For example, Alice as the seller can check the box 801 of her media server. When the seller presses the submit button 802, the web page 900 will be displayed on the web browser. The seller may fill in a form with description of the home device, and attach pictures of it. According to the web page 900, the seller can specify if he/she wants to make the device available for interoperability testing by buyers. [0097] Furthermore, the home device aggregator 130 provides the S-PC 103, in step S407, with an access policy template that the seller can update as he/she likes. The access policy may include followings as examples. A denial of command received from the HIGA 112 of the buyer when the command is not directed to the home device to be sold. A denial of read/write command for reading/writing data from/to a directory allocated for the interoperability test. A denial of updating of software in the home device to be sold._ [0098] The access policy is returned to the home device aggregator 130 and stored in device DB 221 associated with the IMPU 301. The access policy may be used to limit buyer' s actions at interoperability testing. The price of the device can be given by the seller at this stage, or it can be determined through auction later on, which is out of scope of this invention. [0099] in step S409, the S-PC 103 submits the form as an offer for the home device to be sold at the online auction to the online marketplace system 150. The selected device is not visible to. the other users at this time. It will be visible to others after a completion of the predefined test.

[0100] In step S410, the online marketplace system 150 requests the home device aggregator 130 to check if the home device 101 requested to be sold on the online auction really exists and functions by executing the predefined tests such as an interaction with a server in the network, a communication with the HIGA 102, and/or a verification of the device memory. [0101] In step S411, the home device aggregator 130 transmits SIP INVITE message to HIGA 102 to establish a session with HIGA 102. In this step, IMS 160 provides a secure mechanism to establish a session. That is, the HIGA 102 can verify that the session establishment request is coming from the home device aggregator 130 by checking the P-Asserted-Identity header in the SIP INVITE message and compare it to a white list.

[0102] An example of the header portions of the SIP INVITE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. INVITE sip: alice.higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Call-ID: 87654321

CSeq: 1 INVITE

From: <sip: devaggr@ims . operator. net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity:

Expires: 3600

Route: <sip: scscf . ims .operator.net : 6060; lr>

Content-Length : 190

[0103] According to the SIP INVITE message in step S411, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the HIGA 102 to the home device aggregator 130. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

From: <sip:devaggr@ims .operator .net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higa@ims . operator . net> ; tag=efgh

CaIl-ID: 87654321

CSeq: 1 INVITE

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity: <sip : alice . higagims . operator . net> Content-Length: 194

[0104] In step S412, the home device aggregator 130 sends a test suite as a set of test software, to the HIGA 102 through the established session. [0105] In step S413, the HIGA 102 runs the test suite. The test suite can consist of two types of test programs as follows, or it can consist of only one of them.

- a test program run by the HIGA 102, which sends commands to the target device and checks if it receives the expected responses. According this type of test programs, it may be possible to check: whether the target device is powered on or not, whether it can play a multimedia content, pause, restart and stop it.

- A test program loaded on the target device and run by the target device. This requires capability of software loading such as UPnP execution platform or OSGi in the target device. The test result is reported to the HIGA. According to this type of test programs, it may be possible to check: stability of the memory, faulty segments in the hard disk drive, virus scan etc. [0106] In step S414, the HIGA 102 composes the test result and returns it to the home device aggregator 130 through the session.

[0107] In step S415, the home device aggregator 130 transmits SIP BYE message to HIGA 102 to tears down the session.

[0108] An example of the header portions of the SIP BYE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

BYE sip: alice. higaΘims . operator . net SIP/2.0

Call-ID: 87654321

CSeq: 2 BYE

From: <sip: devaggrøims . operator. net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

P-Asserted-Identity :

Route: <sip: scscf . ims . operator.net : 6060; lr>

Content-Length: 0

[0109] According to the SIP BYE message in step S415, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the HIGA 102 to the home device aggregator 130. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161. SIP/2.0 200 OK

Record-Route: <sip:cscf . ims.operator.net: 6060; lr>

From: <sip : devaggrΘims . operator . net>; tag=abcd To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

Call-ID: 87654321

CSeq: 2 BYE

P-Asserted-Identity : <sip : alice . higaQims . operator . net>

Content-Length: 0

[0110] In step S416, the home device aggregator 130 notifies the test result to the online marketplace system 150. In step S417, the online marketplace system 150 determines whether to permit a publishing of the home device for sale based on the test result. If the test result satisfies the predetermined condition to confirm the existence of the corresponding home device, the online marketplace system 150 permit to publish the home device for sale at the auction with the description given by the seller and with the test result.

[0111] In the embodiment according to Fig. 4, it is described that a case where the device information is published from HIGA 102 to the home device aggregator 130 in step S402. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the device presence may be published via a Presence and Group Management system (PGM) in the IMS 160 instead of direct publishing to the home device aggregator 130 as is depicted in Fig. 5. The benefit of this method of implementation is that the PGM is the only place where HIGA 102 publishes the presence information including the device information, both a human presence and a device presence. It should be noted that the human presence is not used in this invention.

[0112] Fig. 5 shows an example of the alternative way to publish the device information from the HIGA 102 to the home device aggregator 130 via the PGM. [0113] In step S501, the home device aggregator 130 sends a SIP SUBSCRIBE message to the PGM 501 to subscribe to the PGM 501.

[0114] An example of the header portions of the SIP SUBSCRIBE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

SUBSCRIBE sip: alice.higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Event : presence

Content-Length: 0

Expires: 3600

From: <sip: devaggrΘims . operator .net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>

Cseq: 1 SUBSCRIBE

Call-Id: 12345678

[0115] According to the SIP SUBSCRIBE message in step S501, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the PGM 501 to the home device aggregator 130. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

Expires: 3600

From: <sip : devaggrΘims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

To: <sip: alice.higaΘims . operator. net>; tag=efgh

Cseq: 1 SUBSCRIBE

Call-Id: 12345678

[0116] In step S502, the HIGA 102 discovers home devices 101. Since this step corresponds to the step S401 in Fig. 4, further detailed description regarding this step is omitted.

[0117] In step S503, the HIGA 102 publishes the received device information to the PGM 501 by a SIP PUBLISH message.

[0118] An example of the header portions of the SIP PUBLISH message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

PUBLISH sip: alice.higaΘims. operator. net SIP/2.0

Event: presence

Content-Length: 1398 From: <sip: alice .higaøims . operator .net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>

Expires: 3600

Cseq: 1 PUBLISH

Route : <sip : cscf . ims . operator . net : 6060 ; lr>

Content-Type : application/pidf+xml

Call-Id: 87654321

[0119] According to the SIP PUBLISH message in step S503, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the PGM 501 to the HIGA 102. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

Sip-Etag: uβhhfydB

Expires: 3600

From: <sip: alice. higaΘims . operator. net>; tag=abcd

To: <sip: alice . higaΘims . operator. net>; tag=efgh

Cseq: 1 PUBLISH

Call-Id: 87654321

[0120] In step S504, the PGM send a SIP NOTIFY message to the home device aggregator to notify the device information received from the HIGA 102 in step S503.

[0121] An example of the header portions of the SIP NOTIFY message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

NOTIFY devaggr@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Subscription-State: active

Content-Length: 828

Event: presence

From: <sip : alice . higa@ims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

To : <sip : devaggr@ims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

Cseq: 2 NOTIFY

Content-Type : application/pidf+xml

Call-Id: 12345678

[0122] According to the SIP NOTIFY message in step S504, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the home device aggregator 130 to the PGM 501. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

Content-Length: 0

From: <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

To : <sip : devaggrgims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

Cseq: 2 NOTIFY

Call-Id: 12345678 [0123] Fig. 6 shows an exemplary sequence diagram describing how to execute the interoperability test between a seller' s home device 101 to be sold at the auction and a buyer' s home device 111 according to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention. A precondition is that the buyer has signed-in to the online marketplace system 150.

[0124] In step S601, the buyer browses the auction site provided by the online marketplace system 150 on his/her buyer PC (B-PC) 113. If the buyer decides to buy one item to be sold at the auction site, for example a media Server from Alice. The buyer, for example Bob, books it for order on the portal. The B-PC 113 requests a web page including information of the booked home device to the online marketplace system 150.

[0125] In this step, the online marketplace system 150 can offer a search functionality using the followings as search criteria.

- Contents of device information of the home devices on sale.

- Contents of device information of the buyer's devices. The buyer's device information is also stored in the device DB 221 and is provided via the online marketplace system 150 to the B-PC 113.

- Recommendation from the online marketplace system 150 based on the information supplied as i and ii above. - Result of predefined test done by the online marketplace system 150 with the aid of the home device aggregator 130.

- Evaluation of the seller including history of shipping delay.

[0126] In step S602, the online marketplace system 150 provides a web page of the booked home device, for example the media server, to the B-PC 113. This web page may correspond to the web page 1000 as is illustrated in Fig. 10. Although fig. 10 shows such a case that the home device to be sold is a refrigerator, similar information including the type, vendor, device ID, price and message from the seller, test result of the predefined test, and check box for the execution of the interoperability test may be included for other type of home device.

[0127] In step S603, when the buyer decides to execute the interoperability test, the B-PC 113 transmits a request for the interoperability test to the online marketplace system 150. [0128] When the online marketplace system 150 receives the request of the interoperability test, it requests the home device aggregator 130 to execute the interoperability test between the designated home devices (for example, the media server and LCD television), in step S604. [0129] In step S605, the home device aggregator 130 contacts the HIGA 102 of the seller and provisions the Remove Access Server (RAS) there.

[0130] In this step, if the HIGA 102 does not have the RAS software, the home device aggregator 130 installs it in the HIGA 102. The home device aggregator 130 configures the RAS to accept an access from the RAC in buyer's HIGA 112 by informing it of the IMPU 311 of the buyer's HIGA 112 (for example, sip: bob. higa@ims.operator.net) and let it control the home device to be sold (for example, the media Server) through it.

[0131] The home device aggregator 130 also provides the access policy received from S-PC 103 in step S408 of Fig. 4, to the RAS. The HIGA 102 starts the RAS unless it has already been running. The home device aggregator 130 or the HIGA 102 may take additional steps depending on the type of the tested device. In case of the media server, the additional steps would be putting dummy contents and reorganizing contents directory tree to hide seller's private contents .

[0132] In step S606, the home device aggregator 130 contacts to the HIGA 112 of the buyer and provisions the Remote Access Client (RAC) there. In this step, if the HIGA 112 does not have the RAC software, the home device aggregator 130 installs it in the HIGA 112. The home device aggregator 130 configures the RAC to initiate an access to the RAS in seller's HIGA 102 by informing it of the IMPU 311 of the seller's HIGA 102 (for example, sip :alice.higa@ims. operator. net) . The HIGA 112 starts the RAC unless it has already been running. [0133] In step S607, the HIGA 112 transmits a SIP INVITE message to the HIGA 102 to initiate a remote access session setup between the RAC (HIGA 112) and RAS (HIGA 102) . Information of the home device to be sold, the media server as an example, is propagated from RAS to RAC through the established remote access session. [0134] An example of the header portions of the SIP INVITE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P- Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161.

INVITE sip: alice.higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 1 INVITE

From: <sip:bob.higa@ims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higa@ims . operator . net>

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity:

<sip : bob . higaSims . operator . net> Expires: 3600

Route: <sip: scscf. ims . operator . net : 6060;lr>

Content-Length: 190

[0135] The HIGA 112 can authorize the session establishment by comparing P-Asserted-Identity header of the SIP INVITE message to the IMPU 311 informed from the home device aggregator 130 in step S605. [0136] According to the SIP INVITE message in step S607, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the HIGA 102 to the HIGA 112. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P- CSCF in the CSCF 161.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

From: <sip : bob . higaQims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 1 INVITE

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity:

<sip: alice. higaΘims. operator. net>

Content-Length: 194

[0137] In step S608, the buyer's HIGA 112 notifies the device information of seller's home device (the media server as an example) in buyer's home network. One of the home devices (the LCD television as an example) of the buyer discovers this home device (the media server) . Here, the buyer's HIGA 112 may execute predefined test to check basic interoperability between the buyer's devices and the media server without user's interaction.

[0138] The buyer's HIGA 112 may establish an additional secure tunnel to let the online marketplace system 150 run some interoperability test between the buyer's home device (LCD television) and the seller's home device (the media server) . This means that the online marketplace system 150 provides a consultant service to the buyer.

[0139] In step S609, the online marketplace system

150 notifies the B-PC 113, that the seller's home device (the media server as an example) is ready for testing.

[0140] In step S610, the buyer (Bob as an example) controls the home device to be tested. For example, if the buyer's home device 111 is the LCD television, Bob can use a remote of the LCD television to control it.

He browses a list of home devices that is accessible from the LCD television, finds that the media server for the test is in the list, and then selects it to browse the contents and to issue some instruction commands .

[0141] In step S611, the home device 111 transmits the control information received from the buyer to the HIGA 112. For example, in case of the media server, the control information may include a command to read out predetermined information from predetermined directory in the media server, or write predetermined information to another directory in the media server. [0142] In step S612, the HIGA 112 sends the control information received from the home device 111 to the seller's HIGA 102 through the established remote access session.

[0143] In step S613, when the seller's HIGA 102 receives the control information from the buyer' s HIGA 112, it checks whether the included command satisfy the access policy or not. If so, the HIGA 102 forwards the control information to the home device. [0144] If not, the HIGA 102 does not forward the control information to the home device. For example, if the control information includes a command which is not directed to the media server as the home device to be sold, a read/write command for reading/writing data from/to a directory allocated for the interoperability test, or a command for updating a software of the media server, the control information will not be transferred to the media server. As an alternative, when the control information includes several commands and some of them are not permitted, the HIGA 102 can transfer to the media server only commands which are to be permitted based on the access policy. [0145] Furthermore, the seller's HIGA 102 may record every command received from the HIGA 112 and the response to the command from the home device 101 into a log file and upload the log file to the home device aggregator 130. The online marketplace system 150 may provide the log file to the S-PC 103 and/or B-PC 113 later. The seller and/or buyer may open the log file to other users if he/she wants so that other users can refer to it when they want to buy the same type of the product under the similar home network and device configuration .

[0146] In step S614, the seller's home device 101 returns a response to the control received from the HIGA 102. For example, if the home device 101 is the media server, and it receives the read out command of the predetermined data stored in the predetermined directory, it reads out that data from that directory and sends the data to the HIGA 102. [0147] In step S615, the seller's HIGA 102 transmits the response from the home device 101 to the buyer's HIGA 112 through the established remote access session. In step S616, the buyer's HIGA 112 transmits the response received from the HIGA 112 to the buyer's home device 111.

[0148] In step S617, the home device 111 provides the response from the buyer's home device to the user. For example, the home device 111 is the LCD television, it display the response from the media server as the seller's home device. If the control information sent to the media server is the read out command of the predetermined data, the LCD television presents the predetermined data to Bob as the buyer. If the data is an image data, it displays the image data on the TV screen. According to this, the buyer confirms the interoperability between his/her home device and the seller's home device. The buyer can decide whether to buy this product or not, in consideration of the interoperability test results.

[0149] In step S618, the buyer's HIGA 112 closes the session by using SIP BYE after a predefined test time has elapsed or the buyer is satisfied with the test results. The seller's HIGA 102 removes the buyer's address from its white list so that the buyer no longer access to the media server.

[0150] Examples of the header portions of the SIP BYE message and 200 OK corresponding to the SIP BYE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment are shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161.

BYE sip: alice . higaΘims . operator .net SIP/2.0 Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 2 BYE

From: <sip:bob.higa@ims . operator. net>; tag=abcd

To: <sip: alice.higaQims . operator .net>; tag=efgh

P-Asserted-Identity:

<sip:bob.higa@ims . operator . net>

Route: <sip:scscf. ims . operator.net : 6060; lr>

Content-Length: 0

SIP/2.0 200 OK

From: <sip : bob . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=efgh

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 2 BYE

P-Asserted-Identity:

Content-Length: 0

[0151] In the embodiment according to Fig. 6, particularly in step S608, the buyer's HIGA 112 notifies the device information of seller's home device in buyer's home network to allow one of the home devices discovers the seller's home device. However, embodiments of the present invention will not be limited to this.

[0152] In another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the request sent from the B-PC 113 in step S 603 may include device information of the buyer' s home device 111 to be used in the interoperability test. In this alternative embodiment, the buyer can designate the home device to be used in the interoperability test among the device list of the buyer's- on the web browser displayed on the B-PC 113. For example, the buyer Bob wants to buy the media server from Alice, he can designate his LCD television as the home device to be used in the interoperability test. According this alternative embodiment, it is possible for the seller's HIGA 103 to reject commands transmitted from home devices which are not designated in the buyer's request.

[0153] Further, in the above embodiment according to Fig. 6, the interoperability test is executed directly between the buyer's home device 111 and the seller's home device 101 via the remote access session established between the buyer's HIGA 112 and the seller's HIGA 102. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. [0154] For example, in order to reduce a risk of malicious use by the buyer, it is possible for the seller' s HIGA 102 to have a function of monitoring all control signals and user traffics exchanged for the interoperability test and of reporting the monitored data to the home device aggregator 130, for checking whether the integrity of the interoperability test is maintained or not. This monitoring, reporting and checking process may be performed on a real-time basis or on an off-line basis. The integrity check may be performed by a third party communicatively coupled to the home device aggregator 130 with trust relation. [0155] According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, the interoperability test may be performed by way of the home device aggregator 130. In this embodiment, all control signals and user traffics exchanged between the buyer's home device 111 and seller's home device 101 through corresponding HIGA 112 or 102 are transferred via the home device aggregator 130, instead of allowing a direct connection between both home devices. In this embodiment, the interoperability test may be monitored and checked directly by the home device aggregator 130 or a third party which is communicatively coupled to the home device aggregator 130 with trust relation. [0156] Fig. 7 is the sequence diagram describing extension of integrity checking of interoperability test where the home device aggregator 130 monitors the interoperability test procedure according to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention. A precondition is that the buyer has signed in to the online marketplace system 150.

[0157] Since processing executed in step S701 through S704 corresponds to the one executed in step S601 through S604 of Fig. 6, detailed description of these steps will be omitted in this embodiment. [0158] In step S705 and S706, the home device aggregator 130 contacts each of the HIGA 102 and 112, and provisions the Remove Access Server (RAS) there. [0159] In this step, if the HIGA 102 and/or 112 do not have the RAS software, the home device aggregator 130 installs it in that HIGA. The home device aggregator 130 configures the RAS to accept an access from the RAC in home device aggregator 130 informing it of the Public Service Identity (PSI, for example, devaggr@ims.operator.net) of the Device Aggregator. [0160] The home device aggregator 130 or HIGA 102 and/or 112 may take additional steps depending on the type of the tested device. When the seller's home device 102 is a media server, the additional steps would be putting dummy contents and reorganizing contents directory tree to hide seller's private contents. The HIGAs 102 and 112 start the RAS unless they have already been running.

[0161] In step SlOl, the home device aggregator 130 transmits a SIP INVITE message to the HIGA 102 to initiate a remote access session setup between the RAC (home device aggregator 130) and RAS (HIGA 102) . Information of the home device to be sold, the media server as an example, is propagated from RAS to RAC through the established remote access session. [0162] An example of the header portions of the SIP INVITE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

INVITE sip: alice.higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2. O

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 1 INVITE

From: <devaggr@ims . operator. net>; tag=ij kl

To: <sip: alice.higaΘims . operator .net>

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity : <devaggr@ims . operator. net>

Expires: 3600

Route: <sip:scscf .ims.operator.net: 6060; lr>

Content-Length: 190

[0163] According to the SIP INVITE message in step SlQl, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the HIGA 102 to the home device aggregator 130. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

From: <devaggr@ims . operator . net> ; tag=ij kl

To : <sip : alice . higaΘims . operator . net> ; tag=efgh

CaIl-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 1 INVITE Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity: <sip : alice . higagims . operator . net>

Content-Length: 194

[0164] In step S708, the home device aggregator 130 transmits a SIP INVITE message to the HIGA 112 to initiate a remote access session setup between the RAC (home device aggregator 130) and RAS (HIGA 112) . Information of the home device to be sold, the media server as an example, is propagated from RAC to RAS through the established remote access session. [0165] An example of the header portions of the SIP INVITE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment is shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment.

INVITE sip: bob. higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 1 INVITE

From: <devaggr@ims . operator . net>; tag=ij kl

To : <sip : bob . higaΘims . operator . net>

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity:^' <devaggr@ims . operator . net>

Expires: 3600

Route: <sip:scscf . ims.operator.net: 6060; lr>

Content-Length: 190 [0166] According to the SIP INVITE message in step S7Q8, the following 200 OK response will be returned from the HIGA 112 to the home device aggregator 130. Other portions being not described here which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161.

SIP/2.0 200 OK

From: <devaggr@ims . operator. net>; tag=ij kl

To : <sip : bob . higaΘims . operator . net>; tag=abcd

CaIl-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 1 INVITE

Content-Type: application/sdp

P-Asserted-Identity : <sip:alice. higaΘims. operator. net>

Content-Length: 194

[0167] Since processing in step S709 through S712 corresponds to the one in step S608 through Sβll of Fig. 6, detailed description regarding these steps will be omitted in this embodiment.

[0168] In step S713, the HIGA 112 sends the control information received from the home device 111 to the home device aggregator 130 through the established remote access session between the HIGA 112 and the home device aggregator 130. [0169] When the home device aggregator 130 receives the control information from the buyer' s HIGA 112, it checks whether the included command satisfy the access policy of the seller's HIGA 102 or not. If so, in step S714, the home device aggregator 130 forwards the control information to the seller's HIGA 102. [0170] If not, the home device aggregator 130 does not forward the control information to the seller's HIGA 102. For example, if the control information includes a command which is not directed to the media server as the home device to be sold, a read/write command for reading/writing data from/to a directory allocated for the interoperability test, or a command for updating a software of the media server, the control information will not be transferred to the HIGA 102. As an alternative, when the control information includes several commands and some of them are not permitted, the home device aggregator 130 can transfer to the HIGA 102 only commands which are to be permitted based on the access policy.

[0171] In step S715, the seller's HIGA 102 transfers the control information received from the home device aggregator 130 to the home device 101. [0172] In step S716, the seller's home device 101 returns a response to the control received from the HIGA 102. For example, if the home device 101 is the media server, and it receives the read out command of the predetermined data stored in the predetermined directory, it reads out that data from that directory and sends the data to the HIGA 102. [0173] In step S717, the seller's HIGA 102 transmits the response from the home device 101 to the home device aggregator 130 through the established remote access session. In step S718, the home device aggregator 130 transmits the response received from the HIGA 112 to the buyer's HIGA 112.

[0174] Since processing in step S719 and S720 corresponds to the one in step Sβlβ and S617 of Fig. 6, detailed description regarding these steps will be omitted in this embodiment.

[0175] In step S721 and S722, the home device aggregator 130 closes the session by using SIP BYE after a predefined test time has elapsed or the buyer is satisfied with the test results.

[0176] Examples of the header portions of the SIP BYE message and 200 OK corresponding to the SIP BYE message necessary for explanation of this embodiment are shown as follows. Other portions which should be included in the header correspond to the standards of the corresponding RFC and 3GPP and their explanation will be omitted in this embodiment. P-Asserted-Identity is attached by P-CSCF in the CSCF 161.

BYE sip:alice. higa@ims.operator.net SIP/2.0

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 2 BYE From: <devaggr@ims . operator. net>; tag=άjkl

To : <sip : alice . higa@iins . operator . net>; tag=efgh

P-Asserted-Identity: <devaggr@ims . operator . net>

Route : <sip: scscf . ims . operator.net : 6060; lr>

Content-Length: 0

SIP/2.0 200 OK

From: <devaggr@ims . operator . net>; tag=ij kl

To: <sip: alice. higaΘims . operator. net>; tag=efgh

Call-ID: 12345678

CSeq: 2 BYE

P-Asserted-Identity:

<sip : alice . higaSims . operator . net> Content-Length: 0

[0177] In the embodiment according to Fig. I₁ the home device aggregator 130 may record every command received from the HIGA 112 and the response to the command received from the HIGA 102 into a log file. The online marketplace system 150 may provide the log file to the S-PC 103 and/or B-PC 113 later. The seller and/or buyer may open the log file to other users if he/she wants so that other users can refer to it when they want to buy the same type of the product under the similar home network and device configuration. [0178] According to the several aspects of embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to obtain the following advantages. It should be noted that some embodiments may not achieve some of the following advantages, such embodiments are not excluded from the scope of the present invention. [0179] When a person wants to buy a home apparatus at online marketplace/online auction, this invention assures that the exact unit of the device he/she wants to buy does exists and functioning as advertised, and provides an opportunity for him/her to test interoperability with his/her existing home devices. [0180] This invention adds business value to a telecom operator who owns IMS network and home IMS gateway and looking for something more than business as a bit pipe.

[0181] The invention also enables the mutual authentication by the marketplace, the buyer, and the seller, through the mediation of a trusted third party. Furthermore, the described mechanisms can be used to minimize the risk of fraud and theft. [0182] While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims

1. A gateway apparatus (102, 112) for detecting a home device comprising: a device discovery unit (213) operable to detect the home device (101, 111) ; a receiving unit (218) operable to receive a device information corresponding to the home device (101, 111) ; a transmitting unit (218) operable to transmit the device information to a home device aggregator (130) collecting the device information, via a network (120, 160) .

2. The gateway apparatus (102, 112) according to claim 1, wherein said receiving unit (218) further operable to receive a 'test program for testing the home device (101, 111), said gateway apparatus further comprising a processing unit (216) operable to execute the test program to test the home device (101, 111) and to generate test results based on the execution of the test program.

3. The gateway apparatus (102, 112) according to claim 2, wherein said transmitting unit (218) further operable to transmit the test results to the home device aggregator (130) .

4. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim 2, further comprising: a remote access session unit (212) operable to establish a remote access session as a remote access server, between said gateway apparatus (102) and another gateway apparatus (112), for an interoperability test of a first home device (101) and a second home device (111), where the first home device being communicatively coupled to the gateway apparatus (102) and the second home device being communicatively coupled to said another gateway apparatus (112) .

5. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim 4, further comprising: a control unit (213) operable to control the home device (101) according to a control signal received from said another gateway apparatus (112) via the remote access session.

6. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim 5, wherein said control unit (213) further operable not to control the home device (101) according to a control signal received from said another gateway apparatus (112) , when the control signal is not allowed according to a predetermined access policy.

7. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim 5, wherein said transmitting unit (218) further operable to transmit a response from the home device (101) controlled by said control unit (213) to said another gateway apparatus (112) via the remote access session.

8. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim 5, wherein said transmitting unit (218) further operable to transmit a response from the home device (101) controlled by said control unit (213) to said home device aggregator (130) .

9. The gateway apparatus (112) according to claim 2, further comprising: a remote access session unit (212) operable to establish a remote access session as a remote access client, between said gateway apparatus (112) and another gateway apparatus (102), for an interoperability test of a first home device (101) and a second home device (111) , the first home device being communicatively coupled to said another gateway apparatus (102) and the second home device being communicatively coupled to said gateway apparatus (112) .

10. The gateway apparatus (112) according to claim 9, wherein said transmitting unit (218) further operable to transmit a control signal for controlling said first home device (101), to said another gateway apparatus

, (102) via the remote access session.

11. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim 2, further comprising: a remote access session unit operable to establish a remote access session as a remote access server, between said gateway apparatus (102) and the home device aggregator (130) , for an interoperability test between a first home device (101) and a second home device (111) , the first home device being communicatively coupled to said gateway apparatus (102) and the second home device (111) being communicatively coupled to another gateway apparatus (112) .

12. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim

11, further comprising: a control unit (213) operable to control the home device (101) according to a control signal received from the home device aggregator (130) via the remote access session.

13. The gateway apparatus (102) according to claim

12, wherein said transmitting unit (218) further operable to transmit a response from the home device

(101) controlled by said control unit (213) to the home device aggregator (130) via the remote access session.

14. The gateway apparatus (112) according to claim 2, further comprising: a remote access session unit operable to establish a remote access session as a remote access server, between said gateway apparatus (112) and the home device aggregator (130), for an interoperability test between a first home device (101) and a second home device (111), the first home device (101) being communicatively coupled to another gateway apparatus

(102) and a second home device (111) being communicatively coupled to said gateway apparatus (112) .

15. The gateway apparatus (112) according to claim

14, wherein said transmitting unit (218) further operable to transmit a control signal for controlling said first home device (101), to the home device aggregator (130) via the remote access session.

16. The gateway apparatus (112) according to claim

15, wherein said receiving unit (218) further operable to receive a response from the first home device (101) controlled using said control signal, from the home device aggregator (130) via the remote access session.

17. A home device aggregator (130) for collecting device information corresponding to a home device (101, 111) communicatively coupled to a gateway apparatus (102, 112), comprising: a receiving unit (229) operable to receive the device information from the gateway apparatus (102, 112); a storing unit (221) operable to store the device information associated with the corresponding gateway apparatus (102, 112); an notice reception unit (229) operable to receive a notice from a online marketplace system that the home device (101) is requested to be sold in an online auction; a transmitting unit (229) operable to transmit a test program (222) for testing the home device to be sold (101), to the gateway apparatus (102) to which the home device to be sold is communicatively coupled.

18. The home device aggregator (130) according to claim 17, further comprising: a remote access session setup unit (224) operable to establish a remote access session between a first gateway apparatus (102) and a second gateway apparatus (112), wherein the first gateway apparatus (102) is the one to which a first home device (101) to be sold in the online auction is communicatively coupled, and the second gateway apparatus (112) is the one to which a second home device (111) to be gone through interoperability test with the first home device is communicatively coupled.

19. The home device aggregator (130) according to claim 17, wherein said receiving unit (229) further operable to receive test results of the interoperability test from the first gateway apparatus (102), and said transmission unit (229) further operable to transmit the test results to the online marketplace system (150) .

20. The home device aggregator (130) according to claim 17, further comprising: a remote access session setup unit (224) operable to establish remote access sessions between the home device aggregator (130) and a first gateway apparatus (102) , and between the home device aggregator (130) and a second gateway apparatus (112) , respectively, wherein said receiving unit (229) further operable to receive control signals, directed to the home device (101) communicatively coupled to the first gateway apparatus (102) , from the second gateway apparatus (112) via the remote access session established between the home device aggregator (130) and the second gateway apparatus (112), said transmission unit (229) further operable to transmit the control signals to the first gateway apparatus (102) via the remote access session established between the home device aggregator (130) and the first gateway apparatus (102), and the first gateway apparatus (102) is the one to which a first home device (101) to be sold in the online auction is communicatively coupled, and the second gateway apparatus (112) is the one to which a second home device (111) to be gone through interoperability test with the first home device (101) is communicatively coupled.

21. The home device aggregator (130) according to claim 20, further comprising: a determining unit (227) operable to determine whether the received control signal is allowed or not according to a predetermined access policy, wherein said transmission unit (229) does not transmit the received control signal to the second gateway apparatus when the determination unit (227) determines that the received control signal is not allowed.

22. The home device aggregator (130) according to claim 20 or 21, wherein said receiving unit (229) further operable to receive responses of the home device (101) to the control signals from the first gateway apparatus

(102) via the established remote access session between the home device aggregator (130) and the first gateway- apparatus (102), and said transmission unit (229) further operable to transmit the response to the second gateway apparatus

(112) via the remote access session established between the home device aggregator (130) and the second gateway apparatus (112) .

23. An online marketplace system (150) comprising: a web server (231) operable to providing an online auction on a network (120) ; a receiving unit (233) operable to receive a request to publish a home device (101) communicatively coupled to a gateway apparatus (102) to be sold on the online auction from the home device aggregator (130) ; a instruction unit (232) operable to instruct a home device aggregator (130) collecting device information corresponding to the home device (101) , to execute a test program for the home device (101) ; a receiving unit (233) operable to receive a test result from the home device aggregator (130); a determination unit (231) operable to determine whether the home device (101) is to be published on the auction site or not according to the test result.

24. The online marketplace system (150) according to claim 23, wherein said receiving unit (233) further operable to receive an interoperability test request, from the buyer's PC (103), for executing an interoperability test between a first home device (101) to be sold on the online auction and a second home device (111), the first home device (101) being communicatively coupled to a first gateway apparatus (102) and the second home device (111) being communicatively coupled to a second gateway apparatus (112), and said instruction unit further operable to instruct to said home device aggregator (130) to execute a interoperability test program.