WO2013107975A1

WO2013107975A1 - Wake-on-lan for a device connected to a multi-link network

Info

Publication number: WO2013107975A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/050086
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pascal Pagani
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2012-01-20
Filing date: 2013-01-14
Publication date: 2013-07-25
Also published as: EP2805310A1; FR2986125A1

Abstract

The invention relates to the remote activation, by a source device (SRC), of a receiving device (DEST) connected to the source device via at least one intermediate device (INT₁), wherein said intermediate device and the receiving device are initially in standby mode and form a set of consecutive devices in a home network. To this end, at each intermediate device, a remote activation message (WoL), including a set of addresses (MAC(INT₁), MAC(INT_n)) of consecutive devices (INT₁, INT_n) within the series of devices, is received (10) and then retransmitted (30) to the following device in the series of consecutive devices using the set of addresses. When said remote activation message, retransmitted by the set of intermediate devices, is received by the receiving device, said receiving device is then activated (40). The invention also relates to the intermediate device for implementing said method, as well as to a home network including such an intermediate device.

Description

Remote wake up of connected equipment

The invention relates to the field of telecommunications and more particularly to remote waking of equipment connected in a home network, especially when the network is composed of multiple links.

Most current home networking devices have a sleep mode in which the equipment consumes relatively little power, at the cost of reduced functionality. When one wishes to benefit from all the normal functionalities of this domestic equipment while it is in such a mode of sleep, it is then advisable to "wake up" this equipment so that it finds its normal functionalities and its nominal consumption.

To wake up equipment connected to a home network, it is known to use a technique employing wake up messages designated by "Wake On LAN" or WoL abbreviated. This technique can be applied to any equipment having means of connection to this local network, such as a computer terminal or home automation equipment.

In this technique, the paused equipment remains unresponsive to all the data packets it receives, except when it is a wake-up message that includes a specific data packet that activates the wake-up call. 'equipment. Such a data package is usually called a "magic package" or "WoL package".

However, this technique is not optimal when the source and receiver equipment of the wake up message belong to the same home network and this home network is composed of multiple links, that is to say when the data transmission of the source equipment to the recipient equipment passes through at least one intermediate equipment. This situation is found in several cases:

- in the case of a meshed home network (eg wireless) in which a number of devices using the same technology (eg WiFi) are distributed in a certain space. In this type of mesh network, each device can communicate with some equipment in its vicinity, but not with all the network equipment, especially for reasons of signal propagation conditions. - in the case of a home network consisting of relays. This type of network corresponds to a simplified mesh network in which one or more equipment of the same technology, called relay, is inserted intermediately between the source equipment and the destination equipment, in order to allow communication between these two devices then that it was not possible without a relay. This type of network is used in particular in power line networks (CPL) to allow communication between the most distant catches of a habitat.

- in the case of a home network consisting of links using multiple technologies. This is for example the case when using a system allowing the extension of WiFi coverage in a habitat. This system receives data via PLC connectivity and retransmits it via WiFi connectivity. It is therefore a multi-technology relay within a single local network. One can also think of the case of a residential gateway connected, by two successive intermediate devices of CPL type, to a digital television decoder.

In a network composed of multiple links, it is common that all the equipment, both the source and destination equipment and the intermediate equipment, are programmed to switch to a standby mode when no communication is detected on one of their ports of entry for a certain period of time. In such a case, waking up end-to-end connectivity with the Wake On LAN technique can be time consuming and complex.

Figure 1A illustrates the awakening of all connectivity from the source equipment to the destination equipment using the "Wake On LAN" technique.

This figure illustrates the example of multi-technology home network mentioned above, including a link between a residential gateway LB and a digital decoder STB, via two CPL modems designated CPL1 and CPL2. The protocol exchanges in this network are represented with their evolution over time.

The first task (referred to as "A" in Figure 1A) of the LB residential gateway is to wake up the CPL1 modem to which it is directly connected, by sending it a "magic" packet designated by "WoL (CPL1)" and specifically intended for the first modem CPL1.

This "magic" package is typically implemented in the form illustrated in FIG. 1B, ie with a first part presenting a succession of hexadecimal symbols "F" followed by the repetition, 16 times, of the MAC address of the equipment for which the wake-up command is intended, ie the MAC address (CPL1) of the first modem CPL1 in the case of the first task A.

The modem CPL1 then wakes up and eventually returns an acknowledgment message "Ack" to the residential gateway LB.

Upon receipt of this acknowledgment message, the second task (designated by

"B" in Figure 1A) of the residential gateway LB is to wake up the modem CPL2, sending him a "magic" packet, designated by "WoL (CPL2)" and specifically for the second modem CPL2, via the modem CPL1 . The modem CPL2 then wakes up and eventually returns an acknowledgment message "Ack" to the residential gateway LB, via the modem CPL1.

Upon receipt of this new acknowledgment message, the third task (designated "C" in Figure 1A) of the residential gateway LB is to wake up the digital decoder STB, sending him a package "magic", designated by "WoL (STB)" and specifically for the second CPL2 modem, via the CPL1 and CPL2 modems. The digital decoder STB then wakes up and eventually returns an acknowledgment message "Ack" to the residential gateway LB, via the modems CPL1 and CPL2.

Unfortunately, this wake up procedure takes a long time and generates a large number of data packets, which increases the throughput and the risk of transmission errors. The time required and the number of packets exchanged increases rapidly with the number of necessary equipment.

Another remote wakeup technique has been proposed in the patent application US 2010/0183005. In this technique, the intermediate routers are modified to integrate a high sensitivity rectifier and an identity determination unit capable of detecting, in standby mode, the reception of a simplified electrical signal allowing the intermediate router to wake up so that the latter can then retransmit a "magic" packet to a next piece of equipment. This technique therefore requires the modification of the intermediate routers and also leads to a multiplication of the signaling messages.

Thus, because of these constraints related to the complexity of waking up in a multi-link network, most intermediate equipment does not standby in practice, which results in significant power consumption, even when no data is available. transferred to the network. US patent application 2010/0315981, for its part, describes a technique for waking nodes in a wireless sensor network. However, besides the fact that this technique concerns another type of network having nothing to do with a home network, it acts at the level of the physical layer of this type of wireless sensor network, by using two frequency signals. distinct (ie a wake-up signal followed by a message type signal), which is particularly heavy and unsuited to the context of a local home network where all domestic equipment is known and identified.

The present invention therefore aims to overcome the drawbacks of prior techniques in terms of waking up equipment in multi-link home networks, by proposing a shorter wakeup procedure and less consuming in flow, and therefore likely to incite network operators to promote the standby of equipment to reduce power consumption.

To this end, the invention proposes a remote activation method, by a source equipment, of a destination equipment connected to the source equipment via at least one intermediate equipment, this at least one intermediate equipment and the destination equipment initially being in standby mode and forming a sequence of successive equipment belonging to a home network.

This method comprises, at each intermediate equipment, the steps of receiving a remote activation message comprising a sequence of associated addresses of successive equipment in the sequence of successive equipment, and retransmitting the activation message to distance to the next equipment, in the sequence of successive equipment, by means of the sequence of addresses. This method further comprises activating the recipient equipment following receipt of the remote activation message retransmitted by said at least one intermediate equipment.

The intermediate equipment and the recipient equipment, within a home network, are thus woken up gradually, one after the other, by means of a single activation message, without there being any need to maintain unnecessarily awake the intermediate equipment to proceed to the awakening of the recipient equipment and without having to proceed to the individual awakening of each of these intermediate elements.

Advantageously, for each intermediate equipment, the address succeeding the address of said intermediate equipment in the suite of addresses is extracted from the remote activation message. The retransmission of the remote activation message to the next equipment is then performed using the extracted address.

In a particular embodiment, after receiving the remote activation message by an intermediate device, this intermediate device is activated before retransmitting the activation message.

According to a particular embodiment, after the activation of the destination equipment, the method further comprises, at each intermediate equipment, the steps of receiving a remote activation message from the following equipment in the sequence of successive equipment, and to activate the intermediate equipment.

According to a particular embodiment, after the activation of each intermediate equipment of the sequence of successive equipment, In acknowledgment message is transmitted to the source equipment, via the previous intermediate equipment said activated equipment in the following successive equipment. Advantageously, the address of the source equipment is inserted before the addresses of the intermediate equipment in the suite of addresses, the transmission of the acknowledgment message to the source equipment then being carried out using the address of the equipment. source and suite of addresses.

According to a particular embodiment, the activation message received by each intermediate device after the activation of the destination equipment is generated by the destination equipment. In this case, after the activation of each intermediate device of the sequence of successive equipment, an acknowledgment message is transmitted to the destination equipment, via the intermediate equipment following said activated equipment in the suite of equipment. successive.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the addresses of successive equipment, in the sequence of successive equipment, are MAC addresses (for Media Access Control in English) and the activation message can then be in the form of a frame Ethernet. Alternatively, the addresses of the successive equipment, following successive equipment, are IP addresses, and the activation message can then be an IP packet.

This makes it possible to manage the successive awakening of the equipment of the home network at the level of the data link protocol layer (level 2 of the OSI model), respectively of the network protocol layer (level 3 of the OSI model), which is more suitable for a home network in which the intermediate equipment is identified as management at the physical layer level.

The invention also proposes a remote activation message, by source equipment, of a recipient equipment connected to the source equipment via at least one intermediate equipment, this at least one intermediate equipment and the receiving equipment initially being in standby mode and forming a sequence of equipment connected successively, the message comprising a first part containing a preamble indicative of the membership of the message to the category of activation messages and a second part comprising a sequence of addresses successively associated with each equipment of the sequence of successive equipment.

The invention also proposes a computer program comprising code instructions for implementing the remote activation method above, when this program is executed by a processing module of a network equipment. Such a computer program must be considered as a product within the framework of the protection which is sought by the present patent application.

The invention also proposes a network equipment for retransmitting a remote activation message from a destination device by a source equipment, comprising a receiver module able to receive, during a sleep mode, a message from remote activation (comprising a sequence of addresses successively associated with each of the equipment of a series of equipment connected successively, and a transmitter module configured to retransmit the remote activation message to the following equipment, in the following sequence; equipment connected successively, by means of the sequence of addresses.

According to a particular embodiment, this network equipment further comprises a processing module configured to, after receiving the remote activation message during the standby mode, extracting the address succeeding the address of the equipment. network in the suite of addresses, this transmitter module being configured to retransmit the remote activation message to the next equipment by means of this extracted address. Advantageously, this processing module is further configured to trigger the activation of the network equipment after receiving a remote activation message comprising a sequence of addresses in which is inserted an address associated with this network equipment.

The invention finally proposes a communication network for the remote activation of equipment, the network comprising a recipient equipment connected to a source equipment via at least one intermediate equipment as described above, the source equipment being able, when each intermediate equipment and the recipient equipment are in standby mode, to issue the activation message to distance above, and the at least one intermediate equipment and the destination equipment being arranged to implement the steps of the remote activation method above.

Other features and advantages will appear on reading the description and the figures in which, in addition to FIGS. 1A and 1B already mentioned, with regard to the state of the art:

FIG. 2A illustrates a multi-link network in which the present invention is implemented;

FIG. 2B illustrates the steps of a method of remote activation of a recipient equipment according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2C illustrates a remote activation message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a particular example of application of the activation method, as well as the wake-up message used in this method, according to this first embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates the steps of a method of remote activation of a recipient equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a particular example of application of the activation method according to this second embodiment.

Reference is first made to FIG. 2A, which illustrates a multi-link home network in which the present invention is implemented.

This home communication network (for example a LAN of the LAN type) notably comprises a source equipment SRC (typically a computer, a server or a home gateway, or even a sensor for controlling or controlling a home automation system, or another energy meter), a number n of intermediate equipments INT to INT _n (for example routers or modems, or even spatially distributed control or control sensors), n being an integer greater than or equal to to 1, and DEST destination equipment (e.g. a computer or digital decoder), the intermediate equipment (s) INT, and DEST destination equipment forming a sequence of equipment connected successively.

In other words, the source equipment SRC is connected to the first intermediate equipment INT-i, which is itself connected to the second intermediate equipment INT ₂ , and so on until the nth intermediate equipment INT _n which is connected to the destination DEST equipment.

The invention applies to the case in which the source equipment SRC desires to wake up the destination equipment DEST, when the latter is in standby mode and that the intermediate equipment INT-, INT _n are also in standby mode, ie in a mode of electrical consumption where these equipments have reduced functionalities.

Referring now to FIG. 2B illustrating the steps of a method of remotely activating a recipient equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For illustrative purposes, the network is considered here as comprising only one intermediate device INT, _for an easier understanding of the invention, but the invention is not limited to this one illustrative case, the network may include any number of intermediate equipment connecting the source equipment SRC to the destination equipment DEST. This intermediate equipment INT and the destination equipment DEST are therefore initially in standby mode

The source equipment SRC, when it wishes to remotely activate the destination device DEST (in other words, "wake up" this destination device DEST), generates a remote activation message (designated WoL in FIG. 2B ), which may be otherwise referred to as a "wake-up message", and sends (step 10) this to the first intermediate equipment INT-i.

Figure 2C illustrates such a remote activation message, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, this WoL remote activation message is a data packet comprising a first part W0L ₁ and a second part WoL ₂ .

The first part W0L ₁ includes a preamble indicative of the membership of the message to the category of activation messages, which allows the intermediate equipment INT and the destination equipment DEST to recognize such activation message. Typically, this preamble can contain the hexadecimal data sequence "FF FF FF FF FF FF", easily recognizable at the standby equipment to wake up, without being limited to this single implementation.

The second part WoL ₂ includes a sequence of MAC addresses (INT-i), ... , MAC (INT _n ) successively associated with each equipment INT-i, ..., INT _n of the sequence of successive equipment in the network, in the order of these successive equipment, so that this sequence of addresses thus correspond to an ordered list of addresses.

Thus, the first MAC address (INT-i) of the address sequence is associated with the first intermediate equipment ΙΝΤΊ which is directly connected to the source equipment SRC, the second MAC address (INT ₂ ) is associated with the second intermediate equipment INT ₂ (if any) connected to the first intermediate equipment INT-i and so on until the last MAC address (DEST) of the address sequence which is associated with the destination equipment DEST. These addresses are typically MAC addresses (for Media Access

Çontrol in English) to uniquely identify the network interface of a device, this type of MAC address is particularly suitable when using wake-up message type "Wake On Lan". The activation message can then take the form of an Ethernet frame. However, other types of addresses may be considered, such as IP addresses, in which case the activation message may then take the form of an IP packet.

This sequence of addresses can thus take the form of a concatenation of successive addresses whose order corresponds to the order of the intermediate equipment INT-i, INT ₂ ... and the destination equipment DEST traversed by data. transmitted by the source equipment SRC to destination equipment DEST, as the example shown in Figure 2C.

However, other forms of address suite are possible, including forms involving redundancy in order to increase the robustness of the activation message to transmission errors, from the moment the order of addresses inserted in this sequence. corresponds well to the order of successive equipment.

Thus, in a particular embodiment, each address can be repeated N times (with N> 1) before going to the next address in the sequence of addresses. It is it is also possible to have a second part WoL ₂ in which the entire sequence of addresses is repeated N times (with N> 1), or even a combination of these two forms of redundancy.

In a first particular embodiment, the MAC addresses (INT-i),. . . , MAC (INT _n ) are the addresses of intermediate equipment in standby mode in the chain of intermediate equipment connecting the source equipment SRC to the destination equipment DEST. In other words, if an intermediate device of this chain is not in sleep mode, its address does not appear in the sequence of addresses. This embodiment simplifies the processing of the activation message performed at the intermediate equipment.

In such a case, the source equipment SRC then has a state table (stored in a memory within the source equipment SRC) in which are recorded, for each equipment of the network to which this source equipment SRC belongs, the address and status of this equipment, whether or not it is in sleep mode.

Thus, when it generates the sequence of addresses, the source equipment SRC first determines all the intermediate equipment connecting it to the destination DEST equipment to which it wishes to connect, then determines the intermediate equipment in standby mode. , within this set of intermediate equipment, using this table. The sequence of addresses can then be composed with the addresses of the intermediate equipment in standby mode.

In another embodiment, the source equipment SRC generates the sequence of addresses from the addresses of the set of intermediate equipment connecting the source equipment SRC to the destination equipment DEST, without distinction with respect to their state of watch or not.

In this case, the source equipment SRC no longer needs to maintain a status table to know the status of the intermediate equipment, which simplifies the operations on this source equipment SRC. Intermediate equipment that is not in standby mode and receives an activation message containing such a sequence of addresses then simply retransmit this message to the next device in this sequence of addresses.

To return to the process illustrated in FIG. 2B, following the reception (transmission step 10) of the WoL remote activation message by the first equipment intermediate INT (by means of a receiver module, for example the input interface of a network card), this intermediate equipment ΙΝΤΊ then retransmits this WoL remote activation message to the following equipment, in the following equipment connected successively, by means of the sequence of addresses (step 30). The following equipment can be directly DEST destination equipment, as in Figure 2B where only one intermediate equipment is illustrated, or a second intermediate equipment INT ₂ , as discussed below.

In order to know the address of the next piece of equipment, the intermediate equipment INT- advantageously proceeds to extract, in the resultant sequence of the remote activation message WoL received, the address (designated by MAC ( i + 1)) succeeding directly to the address of the intermediate equipment (eg the MAC address (DEST) in the example illustrated in FIG. 2B). When the WoL activation message contains a sequence of addresses in which each address is repeated N times, this extraction then consists of analyzing the next block of N addresses, after the block of N addresses of the intermediate equipment INT-i.

This step can be performed by a processing module (typically a processor associated with a memory) integrated in the intermediate equipment. The retransmission of the remote activation message to the following equipment is then performed, by means of a transmitter module (for example the output interface of a network card) of the intermediate equipment, by means of the extracted address. .

This is done simply when the intermediate equipment INT has the capacity in standby mode, on the one hand, to detect a characteristic preamble of an activation message in received packets and, on the other hand, to recognize the address MAC (INT-i) associated with it in this activation message. The address of the next device is then the address just after this MAC address (INT-i) in this message.

Thus, unlike in the prior art where each equipment must be woken by a wake-up message specific to this equipment, the WoL remote activation message is here transmitted from intermediate equipment to intermediate equipment, to the receiving equipment DEST.

In a first embodiment, the activation (ie the output of the standby mode) of the intermediate equipment is further advantageously carried out at this stage (step 15), typically upon receipt of the WoL activation message. It is thus possible to extract the address of the next equipment and the retransmission of the activation message after activating the intermediate equipment, which is particularly suitable for intermediate equipment which has, in mode eve, that the ability to detect a characteristic preamble of an activation message (for example the hexadecimal sequence "FF FF FF FF FF FF").

After retransmitting the WoL activation message to the next equipment, the intermediate equipment ΙΝΤΊ can then transmit (step 35) an acknowledgment message Ack to the source equipment SRC to prevent it from being transmitted correctly. the WoL activation message, as well as the correct activation of the intermediate equipment ΙΝΤΊ, thus meaning that this intermediate equipment ΙΝΤΊ is ready to transmit data towards the destination equipment DEST.

This operation is particularly advantageous in the case where the source equipment SRC has generated the WoL activation message from a state table as described above, since the acknowledgment message then allows the source equipment SRC to update the status of the intermediate equipment in this state table, which changes from a state in standby mode to an activated state.

These different steps are repeated at each intermediate device in standby mode, until the last intermediate equipment INT _n retransmitting the WoL activation message to the destination device DEST. Finally, following receipt of the remote activation message retransmitted by the last intermediate equipment ΙΝΤ _η _ (with n = 1 in the example illustrated in FIG. 2B), the destination equipment is then activated (40), which can be meant to the source equipment SRC by sending (step 45) an Ack acknowledgment message passing through the various intermediate equipment, possibly to update a state table stored in this source equipment SRC. The data transmission between the source equipment SRC and the equipment DEST can then take place.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 3A and 3B which illustrate a particular example of application of the activation method, as well as the wake-up message used in this method, according to this first embodiment. This particular example concerns the waking in a local network, by a home gateway LB, of a digital decoder STB in standby mode by means of two current carrier modem modems CPL1 and CPL2, also in standby mode, similar to the example already shown in Figure 1 A.

In particular, FIG. 3A illustrates the sequence of data exchanges between the different elements of this local network, in this first embodiment where the activation of the intermediate equipment takes place as soon as the WoL activation message is received. The first CPL1 modem is activated first, followed by the second CPL2 modem, and finally the STB digital decoder. A simple comparison of this FIG. 3A with FIG. 1A makes it possible to measure the advantage provided by the present invention, in terms of signaling reduction. Figure 3B, for its part, illustrates the WoL activation message used in this particular example.

In particular, in addition to a first part WoL containing a preamble characterizing this message as an activation message, this message comprises a second part WoL ₂ successively comprising the MAC address (CPL1) of the first modem CPL1, the MAC address (CPL2 ) of the first modem CPL2 and the MAC address (DEST) of the destination device DEST.

Referring now to Figure 4 which illustrates the steps of a remote activation method of a recipient equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this other embodiment, the intermediate devices are not activated immediately after receiving an activation message destined for the destination device DEST, but after activation of the latter.

Thus, the method according to this other embodiment remains similar to the method according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2B as regards the reception of the activation message (step 10) by the intermediate equipment INT-i, the extraction of the address of the following equipment by this intermediate equipment INTi (step 20), retransmission of the activation message to the next equipment (step 30) and activation of the destination device DEST (step 40) once the latter has received the activation message, optionally followed by sending an acknowledgment message Ack to the source equipment SRC (step 45), so that the latter can possibly update the status of the destination device DEST in a state table. Once activated, the destination device DEST returns a WoL activation message to the intermediate equipment INT ,, in the opposite direction of transmission.

Then, at the level of each intermediate equipment INT, in the inverse order of that of the sequence of successive equipment, the reception (step 50) of the WoL remote activation message from the following equipment is carried out (step 50). in the sequence of successive equipment, the activation (step 60) of this intermediate equipment and the retransmission of the WoL remote activation message to the preceding intermediate equipment in the list of successive equipment (if there is has one), as well as advantageously sending an acknowledgment message Ack to the source equipment SRC (step 65), so that the latter is aware of the equipment enabled and may possibly update the status of the intermediate equipment INT, in a state table.

In a particular embodiment, the WoL activation message transmitted in return by the destination device DEST may be the WoL activation message generated and transmitted by the source equipment SRC, in which case each intermediate element will look for the address preceding its own address in the WoL remote activation to identify the previous intermediate equipment. This embodiment is suitable for intermediary equipment capable, in standby mode, of extracting both the address according to their own address in a WoL activation message, in order to retransmit this message to the destination device DEST, which the address before their own address in this message, in order to retransmit this message to the previous intermediate equipment.

In another embodiment, the recipient device DEST, once activated, can also construct a new activation message WoL 'comprising, in addition to a first part WoL' containing a preamble characterizing this message as an activation message, a second part WoL ' ₂ successively comprising the addresses associated with the intermediate equipments INT _n to INT-i, concatenated in the reverse order of the addresses of the sequence of addresses in the WoL activation message generated and previously sent by the equipment source SRC. This embodiment is suitable for intermediate equipment only able, in standby mode, to extract the address according to their own address in a WoL activation message.

In this other embodiment, the information concerning the status of the intermediate equipment can be stored either in the source equipment SRC, but in the destination equipment DEST. To do this, a state table similar to that described at the level of the source equipment SRC can be stored in a memory of the destination device DEST. The acknowledgment messages Ack sent by the intermediate equipment are then transmitted to the destination device DEST (step 75), and no longer to the source equipment SRC, so that the destination device DEST can update the status of these equipment. intermediates in this state table.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which illustrates a particular example of application of the activation method according to this second embodiment. This particular example always concerns the awakening in a local network, by a home gateway LB, of a digital decoder STB in standby mode via two CPL1 and CPL2 line carrier current modems, also in standby mode, similarly to the examples already illustrated in Figures 1A and 3A.

In particular, this figure illustrates the sequence of data exchanges between the different elements of this local network, in this second embodiment where the activation of the intermediate equipment after the activation of the destination equipment DEST. Thus, the digital decoder STB is activated first, followed by the second modem CPL2 and finally the first modem CPL1. The acknowledgment messages Ack are sent here to the source equipment SRC, so that the latter can possibly update a state table as described above.

The present invention furthermore aims at a computer program comprising code instructions for implementing the remote activation method described above, and in particular the step 20 for extracting the address of the following equipment. in the sequence of addresses of an activation message received by an intermediate equipment INT ,, when this program is executed by a processing module (typically a processor associated with a random access memory) of an intermediate device. Such a program can use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in n ' any other desirable form.

The present invention also provides a data carrier readable by a data processor, and including code instructions of one of the programs mentioned above. This information medium can be any entity or device capable of storing the aforementioned program. For example, the medium may comprise storage means, such as a ROM, for example a CD-ROM or a microelectronic circuit ROM, or a magnetic recording means, for example a diskette or a hard disk. This information carrier can also include FLASH type memory, for storing the program and recording the information received by a client module, and RAM type memory for storing temporary data such as server and theme suites. associates. On the other hand, this information medium may be a transmissible medium such as an electrical or optical signal, which may be conveyed via an electrical or optical cable, by radio or by other means. The programs according to the invention may in particular be downloaded on an Internet-type network.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown, from which we can provide other modes and other embodiments, without departing from the scope of the invention. .

Claims

1. A method for remotely activating, by a source equipment (SRC), a destination equipment (DEST) connected to the source equipment via at least one intermediate equipment (INT-,), said at least one intermediate equipment and the recipient equipment initially being in standby mode and forming a sequence of successive equipment belonging to a home network, the method comprising, at the level of each intermediate equipment:

Receiving (10) a remote activation message (WoL) comprising a succession of addresses (MAC (INT-i), MAC (INT _n )) of successive equipment (INT _1; INT ") in the sequence of successive equipment,

• retransmitting (30) the remote activation message to the next equipment, in the sequence of successive equipment, by means of the sequence of addresses;

the method further comprising activating (40) the recipient equipment following receipt of the remote activation message retransmitted by said at least one intermediate equipment.

2. Activation method according to claim 1, wherein, for each intermediate equipment, the address succeeding the address of said intermediate equipment in the suite of addresses is extracted (20) from the remote activation message, the retransmission of the remote activation message to the next equipment being carried out using the extracted address.

3. Activation method according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein, after receiving the remote activation message by an intermediate equipment, said intermediate equipment is activated (15) before retransmitting the activation message. .

4. Activation method according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein, after the activation (40) of the recipient equipment, the method further comprises, at each intermediate equipment:

• receive (50) an activation message (WoL ') remotely from the following equipment in the sequence of successive equipment; and

· Activate (60) the intermediate equipment.

5. Activation method according to one of claims 3 or 4, further comprising, after the activation of each intermediate equipment of the sequence of successive equipment, the transmission (35,45,65) of a message d Acknowledgment (Ack) to the source equipment, through the previous intermediate equipment said equipment activated in the sequence of successive equipment.

6. Activation method according to claim 5, wherein the address of the source equipment is inserted before the addresses of the intermediate equipment in the suite of addresses, the transmission of the acknowledgment message to the source equipment being performed. using the address of the source equipment and the suite of addresses.

7. Activation method according to claim 4, wherein the activation message (WoL ') received by each intermediate device after the activation (40) of the recipient equipment is generated by the recipient equipment, the method further comprising, after the activation of each intermediate equipment of the sequence of successive equipment, the transmission (75) of an acknowledgment message (Ack) to the destination equipment, via the intermediate equipment following said equipment activated in the suite of successive equipment.

8. Activation method according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said addresses of successive equipment are MAC addresses and where the activation message is an Ethernet frame.

9. Activation method according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said addresses of successive equipment are IP addresses and where the activation message is an IP packet.

10. remote activation message, by a source equipment (SRC), of a destination equipment (DEST) connected to the source equipment via at least one intermediate equipment (INT-i), said least intermediate equipment and the recipient equipment initially being in standby mode and forming a series of equipment connected successively and belonging to a home network, the message (WoL) comprising a first part (WoL-i) containing a preamble indicative of the membership of the message to the category of activation messages and a second part (WoL ₂ ) comprising a sequence of addresses (MAC (INTi), MAC (INT _n )) of successive equipment (ΙΝΤΊ, INT ") In the sequence of successive equipment.

1 1. Computer program comprising code instructions for implementing the remote activation method according to one of claims 1 to 9, when this program is executed by a processing module of a network equipment.

12. Home network equipment for retransmitting a Remote Equipment Activation (DEST) message by a source equipment (SRC), comprising:

a receiver module adapted to receive, during a standby mode, a remote activation message (WoL) comprising a sequence of addresses successively associated with each of the equipment of a series of equipment connected successively; and

an emitter module configured to retransmit the remote activation message (WoL) to the next equipment, in the sequence of equipment connected successively, by means of the sequence of addresses.

The home network equipment of claim 12, further comprising a processing module configured to, following receipt of the remote activation message during said standby mode, retrieve the succeeding address (MAC (i + 1)) at the address of the network equipment in the suite of addresses, the transmitting module being configured to retransmit the remote activation message to the next equipment by means of said extracted address.

The home network equipment according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the processing module is further configured to trigger the activation of the network equipment after receiving a remote activation message including a suite of addresses. in which is inserted an address associated with said network equipment.

15. Home communication network for remote activation of equipment, the network comprising destination equipment (DEST) connected to a source equipment (SRC) via at least one intermediate equipment (INT-i) according to one of claims 12 to 14, wherein:

the source equipment is capable, when each intermediate equipment and the destination equipment are in standby mode, to issue a remote activation message according to claim 10; and

the at least one intermediate equipment (INT-i) and the destination equipment (DEST) are arranged to carry out the steps of the remote activation method according to one of claims 1 to 9.