JP2005332056A - Short-distance radio communication terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a convenience when a printer is selected in a printing system using a short-distance radio communication. <P>SOLUTION: A terminal device, which performs short-distance radio communication with a printing device, is provided with: a list display means which displays a list of printing devices in which communication is possible and receives the selection of printers to be used in printing; a search requesting means which requests the search of devices; a printing device extraction device which extracts printing devices from the devices which conform with the searching requests; a printing device information requesting means which requests information on the printing devices thus extracted to the printing device concerned; a determination means which determines whether the response information to the request for the printing device information satisfies prescribed conditions; and a printing device registration means which registers information for specifying the printing devices concerned at a high-order position of the list when they are determined to satisfy the conditions and also registers the information for specifying the printing devices concerned at an low-order position of the list when they are determined not to satisfy the conditions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system using short-range wireless communication technology, and more particularly to a terminal device that searches for a list of printable printers and displays the list.

  In recent years, networks using near field communication technology have been put into practical use. Conventionally, even in a printing system in which a terminal device such as a personal computer and a printer, which is a printing device, are connected by a cable, printing data can be transmitted from the terminal device to the printer by short-range wireless communication and printing can be performed. Yes.

  As a short-range wireless communication interface, Bluetooth (trademark) using a radio frequency of 2.45 GHz band is representative, and for example, various communication technologies using Bluetooth as proposed in Patent Document 1 are proposed. Has been.

  When the terminal device performs wireless communication with the printer via Bluetooth to make a print request, it makes a device search request in the vicinity, selects a printer from the responding devices, and presents a list of printers that can be printed to the user. Then, printing is executed by transmitting print data to the printer selected by the user.

JP 2002-373130 A

  By the way, in Bluetooth, a specification is defined for a procedure for making a device search request and acquiring information about the printer from the responding printer. However, a part for presenting a list of printable printers to the user is not defined. For this reason, the contents of the printer list display are left to the developer's design, but usability is not taken into consideration, and the printers are listed in the order in which they respond to prompt the user to make a selection. Yes.

  The printing process in the terminal device is controlled according to the print control program. However, since the printer specifications differ depending on the manufacturer, model, etc., the compatibility with the print control program is different for each printer.

  By performing printing with a printer having a good compatibility with the print control program, the performance of the print control program and the printer can be utilized to the maximum. Therefore, it is desirable to select a printer with a good compatibility.

  On the other hand, it is convenient if the user can easily designate a printer compatible with the printer control program.

  An object of the present invention is to improve usability in selecting a printer in a printing system using short-range wireless communication.

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention,
A terminal device that performs near field communication with a printing device,
List display means for displaying a list of communicable printing devices and accepting selection of a printing device to be used for printing;
Search request means for requesting device search;
Printing device extraction means for extracting a printing device from a device in response to the search request;
Printing device information requesting means for requesting information about the printing device to the extracted printing device;
Determining means for determining whether response information of the printing apparatus information request satisfies a predetermined condition;
When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is registered at the top of the list, and when it is determined that the condition is not satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is displayed in the list. There is provided a terminal device comprising printing device registration means for registering at a lower level.

  Here, the determination unit can determine whether the manufacturer of the printing apparatus included in the response information of the printing apparatus information request is a predetermined manufacturer as the predetermined condition.

  The predetermined manufacturer may be the same as a developer of a program for controlling print processing in the terminal device.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a short-range wireless communication system to which the present invention can be applied. As shown in the figure, the short-range wireless system includes a terminal device 1 and a plurality of peripheral devices.

  For example, it is assumed that the peripheral device is a printer 10, a digital camera 101, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) 102, and the printer 10 includes a plurality of printers 10a to 10e.

  The plurality of printers 10 are manufactured by various manufacturers and are different models. Here, the printer 10a is “A printer B made by company A”, the printer 10b is “printer b made by company B”, the printer 10c is “printer c made by company B”, and the printer 10d. Is a “printer d manufactured by company C”, and the printer 10 e is a “printer e manufactured by company A”.

  The terminal device 1 and the plurality of peripheral devices perform near field communication. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the short-range wireless communication performed by the terminal device 1 and the peripheral device uses Bluetooth. However, the short-range wireless communication interface between the terminal device 1 and the peripheral device is not limited to Bluetooth.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the terminal device 1 and the printer 10.

  As shown in the figure, the terminal device 1 includes a CPU 2, a RAM 3, an interface (I / F) 4, an auxiliary storage unit 5, a display unit 6, and a ROM 7.

  The CPU 2 is connected to the RAM 3, the I / F 4, the auxiliary storage unit 5, the display unit 6, and the ROM 7 via the bus, and executes various processes according to programs stored in the ROM 7. Further, the CPU 2 interprets a Bluetooth command input from the outside via the I / F 4 and reads data from the auxiliary storage unit 5 or outputs a response of the command from the I / F 4 to the outside. Processing for controlling the I / F 4 is performed.

  Further, the CPU 2 performs processing for executing printing by the printer 10 in accordance with a print control program stored in the ROM 3 or the like.

  The RAM 3 is used as a working memory for the CPU 2.

  The I / F 4 serves as an interface with an external device such as the printer 10. The I / F 4 creates a command conforming to the Bluetooth standard under the control of the CPU 2 and outputs the command to an external device, and also inputs a command conforming to the Bluetooth standard output from the external device, And the like are output to the CPU 2.

  It should be noted that a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like are provided in the I / F 4 so that subsequent Bluetooth command creation and output, interpretation of contents input from the outside, and the like are performed by control commands from the CPU 2. Good.

  The auxiliary storage unit 5 stores image data to be printed by the printer 10. Image data or the like is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 5 as a file in a predetermined image format such as JPEG. The file is identified by the file name, read by the control of the CPU 2, and output to an external device such as the printer 10 via the I / F 4. The auxiliary storage unit 5 can be configured using a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk device or a flash memory.

  The display unit 6 displays information necessary for operating the terminal device in a menu format or displays an image to be printed. The display unit 6 can be configured using a liquid crystal display device or the like.

  The ROM 7 stores various programs executed by the CPU 2 in a nonvolatile manner. The various programs are, for example, an operating system that controls the terminal device 1, a Bluetooth control program for performing communication using Bluetooth, a print control program for controlling the printer 10, and an application program that handles image data to be printed.

  The terminal device 1 can be configured using, for example, a personal computer or other information processing device. Of course, you may make it use portable terminal devices, such as a mobile telephone.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 10 includes a CPU 11, a RAM 12, an I / F 13, an operation panel 14, a print engine 15, and a ROM 16.

  The CPU 11 is connected to the RAM 12, the I / F 13, the operation panel 14, the print engine 15, and the ROM 16 via a bus. The CPU 11 executes various processes according to programs stored in the ROM 16 and performs processes for controlling the I / F 13, the operation panel 14, the print engine 15, and the like. Further, the CPU 11 interprets a Bluetooth command input from the outside via the I / F 13 to control the print engine 15 or the I / F 13.

  The RAM 12 is used as a working memory for the CPU 11.

  The I / F 13 serves as an interface with an external device wirelessly connected by Bluetooth. The I / F 13 creates a command conforming to the Bluetooth standard under the control of the CPU 11 and outputs the command to the external device, and also inputs a command conforming to the Bluetooth standard output from the external device, And the like are output to the CPU 11.

  It should be noted that a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. are provided in the I / F 13, and subsequent Bluetooth command creation and output, interpretation of contents input from the outside, etc. are performed by control instructions from the CPU 11. Good.

  The operation panel 14 displays the status of the printer 10 and accepts settings related to print processing in the printer 10. The operation panel 14 can be configured using a liquid crystal display device, an input button, or the like.

  The print engine 15 is a mechanism that actually performs print processing, and includes a paper supply / discharge mechanism, a print mechanism, and the like. The printing method of the print engine 15 can be an inkjet method, for example. An ink jet printing engine includes a plurality of ink cartridges filled with ink in a casing, and performs printing by spraying the ink from a recording head onto a printing medium such as recording paper. However, the printing method of the print engine 15 is not limited to the ink jet method, and may be, for example, a laser method using toner.

  The image data to be printed input from the I / F 13 is stored in the RAM 12 and is output to the print engine 15 under the control of the CPU 11 for printing processing.

  The ROM 16 stores various programs executed by the CPU 11 in a nonvolatile manner.

  Next, processing when the terminal device 1 performs printing from any of the printers 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. More specifically, in order to allow the user to select a printer to be used for printing, a search is made for printers 10 that can communicate, and a list of searched printers 10 is displayed. This process is controlled mainly by the CPU 2 executing a print control program.

  First, the terminal device 1 transmits a device search request (S101). When receiving the search request, the Bluetooth device within the communication range of the terminal device 1 transmits a connection response to the terminal device 1.

  When a connection response is received from any of the Bluetooth devices (S102: Y), a CoD (Class of Device) included in the connection response is checked to determine whether the responding device is a printer (S103). This is because the print control program is an application that controls the printer 10 to perform printing, and is excluded from the list for creating a Bluetooth device other than the printer 10 to be controlled.

  If it is determined that the printer is not a printer (S103: N), a connection response from another Bluetooth device is awaited.

  On the other hand, if the printer is determined to be a printer (S103: Y), an SDP search request is transmitted to the device in order to check the attribute of the device (S104).

  And the response from the apparatus is received (S105). This response includes a profile that can be used by the printer, a printer manufacturer, a printer model, and other information related to the printer. Note that the processing from the device search request up to here is performed according to the Bluetooth specification.

  The terminal device 1 compares the response content with a predetermined condition, and determines whether or not the printer 10 satisfies the condition (S106).

  This condition can be, for example, a printer of a predetermined manufacturer. If the printer 10 that performs printing is compatible with the program that controls the printing process, it is expected that a good printing result will be obtained. For example, if the printer is the same manufacturer as the manufacturer of the print processing program, or a printer manufactured by a strongly related manufacturer, it is assumed that the compatibility of both is good.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is a condition that the printer is a product of a predetermined manufacturer, specifically, the same manufacturer as the manufacturer of the print processing program or a strongly related manufacturer.

  Of course, the condition determined in the process (S106) is not limited to a printer of a predetermined manufacturer. For example, a predetermined printer model and a predetermined function can be provided.

  If the responding printer does not have a BPP (Basic Printing Profile) which is a printing profile in Bluetooth, it is not necessary to compare the conditions and do not add it to the list. Further, depending on the conditions employed in the process (S106), there may be cases where determination can be made based on CoD information included in the connection response. In this case, the condition may be determined based on CoD information included in the connection response instead of the response to the SDP search request.

  As a result of determining whether the condition is satisfied in the process (S106), if it is determined that the condition is satisfied, the printer 10 is registered at the top of the list to be displayed (S107). This is to display the printer 10 that satisfies the conditions at the top of the list in order to make it easier for the user to select the printer 10. The information registered in the list can be, for example, the manufacturer name and model name of the printer 10. If the printer 10 has an identifier, the information may be registered.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the condition is not satisfied, the printer 10 is registered at the bottom of the list to be displayed (S108). Thereby, the printer 10 satisfying the conditions can be displayed relatively higher in the list.

  And it returns to a process (S102) and waits for the connection response from another Bluetooth apparatus.

  If there is no response from the Bluetooth device (S102: N), the generated printer list is displayed on the display unit 6 (S109). This list is to be displayed as a list of printers that can communicate when prompting the user to select a printer.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list 500 displayed when the condition determined in the process (S106) is “A printer manufactured by company A”. In this example, it is assumed that the printer control program is developed by Company A and has a design content suitable for printing with a printer manufactured by Company A.

  As shown in the figure, the list 500 displays a list of manufacturer names and model names of printers 10 that can be printed from the terminal device 1. Here, “printer e” and “printer a” that satisfy the condition “being a printer manufactured by company A” are displayed at the top, making it easy for the user to specify them. Of course, if the terminal device 1 is designed to be more easily specified when displayed at the lower side of the list, the upper and lower levels are reversed and displayed.

  Then, the terminal device 1 accepts designation of a printer used for printing from the user using this list (S110).

  In the list shown in FIG. 4, the conditions are determined in the order in which the connection responses are received. Therefore, the display order of the printers 10 that satisfy the conditions is not guaranteed. In other words, in the above algorithm, the printer 10 for which the condition is determined later is added to the list as higher or lower.

  Therefore, the list display order may be further determined among the printers 10 that satisfy the conditions. By doing so, it is possible to make it easier to select a more compatible printer 10 among the printers 10 that satisfy the conditions. For this purpose, the terminal device 1 is provided with data 520 as shown in FIG. This data is included in the printer control program, for example.

  That is, the data 520 defines the priority for each model among the printers that satisfy the conditions, in this example, the printers manufactured by Company A. If it is a printer of a predetermined manufacturer, the model of a printer on the market can be grasped, and therefore data 520 like this example can be determined.

  In this case, when the list is generated by the above algorithm, the terminal device 1 refers to the data 520 and sorts the models of the printer names made by the company A included in the list and displays them on the display unit 6. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a list 500a when the list shown in FIG. 4 is changed according to the data 520 shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the printer a set higher in the data 520 is displayed higher than the printer e, making it easier to specify.

  In the above flow chart, when connection responses from individual printers 10 are received, registration is made at the upper and lower levels of the list. However, after connection responses from all printers 10 are received, a predetermined response is received. The order of display in the list may be rearranged depending on whether or not the above condition is satisfied.

  In the process (S108), the printer 10 that does not satisfy the condition is added to the bottom of the list, but may not be displayed in the list. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, only the printers a and e that satisfy the condition “A printer manufactured by company A” are displayed in the list 500b. Here, whether or not the printer 10 that does not satisfy the conditions is displayed in the list can be determined based on an instruction from the user, for example.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a near field communication printing system. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a terminal device and a printer. It is a flowchart explaining the process at the time of a terminal device performing printing. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer list displayed on a terminal device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data defining a priority order for each printer model. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer list displayed on a terminal device. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer list displayed on a terminal device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Terminal device, 2 ... CPU, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... I / F, 5 ... Auxiliary memory | storage part, 6 ... Display part, 7 ... ROM, 10 ... Printer, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... RAM, 13 ... I / F, 14 ... operation panel, 15 ... print engine, 16 ... ROM

Claims (9)

A terminal device that performs near field communication with a printing device,
List display means for displaying a list of communicable printing devices and accepting selection of a printing device to be used for printing;
Search request means for requesting device search;
Printing device extraction means for extracting a printing device from a device in response to the search request;
Printing device information requesting means for requesting information about the printing device to the extracted printing device;
Determining means for determining whether response information of the printing apparatus information request satisfies a predetermined condition;
When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is registered at the top of the list, and when it is determined that the condition is not satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is displayed in the list. A terminal device comprising: a printing device registration unit that registers in a lower level. The terminal device according to claim 1,
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the manufacturer of the printing apparatus included in the response information of the printing apparatus information request is a predetermined manufacturer as the predetermined condition. The terminal device according to claim 2,
The predetermined manufacturer is the same as a developer of a program for controlling print processing in the terminal device. The terminal device according to claim 2,
The printing device registration means switches the order of the list based on a predetermined priority for information for specifying a printing device determined to satisfy a predetermined condition after registration in the list of communicable printing devices. A terminal device characterized by that. The terminal device according to claim 4,
The terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined priority order is an order assigned to each model. The terminal device according to claim 1,
The information for specifying the printing device to be registered in the list by the printing device registration means is the manufacturer of the printing device and the model name of the printing device included in the response information of the printing device information request. A terminal device. A terminal device that performs near field communication with a printing device,
List display means for displaying a list of printing devices and receiving selection of a printing device to be used for printing;
Search request means for requesting device search;
Printing device extraction means for extracting a printing device from a device in response to the search request;
Printing device information requesting means for requesting information about the printing device to the extracted printing device;
Determining means for determining whether response information of the printing apparatus information request satisfies a predetermined condition;
A terminal device comprising: a printing device registration unit that registers information for specifying the printing device in a list when it is determined that the condition is satisfied. A printing control program that is executed by a terminal device that performs near field communication with a printing device,
List display means for displaying a list of communicable printing devices and accepting selection of a printing device to be used for printing;
A determination means for determining whether information about the printing apparatus acquired from a communication printing apparatus satisfies a predetermined condition;
When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is registered at the top of the list, and when it is determined that the condition is not satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is displayed in the list. A printing control program for causing a terminal device to function as a printing device registration means registered at a lower level. A list display control method for displaying a list of communicable printing devices in a terminal device that performs short-range wireless communication with a printing device and receiving selection of a printing device used for printing,
A search request step for requesting a device search;
A printing device extraction step of extracting a printing device from a device in response to the search request;
A printing device information requesting step for requesting information about the printing device to the extracted printing device;
A determination step of determining whether response information of the printing apparatus information request satisfies a predetermined condition;
When it is determined that the condition is satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is registered at the top of the list, and when it is determined that the condition is not satisfied, information for specifying the printing apparatus is displayed in the list. A list display control method comprising: a printing apparatus registration step for registering at a lower level.

Images