JP2017112432A - Communication device, control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cause a communication device to intermediate a connection setting between communication devices irrespective of a protocol supported by another communication device.SOLUTION: A communication device, which can perform first radio communication with a first other device and a second other device, and can set a connection between the first other device and the second other device, executes communication related to setting to connect between the first other device and the second other device with second radio communication, using the first radio communication with the first other device and the second other device. The communication device transmits, to the first other device and the second other device, a first signal related to a first procedure for the setting, and according to a response to the received first signal, determines whether to execute communication for the setting by a second procedure, which is different from the first procedure, with a device which has transmitted the response.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device capable of executing connection control between other communication devices.

  In recent years, communication devices having a near field wireless communication function such as NFC (Near Field Communication), IrDA (Infrared Data Association), and TransferJet (registered trademark) have appeared. A user of a communication device having a close proximity wireless communication function can transmit and receive various data between these communication devices by simply bringing the communication device close to another communication device having a close proximity wireless communication function. it can.

  Also, in Patent Document 1, it is difficult for a communication device to use NFC, which is proximity wireless communication, to mediate exchange of setting information for wireless connection between other communication devices, and to make it close. A technique for connecting devices with a wireless communication method different from NFC is described. Note that wireless communication systems different from NFC include, for example, wireless LAN, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the like.

JP 2014-529210 A

  However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, it is required that both other communication devices that receive the mediation of setting information for wireless connection are compatible with a predetermined communication protocol for information exchange. For this reason, when at least one of these other communication devices does not support the communication protocol, there is a problem that the connection of these other communication devices cannot be established.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a device that enables a communication device to mediate connection settings between other communication devices regardless of the protocol supported by the other communication device. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a communication device according to the present invention is a communication device capable of setting a connection between a first other device and a second other device, and the first other device. And the second other device, communication means for performing the first wireless communication, and the first other device and the second other device for connecting by the second wireless communication Execution means for executing communication related to the setting via each of the first other device and the second other device and the communication means, and the execution means includes the communication means According to a response to the received first signal, the first signal related to the first procedure for setting is transmitted to each of the first other device and the second other device. For the setting by the second procedure different from the first procedure with the device that has transmitted the response. Determining whether to perform the communication, characterized in that.

  According to the present invention, the communication device can mediate connection setting between the other communication devices regardless of the protocol supported by the other communication device.

The figure which shows the structural example of a radio | wireless communications system. The block diagram which shows the structural example of a smart device. The block diagram which shows the structural example of a projector. The block diagram which shows the structural example of PC. The flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the mediation handover process by a smart device. The flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the network information mediation process by a smart device. The flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the hand-over process between apparatuses by a smart device. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the 1st example of the process performed with a radio | wireless communications system. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the 2nd example of the process performed with a radio | wireless communications system. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the 3rd example of the process performed with a radio | wireless communications system.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.

(Configuration of wireless communication system)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a wireless communication system 100 according to the present embodiment. The wireless communication system 100 includes, for example, a smart device 101, a projector 102, and a PC (Personal Computer) 103, each of which is a communication device having a wireless communication function. These communication devices have a function of executing close proximity wireless communication (first wireless communication) such as NFC (Near Field Communication). In the present embodiment, each communication device has an NFC reader / writer function and performs the first wireless communication (P2P communication), but is not limited thereto. For example, the projector 102 or the PC 103 may have a dynamically rewritable NFC tag, and the smart device 101 may perform communication for reading and writing the NFC tag, and other methods may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, for communication between the projector 102 and the PC 103, second wireless communication such as a wireless LAN, which is different from the first wireless communication such as proximity wireless communication, is used.

  The projector 102 and the PC 103 may be able to execute the setting related to the second wireless communication by being close to each other, but here, for example, the projector 102 and the PC 103 are fixed and cannot be brought close to each other. . For this reason, in the wireless communication system 100, the smart device 101 uses the first wireless communication such as the proximity wireless communication for connection setting related to the second wireless communication 106 between the projector 102 and the PC 103. Communication 104 and 105 are performed. That is, the smart device 101 mediates settings for the second wireless communication (for example, communication by wireless LAN) between the projector 102 and the PC 103 by the first wireless communication (for example, communication by NFC). In this way, the process of handing over the first device and the second device that cannot directly perform NFC communication to the second wireless communication via the mediation device is referred to as mediation handover processing. The intermediary handover process may be a mediated handover defined by the NFC Connection Handover standard.

  The smart device 101 according to the present embodiment executes communication for setting wireless communication between the projector 102 and the PC 103 using any of a plurality of procedures. Here, although the details will be described later, the plurality of procedures may include, for example, a mediation handover processing procedure as a first procedure and an inter-device handover processing procedure as a second procedure. As the plurality of procedures, any procedure may be used as long as it is a procedure for communication for setting wireless communication between the projector 102 and the PC 103 by the smart device 101. It is not limited to the inter-handover processing procedure. Note that the “handover” in this case is the second wireless communication in which communication at a relatively long distance such as a wireless LAN is performed using communication by the first wireless communication capable of near field communication such as NFC. This refers to a procedure for establishing a connection and starting communication by the second wireless communication. The inter-device handover process is a process in which the first device and the second device capable of performing direct NFC communication perform handover to the second wireless communication via the mediation device. Note that the inter-device handover process is defined by the NFC Connection Handover standard and can be a Negotiated Handover that uses bidirectional communication. Further, the inter-device handover process may be a static handover defined between the NFC Connection Handover standard and performed between the reader / writer and the tag.

  For example, the smart device 101 sequentially transmits a request for handover according to the first procedure to each of the projector 102 and the PC 103, and in response to the response, the request destination device is the first device. Can check if the procedure is supported. If the request destination device does not support the first procedure, the smart device 101 determines to perform connection setting communication using the second procedure. That is, the smart device 101 first tries communication for connection setting according to the first procedure, and when the response is not related to the first procedure, communication for connection setting according to the second procedure different from the first procedure. Decide to do. As a result, the smart device 101 should automatically check the procedure corresponding to the projector 102 and the PC 103 among a plurality of procedures, and should be used for each device for communication setting between these devices. A communication procedure can be determined. Note that if the request destination device does not support both the first procedure and the second procedure, the smart device 101 may perform communication for connection setting using yet another procedure. Good. For example, when a plurality of procedures correspond to protocols related to different intermediary handover processes, the smart device 101 may use these procedures preferentially and then use the inter-device handover process.

  Hereinafter, an example of the device configuration of the smart device 101, the projector 102, and the PC 103 and an example of the flow of processing will be described in detail.

(Smart device configuration)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the smart device 101 according to the present embodiment. The smart device 101 includes, for example, a wireless LAN communication unit 201, a public wireless communication unit 203, an NFC communication unit 205, a packet transmission / reception unit 207, a control unit 208, a storage unit 209, a power supply unit 210, a display unit 211, an operation unit 212, a call A unit 213 and a microphone 214. The smart device 101 includes antennas 202, 204, and 206 corresponding to the frequency bands for communication of the wireless LAN communication unit 201, the public wireless communication unit 203, and the NFC communication unit 205, respectively.

  Each functional block may be configured by hardware or a combination of hardware and software. For example, the storage unit 209 may be configured by both or either of ROM and RAM, and various information such as programs for performing various operations related to each functional block and communication parameters for wireless communication. Can be stored. As the storage unit 209, in addition to memories such as ROM and RAM, storage media such as flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, magnetic tapes, nonvolatile memory cards, DVDs, etc. May be used. The control unit 208 may be configured by, for example, a CPU or an MPU, and at least one of the above-described functional blocks is realized by the control unit 208 executing a program stored in the storage unit 209. sell. Furthermore, for example, the display unit 211 and the operation unit 212 may be configured by the same hardware and driving software, for example, by a touch panel, and other functional blocks are also realized integrally by the same hardware. May be. Further, each functional block may be realized in a distributed manner by a plurality of hardware and software components.

  In the configuration of the projector 102 and the PC 103 described later, each functional block may be configured by hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Also in the configuration of the projector 102 and the PC 103, a plurality of functional blocks may be integratedly realized by the same hardware or the like, or each functional block is distributedly realized by a plurality of hardware and software components. Also good.

  The wireless LAN communication unit 201 executes RF (radio frequency) control, various controls, and protocol processing for communication conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard series. The wireless LAN communication unit 201 can transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 202. In the present embodiment, the wireless LAN conforms to the IEEE 802.11 standard series, but may conform to other wireless LAN standards. Further, instead of the wireless LAN, other communication methods such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used.

  The public wireless communication unit 203 executes control in RF, various controls, and protocol processing for public wireless communication. Public wireless communication refers to communication based on, for example, IMT (International Multimedia Communications) standard. The IMT standard includes wideband CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard, and the like. The public wireless communication unit 203 can transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 204.

  The NFC communication unit 205 executes control in RF, various controls, and protocol processing for wireless communication compliant with NFC (Near Field Communication). When the NFC communication unit 205 detects a communicable device within the communication range, the NFC communication unit 205 automatically establishes an NFC connection. In this embodiment, the NFC communication unit 205 operates as a reader / writer, and can perform bidirectional data communication with an NFC communication unit 303 of the projector 102 described later or an NFC communication unit 403 of the PC 103. To do. The NFC communication unit 205 can transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 206.

  The NFC communication unit 205 performs wireless communication in conformity with NFC, but a close proximity wireless communication method other than NFC may be used. For example, a communication method such as infrared communication (IrDA) or Transfer Jet that has a shorter communication distance than a wireless LAN can be used. However, the close proximity wireless communication method used by the NFC communication unit 205 is the same as the method used by the NFC communication unit 303 of the projector 102 and the NFC communication unit 403 of the PC 103 described later. Therefore, the NFC communication unit 303 of the projector 102 and the NFC communication unit 403 of the PC 103 can also use a proximity wireless communication method other than NFC.

  The packet transmission / reception unit 207 executes processing for transmitting / receiving a packet using each of the communication units described above. That is, the packet transmission / reception unit 207 packetizes data to be transmitted to other devices among the data generated in the smart device 101 in a format according to the communication unit used for communication, and delivers the packet to the communication unit. . Further, the packet transmitting / receiving unit 207 receives the wireless packet received by each communication unit, and extracts data from the packet. Note that the function of the packet transmitting / receiving unit 207 may be included in each communication unit.

  As described above, the control unit 208 controls the entire smart device 101 by executing a control program stored in the storage unit 209. The storage unit 209 stores a control program executed by the control unit 208 and various types of information such as parameters necessary for communication. Various operations described below are performed by the control unit 208 executing a control program stored in the storage unit 209.

  The power supply unit 210 is a functional block that supplies power to the smart device 101, and is a battery, for example. The display unit 211 has a function of performing various displays, and can output visually recognizable information such as an LCD or LED, or can output sound such as a speaker. The operation unit 212 receives an operation on the smart device 101 by the user. The call unit 213 provides a voice call or video call function to the user in cooperation with the microphone 214, the display unit 211, and the like, for example.

(Configuration of projector and PC)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the projector 102 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the PC 103 according to the present embodiment.

  The projector 102 includes, for example, a wireless LAN communication unit 301, an NFC communication unit 303, a control unit 305, a storage unit 306, an operation unit 307, a display unit 308, a packet transmission / reception unit 309, a projection unit 310, an image processing unit 311, and an encoding / decoding unit. And a power supply unit 313. The projector 102 includes antennas 302 and 304 corresponding to communication frequency bands of the wireless LAN communication unit 301 and the NFC communication unit 303, respectively.

  The PC 103 includes, for example, a wireless LAN communication unit 401, an NFC communication unit 403, a control unit 405, a storage unit 406, an operation unit 407, a display unit 408, a packet transmission / reception unit 409, an image processing unit 410, an encoding / decoding unit 411, and A power supply unit 412 is included. The PC 103 includes antennas 402 and 404 corresponding to the communication frequency bands of the wireless LAN communication unit 401 and the NFC communication unit 403, respectively.

  Here, the wireless LAN communication units 301 and 401 have the same function as the wireless LAN communication unit 201 of the smart device 101, and the NFC communication units 303 and 403 have the same function as the NFC communication unit 205 of the smart device 101. Have. The packet transmission / reception units 309 and 409 also have the same functions as the packet transmission / reception unit 207 of the smart device 101. Also, the control units 305 and 405 and the storage units 306 and 406 are the control unit 208 and the storage unit of the smart device 101, except that the control target is not the smart device 101, and as a result, the stored and executed programs are different. It is the same as 209. Furthermore, the operation units 307 and 407 and the display units 308 and 408 are similar in function to the operation unit 212 and the display unit 211 of the smart device 101 except that the operation target by the user is not the smart device 101. Below, other than these functional blocks will be described.

  In the projector 102, the projection unit 310 is a functional block that projects an optical image. The image processing unit 311 converts the image data to be output from the projection unit 310 into image data of a predetermined format, and executes various processes such as brightness and color correction of the image data. The encoding / decoding unit 312 performs predetermined high-efficiency encoding (for example, DCT conversion, variable length encoding after quantization) on the image data input to the image processing unit 311. The power supply unit 313 is a power supply for supplying power to the projector 102, and is a commercial power supply, for example. In the PC 103, the image processing unit 410 performs the same processing as the image processing unit 311 on, for example, an image to be projected from the projector 102 or an image to be displayed on the display unit 408. The encoding / decoding unit 411 and the power supply unit 412 are the same as the encoding / decoding unit 312 and the power supply unit 313.

  All the functional blocks described above are interrelated in software or hardware. Further, the above-described functional blocks are examples, and a plurality of functional blocks may constitute one functional block, or any one of the functional blocks may be further divided into blocks that perform a plurality of functions.

(Flow of processing executed by smart device)
Next, an intermediary handover process between the smart device 101, the projector 102, and the PC 103 will be described. In the following description, a case where each message related to the handover process is in conformity with the NFC Connection Handover standard will be described. However, as long as information to be notified in each message can be notified, other messages are used. May be.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow when the smart device 101 starts the mediation handover processing. The mediated handover process can be started when a user activates an application or performs a UI operation using the operation unit 212. However, for example, the NFC communication unit 205 may detect the proximity handover of the device.

  First, the smart device 101 notifies the user that a touch operation should be performed (S501). The notification of the touch operation can be performed, for example, by causing the display unit 211 to display a message for prompting the touch operation to another device to be handed over to the wireless LAN by the intermediary handover process. In addition, the notification of the touch operation may be performed in other forms such as, for example, generating a specific vibration or sound using the display unit 211. Thereafter, the smart device 101 waits for NFC communication to be detected (S502). Here, the detection of NFC communication can be performed, for example, depending on whether or not NFC P2P communication is established in the NFC communication unit 205, but may be performed by other methods. For example, the NFC communication may be detected depending on whether or not information stored in a nonvolatile memory included in the NFC communication unit of the partner device of the NFC communication has been read. In response to detecting NFC communication (YES in S502), the smart device 101 starts network information mediation processing (S503). Details of the network information mediation process will be described later.

  In S504, the smart device 101 determines whether the result of the network information mediation process in S503 is an error. If the result of the network information mediation process is an error (YES in S504), the smart device 101 notifies the user of the error (S512) and ends the mediation handover process. The error notification may be performed by displaying a message indicating that the intermediary handover process has ended in error on the display unit 211, but is not limited thereto. For example, notification of an error may be performed by emitting a specific vibration or sound indicating that the mediation handover process has ended in error using the display unit 211. On the other hand, if the result of the network information mediation process is not an error (NO in S504), the smart device 101 subsequently performs a touch operation notification similar to S501 (S505).

  The notification of the touch operation here is a notification that prompts the user to touch the second partner device that is the partner of the connection with the first partner device touched according to the notification in S501. For example, when the projector 102 is touched in response to the notification in S501, in S505, a notification that the target device to be connected with the projector 102 should be touched is issued. In accordance with this, the user can touch the PC 103, for example.

  After the notification in S505, the smart device 101 determines whether NFC communication has been detected in the same manner as in S502 (S506). When the smart device 101 does not detect NFC communication (NO in S506), the smart device 101 determines whether or not to cancel the process (S507), and when it stops the process (YES in S507), notifies the error ( S512), the intermediary handover process is terminated. On the other hand, if the process is not stopped (NO in S507), the process returns to S506.

  When the smart device 101 detects NFC communication in S506 (YES in S506), the smart device 101 performs network information mediation processing similar to S503 with the counterpart device of NFC communication (S508). Then, similarly to S504, the smart device 101 determines whether the result of the network information mediation process is an error (S509), and if it is an error (YES in S509), notifies the error (S512), End the mediation handover. On the other hand, if the result of the network information mediation process is not an error (NO in S509), the smart device 101 determines whether or not the touch operation to the partner apparatus of the network information mediation process in S503 is necessary again (S510). . The determination of whether or not a retouch operation is necessary is performed in the process of S508, and will be described in detail in the description of the network information mediation process later.

  If the smart device 101 determines that a retouch operation is necessary (YES in S510), the smart device 101 returns the process to S505 and executes communication for connection setting with the partner device to be retouched. On the other hand, when the smart device 101 determines that the retouch operation is not necessary (NO in S510), the smart device 101 notifies the user of the completion (S511) and ends the intermediary handover process. The completion notification can be performed by displaying a message indicating that the intermediary handover process has been completed on the display unit 211 or by issuing a specific vibration or voice indicating that the intermediary handover process has been completed. However, any method may be used as long as the user can be notified that the intermediary handover process has been completed.

  Next, the network information mediation process executed in S503 and S508 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the smart device 101 starts the network information mediation process, it first transmits a mediation handover request (S601). Here, the intermediary handover request may be a message in which “Hm” record, which is information indicating intermediary handover, is stored in the network information in the Handover Request message. The smart device 101 determines whether any response to the mediation handover request has been received (S602). If the response is received (YES in S602), the process proceeds to S604, and if not received (NO in S602). The process proceeds to S603.

  In S603, the smart device 101 determines whether or not to cancel the intermediary handover process. If it is determined to cancel (YES in S603), the smart device 101 determines that there is an error (S612) and ends the network information intermediation process. . On the other hand, when the smart device 101 determines not to stop the intermediary handover process (NO in S603), the process returns to S602. Here, the determination as to whether or not to cancel the intermediary handover process can be made based on whether or not a certain period has elapsed since the transmission of the intermediary handover request, but is not limited thereto. For example, the smart device 101 may determine to stop the intermediary handover process when some condition is satisfied, such as when disconnection of NFC communication is detected or when a cancel instruction is issued by a user operation. .

  In step S604, the smart device 101 determines whether the received response is a mediation connection response. The mediation connection response is, for example, a Handover Median Response message, and the smart device 101 can determine that the counterpart device is compatible with mediation handover by receiving this message. On the other hand, when the counterpart device does not support the intermediary handover, the smart device 101 receives the selection response. Note that the selection response may be a Handover Select message. If the received response is a mediation connection response (YES in S604), the smart device 101 proceeds to S606. If the response is not a mediation connection response (NO in S604), the smart device 101 proceeds to S605. In S605, an inter-device handover process is executed. Details of the inter-device handover process will be described later.

  In S606, the smart device 101 determines whether network information is included in the received mediation connection response. Here, the network information may be information including a network type, a parameter for connecting to the network, and the like. The network type may be a carrier type such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct (registered trademark). Further, the parameter for connecting to the network may be at least one or all of an SSID, a network key, an encryption method, an authentication method, and a MAC address. If network information is included in the received mediation connection response (YES in S606), the process proceeds to S607. If not included (NO in S606), it is determined as an error (S612), and network information mediation is performed. The process ends. Note that the case where the network information is not included in the intermediary connection response may be, for example, a case where the counterpart device supports intermediary handover but is in a state where intermediary handover cannot be executed at that stage. Further, when the network information includes information indicating the type of the network and does not include a parameter for connecting to the network, it may not be determined as an error.

  In S607, the smart device 101 determines whether or not the touch operation is the first time, that is, whether the currently performed network information mediation process is a process related to S503 or a process related to S508. If the touch operation is the first time (YES in S607), that is, if the currently executed process is a process related to S503, the smart device 101 ends the network information mediation process. On the other hand, if the touch operation is not the first time (NO in S607), that is, if the currently executed process is a process related to S508, the smart device 101 transmits a handover start request to the partner apparatus (S608). Here, the handover start request is, for example, a Handover Initiate Request message. By including network information in this message, it is possible to instruct the partner apparatus to connect to the network. In this case, the smart device 101 can communicate with each other using the network information acquired from the first device that first started NFC communication and the network information acquired from the second device that started NFC communication next. A handover start request specifying is sent. Note that if the first device and the second device can communicate with a plurality of network types, the smart device 101 may specify the network type automatically selected according to the priority, or the user's The network type selected according to the selection may be specified. Further, when there is no second wireless communication in which the first device and the second device can communicate with each other, the processing may be terminated. After that, the smart device 101 determines whether a response to the handover start request has been received (S609). If the response is received (YES in S609), the process proceeds to S611, and if no response has been received (S609) NO) advances the process to S610.

  In S610, the smart device 101 determines whether to stop the process. When the process is stopped (YES in S610), it is determined as an error (S612), and the network information mediation process ends. On the other hand, when the smart device 101 does not stop the process (NO in S610), the process returns to S609. In S611, the smart device 101 determines whether the network information in the received response matches the network information specified in the handover start request. If the network information matches (YES in S611), the smart device 101 ends the network information mediation process normally. If the network information does not match (NO in S611), the smart device 101 determines that there is an error (S612). The process ends. If the network information matches, the partner device accepts the connection to the network specified in the handover start request. If they do not match, the partner device refuses the connection to the network. It can be.

  Next, the inter-device handover process executed in S605 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this process, the smart device 101 first determines whether or not the touch operation is the first time (S701). The determination here is the same as the determination in S607. The determination of whether or not the touch operation is the first time may be performed based on, for example, whether or not NFC communication with another partner apparatus has already been performed using the NFC communication unit 205, and the series of FIG. It may be determined in which phase of the process it is. If the smart device 101 determines that the touch operation is the first time (YES in S701), the smart device 101 transmits an inter-device handover request that does not include network information (S702). The smart device 101 may transmit an inter-device handover request when communication is started in the P2P mode in which bidirectional communication is performed, and may transmit a read command when communication is started in the reader / writer mode.

  On the other hand, when the smart device 101 determines that the touch operation is not the first time (NO in S701), the smart device 101 transmits an inter-device handover request including network information (S703). In S703, the smart device 101 can request the other apparatus to connect to the network specified by the network information by including the network information in the inter-device handover request. Note that the network information transmitted in S703 includes network information acquired from the partner device of NFC communication started by the first touch operation. Here, the inter-device handover request may be a Handover Request message. The network information here is, for example, information related to the wireless LAN, and includes a type such as AP / Client and a parameter such as SSID / encryption key. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the network information may include, for example, information on other wireless communication such as Bluetooth or information on a plurality of wireless communications.

  Thereafter, the smart device 101 determines whether a response to the inter-device handover request has been received (S704). Here, the response to the inter-device handover request is a selection response, which may be a Handover Select message. When the smart device 101 starts communication in the reader / writer mode in S702 and transmits a read command, the smart device 101 determines whether a record corresponding to the selection response has been read. If the smart device 101 has not received a response (YES in S704), the smart device 101 determines whether to stop the process (S705). If the process is stopped (YES in S705), the smart device 101 determines that there is an error (S711). The process is terminated. On the other hand, if the smart device 101 does not stop the processing (NO in S705), the smart device 101 returns the processing to S704.

  When the smart device 101 receives the response (YES in S704), the smart device 101 determines whether the network information is included in the response (S706). Then, if the network information is not included in the response (NO in S706), the smart device 101 determines that there is an error (S711) and ends the process. The fact that the network information is not included in the selection response may indicate that when the inter-device handover request is not specified by the network information, the partner device cannot execute the inter-device handover process for some reason. Further, when the network information is specified in the inter-device handover request, the network information is not included in the selection response, so that the partner apparatus cannot connect to the specified network at this stage. It can be shown.

  On the other hand, when the network information is included in the response (YES in S706), the smart device 101 determines whether or not the touch operation is the first time in the same manner as in S701 (S707). Then, when the touch operation is the first time (YES in S707), the smart device 101 normally ends the inter-device handover process. On the other hand, when the touch operation is not the first time (NO in S707), the smart device 101 determines whether the network information included in the inter-device handover request matches the network information included in the received selection response ( S708). If the network information specified in each of the request and response matches, the partner device can connect to the wireless LAN included in the request, and if it does not match, it cannot connect. Become.

  Then, when these pieces of network information match (YES in S708), the smart device 101 normally ends the inter-device handover process. On the other hand, if the network information does not match (NO in S708), the smart device 101 determines whether a retouch operation with the other partner device is necessary (S709). If the smart device 101 determines that the retouch operation is necessary (YES in S709), the smart device 101 stores, for example, information indicating that the retouch operation is necessary in the storage unit 209 (S710), and the inter-device handover is normally performed. finish. On the other hand, when the smart device 101 determines that the retouch operation is not necessary (NO in S709), the smart device 101 determines that there is an error (S711) and ends the inter-device handover.

(Processing flow in wireless communication system)
Next, the flow of processing performed in the wireless communication system for several cases will be described with reference to FIGS.

[Example 1]
First, the case where the PC 103 is compatible with the mediation handover but the projector 102 is not compatible with FIG. 8 and the smart device 101 is first brought close to the projector 102 and then to the PC 103 will be described. To do.

  First, it is assumed that the user has started an application in order to start the intermediary handover process in the smart device 101 (M801). When the smart device 101 starts the application, it notifies one of the two communication devices to be handed over to make the NFC communication unit approach (touch) (S501, M802). Thereafter, it is assumed that the user brings the NFC communication unit 205 of the smart device 101 close to the NFC communication unit 303 of the projector 102.

  Then, the smart device 101 and the projector 102 start NFC communication 104 (M803). When the smart device 101 detects NFC communication (YES in S502), the smart device 101 transmits a mediation handover request to the projector 102 (S601, M804). Since the projector 102 does not support the mediated handover, the projector 102 transmits a selection response not including the network information to the smart device 101 (M805). When the smart device 101 receives the selection response (YES in S602), the smart device 101 determines that the projector 102 does not support the mediated handover (NO in S604). Since the touch operation on the projector 102 is the first touch operation after the touch operation on the projector 102 starts the intermediary handover process (YES in S701), the smart device 101 transmits an inter-device handover request that does not include network information (S702, M806). . When the projector 102 receives the inter-device handover request, the projector 102 transmits a selection response including network information related to the wireless LAN 1 created by itself or that can participate (M807), and starts connection to the wireless LAN 1 (M808). . When the smart device 101 receives the selection response (YES in S704), since the response includes network information and the touch operation is the first time (YES in S706 and S707), the NFC communication unit approaches the other communication device. A notification for prompting is performed (S505, M809).

  Thereafter, when the user brings the NFC communication unit 205 of the smart device 101 close to the NFC communication unit 403 of the PC 103, the smart device 101 and the PC 103 start the NFC communication 105 (M810). When the smart device 101 detects NFC communication (YES in S506), the smart device 101 transmits a mediation handover request to the PC 103 (S601, M811). Since the PC 103 supports the intermediary handover, it transmits an intermediary connection response including information related to the wireless LAN 2 created by itself or that can participate in the smart device 101 (M812). When receiving the mediation connection response including the network information, the smart device 101 determines that the mediation handover can be executed (YES in S606) because the PC 103 supports the mediation handover (YES in S604). The touch operation with the PC 103 is the second time following the projector 102 and is not the first time (NO in S607). For this reason, the smart device 101 transmits a handover start request including information on the wireless LAN 1 created by the projector 102 or that can participate (S608, M813). When the PC 103 determines that it can connect to the wireless LAN 1 included in the received handover start request, the PC 103 transmits a handover start response including information related to the wireless LAN 1 to the smart device 101 (M814). Thereafter, the PC 103 starts connection to the wireless LAN 1 (M815). Upon receiving the handover start response (YES in S609), the smart device 101 can confirm that the information related to the wireless LAN 1 in the response matches the information related to the wireless LAN 1 specified in the M813 request (YES in S611). Therefore, the smart device 101 displays a message indicating that the intermediary handover process is complete (M816) and ends the process. Thereafter, wireless LAN connection processing is performed between the projector 102 and the PC 103 (M817), and data transfer is started (M818).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even when the first touched communication device does not support mediated handover, the smart device 101 automatically determines an appropriate procedure between the two communication devices. Communication related to communication settings can be performed.

[Example 2]
Next, referring to FIG. 9, a case where the projector 102 is compatible with the intermediary handover but the PC 103 is not compatible and the smart device 101 is first brought close to the projector 102 and then to the PC 103 will be described. explain. It is assumed that the PC 103 can be connected to a wireless LAN network that the projector 102 has created or can participate in.

  Since the processing flow of M901 to M904 is the same as that of M801 to M804 in FIG. In this example, since the projector 102 supports the intermediary handover, in response to the reception of the intermediary handover request, the projector 102 sends an intermediary connection response including information regarding the wireless LAN 1 that the projector 102 has created or can participate in to the smart device 101. Transmit (M905). Then, the projector 102 starts connection to the wireless LAN 1 (M906). When the smart device 101 receives the mediation connection response including the network information, the smart device 101 determines that the projector 102 supports the mediation handover (YES in S604) and can execute the mediation handover (YES in S606). Further, since the touch operation here is the first time (YES in S607), the smart device 101 displays a message that prompts the NFC communication unit to approach the other communication device (S505, M907).

  Since the processing of M908 and M909 is the same as that of M810 and M811 in FIG. 8, the description thereof is omitted here. Upon receiving the mediation handover request, the PC 103 transmits a selection response not including network information to the smart device 101 because it does not support the mediation handover (M910). When the smart device 101 receives the selection response that does not include the network information, the smart device 101 determines that the PC 103 does not support the mediated handover (NO in S604). Further, since the touch operation with the PC 103 is the second time following the projector 102 (NO in S701), the smart device 101 transmits an inter-device handover request including network information (M911). Note that the network information included here is information regarding the wireless LAN 1 acquired from the projector 102 (S703). Upon receiving the inter-device handover request, the PC 103 determines that it can be connected to the wireless LAN 1 created by the projector 102 or that can participate, and transmits a selection response including network information related to the wireless LAN 1 to the smart device 101 (M912). . Then, the PC 103 starts connection to the wireless LAN 1 (M913). Thereafter, the processing of M914 to M916 is the same as that of M816 to M818 in FIG. 8, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the smart device 101 automatically determines an appropriate procedure between the two communication apparatuses even when the communication apparatus touched later does not support the intermediary handover. Communication related to communication settings can be performed.

[Example 3]
Next, referring to FIG. 10, a case where the projector 102 corresponds to the intermediary handover but the PC 103 does not support the case where the smart device 101 is first brought close to the projector 102 and then to the PC 103. explain. It is assumed that the PC 103 cannot be connected to a wireless LAN network created by the projector 102 or that can participate. Note that the processing of M1001 to M1011 is the same as that of M901 to M911 in FIG.

  Upon receiving the inter-device handover request, the PC 103 is not connectable to the wireless LAN 1 that the projector 102 has created or can participate in, and therefore transmits a selection response that includes network information related to the wireless LAN 2 that has been created or can participate (M1012). ). Then, the PC 103 starts a wireless LAN connection to the wireless LAN 2 (M1013).

  When the smart device 101 receives the selection response (YES in S704), the network information is included in the response (YES in S706), and the touch operation is the second time (NO in S707), so it is included in the request and the response. It is determined whether the received network information matches. In this case, since the network information in the inter-device handover request does not match the network information in the selection response (NO in S708), the smart device 101 determines that a retouch operation with the projector 102 is necessary (S510 and YES in S709).

  As a result, the smart device 101 displays a message prompting the projector 102 to bring the NFC communication unit closer again (S505, M1014). When the user brings the NFC communication unit 205 of the smart device 101 close to the NFC communication unit 303 of the projector 102 again, the smart device 101 and the projector 102 start the NFC communication 104 (M1015). M1016 and M1017 are the same as M1004 and M1005, respectively. When the smart device 101 receives the mediation connection response (YES in S604), it can determine that the network information is included in the response and the touch operation is not the first time (YES in S606 and S607). Therefore, the smart device 101 transmits a handover start request including network information regarding the wireless LAN 2 acquired from the PC 103 (S608, M1018).

  Upon receiving the handover start request, the projector 102 is connectable to the wireless LAN 2 network created by or that can be joined by the PC 103, and therefore transmits a handover start response including network information related to the wireless LAN 2 (M1019). Then, the projector 102 starts connection to the wireless LAN 2 (M1020). Thereafter, the processing of M1021 to M1023 is the same as that of M816 to M818 of FIG. 8, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the communication device touched later does not support the intermediary handover and cannot connect to the designated network, the smart device 101 automatically Communication related to communication settings between communication devices can be performed.

  In each of the above-described examples, the case has been described where one of the projector 102 and the PC 103 does not support the intermediary handover using the smart device 101. However, both may not support the intermediary handover. In this case, the smart device 101 establishes wireless communication between the projector 102 and the PC 103 by executing the processing of M907 to M916 of FIG. 9 after executing the processing of M801 to M808 of FIG. Can do. Further, the smart device 101 may cause the projector 102 and the PC 103 to read network information using the card emulation mode. When both the projector 102 and the PC 103 do not support the intermediary handover, it may be determined as an error and the intermediary handover process may be terminated and notified to the user.

  In each example, the smart device 101 automatically selects which wireless LAN network to use from the networks created by the projector 102 and the PC 103 or that can participate, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when network information is acquired from the projector 102 and the PC 103, information including the encryption method of the network may be displayed in a list on the display unit 211 of the smart device 101, and may be selected by the user. In this case, the smart device 101 does not need to transmit a handover start request in NFC communication with the PC 103. Further, the smart device 101 may not include the network information in the inter-device handover request, and may prompt a retouch operation to the partner apparatus to be connected to the network according to the network selected by the user. As a result, the user can connect the two communication devices to be established with the wireless LAN network with higher security.

  Further, when the smart device 101 acquires network information from the projector 102, the smart device 101 may display a message on the display unit 211 as to whether or not to connect to the network and allow the user to select. Thereby, after the user confirms whether or not the network is a reliable network, it is possible to establish a connection between the communication apparatuses to be established without increasing the touch operation.

  In each example, the case where the smart device 101 performs a touch operation on the projector 102 first and then on the PC 103 has been described. However, the order may be reversed. If the smart device 101 continuously touches the same communication device, the smart device 101 may determine that an error has occurred and terminate the intermediary handover process, or may start the intermediary handover process again from the beginning. Good.

  In each example, the projector 102 and the PC 103 start the wireless LAN connection after transmitting a response to the handover request, but may start at another timing. For example, the projector 102 and the PC 103 may start a wireless LAN connection when a handover request is received. Accordingly, when the wireless LAN network is created by itself, the handover can be surely completed even when NFC communication between the smart device 101 and the other communication device to be connected is immediately started. .

  In each example, the case where the intermediary handover completion notification is performed in response to the reception of the handover start response or the selection response has been described, but it may be performed at another timing. For example, temporarily connecting to a wireless LAN network used between communication devices to be connected and executing communication communication confirmation, discovery processing, etc., and confirming that wireless LAN connection processing between these communication devices has been completed normally Notification may be made after confirmation. Accordingly, even when the wireless LAN connection process fails due to an error or the like, the user can surely recognize the handover status.

  In each example, the smart device 101 executes the inter-device handover process unconditionally when the response to the mediation handover request is not a mediation connection response, but is not limited thereto. For example, the smart device 101 may skip the inter-device handover process when the network information is included although it is not an intermediary connection response. Thereby, the smart device 101 can continue the intermediary handover process without performing unnecessary NFC communication.

<Other embodiments>
In addition, although the case where the wireless LAN based on NFC and IEEE802.11 was used was demonstrated, it is not restricted to this. For example, other wireless media such as wireless USB, MBOA, Bluetooth (registered trademark), UWB, and ZigBee may be used. Further, a wired communication medium such as a wired LAN may be used. Here, MBOA is an acronym for Multi Band OFDM Alliance, and UWB includes wireless USB, wireless 1394, WINET, and the like.

  The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  101: Smart device, 102: Projector, 103: PC, 205: NFC communication unit, 208: Control unit

Claims (18)

A communication device capable of setting up a connection between a first other device and a second other device,
Communication means for performing first wireless communication with the first other device and the second other device;
Communication related to the setting for connecting the first other device and the second other device by second wireless communication is performed for each of the first other device and the second other device. And execution means for executing via the communication means,
Have
The execution means causes the communication means to transmit a first signal related to the first procedure for the setting to each of the first other apparatus and the second other apparatus, and is received In accordance with a response to the first signal, determine whether to perform communication for the setting according to a second procedure different from the first procedure with the apparatus that has transmitted the response.
A communication device. If the response is not the first response according to the first procedure, the execution means communicates with the other device that has transmitted the response for the setting according to the second procedure. Run the
The communication apparatus according to claim 1. When the response is the first response according to the first procedure, the execution means is configured to perform the setting according to the second procedure with another device that has transmitted the response. Do not execute communication,
The communication apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The execution means, when the response from the first other device is the first response according to the first procedure, and the response from the second other device is not the first response The communication for the setting according to the second procedure is not executed with the first other device, and the setting according to the second procedure is not performed with the second other device. Execute communication,
The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The execution means is a second response in which the response received from at least one of the first other device and the second other device is not the first response according to the first procedure. A second signal according to the second procedure is transmitted to another device that has transmitted the second response;
The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the communication apparatus is characterized in that: The execution unit cancels setting of a connection between the first other device and the second other device when the third response to the second signal does not include information about the network. To
The communication apparatus according to claim 5. The execution means executes the first communication for the setting with the first other device, and then performs the second communication for the setting with the second other device. When the second signal is transmitted in the second communication, the second signal is transmitted including information related to the network acquired in the first communication.
The communication apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein The execution means, when the network information included in the response to the second signal received from the second other device does not match the network information included in the second signal, Transmitting a signal including network information included in the response to the first other device, and connecting the first other device to the network;
The communication apparatus according to claim 7. The execution means executes the second communication for the setting with the second other device before executing the first communication for the setting with the first other device. If the second signal is transmitted in the first communication, the second signal is transmitted without including information on the network.
The communication device according to claim 5, wherein the communication device is a device. The execution means is a case where the response received from at least one of the first other device and the second other device is the first response according to the first procedure, If the response does not include information about the network, cancel setting of the connection between the first other device and the second other device;
The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The execution means is a case where the response is not the first response related to the first procedure, and if the response contains information about the network, the execution means communicates with another device that has transmitted the response. In the meantime, the communication for the setting according to the second procedure is not executed.
The communication apparatus according to claim 1. The information regarding the network is information regarding a network that can be used in the second wireless communication.
The communication device according to claim 6, wherein the communication device is a device. The execution means executes the first communication for the setting with the first other device, and then performs the second communication for the setting with the second other device. And when the response to the first signal from the second other device is the first response according to the first procedure, to the second other device, Transmitting an instruction to start a connection by the second wireless communication;
The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a device. The first wireless communication is wireless communication using Near Field Communication (NFC).
The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a device. The second wireless communication is wireless communication using at least one of a wireless LAN and Bluetooth compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard series.
The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a device. Communication means for performing first wireless communication with the first other apparatus and the second other apparatus, and setting a connection between the first other apparatus and the second other apparatus A communication device control method capable of
Execution means performs communication related to the setting for connecting the first other device and the second other device by the second wireless communication, the first other device and the second other device. Each of the apparatus and an execution step executed through the communication means,
In the execution step, the communication means transmits a first signal related to the first procedure for the setting to each of the first other device and the second other device, and is received. In accordance with a response to the first signal, determine whether to perform communication for the setting according to a second procedure different from the first procedure with the apparatus that has transmitted the response.
A control method characterized by that.   The program for functioning a computer as each means with which the communication apparatus of any one of Claim 1 to 15 is provided. A communication device,
Determination means for determining whether at least one of the first other device and the second other device is not compatible with the mediated handover defined by the NFC Connection Handover standard;
If the determination unit determines that at least one of the first other device and the second other device does not support the mediated handover, the negotiated handover or static defined by the NFC Connection Handover standard is used. Processing means for performing processing for handing over the first other device and the second other device to a communication method different from NFC using Handover;
A communication apparatus comprising:

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