JP2021192236A - Information processing device, image processing device, control method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of achieving high-speed data communication and ensuring security by eliminating connection information for connecting to an image processing device after data is transmitted to the image processing device by utilizing a plurality of wireless communications, and an image processing device, a control method and a computer program.SOLUTION: A portable terminal 4 functioning as an information processing device acquires connection information for communicating with an image processing device 2 with a first wireless communication being a first wireless communication standard by a second wireless communication being a second wireless communication standard, transmits print data to the image processing device 2 by the first wireless communication, and controls so as to eliminate the connection information after transmitting the print data to the image processing device 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus, a control method and a computer program.

An information processing device for causing an image processing device such as a printer to perform printing via short-range wireless communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) is provided. Patent Document 1 realizes printing by transmitting a file from a print pad to an image processing device using NFC so that the image processing device can execute printing by instructing printing from a mobile device. The print pad is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-0376887

However, NFC and the like disclosed in Patent Document 1 have a low communication speed, and it takes time to transmit print data.

Therefore, in the present specification, a method of performing communication using handover will be examined. Handover means pairing between devices by NFC, and then for actual communication, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and Wi-Fi (registered trademark), which are wireless communication of wireless standards with higher communication speed. It is a process of switching. This makes it possible to use a communication standard with a higher speed and a longer communication distance when transferring relatively large data such as photographs and moving images. The shortening of the data transfer time is promoted, and the time required for touch operation between devices is also shortened.

However, in a wireless communication standard with a long communication distance, the risk of eavesdropping increases due to the long communication distance. Therefore, complicated procedures are required for communication procedures of these standards. For example, in the Wi-Fi communication procedure, the user must set an access key (SSID and password required for connecting an access point) in an information processing device such as a mobile terminal.

If the devices are compatible with NFC, such a complicated procedure is not necessary, and the user can safely and easily acquire the access key simply by bringing the information processing device closer to the image processing device or the like. The information processing device can communicate with the image processing device via Wi-Fi using the access key.

However, since the information processing device caches the access key acquired by using NFC in its own device as connection information, if it is within the connection range of Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark), there is no NFC thereafter. It becomes possible to freely connect to a Wi-Fi router or an image processing device. For example, even if only printing is permitted, another function of the image processing device is operated via Wi-Fi. In addition, the network can be used freely within the Wi-Fi range.

The present invention realizes high-speed data communication and ensures security by deleting connection information for connecting to the image processing device after transmitting data to the image processing device using a plurality of communication wireless communications. The purpose is to provide an information processing device that enables it.

The information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention uses the second wireless communication standard, which is the second wireless communication standard, to obtain connection information for communicating with the image processing apparatus in the first wireless communication, which is the first wireless communication standard. The acquisition means acquired by wireless communication, the transmission means for transmitting print data to the image processing device by the first wireless communication, and the connection information after the transmission means transmits the print data to the image processing device. It is provided with a control means for controlling the deletion.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, after transmitting data to an image processing apparatus using a plurality of communication wireless communications, the connection information for connecting to the image processing apparatus is deleted to enable high-speed data communication. Realization and security can be ensured.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure example of the system of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware configuration example of a mobile terminal. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of an image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the software configuration example of the printing system provided in the mobile terminal. It is a figure which shows an example of NDEF. It is a figure explaining the flowchart of the print process executed by a mobile terminal. It is a figure which shows the screen display example of a reprint message.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration example of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a portable terminal 4 that functions as an information processing device of the present invention, and image processing devices 1 to 3. The image processing devices 1 to 3 are connected to a network. The mobile terminal 4 can communicate with the image processing devices 1 to 3 directly or via an access point by using wireless communication such as NFC or Wi-Fi. In the present embodiment, printing is realized by communication between the mobile terminal 4 equipped with NFC and the image processing device 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a mobile terminal 4 on which the printing system 100 described later is operated using FIG. 4. The mobile terminal 4 includes SoC201 to Sensor212. The program of the printing system 100 is stored in the flash memory (Flash) 203. The main body that executes various functions of the present invention is a SoC (System on a chip) 201 as hardware, and a printing system 100 stored in a flash memory (Flash) 203 as software.

The NFC 206 performs short-range communication and communicates with the NFCs of the image processing devices 1 to 3. The Wi-Fi 205 performs wireless communication and wirelessly communicates with the image processing devices 1 to 3. The RAM (Random Access Memory) 202 functions as a temporary working memory of the SoC201. NFC206 and Bluetooth® 204 are capable of proximity communication with the image processing device 2. When the NFC 206 is used, the NFC 206 performs close communication with the NFC included in the image processing devices 1 to 3. The Wi-Fi 205 wirelessly communicates with the image processing device 2 by wireless communication. Wi-Fi 205 is a wireless communication standard, and has a higher maximum communication speed in the standard than NFC206.

Power 207 is a power source for the mobile terminal 4. The Voice / Audio 208 is an input / output unit for a microphone, a speaker, and the like. The Touch Panel 209 is a touch panel operated by a user with a finger, and the LED (Light emitting Diode) 210 displays a display using the LED. Camera211 takes pictures, videos and the like. The Sensor 212 is a sensor unit for GPS (Global Positioning System), acceleration, geomagnetism, proximity, etc. The Wi-Fi access point 13 is a Wi-Fi access point. The process described in this embodiment is realized by the SoC 201 reading the program recorded in the Flash 203 into the RAM 202 and executing the program. Further, in the present embodiment, the OS is assumed to be Android (registered trademark) of Google Inc. (registered trademark), but the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the image processing apparatus. The image processing devices 1 to 3 are multifunction devices that perform printing, faxing, and scanning, and may be devices that perform only printing. Hereinafter, the image processing apparatus 2 will be described as an example. The image processing device 2 includes a scanner unit 30 and a printer unit 31. The scanner unit 30, which is an image input device, illuminates the image drawn on the document and scans the CCD line sensor (not shown) to read the image and convert it into an electric signal as raster image data. The user sets the manuscript paper in the tray 303 of the manuscript feeder 302, and instructs the operation unit 304 to read the manuscript paper. Then, upon receiving an instruction from the controller CPU, the scanner unit 30 is activated to read the original image. The manuscript paper is fed one by one by the feeder 302.

The printer unit 31, which is an image output device, converts electrical raster image data into a visible image on paper. The conversion method includes an electrophotographic method using a photoconductor drum and a photoconductor belt, an inkjet method in which ink is ejected from a minute nozzle array and an image is printed directly on paper, and any method may be used. Upon receiving an instruction from the controller CPU, the printer unit 31 starts up.

The printer unit 31 is provided with a plurality of paper feed stages so that different paper sizes or different paper orientations can be selected. Paper cassettes 306, 307, 308, and 309 show an example of a paper feed stage. Further, the output tray 310 receives the printed paper. The short-distance search unit 311 starts short-range communication between the mobile terminal 4 and the image processing device 2 by the user holding the mobile terminal 4 over the short-range search unit 311.

In the present embodiment, NFC is assumed as the short-range search unit, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, FeliCa (registered trademark), MIFARE (registered trademark), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), Transfer Jet (registered trademark) and the like may be used. The communication unit 312 performs network communication such as Wi-Fi and Ethernet (registered trademark).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a software configuration example of the printing system 100. The printing system 100 includes a search unit 101, an information acquisition unit 102, a short-range communication unit 103, a rendering unit 104, a communication unit 105, a job control unit 106, a UI (User Interface) unit 107, a data holding unit 108, and a printing unit 109. Be prepared. Applications 113 and 114 are applications such as document creation applications that use the printing system 100.

The search unit 101 searches for an image processing device using multicast. The protocol uses, but is not limited to, SLP or Multicast-DNS. Also, broadcast may be used instead of multicast. The information acquisition unit 102 acquires information such as a model name and an installation location from the image processing device. The short-range communication unit 103 recognizes the image processing device using short-range communication (for example, NFC). In the present embodiment, NFC is assumed as the short-range search unit, but the present invention is not limited to this.

The rendering unit 104 renders the document generated or displayed in the applications 113 and 114 into a PDL (Page Description Language) or an image that can be printed by the image processing device 2. The communication unit 105 uses Wi-Fi to perform network communication with the image processing device 2 and the access point 213. The connection information required for communication is cached in Flash 203 of the mobile terminal 4 at the first connection and used at the next connection.

The job control unit 106 performs job control such as queuing a print job. The UI unit 107 is a user interface. The data holding unit 108 accesses the storage or SD card in the mobile terminal, holds files such as documents and images, and caches the connection information acquired by NFC. The printing unit 109 uses the rendering unit 104 and the communication unit 105 to transmit a document or PDL to the image processing device 2. In addition, the printing unit 109 monitors the printing process, such as whether printing is completed normally or a transmission error has occurred.

5 (A) and 5 (B) are diagrams showing an example of NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Form) acquired from the image processing device 2 by the mobile terminal 4 using short-range wireless communication. NDEF is a data format used when exchanging data with NFC, and official technical data is available at http: // www. nfc-form. It is defined by org /. The NDEF contains 0 or more NDEF Messages (usually, the NDEF includes one NDEF Message, and the NDEF Message contains a plurality of NDEF Records).

For example, in the case of the description of PAYLOAD501, it is shown that the Mac address of the Wi-Fi connection access point is "ff: ff: ff: ff: ff: ff". Further, in the case of the description of PAYLOAD502, it is shown that the password of the Wi-Fi connection access point is "ABCDEFG". In the case of the description of PAYLOAD503, it indicates that the document data or PDL is transmitted to the image processing device having the address of "111.11.11.11.11". Further, a setting indicating whether or not to cache the connection information can be described in the PAYLOAD 503, and an example in which this setting is described is shown in the PAYLOAD 504 of FIG. 5 (B). PAYLOAD504 describes "Record.data =" 111.11.11.11.11, OFF "", indicating that the cache deletion setting is off.

By using the Mac address information 501 and the password 502 as connection information, the mobile terminal 4 can be connected to the access point 213 by Wi-Fi connection. Further, it is possible to communicate with the image processing device having the address indicated by the address 503 via the access point 213. As described above, the mobile terminal 4 performs pairing between devices by NFC according to the data described in NDEF Records, and then switches wireless communication to Wi-Fi using the connection information acquired by NFC (communication). Wi-Fi handover).

Next, the process performed by the mobile terminal 4 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process realized by the mobile terminal 4 reading the application (here, application 113 is described as an example) and the printing system 100 into the SOC201 and executing the application.

In S601, the mobile terminal 4 activates the application 113. The application 113 is a print application, and a document or an image to be printed can be displayed on the screen. In the state where the document or image to be printed is displayed, the user taps the mobile terminal 4 on the short-distance search unit 311 of the image processing device 2 in S602. Using the tap as a trigger, the short-range communication unit 103 acquires the Tag information of the NFC of the image processing device 2 (S603). Tag information is data encoded in the NFC data exchange format in the message format specified in the NFC Forum Type 2 specification, and is in the format shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the data shown in FIG. 5B has been acquired.

Next, in S604, S605, and S606, the information acquisition unit 102 acquires connection information (Mac address information 501 and password 502) and a print destination address (address 503) from the Tag information acquired in S603. Further, the information acquisition unit 102 acquires the cache deletion setting from the PAYLOAD 504. PAYLOAD504 describes "Record.data =" 111.11.11.11.11, OFF ", and the cache deletion setting is OFF.

In S607, the printing unit 109 sets the deletion flag of the connection information cache from the information acquired in S604 to S606 and holds it in the data holding unit. For example, when the information acquisition unit 102 acquires the information in which the cache deletion setting off is described in S606, the print unit 109 sets the deletion flag to OFF. Alternatively, if the connection information acquired in S604 has already been cached in Flash 203 of the mobile terminal 4, the printing unit 109 sets the deletion flag to OFF. When the deletion flag is other than OFF, the printing unit 109 deletes the connection information cache in the flow described later.

In S608, the communication unit 105 connects to the access point. When the communication unit 105 connects to the access point, the communication unit 105 connects to the access point 213 using the connection information acquired in S604. That is, the communication unit 105 uses the connection information acquired by the wireless communication of the NFC 206 to connect to the access point 213 by wireless communication (here, Wi-Fi 205) having a maximum communication speed according to the standard higher than the wireless communication. conduct. The connection information is cached in Flash 203 of the mobile terminal 4 at the same time as the connection or after the connection is established.

In S609, the communication unit 105 executes printing by transmitting print data to the print destination acquired in S605. At the time of printing execution, the application 113 instructs the printing unit 109 of the printing system 100 to execute printing. The printing unit 109 transmits a document or PDL to the image processing device 2 by using the rendering unit 104 and the communication unit 105 according to the instruction.

In S610, the printing unit 109 determines whether or not a transmission error such as a network disconnection has occurred during the printing execution of S609. If a transmission error has occurred, the process proceeds to S612. If no transmission error has occurred, the process proceeds to S611. In S611, the printing unit 109 determines whether another function such as a telephone has priority and the application 113 has entered the suspended state. If the suspended state is entered, the process proceeds to S614. If it is not in the suspended state, the process proceeds to S612.

In S612, the printing unit 109 determines whether or not the cache deletion flag set in S607 is OFF. If it is determined that the cache deletion flag is OFF, the flow ends as it is. If it is determined that the cache deletion flag is not OFF, the process proceeds to S613.

In S613, the printing unit 109 deletes the cache of connection information created when connecting to the access point in S608 and held in Flash 203. It should be noted that the configuration may be such that the cache of the connection information is always deleted by S613 without the determination process in S612.

If the application 113 is in the suspended state in S611, the process proceeds to S614. In S614, the printing unit 109 determines whether or not the cache deletion flag set in S607 is OFF. If it is determined that the cache deletion flag is OFF, the process proceeds to S616. If it is determined that the cache deletion flag is not OFF, the process proceeds to S615. In S615, the printing unit 109 deletes the cache of connection information created when connecting to the access point in S608.

When the cache of connection information is deleted, the application 113 shifts to the suspend state in S616. Next, in S617, the printing unit 109 determines whether or not the application 113 has resumed from suspend. When the application 113 resumes from suspend, the process proceeds to S618. In S618, the printing unit 109 displays the reprint confirmation message shown in FIG. 7 on the screen of the mobile terminal 4 via the UI unit 107. When the reprint instruction is given in S619 (when NFC is tapped), the process proceeds to S602, the flow starting from S602 is performed again, and the connection information is reacquired. When the button 701 shown in FIG. 7 is pressed, the printing unit 109 determines that printing is stopped, and the flow ends as it is.

If the cache deletion flag is OFF in the processing of S614 and reprinting is instructed in S619, the processing proceeds to S608, and the cached connection information may be used again to connect to the access point. .. Further, in the process of S602, a process of determining whether an identifier for connecting to the access point is registered in the own device in advance may be performed. Then, when the identifier is not registered in the own device in advance, an input screen for inputting the password may be displayed. After inputting the password, the user taps the mobile terminal 4 on the short-range search unit 311 of the image processing device 2 to acquire the NFC Tag information. This makes it possible to further secure security.

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, after transmitting data to the image processing apparatus using a plurality of communication wireless communications, high-speed data is deleted by deleting the connection information for connecting to the image processing apparatus. It is possible to realize communication and ensure security. As described above, by tapping the mobile terminal equipped with NFC on the image processing device, the printing process is executed, and then the cached connection information is deleted. As a result, it is possible to prevent the image processing apparatus from being operated by connecting to Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) after printing is completed. Further, in the case of Wi-Fi connection, it is possible to freely connect to the Wi-Fi router, and it is possible to suppress that the network can be freely used if it is within the Wi-Fi connection range.

In the present embodiment, the present invention has been described by taking printing as an example, but even after the fax scan process is executed by tapping the mobile terminal on the image processing device, the cached connection information is also automatically deleted. good. As a result, the same effect can be obtained even after the fax scan is completed.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (computer program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to the system or device via a network or various storage media. Then, the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads and executes the program. In this case, the program and the storage medium in which the program is stored constitutes the present invention.

Claims (10)

An acquisition means for acquiring connection information for communicating with an image processing device in the first wireless communication, which is the first wireless communication standard, in the second wireless communication, which is the second wireless communication standard.
A transmission means for transmitting print data to the image processing apparatus by the first wireless communication, and a transmission means.
An information processing apparatus comprising: a control means for controlling the transmission means to delete the connection information after transmitting the print data to the image processing apparatus. The second wireless communication is short-range wireless communication, and the transmitting means switches communication to the first wireless communication according to the connection information acquired by the acquiring means in the short-range wireless communication, and directly or accesses. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print data is transmitted to the image processing apparatus via a point. In the connection information, a setting indicating whether or not to cache the connection information can be described.
The control means is characterized in that it controls to delete the connection information when the setting indicates that the connection information is not cached or when the setting is not described in the connection information. The information processing apparatus according to 1 or 2. The third aspect of claim 3, wherein the control means controls to cache the connection information when the connection information is not described in the connection information but the connection information is already cached. Information processing device. The control means is characterized in that it determines whether or not the print data has been transmitted to the image processing apparatus, and controls to delete the connection information when the print data is not transmitted. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 4. When the print data is not transmitted to the image processing device and the reprint instruction is received, the acquisition means receives the connection information by the second wireless communication when the connection information is deleted according to the setting. Re-acquire
According to the setting, the transmission means uses the cached connection information when the connection information is cached, and uses the reacquired connection information when the connection information is deleted. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the print data is transmitted to the image processing apparatus. Further provided with a display means for displaying an input screen for inputting a password when the identifier for connecting to the access point is not registered in the own device in advance.
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the acquisition means acquires the connection information by the short-range wireless communication after the password is input. An image processing apparatus including a transmission means for transmitting the connection information to the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. An acquisition process for acquiring connection information for communicating with an image processing device in the first wireless communication, which is the first wireless communication standard, in the second wireless communication, which is the second wireless communication standard.
A transmission step of transmitting print data to the image processing apparatus by the first wireless communication,
A control method for an information processing device, which comprises a control step for controlling the print data to be deleted after the image processing device is transmitted in the transmission step. A computer program according to claim 9, wherein the control method is executed by a computer.

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