WO2020095632A1

WO2020095632A1 - Communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2020095632A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/040468
Authority: WO
Inventors: 博仁中野
Original assignee: パナソニックＩｐマネジメント株式会社
Priority date: 2018-11-07
Filing date: 2019-10-15
Publication date: 2020-05-14
Also published as: JP6945194B2; JPWO2020095632A1

Abstract

The present invention provides a communication device with which it is possible to increase the speed of communication connection with a prescribed apparatus in a network. A communication device (200) comprises a communication unit (270) and a control unit (240). The communication unit transmits/receives information to and from an apparatus in a network. The control unit controls the operation of the communication unit. When the connection destination of the local device is not a prescribed apparatus, the control unit controls the communication unit so as to transmit, by multicast, a request for detecting an apparatus in the network (S310). When the connection destination is a prescribed apparatus, the control unit controls the communication unit using preset position information, without performing multicast transmission, so as to transmit a request for descriptive information pertaining to the prescribed apparatus (S335).

Description

Communication device

The present disclosure relates to a communication device connectable to a network.

Patent Document 1 discloses a DLNA (registered trademark) compatible device for discovering another DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compatible device without timing out. For example, in a protocol conforming to the DLNA standard such as UPnP (registered trademark), a DLNA-compatible device connected to the network multicasts an M-Search request on the network and sends an M-Search response from the DLNA-compatible device for a predetermined period. By waiting, another DLNA-compatible device is detected.

JP, 2013-123126, A

The present disclosure provides a communication device capable of speeding up a communication connection with a predetermined device in a network.

The communication device according to the present disclosure includes a communication unit and a control unit. The communication unit sends and receives information to and from devices on the network. The control unit controls the operation of the communication unit. When the connection destination of the own device is not a predetermined device, the control unit controls the communication unit to multicast the request for detecting the device in the network. When the connection destination is a predetermined device, the control unit controls the communication unit so as to send a request for descriptive information about a predetermined device by using preset position information without performing multicast transmission. To do.

The communication device according to the present disclosure can speed up the communication connection with the predetermined device in the network by omitting the multicast transmission for detecting the device when the connection destination of the self device is the predetermined device. ..

The figure which shows the structural example of the remote communication system 10 which concerns on Embodiment 1. A diagram illustrating the case of a direct connection in the telecommunications system 10 of FIG. 1A. Block diagram showing a configuration example of the digital camera 100 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. A block diagram showing a configuration example of the smartphone 200 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. A sequence diagram showing an operation example of communication connection between the smartphone 200 and the digital camera 100 in the example of FIG. 1A. A sequence diagram showing an operation example of communication connection between the smartphone 200 and the digital camera 100 in the example of FIG. 1B. Flowchart for explaining the operation of the smartphone 200 in the telecommunications system 10 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. Flowchart for explaining the operation of the M-Search response by the digital camera 100 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. Flowchart for explaining the operation of the DDD response by the digital camera 100 of FIGS.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed description than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed description of well-known matters and duplicate description of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid unnecessary redundancy in the following description and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

The inventor provides the accompanying drawings and the following description in order for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims by these. Absent.

(Embodiment 1)
The first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1A to 7B.
[1-1. Constitution]
FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a configuration example of a telecommunications system 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment. In FIG. 1A, the telecommunications system 10 includes a digital camera 100 and a smartphone 200. In the telecommunications system 10, the digital camera 100 and the smartphone 200 can communicate with each other, for example, via the network route 300. The digital camera 100 is an example of the image pickup apparatus according to the present embodiment. The smartphone 200 is an example of the communication device according to the present embodiment.

The network route 300 is a route that includes a router or a hub and enables communication connection between the digital camera 100 and the smartphone 200. The network path 300 may include a device (for example, a router or another digital camera) that operates as a wireless LAN access point in addition to the digital camera 100 described above.

In the present system 10, for example, the digital camera 100 transfers an image being captured to the smartphone 200 in real time and displays the image on the smartphone 200 by using communication via the network path 300 between the digital camera 100 and the smartphone 200. be able to. In addition, the smartphone 200 may transmit an operation signal for remotely operating the digital camera 100 to the digital camera 100. That is, the digital camera 100 can be remotely operated from the smartphone 200.

1B illustrates a case of direct connection in the remote communication system 10 of FIG. 1A. In the present embodiment, the digital camera 100 can operate as a wireless LAN access point of the network by the system 10. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1B, the smartphone 200 may directly communicate with the digital camera 100 as a wireless LAN access point without going through the network route 300.

The configurations of the digital camera 100 and the smartphone 200 according to this embodiment will be described below.

[1-1-1. Digital camera configuration]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the digital camera 100 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The digital camera 100 captures a subject image formed via the optical system 110 with the image sensor 120. The image sensor 120 generates image data based on the captured subject image. The image processing unit 130 performs various types of processing on the image data generated by imaging.

The controller 135 records the image data processed by the image processing unit 130 in the memory card 165. Further, the controller 135 can display the image data recorded in the memory card 165 on the liquid crystal monitor 140 according to the operation input to the operation unit 180 by the user. Hereinafter, each component of the digital camera 100 will be described.

The optical system 110 includes a focus lens, a zoom lens, an optical image stabilization lens (OIS), a diaphragm, a shutter, and the like. The various lenses included in the optical system 110 may be composed of any number of lenses or any number of groups.

The image sensor 120 captures a subject image formed via the optical system 110 to generate image data. An image sensor such as a CMOS image sensor, a CCD image sensor, or an NMOS image sensor can be used as the image sensor 120.

The card slot 160 is a means for connecting the memory card 165 to the digital camera 100. The card slot 160 can electrically and mechanically connect the memory card 165. The memory card 165 can store data such as image data generated by the image processing unit 130.

The image processing unit 130 performs various types of processing on the image data output from the image sensor 120, and records it in the memory card 165 through the card slot 160. The image processing unit 130 also performs various processes on the image data read from the memory card 165 to generate an image to be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 140. The various types of processing described above include white balance correction, gamma correction, YC conversion processing, electronic zoom processing, compression processing, decompression processing, and the like, but may include other processing and are not limited to these. The image processing unit 130 may be configured by a dedicated electronic circuit or may be configured by a microcomputer that executes a program.

The LCD monitor 140 is provided on the back of the digital camera 100. The liquid crystal monitor 140 displays an image based on the image data processed by the image processing unit 130. Instead of the liquid crystal monitor 140, another monitor such as an organic EL monitor may be used.

The controller 135 includes a CPU and controls the overall operation of the digital camera 100. Further, the controller 135 may be configured on the same semiconductor chip as the image processing unit 130 and the like. The controller 135 has a built-in internal memory (not shown) such as a ROM, and the internal memory is necessary for establishing a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) connection with another communication device (for example, the smartphone 200), for example. SSID, WEP key, etc. are stored. The controller 135 can read data such as SSID and WEP key from the internal memory as needed. The internal memory stores a program that is executed by the CPU and controls the overall operation of the digital camera 100. The internal memory may include RAM and also provides a work area used by the CPU of the controller 135.

The buffer memory 150 is a storage medium that functions as a work area for the image processing unit 130 and the controller 135. The buffer memory 150 is realized by a DRAM or the like.

The flash memory 170 is a non-volatile storage medium. The flash memory 170 stores information such as various settings of the digital camera 100, which is not desired to be lost while the digital camera 100 is powered off.

The operation unit 180 is a general term for hardware such as operation switches and operation levers provided on the exterior of the digital camera 100, and receives operations by the user. The operation unit 180 includes, for example, a shutter button and a mode switch. The operation unit 180 may also include a touch panel superimposed on the liquid crystal monitor 140. When the operation unit 180 receives a user operation, the operation unit 180 transmits an operation signal corresponding to the user operation to the controller 135.

The Wi-Fi module 190 is a communication module (circuit) that performs communication based on the communication standard IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi standard). The digital camera 100 can communicate with another device equipped with the Wi-Fi module via the Wi-Fi module 190. The digital camera 100 can directly communicate with other devices through the Wi-Fi module 190. The digital camera 100 can also connect to the network path 300 via the Wi-Fi module 190 and communicate with other devices via the network path 300.

The digital camera 100 configured as described above functions as a DHCP server in cooperation with, for example, the controller 135 and the Wi-Fi module 190, assigns an IP address to another device participating in the network, and manages the connection. be able to.

[1-1-2. Smartphone configuration]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the smartphone 200 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. The smartphone 200 can display the image represented by the image data generated by the image processing unit 210 on the liquid crystal monitor 225. A touch panel 220 is arranged on the surface of the liquid crystal monitor 225, and a touch operation by a user can be accepted. Further, the smartphone 200 has an operation unit 250, and on the operation unit 250, an operation other than the operation using the touch panel 220 can be performed. The controller 240 can communicate with other devices via the Wi-Fi module 270.

The image processing unit 210 performs various processes on the image data extracted from the flash memory 260 to generate an image to be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 225. Examples of various types of processing include, but are not limited to, expansion processing. The image processing unit 210 may be configured by a dedicated electronic circuit or may be configured by a microcomputer that executes a program.

The touch panel 220 is an input device that detects a touch of a user's finger or the like and outputs operation information to the controller 240. The touch panel 220 is arranged on the surface of the liquid crystal monitor 225. The touch panel 220 may be of a resistance film type, a capacitance type, or another type.

The liquid crystal monitor 225 is a display device that displays a screen instructed by the controller 240. Instead of the liquid crystal monitor 225, another monitor such as an organic EL monitor may be used.

The buffer memory 230 is a storage medium that temporarily stores information necessary for the controller 240 to execute various processing operations. The buffer memory 230 is realized by a DRAM or the like.

The controller 240 controls the operation of each unit included in the smartphone 200. The controller 240 is electrically connected to the image processing unit 210, the touch panel 220, the liquid crystal monitor 225, the buffer memory 230, the operation unit 250, the flash memory 260, and the Wi-Fi module 270. The controller 240 is an example of the control unit in the present embodiment.

The controller 240 includes, for example, a CPU that realizes a predetermined function in cooperation with software. The controller 240 may include an internal memory (not shown) such as a ROM. The controller 240 reads out data and programs stored in various storage units of the smartphone 200 such as an internal memory and performs various arithmetic processes to realize various functions. The internal memory may include RAM and also provides a work area used by the CPU of the controller 240.

The Wi-Fi module 270 is a communication module (circuit) that performs communication based on the communication standard IEEE 802.11. The smartphone 200 can communicate with another device equipped with the Wi-Fi module via the Wi-Fi module 270. The smartphone 200 can directly communicate with other devices through the Wi-Fi module 270. The smartphone 200 can also connect to the network path 300 via the Wi-Fi module 270 and communicate with other devices via the network path 300. The Wi-Fi module 270 is an example of the communication unit in this embodiment.

The flash memory 260 stores image data captured by the smartphone 200, image data transferred from the digital camera 100, and the like. The flash memory 260 stores a camera cooperation application program (hereinafter referred to as “camera cooperation application”) that is executed by the controller 240 and realizes the functions described below. The camera cooperation application enables connection to the digital camera 100 and remote control of the digital camera 100.

The smartphone 200 further has various other functions such as a telephone function, an internet communication function, and a camera function.

[1-2. motion]
The operation of the telecommunications system 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

The operation of communication connection between the digital camera 100 and the smartphone 200 when the user of the system 10 starts using the service of the digital camera 100 using the smartphone 200 will be described below. At this time, in the smartphone 200, the camera cooperation application stored in the flash memory 260 is executed.

In the present embodiment, FIG. 4 shows an operation example when the smartphone 200 is communicatively connected to the digital camera 100 as in the case of starting the service use of a device (UPnP device) conforming to the general UPnP protocol. That is, FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example of communication connection between the smartphone 200 and the digital camera 100 in the remote communication system 10. Note that in FIG. 4, various devices other than the DHCP server and the digital camera 100 connected to the network are omitted for convenience of description.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a case where the smartphone 200 joins the network including the digital camera 100 from the existing state (S101). In response to the participation of the smartphone 200 in the network, the DHCP server (not shown) of the network route 300 allocates an IP address to the smartphone 200 and notifies it (S102).

After that, the smartphone 200, in response to the user's operation or the like, multicast-transmits the M-Search request to the participating network (S103), that is, indiscriminately transmits to all the devices connected to the network.

The M-Search request is, for example, a request for detecting a device having a specific function on a network in which a plurality of UPnP devices connect according to the UPnP protocol, and includes values such as host information and a search target. The search target value indicates what kind of function the UPnP device is to be searched for. For example, when searching for UPnP devices having a media server function such as the digital camera 100, the search target value may include the character string “MediaServer”.

The UPnP device that has received the M-Search request sends an M-Search response to the source address if the device itself has the function indicated by the search target value (S104). The M-Search response includes its own location value. The location value indicates the path of the DDD (Device Description Data) file in the UPnP device that transmits the M-Search response, for example. The DDD file is a file in which details of the characteristics of the UPnP device (that is, DDD) are described in a format such as XML. The DDD includes, for example, the manufacturer name, the model number of the device, the serial number, and the like. DDD is an example of description information in the present embodiment.

Upon receiving the M-Search response from the UPnP device, the smartphone 200 transmits a DDD request to the UPnP device based on the location value included in the M-Search response (S105). The UPnP device that has received the DDD request transmits a DDD response including DDD to the smartphone 200 (S106). After that, the smartphone 200 can perform information communication for using various services with the UPnP device such as the digital camera 100 with which the communication connection is established (S107).

At the time of the above operation, the smartphone 200 can create, on the liquid crystal monitor 225, information that lists all the UPnP devices that have responded (response device list), for example, based on the DDD response received in step S106. The user of the smartphone 200 can operate the operation unit 250, the touch panel 220, or the like to select a target UPnP device from the listed UPnP devices. The smartphone 200 starts using the service for the selected device (S107).

During the operation of the communication connection as described above, it is necessary to wait for the M-Search response (S104) for a predetermined waiting time after transmitting the M-Search request (S103). The waiting time is preset to a period during which some M-Search responses can be received (for example, 3 seconds). It may be inconvenient for the user if a waiting time is required each time a communication connection to a desired device is made.

Here, in the remote communication system 10 of the present embodiment, the digital camera 100 to be communicated from the smartphone 200 may function as a wireless LAN router having a DHCP server function (see FIG. 1B). An example of the operation in such a case is shown in FIG. In the operation example of FIG. 5, the smartphone 200 is directly connected to the digital camera 100. That is, the digital camera 100 assigns an IP address to the smartphone 200 by the function of the DHCP server (S102). In the present embodiment, whether or not such a direct connection is made can be easily estimated by using the above-mentioned IP address and known information about the digital camera 100.

Therefore, in the present system 10, as shown in FIG. 5, when the direct connection between the smartphone 200 and the digital camera 100 is estimated, the process using M-Search (S103, 104 in FIG. 4) is skipped. Then, the smartphone 200 immediately executes transmission of the DDD request (S105A). As a result, the time corresponding to the waiting time of M-Search can be reduced, the communication connection in the system 10 can be speeded up, and the user can easily use the system 10.

Hereinafter, details of operations of the smartphone 200 and the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

[1-2-1. Smartphone operation]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the smartphone 200 in the remote communication system 10 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 starts in a state where an IP address is assigned to the smartphone 200 (after S102 of FIG. 4 or 5). Each process in this flowchart is executed by the controller 240 of the smartphone 200 according to, for example, a camera cooperation application.

First, the controller 240 determines whether the IP address assigned to the smartphone 200, which is its own device, has a specific value (S300). The specific value indicates an IP address assigned when the communication target digital camera 100 is a DHCP server, and is embedded in, for example, a camera cooperation application. The determination in step S300 is performed to infer whether or not the smartphone 200 is directly connected to the digital camera 100, that is, whether or not the (direct) connection destination of the smartphone 200 is the digital camera 100.

When the controller 240 determines that the IP address is not the specific value (No in S300), it controls the Wi-Fi module 270 to perform M-Search transmission for creating an M-Search request and performing multicast transmission (S310). ).

After that, the controller 240 determines whether or not the Wi-Fi module 270 has received the M-Search response (see S104 in FIG. 4) from the UPnP device (S320). When the controller 240 has not received the M-Search response (No in S320), the controller 240 determines whether or not the above-described waiting time has elapsed since the M-Search transmission (S310), for example (S325). The controller 240 performs step S320 until the waiting time elapses (No in S325), and when the waiting time elapses (Yes in S325), terminates this processing as a timeout (timeout). In step S325, the controller 240 ends this processing even when the cancellation is appropriately performed.

When the controller 240 receives the M-Search response (Yes in S320), the controller 240 creates a DDD request based on the location value included in the received M-Search response, and sends the DDD request to the responding UPnP device. 270 is controlled (S330).

On the other hand, when the controller 240 determines that the IP address is the specific value described above (Yes in S300), the controller 240 causes the Wi-Fi module 270 to transmit the DDD request without performing the steps S310 to S325 described above (S335). ). That is, the M-Search transmission processing (S310 to S325) is skipped.

In step S335, the controller 240 uses the preset URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) instead of the information in the Msearch response in step S330, and uses the Wi-Fi module 270 to create and transmit the DDD request. Control. The URI is an example of position information corresponding to the DDD file path of the digital camera 100 of the present system 10, and is embedded in, for example, a camera cooperation application. The URI can be appropriately stored in advance in various storage units of the smartphone 200.

The controller 240 waits for a DDD response to the DDD request transmitted in step S330 or S335 for a predetermined period, and determines whether or not the DDD response from the communication target digital camera 100 is received within the period (S340). For example, when the DDD response is not received within the period, the controller 240 proceeds to “No” in step S340.

In step S340, when the DDD response is received within the above period, the controller 240 acquires detailed information of the responding device from the received DDD response. The controller 240 determines, based on the acquired detailed information, whether or not the responding device matches the device for the purpose of using the service (S340). Whether or not the responding device is the target device is determined by, for example, whether or not the set of the manufacturer name and the model number matches the value specified by the camera cooperation application executed on the smartphone 200. ..

When the DDD response from the digital camera 100 is received (Yes in S340), the controller 240 adds the UPnP device information indicated by the received DDD response to the response device list (S350). By referring to the response device list, it becomes possible to notify the registered device information to, for example, various upper layers.

Next, the controller 240 determines whether or not the M-Search transmission of step S310 has been executed (S360). The determination in step S360 may be made based on the history of M-Search transmission, or may be made using the IP address of its own device or the like.

If the M-Search request has been sent (Yes in S360), it is necessary to wait for an M-Search response from another UPnP device. From this, the controller 240 returns to step S320, and again executes the processing from step S320.

On the other hand, when the M-Search request has not been transmitted (No in S360), the device added to the response device list can be determined to be the digital camera 100 directly connected to the smartphone 200. Therefore, the controller 240 ends the process illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 7 without repeating the process of step S320 and the subsequent steps.

Further, when the DDD response from the communication target digital camera 100 is not received within the above-described predetermined period (No in S340), the controller 240 makes the same determination as in step S360 (S370). When the controller 240 has transmitted the M-Search request (Yes in S370), the controller 240 returns to step S320 to wait for an M-Search response from another UPnP device, as in the case of “Yes” in step S360. ..

On the other hand, if the M-Search request has not been transmitted (No in S370), it is incorrect to assume that the smartphone 200 is directly connected to the digital camera 100 when the M-Search transmission (S310) is skipped. It is thought that Therefore, when the controller 240 proceeds to “No” in step S370, the controller 240 returns to step S310 and transmits a new M-Search request. In this case, the controller 240 performs the processing from step S310 onward from the time of M-Search transmission until the time expires (Yes in S325), and ends the processing according to this flowchart.

According to the above processing, when the assigned IP address has a specific value (Yes in S300), the smartphone 200 determines that the connection destination of the device itself is the desired digital camera 100, and the M- The process of Search transmission (S310, S320, S325) is skipped.

If the above assumption is correct, a DDD response is obtained by the DDD request (S335) based on the preset URI (Yes in S340), and the communication connection to the desired digital camera 100 can be performed at high speed. If the above estimation is incorrect (No in S340 and No in S370), M-Search transmission is performed and a communication connection can be established.

[1-2-2. Digital camera operation]
7A and 7B are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the digital camera 100 in the remote communication system 10 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. Each of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is independently performed in parallel during the processing of FIG. 6 by the smartphone 200, for example. Each process according to each flowchart is executed by the controller 135 of the digital camera 100, for example.

In FIG. 7A, for example, the controller 135 first determines whether or not the Wi-Fi module 190 of the digital camera 100 has received the M-Search request from the smartphone 200 (S400). The controller 135 repeats step S400, for example, in a predetermined cycle until the Wi-Fi module 190 receives the M-Search request (No in S400).

When the controller 135 receives the M-Search request in the Wi-Fi module 190 (Yes in S400), the digital camera 100 has the function indicated by the received search target (ST) value in the M-Search. It is determined whether there is any (S410).

If the digital camera 100 does not have the function (No in S410), the controller 135 returns to step S400. On the other hand, when the digital camera 100 has the function (Yes in S410), the controller 135 controls the Wi-Fi module 190 so as to create an M-Search response and send it to the smartphone 200 (S420). ). After that, the controller 135 ends the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7A. This flowchart may be repeatedly executed periodically.

Also, as in step S400 of FIG. 7A, in FIG. 7B, the controller 135 determines whether or not the Wi-Fi module 190 has received a DDD request from the smartphone 200, for example, in a predetermined cycle (S430). When the controller 135 receives the DDD request (Yes in S430), the controller 135 transmits a DDD response to the smartphone 200 in response to the received DDD request (S440). As a result, the controller 135 ends the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7B.

7A and 7B are executed in parallel according to the above processing, so that the digital camera 100 responds to both the DDD request after M-search and the DDD request when M-search is skipped. Can be transmitted (S440). The smartphone 200 can receive the DDD response for determining whether the digital camera 100 is a device compatible with the camera cooperation application.

[1-3. Effect, etc.]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the smartphone 200, which is an example of a communication device, includes the Wi-Fi module 270 (an example of a communication unit) and the controller 240 (an example of a control unit), and includes the Wi-Fi module 270. Sends and receives information to and from devices on the network. The controller 240 controls the operation of the Wi-Fi module 270. When the connection destination of the own device is not the digital camera 100 (an example of a predetermined device) (No in S300), the controller 240 multicasts a request (M-Search) for detecting a device in the network. , Wi-Fi module 270 is controlled (S310). When the connection destination is the digital camera 100 (Yes in S300), the controller 240 uses the position information (URI) set in advance without performing the multicast transmission to describe the description information (DDD) regarding the predetermined device. The Wi-Fi module 270 is controlled so as to transmit the request (S335).

According to the above configuration, when the smartphone 200 and the digital camera 100 are directly connected, the M-Search transmission or the like can be skipped and the communication connection in the system 10 can be speeded up.

In the present embodiment, the controller 240 transmits the request for the description information using the position information when the IP address assigned to the own device has a specific value (No in S300). 270 is controlled (S335). In this way, the direct connection to the desired device can be estimated according to the value of the assigned IP address, and the communication connection can be speeded up. Note that such an estimation is not limited to the assigned IP address, and may be performed using, for example, part of the SSID.

In addition, in the present embodiment, when the response to the request is not received after the request for the description information is transmitted (S335) (No in S340), the controller 240 proceeds to “No” in Step S370 and proceeds to the Wi-Fi module. 270 is caused to execute multicast transmission (S310). As a result, even if the above assumption is incorrect, the communication connection can be established as usual.

Also, in the present embodiment, the request for detecting the device is an M-Search request. The request is not limited to the M-Search request, and can be set as appropriate according to various communication protocols. Further, the position information is, for example, a preset URI, but the position information is not limited to this and may be set appropriately. Further, the predetermined device is, for example, a digital camera.

Further, the camera cooperation application in the present embodiment is a program executed by the controller 240 to realize the above various operations. This program includes a step (S310) of causing the controller 240 to multicast-transmit a request for detecting a device in the network when the connection destination of the device itself is not a predetermined device. This program causes the controller 240 to transmit a request for descriptive information about a predetermined device by using preset position information without performing multicast transmission when the connection destination is the predetermined device (S335). )including. According to this program, a communication device that transmits and receives information to and from a device on a network can speed up communication connection with a predetermined device on the network.

Further, in the present embodiment, telecommunications system 10 includes digital camera 100, smartphone 200, and network path 300. The digital camera 100 has a Wi-Fi module 190 and has a DHCP server function. The smartphone 200 executes the camera cooperation application. When the smartphone 200 is directly connected to the digital camera 100, the smartphone 200 skips transmission of the M-Search request and waiting for the response. As a result, it is possible to reduce the period in which the user is kept waiting for the UPnP device detection.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technique disclosed in the present application. However, the technique in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to the embodiment in which changes, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. are appropriately made. In addition, it is possible to combine the constituent elements described in the first embodiment to form a new embodiment.

Therefore, other embodiments will be exemplified below.

In the above-described first embodiment, the example in which the specific value of the IP address used in step S300 of FIG. 6 is one has been described. In this embodiment, there may be a plurality of specific IP address values. That is, the presence / absence of direct connection may be estimated for a plurality of devices corresponding to a specific value of the IP address. In this case, the position information regarding each device is stored in advance in the storage unit of the communication device or the like, and step S335 is performed by using the position information corresponding to the case where the direct connection with each device is estimated. The communication connection to the device can be speeded up.

In each of the above embodiments, the smartphone 200 is illustrated as an example of the communication device. The communication device of this embodiment is not particularly limited to the smartphone 200, and may be various information processing devices such as a tablet terminal and a PC.

In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, the digital camera 100 has been described as an example of the target for which the smartphone 200 uses the service. However, the smartphone 200 may use any service as long as it has a function of communicating with the outside and a DHCP server function. For example, the target that the smartphone 200 uses as a service may be a printer. In that case, the smartphone 200 may store and execute the printer cooperation application instead of the camera cooperation application.

Moreover, in each of the above-described embodiments, the Wi-Fi module 270 is illustrated as an example of the communication unit. The communication unit of this embodiment is not particularly limited to the Wi-Fi standard, and a communication module complying with various communication standards can be adopted. For example, the communication unit according to the present embodiment is not limited to wireless communication, and may perform various wired communication such as wired LAN. Even in this case, according to the communication device of the present embodiment, the multicast transmission for detecting the device can be omitted, so that the communication connection can be speeded up.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which the communication target device of the communication device is a UPnP device has been described. The communication device of this embodiment is not particularly limited to UPnP, and can be applied to various communication protocols.

In each of the above embodiments, each

controller

135, 240 may be a hardware circuit such as a dedicated electronic circuit or a reconfigurable electronic circuit designed to realize a predetermined function. Each of the

controllers

135 and 240 may be configured by various semiconductor integrated circuits such as a CPU, MPU, GPU, GPGPU, TPU, microcomputer, DSP, FPGA and ASIC.

The embodiment has been described above as an example of the technology according to the present disclosure. To that end, the accompanying drawings and detailed description are provided.

Therefore, among the constituent elements described in the accompanying drawings and the detailed description, not only constituent elements that are essential for solving the problem but also constituent elements that are not essential for solving the problem in order to exemplify the above technology. Elements may also be included. Therefore, it should not be immediately recognized that the non-essential components are essential, because the non-essential components are described in the accompanying drawings and the detailed description.

Also, since the above-described embodiments are intended to exemplify the technology of the present disclosure, various changes, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. can be made within the scope of the claims or the scope of equivalents thereof.

The technology according to the present disclosure can be used for a communication device such as a smartphone that connects to a UPnP-compatible device having a DHCP server function.

10 telecommunications system 100 digital camera 135 controller 150 buffer memory 190 Wi-Fi module 200 smartphone 230 buffer memory 240 controller 260 flash memory 270 Wi-Fi module

Claims

A communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from devices on the network,
A control unit for controlling the operation of the communication unit,
The control unit is
When the connection destination of the own device is not a predetermined device, the communication unit is controlled so that a request for detecting a device in the network is transmitted by multicast,
When the connection destination is the predetermined device, the communication unit is configured to transmit a request for descriptive information regarding the predetermined device by using preset position information without performing the multicast transmission. Control,
Communication device.
The control unit controls the communication unit to transmit the request for the description information by using the position information when the IP address assigned to the own device has a specific value.
The communication device according to claim 1.
If a response to the request is not received after transmitting the request for the description information, the control unit causes the communication unit to perform the multicast transmission,
The communication device according to claim 1.
The request for detecting the device is an M-Search request,
The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The position information is a preset URI,
The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The predetermined device is a digital camera,
The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A program to be executed by a control unit of a communication device that transmits and receives information to and from a device on a network
The control unit, when the connection destination of the own device is not a predetermined device, multicasting a request for detecting a device in the network;
When the connection destination is the predetermined device, the control unit transmits a request for descriptive information regarding the predetermined device by using preset position information without performing the multicast transmission. Programs that include.