JP2000341772A - Av system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to control a new connected on board AV device without executing version up by allowing a control center apparatus to update GUI display on the basis of a downloaded control applet and picture data necessary for the GUI display. SOLUTION: In a step I, a browser of a browser loading device corresponding to client side Java requests a control applet to an AV device, which transmits (downloads) the control applet (including picture data such as GIF data necessary for the GUI display) to the browser. In a step II, the browser executes the downloaded control applet in a Java execution environment and the control center apparatus updates the GUI display based on the downloaded AV device control applet and the picture data necessary for the GUI display.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an AV system comprising an AV device (server unit) and a control center device (client unit). The present invention relates to an AV system for controlling AV equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional AV systems, for example, in-vehicle AV
As shown in FIG. 6, the system includes, for example, a CD player and an amplifier 1 with an AM / FM tuner, a speaker 2
And a slave unit B connected to the head unit, such as an MD player 4, a CD changer 5, an MD changer 6, etc.
The head unit A controls the slave unit B based on a unique communication protocol. FIG. 7 shows the slave unit B of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit portion of the device, and here, an analog circuit portion for audio and video is omitted because it is not related to the present invention. The control circuit section includes a media playback device 11 for playing back content such as music and video,
An arithmetic processing unit 12 that includes a PU, a ROM, a RAM, and an I / O circuit unit and performs device control, a display device 13 that displays an operation status of the device, an input device 14 for a user to instruct an operation, and other devices. BUS15 that communicates with
It is composed of

[0003] However, in the above prior art,
(1) Since the head unit A controls the slave unit B with its own communication protocol, all necessary communication protocols need to be mounted on the head unit side in advance in order to ensure smooth operation. Therefore, in order to connect an AV device having a completely new communication protocol to a head unit of an AV system as a slave unit, there is a problem that the head unit must be replaced with a device having the same new communication protocol. (2) In order to use both the old device and the new device in the AV system, in order to maintain their compatibility, all protocols from the old communication protocol to the new communication protocol must be used on the head unit side. Must be implemented,
There is also a problem that the program size of the head unit increases as time passes. Further, (3) the operation system of the on-vehicle equipment is required to be visually recognizable for safety reasons. However, in a conventional on-vehicle AV system, as shown in FIG. UI (User Int
There is a problem that it is difficult to recognize the operation system instantaneously because there is an erface) display and the operation system is not integrated in one place.

As means for solving the above problems (1) and (2), for example, remote control software for a machine to be remotely controlled is stored on a server side, and the machine side downloads this software and downloads the software. There is also known a remote control device (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-301874). This is because the software for remote control is stored in an HTML file on the server side, and the machine for remote control downloads it using a web browser,
In addition, the software is started to start software to be remotely operated on the server side. That is, according to the present invention, the GUI screen of the server at the remote location is
It is obtained from a server located at a remote place and is used for remote operation, thereby solving problems such as correspondence to version upgrade of the server side on the machine side and installation of server side driving software. Is being planned.

[0005]

However, in this prior art, since the GUI display update is determined on the slave daemon side, the master applet and the slave applet are not updated until the display is updated after the user operates the button. The display update is delayed by the time of the overhead due to the communication between the daemons, and it is not only unpleasant for the user to feel that there is no response to pressing the button, but also the response time is AV.
When the system is used for a vehicle, there is a problem in terms of ensuring driving safety. Further, if a sufficient reaction speed is to be obtained, the slave must be hardware having high performance, which is impractical from the viewpoint of cost and the like. Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an AV system including a head unit and a slave unit, which can be updated by downloading an applet.
In addition to the V system, the operation system is centralized in one place to make it easier to see, the GUI display is updated quickly, and high-performance hardware is not required for the slave side hardware. An object of the present invention is to provide an AV system with enhanced security when used.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method according to the first aspect of the invention.
In an AV system in which a control center device equipped with a va-compatible browser and a GUI display device and an AV device equipped with an HTTP server are communicably connected to each other, the control center device includes the downloaded AV device. GUI based on the control applet and image data required for GUI display
An AV system characterized in that the display can be updated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the AV system according to the first aspect, the control center device executes a control applet of the downloaded AV device to control the AV device. An AV system.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the AV system according to the first or second aspect, a communication applet of the device is described in a control applet of the AV device. is there.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the AV system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the control applet of the AV device and image data necessary for GUI display are provided in response to a request from a control center device. An AV system downloaded from the AV device.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the AV system according to the first aspect, a memory card containing a control applet is mounted on the AV device, and the memory card is replaced. An AV system characterized in that a screen design of a GUI display device can be selected.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An AV system according to the present invention comprises a server unit (AV equipment) and a client unit (control center equipment). Therefore, the two units will be described first. (Server unit (AV equipment)) FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a control circuit portion of an AV device (server unit) of the system. The control circuit portion includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and an I / O circuit unit as shown in the figure, and includes an arithmetic processing unit 12 for controlling devices, a media reproducing device 13 for reproducing contents such as music and video, a client unit. (Control center device). As is clear from FIG. 1, the control circuit of the present invention is not provided with a display device and an input device, which is different from the conventional device shown in FIG.

(Control Center Equipment (Client Unit)) FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a control circuit portion of the control center equipment (client unit) used in the present invention. The control circuit portion includes a display device 21 for displaying a UI of the server unit, a CPU, and a RO.
An M / RAM, an I / O circuit unit, and an arithmetic processing unit 22 that performs processing such as execution of a Java applet, an input device 23 as a GUI pointing device, and communicates with a server unit (vehicle-mounted AV equipment). Data BU
This is composed of S15. Here, the analog circuit portion for audio and video is omitted because it has nothing to do with the present invention.

(Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows an on-vehicle AV system which is an embodiment of the AV system of the present invention. The present invention is roughly divided into two parts, a server unit A side and a client unit B side.
Connected by An HTTP server 10 is mounted on each of the on-vehicle AV devices 4, 5, and 6 on the server unit B side, and provides a control applet in response to a request by the HTTP protocol. In this control applet, a protocol for controlling the server unit B is mounted, downloaded to the client unit A side, and executed there.

The client unit A has a function as a control center device, and is equipped with a browser (Java Virtual Machine) having a Java execution environment for executing a control applet. The browser on the client unit side is H on the server unit side.
By accessing the TTP server 10 using the HTTP protocol, the control ablet is downloaded from the server unit side to the client unit side.
It is executed on the ava execution environment to obtain the GUI of the in-vehicle AV equipment on the server unit side.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a communication operation between the control center device on the client unit side and the in-vehicle AV device on the server unit side, and FIG. 5 shows an image of the operation of the present invention.

From the control center equipment (client unit A) to the in-vehicle AV equipment (server unit B)
In order to control, first, on the client unit A side, enter the URL from the browser (S101),
As a result, the browser of the control center device issues a connect request to the public port number (80) of the HTTP server of the in-vehicle AV device on the server unit side (S102). On the other hand, the HPPT server thereby changes from the connection request waiting state (S201) to the connection acceptance (S202) state, and informs the control center device of the connection acceptance to establish the connection between the two.

When the connection is established, the browser sends the requested HTML file name and class file name (control applet) to the HTTP server.
It is written in the TTP request header and transmitted (S103). HT
The TP server fetches the file having the requested file name (including image data such as GIF data necessary for GUI display) from the storage device and sends it to the browser (S203). When the transmission of the file is completed, the connection is disconnected (S104, S204). Repeat this file download until you have the required files.

When the download of the necessary file is completed (S105, YES), the browser executes the downloaded control applet on the Java execution environment (S106). The executed control applet displays the GUI of the in-vehicle AV device on the server unit side on the display device of the control center device, and the control communication port number of the car navigation (this number is described in the control applet). (S107). Upon receiving the connect request, the application communication port changes from the state of waiting for a connect request (S301) to the state of accepting a connect request (S302), and notifies the control center device side of the accept of the connect.

When the connection is established in this way, data exchange between the control applet executed in the control center device on the client unit side and the in-vehicle AV device on the server unit side is performed using a unique communication protocol. Done. For example, taking the reproduction of a CD player as an example, when the user presses the play button of the GUI displayed on the display device of the control center device, the control applet generates a code for instructing the CD player to perform reproduction. (S108). Also, the CD player
The information such as the track number and the playback time is transmitted to the control applet on the control center device by a unique communication protocol (S303), and the control applet on the control center device displays the received information on the control center device. Display on the device.

When the control of the in-vehicle AV equipment on the server unit side is completed and the control applet on the control center equipment is terminated, the control applet disconnects the connection with the in-vehicle AV equipment on the server unit side (S109, S304).

FIG. 5 shows an image of the above operation flow. Client unit A as shown
A high-speed B is used between the Java-compatible browser-equipped device on the server side and the vehicle-mounted AV device such as an MD / CD player on the server unit side.
Connected with US. In step I, the browser of the client-side Java-equipped browser-equipped device requests a control applet from the AV device,
On the other hand, a control applet (along with image data such as GIF data necessary for GUI display) is transmitted (downloaded) from the AV device to the browser.
I do. These communications are performed according to the HTTP protocol. In step II, the browser executes the downloaded control applet on the Java execution environment, and the browser requests a connection to the control communication port. Step III indicates that the connection between the browser and the control communication port is established, and that both perform communication using their own communication protocol.

A notable feature of the present invention is that the control center equipment on the client unit side controls the AV equipment on the server unit side until the control applet is downloaded from the HTTP server of the AV equipment on the server unit side. The point is that they do not know any communication protocol for control. In other words, the control center device on the client unit side only has a means (a saucer) called a Java execution environment for executing the control applet, and the communication protocol for controlling the AV device on the server unit side is the server unit side. This is described in the control applet downloaded from the AV device. Therefore, the control center equipment can be updated to the new A
It can correspond to V equipment (server unit). Further, since the operation system of the AV equipment (server unit) is integrated on the display device of the control center equipment, it has a feature that it is easy to visually recognize.

In the present invention, the judgment of updating the GUI display for the event is made by the master applet. In other words, when downloading the ablet from the slave to the master side, the image data such as GIF data necessary for displaying all the GUIs is downloaded together. Can be replaced. Therefore, an excellent operation feeling can be provided to the user. Commands to be transmitted to the slave daemon are only specific commands such as play and stop. In the method of the present invention, G
Since the determination of UI display change is performed on the master applet side, no load is applied to the slave daemon side. Therefore, only the master, which is the control center device,
It is sufficient if hardware with sufficient performance is provided, and low-performance hardware on the slave side is sufficient. In the present invention, since the control part is concentrated in one place, using the AV system of the present invention for in-vehicle use is extremely advantageous in terms of safety.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a memory card is mounted on the in-vehicle AV device serving as the slave unit, and a control applet describing a design of a control screen displayed on the control center device is stored in the memory card. Thus, by exchanging the memory card, the design of the control screen displayed on the control center device can be freely selected as desired.

[0025]

According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention: (1)
A control center device equipped with a Java execution environment can control a new connected in-vehicle AV device without upgrading the version. (2) Since a GUI is not required for the in-vehicle AV equipment on the server unit side, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the design period can be shortened. (3) The control center device on the client unit side is the in-vehicle AV on the server unit side.
Since there is no need to implement a communication protocol for controlling the device, the design period can be shortened. (5)
Due to the characteristics of the in-vehicle equipment, a simpler operation system that minimizes the movement of the line of sight is required. However, according to the present invention, the GUI of the in-vehicle AV system can be concentrated on the control center equipment. In addition, the burden on the user regarding operability can be reduced. Advantageous Effect According to Claim 5: It is possible to change the GUI to the user's favorite simply by replacing the control ablet of the in-vehicle AV device on the server unit side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit of a vehicle-mounted AV device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit portion of the control center device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an on-vehicle AV system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a communication operation flowchart between the control center device and the in-vehicle AV device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram in which the flowchart of FIG. 4 is imaged.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional on-vehicle AV system.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit portion of a conventional on-vehicle AV device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Head unit side control device, 2 ... Speaker, 3 ... Audio line, 4, 5, 6 ... AV
Equipment, 7: distributor, 10: HTTP server equipped with control applet, 11: display device,
12: arithmetic processing unit, 13: media playback device,
14 ... input device, 15 ... data bus, 21 ...
Display device, 22: arithmetic processing unit, 23: input device,

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04Q 9/14 H04N 7/173 630 // H04N 7/173 630 H04L 11/00 310Z F term (reference) 5C025 AA08 AA09 CA02 CB01 DA07 DA08 5C064 BA07 BB03 BC16 BC20 BD01 BD07 5K033 AA09 BA06 BA15 CB01 CB02 CB14 DA01 EA07 EC01 5K048 AA04 AA08 BA02 BA42 DA02 DA05 DC04 EA14 EB07 FB10 FC01 HA01 HA02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A Java-compatible browser is installed and a GU
Control center device having I display device and HT
In an AV system in which AV devices equipped with a TP server are communicably connected to each other, the control center device displays a GUI display based on a downloaded control applet of the AV device and image data necessary for GUI display. An AV system characterized by being updatable. 2. The AV system according to claim 1, wherein the control center device executes a control applet of the downloaded AV device to control the AV device. 3. The AV system according to claim 1, wherein a communication protocol of the AV device is described in a control applet of the AV device. 4. The AV system according to claim 1, wherein image data necessary for a control applet and a GUI display of the AV device is provided in response to a request from a control center device. An AV system downloaded from the side. 5. The AV system according to claim 1, wherein a memory card containing a control applet is mounted on the AV device, and the memory card is replaced to thereby display a screen of a GUI display device of the control center device. A design that allows the user to select a design
V system.