JP2003122651A - Communication terminal equipment and method for managing its capability information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make easily acquirable the capability information of communication terminal equipment necessary for an application. SOLUTION: This terminal detects the capability of hardware 500 and software 600 by a capability detecting demon 10 when the terminal is started. The detected capability is transmitted to an SCL preparing demon 200. The SCL preparing demon 200 prepares a SCL (service capability list) described in XML based on the capability information from the capability detecting demon 100, and preserves it in an SCL data base 400. An application 601 requests terminal capability information to an SCL manager 310 when the terminal capability is necessary. The SCL manager 310 acquires the pertinent SCL from an SCL data base 400, and analyzes the SCL by an SCL purser 320 as necessary, and returns the terminal capability information to the application 601.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication terminal device and a capability information management method therefor, and more particularly to a communication terminal device that provides a predetermined service by connecting to a network and a capability information management method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an application of a communication terminal device that has an arithmetic unit, a storage device, or an input / output device and is capable of communication, in order to exchange data with the communication terminal device on the other side, Need to know their abilities.

Conventionally, services used by a calling side and a called side have been known in advance between communication terminal devices that perform such data exchange. For example, in a facsimile machine, facsimile image information is exchanged between a calling side and a called side, and the type of data assumed for communication is determined.
Before the data transmission is started, the capability information is exchanged between the devices, and the data transmission condition is adjusted according to the result of the capability information exchange. However, in recent years, there have been facsimile machines capable of communicating other formats, such as files, with the facsimile image information. In such a facsimile machine, it is necessary to perform processing suitable for information data of different formats. For example, in the case of the facsimile storage and exchange apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-4430, a facsimile image processing means and a file processing means are provided in the apparatus, and the data type is determined before the data transfer and the data type is determined. The processing procedure is switched to an appropriate processing means.

Further, in a compound communication terminal device capable of communicating a plurality of information data, for example, character information and data information in addition to voice information and moving picture information, in the application for processing each information data, You need to know your abilities. For this reason, it became necessary to describe and save the capability of the device. Conventionally, when it was necessary to describe the ability of the other party or oneself in this way, SDP (Sessio
n Description Protocol) RFC2327 describes a media format that can be handled.

[0005]

However, in the application of the conventional communication terminal device, there is a problem that it is not easy to acquire necessary information regarding the capabilities of the other party and the self.

For example, in the case of the above-mentioned facsimile storage / exchange apparatus, the information transmitted and received before starting the data transmission is the data type of the information and the information for identifying the file format. Information only.

Further, in the case of the SDP described above, similarly,
The ability to describe is limited to media formats only. However, in an actual communication application, information about capabilities other than the media format is needed. Further, even if the processing is simply limited to the case where only the SDP related to the media format can be processed, it may be desired to use different formats for input (decoding) and output (encoding) in bidirectional communication. In addition, detailed parameters may be set even for the same media format. However, in SDP, it is difficult to flexibly describe the capability itself of the communication terminal device, and thus it is difficult to support them.

Therefore, for example, when using a service such as a videophone or a voice call on the Internet, after starting the application, the service content is designated and the setting is changed according to the communication terminal device of the other party. The operation when using the service was complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a communication terminal device and a capability information management method therefor capable of easily acquiring information on the capability of the communication terminal device necessary for an application. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a communication terminal device which connects to a network and provides a predetermined service, the capability of the hardware and software constituting the communication terminal device is provided. A capability detecting means for detecting the above, a capability information creating means for creating a terminal capability information file by listing the detected capabilities of the communication terminal device, and a capability information storing means for storing the created terminal capability information file. And a capability information management unit that manages the terminal capability information file and withdraws the terminal capability information file or arbitrary information described in the terminal capability information file as necessary. A device is provided.

In the communication terminal device having such a configuration, the capability detecting means detects the capability of the hardware and software constituting the communication terminal device and sends it to the capability information creating means. The capability information creating means creates a terminal capability information file that lists the acquired capabilities of the communication terminal devices, and stores the file in the capability information storage means. The capability information management unit manages the terminal capability information file stored in the capability information storage unit and also stores the terminal capability information file stored in the capability information storage unit or the terminal as required when executing a predetermined service. Information about the communication terminal device described in the capability information file is retrieved.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a capability information management method of a communication terminal device which connects to a network and provides a predetermined service, hardware and software of the communication terminal device are configured as necessary. A step of detecting a capability provided, a step of creating a terminal capability information file listing the detected capabilities of the communication terminal device, and storing and managing the file in a predetermined storage means,
A capability information management method, which comprises, if necessary, extracting the terminal capability information file stored in the predetermined storage means or arbitrary information described in the terminal capability information file. To be done.

In the ability information management method of such a procedure,
The capabilities of the hardware and software that make up the communication terminal device are detected as necessary, such as when the capabilities of the communication terminal device change. Then, a terminal capability information file that lists the detected capabilities of the communication terminal device is created, stored in a predetermined storage means, and managed. At the time of providing a predetermined service or the like, the terminal capability information file stored in a predetermined storage unit or the information about the communication terminal device described in the terminal capability information file is extracted and used as necessary.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, a communication terminal device (hereinafter, referred to as a terminal) capable of bidirectional communication (for example, a videophone) will be described as an example. It is assumed that the terminal has a network interface, can communicate with the outside, and has an application for a videophone as a software.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a terminal which is an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal according to the present invention is hardware 5
00 and software 600 having a plurality of applications 601 and hardware 500.
And a capability detecting daemon 100 which is a capability detecting means for detecting the capability of the software 600, an SCL creating daemon 200 which is a capability information creating means for creating a terminal capability information file from the detected capability, and a capability for managing the terminal capability information file. It is provided with an information management means 300 and an SCL database 400 which is a capability information storage means for storing a terminal capability information file.

The capability detection daemon 100 is a program resident on the system and is activated when a specific condition is satisfied, and implements capability detection means for detecting the capability of the terminal such as the hardware 500 and the software 600. The capability detection daemon 100 uses the function when the hardware or software dynamically changes when the terminal starts up, that is,
The operation is started when the hardware is changed during the startup, the software is installed, or when the user requests it. For example, in a portable terminal, there is a possibility that the hardware 500 will be changed during startup, such as the insertion / removal of a PC card. Therefore, if there is a change, the capability is detected. Therefore, it is necessary to make the program for detecting the change resident. Since the function of the software 600 is often fixed at the time of installation, it is usually necessary to detect the capability only once at the time of installation. In addition, since the real-time terminal information may be required when the user starts communication, the ability is detected according to the request from the user. The detected terminal capabilities are sent to the SCL creation daemon 200.

The SCL creation daemon 200 is a program that is started when the capability detection daemon 100 detects the capability of a terminal, and lists the capability of the terminal detected by the capability detection daemon 100 in a general-purpose format to create a terminal capability information file. Ability information creation means to be created is realized. The capabilities of the terminal are described as a list using, for example, an XML tree structure. XML is a description language which is based on the specification of the description language HTML and whose specifications are extended so that a structured document can be described. The HTML specification has been extended so that the logical structure of documents and the meaning of constituent elements can be defined. For example, in XML, an HTML tag is used as an extension and an arbitrary term defined by the user can be used in the tag, so that it is possible to specify the meaning of an element forming a document. Also,
By specifying a nested structure using DTD (Document Type Definition), it is possible to define the relationship between the document components in a tree format. In the present invention, the terminal capability description listed by using XML is Se
rvice Capability List (hereinafter,
SCL). The created SCL is
Save in SCL database 400. At this time, ID
An identification code that can be referred to from the outside, that is, a globally unique identification code (for example, an IPv6 address) is assigned. This makes it possible to improve the interoperability of SCL on the network. Only a minimum ID needs to be described in one SCL.

Hardware 500, software 600
An example of SCL in which the capabilities and functions of are described in XML is shown.
FIG. 2 is an example of the terminal capability described by SCL. Here, the terminal name VAIO-C
With 1 as the root, hardware and software form a subtree to list the respective capabilities. For example, in hardware, a CPU (cpu), a display device (display), and a network interface (net) are used as input / output units (io-units).
work interface) Each capability is described in a tree structure, and it is possible to grasp the relationship between the constituent elements.
Similarly for software, the application name (applicat
ion name), port number (port no), transmission medium (s
endmedia) and reception media (recvmedia) are described in a tree structure.

Returning to FIG. 1, description will be made. The capability information managing means 300 is an SC stored in the SCL database 400.
It manages L, retrieves / extracts SCL stored in the SCL database 400 in response to a request from the application 601, or arbitrary information described in SCL regarding the capability of the terminal, and returns it to the application 601. Further, in response to a request from the application 601, the capability detection daemon 100 is requested to create an SCL. The capability information management means 300 is composed of an SCL manager 310 that processes requests from the application 601, and an SCL parser 320 that is information extraction means that performs syntax interpretation of SCL described in XML and extracts necessary information. .

The SCL manager 310 acquires a request from the application 601, creates an SCL, and
Get information from. Application 601 is S
If the CL itself is required, the corresponding SC
Search for L and directly use SCL itself as application 6
Return to 01. When the application 601 needs the individual information in the SCL, it acquires the desired terminal capability information via the SCL parser 320.

The SCL parser 320 is a program that parses SCL described in XML and acquires necessary information, and realizes information extracting means. For example, API
SCL using (Application Program Interface)
The necessary information is passed to the parser 320. SCL parser 3
20 acquires the individual capability information based on this, and SC
Return to L manager 310.

The SCL database 400 is a database for storing the SCL created by the SCL creation daemon 200, and is composed of one or more SCL files. It exists in each terminal and has at least its own SCL
Has an entry of. If necessary, the SCLs of other terminals are cached.

The hardware 500 is a general term for equipment constituting terminals such as an input / output device, a storage device, a computing device and a display device. The capability of each device is detected by the capability detection daemon 100. For example, UNIX
In the (registered trademark) type OS, it is output by the dmesg command.

The software 600 is a program or the like that describes a processing procedure to be executed by a computer, and is composed of a plurality of applications 601 that realize respective functions. Since the function of the software 600 is often fixed at the time of installation, the SCL is normally generated only once at the time of installation.

The operation of the terminal thus configured will be described. The terminal detects the capabilities of the hardware 500 and the software 600 by the capability detection daemon 100 when the terminal is activated, when the hardware 500 is changed, when the software 600 is installed, and when the application 601 or the user requests. The detected ability is SCL
It is sent to the creation daemon 200. SCL creation daemon 2
At 00, the SCL described in XML is created based on the capability information from the capability detection daemon 100, and is saved in the SCL database 400. The application 601 is
When the terminal capability is required, the SCL manager 310 is requested for the terminal capability information. SCL manager 310
Acquires the corresponding SCL from the SCL database 400, analyzes the SCL with the SCL parser 320 if necessary, and returns the terminal capability information to the application 601.

As described above, the terminal capability information can be acquired by automatically detecting the terminal capability in advance or when necessary and listing and describing it in a general-purpose format. Like Also, it becomes possible to easily exchange the terminal capability information with the communication partner. As a result, it is possible to automatically set the application and start the service only by first designating the service content, which improves the convenience of the user.

Next, a terminal capability information management method according to the present invention will be described. First, the procedure from SCL creation to registration will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a procedure for creating and registering capability information in the terminal which is an embodiment of the present invention.

At the terminal, a predetermined event, here, hardware startup (C01), hardware change (C0)
2), at least one of the four events of software installation (C03) and user request (C04)
If one occurs, the terminal capability is detected (S
01). This processing is performed by the capability detection daemon 100. When the hardware is started up, for example, when a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) is started up, the performance of the normal machine itself and information about connected devices are listed. For example, in UNIX OS,
It is output by the dmesg command. Further, when software is newly installed or hardware is changed, for example, when a PC card is inserted, it is necessary to change the device information, and thus the terminal capability is detected. Further, when it is necessary to detect the terminal capability that requires real-time property, the terminal capability can be detected at the request of the user.

Then, SCL is created based on the detected capability information of the terminal (S02). Information data about the terminal capabilities of hardware and software
Since there is a difference in the output format depending on the OS, the SCL is created by appropriately converting it into a general-purpose format, here an XML tree structure.

Then, the created SCL is registered in the SCL database 400 in the terminal (S03). At this time, by assigning a globally unique ID (for example, the IPv6 address of the network interface) as the ID, the interoperability of the SCL on the network is enhanced. The above processing is performed by the SCL creation daemon 20
Performed by 0.

A specific example will be described. First, by detecting the terminal capability (S01), the terminal capability is output in plain text. FIG. 4 is an example of the description of the terminal capability output by the UNIX dmesg command. As is clear from the figure, each element of the terminal capability is listed in the form of plain text. FIG. 5 is an example of the hardware description detected by the capability detection daemon. Similarly, each element of the terminal capability is also listed. This data serves as an intermediate language for converting to SCL, but is actually only stored in memory.

In the creation of SCL (S02), the description of the terminal capability in which each element of the terminal capability is listed as described above is converted into an XML tree structure. Here, the conversion is performed based on a certain policy, but the conversion policy is assumed to be built in the system in advance. FIG. 6 is an example of the hardware capability description by SCL converted by the SCL creation daemon. Tags that represent each component,
For example, CPU (cpu), memory (memory), display device (display), network interface (networkin)
terface) and an element indicating its capability are described in a tree structure whose root is hardware. Moreover, FIG. 7 shows the SC converted by the SCL creation daemon.
It is an example of the software capability description by L. Similarly,
Software (root), application name (application name), send media (sendmedi)
a), tags such as receiving media (recvmedia), and elements indicating their capabilities are described in a tree structure. this is,
The ability of the interactive videophone software was created based on the information passed during installation. As the software capability of the two-way videophone, the media format that can be transmitted and received, the size, the number of colors, the port number used for reception, etc. are described.

By describing the terminal capability information in a general-purpose format of the XML tree structure as described above, not only the terminal capability of the terminal itself can be easily derived, but also the information regarding the terminal capability of the communication partner can be easily acquired. You will be able to. Further, since the document has a hierarchical structure, it is possible to easily search for and extract any necessary information.

Next, the procedure from SCL search to information extraction will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a procedure for searching and extracting capability information in the terminal which is an embodiment of the present invention.

An SCL acquisition request is issued from the application (S11), and the SCL is searched (S1).
2). Normally, only one SCL of its own is registered in the database, so no special search is required,
If SCL of the communication partner is cached, SC
Search using the ID of L as a key. There are several entries in the SCL database, where one terminal is 1 SCL. The above processing is performed by the SCL manager 310.

Subsequently, the searched SCL is parsed if necessary (S13). To the SCL parser 320, the SCL and a list of necessary information (for example, the display capability of the terminal) are passed as arguments. Figure 9 shows the SCL parser A
It is an example of PI. Here, the receiving media format (re
cvmedia_format), the number of colors (recvmedia_color), and the resolution (recvmedia_resolution) are passed as arguments. Here, get_scl_param is the SCL parser 32
This is a function that extracts ability information from the result of parsing with 0.

The information extracted by the SCL parser 320 (eg, display capability 1024 × 480) is returned to the application. Returning to FIG. 8, description will be made. The application acquires the terminal capability information (S14), and performs the process using this. For example, the terminal capability information such as the media that can be transmitted by itself is acquired, the information is transmitted to the communication partner, and the media formats that can be handled by each other are negotiated. When the negotiation is completed, communication starts.

As described above, the application can automatically acquire the terminal capability and perform the processing such as setting and negotiation, so that the convenience of the user can be improved.

In the above description, the PC has been explained, but it is clear that the method of the present invention can be applied not only to the PC but also to any terminal having an arithmetic unit, a storage unit and an input / output unit. .

As described above, the functions of the communication terminal device of the present invention can be realized by a computer. In that case, a program describing the processing contents of the function that the communication terminal device should have is provided. By executing the program on a computer, the above processing functions are realized on the computer. The program describing the processing content can be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. Computer-readable recording media include magnetic recording devices, optical disks, magneto-optical recording media, semiconductor memories, and the like. The magnetic recording device includes a hard disk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), a magnetic tape, and the like. Optical discs include DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and DVD-RAM
(Random Access Memory), CD-ROM (Compact Disc R
ead Only Memory), CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWri
table) etc. Magneto-optical recording media include MO (Magneto
-Optical disk).

When the program is distributed, for example, a DVD or a CD-ROM in which the program is recorded.
Portable recording media such as. It is also possible to store the program in the storage device of the server computer and transfer the program from the server computer to another computer via the network.

[0042]

As described above, in the communication terminal device of the present invention, the capabilities of the hardware and software constituting the device are detected, and a terminal capability information file listing these is created and stored. . When the predetermined service is executed, the terminal capability information file saved as necessary or the information about the communication terminal device described in the terminal capability information file is retrieved.

In this way, the terminal capability is automatically detected,
By making a list and describing it, it becomes possible to easily acquire the terminal capability information of itself or the communication partner. As a result, the convenience of the user of the communication terminal device is improved, for example, the necessary settings can be automatically made by the application.

In the communication terminal device capability information management method of the present invention, the capability of the hardware and software constituting the communication terminal device is detected as necessary, such as when the capability of the communication terminal device changes. A terminal capability information file listing these is created and saved. At the time of providing a predetermined service, the saved terminal capability information file or a part thereof is retrieved and used.

As described above, since the terminal capabilities are automatically detected and listed and described, it is possible to easily obtain the terminal capability information of the communication partner or the communication partner when necessary. As a result, not only is it easy to use the terminal capability information of its own, but it is also easy to use the terminal capability information of the communication partner, and convenience is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a terminal which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a terminal capability described by SCL.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a procedure for creating and registering capability information in a terminal which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a description of a terminal capability output by a UNIX dmesg command.

FIG. 5 is an example of a hardware description detected by a capability detection daemon.

FIG. 6 is an example of a hardware capability description in SCL converted by an SCL creation daemon.

FIG. 7 is an example of a software capability description in SCL converted by an SCL creation daemon.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a procedure for searching and extracting capability information in the terminal which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an example of an API of an SCL parser.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Capability detection daemon, 200 ... SCL creation daemon, 300 ... Capability information management means, 310 ... SCL manager, 320 ... SCL parser, 400 ... SCL database, 500 ... Hardware, 600 ... Software, 601 ... Application

Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B089 JA35 KA01 KB06 KC15 KC53                 5C062 AA05 AA13 AA29 AB42 AC42                       AF13 AF14                 5C075 AB90 CD07 EE02 FF02                 5K034 AA19 EE11 FF13                 5K101 KK01 KK02 KK04 KK16 KK20                       LL00 NN21 PP03 PP05 UU20

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A communication terminal device for connecting to a network and providing a predetermined service, and a capability detecting means for detecting a capability of hardware and software constituting the communication terminal device, and the detected communication terminal device. Capability information creating means for creating a terminal capability information file by listing the capabilities of the device, capability information storing means for storing the created terminal capability information file, managing the terminal capability information file, and if necessary, A communication terminal device, comprising: the terminal capability information file or capability information management means for deriving arbitrary information described in the terminal capability information file. 2. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the capability information creating means lists and describes the capabilities of the communication terminal device in a general-purpose format. 3. The capability information creating means is XML (Exte
3. The capability of the communication terminal device is described using a tree structure of nsible Markup Language).
The communication terminal device described. 4. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the capability information creating means assigns an identification code that can be referenced from the outside to the created terminal capability information file. 5. The identification code assigned by the capability information creating means to the terminal capability information file is IPv6.
5. The communication terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the communication terminal device is an (Internet Protocol version 6) address. 6. The capability detecting means, when starting the communication terminal device, when a dynamic change occurs in the hardware or the software, or in response to a request.
The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the capability of the hardware or the software is detected. 7. The capability information managing means comprises information extracting means for performing syntax interpretation of the description of the terminal capability information file and extracting necessary information.
The communication terminal device described. 8. A method of managing capability information of a communication terminal device for connecting to a network and providing a predetermined service, detecting the capability of hardware and software constituting the communication terminal device, if necessary. A step of creating a terminal capability information file listing the detected capabilities of the communication terminal device and storing and managing the terminal capability information file in a predetermined storage means; and, if necessary, the terminal capability stored in the predetermined storage means. And a step of extracting any information described in the information file or the terminal capability information file. 9. A program for causing a computer to execute capability information management of a communication terminal device that provides a predetermined service by connecting to a network, the computer comprising hardware for configuring the communication terminal device as necessary. Detecting the capability of the software, creating a terminal capability information file listing the detected capabilities of the communication terminal device, storing the file in a predetermined storage means, and managing it; And a step of extracting the terminal capability information file stored in the storage means or any information described in the terminal capability information file.