JP2003224568A - Information communication system and control method for information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information communication system capable of dissolving inconvenience that a user is required to monitor when the function of information communication equipment is to be a usable value in the case that the function of the information communication equipment is in use and can not be used from other equipment, and to provide a control method for the information communication system, a control program for the information communication system and a storage medium. <P>SOLUTION: When a printer 100 connects communication to a digital camera and uses the function provided in the digital camera, in the case that the printer 100 can not use the function, control is performed such that the communication connection is disconnected tentatively, the digital camera connects the communication to the printer 100 to inform that the function is usable after detecting that the function becomes usable, and the printer 100 executes a processing using the function provided in the digital camera. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information communication system and a control method for the information communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when information communication apparatuses communicate with each other and an internal function of a communication partner device is in use, the information communication device connected to try to use the internal function of the communication partner device is It was configured to wait until the feature was available.

For example, when a print request is to be sent to a printer connected to a terminal device, if the printer is printing, the next print request process is held until the current print process is completed. It was like this. Even in a printer that has two connection ports, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port and a Centronics port, no matter which connection port receives the next print request during printing, the print request will not be accepted and will be put on hold. It was.

Further, when a print request is made to a printer connected to a network, if the printer is already executing print processing from another device, the print request is not accepted and the print request is currently being executed. It had to wait until the printing process was completed.

In a device environment connected to a network, print requests are immediately queued in the print processing queue, and the terminal side is released from the print waiting state. Therefore, even if the printer is printing, the print processing is apparently performed. In some cases, it does not have to wait.

However, in order to manage and process the print processing queue, another device such as a printer server having a certain processing capacity or an expensive printer having an equivalent function is required. Met.

In recent years, printers, scanners, copying machines,
Multi-function devices that integrate functions such as FAX into a single device have been developed. Such multi-function devices are used in office LANs (Locs).
It is often used by connecting to an alArea Network (intra-region communication network) environment.

In such a complex device, for example, when another user tries to take a copy during the printing process, it is necessary to wait until the printing process of the printer engine is completed. Some have a function of notifying by e-mail via the LAN, which improves the convenience of the user.

[0009]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above,
In the conventional example, when the information communication devices communicate with each other,
When the internal function of the communication partner device is in use, the information communication device connected to try to use the internal function of the communication partner device is configured to wait until the internal function becomes available. The user has to wait until the internal function becomes available, and in a simple and inexpensive environment that does not have a mechanism for performing processing such as queuing print requests in the print processing queue, It was very inconvenient for the user to monitor whether printing was possible.

The Bluetooth standard, which is a short-range radio communication standard that has been developed and spread in recent years, is based on the Bl standard.
It is considered to make a temporary communication connection such as specifying a communication partner device when starting communication between the Bluetooth compatible devices, performing connection / communication, and disconnecting the communication connection after the processing is completed. As a device equipped with Bluetooth, the number of examples of mounting the device in a small-sized and low-priced device is increasing, taking advantage of the small size, low power consumption, and low price which are the characteristics of the Bluetooth standard.

In such a device, it is difficult to mount a large-capacity memory for spooling a print request as in the above-mentioned conventional example.
For Bluetooth compatible printers, Bluetooth
h When a printer requesting a print process from a compatible terminal and the printer is printing, the user has to wait until the process being printed is completed as described above, and also monitors when printing is possible. It was very inconvenient to have to.

Further, since the communication connection is made temporarily,
As in the conventional example described above, when an attempt is made to notify the terminal by e-mail when the printer becomes available, as in an office LAN environment, registration / setting in a mail server is performed in advance. This is inconvenient because it is practically impossible to target terminals whose network structure changes dynamically, and the user cannot notify the printer when printing is possible.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and its purpose is to provide a method when the function of the information communication device is in use and cannot be used by other devices. An object of the present invention is to provide an information communication system and a control method of the information communication system, which can eliminate the inconvenience that the user has to monitor whether the function of the information communication device has a usable value.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, an information system of the present invention is an information communication system including at least a first information communication device and a second information communication device. If the first information communication device cannot use the function when the second information communication device makes a communication connection to the second information communication device and uses the function of the second information communication device, once the first information communication device cannot use the function. After disconnecting and detecting that the function is available, the second information communication device communicates with the first information communication device to notify that the function is available, The first information communication device is the second
The information communication device is characterized by further comprising control means for controlling to execute a process using the function.

In order to achieve the above object, the control method of the information communication system of the present invention is a control for controlling an information communication system including at least a first information communication apparatus and a second information communication apparatus. A method, wherein when the first information communication device is communicatively connected to the second information communication device and the function of the second information communication device is used, the function cannot be used by the first information communication device. In this case, after disconnecting the communication connection and detecting that the function is available, the second information communication apparatus communicates with the first information communication apparatus and the function becomes available. And a control step for controlling the first information communication device to execute processing for using the function of the second information communication device.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer equipped with a wireless communication function, which is an information communication device that constitutes an information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera equipped with a wireless communication function, which is an information communication device configuring an information communication system according to a first embodiment.

Hereinafter, as a method of wireless communication function, Blue will be used.
An example of using the tooth standard will be described.

In FIG. 1, a printer 100 is a CP.
U (Central Processing Unit) 101, ROM (Read O
nly Memory 102, RAM (Random)
Access Memory 103, non-volatile memory 104, wireless communication unit 105, antenna 106, printing unit 1
07, the operation unit 108, and the display unit 109, and the above-described components are mutually connected by an internal bus 110 as shown in the drawing. Also, the printer 1
Reference numeral 00 includes a power supply circuit section (not shown), and supplies power to each of the above components via a power supply line (not shown).

The CPU 101 operates according to a program stored in the ROM 102 and controls various operations of the printer 100. The ROM 102 is a non-volatile memory in which the control procedure of the printer 100, the control procedure of the wireless communication unit 105, and the like are stored in advance. The RAM 103 is used as communication data transmitted / received from the wireless communication unit 105, temporary buffering of print data received, a work area used for calculation of the CPU 101, an area for temporarily storing various settings, and the like. . The non-volatile memory 104 is
Rewritable, various device settings and Bluetooth
BD_AD which is the communication partner address used for the th communication
DR (Bluetooth Device Addre
ss), link key information and the like used for communication with the connected Bluetooth device are stored and saved. The wireless communication unit 105 includes a high-frequency circuit unit required for wireless communication, an encoding / decoding circuit unit, a FIFO memory for wireless communication, and its own BD.
A non-volatile memory or the like storing _ADDR_P is connected to the antenna 106. Printing section 10
A printer 7 includes a print head for printing print data on a recording medium such as paper, an ink tank, a print head driving motor, a recording medium (paper) conveying roller, a recording medium (paper) conveying gear driving motor, and a gear. The engine part. The operation unit 108 includes a power button, a reset button, and the like (not shown) for instructing the power ON / OFF of the printer 100, and outputs the state and state change of these buttons and the like as an electric signal. The display unit 109 includes an LED (light emitting diode) lamp or the like, and displays the operating state of the printer 100 and the like.

In FIG. 2, a digital camera 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Re
ad Only Memory 102, RAM (Ra
non access memory) 203, non-volatile memory 204, wireless communication unit 205, antenna 20.
6, an image pickup unit 207, an operation unit 208, a display unit 209, and a secondary storage unit 210, and as shown in the drawing, the above-mentioned respective components are mutually connected by an internal bus 211. Further, the digital camera 200 includes a power supply circuit unit (not shown), and supplies power to each of the above components via a power supply line (not shown).

The CPU 201 operates according to a program stored in the ROM 202, and the digital camera 20
0 controls various operations. The ROM 202 is a non-volatile memory in which the control procedure of the digital camera 200 is stored in advance. The RAM 203 is used for temporary buffering of digital image data output from the image pickup unit 207, data to be written to the secondary storage unit 210, temporary storage of data read from the secondary storage unit 210, calculation of the CPU 201, and the like. It is used as a work area to be used, an area for temporarily storing communication data transmitted and received from the wireless communication unit 205, various settings, and the like. The non-volatile memory 204 is rewritable and can be used for various device settings and Bluetooth.
The communication partner BD_ADDR used for communication, a passkey, link key information used for communication with a previously connected Bluetooth device, and the like are stored and saved. Wireless communication unit 205
Is a high-frequency circuit unit required for wireless communication, an encoding / decoding circuit unit, a FIFO memory for wireless communication, its own BD_AD
It is composed of a non-volatile memory or the like that stores DR_D, and is connected to the antenna 206. Imaging unit 207
Is a lens that forms an image of incident light, a photoelectric converter (CCD, CMOS sensor, etc.) that converts the formed light into an electric signal, and an analog electric signal output from the photoelectric converter into a digital electric signal It is composed of an A / D converter (analog / digital converter) and the like. The operation unit 208 includes a release button (not shown) for instructing shooting, a mode selection dial for selecting an operation mode of the digital camera 200,
It is composed of a menu button for calling a menu item, a button such as a cross-shaped cursor button for selecting / instructing a menu item, a dial, a switch, etc., and outputs the state and state change of these buttons, dials, switches as an electric signal. The display unit 209 is composed of a liquid crystal display device or the like, and displays the operating state of the digital camera 200 and captured image data. The secondary storage unit 210 stores captured digital image data and the like.

Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the user is shown in FIG.
The processing operation when the digital camera 200 shown in FIG. 1 is operated to issue a print request to the printer 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 shows a flow of processing operations in the digital camera 200 after the digital camera 200 is instructed by the user to print an image to the printer 100, performs Bluetooth communication connection processing with the printer 100, and the connection is established. It is a flowchart showing.

First, in step S301, the printer 100
Processing for transmitting a print request to the. Next, in step S302, a response from the printer 100 to the print request transmitted in step S301 is received.
Next, in step S303, the content of the response received from the printer 100 in step S302 is analyzed to determine whether the printer 100 is usable. If the printer 100 is immediately usable, step S
If the printer 100 is not immediately usable, the process proceeds to step S306.

In step S304, if the printer 100 is available, print data is transmitted to the printer 100. After the print data has been sent in step S304, the process proceeds to step S305, communication connection disconnection processing is performed, and then this processing operation ends.

In step S306, it is determined whether an error has occurred in the printer 100. The response from the printer 100 received in step S302 includes information indicating whether the printer 100 can be used immediately and whether the printer 100 has an error. If the printer 100 has not generated an error, the process proceeds to step S307, and the printer 10
If 0 has generated an error, the process proceeds to step S311.

In step S307, the digital camera 2
00 displays a message on the display unit 209 indicating that the printer 100 cannot be used immediately.
When it becomes available, a message prompting the user to input an instruction as to whether or not to send the availability notification to the digital camera 200 from the printer 100 is displayed. Next, in step S308, the instruction input by the user is the printer 100.
When the printer 10 becomes available, the printer 10 sends an availability notification.
It is determined whether it is necessary to transmit from 0. And
If it is necessary to transmit the availability notification, step S309
If it is not necessary to transmit the availability notification, the process proceeds to step S312.

In step S309, the printer 100 sends a message requiring notification of availability of the printer 100.
Send to. In this process, the printer 100 also receives a message indicating that this message has been received. Next, in step S310, the printer 100
A process for registering a print process waiting for processing because it cannot be used in the unexecuted process list is performed. Specifically, the name of the printer 100 that is the communication partner or BD_A of the printer 100.
Information for identifying the printer 100 that is a communication partner such as DDR, a type of processing to be executed such as print processing, file transfer, and data transfer, and a data object to be processed such as a data file name and a data file number are identified. Information for this is registered in the unexecuted processing list.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the unexecuted processing list. In FIG. 7, 700 indicates the entire list. The list 700 has entries of a communication partner ID, a process type, and a data ID. Line 70 in list 700
1 is “File_ADDR” for a device whose device name is “Printer 100” and BD_ADDR is “BD_ADDR_1”.
Processing to "print" Name_1 data, list 7
A row 702 in 00 has "Device_Name" and BD_ADDR is "BD_ADDR_2".
This indicates that the process of "file transfer" the data of "_Name_2" has not been executed.

When the availability notification of the printer 100 is received from the printer 100, the unexecuted process list 700 shown in FIG.
Printer 100 which is a communication partner such as BD_ADDR of 0
The process to be re-executed can be identified from the information for identifying the. Details of this processing will be described later.

Returning to FIG. 3 again, the above step S310
After the processing of (1) is completed, the process proceeds to step S305.

In step S312, a message indicating that the availability notification of the printer 100 is unnecessary is transmitted to the printer 100. In this process, the printer 1
00 also receives a message indicating that this message has been received. After finishing the process of step S312, the process proceeds to step S305.

In step S311, the above step S3
Since it is determined in 06 that an error has occurred in the printer 100, the display unit 209 of the digital camera 200
A printer error message is displayed on the screen, and the user is informed that the printer 100 communicatively connected cannot perform print processing due to an error, and then the process proceeds to step S305.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing operations after the printer 100 is communicatively connected by Bluetooth activated from the digital camera 200.

First, in step S401, the print request transmitted from the digital camera 200 is received. Next, in step S402, it is determined whether the printing unit 107 can be used immediately. Specifically, whether the printing unit 107 can be used immediately depending on presence / absence of reservation processing, presence / absence of print data to be passed to the printing unit 107, and presence / absence of error notification such as paper out error, paper jam error, ink out error from the print unit 107. Determine whether or not.

If there is no reservation process, print data, or error, the printing unit 107 determines that it can be used immediately,
It proceeds to step S403.

Whether or not the reservation process is performed is determined by checking the reservation process flag bit shown in FIG. If the bit is “1”, it can be determined that there is a reservation, and if the bit is “0”, it can be determined that there is no reservation.

The reservation process is performed in step S411.
Will be explained.

If there is a reservation process, there is print data, or there is an error, the process proceeds to S407. Step S4
In 03, if the printing unit 107 is immediately usable,
An available message of the printer 100 is transmitted to the digital camera 200. Next, after receiving the print data transmitted from the digital camera 200 in step S404, print processing is executed in the next step S405. After that, in the next step S406, the process of disconnecting the communication connection with the digital camera 200 is performed, and then this processing operation is ended.

In step S407, whether the printing unit 107 can be serviced, that is, whether an error has been notified,
Alternatively, it is determined whether reservation can be accepted. Then, if an error is notified or the reservation cannot be accepted because the maximum number of reservations has been received, it is determined that the service is not possible and the process proceeds to step S412. If there is no error and the reservation can be accepted, the process proceeds to step S408. Each goes.

Whether or not the reservation can be accepted is determined by checking the reservation acceptance flag bit shown in FIG. If the bit is “0”, it can be accepted, and if the bit is “1”, it can be determined that it cannot be accepted.

In step S408, the digital camera 2
A message indicating that the printer 100 is in use is transmitted to 00. Next, in step S409, the availability notification necessity message of the printer 100 transmitted from the digital camera 200 is received. In this process, the process of returning the message received to the digital camera 200 is also performed. Next, in step S410, it is determined whether the availability notification necessity message of the printer 100 received in step S409 is the availability notification necessity message of the printer 100. Then, if the message indicates that the availability notification is required, step S4
If not, the process proceeds to step S406.

In step S411, use reservation processing for the printer 100 is performed. That is, execution of the printing process sent from the digital camera 200 is reserved.

Details of the use reservation process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

An area for storing and managing the reservation flag bit, the reservation acceptability flag bit, the reservation processing queue, and the maximum acceptable number is prepared on the RAM 103 of the printer 100. When performing the reservation process, first, in step S1101, the reservation flag bit shown in FIG. 8 is checked. If no reservation is made, the process proceeds to step S1102 to set the reservation flag bit to "1", and then the next step. S11
Go to 03. If the reservation has already been made, the step S402 is skipped and the step S110 is directly executed.
Go to 3.

In step S1103, the communication partner ID is registered at the end of the reservation processing queue shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, 1000 indicates a reservation processing queue, the first row 1001 has the highest priority, and the second row 1002 and the third row 1003 have lower priority. In the first line 1001, the device name of the communication partner is "DSC-101" and BD_ADDR is "BD_ADDR_3". In the second line 1002, the device name of the communication partner device is not present, and BD_ADDR is "BD_A
DDR_4 ”. In the example of FIG. 10, since two reservations have already been entered, the print request process from the digital camera 200 is the third line 1003.
You will be registered with.

Returning to FIG. 11 again, step S1104
The communication partner I registered in step S1103
The priority number of D is compared with the maximum acceptable number. If the registered priority number of the communication partner ID is equal to the maximum acceptable number, the process advances to step S1105 to set the acceptable flag bit shown in FIG. 9 to "1", and then this processing operation is terminated. On the other hand, if the maximum number of receivable items has not yet been reached, the acceptance / rejection flag bit is not set (skipping step S1105), and this processing operation is terminated.

It should be noted that in the use reservation process of the printer 100 shown in FIG. 11, it is already determined in step S407 of FIG. 4 whether or not the maximum acceptable number has been exceeded.
After adding the reservation in S1103 of step 1, step S110
Even if the acceptability flag bit is manipulated at 4 or less, the number of reserved processes does not exceed the maximum acceptable number.

Returning to FIG. 4 again, the above step S411
After completion of the printer use reservation process of step S4,
Proceed to 06.

In step S412, since the printer 100 has an error or cannot accept the reservation for use, a message indicating that the printer 100 cannot be used is transmitted to the digital camera 200, and then step S40 is executed.
Go to 6.

According to FIGS. 3 and 4, the print processing request is issued from the digital camera 200 to the printer 100, the print processing is performed if the print can be executed immediately, and the print processing is reserved if the print cannot be executed immediately. The processing and the operation up to the request processing of the availability notification of the printer 100 have been described.

Hereinafter, the processing of the digital camera 200 after receiving the availability notification of the printer 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

Further, in the printer 100, the printing unit 10
The operation of monitoring whether or not 7 is available, transmitting an availability notification of the printer 100 when it becomes available, and ending the printing process will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing operations in the digital camera 200 after the Bluetooth communication connection is established between the digital camera 200 and the printer 100. The process in FIG. 5 is a process in which the printer 100 sends a message indicating that the printer 100 is usable to the digital camera 200.
It becomes a master device in the Bluetooth standard to call connection to the digital camera 200, and the digital camera 200 becomes a slave device to establish communication connection.

After the connection is established, first, the printer 100 sends a usable notification message of the printer 100.
Then, in step S501, reception processing of the availability notification message of the printer 100 transmitted from the printer 100 is executed. Next, in step S502, the message received in step S501 is analyzed, and it is determined whether or not the notification indicates that the printer 100 is usable. If the notification indicates that the printer 100 is available, the process advances to step S503. If the message is other than the notification that the printer 100 is available, this processing operation is terminated without any processing and the processing right is passed to another processing.

In step S503, the retrieval process of the unexecuted process list 700 shown in FIG. 7 is executed. The unexecuted processing list 700 is searched using the device name of the communication connection partner or the communication partner ID such as BD_ADDR, and the communication partner ID
Detect matching processing of. Next, in step S504, the role exchange process between the master and the slave in the Bluetooth communication connection is performed. Before the execution of this process, as described above, the printer 100 that started the communication connection serves as a master device and the digital camera 200 serves as a slave device.

However, as described in the processing of FIGS. 3 and 4, originally, the digital camera 200 is connected to the printer 100 by Bluetooth communication, and the digital camera 200 is connected.
Is a master device, and the printer 100 is trying to execute a print process in a state of communicating as a slave device. By executing the process of step S504, it is possible to return to the same role environment as that of the original print process. Therefore, when the digital camera 200 and the printer 100 both use the reservation of the printer 100,
There is an advantage that the same print processing procedure can be used as when the usage reservation of 00 is not used.

On the other hand, step S504 can be omitted if the digital camera 200 can perform the print processing procedure in the role of the slave device and the printer 100 as the master device. Therefore, the step S504 can be omitted. You can In that case, there is also an advantage that the entire processing time can be shortened.

Next, in step S505, print data transmission processing is performed. For example, the communication partner ID is “printer 10
In the case of "0", the line 701 of the unexecuted processing list 700 shown in FIG. 7 is selected, and it is understood that the type of processing is "print" and the processing target data is a data file having a file name "File_Name_1". This step 50
In step 5, the process of transmitting the “File_Name_1” file to the printer 100 is performed.

In this example, the case where the communication partner ID is the printer name has been described, but when the communication partner does not have a name, it is possible to retrieve from BD_ADDR.
Further, the type of processing is not limited to printing, and depending on the communication partner, different processing such as file transfer can be performed as shown in FIG.

Next, in step S506, the process of disconnecting the communication connection is performed, and in the next step S507, the process of deleting the registration of the unexecuted process list 700 is performed. Specifically, it is a process of detecting from the unexecuted process list 700 shown in FIG. 7 in step S503 and deleting the line of the process executed in the subsequent steps from the list. In this example, “Printer 1
Since the process for “00” has been executed, the line 701 in FIG. 7 becomes the executed process and is deleted from the unexecuted process list 700. After the processing of step S507 is completed, this processing operation is completed.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing operations in the printer 100 after the digital camera 200 makes a reservation for using the printer 100 with respect to the printer 100. After the processing of step S411 of FIG. Start processing operation.

In FIG. 6, first, in step S601, it is checked whether the printing unit 107 of the printer 100 shown in FIG. 1 can be used. Specifically, the printing unit 107
The presence / absence of print data to be passed to the printer and the presence / absence of error notifications such as a paper out error, a paper jam error, and an ink out error from the printing unit 107 are checked. If the print data is exhausted and no error has occurred, it is determined that the printing unit is available, and the process proceeds to step S602. If the printing unit 107 is not available, the process proceeds to step S610.

In the present embodiment, the printer 100
Although it is monitored by the polling process whether or not it can be used, the status change signal may be output from the printing unit 107 and detected by the interrupt process.

In step S602, the reservation processing queue shown in FIG. 10 is checked, and the communication partner ID in the row 1001 of priority 1 is read. In the case of FIG. 10, “DSC-10
“BD_ADDR” stored as a pair with the device name “1”
"_1" is the communication partner ID. Bluetooth communication connection is performed using this communication partner ID. This step S
Although not shown in 602, when the communication partner does not respond immediately, a preset interval period is opened and a retry of the communication connection is performed a preset number of times. After this retry processing, the process proceeds to the next step S603. Step S60
In step 3, it is determined whether or not the communication connection is established. If the communication connection is established, the process proceeds to step S604, and if the communication connection cannot be established, the process proceeds to step S609.

In step S604, the process of transmitting the usable message of the printer 100 is performed. Next, in step S605, a role exchange process between the master and the slave in the Bluetooth communication connection is performed. This process is shown in FIG.
This corresponds to the master-slave role exchange processing described in the processing of the digital camera 200. Specifically, it is a process corresponding to step S504 in FIG.

Next, in step S606, the print data received from the digital camera 200 is received. Next, in step S607, after the print data receiving process is completed, the print process is started. Next, in step S608, after the print processing is completed, the communication connection disconnection processing is performed. Next, step S
In step 609, the use reservation cancellation process for the printer 100 is performed. In the use reservation cancellation processing of the printer 100, the communication partner ID “DSC-101 (BD_ADDR) registered in the row 1001 of priority 1 in the reservation processing queue shown in FIG.
_3) ”is deregistered, and the communication partner IDs registered in priority 2 and higher are shifted up by one line.

As a result of this processing, the communication partner ID registered in the priority 1 is updated to the device of "BD_ADDR_4". Therefore, when the printer 100 becomes available next time, the availability notification of the printer 100 is transmitted to the device of “BD_ADDR_4”, and the processes after step S602 are similarly executed. Further, since the reservation registration number is always smaller than the maximum receivable number after the reservation process queue updating process is executed, the acceptance / non-acceptability flag shown in FIG. 9 is cleared to “0” to enable the next acceptance. When all the reservations registered in the reservation processing queue in FIG. 10 are exhausted, the reservation flag bit in FIG. 8 is cleared to “0”.

On the other hand, in step S601, if the printer 100 is not usable, step S6.
The process proceeds to step 10 to check whether the printer 100 has an error. If no error has occurred, the process returns to step S601 and waits until the printer 100 becomes available. If an error has occurred in step S610, the process proceeds to step S611 to try to establish a Bluetooth communication connection. This step S611 is the same process as step S602.

Next, in step S612, it is determined whether a communication connection has been established. This step S612 is the same process as step S403.

Then, if the communication connection is established in step S612, the process proceeds to step S613, and if the communication connection cannot be established, the process proceeds to step S609. In step S613, a process of transmitting an unusable message of the printer 100 is performed, and after notifying the device that has been reserved for use of the printer 100 that the printer 100 has become unusable due to an error, the process proceeds to step S609.

The use reservation cancellation processing of the printer 100 in step S609 is performed when the device reserved for use of the printer 100 uses the printer 100, when communication with the device reserved for use of the printer 100 is not possible, and after the reservation is accepted. When the error occurs in 100 and the print processing cannot be performed, the use reservation of the printer 100 is canceled.

After the use reservation cancellation process of the printer 100 in step S609 is completed, this process operation is ended.

In this embodiment, print data is transmitted from the digital camera 200 to the printer 100,
The process flow of printing with the printer 100 is shown in steps S404 and S405 of FIG. 4, and step S60 of FIG.
6 and step S607, the print processing is performed after the print data is received.
If 00 does not have the memory capacity for receiving all the print data, the print data receiving process and the print process are alternately executed. That is, when the print data is received and the buffer memory capacity is exhausted, the reception is temporarily stopped, the print processing is performed, and when the free space in the buffer memory increases, the print data reception is restarted.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the user tries to print from the digital camera 200 to the printer 100 by wireless communication, if the printer 100 cannot be used immediately, The user has to wait until the printer 100 becomes available, and to check when the printer 100 becomes available.

However, according to the present embodiment, the use reservation of the printer 100 can be registered in the printer 100, and when the printer 100 becomes available, the printer 100 can use the printer 100. A message indicating that the printer 1 has been sent to the digital camera 200 by wireless communication.
You don't have to worry about whether 00 will be available,
Further, since the reprinting process from the digital camera 200 to the printer 100 is also automatically performed, there is an effect that the labor of the work is simplified.

Since the user can select whether or not to notify from the printer 100 when the printer 100 becomes available, he / she wants to use another printer 100 when the printer 100 cannot be used immediately. In this case, if the user does not make a reservation for use of the printer 100, the user 100 does not receive the availability notification message from the printer 100 if the user does not desire, and thus the user is not bothered. .

The digital camera 200 receives the process described in FIG. 5, that is, the notification that the printer 100 is available from the printer 100 after the process described in FIG. Until then, the wireless communication unit 105 may be moved to the low power consumption mode waiting for reception and operated to reduce the device power consumption. Further, if no other processing is performed until the availability notification of the printer 100 is received, only the standby operation of the availability notification of the printer 100 is performed, and the entire device is shifted to the low power consumption mode. If the device is operated so as to reduce the power consumption, there is an effect that the device operation time becomes long in the battery-operated device.

Further, as compared with the availability notification system using electronic mail, which is realized in an office LAN environment or the like, the present invention requires a device other than the communicating terminals, for example, a device such as a mail server. Therefore, there is also an effect that it can be realized in a simple and low-cost operating environment.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer equipped with the Bluetooth function that constitutes the information communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from FIG. 1 is that an external device connection unit is added to the configuration of FIG.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1200 is a printer, and C
PU (Central Processing Unit) 1201, ROM (Read
Only Memory 1202, RAM (Ran)
Dom Access Memory) 1203, non-volatile memory 1204, wireless communication unit 1205, antenna 1
206, printing unit 1207, operation unit 1208, display unit 12
09 and an external device connection unit 1210,
As shown in the figure, the internal bus 1211 interconnects the above-described components. In addition, the printer 120
Reference numeral 0 includes a power supply circuit section (not shown), and supplies power to each of the above components via a power supply line (not shown).

The CPU 1201 operates according to the program stored in the ROM 1202, and the printer 120
0 controls various operations. The ROM 1202 is a non-volatile memory in which the control procedure of the printer 1200, the control procedure of the wireless communication unit 1205, and the like are stored in advance. RAM1203
Is communication data transmitted and received from the wireless communication unit 1205,
Temporary buffering of print data received, CP
It is used as a work area used for the calculation of U1201 and an area for temporarily storing various settings.

The non-volatile memory 1204 is rewritable and stores / stores various settings of the device, BD_ADDR which is a communication partner address used for Bluetooth communication, link key information used for communication with a connected Bluetooth device, and the like. The wireless communication unit 1205 is a high frequency circuit unit required for wireless communication, an encoding / decoding circuit unit, a FIFO memory for wireless communication, and its own BD_ADDR_P.
It is composed of a non-volatile memory or the like that stores, and is connected to an antenna 1206. The printing unit 1207 is a printer engine unit including a print head for printing print data on paper, an ink tank, a print head drive motor, a paper transport roller, a paper transport gear drive motor, a gear, and the like. The operation unit 1208 is composed of a power button, a reset button, and the like for instructing power ON / OFF of the printer 1200, and outputs the states and state changes of these buttons as electric signals. The display unit 1209 is an LED
The printer 12 includes a (light emitting diode) lamp and the like.
00 indicates the operation state and the like. The external device connection unit 1210 is composed of an external device connection connector, an external device connection interface circuit, and the like.

The opposite device which wirelessly communicates with the printer 200 shown in FIG. 12 is the digital camera 150 shown in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment. Digital camera 150 and printer 2
Since the wireless communication processing with the communication terminal 00 is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

The processing with the device connected to the external device connection unit 1210 added in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

External device connection section 121 of printer 1200
If 0 is a wired connection interface, it operates as shown in FIG. That is, except when the printer 1200 is immediately usable, a signal indicating whether the printer 1200 is in a busy state or an error state is returned in response to a print request from the external device connection unit 1210.

When there is a print request from the external device connection section 1210, the processing of FIG. 13 is started. First, in step S1301, it is checked whether the printing unit 1207 has an error. If an error has occurred, the process proceeds to step S1305, and if no error has occurred, the process proceeds to step S1302.

In step S1302, it is determined whether the printing unit 1207 is in use. If the printing unit 1207 is in use, the process proceeds to step S1304, and if not in use, the process proceeds to step S1303. Step S
In 1303, the printer 1 checks the reservation flag bit shown in FIG. 8 described in the first embodiment.
It is determined whether or not there is a use reservation of 00. If there is a reservation for use, the process advances to step S1304, and if there is no reservation, it is determined that the printer 1200 can be used immediately, and this processing operation ends. In step S1304, the busy state is output from the external device connection unit 1210.

In step S1301, the printing unit 120
If it is determined in step 7 that an error has occurred, the process advances to step S1305 to output an error state from the external device connection unit 1210.

The external device connected to the external device connection unit 1210 can be used only when the printer 1200 is not in use and has no reservation for use, and when the printer 100 has no error.

According to the present embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, when the external device connecting section 1210 for making a wired connection to the printer 100 is added, the external device connected by a wire is connected. The print request is not accepted unless the printer 100 can immediately use it, and as described in the first embodiment, the print request from the wireless communication unit 1205 can be reserved so that the printer has priority over the wired device. Since the 1200 is configured to be used, it suffices to perform a simple control of accepting a request to the wired connection device or outputting a signal indicating whether the device is busy or in error. There is an advantage that the configuration and processing of the 1200 can be simplified. Further, although the print request of the wireless communication device is prioritized over the wired connection device, generally, the communication environment of the device connected by wire is more stable and the connection state with the printer 1200 is maintained more than the wireless portable device. Since it takes a long time, it can be said that the process is rational for practical use.

(Third Embodiment) In the second embodiment described above, the external device connection section 1210 of the printer 1200 is used.
Although the case where the above is limited to the wired connection interface and the simple processing is performed has been described, in the present embodiment, the external device connection unit 1210 is not limited to the wired connection interface.

That is, the external device connecting section 1210 may be wired or wireless. However, it is premised that messages can be exchanged with each other like the wireless communication in the first embodiment described above.

In this case, regardless of whether the request is made from the wireless communication unit 1205 or the external device connection unit 1210, the use reservation request for the printer 1200 waits for the reservation process shown in FIG. 10 according to the order in which the print request process arrives. After registering in the column, the printer 1200 may repeat the processing operation shown in FIG. That is, when the printer 1200 becomes available, the availability notification of the printer 1200 is transmitted to the communication partner having the highest priority in the reservation processing queue shown in FIG. 10, the print data is received, and the print processing is performed. . The other series of processing is performed in the same manner.

The communication partner at this time is the digital camera 20 described in the first embodiment.
It suffices to have a function equivalent to 0, that is, an unexecuted process management related function and a message transmission / reception function.

As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the user can use the printer 100 shown in this embodiment.
When printing is to be performed, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

Further, the printer according to the present embodiment is
In addition to the printer according to the first embodiment, the printer has a communication interface with a plurality of external devices, so that it is possible to provide a printer that can be used in a more flexible operating environment.

Furthermore, in the first, second, and third embodiments of the present invention, the printer 100 or 1200 is described as an example of a device that receives a use request from an external device, but the digital camera 200 performs wireless communication. It is also conceivable that a request for using the secondary storage unit 210 such as the memory card of the digital camera 200 or the use of the imaging function is received from an external device via the unit 205. Even in this case, if the reservation flag, the acceptability flag, and the reservation process queue described in the first, second, and third embodiments are provided, and the processes such as use reservation acceptance and availability notification transmission are implemented, it is equivalent. The digital camera 200 can be provided with the function of.

As described above, according to the information communication system of this embodiment, the conventional user has to check when the function of the device to be used can be used. Since the notification comes from the intended device, there is no need for the user to monitor, which has the effect of simplifying the work.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, the plurality of digital cameras 200 are connected to the printer 1.
There is an effect that the 00 function can be used in order.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, there is an effect that the device for which the use reservation is registered is not interrupted by another device in order.

Further, according to the information communication system according to the present embodiment, even if the device reserved for use breaks down before using the function of the digital camera or moves to another place, the device reserved next will be used. Since the order is automatically turned, it is convenient for use.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, by setting the maximum reservation registration number appropriately, the use reservation is registered, but the number of reservations is too large and the order cannot be easily turned. There is an effect that can be avoided.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid an adverse effect that the user reserves the use without permission, against the intention of the user.

Further, according to the information communication system according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the power consumption consumed in the communication section, and in particular, the device operating time becomes long in the battery operated device.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, there is an effect that the power consumption of the device can be reduced and the device operation time becomes long especially in the battery operated device.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, the user can execute the process to the first information communication device after the function of the second information communication device becomes available. There is an effect that there is no need to give an instruction and the labor of operation is omitted.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, there is an effect that the trouble of connecting the devices with a cable at the time of communication is omitted.

Further, according to the information communication system according to the present embodiment, since the wireless communication unit, which is a feature of the Bluetooth standard, can be realized with a small size and low power consumption, it can be applied to various portable information devices and small information devices. There is an effect that it becomes possible.

Further, according to the information communication system according to the present embodiment, the first information communication device can be used depending on whether the function of the second information communication device is reserved or not.
There is an effect that both second information communication devices can use the same processing procedure.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, the user can inexpensively use the printer having the function shown in the present invention even if there is no environment such as LAN or print server. There is an effect.

Further, according to the information communication system according to the present embodiment, while waiting for the printing process which takes a relatively long time, it is not necessary to monitor when the printer 100 becomes available, and other work is performed. The effect is that you can concentrate on.

Further, according to the information communication system of the present embodiment, the user can use the image pickup function of the digital camera 200 even if there is no environment such as LAN or network server, and the digital camera can be used from a remote place. There is an effect that the 200 can be controlled and the photographed image file can be received.

Further, according to the information communication system according to the present embodiment, the user can receive the photographed image file by using the image pickup function of the digital camera 200 without the environment such as LAN or network server. There is an effect that an image file, a setting file, etc. can be transmitted to the digital camera 200.

Therefore, in each of the above embodiments, the digital camera and the printer have been described as an example, but the present invention is applicable to devices having various information communication functions such as personal computers, PDAs, mobile phones, fax machines, and access points. It goes without saying that the invention can be applied.

In the embodiment of the present invention, B
An example using the Bluetooth wireless communication standard has been shown.
It goes without saying that the communication standard used is not limited to the Bluetooth standard communication system.

(Other Embodiments) The object of the present invention is to
A storage medium recording a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus stores the program code stored in the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

Further, as a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-RO.
M, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-
RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above embodiments are realized, but also the OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that this also includes the case where the above) performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0125]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the function of the information communication device is being used and cannot be used by another device, it is used when the function of the information communication device becomes a usable value. There is an effect that the inconvenience that a person must monitor can be eliminated. Conventionally, the user had to check when the function of the second information communication device becomes available, but since the notification comes from the second information communication device, the user does not need to monitor it. There is an effect that the labor of work is simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer included in an information communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera configuring the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a digital camera that constitutes an information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and a digital camera that is a Bluetooth printer.
It is a flow chart which shows a flow of processing operation in a digital camera after performing oooth communication connection processing and a connection is established.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing operations in the printer constituting the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention after the Bluetooth communication connection established by the digital camera is established by the printer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a digital camera and a printer, which are included in the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as a Bluetooth.
It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed by the digital camera after establishing an oooth communication connection.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing operations executed by the printer after the digital camera configuring the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention makes a printer reservation for the printer.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an unexecuted processing list for registering print processing from a digital camera which is waiting for processing because the printer configuring the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention cannot be used. .

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the meaning of a reservation flag bit indicating whether or not there is a reservation for use of the printing unit of the printer that constitutes the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the meaning of an acceptance / rejection flag bit indicating acceptance / rejection of use reservation of the printing unit of the printer configuring the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of registration contents of a reservation processing queue for registering a reservation for use of a printing unit of a printer which constitutes the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of a use reservation processing operation of the printer configuring the information communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer included in an information communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing operations in the printer when the external device connection unit of the printer which constitutes the information communication system according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a wired connection interface.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 printers 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 non-volatile memory 105 wireless communication unit 106 antenna 107 Printing Department 108 Operation part 109 display 110 internal bus 200 digital camera 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 204 non-volatile memory 205 wireless communication unit 206 antenna 207 Imaging unit 208 Operation part 209 Display 210 secondary storage 211 Internal bus 1200 printer 1201 CPU 1202 ROM 1203 RAM 1204 Non-volatile memory 1205 wireless communication unit 1206 antenna 1207 Printing department 1208 operation unit 1209 display 1210 External device connection 1211 internal bus

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 5/76 B41J 29/00 EF term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 AP07 AQ05 CG15 HJ08 HN11 HN15 HN22 HQ20 HT01 HT06 5B021 AA30 BB00 5C052 FA02 FA03 FA07 FB01 FC06 FE01 5K033 AA05 BA01 BA15 CB01 CB15 DA19 EA03

Claims (34)

[Claims] 1. At least a first information communication device and a second information communication device.
And an information communication device, the first information communication device is communicatively connected to the second information communication device, and when the function of the second information communication device is used, the function is provided. When the first information communication device cannot be used, the communication connection is temporarily disconnected, and after detecting that the function is available, the second information communication device communicates with the first information communication device. And notifying that the function has become available, and controlling the first information communication apparatus to execute processing for using the function of the second information communication apparatus. An information communication system characterized by. 2. The control means, when an information communication device other than the second information communication device connects to the second information communication device and uses a function of the second information communication device, When the function of the second information communication device cannot be immediately used, the second information communication device accepts reservation of the right to use the function of the second information communication device on a first-come-first-served basis, and one or more of them are accepted. The second information communication device with respect to the oldest information communication device among the reservations registered by referring to the reservation registration after detecting that the reservation is registered and the function is enabled. Notifying that the function has become available by communication connection, and the oldest information communication device in the registered reservations executes a process of using the function of the second information communication device, After performing the processing, the second information communication device The information communication system according to claim 1, wherein the information communication apparatus controls to cancel the reservation registration of the information communication apparatus that last executed the reservation process from the reservation registration. 3. At least a first information communication device and a second
Of the communication means, the first information communication apparatus has a wireless communication means, the second information communication apparatus has a plurality of communication means, and the second information communication means has a plurality of communication means. At least one of which is a wireless communication means,
The other communication means is an information communication system which is a wired communication means, wherein an information communication device other than the second information communication device is connected to the second information communication device by wireless communication means, and the second information is used. When using the function of the communication device, the second
If the function of the information communication device cannot be immediately used, the second information communication device accepts reservation of the right to use the function of the second information communication device on a first-come-first-served basis, and one or more reservations are made. The second information communication device refers to the reservation registration, and then detects the oldest information among the registered reservations. A communication connection is made to the communication device to notify that the function is available, and the oldest information communication device in the registered reservations uses the function of the second information communication device. After executing the process, the second information communication device cancels the reservation registration of the information communication device that last executed the reservation process from the reservation registration, and the second information communication device causes the wired communication means. Other information connected to Information communication system, characterized in that the device has a control means for controlling so as not to accept the reservation registration of use rights to use the function of the second information-communication device. 4. At least a first information communication device and a second
Of the communication means of the second information communication means, wherein the first information communication apparatus has a wireless communication means, the second information communication apparatus has a plurality of communication means, and At least one of which is a wireless communication means, wherein the second information communication apparatus includes an information communication apparatus including the first information communication apparatus which is communicatively connected via a plurality of communication means. The reservation of the usage right to use the function of the second information communication device is accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, one or a plurality of reservations are registered, and after the function becomes available, the second information communication device makes the reservation. The oldest information communication device among the registered reservations is connected to the oldest information communication device among the registered reservations by referring to the registration, and is notified that the function is available. Of the second information communication device A control unit that executes a process that uses the function that the user has and, after executing the process, controls the second information communication device to cancel the reservation registration of the information communication device that last executed the reservation process from the reservation registration. An information communication system having. 5. The control means, if the second information communication device has reservation registration of a right to use the function of the second information communication device by another information communication device, the function is The control is performed so that communication devices other than the oldest registered information communication device are not given the right to use the function of the second information communication device even after it becomes available. The information communication system according to any one of 2 to 4. 6. The control means cannot establish a communication connection when the second information communication apparatus tries to establish a communication connection with the oldest information communication apparatus among the reservations registered with reference to the reservation registration. The information communication system according to claim 5, wherein when the availability notification fails or when the availability notification fails, the reservation registration of the information communication device is canceled from the reservation registration. 7. The control means newly reserves a right to use the function of the second information communication device beyond the preset maximum number of reservations registered by the second information communication device. The information communication system according to claim 6, wherein the information communication system is controlled so as not to be accepted. 8. The second information communication is selected by the control means by selecting whether or not the first information communication apparatus reserves a right to use the function of the second information communication apparatus. Notifying the device, the second information communication device transmits a message prompting the first information communication device to reserve the right to use the function of the second information communication device. 5. After that, it is determined whether or not the notification transmitted from the first information communication device is a reservation request, and when making a reservation, control is performed so that reservation registration is performed. Information and communication system. 9. The control means, when the first information communication device cannot immediately use the function of the second information communication device, temporarily disconnects the communication connection so that the second information communication device Controlling the communication means of the first information communication device to transition to a low power consumption operation mode in which only a standby processing operation is performed until a communication connection is made to the first information communication device. Claim 1 characterized by
9. The information communication system according to any one of 8 to 8. 10. The control means, when the first information communication device cannot immediately use the function of the second information communication device, temporarily disconnects the communication connection so that the second information communication device During the period until the communication connection to the first information communication device is made, the entire first information communication device is connected to the second information communication device.
9. The information communication system according to claim 1, wherein the information communication system is controlled so as to transit to a low power consumption operation mode in which only the standby processing operation from the information communication apparatus is performed. 11. The control means, when the first information communication device is communicatively connected to the second information communication device and uses the function of the second information communication device, controls the function. When the first information communication device cannot be used immediately, the communication connection is temporarily disconnected, and the process of using the function of the second information communication device is stored as the unexecuted process in the memory of the first information communication device. When the second information communication device makes a communication connection to the first information communication device to notify that the function is available, the unexecuted process registration information is referred to. 11. The information communication according to claim 1, wherein the first information communication device is controlled to automatically execute a process of using a function of the second information communication device. system. 12. The communication means of the first information communication device and the communication means of the second information communication device are wireless communication means.
The information communication system according to any one of 1. 13. The wireless communication means of the first information communication device and the wireless communication means of the second information communication device are Bl.
The information communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the information communication system is a wireless communication means of the Bluetooth standard. 14. The control means, after the second information communication apparatus notifies that the function of the second information communication apparatus has become available, Blu between the communication-connected devices.
The information communication system according to claim 13, wherein the master and slave of the Ethernet standard are controlled so that the roles thereof are switched. 15. The information communication according to claim 1, wherein the second information communication device is a printer, and the function of the second information communication device is a printing function. system. 16. The information according to claim 1, wherein the second information communication device is a digital camera, and the function of the second information communication device is an imaging function. Communications system. 17. The second information communication device is a digital camera, and the function of the second information communication device is a memory built in the digital camera or a mountable memory card. 15. The information communication system according to any one of 1 to 14. 18. A control method for controlling an information communication system comprising at least a first information communication device and a second information communication device, wherein the first information communication device is a second information communication device. When the first information communication device cannot use the function when the second information communication device has the function to connect to the second information communication device, the communication is temporarily disconnected and the function becomes available. After detecting the fact, the second information communication device notifies the first information communication device of the fact that the function is available by communication connection to the first information communication device, and the first information communication device notifies the second information communication device of the second information communication device. A control method for an information communication system, comprising: a control step for controlling to execute a process for using the function of the information communication device. 19. The control step, when an information communication device other than the second information communication device connects to the second information communication device and uses a function of the second information communication device, When the function of the second information communication device cannot be immediately used, the second information communication device accepts reservation of the right to use the function of the second information communication device on a first-come-first-served basis, and one or more of them are accepted. The second information communication device with respect to the oldest information communication device among the reservations registered by referring to the reservation registration after detecting that the reservation is registered and the function is enabled. Notifying that the function has become available by communication connection, and the oldest information communication device in the registered reservations executes a process of using the function of the second information communication device, After performing the processing, the second information communication is performed. 19. The method of controlling an information communication system according to claim 18, wherein the communication device controls so as to cancel the reservation registration of the information communication device that last executed the reservation process from the reservation registration. 20. At least a first information communication device and a second information communication device, wherein the first information communication device has a wireless communication means, and the second information communication device has a plurality of communication means. At least one of the communication means of the second information communication means is a wireless communication means, and the other communication means is a control method for controlling the information communication system which is a wired communication means. When an information communication device other than the second information communication device is connected to the second information communication device by wireless communication means and the function of the second information communication device is used,
If the function of the information communication device cannot be immediately used, the second information communication device accepts reservation of the right to use the function of the second information communication device on a first-come-first-served basis, and one or more reservations are made. The second information communication device refers to the reservation registration, and then detects the oldest information among the registered reservations. A communication connection is made to the communication device to notify that the function is available, and the oldest information communication device in the registered reservations uses the function of the second information communication device. After executing the process, the second information communication device cancels the reservation registration of the information communication device that last executed the reservation process from the reservation registration, and the second information communication device causes the wired communication means. Other information connected to Control method for an information communication system, characterized in that the device has a control step of controlling so as not to accept the reservation registration of use rights to use the function of the second information-communication device. 21. At least a first information communication device and a second information communication device, wherein the first information communication device has a wireless communication means, and the second information communication device has a plurality of communication means. And a control method for controlling an information communication system in which at least one of the communication means included in the second information communication means is a wireless communication means, and the second information communication device has a plurality of Information communication devices including the first information communication device, which are communicatively connected via the communication means, accept reservations of usage rights to use the functions of the second information communication device on a first-come-first-served basis and make one or more reservations. After registering and enabling the function, the second information communication apparatus refers to the reservation registration to establish a communication connection with the oldest information communication apparatus among the registered reservations, and the function is Informed that it is ready for use Then, the oldest information communication device in the registered reservations executes a process of using the function of the second information communication device, and after the execution of the process, the second information communication device makes the reservation. A method of controlling an information communication system, comprising: a control step of controlling so as to cancel reservation registration of an information communication device that last executed reservation processing from registration. 22. In the control step, if the second information communication device has reservation registration of a right to use the function of the second information communication device by another information communication device, the function is set. The control is performed so that communication devices other than the oldest registered information communication device are not given the right to use the function of the second information communication device even after it becomes available. 22. A method for controlling an information communication system according to any one of 19 to 21. 23. The control step cannot establish a communication connection when the second information communication apparatus tries to establish a communication connection with an oldest information communication apparatus among reservations registered with reference to the reservation registration. 23. The control method of the information communication system according to claim 22, wherein the reservation registration of the information communication apparatus is canceled from the reservation registration when the availability notification fails or the availability notification fails. 24. The control step further reserves a right to use the function of the second information communication device beyond the preset maximum number of reservations registered by the second information communication device. The control method for an information communication system according to claim 23, wherein the control is performed so that the information is not accepted. 25. In the control step, the second information communication is selected by selecting whether or not the first information communication apparatus reserves a right to use a function of the second information communication apparatus. The second information communication device is notified to the first device.
The message transmitted from the first information communication device after the message prompting whether to reserve the right to use the function of the second information communication device is sent to the information communication device 22. The control method for an information communication system according to claim 19, wherein it is determined whether or not the request is made, and when the reservation is made, control is performed so that the reservation is registered. 26. In the control step, if the first information communication device cannot immediately use the function of the second information communication device, the communication connection is temporarily disconnected and the second information communication device is disconnected.
The communication means of the first information communication device is transited to the low power consumption operation mode in which only the standby processing operation is performed until the information communication device of the first communication connection is established with the first information communication device. 26. The method for controlling an information communication system according to claim 18, further comprising: 27. In the control step, if the first information communication device cannot immediately use the function of the second information communication device, the communication connection is temporarily cut off, and the second information communication device is disconnected.
Low-power-consumption operation in which only the standby processing operation from the second information communication device is performed on the entire first information communication device until the first information communication device makes a communication connection with the first information communication device The control method for an information communication system according to any one of claims 18 to 25, characterized in that control is performed so as to shift to a mode. 28. When the first information communication device is communicatively connected to the second information communication device and the function of the second information communication device is used, the control step controls the function of the second information communication device. If the first information communication device cannot be used immediately, the communication connection is temporarily disconnected, and the process of using the function of the second information communication device is regarded as the unexecuted process.
Is registered in the storage means of the information communication device, and the second information communication device is communicatively connected to the first information communication device,
When notifying that the function is available, the first information communication device automatically refers to the process of using the function of the second information communication device by referring to the unexecuted process registration information. The control is performed so that it is executed.
28. A method for controlling an information communication system according to any one of 8 to 27. 29. The communication means of the first information communication apparatus and the communication means of the second information communication apparatus are wireless communication means, according to any one of claims 18 and 19 and 22 to 28. A method for controlling an information communication system according to 1. 30. The wireless communication means of the first information communication device and the wireless communication means of the second information communication device are Bl.
30. The control method for an information communication system according to claim 18, wherein the control method is a wireless communication means based on the Bluetooth standard. 31. In the control step, after the second information communication device notifies that a function of the second information communication device is available, B is used between devices that are in communication connection.
The control method of the information communication system according to claim 30, wherein the control is performed so that the roles of the master and slave of the Bluetooth standard are switched. 32. The information communication according to claim 18, wherein the second information communication device is a printer, and the function of the second information communication device is a printing function. How to control the system. 33. The information according to claim 18, wherein the second information communication device is a digital camera, and the function of the second information communication device is an imaging function. Communication system control method. 34. The second information communication device is a digital camera, and the function of the second information communication device is a memory built in the digital camera or a mountable memory card. 32. A method for controlling an information communication system according to any one of 18 to 31.