JP2006048148A - Electronic apparatus, control program and host computer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide electronic apparatus capable of establishing connection with a host computer by a simple process. <P>SOLUTION: This electronic apparatus allowing connection to a plurality of kinds of host computers by use of a prescribed interface has: a storage means previously storing sequence data when establishing the connection in each kind of connectable host computer; a reception means receiving host information allowing identification of the kind of host computer from the host computer before performing a sequence for establishing the connection with the host computer; a reading means reading the sequence data of the host computer of a connection target from the storage means; and a sequence execution means executing the sequence for establishing the connection with the host computer of the connection target on the basis of the read sequence data, and establishing the connection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and a control program that can be connected to a plurality of types of host computers.

In recent years, computer peripheral devices can be connected to a plurality of types of host computers by using a standardized interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus). When the host computer and the peripheral device are connected by USB, the connection is established by executing a bus enumeration sequence for bidirectional communication as an initialization process.
However, since the contents of this bus enumeration sequence depend on the type and version of the OS (Operating Systems) of the host computer, and also the chip set constituting the hardware, the control processing on the peripheral device side is inevitably There is a problem that the sequence must be executed by specifying the type of one host computer from a plurality of host computers, and the configuration of the connection establishment process becomes complicated.

A data processing method is known that displays device-specific information set on the host side or device-specific information related to the network on the peripheral device side (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-273243 A

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an electronic device and a control program capable of establishing a connection with a host computer through simple processing.

  The invention described in claim 1 is an electronic device that can be connected to a plurality of types of host computers using a predetermined interface, and sequence data at the time of establishing a connection is stored for each type of connectable host computer. Before performing the sequence for establishing the connection between the storage means stored in advance and the host computer, the receiving means for receiving host information capable of identifying the type of the host computer from the host computer, and the received host information Based on the read means for reading the sequence data of the host computer to be connected from the storage means, and a sequence for establishing a connection with the host computer to be connected based on the read sequence data, And sequence execution means to establish And it said that there were pictures.

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that the interface is a USB interface.

  The invention according to claim 3 is provided with a storage means in which sequence data at the time of establishing a connection is stored in advance for each type of connectable host computer, and for a plurality of types of host computers using a predetermined interface. A control program for controlling the operation of a connectable electronic device that receives host information capable of identifying the type of host computer from the host computer before performing a sequence for establishing a connection with the host computer. A process for reading out the sequence data of the host computer to be connected from the storage means based on the received host information, and for establishing a connection with the host computer to be connected based on the read sequence data Execute the sequence of Characterized in that causing the computer and sequence execution processing of establishing.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host computer having an interface for connecting an electronic device, in which host information that allows the electronic device to be connected to identify the type of the host computer is stored in advance. And before performing a sequence to establish a connection with the electronic device, the host information stored in the storage unit is read and transmitted to the connection target electronic device, and the connection target electronic device And a sequence execution means for establishing a connection by executing a sequence for establishing a connection between them.

  According to the present invention, for each type of connectable host computer, sequence data at the time of establishing a connection is stored in advance, and before performing a sequence for establishing a connection with the host computer, the host computer changes the host computer. The host information that can identify the type of the host is received, the sequence data of the connection target host computer stored based on this host information is read, the read sequence data is executed, and the connection is established. Since the types of a plurality of host computers can be specified with a simple process, the effect of simplifying the configuration of the connection establishment process can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image forming apparatus having functions such as copying, FAX, printing, and scanner. Reference numeral 2 denotes a control unit that performs overall control of processing operations of the image forming apparatus 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface for establishing a connection with a host computer. Reference numeral 4 denotes a storage unit in which sequence data for establishing a connection is stored in advance for each host computer to which the image forming apparatus 1 can be connected. Here, host A data 41, host B data 42, and host C data 43 are stored. Is assumed to be stored in advance. Reference numeral 5 denotes a USB cable having a USB connector 51. Reference numeral 6 denotes a host computer to which the image forming apparatus 1 is connected. Reference numeral 7 denotes a control unit that controls processing operations of the host computer. Reference numeral 8 denotes a USB interface. Reference numeral 9 denotes a host information storage unit in which host information that enables the image forming apparatus 1 to be connected to identify the type of the host computer is stored in advance. The host information here is an identification name of an operating system (Operating Systems), an OS version identification name, an identification name of a chip set of hardware used, and the like. The storage unit 4 of the image forming apparatus 1 stores a table in which the host information is associated with the identification name (host A data or the like) of the sequence data to be read.

  Next, a processing operation for establishing a connection between the image forming apparatus 1 and the host computer 6 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing operations of the control unit 2 of the image forming apparatus 1 and the control unit 7 of the host computer 6 shown in FIG. Here, in the initial state, it is assumed that the OS on the host computer 6 is already activated and the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on. First, the user inserts the USB connector 51 into the connector insertion portion of the host computer 6. The USB interface 8 always monitors the connection state of the USB cable 5 (steps S1 and S2), and when the cable connection is detected, the USB interface 8 generates a hardware interrupt. The control unit 7 that has detected the hardware interrupt reads the host information stored in the host information storage unit 9 and sends a device request command including the read host information to the image forming apparatus 1 via the USB interface 8. It transmits to (step S3).

  This device request command is received by the control unit 2 via the USB interface 3 of the image forming apparatus 1 (step S11). At this time, the control unit 2 determines whether or not the host information can also be received in the received command (step S12). This determination is made based on whether or not the host information has been received depending on whether or not the host information of the host computer stores the sequence data in the storage unit 4. As a result of this determination, when the host information cannot be received and when the host information is other than the host computer whose sequence data is stored in the storage unit 4, the control unit 2 is a host computer that cannot be normally connected. A message indicating that the message is present is displayed on a display device (not shown), an error is returned to the host computer 6 and the process is terminated (step S15).

  On the other hand, when the host information can be received, the control unit 2 refers to the table stored in the storage unit 4 and acquires the identification name of the sequence data corresponding to the received host information. And the control part 2 loads the sequence data with the identification name of the acquired sequence data from the memory | storage part 4 (step S13). Subsequently, the control unit 2 establishes a connection by executing a bus enumeration sequence with the host computer 6 based on the loaded sequence data (steps S4 and S14).

  Thus, for each type of connectable host computer, sequence data at the time of establishing a connection is stored in advance, and before performing a sequence for establishing a connection with the host computer, the host computer changes the type of the host computer. The host information that can be identified is received, the sequence data of the connection target host computer stored based on this host information is read, the read sequence data is executed, and the connection is established. Since the types of a plurality of host computers can be specified with simple processing, the configuration of connection establishment processing can be simplified.

  In the above description, the case where the USB cable is inserted when the host computer 6 is in the activated state and the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on has been described. Since the processing when the host computer 6 is activated and the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 2, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The control unit 2 of the image forming apparatus 1 stores the host information received from the host computer 6 to be connected in the storage unit 4 and stores it when processing a page description language unique to the host computer. Processing unique to the host computer may be executed with reference to the host information.

  If the host information cannot be received, the process of displaying that the host cannot be connected (step S15 in FIG. 2) is the sequence data selected by the user after displaying that the host cannot be connected. May be read out and the bus enumeration sequence may be executed (step S14).

  In the above description, the image forming apparatus 1 is described as an example of an electronic device connected to the host computer 6, but the electronic device connected to the host computer 6 is not limited to the image forming apparatus. Any electronic device that can be connected to a plurality of types of host computers may be used.

  Further, the program for realizing the function of the processing unit in FIG. 1 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into the computer system and executed to execute connection establishment processing. You may go. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer system” includes a WWW system provided with a homepage providing environment (or display environment). The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Control part, 3 ... USB interface, 4 ... Memory | storage part, 5 ... USB cable, 51 ... USB connector, 6 ... Host computer, 7 ... Control unit, 8 ... USB interface, 9 ... Host information storage unit

Claims (4)

An electronic device that can be connected to a plurality of types of host computers using a predetermined interface,
For each type of connectable host computer, storage means in which sequence data at the time of establishing a connection is stored in advance;
Receiving means for receiving host information capable of identifying the type of host computer from the host computer before performing a sequence for establishing a connection with the host computer;
Based on the received host information, reading means for reading sequence data of the host computer to be connected from the storage means,
An electronic apparatus comprising: sequence execution means for establishing a connection by executing a sequence for establishing a connection with a host computer to be connected based on the read sequence data.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the interface is a USB interface. For each type of host computer that can be connected, there is a storage means that stores sequence data at the time of establishing a connection in advance, and the operation of electronic devices that can be connected to multiple types of host computers is controlled using a predetermined interface A control program for
Before performing a sequence for establishing a connection with the host computer, receiving processing for receiving host information that can identify the type of the host computer from the host computer;
Based on the received host information, a read process for reading sequence data of the host computer to be connected from the storage means;
A control program for executing a sequence for establishing a connection with a host computer to be connected based on the read sequence data and causing the computer to perform a sequence execution process for establishing a connection. A host computer having an interface for connecting electronic equipment,
Storage means in which host information that enables the electronic device to be connected to identify the type of host computer is stored in advance;
Before performing a sequence for establishing a connection with an electronic device, the host information stored in the storage unit is read and transmitted to the connection target electronic device;
A host computer comprising: sequence execution means for executing a sequence for establishing a connection with an electronic device to be connected and establishing a connection.

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