JP2006086862A - Image feeder and imaging apparatus, information processor, its control method and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a period of time until a user is answered after connection to an information processor in consideration of a point that time until the user is answered after a computer is logically connected with a digital camera becomes extremely late when there are very many images stored in a memory card. <P>SOLUTION: In a reproduction mode, a storage medium is accessed, information about the stored file is cached (S2) and when the digital camera is physically connected with the computer and an imaging apparatus becomes a communication mode, information which the computer attempts to finally request is generated and stored (S5). After that, a data transfer request from the computer is received, the information stored in S5 is transmitted to the computer in block (S9). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image supply device and an imaging device that communicate with an information processing device based on a communication protocol PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) and supply stored information on the object to the information processing device. The present invention relates to a processing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a communication system.

When a computer and a digital camera are connected and exchange data with each other based on the communication protocol PTP, the computer acquires information about one object (data such as images, sounds, and texts) stored in the PTP. In order to do this, first, [GetObjectInfo] is transmitted, then Object data is received, and Ack is received. Here, the information that can be acquired by [GetObjectInfo] is not the object itself, but the attribute information of the object such as the file name, file size, directory structure, and file format.
That is, in order to acquire data of an object, attribute information acquired by [GetObjectInfo] is acquired, and then a data body is acquired.

On the other hand, when exchanging a plurality of objects on a storage medium, first, the OS of the computer stores the information in the storage medium in order to know the folder structure of the storage medium (memory card etc.) held by the digital camera. Requests attribute information regarding all image files and data such as sound and text, and information on the folder structure. Therefore, in order to obtain attribute information about all objects of data such as images and sounds stored in the digital camera, the above command exchange is repeated for the number of stored objects. Become.
JP 2004-15234 A

As described above, in order for the computer OS to acquire information on all images stored in the digital camera using PTP, the above-described communication is required at least for the number of the stored images. It becomes.
That is, it can be seen that the time required to acquire information of all images stored in the digital camera is simply proportional to the number of stored images.
In particular, the image receiving side (for example, PC) reproduces the folder structure and the directory structure when data cannot be transmitted / received on PTP until the information such as the attribute information is acquired and the folder structure is reproduced. The time until is longer.
In other words, if a large-capacity memory card is installed in the digital camera and the number of images and other objects (data) stored in the memory card is very large, the computer and the digital camera are logical. The time it takes for the user to respond after being connected to the network becomes extremely slow. For this reason, usability deteriorated, and this was also a weak point of PTP communication.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. The feature of the present invention is that the information stored in the storage medium is cached by accessing the storage medium before communication with the information processing apparatus is established. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image supply device, an imaging device, an information processing device, a control method thereof, and a communication system that can shorten the time from when the information processing device is connected to when a user responds.

An imaging device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the following configuration. That is,
An imaging apparatus that communicates with an information processing apparatus and transfers file information stored in a storage medium connected to the information processing apparatus,
A cache unit that caches a file entry of a file stored in the storage medium in a cache memory in a reproduction mode for reproducing an image stored in the storage medium;
An interface means for connecting to the information processing apparatus so as to be communicable with a predetermined communication protocol;
Transfer information generating means for generating information for transferring according to the predetermined communication protocol based on the file entry cached by the cache means in response to the connection by the interface means;
Transmission control means for controlling the information generated by the transfer information generating means to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus by the interface means in response to a request from the information processing apparatus.

An imaging device control method according to an aspect of the present invention includes the following steps. That is,
A control method for an imaging apparatus that communicates with an information processing apparatus and transfers file information stored in a storage medium to the information processing apparatus,
A cache step of caching file entries of all files stored in the storage medium in a cache memory in a playback mode for reproducing an image stored in the storage medium;
Connecting to an information processing apparatus so as to be able to communicate with a predetermined communication protocol;
A transfer information generating step for generating information for transferring according to the predetermined communication protocol in accordance with the connection based on the file entry cached in the cache step;
In response to a request from the information processing device, a transmission control step for controlling the information generated in the transfer information generation step to be transmitted to the information processing device;
It is characterized by having.

A communication system according to one aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A communication system that communicates between an information processing device and an imaging device and transfers file information stored in a storage medium of the imaging device to the information processing device,
The imaging device
A cache unit that caches file entries of all files stored in the storage medium in a cache memory in a reproduction mode for reproducing an image stored in the storage medium;
Interface means for connecting to the information processing apparatus so as to be communicable with a predetermined communication protocol;
Transfer information generating means for generating information for transferring according to the predetermined communication protocol based on the file entry cached by the cache means in response to connection by the interface means;
In response to a request from the information processing apparatus, transmission control means for controlling the information generated by the transfer information generation means to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus by the interface means,
The information processing apparatus includes a data requesting unit that requests information of a file stored in the storage medium to the imaging device in response to connection by the interface unit;
It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the time from when the imaging device and the information processing device are connected to when the user of the information processing device responds.

  Further, when information on a file stored in the storage medium of the imaging apparatus is requested from the information processing apparatus, the information can be sent to the information processing in response to the request promptly.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, an example in which a digital camera and a computer are connected by a general-purpose interface such as USB and the digital camera and the computer communicate by PTP will be described. However, the interface and communication protocol of the present invention are not limited to this embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system having a digital camera (DSC) and a computer according to the present embodiment.

  A digital camera 100 having PTP communication and a computer 101 capable of PTP communication are connected via a general-purpose interface 102 (for example, USB). The general-purpose interface 102 is a communication interface capable of PTP communication, and is not limited to a wired interface, and may be a wireless communication interface such as Bluetooth. When the digital camera 100 detects a connection with the computer 101 via the communication interface 102, the digital camera 100 transitions to a communication mode. The previous mode in the digital camera 100 is set to the playback mode. Note that an application (including an OS function) capable of communicating by PTP is installed in the computer 101.

  First, the configuration of the digital camera 100 will be described.

  A light beam from a subject is irradiated to the image sensor 202 through the optical system 201, and the image is held in the image sensor 202 as an electric charge. The charge accumulated in the image pickup device 202 is converted into an image signal by the image pickup process unit 203. The image signal output from the imaging process unit 203 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 204 and stored in the RAM 210 via the data bus 205.

  The central processing unit 213 includes an image processing unit 207 (white balance, sharpening, blurring, color balance, level correction, etc.), a compression / decompression unit 208 (such as JPEG decompression), and a display control unit 209 (UI to the display 217). Drawing), recording / playback control unit 211 (I / O control to the storage medium 218), communication control unit 212 (data I / O control to the communication device 219), central control unit (CPU) 215 (each control unit is controlled) Control). The system control unit 214 is connected to the data bus 205 and performs control based on an operation performed by the user using the operation device 216. The display 217 displays an image requested by a user operation under the control of the display control unit 209. The storage medium 218 stores images (such as JPEG images) stored in the RAM 210 via the recording / playback control unit 211. The storage medium 218 may be a medium (such as a memory card) that is removable from the camera body, or may be any storage medium that is built into the camera body, and the digital camera 100 is not turned on. It is a non-volatile storage medium that can retain memory even in a state. The communication device 219 may be either wireless or wired, and may or may not be removable from the main body. The communication control unit 212 can perform PTP communication.

  Next, the configuration of the computer 101 will be described.

  The operation device 221 of the computer 101 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and control based on the operation is performed by the system control unit 225. A display 222 is a display monitor, and outputs a UI or the like drawn by the display control unit 228. The RAM 229 is a volatile memory (for example, DRAM) that stores an OS of the computer 101, an application (including an OS) corresponding to PTP, and the like. The storage medium 223 is a device (for example, a hard disk) that performs input / output in response to a data request from the storage control unit 230, and is a nonvolatile storage device. The storage medium 223 stores an application corresponding to the OS or PTP. The communication device 224 is a communication unit that can be connected to the communication interface 102, and the communication control unit 231 inputs and outputs data. The communication device 224 may be either wireless or wired, and may or may not be removable. The central processing unit 227 includes a display control unit 228, a storage control unit 230, a communication control unit 231, and a central control unit 226 (the CPU performs overall control of each control unit). The data bus 232 is connected to the system control unit 225, the display control unit 228, the RAM 229, the storage control unit 230, and the communication control unit 231.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main module configuration when the digital camera 100 and the computer 101 according to the present embodiment are connected via the communication interface 102.

  First, the computer 101 will be described. The application 301 is an application for notifying the user that the digital camera 100 is connected. The application 301 may be an application that is registered in the OS 302 in advance and is automatically started. It may also be activated by a user operation. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the application 301 is activated when the OS 302 detects that the digital camera 100 is connected.

  The OS 302 is an operating system of the computer 101. For example, an operating system such as Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) or Apple Macintosh (registered trademark) has a function capable of interpreting PTP communication, or a driver is installed to perform PTP communication. An OS that can be interpreted is assumed. A PTP initiator driver (PTPInitiatorDriver) 303 (hereinafter referred to as a PTP activation driver) is a PTP initiator driver installed in the OS 302.

  Next, the module of the digital camera 100 will be described.

  A PTP responder driver (PTPResponderDriver) 306 (hereinafter referred to as a PTP response driver) is assumed to be a PTP response driver incorporated in the digital camera 100. A PTP cache table (PTPCacheTable) 307 (hereinafter referred to as a PTP cache table) caches what is used once for the contents requested by the PTP operation, and if the same request is made again, the cache is stored. Responds at high speed using the contents. The structure of the cache does not matter here. A file entry cache (FileEntryCache) 308 (hereinafter referred to as file cache) caches file entry information. This assumes a cache of file information when the digital camera 100 is in preview mode as a utilization means and displays an image stored in the storage medium 218 on the display 217. Here, at least a part of a lot of attribute information each file has is copied, and for example, file size, file attribute, file creation date, file update date, file access date, file name, etc. are written.

  The object of the present embodiment is to shorten the time from the start of connection between the digital camera 100 and the computer 101 until the OS 302 takes some action on the application 301.

  The application 301 is an application compatible with PTP, and is activated from the OS 302 or activated by a user operation. If the OS 302 has established a connection with the digital camera 100, the application 301 can access the digital camera 100. The OS 302 is an operating system installed in the computer 101, recognizes a device that can communicate with PTP, and acquires image information stored in the storage medium 218 of the digital camera 100 using the driver 303. After acquiring all the information, the OS 302 can make the camera 100 connectable and pass a device handle in response to a request from the application 101. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the application 301 is set to automatically start after all information is acquired. The PTP activation driver 303 is a driver that can make a PTP connection with the digital camera 100 and is loaded into the RAM 229 and activated in response to a request from the OS 302.

  The communication interface 102 is a communication interface capable of PTP communication. If PTP communication is possible, it does not matter whether it is wired or wireless, and is detachable or impossible. The digital camera 100 is a digital camera capable of PTP communication, and includes a PTP response driver 306, a cache table 307, and a file cache 308. The PTP response driver 306 has a function of acting as a PTP response. The cache table 307 is a cache table for caching items required by PTP, and once used, an image file can be obtained by referring to this as long as the cache consistency is guaranteed. . As a result, the file can be read out much faster than when the storage medium 218 is directly accessed to read out and analyze the image file. The file cache 308 caches items written in the file entry information, such as file information, that is, file name, file size, attribute, creation date / time, update date / time, access date / time, and the like. As a result, as with the cache table 307, as long as cache consistency is ensured, the information of these files can be referred to, so that the access speed can be increased.

  FIG. 3 shows processing executed by the digital camera 100 after the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment is connected to the computer 101 via the communication interface 102 and before the OS 302 notifies the application 301 of activation. It is a flowchart.

  This process is started when the digital camera 100 is turned on and activated. First, in step S1, the digital camera 100 is activated in the reproduction mode. In step S2, the file entries of all the image files stored in the storage medium 218 are cached in the file cache 308. At this time, the order of the cached files does not matter. In step S3, the computer 101 is connected via the communication interface 102. At this time, it is detected that communication is possible by the physical layer, and the communication mode is changed in step S4. When shifting to the communication mode in this way, in step S5, a folder structure of the storage medium 218 is created based on the information cached in the file cache 308 (cached in step S2). At this time, a table is created in consideration of the file information that the OS 302 of the computer 101 will request and the folder structure requested by the OS 302. Here, based on the information cached in the file cache 308, information on the file requested by the OS 302 is created. Therefore, the cache table 307 can be created here without accessing the storage medium 218. Thus, after the digital camera 100 and the computer 101 are connected and communication between them is started, the time until the user can take some action on the computer 101 is shortened. . At the same time, an object handle and an object format code for transmission by PTP are also created.

  This object handle is a number uniquely assigned to each object such as an image file or an audio file in a storage medium. The PC and digital camera use this number (handle) to specify an image file, etc. Can be done. In normal PTP, this handle is used to check what kind of file each object is, its attribute information, at least some data (file name, file size, etc.) and directory structure for each object. I have an inquiry.

  Apart from this timing, the computer 101 receives an inquiry as to whether or not the batch transfer operation, which is an extended operation of PTP, is supported. In the processing of this embodiment, when GetDeviceInfo is received, if the batch transfer operation is supported, the response includes data indicating that it is supported.

  Thereafter, in step S6, when a batch transfer request is issued from the computer 101, the process proceeds to step S7, where it is checked whether or not the table creation process in step S5 has been completed. Execute the process. On the other hand, if completed, the process proceeds to step S8, where it is checked whether the batch transfer is supported. If it is supported, the batch transfer is performed based on the table created in step S5 in step S9. In step S9, information on all files in the cache table 307 (information indicating the file name, file size, file attribute, file stamp, object handle, object format code, folder parent-child relationship) is transferred. At this time, there is a method of transferring the cache table 307 with a fixed size, but it is also possible to transfer in a variable length size that transfers only the size corresponding to the number of PTP objects.

  In step S9 of this flowchart, the batch transfer process is shown once. However, if the data size to be batch transferred is variable, the computer 101 does not know how much data size is received. Further, the data size may be inquired from the computer 101 to the digital camera 100.

  Further, the structure packed in the cache table 307 may be provided with redundancy so that it can be changed by an expansion operation or by a change in information requested by the OS 302. Even in consideration of the above points, all the information stored in the storage medium 218 can be transferred by communication several times, so that it is far more than the case where the information in the storage medium 218 is transferred one by one. In addition, the communication overhead is reduced and higher speed can be realized.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing by the computer 101 according to this embodiment. Here, after detecting that the digital camera 100 is connected via the communication interface 102, the OS 302 notifies the application 301 of activation. This shows the processing executed by the computer during the time until.

  In step S <b> 11, connection with the camera 100 in the physical layer is detected by connection via the communication interface 102. In step S12, the OS 302 recognizes a connected device based on data connected in the past with respect to the connected device. At this stage, it is assumed that the PTP-compatible digital camera 100 has been connected at least once in the past and the driver has been installed. In step S13, the OS 302 requests the PTP activation driver 303 for all information stored in the digital camera 100 and its folder configuration. What is requested here is, for example, a file name, file size, file attribute, file creation date and time, as well as PTP object handle, PTP An object format code and a folder structure in a form requested by the OS 302. The PTP activation driver 303 that has received the request from the OS 302 inquires of the digital camera 100 whether or not batch transfer is supported in step S15. An example of the inquiry command is PTP “GetDeviceInfo”. If batch transfer is supported, the process proceeds to step S17, and the PTP activation driver 303 requests the digital camera 100 to transfer batch data.

  As a result, the digital camera 100 receives the batch data transfer request in step S6 of FIG. 3, and in step S9, batch-transfers the contents of the table and responds thereto.

  Thus, in step S18, the data from the digital camera 100 is received and analyzed, and in step 19, the PTP activation driver 303 analyzes the data in accordance with the form requested by the OS 302 based on the received data. And responds to the OS 302. In step S <b> 20, the OS 302 activates the application 301 in a state where the device handle transmitted in response to the data transfer request made to the PTP activation driver 303 is available. When the application 301 is activated in this way, the user is notified of information on the storage medium 218 of the connected digital camera 100.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S15 that batch transfer is not supported, the process proceeds to step S16, and the PTP activation driver 303 uses “GetStorageIDs”, “GetStorageInfo”, “GetObjectHandles”, “GetObjectInfo”, etc. of the PTP operations. Thus, it is necessary to acquire information stored in the storage medium 218 of the digital camera 100. Then, it progresses to step S18 and performs the above-mentioned process.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a sequence from when a conventional digital camera and a computer are connected to when an OS starts an application.

  Assume that the digital camera 600 and the computer 604 are started up and connected through the physical layer connection 611. The digital camera 600 is activated as a playback mode before being connected, and all file entry information of the storage medium information is cached in a file cache (FileEntryCache) 601. This cache information includes a file name, a file size, a file attribute, a file creation date and the like. When the physical layer connection 611 is made in this way, in the digital camera 600, the communication control unit detects the connection and activates the communication mode. In the computer 604, the OS detects this connection and starts negotiation with the device (612). Next, the OS (606) of the computer recognizes the camera 600 and requests the information of the camera 600 from the PTP activation driver (PTPInitiatorDriver) 605. What is requested here is a file name, a file size, a file attribute, a file stamp, an object handle in a PTP format, an object format code, and a folder configuration thereof. In response to the request from the OS 606, the PTP activation driver (PTPInitiator) 605 uses “GetStorageIDs” to acquire the ID (StorageID) of the storage medium of the digital camera 600. Next, information on the storage medium is acquired by “GetStorageInfo”. Next, “GetObjectHandle” is used to enumerate the object handles, and “GetObjectInfo” is repeated for the object handle one level below (608). This combination of “GetObjectHandle” and “GetObjectInfo” is processing per directory, and this processing is repeated for the number of directories (610). In this way, after repeating the number of directories, the PTP activation driver 605 obtains all information on the storage medium of the digital camera 600, and creates and responds to the information format requested by the OS. The OS 606 acquires information on the PTP activation driver 605 and activates the application 607.

  On the other hand, every time a PTP operation is received, the digital camera 600 caches the cache table (PTPCacheTable) 602, accesses the storage medium 613 of the digital camera 600, interprets it with a PTP response driver (PTPResponderDriver), and responds to the computer 604. Follow the steps.

  Here, the OS 606 of the computer 604 normally tries to acquire all information on the storage medium only once. Therefore, even if the cache table (PTPCacheTable) is cached, it may not be normal communication between the computer 604 and the digital camera 600 that the OS accesses the cache memory again. Therefore, the effect of this cache memory is weak. On the other hand, the exchange of PTP communication commands and data transfer processing each time the storage medium 613 is accessed increases the time required to transfer all information as the number of files increases. That is, in PTP communication, as the number of object handles increases, the number of times of communication increases by that number. Therefore, the time until acquisition of all information is increased in a simple proportion. In other words, as the number of files increases, the communication overhead increases and the speed decreases. For example, the connection time between a digital camera in which 50 images are stored in a storage medium and a digital camera in which 3000 images are stored in a storage medium is approximately 60 times proportionally.

  In addition, since the digital camera accesses the storage medium 613 many times, it has been found that the time is increased by several orders of magnitude compared to the access speed to the RAM.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an operation sequence until the digital camera 100 and the computer 101 according to the present embodiment are connected and the OS 302 of the computer 101 starts up the application 301. This corresponds to the module configuration of FIG.

  When the physical layer is connected by the communication interface 102 (709), the digital camera 100 and the computer 101 detect the connection. The digital camera 100 enters the reproduction mode once before or after the physical layer connection is made (the reproduction mode is always before the communication mode). In this playback mode, all file information on the storage medium 218 is written into the file cache 308 and cached. The cache items created here are a file name, a file size, a file attribute, and a file creation date and time, and there is no particular restriction on the order of the file cache. Thereafter, when the communication mode is activated, another thread is activated at the time of activation, and information requested by the OS 302 is created in the cache table 307 in advance. Here, it is created based on the information in the file cache 308, and information necessary for PTP is also created. Here, since the information of all the files in the storage medium 218 is already cached in the file cache 308, the information requested by the OS 302 is created in the cache table 307 without accessing the storage medium 218. Therefore, the cache table 307 can be created at a high speed with a speed of several orders of magnitude compared to the sequence shown in FIG.

  While another thread is activated, in the computer 101, after connection of the physical layer (709), the OS 302 detects the connection and starts negotiation with the digital camera 100 (710). After the negotiation is completed, the digital camera 100 is recognized and the device information is requested to the PTP activation driver 303. What is requested here is information indicating a file name, a file size, a file attribute, a file creation date, a PTP object handle, a PTP object format code, and a folder configuration. In response to the request from the OS 302, the PTP activation driver 303 issues a “GetDeviceInfo” command to inquire the digital camera 100 in order to determine whether the digital camera 100 supports batch transfer of data. The PTP response driver 306 of the digital camera 100 that has received this command responds to this command. Here, it is assumed that a response indicating that batch transfer is supported is made.

  As a result, the PTP activation driver 303 of the computer 101 next requests batch data transfer as an extended operation of PTP. Thus, when the digital camera 100 receives the batch data transfer request, the digital camera 100 determines whether or not the cache table 307 is ready to respond to the request of the OS 302. To do. Otherwise, it waits until the creation process of the cache table 307 is completed. Although there may be a concern about whether or not block timeout is performed here, the cache table 307 is actually created without accessing the storage medium 218, so this processing is performed at high speed. Therefore, even if the number of files corresponding to the maximum number of objects supported by the digital camera 100 is stored in the storage medium 218, it is unlikely that a block timeout will occur first. Also, even if a block timeout occurs and an error occurs, the PTP activation driver 303 of the computer 101 may be designed to retry again.

In this way, when the PTP activation driver 303 of the computer 101 receives a response to the request, the PTP activation driver 303 analyzes the received data in the cache table 307, changes the structure requested by the OS 302, and responds to the OS 302. As a result, the OS 302 activates the application 301 after receiving the data.
Thus, the application 301 or the CPU 226 can analyze the received information and recognize information such as a directory structure, a folder structure, and a file name in the storage medium of the digital camera in a much shorter time than before. Further, based on the received handle (number), a transmission request such as desired image data can be transmitted to the digital camera via the communication interface. This data analysis can be performed by the computer 101 determining the type of analysis and responding to the OS 302 accordingly. Further, a method in which the computer 101 inquires to the digital camera 100 through a PTP extended operation to determine the type of data analysis is also conceivable.

  As a result, the access to the storage medium 218 in the digital camera 100 is performed at once for all objects when activated in the playback mode, and thus is processed at high speed even during communication with the computer 101. Also, by adopting this batch data transfer, the number of communications can be made only a few times (at least twice for the cached data ObjectInfo and the object itself), regardless of the number of image files. . As a result, even when 50 image files are stored in the storage medium 218 of the digital camera 100 or 3000 are stored, data can be transferred with the same number of communications. Note that when the created object is transmitted and received in a divided manner from the cache table, the number of times may be increased, for example, three or four times depending on the method, but there is still a sufficient speed-up effect.

  The feature of this embodiment is that the digital camera 100 recognizes information assumed to be requested by the OS 302 of the computer 101 in advance.

  Further, the digital camera 100 uses all the cache information used in the playback mode and prepares data to be transferred to the computer 101 in a separate thread before being called from the PTP activation driver 303 of the computer 101. Since this cache data is cached from the data that is originally scheduled to be transferred, the cache hit rate is 100%.

  According to the present embodiment, the digital camera does not access the storage medium from the connection of the physical layer between the computer and the digital camera until the computer application is started. Since processing can be performed only by accessing the internal memory (RAM) 100, a high-speed response is possible.

[Other embodiments]
As described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a system or apparatus with a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the embodiment, and the computer of the system or apparatus (or CPU or MPU) is provided. It is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying such a program code, for example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM Etc. can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. This includes a case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Furthermore, 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, the function is determined based on the instruction of the program code. This includes the case where the CPU of the expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system having a digital camera (DSC) and a computer according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main module configuration when a digital camera and a computer according to the present embodiment are connected via a communication interface. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the digital camera after the digital camera according to the present embodiment is connected to the computer via the communication interface and before the OS notifies the application of activation. It is a flowchart explaining the process by the computer which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the sequence until the conventional digital camera and computer are connected and OS starts an application. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement sequence until the digital camera and computer which concern on this Embodiment are connected, and OS of a computer starts an application.

Claims (24)

An imaging apparatus that communicates with an information processing apparatus and transfers file information stored in a storage medium connected to the information processing apparatus,
A cache unit that caches a file entry of a file stored in the storage medium in a cache memory in a reproduction mode for reproducing an image stored in the storage medium;
An interface means for connecting to the information processing apparatus so as to be communicable with a predetermined communication protocol;
Transfer information generating means for generating information for transferring according to the predetermined communication protocol based on the file entry cached by the cache means in response to connection by the interface means;
In response to a request from the information processing apparatus, transmission control means for controlling the information generated by the transfer information generating means to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus by the interface means;
An imaging device comprising:   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection by the interface unit is a connection of a physical layer of communication between the imaging apparatus and the information processing apparatus.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission control unit controls the information generated by the transfer information generation unit to be collectively transferred to the information processing apparatus.   The transmission control means performs control so as to wait for completion of the generation of the information by the transfer information generation means when the generation of the information by the transfer information generation means has not been completed. The imaging device according to claim 3. A control method for an imaging apparatus that communicates with an information processing apparatus and transfers file information stored in a storage medium to the information processing apparatus,
A cache step of caching file entries of all files stored in the storage medium in a cache memory in a playback mode for reproducing an image stored in the storage medium;
Connecting to an information processing apparatus so as to be able to communicate with a predetermined communication protocol;
A transfer information generating step for generating information for transferring according to the predetermined communication protocol according to the connection based on the file entry cached in the cache step;
In response to a request from the information processing device, a transmission control step for controlling the information generated in the transfer information generation step to be transmitted to the information processing device;
A method for controlling an imaging apparatus, comprising:   6. The method of controlling an imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the connection is a physical layer connection for communication between the imaging apparatus and the information processing apparatus.   The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the transmission control step controls the information generated in the transfer information generation step to be collectively transferred to the information processing device. .   In the transmission control step, when the generation of the information is not completed in the transfer information generation step, the transmission control step is controlled to wait for completion of the generation of the information in the transfer information generation step. The control method of the imaging device according to claim 7. A communication system that communicates between an information processing device and an imaging device and transfers file information stored in a storage medium of the imaging device to the information processing device,
The imaging device
A cache unit that caches file entries of all files stored in the storage medium in a cache memory in a reproduction mode for reproducing an image stored in the storage medium;
Interface means for connecting to the information processing apparatus so as to be communicable with a predetermined communication protocol;
Transfer information generating means for generating information for transferring according to the predetermined communication protocol based on the file entry cached by the cache means in response to connection by the interface means;
In response to a request from the information processing apparatus, transmission control means for controlling the information generated by the transfer information generation means to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus by the interface means,
The information processing apparatus includes a data requesting unit that requests information of a file stored in the storage medium to the imaging device in response to connection by the interface unit;
A communication system comprising:   The communication system according to claim 9, wherein the connection by the interface unit is a connection of a physical layer of communication between the imaging device and the information processing device. The data requesting unit requests to transfer the information of the file in a batch,
The communication system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the transmission control unit controls the information generated by the transfer information generation unit to be collectively transferred to the information processing apparatus.   The transmission control means waits for completion of generation of the information by the transfer information generation means when the generation of the information by the transfer information generation means is not completed at the time of data request by the data request means. The communication system according to claim 11, wherein the communication system is controlled to do so.   A program for executing the control method for an imaging apparatus according to claim 5.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 13. An image that communicates with a communication protocol that can specify image files stored in a storage medium one by one using a unique number assigned to each file and transmit attribute information included in each of the image files. A feeding device,
Cache that caches at least a part of the attribute information and a number assigned to each image file for a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium when reproducing the image file stored in the storage medium Means,
Interface means for connecting to the information processing apparatus;
A transmission unit configured to transmit the information cached by the cache unit to the information processing device in response to the interface unit being connected to the information processing device;
An image supply apparatus comprising:   16. The image supply according to claim 15, further comprising a reception unit that receives an image transmission instruction based on the number assigned to each image included in the information transmitted to the transmission unit from the information processing apparatus. apparatus. Using the unique number assigned to each file, each of the image files stored in the storage medium connected to the image supply device is designated one by one, and the attribute information possessed by each of the image files is acquired. An information processing apparatus that communicates with a possible communication protocol,
Interface means for connecting to the image supply device;
Including at least a part of the attribute information about a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium and a number assigned to each image file in response to the connection with the image supply device via the interface means Receiving means for receiving information;
Transmitting means for transmitting an image transmission request to the image supply device using a number assigned to each of the plurality of images included in the information received by the receiving means;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   18. The information processing apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising an analysis unit that analyzes information received by the reception unit and recognizes a folder structure in the storage medium. An image that communicates with a communication protocol that can specify image files stored in a storage medium one by one using a unique number assigned to each file and transmit attribute information included in each of the image files. A control method for a supply device,
Cache that caches at least a part of the attribute information and a number assigned to each image file for a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium when reproducing the image file stored in the storage medium Process,
A transmission step of transmitting the information cached in the cache step to the information processing device in response to the connection to the information processing device via an interface connected to the information processing device;
A control method for an image supply apparatus, comprising:   The image supply device according to claim 19, further comprising a step of receiving, from the information processing device, an image transmission instruction based on the number assigned to each image included in the information transmitted in the transmission step. Control method. Using the unique number assigned to each file, each of the image files stored in the storage medium connected to the image supply device is designated one by one, and the attribute information possessed by each of the image files is acquired. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus that communicates with a possible communication protocol,
Information including at least a part of the attribute information about a plurality of image files stored in the storage medium and a number assigned to each image file in response to the connection with the image supply device via an interface A receiving process for receiving;
A transmission step of transmitting an image transmission request to the image supply device using a number assigned to each of the plurality of images included in the information received in the reception step;
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising:   The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 21, further comprising an analysis step of analyzing the information received in the reception step to recognize a folder structure in the storage medium.   A program for executing the control method according to any one of claims 19 to 22.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 23.

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