JP2006185154A - Equipment management device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment management device that enables efficient management of network connected equipment information by facilitating a convenient selection of preferred equipment information displayed on a screen even on pieces of equipment with limited operations and a small screen display area. <P>SOLUTION: In the equipment management device capable of communicating with network connected equipment, a communication part (103) communicates with equipment, an acquisition part acquires equipment-related information via the communication part (103), a related information recording part records the acquired equipment-related information, a connection status recording part (404) records the connection status of the equipment, a change part changes the equipment connection status recorded in the connection status recording part in accordance with the communication result, and a deletion part (S607) deletes the equipment-related information (401) recorded in the recording part according to the changed equipment status. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a device management apparatus and a management method for managing network connection information and attribute information of these devices in devices connected to a network and displaying the information on a display screen. The present invention relates to a device management apparatus that manages information on AV devices that are used and displays information on a screen.

Conventionally, as a method for managing and displaying information of devices connected to a network, in the display of devices participating in a wired and / or wireless network, the communication status of the information device network, participation / removal time, participation / removal There has been proposed an information processing apparatus that can change the display stepwise according to the rate and the number of participation / leaving times and display the network participation status of the information device in an easy-to-understand manner for the user (for example, Patent Documents) 1).
JP 2003-134127 A

  However, in the method proposed as the information processing apparatus described above, when managing and displaying device information within the communication range connected to the network, if the device to be displayed is an AV device, it is connected to the network. When the number of devices increases, the screen resolution of the AV device is not high, so that the AV device on the network cannot be displayed on the screen at one time, and must be divided into a plurality of screens.

  Also, when the user selects a device to be displayed on the screen, if an AV device is assumed, it is not common to use a keyboard or mouse as an input means like a personal computer. Therefore, since the input operation is performed with the remote controller, the operability is generally low, and when other devices on the network are divided and displayed on a plurality of screens, the user can perform a plurality of inputs in device search or device discrimination. There is a problem that operation is required and usability is poor.

  In addition, in a device with a narrow displayable area such as a mobile phone, there is a case where all communication devices connected to the network cannot be displayed on one screen, which is inconvenient because a further input operation is required from the user. There is also.

  Furthermore, it is not practical for the user to select a device that displays a screen or a non-display device from all devices connected to the network using a remote controller with low operability as described above.

  Furthermore, an embedded device such as an AV device has a small amount of available memory. Therefore, when there are a large number of devices connected to the network, there is an implementation restriction that it is difficult to store information of all the devices.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and is easy to use for a user even in a device with limited operability such as an AV device using a remote control or a device with a small screen display area such as a mobile phone. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device management apparatus that can easily select favorite device information displayed on the network, and can efficiently manage device information connected to a network even with these embedded devices.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a device management apparatus capable of communicating with a device connected to a network,
A communication means for communicating with the device;
Obtaining means for obtaining device-related information of the device using the communication means;
Device-related information recording means for recording the device-related information acquired by the acquisition means;
Connection state recording means for recording the connection state of the device;
Changing means for changing the connection state of the device recorded in the connection state recording means according to the communication result for the device by the communication means;
Deleting means for deleting the device related information recorded in the recording means based on the device status recorded in the device status recording means.

  The device management apparatus according to the present invention can efficiently manage devices discovered on a network even in an embedded device with a small amount of available memory such as an AV device. Furthermore, it is possible to easily search and identify devices on the network even in AV equipment using an input device with low display screen resolution and a poor operability such as a remote controller, and in embedded equipment such as a mobile phone with a narrow display screen.

(First embodiment)
With reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, a television 201 that is a device management apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the television 201 displays icons of devices connected to the screen via a network, and includes a communication unit 102, a processing unit 103, a device management table 104, and a display unit 105. The communication unit 102 communicates with a DVD recorder that is a communication device connected via a network, receives data transmitted from the DVD recorder via the network, and transmits data to the processing unit 103. In addition, the communication unit 102 transmits the data requested to be transmitted from the processing unit 103 to the DVD recorder on the network.

  The processing unit 103 instructs UI (User Interface) drawing on the display unit 105 based on the information stored in the device management table 104. Further, processing is performed according to data notified from the communication unit 102.

  The device management table 104 records that the television 201 is a device on the network, the type name of the device to be displayed on the display unit 105, the type name of the service provided by the device, the function name, and the like. As a method of registering information desired to be displayed by the user in the device management table 104, the television 201 includes a method of selecting information desired to be displayed on the edit screen using a remote controller.

  The display unit 105 is a display device such as a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal, or a plasma display, and displays a UI such as an icon in accordance with an instruction from the processing unit 103.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of AV equipment constituting the network. In the first embodiment, for example, the television 201 and the DVD recorder 202 are connected via a network such as a home.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 105 of the television 201. The display unit 105 displays devices present on the network, and reference numerals 302, 303, and 304 indicate icons representing devices that exist on the network and are connected to the television 201. . Specifically, the icon 302 represents a DVD recorder. That is, it is shown on the screen that two DVD recorders and one television are connected on the network.

  FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the device management table 104. The device management table 104 includes one or more pieces of device information 401, and the upper limit number that can be registered is determined. The device information 401 includes device attribute information 402, device registration time 403, and connection information 404. The device attribute information 401 is information described in a Device Description Document, such as Device Type, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num, Num Stores all or part of the attribute information about the device being described.

  The device information 401 will be described assuming that the device recorded in the device information 401 is the device A. The connection information 404 represents a connection state of the device such as whether the device A exists on the network. The connection information 404 indicates a state of “participating” or “leaving”. “Participating” indicates that the device A exists in the network and can communicate. When the television 201 newly records device information in the device information 401, the connection information 404 is recorded as “participating”. “Leaving” indicates that device A no longer exists on the network.

  Next, conditions for converting the state from “participating” to “withdrawal” will be described. The connection information 404 of the device A in the television 201 changes from “participating” to “leave” when at least one of the following five conditions (condition 1 to condition 5) is met.

  Condition 1: When a network disconnection notification is explicitly received from device A. An example will be described using UPnP communication. In UPnP, before a device leaves the network, it is stipulated that a byeby message defined by SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) is multicast transmitted over the network. The byebye message multicast-transmitted on the network also includes information on which device leaves the network. Accordingly, when the television 201 receives this byebye message, it is determined that the device A is no longer on the network, and the device information 404 is set to “leave”.

  Condition 2: When a response to the search request for the network is not received. An example will be described using UPnP communication. In UPnP, a search request called M-Search defined in SSDP can be transmitted to devices on a network. The M-Search request message includes a value that can uniquely identify the type of device such as MediaServer that the search request source wants to search, the type of service held by the device such as ContentDirectory, and the device represented by a UUID (Universal Unique Identifier), or Can store all devices on the network.

  When a device corresponding to UPnP receives this M-Search request, the device corresponding to the request message must return a response. If the TV 201 transmits an M-Search request that can receive a response from the device A to the network, but does not receive a response from the device A, it is determined that the device A is no longer on the network. The device information 404 is set to “leave”.

  Condition 3: When communication from the television 201 to the device A fails. An example will be described using UPnP communication. In UPnP, communication generated from the television 201 to the device A includes a service execution request by SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and an event subscription request / cancellation request by GENEA (Generic Event Notification Architecture). If the TCP SYN / ACK cannot be received or a response reception timeout occurs during these communications, it is determined that the device A as the communication partner has left the network, and the device information 404 is set to “leave”. .

  Condition 4: When a third device other than the television 201 connected to the network fails to communicate with the device A. An example will be described using UPnP communication. The television 201 monitors the service execution request by SOAP from the third device and the event subscription request / cancellation request by GENA, and when these communications cannot receive the TCP SYN / ACK, the response reception timeout If this occurs, it is determined that the communication partner device A has left the network, and the device information 404 is set to “leave”.

  Condition 5: When no network connection notification is received from a device connected to the network. An example will be described using UPnP communication. The device A periodically transmits an alive message defined in SSDP indicating that the device A is connected to the network to the devices on the network. When the television 201 discovers the device A, it monitors this alive message. When the television 201 no longer receives the alive message from the device A, it is assumed that the device A that is the communication partner has left the network, and the device information 404 is “leaved”. "

  When the connection information 404 of the device information 401 of the device A is set to “leave”, the television 201 displays to the user that the device A is no longer on the network.

Next, conditions for converting the state from “leave” to “participating” will be described. The connection information 404 of the device A in the television 201 changes from “leave” to “participating” when at least one of the following two conditions (condition 6 to condition 7) is met.
Condition 6: When the alive message defined by SSDP that is a network participation notification is received from the device A that has left the network, the television 201 changes the connection information 404 of the device A from “leave” to “participating”.
Condition 7: When the alive message defined in SSDP that is a network participation notification is received from the device A that has left the network, and the Device Description Document 501 of the device A is correctly received, the TV 201 can connect to the device A. The information 404 is changed from “leave” to “participating”. It is assumed that the validity of the device description document 501 is correctly received when the UUID included in the device description document 501 matches the UUID included in the alive message.

  When the device information 404 of the device A is “participating”, the television 201 displays to the user that the device A has joined the network.

  The device registration time 403 stores time information when the television 201 records information on the device A in the device information 401. Note that the time information recorded in the connection information 401 of the device information 401 may be a time, an elapsed start time since the TV 201 was started, or an accumulated time from a specific time point. When the television 201 receives an alive defined by SSDP, which is a life notification periodically notified from the device A, the television 201 updates the device registration time 403 of the device A with the reception time, the elapsed start time, or the accumulated time.

  In addition, when the response to the search request defined by SSDP transmitted from the television 201 to the device on the network is received from the device A, the device registration time 403 of the device A is also received, or the elapsed start time and the accumulated time. Update with time. The device registration time 403 is updated at the time of alive reception and search request response reception, but this may be updated only by either reception.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of Device Description Document including device attribute information recorded in device information 401. The Device Description Document illustrated in the figure is the attribute information described in XML (Extensible Markup Language) in order to notify the partner device of the attribute information of the discovered device in the communication using UPnP. is there.

  With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, the operation when the television 201 detects network participation of a new device on the network will be described. When starting the processing, the television 201 waits until a new device joins the network (step S602). Detection of participation of a new device in the network is performed when the TV 201 receives an alive message defined in SSDP or when a response is returned to the search request transmitted by the TV 201, It is determined that the network has been joined, and the process proceeds to step S603.

  In step S603, the device management table 104 is searched for whether there is an empty area (empty entry) in which the detected device information 401 can be recorded. If an empty area is found, the process proceeds to step S606. In step S603, if an empty area cannot be found, the process proceeds to step S604.

  In step S606, the device information 401 (device attribute information 402, device registration time 403, connection information 404) of the device newly detected in the empty area is displayed on the display unit 105 using an icon display or the like to the user. Notice.

  In step S604, the device information 401 in which the connection information 404 is “leave” is searched for in each device information 401 recorded in the device management table 104. Then, when the device information 401 whose connection information 404 is “leave” is found, the process proceeds to step S607.

  In step S607, the device information 401 whose connection information 404 searched in step S604 is “leave” is deleted, and the process proceeds to step S606. If all the connection information 404 is “participating” in the crisis management form 401, the process proceeds to step S605.

  In step S605, the detected information of the newly participating device is not recorded in the device management table 104, and the process proceeds to step S602 again.

  As described above, according to the device management apparatus according to the first embodiment, when the television 201 discovers a new device on the network, the registration upper limit of the device information 401 that can be registered in the device management table 104. Even when the value reaches the value, the new device information 401 is registered by deleting the registration information in the device management table 104 based on the connection state of the devices on the network. Thus, the device information 401 can be efficiently managed even when the memory area is limited. In addition, since the number of device icons displayed to the user can be limited, a user interface that is easy for the user to use even on devices that have a low screen resolution, such as a TV, and that have only a difficult input device such as a remote control. Can be provided.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a device management apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, in the above-described television 201 which is a device management apparatus, a device to be deleted when a new participating device is found in the network in a state where no empty area remains in the device management table 104. The information 401 is characterized in that the connection information 404 is “leave” and the time information recorded in the device registration time 403 is the device information 401 of the oldest device.

  FIG. 7 shows an operation when the television 201 detects network participation of a new device on the network. In FIG. 7, the operations in S602, S603, S604, S605, and S606 are the same as those described with reference to FIG. That is, in FIG. 7, in step 607 in FIG. 6, the device information 401 of the device in which the device information 401 to be deleted has the oldest time information recorded in the device registration time 403 and the connection information 404 is “leave”. Is replaced with step 701 in which the device information 401 having the oldest device registration time 403 is deleted.

  As a result of step S701, according to the configuration of the device management apparatus according to the present embodiment, the television 201 can further register the device information 401 that can be registered in the device management table 104, together with the operational effects obtained in the first embodiment. Even if the upper limit of the device is determined, even when a new device is discovered on the network, the device management table 104 becomes full, and the device management is performed based on the connection status and the device connection time on the network. Since the new device information 401 is registered by selecting and deleting the registration information 401 in the table 104, even when the memory area is limited as in the case of an embedded device such as the television 201, the device information 401 is more efficient. Can be managed.

(Third embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 8, a device management apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, in the television 201 that is a device management apparatus, when there is no device information 401 in which the device management table 104 has no vacant area and the device state is “leave”, it is new. Instead of giving up registration of the device information 401 of the device, a deletion candidate list is created from the device registration time 403 and is displayed in order to the user so that the user can select the deleted device.

  FIG. 8 shows an operation when the television 201 detects network participation of a new device on the network. In FIG. 8, the same components and processing procedures as those in FIG. 7 described in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The difference between FIG. 8 and FIG. 7 is that in step 605 in FIG. 7, the device information 401 to be deleted is listed in order from the device whose time information recorded in the device registration time 403 is the oldest and whose connection information 404 is “leave”. In addition, a list is created as deletion candidates, displayed to the user in the order of the list, and replaced with step 801 that allows the user to select a deletion device.

  As a result of step S801, according to the configuration of the device management apparatus according to the present embodiment, in addition to the operational effects obtained in the first and second embodiments, the television 201 further determines the upper limit of the device management table 104. Even if a new device is found on the network, even if the device management table 104 is full, the device management table 104 is registered based on the connection status and device connection time on the network. By displaying information deletion candidates to the user and allowing the user to select the device, it is possible to manage the device in accordance with the user transition.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the DVD recorder 202 is the device that multicasts the network participation notification. However, any device that can transmit the network participation notification and perform communication that can be interpreted by the device management apparatus of the present invention. For example, it may be a video, personal computer, audio device, PDA (Personal Data Assistant), FAX, printer, or the like.

  In each embodiment, the television 201 includes the display unit 105. However, the display unit 105 does not have to be integrated with the device management apparatus of the present invention, and is separated like a relationship between a monitor and a video. You may do it.

  Furthermore, in the third embodiment, when there is no empty area in the device management table 104 and there is no device information 401 whose connection information 404 is “leave”, deletion candidates are displayed to the user. However, under the condition that there is an empty area in the device management table 104, deletion candidates may be displayed to the user, and the device information 401 may be deleted in accordance with an instruction from the user.

  Furthermore, in each embodiment, the television 201 and the DVD recorder 202 perform device discovery on the network and acquisition of the device information 401 using UPnP. However, the present invention is not limited to UPnP. Any protocol may be used as long as the device information can be acquired.

  In addition, as the device deletion judgment method, the device discovery time is the oldest, and the connection information is selected as the deletion candidate in order from the “disconnected” state, but the device discovery time is the oldest regardless of the connection information. May be preferentially deleted from

  As an example of the device type name, service type name, action name, and action option name requested to be displayed on the display unit 105 stored in the device management table 104 of the TV 201, MediaServer defined by UPnP is represented. The character string “urn: schemas-UPnP-org: device: MediaServer: 1” which is the type name of the device, “Browse” which is the action name, and “dc: title” as an option of an action which the television 201 requires. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that a plurality of device type names, service names, action names, and action option names may be stored in the device management table 104.

  The present invention can be applied to the management of AV devices such as a television, video, personal computer, audio device, PDA, FAX, and printer connected to a network.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the television which is an apparatus management apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of AV apparatus which comprises a network Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the screen displayed on the display part of television Explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the device management table Explanatory drawing which shows the example of Device Description Document The flowchart showing the operation | movement which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The flowchart showing the operation | movement which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart showing the operation | movement which concerns on 3rd Embodiment

Explanation of symbols

102 Communication Unit 103 Processing Unit 104 Device Management Table 105 Display Unit 201 Television 202 DVD Recorder 302, 303, 304 Icon 401 Device Information 402 Device Attribute Information 403 Device Registration Time 404 Connection Information 501 Device Description Document

Claims (11)

A device management device capable of communicating with a device connected to a network,
A communication means for communicating with the device;
Obtaining means for obtaining device-related information of the device using the communication means;
Device-related information recording means for recording the device-related information acquired by the acquisition means;
Connection state recording means for recording the connection state of the device;
Changing means for changing the connection state of the device recorded in the connection state recording means according to the communication result for the device by the communication means;
A device management apparatus comprising: deletion means for deleting the device-related information recorded in the recording means based on the device status recorded in the device status recording means.   The device-related information recorded in the device-related information recording means includes device type information indicating the type of the device, device information indicating the information of the device itself, and device service information indicating service contents provided by the device. And at least one of service attribute information indicating an attribute of the service.   The device management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device connection states recorded in the device connection state recording unit are a connected state and a disconnected state. The device management apparatus further comprises device related information recording time recording means for recording the time when the device related information is recorded,
Instead of deleting the device information recorded in the device-related information recording unit based on the device state, the deleting unit is based on the device recording time recorded in the device-related information recording unit. The device management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device information is deleted.   The device management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the device-related information recording time is a time.   The device management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the device-related information recording time is an elapsed start time after the device is started.   In the device management apparatus, instead of deleting the device information recorded in the device-related information recording unit based on the device state, the deletion unit is recorded in the device state and the device-related information recording unit. The device management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device information is deleted based on the device recording time.   The device management according to claim 7, wherein the deletion unit deletes the device state from the device-related information whose device state is a detached state and the recording time recorded in the device-related information recording unit is the oldest. apparatus. The device management apparatus further includes:
Display means for displaying candidates for the device-related information to be deleted by the deleting means;
The deletion unit generates a deletion candidate list based on at least one of the device state recorded in the device state recording unit and the device recording time recorded in the device related information recording unit, and the display The device management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device management apparatus displays the information to the user via the device, and deletes the device information from the device-related information recording device based on the selection from the user.   A program for causing a computer to execute at least a part of functions of at least a part of the device management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A recording medium holding the program according to claim 10.

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