JP2006202210A - Information processor and service disclosure method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor which is capable of dynamically configuring a service and expanding the functions to provide the service. <P>SOLUTION: A UPnP device 1 acquires service descriptions of expansion units 5 to 7 connected to a bus 4, from the expansion units 5 to 7 and updates a service description of an own device on the basis of the acquired service descriptions and discloses the update service description on a network 3. The UPnP device 1 transmits a control request based on a service request to a pertinent expansion unit when necessary, in response to reception of the service request from a UPnP control point 2 and receives a control response to the control request from this expansion unit and generates a response to the service request on the basis of the received control response and transmits the response to the UPnP control point 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a service disclosure method, and a program that disclose a service description on a network and provide a service associated with the service description.

  In recent years, some household appliances such as digital AV equipment for home use and air conditioners are equipped with a network interface, and in a networked environment such as a wireless LAN or Ethernet (registered trademark), TCP / IP, etc. Devices that communicate with each other using a communication protocol to realize device control and linked operation have appeared.

  As a typical network technology for such home appliances, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play, United States Patent Application 20020035621) is well known. UPnP is an existing Internet standard such as AutoIP (automatic IP address assignment), SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Markup Language), XML (device information and services) ), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol: device service call), and GENA (Generic Event Notification Architecture: device state event notification) are integrated (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In UPnP, various operations such as search, control, and event notification processing can be performed on a device (UPnP device) connected on a network from a controller device (UPnP control point) such as a PC.

  In the UPnP device, a service list listing the functions that can be operated on the device is held as an XML-formatted service description document, and can be referred to via a network from the UPnP control point that controls the service list. So that the necessary communication methods are provided. The actual operation to the UPnP device is characterized in that it can be called by XML and HTTP communication which is an extended markup language for executing a remote procedure call called SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).

  Companies that adopt the UPnP framework, which has many requirements for home appliance operation, such as searching for devices on the network, acquiring device provision services, calling device operation methods, and event processing, are expanding. The number and types of supported devices are expected to increase in the future. Under such circumstances, a bridging technique has been proposed that makes an existing device connected by a non-IP-compatible network or bus appear as a UPnP device on the IP network. By this bridge technology, a device that cannot be used as a UPnP device can virtually exist as a device on the UPnP network and can be handled from a UPnP control point in the same way as a normal UPnP device. it can. Several existing technologies for visualizing the existence of devices or services on one network from another network have been proposed, particularly by converting devices on IEEE 1394 to IEEE 1394 packets or AV / C commands into SOAP actions. Patent Document 2 discloses a bridge that can be controlled from a controller device on a UPnP network.

  In Patent Document 2, the bridge is visible to the UPnP controller as a UPnP device including 1394 Proxy Service and 1394 Node Service or 1394 Node Service. Here, the 1394 Proxy Service monitors the attachment / detachment of the 1394 device to / from the 1394 network, and provides the UPnP device notification on the IEEE 802 network and the function of enumerating the 1394 devices. provide. Unlike 1394 NodeService, which is assigned to the operation of individual 1394 devices on the 1394 network, the 1394 Node Services provides operations of a plurality of devices on the 1394 network as one service.

  In addition, research and development for the purpose of such dynamic service configuration is being conducted in a framework other than UPnP. For example, there are attempts using STONE (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1) and mobile Agent. In these attempts, the dependency of each function is expressed as a graph, the devices that provide each function are searched, and they are dynamically combined.

However, to implement STONE and Mobile Agent, we have introduced a unique protocol to newly construct a virtual network for cooperation between devices. That is, an approach that replaces existing protocols and devices is adopted, and there is a problem in making it applicable to UPnP devices at the present time.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0035621 JP 2003-8610 A "STONE: Environment-adaptive network service architecture, IEICE technical report, IN2001-12, May 2001"

  Conventionally, a UPnP device is often realized in such a manner that a service list that can be provided uniquely for a device is held in advance and is made public based on a request from a UPnP control point. The current UPnP specification does not assume a case where the service provided by the UPnP device changes dynamically during operation, and notifies the UPnP control point of how the provided service has changed at the time of change. No means are provided. To realize this function, a new means for dynamically advertising when service information changes in the UPnP device, or causing the UPnP control point to periodically reload the service description document of the UPnP device Thus, a method of realizing this by grasping the difference of service information dynamically changed in the UPnP device to be controlled by the UPnP control point is also conceivable. When the hardware configuration is changed, for example, by adding an expansion device, there is a problem of how service information related to a control function provided in the expansion device is taken into the UPnP device. Also, it is necessary to solve how the service information fetched from the expansion device can be fetched into the service information held by the UPnP device and coexist with it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, a service disclosure method, and a program capable of dynamically providing and expanding and providing a service.

  According to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus that publishes the first service description on the network and provides the first service associated with the first service description, the second service description associated with the second service description is provided. Based on connection means for connecting an extension device that provides a service, acquisition means for acquiring the second service description from the extension device connected by the connection means, and the acquired second service description And updating means for updating the first service description and publishing means for publishing the updated service description of the first service on the network.

The present invention relating to the apparatus is also established as an invention relating to a method, and the present invention relating to a method is also established as an invention relating to an apparatus.
Further, the present invention relating to an apparatus or a method has a function for causing a computer to execute a procedure corresponding to the invention (or for causing a computer to function as a means corresponding to the invention, or for a computer to have a function corresponding to the invention. It can also be realized as a program (for realizing the program), and can also be realized as a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  According to the present invention, a service can be dynamically configured to expand and provide functions.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a network system including an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is an information processing apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as UPnP device 1) having a function of operating as a UPnP device, 2 is a UPnP control point that is a control apparatus of the UPnP device 1, and 3 is, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) or IP networks using a wireless LAN or the like are shown. Reference numeral 4 represents an expansion bus such as a PCI bus, and reference numerals 5 to 7 represent expansion apparatuses connected to the UPnP device 1 by the expansion bus 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a UPnP device 1 and a UPnP control point 2 are connected on an IP network 3. In FIG. 1, one UPnP device is shown on the IP network 3, but a plurality of UPnP devices may exist. The same applies to the UPnP control point 2. Further, the UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment and the existing UPnP device may be mixed.

  The UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment is a device whose function can be expanded by an expansion device connected via the expansion bus 4.

  For expansion of functions by connecting an expansion device, for example, an expansion (new installation) of connecting a camera as an expansion device to a UPnP device 1 that does not include a camera, or a camera as an expansion device for a UPnP device 1 including a camera (For example, cameras of the same type and the same performance, higher performance cameras of the same type or different types of cameras, etc.) are connected and used in place of expansion (addition) or original cameras used together with the original cameras. There are various forms such as expansion (exchange).

  Also, the UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment acquires the service description from the extension device, and reflects the service description of the extension device in the service description of the own device. There are various forms of reflection. For example, the service description of the extended device is added to the service description of the own device, the service description of the extended device is replaced with the corresponding part of the service description of the own device, or the service description of the extended device is Based on the service description of the device, a service description for the new service is generated, and the generated new service description is added to the service description of the own device. Various forms are possible, such as a form of replacing the corresponding part of the service description.

  The UPnP device 1 can be configured using, for example, a personal computer device, or a dedicated device having a specific function (for example, various electric devices and office devices used in homes and offices). , A robot device, etc.). The upper limit number of expansion apparatuses that can be connected to a certain UPnP device 1 may be arbitrarily determined. FIG. 1 illustrates a state in which three expansion devices 5 to 7 are connected to the UPnP device 1.

  Note that when the functions of the UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment are realized by a program, the program is stored in a program storage device (not shown) of the UPnP device 1. The program storage device includes, for example, a magnetic disk device or an optical disk device. The program is read into a random access memory (RAM) under the control of the CPU and executed by the CPU, whereby the computer can function as the UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The UPnP control point 2 corresponds to a device having a function of controlling a UPnP device (UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment or an existing UPnP device). The UPnP control point 2 does not necessarily have to recognize whether a certain UPnP device is the UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment or an existing UPnP device. The UPnP control point 2 can be configured using, for example, a personal computer device or the like, or can be configured as a dedicated control device (for example, a network home appliance such as a TV or a remote control device). The UPnP control point 2 may be an existing one. The UPnP control point 2 includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) for performing arithmetic processing such as control, a processing block for display, a processing block for operation input, a storage block for processing contents, and the like. A communication processing block with the device is coupled by an internal bus.

  Next, an operation between the UPnP device 1 (or an existing UPnP device) and the UPnP control point 2 will be schematically described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the UPnP device 1 advertises the existence of its own device (own device) to the UPnP control point 2 in accordance with SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) (see 101 in the figure), and is described in the XML format. Published device description / service description (11). The UPnP control point 2 discovers the UPnP device 1 and the service (in the example of FIG. 2, the first service 121 and the second service 122) according to SSDP (see 101 in the figure), and sets the action of each service to SOAP. Control based on the call based on (see 102 in the figure). The state change of the UPnP service is notified to the UPnP control point 2 that subscribes to the event notification (see 103 in the figure) based on GENA.

  Such a basic operation is the same between the existing UPnP device and the UPnP control point 2.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the existing UPnP device 8. A list of functions disclosed by the existing UPnP device is statically prepared as a device description / service description 81, and the UPnP device type, device ID, service type, and the like are advertised through the SSDP processing unit 82. Based on the advertised information, the UPnP control point 2 selects a necessary service or device and makes an acquisition request for the device description / service description 81 by HTTP. In response to this acquisition request, the description acquisition processing unit 83 transmits a device description / service description 81 described in the XML format to the UPnP control point 2.

  The function of each service can be used via SOAP as an action of each UPnP service. The action request from the UPnP control point 2 is passed from the SOAP processing unit 84 to the handlers 86 and 87 of each action through the SOAP handler 85. The action handlers 86 and 87 perform actual processing while referring to the UPnP state variable, return a response according to the processing result, and update the UPnP state variable. If the updated state variable is an event notification target, the state variable management unit 88 that manages the UPnP state variable notifies the subscription source UPnP control point 2 through the GENA processing unit 89.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the information processing apparatus 1 (UPnP device 1) of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the UPnP device 1 includes a device description / service description 11, an SSDP processing unit 12, a description acquisition processing unit 13, a SOAP processing unit 14, a SOAP handler 15, handlers 16 and 17, and a state variable management unit. 18, a GENA processing unit 19, an expansion device device description service description acquisition processing unit (hereinafter, description acquisition processing unit) 20, and a description merge format determination processing unit (hereinafter, determination processing unit) 21. In FIG. 4, two action handlers are shown, but the number may be other than two (the same applies to FIG. 3).

  The device description / service description 11 to the GENA processing unit 19 in FIG. 4 are basically the same as the device description / service description 81 to the GENA processing unit 89 in the configuration example of the existing UPnP device 8 in FIG. is there. That is, the UPnP device 1 of FIG. 4 is obtained by adding a description acquisition processing unit 20 and a determination processing unit 21 to the configuration of FIG.

  The description acquisition processing unit 20 acquires, via the bus 4, the device description and service description held by the expansion device from the expansion device connected to the bus 4 (in the example of FIG. 1, the expansion device 5, 6 or 7). Is to do. The device description / service description can be acquired by using a communication method defined on the bus 4.

  The determination processing unit 21 reflects the device description / service description 11 stored in the own device based on the device description / service description acquired from the extended device via the bus 4 by the description acquisition processing unit 20. (For example, how to add the acquired device description / service description to the device description / service description 11 or whether a new service description can be generated by a combination of services) And the device description / service description 11 is updated as necessary. Accordingly, the description merge format determination processing unit 21 sets an action handler (for controlling the extension device via the bus 4) corresponding to the device description / service description of the extension device, if necessary. (Alternatively, if the corresponding action handler already exists and is inactive, activate it).

  When the device description / service description 11 is updated, the updated device description / service description 11 is advertised to surrounding UPnP control points 2.

  Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described in detail using specific examples.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the UPnP device 1 body is a mobile robot having wheels and the like, IEEE1394 is used for the expansion bus 4, and a digital camera is used as the expansion device 9, as a specific example. explain.

  FIG. 6A shows a format of data held in the configuration ROM (Configuration ROM) of IEEE 1394 used in this specific example, and FIG. 6B shows “unit_directory” held in the configuration ROM. Details of the contents of the information are shown. As shown in FIG. 6, the communication protocol on the bus 4 can be specified from the “Unit_Spec_ID” information and the “Unit_Sw_Version” information in the “unit_directory” information. For example, in the case of a device conforming to the 1394-based digital camera specification, the value “0x00A02D” is defined in the “Unit_Spec_ID” information.

  In FIG. 7, after the expansion device 9 is connected to the UPnP device 1 by the IEEE1394 bus 4, a device description / service description (device / service description document) is actually generated in the UPnP device 1, and the network 3 An example of a sequence from opening up to processing an operation from the UPnP control point 2 is shown.

  Here, it is assumed that only the expansion device 9 is connected, and only the expansion device 9 is described.

  In the sequence of FIG. 7, first, the digital camera 9 that is an expansion device is connected to the mobile robot of the UPnP device 1 via the IEEE 1394 bus 4. In response to a bus reset that occurs at this time, tree-identify (self-identify), self-identify (self-identify), initialization of the topology configuration, and cycle master And the bus manager are determined (step S1).

  Subsequently, the UPnP device 1 reads unit_directory information (see FIG. 6) of the newly connected expansion device 9 (step S2), and refers to this to investigate the communication protocol to the target expansion device 9. .

  Next, the UPnP device 1 reads the device description / service description 91 of the expansion device 9 by the description acquisition processing unit 20 according to the investigated communication protocol (for example, by a READ transaction) (step S3).

  FIG. 8 shows an example of the format of the device description / service description 91 of the expansion device 9. Here, it is assumed that the device description / service description 91 is mapped to a memory on the IEEE 1394 bus.

  Regarding the device description, as shown in FIG. 8A, the size of the device description document body (dev_desc_length), the offset value (srv_desc_offset) to the memory location where the service description document is placed, and Assume a structure in which a device description document body is stored. As for the service description, as shown in FIG. 8B, the size of the service description document body (srv_desc_length) and the next service description document in the case where the service description further exists are arranged. Assume a structure in which an offset value (srv_desc_offset) to a memory location to be stored and a service description document body are stored.

  This description is read until the srv_desc_offset value of the service description becomes null.

  Note that regarding the structure for device description, the memory location arranged on IEEE1394 must always be fixed, and will be used when the UPnP device reads the first device description.

  In the above description, the device description / service description 91 of the expansion device 9 can be acquired by mapping it on the IEEE 1394 memory on the digital camera 9 side which is the expansion device, but other methods can also be used. For example, based on the unit_directory information acquired from the expansion device 9 on the UPnP device 1 side, a “device description / service description storage server using unit_directory information as a key” arranged on the same network or a network such as the Internet is prepared. It is also possible to obtain a desired device description / service description by making an inquiry from the UPnP device 1 to this server.

  Subsequently, when acquisition of the device description / service description of the expansion device 9 is completed, the UPnP device 1 causes the determination processing unit 21 to change the description acquired by the description acquisition processing unit 20 to the service description held by the own device and which In this way, it is determined whether a new service is generated by addition or combination (step S4).

  Various methods can be used for this determination. Here, as an example, a method in which the UPnP device 1 uses hint information prepared in advance will be described.

  FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of this hint information.

  The hint information illustrated in FIG. 9 includes a table format that describes what service description should be updated according to the type of device that can be acquired by the unit_directory information (for each Unit_Spec_ID and for each Unit_Sw_Version in the example of FIG. 9). It has become.

  The “default_op” information indicates how to basically add the service description of the extended device to the UPnP device. In this specific example, “merge”, “replace”, and “none” can be selected. If “merge”, simply add to the service description of the UPnP device 1; if “replace”, temporarily disable the service description of the UPnP device 1 while the extension device is connected, Replace with the service description of the expansion unit. If it is “none”, the service description of the expansion device does not affect the service description of the UPnP device 1. Note that the values of “merge”, “replace”, and “none” may actually be replaced with integer values.

  The “conflict_units” information holds the number n of those that may cause a conflict when an expansion device other than the expansion device specified by the “Unit_Spec_ID_A” information is connected, and a list of the Unit_Spec_ID. When the extension device described in the conflict_units is already connected to the UPnP device, the service description of the extension device does not affect the service description of the UPnP device.

  The “collabo_units” information holds the number m that the extension device identified by “Unit_Spec_ID_A” can provide a linkage service with other extension devices including the UPnP device 1. Thereafter, there are m consecutive sets of “Unit_Spec_ID” of other extension devices to be linked and names of corresponding service description sentences (or URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers)).

  In the example of FIG. 9, the method of specifying with Unit_Spec_ID is adopted regardless of Unit_Sw_Version, but the method of specifying with both Unit_Spec_ID_A and Unit_Sw_Version is also possible.

  Note that the hint information in FIG. 9 is an example, and various other configurations are possible.

  Besides the method using the hint information, various methods are possible for the determination in the determination processing unit 21.

  Now, in the sequence of FIG. 7, the determination processing unit 21 updates the service description to be disclosed to the outside as the UPnP device 1 based on this hint information table prepared for each expansion device (step S5).

  The updated device description / service description 11 is advertised to the UPnP control point 2 (step S6).

  Here, it is assumed that all the updated device descriptions / service descriptions 11 are disclosed (newly disclosed as UPnP devices having updated device descriptions / service descriptions 11). It is also possible to publish only the differences before and after the update of the device description / service description 11.

  The UPnP control point 2 acquires the device description / service description from the UPnP device 1 (step S7).

  Thereafter, the UPnP control point 2 transmits a control command to the UPnP device 1 as necessary (step S8).

  Upon receiving this control command request (SOAP action) (step S8), the UPnP device 1 determines whether this is an operation for the expansion device (step S9). Here, it is assumed that the operation is for the expansion device.

  In the case of an operation for an expansion device, the UPnP device 1 creates a control request to the corresponding expansion device as necessary, and transmits this request (step S10) to perform actual control.

  For example, if the device to be connected is an IEEE 1394-based digital camera specification, a set of control commands can be obtained in advance according to the specification, so bus communication including a set of control commands in advance on the UPnP device side. The method is prepared by making it into a library, and control request transmission using this method may be performed.

  When the operation is not performed on the expansion device, the UPnP device 1 performs necessary control in the own device.

  The expansion device 9 that has received the control request from the UPnP device 1 and performed the necessary processing creates a control response and returns it to the UPnP device 1.

  Upon receiving the control response from the expansion device 9 (step S11), the UPnP device 1 converts this into a SOAP response (step S12), and returns it to the UPnP control point 2 (step S13) to control it. Answer the results and complete the series of processes.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, when an expansion device is connected to a UPnP device, not only the service description held by the expansion device is added to the service description of the UPnP device, but also, for example, by a hint information table. New services can be dynamically configured and published on the network.

Here, in the conventional UPnP specification, it is not assumed that the service published during the operation of the UPnP device dynamically changes, and a framework for notifying a new published service at the time of the publication is not provided. . In this case, it is assumed that the operation as a UPnP device is once ended and restarted as described below.
(1) Stop operation as a UPnP device. For each of the device ID, device type, service type, and service ID to be disclosed, ssdp: byebye is multicast to the surroundings to notify service stop.
(2) Change the device description and service description related to the service to be disclosed.
(3) Restart the operation as a UPnP device. Here, for each of the device ID, device type, service type, and service ID to be disclosed, ssdp: alive is multicast to the surroundings to notify that a new service is in operation.

In the UPnP device 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, the following procedure can be taken.
(1) Change the service description of a service whose contents have been changed.
(2) Multicast the ssdp: alive of the service to the surroundings. Here, the value of the CACHE-CONTROL header is set to max-age = 0.

  In the UPnP control point 2 responding to the multicast, when a ssdp: alive packet with a non-zero header such as CACHE-CONTROL: max-age = 600 is received, a predetermined time (in this case, 600 seconds) ) Caches the content ssdp: alive advertises. Before the cache time limit arrives, it is necessary to advertise the next ssdp: alive packet or perform a search using the ssdp: discover packet from the UPnP control point 2 side. According to the present embodiment, when ssdp: alive CACHE-CONTROL: max-age = 0 is received, the internal cache possessed for the service is cleared. For this reason, it is necessary to reacquire the service description of the service, and the time indicated by the Last-Modified header included in the HTTP-GET response, which is the time stamp of the acquired service description, is different from that obtained conventionally. From this, it can be determined that the service description has changed from the past.

In this method, it is assumed that the behavior of UPnP control point 2 based on CAHCHE-CONTROL is cooperative. Considering accommodation of UPnP control points that are more faithful to the UPnP specification, it is preferable to execute the following procedure to temporarily suspend, change, and resume only the services that have changed.
(1) Multicasting the ssdp: bybye (stop) of a service whose content has been changed to the public.
(2) Change the service description of the service.
(3) Multicast the ssdp: alive (start) of the service to the surroundings.

  Although the number of packets increases compared to the previous method, it is expected that service changes can be advertised more reliably. At this time, the UPnP control point 2 can determine that the service being used has once ended, so that the calling procedure has failed and the event notification subscription has been canceled. After that, since the service was resumed, it was requested to reacquire the service description, and the time indicated by the Last-Modified header included in the HTTP-GET response, which is the time stamp of the acquired service description, was obtained in the past. Since it is different, it can be determined that the service description has changed from the past.

  In this method, an unaffected service can be continued as it is compared to a case where all services are terminated as a UPnP device as in the prior art. This can reduce not only the number of multicast packets for service notification but also the number of packets required for executing the event notification re-subscription procedure.

  When there is an increase or decrease in services, it is necessary to change the device description, so device update notification is performed in the same procedure as described above. However, when the latter method is adopted, the device and all services are temporarily stopped and restarted as in the conventional method. This is based on compatibility with the conventional method by extending from the conventional method.

  When the service of the UPnP device is expanded according to the present embodiment, it is necessary to update the device description and the service description. However, when the expansion device or the service on the expansion bus necessary for the expansion is stopped, the device description is again updated. And you need to update and advertise the service description.

  Here, considering the case where the extension device is frequently connected and disconnected, and the UPnP device description and the service description are frequently updated and advertised accordingly, the response to the UPnP device description and the service description is updated. Control points always need to do. This imposes a heavy load on the UPnP control point, and it also becomes necessary to adjust the contents of the action call according to changes in the device description / service description. Therefore, the UPnP device description and service description by the UPnP control point are required. It is preferable to suppress the update frequency and the advertisement frequency as much as possible.

For example, the following procedure can be taken.
(Procedure 1) The separation of the expansion device is detected.
(Procedure 2) The UPnP device / service update and advertisement are suspended until a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection of the withdrawal. During this time, if a control command request (SOAP action) that should issue a control request to the expansion device is received, this control command request results in an error.

  (Procedure 3) When a predetermined time has passed since the detection of the withdrawal, the UPnP device / service is updated and advertised. If the expansion device is reconnected before the fixed time elapses, UPnP device service update and advertisement are not necessary.

  In the above, the suspension is performed until a certain time elapses from the detection of the separation, but after the separation is detected, a certain time has elapsed since the control command request to issue a control request to the expansion device becomes an error. It is also possible to use a method for holding until it is done.

  Note that the same procedure is used when the expansion device is disconnected while the operation of the UPnP device 1 is stopped, and then the operation of the UPnP device 1 is resumed before the expansion device is reconnected. Can do.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, increase / decrease in service functions of a single device itself is dynamically realized by attaching / detaching an expansion device that can be connected to a bus to / from a single device that can be connected to a network. be able to. Furthermore, by combining services provided by each device in combination with one or more extension devices, it is possible to derive a new service or a more advanced service combining a plurality of services. That is, when an expansion device is connected via a bus, the service information of the single device itself is automatically expanded to generate service information with a new control capability that enables the expansion device to be used. It can be disclosed to the network side and controlled from the controller device connected to the network.

  For example, when applied to a mobile robot connected to a UPnP network by wireless communication means, the mobile robot can be used as a patrol robot from an external controller only by adding a monitor camera. In this case, by adding one more arm, it can be used as a robot having an operation newly held by both arms, and more advanced services can be provided.

Each of the above functions can be realized even if it is described as software and processed by a computer having an appropriate mechanism.
The present embodiment can also be implemented as a program for causing a computer to execute a predetermined procedure, causing a computer to function as a predetermined means, or causing a computer to realize a predetermined function. In addition, the present invention can be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The figure which shows the structural example of the UPnP network which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Diagram for schematically explaining the operation between a UPnP device and a UPnP control point A diagram showing a configuration example of an existing UPnP device The figure which shows the structural example of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the embodiment The figure for demonstrating the specific example of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the embodiment The figure for demonstrating configuration ROM and unit_directory information The figure which shows an example of the operation | movement sequence with the information processing apparatus which concerns on the embodiment, a UPnP control point, and an expansion apparatus A diagram showing a configuration example of a device description and a service description held by the extension device in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the hint information table in the embodiment

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... UPnP device, 2 ... UPnP control point, 3 ... IP network 4 ... Bus, 5-7 ... Expansion apparatus, 11 ... Device description and service description, 12 ... SSDP processing part, 13 ... Description acquisition processing part, 14 ... SOAP Processing unit 15 ... SOAP handler 16, 17 ... Handler, 18 ... State variable management unit, 19 ... GENA processing unit, 20 ... Expansion device device description service description acquisition processing unit, 21 ... Description merge format determination processing unit

Claims (12)

In an information processing apparatus that publishes a first service description on a network and provides a first service associated with the first service description,
Connection means for connecting an expansion device that provides a second service associated with a second service description;
Obtaining means for obtaining the second service description from the extension device connected by the connecting means;
Updating means for updating the first service description based on the acquired second service description;
An information processing apparatus comprising: an publishing unit that publishes the updated service description of the first service on the network. Means for receiving, via the network, a service request based on a service description of a first service published on the network;
Means for transmitting a control request based on the service request to the extension device when the received service request requires control of the extension device;
Means for receiving a control response to the control request from the expansion device;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting a response to the service request based on the control response via the network.   The updating means adds the acquired second service description to the first service description, or replaces a corresponding part of the first service description with the acquired second service description. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the updating is performed.   The update means generates a third service description for a new third service based on the first service description and the acquired second service description, and the third service description The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first service description is updated with a description.   The updating means adds the generated third service description to the first service description, or replaces a corresponding part of the first service description with the generated third service description. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the updating is performed by the following.   Update the first service description with the acquired second service description, or generate a third service description based on the first service description and the second service description, thereby 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising means for determining whether to update the first service description. Further comprising detection means for detecting an expansion device newly connected to the connection means;
When the expansion unit newly connected to the connection unit is detected by the detection unit, the acquisition unit includes the first unit related to the detected expansion device from the detected expansion unit via the connection unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein two service descriptions are acquired. When an extension device newly connected to the connection means is detected by the detection means, the second service description relating to the detected extension device is transmitted from the detected extension device via the connection means. Means for obtaining communication protocol information indicating a communication protocol for obtaining;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the second service description from the extension apparatus according to a communication protocol indicated by the acquired communication protocol information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the publishing unit publishes all the service descriptions of the updated first service on the network.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the publishing unit publishes the difference between before and after the update of the service description of the first service on the network. In a service publishing method in an information processing apparatus for publishing a first service description on a network and providing a first service associated with the first service description,
A connection step for connecting an expansion device that provides a second service associated with a second service description;
An acquisition step of acquiring the second service description from the extension device connected by the connection step;
An updating step of updating the first service description based on the acquired second service description;
A service publishing method comprising: publishing a service description of the updated first service on the network. In a program for causing a computer to function as an information processing apparatus that publishes a first service description on a network and provides a first service associated with the first service description,
A connection step for connecting an expansion device that provides a second service associated with a second service description;
An acquisition step of acquiring the second service description from the extension device connected by the connection step;
An updating step for updating the first service description based on the acquired second service description;
A program causing a computer to execute a publication step of publishing the updated service description of the first service on the network.

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