JP2006244057A - Usb equipment, control method therefor and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide USB equipment allowing the efficient use of a USB port in a wireless USB. <P>SOLUTION: A scanner A communicates with a host computer through the wireless USB, and cuts off the communication with the host computer when scan operation is not executed over a prescribed time by the control of the host computer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a USB device, a control method thereof, and a program, and more particularly, to a USB device including a wireless USB interface, a control method thereof, and a program.

  A conventional network system using a wired USB (Universal Serial Bus) includes at least one host computer and a USB device connected to the host computer by a USB cable. The USB device has a USB interface and communicates with the host computer using the USB protocol.

  The host computer includes a USB port to which a USB device is connected and a USB controller that manages the connected USB device, and performs connection processing, configuration, and removal processing for each connected USB device. These processes can be performed without affecting other USB devices connected to the host computer.

  The host computer detects the presence of the USB device by detecting the connection and removal of the USB device from the USB port. In addition, when a new USB device is connected to the USB port, the USB controller monitors the USB port to detect the connection, and starts enumeration when the USB device is connected to the port. .

  The enumeration is a USB device identification process. First, the host computer gives a reset signal to the USB device. After the reset signal is released, configuration data is sent from the USB device to the host computer. Based on the configuration data, the host computer assigns a USB address to the USB device, makes use settings for the USB device, and enters a connection state with the USB device.

  By connecting and disconnecting a USB cable physically in a wired USB device, it is possible to always connect and disconnect the USB device on the sequence without affecting other USB devices. Further, when communication becomes unstable due to some influence on the control or when it is necessary to return the setting of the USB device to the initial state, the bus reset can be performed by removing the USB cable. Further, a technique for resetting a wired USB device without inserting or removing the USB cable of the USB device has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, in recent years, a technique for performing communication using a USB protocol without using a USB cable using a wireless USB is known.
JP 2001-228944 A

  However, in the wireless USB, since the USB device is not physically connected to the host computer, the connection state is unstable, and the USB device may unexpectedly become unconnected and the USB device may hang up. In the wireless USB, since the bus reset cannot be performed by inserting / removing the USB cable, there is no method for returning to the normal state when the USB device is in the hang-up state. There is no way to return to the normal state even when the power is turned off by the timer process because the USB device is held in the connected state for a long time. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to restart the host computer in order to return to the normal state.

  In the wireless USB, when the USB device switches the connection from the already connected host computer to another host computer, the USB device must be turned off once. Further, when there is no available USB port of the host computer, the host computer cannot easily switch the connection from the already connected USB device to another USB device.

  Therefore, the USB port cannot be used efficiently in the wireless USB.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a USB device that can efficiently use a USB port in a wireless USB, a control method thereof, and a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, a USB device according to claim 1 is a USB device that communicates with an external device via a wireless USB, and a communication unit that communicates with the external device via the wireless USB; Execution means for executing processing; determination means for determining whether the execution means has not executed the predetermined process for a predetermined time; and not executing the predetermined process for a predetermined time by the determination means Control means for controlling the communication means to disconnect communication with the external device when the communication means is determined.

  The control method according to claim 7 is a method for controlling a USB device that communicates with an external device via a wireless USB, a communication step of communicating with the external device via the wireless USB, and an execution step of executing predetermined processing. And a determination step for determining whether or not the predetermined processing in the execution step has not been executed for a predetermined time or more, and a determination in the determination step that the predetermined processing has not been executed for a predetermined time or more. And a control step for controlling to disconnect communication with the external device.

  The program according to claim 13 is a program executed by a USB device that communicates with an external device via a wireless USB, and executes a predetermined process with a communication module that communicates with the external device via the wireless USB. A module, a determination module for determining whether or not the predetermined processing by the execution module has not been executed for a predetermined time, and the determination module has not executed the predetermined processing by the execution module for a predetermined time or more And a control module that controls to disconnect the communication with the external device.

  According to the present invention, when a predetermined process is not executed for a predetermined time or more, communication with an external device via the wireless USB is disconnected, so that the connection state is prevented from becoming unstable and other By opening the WUSB port to the USB device, the WUSB port can be efficiently used in the wireless USB.

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

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a system including a USB device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the system includes host computers A201 and B202 (external control devices) and scanners A203 and B204 (USB devices), which are connected to each other via a wireless USB (hereinafter referred to as “WUSB”). ing.

  The host computers A201 and B202 include a scanner driver for operating the scanners A203 and B204, and control the scanners A203 and B204 by loading and executing the scanner driver on the OS. The host computers A201 and B202 are provided with a WUSB port for connecting a USB device.

  As will be described later, the scanners A203 and B204 include an image sensor that converts an image read from a document into an electrical image signal, an A / D converter that converts the converted image signal into a digitized image signal, and a conversion And a WUSB interface for transferring the digital image signal to the host computer via the WUSB.

  For example, when the scanner A 203 is connected to the host computer A 201 to start scanning, the scanner A 203 performs internal settings for connecting to the host computer A 201 via WUSB. Next, the host computer A201 is moved to a range where the scanner A203 can be recognized. When the host computer A 201 recognizes the scanner A 203, the host computer A 201 starts a procedure for establishing communication with the scanner A 203.

  As long as the scanner A 203 is communicating with the host computer A 201, communication with the host computer B 202 is not started even when the host computer B 202 installed in the vicinity is within a range where the scanner A 203 can be recognized.

  Further, when the host computer A201 is connected to the scanner A203 and the WUSB port is not available, the host computer A201 cannot start communication with the scanner B204. When the WUSB ports of both the host computer A 201 and the host computer B 202 are available, the scanner B 204 selects an arbitrary host computer and establishes communication.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the scanner A 203 in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, a scanner A 203 includes an image sensor 1, an A / D converter 2, a CPU 3, a light source lamp 4, a light source control circuit 5, a pulse motor 6, a pulse motor drive circuit 7, a memory 8, An RF modulation unit 9, a WUSB communication unit 10, an operation unit 11, a power supply unit 12, and a display unit 13 are provided.

  The WUSB communication unit 10 performs wireless communication with a host computer which is an external device using WUSB. Here, a host computer will be described as an example of an external device. However, the external device may be a printer having a WUSB communication function, a multi-function printer (MFP), an image display device, a storage device, or the like.

  The RF modulation unit 9 performs RF modulation on data in order to wirelessly transmit / receive data to / from the host computer by the WUSB communication unit 10. The light source lamp 4 is composed of, for example, a cold cathode tube, and irradiates a document to be read. The light source control circuit 5 is composed of an inverter circuit, and lights up by driving a light source lamp 4 composed of a cold cathode tube.

  The image sensor 1 reads a document image to be read irradiated by the light source lamp 4, converts it into an electrical signal, and outputs it. The A / D converter 2 converts the analog image signal output from the image sensor 1 into a digital image signal.

  The CPU 3 constitutes a system controller and an image processing unit. The system controller stores an operation processing sequence of the entire scanner and performs various controls according to instructions from the host computer. The image processing unit performs image processing such as offset correction, shading correction, gamma correction, digital gain adjustment, and resolution conversion in the main and sub scanning directions on the image signal digitized by the A / D converter 2.

  The pulse motor 6 is a drive source for moving and scanning a scanning unit (not shown) including the image sensor 1 and the light source lamp 4 with respect to the document table (not shown), and is output from the pulse motor drive circuit 7. Operates according to the excitation switching signal.

  The memory 8 is composed of, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and is connected to the CPU 3 via a system bus (not shown) including an address bus and a data bus. The memory 8 is used as a working area when image processing is performed by the image processing unit of the CPU 3, and stores shading data for performing shading correction processing and gamma curve data for performing gamma correction. The memory 8 is also used as a buffer memory for image data when image data is transferred to an external device via the WUSB communication unit 10.

  The display unit 13 performs display for confirming the setting contents and operation status of the scanner. An operation unit 11 is provided adjacent to the display unit 13. The power supply unit 12 supplies power to each unit of the scanner.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of communication control processing executed under the control of the CPU 3 of the scanner A 203 in FIG.

  In the process of FIG. 3, the communication with the host computer is disconnected when the scan operation is not performed for a certain time or longer.

  In FIG. 3, first, when the power source of the scanner A203 is turned on (step S1), the CPU 3 of the scanner A203 performs initialization (initialization) including initial setting of the WUSB interface, and enumeration for connecting to the USB port. (Step S2). Next, the CPU 3 performs bus reset of the WUSB interface and starts establishing communication with the host computer (step S3).

  Next, the CPU 3 establishes the environment setting used by the scanner A 203 by transmitting the configuration data to the host computer (step S3), and establishes communication with the host computer (step S5) (communication means). When communication is established, the host computer activates a scanner driver for operating the scanner, and the scanner A 203 enters a standby state (standby) until scanning is started (step S6).

  Next, it is determined whether or not a scan operation start command is issued (step S7). When a scan operation start command is issued, a document scan process is executed, and the acquired image data is stored in the host computer. (Step S8) (execution means), the process returns to the standby state in step S6.

  As a result of the determination in step S7, when a command for starting the scanning operation is not issued, it is determined by a built-in timer whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed in the standby state (step S9) (determination means), and the predetermined time has elapsed in the standby state If not, the process returns to the standby state in step S6.

  As a result of the determination in step S9, when a predetermined time has elapsed in the standby state, the CPU 3 disconnects communication with the host computer (step S10) (control means), performs bus reset of the WUSB interface, and sets the internal settings of the scanner A203. Is reset (step S11).

  Next, whether or not communication has been resumed within a predetermined time is further determined by a built-in timer by a communication resumption instruction from the host computer or a button operation on the operation unit 11 of the scanner A 203 (step S12), and communication is resumed. When the communication is not completed, the process returns to step S2.

  According to the processing of FIG. 3, when a certain time has elapsed in the standby state (YES in step S9), the CPU 3 disconnects communication with the host computer (step S10), so that the connection state becomes unstable. In addition to avoiding this, it is possible to open the WUSB port to other USB devices, so that the WUSB port can be efficiently used in the wireless USB.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a modification of the communication control process of FIG.

  The process of FIG. 4 differs from the process of FIG. 3 only in that steps S21 to S24 are executed instead of steps S7 to S9. 4, the same steps as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the process of FIG. 4, the communication with the host computer is disconnected in order to recover when an error occurs.

  In FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not a scan operation start command has been issued (step S21). If a scan operation start command is not issued, the process returns to step S6 while a scan operation start command is issued. Executes a document scanning process and sends the acquired image data to the host computer (step S22).

  Next, it is determined whether or not an error has occurred in the scan process (step S23). If it is determined that an error has occurred in the scan process, the process from step S10 is executed, and the CPU 3 Disconnect communication.

  As a result of the determination in step S23, when it is determined that no error has occurred in the scan process, it is determined whether or not the scan has ended (step S24). If the scan has not ended, the process returns to step S22. When the scan is completed, the processing after step S10 is executed, and the CPU 3 disconnects the communication with the host computer.

  According to the process of FIG. 4, when an error occurs in the scan process (YES in step S23), the CPU 3 disconnects communication with the host computer (step S10), so that the connection state becomes unstable. In addition to avoiding this, it is possible to open the WUSB port to other USB devices, so that the USB port can be efficiently used in the wireless USB.

  When the communication with the host computer is established and the scanner A 203 has not started the scanning operation for a predetermined time or more and the low power mode timer operates and shifts to the low power mode, the communication disconnection process described above is executed. May be.

  Further, the above-described communication disconnection process may be executed when the power source of the scanner A 203 is disconnected while communication with the host computer is established.

  Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. It is also achieved by reading out and executing the program code stored in.

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

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, and a DVD. -RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  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) running 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.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. This includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the 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 diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a system including a USB device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the scanner A in FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a communication control process performed by the control of the CPU of the scanner A in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the modification of the communication control process of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

201 Host computer A
202 Host computer B
203 Scanner A
204 Scanner B

Claims (13)

In USB devices that communicate with external devices via wireless USB,
Communication means for communicating with the external device via the wireless USB;
Execution means for executing predetermined processing;
Determining means for determining whether or not the execution means has not executed the predetermined processing for a predetermined time;
Control means for controlling the communication means to disconnect communication with the external device when the determining means determines that the predetermined processing has not been executed for a predetermined time or more. USB device.   The USB device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs bus reset of the wireless USB and initialization of internal settings of the USB device.   When the determining means determines that the predetermined processing by the executing means has not been executed for a predetermined time or longer, the determining means includes a shifting means for shifting to the low power mode, and when the shifting means shifts to the low power mode The USB device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit disconnects communication with the external device by the communication unit.   A disconnecting unit that disconnects the power supply of the USB device, and the control unit disconnects the communication with the external device when the power of the USB device is disconnected by the disconnecting unit; The USB device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The execution unit executes a reading process of reading an image and acquiring image data, and the control unit disconnects communication with the external device when the reading process is not executed for a predetermined time or more. The USB device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the USB device is characterized in that:   Error determining means for determining whether or not an error has occurred during execution of the predetermined processing, and the control means communicates with the external device when an error occurs during execution of the predetermined processing. The USB device according to claim 1, wherein the USB device is cut off. In a method for controlling a USB device that communicates with an external device via a wireless USB,
Communicating with the external device via the wireless USB;
An execution step for executing a predetermined process;
A determination step of determining whether or not the predetermined processing in the execution step has not been executed for a predetermined time; and
And a control step of controlling to disconnect communication with the external device when it is determined in the determining step that the predetermined process has not been executed for a predetermined time or longer.   8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein the control step performs bus reset of the wireless USB and initialization of internal settings of the USB device.   In the determination step, when it is determined that the predetermined process in the execution step has not been executed for a predetermined time or more, a transition step for shifting to the low power mode is provided, and when the transition step shifts to the low power mode 9. The control method according to claim 7, wherein communication with the external device is disconnected by the control step.   8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising a disconnecting step of disconnecting the power of the USB device, and disconnecting communication with the external device by the control step when the power of the USB device is disconnected by the disconnecting step. The control method according to any one of 1 to 9.   The execution step executes a reading process of reading an image to acquire image data, and the control step disconnects communication with the external device when the reading process is not executed for a predetermined time or more. The control method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the control method is characterized in that:   A determination step for determining whether an error has occurred during execution of the predetermined process, and the control step performs communication with the external device when an error occurs during the execution of the predetermined process; The method of controlling a USB device according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the USB device is disconnected. In a program executed by a USB device that communicates with an external device via a wireless USB,
A communication module that communicates with the external device via the wireless USB;
An execution module for executing a predetermined process;
A determination module for determining whether or not the predetermined processing by the execution module has not been executed for a predetermined time;
And a control module that controls to disconnect communication with the external device when it is determined that the predetermined process by the execution module has not been executed for a predetermined time or more. program.

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