JP2006259837A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device allowing an operator of a selecting device to visually assign each device by sending display information from the selecting device to each display device, in assigning the device comprising the display device on a network. <P>SOLUTION: An identifier such as an icon is sent from the selecting device to each display device on the network, so that the operator can easily visually select the display device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that facilitates designation of devices on a network.

  As a method for identifying devices and services on the network, it has been common to use IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, URIs, etc. as identifiers. In recent years, devices on the network are searched and Techniques for acquiring an identifier have been proposed (for example, Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2). Generally, an identifier acquired by such a method is displayed and used on a display device (for example, a liquid crystal screen) of a device that uses the identifier (see, for example, [Patent Document 1]).

  Hereinafter, patent documents will be described. Patent Document 1 is a technique for automatically allocating a print request to a printer in an environment where printing can be performed by a plurality of printers. In order to notify the user to which printer the print request is assigned, the proposal of this document is to display the identifier of the printer that has accepted the print request on the display of the device operated by the user.

  However, the identifier used in the conventional technique is composed of a plurality of characters and numbers, and the identifier uses information unrelated to the input function of the device using the identifier. For this reason, in order to use the identifier, a display device for confirming the input / selection process of the identifier is required. Actually, it was necessary to use an application that processes the input of identifiers to accept input of multiple characters or numbers, or to display an identifier selection candidate on a display device and to use an application that accepts a selection operation. . In addition, in order to use such an application, it is necessary to interrupt the application used before selecting the display.

  Although it is possible to input an identifier without using a display device with a device such as a PC that can use a keyboard, it is not possible to check the input status, so a means to deal with a situation such as an input error This is not a realistic method. For devices that do not have a keyboard, such as digital cameras and printers, applications that have been used up to that point are interrupted, the LCD screen is managed under the identifier selection application, and a list of available identifiers is displayed on the LCD screen. However, the identifier cannot be input or selected without using a method of selecting with the cursor key.

As described above, in order to use an identifier already given as in the prior art, it is necessary to interrupt an application that has been used so far and use a display device for selecting an identifier.
JP 2000-330749 A (page 4, FIG. 1) "UPnP", UPnP Forum, http://www.upnp.org/ "SIP", IETF, http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/sip-charter.html

  Conventionally, the input device specifies the output device by directly connecting the data input device and the output device. However, in the future, when input / output devices are connected via a network, and when multiple input / output devices on the network are connected, the input device has a separate means for specifying the output device for outputting data. You must prepare.

  An environment in which a plurality of printers are arranged such as a large-scale office is now common. Conventionally, since the connection procedure is performed from a personal computer in such an environment, the conventional device designation method described above can be realized by a method that is easy for the user to operate.

  In such an environment, if an operation / display device such as a digital camera is not as general-purpose as a personal computer, and you try to create an environment where you can use a printer in the same way as a personal computer, A general-purpose operation / display function is required. However, in order to actually put such functions on equipment with limited resources such as volume and processing capacity, the running program such as the shooting program or the shot image confirmation program is temporarily stopped and the display device Must be transferred to the device selection program, and a conventional device selection operation must be performed using the operation device of the digital camera. Since the operation / display device is inferior to a personal computer, the environment becomes extremely poor.

  In addition, an environment in which a plurality of display devices such as liquid crystal displays are installed in each home is also common, and an environment in which a plurality of display devices are installed in each room in the future will be realized. Even when such display devices are all directly connected to the network and an image taken with a digital camera is displayed by designating the display device, an operation for selecting the display device as described above is required. Will be forced into an environment with poor operability.

  In view of such a situation, it is necessary to provide means for designating a device that is more easily used by a user.

  The object of the present invention is to specify a device to be used with simple operation and visual confirmation without using a display panel displaying complicated operation and a lot of information in the above environment. It is to provide an information processing apparatus with such a network device designation method.

In order to solve such a problem, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present application is such that, in a plurality of information processing apparatuses connected via a network, the first information processing apparatus is uniquely identified on the network. An identifier reply function that returns the first identifier that it has in response to inquiries from other information processing apparatuses, and an output function that outputs output information sent from other devices on the network And the second information processing apparatus detects a device on the network using the operating device operated by the user, the second identifier associated with the operation of the operating device, and the identifier answer function. The device detection function, the output information transmission function for transmitting output information to other devices on the network, and the first identifier of the first information processing apparatus acquired by the device detection function are used as the second identifier. First identifier correspondence information associated one-to-one with an identifier, and the second information processing apparatus is configured to associate the first identifier associated with the second identifier with the first identifier identifier correspondence information. The output information is transmitted to the information processing apparatus using the output information transmission function.

  Further, in the information processing device according to claim 2 of the present application, the second information processing device receives the image information representing the same image as the image associated with each operation device, and the second identifier. Second identifier correspondence information associated one-to-one with image information, wherein the output information is the image information, and the output information transmission function is associated with the second identifier. The image information associated with the second identifier is sent to one information processing apparatus.

  The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 of the present application is characterized in that the output information transmission function sends the image information to all the first information processing apparatuses detected by the device detection function. To do.

  Further, in the information processing device according to claim 4 of the present application, the output information transmission function outputs information to the first information processing device corresponding to the second identifier selected by the operation of the operation device. It is characterized by sending.

  Further, in the information processing device according to claim 5 of the present application, the second information processing device is drawn with the same image as the image information displayed by the output function of the first information processing device. The first identifier associated with the image information is acquired in response to an input from an operating device.

  Further, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 6 of the present application, the second information processing apparatus last transmits the output information using the output information transmission function in response to the input of the operation apparatus. The first identifier of the information processing apparatus is acquired.

  Further, in the information processing device according to claim 7 of the present application, for all the first information processing devices detected by the device detection function by the second information processing device with respect to the input of the operation device, The output information is sent.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily specify a device on the network using only the hardware key of the device without occupying a display device.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a system using the present invention. A plurality of displays 102 to 104 are connected to the network 105, and an IP address uniquely identified on the network is assigned to each display. Similarly, the digital camera 101 is also connected to the network 105 and exchanges information with other devices on the network.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of each device connected to the network 105. The devices 101 to 104 in FIG. 1 include some or all of the functions 201 to 208 in FIG. Each device stores a program in which the processing described in this embodiment is mounted in the ROM 202. The CPU 201 writes dynamically changed data to the RAM according to the program stored in the ROM 202, and exchanges data with other functions. Each device includes a network i / f 207 and exchanges information with other devices on the network. The network i / f 207 has a function of detecting another device on the network and acquiring its IP address. The display unit 206 of the displays 102 to 104 has a function of displaying data stored in the storage unit 204, the RAM 203, and the ROM 202 or acquired from the network i / f 207. The digital camera 101 has a function of saving an image input from the sensor unit 208 in the storage unit 204 or sending the image to another device via the network i / f 207. The digital camera 101 also has a function of sending data stored in the storage unit 204, RAM 203, and ROM 202 to other devices via the network i / f 207.

  FIG. 3 shows the operation unit 205 of the digital camera 101. The digital camera 101 includes a button 301 and a dial 308. Each time the button 301 is pressed, the display selection state and the normal processing state are switched. On the dial 308, icons 302 to 307 are drawn, and six types of information associated with each icon can be input. The digital camera 101 acquires each input from the dial 308 as a hardware ID that can be uniquely identified in the digital camera. The digital camera 101 stores image information representing the same image as the icons 302 to 307 in the ROM 202, and generates a correspondence table between the icons 302 to 307 and the hardware IDs shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the user of the digital camera selects a display to be used and establishes a connection between the digital camera and the display.

  The user instructs the digital camera 101 to detect a nearby display by pressing the button 301. The digital camera 101 assigns a hardware ID to the detected display according to the process shown in FIG. Details of the processing will be described below with reference to FIG.

  The digital camera 101 uses the network i / f 207 to detect devices on the network. (S501). The display that has received the detection request sends its own IP address to the digital camera (not shown). In the present embodiment, since the three displays 102 to 104 are connected to the network 105, the digital camera 101 has the IP addresses “172.24.45.11” and “172.24.45.229” of the displays 102 to 104. “·” 172.23.45.29 ”is obtained.

  The digital camera 101 sequentially sets the acquired IP addresses in the IP address section of the correspondence table of FIG. 4 (S503). As a result, the identifier correspondence information shown in FIG. 6 is generated.

  In the identifier correspondence information in FIG. 6, each hardware ID / icon 302 to 307. The correspondence information with the IP addresses of the displays 102 to 104 is stored.

  Finally, the digital camera 101 acquires image information corresponding to each detected display from the identifier correspondence information in FIG. 6 and transmits it to each display (S504). Although not applicable in the present embodiment, when it is determined that not all IP addresses can be set in the identifier correspondence information in FIG. 6 such as when the number of detected displays is greater than the number of hardware IDs of the digital camera 101 ( In S502, a report is made to the user to narrow down the conditions (S505), and device detection is performed again under the new conditions (S501).

  The displays 102 to 104 that have received the image information in step S <b> 504 display the image information on the respective display units 206. The results are shown in FIGS.

  Hereinafter, processing from the state in which the image information is displayed on the displays 102 to 104 to the actual start of use will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The user designates a display to be used according to the process of FIG. The user selects a display desired to be used from the displays 102 to 104 on which the image information is displayed (S1001, S1002), and recognizes the image displayed on the display unit 206 (S1003). Then, the hardware key associated with the image is selected from the dial 308 of the digital camera 101 (S1004).

  When the user selects the display 103, the icon 302 is displayed on the display unit 206 of the display 103. Therefore, the user rotates the dial 308, selects the same icon 302, and presses the button 301 to select it. decide.

  On the other hand, in step S1004, the digital camera 101 performs a connection procedure with a display to be used according to the process of FIG. The digital camera 101 acquires a hardware ID from the dial 308 rotated by the user, and acquires an IP address corresponding to the hardware ID (S1101, S1102). Thereafter, the process proceeds to a use start procedure using an IP address which is a conventional technique (S1103). Since the processing after migration is out of the scope of this proposal, it will not be described in this embodiment.

  By performing the above processing, the user can specify a display to be used only by using the operation unit 205 provided in the digital camera 101. In the conventional technique, the IP address is displayed on the display unit 206 of the digital camera 101 and the display selection procedure is performed. However, using this proposal, the selection procedure can be performed using only the button 301 and the dial 308. It becomes possible.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 12 shows the overall configuration of a system using the present invention. A plurality of printers 1202 to 1204 having display panels 1202a to 1204a are connected to the network 1205, and an IP address uniquely identified on the network is assigned to each printer. Similarly, the digital camera 1201 is connected to the network 105 and exchanges information with other devices on the network.

  FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of each device connected to the network 1205. Each device 1201-1204 in FIG. 12 includes a part or all of each of the functions 1301-1309 in FIG. In addition to the configuration of FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, the printers 1202 to 1204 are provided with a print unit 1309 that prints data in the network i / f 1307, sensor unit 1308, storage unit 1304, and RAM 1303. Yes.

  FIG. 14 shows an operation unit 1305 of the digital camera 1201. The digital camera 1201 includes a button 1401 and cursor keys 1403. Each time the button 1401 is pressed, the display selection state and the normal processing state are switched. The cursor key 1403 can be in a plurality of directions including right and left. The digital camera 1201 includes a liquid crystal panel 1402 as a display unit 1306, and displays application information in a normal processing state. In the present embodiment, a user of a digital camera selects a printer to be used and establishes a connection between the digital camera and the printer.

  The user instructs the digital camera 1201 to detect a nearby printer by pressing a button 1401. The digital camera 1201 assigns a serial number to each printer in the detected order according to the process shown in FIG. Details of the processing will be described below with reference to FIG. The digital camera 1201 uses the network i / f 1307 to detect devices on the network (S1501). Upon receiving the detection request, the printers 1202 to 1204 send their own IP addresses to the digital camera (not shown). In this embodiment, three printers 1202 to 1204 are connected to the network 1205, and each printer is “192.168.1.3”, “192.168.1.22”, and “192.168 .. Since 1.77 ″ is assigned, the digital camera 1201 obtains these three IP addresses. The digital camera 1201 sequentially assigns serial numbers to the acquired IP addresses, and generates identifier correspondence information shown in FIG. 16 (S1503).

  Although not applicable in this embodiment, when it is determined that not all IP addresses can be set in the identifier correspondence information in FIG. 16, such as when the number of detected printers is greater than the number of serial numbers that can be assigned to the digital camera 1201 ( S1502) reports to the user to narrow down the conditions (S1504), and performs device search again under the new conditions (S1501).

  Hereinafter, the processing from the end of the generation of the identifier correspondence information in FIG. 16 to the actual start of use will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. The user designates a printer to be used according to the process of FIG. It is assumed that there is a user at the position shown in FIG. When the user selects the printer 1203 from the printers in the room 1901 (S1701), the user repeatedly presses the cursor key 1403 button of the digital camera 1201 while confirming the display panel 1203a provided in the printer 1203 (S1702).

  In response to a user operation (S1801), the digital camera 1201 increments or decrements the serial number designated one by one each time the user presses the left or right cursor key (S1802). Further, a screen blinking command is transmitted as an output command to a device having an IP address corresponding to the current serial number (S1804, S1805).

  Assuming that the initial value of the serial number immediately after the cursor 1403 is pressed first is 1, the digital camera 1201 transmits a screen blinking command to the IP address “192.168.1.3” obtained from the identifier correspondence information in FIG. Next, when the right button is pressed, the serial number is set to 2, and a screen blink command is similarly transmitted to the IP address “192.168.1.22”. In this example, the screen blinking command is sent as an output command. However, information that allows the user to recognize that the digital camera recognizes and selects the printer, such as a digital camera's own IP address and image information, can also be used. it can.

  When the digital camera blinks the printer screen in order (S1802, S1804, S1805), the user can confirm that the display panel 1203a of the printer 1203 is blinking by pressing the right button twice (S1702). The user presses the button 1401 of the digital camera 1201 to determine the printer to be used (S1703).

  In response to the user pressing the button 1401 (S1806), the digital camera 1201 recognizes the printer 1203 used by the user. Finally, with respect to the IP address acquired in step S1802, the process shifts to the prior art use start procedure. Since the processing after the migration is out of the scope of this proposal, it will not be described in this embodiment. By performing the above processing, the user can specify a printer to be used only by using the operation unit 1305 provided in the digital camera 1201.

Network configuration diagram in the first embodiment Configuration diagram inside the apparatus in the first embodiment Operation unit of digital camera in first embodiment Correspondence table in the first embodiment Device detection flowchart of the digital camera in the first embodiment Identifier correspondence information in the first embodiment Display example of display in the first embodiment Display example of display in the first embodiment Display example of display in the first embodiment User's digital camera operation flowchart in the first embodiment Device designation flowchart of the digital camera in the first embodiment Network configuration diagram in the second embodiment Configuration diagram inside the apparatus in the second embodiment Operation unit of digital camera in second embodiment Device detection flowchart of the digital camera in the second embodiment Identifier correspondence information in the second embodiment User's digital camera operation flowchart in the second embodiment Device designation flowchart of the digital camera in the second embodiment Device layout in the second embodiment

Explanation of symbols

101 Digital Camera 102-104 Display 105 Network 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 Storage Unit 205 Operation Unit 206 Display Unit 207 Network i / f
208 Sensor unit 301 Button 302 to 307 Icon 308 Dial 1201 Digital camera 1202 to 1204 Printer 1202a to 1204a Display panel 1205 Network 1301 CPU
1302 RAM
1303 ROM
1304 Storage unit 1305 Operation unit 1306 Display unit 1307 Network i / f
1308 Sensor unit 1309 Print unit 1401 Button 1402 Liquid crystal panel 1403 Cursor 1901, 1902 Room

Claims (7)

In multiple information processing devices connected via a network,
The first information processing apparatus includes a first identifier that can be uniquely identified on the network,
An identifier reply function that returns the first identifier of the information processing apparatus with respect to an inquiry from another information processing apparatus;
It has an output function that outputs output information sent from other devices on the network,
The second information processing device includes an operation device operated by a user;
A second identifier associated with the operation of the operating device;
A device detection function for detecting a device on the network using the identifier reply function;
The output information transmission function for transmitting output information to other devices on the network, and the first identifier of the first information processing apparatus acquired by the device detection function is associated with the second identifier on a one-to-one basis First identifier correspondence information,
The second information processing apparatus
Sending output information using the output information transmission function to the first information processing apparatus associated with the second identifier in the first identifier identifier correspondence information,
An information processing apparatus that provides a selection function for selecting a network device while confirming a selection target. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The second information processing device includes image information representing the same image as the image associated with each operation device;
Second identifier correspondence information in which the second identifier is associated with the image information on a one-to-one basis,
The output information is the image information,
The output information transmission function sends the image information associated with the second identifier to the first information processor associated with the second identifier. . The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the output information transmission function transmits the image information to all the first information processing apparatuses detected by the device detection function. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the output information transmission function sends output information to the first information processing apparatus corresponding to the second identifier selected by operating the operation apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4,
The selection function includes the first information associated with the image information with respect to an input from the operation device on which the same image as the image information displayed by the output function of the first information processing apparatus is displayed. An information processing apparatus characterized by acquiring an identifier of The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.
The selection function acquires the first identifier of the first information processing apparatus that has transmitted the output information last using the output information transmission function with respect to the input of the operation apparatus. Information processing device. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6.
The information processing apparatus, wherein the second information processing apparatus sends the output information to all the first information processing apparatuses detected by the device detection function in response to an input of the operation apparatus.

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