JP2009267944A - Device and method for transmitting control instruction - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for transmitting a control instruction capable of specifying an apparatus, which in turn should transmit the control instruction, by using logical addresses contained in active-source commands when there are a plurality of the apparatus having the same physical addresses as the physical addresses being transmission origins for the active-source commands. <P>SOLUTION: The device 0111 and the method for transmitting the control instructions has each means having a table making the logical addresses for each apparatus and the physical addresses correspond to each other and acquiring active-logical addresses contained in the active-source commands outputted by an active apparatus 0130, the control instructions and the physical addresses for control-desiring object apparatus related to the control instructions. The device and the method further has a means storing the logical address coinciding with the active logical address in a plurality of the logical addresses corresponding to the physical addresses when there are a plurality of the logical addresses corresponding to the physical addresses for the control-desiring object apparatus on the basis of the table as a transmission-destination address for the control instruction. Such device and method are obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control command transmission device that transmits a command for performing control using a logical address and a physical address for a plurality of devices that are subject to inter-device control, and a control command transmission method using the same device.

In recent years, with the diversification of services using home appliances and AV devices, various devices such as TVs, recorders, players, etc. are connected via a network, and an opportunity to enjoy advanced services by controlling between these devices Is increasing.
In the case of performing control between a plurality of devices, control is generally performed by transmitting a control command toward a physical address that is information for identifying a control target device from a device that transmits the control command. .

  In addition, inter-device control using CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) is defined in the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard, which is a digital video / audio input / output interface standard mainly for home appliances and AV devices. Among them, the concept of “active source”, which is information transmitted by a device (active device) that transmits a stream to inform other devices that it is in such a state, is used. A method of inter-device control using such information is disclosed (see Non-Patent Document 1).

  This active source is broadcasted as an active source command (active source command) (referred to as a simultaneous transmission for all devices, not a specific device). Therefore, for example, when a control command is transmitted to the active device that has transmitted the active source command from the television that has received the active source command, the transmission destination is identified by the physical address of the device (to identify the position of the device in the network). Information). In this case, since one physical address conventionally corresponds to one device, it is possible to uniquely identify a device to which a control command is to be transmitted by the physical address.

Further, in Patent Document 1, in a system including a display unit such as a television and a plurality of external devices connected to the HDMI, for example, when the television receives a channel selection request from the user, the user Even if the input is not switched, the input of the video displayed on the TV can be switched, and the channel selection operation can be performed by outputting a channel selection request to the external device that is outputting the video displayed on the TV. An image receiving system configured as described above is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).
High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification Version 1.2a (December 14, 2005) JP 2004-304220 A

However, recently, there are cases where multiple unit devices are assembled to create a single composite device, such as when devices are unitized for the purpose of shortening the development period or when a Blu-ray recorder unit is built in an amplifier. . In this case, the physical addresses of the devices constituting the composite device are a single common address, but the logical address may be that each device has a unique address.
In this case, in the conventional method for determining the control target device, the control target device can be specified up to any of the composite devices by the physical address, but it cannot be specified to which device the control command should be transmitted. There was a problem.

  Accordingly, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that the logical address of the transmission source is added to the active source command, and there are a plurality of devices having the same physical address as the physical address of the transmission source device of the active source command. To provide a control command transmission device capable of specifying a control target device to which a control command should be transmitted using a logical address of a transmission source of an active source command even when it exists, and a control command transmission method using the same device .

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the logical address (active logical address) of the source active device added to the header portion of the active source command is acquired, and the logical address and the physical address are associated with each other. Using the table (address map), the logical address of the control target device that should send a control command by comparing whether there is a logical address corresponding to the physical address that matches the acquired active logical address The address is to be specified.

That is, among the present inventions, the first invention is a correspondence table unit having a first correspondence table in which a logical address and a physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices, and in an active state. An active logical address acquisition unit that acquires an active logical address associated with an active source command output by an active device that is a certain device, a control command acquisition unit that acquires a control command, and a control request target device that is associated with the acquired control command If there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control request target device based on the first correspondence table and a control request target device physical address acquisition unit that acquires the physical address of Of the logical addresses, select the logical address that matches the active logical address. Providing a control command transmitting device having an address storage section for storing as the destination address for your instruction.
Further, the second invention is based on the first invention, and the correspondence table unit is a table in which each logical address and device category ID are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices. A control command type acquisition unit that has a second table holding means for holding a correspondence table, acquires a control command type from the acquired control command, and a control command type that can be executed by a device category and a device classified by the device category And a third correspondence table holding unit that holds a third correspondence table that associates with each other, and a device category ID of a device specified by the stored destination logical address is acquired from the second correspondence table and stored. Judgment using the third correspondence table to determine whether or not the control instruction type acquired from the control instruction to be transmitted to the destination logical address is associated Providing a control command transmitting device further comprising and.

The third invention is a control command transmission method using a control command transmission device having a first correspondence table in which a plurality of devices subject to inter-device control are associated with respective logical addresses and physical addresses. A control command acquisition step for acquiring a control command, a control request target device physical address acquisition step for acquiring a physical address of a control target device associated with the acquired control command, and an active device that is an active device. An active logical address acquisition step for acquiring an active logical address included in an active source command to be output, and if there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to physical addresses of control target devices based on the first correspondence table, the physical address Active logic among multiple logical addresses corresponding to Providing a control command transmitting method having an address storing step of storing the logical address that matches the address as the destination address of the control instruction.
Further, the fourth invention is based on the third invention, the first correspondence table in which the logical address and the physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices, and the device to be controlled between devices. The second correspondence table, which is a table in which each logical address and device category ID are associated with each other, and the device category and the control command type executable by the device classified by the device category are associated with each other. Control command transmission method using a control command transmission device having a third correspondence table, a control command type acquisition step for acquiring a control command type from the acquired control command, and a stored destination logical address A device category ID acquisition step for acquiring the device category ID of the specified device from the second correspondence table; Shinsaki provides a control command transmitting method further comprising a determining step using either the third correspondence table associated with the control instruction type acquired from the to be control command sent to logical addresses.

  According to the present invention, even when there are a plurality of devices having the same physical address as that of the source device of the active source command, the control target to which the control command should be transmitted using the logical address of the source of the active source command It is possible to provide a control command transmission device capable of specifying a device and a control command transmission method using the device.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below. The relationship between the embodiments and the claims is as follows. The first embodiment mainly relates to claims 1 and 3, and the second embodiment mainly relates to claims 2 and 4. In addition, this invention is not limited to these Examples at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

<Overview>
The control command transmission device of the present embodiment is a device that transmits a control command for controlling a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices using the logical address and physical address of each device, The active logical address included in the active source output by the active device and the physical address of the control target device can be obtained, and the destination of the control command can be specified using a table in which the logical address and the physical address are associated. It has the feature in the point made like this.

First, the concept of the control command transmission device of the present invention will be briefly described.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a control command transmitting apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, in this figure, the concept of the conventional control command transmission apparatus is also shown for comparison. In this figure, “tuner 1” 0130, which is an active device, is assembled as an integrated composite device together with “recorder 1” 0120, and “TV” 0100, 0110, “amplifier” 0140, “recorder 2” 0150, Each device of “Player 1” 0160 is connected. Also, devices 0101 and 0111 for transmitting control commands are connected via a television. Here, for comparison, two televisions, a television 0100 to which a conventional control command transmission device 0101 is connected and a television 0110 to which the control command transmission device 0111 of the present invention is connected, are shown. In the present invention, “active device” means a device in an active state. Here, the “active state” refers to a state of a device that starts transmitting a stream for providing content among devices connected via a network so that inter-device control is possible. The active device in this example is “tuner 1”, and the content of the control command to be transmitted to the device is the channel of the screen currently displayed on the television, for example, 5 channels that are one channel higher than 4 channels. Switching to record.

  Each device connected to the television has a unique physical address. The physical address is information for identifying the position of the device in the network, and details thereof will be described later. In this example, the amplifier has a physical address 0141 of “2.0.0.0”, the recorder 2 has a physical address 0151 of “2.1.0.0”, and the player 1 has “2.2.0.0”. Each physical address 0161 is held. However, as described above, there are cases where multiple devices are assembled into one composite device to have one physical address. In this case, the physical address means information for uniquely identifying the composite device. There are things to do. In this example, the recorder 1 and the tuner 1 are assembled into one composite device and hold a single physical address 0121 of “1.0.0.0”.

  In the case of a composite device having such a single physical address, if a control command is transmitted to the recorder 1 using a conventional control command transmission device, the physical address “1.0” to be the transmission destination. Since there are two devices having “.0.0”, it is not possible to specify which device should transmit the control command.

  Therefore, even when a plurality of devices have a physical address to be a transmission destination, it is possible to specify which device is a device to which a control command is to be transmitted. is there. As a method for this purpose, in the present invention, an active logical address included in an active source command output by an active device is obtained, and a table in which a logical address and a physical address of each device are associated with each other is used. The destination device to which the control command should be transmitted can be specified by the address. The logical address is information for uniquely identifying a device in the network, and details thereof will be described later.

Therefore, it is possible to specify that the counterpart device to which the control command for switching the channel to the next higher channel is to be transmitted is the tuner 1 using the logical address including these pieces of information.
Hereinafter, a configuration for enabling such identification will be described.

  Hereinafter, an example of inter-device control using CEC based exclusively on the HDMI standard will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to the case of inter-device control using CEC, and with revisions of the standard, even if the name is different from this, it is substantially based on the same standard, Even if it is based on a standard including substantially different contents, it can be realized by using the same configuration as the configuration of the present invention and is included in the technical scope of the present invention. The same applies to the second embodiment.

<Configuration>
(Control command transmitter)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the control command transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment. The “control command transmission device” 0200 of this embodiment includes a “correspondence table unit” 0210, an “active logical address acquisition unit” 0220, a “control command acquisition unit” 0230, and a “control request target device physical address acquisition unit”. 0240 and an “address storage unit” 0250.

Note that the functional block of the control command transmitting apparatus according to the present invention described below can be realized as hardware, software, or both hardware and software. Specifically, if a computer is used, a CPU, a main memory, a bus, a secondary storage device, a hardware component such as an external peripheral device, an I / O port for the external peripheral device, and the like Examples include a driver program for controlling hardware, other application programs, and a user interface used for information input.
Then, by CPU processing according to the program developed on the main memory, the data inputted through the interface and stored in the memory and the hard disk are processed and stored, and the above hardware and software are controlled. Instructions are generated. In addition, the present invention can be realized not only as a control command transmission device but also as a method. A part of the invention can be configured as software. Furthermore, a software product used for causing a computer to execute such software and a recording medium in which the product is fixed to a recording medium are naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention (the same applies throughout the present specification). Is).

  Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit constituting the functional block of the control command transmission apparatus of the present invention will be described in order. As described in <Overview>, in this embodiment, an example of inter-device control exclusively using this CEC is described. I will explain it.

(Correspondence table part)
The “correspondence table section” has a first correspondence table in which a logical address and a physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices that are subject to inter-device control.
The “physical address” refers to information for identifying the position of a device in the network as described above. Typically, each device has a unique physical address.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the connection of a plurality of devices that are subject to inter-device control, and shows a normal example in which each device has a unique physical address. In this example, devices such as “TV” 0310, “Recorder 1” 0320, and “Tuner 1” 0330 are connected. These devices have their own physical addresses, and the television is “0.0. .0 ”0311, the recorder 1 holds“ 1.0.0.0 ”0321, the tuner 1 holds“ 1.1.0.0 ”0331, and so on.
In the present specification, an apparatus for transmitting a control command to each device will be described as an example provided on the television side as shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, a specific example of a control command transmitting apparatus). Sometimes simply "TV").
Therefore, when a control command is transmitted from a television to a control target device, in the case of the example in this figure, the device and the physical address correspond one-to-one. It is possible to transmit to the control target device using a physical address unique to each device.

On the other hand, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the connection of a plurality of devices that are subject to inter-device control, in which a plurality of devices are assembled into one composite device to have one physical address. An example of including it is shown. In this example, “recorder 1” 0420 and “tuner 1” 0430 are assembled into one composite device and hold a single physical address “1.0.0.0” 0421. In this case, when trying to transmit a control command from the television to the tuner 1, the transmission destination cannot be specified only by the physical address. Therefore, in the present invention, an active logical address is acquired, and a predetermined comparison is performed based on a correspondence table (address map) using the acquired active logical address, whereby a logical address of a target device to which a control command is to be transmitted. To identify.
“Logical address” refers to information for uniquely identifying a device in a network, as described above. In the present invention, an active logical address that is a logical address included in an active source command is acquired, and a logical address associated with a physical address of a control target device using a first correspondence table described below, The destination logical address to which the control command is to be transmitted is specified by comparing with the active logical address.
In addition, when the control command transmission device itself generates and holds this first correspondence table in advance, it is necessary to know the correspondence between the physical address and the logical address of each device for the generation. Can be grasped by a command called a report physical address. That is, each device transmits the report physical address to the television when connected to the television. This command stores the logical address and physical address of the transmission source. Therefore, the television that has received the information can grasp the logical address and the physical address of each device in association with each other, and can retain this correspondence as the first correspondence table.
FIG. 5 shows an example of the first correspondence table. As described above, the first correspondence table associates the physical address and the logical address of each device connected to the control command transmission apparatus via the HDMI cable. Also in the correspondence table 0500 shown in the figure, the logical address 0501 is associated with the physical address. In this figure, the physical address 0502 in the case of the connection example shown in FIG. 3 (shown as “connection example 1”) and the physical address in the case of the connection example shown in FIG. 4 (shown as “connection example 2”) An example in which a logical address is associated with each of 0503 is shown.

(Control command acquisition unit)
The “control command acquisition unit” is configured to acquire a control command. The control command is a command having a control content such as “switch the TV channel to the channel one higher”, for example, and transferred to the control target device via the HDMI cable by the user's TV remote control operation. It is. In this case, it is usual that processing for receiving a remote control operation signal performed by the user is first performed prior to generation of a control command that can be transmitted to the control target device. Hereinafter, the control command included in the remote control operation signal performed by the user is particularly distinguished as a “user command”. This user command typically does not include information indicating which device the command is sent to. Therefore, after obtaining the transmission destination address of the device to which the content of the user command is to be transmitted in some form, it is transmitted to the transmission destination address as a control command.
As will be described later, in the present invention, as the physical address of the device to which the content of the user command is to be transmitted, the physical address of the device related to the last viewing screen that is likely to be viewed by the user at the next opportunity based on a rule of thumb. Is going to be used.
However, if this physical address is used as it is as the destination address of the control command, the destination device cannot be specified when there are multiple devices having the same physical address. The present invention is characterized in that the logical address of the transmission destination of the control command is specified and stored as the transmission destination address using the address and the first correspondence table.

FIG. 6A shows an example of the data structure of the control instruction. The control command 0600 shown in the figure is variable-length data having a packet structure including a header part 0601, a command part 0602, and a parameter part 0603. Here, an example will be described in the case where a control command for switching the display of the television screen that the user is currently viewing to the next higher channel is transmitted to the tuner 1 based on the user's remote control operation.
In the example of this figure, the logical address “0” of the television as the logical address of the transmission source of the control command and the logical address “3” of the tuner 1 as the logical address of the transmission destination of the control command are stored in the header portion. . The control command shown here is the one in which the logical address of the transmission destination of the control command is already specified using the active logical address, the first correspondence table, etc. and stored.
On the other hand, although not shown, in the case of a control command at the stage of a user command, the destination logical address is not included.
The command portion stores a control command called user control pressed, which is a command sent when the user presses any key on the remote controller. This user control presto is also a command defined in the HDMI standard, and “44” is stored as an example of a code defined as a key code related to the command in the standard.
The parameter portion stores “30”, which is a user control code indicating a key code related to a channel up command to be transmitted.

(Active logical address acquisition unit)
Next, the “active logical address acquisition unit” is configured to acquire an active logical address included in an active source output by the active device. The control command transmission device according to the present invention acquires the active logical address and compares the acquired active logical address with the logical address associated with the physical address using a table in which the logical address is associated with the physical address. This is characterized in that it is possible to specify to which logical address the control command should be transmitted. Therefore, the acquisition of the active logical address is a process necessary as a premise for performing the comparison and specifying the transmission destination of the control command.
As described above, the “active source” refers to information that is transmitted by a device (active device) that transmits a stream to notify other devices that it is in such a state (active state).

The “active logical address” is a logical address included in the active source, and is a logical address of an active device that is a source of the active source.
FIG. 6B shows an example of a data structure of an active source command including an active logical address. The active source command 0610 shown in the figure is variable-length data having a packet structure including a header part 0611, a command part 0612, and a parameter part 0613. Here, an example of an active source command transmitted from the tuner 1 in order to display the reception screen of the tuner 1 on the television based on the user's remote control operation will be described.

In this case, the active logical address “3” of the tuner 1 that is the transmission source of the active source is stored in the header portion. In addition, since the active source is broadcasted as the destination logical address, “F” indicating that all devices are transmission destinations is stored.
The command part stores an active source which is a command for notifying that the transmission source device is an active device. Since the active source command is broadcasted, all devices connected to the network can know that the tuner 1 is the active device based on the active logical address of the transmission source and the active source command. . In the HDMI standard, a code “82” is defined as a key code relating to the active source. Therefore, the code “82” is stored as an active source in the command portion.
The parameter section stores the physical address of the active device that is the source of the active source command. In this example, the physical address “1.0.0.0” of the tuner 1 that is the transmission destination of the control command is “1.0” that is the first two digits and “0.0” that is the second two digits. And are stored separately.

(Physical address acquisition unit for the control target device)
The “control request target device physical address acquisition unit” is configured to acquire the physical address of the control request target device associated with the acquired control command. “Control-desired target device” refers to a device to be controlled by transmitting a control command from a control command transmitting device.

  In the present invention, when acquiring the physical address, it is assumed that the physical address of the device related to the screen that the user was viewing last is stored in a nonvolatile memory or the like and the physical address is acquired. . This is based on an empirical rule that the device related to the screen that the user last viewed is likely to be viewed by the user at the next opportunity.

(Address storage)
If there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control target device based on the first correspondence table, the “address storage unit” is the active logical address among the plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address. The matching logical address is stored as the transmission destination address of the control instruction.
This configuration will be described in detail with reference to the example shown in FIG. In this case, since the active source command as shown in FIG. 6B is transmitted in order to notify that the tuner 1 is an active device, a control command for switching the channel to the channel higher by one is sent from the TV to the tuner 1. Want to send to. Since the physical address “1.0.0.0” of the active device is stored in the packet portion of the active source command, a control command is usually sent to a logical address that corresponds only to this physical address. In this example, the tuner 1 is a composite device with the recorder 1 and both have a common physical address “1.0.0.0”. That is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the logical addresses corresponding to the physical address “1.0.0.0” of the control target device are “1” and “3” based on the first correspondence table. Applicable when there are multiple items. Therefore, the transmission destination of the control command cannot be specified by the physical address “1.0.0.0”.

  Therefore, the control command transmission device specifies a logical address that matches the active logical address among the plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address. In this example, the active logical address of the transmission source stored in the header part of the active source command is “3”, which is acquired. Therefore, the control command transmission device searches the first correspondence table, and among the plurality of logical addresses “1” and “3” corresponding to the physical address “1.0.0.0”, the active logical address “3” ”Is identified and stored as the destination address of the control command. As a result, the control command transmitting device transmits the control command to the logical address “3”, so that the control command can be appropriately transmitted to the tuner 1.

  Based on the first correspondence table, if there is no logical address that matches the active logical address among a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control target device, control is performed according to other predetermined rules. You may make it store as a transmission destination address of a command. As an example of another rule, for example, the one having the smallest logical address number is considered as the transmission destination. In this case, if the destination device is not capable of executing the control command, the destination device is a device that can execute the control command, such as the next smallest logical address number. A rule may be added such that the storage is repeated in ascending order of the number of the logical address until the number is reached. In this case, whether or not the transmission destination device can execute the control command is determined using, for example, a table in which a device category and a control command type that can be executed by a device classified by the device category are associated with each other. The Details of the determination of the feasibility of the control command using the device category will be described later in another embodiment.

(Hardware configuration)
Next, the hardware configuration of the control command transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the control command transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment. The control command transmitting apparatus physical address acquisition unit, the correspondence table unit, and the address storage unit of the control command transmission device of this example are “storage device (recording medium)” 0701, “main memory” 0702, and “CPU” 0703. It consists of. The active logical address acquisition unit and the control instruction acquisition unit include “storage device (recording medium)”, “main memory”, “CPU”, and “I / O” 0704.
These are connected to each other through a data communication path such as a “system bus” 0705 to perform transmission / reception and processing of information. The storage device stores various programs executed by the CPU. The main memory provides a work area which is a work area when the program is executed by the CPU. A plurality of memory addresses are assigned to the main memory and the storage device, respectively, and a program executed by the CPU performs processing by exchanging data with each other by specifying and accessing the memory address. It is possible. In this example, an active logical address acquisition program, a control instruction acquisition program, a control target target device physical address acquisition program, and an address storage program are stored in the storage device. It is read from the storage device and resides in the main memory.

Next, a hardware configuration related to each unit will be specifically described. First, the configuration related to the control command acquisition unit will be described. The control command acquisition program acquires a control command to be transmitted to the control request target device via the I / O according to a procedure determined by itself.
Next, a configuration related to the active logical address acquisition unit will be described. The active logical address acquisition program acquires an active source command output by the active device via the I / O according to a procedure determined by itself, and further extracts and acquires an active logical address included in the header portion.
Next, a configuration related to the control request target device physical address acquisition unit will be described. The control request target device physical address acquisition program acquires the physical address of the control request target device according to a procedure determined by itself.
Specifically, for example, the physical address of the device included in the active source command transmitted from the active device that is the control target device is extracted and acquired from the packet portion of the active source command acquired via I / O. To do. Alternatively, the physical address of the device related to the screen that was last viewed by the user may be stored in a non-volatile memory or an external device of the control command transmission device itself and acquired.

  Next, configurations related to the correspondence table unit and the address storage unit will be described. The storage device stores in advance a first correspondence table in which a logical address and a physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices. Therefore, the address storage program reads the table into the main memory. Then, referring to the table, the logical address corresponding to the physical address of the control target device is compared with the active logical address. If there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control target device, the active logical address A logical address matching the above is specified, and this logical address is stored in the main memory as the transmission destination address of the control instruction. As a result, it becomes possible to appropriately transmit the control command to the logical address of the device desired to be controlled.

<Process flow>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing in the control command transmission apparatus of the present embodiment.
In the example of this figure, first, in the control request target device physical address acquisition step S0801, the control command transmission device acquires the physical address of the control request target device associated with the control command.
Next, in an active logical address acquisition step S0802, the control command transmission device acquires an active logical address included in an active source command output by an active device that is an active device.
Next, in control command acquisition step S0803, the control command transmitter acquires a control command. The control command acquired in this step is a user command and does not include the destination address. The control command acquired here becomes a control command that can be transmitted to the control-desired target device by storing the address of the transmission destination as a result of the processing described below.
As described above, the reason why the physical address of the control target device associated with the control command can be acquired prior to the acquisition of the control command (referred to as acquisition in step S0803; the same applies in the following paragraph) is as follows. As described above, the present invention is based on the premise that the physical address of the device related to the screen that the user was viewing last is acquired as the physical address of the control request target device. In addition, when acquiring an active source command prior to acquisition of a control command, by acquiring a physical address and an active logical address from the acquired active source command, and then acquiring a control command based on a user operation, It is possible to acquire a physical address, an active logical address, and a control instruction in the same order as in the example of FIG.

On the other hand, if the signal from the remote controller based on the user operation includes the physical address of the device to be controlled in addition to the command “switch channel to the next higher channel”, the physical address may be acquired. Is possible. In this case, unlike the example of this figure, the control command transmission device first acquires the control command and then acquires the physical address of the control target device associated with the control command.
In any of the above cases, either the acquisition of the physical address associated with the control instruction or the acquisition of the active logical address may be performed first.
Eventually, in the present invention, the processing order of the processing-desired target device physical address acquisition step, active logical address acquisition step, and control command acquisition step is not limited in accordance with the above cases.
In any case, it is desirable to acquire an active source command prior to acquisition of a control command in order to be able to transmit a control command to a control target device immediately after acquisition of the control command.

Next, the control command transmitting apparatus searches the first table to determine whether there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address acquired in step S0801 (step S0804).
Next, when the determination result in step S0804 is a determination result that there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control-desired target device, the control command transmission apparatus proceeds to step S0803 among the plurality of logical addresses. The logical address matching the active logical address acquired in step S0805 is stored as the transmission destination address of the control instruction (step S0805).
On the other hand, if the determination result in step S0804 is that there are not a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the desired device to be controlled, the physical address is used as the destination address for the desired device to be controlled. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately transmit a control command, so that a logical address corresponding to the physical address is stored as a transmission destination address (step S0806).
Furthermore, as shown in the figure, the control command transmission device itself may perform a process of transmitting a control command (step S0807).

<Effect>
According to the invention of this embodiment, when there are a plurality of devices having the same physical address as the transmission destination of the control command, the control command to be transmitted using the logical address included in the active source It is possible to provide a control command transmission device capable of specifying a target device and a control command transmission method using the same device.

<Overview>
The control command transmission apparatus of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. However, the control command transmission device of this embodiment further considers the device category and the control command type executable by the device classified by the device category, and the device specified by the stored destination logical address. It is characterized in that it has means for determining whether a category is associated with a control command type acquired from a control command to be transmitted. As a result, when the active logical address matches the logical address specified in the correspondence table, the control command is transmitted with the device belonging to the device category corresponding to the control command type capable of executing the control command as the transmission destination. It becomes possible to do. In other words, the control command transmission device according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the control command can be transmitted by determining whether the device to which the control command is transmitted is a device that can execute this command. .

<Configuration>
(General)
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the control command transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the “control command transmission device” 0900 of this embodiment includes a “correspondence table unit” 0910, an “active logical address acquisition unit” 0920, a “control command acquisition unit” 0930, and a “control request”. In addition to having “target device physical address acquisition unit” 0940 and “address storage unit” 0950, “control command type acquisition unit” 0960, “third correspondence table holding unit” 0970, and “determination unit” 0980 And have. In addition, the “corresponding table section” includes “second table holding unit” 0911. Among the above, the configurations of the active logical address acquisition unit, the control command acquisition unit, the control-desired target device physical address acquisition unit, and the address storage unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. Here, the correspondence table unit, The configuration of the control command type acquisition unit, the third correspondence table holding unit, and the determination unit will be described.

(Correspondence table part)
The “second table holding means” of the “correspondence table section” holds a second correspondence table, which is a table in which a logical address and a device category ID are associated with each other for a plurality of devices subject to inter-device control. It is configured. “Device category ID” refers to an ID for uniquely identifying a device category. “Equipment category” refers to the type and distinction based on the use and function of the device. Specific examples thereof include a television, a recorder, and a tuner.
FIG. 10 shows an example of the second correspondence table. The table shown in this figure is obtained by adding the device category 1004 to the logical address 1001 in addition to the first correspondence table shown in FIG.

(Control command type acquisition part)
The “control command type acquisition unit” is configured to acquire a control command type from the acquired control command. Specific examples of the control command type include ON / OFF of the power supply of the device, recording, playback, pause, channel switching, volume adjustment, and the like. Accordingly, the control command acquired in the present embodiment includes the control command type.

  This will be described with reference to the example of the control command shown in FIG. 6A. In the parameter portion of the control command acquired by the control command acquisition unit, the operation ID “30” defined in the HDMI standard is stored. This indicates the control command type. Therefore, the control command type acquisition can acquire the control command type from the control commands acquired by the control command acquisition unit.

(Third correspondence table holder)
The “third correspondence table holding unit” is configured to hold a third correspondence table in which a device category and a control command type executable by a device classified by the device category are associated with each other.
FIG. 11 shows an example of the third correspondence table. As shown in this figure, in this table 1100, “device category” 1101 is associated with “control command type” 1102 that can be executed by the device classified in the device category. For example, for the device category “Playback Device”, the control command types that can be executed by the device (player) classified in the device category are “power supply (ON / OFF)”, “recording”. , “Play”, “pause”, and the like.

With regard to this control command type, the HDMI standard defines a table in which various user operations are associated with operation IDs as user control codes (User Control Codes).
12A to 12C show a table (collected in the aforementioned Non-Patent Document 1) related to the user control code defined in the HDMI standard.
Therefore, from the contents of the user operations defined in this table, it is possible to distinguish between commands that can be executed by devices classified in the device category and commands that cannot be executed, and based on this, in the above third correspondence table Correspondence can be performed.
For example, “Channel Up” of operation ID “30” of the user operation and “Channel Down” of “31” are commands that can be executed by the tuner but not by the player. Conversely, “Play” of “44” and “Record” of “47” are instructions that can be executed by the player but cannot be executed by the tuner. The association in the third correspondence table is performed in such a way as to keep.

(Judgment part)
The “determination unit” acquires the device category ID of the device specified by the stored transmission destination logical address from the second correspondence table, and is acquired from the control command to be transmitted to the stored transmission destination logical address. It is configured to determine whether it is associated with a control instruction type using a third correspondence table. For example, when the transmission destination active logical address acquired by the active logical address acquisition unit is “3” as in the above-described example, the determination unit refers to the second correspondence table and the device specified by the address The device category ID “Tuner1” is acquired. Then, the “channel switching” that is the control command type acquired from the control command to be transmitted to the stored destination logical address corresponds to the “tuner” that is the device category identified by this device category ID “Tuner”. It is determined using the third correspondence table whether it is attached or not. In this example, a determination result is obtained that the device category “tuner” and the control command type “switch channel up by one” are associated in the third correspondence table. As a result, it can be seen that the device to which the control command is transmitted is a device that can execute this command, so that the control command transmission device can appropriately transmit the control command to the transmission destination.
On the other hand, if the result of determination using the third correspondence table shows that the device category is not associated with the control command type, the device to which the control command is sent can execute this command. Therefore, the control command transmission device may be configured not to transmit this control command to the transmission destination. As a result, it is possible to avoid transmission of useless instructions.

(Hardware configuration)
Next, the hardware configuration of the control command transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the control command transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment. The third correspondence table holding unit, the determination unit, and the control command type acquisition unit of the control command transmission device of this example include a “storage device (recording medium)” 1301, a “main memory” 1302, and a “CPU” 1303. . Further, the components of the correspondence table unit including the second table holding unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the remaining control request target device physical address acquisition unit, active logical address acquisition unit, control command acquisition unit, The components of the address storage unit are the same as in the first embodiment.
These are connected to each other through a data communication path such as a “system bus” 1305 to perform transmission / reception and processing of information. The storage device stores various programs executed by the CPU. In this example, in addition to the active logical address acquisition program, the control instruction acquisition program, the control target device physical address acquisition program, and the address storage program, the control instruction type acquisition program and the determination program are stored in the storage device. These programs are automatically read from the storage device when the power is turned on, for example, and reside in the main memory.

Next, a hardware configuration related to the control command type acquisition unit will be described. The control command type acquisition program acquires the control command type from the acquired control command according to the procedure determined by itself. The specific procedure for this acquisition is as described in the explanation of the configuration of the same part.
Next, configurations related to the third correspondence table unit and the determination unit will be described. In addition to the first correspondence table, a second correspondence table and a third correspondence table are stored in the storage device in advance. Therefore, the determination program reads these tables into the main memory, refers to the second correspondence table, and refers to the device category ID of the device identified by the transmission destination logical address already acquired according to the configuration described in the first embodiment. And referring to the third correspondence table, the device category identified by this device category ID is associated with the control command type acquired from the control command to be transmitted to the stored destination logical address. It is determined whether it has been.

<Process flow>
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing in the control command transmission apparatus of the present embodiment.
Of the flow of processing shown in this figure, the flow shown from step S1401 to step S1405 is the same as the flow shown in FIG.
Next, the control command transmission apparatus acquires a control command type from the control command to be transmitted to the transmission destination logical address specified in step S1405 (step S1406).
Next, the control command transmission device refers to the third correspondence table, and whether or not the device category ID is associated with the control command type acquired from the control command to be transmitted to the specified transmission destination logical address. Is determined (step S1407). As a result, in the case of the determination result that the determination result is associated, the control instruction device itself performs the process of transmitting the control instruction to the transmission destination address as shown in the example of FIG. (S1408).

  On the other hand, the subsequent processing flow (step S1409) in the case where the determination result in step S1404 is a result indicating that there are not a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control target device is the processing flow described in the first embodiment. It is the same.

<Effect>
According to the invention of the present embodiment, it is possible to appropriately transmit the control command after determining whether or not the device to which the control command is transmitted is a device capable of executing this command.

Conceptual diagram of the control command transmission device of the present invention The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the control command transmitter of Example 1. The figure which shows an example of the connection of the some apparatus used as the object of inter-device control The figure which shows an example of the connection of the some apparatus used as the object of inter-device control The figure which shows an example of the 1st correspondence table The figure which shows an example of the data structure of a control command The figure which shows an example of the data structure of an active source command Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the control command transmitter of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the control command transmitter of Example 1. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the control command transmitter of Example 2. The figure which shows an example of a 2nd correspondence table The figure which shows an example of a 3rd correspondence table The figure which shows the table which concerns on the user control code prescribed | regulated in HDMI specification The figure which shows the table which concerns on the user control code prescribed | regulated in HDMI specification The figure which shows the table which concerns on the user control code prescribed | regulated in HDMI specification Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the control command transmitter of Example 2. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the control command transmitter of Example 2.

Explanation of symbols

0100 Television 0101 Control command transmitter 0110 Television 0111 Control command transmitter 0120 Recorder 1
0130 tuner 1
0140 Amplifier 0150 Recorder 2
Player 0200 Control command transmission device 0210 Corresponding table unit 0220 Active logical address acquisition unit 0230 Control command acquisition unit 0240 Control request target device physical address acquisition unit 0250 Address storage unit

Claims (4)

A correspondence table unit having a first correspondence table in which a logical address and a physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices;
An active logical address acquisition unit that acquires an active logical address included in an active source command output by an active device that is an active device;
A control command acquisition unit for acquiring a control command;
A control request target device physical address acquisition unit for acquiring a physical address of a control request target device associated with the acquired control command;
Based on the first correspondence table, if there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control target device, a control instruction is selected from the plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address that matches the active logical address. An address storage unit for storing the destination address of
A control command transmitting device having The correspondence table unit includes a second table holding unit that holds a second correspondence table that is a table in which a logical address and a device category ID are associated with each other for a plurality of devices that are subject to inter-device control.
A control command type acquisition unit for acquiring a control command type from the acquired control command;
A third correspondence table holding unit for holding a third correspondence table in which a device category and a control instruction type executable by a device classified by the device category are associated;
The device category ID of the device specified by the stored destination logical address is acquired from the second correspondence table, and is associated with the control command type acquired from the control command to be transmitted to the stored destination logical address A determination unit that determines whether or not it is used using a third correspondence table;
The control command transmitter according to claim 1, further comprising: A control command transmission method using a control command transmission device having a first correspondence table in which a logical address and a physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices,
A control command acquisition step for acquiring a control command;
A control request target device physical address acquisition step for acquiring a physical address of a control request target device associated with the acquired control command;
An active logical address acquisition step of acquiring an active logical address included in an active source command output by an active device that is an active device;
Based on the first correspondence table, if there are a plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address of the control target device, a control instruction is selected from the plurality of logical addresses corresponding to the physical address that matches the active logical address. An address storing step for storing as a destination address of
A control command transmission method comprising: A first correspondence table in which a logical address and a physical address are associated with each other for a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices, and a logical address and a device category ID for each of a plurality of devices to be controlled between devices. Control using a control command transmission device having a second correspondence table, which is a correspondence table, and a third correspondence table in which a device category and a control command type executable by a device classified by the device category are associated An instruction transmission method,
A control command type acquisition step of acquiring a control command type from the acquired control command;
A device category ID acquisition step of acquiring the device category ID of the device specified by the stored transmission destination logical address from the second correspondence table;
A determination step of determining by using the third correspondence table whether the control instruction type acquired from the control instruction to be transmitted to the stored transmission destination logical address is associated;
The control command transmission method according to claim 3, further comprising:

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