JP2015152565A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a novel technique that makes work to store positional information on an electronic apparatus simple.SOLUTION: An MFP 100 obtains positional information on other electronic apparatuses by radio communication. The MFP 100 further obtains a radio wave intensity when the positional information is received, and associates and stores the positional information on the other electronic apparatuses and the radio wave intensity. The MFP 100 determines a position of own device by the trilateration method or the like from a combination of positional information of the plurality of other electronic apparatuses and their radio wave intensities. Then, the MFP 100 stores the determined position as the position of own device.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electronic device that stores position information of the device itself.

  Conventionally, a technique for storing position information of an electronic device is known. By storing the position information of the electronic device, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the network is connected to a plurality of printers, and the printer server stores the position information of each printer. When a print instruction is given through a certain computer, a technique is selected such that the printer having the closest physical distance to the computer is selected.

  As a premise of the above-described technique, the physical position information of the printer needs to be stored in advance. As a method for acquiring position information, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, there is a method for obtaining from position and angle from a reference point.

JP-A-10-333845

  However, the conventional technique described above has the following problems. That is, every time an electronic device such as a printer is newly connected to the network or whenever an electronic device connected to the network is moved, an operation for inputting positional information of the electronic device is required. Is troublesome. If a device for acquiring position information such as a GPS receiver is mounted on an electronic device, the user's effort can be saved, but the cost increases.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. That is, the problem is to provide a new technique with which the work for storing the position information of the electronic device is simple.

  An electronic device made for the purpose of solving this problem includes an interface for wireless communication, a storage unit, and a control unit, and the control unit acquires position information of another device via the interface. And detection processing for detecting radio wave intensity when wirelessly communicating with another device via the interface, and position information acquired by the acquisition processing in the detection processing when the position information is acquired. Another device position storage process to be stored in the storage unit in association with the detected radio wave intensity, and a determination process to determine the position of the own apparatus from the position information and the radio wave intensity of a plurality of communication devices stored in the storage unit And the own device position storing process for storing the position determined by the determining process in the storage unit as the position information of the own device.

  The electronic device disclosed in the present specification acquires position information of another device by wireless communication, further acquires radio wave intensity when the position information is acquired, and stores the positional information and radio wave intensity of the other device in association with each other. To do. Then, the electronic device determines the position of its own device from the combination of the position information and the radio wave intensity of a plurality of other devices. As a method for determining the position of the own apparatus, for example, calculation of a position by a three-point surveying method or calculation of an intermediate position between two points having high radio field intensity is applicable.

  That is, the electronic device disclosed in the present specification obtains position information of a plurality of communication devices, obtains each radio wave intensity when the position information is obtained, and is obtained by wireless communication with other devices. The position of the own device is determined based on the information. Thereby, even if a device that acquires position information such as a GPS receiver is not installed in the device itself, the position information can be stored by the electronic device itself, and the user's trouble of inputting the position information can be reduced.

  In the determination process, the control unit extracts three pieces of position information from the pieces of position information of the plurality of communication devices stored in the storage unit, and the extracted position information and radio waves associated with the position information. The position of the device itself should be determined using the strength of the radio wave intensity ratio. If there are three pieces of position information, for example, a three-point surveying method is possible. Also, the radio wave intensity tends to increase as the distance from the communication partner becomes shorter. Therefore, accurate position information can be determined with less information by using three pieces of position information and their radio field intensity ratios. Note that the three location information extraction methods include, for example, random extraction, extraction with priority given to new location information stored in time, extraction with preference given to location information with strong radio field strength, and high accuracy. Extraction with priority given to location information is applicable.

  In addition, the position information stored in the other apparatus position storage process includes accuracy information that is information about the accuracy of the position information, and the control unit stores the highly accurate position information in the determination process. The position information of the device itself may be determined by using it in preference to the low-accuracy position information. If there is information on the accuracy of the position information, it is expected that the position information of the device itself is determined with higher accuracy by using the position information of higher accuracy with reference to the accuracy. The accuracy information includes, for example, the generation of position information used (the generation that has advanced further from the most advanced generation among the position information of other apparatuses used to determine the position information of the own apparatus every time the position information of the own apparatus is determined). (They tend to be less accurate as the generation progresses) and the hardware or software version information from which the location information was acquired.

  In addition, in the other device position storage process, when the position information acquired in the acquisition process does not include the accuracy information, the control unit determines that the position information has the highest accuracy. Information may be stored in the storage unit. Some other devices are equipped with a device capable of acquiring position information such as a GPS receiver. Therefore, when position information without accuracy information is acquired from another device, it is preferable to store it as high accuracy and use the position information in the determination process.

  In addition, the control unit uses, as the position information of the own apparatus, accuracy information indicating that the position information of the own apparatus is lower than the accuracy of the position information of the other apparatus used for determining the position information of the own apparatus. It should be included. In the electronic device disclosed in this specification, since the position of the own apparatus is estimated based on the position information of the other apparatus, the electronic apparatus is affected by the accuracy of the position information of the other apparatus. Therefore, accuracy information that is lower than the accuracy of the position information of the other device is stored. Thereby, when the other device uses the position information of the own device, it is expected that the other device uses the appropriate position information.

  Further, the control unit may execute a response process for responding to the position information of the own apparatus stored in the own apparatus position storing process in response to a request from another apparatus that can communicate via the interface. By providing the position information of the own apparatus to another apparatus, the position information of the own apparatus can be used for determining the position of the other apparatus.

  In addition, the control unit, when receiving the position information of the own device and the position information of the own device in the accepting process, accepts the position information of the own device determined in the determination process. It is preferable to preferentially execute an input own device position storage process in which the position information of the own device is stored in the storage unit as the position information of the own device in the reception process. In addition to the position information of other devices actively acquired by the electronic device, when the input of position information from the user is received, the position information is estimated to be accurate. For this reason, it is preferable to prioritize the input position information over the position information determined by the own apparatus based on the position information of the other apparatus. The input of position information corresponds to, for example, manual input from the operation panel or wireless communication input from another device.

  In addition, in the own device position storage process, when the position information of the own device is received in the receiving process, the control unit includes accuracy information indicating that the position information of the own device is the most accurate. It is good to make it. The position information input by the user's manual input is estimated to be accurate. In addition, the position information input by wireless communication from another device is also likely to be equipped with a device capable of acquiring position information such as a GPS receiver, and the position information input at a short distance. If there is, it is assumed that it is accurate. For this reason, storing the information with high accuracy increases the possibility of using the position information when another apparatus uses the position information of the own apparatus. As a result, the possibility that the other apparatus can obtain highly accurate position information increases.

  In the acquisition process, the control unit may acquire position information of the mobile device through the communication when communicating with a mobile device capable of communication via the interface. A mobile device is likely to be equipped with a GPS receiver, and is likely to be able to acquire accurate position information. For this reason, it is preferable to acquire position information from the mobile device during communication with the mobile device, store the position information, and use it for determining the position of the own device.

  The electronic device disclosed in the present specification includes an image processing unit that performs image processing, and the control unit responds to reception of a position information transmission request from a mobile device that can communicate via the interface. In response to the transmission process for transmitting the position information of the own apparatus stored in the storage unit to the mobile apparatus and the transmission of the position information of the own apparatus in the transmission process, the image processing is performed from the destination mobile apparatus. When an execution instruction is received, an instruction execution process for causing the image processing unit to execute image processing according to the execution instruction may be executed. Since the mobile device can acquire the location information of its own device, it can be expected to select an appropriate electronic device in the mobile device.

  According to the present invention, a new technique is realized in which work for storing position information of an electronic device is simple.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of own apparatus position information included in an MFP (multifunction peripheral). FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of other apparatus position information included in an MFP. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of own apparatus location registration processing executed by an MFP. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of an own apparatus and another apparatus. It is a figure which shows the concept of the position determination procedure of an own apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of own apparatus location update processing executed by the MFP. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of own apparatus position input processing executed by the MFP. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for data communication between a mobile device and an MFP when a print instruction is issued from the mobile device.

  Hereinafter, an image processing system according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to an image processing system having a multi function peripheral (MFP) having a reading function and a printing function and a mobile device that accepts a job for causing the MFP to execute image processing.

[Overall configuration of image processing system]
As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system 900 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of MFPs 100, 100A, 100B, and 100C and a plurality of mobile devices 200 and 200A. In the image processing system 900 of this embodiment, data can be exchanged between each mobile device and each MFP by wireless communication. Data can be exchanged via an access point (not shown) or directly between devices. The MFP 100 is an example of an electronic device.

  Note that any number of electronic devices communicating with the MFP 100 may be connected in addition to the illustrated MFP and mobile device. The image processing system 900 may include a server or an access point, and may communicate with the MFP 100 from each electronic device via the server or the access point.

[MFP configuration]
Next, a schematic configuration of MFP 100 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the MFP 100 includes a controller 30 including a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, and an NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM) 34. The controller 30 in FIG. 1 is a collective term for hardware used for controlling the MFP 100, such as the CPU 31, and is not necessarily represented as a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the MFP 100. Other MFPs 100A, 100B, and 100C also have the same configuration as MFP 100.

  The ROM 32 stores firmware, which is a control program for controlling the MFP 100, various settings, initial values, and the like. The RAM 33 and the NVRAM 34 are used as work areas from which various control programs are read or as storage areas for temporarily storing data. The NVRAM 34 is an example of a storage unit.

  The CPU 31 controls each component of the MFP 100 while storing the processing result in the RAM 33 or the NVRAM 34 according to a control program read from the ROM 32 and signals sent from various sensors. The CPU 31 is an example of a control unit. The controller 30 may be an example of a control unit.

  The MFP 100 also includes an image forming unit 10 that prints an image on a sheet, an image reading unit 11 that reads an image of a document, an operation panel 40 that serves both as a display function and an input function, an NFC interface 36, and a wireless LAN interface 38. These are controlled by the CPU 31.

  The image forming unit 10 may be capable of color printing or only monochrome printing. Also, the printing method may be an electrophotographic method or an ink jet method. Further, the image reading unit 11 may be capable of color scanning or only monochrome scanning. Also, the reading mechanism may be a CCD or a CIS. The image forming unit 10 and the image reading unit 11 are examples of an image processing unit.

  The NFC interface 36 is an interface that enables NFC (Near Field Communication) wireless communication based on the international standard of ISO / IEC21481 or ISO / IEC18092. The MFP 100 receives data transmitted from an external device via the NFC interface 36. Further, the MFP 100 transmits data to the external device via the NFC interface 36.

  The wireless LAN interface 38 is an interface that enables wireless communication based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and standards conforming thereto. In this embodiment, WiFi communication is performed using the WiFi method. The NFC method and the WiFi method have different communication methods (that is, wireless communication standards), and the WiFi method has a longer communication distance and higher communication speed than the NFC method. The MFP 100 receives data transmitted from an external device via the wireless LAN interface 38. Further, the MFP 100 transmits data to the external device via the wireless LAN interface 38. The wireless LAN interface 38 is an example of an interface for wireless communication.

  Operation panel 40 is provided on the exterior of MFP 100 and includes various buttons that accept user input and a touch panel that displays messages and setting contents. Examples of the various buttons include an OK button for inputting an instruction to start image processing and a cancel button for inputting an instruction to cancel image processing. The touch panel can also be used for various inputs when the user performs a touch operation. For example, various settings and user information are input from the touch panel.

  The operation panel 40 has an NFC reading panel (not shown) that accepts wireless communication by the NFC method. An NFC interface 36 is installed on the back surface of the NFC reading panel, and the MFP 100 is in a state of detecting a device capable of performing NFC wireless communication by a signal emitted from the NFC interface 36 while the power is on. ing. Therefore, for example, when the user holds the mobile device 200 over the NFC reading unit, the MFP 100 detects the mobile device 200, and wireless communication using the NFC method is automatically enabled between the mobile device 200 and the MFP 100. Note that “holding” the mobile device 200 over the NFC reading panel is an operation of placing the mobile device 200 within the communication range of the NFC interface 36, and the mobile device 200 and the NFC reading panel may not be in contact with each other. Also good.

  In addition, the MFP 100 has an own device information database (own device DB 341) that stores position information of the own device and another device information database (other device DB 342) that stores position information of other devices in the NVRAM 34. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the own apparatus DB 341 stores generation information serving as an index of accuracy of position information and coordinate information including latitude and longitude as position information of the own apparatus. The coordinate information may include elevation. Of these, the generation information is information whose accuracy decreases as the generation progresses, that is, the larger the numerical value, and when determining the position information of the own apparatus based on the position information acquired from the other apparatus, It is determined by the generation information of the location information acquired from. That is, when determining the coordinates of the own device using the position information of a plurality of other devices, the accuracy does not exceed the accuracy of the position information of each other device. For this reason, the accuracy of the own device is lower than the lowest accuracy among the position information of other devices used when determining the position information of the own device. A specific method for determining generation information will be described later.

  The other apparatus DB 342 stores position information acquired from other electronic devices as shown in FIG. Specifically, an ID for identifying position information, generation information, coordinate information including latitude and longitude, radio wave intensity when the position information is received, and date and time when the position information is registered are recorded as one record. , Records of each electronic device are stored. Of these, the radio wave intensity can be obtained by using a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), which is a circuit for measuring the intensity of the received signal, provided in the wireless LAN interface 38 of the present embodiment. In RSSI, the closer the value is to 0, the stronger the radio wave intensity. Further, since the obstacles tend to decrease as the distance between the devices is shorter, the radio wave intensity tends to increase as the distance between the devices is shorter.

[Mobile device configuration]
Next, a schematic configuration of the mobile device 200 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile device 200 includes a CPU 51 that executes various processes, a ROM 52 that stores a startup process program (BIOS) executed by the CPU 51 when the PC 200 is started, and a CPU 51 that performs various processes. The controller 50 includes a RAM 53 that is used as a temporary storage area, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 54 that stores various programs and data. Note that the controller 50 in FIG. 1 is a collective term for the hardware used for controlling the printer, such as the CPU 51, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the printer. The other mobile device 200 </ b> A has the same configuration as the mobile device 200. Specific examples of the mobile device 200 include a smartphone and a tablet PC.

  In addition, the mobile device 200 includes a display unit 60 composed of a liquid crystal display, an input unit 61 composed of a keyboard and a mouse, an NFC interface 86, a telephone interface 87, a wireless LAN interface 88, and a GPS receiver unit 89. These are controlled by the controller 50.

  Similar to the NFC interface 36 and the wireless LAN interface 38 of the MFP 100, the NFC interface 86 and the wireless LAN interface 88 are hardware that enables communication with an external device. The mobile device 200 transmits / receives data or commands to / from an external device via the NFC interface 86 or the wireless LAN interface 88.

  The NFC interface 86 is an interface having the same communication method as the NFC interface 36 of the MFP 100. The wireless LAN interface 88 is an interface having the same communication method as the wireless LAN interface 38 of the MFP 100.

  The telephone interface 87 is an interface that enables wireless communication with a base station (not shown) based on a standard conforming to a mobile phone communication system (for example, W-CDMA). The telephone interface 87 is used for telephone connection and Internet connection via a base station.

  The GPS receiving unit 89 is hardware that receives radio waves transmitted from artificial satellites constituting a GPS (Global Positioning System). The GPS receiving unit 89 can acquire information on the current position of the mobile device 200 based on the received signal, that is, information including latitude, longitude, and altitude.

  The HDD 54 of the mobile device 200 incorporates an OS, a browser for browsing files on the Internet, device drivers for controlling various devices, and the like. An application program (hereinafter referred to as “application 20”) that instructs the MFP 100 or the like to perform image processing such as printing or scanning and receives a job that involves image processing is also stored in the HDD 54.

  Specifically, the application 20 transmits a print instruction, such as a function for selecting print data, a function for transmitting a print instruction to the printer, and a function for selecting a transmission destination of the print data, and a reading instruction to the scanner. It has a function to receive data. Further, the application 20 has a position registration function for acquiring the current position (that is, coordinates) from the GPS receiving unit 89 and transmitting the position to another device for registration.

  When the location registration function of the application 20 is executed, the mobile device 200 acquires the current location from the GPS receiving unit 89 and causes the display unit 60 to display an instruction to hold the mobile device 200 over the NFC reading panel of the printer. . In this state, when the user holds the mobile device 200 over, the mobile device 200 outputs a position information registration command to the printer, and the coordinates acquired by the mobile device 200 are transmitted to the printer. .

  The CPU 51 performs various processes while storing the calculation results in the RAM 53 or the HDD 54 in accordance with the control program read from the ROM 52 or the program read from the HDD 54. The operation of the application 20 described above is also processed by the CPU 51.

[MFP operation]
[Own device location registration processing]
Next, processing executed by MFP 100 will be described. First, the own device location registration process for registering the location information of the own device in the own device DB 341 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The own device location registration process is executed by the CPU 31 when the MFP 100 is powered on.

  In the apparatus location registration process, the MFP 100 first determines whether or not the position information of the apparatus itself is registered in the apparatus DB 341 (S100). If the location information has already been registered (S100: YES), the location registration process is terminated without performing the location information registration operation.

  On the other hand, when the position information of the own apparatus is not registered (S100: NO), a search request for requesting transmission of the position information is broadcast in the network via the wireless LAN interface 38 (S101). Electronic devices that have received the search request, such as MFPs 100A, 100B, and 100C, respond to MFP 100 with the location information of the device itself stored in the device itself, that is, the location information of each MFP that has received the search request. Note that the location information of MFP 100 itself is not added to this search request because the location information of MFP 100 itself is not registered.

  The MFP 100 receives the response from each electronic device, and acquires the position information of each electronic device (S102). S101 and S102 are an example of an acquisition process. When the MFP 100 further acquires the position information of each electronic device in S102, the MFP 100 acquires the radio field intensity of the signal transmitted by each electronic device (S103). S103 is an example of a detection process. Then, for each responding electronic device, it is registered in the other device DB 342 as one record in which the radio wave intensity and the position information are associated (S104). S104 is an example of the other device position storage process. MFP 100 accepts a response from another device for a certain period after the transmission of the search request.

  After a certain period of time, it is determined whether the number of responding other devices is 3 or more (S105). In this embodiment, since the position of the own apparatus is calculated by a three-point surveying method as will be described later, if the number of responses is less than 3 (S105: NO), the position information of the own apparatus cannot be calculated. Therefore, the position information of the own apparatus is not registered, and the own apparatus position registration process is terminated. Since the registration information of the other device DB 342 is accumulated, when the position information of the electronic device is newly acquired at the next power-on, it is additionally registered in the other device DB 342.

When the number of responses is 3 or more (S105: YES), three pieces of position information whose generation is not advanced, that is, the value of the generation information is small are extracted from the acquired position information of other devices (S106). Generation information is information that means that the accuracy decreases as the generation progresses, and high-accuracy location information is extracted from the registered location information by giving priority to information that does not advance the generation. The When extracting location information, if the generations are of the same rank, priority is given to the one with higher radio field strength.

  For example, when the record as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the other apparatus DB 342, first, data 3 and data 4 having the smallest generation information are extracted. Further, the remaining one is data 1 having the strongest radio wave intensity among data 1 and data 5 having the next smallest generation information.

Next, the radio wave intensity ratio of the three pieces of position information extracted in S106 is calculated (S107). The radio wave intensity is related to an exponential function, and is, for example, 1/10 times the difference of −20 decibels and 1/3 times the difference of −10 decibels. Therefore, in order to obtain the radio wave intensity ratio from the received radio wave intensity (dB), the following equation is calculated.
Signal strength ratio = 10 ^ (received signal strength / 20)

For example, when the record as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the other apparatus DB 342, the data 1, data 3, and data 4 are extracted as described above. From this, the radio wave intensity ratio (Data 1: Data 3: Data 4) is
−20 dB: −10 dB: −16 dB = 0.1: 0.3: 0.15
It becomes.

  Next, using the three position information extracted in S106 and the radio wave intensity ratio calculated in S107, the coordinates of the device itself are calculated (S108). In this embodiment, the coordinates of the own device are calculated by a three-point survey method. S107 and S108 are an example of a determination process.

Specifically, in the three-point surveying method, as shown in FIG. 5, a circle is drawn with a distance ratio that is the 1/2 power of the reciprocal of the radio wave intensity ratio. 5, the data 1 device in FIG. 3 is MFP 100A, the data 3 device is MFP 100B, and the data 4 device is MFP 100C. Since the radio field intensity ratio of MFP 100A, MFP 100B, and MFP 100C is 0.1: 0.3: 0.15, the distance ratio of MFP 100A, MFP 100B, and MFP 100C is as follows.
1 / √0.1: 1 / √0.3: 1 / √0.15 ≒ 17: 10: 14
Spread the circle at this ratio.

FIG. 6 shows an image in which each of the three circles described above is expanded at the above-described ratio and the three circles intersect. The coordinates of the point where the three circles roughly intersect are set as the coordinates of the MFP 100. Specifically, it can be obtained by calculating the following equation. A1 and A2 represent the coordinates of MFP 100A, B1 and B2 represent the coordinates of MFP 100B, and C1 and C2 represent the coordinates of MFP 100C.
(X−A1) ^ 2 + (Y−A2) ^ 2 = (17k) ^ 2
(X−B1) ^ 2 + (Y−B2) ^ 2 = (10k) ^ 2
(X−C1) ^ 2 + (Y−C2) ^ 2 = (14k) ^ 2

  After calculating the coordinates of the own device in S108, the generation of the position information of the own device is calculated (S109). As described above, the generation information is information that serves as an index of the accuracy of the position information, and is information whose numerical value increases as the generation progresses. In this embodiment, since the position information of the own apparatus is calculated using three pieces of position information, the value of the generation information of the position information with the most advanced generation among the three pieces of position information used for calculating the coordinates is used. The value obtained by adding 1 is the generation information of the own device.

  For example, when the record as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the other apparatus DB 342, since the data 1, data 3, and data 4 are extracted as described above, the generation of the position information is the most advanced. The value obtained by adding 1 to 2 which is the value of the generation information of data 1 that is, that is, 3 is stored in the own apparatus DB 341 as the position information of the own apparatus.

  After the generation of the position information of the own device is calculated in S109, the latitude and longitude calculated in S108 and the generation calculated in S109 are registered in the own device DB 341 (S110). S110 is an example of the own device position storage process. After S110, the apparatus location registration process is terminated.

  That is, when registering the position information of the self apparatus, the MFP 100 acquires the position information and the radio wave intensity of a plurality of other apparatuses. Then, the position of the own apparatus is calculated based on each position information and the radio wave intensity ratio. As a result, even if the MFP 100 does not include a device that acquires coordinates such as a GPS receiver, the MFP 100 itself can store the position information of the own device. Therefore, it is possible to reduce time and effort for the user to input the position information.

  For example, when a user purchases 100 MFPs, if all 100 units need to register location information, this is a heavy burden on the user. In the case of the MFP of the present embodiment, if the position information is registered in at least three MFPs, the position information of the own apparatus is registered in other MFPs based on the position information obtained from the MFP in which the position information is registered. This greatly reduces the user's registration work.

[Own device location update processing]
Next, the own device location update process for updating the location information of the own device registered in the own device DB 341 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The own device location update process is executed by the CPU 31 every time a specific request from another device is received via the wireless LAN interface 38. The specific request from the other device corresponds to, for example, a search request for transmitting information on the own device or an execution request for executing printing or reading.

  In the apparatus location update process, the MFP 100 first determines whether or not the request source location information is added to the received request (S201). For example, when the mobile device 200 outputs a request via the application 20, its own location information that the mobile device 200 has is added. If the request source location information is not added (S201: NO), the requested processing is executed without updating the location information of the device itself (S211). After S211, the apparatus location update process is terminated.

  If the location information of the request source is added (S201: YES), it is determined whether the location information of the request source includes generation information (S202). If the request source includes a device such as the GPS device 89 that can acquire accurate position information, such as the mobile device 200, the position information can be updated without using the position information of another device. Does not have. Therefore, when there is no generation information in the request source location information (S202: NO), it is assumed that the location information of the request source has high accuracy, and 1 indicating high accuracy is included in the location information of the request source. The stored generation information is added (S203).

  After S203, or when the request source location information includes generation information (S202: YES), the request source location information is additionally registered in the other apparatus DB 342 (S204). At the time of registration in S204, the MFP 100 also acquires the radio field intensity with the request source when receiving the request, and registers the radio field intensity in association with the position information of the request source.

  After S204, it is determined whether the number of registrations registered in the other apparatus DB 342 is 3 or more (S205). In this embodiment, since the position of the own device is calculated by the three-point survey method, when the number of registrations is less than three (S205: NO), the requested processing is executed without updating the position information of the own device. (S211).

  On the other hand, when the number of registrations is 3 or more (S205: YES), the location information of the own device is updated. That is, three pieces of position information are extracted (S106), a radio wave intensity ratio of these position information is calculated (S107), and coordinate information is calculated using these pieces of information (S108). Further, generation information is calculated (S109), and the calculated coordinate information and position information are registered in the own apparatus DB 341 (S110). That is, the location information of the own device is updated. The processing from S107 to S110 is the same as the own device location registration information of FIG.

  After S110, the requested process is executed (S211). If the request is a search request, S211 is an example of response processing. After S211, the apparatus location update process is terminated.

  That is, when MFP 100 receives a specific request from another device, there is a possibility that it can acquire position information with higher accuracy than the position information of the other device registered in its own device. Therefore, it is expected that the position information of the own apparatus can be updated with higher accuracy by recalculating the position information of the own apparatus in response to receiving a specific request from another apparatus. For example, if the location information of the own device registered in the example of FIG. 3 has generation information 3 but the generation information of the location information of the request source acquired by the own device location update processing is 1, data 3, data 4 and the position information of the own apparatus is recalculated from the position information of the request source acquired in the own apparatus position update process. Thereby, the position information of the generation information 2 with higher accuracy than the generation information 3 registered in FIG. 2 can be registered as the position information of the own apparatus. Further, when the number of pieces of position information of each electronic device acquired by the search in the own apparatus position registration process is two or less, three or more pieces of position information can be acquired by executing the own apparatus position update process. As a result, the position of the own device can be registered.

[Own device position input processing]
Next, a description will be given of the own apparatus position input process for updating the position information of the own apparatus when information related to the position of the own apparatus is directly input with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The own device position input process is executed by the CPU 31 each time an input of information relating to the position of the own device is received. Note that the method for inputting information related to the position of the own device includes, for example, input of coordinates by a user's manual input via the operation panel 40 and input of coordinates from the mobile device 200 using the position registration function of the application 20. To do.

  In the apparatus position input process, the MFP 100 first acquires input information (S301). The input information includes at least coordinate information. S301 is an example of a reception process. Then, generation information storing 1 indicating high accuracy is added to the input information (S302). That is, the directly input information is information directly input by the user or information obtained from the GPS receiving unit 89, and can be regarded as highly accurate.

  After S302, the coordinate information included in the input information is registered in the own apparatus DB 341 together with the generation information (S303). S303 is an example of the input device location storage process. After S303, the apparatus position input process is terminated. If the location information whose generation information is 1 is already registered in the own device DB 341, the user is inquired whether to update the location information. If the user permits, the location information is updated and permitted. If not, the position information may not be updated.

  That is, in the MFP 100, when the own apparatus DB 341 is updated by the own apparatus position input process, highly accurate information whose generation information is 1 is stored. Therefore, when a search request is received from another device, highly accurate position information is transmitted. As a result, the other device that has received the position information is more likely to calculate its own coordinates using the position information, and as a result, highly accurate position information is registered in the other device. Can be expected.

[Another form of job execution point procedure]
Next, another procedure when a print job or a read job is requested from the mobile device 200 to the MFP 100 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. In this embodiment, different operations are performed when a search request is received and when a job execution request is received. This is different from the above-described embodiment in which the same device registration update processing is executed when a search request is received and when a job execution request is received.

  In this embodiment, first, the mobile device 200 activates the application 20 and searches for devices that can communicate via the wireless LAN interface 88 (S451). Specifically, the mobile device 200 broadcasts a search request for requesting transmission of position information via the wireless LAN interface 88. The position information of the mobile device 200 is added to the search request. If there is generation information in the location information of the local device, the generation information is also included in the location information.

  The MFP 100 that has received the search request registers the position information added to the received search request in the other device DB 342 (S401). Then, the position information of the own device is updated (S402). In S402, the processing after S202 of the self-device information update processing of FIG. 7 described above may be executed. Then, the updated location information of the device is transmitted to the mobile device 200 as a response to the search request (S403). S403 is an example of a transmission process.

  Mobile device 200 receives position information from MFP 100. Since the mobile device 200 broadcasts the search request, the mobile device 200 receives position information of other devices in addition to the MFP 100. Therefore, a selection screen for selecting a device for executing the job is displayed on the display unit 60, and the selection of the device by the user is accepted (S452). In S452, since the position information is acquired from each device, the position information of each device may be displayed. The display of the position information here may display the coordinates themselves, or may schematically illustrate the positional relationship with the mobile device 200, for example. In addition, the mobile device 200 may automatically select the nearest device based on the position information of the mobile device 200. Here, it is assumed that MFP 100 is selected.

  After the device is selected, a job execution command is transmitted to MFP 100, which is the selected device (S453). If the job is a print job, image data to be printed is also transmitted.

  Receiving the job execution command, the MFP 100 executes the received job (S404). Specifically, if it is a print job, the image forming unit 10 is caused to perform printing based on the received image data. If the job is a reading job, the image reading unit 11 performs reading, and the read image data is transmitted to the mobile device 200. S404 is an example of instruction execution processing.

  That is, in another embodiment described above, the location information of the own device is transmitted to another device, and the device that executes the job is selected after the location information of the updated other device is acquired. Therefore, it can be expected that the job is executed on a device suitable for the user of the mobile device 200.

  As described in detail above, MFP 100 of this embodiment acquires position information of each electronic device from a plurality of electronic devices (in this embodiment, another MFP or mobile device 200), and further receives each radio wave when the position information is acquired. Get strength. And the position of the own apparatus is determined based on the information obtained by radio | wireless communication with those other apparatuses. As a result, even if the MFP 100 is not equipped with a device for acquiring position information such as a GPS receiver, the MFP 100 itself can store the position information. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the trouble of the user who inputs the position information.

  Note that this embodiment is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the electronic device that stores the position information may be any device that can wirelessly communicate and can detect the radio wave intensity. In addition to the MFP, a printer, a scanner, a FAX device, a personal computer, a supercomputer, etc. can be applied. It is.

  In the embodiment, NFC and WiFi are adopted as wireless communication, but the types of wireless communication are not limited to these. For example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) or TransferJet may be used.

  In the embodiment, the MFP 100 outputs a search request and acquires position information from another device that has received the search request as a procedure for the MFP 100 to register the position information of the own device. When receiving the request, MFP 100 responds to the other apparatus with the position information of the own apparatus.

  Further, the other device information stored in the other device DB 342 may not store all the acquired position information. For example, priority is given to information whose generation has not progressed or concessions with strong radio field strength, and the number of stored location information may be kept within a predetermined number, more specifically within the number used to determine the location information of the own device. . If the number is limited to the number used for determining the position information of the own apparatus, S106 of the own apparatus position registration process is unnecessary.

  In the embodiment, when extracting the position information of another device, priority is given to the position information with strong radio field strength if the generations are of the same rank, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, position information with a new registration date may be given priority. By giving priority to the registration date and time, even if the MFP 100 is moved after the position information of the own apparatus is registered in the own apparatus DB 341, an update to the position information of a new installation location is expected based on the information acquired after the movement. it can.

  In the embodiment, when calculating the position of the own device, three points where the generation has not progressed are extracted, but the three points to be extracted may not be based on the generation. For example, the top three points with the highest radio field intensity may be extracted. In addition, for example, the position information may be extracted at random, or the new stored position information may be preferentially extracted. When extracting position information without using generation information, generation information need not be included in position information.

  Further, in the embodiment, the coordinates of the own device are calculated by the three-point survey method, but the method for acquiring the position of the own device is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to extract the top two points having the highest radio field intensity and use the intermediate point as the coordinates of the own device.

  Also, in the local device location registration process of the embodiment, if the location information of the own device has already been registered, the location information registration operation is not performed, but regardless of the presence or absence of the location information of the own device. You may perform registration operation of position information every time. That is, in the apparatus location registration process, the determination in S101 may be omitted and the process may start from S102.

  In the embodiment, the position information is input to the MFP 100 from the mobile device 200 by NFC wireless communication, but may be input by WiFi wireless communication. However, since it is certain that the NFC wireless communication has a narrower communication range and a shorter distance between the two devices, it is possible to acquire more accurate position information more reliably than the WiFi wireless communication.

  The processing disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Further, the processing disclosed in the embodiment can be realized in various modes such as a recording medium or a method recording a program for executing the processing.

38,88 Wireless LAN interface 100 MFP
200 Mobile device 341 Own device information database (own device DB)
342 Other device information database (other device DB)
900 Image processing system

Claims (10)

An interface for wireless communication;
A storage unit;
A control unit;
With
The controller is
An acquisition process for acquiring position information of other devices via the interface;
A detection process for detecting radio field intensity when wirelessly communicating with another device via the interface;
Another device position storage process for storing the position information acquired in the acquisition process in the storage unit in association with the radio wave intensity detected in the detection process when the position information is acquired;
A determination process for determining the position of the own device from the position information and the radio wave intensity of the plurality of communication devices stored in the storage unit;
Own device position storage processing for storing the position determined in the determination processing in the storage unit as position information of the own device;
An electronic device characterized by executing The electronic device according to claim 1,
The controller is
In the determination process, three pieces of position information are extracted from the position information of the plurality of communication devices stored in the storage unit, and the extracted position information and the radio wave intensity ratio of the radio wave intensity associated with the position information are obtained. Electronic equipment characterized by using it to determine the position of its own device. In the electronic device according to claim 1 or 2,
The position information stored in the other apparatus position storage process includes accuracy information which is high / low information of the position information,
The controller is
In the determination process, an electronic device is characterized in that the position information of the device itself is determined by using the high-accuracy position information in preference to the low-accuracy position information. In the electronic device according to claim 3,
The controller is
In the other apparatus position storage processing, when the accuracy information is not included in the position information acquired in the acquisition processing, the storage unit includes accuracy information indicating that the position information is the most accurate. An electronic device characterized in that the electronic device is stored. In the electronic device according to claim 3 or claim 4,
The controller is
In the own device position storing process, accuracy information indicating that the accuracy is lower than the accuracy of the position information of another device used for determining the position information of the own device is included in the position information of the own device. Electronics. In the electronic device as described in any one of Claims 1-5,
The controller is
An electronic apparatus that executes a response process that responds to the position information of the own apparatus stored in the own apparatus position storage process in response to a request from another apparatus that can communicate via the interface. In the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The controller is
A reception process for accepting input of position information of the own device;
When the position information of the own apparatus is received in the reception process, the position information of the own apparatus is changed to the position of the own apparatus in the reception process in preference to the position information of the own apparatus determined in the determination process. An input device position storage process to be stored in the storage unit as information;
An electronic device characterized by executing The electronic device according to claim 7,
The controller is
In the own device position storing process, when the position information of the own device is received in the receiving process, the position information of the own device includes accuracy information indicating the highest accuracy. machine. In the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The controller is
In the acquisition process, when communication is performed with a mobile device capable of communication via the interface, position information of the mobile device is acquired through the communication. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An image processing unit that performs image processing is provided.
The controller is
In response to receiving a request for transmitting position information from a mobile device that can communicate via the interface, a transmission process for transmitting the position information of the own device stored in the storage unit to the mobile device;
In response to the transmission of the position information of the own device in the transmission processing, when the execution instruction for the image processing is received from the transmission destination mobile device, the image processing unit is caused to execute the image processing according to the execution instruction. Instruction execution processing,
An electronic device characterized by executing

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