JP2015177451A - Radio communication device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify work when connecting with a terminal device, in a radio communication device capable of performing radio communication with the terminal device.SOLUTION: The radio communication device performs: approach detection processing (S10) for detecting that the terminal device approaches the radio communication device, by utilizing an approach detection part; communication attempt processing (S10 and S15) for operating a first radio communication part in an automatic radio setting mode in which connection setting is performed for connecting the first radio communication part with the terminal device when the approach of the terminal device is detected, and for attempting communication via a second radio communication part; and communication validation processing (S20-S35) for validating first established communication when connection by the first radio communication part is established or communication via the second radio communication part is established. In such a radio communication device, only by making the terminal device approach the radio communication device, the communication with the terminal device can be established by any communication technique.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication device capable of wireless communication with a terminal device, and an image forming apparatus having the wireless communication device.

  As the above-described wireless communication device, a device including a plurality of wireless communication units that perform wireless communication using different communication methods is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-178002 A

  In general, when performing wireless communication with a terminal device, the wireless communication device needs to be manually set, or an operation for starting up automatic wireless setting mode settings such as AOSS for the terminal device and wireless communication, It was complicated.

  Therefore, in view of such problems, it is an object of the present invention to simplify the work when connecting to a terminal device in a wireless communication device capable of wireless communication with the terminal device. .

  In the wireless communication device of the present invention, a wireless communication device capable of wireless communication with a terminal device, a first wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with the terminal device, and a short-range wireless different from the terminal device and wireless communication A second wireless communication unit capable of communication, a control unit for controlling the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit, and an approach detection unit capable of detecting that the terminal device has approached the wireless communication device, When the control unit detects that the terminal device has approached the wireless communication device using the proximity detection unit, and detects that the terminal device has approached, the control unit connects the first wireless communication unit to the terminal. The first wireless communication unit is operated in an automatic wireless setting mode for performing connection setting for connecting to the apparatus, and communication trial processing for attempting communication via the second wireless communication unit and connection by the first wireless communication unit are performed. Established or second When communication via the communication unit is established, and performs a communication validation processing to enable communication established earlier, the.

  According to such a wireless communication device, when the terminal device approaches, it tries to operate the first wireless communication unit in the automatic wireless setting mode, and also attempts communication via the second wireless communication unit, Since the established communication is validated, the communication with the terminal device can be established by any communication method only by bringing the terminal device close to the device (wireless communication device). Therefore, the operation | work at the time of connecting with a terminal device can be simplified.

  In the present invention, the computer may be a program for executing each process by the wireless communication apparatus or the image forming apparatus. Further, the descriptions in the claims can be arbitrarily combined as much as possible. At this time, a part of the configuration may be excluded within a range in which the object of the invention can be achieved.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of MFC1 to which this invention was applied. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of MFC1. It is a flowchart which shows the wireless connection process which the control part 10 (CPU11) of MFC1 performs. It is a flowchart which shows the NFC connection process among wireless connection processes. It is a flowchart which shows the automatic connection mode process among wireless connection processes.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[Configuration of this embodiment]
An MFC (Multi-Function Center) 1 to which the present invention is applied has a function as an image forming apparatus, and generates an image based on image data input to the MFC 1 on a recording medium such as paper or an OHP sheet. It has the function to do. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the MFC 1 includes a control unit 10, an input unit 21, an image forming unit 22, a display unit 23, an NFC communication unit 26, a wireless communication unit 27, It has.

  Among these configurations, the control unit 10, the image forming unit 22, and the wireless communication unit 27 are disposed inside the MFC 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the input unit 21, the display unit 23, and the NFC communication unit 26 are arranged in order from the right in the upper part on the near side of the MFC 1.

  The input unit 21 is configured as an interface for a user to instruct setting of the MFC 1 and start of processing. The input unit 21 is configured as, for example, a button-type switch, a touch panel, or the like, and the operation content of the input unit 21 by the user is recognized by the control unit 10.

The image forming unit 22 has a function as a well-known printer that forms an image on a recording medium in response to a command from the control unit 10.
The display unit 23 is configured as a known display, and displays an image (including characters such as a message) in accordance with a command from the control unit 10.

  The NFC communication unit 26 is configured as a communication interface that performs communication by NFC (Near field communication). The NFC communication unit 26 is set to perform polling periodically and attempt communication with the NFC communication unit of the terminal device 5 when the NFC communication unit of the terminal device 5 approaches within the communicable range. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the user brings the terminal device 5 close to the NFC communication unit 26 (see the terminal device 5 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2), the NFC communication unit 26 communicates with the terminal device 5. Try.

  The wireless communication unit 27 is configured as a communication module that performs communication using a well-known wireless LAN (WiFi (registered trademark): Wireless Fidelity). The wireless communication unit 27 is configured to execute an automatic wireless setting mode for automatically connecting to a client such as the terminal device 5 possessed by the user.

  The automatic wireless setting mode is one of the methods for wirelessly connecting the terminal device 5 to an access point such as the MFC 1. The wireless communication unit 27 of this embodiment is a WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup; registered trademark), And AOSS (Airstation One-touch Secure System; registered trademark). Other automatic setting modes (for example, SES (Secure Easy Setup; registered trademark)) may be employed.

  When the automatic wireless setting mode is implemented, the wireless communication unit 27 transmits the wireless profile (authentication method, encryption method, etc.) currently set to the access point (wireless communication unit 27 of MFC1), and the wireless profile Is used to establish a wireless connection with the terminal device 5 or the like. When a wireless connection is established or a timeout occurs, the automatic wireless setting mode is canceled.

  Note that, in the automatic wireless setting mode, a configuration in which it is necessary to perform an approval operation that represents to the user an operation for approving the transition to the automatic wireless setting mode on both the access point side (MFC1) and the terminal device 5 is common. It is. However, in the configuration of the present embodiment, in the MFC 1, when the NFC communication unit 26 detects the approach of the terminal device 5, the control unit 10 performs processing assuming that the approval operation is performed, and omits the approval operation shown to the user. doing.

  In the terminal device 5, the application corresponding to the terminal device 5 is set in advance so that the process corresponding to the approval operation can be automatically started, and the approval operation is performed when the NFC communication unit of the MFC 1 is approached. Process as follows. Then, the terminal device 5 immediately shifts to the automatic wireless setting mode.

  The control unit 10 is configured as a known computer including a CPU 11 and a memory 12 such as a ROM or a RAM. The CPU 11 performs various processes such as a wireless connection process to be described later according to a program stored in the memory 12.

[Process of this embodiment]
In the MFC 1 configured as described above, the CPU 11 of the control unit 10 performs the wireless connection process illustrated in FIG. The wireless connection process is a process of establishing a wireless LAN connection with the terminal device 5 possessed by the user, triggered by an operation performed by the user attempting NFC communication.

The wireless connection process is a process that starts when the power of the MFC 1 is turned on, for example, and is then repeatedly executed at regular intervals (for example, about every 1 second).
In the wireless connection process, as shown in FIG. 3, it is first determined whether or not the terminal device 5 possessed by the user has approached the MFC 1 (S10). In this process, the NFC communication unit 26 determines that the terminal device 5 has approached when any signal is detected. The certain signal may be a normal signal that can be discriminated, or may be an abnormal signal that cannot be discriminated such as noise.

  If the terminal device 5 possessed by the user is not approaching the MFC 1 (S10: NO), the process returns to S10. If the terminal device 5 possessed by the user is approaching the MFC 1 (S10: YES), the AOSS mode in which the wireless connection is attempted by the AOSS in the automatic wireless setting mode is started (S15).

  Then, an NFC connection process is performed (S20). In NFC connection processing, when communication by NFC (NFC communication) is possible, authentication information (wireless profile) that is information for performing wireless LAN connection using this communication is acquired, and wireless LAN connection is performed using this authentication information. It is a process to try.

  In the NFC connection process, as shown in FIG. 4, it is first determined whether authentication information has been acquired by NFC (S85). If authentication information can be acquired by NFC (S85: YES), the received authentication information is set in a wireless profile for wireless LAN connection, and wireless LAN connection is attempted (S90). When such processing ends, the NFC connection processing ends.

  If the authentication information cannot be acquired by NFC (S85: YES), the NFC connection process is immediately terminated. When the NFC connection process ends, the process returns to FIG. 3 to determine whether or not the wireless LAN (WiFi) connection is successful (S25). If the wireless LAN connection is successful (S30: YES), the process proceeds to S40 described later.

  If the wireless LAN connection is not successful (S30: NO), automatic connection mode processing is executed (S30). The automatic connection mode process is a process for establishing a wireless LAN connection in the AOSS mode or the like activated by the above process.

  In the automatic connection mode process, as shown in FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the mode is shifting to the WPS mode or the AOSS mode in which the wireless connection is attempted in the WPS of the automatic wireless setting mode (S110). If shifting to the WPS mode or the AOSS mode (S110: YES), the automatic connection mode process is terminated.

  If it is not in the transition to the WPS mode or the AOSS mode (S110: NO), it is determined whether or not the WPS mode has timed out since the start of the current wireless connection process (S115). If the WPS mode has timed out (S115: YES), the automatic connection mode process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the WPS mode has not timed out (S115: NO), the WPS mode is entered (S120), and the automatic connection mode process is terminated.
[Effects of this embodiment]
The MFC 1 is a wireless communication device (MFC 1) capable of wireless communication with the terminal device (5), and a first wireless communication unit (wireless communication unit 27) capable of wireless communication with the terminal device (5). The second wireless communication unit (NFC communication unit 26), the first wireless communication unit (27), and the second wireless communication unit (26) capable of communicating with the terminal device (5) by short-range wireless communication different from the wireless communication described above. ) And a proximity detection unit (NFC communication unit 26) capable of detecting that the terminal device (5) has approached the wireless communication device (1), and the control unit (10) Uses the approach detection unit (26) to detect that the terminal device (5) has approached the wireless communication device (1), and the terminal device (5) has approached. If this is detected, the first wireless communication unit (27) is connected to the terminal device (5). A communication trial process (S10, S15) for operating the first wireless communication unit (27) in the automatic wireless setting mode for performing connection setting for the first time and attempting communication via the second wireless communication unit (26); When the connection by the first wireless communication unit (27) is established or the communication through the second wireless communication unit (26) is established, the communication validation processing (S20 to S35) for validating the communication established earlier , Is performed.

  According to such a wireless communication device (1), when the terminal device (5) approaches, the second wireless communication unit tries to operate the first wireless communication unit (27) in the automatic wireless setting mode. Since the communication established through (26) is attempted and the communication established earlier is validated, the terminal device (5) can be connected to the device (wireless communication device (1)) by any communication method. Communication with the device (5) can be established. Therefore, the operation | work at the time of connecting with a terminal device (5) can be simplified.

  In the wireless communication device (1), the first wireless communication unit (27) can perform a plurality of automatic wireless setting modes, and the control unit (10) performs communication trial processing (S10, S15). When the first wireless communication unit (27) is operated in an automatic wireless setting mode among a plurality of automatic wireless setting modes and connection is not established in the automatic wireless setting mode, The first wireless communication unit (27) is operated in another automatic wireless setting mode.

  According to such a wireless communication device (1), when the first wireless communication unit (27) can implement a plurality of automatic wireless setting modes, a connection is established using each of the plurality of automatic wireless setting modes. Trying to make it easier to establish a connection.

  In the wireless communication device (1), the approach detection unit (26) and the second wireless communication unit (26) are configured by the same hardware, and the control unit (10) In S10), when noise is detected via the second wireless communication unit (26), it is detected that the terminal device (5) has approached.

  According to such a wireless communication device (1), the second wireless communication unit can be used as a configuration for proximity detection. In general, NFC communication forms a magnetic field every predetermined time. When the terminal device (5) is held over the place where the magnetic field is formed, at least the magnetic field changes, and thus the NFC communication unit 26 detects noise. That is, since this noise can be used as the approach detection of the terminal device (5), the approach of the terminal device (5) can be detected without providing a separate sensor.

  In addition, the wireless communication device (1) includes a display unit (23), and the control unit (10) displays information indicating communication enabled by the communication activation process (S20 to S35) on the display unit. Display processing (S40) to be displayed.

According to such a wireless communication device (1), it is possible to notify the user which communication has become effective.
In the wireless communication device (1), the control unit (10) sets the first wireless communication unit (27) to the automatic wireless setting mode, at least the AOSS (AirStation One-Touch Secure System) mode or the WPS (Wi-Fi). -Control the operation in Fi Protected Setup) mode.

According to such a wireless communication device (1), a wireless network connection can be established with certainty.
In the wireless communication device (1), the control unit (10) obtains connection setting information of the first wireless communication unit (27) via the second wireless communication unit (26). S85) and an acquisition setting process (S90) that attempts to communicate with the first wireless communication unit (27) using the connection setting information acquired in the connection setting acquisition process (S85).

According to such a wireless communication device (1), the connection setting by the first wireless communication unit (27) can be performed using the connection setting acquired through the second wireless communication unit (26).
Further, the MFC 1 is configured as an image forming apparatus (1), and has the configuration as the above-described wireless communication apparatus (1).

  According to such an image forming apparatus (1), since the configuration as the above-described wireless communication apparatus (1) is provided, data exchange for forming an image can be performed with a simple operation.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not construed as being limited by the above embodiment. Moreover, the aspect which abbreviate | omitted a part of structure of said embodiment as long as the subject could be solved is also embodiment of this invention. An aspect configured by appropriately combining the above-described plurality of embodiments is also an embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, all the aspects which can be considered in the limit which does not deviate from the essence of the invention specified only by the wording described in the claims are embodiments of the present invention. Further, the reference numerals used in the description of the above embodiments are also used as appropriate in the description corresponding to the claims, but are used for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the invention according to each claim. It is not intended to limit the technical scope of the claimed invention.

  In the above embodiment, the NFC communication unit 26 is used as a configuration for determining whether or not the terminal device 5 possessed by the user has approached the MFC 1. For example, the NFC communication unit 26 has a different configuration. A certain proximity sensor 28 (see the broken line in FIG. 1) may be provided. As a specific configuration of the proximity sensor 28, any configuration can be adopted as long as the sensor can detect the approach of the terminal device 5, such as an illuminance sensor and a magnetic sensor.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... MFC, 10 ... Control part, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... Memory, 21 ... Input part, 22 ... Image formation part, 23 ... Display part, 26 ... NFC communication part, 27 ... Wireless communication part, 28 ... Proximity sensor.

Claims (7)

A wireless communication device capable of wireless communication with a terminal device,
A first wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with the terminal device;
A second wireless communication unit capable of short-range wireless communication different from the wireless communication with the terminal device;
A control unit for controlling the first wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit;
An approach detection unit capable of detecting that the terminal device has approached a wireless communication device;
With
The controller is
An approach detection process for detecting that the terminal device has approached the wireless communication device using the approach detection unit;
When it is detected that the terminal device is approaching, the first wireless communication unit is operated in an automatic wireless setting mode for performing connection setting for connecting the first wireless communication unit to the terminal device, and 2 communication trial processing that attempts to communicate via the wireless communication unit;
When the connection by the first wireless communication unit is established, or when communication through the second wireless communication unit is established, a communication validation process for validating the communication established earlier;
A wireless communication apparatus. The wireless communication device according to claim 1,
The first wireless communication unit can implement a plurality of automatic wireless setting modes,
In the communication trial function, when the first wireless communication unit is operated in an automatic wireless setting mode among the plurality of automatic wireless setting modes and a connection is not established in the automatic wireless setting mode, the plurality of automatic wirelesss The wireless communication device, wherein the first wireless communication unit is operated in another automatic wireless setting mode among the setting modes. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The approach detection unit and the second wireless communication unit are configured by the same hardware,
The said control part detects that the said terminal device approached, when the noise was detected via the said 2nd wireless communication part in the said approach detection process. The radio | wireless communication apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the radio | wireless communication apparatus of any one of Claims 1-3,
With a display,
The controller is
A wireless communication apparatus comprising: a display process for displaying information indicating communication validated by the communication validation process on the display unit. In the radio | wireless communication apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4,
The controller is
The first wireless communication unit is controlled to operate in at least AOSS (AirStation One-Touch Secure System; registered trademark) mode or WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup; registered trademark) mode as the automatic wireless setting mode. A wireless communication device. In the radio | wireless communication apparatus of any one of Claims 1-5,
The controller is
A connection setting acquisition process for acquiring connection setting information of the first wireless communication unit via the second wireless communication unit;
An acquisition setting process that attempts to communicate with the first wireless communication unit using the connection setting information acquired in the connection setting acquisition process;
A wireless communication apparatus. An image forming apparatus having a wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with a terminal device,
An image forming apparatus comprising the wireless communication device according to claim 1 as the wireless communication unit.

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