JP2017011512A - Terminal, system, and communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a general terminal cannot sufficiently reduce the useless execution of a connection procedure during performing terminal-to-terminal communication with a terminal around by using a plurality of communication methods.SOLUTION: A terminal includes a storage part for storing prescribed first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in an own terminal, and a connection part for executing a prescribed connection procedure for making a connection to another terminal about the communication method enabled in common to both inputted second communication method information indicating a communication enabled in the another terminal and the first communication method information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal, a system, and a communication method, and more particularly, to a terminal, a system, and a communication method that perform communication between terminals.

  In general, a terminal that performs communication between terminals with peripheral terminals is known. A terminal that performs inter-terminal communication is compatible with several communication methods, and performs a predetermined connection procedure for each communication method to attempt to establish a connection with a peripheral terminal. When a connection is established, a terminal that performs inter-terminal communication performs inter-terminal communication with a peripheral terminal using a communication method in which the connection is established. The predetermined connection procedure is defined in the standard or the like for each communication method, and includes a procedure for searching for a peripheral terminal and a connection request to the peripheral terminal detected by the search.

  Further, it is also known that a terminal that performs the above-described inter-terminal communication is turned ON / OFF (validated / invalidated) by a user. Generally, the user sets ON / OFF (validation / invalidation) of each communication method from the terminal screen to the terminal. A terminal that performs inter-terminal communication performs a connection procedure for a communication method that is turned on (enabled), and if a connection is established, performs communication between the terminals using the communication method.

  In addition, although it is not a terminal which performs communication between terminals, the related technique is disclosed by the following patent documents 1. FIG.

  The terminal of Patent Document 1 is a terminal that communicates with a base station, and corresponds to the first wireless communication system and the second wireless communication system. The first wireless communication method is a wireless communication method with a narrow cover area but high throughput, and the second wireless communication method is a wireless communication method with low throughput but a wide cover area. The terminal of Patent Literature 1 determines a wireless communication method for performing communication with a base station based on priority information received from a server to be connected. For example, when the received priority information includes information indicating “no movement”, the terminal of Patent Literature 1 determines that the first wireless communication method is a communication method for performing communication. To do. In the case where the received priority information includes information indicating “there is movement”, the terminal of Patent Literature 1 determines the above-described second wireless communication method as a communication method for performing communication. The terminal of Patent Literature 1 communicates with the base station using the determined communication method.

  As described above, the terminal disclosed in Patent Literature 1 can communicate with the base station using a wireless communication method suitable for the user's operation (own movement state).

JP 2014-127890 A

  However, general terminals including terminals of Patent Document 1 (hereinafter referred to as “terminals of Patent Document 1”, etc.) are uselessly connected when performing inter-terminal communication with peripheral terminals using a plurality of communication methods. There was a problem that execution of the procedure could not be sufficiently reduced.

  This is because a terminal such as Patent Document 1 performs a connection procedure for a communication method that is turned on, but at that time, a peripheral terminal performs the connection procedure without knowing whether the communication method is turned on. is there. For example, even if the communication method is OFF (invalidated) in the peripheral terminals, the terminal of Patent Document 1 or the like executes a connection procedure for the communication method. A terminal such as Patent Document 1 has wastefully executed a connection procedure in which a connection is not established. For this reason, the terminals of Patent Document 1 and the like have not been able to sufficiently reduce the unnecessary execution of the connection procedure.

  An object of this invention is to provide the terminal, system, and communication method which solve the said subject.

  In order to achieve the above object, the terminal of the present invention is enabled in a storage unit for storing predetermined first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in the own terminal and in another terminal. For connecting the second communication method information indicating the communication method and the first communication method information in common with both of the first communication method information and the other terminal. A connection unit that performs a predetermined connection procedure.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to the present invention is a system in which at least two terminals communicate with each other, and the one terminal has a predetermined first indicating a communication method enabled in its own terminal. Common to both the storage unit for storing communication method information, the input second communication method information indicating the communication method enabled in other terminals, and the first communication method information A connection unit that performs a predetermined connection procedure for connecting to the other terminal with respect to the communication method that is enabled, and the other other terminal includes a plurality of corresponding communication A terminal whose method is enabled or disabled.

  In order to achieve the above object, the communication method of the present invention reads a predetermined first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in the own terminal from the storage means, and is enabled in the other terminals. The other terminal for the communication method that is validated in common for both the input second communication method information indicating the communication method being read and the read first communication method information And a connection step for carrying out a predetermined connection procedure for connecting to.

  According to the present invention, when a terminal performs inter-terminal communication with a peripheral terminal using a plurality of communication methods, it is possible to sufficiently reduce unnecessary execution of a connection procedure.

It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement outline | summary of the terminal in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structural example of the system containing the terminal in the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and an example of the table memorize | stored in a terminal. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the terminal in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structural example of the system containing the terminal in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and an example of the table memorize | stored in a terminal. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the terminal in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the communication system list table memorize | stored in the terminal in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement (operation | movement when a priority item is set) of the terminal in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the terminal in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of operation of a terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

<< First Embodiment >>
[Overview]
The terminals 1 and 2 in the present embodiment are terminals that perform inter-terminal communication with each other as shown in FIG. The terminal 2 is a terminal around the terminal 1. Each of the terminals 1 and 2 includes a table indicating a communication method that is enabled (hereinafter referred to as “ON”).

  The terminal 1 sequentially performs a connection procedure for each communication method that is turned on. When a connection is established with the terminal 2 using one communication method A, the terminal 1 exchanges tables with the terminal 2. After acquiring the table from the terminal 2 by exchange, the terminal 1 is the communication method B that is also turned on in the terminal 2 shown in the acquired table among the remaining communication methods B to D that are not connected. For the communication methods C and D that are not turned on, the connection procedure is not established, so the connection procedure is not performed. As a result, the terminal 1 performs the connection procedure only on the communication method for establishing the connection, and can sufficiently reduce the unnecessary execution of the connection procedure.

  Below, the structure of the system containing the terminals 1 and 2 in this embodiment, the function and operation | movement of each terminal are demonstrated.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the system including the terminals 1 and 2 in this embodiment and the function of each terminal will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a system including the terminals 1 and 2 and an example of a table stored in the terminals according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

(1) Configuration Example of System Including the Terminal in the First Embodiment of the Present Invention As shown in FIG. This is a system for performing communication between terminals via a terminal. The terminal 2 is a terminal around the terminal 1.

  The terminals 1 and 2 of this embodiment include memories 10 and 20 (not shown).

  Hereinafter, functions of the terminals 1 and 2 of the present embodiment will be described. Since the terminals 1 and 2 have the same function, the terminal 1 will be described as a representative.

(2) Function of terminal 1 (2-1) Table storage function The terminal 1 supports several communication methods. The terminal 1 may be compatible with a WiFi (registered trademark) communication method or a Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication method.

  The memory 10 of the terminal 1 indicates whether each communication method supported by the terminal 1 is enabled (hereinafter referred to as “ON”) or disabled (hereinafter referred to as “OFF”). A method list table is set. The communication method list table is a table in which communication method information indicating a communication method is associated with ON / OFF information indicating whether the communication method is OFF or ON. FIG. 2 shows a communication method list table indicating that the communication methods A to D are turned on in the terminal 1 and the communication methods A, B, and E are turned on in the terminal 2. The communication method list table is set in the memory 10 by the user of the terminal 1.

  The communication method list table stored in the terminal 1 (memory 10) is hereinafter referred to as “communication method list table 100” for the sake of explanation, and the communication method list table stored in the terminal 2 (memory 20) is “communication method”. It is assumed that “list table 200”.

(2-2) Connection Function After startup, the terminal 1 sequentially executes a predetermined connection procedure for each communication method that is turned on, and tries to establish a connection with the peripheral terminal 2.

  The predetermined connection procedure described above is stipulated in the standard for each communication method, and includes, for example, a procedure for searching for a peripheral terminal and a connection request to the peripheral terminal detected by the search. For example, the connection procedure related to the WiFi (registered trademark) communication system is defined in IEEE 802.11, and includes a procedure for searching for a peripheral terminal and further transmitting a connection request signal to a terminal detected by the search. . IEEE is an abbreviation for Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

(2-3) Table exchange function The terminal 1 exchanges the communication method list table with the terminal 2 when the connection is established with the terminal 2 for the first time by a certain communication method by the above connection function.

  The table exchange can be realized as shown in (2-3-1) below. In the following (2-3-1), the function of the terminal 2 is also described so that the exchange of signals can be understood, but the function is also provided in the terminal 1.

(2-3-1) Function for Realizing Table Exchange First, when a connection is established with the terminal 2 for the first time, the terminal 1 transmits a signal requesting a table to the terminal 2 as a radio signal. The signal requesting the table includes the communication method list table 100.

  When the terminal 2 extracts the signal requesting the table from the radio signal received from the terminal 1, the terminal 2 holds the communication method list table 100 included in the extracted signal. Further, the terminal 2 transmits the communication method list table 200 stored in the memory 20 to the terminal 1 as a radio signal.

  When the terminal 1 extracts the communication method list table 200 from the radio signal received from the terminal 2, the terminal 1 holds the extracted communication method list table 200. In order to hold the information, the terminals 1 and 2 may temporarily write the communication method list tables 100 and 200 in a memory provided in the terminals.

(2-4) Function to Connect with Communication Method that is also ON in Terminal 2 When the terminal 1 holds the communication method list table 200 of the terminal 2, the terminal 1 acquires the communication method list table 100 from the memory 10. The terminal 1 is connected to a communication method that is commonly turned on in the acquired communication method list table 100 and the communication method list table 200 of the terminal 2 that is held (however, a communication method that does not perform the connection procedure). Perform the procedure. As a result, the terminal 1 can execute the connection procedure for the communication method that is also ON in the terminal 2.

  The terminal 1 performs inter-terminal communication with the terminal 2 using each communication method with which a connection has been established.

(2-5) ON / OFF function In the terminals 1 and 2, each communication method is turned ON / OFF (validated / invalidated). May be.

  First, the terminal 1 includes a wireless circuit that performs communication using the communication method for each corresponding communication method. In the communication method list table, the terminal 1 supplies power to a wireless circuit that performs communication using the communication method for an ON communication method, and performs communication using the communication method for a communication method that is OFF. Stop supplying power to the radio circuit.

(2-6) Circuits Used for Realizing Functions The memories 10 and 20 described above may be memories such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). Further, the terminal 1 can be realized by using a wireless circuit that performs communication by each communication method, a memory such as a RAM, and a control circuit. The control circuit described above may be realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an application that operates on the CPU, and an electronic circuit. The above-described wireless circuit can be realized using an antenna, a high-frequency circuit, a mixer that converts a high-frequency signal into a baseband signal, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and an FPGA. FPGA is an abbreviation for Field-Programmable Gate Array.

[Description of operation]
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the terminals 1 and 2 in the first embodiment of the present invention. The detailed operation of the terminals 1 and 2 according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the communication method list table 100 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the memory 10 of the terminal 1 and the communication method list table 200 is stored in the memory 20 of the terminal 2. Further, it is assumed that the terminal 2 has already been activated.

(1) Description of Operation First, although not shown, the terminal 1 executes connection procedures in order for each of the communication methods A to D that are turned on after startup, and establishes a connection with the peripheral terminal 2. Try.

  It is assumed that, while the terminal 1 is performing the connection procedure for each of the communication methods A to D, establishment of a connection with the terminal 2 is established using a certain communication method. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the connection with the terminal 2 is established by the communication method A (S1), and the terminal 1 can communicate with the terminal 2.

  When the connection is established by the communication method A, the terminal 1 transmits a signal for requesting a table to the terminal 2 by a wireless signal of the communication method A (S2). At this time, the terminal 1 transmits the signal requesting the table including the communication method list table 100. This is to exchange the communication method list table.

  Next, when the terminal 2 receives a radio signal from the terminal 1 and extracts a signal requesting a table from the received radio signal, the terminal 2 uses the communication method list table 200 stored in the memory 20 included in the terminal 2 as a radio signal. 1 (S3). The terminal 2 may extract and store the communication method list table 100 included in the signal requesting the table after S3.

  Next, when the terminal 1 extracts the communication method list table 200 from the radio signal received from the terminal 2, the terminal 1 holds the extracted communication method list table 200 (S4). To hold means to temporarily write in the memory provided in the terminal 1.

  Through the processing of S1 to S4 described above, the terminal 1 can exchange the communication method list table with the terminal 2, and can hold the communication method list table 200, that is, information indicating the communication method turned on in the terminal 2.

  Next, the terminal 1 is a communication method that is commonly turned on in the communication method list table 100 stored in the memory 10 and the communication method list table 200 held in S4 (however, communication that has not been connected) System) The connection procedure is performed for each (S5).

  Specifically, the terminal 1 is communication method information common to both of the communication method list tables 100 and 200, and communication method information associated with ON / OFF information indicating ON (communication method performing a connection procedure). (Communication method information other than the communication method information indicating A) is extracted. In the communication method list tables 100 and 200 shown in FIG. 2, the corresponding communication method information is communication method information indicating the communication method B. The terminal 1 extracts communication method information indicating the communication method B. The terminal 1 performs a connection procedure for the communication method B indicated by the extracted communication method information.

  Communication system B is a communication system that is also turned on in terminal 2. Therefore, the terminal 1 can establish a connection even with the communication method B. The communication method B described above may be a WiFi communication method. In this case, the connection procedure is a procedure defined in IEEE 802.11.

  In S5, when not only the communication method information indicating the communication method B but also some other communication method information is extracted, the terminal 1 performs the connection procedure for each extracted communication method information.

  Next, the terminal 1 performs inter-terminal communication with the terminal 2 using the plurality of communication methods A and B that have established connections (S6).

  As described in the processes of S1 to S6, the terminal 1 can perform inter-terminal communication using a plurality of communication methods A and B.

(2) Communication method and number of terminals Note that the communication methods A to D and E described above are communication methods other than the WiFi communication method, that is, Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication method, Zigbee (registered trademark) communication method, LTE ( Long Term Evolution) Direct or the like may be used. The communication systems A to D and E to which the terminals 1 and 2 correspond may be any communication system as long as it is a communication system that performs communication between terminals.

  Further, the terminal 1 of the present embodiment is not limited to one terminal 2 as a terminal to be connected for performing inter-terminal communication. The terminal 1 of the present embodiment may connect inter-terminal communication similarly to terminals other than the terminal 2.

[Description of effects]
According to the present embodiment, when the terminal 1 performs inter-terminal communication with the peripheral terminal 2 using a plurality of communication methods, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the useless connection procedure.

  The reason will be described below.

  First, the terminal 1 of the present embodiment performs a connection procedure for a communication method that is turned on in both the terminals 1 and 2, and a communication method that is not turned on in both the terminals 1 and 2 (for example, communication methods C and D). For), the connection procedure is not established, so the connection procedure is not implemented. As a result, the terminal 1 according to the present embodiment performs the connection procedure by focusing on the communication method in which the connection is established. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the unnecessary execution of the connection procedure.

<< Second Embodiment >>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  After exchanging the communication method list tables, the terminals 3 and 4 of the second embodiment are all turned on (enabled) for communication methods supported by both the terminals 3 and 4 (even if they are turned off). Terminal. Since the terminals 3 and 4 of the second embodiment turn ON the communication method that was initially turned OFF, it is possible to perform inter-terminal communication with more communication methods than the terminal of the first embodiment. In addition, each terminal 3 and 4 of this embodiment turns OFF (invalidates) all the communication systems which one or both of the terminals 3 and 4 do not support so that a connection procedure is not performed wastefully.

  The configuration and operation of the system including the terminals 3 and 4 according to the second embodiment will be described below. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a system including the terminals 3 and 4 and an example of a table stored in the terminals according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of configuration]
(1) Configuration of a system including terminals of the second embodiment As shown in FIG. 4, a system including the terminals 3 and 4 of the second embodiment includes terminals 3 and 4 via wireless lines. This is a system for performing communication between terminals. The terminal 4 is a terminal around the terminal 3. Although not shown, each of the terminals 3 and 4 includes memories 30 and 40 instead of the memories 10 and 20.

  The memory 30 stores a communication method list table 300 shown in FIG. 4, and the memory 40 stores a communication method list table 400 shown in FIG.

(2) Functions of Terminals 3 and 4 Since the terminals 3 and 4 have the same functions, the terminal 3 will be described as a representative.

  When the terminal 3 extracts the communication method list table 400 from the received radio signal, the communication method information common to the extracted communication method list table 400 and the communication method list table 300 stored in the memory (hereinafter “common”). "Communication method information"). The terminal 3 rewrites all ON / OFF information associated with the extracted common communication method information in the communication method list table 300 to ON (information indicating). Further, the terminal 3 rewrites all ON / OFF information associated with communication method information other than the extracted common communication method information to OFF (information indicating) in the communication method list table 300.

  Since the configurations and functions other than those described above are the same as those of the terminals 1 and 2 in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted.

[Description of operation]
Next, the operation of the terminals 3 and 4 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the terminals 3 and 4 in the second embodiment of the present invention.

(1) Operation of Terminals 3 and 4 of the Second Embodiment First, when the terminal 4 extracts the communication method list table 300 from the received radio signal (signal requesting a table) in S3, the following S10 and S11 are performed. Perform the process.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the terminal 4 transmits communication method information (that is, common communication method information) common to the extracted communication method list table 300 and the communication method list table 400 stored in the memory. Extract (S10).

  Next, the terminal 4 rewrites all ON / OFF information associated with the extracted common communication method information in the communication method list table 400 to ON (information indicating (S11)).

  Further, the terminal 4 rewrites all the ON / OFF information associated with the communication method information other than the extracted common communication method information in the communication method list table 400 to OFF (information indicating (S12)).

  Next, according to the ON / OFF information of the (rewritten) communication method list table 400, the terminal 4 turns on (enables) or turns off (invalidates) each communication method corresponding to itself (S13).

  Specifically, in the communication method list table 400, the terminal 4 turns ON for the communication method indicated by the communication method information associated with the information indicating ON, and the communication method information associated with the information indicating OFF. The communication method shown is OFF. As described in the above “(2-5) ON / OFF function”, the terminal 4 supplies power to the wireless circuit according to each communication method or stops the ON / OFF of each communication method. It may be realized with.

  Through the above-described S10 to S13, the terminal 4 rewrites the communication method list table 400 stored in the memory 40 to the communication method list table 401 shown in FIG. A, B, and C are turned ON (enabled). Communication methods B and C are turned ON from OFF.

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the terminal 4 transmits a communication method list table 401 stored in the memory 40 included in the terminal 4 as a wireless signal to the terminal 3 (S14).

  Next, the terminal 3 performs the above-described S3, and extracts the communication method list table 401 from the radio signal received from the terminal 4 (S4).

  Next, the terminal 3 performs S15 to S18 which are the same processes as S10 to S14.

  That is, the terminal 3 extracts common communication method information (that is, common communication method information) between the communication method list table 401 extracted in S4 and the communication method list table 300 stored in the memory (S15).

  Next, the terminal 3 rewrites all ON / OFF information associated with the extracted common communication method information in the communication method list table 300 to ON (information indicating) (S16).

  Next, the terminal 3 rewrites all the ON / OFF information associated with communication method information other than the extracted common communication method information to OFF (information indicating) in the communication method list table 300 (S17).

  Next, according to the ON / OFF information of the (rewritten) communication method list table 300, the terminal 3 turns on (enables) or turns off (invalidates) each communication method that it corresponds to (S18).

  Specifically, in the (rewritten) communication method list table 300, the terminal 3 is turned on for the communication method indicated by the communication method information associated with the information indicating ON, and is associated with the information indicating OFF. The communication method indicated by the communication method information is turned off.

  Through the above-described S15 to S18, the terminal 3 rewrites the communication method list table 300 stored in the memory 30 to the communication method list table 301 shown in FIG. B and C are turned ON (validated). Communication system C is turned ON from OFF.

  Thereafter, the terminal 3 performs S5, and performs a predetermined connection procedure for each of the communication methods B and C that are commonly supported by the terminals 3 and 4 (S5).

  The terminal 3 establishes a connection for the communication methods B and C that are turned on in common with the terminal 4.

  Next, the terminal 3 communicates with the terminal 4 using the communication methods A, B, and C that have established the connection (S19).

  Through the above-described S10 to S19, the terminals 3 and 4 turn on the communication systems B and C that were initially turned off, and the terminals have more communication systems A, B, and C than the terminals 1 and 2 of the first embodiment. Perform inter-communication. Since the terminals 3 and 4 use more communication methods than the terminals 1 and 2, more data can be transmitted and received.

  Since other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

(2) Selection of Communication Method for Transmitting Data FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of a communication method list table stored in the terminal 3 according to the second embodiment.

  As a variation of the operation, the terminal 3 may perform communication by selecting the communication method with the highest capability (for example, the communication method with the fastest communication speed) from among the plurality of communication methods with which the connection has been established. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal 3 may include a communication method list table in which information indicating the capability of the communication method is associated with each communication method information. Information indicating capability (hereinafter referred to as “capability information”) includes a communication speed, power consumption, a packet loss rate, and the like. In that case, a priority item indicating which of the communication system capability information is to be selected with priority is also set in the terminal 3 by the user.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the terminal 3 (operation when priority items are set) in the second embodiment.

  When the priority item is set, as shown in FIG. 7, the terminal 3 selects the communication method having the highest capability from the communication method list table among the plurality of communication methods that have established the connection after the above-described S5. Select (S20).

  As an example of S20, when the priority item indicates a communication speed, the terminal 3 selects a communication method with the fastest communication speed from a plurality of communication methods with which a connection has been established from the communication method list table.

  As another example of S20, when the priority item is power consumption or packet loss rate, the terminal 3 uses the communication method with the lowest power consumption or packet loss rate among a plurality of communication methods that have established a connection. Is selected from the communication method list table.

  As another example of S20, when the priority items are the communication speed and the power consumption, the terminal 3 has the fastest communication speed and the lowest power consumption among the plurality of communication methods that have established the connection. Select the communication method from the communication method list table. Note that the terminal 3 can arbitrarily select either the communication method with the fastest communication speed or the lowest power consumption when there is no communication method with the fastest communication speed and the lowest power consumption. Good. At this time, the terminal 3 can also preferentially select the communication method with the fastest communication speed.

  The terminal 3 performs inter-terminal communication with the terminal 4 using the selected communication method, and transmits data (S21).

  As described above in S20 and S21, the terminal 3 may select one communication method and perform communication as one variation.

[Description of effects]
According to this embodiment, like the terminals 1 and 2 of the first embodiment, the terminals 3 and 4 perform the connection procedure for the communication methods that are turned on, and do not perform the connection procedure for the communication methods that are not. . As a result, similarly to the terminals 1 and 2 of the first embodiment, the terminals 3 and 4 perform the connection procedure only on the communication method for establishing the connection, and can sufficiently reduce the unnecessary execution of the connection procedure. .

  Furthermore, since the terminals 3 and 4 of the present embodiment turn on the communication method that is commonly supported by the terminals 3 and 4 even if they are initially turned off, the terminals 1 and 2 of the first embodiment are turned on. Communication between terminals can be performed with more communication methods.

  Note that the terminals 3 and 4 of this embodiment perform more connection procedures than the terminals 1 and 2 for the communication method that is turned on, but this is a connection procedure for establishing a connection. Absent. Similarly to the terminals 1 and 2 of the first embodiment, the terminals 3 and 4 of the present embodiment can sufficiently reduce the use of the connection procedure by performing the connection procedure only on the communication method that establishes the connection.

  Furthermore, since the terminals 3 and 4 of this embodiment can perform inter-terminal communication with more communication methods than the terminals 1 and 2, the communication band can be increased and more data can be transmitted. Furthermore, since the terminals 3 and 4 perform communication using more communication methods, it is possible to improve the fault tolerance of the communication path.

<< Third Embodiment >>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a system including a terminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The configuration and operation of the system including the terminal according to the third embodiment will be described below.

[Description of configuration]
(1) Configuration of system including terminal of third embodiment As shown in FIG. 8, a system including a terminal 5 of the third embodiment is a system in which (at least) two terminals 5 and 6 communicate with each other. It is. The terminal 6 is a terminal around the terminal 5.

  Terminals 5 and 6 correspond to several communication methods. Each communication method is enabled or disabled by a user or the like. The plurality of communication methods may be, for example, a WiFi communication method, a Bluetooth communication method, or the like.

  The terminal 5 described above includes a storage unit 51 and a connection unit 52. The connection unit 52 is connected to the terminal 6 via a wireless line.

(3) Functions of Each Part of the Terminals 5 and 6 The storage unit 51 of the terminal 5 stores first communication method information 55 indicating the communication method enabled in the terminal 5 itself. In addition, the terminal 5 receives second communication method information 65 indicating a communication method enabled in the other terminal 6. The first communication method information 55 may be set in the storage unit 51 by the user of the terminal 5. The communication method information 65 described above may also be input to the terminal 5 by the user of the terminal 5.

  The connection unit 52 of the terminal 5 uses the communication method that is enabled in common for both the input second communication method information 65 and the first communication method information 55 stored in the storage unit 51. A predetermined connection procedure for connecting to the (other) terminal 6 is performed.

[Description of operation]
Next, the operation of the terminals 5 and 6 of this embodiment will be described.

  Hereinafter, the communication methods A, B, and C are enabled (hereinafter referred to as “ON”) in the terminal 5, and the storage unit 51 of the terminal 5 sets the communication methods A, B, and C (which are turned ON). It is assumed that the first communication method information 55 shown is stored. Further, it is assumed that communication methods A and C are turned on in the terminal 6.

  Then, it is assumed that the user of the terminal 5 inputs the second communication method information 65 indicating the communication methods A and C turned on in the terminal 6 to the connection unit 52 of the terminal 5.

  When the communication method information 65 is input, the connection unit 52 of the terminal 5 is common to both the input second communication method information 65 and the first communication method information 55 stored in the storage unit 51. The connection procedure is executed for the communication methods A and C that have been validated.

  The communication methods A and C described above are communication methods that are turned on in both the terminals 5 and 6. As a result of the above connection procedure, the connection unit 52 of the terminal 5 can establish a connection for the communication methods A and C, and can communicate with the terminal 6 using the plurality of communication methods A and C. The connection unit 52 does not perform a connection procedure for the communication method B that is turned off in the terminal 6.

[Description of effects]
According to the present embodiment, when the terminal 5 performs inter-terminal communication with the peripheral terminal 6 using a plurality of communication methods, it is possible to sufficiently reduce unnecessary execution of the connection procedure.

  The reason will be described below.

  First, the terminal 5 of the present embodiment performs a connection procedure for a communication method that is turned on in both the terminals 5 and 6, and a communication method that is not turned on in both the terminals 5 and 6 (for example, communication method B). Since the connection is not established, the connection procedure is not performed. As a result, the terminal according to the present embodiment performs the connection procedure by focusing on the communication method in which the connection is established. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the unnecessary execution of the connection procedure.

  The embodiment described above is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage.

Furthermore, a part or all of each of the above embodiments can be described as in the following supplementary notes, but is not limited thereto.
(Appendix 1)
A storage unit for storing predetermined first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in the terminal;
For the communication method that is enabled in common for both the input second communication method information indicating the communication method enabled in other terminals and the first communication method information, A connection unit for performing a predetermined connection procedure for connecting to the other terminal,
A terminal characterized by that.
(Appendix 2)
The connection unit sequentially performs the connection procedure for each of the communication methods enabled in its own terminal, and when the connection unit is connected to the other terminal using the one communication method, the connection unit is stored in the other terminal. The second communication method information is acquired, and the connection procedure that is enabled in common for both the acquired second communication method information and the first communication method information is not performed. Implementing the connection procedure for the communication method;
The terminal according to supplementary note 1, wherein:
(Appendix 3)
When the connection unit is connected to the other terminal, the connection unit transmits a request signal requesting the second communication method information to the other terminal, and the first terminal returned from the other terminal in response to the transmission. 2 communication method information is received,
The terminal according to supplementary note 2, characterized by:
(Appendix 4)
The connection unit transmits the request signal including the first communication method information, and both the second communication method information returned in response to the transmission and the first communication method information. Enabling the common communication method in the terminal, and storing the first communication method information indicating that the common communication method is enabled in the storage unit,
The terminal according to supplementary note 3, characterized by:
(Appendix 5)
The first communication method information is information in which capability information indicating the capability of the communication method is associated with each communication method,
The connection unit communicates with the other terminal using the communication method having the highest capability indicated by the capability information among the communication methods connected to the other terminal.
The terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, characterized in that:
(Appendix 6)
A system in which at least two terminals communicate;
One of the terminals is the terminal according to any one of appendices 1 to 5,
Another other said terminal is a terminal in which a plurality of corresponding communication methods are enabled or disabled,
A system characterized by that.
(Appendix 7)
The other terminal stores the second communication method information, and when the request signal is received from the terminal according to any one of appendices 3 to 5, the second communication method information is returned to the terminal. With a reply part
When the reply unit extracts the first communication method information from the received request signal, the reply unit sets the communication method common to the first communication method information and the second communication method information to the other communication method. And the second communication method information indicating that the common communication method is enabled is returned.
The system according to appendix 6, characterized by:
(Appendix 8)
A reading step of reading out predetermined first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in the own terminal from the storage means;
The communication method that is enabled in common for both the input second communication method information indicating the communication method enabled in another terminal and the read first communication method information A connection step for performing a predetermined connection procedure for connecting to the other terminal.
A communication method characterized by the above.
(Appendix 9)
In the connection step, the connection procedure is sequentially performed for each of the communication methods enabled in the own terminal, and is stored in the other terminal when connected to the other terminal by the one communication method. The second communication method information is acquired, and the connection procedure that is enabled in common for both the acquired second communication method information and the first communication method information is performed. Performing the connection procedure for the communication method not
The communication method according to appendix 8, characterized by:
(Appendix 10)
A reply step of returning the second communication method information stored in the other terminal to the own terminal when receiving a request signal for requesting the second communication method information;
In the connection step, the request signal is transmitted when connected to the other terminal, and the second communication method information returned in response to the transmission is received.
The communication method according to appendix 9, wherein
(Appendix 11)
In the connection step, the request signal is transmitted including the first communication method information,
In the replying step, when the first communication method information is extracted from the received request signal, the common communication method is used for the first communication method information and the second communication method information. Enabled in another terminal, and returns the second communication method information indicating that the common communication method is enabled to the own terminal,
The communication method according to supplementary note 10, characterized by:
(Appendix 12)
In the connection step, the communication method that is common to both the second communication method information returned by the transmission and the first communication method information is enabled in the own terminal, and further, the common communication method is used. Storing the first communication method information indicating that the communication method is enabled;
The communication method according to appendix 11, wherein:
(Appendix 13)
The first communication method information is information in which capability information indicating the capability of the communication method is associated with each communication method,
In the connection step, among the communication methods connected to the other terminal, communicate with the other terminal using the communication method having the highest capability indicated by the capability information.
13. The communication method according to any one of appendices 8 to 12, characterized in that:
(Appendix 14)
The capability is any one or a combination of communication speed, power consumption, and packet loss rate.
14. The communication method according to appendix 13, wherein
(Appendix 15)
The capability is any one or a combination of communication speed, power consumption, and packet loss rate.
The terminal according to appendix 5, characterized in that:
(Appendix 16)
The plurality of communication methods include a combination of WiFi communication method, Bluetooth communication method, Zigbee communication method, or LTE (Long Term Evolution) Direct,
The terminal according to any one of supplementary notes 1 to 5, or the supplementary note 15, characterized by:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Terminal 10, 20, 30, 40 Memory 51 Storage unit 52 Connection unit 55, 65 Communication method information 100, 200, 300, 400, 301, 401 Communication method list table

Claims (10)

A storage unit for storing predetermined first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in the terminal;
For the communication method that is enabled in common for both the input second communication method information indicating the communication method enabled in other terminals and the first communication method information, A connection unit for performing a predetermined connection procedure for connecting to the other terminal,
A terminal characterized by that. The connection unit sequentially performs the connection procedure for each of the communication methods enabled in its own terminal, and when the connection unit is connected to the other terminal using the one communication method, the connection unit is stored in the other terminal. The second communication method information is acquired, and the connection procedure that is enabled in common for both the acquired second communication method information and the first communication method information is not performed. Implementing the connection procedure for the communication method;
The terminal according to claim 1. When the connection unit is connected to the other terminal, the connection unit transmits a request signal requesting the second communication method information to the other terminal, and the first terminal returned from the other terminal in response to the transmission. 2 communication method information is received,
The terminal according to claim 2. The connection unit transmits the request signal including the first communication method information, and both the second communication method information returned in response to the transmission and the first communication method information. Enabling the common communication method in the terminal, and storing the first communication method information indicating that the common communication method is enabled in the storage unit,
The terminal according to claim 3. The first communication method information is information in which capability information indicating the capability of the communication method is associated with each communication method,
The connection unit communicates with the other terminal using the communication method having the highest capability indicated by the capability information among the communication methods connected to the other terminal.
The terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: A system in which at least two terminals communicate;
One said terminal is a terminal of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5,
Another other said terminal is a terminal in which a plurality of corresponding communication methods are enabled or disabled,
A system characterized by that. The other terminal stores the second communication method information, and when the request signal is received from the terminal according to any one of claims 3 to 5, the second communication method information is stored in the terminal. It has a reply part to reply,
When the reply unit extracts the first communication method information from the received request signal, the reply unit sets the communication method common to the first communication method information and the second communication method information to the other communication method. And the second communication method information indicating that the common communication method is enabled is returned.
The system according to claim 6. A reading step of reading out predetermined first communication method information indicating a communication method enabled in the own terminal from the storage means;
The communication method that is enabled in common for both the input second communication method information indicating the communication method enabled in another terminal and the read first communication method information A connection step for performing a predetermined connection procedure for connecting to the other terminal.
A communication method characterized by the above. In the connection step, the connection procedure is sequentially performed for each of the communication methods enabled in the own terminal, and is stored in the other terminal when connected to the other terminal by the one communication method. The second communication method information is acquired, and the connection procedure that is enabled in common for both the acquired second communication method information and the first communication method information is performed. Performing the connection procedure for the communication method not
The communication method according to claim 8. A reply step of returning the second communication method information stored in the other terminal to the own terminal when receiving a request signal for requesting the second communication method information;
In the connection step, the request signal is transmitted when connected to the other terminal, and the second communication method information returned in response to the transmission is received.
The communication method according to claim 9.