JP2018074385A - Communication device, control method of the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in which, when an NFC tag is used for an authentication function, authentication information is written in the NFC tag, but when the authentication information is written in the NFC tag, communication information originally held by the NFC tag is deleted.SOLUTION: When authentication information is written in an NFC tag of a communication device, the communication device executes authentication processing. When the authentication processing is completed, the communication device re-stores communication information in the NFC tag.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device, a communication device control method, and a program.

  NFC (Near Field Communication) is known as non-contact proximity wireless communication. A communication device such as a printing device or a digital camera includes an NFC tag that supports NFC, and performs close proximity wireless communication with an external device such as a smartphone that supports NFC. As a method of using an NFC tag, Patent Document 1 discloses that a communication device holds communication information (IP address of a communication device) in an NFC tag, and a smartphone reads the communication information from the NFC tag. The smartphone that has read the communication information from the NFC tag transmits data with the IP address included in the communication information as a destination.

JP2015-173354A

  Some communication devices have an authentication function for logging a user into the communication device. In this authentication function, use of an NFC tag has been studied. When an NFC tag is used in the authentication function, the smartphone writes authentication information (for example, a user name and password) to the NFC tag of the communication device. The communication device executes authentication processing based on the authentication information written in the NFC tag.

  However, when the authentication information is written in the memory of the NFC tag, the communication information originally retained by the NFC tag is overwritten, and the communication information is deleted from the NFC tag. Therefore, when a certain user logs in to the communication device using the NFC tag of the communication device, other users cannot acquire communication information from the NFC tag.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism by which an external device such as a smartphone can acquire communication information from an NFC tag even when the NFC tag is used for an authentication function.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a communication device provided by the present invention includes an NFC tag, a control unit that stores communication information for an external device to communicate with the communication device, and an external device. And authentication means for executing an authentication process for logging the user into the communication device based on the written authentication information when authentication information is written in the NFC tag, and the control means includes the NFC When the communication information is deleted from the NFC tag due to information being written to the tag, the communication information is stored again in the NFC tag.

  According to the present invention, even when an NFC tag is used for an authentication function, an external device such as a smartphone can acquire communication information from the NFC tag.

It is a figure which shows a communication system. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printing apparatus 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an NFC tag 210. FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the portable terminal 110. It is a figure which shows the screen which the portable terminal 110 displays. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed when the printing apparatus 100 is activated. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the printing apparatus 100 when information is written to an NFC tag 210. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed by the printing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the printing apparatus when a user logs out from the printing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the printing apparatus when the power of the printing apparatus is turned off.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention.

(Embodiment)
First, the communication system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The communication system according to the present embodiment includes a printing apparatus 100, a mobile terminal 110, and an access point 120. The printing apparatus 100 and the mobile terminal 110 are each connected to an access point 120 and perform wireless LAN communication via the access point 120.

  The printing apparatus 100 supports NFC (Near Field Communication), and includes an NFC tag 210 for performing near field communication based on NFC. The printing apparatus 100 stores communication information for the mobile terminal 110 to communicate with the printing apparatus 100 in the NFC tag 210. The communication information is, for example, the IP address of the printing apparatus 100.

  Similar to the printing apparatus 100, the mobile terminal 110 also supports NFC. The portable terminal 110 can read communication information from the NFC tag 210 provided in the printing apparatus 100 and can specify the IP address of the printing apparatus 100 from the read communication information. Then, the mobile terminal 110 transmits print data to the printing apparatus 100 using the specified IP address as the destination address. The printing apparatus 100 that has received the print data executes a printing process on the sheet.

  As will be described in detail later, the mobile terminal 110 writes authentication information to the NFC tag 210 provided in the printing apparatus 100. The printing apparatus 100 performs authentication processing using the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210. When the authentication process is completed, the printing apparatus 100 deletes the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210 and causes the NFC tag 210 to hold the communication information again.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the printing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 201 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 202 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the printing apparatus 100. The ROM 202 stores a control program. The RAM 203 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and a work area for the CPU 201. The HDD 204 is a non-volatile storage medium that stores various data.

  In the printing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, one CPU 201 executes each process shown in a flowchart described below, but other modes may be used. For example, a plurality of CPUs can cooperate to execute each process shown in a flowchart described later. Also, a part of the processing of the flowchart described later may be executed using a hardware circuit such as an ASIC.

  The printer 205 executes print processing on a sheet based on print data received by the wireless LAN I / F 208 or the network I / F 209. The scanner 206 reads a document placed on the user and generates a document image. The document image generated by the scanner 206 is printed by the printer 205 (copy processing) or accumulated in the HDD 204.

  The operation unit 207 includes a display having a touch panel function and various hardware keys, and the display of the operation unit 207 displays various operation screens. A user can input instructions and information to the printing apparatus 100 via the operation unit 207.

  The wireless LAN I / F 208 executes wireless LAN communication such as IEEE802.11a / b / g / n / ac. A network I / F 209 is connected to the network 212 via a LAN cable and communicates with an external device (for example, a PC) on the network 212.

  The NFC tag 210 performs near field communication based on NFC with the mobile terminal 110. The configuration of the NFC tag 210 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The NFC tag 210 includes an NFC controller 301, a memory 302, and an antenna 303. The NFC controller 301 controls the operation of the NFC tag 210 and transmits / receives information to / from the CPU 201 via the bus 211. The antenna 303 performs close proximity wireless communication based on NFC with the mobile terminal 110. The memory 302 is a non-volatile memory that holds information, and is, for example, an EEPROM. The NFC controller 301 stores communication information for the mobile terminal 110 to communicate with the printing apparatus 100 in the memory 302. Information may be written into the memory 302 by the mobile terminal 110. For example, when the user of the mobile terminal 110 wants to log in to the printing apparatus 100, the mobile terminal 110 writes the authentication information in the memory 302 of the NFC tag 210. Since the memory capacity of the memory 302 is small, when the mobile terminal 110 writes information to the memory 302, the communication information originally held in the memory 302 is deleted by overwriting.

  Returning to the description of FIG. Each unit such as the CPU 201, the ROM 202, and the NFC tag 210 is connected to the bus 211, and control signals and data from the CPU 201 are transmitted and received between the units.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 110 will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 401 reads the control program stored in the flash memory 403 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 110. The RAM 402 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory or work area for the CPU 401. The flash memory 403 is a non-volatile storage medium that stores a control program for the mobile terminal 110 and various data such as photographs and electronic documents.

  The operation panel 404 has a touch panel function that can detect a user's touch operation, and displays various screens. The user can input a desired operation instruction to the mobile terminal 110 by inputting a touch operation on the operation panel 404. Note that the mobile terminal 110 includes a hardware key (not shown), and the user can input an operation instruction to the mobile terminal 110 using the hardware key.

  The speaker 405 and the microphone 406 are used when the user makes a call with another portable terminal or a fixed phone. The camera 407 executes imaging according to a user's imaging instruction. A photograph taken by the camera 407 is stored in a predetermined area of the flash memory 403.

  The Bluetooth I / F 408 executes wireless communication based on Bluetooth (registered trademark). The wireless LAN I / F 409 has a wireless LAN function and executes wireless LAN communication such as IEEE802.11a / b / g / n / ac.

  The NFC I / F 410 executes near field communication based on NFC. When the user brings the portable terminal 110 close to (touches) the NFC tag 210, the NFC I / F 410 reads information held by the NFC tag 210 from the NFC tag 210. The NFC I / F 410 can also write information into the NFC tag 210.

  Each unit such as the CPU 401, the flash memory 403, and the NFC I / F 410 is connected to the bus 411, and control signals and data from the CPU 401 are transmitted and received between the units.

  In the present embodiment, the user can log in to the printing apparatus 100 by writing authentication information into the NFC tag 210 of the printing apparatus 100 using the mobile terminal 110. A menu screen 500 in FIG. 5A is a screen provided by an application installed in the mobile terminal 110 and is displayed on the operation panel 404 of the mobile terminal 110. An icon 501, an icon 502, and an icon 503 on the menu screen 500 are icons for using the printing function, scanning function, and authentication function of the printing apparatus 100, respectively. When the user selects (touches) the icons 501 and 502, a print setting screen and a scan setting screen are displayed on the operation panel 404, respectively. Description of the print setting screen and the scan setting screen is omitted.

  A user who wants to log in to the printing apparatus 100 selects the icon 503 on the menu screen 500. When the user selects the icon 503, the operation panel 404 displays a registration screen 510 shown in FIG. The registration screen 510 is a screen provided by an application installed in the mobile terminal 110, and is a screen for registering user information necessary for logging in to the printing apparatus 100 in the mobile terminal 110. The user uses the input area 511 and the input area 512 to input a user name and password. When the user selects the registration button 513, the application of the mobile terminal 110 stores the input user name and password as user information.

  When the registration of user information is completed, the CPU 401 of the mobile terminal 110 generates authentication information to be written to the NFC tag 210 based on the registered user information. The authentication information is information including at least identification information (for example, a character string “Authentication_Data”), a user name, and a password indicating authentication information, and is generated in an NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) format. When the generation of the authentication information is completed, the operation panel 404 displays a writing screen 520 in FIG. The writing screen 520 is a screen provided by an application installed in the mobile terminal 110. When the NFC I / F 410 detects the NFC tag 210 while the writing screen 520 is displayed, the NFC I / F 410 writes the generated authentication information to the NFC tag 210. More specifically, the NFC I / F 410 transmits the authentication information generated to the NFC tag 210 using NFC. The NFC controller 301 that has received the authentication information using the antenna 303 stores the received authentication information in the memory 302. Thereby, the writing of the authentication information to the NFC tag 210 is completed.

  Next, processing executed when the printing apparatus 100 is started will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is processed by the CPU 201 developing the control program stored in the ROM 202 in the RAM 203 and executing it. Note that the printing apparatus 100 may be configured such that at least a part of the steps in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is executed by the CPU 201 and the remaining steps are executed by another CPU (not shown) different from the CPU 201.

  When the printing apparatus 100 is powered on, the printing apparatus 100 executes initialization processing at the time of activation. As part of the initialization process, in step S601, the CPU 201 sets the write prohibition setting to OFF. The write prohibition setting is a setting managed by the NFC tag 210 and is a setting for prohibiting an external device from writing information to the NFC tag 210. If the write prohibition setting is ON, the NFC tag 210 refuses to write information from the external device. On the other hand, when the write prohibition setting is OFF, the NFC tag 210 permits writing of information from the external device. As will be described later, when the power of the printing apparatus 100 is OFF, the write prohibition setting is set to ON. Therefore, when the printing apparatus 100 is activated, the write prohibition setting is set to OFF. The reason why the write prohibition setting is set to OFF is because it is assumed that authentication information is written to the NFC tag 210 from an external device. In step S601, the CPU 201 instructs the NFC controller 301 to set the write prohibition setting to OFF. Receiving the instruction, the NFC controller 301 changes the write prohibition setting from ON to OFF.

  In step S <b> 602, the CPU 201 stores communication information in the NFC tag 210. The communication information is information for an external device to communicate with the printing apparatus 100, and includes at least the IP address of the printing apparatus 100. Information included in the communication information is not limited to the IP address. The MAC address of the printing apparatus 100 may be included, and the SSID (Service Set Identifier) of the access point 120 may be further included. In addition, when the printing apparatus 100 operates in Wi-Fi Direct or software access point mode, the SSID generated by the printing apparatus 100 may be further included. The communication information is generated in NDEF format. In step S <b> 602, the CPU 201 passes the generated communication information to the NFC controller 301. The NFC controller 301 holds communication information in the memory 302.

  As described above, since the write prohibition setting is changed from ON to OFF when the printing apparatus 100 is activated, the mobile terminal 110 can write the authentication information to the NFC tag 210. Further, when the printing apparatus 100 is activated, the NFC tag 210 holds communication information, so that the mobile terminal 110 can acquire communication information from the NFC tag 210.

  Next, processing executed by the printing apparatus 100 when information is written to the NFC tag 210 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is processed by the CPU 201 developing the control program stored in the ROM 202 in the RAM 203 and executing it. Note that the printing apparatus 100 may be configured such that at least a part of the steps in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU 201 and the remaining steps are executed by another CPU (not shown) different from the CPU 201.

  When the initialization process at the time of startup is completed, the printing apparatus 100 displays the login screen 800 in FIG. 8A on the display of the operation unit 207. When the printing apparatus 100 displays the login screen 800, an external apparatus such as the mobile terminal 110 can write information into the NFC tag 210. When information is written to the NFC tag 210, the communication information originally held by the NFC tag 210 is deleted.

  The NFC controller 301 that has detected that information has been written to the NFC tag 210 notifies the CPU 201 that information has been written to the NFC tag 210. In step S701, the CPU 201 that has received the notification determines whether the information written in the NFC tag 210 is authentication information. The CPU 201 confirms information held in the memory 302 of the NFC tag 210. If the information includes identification information (for example, a character string “Authentication_Data”) indicating authentication information, the CPU 201 determines that the information written in the NFC tag 210 is authentication information. Then, the process proceeds to step S702. On the other hand, when the information held in the memory 302 of the NFC tag 210 does not include identification information indicating authentication information, the CPU 201 determines that the information written in the NFC tag 210 is not authentication information. Then, the process proceeds to step S705.

  Next, step S702 will be described. In step S <b> 702, the CPU 201 executes an authentication process for determining whether the user information (user name and password) included in the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210 indicates a login permitted user. The printing apparatus 100 stores user information of a user permitted to log in to the printing apparatus 100 in the HDD 204 as login management information. In step S <b> 702, the CPU 201 confirms the login management information to determine whether the user information included in the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210 indicates a login permitted user. If the user information included in the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210 indicates a login permitted user, the process proceeds to step S703. The login management information may be stored in an authentication server on the network. In the case of this configuration, the CPU 201 makes an inquiry to the authentication server to determine whether or not the user information included in the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210 indicates a login permitted user.

  On the other hand, if the user information included in the authentication information written in the NFC tag 210 does not indicate a login-permitted user, the process proceeds to step S707. In step S707, the CPU 201 displays the error screen 820 in FIG. 8C on the display of the operation unit 207 to notify the user of the login failure.

  Next, step S703 will be described. In step S <b> 703, the CPU 201 causes the printing apparatus 100 to log in the user indicated by the user name included in the authentication information. When the user logs in to the printing apparatus 100, the printing apparatus 100 displays the menu screen 810 in FIG. 8B on the display of the operation unit 207. A menu screen 810 shows an example in which a user “Yamada” logs in. On the menu screen 810, the user can use various functions (for example, a copy function) provided by the printing apparatus 100.

  When the user logs in to the printing apparatus 100, in step S704, the CPU 201 sets the write prohibition setting to ON. The CPU 201 instructs the NFC controller 301 to set the write prohibition setting to ON. Receiving the instruction, the NFC controller 301 changes the write prohibition setting from OFF to ON. The reason why the write prohibition setting is set to ON in step S704 is that the user login to the printing apparatus 100 has been completed and it is no longer necessary to write authentication information to the NFC tag 210.

  In step S <b> 705, the CPU 201 deletes information written in the NFC tag 210. The CPU 201 instructs the NFC controller 301 to delete the information held by the NFC tag 210. Upon receiving the instruction, the NFC controller 301 deletes the information held in the memory 302.

  In step S <b> 706, the CPU 201 stores communication information in the NFC tag 210. The CPU 201 passes communication information to the NFC controller 301. The NFC controller 301 holds communication information in the memory 302. The communication information stored in the NFC tag 210 in step S706 is the same as the communication information stored in the NFC tag 210 in step S602 of FIG.

  When the process proceeds from step S704 or step S707 to step S705, authentication information is written in the NFC tag 210, and the communication information is not held in the NFC tag 210. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the communication information is stored again in the NFC tag 210 by executing the processing of step S705 and step S706. Accordingly, even after a certain user logs in to the printing apparatus 100 using the NFC tag 210 of the communication apparatus, other users can acquire communication information from the NFC tag 210.

  By the way, information written to the NFC tag 210 by an external device is not necessarily authentication information. When the write prohibition setting is OFF, the external device can write information different from the authentication information into the NFC tag 210. If the information written in the NFC tag 210 is not authentication information, the process proceeds from step S701 to step S705. Also in this case, the information written in the NFC tag 210 by the process of step S705 is deleted, and the NFC tag 210 holds the communication information again by the process of step S706.

  Next, processing executed by the printing apparatus 100 when the logged-in user logs out from the printing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is processed by the CPU 201 developing the control program stored in the ROM 202 in the RAM 203 and executing it. Note that the printing apparatus 100 may be configured such that at least a part of the steps in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is executed by the CPU 201 and the other steps (not shown) different from the CPU 201 are executed.

  A user who has logged in to the printing apparatus 100 presses the logout button 811 on the menu screen 810 in FIG. When the logout button 811 is pressed, the CPU 201 logs out the user from the printing apparatus 100 in step S901. When the user logs out from the printing apparatus 100, the printing apparatus 100 displays a login screen 800 in FIG. 8A on the display of the operation unit 207.

  Next, in step S902, the CPU 201 sets the write prohibition setting to OFF. The CPU 201 instructs the NFC controller 301 to set the write prohibition setting to OFF. Receiving the instruction, the NFC controller 301 changes the write prohibition setting from ON to OFF. The reason why the write prohibition setting is set to OFF in step S <b> 902 is because it is assumed that the user logs out from the printing apparatus 100 and the next user writes authentication information in the NFC tag 210 in order to log in to the printing apparatus 100. It is.

  Next, processing executed by the printing apparatus 100 when the printing apparatus 100 is turned off will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 is processed by the CPU 201 developing the control program stored in the ROM 202 in the RAM 203 and executing it. Note that the printing apparatus 100 may be configured such that at least a part of the steps in the flowchart of FIG. 10 is executed by the CPU 201 and the remaining steps are executed by another CPU (not shown) different from the CPU 201.

  The printing apparatus 100 that has received an instruction to shift to the power OFF state from the user executes an end process. As part of the end processing, in step S1001, the CPU 201 sets the write prohibition setting to ON. The CPU 201 instructs the NFC controller 301 to set the write prohibition setting to ON. Receiving the instruction, the NFC controller 301 changes the write prohibition setting from OFF to ON. The reason why the write prohibition setting is set to ON in step S1001 is to prevent the information in the NFC tag 210 from being written by the external device when the printing apparatus 100 is in the power OFF state. If the printing apparatus 100 is in the power-on state, the information written by the process of step S705 of FIG. 7 can be deleted even if the information of the NFC tag 210 is written by the external apparatus. However, if the printing apparatus 100 is in the power-off state, even if information on the NFC tag 210 is written by an external apparatus, the information written on the NFC tag 210 cannot be deleted until the printing apparatus 100 is started next time. Therefore, in this embodiment, the write prohibition setting is set to ON as part of the end process.

  Note that the printing apparatus 100 may suddenly turn off due to a power failure or the like without receiving an instruction to shift to the power-off state from the user. In this case, the printing apparatus 100 is turned off without executing the process of setting the write prohibition setting to ON described in step S1001, and the external apparatus can write information to the NFC tag 210. Therefore, the NFC controller may not accept writing of information to the NFC tag 210 when the power is off. When the printing apparatus 100 is in the power OFF state, the NFC tag 210 operates by induced electromotive force provided from an external apparatus. Therefore, the information written from the external device may not be stored in the memory 302 on condition that the NFC controller 301 is operated by induced electromotive force.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, the printing apparatus 100 has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to other types of communication apparatuses such as a digital camera as long as the communication apparatus includes an NFC tag.

  Also, a process of supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program But it is feasible. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

100 Printing Device 110 Portable Terminal 201 CPU
202 ROM
210 NFC tag 301 NFC controller 302 Memory 303 Antenna

Claims (11)

A communication device,
NFC tag,
Control means for storing communication information for an external device to communicate with the communication device in the NFC tag;
An authentication unit that executes an authentication process for logging the user into the communication device based on the written authentication information when the authentication information is written to the NFC tag by an external device;
The communication device stores the communication information in the NFC tag again when the communication information is deleted from the NFC tag due to information being written in the NFC tag. A determination means for determining whether or not the written information is authentication information necessary for the authentication processing when the information is written to the NFC tag by an external device;
2. The authentication unit executes the authentication process based on the written information when the determination unit determines that the written information is the authentication information. The communication apparatus as described in.   The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit stores the communication information in the NFC tag again after the authentication process is completed. Setting means for setting, in the NFC tag, either a first setting that allows an external device to write information to the NFC tag or a second setting that does not allow an external device to write information to the NFC tag Further comprising
When the communication device is activated, the setting means sets the first setting to the NFC tag,
4. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein when the communication device shifts to a power-off state, the setting unit sets the second setting in the NFC tag. 5. . When a user logs in to the communication device, the setting unit sets the second setting to the NFC tag,
The communication device according to claim 4, wherein when the user logs out from the communication device, the setting unit sets the first setting in the NFC tag.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication information includes an IP address of the communication apparatus.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication information includes a MAC address of the communication apparatus.   The communication apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the communication information further includes an SSID of an access point.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus is a printing apparatus that performs a printing process on a sheet. A method for controlling a communication device including an NFC tag,
A first storage step of storing communication information for an external device to communicate with the communication device in the NFC tag;
An authentication step for executing an authentication process for logging the user into the communication device based on the written authentication information when the authentication information is written to the NFC tag by an external device;
And a second storage step of storing the communication information in the NFC tag again when the communication information is deleted from the NFC tag due to information being written in the NFC tag. Control method of the device.   A program for causing a computer to execute the communication apparatus control method according to claim 10.

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