JP2020088567A - Communication device, control method thereof, communication system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To streamline an authentication process when providing a communication parameter.SOLUTION: A communication device provides predetermined information for performing an authentication process with a communication partner device, performs a scan process for detecting other communication devices in the vicinity during a first period after proving the predetermined information, and performs a waiting operation for receiving, during a second period following the first period, a request signal for the authentication process from the communication partner device that obtained the predetermined information. The first period and the second period are set alternately.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to wireless communication technology.

Conventionally, wireless LAN communication via an access point (AP) is known. The communication device functioning as a station (STA) needs to set various communication parameters such as an encryption method, an encryption key, an authentication method, and an authentication key in order to perform secure wireless LAN communication with the AP.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a printer as a communication device sets communication parameters for communicating with an AP. Specifically, the printer first performs a scan (search) to detect surrounding APs. After that, the printer makes a wireless LAN connection with the mobile terminal and sends the list of detected APs to the mobile terminal. Then, when the mobile terminal selects a desired AP from the list of APs according to the user's operation, the printer sets communication parameters for communicating with the selected AP.

Further, DPP (Device Provisioning Protocol) has been established as a method for securely transmitting communication parameters via a wireless LAN. In DPP, a device called a configurator provides communication parameters to a device called an enrollee. In the DPP standard, the communication parameter includes information necessary for connecting to the AP, such as a connector.

JP, 2015-23441, A

In the communication parameter setting method described in Patent Document 1, it is considered that the communication parameter for communicating with the AP is provided from the mobile terminal to the printer using DPP. As processes in DPP, a Bootstrap process for providing/obtaining Bootstrap information such as a public key and an address via a QR code (registered trademark) or BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy), an authentication process for performing device authentication, a communication A setting process for transmitting parameters is specified. Therefore, first, the mobile terminal and the printer start the Bootstrap process. Further, the printer starts a scan for detecting surrounding APs in parallel with the bootstrap processing. When the Bootstrap process is performed using the QR code, the printer displays the QR code indicating the bootstrap information on the display unit of the device itself in order to provide the Bootstrap information to the mobile terminal. On the other hand, the mobile terminal can acquire the Bootstrap information by reading the QR code. Then, the mobile terminal transmits an authentication request signal to the printer based on the acquired Bootstrap information for the authentication process.

Here, if the printer is executing a scan for detecting the AP when the mobile terminal transmits the authentication request signal, the printer cannot receive the authentication request signal, and therefore the authentication process is executed. There is a problem that you cannot do it. To solve such a problem, when the mobile terminal cannot receive the authentication response signal from the printer for a predetermined time, the authentication request signal is retransmitted, or the QR code display is started after the printer completes the scan execution. Can be considered. However, in the former case, even though the user has read the QR code with the mobile terminal, it is not possible to shift to the authentication processing until the printer completes the scan execution. In the latter case, the printer cannot display the QR code on the display unit until the scan execution is completed, and the mobile terminal cannot read the QR code. That is, with these measures, another problem arises in that it takes time until the authentication process and user convenience is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of authentication processing when providing communication parameters.

As one means for achieving the above object, the communication device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the communication device is a providing unit that provides predetermined information for performing an authentication process with a communication partner device, and other surrounding communication in a first period after the predetermined information is provided. A scanning unit that performs a scanning process for detecting a device, and a communication unit that acquires the predetermined information provided by the providing unit for the authentication process in a second period following the first period. A reception unit that performs a standby operation for receiving a request signal, and the first period and the second period are set alternately.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the efficiency of authentication processing when providing communication parameters.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a printer 301 according to the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the smart phone 301 in embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication system 30 in embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the printer 301. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the smartphone 302. It is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of S403 of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of AP information displayed on the smart phone 302.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configurations. Hereinafter, an example using a wireless LAN system conforming to the IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) 802.11 series will be described. However, the communication form is not necessarily limited to the wireless LAN compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard.

(Communication system configuration)
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the communication system 30 in this embodiment. The communication system 30 includes a printer 301, a smartphone 302, and APs 303 to 306. The SSIDs (Service Set Identifiers) of the APs 303 to 306 are SSID_AP 303 to SSID_AP 306. The smartphone 302 operates as a configurator defined by DPP, and the printer 301 operates as an enrollee defined by DPP. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the smartphone 302 provides the printer 301 with communication parameters for connecting to and communicating with the AP 303, and the printer 301 participates in the network formed by the AP 303.

The communication device forming the communication system 30 is not limited to that shown in FIG. For example, the communication system 30 may be configured by communication devices such as a mobile phone, a camera, a PC, a video camera, a smart watch, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Further, the communication system 30 includes four APs, but the number of APs is not limited to this.

(Configuration of printer 301)
FIG. 1A shows an example of the hardware configuration of the printer 301. The control unit 101 is a control unit that controls the entire printer 301 by executing a control program stored in the storage unit 102. The control unit 101 includes, for example, one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units). The storage unit 102 stores various kinds of information such as a control program executed by the control unit 101, image data, and communication parameters. Various operations described below can be performed by the control unit 101 executing the control program stored in the storage unit 102. The storage unit 102 is composed of, for example, one or more storage media such as a ROM, a RAM, a HDD, a flash memory, or a removable SD card.

The wireless unit 103 performs wireless LAN communication conforming to the IEEE 802.11 series. The wireless unit 103 can be configured by a chip that performs wireless communication. The display unit 104 has a function capable of outputting visually recognizable information, such as an LCD or LED, or a sound output such as a speaker, and performs various displays. When displaying visual information, the display unit 104 has a VRAM (Video RAM) that holds image data corresponding to the visual information to be displayed, and performs a display control for continuing to display the image data stored in the VRAM on an LCD or LED. You can do it.

The printing unit 105 has a function of printing image data and the like. The antenna control unit 106 controls the output of the antenna 107. The antenna 107 is an antenna capable of communicating in the 2.4 GHz band and/or 5 GHz band for communicating with a wireless LAN. The input unit 108 is an input unit for the user to perform various inputs and operate the printer 301. The input unit 108 can store a flag or the like corresponding to the input in a memory such as the storage unit 102. Note that the display unit 104 and the input unit 108 may function as a UI (user interface) by connecting and operating.

FIG. 1B shows an example of the functional configuration of the printer 301. Note that some or all of the functional blocks may be implemented as hardware. In that case, a part or all included in each functional block may be configured by, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

The transmitting unit 111 and the receiving unit 112 respectively transmit and receive various information (packets, messages, signals) via the wireless unit 103. The code information generation unit 113 generates an image including code information and code information such as a one-dimensional barcode such as a barcode and a two-dimensional code such as a CP code or a QR code. The code information includes Boottrap information such as a public key of the printer 301 and an identifier (MAC address or the like) used when the printer 301 executes the communication parameter sharing process. The public key is information used to enhance security during communication parameter sharing processing, and may be information such as a certificate or a password. Here, the public key is a kind of encryption key used in the public key cryptosystem. The scan control unit 114 performs control for scanning APs existing around the printer 301. The authentication processing unit 115 executes an authentication process for the communication partner device (the smartphone 302 in this embodiment). In the present embodiment, the authentication processing unit 115 receives the reception of the authentication request signal by the receiving unit 112 and executes the authentication process according to DPP. The list management unit 116 creates and manages a list of APs detected by the scan processing by the scan control unit 114. The connection processing unit 117 performs necessary connection processing such as 4-Way Handshake with the AP, and performs control for establishing a wireless LAN connection with the AP. The display control unit 118 controls display on the display unit 104.

(Structure of smartphone 302)
FIG. 2A shows an example of the hardware configuration of the smartphone 302. The control unit 201, the storage unit 202, the wireless unit 203, the display unit 204, the antenna control unit 206, the antenna 207, and the input unit 208 are the control unit 101, the storage unit 102, the wireless unit 103, and the display illustrated in FIG. The description is omitted because it is the same as the unit 104, the antenna control unit 106, the antenna 107, and the input unit 108. The image capturing unit 205 includes an image sensor, a lens, and the like, and captures a photograph or a moving image. The image capturing unit 205 can capture an image of code information such as a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional code according to a user operation.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a functional configuration of the smartphone 302. Similar to the printer 301, part or all of this functional block may be implemented as hardware. The transmission unit 211 and the reception unit 212 respectively transmit and receive various information (packets, messages, signals) via the wireless unit 203. The code information analysis unit 213 reads an image of code information such as a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional code captured by the capturing unit 205, analyzes the read image, and acquires encoded predetermined information. The authentication processing unit 214 executes an authentication process for a communication partner device (printer 301 in this embodiment). The display control unit 215 controls the display on the display unit 204.

(Processing flow of the printer 301)
As described above, in the present embodiment, the case where the smartphone 302 provides the printer 301 with communication parameters for connecting to and communicating with the AP 303, and the printer 301 joins the network formed by the AP 303. Suppose. In addition, the smartphone 302 is assumed to hold the communication parameters in advance.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the printer 301. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 can be realized by the control unit 101 of the printer 301 executing the control program stored in the storage unit 102, and calculating and processing information and controlling each hardware. The processing illustrated in FIG. 4 is started when the user of the printer 301 operates the input unit 108 and the control unit 101 activates the communication parameter setting application.

When the communication parameter setting application is activated by the user's operation in S401, the code information generation unit 113 generates an image of code information in S402, and the display control unit 118 displays the generated code information image on the display unit 104. To do. In the present embodiment, the code information generation unit 113 is assumed to generate a QR code indicating Bootstrap information as the code information. The DPP specifies that the Bootstrap information should include at least a public key, and may additionally include a channel list that can be used in the authentication process and an identifier (for example, a MAC address) of the device (printer 301). Is specified. In the present embodiment, the Bootstrap information includes the public key of the printer 301 and the channel list that can be used in the authentication process, and the single channel 7ch is specified in the channel list. Any channel can be designated in the channel list.

In step S403, the control unit 101 controls the scan control unit 114 and the reception unit 112 so that the scan operation for detecting surrounding APs and the operation for waiting for the authentication request signal from the smartphone 302 are alternately performed in a time division manner. To do. FIG. 6 shows a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of S403. As shown in FIG. 6, the printer 301 performs an operation of scanning a part of the channels (supported by the printer 301) usable by the printer 301 and an operation of waiting for an authentication request on 7ch in a time-sharing manner. To do. Specifically, the scan control unit 114 scans a part of the channels in the first period, and during the second period following the first period, that is, while the scan is not performed, the receiving unit 112 waits for an authentication request signal on 7ch. The first period and the second period are continuously and alternately set in terms of time. Although FIG. 6 shows an example in which the scan execution of a single channel and the authentication request waiting operation on 7ch are executed in a time-sharing manner, the present invention is not limited to this, and the scan execution and authentication of two or more channels are performed. The request waiting may be executed in a time-sharing manner. Further, the scanning time and the authentication request waiting time in each channel may be the same or different, and can be set arbitrarily.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. The time division operation of S403 is continued until the receiving unit 112 receives the authentication request signal in S404 or the scan control unit 114 determines in S405 that scanning of all channels available to the printer 301 is completed. If it is determined in S405 that the scanning of all the channels is completed while the receiving unit 112 does not receive the authentication request signal (NO in S404), the process proceeds to S406, the scan control unit 114 stops the scanning, and the reception is performed. The unit 112 only waits for an authentication request signal.

When the receiving unit 112 receives the authentication request signal in S404 (YES in S404), the process proceeds to S407. In step S407, the authentication processing unit 115 calculates the identification information from the public key of the printer 301 included in the Bootstrap information, and performs the authentication process based on the calculated identification information and the identification information included in the received authentication request signal. To do. Specifically, the authentication processing unit 115 determines whether the identification information included in the received authentication request signal and the calculated identification information match. If they match, the authentication process succeeds, otherwise, the authentication process fails. In the present embodiment, assuming that the two match, the transmission unit 111 transmits an authentication response signal indicating that the authentication processing has succeeded. After that, when the receiving unit 112 receives an authentication confirmation signal indicating that the authentication is successful from the smartphone 302, the authentication process is completed, and a secure channel connection based on DPP is established.

In step S<b>408, the scan control unit 114 determines whether the scan of all the channels available to the printer 301 has been completed. If there is a scan-unexecuted channel (NO in step S<b>408 ), the scan in step S<b>409 is performed. Perform a scan of unexecuted channels. After scanning of all channels is completed (YES in S408), in S410, the list management unit 116 creates a list of detected APs based on the scan result by the scan control unit 114, and the transmission unit 111 uses the created AP. Of the list is transmitted to the smartphone 302. This list of APs is transmitted using the secure channel established by the authentication process.

In S411, the transmission unit 111 transmits a setting request signal requesting communication parameters to the smartphone 302. In response to this, when the receiving unit 212 receives the setting response signal including the communication parameter from the smartphone 302, the setting process is completed. The communication parameters include wireless communication parameters necessary for performing wireless LAN communication, such as SSID as a network identifier, an encryption method, an encryption key, an authentication method, and an authentication key. Further, the communication parameters include AKM, legacy PSK/passphrase, connector, expiration date (Expiry), etc. as communication parameters defined by DPP. AKM is an abbreviation for Authentication and key management type, and is a value indicating which authentication protocol or key exchange algorithm is used during communication. The legacy PSK/passphrase is an encryption key when performing authentication/key exchange based on the conventional WPA or IEEE 802.11. The legacy PSK/passphrase is an encryption key when performing authentication/key exchange based on conventional WPA or IEEE 802.11i. The legacy PSK/passphrase is information for connecting to an AP that does not support DPP. The connector is information for connecting to an AP that supports DPP (various information used in an authentication protocol and a key exchange algorithm defined by DPP).

In S412, the connection processing unit 117 generates a connection request signal based on the communication parameter included in the setting response signal received by the reception unit 112, and the transmission unit 111 transmits the generated connection request signal to the AP 303. The connection request signal includes a connector. The connector included in the connection request signal includes at least management device information indicating that the device (configurator) that has provided the communication parameter is the smartphone 302. Upon receiving the connection request signal, the AP 303 compares the management device information in the signal with the management device list stored in itself, and confirms whether the same device (smartphone 302) is registered. Upon confirming that the same device is registered, the AP 303 sends a connection permission signal to the printer 301, which permits connection of the printer 301. When the receiving unit 112 of the printer 301 receives the connection permission signal from the AP 303, the connection processing unit 117 performs necessary connection processing such as 4-Way Handshake with the AP 303, and the wireless LAN between the printer 301 and the AP 303. Make a connection.

(Processing flow of smartphone 302)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the smartphone 302. The flowchart illustrated in FIG. 5 can be realized by the control unit 201 of the smartphone 302 executing the control program stored in the storage unit 202, and calculating and processing information and controlling each hardware. The processing illustrated in FIG. 5 is started when the user of the smartphone 302 operates the input unit 208 and the control unit 201 activates the communication parameter setting application.

When the communication parameter setting application is activated by the user operation in S501, the control unit 201 activates the image capturing unit 205. In S502, when the user operates the image capturing unit 205 to capture the image of the QR code displayed on the display unit 104 of the printer 301, the code information analysis unit 213 reads and analyzes the image of the QR code. The code information analysis unit 213 analyzes the QR code image and acquires Bootstrap information. In the present embodiment, as described above, the Bootstrap information includes the public key of the printer 301 and the channel list in which the channels that can be used in the authentication process are designated.

In step S503, the authentication processing unit 214 generates identification information by calculating a hash value for the public key included in the acquired Bootstrap information. Then, the transmission unit 211 transmits an authentication request signal including the generated identification information. Here, the transmission unit 211 transmits the authentication request signal through the channel specified by the channel list included in the acquired Bootstrap information. As described above, in the present embodiment, the printer 301 that has received the authentication request signal assumes that the authentication process has succeeded, and transmits the authentication response signal indicating that the authentication process has succeeded (S407). When the receiving unit 212 receives the authentication response signal, the authentication processing unit 214 performs the authentication process based on the information included in the received authentication response signal. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the authentication processing unit 214 succeeds in the authentication process, and the transmission unit 211 transmits to the printer 301 an authentication confirmation signal indicating that the authentication has succeeded.

If the printer 301 scans another channel at the timing when the transmission unit 211 transmits the authentication request signal, the reception unit 212 cannot receive the authentication request signal. Therefore, if the reception unit 212 has not received the authentication response signal for a predetermined time, the transmission unit 211 may retransmit the authentication request signal.

In step S<b>504, the reception unit 212 receives the AP list from the printer 301. Then, in step S505, the display control unit 215 displays information regarding at least part of the APs in the received list of APs on the display unit 204 as AP information. FIG. 7 shows an example of AP information displayed on the display unit 204 of the smartphone 302. In the present embodiment, the scan control unit 114 detects the APs 303 to 306 shown in FIG. 3, and the display control unit 215 displays the SSIDs of the APs 303 to 306 (SSID_AP303 to SSID_AP306) as AP information. The display mode is not limited to this, and the display control unit 215 may display the AP information of a part of the detected APs on the display unit 204. For example, the display control unit 215 may display AP information of APs that can provide communication parameters to the printer 301 using DPP among the detected APs. Alternatively, the display control unit 215 may display AP information of an AP that is known to be able to provide communication parameters to the printer 301 using DPP and that is known to be registered in the management device list. When only one AP can be displayed, the process of S505 may be skipped.

In S506, when the AP to be the wireless LAN connection destination of the printer 301 is selected by the user's operation on the input unit 208 among the SSIDs of the plurality of APs displayed on the display unit 204, the process proceeds to S507. In step S<b>507, the transmission unit 211 transmits the setting response signal including the communication parameter of the selected AP to the printer 301.

As described above, in this embodiment, the printer 301 starts displaying the QR code immediately after the communication parameter setting application is activated. Then, the printer 301 alternately performs a scanning operation for detecting surrounding APs and an operation of waiting for an authentication request signal from the smartphone 302 in a time division manner. This time division operation enables the printer 301 to shift to the authentication processing even when the printer 301 receives the authentication request signal from the smartphone 302 before the scan execution of all the channels supported by the printer 301 is completed. That is, it is possible to shorten the time from the communication parameter setting application start-up on the printer to the QR code display, and the transition time from the QR code reading on the mobile terminal to the authentication processing. As a result, user convenience can be improved.

In the present embodiment, both the printer 301 and the smartphone 302 start the communication parameter setting process (FIGS. 4 and 5) by the user's operation for starting the communication parameter setting application. Not limited to this. For example, it is detected that the printer 301 and the smartphone 302 have received a predetermined instruction from the user, or that the printer 301 is within the communicable range of the smartphone 302 and the desired AP (AP 303 in this embodiment). In response to this, the communication parameter setting process may be started.

Further, in the present embodiment, in the processes of S408 to 410 in FIG. 4, the printer 301 transmits the detected AP list at once after the scanning of all the channels is completed. However, even if the printer 301 transmits the AP list detected in the channels for which scanning has been completed until after the authentication processing in S407 is completed, the printer 301 may then transmit the AP list detected by incomplete channel scanning. Good. Further, in FIG. 4, even when the printer 301 receives the authentication request signal in S404, the printer 301 may move to the authentication process after the scanning of all channels is completed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the Bootstrap process is executed using the QR code has been described. However, instead of the QR code, wireless communication such as NFC or BLE may be used.

Further, although a case has been described with the present embodiment where communication between devices is performed by wireless LAN communication conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a wireless communication medium such as a wireless USB, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee, or NFC may be used. Here, UWB includes wireless USB, wireless 1394, WINET, and the like.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments 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 read and execute the program. It can also be realized by the processing. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

301 printer, 302 smartphone, 303-306 access point (AP)

Claims (13)

A communication device,
Providing means for providing predetermined information for performing authentication processing with the communication partner device,
Scanning means for performing a scanning process for detecting other surrounding communication devices in a first period after the predetermined information is provided;
A receiving unit that performs a standby operation for receiving a request signal for the authentication process from the communication partner device that has acquired the predetermined information provided by the providing unit in a second period that follows the first period; Has,
The communication device, wherein the first period and the second period are set alternately. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the scanning unit performs the scan process on one or more channels that can be used by the communication device. The scan means performs the scan process on one or more channels selected from the available channels during the first period when there are a plurality of available channels. The communication device described. The predetermined information includes a channel list in which a predetermined channel is designated,
4. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the receiving unit performs the standby operation on the predetermined channel. If multiple predetermined channels are specified in the channel list,
The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the receiving unit performs the standby operation on one or more channels selected from the plurality of predetermined channels during the second period. Further comprising an authentication means for performing the authentication process to establish a secure channel with the communication partner device,
6. The scan unit stops the scan process and the authentication unit performs the authentication process when the request signal is received by the receiving unit. 7. Communication device. After completion of the authentication processing by the authentication means, if there is a channel for which the scan means has not performed the scan processing among the one or more available channels, the scan means has not performed the scan processing. The communication device according to claim 6, wherein the scan processing is performed on a channel. Creating means for creating a list of other communication devices detected by the scanning process when there is no channel among the available one or more channels that the scanning device has not performed the scanning process;
The communication device according to claim 7, further comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the list created by the creating unit. 9. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein the transmission unit transmits the list on the secure channel established by the authentication processing. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the communication device is a communication device that complies with a DPP (Device Provisioning Protocol) standard. A communication system having a first communication device and a second communication device,
The first communication device is
Providing means for providing predetermined information for performing authentication processing with the second communication device;
Scanning means for performing a scanning process for detecting other surrounding communication devices in a first period after the predetermined information is provided;
A first receiving unit that performs a standby operation for receiving a request signal for the authentication process from the second communication device in a second period after the predetermined information is provided,
The first period and the second period are set alternately, and the second communication device,
An acquisition unit that acquires the predetermined information from the first communication device;
Transmitting means for transmitting the request signal based on the predetermined information;
Second receiving means for receiving a list of other communication devices in the vicinity detected by the first communication device after the request signal is transmitted,
Display control means for displaying a list of other communication devices in the vicinity on the display unit,
A communication system comprising: A method for controlling a communication device, comprising:
A providing step of providing predetermined information for performing an authentication process with a communication partner device,
A scanning step of performing a scanning process for detecting other surrounding communication devices in a first period after the predetermined information is provided;
A receiving step of performing a standby operation for receiving a request signal for the authentication processing from the communication partner apparatus that has acquired the predetermined information provided by the providing step, in a second period following the first period; Has,
The method of controlling a communication device, wherein the first period and the second period are set alternately. A program for causing a computer to function as the communication device according to claim 1.

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