JP2023059035A - Information processing device, control method thereof, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To connect an information processing device to a new terminal while connecting the information processing device to an appropriate terminal depending on the situation when the number of connected terminals reaches the upper limit.SOLUTION: In a case in which a wireless connection request is received from a new terminal, when the number of terminals currently connected has already reached the upper limit, information on a currently connected terminal is acquired, and it is determined whether there is a terminal that can be disconnected from the currently connected terminals on the basis of the acquired information. When there is a terminal that can be disconnected, the connection with that terminal is disconnected and the connection of a new terminal is performed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, its control method, and a program.

Conventionally, photography systems that use network cameras have become widespread, and in recent years, networks equipped with wireless LAN functions have been developed for the purpose of simplifying wiring, enabling direct control from mobile terminals, and enhancing convenience. Cameras are prevalent. For such a network camera equipped with a wireless LAN function, a form in which communication for setting is performed by starting up in an AP (wireless base unit, access point) mode and connecting from another device is being studied. By activating the camera in the AP mode, the user can access the camera over the network and check and set the video, etc., without worrying about complicated network environment construction and wiring even at the time of initial installation.

In order for these devices to communicate with each other due to the use of radio waves, it is necessary to establish a wireless communication path by performing registration processing between the devices. In addition, pairing, which is an information exchange process for performing data encryption, may be involved as necessary. For example, in Wi-Fi (registered trademark), connection is established by setting connection destination information such as an identification ID (SSID) and a password (pre-shared key) set in the AP to the wireless slave device. That is, information for wireless connection is set for each individual network camera equipped with a wireless LAN function activated in the AP mode.

In such a network camera equipped with a wireless LAN function, a network configuration is constructed in which a plurality of terminals can be wirelessly connected to one camera. However, when a large number of devices are connected to one AP, there arise problems of reduced throughput and inter-device security. Therefore, a general AP has a function of limiting the number of devices that can be connected at the same time. On the other hand, a general mobile terminal has a function of storing the connection destination information of a wireless AP that has been connected once, and wireless connection is possible from the next connection only by the proximity of the device. Therefore, even if the user does not intend to use the function, the wireless connection is made by this function, and the simultaneous connection frame of the AP is consumed, so that a situation occurs in which a terminal to be newly connected cannot be connected. In such a case, a terminal that cannot be connected cannot be connected until the other terminal disconnects, resulting in a problem of lack of convenience. Therefore, Patent Literatures 1 and 2 disclose techniques for allowing new terminals to be connected when the number of connected terminals reaches the upper limit.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-155991 JP 2018-38084 A

In Patent Document 1, when the number of connected terminals reaches the upper limit, the currently set SSID and password are changed to different values and the AP function is temporarily performed, thereby making it possible to connect new terminals. A technique is disclosed. However, with this technology, changing the SSID and password may disconnect the currently connected terminal. Further, in Patent Document 2, when the number of connected terminals reaches the upper limit, the currently connected device is disconnected in accordance with the priority according to the type of device previously determined in the AP, and the connection with the new terminal is terminated. A technology that enables connection is disclosed. However, when using this technology, it is necessary to set the priority of connected devices in advance, which requires a lot of work for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the aforementioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to enable connection to a new terminal while maintaining connection to an appropriate terminal according to the situation when the number of connected terminals has reached the upper limit.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that is connected to one or more terminals by wireless communication, and includes acquisition means for acquiring information about terminals connected to the information processing apparatus, and connection by a new terminal. When the request is detected and the number of terminals connected to the information processing device reaches the upper limit, the acquired information on the connected terminals is used to determine whether there is a terminal that can be disconnected. and a determination means for determining whether or not there is a terminal that can be disconnected, when the determination means determines that there is a terminal that can be disconnected, the connection with the terminal is disconnected and the connection with the new terminal is performed. and a control means.

According to the present invention, when the number of connected terminals has reached the upper limit, it is possible to connect to a new terminal while maintaining connection with an appropriate terminal depending on the situation.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a radio communication system according to an embodiment; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a network camera according to the embodiment; FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of processing in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment; FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Web UI when wireless communication disconnection is notified; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a disconnection target terminal determination process; FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a terminal management table of a network camera; FIG.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail based on attached drawing.
First, a wireless communication system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
A wireless communication system 100 according to this embodiment mainly includes a network camera 101 , mobile terminals 102 and 103 , an information terminal 104 , a wireless network 105 and a network 106 .

A network camera 101 is a camera capable of wireless communication, and has an AP mode in which it operates as an access point (AP). In addition, it is possible to distribute captured images and set various internal parameters via the connected network. A network camera is an example of an information processing apparatus.
The mobile terminals 102 and 103 connect as wireless slave units to the network camera 101 activated in AP mode. The mobile terminals 102 and 103 have Web browsers and can display images distributed from the network camera 101, setting screens, and the like. The mobile terminals 102 and 103 are mainly used for setting the angle of view when installing the network camera 101 and performing simple operations.

The information terminal 104, like the mobile terminals 102 and 103, can display images distributed from the network camera 101, setting screens, and the like on its display unit, and mainly processes large amounts of data such as high-definition images. It is used for main operations such as operations as an administrator.
A wireless network 105 is a wireless network for connecting the network camera 101 and the mobile terminals 102 and 103 . A network 106 is a network for connecting the network camera 101 and the information terminal 104, and may be wired or wireless.

Next, a hardware configuration example of the network camera 101 in this wireless communication system will be described with reference to FIG. The network camera 101 has a CPU 11 , a ROM 12 , a RAM 13 , an HDD 14 , an input I/F 16 , a communication section 17 and an imaging section 18 .

The CPU 11 reads control programs stored in the ROM 12 and executes various processes. The RAM 13 is used as a main memory of the CPU 11 and a temporary storage area such as a work area. The HDD 14 stores various data, various programs, and the like. The input I/F 16 is an interface for inputting operation information. The communication unit 17 performs communication processing with an external device such as the mobile terminal 102 via a wired or wireless network.
The imaging unit 18 has an image sensor and converts light obtained from the lens into an electrical signal to generate an image.

The functions and processes of the network camera 101, which will be described later, are realized by the CPU 11 reading a program stored in the ROM 12 or HDD 14 and executing the program. As another example, the CPU 11 may read a program stored in a recording medium such as an SD card instead of the ROM 12 or the like.

Next, a functional configuration example of the network camera 101 in this wireless communication system will be described with reference to FIG. The network camera 101 has an image processing unit 202, a video output unit 203, a control unit 204, a storage unit 205, a wired communication processing unit 206, a wireless communication processing unit 207, and a serial communication processing unit 208. ing.

The image processing unit 202 performs image processing and compression encoding processing on the electrical signal converted by the imaging unit 18 to generate image data. Note that the image processing unit 202 may perform these processes by providing a dedicated circuit. A video output unit 203 outputs image data generated by the image processing unit 202 to an external display device such as the mobile terminals 102 and 103 using a video output interface such as HDMI (registered trademark) or SDI.
The control unit 204 analyzes the command transmitted to the network camera 101 and performs processing according to the command. The control unit 204 also acquires information on terminals connected to the network camera 101 from the storage unit 205 and determines connection of a new terminal.

The storage unit 205 stores setting values such as image quality adjustment parameters and network settings. Even after restarting, it is possible to start using the previously set values. A wired communication processing unit 206 processes network communication by a wired LAN. A wireless communication processing unit 207 performs network communication processing using a wireless LAN, and has an AP function and a station (STA) function. The wireless communication processing unit 207 also performs connection processing and connection disconnection processing with other terminals according to instructions from the control unit 204 .
A serial communication processing unit 208 receives a camera control protocol using a serial communication interface such as RS-232C.
The network camera 101 in this embodiment includes at least the above processing units.

Next, a processing procedure in the wireless communication system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing of this flow starts when the mobile terminal 103 makes a connection request for wireless communication to the network camera 101 according to the user's operation.
First, in step S<b>301 , the wireless communication processing unit 207 detects a wireless communication connection request from the mobile terminal 103 .

In step S302, the control unit 204 determines whether the number of wireless terminals currently connected to the network camera 101 has reached the upper limit. If the control unit 204 determines that the upper limit number has been reached, the process proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, if the control unit 204 determines that the number of connections has not reached the upper limit and there is a margin in the number of connections, the process proceeds to step 306 to perform connection processing with the mobile terminal 103 .
It should be noted that the maximum number of connectable devices can be freely determined according to restrictions imposed by wireless communication standards or user settings. For example, the network camera 101 may allow the number of connectable cameras to be set in advance by changing the settings from the web browser via the information terminal 104 . The method of setting the upper limit number in the present embodiment is an example, and any form can be used as long as the means can set the upper limit number.

Next, in step S303, the control unit 204 confirms information about the currently connected terminal, and if there is a terminal that can be disconnected, specifies that terminal. The information about the currently connected terminal is, for example, information such as whether the network camera 101 is delivering video to the mobile terminal 102 or whether the user using the mobile terminal 102 is an administrator. Details of this process will be described later with reference to FIG. Note that the items given in this embodiment are only examples, and any information that can identify the terminal based on the functions of the network camera 101 may be used.

Subsequently, in step S304, the control unit 204 determines whether there is a terminal that can be disconnected among the currently connected terminals, based on the information about the currently connected terminals confirmed in step S303. judge. If the control unit 204 determines that there is a terminal that can be disconnected, the process proceeds to step S305. On the other hand, if the control unit 204 determines that there is no terminal that can be disconnected, it ends the processing of this flow. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the mobile terminal 102 is determined to be a terminal that can be disconnected.

In step S305, the wireless communication processing unit 207 disconnects the mobile terminal 102 determined to be disconnected in step S304. At this time, the user is notified of the disconnection before the disconnection. For example, a display screen 400 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the web browser of the mobile terminal 102 or the information terminal 104 to notify.
After receiving the notification, the user can refuse the disconnection by operating a button on the Web browser if he or she does not want to disconnect. Further, if the user does not perform any operation on the notified screen for a certain period of time, the wireless communication processing unit 207 can operate as if disconnection is permitted. If the user operates from the web browser via the mobile terminal 102 or the information terminal 104 and rejects the disconnection, the process of this flow is terminated without performing connection processing with the new terminal. Note that the processing at the time of connection disconnection in the present embodiment is an example, and any form is possible.
Finally, in step S306, the wireless communication processing unit 207 performs connection processing with the new terminal, and terminates the processing.

Next, the details of the process of determining whether or not there is a terminal that can be disconnected among the currently connected terminals in the network camera 101 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart is a flowchart showing a detailed processing example in S303 of FIG.

First, in step S501, the control unit 204 determines whether there is a terminal that has not received video from the network camera 101 at present.
Specifically, for example, the network camera 101 has a management table 600 that stores information on connected terminals as shown in FIG. are linked and stored in the storage unit 205 . The control unit 204 compares the IP address of the client to which the image is currently being distributed with respect to the management table 600, thereby determining whether or not there is a terminal that is not currently receiving the image. do. The determination method in this embodiment is just an example, and any method can be used as long as it is a method that can determine whether or not video is currently being received from a connected terminal.
If the control unit 204 determines that there is a terminal that is not currently receiving video, the process proceeds to step S502. On the other hand, if the control unit 204 determines that there is no terminal that has not received video, it determines that there is no terminal that can be disconnected, and ends the processing of this flow. In this case, the control unit 204 determines in S304 in FIG. 3 that there is no terminal that can be disconnected among the currently connected terminals.

In step S502, the control unit 204 excludes the terminal currently receiving the image determined in step S501 from the candidates for disconnection.
Subsequently, in step S503, the control unit 204 determines whether or not there is a log-in history using an administrator account for terminals in the management table other than the terminals excluded in step S502.
Specifically, for example, the network camera 101 has an account management function, and can register administrators and general viewers by setting IDs and passwords. Each has different authority to control the network camera 101, and the administrator account can control all. Also, the login history of each account is stored in association with the IP address of the client when accessed from a web browser. Therefore, the control unit 204 can confirm which terminal has been logged in with which account by comparing the login history information and the management table.

Note that the confirmation means described above is merely an example, and another form may be employed as means for excluding a terminal to be disconnected from the management table using the login history. For example, the time information of the login history may be compared with the current time, and if there is a login history within a certain period of time, processing may be performed to exclude it from candidates for disconnection in step S504, which will be described later. Also, both the log-in history by the administrator account and the log-in history within a certain period may be targeted.
If the control unit 204 determines that there is a terminal that has a log-in history using an administrator account (or within a certain period of time), the process advances to S504. If the control unit 204 determines that there is no terminal with a login history (or within a certain period of time) using an administrator account, the process proceeds to step S505.
In step S<b>504 , the control unit 204 excludes terminals with a history of logging in using an administrator account (or within a certain period of time) from candidates for disconnection.

Finally, in step S505, the control unit 204 selects the terminal with the oldest login history among the terminals other than the terminals excluded in steps S502 and S504. Then, the selected terminal is selected as a target to be disconnected, and the process of this flow is terminated. Note that if there is no terminal that can be selected in step S505 as a result of exclusion in steps S502 and S504, the control unit 204 ends the process without selecting any terminal. In this case, the control unit 204 determines in S304 in FIG. 3 that there is no terminal that can be disconnected among the currently connected terminals. On the other hand, if the terminal with the oldest login history is selected in step S505, the control unit 204 determines in step S304 in FIG. become.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to ensure security and improve user operability by observing the upper limit of the number of terminals that can be connected to the information processing apparatus. Also, it is possible to connect to an appropriate terminal according to the situation.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by processing to It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

204 control unit, 205 storage unit, 207 wireless communication processing unit

Claims (11)

An information processing device connected to one or more terminals by wireless communication,
Acquisition means for acquiring information about a terminal connected to the information processing device;
When a connection request from a new terminal is detected and the number of terminals connected to the information processing device reaches the upper limit, a terminal that can be disconnected using the acquired information on connected terminals is selected. Determination means for determining whether or not there is
a control means for controlling to disconnect the connection with the terminal and establish the connection with the new terminal when the determination means determines that there is a terminal that can be disconnected;
An information processing device comprising: The information about the terminal connected to the information processing device includes information as to whether or not the video is being received from the information processing device, and the determining means determines the terminal receiving the video from the information processing device. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said terminal is excluded from candidates of said terminal to which said connection may be disconnected. The information about the terminal connected to the information processing device may include a login history of the connected terminal, and the determining means may disconnect the terminal having a history of logging in with an administrator account. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is excluded from candidate terminals. The information relating to the terminal connected to the information processing apparatus includes the login history of the connected terminal, and the determining means selects a terminal having a history of login within a certain period of time from the current time as the connection. 4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information processing apparatus is excluded from candidates of terminals that may be disconnected. 5. The determination unit determines a terminal with the oldest login history among the candidates for the terminal from which the connection may be disconnected as the terminal from which the connection may be disconnected. The information processing device according to item 1. When the determination means determines that there is a terminal that may be disconnected, the control means notifies the terminal of information for displaying on the terminal that the connection with the terminal is to be disconnected. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when there is no user's operation in response to the notification by said control means for a certain period of time, said control means disconnects said terminal. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising setting means for setting an upper limit on the number of terminals connected to said information processing apparatus according to a user's operation. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said information processing apparatus is an imaging apparatus having an imaging unit. A control method for an information processing device connected to one or more terminals by wireless communication,
an acquisition step of acquiring information about a terminal connected to the information processing device;
When a connection request from a new terminal is detected and the number of terminals connected to the information processing device reaches the upper limit, a terminal that can be disconnected using the acquired information on connected terminals is selected. A determination step of determining whether there is
a control step of controlling to disconnect the connection with the terminal and establish the connection with the new terminal when the determination step determines that there is a terminal that can be disconnected;
A control method for an information processing device, comprising: A program for controlling an information processing device connected to one or more terminals by wireless communication,
an acquisition step of acquiring information about a terminal connected to the information processing device;
When a connection request from a new terminal is detected and the number of terminals connected to the information processing device reaches the upper limit, a terminal that can be disconnected using the acquired information on connected terminals is selected. A determination step of determining whether there is
a control step of controlling to disconnect the connection with the terminal and establish the connection with the new terminal when the determination step determines that there is a terminal that can be disconnected;
A program that causes a computer to run

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