JP3302115B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for sharing imaging means with a plurality of applications.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when hardware resources (including those on a network) such as peripheral devices connected to a computer are shared by a plurality of applications, the control methods by the application and the operating system are commonly used. There is a system (hereinafter abbreviated as OS).

For example, in the case of a printer, a method is employed in which the OS controls the printer and, when a print request for another document is issued while printing a certain document, the printer waits until printing of the original document is completed. That is, printers are allocated to a plurality of requests at staggered times.

In the case of a disk device, an application controls each logical unit called a file. For example, when a certain application opens a certain file, the file is occupied until the application ends, and the same application is used. Cannot access such as updating the contents by different instances of That is, complete exclusive control is performed.

On the other hand, in the case of the image pickup means, it is generally an application that performs control. For example, in the case of a video conference system, the same image of the same subject from one image pickup means is transmitted to a plurality of images via a network. Sharing such as showing it to humans is being carried out.

[0006]

As described above, each application independently executes control of the imaging means, and in this case, it is impossible to perform advanced control such as control between a plurality of different applications.

Therefore, as a control method that the OS can perform on the image pickup means, first, a method of completely occupying one application like an editor can be considered, but from the viewpoint of resource sharing. Seems inefficient. In particular, when shooting a moving image, one application may occupy for a long time, and the activation of another application is largely alienated.

A second conceivable control method is that a request issued earlier is preferentially processed in accordance with the order of request generation as in a printer, and a request issued later in time is made to wait for a while. The processing is performed as soon as the previous processing is completed. If this method is used for controlling the imaging means, it is possible that an image may be captured with a delay in response to a photographing request, and an image intended by the person who issued the request may not be obtained. It can be said that there is.

An object of the present invention is to present an information processing apparatus that solves such a problem.

[0010]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus having an image pickup means, and supplies the same image to a plurality of applications which perform image pickup with the same settings. For a plurality of applications that perform imaging with different settings, images captured by the respective settings are supplied.

[0011]

According to the above means, the imaging means can be used jointly as much as possible, and the utilization efficiency is improved.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10
Denotes an optical system having a zoom function, 12 denotes an aperture, 14 denotes a mechanical shutter, and 16 denotes an image sensor. Reference numeral 18 denotes a signal processing circuit for performing processing such as low-pass filtering, and reference numeral 20 denotes a CP.
According to the instruction from U42, aperture 12, mechanical shutter 1
4. A controller that controls the image sensor 16 and the camera platform 24. Optical system 10, diaphragm 12, mechanical shutter 14, image sensor 16, signal processing circuit 18, controller 20
Is incorporated in the image pickup means 22, and the camera platform 24 supports the image pickup means 22 so that the photographing direction can be changed.

26 is an A / D converter for converting an analog output of the signal processing circuit 18 into a digital signal, and 28 is an A / D converter.
A memory for storing digital signals output from the converter 26; a disk 30 such as a hard disk or a magneto-optical disk; a network interface 32 such as a modem for connecting to a network; a display device 34 such as a CRT; Is an input device such as a keyboard or mouse,
38 is a ROM for storing an initial program for starting up the system, a program for input / output, etc., 40 is a RAM to which application programs and OSs are loaded, and 42 is a system that controls the operation of the system and performs well-known functions. CPU.

Next, the operation of the hardware will be described.
When a power source (not shown) is turned on, the CPU 42
8, an initial program for starting is read, the system is started in accordance therewith, an OS program is read from a disk 30 or an external disk (not shown) connected to the network interface 32, and a necessary program is stored in a predetermined location of the RAM 40. Store.

The user operates the input device 36 to operate the disk 30.
Alternatively, when the user specifies to start an application program existing on an external disk (not shown) connected to the network interface, the CPU 42 stores the application program in a predetermined location of the RAM 40.

If the application program needs to operate the imaging means 22, whether from the disk 30 or from an external disk (not shown) connected to the network interface, the application The program communicates with the OS in the RAM 40, sends a signal to the controller 20 via the CPU 42,
2. mechanical shutter 14, image sensor 16, especially the electronic shutter of image sensor 16 when capturing moving images,
4 is controlled.

When an application accesses a mechanism other than the image pickup means 22 such as displaying information on the display device 34, the access is performed via the OS. However, since the method is known, the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the communication between the application and the OS, which is performed when the application operates the imaging unit 22, and the processing executed by the OS during the communication will be described.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which the application
1 shows a software configuration for performing necessary processing when operating. In FIG. 2, 44-1, 44-2, 44-3.
Is an application that exists in the RAM 40 and accesses the imaging unit 22; 46 is a processing unit that exists in the RAM 40 and processes the imaging request from the applications 44-1, 44-2, and 44-3 to control the imaging unit 22. Is an OS that performs a known function.

In the OS 46, a history holding unit 48 holds a history of requests for the imaging means 22 from each of the applications 44-1, 44-2, and 44-3. The imaging unit operation unit 50 drives the imaging unit 22 in accordance with the setting value of the imaging unit written in the history holding unit 48, and outputs data returned from the imaging unit 22 to the request adjustment unit 52. The request adjustment unit 52 refers to the history in the history storage unit 48 to accept or reject a request related to the imaging unit issued from the application, and adds, corrects, updates, or deletes the history of the history storage unit 48 when the request is accepted. Then, the data from the imaging unit operation unit 50 is appropriately distributed to the application. In addition, CPU
Reference numeral 42 denotes a timing at which the setting of the imaging unit 22 is switched to the imaging unit operation unit 50 at regular intervals.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the flow of the process of the request adjusting unit 52. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process of the imaging means operation unit 50.

FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9 show examples of requests issued by the application to perform photographing. In each of the figures, reference numeral 60 denotes a value of the photographing direction of the image pickup means, and 62 denotes an aperture of the image pickup means. A value 64 indicates the value of the shutter speed of the electronic shutter or the mechanical shutter.

FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13 show examples of histories written to the history holding unit 48. FIG.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show examples of tagged images.

FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 are criteria for judging whether the request adjusting section 52 can switch the request for setting a plurality of imaging means in a time-division manner, and FIG. 17, the absolute value of the difference between the values is compared with a certain reference value. In FIG. 17, values such as the direction of the imaging means in a plurality of histories in the history holding unit 48 and the values generated from the application are obtained. The required value is evaluated by a function f, g or h, and is compared with a certain reference value.

With reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the operation when three applications access the image pickup means will be described. Here, the application 44-1 is activated first, the application 44-2 is activated next, and finally the application 44-3 is activated.
Is activated. It is clear that the present invention is effective even when more applications are activated.

In FIG. 2, the application 44-1
Suppose that a request value as shown in FIG. The request adjusting unit 52 knows that a request has been generated in step S1, and the request is a photographing request (step S1).
2) Since no request has been issued to the imaging unit in the past with reference to the history holding unit 48 (step S3), a tag for identifying the application is added to the value in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG. The data (called a history) is written to the history holding unit 48 (Step S8).

The image pickup means operation unit 50 is the application 4
The request issued by 4-1 is acquired from the history holding unit 48 (step S31), and the imaging unit 22 is driven in accordance with the request, and the orientation of the imaging unit is Angle_a, the aperture Iris_
a, the shutter speed is set to Speed_a (step S32), and data (referred to as a tagged image) as shown in FIG. 14 to which an image is acquired from the imaging unit 22 and a tag for identifying an application is added is required. Part 5
2 (step S33). Then, the request adjusting unit 52
Knows that the tagged image has been returned in step S21, and sends only the image portion of the tagged image to the application 44-1 because there is only one tag indicating the application 44-1 (step S22). (Step S24).

When the application 44-1 is to shoot a still image, one frame image is sent to the application 44-1, and at the same time, a shooting end request is issued from the application 44-1. Request coordinator 52
Senses the request (step S1), and if the request is determined to be a photographing end request (step S2), deletes the history in the history holding unit 48 in step S11, and the imaging unit operation unit 50 requests the image. The sending to the adjustment 52 is stopped.

On the other hand, when the application 44-1 is to shoot a moving image, the imaging means operating section 50 continues to send images until the application 44-1 issues a shooting end request.

As described above, the present embodiment can be applied to both a still image and a moving image. However, hereinafter, each of the applications 44-1, 44-2, and 44-3 captures a moving image. Suppose there is.

Next, when the application 44-1 generates the request shown in FIG. 9, that is, when the set imaging unit direction is changed, the request adjusting unit 52 performs the following processing. That is, when the occurrence of the request is detected (step S
1) The request is a photographing request (step S2), and a history is already written in the history holding unit 48 (step S3), and the history is based on the application that issued the request (step S4). The history is updated as shown in FIG. 11 (step S10). Then, the imaging unit operation unit 50 drives the imaging unit 22 by performing the same processing as the above-described steps, sends the tagged image to the request adjustment unit 52, and the request adjustment unit 52 sends the image to the application 44-1.

Next, it is assumed that the application 44-2 has generated a request as shown in FIG. Upon detecting the occurrence of the request (step S1), the request adjusting unit 52 determines that the request is a photographing request (step S1).
2) Although the history is already written in the history holding unit 48 (step S3), since the history is not based on the application that issued the request (step S4), step S5 is executed, and the history holding unit 48 Figure 11 that exists
Is compared with the request shown in FIG. Both are the same, that is, Angle_a '= Angle_b and I
ris_a = Iris_b, and Speed_a = Sp
If it is eed_b, the application 44-1
It is sufficient to return the same image as the photographing result to the application 44-2. Therefore, the request adjustment unit 52 stores the application 44- in the tag portion of the history shown in FIG. A tag indicating “2” is added and rewritten as shown in FIG. 12 (step S9) to express that both applications request the same setting.

At this time, the imaging means operating section 50 acquires the history shown in FIG.
In FIG. 15, a tag for identifying the application 44-1 and the application 44-2 is added as shown in FIG. Is returned to the request adjustment unit 52 (step S33).

The request adjusting unit 52 knows that the tagged image of FIG. 15 has been returned (step S21), and a plurality of tags indicating the application 44-1 and the application 44-2 are added to the data. Therefore (step S22), a copy is made of the image portion of the tagged image of FIG. 15 obtained from the imaging device operation unit 50 (step S23), and the application 44-1 and the application 44-2 shown in the tag portion are To send the same image (step S24).

Next, referring to FIG.
-3 generates a request as shown in FIG. Here, Angle_a '≠ Angle_b and Iris
_A @ Iris_b and Speed_a @ Speed
_B.

When the request adjusting unit 52 detects the occurrence of the request (step S1), the request is related to the photographing (step S1).
2), a history already exists in the history holding unit 48 (Step S)
3) Since there is no history of the same application (step S4), and the request value does not match any of the histories written in the history holding unit 48 (step S5), step S5 is performed.
Execute 6. Here, the request shown in FIG. 8 issued by the application 44-3 is compared with the history shown in FIG. 12 existing in the history holding unit 48, and when the relationship shown in FIG. If the absolute value of the difference is smaller than a certain reference value and the setting of the two can be switched (switched in a time-division manner) at such a short time interval that the image to be returned to the application is not interrupted, the request adjustment unit 52 The new history shown in FIG. 13 is added to 48 (step S8).

As a result, the history storage unit 48
And the history of FIG. 13 exists. In this case, the imaging unit operation unit 50 acquires one of the histories written in the history holding unit 48, for example, the one shown in FIG. 12 (step S3).
1) In accordance therewith, an operation signal is sent to the image pickup means 22 (step S32), and the tagged image is returned to the request adjustment unit 52 (step S33). S24 is executed, and the image is sent to the applications 44-1 and 44-2.

Here, when a predetermined short time has elapsed, the CPU 42 sends a signal to the OS 46 to notify the timing of switching the setting of the imaging means 22 to a request value issued by another application. Based on this signal, the imaging unit operation unit 50 acquires the other history, for example, the one shown in FIG. 13 (step S31), operates the imaging unit in accordance with the value (step S32), and applies the application to the obtained image. A tag for identifying 44-3 is added, and the tag is returned to the request adjusting unit 52 (step S33).

The request adjuster 52 knows that the data has been returned (step S21), and the tag is
Since only 4-3 is shown (step S22), the image is transmitted to the application 44-3 (step S2).
4). Thereafter, the contents of FIG. 12 and the contents of FIG. 13 are set alternately and repeatedly in the imaging unit 22 by the signals successively output from the CPU 42, whereby the application 44-1, the application 44-2, and the application 44-3 are set. Images can be sent to each of them as seamlessly as possible.

By the way, the request adjusting section 52 executes step S6.
If it is determined that the time division is not possible, a predetermined signal is sent to the application to inform the user that shooting is not possible (step S7), and the application executes appropriate processing based on the signal.

When an application, for example, the application 44-3 issues a request for terminating the photographing, the request adjusting unit 52 detects the request (step S1), and determines that it is a photographing end request (step S2). The history of FIG. 13 in the history holding unit 48 is deleted (step S1).
1) Thereafter, shooting is performed according to the history shown in FIG. 12, and the shot image is returned to the application 44-1 and the application 44-2. Next, when the application 44-2 issues a shooting end request, the request adjustment unit 52 detects it (step S1), and when it determines that it is a shooting end request (step S2), the history holding unit 48. The inside history is changed from FIG. 12 to FIG. 11 (step S11). Subsequently, when a photographing end request is issued from the application 44-1, the request adjusting unit 52 detects the request (step S1) and determines that the request is a photographing end request (step S2). Is completely erased.

In this embodiment, the evaluation criterion shown in FIG. 16 is used in order to determine that the request adjusting unit 52 can perform time division in step S6. This evaluation criterion can be applied only when one history is stored in the history holding unit 48 and the history is compared with a request issued from an application. There are a plurality of histories in the history holding unit 48, and an evaluation criterion is provided as shown in FIG. 17 in order to compare them with a certain request. The “certain criterion” in FIG. 2 guarantees that the image returned to the application will not be interrupted even if time division is performed. The criterion and the values returned by the functions f, g, and h are stored in the history holding unit 48. Of the history, the variation of the history and the setting during the request, the performance of the imaging unit 22, and the like.

[0045]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the imaging means can be efficiently used in a plurality of applications. Further, according to another invention, the history of the imaging device operation issued by the already activated application is held, and when a request for the imaging device operation is issued from a certain application, the request is compared with the history. A means for determining whether or not to accept a request is provided, and a means for switching a plurality of settings when accepting a request makes it possible to share an imaging means among a plurality of applications and perform photographing and the like. Also,
When the request and the history are the same, a function of distributing one image to a plurality of applications is also provided, so that an image capturing unit can be shared and photographed between applications having the same settings. Therefore, it is possible to provide a system for efficiently controlling access to the imaging unit by the application.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration related to an operation of an imaging unit by an application.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a request adjusting unit 52;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing another processing flow of the request adjusting unit 52.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing of an imaging unit operation unit.

FIG. 6 is an example of a request issued by an application to perform photographing.

FIG. 7 is an example of a request issued by an application to perform photographing.

FIG. 8 is an example of a request issued by an application to perform photographing.

FIG. 9 is an example of a request issued by an application to perform photographing.

10 shows an example of a history written to a history holding unit 48. FIG.

11 shows an example of a history written in a history holding unit 48. FIG.

12 is an example of a history written to a history holding unit 48. FIG.

FIG. 13 is an example of a history written to a history holding unit 48;

FIG. 14 is an example of a tagged image.

FIG. 15 is an example of a tagged image.

FIG. 16 is an evaluation criterion for judging whether or not the request adjustment unit 52 can switch a plurality of imaging means settings in a time-division manner.

FIG. 17 illustrates another criterion for determining whether the request adjustment unit 52 can switch requests for setting a plurality of imaging units.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Optical system 12: Aperture 14: Mechanical shutter 1
6: Image sensor 18: Signal processing circuit 20: Controller 22: Imaging means 24: Pan head 26: A / D converter 28: Memory 30: Disk 32: Network interface 34: Display device 36: Input device
38: ROM 40: RAM 42: CPU 44-
1, 44-2, 44-3: Application 46: O
S48: History holding unit 50: Imaging unit operation unit 52:
Requirement adjusting unit 60: value of imaging direction of imaging means 62: aperture value of imaging means 64: shutter speed value

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 7/15

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An information processing apparatus provided with an imaging unit, wherein the same image is supplied to a plurality of applications that perform imaging with the same settings, and the plurality of applications perform imaging with different settings. In addition, an information processing device that supplies an image captured according to each setting. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an application for which a requested setting cannot be executed is notified that shooting is not possible. 3. A history holding means for holding, as a history, a request regarding an imaging means from an application, and information for driving the imaging means in accordance with the history in the history holding means, and identifying an application in a captured image. Imaging means operating means for creating data added with
Judgment of the request for the imaging means issued from the application is determined, and the history in the history holding means is created, corrected, updated, or deleted, and further based on the data created by the imaging means operating means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a request adjustment unit that distributes an image to an application.