JP3971312B2 - Image information processing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication technique for receiving image information via wireless communication means.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, portable communication terminal devices such as digital cameras and portable telephones equipped with a digital imaging function have become widespread. Against this background, image information using portable media is transferred to a printer device or a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer). , Called “PC”).
[0003]
Also, with the advancement of wireless technology such as Bluetooth communication, image information can be directly transferred without using portable media.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in a wireless line such as Bluetooth communication, a processing method when an unexpected communication channel disconnection event occurs due to a communication failure or a trouble on the transmitting device side or the receiving device side is not clear.
[0005]
The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication control means capable of making a transfer request for only untransferred image information after an unexpected disconnection of a communication channel. And
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An image information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an image information selection means for selecting an image to be transmitted at the time of transmission in the image information processing apparatus provided with wireless communication means for transmitting and receiving image information to and from the counterpart device; Image additional information transmitting means for generating and transmitting image additional information indicating at least one of an image list, size, storage location and creation date, image information transmitting means for transmitting the image to be transmitted, and image information Communication disconnection cause display means for displaying whether the cause of communication disconnection is due to the counterpart device, due to its own device, or due to the wireless communication environment when communication is disconnected during transmission or reception, and the image addition Non-transmission / reception image information display means for judging and displaying non-transmission / reception image information from information, and a user based on the non-transmission / reception image information display means at the time of transmission or reception The communication continuation instruction et indicated the untransmitted image data or not transmitting the received image information, characterized by comprising an image communication resuming request means for issuing an image communication resuming request to.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the image processing apparatus of the present invention is a printer, and the printer receives image information from a portable communication terminal.
[0013]
In FIG. 1, the feature of the present invention is that the image transfer process is resumed when communication is interrupted for some reason while the user is transferring image information using Bluetooth communication. The case where the device A receives image data from the device B is shown.
[0014]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram specifically illustrating the configuration of FIG. 1. The printer 100 includes a control unit 101, a wireless device 111, a printer unit 120, an operation panel 121, an auxiliary storage device 122, and a NIC 123. I have.
[0015]
The control unit 101 includes a CPU 102, a ROM 103, and a RAM 104. The control unit 101 controls the entire printer 100. The ROM 103 stores system programs such as various driver programs such as a print driver and a communication driver, and various settings. The control means, image information selecting means, unreceived information specifying means, reconnection determining means, and unreceived image acquiring means of the present invention are the control program, image information selecting program, unreceived information specifying program, and reconnection determining program in the ROM 103. This is realized by an unreceived image acquisition program.
[0016]
The RAM 104 is composed of an area that is backed up by power and an area that is not backed up by power. The area that is backed up by power stores user setting information and the like, and the area that is not backed up by power is used as a work area of the CPU 102. The
[0017]
The wireless device 111 has a function conforming to the Bluetooth standard (or wireless LAN) that can be connected to a portable communication terminal (an antenna is indicated by 112).
[0018]
The printer unit 120 is a unit that prints a received image.
[0019]
The operation panel 121 includes an operation unit and a display unit, and can be configured by, for example, a touch panel type liquid crystal display.
[0020]
The auxiliary storage device 122 can hold the received image information.
[0021]
The NIC 123 is a network interface for transferring image information over a wired network.
[0022]
In FIG. 2, the portable communication terminal 200 includes a control unit 201, a wireless device 211, an operation panel 220, and an auxiliary storage device 221.
[0023]
The control unit 201 includes a CPU 202, a ROM 203, and a RAM 204. The control unit 201 controls the entire portable communication terminal 200. The ROM 203 stores system programs such as various driver programs for communication drivers and various settings. The RAM 204 includes a power backed up area and a power backed up area. The user backed up area stores user setting information and the like, and the power backed up area is used as a work area of the CPU 202. The
[0024]
The wireless device 211 can be connected to a portable communication network and can perform communication conforming to the Bluetooth standard that can be connected to the printer 100 (antenna is indicated by 212).
[0025]
The operation panel 220 includes a numeric keypad, function keys, and a seesaw key.
[0026]
The auxiliary storage device 221 stores image information, and the medium may be portable.
[0027]
Processing when communication is disconnected while image information is being transferred from the portable communication terminal 200 to the printer 100 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
[0028]
First, as shown in FIG. 3, the user selects an image to be transferred from the operation panel 220 of the portable communication terminal 200 (S101), and starts image information transfer (S102). When transferring image information, image additional information of the selected image is generated, connection processing is performed for the printer 100, and after the communication channel is established (S104), the image additional information is transmitted (S105). In the printer apparatus 100, after confirming the storage area to be used from the acquired image additional information, a signal to start image transfer is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 200, and the image information from the mobile communication terminal 200 is transferred. Wait for Thereafter, image transfer is started from the portable communication terminal 200, and image transfer processing (S106) is entered.
[0029]
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, when communication is disconnected during image information transfer, one or both of the operation panel 220 of the portable communication terminal 200 and the operation panel 121 of the printer 100 may The presence / absence of untransferred image information is determined (S107) and displayed (S108). This untransferred image information can be obtained from the image additional information stored in the printer 100 and the portable communication terminal 200.
[0030]
Thereafter, the user selects to continue or cancel the image transfer process (S109). When the user selects cancel, an end process is performed to end the image processing (S113). On the other hand, when the user selects continuation, reconnection processing is performed (S110). Here, the printer 100 can acquire unreceived image information (S111).
[0031]
The portable communication terminal 200 instructed to continue image transfer issues an image transfer restart request to the printer 100. The printer 100 that has received the image transfer restart request normally returns “permitted” to the portable communication terminal 200 promptly. However, if there is a problem such as the capacity of the auxiliary storage device 122 being insufficient, “reject” is returned. When image resumption is rejected, termination processing is performed in both the printer 100 and the portable communication terminal 200.
[0032]
When the image transfer is resumed, a request for transferring an unreceived image is issued from the printer 100 side to the portable communication terminal 200 and the reception from the portable communication terminal 200 is awaited. The number of retries by disconnection after reconnection is set in advance by the user, and when the communication is disconnected after exceeding the number of retries, termination processing is performed (S113).
[0033]
Next, image additional information for processing for determining the presence / absence of untransferred image information will be described.
[0034]
FIG. 5 shows an example of image information transferred before the image transfer process. (A) is data when an image transfer is requested, (B) is data when an image transfer is resumed, (C) is data when an image transfer is resumed, (D) is data when an image transfer is refused, (E) Is data for transmitting image additional information, (F) is data for transmitting image information, and (G) is data for a communication error.
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 5E, the image information size, the location of the transfer source of the image information, and the date and time when the image information was created are stored for one piece of image information when the image additional information is transmitted. As described above, these items are continuously transferred as many times as the number of image information the user desires to transfer (the number of retries) (S110). The timing at which this data is transferred is performed after a wireless communication channel is established between the portable communication terminal 200 and the printer 100 after the user selects image information for which image transfer is desired.
[0036]
Next, processing for determining the presence / absence of untransferred information based on image additional information will be described.
[0037]
In order to determine the completion of transfer of one piece of image information, the image information size of the image additional information is used, and this is compared with the size of the actually received image information. If the sizes are the same, it can be determined that the transfer of the image information has been completed, and if the sizes are different, it can be determined that the transfer has not been performed. This process is performed on all image information of the image addition / division method, and a list of untransferred image information is created.
[0038]
First, when the communication is disconnected, the user can know information about the cause of the disconnection and whether the transfer process is completed from one or both of the operation panel 220 of the portable communication terminal 200 and the operation panel 121 of the printer 100. The user selects either continuation or cancellation of the transfer process from the cause of disconnection.
[0039]
When the user selects continuation, after the reconnection process, a procedure for transmitting an image transfer request to the communication partner and transferring the image information is executed. At this time, if the image information cannot be found for some reason, or if the date or size is different, an error is notified to both the printer 100 and the portable communication terminal 200.
[0040]
As described above, when communication is disconnected during image transfer, the present invention performs reconnection processing. In the present invention, the number of reconnection processes is counted, and when the value exceeds a value set in advance by the user (or when the number reaches the number), the image transfer is stopped. This count value can be set by the printer 100 and the portable communication terminal 200. In this case, the number of retries actually used (count value set by the user) is the device operated by the user (printer 100 or portable communication terminal 200).
[0041]
FIG. 6 shows information exchange between the user, the portable communication terminal 200 and the printer 100. FIG. 6 shows an example of transmission of image 1, image 2, and image 3.
[0042]
When the image transfer starts (a), the user (usually the user of the portable communication terminal 200) selects the image to be transferred, and the portable communication terminal 200 generates image additional information. When the connection is started, the portable communication terminal 200 issues a connection request to the printer 100, and the printer 100 returns a connection permission to the portable communication terminal 200. Thereby, a radio channel is established (b).
[0043]
Then, the portable communication terminal 200 transmits image additional information to the printer 100. The printer 100 confirms whether there is a storage area and confirms reception. Thereby, the pre-image transfer process is completed (c).
[0044]
Next, the printer 100 issues an image 1 transfer request to the portable communication terminal 200, and the portable communication terminal 200 transmits image 1 to the printer 100.
Here, it is assumed that the communication channel is disconnected after the printer 100 confirms reception of the image 1 (d).
[0045]
In this case, untransferred image confirmation processing is performed. In this confirmation, clearing causes etc., that are displayed on the printer 100 and / or the mobile communication terminal 200. When the continuation of the transfer is instructed, the instructed device (the printer 100 or the portable communication terminal 200) issues a connection request to the other side, and the device that receives the request returns a connection permission. Then, continuing the transfer has been instructed equipment issues a resume request for images transfer, returns to restart permission image transfer device having received this. As described above, the image transfer process is resumed (e).
[0046]
Next, the printer 100 issues a transfer request for image 2 to the portable communication terminal 200, and the portable communication terminal 200 transmits image 2. When the printer 100 confirms the reception of the image 2, the printer 100 issues a transfer request for the image 3 to the portable communication terminal 200, and the portable communication terminal 200 transmits the image 3. As described above, the image transfer of the images 1 to 3 is completed (f).
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
In the present invention, even when communication is interrupted while image information using wireless communication technology is being transferred, it is possible to eliminate wasteful transfer by transferring only untransferred images.
[0048]
In addition, by receiving in advance the image additional information related to the image to be received, it is possible to confirm whether or not a storage area such as a hard disk or memory can be secured, and to reduce the troublesome user operation when communication is disconnected. This eliminates the problem and enables efficient wireless image communication.
[0049]
By comparing the image size and the list, it is possible to quickly confirm the reception, to clearly indicate the cause of the disconnection to the user, and to make the user select whether or not to perform the reception process, thereby performing a wasteful reconnection process. Can be eliminated.
[0050]
In order to prevent the reconnection request from continuing indefinitely, a reconnection retry counter may be provided to stop the processing. As a result, the user is not forced to perform unnecessary reconnection processing.
[0051]
When receiving image information from a portable communication terminal with a small battery capacity, it is possible to use Bluetooth communication.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a form in which an image processing apparatus of the present invention is a printer, and the printer receives image information from a portable communication terminal.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram specifically showing the configuration of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing in the first half when communication is disconnected while image information is being transferred from the portable communication terminal to the printer.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing in the first half when communication is disconnected while image information is being transferred from the portable communication terminal to the printer.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of image additional information transferred before image transfer processing;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating exchange of information among a user, a portable terminal device, and a printer.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Printer 101, 201 Controller 111, 211 Wireless device 112, 212 Antenna 120 Printer unit 121, 220 Operation panel 122, 221 Auxiliary storage device 123 NIC
102, 202 CPU
103, 203 ROM
104,204 RAM
200 Portable communication terminal

Claims (5)

In an image information processing apparatus provided with wireless communication means for transmitting / receiving image information to / from a partner apparatus ,
Image information selection means for selecting an image to be transmitted at the time of transmission ;
Image additional information transmitting means for generating and transmitting image additional information indicating at least one of the list, size, storage location and creation date of the image to be transmitted;
Image information transmitting means for transmitting the image to be transmitted;
A communication disconnection cause display means for displaying whether the cause of the communication disconnection is due to the counterpart device, the subject device, or the wireless communication environment when the communication is disconnected during transmission or reception of the image information;
Non-transmission / reception image information display means for judging and displaying non-transmission / reception image information from the image additional information;
Image communication resumption request means for issuing an image communication resumption request according to a communication continuation instruction of the untransmitted image information or untransmitted received image information instructed by a user based on the non-transmitted / received image information display means at the time of transmission or reception; An image information processing apparatus comprising: The non reception image information display means, the image size of the image additional information during reception, acquired whether is determined has been received completely one image information from the size of the image information at the time of reception, the image addition 2. The image according to claim 1, wherein an unreceived image information name at the time of cutting, which is specified by comparing an image information list included in the information with an image name related to the image information acquired at the time of reception, is displayed. Information processing device. In case the user chooses to continue the communication processing, when the communication is cut by reconnection predetermined number image information processing according to claim 2, characterized in that to stop the communication process of the image apparatus. It said wireless communication means, the image information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that utilizes the Bluetooth communication. Image information processing apparatus according to any one of that having a mobile communication function or the printing function from claim 1, wherein 4.