JP4488015B2 - Network system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the technology for changing a method of performing setting required for achieving wireless connection in accordance with whether a communication terminal to be set includes a function for performing a part of processing regarding setting or not when performing the connection setting required for a communication terminal to achieve the wireless connection with a radio access point from another communication terminal capable of data communication with the communication terminal. <P>SOLUTION: In the processing of s502, it is determined whether a device (printer 20) to be set includes a function (acquisition function) for performing a part of processing regarding setting or not and in a pattern corresponding to a result of the determination, commanding in subsequent processing can be performed (branched into YES and NO). Thus, since the pattern of commanding can be changed in accordance with whether a device to be set includes a function for performing processing, processing can be prevented from being stopped in a state where a command from a PC 30 is sent. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a communication terminal functioning as a wireless station with connection settings necessary for the communication terminal to wirelessly connect to a wireless access point based on instructions from other communication terminals capable of data communication with the communication terminal. Related to the network system.

  Currently, so-called wireless LANs that realize wireless data communication between a plurality of wireless stations or between a wireless station and an external network are widely used.

  In a wireless LAN network, each communication terminal (hereinafter simply referred to as “communication terminal”) functioning as a wireless station performs wireless communication via a wireless access point, and direct communication terminals communicate with each other wirelessly. There is a communication system such as “ad hoc mode”, and each wireless station is configured to be able to switch the communication system according to its application, but it can be used in “infrastructure mode”. It is common.

In such an “infrastructure mode” network, a communication terminal, for example, a wireless LAN standard (IEEE802.11b, -a, -g, etc.) adopted when making a wireless connection on the communication terminal side, these wireless LANs. Access to a wireless access point is possible by performing various settings such as the frequency band (so-called channel) used in the standard, SSID (service set identifier, or ESSID: extended SSID), and WEP key (Wired Equivalent Privacy). Become.

  Here, if the communication terminal has a user interface with high operability such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”), the setting on the communication terminal side is performed using this user interface. It's easy.

  However, in a communication terminal that does not have a user interface with higher operability than a PC, such as a printer that provides a service via a network, setting with this user interface is very troublesome and laborious. It is.

  For this reason, such communication terminals are set indirectly from other communication terminals by switching the communication method with other communication terminals to “ad hoc mode” and exchanging data related to the settings between the two communication terminals ( Remote setup), or by connecting the PC directly with a cable and exchanging data related to the setting with this PC, the PC can be set indirectly. Is common.

  As a technique for performing this type of setting, for example, a function as a wireless access point (relay station) is added to a communication terminal (network device) such as a printer that functions as a wireless station, and this function (relay function unit) ) To establish a unique wireless network, and from the other communication terminal (wireless station) connected via this wireless network, it is necessary to connect to another wireless network using the wireless station function (terminal function unit) A technique has been proposed in which a function as a wireless access point is stopped after setting (remote setup) is performed indirectly (see Patent Document 1).

This technology is configured to perform most of the processing related to the setting necessary for realizing the wireless connection to the wireless access point by the communication terminal (other communication terminal) on the setting side. If the communication terminal to be set has a function of executing a process related to setting such as obtaining (detecting) a parameter (SSID) necessary for setting from a wireless access point existing in the vicinity (Patent Document) 2), it is desirable to cause the communication terminal to be set to execute a part of the processing. This is because it can be expected to reduce the processing load on the setting communication terminal.
JP 2003-143156 A JP 2003-204335 A

  As described above, considering that a part of the processing related to the setting is to be performed by the communication terminal on the side to be set, in order to realize this, it is possible to come up with a configuration instructing that a part of the processing is performed. However, in this case, if the communication terminal on the side to be set does not have a function for performing processing, it is not possible to cause part of the processing related to setting as a result.

  This is because if the communication terminal on the side to be set does not have a function for processing, no processing will be performed even if a command is received, so the command from the setting side was sent This is because there is a risk that the processing will stop in the state as it is.

  The present invention has been made for such a problem, and a communication terminal functioning as a wireless station performs connection settings necessary for realizing a wireless connection with a wireless access point, and data communication with the communication terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of reducing the processing load on the communication terminal on the setting side when performing from other possible communication terminals.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the network system according to claim 1 includes a second communication terminal that instructs the first communication terminal to perform connection settings necessary for the first communication terminal to wirelessly connect to the wireless access point. A network system capable of communicating with a third communication terminal capable of detecting a wireless access point that can be wirelessly connected among a plurality of wireless access points existing on the network , wherein the third communication terminal is a wireless access point Detecting means for detecting the wireless access point detected by the detecting means, and transmitting means for transmitting the access point information related to the wireless access point to the second communication terminal , wherein the second communication terminal is connected to the third communication terminal. a reception unit for receiving the wireless access point information transmitted, radio access point received by the receiving means Based on the bets information provided to the first communication terminal, and command means for commanding connection settings required for the wireless access point by wireless connection represented by said first communication terminal the wireless access point information, the It is characterized by that. The second communication terminal sets security setting information necessary for wireless connection between the wireless access point indicated by the wireless access point information received by the receiving means and the first communication terminal by an operation from a user. And setting means configured to transmit the security setting information set by the setting means to the first communication terminal to command connection setting with the wireless access point.

The second communication terminal includes request means for requesting the third communication terminal to obtain a parameter group indicating a setting item for connection setting necessary for wireless connection with a wireless access point. The third communication terminal detects a wireless access point by the detection means on the condition that the request for obtaining the parameter group is received from the second communication terminal, and connects to the detected wireless access point. An acquisition unit that acquires a parameter group for setting is transmitted to the second communication terminal as the wireless access point information, the parameter group acquired by the acquisition unit by the transmission unit, the second communication terminal, By transmitting the parameter group transmitted from the third communication terminal to the first communication terminal, a connection setting for wireless connection to the first communication terminal is established. The better to instruction. Further, when the second communication terminal cannot obtain from the wireless access point a parameter group indicating setting items for connection settings necessary for the first communication terminal to wirelessly connect to the wireless access point, the third communication terminal The communication terminal may be requested to acquire the parameter group.

  The second communication terminal may have a user interface with higher operability than the first communication terminal.

  The “parameter group” described above includes one or more parameters.

  According to such a network system, the processing load on the communication terminal on the setting side can be reduced. Furthermore, even if the communication terminal to be set is a communication terminal that does not have a user interface with high operability, it is possible to reduce time and effort required for performing various settings.

  Note that the “communication terminal capable of data communication” described in the column of “Means for Solving the Problems” described above is wirelessly connected (in infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode) according to the wireless LAN standard, for example. Communication terminals that can be used, that is, not only wireless stations but also communication terminals such as PCs physically connected by cables or the like are included.

  Hereinafter, as the best mode for carrying out the present invention, a network configuration in which a plurality of network devices (hereinafter simply referred to as “devices”) performs wireless communication in accordance with a wireless LAN standard (IEEE802.11 standard). An example will be described.

  In this network configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, devices such as an access point 10, a network printer (hereinafter simply referred to as “printer”) 20, and a well-known personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 30 are provided. Perform wireless communication.

First, the access point 10 is a well-known wireless access point that relays data communication between a wireless station and another device (or an external network) connected via the cable 100, and is stored in a memory (not shown). ) Is permitted to communicate as a wireless access point to a wireless station that has been accessed using the same SSID as the SSID (service set identifier or ESSID: extended SSID).

  Further, if “parameters related to security” are stored in the memory, the access point 10 performs communication in a state where security measures are taken based on these parameters. Examples of the “security parameters” include an authentication method (common key method, WPA-PSK method; Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key, etc.), and communication is performed using a predetermined authentication method. Encryption keys (WEP key; Wired Equivalent Privacy, TKIP key; Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, etc.). This encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating whether or not communication is performed in an encrypted state. The access point 10 encrypts communication with the wireless station using the encryption key if the encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating that communication is encrypted ("1" is set). It is done in the state. On the other hand, if the encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating that communication is not performed in an encrypted state ("0" is set), communication with the wireless station is performed without encryption. .

  The access point 10 exchanges data with other devices wirelessly or by wire and performs indirect setting (remote setup) from the other device side, whereby each of the parameters (SSID, cipher) Key and encryption flag) are generated and stored in memory.

  Next, the printer 20 is a device that functions as a wireless station, and includes a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a wireless LAN controller 24, an operation panel 26, a display panel 27, a print engine 28, and the like.

  The CPU 21 controls the overall operation of the printer 20 by sending commands to each component while storing the processing results in the RAM 23 according to the processing procedure stored in the ROM 22.

  The ROM 22 is a readable / writable nonvolatile memory having storage areas such as an SSID used when the printer 20 performs wireless communication, a security parameter during communication, and a parameter indicating a communication mode of wireless communication. Among these parameters, the SSID has a value corresponding to each communication mode of wireless communication, and the first SSID corresponding to the infrastructure mode, which is a communication mode in which the printer 20 communicates with other wireless stations via a wireless access point. The second SSID corresponding to the ad hoc mode, which is a communication mode in which the printer 20 directly communicates with other wireless stations, is stored in the ROM 22. The parameter indicating the communication mode indicates whether the printer 20 communicates in the infrastructure mode or the ad hoc mode.

  The wireless LAN controller 24 is an interface for realizing wireless communication in accordance with the wireless LAN standard based on each parameter stored in the ROM 22. When the parameter indicating the communication mode is a parameter indicating the infrastructure mode, the printer 20 (CPU 21) uses the first SSID among the SSIDs stored in the ROM 22, while the parameter is a parameter indicating the ad hoc mode. In some cases, a communication function as a wireless station is realized by using the second SSID and establishing a connection (connection) with a wireless access point or a wireless station through the wireless LAN controller 24 in a corresponding communication mode. .

  At this time, if “security-related parameters” are stored in the ROM 22, the security measures based on these parameters are taken. Examples of the “security parameters” include an encryption key for performing communication in an encrypted state. This encryption key is stored together with the encryption flag, like the access point 10. If the encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating that communication is performed in an encrypted state, the printer 20 (CPU 21) performs communication in the state encrypted with the encryption key. On the other hand, if the encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating that communication is not performed in an encrypted state, communication is performed without encryption. In the present embodiment, among the parameters described above, the first SSID is “not set (blank)”, the second SSID is “Wireless”, the encryption key is “not set (blank)”, and the encryption flag is “0”. ”, The case where the communication mode is set to“ ad hoc mode ”is illustrated, but some of these are generated (or updated) based on instructions from the outside (PC 30).

Furthermore, application software for causing the printer 20 to function as an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) agent is incorporated in the printer 20 (the ROM 22 thereof). When the printer 20 receives an SNMP request command for requesting a predetermined parameter by the function of the SNMP agent, the printer 20 can send back an SNMP response command including the parameter requested by the SNMP request command. Here, the parameter requested by the SNMP request command is read from a database (MIB: Management Information Base) recorded in the ROM 22. In this database, various parameters relating to the printer 20 are registered in advance, but specific parameters are configured to be registered (or updated) in response to an instruction from the PC 30.

  The PC 30 is a device that functions as a wireless station, and includes a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, a wireless LAN controller 34, an input unit 36 including a keyboard and a pointing device, a display 37, a hard disk (HD) 38, a network controller 39, and the like. I have.

  The CPU 31 controls the overall operation of the printer 20 by sending commands to each component while storing the processing results in the RAM 33 according to the processing procedure stored in the ROM 32.

  The ROM 32 is a readable / writable nonvolatile memory having storage areas such as an SSID used when the PC 30 performs wireless communication, a parameter related to security during communication, and a parameter indicating a communication mode of wireless communication. Among these parameters, the SSID stores the first SSID corresponding to the infrastructure mode and the second SSID corresponding to the ad hoc mode in the ROM 32 as in the printer 20.

  The wireless LAN controller 34 is an interface for realizing wireless communication in accordance with the wireless LAN standard based on each parameter stored in the ROM 32. When the parameter indicating the communication mode is a parameter indicating the infrastructure mode, the PC 30 (CPU 31) uses the first SSID among the SSIDs stored in the ROM 32, while the parameter is a parameter indicating the ad hoc mode. In some cases, a communication function as a wireless station is realized by establishing a connection (connection) with a wireless access point or a wireless station through the wireless LAN controller 34 using the second SSID in a corresponding communication mode.

  At this time, if “security parameters” are stored in the ROM 32, the security measures based on these parameters are taken. Examples of the “security parameters” include an encryption key for performing communication in an encrypted state. This encryption key is stored together with the encryption flag, like the access point 10. If the encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating that communication is performed in an encrypted state, the PC 30 (CPU 31) performs communication in the state encrypted with the encryption key. On the other hand, if the encryption key is stored together with an encryption flag indicating that communication is not performed in an encrypted state, communication is performed without encryption. In the PC 30, each parameter (SSID, encryption key, and encryption flag) is generated and stored in the ROM 32 by performing an operation for setting related to wireless communication with the input unit 36. In this embodiment, the case where each parameter is memorize | stored (set) so that wireless connection (refer (1) of FIG. 1) with the access point 10 is realizable is illustrated.

  The network controller 39 is an interface for connecting the PC 30 to the LAN by wire.

  Further, the PC 30 has application software for causing the PC 30 to function as an SNMP manager. With this SNMP manager function, the PC 30 (CPU 31) transmits an SNMP request command for requesting a predetermined parameter to another device, and receives an SNMP response command returned from the device that has received the SNMP request command. Can be received and collected.

In FIG. 1, for convenience of illustrating that each device is wirelessly connected, all three wireless communication paths that can exist between the devices are illustrated ((1) to (3 in FIG. 1). )reference). However, these wireless connections are established or disconnected in the process described below, and do not mean that the devices are simultaneously wirelessly connected.
○ Remote Setup Process by PC 30 Hereinafter, the procedure of the remote setup process executed by the CPU 31 of the PC 30 will be described with reference to FIG. This remote setup process is a process for indirectly setting the device for realizing wireless connection with the access point 10 (the printer 20 in this embodiment) from the PC 30 side, and is stored in the HD 38. It is started by starting the application software for remote setup processing. In the present embodiment, the application software described above is configured to perform remote setup in a so-called wizard format in which a question is answered (or input) in a dialog format with the user.

  Prior to starting the application software, the user sets the second SSID to “Wireless” so that the wireless communication setting (connection setting) of the PC 30 can be wirelessly communicated with the printer 20 in the ad hoc mode. Therefore, it is necessary to change the setting so that the encryption flag is “0” and the communication mode is “ad hoc mode”. After such setting change, wireless communication with the printer 20 via the wireless LAN controller 34 is possible (see (2) in FIG. 1; (1) to (2)).

  First, an image for starting remote setup (wizard start screen; FIG. 3) is displayed on the display 37, and then the user's confirmation operation (operation for selecting the “Next” button 102) is accepted (s100). If the “Back” button and the “Cancel” button are displayed in the image showing the progress of the remote setup thereafter, the operation to select the “Back” button will be performed immediately before unless otherwise specified. Returning to the process of displaying the displayed image, and when the operation of selecting the “Cancel” button is performed, the remote setup process is forcibly terminated.

  If a confirmation operation is performed after the process of s100, a device to be set (remote setup) is determined (s300). This process is a process of determining a device (in this embodiment, the printer 20) to be remotely set up from wireless stations existing around the PC 30 in response to a user's selection operation (setting target device determination process). is there. Here, the processing procedure of the setting target device determination process will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6, a progress display screen showing a state of searching for devices (wireless stations) existing around the PC 30 is displayed on the display 37 (s302).

  Next, the device (printer 20) that is set to be able to realize wireless communication with the PC 30 is requested (broadcasts the packet) for notification of setting contents related to wireless communication using an SNMP request (GET) packet (s304). . Here, information (objects) such as a device name, IP address, MAC address, device model information, presence / absence of an acquisition function, a wireless LAN standard that can be used for wireless communication, a communication channel that can be used for wireless communication, and information for discrimination are requested. Broadcast an SNMP request packet. From the device that has received the SNMP request packet broadcast in the process of s304, if the corresponding information is owned (the corresponding information is registered in the database), an SNMP response (REPLY) packet including the information is returned. Come.

  Of the information requested by the SNMP request packet, “presence / absence of acquisition function” refers to a parameter group necessary for realizing wireless connection with a wireless access point from a beacon or probe response transmitted by the wireless access point ( It indicates whether or not it has a function of specifying and acquiring a “parameter group” in the present invention; for example, an SSID. The “wireless LAN standard capable of wireless communication” indicates, for example, which of the standards such as IEEE802.11a, -11b, and -11g can perform wireless communication. The “communication channel that can be used for wireless communication” indicates a channel (frequency band) that can be used in the set wireless LAN standard. The “discriminating information” is information for discriminating the device that has returned the SNMP response packet. In this embodiment, the “discriminating information” is for discriminating the manufacturer of the device.

  Next, an SNMP response packet sent back after the SNMP request packet is broadcast in the process of s304 until a predetermined time (2 seconds in the present embodiment) elapses is received and collected (s306). .

  Next, it is checked whether an SNMP response packet has been collected (received) in the process of s306 (s308).

  If an SNMP response packet is collected in the process of s308 (s308: YES), the content of the information is confirmed for the SNMP response packet whose information content is unconfirmed among the SNMP response packets collected in the process of s306 (s310). ).

  In the SNMP response packet in which the content of the information is confirmed in the processing of s310, when “determination information” is information indicating specific content (a specific manufacturer in the present embodiment) (s310: YES), The information indicated by the SNMP response packet is stored in the RAM 33 for each device that has returned the SNMP response packet (s312).

  Thus, after the processing of s312 is completed, or when the “discrimination information” is not information indicating specific contents in the processing of s310 (s310: NO), the SNMP response packet collected in the processing of s306 is still information. It is checked whether or not there is an unconfirmed content (s314).

  If there is any information that has not yet been confirmed in the process of s314 (s314: YES), the process returns to the process of s310, and thereafter, the process of s310 to s314 is performed until the content of the information is confirmed for all SNMP response packets. repeat. When the content of information is confirmed for all SNMP response packets in the process of s314 and there is only one parameter group stored in the process of s312, the process after s316 is not performed, and this one parameter The device corresponding to the group may be configured to be selected in the same manner as the processing of s330, and the process may be shifted to the processing after s400.

  Further, when the content of information is confirmed for all SNMP response packets in the process of s314 (s314: NO), or when the SNMP response packet is not received in the process of s308 (s308: NO), the process of s312 A setting target device selection screen showing a list of information corresponding to each device stored in the RAM 33 is displayed (s316). As shown in FIG. 7, the setting target device selection screen displays a list 302 of information corresponding to each device. The user can select a device to be remotely set up by performing an operation of selecting one of the devices in the list 302 (the selected device is highlighted (highlighted)). In addition, on the setting target device setting screen, a “Refresh” button 304, a “Back” button 306, a “Next” button 308, a “Cancel” button 310, and the like are also displayed, and the user presses the “Refresh” button 304. Operation to select (Refresh operation), operation to select the “Back” button 306 (Back operation), operation to select the “Next” button 308 after selecting any device in the list 302 (Next operation), “Cancel” ”Button 310 is selected (Cancel operation).

  Next, after the setting target device setting screen is displayed in s316, the process waits until any operation (user operation) among the operations described above is performed by the user (s318: NO), and when the user operation is performed (s318). If the operation is a “Refresh operation” (s320: YES), the process returns to the process of s302, and the setting target device determination process is restarted from the beginning. If the user operation is “Back operation” (s320: NO, s322: YES), the process returns to the process of s100 and starts again from the display of the wizard start screen (FIG. 3).

  If the user operation is “Cancel operation” (s320: NO, s322: NO, s324: YES), Cancel processing is performed (s326). In this Cancel process, first, a forced end screen is displayed. As shown in FIG. 8, a “Resume” button 312 and an “Exit” button 314 are displayed on the forced termination screen, and the user selects an “Resume” button 312 (Resume operation), or Any of the operations for selecting the “Exit” button 314 (Exit operation) can be performed. And it waits until operation by a user is performed, and when Resume operation is performed, while returning to the process of s316, when Exit operation is performed, the determination process of this setting object device will be complete | finished.

In addition, after the display of the setting target device setting screen in s316 described above, when the operation by the user operation is “Next operation” (s320: NO, s322: NO, s324: NO, s328: YES), the selection is made in the list 302 ( The highlighted device is determined as a device to be remotely set up (s330), the setting target device determining process is terminated, and the process proceeds to the process after s400 (see FIG. 2). In the process of s330, when the device to be remotely set up is determined, the MAC address of this device is stored in the RAM 33.

  In addition, after the display of the setting target device setting screen by s316 described above, when the operation by the user operation is not any of the operations described above (s320: NO, s322: NO, s324: NO, s328: NO), the operation After performing the process according to (other processes) (s332), the process returns to the process of s318.

  After completing the setting target device determination processing in this way, the processing returns to FIG. 2 and the input of the IP address to be assigned to the device determined in the processing of s330 (printer 20; hereinafter referred to as “determination device”). After the image (IP address setting screen; FIG. 9) is displayed on the display 37, the user's confirmation operation (operation for selecting the “Next” button 422) is accepted (s400). After the IP address setting screen is displayed in this process, the user can dynamically acquire an IP address to be assigned to the determined device according to a predetermined communication procedure (DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), or to the determined device. Enter the IP address to be assigned arbitrarily (set statically) or select (by radio button 416 or 418), and if you choose to enter the IP address (subnet mask and default) (Including the gateway) can be entered in the input field 420. In the process of s400, when an operation for selecting the “Next” button 422 is performed as the confirmation operation after the above operation, information on the IP address (that is, dynamically acquired or statically set, IP address for static setting) is generated and stored in the RAM 33.

  In the process of s400, an operation of selecting the “Next” button 422 while the value input in the input field 420 remains out of the range defined by a predetermined communication standard (IP: Internet Protocol). 10 is displayed, an error notification image as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed, and the operation waits until an operation for selecting an “OK” button 424 in the image is performed. It is configured to redo the process.

  If a confirmation operation is performed after the process of s400, the wireless network to which the determination device is to participate is determined (s500). This process is a process (network determination process) for determining a wireless network for realizing a wireless connection for the determination device. Here, the processing procedure of the network determination process will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and subsequent drawings.

  First, as shown in FIG. 11, among the information included in the SNMP response packet from the determination device selected in the process of s330 (stored in the RAM 33 in the process of s312 described above), “acquisition function The presence / absence is checked (s502).

  In the process of s502, when “existence of acquisition function” is information indicating that the acquisition function is present (s502: YES), “Dev” is set to “method variable M” (Dev → M). (S503). The “method variable M” is a variable in which a value indicating a method for collecting a parameter group is set in a process described later, and “Dev” indicates that the determination device is requested to acquire a parameter. Further, in the processing described later, as a value set in this method variable, the value “PC” indicating that the parameter group is acquired by the PC 30 itself, or another device to which the PC 30 can perform data communication is requested to acquire the parameter. There is “A-Dev” or the like indicating to do so.

  Next, a progress display screen (same display mode as the screen of FIG. 6) showing that the determination device is instructed to acquire the parameter group is displayed on the display 37 (s504).

  Next, the determination device (printer 20) is instructed to acquire a parameter group by the acquisition function (s506). The printer 20 which is a determination device in the present embodiment is configured such that registration of specific information in the database triggers acquisition of a parameter group. Therefore, in the process of s506, the acquisition of the parameter group is instructed by transmitting an SNMP setting (SET) packet for performing registration to the specific information in the database of the determined device to the determining device. This SNMP setting packet is broadcast in a state including the MAC address of the determining device, and the determining device determines whether the SNMP setting packet is destined for itself from this MAC address and then registers it in the database. Configured to do. The determining device that has received this SNMP setting packet starts to acquire a parameter group (consisting of a wireless LAN standard used for wireless communication, a communication channel at the time of wireless communication, identification information, etc.) by the acquisition function, and the acquired parameter Information indicating each group (first to nth parameter information) is registered in the database for each wireless access point, and information indicating the number of acquired information (count information; information indicating “n”) is also registered in the database. . Among the parameter groups acquired in this way, the “wireless LAN standard to be used for wireless communication” is a device in which a device corresponding to the collected parameter group performs wireless communication using any one of the plurality of wireless LAN standards described above. In addition, “communication channel during wireless communication” indicates which communication channel the device is set to perform wireless communication.

  When option data is stored in the process of s545 in FIG. 13 to be described later and the process returns to the process of s506, an SNMP setting packet including the option data is broadcast, thereby making a specific wireless access to the determining device. The acquisition of the parameter group from the point will be commanded.

  Next, “count information” and “discrimination information” among the information registered in the database are requested to the determination device by an SNMP request packet (s508). Here, an SNMP request packet for requesting count information and discrimination information is broadcast. If the corresponding information is registered in the database, the SNMP response packet including the information is returned from the determination device that has received the SNMP request packet broadcast in the process of s508. Note that the count information of these pieces of information is a value smaller than 1 (in the present embodiment, “−1”) when the parameter group is being acquired on the determining device side, as will be described later. It is comprised so that.

  Next, an SNMP response packet returned from the determination device is received and collected after a predetermined time (2 seconds in the present embodiment) elapses after the SNMP request packet is broadcast in the process of s508. (S510). Here, only the SNMP response packets including the same MAC address as the MAC address corresponding to the determination device among the returned SNMP response packets, that is, the SNMP response packets returned from the determination device are collected.

  Next, it is checked whether an SNMP response packet has been collected (received) in the process of s510 (s512).

  In this process of s512, the SNMP response packet is not collected (s512: NO), or even if it is collected (s512: YES), the “count information” in the information included in the SNMP response packet is 1 or more. If the value does not indicate a value (s514: NO), the process returns to the process of s508, and the request by the SNMP request packet is redone.

  On the other hand, when the SNMP response packet is collected in the process of s512 (s512: YES) and the “count information” indicates a value of 1 or more (s514: YES), the SNMP collected in the process of s512 The parameter information corresponding to any one of the values indicated by the count information included in the response packet (any one of the first to nth parameter information) is requested (broadcast the packet) by the SNMP request packet (s516). . The value “n” indicated by the count information included in the SNMP response packet indicates the number (first to nth) of wireless access points at which the decision device side has collected the parameter group. Therefore, in the process of s516, any request is not made among the first to n-th parameter information as “parameter information” indicating a parameter group for any wireless access point in addition to “discrimination information”. Broadcast SNMP request packets to request things. From the determination device that has received the SNMP request packet broadcast in the process of s516, if the corresponding information is owned, an SNMP response (REPLY) packet including the information is returned.

  Next, an SNMP response packet returned from the determination device is received and collected after a predetermined time (2 seconds in the present embodiment) elapses after the SNMP request packet is broadcast in the process of s516. (S518). Here, only the SNMP response packets sent back from the determination device are collected based on the MAC address, as in the process of s510.

  Next, the parameter information (parameter group) included in the SNMP response packet collected in the process of s518 is stored in the RAM 33 for each wireless access point corresponding to the parameter information requested in the process of s516 (s520).

  Thus, after the processing of s520 is completed, it is checked whether there is a value corresponding to the parameter group that has not made a request among the values indicated by the count information included in the SNMP response packet collected in the processing of s512. (S522).

  If there is a request that has not yet been requested in the process of s522 (s522: YES), the process returns to the process of s516, and thereafter, all values indicated by the count information included in the SNMP response packet collected in the process of s512 are set. The processing from s516 to s522 is repeated until the request for parameter information based on the processing is completed.

  If there is no request yet to be made in the process of s522 (s522: NO), it corresponds to one of the wireless access points in the parameter information stored in the process of s520 as shown in FIG. The parameter information to be read is read (obtained) (s524).

  Next, the SSID is not included in the parameter information read in the process of s524, that is, the SSID assigned to the wireless access point (AccessPoint / BaseStation) that transmitted the parameter information in the SNMP response packet is not disclosed. It is checked whether or not (s526). Note that an SNMP response packet from a wireless access point whose “SSID is not disclosed” has a value (00H) in which the parameter corresponding to the SSID is “0” having the same number of bytes as the data length of the SSID. Therefore, in the process of s526, when the value of the parameter corresponding to the SSID is a value including a plurality of “0”, it is determined that it is not disclosed.

  If the SSID is not disclosed in the process of s526 (s526: NO), the parameter group indicated by the parameter information read out in the process of s524 is registered in the AccessPoint / BaseStation list that is a list of parameter groups (s528). ).

  After the registration in the list in the process of s528 or when the SSID is not disclosed in the process of s526 (s526: YES), the parameter information stored in the process of s520 is still It is checked whether there is an unread or unchecked item (s530).

If there is a process that has not yet been read and checked in the process of s530 (s530: NO), the process returns to the process of s524, and thereafter, the process of s524 to s530 is performed until the information is read and checked for all parameter information. Repeat If there is no s530 processing that has not yet been read and checked (s530: YES), each wireless access point stored in the RAM 33 in s520 processing corresponds to each processing as shown in FIG. An AccessPoint / BaseStation list showing a list of parameter groups indicated by the parameter information is displayed (s532). In this AccessPoint / BaseStation list, as shown in FIG. 14A, a list 501 of parameter groups corresponding to each wireless access point is displayed. The user performs an operation of selecting one of the wireless access points from the list 501 (the selected wireless access point is highlighted (highlighted)), thereby wirelessly connecting the determined device to the wireless access point Can be selected. The AccessPoint / BaseStation list also includes a “Refresh” button 502, a “Next” button 504, and the like, and the user selects either the “Refresh” button 502 (Refresh operation) or one of the items in the list 501. After selecting a wireless access point (AccessPoint / BaseStation), one of an operation for selecting the “Next” button 504 (Next operation) and an operation for selecting the “Add” button 504 (ADD operation) is performed. be able to.

  Next, after displaying the AccessPoint / BaseStation list by s532, the user waits until any of the above-described operations (action; key input) is performed by the user (s534), and when the action is performed, When the content is not “Enxt operation” but “Refresh operation” (s536: NO, s540: YES), the process returns to s506.

  If the content of the action performed by the user is “Next operation” after the list is displayed in the process of s532 (s536: YES), the wireless access point selected (highlighted) in the list 501 is displayed. The determination device is determined as a wireless access point for wireless connection (s538). Then, the parameter information (parameter group) corresponding to the wireless access point is stored in the RAM 33 as information of the wireless access point to be wirelessly connected, and then the network determination process is terminated, and the process after s600 (see FIG. 2). )

In addition, after the list is displayed by the process of s532, when the content of the action performed by the user is “ADD operation” (s536: NO, s540: NO, s541: YES), the user is prompted to input the SSID. An ADD search name input screen is displayed on the display 37 (s542). In the ADD search name input screen, as shown in FIG. 14B, an operation for inputting the SSID and channel to be set for the determined device to the input fields 506 and 507 can be performed. This screen also displays a “Next” button 508 and the like, and the user can perform an operation of selecting the “Next” button 508 after performing an operation of inputting an SSID and a channel. The “Next” button 50
The operation for selecting 8 is an instruction to search for a wireless access point of the input parameter after returning to the processing of s506 as will be described later.

  After the display of the ADD search name input screen in the process of s542, the process waits until a search start operation is performed by the user (s543, s544: NO). When the search start operation is performed (s544: YES), the search start operation is performed. Is stored in the RAM 33 as option data indicating that it belongs to the wireless access point designated by the user (s545), and then the value set in the “method variable” Is checked (s546).

  If the value of the “method variable” is “Dev” as a result of the check in the process of s546 (s546: Dev), the process returns to the process of s506, and the processes after s506 are performed again. If the value of the “method variable” is “PC” as a result of the check in the process of s546 (s546: PC), the process proceeds to the process of s576, which will be described later, and the access point of the parameter input by the user is searched. . Furthermore, if the value of the “method variable” is “A-Dev” as a result of the check in the process of s546 (s546: A-Dev), the process proceeds to the process of s590 described later, and the PC 30 becomes a device capable of data communication. Processing for requesting acquisition of a parameter group is performed.

  In addition, after the display of the list by the process of s532, when the content of the action performed by the user is not any of the operations described above (s536: NO, s540: NO, s541: NO), the process returns to the process of s534.

  Also, in the above-described processing of s502, when the “existence / absence of acquisition function” is information indicating that the acquisition function is not present (s502: NO), the determination device joins the network as in the processing illustrated in FIG. In other words, an image (participation network determination method selection screen) for determining a setting method for realizing wireless connection with the wireless access point is displayed on the display 37 (s550). As shown in FIG. 16, this participation network determination method selection screen determines whether a wireless access point to be wirelessly connected to the determination device is determined by an input operation by the user (Direct Input), or an acquisition function of the PC 30 itself (Search by Computer) or an operation to select (Search by another BrDevice) to determine from those searched by the acquisition function to other devices capable of data communication with the PC 30 (Search by Another BrDevice) Button 514). In addition, a “Back” button 516, a “Next” button 518, a “Cancel” button 520, and the like are also displayed on this participation network determination method selection screen, and the user performs an operation for selecting the “Back” button 516 (Back Operation), after selecting the wireless access point determination method, an operation for selecting the “Next” button 518 (Next operation), or an operation for selecting the “Cancel” button 520 (Cancel operation). It can be carried out.

  Next, after the participation network determination method selection screen is displayed in the process of s550, the process waits until the user performs any of the above-described operations (user operation) (s552: NO), and the user operation is performed. If the operation is a “Back operation” (s554: YES), the process returns to the process of s400 and starts again from the display of the IP address setting screen.

  If the user operation is “Cancel operation” (s554: NO, s556: YES), Cancel processing is performed (s558). In this Cancel process, as in the above-described process of s326, a forced termination screen is displayed, the process waits until an operation by the user is performed, and if a Resume operation is performed, the process returns to the process of s550, while an Exit operation is performed. The network determination process is terminated, and the process proceeds to the process after s600 (see FIG. 2).

  In addition, after the participation network determination method selection screen is displayed by the processing of s550 described above, when the operation by the user operation is “Next operation” (s554: NO, s556: NO, s560: YES), the selection is made by the radio button 514. Then, processing according to the wireless access point determination method (see FIGS. 17, 19, and 21 described later) is performed. In addition, after the display of the participation network determination method selection screen, when the operation by the user operation is not any of the above-described operations (s554: NO, s556: NO, s560: NO), processing according to the operation (others) (S562), the process returns to S552.

  As specific processing when the operation by the user operation is “Next operation”, when the wireless access point determination method is an input operation (Direct Input) by the user (s564: NO, s566: NO), FIG. As in the process shown in FIG. 17, a screen for manually selecting the wireless LAN standard (communication mode) is displayed on the display 37 (s568). On this screen, as shown in FIG. 18A, an operation (using a radio button 524) for selecting a wireless LAN standard to be set for the determined device can be performed. . This screen also displays a “Next” button 528 and the like, and the user can perform an operation (Next operation) of selecting the “Next” button 528 after selecting the wireless LAN standard.

  After the screen is displayed by the process of s568, when the user performs a Next operation, that is, a manual mode setting is performed (s570), the information regarding the wireless LAN standard thus set is stored in the RAM 33.

  Next, a screen for manually inputting the SSID and the channel is displayed on the display 37 (s572). On this screen, as shown in FIG. 18B, an operation for inputting the SSID and channel to be set for the determined device to the input fields 532 and 534 can be performed. This screen also displays a “Next” button 538 and the like, and the user performs an operation of selecting the “Next” button 538 after performing an operation of inputting an SSID and a channel (Next operation). Can do.

  After the screen is displayed by the process of s572, when the user performs a Next operation, that is, manually sets the SSID and channel (s574), the information regarding the SSID and channel thus set is stored in the RAM 33, The network determination process ends, and the process proceeds to the process after s600 (see FIG. 2). The “information about the wireless LAN standard” stored in the process of s570 and the “information about the SSID” stored in the process of s574 are information about the wireless access point that wirelessly connects the determined device.

  Returning to FIG. 15, when the operation by the user operation is “Next operation”, when it is determined to be determined from those retrieved by the acquisition function of the PC 30 itself (Search by Computer) (S564: YES), “PC” is set to “method variable M” (PC → M) (s565).

  Next, as in the process shown in FIG. 19, a screen indicating that the PC 30 itself is searching (scanning) for a wireless access point using the acquisition function (display mode similar to the screen in FIG. 6) is displayed on the display 37 ( s576). Note that the process proceeds to the process of s576 even when the method variable is “PC” in the process of s546 described above.

Next, it is checked whether or not option data indicating that the wireless access point is designated by the user is stored in the RAM 33 (there is an option designation).
(S577). This option data is stored in the RAM 33 in the processing of s545 described above.

  If option data is stored in the process of s577 (s577: YES), in order to detect the wireless access point of the parameter (SSID, channel) indicated by this option data, a probe request (request) specifying the parameter Is transmitted (broadcast) (s578). The wireless access point that has received this probe request returns a probe response indicating parameters such as SSID, wireless LAN standard, and channel.

  Thus, after completing the processing of s578 or when option data is not stored in the processing of s577 (s577: NO), a probe request (request) is detected in order to detect a wireless access point existing around the PC 30. Is transmitted (broadcast) (s579). The wireless access point that has received this probe request returns a probe response indicating parameters such as SSID, wireless LAN standard, and channel.

  As described above, when the option data is stored in the RAM 33, two-stage detection is performed, in which an active scan with parameters specified is performed, and thereafter an active scan without parameters specified is performed. . In the processes of s577 to s579 described above, the parameter group included in the probe response is acquired. In these processes, the parameter group included in the beacon signal is acquired as in the process of s1060 of FIG. You may comprise so that it may acquire.

  Next, after collecting the probe responses returned in response to the probe requests transmitted in the processes of s578 and s579 over a predetermined time (2 seconds in this embodiment), parameter information (in this embodiment) indicated by the collected probe responses ( Parameter group) is stored in the RAM 33 for each wireless access point that has returned a probe response (s580).

  Next, the SSID is not included in any of the parameter information stored in the process of s580, that is, the wireless access point (AccessPoint / BaseStation) that has transmitted the parameter information in the probe response. It is checked whether or not the assigned SSID is private (s581). The probe response from the wireless access point in which “SSID is not disclosed” is a value (00H) in which the parameter corresponding to the SSID is “0” having the same number of bytes as the data length of the SSID. Therefore, in the process of s531, when the value of the parameter corresponding to the SSID is a value including a plurality of “0”, it is determined that it is not disclosed.

  If the SSID is not disclosed in the process of s581 (s581: NO), the parameter group indicated by the parameter information is registered in the AccessPoint / BaseStation list that is a list of parameter groups (s582).

  After the registration to the list in the process of s582 or when the SSID is not disclosed in the process of s581 (s581: YES), the parameter information stored in the process of s580 is still It is checked whether there is an unchecked item (s583).

If any of the processes in s583 has not been checked yet (s583: NO), the process returns to the process of s581, and thereafter the processes of s581 to s583 are repeated until the information is checked for all parameter information. Display the AccessPoint / BaseStation list (s58)
4). In this AccessPoint / BaseStation list, a list 501 of parameter groups corresponding to each wireless access point is displayed (similar to FIG. 14A). The user selects an “refresh” button 502 (refresh operation), and selects one of the wireless access points in the list 501 and then selects an “next” button 504 (similar to the above-described processing of s532). Next operation can be performed.

  Next, after the AccessPoint / BaseStation list is displayed by s584, it waits until any of the above-described operations (action; key input) is performed by the user (s585), and when the action is performed, If the content is not a “Next” operation but a “Refresh operation” (s586: NO), the process returns to s576.

  On the other hand, when the content of the action is “Next operation” (s586: YES), the wireless access point selected (highlighted) in the list 501 is determined as a wireless access point for wirelessly connecting the determined device (s587). ) After parameter information (parameter group) corresponding to this wireless access point is stored in the RAM 33 as information on the wireless access point to be wirelessly connected, the determination process of this network is terminated, and the processing after s600 (see FIG. 2) )

  Returning to FIG. 15, as a specific process in the case where the operation by the user operation is “Next operation”, the determination is made from those searched by the acquisition function in another device capable of data communication with the PC 30 (Search). If it is “by another BrDevice” (s564: NO, s566: YES), “A-Dev” is set to “method variable M” (A-Dev → M) (s567).

  Next, as in the process shown in FIG. 20, a screen indicating that a device capable of searching (scanning) a wireless access point (that is, a device capable of data communication with the PC 30 and having an acquisition function) is being searched (the screen in FIG. 6) Display mode) is displayed on the display 37 (s590). Note that the process proceeds to the process of s590 even when the method variable is “A-Dev” in the process of s546 described above.

  Next, an inquiry is made to a device capable of data communication with the PC 30 (device on the network) as to whether or not it has a function (acquisition function) for searching (scanning) a wireless access point (s592). Here, in addition to information indicating the presence / absence of an acquisition function, information such as a device name, an IP address, a MAC address, a wireless LAN standard that can be used for wireless communication, a communication channel that can be used for wireless communication, and information for determination are requested. Broadcast an SNMP request packet. If the device that received the SNMP request packet broadcasted in the process of s592 has the corresponding information, an SNMP response (REPLY) packet including the information is returned. In the process of s592, the SNMP response packet returned after the SNMP request packet is transmitted is acquired and collected over a predetermined time (2 seconds in this embodiment). In the present embodiment, a case where a PC 40 configured to function similarly to the PC 30 is installed as a device capable of data communication with the PC 30 is illustrated.

Next, in the process of s592, on the display 37, a device list of devices that have returned the SNMP response packet, that is, devices that can search for a wireless access point, based on the SNMP response packet collected since the SNMP request packet was transmitted. It is displayed (s594). As shown in FIG. 21, this device list has an acquisition function out of device information included in each SNMP response packet collected in the process of s592.
A list 542 in which only parameter information corresponding to each device (searchable device) that can search for a wireless access point is extracted is displayed. The user performs an operation of selecting one of the devices (searchable devices) in the list 542 (the selected searchable device is highlighted (highlighted)) to search for a wireless access point. A searchable device can be selected. This device list also displays a “Next” button 548 and the like, and the user selects an “Next” button 548 after selecting one of the searchable devices in the list 542 (Next operation). It can be performed.

  After the processing of s594, when the user performs an operation for selecting a device to be searched, that is, a Next operation is performed (s596), this command is sent by sending a command for searching the wireless access point to the device selected by the user. The access point information regarding the wireless access point detected by the device according to the method is acquired (598). Here, an SNMP setting packet for registering information that triggers the device to start searching for a wireless access point is transmitted to the database of the searchable device selected by the user. On the device side that has received this SNMP setting packet, search for a wireless access point is started, and information (parameter information) about the detected wireless access point is registered in the database for each wireless access point. This SNMP setting packet is performed by unicast specifying the IP address of the device selected by the user, but is broadcast in a state including the MAC address of the device selected by the user. It may be configured to perform registration in the database after determining whether the SNMP setting packet is addressed to itself. Then, by requesting “parameter information” registered in the database by an SNMP request packet, parameter information included in the SNMP response packet returned in response to this request, that is, information on the wireless access point is acquired. Also here, as in the above-described processing of s506, when the option data is stored and then the processing returns to processing of s590, an SNMP setting packet including the option data is broadcast, so that a specific access point can be assigned to the searchable device. The acquisition of the parameter group from is specified.

  Thus, the information regarding the access point acquired in the process of s598 is stored in the RAM 33 as the information of the wireless access point to be wirelessly connected, that is, the same procedure as the process of s508 to s522 in FIG. 11 and the process shown in FIGS. After determining the wireless access point through (S599), the network determination process is terminated, and the process proceeds to the process after s600 (see FIG. 2).

  When the network determination process is completed through the above-described steps, the process returns to FIG. (Operation for selecting the “Next” button 604) is received (s600). After the security setting screen is displayed in this process, the user can perform an operation of inputting various settings related to security in the input field 602. In the process of s600, when an operation for selecting the “Next” button 604 is performed as a confirmation operation after the above operation, the information on the security is generated and stored in the RAM 33.

When a confirmation operation is performed after the process of s600, various information stored in the RAM 33 in the process up to s600 (IP address information: s400, wireless access point information: s570, s574, s538, s586, s598) And a screen (setting content confirmation screen; FIG. 23) for allowing the user to confirm information related to security is displayed on the display 37, and then the user's confirmation operation (operation for selecting the “Next” button 704) is accepted ( s700). In this embodiment, the setting content confirmation screen includes a decision device.
A check box 702 for selecting whether or not to perform test printing of the set contents is provided for the printer 20 that is a chair, and the user checks before confirming operation if he / she wishes to perform test printing. An operation of selecting a box can be performed.

  If a confirmation operation is performed after the process of s700, a command to be set is transmitted to the determination device (s800). This process is a process (setting transmission process) for transmitting command data for actually performing remote setup to the determination device. Here, the processing procedure of the setting transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, a screen (same display mode as the screen of FIG. 6) showing that remote setup is being performed on the determined device is displayed on the display 37 (s802).

  Next, a command to be transmitted to the determination device is generated (s804). Here, in addition to various information stored in the RAM 33 in the processing up to s600 and information related to security, “test” indicating the necessity of test printing defined by the check state of the check box 702 on the setting content confirmation screen described above is displayed. An SNMP setting packet for registering “print information”, “device specifying information” indicating the MAC address of the determined device, and the like as contents related to connection settings in the database on the determined device is generated.

  Next, the command (SNMP setting packet) generated in the process of s804 is transmitted (broadcast) to the determination device (s806). On the decision device side that has received this SNMP setting packet, each parameter included in the SNMP setting packet is registered in the database as the contents related to the connection setting, and thereafter, wireless connection with the wireless access point is realized based on these parameters. (Refer to (3) in FIG. 1; (2) to (3)). When the “test print information” is information indicating that test printing is to be performed, test printing is performed on the printer 20 side. As described above, the SNMP setting packet is used to cause the determination device to perform connection setting with the wireless access point, and is used as a command for the determination device. This SNMP setting packet is broadcast in a state including the MAC address of the determining device, and the determining device determines whether the SNMP setting packet is addressed to itself based on this MAC address. It is configured to register.

  Next, after transmitting an SNMP setting packet in the process of s806, an SNMP request packet for requesting the same information as the information included in the SNMP setting packet is transmitted to the determination device. After this transmission, a predetermined time (this embodiment) is transmitted. The SNMP response packet is received and collected for 2 seconds in the form (s808).

  Next, it is checked whether each information included in the SNMP response packet collected in the process of s808 matches all information included in the SNMP setting packet transmitted in the process of s506 (OK or not). (S810).

  If all the information in both packets does not match in the processing of s810 (s810: NO), a screen for notifying that connection setting has not been performed normally (setting error screen; FIG. 25A) Is displayed on the display 37, then the user's confirmation operation (operation for selecting the “OK” button 802) is accepted (s812). When the confirmation operation is performed, the remote setup is performed without performing the processing of s900 described later. The process ends.

If all the information in both packets match in the processing of s810 described above (s810: YES), a setting end screen for notifying that the connection setting has ended is displayed on the display 37 (s814). As shown in FIG. 25B, this setting end screen
“Finish” button 824 that is selected when the remote setup is completed with the connection settings made so far, and “Continue” button 828 that is selected when the remote setup is continued in order to perform connection settings for other devices. Are displayed, and the user can perform an operation for selecting the “finish” button 824 (finish operation) or an operation for selecting the “Continue” button 828 (Continue operation).

  After the process of s814, if the user performs a Continue operation (s816: NO), the process returns to the process of s100, and the remote setup process is performed from the beginning, while if the finish operation is performed (s816: NO), The setting transmission process is terminated, and the process proceeds to the process of s900 (see FIG. 2).

  When the setting transmission process is completed, the process returns to FIG. 2, and a screen (wizard completion screen; FIG. 26) for notifying that the remote setup process in the wizard format is completed is displayed on the display 37. Upon receiving the confirmation operation (operation for selecting the “Exit” button 902) (s900), the remote setup process is terminated.

In addition, after performing the remote setup by the PC 30 in this way, the user returns the setting relating to the wireless communication in the PC 30 to the state before the remote setup process (from (2) to (1) in FIG. The wireless connection with the access point 10 is restored to the original state.
Command processing by the printer 20 (or PC 40) A processing procedure of command processing performed by the printer 20 (or PC 40) in response to an instruction from the PC 30 will be described below with reference to FIGS. This command processing is repeatedly executed after the printer 20 (or PC 40) is activated.

  First, it waits (waits for an instruction) until it receives a command from the PC 30 (s1010). Here, it is determined that a command has been received when a unicast packet or broadcast packet specifying its own IP address is received and the MAC address is included in the packet.

  If a command (command) from the PC 30 is received in the process of s1010, if the command is a command to acquire a parameter group (s1020: YES), “−1” is set in “count information” in the database. Register (set as “−1”) (s1030). The command “contents to instruct acquisition of parameter group” is, for example, an instruction by the process of s506 in FIG.

  Next, in the case where the command received from the PC 30 has the content of commanding acquisition of a parameter group, it is checked whether or not this command has specified parameters (SSID and channel) (s1040). As described above, the command specifying the parameter is transmitted from the PC 30 in the process of s578 in FIG.

In the process of s1040, if a parameter is specified (s1040: YES), the parameter is specified (s1050). If no parameter is specified (s1040: NO), wireless access is performed without specifying the parameter. Point search is executed (s1060). Here, a beacon signal periodically transmitted by a wireless access point existing in the vicinity is received, and information included in the beacon signal includes a device name, an IP address, a MAC address, a wireless LAN standard used for wireless communication, a wireless A parameter group consisting of communication channels at the time of communication is acquired and collected for each wireless access point. In the process of s1060, the probe is similar to the process of s578 to s580 in FIG.
You may comprise so that the parameter group contained in the probe response sent with respect to this may be transmitted may be transmitted.

  Next, information indicating the parameter group (first to nth parameter information) collected by the search in the process of s1060 is registered in the database for each wireless access point (s1070). At this time, if there is a parameter specification, only the parameter group constituting a part of the parameter according to the specification is registered.

  Then, after registering (updating) information (count information; information indicating “n”) indicating the number of parameter groups (that is, wireless access points) collected by the search in s1060 in the database (s1080) , Return to the processing of s1010.

  If the command from the PC 30 is a content requesting a parameter group for any wireless access point among the parameter groups registered in the database in the process of s1070 (s1020: NO, s1090: YES), this After returning parameter information (any one of the first to nth parameter information) of the wireless access point requested by the command (s1100), the process returns to s1010. This “content requesting parameter group” command is, for example, an SNMP request packet by the process of s516 in FIG.

  As the parameter information returned in the process of s1100, if it is the parameter information of the wireless access point requested by the command, not only the parameter group registered in the database in the process of s1070 performed immediately before, but also the past The parameter group registered in the database in the process of s1070 performed in step S1 and the parameter group other than those registered in the database may be indicated.

  Further, if the command from the PC 30 is a content for inquiring whether or not it has an acquisition function (s1020: NO, s1090: NO, s1100: YES), whether the command can be replied (whether a reply can be returned) It is checked whether or not (s1110). Here, if information (object) indicating “the presence / absence of the acquisition function” is registered in the database, it is determined that the command can be returned, and if information is not registered, it is determined that the response cannot be made. In addition, when information is not registered, it is good also as a structure which replies that an object is "NO Such".

  If it is not possible to reply to the command in the process of s1110 (s1110: NO), the process returns to the process of s1010 without replying (replying) (s1120).

  On the other hand, if the process of s1110 can return a command (s1110: YES), it is checked whether or not detection of a wireless access point is supported (s1130). Here, based on the contents of “presence / absence of acquisition function” registered in the database, it is determined that the wireless access point detection is supported if the content has the acquisition function, and the acquisition function is If the content does not have, it is determined that the wireless access point detection is not supported.

  If the wireless access point detection is supported in the process of s1130 (s1130: YES), a response indicating that the wireless access point is supported is returned (s1140), but if the wireless access point detection is not supported (s1130). : NO), after replying that it is not supported (s1150), the process returns to s1010.

Note that the command from the PC 30 is none of the above, that is, other commands
(S1020: NO, s1090: NO, s1100: NO, s1170: YES) After performing the process corresponding to the command (s1180), the process returns to the process of s1010. The process executed in the process of s1180 includes registration of information in the database based on the SNMP setting packet transmitted from the PC 30 in the process of s806 in FIG. Further, for the SNMP setting packet transmitted in the process of s806 in FIG. 23, various information stored in the RAM 33 in the process up to s600 and information related to security are set by the process of s1180, and “test Test printing based on “print information” is performed.

[effect]
According to the PC 30 configured as described above, whether or not the device to be set (printer 20) has a function (acquisition function) for performing a part of the setting-related processing in the processing of s502 in FIG. It is possible to issue a command in the subsequent processing with a pattern corresponding to the determination result. As described above, since the command pattern can be changed depending on whether the device to be set has a function for processing, the processing is performed with the command from the PC 30 being sent. Can be prevented from stopping.

  Further, as a result of the determination as to whether or not the PC 30 has the acquisition function, when it is determined that the device to be set has the acquisition function, the parameter group necessary for connection setting is acquired. Can be ordered. Then, the parameter group collected on the device side in this way can be requested and acquired. At this time, the PC 30 commands the acquisition of the parameter group, that is, can request the parameter group at the timing when the parameter group is acquired on the device side.

  If the PC 30 determines in step s502 in FIG. 11 that the device has an acquisition function, the setting item for connection setting in the device to be set in step s806 in FIG. Of the parameter groups collected from this device, the device can be instructed to change to the contents indicated by the parameter group of the wireless access point arbitrarily selected by the user in the process of s544 in FIG.

  In addition, even when the PC 30 determines that the device does not have an acquisition function in the process of s502 in FIG. 11, the selection of “Direct Input” is determined directly by the input operation in the process of s552 in FIG. Is performed, a part of the parameter group can be input by the user through the processing of s568 to s574 in FIG. Then, the PC 30 can change the setting item for connection setting in the device to be set to the content indicated by the parameter group including parameters arbitrarily input by the user by the process of s806 in FIG. it can.

  In addition, even if the PC 30 determines that the device does not have an acquisition function in the process of s502 in FIG. 11, the PC 30 is determined from those searched by the acquisition function of the PC 30 itself in the process of s552 in FIG. If selection of “Search by Computer” is performed, the user may be allowed to select an arbitrary wireless access point from among wireless access points corresponding to the parameter group acquired by the process of s576 to s588 in FIG. it can. Then, the PC 30 corresponds to the wireless access point arbitrarily selected by the user in the parameter group acquired by the PC 30 as a setting item for connection setting in the device to be set by the processing of s806 in FIG. Based on the parameter group to be changed, the contents can be changed to those indicated by the parameter group.

Further, even if the PC 30 determines that the device does not have an acquisition function in the process of s502 in FIG. 11, the acquisition function is used for another device capable of data communication with the PC 30 in the process of s552 in FIG. Determine from what you searched for (Search by another Br)
If “Device” is selected, the user can be made to select an arbitrary wireless access point from wireless access points corresponding to the parameter group acquired from another device by the processing of s590 to s598 in FIG. Then, the PC 30 performs wireless access in which the user arbitrarily selects the setting item for connection setting in the device to be set from the parameter group acquired from the other device by the processing of s806 in FIG. Based on the parameter group corresponding to the point, the content can be changed to the content indicated by the parameter group.

  Further, in the processing of s592 to s598 in FIG. 20, the PC 30 inquires of a device capable of data communication with the PC 30 whether or not it has an acquisition function using an SNMP request packet, and in response to this inquiry, sends an SNMP response packet. A parameter is requested to a device arbitrarily selected by the user from the responding devices. In these processes, when the user selects a device, the device having the acquisition function is specified based on the “presence / absence of the acquisition function” included in the SNMP response packet, and only these devices are selected. can do.

  In this way, since the device arbitrarily selected by the user can be a device that should request acquisition of the parameter group, the user can select even when there are a plurality of devices capable of data communication with the PC 30. It is definitely possible to request the acquired device for the parameter group.

  Further, since the device having the acquisition function can be identified through the inquiry and the response, the PC 30 needs to store in advance information such as which of the devices capable of data communication has the acquisition function. Absent.

  In addition, the device on which the acquisition of the parameter group is requested registers “−1” in “count information” in the process of s1030 in FIG. 27, and then starts searching for a wireless access point, that is, acquiring the parameter group. After the parameter group acquisition is completed, the number of detected wireless access points is registered in “count information”. Therefore, when the device receives an instruction to request a parameter group when parameter acquisition is incomplete, in the process of s1100, the device receives an SNMP whose “count information” is “−1”. A response packet is returned. On the other hand, in the PC 30 that has received such an SNMP response packet, the “count information” of the returned SNMP response packet is “−1” after the parameter group is instructed in the process of s506 in FIG. , Return to the processing of s508, and request the parameter group again. Therefore, the PC 30 checks whether the acquisition of the parameter group is completed on the device side from the value of “count information”, and can request the parameter group again when it is not completed. Thus, it is possible to reliably collect the parameter group that has been acquired.

  The application software for remote setup incorporated in the PC 30 is configured to perform remote setup in a wizard format. Therefore, an image for notifying the user of each of the realization processes until the connection setting is realized is displayed on the display 37 and the execution of the procedure is interrupted. Thereafter, the procedure is executed when a confirmation operation is received from the user. Connection setting can be realized in the form of restarting. Therefore, it can be expected that the user can be surely stepped through the connection setting process and forget to set items to be set.

Further, the above-described printer 20 (or PC 40) can acquire a parameter group, transmit a parameter group, and change a setting item according to an SNMP request packet and an SNMP setting packet command from the PC 30 by an SNMP agent. . Also,
In response to a command by the SNMP request packet from the PC 30, it is possible to notify that it has the acquisition function by returning an SNMP response packet including “existence of acquisition function”.

  In addition, in the process of s1100 in FIG. 27, if the printer 20 (or PC 40) receives the parameter group request from the PC 30 and the parameter group acquisition is not completed, the “count number” is set to “−1”. An SNMP response packet is returned. Therefore, the PC 30 can be notified that the acquisition of the parameter group is incomplete depending on whether or not the “count number” is “−1”.

  In the present embodiment, data communication related to connection settings between devices can be easily performed using general-purpose SNMP.

[Modification]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said specific embodiment, It can implement with a various form besides this.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the program of the present invention is applied to a printer and a PC is exemplified. However, any device other than a printer and a PC (for example, a copier, a scanner) can be used as long as the device functions as a wireless station. , FAX, multifunction devices having these functions, file servers, etc.) may be applied to the program of the present invention.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, what was comprised so that each above-mentioned process was implement | achieved by the program run by CPU with which PC or a printer was illustrated was illustrated. However, some or all of the above-described processes may be configured to be executed by hardware using a logic circuit.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the structure which employ | adopted SNMP for the data communication related to the connection setting between each device was illustrated. However, in this data communication, any communication standard other than SNMP (for example, HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol, SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol, UDDI: Universal Description, LDInAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, SSDP: Simple Service Discovery Protocol, etc., and communication methods (for example, WSDL: Web Services Description Language, Port9100, etc.) There.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the PC 30 receives an inquiry command as to whether or not it has an acquisition function in the processing of s1100 to s1150 in FIGS. Based on the contents shown, an example is shown that is configured to send back whether or not detection of a wireless access point is supported. However, when the wireless access point detection is not supported as described above, the reply itself may not be performed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 29, of the processes of s1100 to s1150, the process of s1130 is performed without performing the processes of s1110 and s1120, and the process of s1130 supports the detection of the wireless access point. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to the process of s1010 without performing the process of s1140. In this case, the printer 20 (or the PC 40) does not return a reply if it does not have an acquisition function. For this reason, the PC 30 can be configured to recognize that only the device that has sent back has an acquisition function.

  In the process of FIG. 20 in the above-described embodiment, after the process of s592, the process of s598 is performed on all devices without performing the processes of s594 and s596, and then acquired in the same manner as the process of s594. The information selected by the user may be displayed as a list, and the one selected by the user may be determined as a wireless access point for wirelessly connecting the determination device.

  Further, the printer 20 in the above embodiment may be added with a function as a wireless access point as described in the cited document 1. In this case, the connection setting for the PC 30 is switched before and after the remote setup process. This is useful because it is not necessary.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although what was comprised so that data communication regarding a connection setting might be performed in the state in which PC30 and PC40 were wirelessly connected, about this data communication, both are data communication by wire communication. Can also be configured.

  In the above embodiment, if the PC 30 is configured to include a plurality of wireless LAN controllers, the probe request transmitted by the above-described processing of s578 is different from the wireless LAN only when transmitting the probe request in these processes. A controller may be configured to be used.

  In the above embodiment, the PC 40 is first selected in the processing of s590 to s598 in FIG. 20 and the wireless access point is detected, but the same function as that of the printer 20 is exemplified. (For example, refer to the printer 50 in FIG. 1), and this printer may be made to detect the wireless access point.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, what was comprised so that the parameter group of the wireless access point determined by the process of s538 in FIG. However, before the process of s500 is started, an input screen similar to that in FIG. 18 is displayed, and a part of the parameter group manually input based on this display is stored in the RAM 33. In the subsequent processes, the input is performed manually. Alternatively, only a parameter group that constitutes a part of the parameter may be handled, and only parameters that have not yet been determined (not manually input) may be determined in the process of s538. If configured in this way, there is an effect that unnecessary options can be reduced.

[Correspondence with the present invention]
In the embodiment described above, the printer 20 is the first communication terminal according to the present invention, the PC 30 is the second communication terminal according to the present invention, and the PC 40 is the third communication terminal according to the present invention. A wireless LAN setting program is incorporated.

The figure which shows the network configuration of embodiment Flow chart showing processing procedure of remote setup processing The figure which shows the display mode of the wizard start screen Flowchart (1) showing a processing procedure for setting target device determination processing Flowchart showing the processing procedure for setting target device determination process (2) The figure which shows the display mode of the progress display screen The figure which shows the display mode of the setting object device selection screen Figure showing the display mode of the forced termination screen The figure which shows the display mode of the IP address setting screen The figure which shows the display mode of the error notification image Flowchart (1) showing processing procedure of network determination processing Flowchart (2) showing a processing procedure of network determination processing A flowchart (3) showing the processing procedure of the network determination processing AccessPoint / BaseStation list Flowchart (4) showing processing procedure of network determination processing The figure which shows the display mode of a participating network determination method selection screen Flowchart (5) showing a processing procedure of network determination processing The figure which shows the display mode of the screen which sets the parameter manually Flowchart showing the processing procedure of network determination processing (6) Flowchart showing the processing procedure of network determination processing (7) Diagram showing how the device list is displayed The figure which shows the display mode of the security setting screen The figure which shows the display mode of the setting contents confirmation screen Flowchart showing processing procedure of setting transmission processing The figure which shows the display mode of a setting error screen (a) and a setting end screen (b) Diagram showing how the wizard finish screen is displayed Flow chart showing the processing procedure of command processing (1) Flow chart showing the processing procedure of command processing (2) The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the command processing in another embodiment

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Access point, 20, 50 ... Printer, 21 ... CPU, 22 ... ROM, 23 ... RAM, 24 ... Wireless LAN controller, 26 ... Operation panel, 27 ... Display panel, 28 ... Print engine, 30, 40 ... Personal computer 31 ... CPU, 32 ... ROM, 33 ... RAM, 34 ... wireless LAN controller, 36 ... input unit, 37 ... display, 38 ... hard disk, 39 ... network controller.

Claims (5)

Wireless connection is possible among a plurality of wireless access points existing on the network, and a second communication terminal that commands connection settings necessary for the first communication terminal to wirelessly connect to the wireless access point. A network system capable of communicating with a third communication terminal capable of detecting a simple wireless access point,
The third communication terminal is
Detection means for detecting a wireless access point;
Transmitting means for transmitting access point information relating to the wireless access point detected by the detecting means to the second communication terminal;
With
The second communication terminal is
Receiving means for receiving the wireless access point information transmitted from the third communication terminal;
Based on the wireless access point information received by the receiving means, connection settings necessary for the first communication terminal to wirelessly connect to the wireless access point indicated by the wireless access point information are set for the first communication terminal. Command means for commanding;
A network system comprising: The second communication terminal is
Setting means for setting security setting information necessary for wireless connection between the wireless access point indicated by the wireless access point information received by the receiving means and the first communication terminal by an operation from a user;
The network system according to claim 1, wherein the command unit commands connection setting with the wireless access point by transmitting security setting information set by the setting unit to the first communication terminal. The second communication terminal comprises request means for requesting the third communication terminal to obtain a parameter group indicating a setting item for connection setting necessary for wireless connection with a wireless access point;
The third communication terminal detects a wireless access point by the detecting means on the condition that a request for acquiring the parameter group is received from the second communication terminal, and sets connection with the detected wireless access point An acquisition unit for acquiring a parameter group for the transmission unit, the transmission unit transmits the parameter group acquired by the acquisition unit as the wireless access point information to the second communication terminal,
The second communication terminal instructs the first communication terminal to set connection for wireless connection by transmitting the security setting information and the parameter group transmitted from the third communication terminal to the first communication terminal. The network system according to claim 2, wherein:   When the second communication terminal cannot obtain from the wireless access point a parameter group indicating setting items for connection settings necessary for the first communication terminal to wirelessly connect to the wireless access point, the second communication terminal The network system according to claim 3, wherein the terminal requests acquisition of the parameter group.   5. The network system according to claim 1, wherein the second communication terminal has a user interface having higher operability than the first communication terminal.