JP4497476B2 - Communication information transfer method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a linkage system between an imaging terminal having an image photographing function such as a digital camera and an information terminal including a PDA (personal digital assistant), a PC (personal computer), a cellular phone, and the like, and in particular, GPS (global positioning). The present invention relates to a communication information transfer method in a system that takes into account linkage processing with a GPS receiver having a (system) function.

In recent years, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-196987), Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-191798), and Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-119987) are known as image pickup systems related to devices having an image photographing function such as a digital camera. (2004-32025) etc., a system for attaching and recording various information related to the image together with the photographed image has been proposed. In such a system, information attached together with an image is transferred to a PC or the like via communication such as wireless communication as disclosed in Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-320115), for example. Thus, it is used as information for performing various post-processing related to the image information.
That is, Patent Document 1 discloses a PDA that, when imaged, adds various additional information to image information and automatically transmits it to the information processing apparatus. In this PDA, image data added with additional information such as voice, temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, position, and direction input by an information input means is transmitted to a computer via wireless communication. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151561 discloses a system that searches image data stored in an imaging device from a communication device, displays the searched image data on the communication device, and transmits the captured image data by inter-device communication.

In this system, information including the name of image data to be stored, shooting date / time, shooting model, shooting location, or keywords relating to data is stored as data attributes together with image data, and this attribute information is used as search information. . Patent Document 3 discloses that image information captured by a plurality of imaging devices is recorded on the same recording medium by a recording device together with information depending on each position. In this system, at least one of the plurality of imaging devices transmits recording information to the recording device via a communication unit. In Patent Document 4, image data of an imaging unit such as a camera is sent to a wireless communication unit such as a nearby mobile phone by short-range wireless, and the imaging data is registered in a database on the Internet via the wireless communication unit. In this system, it is shown that whether or not normal transmission from the imaging means to the wireless communication means is performed is displayed in the finder of the imaging means.
By the way, GPS information obtained by GPS is widely used as position information. When such GPS information or the like is attached to image information as shooting position information, for example, a GPS card having a GPS function is inserted into the card interface (card I / F) of the digital camera, and the GPS information is converted into the digital camera. Or the digital camera is connected to a GPS receiving device via a serial interface (serial I / F) of the digital camera, and GPS information is taken into the digital camera.
However, there is nothing that allows the imaging terminal to receive GPS information transmitted from the GPS receiving device and easily attach the GPS information to the captured image, which is difficult to use.

JP 2000-196987 A JP 2002-191079 A JP 2004-32025 A JP 2002-320115 A

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and enables GPS information to be captured by wireless communication from a GPS receiving device to an imaging terminal, and facilitates connection of wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication information transfer method that can improve user convenience.
The purpose of claim 1 of the present invention, an imaging terminal, and enables the incorporation of GPS information from the GPS receiver device via the wireless communication, and to facilitate the connection of the wireless communication between the imaging device and the GPS receiving equipment In addition, the GPS information is frequently lost even when the wireless communication state is poor due to the wireless communication connection between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device for the imaging terminal to capture the GPS information from the GPS receiving device via wireless communication. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication information transfer method that can improve user convenience reliably and appropriately.
The object of claim 2 of the present invention is to facilitate and reliably connect wireless communication between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device, in particular, for the imaging terminal to capture GPS information from the GPS receiving device via wireless communication. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication information transfer method that enables communication.
An object of claim 3 of the present invention is an imaging terminal for allowing an imaging terminal to capture GPS information from a GPS receiving device via wireless communication without requiring a complicated operation by a user even in a state where the wireless communication condition is bad. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication information transfer system that enables easy and reliable connection of wireless communication with a GPS receiver.

An object of claim 4 of the present invention is an imaging terminal for allowing an imaging terminal to capture GPS information from a GPS receiving device via wireless communication without requiring a complicated operation of the user even in a poor wireless communication state. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication information transfer system that can easily and more reliably establish a wireless communication connection with a GPS receiver .
The object of claim 5 of the present invention is that the wireless communication connection between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device for the imaging terminal to capture GPS information from the GPS receiving device via wireless communication is particularly bad. However, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication information transfer method that can improve user convenience reliably and more appropriately without frequently losing GPS information.
The object of claim 6 of the present invention is, in particular, communication information transfer that makes it possible to easily and reliably grasp the capture status of GPS information in the imaging terminal and the radio wave status of wireless communication between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device. To provide a method.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the communication information transfer method according to the present invention described in claim 1
In a system capable of exchanging information by performing point-to-point wireless communication between a GPS receiving device having a wireless communication function and a GPS (global positioning system) function and an imaging terminal having a wireless communication function and an image capturing function ,
Means for previously registering the connection and connection destination with the GPS receiver in the system;
Means for automatically executing connection of the point-to-point wireless communication at the time of system startup of the imaging terminal;
Means for receiving GPS information from the GPS receiver using the imaging terminal using wireless serial communication after establishing the point-to-point wireless communication ;
In previous SL imaging device, and automatically attaches the photographed image means a GPS information received at the time of shooting,
Means for registering the latest GPS information received by the imaging terminal in the system when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected;
When the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected, the latest GPS information registered in the means for registering the GPS information in the system is displayed.
Means for displaying GPS information received by the imaging terminal in real time until a reconnection time as desired elapses when the system of the imaging terminal is not down .

The communication information transfer method according to the present invention described in claim 2 is the communication information transfer method according to claim 1,
Means for registering the connection destination in the system as the connection destination is a GPS reception device at the imaging terminal when disconnecting the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS reception device and the imaging terminal;
And means for automatically executing a point-to-point wireless communication connection to a connection destination registered in advance in the system when the imaging terminal system is activated.
The communication information transfer method according to the present invention described in claim 3 is the communication information transfer method according to claim 1,
Means for registering the connection destination in the system as the connection destination is a GPS reception device in the imaging terminal when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS reception device and the imaging terminal is disconnected;
If the system of the imaging terminal is not down, after a reconnection time has passed as desired, the connection of point-to-point wireless communication is automatically made to the connection destination registered in advance in the system again. It is characterized by having a means to execute automatically.

The communication information transfer method according to the present invention described in claim 4 is the communication information transfer method according to claim 3,
Means for automatically re-connecting a point-to-point wireless communication to a connection destination registered in advance in the system after the reconnection time registered in the system in advance;
And means for enabling a user to select a time interval of the reconnection time on a display unit .

The communication information transfer method according to the present invention described in claim 5 is the communication information transfer method according to claim 4 ,
Means for displaying received GPS information in real time until the reconnection time registered in the system in advance elapses;
And a means for allowing the user to select the GPS information holding time on the display unit.
The communication information transfer method according to the present invention described in claim 6 is the communication information transfer method according to claim 1,
Means for displaying such that the capture state of the satellite can be determined from GPS information by the GPS receiving device;
And a means for performing display so that the connection status of the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal and the state of the radio wave intensity can be determined.

According to the present invention, GPS information can be captured by radio communication from a GPS receiving device to an imaging terminal, and the wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal can be easily connected to improve user convenience. It is possible to provide a communication information transfer system that makes it possible.
That is, according to the communication information transfer system of claim 1 of the present invention,
In a system capable of exchanging information by performing point-to-point wireless communication between a GPS receiving device having a wireless communication function and a GPS (global positioning system) function and an imaging terminal having a wireless communication function and an image capturing function ,
Means for previously registering the connection and connection destination with the GPS receiver in the system;
Means for automatically executing connection of the point-to-point wireless communication at the time of system startup of the imaging terminal;
Means for receiving GPS information from the GPS receiver using the imaging terminal using wireless serial communication after establishing the point-to-point wireless communication ;
In previous SL imaging device, and automatically attaches the photographed image means a GPS information received at the time of shooting,
Means for registering the latest GPS information received by the imaging terminal in the system when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected;
When the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected, the latest GPS information registered in the means for registering the GPS information in the system is displayed.
If the system of the imaging terminal is not down, until the elapse of the re-connection time corresponding to a desired, by having a means for displaying the GPS information received by the imaging device in real time, an imaging terminal GPS information from a GPS receiving device can be captured via wireless communication, and the wireless communication connection between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device is facilitated. Especially, GPS information is frequently used even in a poor wireless communication state. Therefore, it is possible to display GPS information reliably and appropriately and improve user convenience.

According to the communication information transfer system of claim 2 of the present invention, in the communication information transfer system of claim 1,
Means for registering the connection destination in the system as the connection destination is a GPS reception device at the imaging terminal when disconnecting the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS reception device and the imaging terminal;
By means of automatically executing a point-to-point wireless communication connection to a connection destination registered in advance in the system at the time of system startup of the imaging terminal, in particular, wireless communication is performed from a GPS receiver device. It is possible to easily and reliably establish a wireless communication connection between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device for the imaging terminal to capture the GPS information.
According to the communication information transfer system of claim 3 of the present invention, in the communication information transfer system of claim 1,
Means for registering the connection destination in the system as the connection destination is a GPS reception device in the imaging terminal when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS reception device and the imaging terminal is disconnected;
If the system of the imaging terminal is not down, after a reconnection time has passed as desired, the connection of point-to-point wireless communication is automatically made to the connection destination registered in advance in the system again. In particular, the imaging terminal for capturing the GPS information from the GPS receiving device via the wireless communication without requiring a complicated operation by the user even in a poor wireless communication state. It is possible to easily and reliably establish a wireless communication connection between the GPS receiver and the GPS receiver.

According to the communication information transfer system of claim 4 of the present invention, in the communication information transfer system of claim 3,
Means for automatically re-connecting a point-to-point wireless communication to a connection destination registered in advance in the system after the reconnection time registered in the system in advance;
Means for enabling the user to select the time interval of the reconnection time on the display unit, so that the GPS receiving device can be operated without requiring a complicated operation of the user even in a bad wireless communication situation. The wireless communication connection between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device for the imaging terminal to capture the GPS information via the wireless communication can be made easier and more reliable .

According to the communication information transfer system of claim 5 of the present invention, in the communication information transfer system of claim 4 ,
Means for displaying received GPS information in real time until the reconnection time registered in the system in advance elapses;
Means for enabling the user to select the GPS information holding time at the display unit, and in particular, the imaging terminal and the GPS for the imaging terminal to capture the GPS information from the GPS receiver via wireless communication With the wireless communication connection with the receiving device, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user reliably and more appropriately without frequently losing GPS information even when the wireless communication state is poor.
According to the communication information transfer system of claim 6 of the present invention, in the communication information transfer system of claim 1,
Means for displaying such that the capture state of the satellite can be determined from GPS information by the GPS receiving device;
In particular, the GPS information in the imaging terminal is provided by means for displaying so that the connection status of the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal can be determined. Capture status and radio wave status of wireless communication between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device can be easily and instantly grasped.

Hereinafter, based on an embodiment of the present invention, a communication information transfer system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 4 show a configuration of a digital camera as an example of an imaging terminal according to an embodiment of a communication information transfer system of the present invention. 1 is a top view schematically showing the overall configuration of the digital camera, FIG. 2 is a front view of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the subject side, and FIG. 3 is a photograph of the digital camera shown in FIGS. FIG. 4 is a rear view seen from the person side, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the digital camera shown in FIGS.
A digital camera 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 includes a lens barrel unit 3, a strobe light emitting unit 4, a distance measuring unit 5, an optical viewfinder 6, and a remote control (remote control) light receiving unit on the front side of the camera body 2 facing the subject. 7, a release button 9, a mode dial 10, and a sub LCD (liquid crystal display) 11 on the upper surface of the camera body 2, and an LCD on the rear side of the camera body 2 that normally faces the photographer. A monitor 13, an AF (autofocus) -LED (light emitting diode) 14, a strobe LED 15, a power switch 16, an operation button unit 17 and a zoom button 18 are provided, and a card slot 22 is provided on one side of the camera body 2. It has. The operation unit 19 includes a release button 9, a mode dial 10, a power switch 16, an operation button unit 17, and a zoom button 18. An external expansion memory card such as a memory card as a recording medium, a LAN card, or a wireless LAN card. Alternatively, an external expansion card 21 (not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3) such as an interface card such as a Bluetooth card is mounted and stored in a card slot 22, and a power battery (not shown) It is loaded into a battery loading section (not explicitly shown).

That is, a lens barrel unit 3 having a photographic optical system that makes an object photographic light incident and imaged is provided in the vicinity of the center of the front side of the camera body 2 of the digital camera 1. A strobe light emitting unit 4 that emits strobe illumination light to irradiate, a distance measuring unit 5 for measuring the distance to the subject during autofocus (AF), and a user's visual confirmation of a shooting range and the like An optical finder 6 is provided. Further, below the optical finder 6, a remote control light receiving unit 7 that receives a remote control optical signal from a remote controller (remote control transmitter) (not shown) operated by a user is provided. On the upper surface of the camera body 2 of the digital camera 1, there are provided a release button 9 for instructing shooting, a mode dial 10 for switching shooting modes, and a sub LCD 11 for displaying the number of shots or the number of shots. It has been.
Further, on the back side of the camera body 2 of the digital camera 1, an LCD monitor 13 for displaying a photographed image, an AF-LED 14 for indicating a focusing state such as focusing / non-focusing of AF at the time of photographing, and a strobe A strobe LED 15 indicating the charging state of the power supply capacitor, a power switch 16 for switching on / off the power, an operation button unit 17 for performing operation instructions and various settings from the outside, and a zoom for performing a zooming operation A button 18 is provided.

The AF-LED 14 and the strobe LED 15 are also used for display applications other than AF and strobe, for example, a display indicating that the external expansion card 21 (see FIG. 4) is being accessed, depending on the operation mode of the system. Is done. The release button 9, the mode dial 10, the power switch 16, the operation button unit 17 and the zoom button 18 are collectively referred to as an operation unit 19. Further, a card slot 22 into which the above-described external expansion card 21 (see FIG. 4) is detachably mounted is provided on the side surface of the camera body 2 of the digital camera 1.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the system of the digital camera 1 shown in FIGS. The digital camera 1 shown in FIG. 4 includes a lens barrel unit 3, a strobe light emitting unit 4, a distance measuring unit 5, a remote control light receiving unit 7, a sub LCD 11, an LCD monitor 13, and an AF-LED 14, which are mentioned in connection with FIGS. A strobe LED 15, an operation unit 19, and a card slot 22. The operation unit 19 includes a release button 9, a mode dial 10, a power switch 16, an operation button unit 17, and a zoom button 18. An external expansion card 21 such as a memory card as a recording medium is a card slot that is an external expansion card interface. Although not shown in the figure, the power source battery is loaded in the battery loading unit.

  Furthermore, the digital camera 1 shown in FIG. 4 includes a zoom lens 30, a zoom drive motor 31, a focus lens 33, a focus drive motor 34, an aperture 36, an aperture motor 37, a mechanical shutter (mechanical shutter) 39, a mechanical shutter motor 40, and a motor driver. 42, CCD (charge coupled device) solid-state imaging device 45, F / E (front end) -IC (integrated circuit) 46, digital still camera processor 50, ROM (read only memory) 65, RAM (random access memory) 66, SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM) 67, built-in memory 68, LCD driver 69, video amplifier (video amplifier) 70, video jack 71, USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector 72, serial driver circuit 73, RS-232C connector 74, sub CPU (central processing unit) 75, buzzer 76, sub LCD driver 77, microphone (microphone) 79, microphone amplifier (microphone amplifier) 80, audio recording circuit 81, speaker 83, audio reproduction circuit 84, An audio amplifier 85, a Bluetooth circuit 86, and a strobe circuit 91 are provided. The zoom lens 30 and the zoom drive motor 31 constitute a zoom optical system 32, the focus lens 33 and the focus drive motor 34 constitute a focus optical system 35, the aperture 36 and the aperture motor 37 constitute an aperture unit 38, The mechanical shutter 39 and the mechanical shutter motor 40 constitute a mechanical shutter unit 41.

The F / E-IC 46 includes a CDS (correlated double sampling) unit 47, an AGC (auto gain controller) 48, an A / D (analog-digital) converter 49, and a TG (timing generator). To timing generator) 52. The digital still camera processor 50 includes a first CCD signal processing block 51, a second CCD signal processing block 53, a CPU (central processing unit) block 54, a local SRAM (static RAM) 55, a USB block 56, a serial block 57, A JPEG-CODEC block 58, a resize block 59, a TV (television) signal display block 60, and a card controller block 61 are provided.
That is, in FIG. 4, the lens barrel unit 3 has a zoom optical system 32 including a zoom lens 30 as a driven member that captures an optical image of a subject and a zoom drive motor 31 as a drive source motor that drives the zoom lens 30. A focus optical system 35 having a focus lens 33 and a focus drive motor 34, a diaphragm unit 38 having a diaphragm 36 and a diaphragm motor 37, a mechanical shutter unit 41 having a mechanical shutter 39 and a mechanical shutter motor 40, and these A zoom driver motor 31, a focus drive motor 34, a diaphragm motor 37, and a motor driver 42 for driving a DC motor such as a mechanical shutter motor 40 are provided.

The motor driver 42 is driven and controlled by a drive command from a CPU block 54 in the digital still camera processor 50 to be described later, based on an input from the remote control light receiving unit 7 and an operation input from the operation unit 19.
The ROM 65 stores a control program and parameters for control described in codes readable by the CPU block 54. When the power switch 16 is operated and the power of the digital camera 1 is turned on, the control program stored in the ROM 65 is loaded into a main memory (not shown), and the CPU block 54 follows the control program of the digital camera 1. While controlling the operation of each unit, data necessary for the control is temporarily stored in the RAM 66 and the local SRAM 55. In the embodiment described here, a rewritable flash ROM is used as the ROM 65. By using a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash ROM, it is possible to change control programs, parameters necessary for control, and the like, and it is possible to easily upgrade functions.

The CCD solid-state imaging device 45 converts the optical image information captured and imaged by the lens barrel unit 3 into an analog image signal composed of an electrical signal. The F / E-IC 46 also includes a CDS unit 47 that performs correlated double sampling to remove image noise, an AGC unit 48 that performs gain adjustment, and an A / D conversion that converts an image signal into a digital signal. And a TG 52 that receives a vertical synchronizing signal (VD signal) and a horizontal synchronizing signal (HD signal) from the first CCD signal processing block 51 of the digital still camera processor 50 and generates a driving timing signal.
The digital still camera processor 50 serving as a control unit performs white balance adjustment setting and gamma adjustment setting for digital image data input from the CCD solid-state imaging device 45 via the F / E-IC 46 and, as described above, the VD signal. And a first CCD signal processing block 51 that outputs HD signals, a second CCD signal processing block 53 that performs conversion into luminance data and color difference data by filtering, and a remote control light receiving unit 7 and an operation unit 19. In accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 65, the CPU block 54 for controlling the operation of each part of the digital camera 1, such as the motor driver 42 and the CCD solid-state imaging device 45, and the control of the CPU block 54 are performed. Locale that temporarily stores necessary data SRAM 55, USB block 56 for communicating with an external device such as a PC (personal computer) using a USB interface, serial block 57 for performing serial communication with an external device such as a PC, and compression / decompression by the JPEG method A JPEG-CODEC block 58 for performing image processing, a resize block 59 for enlarging / reducing the size of image data by interpolation processing, and a TV for generating a video signal for displaying the image data on an external display device such as the LCD monitor 13 or TV. A signal display block 60 and a card controller block 61 for controlling the external expansion card 21 such as a memory card for recording photographed image data are provided.

The ROM 65 stores a control program written in a code that can be decoded and executed by the CPU block 54, data necessary for control of the CPU block 54, and the like.
The SDRAM 67 temporarily stores image data in the process and results when various processes are performed by the digital still camera processor 50. The stored image data is, for example, “RAW-” in a state in which white balance setting and gamma setting are performed in the first CCD signal processing block 51 after being taken in via the F / E-IC 46 from the CCD solid-state imaging device 45. “RGB image data”, “YUV image data” converted to luminance data / color difference data in the second CCD signal processing block 53, and “JPEG compression” performed in the JPEG-CODEC block 58 JPEG image data ".
The card slot 22 is a slot for detachably mounting an external expansion card 21 such as a memory card. In addition to the external expansion memory card, an interface card such as a removable LAN card, a wireless LAN card, or a Bluetooth card can be mounted in the card slot 22. The photographed image can be transferred to an external device via such an interface card.

The Bluetooth circuit 86 is a wireless communication circuit for performing wireless communication with an external device in accordance with the Bluetooth standard, and a captured image can be transferred to the external device via the Bluetooth circuit 86.
The internal memory 68 is provided for storing captured image data when an external expansion memory card such as a memory card is not mounted as the external expansion card 21 in the card slot 22, for example. Even when no memory card is attached, the captured image data can be stored in the built-in memory 68.
The LCD driver 69 drives the LCD monitor 13 and converts the video signal output from the TV signal display block 60 into a signal for display on the LCD monitor 13. In this way, the LCD monitor 13 allows the user to monitor the state of the subject before shooting, to check the shot image, or to view the image data recorded in the external expansion card 21 or the built-in memory 68. You can check and appreciate.

The video amplifier 70 is an amplifier that converts the video signal output from the TV signal display block 60 into, for example, a video signal having an impedance of 75Ω, and the video jack 71 is an external display device such as a TV that can display the video signal. It is a jack for connection. The USB connector 72 is a connector for USB connection to such an external device in order to perform USB communication with the external device such as a PC. The serial driver circuit 73 is a circuit that converts the output signal voltage of the serial block 57 in order to perform serial communication with an external device such as a PC. The RS-232C connector 74 is connected in serial with an external device such as a PC. It is a connector for performing.
The sub CPU 75 is a CPU composed of, for example, a microprocessor including a ROM, a RAM and the like built in one chip, and outputs output signals from the remote control light receiving unit 7 and the operation unit 19 to the CPU block 54 as user operation information. At the same time, the control information corresponding to the state of the digital camera 1 output from the CPU block 54 is converted into control signals for the sub LCD 11, AF-LED 14, strobe LED 15, buzzer 76 and the like and output. The sub LCD 11 is a display unit for displaying, for example, the number of shootable images, and the sub LCD driver 77 is a drive circuit that drives the sub LCD 11 based on an output signal from the sub CPU 75.
The audio recording unit includes a microphone 79 into which a user inputs an audio signal, a microphone amplifier 80 that amplifies the input audio signal, and an audio recording circuit 81 that records the amplified audio signal. In addition, the audio reproduction unit includes an audio reproduction circuit 84 that converts a recorded audio signal into a signal for output from the speaker 83, and an audio amplifier 85 that amplifies the converted audio signal and drives the speaker 83. And a speaker 83 that acoustically outputs the amplified audio signal.
[PDA]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a PDA as another example of the imaging terminal according to one embodiment of the communication information transfer method of the present invention. The PDA will be described with reference to FIG.
The PDA shown in FIG. 5 stores a system bus 101, a CPU 102, a PROM 103 that stores programs, a RAM 104 that is a work area for programs and data, a captured image file, a system file, a data file, and the like. A built-in memory 105, a key interface (key I / F) control unit 106 that detects an operation of a hardware key (hard key) 107, a hardware key 107 such as a shutter or a zoom key, a camera unit 109, and a camera A camera control unit 108 that controls the unit 109, an image compression / decompression control unit 112 that encodes an image captured from the camera control unit 108 according to the JPEG standard, and decodes JPEG data stored in a memory, and a camera Image data from the control unit 108 and image pressure An image control unit 110 that outputs image data from the expansion control unit 112 to the LCD unit 111 as a video signal, a USB interface (USB I / F) control unit 113, a USB cable 114 connected to the printer 121, and a CF [Compact Flash (registered trademark)] control unit 115, CF interface (CF I / F) 116, communication card 117 inserted into the CF interface 116, SD card control unit 118, SD card interface (SD card I / F) 119, the SD card 20 inserted into the SD card interface 119, the printer 121 connected to the PDA via the USB cable 114 or the communication card 117, the microphone (microphone) 123, and the analog from the microphone 123 Digitize audio signal And an A / D conversion unit 122 that performs tall conversion.

Normal photographing is performed in the following order. The start of shooting is recognized by operating the hardware key 107. The camera unit 109 captures an image. The image control unit 110 converts the image signal output from the camera unit 109 into frame data such as RGB data or YcbCr data, performs necessary image processing, and then transfers the image data to the RAM 104. The transferred image data is compressed and encoded into image data such as JPEG by the image compression / decompression control unit 112 and transferred to the RAM 104 again. Image data such as JPEG stored in the RAM 104 is recorded on the SD card 120 via the built-in memory 105 or the SD card control unit 118 after performing necessary header processing.
5 is compared with the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the camera unit 109 is in the lens barrel unit 3, the camera control unit 108 is in the F / E-IC 46 including the CCD solid-state imaging device 45, and the image control unit 110. Corresponds to the first CCD signal processing block 51 and the second CCD signal processing block 53, respectively. Although the camera function portion of the PDA in FIG. 5 may be inferior to the digital camera 1 in FIG. 4 in terms of performance, the basic functions are the same. The present invention can be realized with a digital camera and a PDA as long as a basic camera function is implemented.

[GPS function]
In the normal GPS function, a GPS card is inserted into the memory card slot 22 of FIG. 4 and GPS information is taken into the system from the GPS card. In the communication information transfer system according to the present invention, the GPS function is connected to an external GPS receiving device by wireless communication via the Bluetooth card mounted in the memory card slot 22 of FIG. Into. Alternatively, the GPS information can be taken into the system by being connected to an external GPS receiving device by wireless communication via the Bluetooth circuit 86 of FIG.

FIG. 6 shows an OSD (on-screen display) sample of GPS information according to the present invention in this embodiment. In the standard display mode, for example, icon information (%) indicating the capture status of satellites, information indicating latitude and longitude (E: 135, N: 034), and information indicating the number of captured satellites and the number of visible satellites (x4 ( 7)), (3d) indicating the positioning dimension, and (diff) indicating the positioning quality are displayed. In the GPS display mode, for example, icon information (%) indicating the capture status of satellites, information indicating latitude and longitude (E: 135′12′34, 1 ″, N: 034′12′34, 1 ″), Information indicating the number of captured satellites and the number of visible satellites (x4 (7)), a positioning dimension (3d), and a positioning quality (diff) are displayed.
FIG. 7 shows an OSD sample of radio wave intensity according to the present invention in this embodiment. For example, a communication connection status (connected) and a radio wave intensity (LEVEL02) are displayed. As shown in the figure, when the radio field intensity is displayed, the GPS information is also displayed at the same time.

〔Protocol stack〕
The digital camera shown in FIG. 4 uses a Bluetooth card mounted in the memory card slot 22 or implements Bluetooth communication via the Bluetooth circuit 86.
FIG. 8 shows a Bluetooth protocol stack structure according to the present invention in this embodiment.
The Bluetooth protocol stack on the device side is the HW device driver that directly controls the hardware, the HCI (host controller interface) that controls the communication between the host and the host controller, logical channel setting, and layer packet division and assembly. L2CAP (Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol) to be performed, RFCOMM that converts the protocol of Bluetooth wireless communication into an interface such as RS232C, OBEX (object exchange) that transmits / receives data (object), and Bluetooth device services SDP (service search protocol) for searching for images, DUN (dial-up network) for realizing dial-up communication, BIP (basic image protocol) for transmitting / receiving images, SPP (Serial Port Profile) that realizes AL communication, BIP application that realizes image transmission / reception by controlling BIP, OPP application that realizes file transmission / reception by controlling OBEX, and DUN A network application that realizes dial-up communication, an SPP application that controls SPP to realize serial communication, and an SDP application that controls SDP and searches for Bluetooth devices.
The Bluetooth card coupled to the Bluetooth protocol stack on the device side via the CF card interface (I / F) establishes a connection between the HCI firmware that controls communication between the host and the host controller and the Bluetooth device. It consists of a link manager firmware that controls, and a baseband controller that connects the physical radio part and Bluetooth.

[SPP protocol]
FIG. 9 shows a Bluetooth SPP protocol sequence according to the present invention in this embodiment. The SPP protocol provides a Bluetooth serial communication function. The imaging terminal requests the Bluetooth receiver to connect the Bluetooth SPP. The connection may be performed from the GPS receiving device side. After the Bluetooth SPP connection is established between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device, GPS information is transmitted from the GPS receiving device to the imaging terminal. In the standard display mode as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the received GPS information is icon information (%) indicating satellite capture status and information indicating latitude and longitude (E: 135, N : 034), the number of captured satellites, the information indicating the number of visible satellites (x4 (7)), the positioning dimension (3d), and the positioning quality (diff). When the user requests disconnection of the Bluetooth SPP protocol or turns off the power, the imaging terminal requests the GPS receiving device to disconnect the Bluetooth SPP. The disconnection may be executed from the GPS receiving device side.

FIG. 10 shows a data format according to the present invention in this embodiment. The data format of FIG. 10 is used in the Bluetooth SPP protocol sequence of FIG. The data format of the GPS information has a standard such as the NMEA format, for example, and is a character string format format of ASCII code. The GPS receiving device transmits data according to the data format shown in FIG. 10, and the imaging terminal displays GPS data as shown in FIG. 6 according to the data format shown in FIG.
FIG. 11 shows a reconnection sequence of the Bluetooth SPP protocol according to the present invention in this embodiment. The SPP protocol provides a Bluetooth serial communication function. The imaging terminal requests the Bluetooth receiver to connect the Bluetooth SPP. The connection may be performed from the GPS receiving device side. After the Bluetooth SPP connection is established between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device, GPS information is transmitted from the GPS receiving device to the imaging terminal.

  For example, in the standard display mode as shown in FIG. 6, the received GPS information is icon information (%) indicating satellite capture status and information indicating latitude and longitude (E: 135, N: 034), the number of captured satellites, information indicating the number of visible satellites (x4 (7)), the positioning dimension (3d), and the positioning quality (diff) are displayed. In a state where the user does not request disconnection of the Bluetooth SPP protocol, for example, when the Bluetooth SPP is disconnected due to poor radio wave conditions, the imaging terminal receives GPS reception again after a predetermined time has elapsed. Requests Bluetooth SPP connection to the device. After the Bluetooth SPP connection is established between the imaging terminal and the GPS receiving device, GPS information is transmitted from the GPS receiving device to the imaging terminal. Thereafter, when the user requests disconnection of the Bluetooth SPP protocol or turns off the power, the imaging terminal requests the GPS receiving device to disconnect the Bluetooth SPP.

[1] (Configuration corresponding to claim 1)
Between a GPS receiver having a wireless communication function and an imaging terminal having a radio communication function and an imaging function having the system configuration shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 8 implements a system capable of exchanging information by serial communication by implementing a protocol stack as shown in FIG. 8 and performing point-to-point wireless communication using an SPP application and SPP ([[ See Protocol Stack].
Then, the connection with the GPS device and the connection destination are registered in the system in advance. A point-to-point wireless communication connection is automatically executed when the imaging terminal system is activated. After the point-to-point wireless communication is established, the GPS information from the GPS receiving device is received by the imaging terminal using wireless serial communication (refer to [SPP protocol]).
The imaging terminal displays the received GPS information in real time and automatically attaches the received GPS information to the captured image (see [GPS function]).
By implementing the above functions, the imaging terminal can capture the GPS information from the GPS receiving device by wireless communication, and facilitate the connection of the wireless communication with the GPS receiving device, so that the user can It is possible to improve convenience.
In the configuration described above, when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected, the latest GPS information received by the imaging terminal is registered in the system. If the system of the imaging terminal is not down, the received GPS information is displayed in real time until an arbitrary time has elapsed. FIG. 13 shows an OSD display sample when communication is disconnected. Communication is displayed as disconnection, but GPS information is retained and displayed in the system. By implementing the above functions, GPS information is not frequently lost even in a poor wireless communication state, and GPS information is displayed reliably and appropriately, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

[2] (Configuration corresponding to claim 2)
In the description of the SPP protocol of [1] (configuration corresponding to claim 1) described above, when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiver and the imaging terminal is disconnected (when the power is turned off in FIG. 9), the imaging terminal Then, the connection destination is registered in the system assuming that the connection destination is a GPS receiver. A point-to-point wireless communication connection is automatically executed for a connection destination registered in advance in the system when the imaging terminal system is activated (when the power is turned on in FIG. 9). By implementing the above functions, the imaging terminal can capture the GPS information from the GPS receiving device by wireless communication, and the wireless communication connection with the GPS receiving device can be facilitated. It is possible to improve convenience.

[3] (Configuration corresponding to claim 3)
In the above [1] (configuration corresponding to claim 1), when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected, the connection destination is the GPS receiving device at the imaging terminal and the connection destination is a system. Register with. If the system of the imaging terminal is not down, after an arbitrary period of time, a point-to-point wireless communication connection is automatically executed again to the connection destination registered in advance in the system ([SPP protocol ]). By implementing the above functions, the convenience of the user can be improved by avoiding frequent reconnection even when the wireless communication state is poor.

[4] (Configuration corresponding to claim 4)
In the above [3] (configuration corresponding to claim 3), after the time registered in the system in advance, the connection of the point-to-point wireless communication to the connection destination registered in the system again in advance. Is automatically executed. The user can select the reconnection time interval on the display unit.
FIG. 12 shows an OSD sample in the setup mode. An item “SPP reconnection interval time” is added to the item of setup (SETUP) so that parameters of “10 seconds” to “30 seconds” can be selected. This parameter is stored in the system when power is turned off and is automatically loaded into the system when power is turned on. By implementing the above functions, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user by preventing the user from performing frequent reconnection even in a poor wireless communication situation.

[ 5 ] (Structure corresponding to claim 5 )
Oite to the configuration described above, until the time that has been previously registered in the system has passed, and displays the GPS information received in real time. The user can select the GPS information holding time in the display unit. FIG. 14 shows an OSD sample in the setup mode. An item “GPS information holding time” is added to the item of setup (SETUP), and a parameter of “10 seconds” to “30 seconds” can be selected. This parameter is stored in the system when power is turned off and is automatically loaded into the system when power is turned on. By implementing the above functions, GPS information is not frequently lost even in a poor wireless communication state, and the convenience of the user can be improved.

[ 6 ] (Configuration corresponding to claim 6 )
In the above-mentioned [1] (configuration corresponding to claim 1), display is performed so that the capture state of the satellite can be determined from the GPS information from the GPS receiving device. Display is performed so that the connection status of the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiver and the imaging terminal and the state of the radio wave intensity can be determined (see [GPS function]). By implementing the above functions, it is possible to instantly grasp the capture status of GPS information and the radio wave status of wireless communication, thereby improving user convenience.

It is a top view which shows typically the structure of the digital camera as an example of the imaging terminal which concerns on one embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is the front view which looked at the digital camera of FIG. 1 from the to-be-photographed object side. It is the rear view which looked at the digital camera of FIG. 1 from the photographer side. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the system of the digital camera of FIGS. 1-3. It is a block diagram which shows typically the structure of PDA as another example of the imaging terminal which concerns on embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which respectively shows the OSD (on-screen display) sample of GPS information in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention about (a) standard display mode and (b) GPS display mode. It is a schematic diagram which shows the OSD sample of the GPS information of the radio field intensity in the embodiment of the communication information transfer system of the present invention for the GPS and Bluetooth display modes, respectively. It is a schematic diagram which shows the protocol stack structure in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is a typical sequence diagram which shows the SPP (serial port profile) protocol sequence in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the sample of the NMEA data format in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is a typical sequence diagram which shows the SPP protocol reconnection sequence in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the OSD sample in the setup mode in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the OSD display sample when the communication in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention is cut | disconnected. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other OSD sample in the setup mode in embodiment of the communication information transfer system of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital camera 2 Camera body 3 Lens barrel unit 4 Strobe light emission part 5 Ranging unit 6 Optical finder 7 Remote control (remote control) light-receiving part 9 Release button 10 Mode dial 11 Sub LCD (liquid crystal display part)
13 LCD Monitor 14 AF (Auto Focus) -LED (Light Emitting Diode)
15 Strobe LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 Power switch 17 Operation button unit 18 Zoom button 19 Operation part 21 External expansion card 22 Card slot 30 Zoom lens 31 Zoom drive motor 32 Zoom optical system 33 Focus lens 34 Focus drive motor 35 Focus optical system 36 Aperture 37 Aperture motor 38 Aperture unit 39 Mechanical shutter
40 Mechanical shutter motor 41 Mechanical shutter unit 42 Motor driver 45 CCD (charge coupled device) solid-state imaging device 46 F / E (front end) -IC (integrated circuit)
47 CDS (correlated double sampling) section 48 AGC (automatic gain controller)
49 A / D (Analog-Digital) Converter 50 Digital Still Camera Processor 51 First CCD Signal Processing Block 52 TG (Timing Generator)
53 Second CCD signal processing block 54 CPU (central processing unit) block 55 Local SRAM (static RAM)
56 USB block 57 Serial block 58 JPEG-CODEC block 59 Resize block 60 TV (television) signal display block 61 Card controller block 65 ROM (read-only memory)
66 RAM (Random Access Memory)
67 SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM)
68 Built-in memory 69 LCD driver 70 Video amplifier (video amplifier)
71 Video Jack 72 USB (Universal Serial Bus) Connector 73 Serial Driver Circuit 74 RS-232C Connector 75 Sub CPU (Central Processing Unit)
76 Buzzer 77 Sub LCD driver 79 Microphone
80 Microphone amplifier (microphone amplifier)
81 Audio Recording Circuit 83 Speaker 84 Audio Playback Circuit 85 Audio Amplifier 86 Bluetooth Circuit 91 Strobe Circuit 102 CPU
103 PROM
104 RAM
105 Built-in memory 106 Key I / F
107 Hard Key 108 Camera Control Unit 109 Camera Unit 110 Image Control Unit 111 LCD Unit 112 Image Expansion / Compression Control 113 USB I / F Control Unit 114 USB Cable 115 CF Control Unit 116 CF I / F
117 Communication card 118 SD card control unit 119 SD card I / F
120 SD card 121 Printer 122 A / D converter 123 Microphone

Claims (6)

In a system capable of exchanging information by performing point-to-point wireless communication between a GPS receiving device having a wireless communication function and a GPS (global positioning system) function and an imaging terminal having a wireless communication function and an image capturing function ,
Means for previously registering the connection and connection destination with the GPS receiver in the system;
Means for automatically executing connection of the point-to-point wireless communication at the time of system startup of the imaging terminal;
Means for receiving GPS information from the GPS receiver using the imaging terminal using wireless serial communication after establishing the point-to-point wireless communication ;
In previous SL imaging device, and automatically attaches the photographed image means a GPS information received at the time of shooting,
Means for registering the latest GPS information received by the imaging terminal in the system when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected;
When the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal is disconnected, the latest GPS information registered in the means for registering the GPS information in the system is displayed.
Means for displaying the GPS information received by the imaging terminal in real time until the reconnection time as desired elapses when the system of the imaging terminal is not down. Transfer method. Means for registering the connection destination in the system as the connection destination is a GPS reception device at the imaging terminal when disconnecting the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS reception device and the imaging terminal;
2. The communication according to claim 1, further comprising means for automatically executing a point-to-point wireless communication connection to a connection destination registered in advance in the system when the imaging terminal system is activated. Information transfer method. Means for registering the connection destination in the system as the connection destination is a GPS reception device in the imaging terminal when the point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS reception device and the imaging terminal is disconnected;
If the system of the imaging terminal is not down, after a reconnection time has passed as desired, the connection of point-to-point wireless communication is automatically made to the connection destination registered in advance in the system again. The communication information transfer system according to claim 1, further comprising: Means for automatically re-connecting a point-to-point wireless communication to a connection destination registered in advance in the system after the reconnection time registered in the system in advance;
4. The communication information transfer system according to claim 3, further comprising means for allowing a user to select a time interval of the reconnection time on a display unit. Means for displaying received GPS information in real time until the reconnection time registered in the system in advance elapses;
5. The communication information transfer system according to claim 4 , further comprising means for allowing a user to select a GPS information holding time on the display unit. Means for displaying such that the capture state of the satellite can be determined from GPS information by the GPS receiving device;
The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a display that can determine a connection status of a point-to-point wireless communication between the GPS receiving device and the imaging terminal and a radio wave intensity state. Communication information transfer method.