JP5842494B2 - Accessories and accessory control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an accessory and an accessory control program.

  The camera may be used with accessories such as a flash device (for example, see Patent Document 1). The accessory is used by being connected to an accessory shoe (also called a shoe seat, a hot shoe, etc.) of the camera. The accessory shoe has a terminal for supplying a control signal for controlling the accessory to the accessory. The camera can control the accessory by transmitting a control signal to the accessory via the terminal of the accessory shoe.

US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/033292

  The accessory was not convenient because it had a built-in battery or was supplied from the camera via a cable. This invention is made in view of said situation, Comprising: It aims at providing the accessory which can improve the convenience, and an accessory control program.

In order to achieve the above object, the accessory of the present invention includes a first information communication unit capable of information communication with an external device, a second information communication unit capable of information communication with a camera, and a control unit. The unit counts the number of receptions of predetermined data received from the camera, and when the number of receptions of the counted data is less than a predetermined number of times , It intends line with priority transmission or reception of data between the said external device than the transmission.

The accessory control program according to the present invention controls an accessory including a first information communication unit capable of information communication with an external device, a control unit, and a second information communication unit capable of information communication with a camera. This is a program for causing a computer to execute, and counts the number of receptions of predetermined data received from the camera . When the number of times of reception of the counted data is less than a predetermined number of times , than the transmission of data is predetermined, Ru to execute the procedure for transmitting or receiving data to and from the external device to the computer.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the accessory which can improve convenience and an accessory control program can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the camera system which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which looked at the camera system which concerns on this embodiment from the opposite side to FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the camera system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram explaining the connection relation of the camera and accessory which concern on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the accessory 600 of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of a navigation message. It is an example of NMEA data (1st GPS information). It is a figure explaining the structure of the data contained in the 2nd GPS information which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process in the camera system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the process in the regular communication sequence in the accessory which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the 1st data transmission / reception process which transmits data to the GPS control part 660 from a personal computer. It is a figure explaining an example of the 1st data transmission / reception process between the camera which concerns on this embodiment, an accessory, and a personal computer. It is a figure which shows an example of the 2nd data transmission / reception process which transmits data to the GPS control part 660 from the personal computer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure explaining an example of the 2nd data transmission / reception process between the camera which concerns on this embodiment, an accessory, and a personal computer.

  This embodiment will be described. In the following description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof may be simplified or omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a camera system 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a view of the camera system 1 according to the present embodiment as viewed from the opposite side to FIG.

  The camera system 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a camera 10 (camera body 100 and photographing lens 200) and an accessory 600. The accessory 600 of the present embodiment has a GPS (Global Positioning System) function, and can perform position measurement. The camera 10 can communicate with the accessory 600 and control the accessory 600. For example, the camera system 1 can measure the imaging position using the accessory 600 and store the imaging position information measured in association with the image data captured by the camera 10 in the memory 140.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the camera 10 includes a camera body 100 and a photographing lens (interchangeable lens) 200. The camera body 100 includes a lens mount 11 to which a photographing lens 200 can be attached. The photographing lens 200 includes a lens side mount (not shown) for mounting with the camera body 100. The taking lens 200 can be attached to and detached from the lens mount 11 via the lens side mount. The camera body 100 includes a top surface (upper surface) 13 disposed at an upper portion of a side surface facing the front surface 12 on which the lens mount 11 is disposed, and a rear surface 14 disposed on the side opposite to the front surface 12. And have.

  The camera body 100 includes a release button 16, an accessory shoe (hereinafter referred to as a shoe seat 15), and a power switch 31 that are disposed on the top surface 13. The camera 10 detects that the release button 16 has been pressed, and performs various processes such as an imaging process. The shoe seat 15 is configured so that the accessory 600 can be attached thereto. The power switch 31 is a switch for switching the camera body 100 between an on state and an off state.

  In the present embodiment, the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system shown in FIG. In this XYZ orthogonal coordinate system, the Y-axis direction is a direction substantially parallel to the optical axis of the taking lens 200. In this XYZ orthogonal coordinate system, the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction are directions orthogonal to the Y-axis direction and orthogonal to each other. The front surface 12 and the back surface 14 are each substantially orthogonal to the Y-axis direction. The top surface 13 is substantially orthogonal to the Z-axis direction.

  The accessory 600 includes an accessory main body 610 that accommodates various components, and a connector 620 provided on the accessory main body 610. The accessory 600 is detachable from the shoe seat 15. The accessory 600 is attached to the shoe seat 15 and fixed to the camera body 100. The accessory 600 can be electrically connected to the shoe seat 15 via a cable or the like, and may be held by a device different from the camera body 100. The accessory 600 is attached to the shoe seat 15 by inserting the connector 620 into the opening 24 of the shoe seat 15 and sliding it in a predetermined direction (+ Y direction) (see FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the camera body 100 includes a display unit 102 disposed on the back surface 14 and a setting switch 104 disposed on the back surface 14. The display unit 102 includes a display element such as a liquid crystal display element or an organic electroluminescence display element. The display unit 102 can display an image to be captured, an image indicating various settings, an image indicating the state of the accessory 600, an image indicating an imaging condition, and the like. The setting switch 104 can accept input from the user for changing various setting items of the camera 10 and the accessory 600. The various setting items include at least one of zoom magnification setting, shooting mode setting, white balance setting, exposure time setting, and display switching setting. The shooting mode setting is, for example, auto mode setting or manual mode setting.

As shown in FIG. 2, the accessory 600 includes an operation unit 630, an LED 635, and a data terminal 640. The operation unit 630 is an operation member operated by the user in order to remove the accessory 600 from the camera body 100 (in other words, the operation unit 630 is a removal operation member).
For example, the LED 635 displays the positioning operation state of the accessory 600.
The data terminal 640 is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the camera system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the camera system 1 includes a camera body 100, a photographing lens 200, and an accessory 600.
The taking lens 200 includes an optical system 210, an optical system drive unit 220, and an optical system control unit 230. Light incident on the photographing lens 200 from the subject enters the light receiving surface of the image sensor 121 of the camera body 100 through the optical system 210.

  The optical system 210 includes a plurality of optical components such as a lens and a diaphragm, and a lens barrel that houses the plurality of optical components. The optical system 210 can image light incident from the outside of the camera body 100.

  The optical system driving unit 220 detects an actuator that drives the optical system 210, an encoder that detects the position of the optical component in the optical system 210, and a movement (at least one of a translational movement and a rotational movement) of the optical system 210 due to camera shake or the like. Provide a sensor. The actuator of the optical system drive unit 220 includes, for example, a focusing control motor, a power zoom control motor, a diaphragm aperture control motor, a vibration reduction (VR) control motor, and an expansion / reduction cylinder control motor. Including.

  The optical system drive unit 220 operates the actuator of the optical system drive unit 220 in accordance with a control command from the optical system control unit 230, thereby performing focusing control, zooming control, exposure control, VR control, and expansion / contraction control of the photographing lens 200. It can be carried out. Focusing control is control for adjusting the focal point of the optical system 210 by moving at least one of optical components such as a lens included in the optical system 210 in the optical axis direction by a focusing control motor. The zooming control is a control for changing the imaging angle of view by moving at least one of optical components such as a lens included in the optical system 210 in the optical axis direction by a power zoom control motor. In exposure control, the diaphragm constituting the optical system 210 is driven by a diaphragm aperture control motor to change the aperture size of the diaphragm, thereby adjusting the amount of light incident on the image sensor 121 through the optical system 210. It is control to do. The VR control is a control for correcting image shake due to camera shake by moving at least one of optical components such as a lens included in the optical system 210 in a direction intersecting the optical axis by a VR control motor. The expansion / contraction control is control for extending or contracting the photographic lens 200 in the optical axis direction by driving an expansion / contraction cylinder control motor.

  The optical system drive unit 220 is supplied with electric power from the battery BAT stored in the battery storage unit 110 of the camera body 100. The optical system driving unit 220 is supplied with power from the battery BAT via a terminal disposed on the lens mount 11 of the camera body 100. The actuators, encoders, and sensors that constitute the optical system driving unit 220 are operated by electric power supplied from the battery BAT.

  The optical system control unit 230 can communicate with a camera control unit 170 (described later) of the camera body 100 via a terminal disposed on the lens mount 11 of the camera body 100. The optical system control unit 230 can supply information indicating the detection result of the encoder of the optical system driving unit 220 and information indicating the detection result of the sensor to the camera control unit 170. Information supplied from the optical system control unit 230 to the camera control unit 170 includes lens type information indicating the type of the taking lens 200, lens focal length information, an aperture value set by exposure control, and a subject focus set by focusing control. Includes distance information, power consumption information, etc. The power consumption information indicates the power consumption consumed in the driving state, and is information that changes according to the lens type information and the driven state.

  The accessory 600 includes a GPS module unit 650, a GPS control unit (accessory control unit) 660, and a buffer memory 663. The GPS module part 650, the GPS control part 660, and the buffer memory 663 are accommodated in the accessory main body 610 shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2, for example. Details of the accessory 600 will be described later.

  The camera body 100 includes a battery storage unit 110, an imaging processing unit 120, a shutter drive unit 130, a display unit control circuit 135, a memory 140, a memory control circuit 145, an input unit 150, an operation detection circuit 155, a storage unit 158, and camera control. Part 170 is provided.

  The battery storage unit 110 can store a battery BAT such as a primary battery or a secondary battery. The battery BAT is mounted on the camera body 100 by being stored in the battery storage unit 110. The battery BAT stored in the battery storage unit 110 can supply power (PWR) necessary for the operation of the components of the camera system 1, for example, the display unit 102, the photographing lens 200, the accessory 600, and the like.

  The imaging processing unit 120 includes an imaging element 121, an imaging element control circuit 122, and an image circuit 123. The image sensor 121 includes a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally. Each pixel of the image sensor 121 includes a light receiving element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor. The light receiving element of the imaging element 121 generates a charge corresponding to the amount of light incident on each pixel from the optical system 210. The image sensor 121 converts the charge generated in the light receiving element by the light incident on each pixel into a signal. The image sensor 121 generates an analog image signal corresponding to an image (optical image) formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 121 via the optical system 210. The image sensor 121 is connected to each of the image sensor control circuit 122 and the image circuit 123. The image circuit 123 amplifies the image signal output from the image sensor 121 and converts the analog image signal into a digital signal. The image sensor control circuit 122 can control the image sensor 121 to cause the image sensor 121 to generate an image signal corresponding to the image, to output the generated image signal, and the like.

  The shutter driving unit 130 controls opening and closing of a shutter accommodated in the camera body 100. This shutter shields light incident on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 121 through the optical system 210 while the shutter is closed. If the camera body 100 is not equipped with a shutter mechanism for exposure control, the shutter drive unit 130 is also unnecessary.

  The display unit control circuit 135 performs display control such as lighting, brightness adjustment, and extinguishing of the display unit 102, and processing for causing the display unit 102 to display image data output from the camera control unit 170, for example.

  The memory 140 is a storage medium that can be inserted into and removed from the camera body 100, such as a memory card. The memory 140 stores image data generated by the camera control unit 170, for example. The memory control circuit 145 controls input / output of information between the camera control unit 170 and the memory 140. The memory control circuit 145, for example, stores information such as image data generated by the camera control unit 170 in the memory 140 or reads out information such as image data stored in the memory 140 to the camera control unit 170. Perform output processing.

  The input unit 150 includes a setting switch 104 and a release button 16 that can be operated by the user. The operation detection circuit 155 detects a user operation input to the input unit 150. The operation detection circuit 155 generates operation information indicating the user's operation input to the input unit 150, and outputs the generated operation information to the camera control unit 170.

  The storage unit 158 includes a nonvolatile memory 160 and a buffer memory 165. The nonvolatile memory 160 stores a program for operating the camera control unit 170, image data generated by imaging, information indicating the state of the apparatus, information such as various settings and imaging conditions input by the user. The information indicating the state of the apparatus includes voltage information (remaining battery level) of the battery BAT stored in the battery storage unit 110 of the camera body 100, information indicating the control state of each actuator of the photographing lens 200, and the like. The buffer memory 165 is a temporary information storage unit used for the control process of the camera control unit 170. The camera control unit 170 temporarily stores, for example, an image signal output from the image sensor 121, image data generated according to the image signal, second GPS information (described later) output from the accessory 600, and the like in the buffer memory 165. Remember me.

  The camera control unit 170 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the operation of the components of the camera body 100 based on a program stored in the non-volatile memory 160 and an electronic component such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Prepare. For example, the camera control unit 170 turns on the power to the camera body 100 or controls the drive of the optical system 210 via the optical system drive unit 220 according to the operation information output from the operation detection circuit 155 to the camera control unit 170. Then, drive control of the image sensor 121 via the image sensor control circuit 122, display control of the display unit 102 via the display unit control circuit 135, control of processing on the image signal output to the image circuit 123, and the like are performed.

  The camera control unit 170 includes an image processing unit 171, a display control unit 172, an imaging control unit 173, an operation detection processing unit 174, a power control unit 175, and a communication unit 176.

  The image processing unit 171 performs image processing for generating image data based on the image signal output from the image circuit 123. The image processing unit 171 stores the image data generated by the image processing in the buffer memory 165.

  The display control unit 172 reads the image data generated by the image processing unit 171 and stored in the buffer memory 165 at regular time intervals, and causes the display unit 102 to repeatedly display the read image data. Further, the display control unit 172 reads the image data generated by the image processing unit 171 and stored in the buffer memory 165 at regular time intervals, and records the data in the memory 140 as moving image format data (moving image data). Further, the display control unit 172 displays the remaining charge amount of the battery BAT on the display unit 102 according to the determination result of the power control unit 175 described later.

  The operation detection processing unit 174 determines a user operation detected by the operation detection circuit 155 based on the operation information output from the operation detection circuit 155, and stores the determined information in the buffer memory 165. The operation detection processing unit 174 outputs control commands for various processes corresponding to operations from the user to components (function units) that execute processes corresponding to the operations. For example, when the operation detection circuit 155 detects an input to the input unit 150 requesting execution of an imaging process, the operation detection processing unit 174 outputs the operation information output to the operation detection processing unit 174. Based on this, a control command for requesting execution of the imaging process is output to the imaging control unit 173. In addition, the operation detection processing unit 174 detects that the operation detection circuit 155 detects an input to the input unit 150 that requests execution of an autofocus (AF) process, for example. On the basis of the operation information output to, a control command for requesting execution of AF processing is output. In the AF process, the optical system control unit 230 refers to a distance measurement result using an image detected by the image sensor 121 via the optical system 210 based on the control command output by the operation detection processing unit 174. The focusing control motor of the optical system driving unit 220 is controlled to adjust the focus of the optical system 210 so that, for example, the subject designated by the user is in focus.

  The imaging control unit 173 outputs a control signal for causing the components of the camera system 1 to execute an imaging process to the components of the camera system 1 based on the control command output by the operation detection circuit 155. For example, the imaging control unit 173 executes the following process as a process related to the imaging process. In the imaging process, the imaging control unit 173 performs focusing control, exposure control, zooming control, VR control, and the like of the optical system 210 via the optical system control unit 230 in accordance with imaging conditions input in advance by the user. . In addition, the imaging control unit 173 controls the time during which the shutter is open (exposure time) by controlling the shutter driving unit 130 in the imaging process, so that the light from the optical system 210 is applied to the light receiving surface of the imaging element 121. Irradiate only for the exposure time.

  The power control unit 175 determines the remaining amount of power in the battery BAT by comparing the result of detecting the power supply voltage output from the battery BAT with a determination threshold.

  The communication unit 176 is connected to an external device arranged outside the camera body 100 in the camera system 1 so as to be able to communicate with a control unit of each external device. The photographing lens 200 of this embodiment is one of external devices, and the optical system control unit 230 is connected to be communicable with the communication unit 176. Moreover, the accessory 600 of this embodiment is one of the external devices, and the GPS control unit 660 is connected so as to be communicable with the communication unit 176.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a connection relationship between the camera 10 (the camera body 100 and the photographing lens 200 described above) and the accessory 600 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the camera 10 includes a load unit 30, a power switch 31, a power supply unit 32, an accessory power supply control unit 33, and a timer unit 34.

  The load unit 30 includes a load unit of the camera body 100 such as the shutter drive unit 130 and the display unit 102 described above, and a load external to the camera body 100 such as the optical system drive unit 220 and the optical system control unit 230. Part. The load unit 30 includes a heavy load unit with high power consumption and a light load unit with relatively low power consumption than the heavy load unit. The heavy load unit includes a load unit having an actuator, such as the optical system drive unit 220 and the shutter drive unit 130 in the camera body 100, for example. The light load unit includes an optical system control unit 230, an image processing unit 171, each control circuit, a display unit, and the like.

  The power switch 31 is a switch that cuts off the supply of power from the battery BAT to the heavy load portion of the load portion 30.

  The power supply unit 32 stabilizes the output voltage of the battery BAT based on the power supplied from the battery BAT and supplies it to the light load unit of the load unit 30 and the camera control unit 170. The power supply unit 32 includes a voltage detection sensor that detects the output voltage of the battery BAT, and a constant voltage circuit that stabilizes the output voltage of the battery BAT.

  The accessory power supply control unit 33 controls the supply of power to the accessory 600 based on the control of the camera control unit 170.

  The timer unit 34 generates (clocks) time information based on a clock signal generated by a crystal oscillator or the like, and outputs the generated time information to the camera control unit 170. The timer unit 34 is connected to a power source and a GND (reference potential) in the same manner as the camera control unit 170.

  The terminal part 25 of the camera body 100 can be electrically connected to the terminal part 623 of the accessory 600. The terminal portion 25 includes a plurality of terminals indicated by reference characters Tp1 to Tp12 (see FIG. 4). In the description of the present embodiment, each terminal of the terminal portion 25 of the shoe seat 15 may be distinguished by attaching a number indicating the terminal arrangement order. This number is an ascending order from one side (+ X side) in the terminal arrangement direction (X-axis direction) to the other side (−X side). For example, among the plurality of terminals of the terminal section 25, the terminal arranged on the most + X side is called the first terminal, and the terminal arranged on the most -X side is called the twelfth terminal.

  The camera control unit 170 supplies the control signal for controlling the accessory 600 by communicating with the accessory 600 via the terminal unit 25 and the terminal unit 623 to the accessory 600. In the present embodiment, the control signal that the camera control unit 170 supplies to the accessory 600 is the communication signal DATA and the communication control signal Cs that determines the communication timing between the camera 10 and the accessory 600.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the connection relationship of each component in the camera 10 will be described. The battery BAT in the following description is assumed to be stored in the battery storage unit 110. The positive electrode of the battery BAT is connected to one end of the power switch 31 via the power line 40 (PWR). The other end of the power switch 31 is connected to the power terminal of the heavy load portion of the load portion 30. The ground terminal of the heavy load part of the load part 30 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT stored in the battery storage part 110 via the ground line 41 (PGND).

  The positive electrode of the battery BAT is connected to the input terminal of the power supply unit 32 via the power supply line 40. The first output terminal of the power supply unit 32 is connected to the power supply terminal of the light load unit of the load unit 30. The ground terminal of the light load part of the load part 30 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT via a ground line 42 (SGND). The second output terminal of the power supply unit 32 is connected to the power supply terminal of the camera control unit 170. The potential of the second output terminal is different from the potential of the first output terminal. The ground terminal of the camera control unit 170 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT via the ground line 42 (SGND).

  The ground terminal Tp1 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT through a ground line 43 (GND). The ground terminal Tp2 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT via the ground line 43 in parallel with the ground terminal Tp1. The reference potential terminal Tp3 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT through the ground line 42. The reference potential terminal Tp5 is connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT via the ground line 42 in parallel with the reference potential terminal Tp3. Note that the ground of the camera 10 of the present embodiment employs a so-called single point ground (single point ground).

The synchronization signal terminal Tp4, the communication signal terminal Tp6, the activation state detection terminal Tp7, the light emission control signal terminal Tp8, and the communication control signal terminal Tp9 are each connected to the camera control unit 170 via signal lines. The open terminal Tp10 is insulated from other circuits such as the camera control unit 170, the power supply line 40, the ground line 41, the ground line 42, and the ground line 43.
A pull-up resistor is provided on the line connected to the communication signal terminal Tp6. This pull-up resistor is electrically connected to the output side of the power supply unit 32. For this reason, the potential (level) at the communication signal terminal Tp6 is maintained at the H level before the attachment of the accessory 600 and before the start of communication with the accessory 600. Note that a pull-up resistor is provided on the line connected to the activation state detection terminal Tp7 as well as the communication signal terminal Tp6.

  The power supply terminal Tp11 is connected to the first terminal of the accessory power supply control unit 33. The power supply terminal Tp12 is connected to the first terminal of the accessory power supply control unit 33 in parallel with the power supply terminal Tp11. The second terminal of the accessory power supply control unit 33 is connected to the positive electrode of the battery BAT via the power supply line 40. The accessory power supply control unit 33 can cut off the power supply from the battery BAT to the power supply terminal Tp11 and the power supply terminal Tp12 by a control signal input to the control terminal from the camera control unit 170.

  Next, the configuration on the accessory 600 side will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the accessory 600 of the present embodiment. The accessory 600 according to the present embodiment is operated by the power PWR supplied from the camera 10.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the accessory 600 includes a terminal unit 623 (second information communication unit), an operation unit 630, an LED 635, a data terminal 640 (first information communication unit), a GPS module unit 650 (positioning unit), and GPS control. Part 660, buffer memory 663, charging part 664, secondary battery 665, and power supply part 670. The GPS module unit 650 includes an antenna 651, a GPS calculation unit 652, and an RTC 653.

  The accessory 600 according to the present embodiment operates with the power PWR supplied via the terminal unit 25 of the camera 10. In a state where the power PWR is not supplied from the camera 10, the accessory 600 performs only the holding of the data stored in the storage unit 652 a of the GPS module unit 650 and the operation of the RTC 653 by the secondary battery 665.

  When the camera 10 detects that the accessory 600 is mounted (mounted state), the camera 10 starts supplying power to the accessory 600 via the terminal unit 25. When the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10, the activation state detection terminal Tp7 of the camera 10 is electrically connected to the terminal 630a via the activation state providing terminal Ts7 and the terminal 630b of the accessory 600. Since the terminal 630a is connected to GND (reference potential), the potential of the activation state detection terminal Tp7 of the camera 10 becomes the reference potential, and the camera 10 detects the attachment state of the accessory 600. The accessory 600 can be removed from the camera 10 by operating the operation unit 630.

  The operation unit 630 is a lock release lever for releasing the lock of the accessory 600 fixed (locked) to the shoe seat 15. The operation unit 630 is a mechanical switch and includes a terminal 630a, a terminal 630b, and a terminal 630c. When the accessory 600 is unlocked by the operation unit 630 and the accessory 600 is removed from the shoe seat 15, the electrical connection between the terminal 630a and the terminal 630b is disconnected. When the electrical connection between the terminal 630a and the terminal 630b is cut, the potentials of the activation state detection terminal Tp7 and the activation state providing terminal Ts7 become higher than the reference potential, and the camera 10 detects that the accessory 600 has been removed. .

  In addition, the GPS control unit 660 detects the state of the operation unit 630 (whether or not the terminals 630a and 630b are electrically connected) by a change in the potential of the terminal 630c. For example, when the terminal 630c is connected to the power supply terminal group (Ts11, Ts12) via the resistor 666, the mechanical switch of the operation unit 630 is not closed (the accessory 600 is not fixed to the shoe seat 15). The potential of the terminal 630c becomes H level (higher than the reference potential). On the other hand, when the mechanical switch of the operation unit 630 is closed (the accessory 600 is fixed to the shoe seat 15), since the terminal 630c is grounded, the potential of the terminal 630c becomes L level (reference potential). The GPS control unit 660 detects the state of the operation unit 630 by detecting a change in the potential of the terminal 630c.

  Next, the terminal part 623 of the accessory 600 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the terminal portion 623 is electrically connected to the terminal portion 25 of the camera 10 when the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10. The terminal portion 623 includes a plurality (12 pieces) of terminals indicated by reference signs Ts1 to Ts12. Here, the numbers indicating the arrangement order of the terminals to be described next are numbers that increase in ascending order from one side (+ X side) to the other side (−X side) in the terminal arrangement direction (X-axis direction). To do.

  The function of each terminal in the terminal unit 623 is assigned as follows. Here, the terminals Ts1 to Ts12 of the terminal part 623 are provided corresponding to the terminals (Tp1 to Tp12) of the terminal part 25 on the camera 10 side described above with reference to FIG. The functions of the terminals of the terminal unit 623 are also associated with the functions of the terminals of the terminal unit 25 described above. For this reason, in the description of the present embodiment, in order to avoid duplication with the description described above with respect to the terminal unit 25, the terminal numbers 1 to 12 of the terminals correspond to the terminals of the terminal unit 25 on the camera side. By describing the terminal numbers with the same number, the description overlapping with respect to the function and arrangement of each terminal is simplified or omitted.

  In the terminal portion 623, the power supply terminal Ts11 and the power supply terminal Ts12 are terminals to which power PWR is supplied from the camera 10, respectively. The ground terminal Ts1 and the ground terminal Ts2 are ground terminals corresponding to the power supply terminal Ts11 and the power supply terminal Ts12, and are terminals whose potential becomes the reference potential (ground) of the power PWR.

  Each of the reference potential terminal Ts3 and the reference potential terminal Ts5 is a terminal whose potential becomes a reference potential (signal ground) for transmitting and receiving signals.

  The synchronization signal terminal Ts4 is a terminal that outputs a synchronization signal (clock signal) CLK, which is a communication clock signal, to the camera 10.

  The communication signal terminal Ts6 is a terminal through which the communication signal DATA including the communication data on the camera side as described above is input from the camera 10 side, or the communication signal DATA on the accessory side is output to the camera 10. .

  The activation state providing terminal Ts7 is a terminal that provides the activation detection level DET (L level / reference potential based on SGND) described above to the camera 10.

  The light emission control signal terminal Ts8 is a terminal to which the command signal X is input from the camera 10, but is not used in the accessory 600 having a GPS function.

  The communication control signal terminal Ts9 is a terminal to which the above-described communication control signal (communication activation signal) Cs is input from the camera 10.

  An open terminal Ts10 is disposed between the power supply terminal Ts11 and the communication control signal terminal Ts9.

  Next, the connection relationship between the camera 10 and the accessory 600 will be described. In a state where the accessory 600 is mounted on the camera 10 (hereinafter referred to as a mounted state), the ground terminal Ts1 is connected to the ground terminal Tp1 of the camera 10. The ground terminal Ts2 is connected to the ground terminal Tp2 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. In addition, the locations connected to the ground terminals Ts1 and Ts2 on the accessory 600 side (such as the ground terminal of the charging unit 664) are connected to the path through the ground terminal Tp1 and the ground terminal Ts1, and the ground terminal Tp2 and the ground. It is connected to the ground line 43 via at least one of the paths via the terminal Ts2 and connected to the negative electrode of the battery BAT. Therefore, the potentials of the ground terminals Ts1 and Ts2 and the locations connected to them are reference potentials corresponding to the potential of the negative electrode of the battery BAT in the mounted state.

  The power supply terminal Ts11 is connected to the power supply terminal Tp11 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. The power supply terminal Ts12 is connected to the power supply terminal Tp12 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. In the mounted state, the accessory power supply control unit 33 is connected to the power supply unit 670 via at least one of a route through the power supply terminal Tp11 and the power supply terminal Ts11 and a route through the power supply terminal Tp12 and the power supply terminal Ts12. Is done. Therefore, the accessory power supply control unit 33 can supply the power PWR supplied from the battery BAT to the accessory power supply control unit 33 to each circuit and electrical component in the accessory 600 according to the control of the camera control unit 170.

  The reference potential terminal Ts3 is connected to the reference potential terminal Tp3 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. The reference potential terminal Ts5 is connected to the reference potential terminal Tp5 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. The potential of the reference potential terminal Ts3 becomes the potential (reference potential) of the reference potential terminal Tp3 in the mounted state. The potential of the reference potential terminal Ts5 becomes the potential (reference potential) of the reference potential terminal Tp5 in the mounted state.

  The activation state providing terminal Ts7 is a state in which the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10, and is connected to the ground line 42. Therefore, when the camera control unit 170 is connected to the camera 10 (hereinafter referred to as a first state), the activation detection level DET (SGND level / reference potential level / Low level / L level) can be detected via the activation state providing terminal Ts7 and the activation state detection terminal Tp7. Further, the camera control unit 170 can detect the activation detection level DET that is electrically different from the first state in the following second state. The second state includes a state where the accessory 600 is not attached to the camera 10.

  The synchronization signal terminal Ts4 is connected to the synchronization signal terminal Tp4 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. That is, the GPS control unit 660 is connected to the camera control unit 170 through the synchronization signal terminal Tp4 and the synchronization signal terminal Ts4 in the mounted state. Accordingly, the GPS control unit 660 can transmit a synchronization signal CLK for performing synchronous communication with the camera control unit 170 to the camera control unit 170 via the synchronization signal terminal Ts4 and the synchronization signal terminal Tp4.

  The communication signal terminal Ts6 is connected to the communication signal terminal Tp6 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. That is, the GPS control unit 660 is connected to the camera control unit 170 through the communication signal terminal Tp6 and the communication signal terminal Ts6 in the mounted state. Therefore, the camera control unit 170 and the GPS control unit 660 can perform serial data communication via the communication signal terminal Tp6 and the communication signal terminal Ts6 in the mounted state. The communication signal terminals Tp6 and Ts6 can both switch input / output functions, and communication between these terminals is bidirectional communication in which the communication direction can be switched. The data communicated as the communication signal DATA is as follows. Examples of data output from the camera 10 include a command (command) that causes the accessory 600 to execute processing by the camera control unit 170 and information (camera data) related to the camera 10. On the other hand, the data output from the accessory 600 side includes information on the accessory 600 (accessory information). In the present embodiment, sending (or receiving) data indicating a command or information may be simply sending (or receiving) a command or information. Note that the communication signal DATA is transmitted in synchronization with the synchronization signal CLK output from the accessory 600 side regardless of whether the camera control unit 170 transmits or the GPS control unit 660 transmits.

  For example, the camera control unit 170 transmits to the GPS control unit 660 a transmission notification command (command) for notifying that information on the designated item is transmitted from the camera control unit 170 to the GPS control unit 660. After the transmission of the transmission notification command is completed, the camera control unit 170 transmits information on the item specified in the transmission notification command to the GPS control unit 660 after a transmission of the transmission notification command with a predetermined time interval.

  Further, for example, the camera control unit 170 can transmit a transmission request command for requesting transmission of designated information from the GPS control unit 660 to the camera control unit 170 to the GPS control unit 660. After the reception of the transmission request command is completed, the GPS control unit 660 transmits information on the item specified in the transmission notification command to the camera control unit 170 following the reception of the transmission notification command.

  The communication control signal terminal Ts9 is connected to the communication control signal terminal Tp9 of the camera 10 in the mounted state. That is, the GPS control unit 660 is connected to the camera control unit 170 through the communication control signal terminal Tp9 and the communication control signal terminal Ts9 in the mounted state. Therefore, the camera control unit 170 can supply the communication control signal Cs to the GPS control unit 660 via the communication control signal terminal Tp9 and the communication control signal terminal Ts9.

  The communication control signal Cs is a signal that determines the communication start timing of communication between the camera 10 and the accessory 600 via the communication signal terminal Ts6. On the accessory 600 side, a pull-up resistor (not shown) is connected to the wiring pattern connected to the communication control signal terminal Ts9. For this reason, the signal level of the communication control signal Cs at the communication signal terminal Ts6 is maintained at the H level before the start of communication. The signal level of the communication control signal Cs is lowered to the L level and maintained by the camera control unit 170 when starting data communication via the communication signal terminal Ts6. While the signal level of the communication control signal Cs is maintained at the L level, data of a plurality of bits is transmitted / received as the communication signal DATA in synchronization with the synchronization signal CLK. After a plurality of bits of data are transmitted / received, the signal level of the communication control signal Cs is maintained at the H level again by the pull-up resistor in the period until the next transmission of the communication signal DATA. As described above, the communication control signal Cs is a signal in which the number of switching of the signal level (H level and L level) per unit time is smaller than that of the communication signal DATA and the synchronization signal CLK.

Next, the GPS module unit 650 will be described.
The GPS calculation unit 652 receives GPS information (navigation message) necessary for positioning and timing from the positioning satellite (GPS satellite) via the antenna 651. The GPS calculation unit 652 extracts information (GPS time information) indicating the GPS time from the GPS information (navigation message) received from the positioning satellite. When the GPS time information can be extracted from the GPS information, the time information of the RTC 653 is adjusted to the GPS time. When GPS information cannot be received, or when GPS information cannot be extracted even if GPS information can be received, the GPS calculation unit 652 uses the time information of the RTC 653 instead of the GPS time information. The storage unit 652a may be a flash memory.
In addition, the GPS calculation unit 652 generates first GPS information from the GPS information, and outputs the first GPS information to the GPS control unit 660. The first GPS information is, for example, NMEA data having a communication protocol such as a GPS receiver defined by NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association). The GPS calculation unit 652 stores the first GPS information in the storage unit 652a (second storage unit).
In addition, the GPS calculation unit 652 outputs information indicating the positioning operation state of the GPS module unit 650 (whether or not positioning is completed) to the GPS control unit 660. The GPS control unit 660 displays (lights up or blinks) the positioning operation state of the GPS module unit 650 by controlling the LED 635.

  An RTC (real time clock) 653 generates (measures) time information based on, for example, a clock signal generated by a crystal oscillator, and outputs the generated time information to the GPS calculation unit 652. When the accessory 600 is not attached to the camera 10, the RTC 653 continues timing using the power supplied from the secondary battery 665.

  The LED 635 displays the positioning operation state of the GPS module unit 650 based on the control of the GPS control unit 660. The LED 635 can emit light of a plurality of colors, for example, red and green. For example, the LED 635 blinks red when the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10 and GPS information from three positioning satellites is acquired by positioning by the GPS module unit 650. When GPS information from four or more positioning satellites has been acquired by positioning by the GPS module unit 650, the light turns green.

  The data terminal 640 is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal. The accessory 600 can acquire commands and data from a personal computer by connecting to an external device such as a personal computer (PC) with a connection cable via the data terminal 640. In addition, the accessory 600 transmits commands and data output from the GPS control unit 660 to the personal computer via the data terminal 640. Further, the data terminal 640 supplies the power supplied via the connection cable to the power supply unit 670.

The GPS control unit 660 communicates with the camera control unit 170 via the terminal unit 623 and the terminal unit 25 of the camera 10. The GPS control unit 660 controls each component of the accessory 600.
The GPS control unit 660 extracts data to be output to the camera 10 from the first GPS information output from the GPS module unit 650 (GPS calculation unit 652). The data to be output to the camera 10 is, for example, data necessary for generating an Exif file. Information indicating latitude, information indicating longitude, information indicating altitude, information indicating Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), positioning Information indicating the number of satellites used, information indicating positioning reliability, information indicating the direction of travel, information on ground information, and the like.
In addition, the GPS control unit 660 determines, from the first GPS information, a flag indicating whether the first GPS information is valid or invalid (hereinafter referred to as valid / invalid flag (validity information) of the first GPS information), 2D positioning state (longitude and A flag (hereinafter referred to as 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag) indicating whether the latitude is measured) or 3D positioning status (longitude, latitude, and altitude are measured) is generated.
Further, as described later, the GPS control unit 660 uses the first GPS information to output data to the camera 10 (information indicating latitude, information indicating longitude, information indicating altitude, information indicating coordinated universal time, and positioning). It is determined whether each information of information indicating the number of satellites, information indicating positioning reliability, information indicating the traveling direction, and ground information is acquired. Based on the determination result, the GPS control unit 660 generates a flag (hereinafter referred to as a first GPS acquisition information flag) indicating whether or not the information can be acquired. The valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information, the 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag, and the first GPS acquisition information flag will be described in detail later.
The GPS control unit 660 adds a valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information, a 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag, and a first GPS acquisition information flag to the data output to the camera 10 and outputs the first GPS information to the camera 10. 2GPS information (second data) is converted. The GPS control unit 660 switches banks of the buffer memory 663 (first storage unit, second storage unit) and stores the converted second GPS information in one bank. In response to a request from the camera control unit 170, the GPS control unit 660 reads out and transmits the second GPS information stored in the buffer memory 663. Alternatively, the GPS control unit 660 treats the buffer memory 663 as two areas, for example, and stores the converted second GPS information in one area.
The first GPS information (NMEA data) is, for example, ASCII data. On the other hand, the second GPS information is, for example, 1-byte data. Note that the GPS control unit 660 may generate the second GPS information by associating the second GPS information with the generated information acquisition propriety flag.

  The buffer memory 663 stores the second GPS information converted by the GPS control unit 660. The buffer memory has, for example, two banks or two storage areas.

  Charging unit 664 is connected to the second output terminal of power supply unit 670. The charging unit 664 charges the secondary battery 665 using the power supplied from the camera 10 via the terminal Ts12 and the terminal Ts11.

The power supply unit 670 has a first input terminal connected to the terminals Ts11 and Ts12 of the terminal unit 623, and a second input terminal connected to the data terminal 640. The power supply unit 670 has a first output terminal connected to the GPS calculation unit 652 and the charging unit 664, and a second output terminal connected to one end of the GPS control unit 660, the buffer memory 663, and the pull-up resistor 666. Has been.
The power supply unit 670 converts the power supplied from the camera 10 through the terminal unit 623 into a voltage value used inside the accessory 600, and supplies the converted power to each unit from the first and second output terminals. To do.

Next, an outline of GPS will be described.
GPS is used for position measurement, surveying, and the like. Currently, more than 24 positioning satellites orbit around six orbits over the earth. Each positioning satellite transmits a navigation message (GPS information). The navigation message is transmitted in units of frames. It takes 30 seconds to transmit one frame. One frame includes five sets of subframes, and subframes 1 to 5 are transmitted in order. Further, subframes 1 to 3 include information unique to each positioning satellite and are configured with the same contents every time. In subframes 4 and 5, all positioning satellites are composed of information having the same contents, and are composed of pages 1 to 25 for each subframe. For this reason, 25 frames are required to transmit all the information of subframes 4 and 5. For this reason, it takes 12 minutes and 30 seconds for the GPS receiver to obtain all the navigation message information. Each subframe includes GPS time. The GPS time is the time managed by the positioning satellite in units of one week, and is information represented by the elapsed time from 0:00 every Sunday.

The five sets of subframes contain navigation messages as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the navigation message.
Subframe 1 (g601) is composed of the status of each positioning satellite (whether it is operating normally), a clock correction coefficient that is a coefficient for correcting the clock error of the positioning satellite transmitted by the positioning satellite, and the like. Yes.
Subframe 2 (g602) is composed of orbit information (ephemeris data) 1/2 of each positioning satellite.
Subframe 3 (g601) is composed of orbit information (ephemeris data) 2/2 of each positioning satellite.
Subframe 4 (g604-1 to g604-25) includes an ionospheric delay correction coefficient, which is a coefficient for correcting an amount of a signal received by the GPS receiver that is delayed by the ionosphere, GPS time, and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time; Universal Time, Coordinated)), which is information related to UTC, orbit information of all positioning satellites (Almanac data) 1/2, and the like.
Subframe 5 (g605-1 to g605-25) is composed of orbit information (almanac data) 2/2 of all positioning satellites. In addition, information indicating GPS time is included at the head of each subframe. The GPS time is the time managed by the positioning satellite in units of one week, and is information represented by the elapsed time from 0:00 every Sunday.

In addition, the ephemeris data is the data of 6 elements (orbital ascension, orbital inclination, near-point argument, orbital length radius, eccentricity, and right near-point angle) necessary for calculating the position of the positioning satellite, Each correction value and the epoch time toe of the orbit (the epoch of the orbit (ephemeris reference time)) are included. The ephemeris data is updated every 2 hours. The valid period of the ephemeris data is 2 hours ± 2 hours.
Almanac data is orbit information of each positioning satellite. Almanac data is updated about once a day. The valid period of the almanac data is epoch time ± 3 days.

The GPS module unit 650 stores the received data in the storage unit 652a. Starting positioning from a state in which both stored almanac data and ephemeris data are valid is called hot start. Also, starting the positioning from a state where the ephemeris data is invalid and only the almanac data is valid is called warm start. Starting the positioning from a state where both the almanac data and the ephemeris data are invalid is called a cold start.
In the case of a hot start, the time until the first position information is output after the power is turned on in the GPS module unit 650 is about several seconds because positioning can be performed using the stored ephemeris data.
On the other hand, in the case of a warm start, the GPS module unit 650 needs to re-acquire ephemeris data. For this reason, it takes 30 seconds or more to re-acquire the ephemeris data, and it also takes time to inspect the acquired ephemeris data. For this reason, in the case of a warm start, the time until the first position information is output after the power is turned on is about 30 to 60 seconds.
Further, in the case of a cold start, the GPS module unit 650 needs to acquire all navigation messages. For this reason, it takes several minutes to 12 minutes and 30 seconds to capture a positioning signal and to obtain a navigation message. Therefore, the time until the first position information is output after the power is turned on is about several minutes to 12 minutes and 30 seconds.

FIG. 7 is an example of NMEA data (first GPS information).
As shown in FIG. 7, the NMEA data is ASCII data in which data extracted from the navigation message (GPS information) is classified into prescribed contents. The data is transmitted for each sentence, starts with a character string indicating the “$” character and the type of sentence, and ends with a line feed code “CR, LF” code. FIG. 7 shows examples of RMC sentence, GGA sentence, and GSA sentence. The sentence g631 is an RMC (Recommended Minimum Navigation Information) sentence. A sentence g631 includes a sentence name g611, a positioning time g612, a status g613 indicating the validity of data, a latitude g614, a longitude g615, a ground speed g616, a traveling direction g617, a positioning date g618, a magnetic deviation g619, a positioning mode g620, a checksum. g621 is included. The positioning mode is a positioning type such as single positioning that is positioning by one GPS module unit or relative positioning (DGPS (Differential GPS)) that is positioning by two GPS module units.
The sentence g632 is a GGA (Global Positioning System Fix Data. Time, Position and fix related data for a GPS receiver) sentence. The sentence g633 is an RMF (Position Fix Sentence) sentence.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of data included in the second GPS information according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the second GPS information includes eleven types of data in the order of numbers 1 to 11. The order of the numbers 1 to 11 is configured to match the order of data when writing to the Exif data, for example.

  The “GPS data valid / invalid” data includes a valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information, a 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag, and a presence / absence flag of the geomagnetic sensor. Note that the first GPS information is valid indicates a state where the GPS module unit 650 obtains position information (positioning state). On the other hand, the invalidity of the first GPS information indicates a state in which position information is not obtained by the GPS module unit 650 (non-positioning state). The 2D positioning state is a state in which GPS information is received from three positioning satellites and position information is obtained. The 3D positioning state is a state where GPS information is received from four positioning satellites and position information is obtained. The presence / absence flag of the geomagnetic sensor indicates whether or not the geomagnetic sensor is mounted on the accessory 600 by a flag. The GPS control unit 660 extracts information on whether the first GPS information is valid or invalid from the first GPS information, information on 2D positioning or 3D positioning. Then, the GPS control unit 660 generates “GPS data valid / invalid” data that is 1-byte data based on the extracted information. The valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information includes data (information indicating latitude, information indicating longitude, information indicating altitude, information indicating coordinated universal time) necessary for generating image file data (for example, Exif file data), This indicates whether or not the information indicating the number of satellites used for positioning, the information indicating the reliability of positioning, the information indicating the traveling direction, and the ground information) is valid. That is, if the GPS information is a flag indicating invalidity, it indicates that the data necessary for generating the image file data included in the first GPS information is invalid. If the data is invalid, the data is not stored in the image file data.

The “GPS data acquisition information” data includes a first GPS acquisition information flag. The first GPS acquisition information flag indicates whether the latitude, longitude, altitude, UTC, positioning satellite signal used for positioning, positioning reliability, traveling direction, and ground speed information included in the first GPS information can be acquired. Are a plurality of flags. The GPS control unit 660 extracts each piece of information from the first GPS information. Then, based on each extracted information, it is determined whether or not each information can be acquired. The GPS control unit 660 generates “GPS data acquisition information” data that is 1-byte data based on the determination result.
Specifically, for example, when 0 indicating “invalid” is set in the valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information of the “GPS data valid / invalid” data, the GPS module unit 650 is in a state where positioning has not been performed yet (non-positioning State). In this case, the first GPS acquisition information flag of the “GPS data acquisition information” data is set to 0 indicating that data has not been acquired.
In addition, when 1 indicating validity is set in the validity / invalidity flag of the first GPS information of the “GPS data valid / invalid” data, and 0 indicating the 2D positioning state is set in the 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag, the latitude , Longitude, altitude, UTC, positioning satellite signal used for positioning, positioning reliability, traveling direction, ground speed, among the plurality of flags for each information, 0 indicating that it has not been acquired in any flag is set Has been.
Further, when 1 is set to the valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information of the “GPS data valid / invalid” data, and 1 indicating the 3D positioning state is set to the 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag, In some cases, 1 is set to indicate that all the flags for longitude, altitude, UTC, positioning satellite signal used for positioning, positioning reliability, traveling direction, and ground speed information can be acquired. However, even when “1” indicating the 3D positioning state is set in the 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag, for example, “ground speed” data is not acquired and 0 indicating that the flag cannot be acquired. It may not be set.

  “Latitude” data, “longitude” data, and “altitude” data are information indicating latitude, longitude, and altitude. The GPS control unit 660 extracts latitude, longitude, and altitude information from the first GPS information, and uses the extracted information as “latitude” data, “longitude” data, and “altitude” data.

  “UTC” data and “satellite signal” data are information indicating the UTC information and the number of positioning satellites used for positioning. The GPS control unit 660 extracts information on the UTC and the satellite signal from the first GPS information, and uses the extracted information as “UTC” data and “satellite signal” data.

  “Positioning reliability” data is information indicating the reliability of positioning, and is a value such as PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision), HDOP (Horizontal Dilution of Precision), VDOP (Vertical Dilution of Precision), etc. is there. PDOP is an indexed positioning satellite geometry. If the PDOP value is small, the position accuracy is high, and if the PDOP value is large, the position accuracy is low. HDOP and VDOP are obtained by indexing only the horizontal and vertical components of PDOP. The GPS control unit 660 extracts PDOP, HDOP, and VDOP information from the first GPS information, and uses the extracted information as “positioning reliability” data.

  The “traveling direction” data and the “ground speed” data are the traveling direction information and the ground speed information of the positioning satellite. The GPS control unit 660 extracts information on the traveling direction and the ground speed from the first GPS information, and uses the extracted information as “traveling direction” data and “ground speed” data.

  “Direction” data is information indicating an orientation obtained from a geomagnetic sensor (not shown). The GPS control unit 660 determines whether or not a geomagnetic sensor is mounted on the accessory 600. If it is determined that the geomagnetic sensor is mounted, the GPS control unit 660 extracts information indicating the direction from the data output from the geomagnetic sensor, and sets the extracted information as “direction” data.

  As described above, the GPS control unit 660 generates the second GPS information from the first GPS information obtained from the GPS module unit 650. Then, the GPS control unit 660 transmits the second GPS information to the camera 10 via the communication signal terminal Ts6.

Next, a method for setting each flag of the “GPS data valid / invalid” data will be described.
First, the valid / invalid flag of the first GPS information will be described. The GPS control unit 660 extracts a GGA sentence from the first GPS information output by the GPS module unit 650, and extracts GPS Quality Indicator information g622 (see FIG. 7; hereinafter referred to as information g622) from the extracted GGA sentence. When the value of the information g622 is 0, it indicates that reception is impossible. When the value of the information g622 is 0, the GPS control unit 660 sets the flag indicating whether the first GPS information is valid or invalid as 0 indicating that the first GPS information is invalid. When the value of information g622 is 1, it represents the single reception mode, and when the value of information g622 is 2, it represents the differential GPS positioning mode. When the value of the information g622 is 1 or 2, the GPS control unit 660 sets the flag indicating whether the GPS data is valid or not as 1 indicating that the GPS data is valid.

The 2D positioning / 3D positioning flag will be described. The GPS control unit 660 extracts the RMF sentence from the first GPS information output from the GPS module unit 650, and extracts the fix type information g623 (see FIG. 7; hereinafter referred to as information g623) from the extracted RMF sentence. When the value of the information g623 is 1, it indicates that GPS information from three satellites can be used. For this reason, the GPS control unit 660 sets 0 indicating the 2D positioning state in a flag indicating whether the 2D positioning state or the 3D positioning state is assumed to be the 2D positioning state. When the value of the information g623 is 2, it indicates that GPS information from four or more satellites can be used. For this reason, the GPS control unit 660 sets 1 indicating the 3D positioning state to the flag indicating the 2D positioning state or the 3D positioning state, assuming that it is the 3D positioning state.
Thus, each flag of the “GPS data valid / invalid” data is a flag set based on the value of the sentence information extracted from the first GPS information.

Next, a method for setting a flag of “GPS data acquisition information” data will be described.
The GPS control unit 660 extracts UTC data from the first GPS information output by the GPS module unit 650. The data related to UTC is, for example, ZDA (Time & Date-UTC, Day, Month, Year and Local Time Zone) data of the first GPS information, GGA (Global Positioning System Fix Data. Time, Position and fix related data for a GPS) receiver) sentence. The GPS control unit 660 extracts whether or not the status of the extracted data is valid, and further extracts UTC data. The GPS control unit 660 determines whether or not the extracted UTC data is a numerical value in a predetermined range. The UTC data is composed of the year, month, day, and time (hour, minute, second). If the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data indicating “month” in the extracted UTC data is a value indicating January to December, the GPS control unit 660 determines that this data is valid. If the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data indicating the “year” of the extracted UTC data is a value indicating, for example, 2000 to 3000, this data is determined to be valid. If the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data indicating “day” of the extracted UTC data is a value indicating 1st to 31st, it determines that this data is valid. When the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data indicating “hour” of the extracted UTC data is a value indicating 0 to 23:00, the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data is valid. If the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data indicating “minute” of the extracted UTC data is a value indicating 0 to 59 minutes, the GPS control unit 660 determines that the data is valid. When it is determined that the data indicating “second” of the extracted UTC data is a value indicating 0 to 59 seconds, the GPS control unit 660 determines that this data is valid. If all the data is valid and the status of the extracted data is valid as a result of the above determination, the GPS control unit 660 determines that UTC data has been acquired and sets the flag for UTC data acquisition to 1. To do.
The GPS control unit 660 determines whether the data in the year, month, day, or time (hour, minute, second) is outside the predetermined range, or if the status of the extracted data is invalid. It is determined that data has not been acquired, and a flag for UTC data acquisition is set to 0.
As described above, the GPS control unit 660 extracts one or more sentences from the first GPS information, and determines whether or not the sentence is acquired based on the extracted sentence information. The flag of “GPS data acquisition information” data is a flag set based on the determination result.

Next, with reference to FIG. 9, a procedure of processing in the camera system will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the camera system 1 according to the present embodiment. The camera system 1 performs a series of processes (startup sequence) for starting up the accessory 600.
(Steps S1 and S2) The camera system 1 performs a series of processing (communication preparation sequence) for preparing communication between the camera 10 and the accessory 600 in the startup sequence (step S1). The camera system 1 detects whether the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10 in the communication preparation sequence. When the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10, the camera system 1 starts supplying power to the accessory 600, and the camera 10 permits the accessory 600 to communicate.

(Step S <b> 3) The camera system 1 performs a series of processes for communicating information necessary for imaging between the camera control unit 170 and the GPS control unit 660 (initial communication sequence) after completion of the communication preparation sequence in the startup sequence. I do. In the initial communication sequence, the camera control unit 170 acquires information indicating the function of the accessory 600 and transmits a positioning start request to the GPS control unit 660 based on the acquired information.
Note that the camera system 1 performs an initial communication sequence after the camera 10 returns from the sleep state, for example, in addition to performing the activation sequence in step S2. The camera system 1 performs the initial communication sequence after making a request from the accessory 600 to the camera 10 to perform the initial communication sequence when the state of the accessory 600 is changed. The sleep state is a low power consumption state that shifts when there is no user operation for a predetermined time.

(Step S <b> 4) The camera system 1 communicates with each other between the camera control unit 170 and the GPS control unit 660 so that the information changed due to the setting change or the like can be updated after the initial communication sequence ends ( A steady communication sequence).

(Step S5) The camera control unit 170 performs a determination process for determining whether or not there is an interrupt request after the end of the steady communication sequence. If the camera system 1 determines in step S5 that there is no interrupt request (step S5; No), the camera system 1 returns to step S4 and performs the steady communication sequence again.
(Step S6) If the camera system 1 determines in step S5 that there is an interrupt request (step S5; Yes), it performs an interrupt process. The interrupt process is a series of processes included in the shooting sequence, for example. The camera system 1 performs the process of the steady communication sequence again after the interruption process is completed. That is, the camera system 1 does not perform the steady communication sequence process in the shooting sequence.

Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the procedure of the process in the steady communication sequence performed in step S4 (FIG. 9) will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure in a steady communication sequence in the accessory 600 according to the present embodiment.
The camera control unit 170 determines whether or not the accessory 600 has a GPS function based on the function type information included in the accessory initial state information received in step S104. When the accessory 600 has an extended function, the following steady communication sequence is performed.

(Step S201) The camera control unit 170 determines whether or not imaging is being performed. If it is determined that imaging is in progress (step S5201; Yes), the steady communication sequence ends. If it is determined that the imaging is not being performed (step S5201; No), the process proceeds to step S202.

(Step S202) The camera control unit 170 transmits a second GPS information transmission request command C5011 for requesting transmission of the second GPS information to the GPS control unit 660.
(Step S203) The GPS control unit 660 receives the second GPS information transmission request command C5011 from the camera control unit 170.
(Step S204) The GPS control unit 660 transmits the second GPS information to the camera control unit 170 in accordance with the second GPS information transmission request command C5011.
(Step S205) The camera control unit 170 receives the second GPS information from the GPS control unit 660.

(Step S <b> 206) The camera control unit 170 extracts “GPS data valid / invalid” data from the second GPS information. The camera control unit 170 extracts information indicating whether the second GPS information is valid or invalid from the “GPS data valid / invalid” data, and determines whether the second GPS information is valid based on the extraction result.
Next, the camera control unit 170 writes and updates information indicating whether the second GPS information is valid or invalid in the nonvolatile memory 160 or the buffer memory 165 based on the determination result.
When it determines with 2nd GPS information being effective (step S206; Yes), it progresses to step S207. When it determines with 2nd GPS information not being effective (step S206; No), it progresses to step S208.

(Step S207) When it determines with 2nd GPS information being effective (step S206; Yes), the camera control part 170 performs the GPS data update process in the camera 10. FIG. After the GPS data update process in the camera 10 is finished, the second steady communication sequence is finished.
(Step S208) When it is determined that the second GPS information is not valid (Step S206; No), the camera control unit 170 determines whether or not the invalid state of the second GPS information continues for 60 seconds or more. When it determines with the invalid state of 2nd GPS information continuing for 60 seconds or more (step S208; Yes), it progresses to step S209. If the invalid state of the second GPS information has not continued for 60 seconds or more, that is, if the second GPS information has been effectively changed within 60 seconds (step S208; No), the process proceeds to step S5207.
(Step S209) When it is determined that the invalid state of the second GPS information continues for 60 seconds or more (Step S208; Yes), the camera control unit 170 performs invalidation processing of the GPS data in the camera 10. After the invalidation processing of the GPS data in the camera 10 is finished, the steady communication sequence is finished.

Next, a process procedure for updating GPS data in the camera 10 in the steady communication sequence performed in step S4 (FIG. 9) will be described.
The camera control unit 170 rewrites and updates the data valid / invalid state data stored in the nonvolatile memory 160 based on the “GPS data valid / invalid” data. For example, when the second GPS information is invalid, the camera control unit 170 records “0” as the data valid / invalid state data. When the second GPS information is valid, the camera control unit 170 records “1” as data valid / invalid state data.
When the second GPS information is valid, the camera control unit 170 determines each data ("latitude" data, "longitude" data, "altitude" data, "UTC" data) described from the second GPS information with reference to FIG. , “Satellite signal” data, “positioning reliability” data, “traveling direction” data, “ground speed” data, “azimuth” data), and stored in the nonvolatile memory 160 based on the extracted data Rewrite and update each data.

Next, the invalidation process of the second GPS information performed in step S214 (FIG. 11) will be described.
When the camera control unit 170 determines that the invalid state of the second GPS information continues for 60 seconds or more, the camera control unit 170 does not write information based on the second GPS information to the image file in which the captured image data is stored. . Further, the display related to the position information displayed on the display unit 102 of the camera 10 is invalidated. The invalid display is, for example, “—” (Hai Phong).

[Description of First Data Transmission / Reception Processing]
Next, with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the operation when the accessory 600 and an external device such as a personal computer are connected via the data terminal 640 with a connection cable will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first data transmission / reception process for transmitting data from the personal computer to the GPS control unit 660. The connection cable is, for example, a USB cable. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first data transmission / reception process between the camera, the accessory, and the personal computer according to the present embodiment.
Further, when the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10, when an external device is connected with a connection cable via the data terminal 640, power is supplied to the accessory 600 from the camera 10. On the other hand, when the accessory 600 is removed from the camera 10 and an external device is connected to the data terminal 640 via a connection cable, the accessory 600 is supplied with power from the external device via the data terminal 640.

  When the accessory 600 is attached to the camera 10, when an external device is connected with a connection cable via the data terminal 640, power is supplied to the accessory 600 from the camera 10. On the other hand, when the accessory 600 is removed from the camera 10 and an external device is connected to the data terminal 640 via a connection cable, the accessory 600 is supplied with power from the external device via the data terminal 640.

(Step S301) The user connects the accessory 600 and a personal computer (not shown) via a data terminal 640 with a connection cable (not shown).
(Step S302) When a personal computer is connected, the GPS control unit 660 detects that the personal computer is connected based on, for example, a voltage change at the data terminal 640.

(Step S303) At time t0, the personal computer starts transmitting data to the accessory 600.
(Step S304) The GPS control unit 660 receives data from the personal computer and stores the received data in the buffer memory 663. The data transmitted from the personal computer to the GPS control unit 660 is, for example, assist data. The assist data is the orbit information of the positioning satellite necessary for acquiring the position information. By storing this data in the accessory 600, the time until the GPS module unit 650 acquires the position information is shortened. It is data that can be. In this case, the personal computer acquires the assist data in advance via a network (not shown). Further, the valid period of the assist data is about 30 days.
Note that if the data received from the personal computer is assist data, the GPS control unit 660 may store the received data in the storage unit 652a.

(Step S305) The personal computer determines whether data transmission to the GPS control unit 660 is completed. When it is determined that the data transmission is not completed (step S305; No), the process returns to step S303, and the personal computer continues the data transmission to the GPS control unit 660. When it is determined that the data transmission is completed (step S305; Yes), the personal computer completes the data communication process with the accessory 600.

(Step S306) At time t1, the camera control unit 170 transmits the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 to the GPS control unit 660.
(Step S307) The GPS control unit 660 receives the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 from the camera control unit 170.

(Step S308) The GPS control unit 660 determines whether or not the data reception from the personal computer is completed. If it is determined that the data reception has been completed (step S308; Yes), the process proceeds to step S310. If it is determined that the data reception has not been completed (step S308; No), the process returns to step S304, and the data reception from the personal computer is continued. If it is determined that the data reception has not been completed, the GPS control unit 660 does not respond to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 received in step S307. Do not send a response.

(Step S309) The camera control unit 170 determines whether or not there is a response to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 transmitted in step S306. When it is determined that there is a response to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 (step S309; Yes), the process proceeds to step S311. When it is determined that there is no response to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 (step S309; No), the process returns to step S306.
When there is no response to the transmission of the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 at time t1 (step S309; No), the camera control unit 170 performs, for example, a predetermined time interval at times t2 and t3 as retry processing. 2GPS data transmission request command C5011 is transmitted to GPS control unit 660 a predetermined number of times.
Next, at times t2 and t3, the GPS control unit 660 receives the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 from the camera control unit 170. However, since the data transmission / reception with the personal computer is not completed at the times t2 and t3, the GPS control unit 660 continues the data transmission / reception with the personal computer and does not respond to the camera control unit 170.

Next, at time t4, the camera control unit 170 retransmits the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 to the GPS control unit 660 as a retry process (step S306).
At time t4, the GPS control unit 660 receives the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 from the camera control unit 170. The GPS control unit 660 determines whether the data reception is completed (steps S307 and S308).

(Step S310) Since it is determined that the data reception has been completed, the GPS control unit 660 transmits the second GPS information to the camera control unit 170 during the period from time t4 to t5.
(Step S311) During the period from time t4 to t5, the camera control unit 170 receives the second GPS information from the GPS control unit 660.
After the data transmission / reception between the camera 10 and the accessory 600 is completed, the data communication process is completed.

  In the example described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, the example in which the personal computer starts data transmission to the GPS control unit 660 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when transmitting assist data from the personal computer to the GPS control unit 660, the personal computer first obtains assist data via the network. After acquiring the assist data, the personal computer starts transmitting the acquired assist data to the GPS control unit 660. In such a case, communication between the personal computer and the accessory 600 is continued, and the GPS control unit 660 transmits the second GPS data from the camera control unit 170 even when communication with the personal computer is continued. You may make it not respond with respect to request command C5011.

  11 and 12, the example in which data is transmitted from the personal computer to the accessory 600 has been described. However, data may be transmitted from the accessory 600 to the personal computer, or data may be transmitted and received between the personal computer and the accessory 600. Good.

[Description of Second Data Transmission / Reception Processing]
Next, with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, another operation when the accessory 600 and an external device such as a personal computer are connected via the data terminal 640 with a connection cable will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a second data transmission / reception process for transmitting data from the personal computer to the GPS control unit 660 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of second data transmission / reception processing between the camera, the accessory, and the personal computer according to the present embodiment.
13 and 14, the camera control unit 170 transmits the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 to the GPS control unit 660 at a predetermined cycle. The difference from the example described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12 is that the camera control unit 170 does not respond even if the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 is transmitted to the GPS control unit 660 a predetermined number of times. Then, it is determined that some abnormality has occurred in the accessory 600, and the GPS control unit 660 is turned off. For this reason, the GPS control unit 660 performs data transmission / reception with the personal computer within a period in which the number of times of receiving the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 (command reception number) from the camera control unit 170 is smaller than a predetermined number of times.

  Steps S401 to S404 are performed in the same manner as steps S301 to S304 described with reference to FIG. 11. The personal computer starts communication with the GPS control unit 660 from time t0, and the GPS control unit 660 receives data 1 (first data). Start sending.

(Step S405) The personal computer determines whether data transmission to the GPS control unit 660 is completed. When it is determined that the data transmission is not completed (step S405; No), the process proceeds to step S414. When it is determined that the data transmission is completed (step S405; Yes), the personal computer completes the data communication process with the accessory 600.

(Step S406) At time t101, the camera control unit 170 transmits a second GPS data transmission request command C5011 to the GPS control unit 660.
(Step S407) The GPS control unit 660 receives the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 from the camera control unit 170.

(Step S408) After receiving the second GPS data transmission request command C5011, the GPS control unit 660 determines whether or not the data reception from the personal computer is completed. When it is determined that the data reception is completed (step S408; Yes), the process proceeds to step S417. If it is determined that the data reception has not been completed (step S408; No), the process proceeds to step S409.

(Step S409) The GPS control unit 660 counts the number of command receptions. As shown in FIG. 14, the command reception count is one at time t101.
(Step S410) The GPS control unit 660 determines whether the number of command receptions is n or more. If it is determined that the number of command receptions is n or more (step S410; Yes), the process proceeds to step S413. If it is determined that the number of command receptions is not n or more (step S410; No), the process returns to step S404, and steps S404 to S410 are repeated.

(Step S411) The camera control unit 170 determines whether or not there is a response to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 transmitted in step S406. When it is determined that there is a response to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 (step S411; Yes), the process proceeds to step S418. If it is determined that there is no response to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 (step S411; No), the process proceeds to step S412.

(Step S412) The camera control unit 170 determines whether or not the number of transmissions (command transmission times) of the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 to the GPS control unit 170 is greater than n times. If it is determined that the number of command transmissions is not greater than n (step S412; No), the process returns to step S406, and the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 is continuously transmitted to the GPS control unit 660 at a predetermined period (time). t102 and t103).
If it is determined that the number of command transmissions is greater than n (step S412; Yes), the process proceeds to step S421.

(Step S413) If it is determined that the number of command receptions is n or more, for example, at time t103 in FIG. 14, the GPS control unit 660 transmits a data transmission pause request command to the personal computer.
(Step S414) The personal computer determines whether or not a data transmission suspension request command from the GPS control unit 660 has been transmitted. When it is determined that the data transmission pause request command has been transmitted (step S414; Yes), the personal computer receives the data transmission pause request command from the GPS control unit 660, and proceeds to step S415. When it is determined that the data transmission pause request command has not been transmitted (step S414; No), the process returns to step S403, and communication with the GPS control unit 660 is continued.
(Step S415) The personal computer temporarily stops transmission of data 1 to the GPS control unit 660 in accordance with the received data transmission pause request command.

(Step S416) After transmitting the data transmission pause request command, the GPS control unit 660 transmits the second GPS information (second data) to the camera control unit 170 during the period from time t103 to t104.
(Step S417) During the period from time t103 to t104, the camera control unit 170 receives the second GPS information from the GPS control unit 660.
After the data transmission / reception between the camera 10 and the accessory 600 is completed, the data communication process is completed.

(Step S418) At time t104, after transmitting the second GPS information to the camera control unit 170, the GPS control unit 660 transmits a data transmission resumption request command to the personal computer.
(Step S419) The personal computer receives the data transmission resumption request command from the GPS control unit 660. The personal computer returns to step S403 in accordance with the received data transmission resumption request command, and resumes transmission of the remaining data 2 to the GPS control unit 660.
In the example illustrated in FIG. 14, the personal computer transmits data 2 to the GPS control unit 660 during a period from time 105 to t106. Therefore, the GPS control unit 660 does not respond to the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 received from the camera control unit 170 at time t105, and continues data transmission / reception with the personal computer.

(Step S420) If it is determined in step S412 that the number of command transmissions is greater than n, the camera control unit 170 determines that some abnormality has occurred in the accessory 600 and performs a power-off process on the GPS control unit 660. Do.

13 and 14, the example in which data is transmitted from the personal computer to the accessory 600 has been described. However, data may be transmitted from the accessory 600 to the personal computer, or data may be transmitted and received between the personal computer and the accessory 600. Good. Also in this case, when the GPS control unit 660 receives the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 from the camera control unit 170, the GPS control unit 660 performs data transmission / reception with the personal computer within the predetermined number of command receptions, and after data transmission / reception, 2GPS information is transmitted to the camera control unit 170.
Although the second GPS data transmission request command C5011 has been described as an example of a command to be transmitted from the camera control unit 170 to the GPS control unit 660, the present invention is not limited to this, and other commands may be used. Even when another command is received, the GPS control unit 660 performs data transmission / reception with the personal computer within a predetermined number of command receptions, and sends a response according to the command to the camera control unit 170 after the data transmission / reception. You may make it transmit. The predetermined number of command receptions may be different for each command or the same number.

As described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14, the accessory 600 includes the data terminal 640. When the connection cable is connected to the data terminal 640 of the accessory 600 and the accessory 600 is communicating with the personal computer, the personal computer can transmit or write assist data to the accessory 600.
Further, when the connection cable is connected to the data terminal 640 and communication with the personal computer is performed, the accessory 600 does not respond to the command transmitted from the camera 10 and does not transmit the second GPS information. Therefore, data can be quickly transmitted and received between the personal computer and the accessory 600.
As a result, the GPS control unit 660 can receive the received data from the positioning satellite using the assist data, so that it is possible to shorten the time required for positioning after the sleep release or after the power supply is started. Moreover, since the time required for positioning can be shortened, the power consumption of the accessory 600 can be reduced. Also, depending on the assist data acquired from the network, the effective period of the satellite orbit data can be about 7 days at the maximum, so that the interval for acquiring and updating the navigation message from the positioning satellite can be extended.

Furthermore, as described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, when the command transmitted from the camera control unit 170 is retransmitted to the accessory 600 a predetermined number of times, the GPS control unit 660 Data transmission / reception with a personal computer is performed within a period in which commands less than a predetermined number of times are retransmitted.
In addition, the GPS control unit 660 performs data transmission / reception with the personal computer during the command transmission retry processing period of the camera control unit 170, and does not respond to a command from the camera control unit 170 during the data transmission / reception. If the data transmission / reception with the personal computer is not completed within the command transmission retry processing period of the camera control unit 170, the GPS control unit 660 once transmits a command for stopping the data transmission / reception with the personal computer to the personal computer. 2GPS information is transmitted to the camera control unit 170.
As a result, the GPS control unit 660 can perform data transmission / reception with the personal computer within the retry processing period of the command from the camera control unit 170.

Next, another usage example of data transmitted and received between the GPS control unit 660 and the personal computer described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14 will be described.
The personal computer receives positioning data from the GPS control unit 660. After receiving the positioning data, the personal computer acquires map image data based on the positioning data, for example, via a network, and transmits the acquired map image data to the GPS control unit 660.
The GPS control unit 660 receives map image data from the personal computer, and displays the received map image data on the display unit of the accessory 600 (not shown) together with the stored positioning data. Alternatively, the GPS control unit 660 adds the map image data received from the personal computer to the second GPS information and transmits it to the camera control unit 170. The camera control unit 170 generates image data based on the received second GPS information and map image data, and causes the display unit 102 to display the generated image data. The image data generated by the camera control unit 170 is, for example, obtained by combining positioning data based on the second GPS information as character information on a map image.
As described above, the convenience of the camera system 1 can be further improved by using data transmitted and received between the accessory 600 and the personal computer.

  In the example described with reference to FIG. 11 to FIG. 14, the capacity of data transmitted and received between the personal computer and the GPS control unit 660 is, for example, transmitted for each predetermined capacity. That is, for example, if the capacity of data to be transmitted to the GPS control unit 660 is larger than a predetermined capacity, the personal computer divides the transmission data into a predetermined capacity and transmits the data to the GPS control unit 660. Also good.

  In addition, the GPS control unit 660 controls the GPS module unit 650 to stop positioning during a period in which data transmission / reception is performed between the personal computer and the accessory 600 illustrated in FIGS. 11 to 14. Also good.

  The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. At least one of the requirements described in the above embodiments may be omitted. The requirements described in the above embodiments can be combined as appropriate.

  The camera body 100 and the accessory 600 described above have a computer system inside. The operation process of each functional unit is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the above processing is performed by the computer system reading and executing the program. Here, the computer system includes a CPU, various memories, an OS, and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, it also includes those that hold a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system serving as a server or client in that case. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera system, 10 ... Camera, 15 ... Shoe seat (accessory shoe), 25 ... Terminal part, 160 ... Nonvolatile memory, 165 ... Buffer memory, Tp1 ... Ground terminal, Tp2 ... ground terminal, Tp3 ... reference potential terminal, Tp4 ... synchronization signal terminal, Tp5 ... reference potential terminal, Tp6 ... communication signal terminal, Tp7 ... start detection level terminal , Tp8 ... light emission control signal terminal, Tp9 ... communication control signal terminal, Tp10 ... open terminal, Tp11 ... power supply terminal, Tp12 ... power supply terminal, Ts1 ... ground terminal, Ts2 ... Ground terminal, Ts3: reference potential terminal, Ts4: synchronization signal terminal, Ts5: reference potential terminal, Ts6: communication signal terminal, Ts7: start state providing terminal, Ts8,. Light emission control signal terminal, Ts9 ... communication control signal terminal, Ts10 ... open terminal, Ts11 ... power supply terminal, Ts12 ... power supply terminal, CLK ... synchronization signal, DET ... start detection level, DATA: Communication signal, PWR: Power, PGND: Reference potential, SGND: Reference potential,
34 ... Timekeeping unit, 600 ... Accessory, 623 ... Terminal unit (second information communication unit), 630 ... Operating unit, 635 ... LED, 640 ... Data terminal (first information) Communication unit), 650... GPS module unit (positioning unit), 660... GPS control unit (accessory control unit), 663... Buffer memory (first storage unit, second storage unit), 664. -Charging part, 665 ... secondary battery, 651 ... antenna, 652 ... GPS calculation part, 652a ... storage part, 653 ... RTC

Claims (11)

A first information communication unit capable of information communication with an external device;
A second information communication unit capable of information communication with the camera;
A control unit;
With
The controller is
Count the number of times of reception of predetermined data received from the camera, and if the number of times of reception of the counted data is less than the predetermined number of times, than the transmission of the predetermined data to the camera Prioritize data transmission or reception with the external device
A Kusesari. The controller is
After data transmission or reception with the external device is completed, predetermined data is transmitted to the camera.
Accessories described in 請 Motomeko 1. The controller is
When the counted number of times of receiving the data is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the predetermined data from the camera is transmitted or received .
請 Motomeko 1 or accessory according to claim 2. The controller is
When the number of times the counted data is received is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, a request to temporarily stop communication with the external device is transmitted to the external device.
Accessories as set forth 請 Motomeko 1 to any one of claims 3. The size of the first data to be transmitted or received with the external device is:
It is the magnitude | size which can be transmitted / received within the communication period performed between the said 2nd information communication part and the said camera.
Accessories as set forth 請 Motomeko 1 to any one of claims 4. A first storage unit storing second data;
The predetermined data received from the camera is
A transmission request for causing the camera to transmit the second data stored in the first storage unit
Accessories as set forth 請 Motomeko 1 to any one of claims 5. A positioning unit that performs positioning,
With
The controller is
Storing the information received from the external device in the second storage unit;
When the stored information is data related to positioning, control is performed to cause the positioning unit to perform positioning based on the information stored in the second storage unit.
Accessories as set forth 請 Motomeko 1 to any one of claims 6. The controller is
When communication is performed between the first information communication unit and the external device, positioning by the positioning unit is prohibited.
Accessories described in 請 Motomeko 7. Electric power is supplied from the camera via the second information communication unit.
Accessories as set forth 請 Motomeko 1 to any one of claims 8. Power is supplied from the external device via the first information communication unit.
Accessories as set forth 請 Motomeko 1 to any one of claims 9. A program for causing a computer to control an accessory having a first information communication unit capable of information communication with an external device, a control unit, and a second information communication unit capable of information communication with a camera,
Count the number of times of reception of predetermined data received from the camera, and if the number of times of reception of the counted data is less than the predetermined number of times, than the transmission of the predetermined data to the camera An accessory control program for causing a computer to execute a procedure for transmitting or receiving data to or from the external device.

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