JP7147221B2 - Application programs for communication equipment and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Description

This specification discloses a technology related to a communication device that establishes a wireless connection with an external device and a terminal device that establishes a wireless connection with the communication device.

With the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200310, there is an upper limit to the number of wireless connections (that is, the number of connections) that can be established simultaneously by the printer. When the printer receives an NFC request from a specific terminal via the NFC I/F when the number of connections reaches the upper limit, the printer stores the MAC address of the specific terminal included in the NFC request in the memory. Then, the printer sends an Invitation Request including the MAC address in memory to the specific terminal after the wireless connection with the certain terminal is disconnected. This establishes a wireless connection between the specific terminal and the printer.

JP 2015-70457 A

In the above technology, the printer transmits an Invitation Request, which is a signal indicating that it is possible to establish a wireless connection with the printer, to a specific terminal after the wireless connection with the certain terminal is disconnected. However, no assumption is made that there may be printers that are unable to send this type of signal, and that there may be terminals that receive this type of signal but are unable to interpret it.

In this specification, a wireless connection is appropriately established between the communication device and the terminal device even if a signal indicating that the wireless connection can be established (for example, the above Invitation Request) is not transmitted from the communication device to the terminal device. Provide technology that can be established.

A communication device disclosed by the present specification includes a first wireless interface, a second wireless interface different from the first wireless interface, and a control unit, wherein the first wireless interface comprises the M wireless connections are established between a communication device and M external devices (where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1) via the second wireless interface, and the communication device is currently establishing When establishing a first communication link with a first terminal device in a situation where the number M of wireless connections connected has reached the upper limit, the first prediction is performed using the first communication link transmitting time information to the first terminal device, wherein the first predicted time information is a first wireless connection between the communication device and the first terminal device via the second wireless interface; the control unit indicates a first prediction time that is a prediction time until a state in which the wireless connection can be established is reached, and the control unit determines that the target wireless connection out of the M wireless connections is disconnected, and the first prediction between the communication device and the first terminal device when a first connection request transmitted from the first terminal device at timing based on time information is received via the second wireless interface; a first establishing unit that establishes the first wireless connection via the second wireless interface.

According to such a configuration, the communication device establishes the first communication link with the first terminal device when the number M of wireless connections currently established by the communication device has reached the upper limit. In this case, the first communication link is used to transmit the first predicted time information to the first terminal device. As a result, the first terminal device can know the predicted time until the first wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the first terminal device, and the first predicted time information The connection request can be transmitted to the communication device at the timing based on. To this end, the communication device can establish a first wireless connection when the target wireless connection is disconnected and a first connection request is received from the first terminal device. That is, the communication device does not need to transmit a signal indicating that the wireless connection can be established to the first terminal device after the target wireless connection is disconnected. Therefore, a wireless connection can be properly established between the communication device and the first terminal device even if this type of signal is not sent from the communication device to the terminal device.

This specification discloses an application program for a terminal device. The terminal device includes a first wireless interface, a second wireless interface different from the first wireless interface, a computer, and an OS (Operating System) program executed by the computer. The application program instructs the computer that M wireless connections have been established between a communication device and M (said M is an integer equal to or greater than 1) external devices, and that said communication device is currently established. A receiving unit configured to receive predicted time information from the communication device via the first wireless interface in a situation where the number M of wireless connections has reached an upper limit, wherein the predicted time information is the communication a connection request at a timing based on the reception unit, which indicates an estimated time until a wireless connection can be established between the device and the terminal device via the second wireless interface, and the estimated time information; and a supply unit that supplies the OS program with a transmission instruction for instructing the transmission of the . The OS program transmits the connection request to the communication device via the second wireless interface in response to obtaining the transmission instruction, and selects a target wireless connection among the M wireless connections. is disconnected and the connection request is received by the communication device, establishing a wireless connection between the communication device and the terminal device via the second wireless interface.

According to such a configuration, the terminal device can know the estimated time until a wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the terminal device, and can issue a transmission instruction at the timing based on the estimated time information. can be supplied to the OS program. The OS program can transmit the connection request to the communication device via the second wireless interface in response to obtaining the transmission instruction. Thereby, a wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the terminal device. That is, the terminal device does not need to receive a signal indicating that the wireless connection can be established from the communication device after the target wireless connection is disconnected in the communication device. Therefore, even if this type of signal is not sent from the communication device to the terminal device, a wireless connection can be properly established between the communication device and the terminal device.

The method performed by the above communication device, the computer program for implementing the above communication device, and the computer readable recording medium storing the computer program are also novel and useful. Also novel and useful is a computer-readable storage medium that stores the above application program. Also, the terminals themselves and the methods performed by the terminals are novel and useful.

1 shows the configuration of a communication system; 4 shows a flowchart of prediction processing. FIG. 4 shows a sequence diagram in case A where a manual type wireless connection is currently established. Fig. 3 shows a sequence diagram in case B where an NFC type wireless connection is currently established; FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram for case C in which a wireless connection with another printer is established during the waiting time; FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of prediction processing in the second embodiment. FIG. FIG. 11 shows a sequence diagram in case D of transmitting standby times to two mobile terminals;

(First embodiment)
(Configuration of communication system 2; Fig. 1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 2 includes a printer 10 and a plurality of mobile terminals 100-400. The printer 10 and mobile terminals 100 to 400 can perform wireless communication (that is, a kind of so-called short-range wireless communication) according to the NFC (Near Field Communication) method and wireless communication according to the Wi-Fi method. is.

(Configuration of printer 10)
The printer 10 is a peripheral device (for example, a peripheral device of the mobile terminal 100) capable of executing a print function. The printer 10 has an NFC interface 14 , a Wi-Fi interface 16 and a controller 20 . In addition, below, an interface may be described as "I/F."

The Wi-Fi I/F 16 is an I/F for executing wireless communication according to the Wi-Fi system. The Wi-Fi system is, for example, IEEE (abbreviation of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) 802.11 standard and its equivalent standards (eg, 802.11a, 11b, 11g, 11n, etc.) , is a wireless communication scheme for performing wireless communication. The Wi-Fi I/F 16 particularly supports the WFD (abbreviation for Wi-Fi Direct (registered trademark)) system established by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The WFD system is a wireless communication system described in the standard "Wi-Fi Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Technical Specification Version 1.1" created by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The printer 10 can operate in any one of a WFD system G/O (abbreviation for Group Owner) state, CL (abbreviation for Client) state, and device state. The printer 10 operates as a WFD G/O, establishes a wireless connection (hereinafter referred to as “Wi-Fi connection”) with an external device (for example, the mobile terminal 100), and connects the printer 10 and the external device. It is possible to form a Wi-Fi network to which the device belongs. In this case, the printer 10 can allow the external device to participate in the Wi-Fi network as a slave station. Note that in a modification, the printer 10 may operate as a Soft AP and form a network to which the printer 10 and the external device belong.

The printer 10 can establish wireless connections with up to two external devices to form a Wi-Fi network to which the printer 10 and the two external devices belong. In other words, the total number of Wi-Fi connections that can be established simultaneously by the printer 10, that is, the maximum number of wireless connections that the printer 10 can establish is "2". The upper limit is predetermined by the vendor.

The NFC I/F 14 is a wireless I/F for performing wireless communication according to the NFC system. The NFC system is a wireless communication system based on international standards such as ISO/IEC21481 or 18092, for example. NFCI/F 14 is an NFC forum tag that functions as an IC (abbreviation for Integrated Circuit) tag according to the NFC system. When receiving a polling signal from an external device (for example, mobile terminal 100), the NFCI/F 14 transmits a response signal to the polling signal to the external device and establishes an NFC link with the external device.

The NFCI/F 14 stores connection information CIx and waiting time. The connection information CIx is information for allowing an external device to participate in the Wi-Fi network in which the printer 10 operates as a master station, and includes an SSID (abbreviation of Service Set Identifier) for identifying the Wi-Fi network, a password, and the like. ,including. The connection information CIx is generated by the printer 10 and stored in the NFCI/F 14 when the printer 10 transitions to the G/O (abbreviation for Group Owner) state. Also, the connection information CIx includes the upper limit time for Wi-Fi connection, unlike the connection information CIy described later. The upper limit time is the upper limit of the time from when the Wi-Fi connection is established until it is disconnected. The upper limit time is predetermined by the printer 10 vendor. That is, the Wi-Fi connection established using the connection information CIx is disconnected when the elapsed time from the establishment of the Wi-Fi connection reaches the upper limit time. Note that if the elapsed time reaches the upper limit while the printer 10 is executing print data communication using the Wi-Fi connection, the Wi-Fi connection is not disconnected and the print data communication is performed. , the Wi-Fi connection is disconnected. The Wi-Fi connection established using the connection information CIx is hereinafter referred to as "NFC type Wi-Fi connection".

The standby time is set to a time when a new Wi-Fi connection with a new external device (for example, mobile terminal 300) can be established in a situation where the number of Wi-Fi connections currently established by the printer 10 has reached the upper limit of "2". It shows the estimated time until a new Wi-Fi connection can be established if it should be established. The standby time is periodically predicted by a prediction process (see FIG. 2), which will be described later, and stored in the NFCI/F 14 .

Here, the differences between Wi-Fi I/F and NFCI/F will be explained. The communication speed of wireless communication via Wi-Fi I/F (for example, the maximum communication speed is 11 to 600 Mbps) is faster than the communication speed of wireless communication via NFCI/F (for example, the maximum communication speed is 100 to 424 Kbps). fast. In addition, the frequency used for wireless communication via Wi-Fi I / F (eg 2.4 GHz band or 5.0 GHz band) is the frequency used for wireless communication via NFCI / F (eg 13.56 MHz band ). Further, the maximum distance at which wireless communication can be performed via Wi-Fi I/F (for example, a maximum of about 100 m) is the maximum distance at which wireless communication can be performed via NFCI/F (for example, a maximum of about 10 cm). bigger than

The control unit 20 has a CPU 22 and a memory 24 . The CPU 22 executes various processes according to programs 26 stored in the memory 24 . The memory 24 is composed of a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, or the like. The memory 24 stores a program 26, a management table 30, and connection information CIy.

The connection information CIy is the same as the connection information CIx except that it does not include the upper limit time, and includes the SSID and password. For example, the user manually inputs the connection information CIy displayed on the printer 10 into an external device (for example, the mobile terminal 100). In this case, various communications using the connection information CIy are executed between the printer 10 and the external device, and a Wi-Fi connection is established between the printer 10 and the external device. Since the connection information CIy does not include the upper limit time, the Wi-Fi connection established using the connection information CIy is not disconnected at a predetermined timing. A Wi-Fi connection established using the connection information CIy is hereinafter referred to as a “manual type Wi-Fi connection”.

As described above, the NFC type Wi-Fi connection has an upper limit time limit, and the manual type Wi-Fi connection does not have an upper limit time limit. The NFC type Wi-Fi connection is established after the user performs various input operations (selection of images to be printed and input of print settings (for example, paper size, etc.)) for execution of printing on the mobile terminal. It is established with the establishment of the NFC link with the terminal as a trigger. That is, the NFC type Wi-Fi connection is temporarily used for the purpose of causing the printer 10 to execute printing triggered by the establishment of the NFC link. For this reason, an upper limit time is determined for NFC type Wi-Fi connection. On the other hand, a manual type Wi-Fi connection is established triggered by manually inputting the connection information CIy to the external device. That is, the manual type Wi-Fi connection is not used for printing triggered by the establishment of an NFC link, but for printing triggered by, for example, a user inputting a print execution instruction to a mobile terminal. is always used for the purpose of causing the printer 10 to execute For this reason, there is no upper limit time for manual type Wi-Fi connections.

The management table 30 is a table for managing the Wi-Fi connections currently established by the printer 10 . The management table 30 stores Wi-Fi information corresponding to each of one or more Wi-Fi connections currently established by the printer 10 . The Wi-Fi information includes the MAC address of the external device (that is, slave station) to which the Wi-Fi connection is to be established, type information indicating the type of Wi-Fi connection, and the elapsed time since the Wi-Fi connection was established. and state information indicating the state of communication using Wi-Fi connection are stored in association with each other. Since the maximum number of Wi-Fi connections that can be established by the printer 10 is 2, the management table 30 stores a maximum of 2 pieces of Wi-Fi information (that is, the maximum number is "2").

The type information indicates one of NFC type and manual type. When establishing a Wi-Fi connection due to the execution of NFC communication, the control unit 20 stores the NFC type in the management table 30 as type information corresponding to the Wi-Fi connection. Further, when establishing a Wi-Fi connection without executing NFC communication, the control unit 20 stores the manual type in the management table 30 as type information corresponding to the Wi-Fi connection.

The status information includes "communicating" indicating that wireless communication of print data is currently being performed using Wi-Fi connection, and "communicating" indicating that wireless communication of print data is currently being performed using Wi-Fi connection. "Not in communication" indicating that there is no communication. The print data is generated by the mobile terminal when the user selects an image to be printed and inputs print settings to the mobile terminal (for example, the mobile terminal 100). When the wireless communication of the print data using the Wi-Fi connection is started, the control unit 20 stores "communicating" in the management table 30 as the status information corresponding to the Wi-Fi connection. Further, when the wireless communication of the print data using the Wi-Fi connection ends, the control unit 20 stores "non-communicating" in the management table 30 as the status information corresponding to the Wi-Fi connection.

(mobile terminals 100 to 400)
The mobile terminals 100 to 400 are, for example, portable terminals such as mobile phones, smart phones, and tablet PCs. Mobile terminals 100 to 400 are assigned MAC addresses MA1 to MA4, respectively. Mobile terminals 100 to 400 have similar configurations. The mobile terminal 300 will be described below.

Mobile terminal 300 includes display unit 312 , NFCI/F 314 , Wi-Fi I/F 316 , and control unit 320 . Each unit 312 to 320 is connected to a bus line (reference numerals omitted).

The display unit 312 is a display for displaying various information. The display unit 312 functions as a so-called touch panel. That is, the display unit 312 also functions as an operation unit operated by the user.

NFCI/F 314 is similar to NFCI/F 14 of printer 10, except that it is an NFC Forum Device rather than an NFC Forum Tag. NFC Forum devices can selectively operate in any of P2P (abbreviation for Peer to Peer) mode, R/W (abbreviation for Reader/Writer) mode, and CE (abbreviation for Card Emulation) mode. I/F. NFCI/F 314 is operable at least in R/W mode. The NFCI/F 314 can read data from the NFCI/F 14 of the printer 10 , that is, receive data from the NFCI/F 14 when operating in Reader mode. The NFCI/F 314 can also write data to the NFCI/F 14 , that is, transmit data to the NFCI/F 14 when operating in Writer mode.

The Wi-Fi I/F 316 is similar to the Wi-Fi I/F 16 of the printer 10 except that it does not support the WFD method. The Wi-Fi I/F 316 can establish a wireless connection with the Wi-Fi I/F 16 of the printer 10 and participate as a slave station (so-called legacy) in the Wi-Fi network in which the printer 10 operates as a master station.

Control unit 320 includes CPU 322 and memory 324 . CPU 322 executes various processes according to programs 326 and 328 stored in memory 324 . The memory 324 is composed of a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, or the like. The memory 324 stores an OS program (abbreviation of Operating System) 326 for realizing basic processing, and a print application program (hereinafter referred to as “print application”) 328 .

The print application 328 is a program provided by the vendor of the printer 10 and is a program for sending print data representing an image to be printed to the printer 10 . The print application 328 may be installed in the mobile terminal 300 from a server (not shown) on the Internet provided by the vendor, or may be installed in the mobile terminal 300 from media shipped together with the printer 10 .

(Prediction processing; Fig. 2)
A prediction process for predicting the waiting time will be described with reference to FIG. The processing of FIG. 2 is started when the operating state of the printer 10 is shifted to the G/O state. The processing in FIG. 2 is periodically executed at predetermined intervals (for example, 1 second).

In S10, the CPU 22 determines whether or not the number of Wi-Fi connections currently established by the printer 10 (hereinafter referred to as "number of connections") has reached the upper limit of "2". Specifically, when information about two Wi-Fi connections is stored in the management table 30, the CPU 22 determines that the number of connections has reached the upper limit number "2" (YES in S10). , to S14. On the other hand, when information about two Wi-Fi connections is not stored in the management table 30, the CPU 22 determines that the number of connections has not reached the upper limit of "2" (NO in S10), and proceeds to S40. move on.

In S40, the CPU 22 predicts a standby time of "0 seconds". Then, in S<b>50 , the CPU 22 writes the predicted standby time to the NFCI/F 14 . When S50 ends, the process returns to S10.

Further, when the CPU 22 determines that the number of connections has reached the upper limit number of "2" (YES in S10), in S14, the CPU 22 determines whether type information indicating the manual type is stored in the management table 30. to decide. When the type information indicating the manual type is stored in the management table 30 (YES in S14), the CPU 22 proceeds to S20.

In S20, the CPU 22 selects the Wi-Fi connection to be disconnected first (hereinafter referred to as "target connection") from the two Wi-Fi connections currently established by the printer 10. FIG. Specifically, when the management table 30 stores Wi-Fi information including type information indicating the manual type and Wi-Fi information including type information indicating the NFC type, the CPU 22 performs the former By selecting the Wi-Fi information, the Wi-Fi connection corresponding to the Wi-Fi information is selected as the target connection. Further, when two pieces of Wi-Fi information including type information indicating the manual type are stored in the management table 30, the CPU 22 selects the Wi-Fi information including the longest elapsed time to Select the Wi-Fi connection corresponding to the Wi-Fi information as the target connection.

In S22, the CPU 22 determines whether or not the status information included in the selected Wi-Fi information indicates that communication is in progress. When the status information indicates that communication is in progress (YES in S22), the CPU 22 proceeds to S24.

In S24, the CPU 22 predicts the total time of the predicted end time (eg, "60 seconds") and the processing time (eg, "10 seconds") as the standby time (eg, "70 seconds"). Here, the estimated termination time indicates the estimated time at which the wireless communication using the target connection will be terminated. The processing time indicates the maximum time from start to completion of processing for disconnecting the target connection. The expected end time and processing time are predetermined by the printer 10 vendor. As a result, the printer 10 can predict an appropriate waiting time considering that wireless communication using the target connection is being performed.

Further, when the state information included in the selected Wi-Fi information indicates non-communication (NO in S22), the CPU 22 changes the processing time (for example, "10 seconds") to the waiting time (for example, "10 seconds") in S26. seconds”). As a result, the printer 10 can predict an appropriate waiting time considering that wireless communication using the target connection is not being performed.

Further, when the type information indicating the manual type is not stored in the management table 30 (NO in S14), the CPU 22 stores two pieces of Wi-Fi information including the type information indicating the NFC type in the management table 30. If it is stored, proceed to S30.

S30 is similar to S20, except that the target connection is selected from among the two NFC-type Wi-Fi connections that the printer 10 is currently establishing. That is, by selecting the Wi-Fi information including the longest elapsed time, the CPU 22 selects the Wi-Fi connection corresponding to the Wi-Fi information as the target connection. S32 is the same as S22.

If the state information included in the selected Wi-Fi information indicates that communication is in progress (YES in S32), the CPU 22 determines in S34 the differential time, the predicted end time (eg, "60 seconds"), and the processing time (eg, " 10 seconds”) is estimated as the waiting time. The differential time is a time obtained by subtracting the elapsed time included in the selected Wi-Fi information from the upper limit time (eg, "120 seconds"). Assuming that the total time of the difference time and the processing time is estimated as the waiting time, the Wi-Fi connection is interrupted due to the print data communication using the Wi-Fi connection being executed after the upper limit time elapses. Due to the non-disconnection, a situation may arise in which the Wi-Fi connection cannot be established after the waiting time has elapsed. On the other hand, if the total time of the difference time, the predicted end time, and the processing time is predicted as the waiting time, it is possible to prevent the above situation from occurring, and it is possible to predict the appropriate waiting time. .

Further, when the state information included in the selected Wi-Fi information indicates non-communication (NO in S32), the CPU 22, in S36, as the waiting time.

When any one of S24, S26, S34 and S36 ends, the CPU 22 writes the expected standby time to the NFCI/F 14 in S50.

As described above, when the printer 10 has established a manual type Wi-Fi connection and an NFC type Wi-Fi connection, the printer 10 preferentially selects the manual type Wi-Fi connection as the target connection. (YES in S14). Here, when the NFC type Wi-Fi connection slave station should re-establish the Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10 after the Wi-Fi connection is disconnected, the connection information CIx must be received again from printer 10 . On the other hand, a slave station with a manual type Wi-Fi connection can re-establish a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10 using the already input connection information CIy after the Wi-Fi connection is disconnected. . That is, by preferentially selecting a manual type Wi-Fi connection that can be easily re-established as the target connection, even if the target connection is forcibly disconnected, the user's convenience is prevented from being impaired. be able to.

Also, as described above, by selecting the Wi-Fi information including the longest elapsed time, the printer 10 selects the Wi-Fi connection corresponding to the Wi-Fi information as the target connection (S20). If the elapsed time is short, there is a high probability that wireless communication of print data using Wi-Fi connection will be executed soon. On the other hand, if the elapsed time is long, there is a low probability that wireless communication of print data using Wi-Fi connection will be executed in the future. Namely
By selecting the Wi-Fi information including the longest elapsed time, a Wi-Fi connection with a low probability of being used from now on can be selected as the target connection.

(Specific cases; Figures 3, 4, and 5)
A specific case realized by the process of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. FIG. In case A of FIG. 3, the printer 10 has established Wi-Fi connections with the mobile terminals 100 and 200, respectively. Each of the two Wi-Fi connections is a manual type Wi-Fi connection. In the following, from the viewpoint of ease of understanding, the processing executed by the CPU 322 of the mobile terminal 300 in accordance with the programs 326 and 328 will not be described with the CPU 322 as the main subject. I will explain as a main subject. Similarly, the processing executed by the CPU 22 of the printer 10 according to the program 26 will be described mainly with respect to the printer 10, without focusing on the CPU 22. FIG.

At T10, the user performs an operation on the portable terminal 300 to activate the print application 328, and as a result, the print application 328 is activated. At T12, the user moves the mobile terminal 300 closer to the printer 10, and the distance between the NFCI/F 314 and the NFCI/F 14 of the printer 10 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance (for example, 10 cm). 10 is established.

On the other hand, the printer 10 executes the prediction process of FIG. 2 at T14 immediately before the NFC link is established at T12. At timing T14, the elapsed time of the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 is "600 seconds", and the elapsed time of the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 200 is "100 seconds". Further, the printer 10 is currently performing wireless communication of print data with the mobile terminal 100 using the Wi-Fi connection, and is not performing wireless communication of print data with the mobile terminal 200 using the Wi-Fi connection. .

At T14, the number of connections of the printer 10 has reached the upper limit "2" (YES at S10 in FIG. 2), and type information indicating the manual type is stored in the management table 30 (at S14 YES), the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 with the longest elapsed time is selected as the target connection (S20). Since the status information corresponding to the target connection indicates that communication is in progress (YES in S22), the printer 10 predicts the total time "70 seconds" of the estimated end time "60 seconds" and the processing time "10 seconds" as the standby time. (S24). Then, the printer 10 writes the standby time "70 seconds" to the NFCI/F 14 (S50).

At T16, the NFC I/F 14 of the printer 10 uses the NFC link established at T12 to transmit the connection information CIx in the NFC I/F 14 and the waiting time "70 seconds" to the mobile terminal 300. FIG.

At T16, the mobile terminal 300 receives the connection information CIx and the waiting time "70 seconds" from the printer 10 using the NFC link via the NFC I/F 114. At T20, the mobile terminal 300 displays the waiting screen SC on the display unit 312. indicate. The standby screen SC includes a message describing the standby time "70 seconds". This allows the user to know that the Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10 can be established after 70 seconds.

Further, at T22, 70 seconds after receiving the standby time of "70 seconds", the mobile terminal 300 uses the received connection information CIx via the Wi-Fi I/F 316 to establish the Wi-Fi connection. A connection request requesting establishment is sent to the printer 10 . Specifically, the print application 328 supplies the OS program 326 with a transmission instruction that instructs transmission of the connection request. The transmission instruction includes connection information CIx. As a result, the OS program 326 uses the connection information CIx to send a connection request including the MAC address MA3 to the printer 10 via the Wi-Fi I/F 316 .

Although details will be described later, the Wi-Fi connection (that is, the target connection) between the mobile terminal 100 and the printer 10 is disconnected between T16 and T22. Accordingly, in response to receiving the connection request, the printer 10 communicates various signals (for example, an Authentication signal, an Association signal, a 4-way handshake, etc.) for establishing a Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300. It becomes possible.

When the OS program 326 sends the connection request to the printer 10 at T22, it communicates with the printer 10 the various signals described above. In the process of communicating the various signals described above, the password in the connection information CIx is sent to the printer 10, and authentication of the password is performed by the printer 10. FIG. As a result, the OS program 326 establishes a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10 via the Wi-Fi I/F 316 at T40.

The printer 10 stops the prediction process of FIG. 2 at T30 while the mobile terminal 300 is waiting for transmission of a connection request from T16 to T22. In this case, the waiting time in the NFCI/F 14 is deleted and error information is written instead of the waiting time. The error information indicates that a Wi-Fi connection cannot be established. For example, when the NFC link is established with another mobile terminal 400 after T16, error information is transmitted from the printer 10 to the other mobile terminal 400 . As a result, the other mobile terminal 400 displays a message indicating that the Wi-Fi connection cannot be established, and does not send a connection request to the printer 10 .

When the wireless communication using the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 ends, the printer 10 uses the MAC address MA1 included in the Wi-Fi information corresponding to the target connection in T32 to transmit a disconnection signal to the mobile terminal 100. Send to 100. As a result, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 is disconnected. At T34, the printer 10 deletes from the management table 30 the Wi-Fi information corresponding to the disconnected target connection.

After T34, the printer 10 receives a connection request from the mobile terminal 300 via the Wi-Fi I/F 16 at T22. At T40, the printer 10 communicates various signals for establishing Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 to establish a Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 via the Wi-Fi I/F 16. FIG.

In T42, the printer 10 receives the Wi-Fi information corresponding to the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 (that is, MAC address MA3, type information "NFC type", elapsed time "0 seconds", status information "communicating"). ) is stored in the management table 30 . At T44, the printer 10 resumes the prediction process of FIG.

At T50, the printer 10 receives print data from the mobile terminal 300 via the Wi-Fi I/F 16 using the Wi-Fi connection established at T40. As a result, the printer 10 prints the image represented by the print data at T52. Thus, in this embodiment, the print data is transmitted using the Wi-Fi connection, which has a faster communication speed than the NFC link, so that the printer 10 can print quickly.

For example, there is a printer that establishes a Wi-Fi connection with another mobile terminal by transmitting an Invitation Request to another mobile terminal after the Wi-Fi connection with the other mobile terminal is disconnected. However, there are printers that cannot send Invitation Requests and mobile terminals that cannot interpret Invitation Requests.

According to this case, when the NFC link is established with the mobile terminal 300 (T12) in a situation where the number of connections has reached the upper limit number of "2", the printer 10 uses the NFC link and waits for the waiting time “70 seconds” is transmitted to the mobile terminal 300 . As a result, the mobile terminal 300 can know the estimated time until it becomes possible to establish a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10, and at T22 after the waiting time "70 seconds" has passed, the connection request is sent. It can be sent to the printer 10 . For this reason, the printer 10 establishes a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10 when the target connection with the mobile terminal 100 is disconnected (T32) and a connection request is received from the mobile terminal 300 (T22). can do. That is, the printer 10 does not need to send an Invitation Request to the mobile terminal 300 after the target connection is disconnected. Therefore, even the printer 10 that cannot send an Invitation Request can appropriately establish a Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 . Also, the mobile terminal 300 does not need to receive the Invitation Request from the printer 10 . Therefore, even the mobile terminal 300 that cannot interpret the Invitation Request can properly establish a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 10 .

(Case B; Fig. 4)
In case B of FIG. 4, the printer 10 has established Wi-Fi connections with the mobile terminals 100 and 200, respectively. Each of the two Wi-Fi connections is an NFC type Wi-Fi connection.

T110 and T112 are the same as T10 and T12 in FIG. At T114, the printer 10 executes the prediction process of FIG. At timing T114, the elapsed time of the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 is "80 seconds", and the elapsed time of the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 200 is "20 seconds". Further, the printer 10 is not executing wireless communication of print data with any of the mobile terminals 100 and 200 .

At T114, the number of connections of the printer 10 has reached the upper limit of "2" (YES in S10 of FIG. 2), and only the type information indicating the NFC type is stored in the management table 30 (S14 NO), and the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 with the longest elapsed time is selected as the target connection (S30). Since the status information corresponding to the target connection indicates non-communication (NO in S32), the printer 10 sets the differential time "40 seconds (=upper limit time "120 seconds" - elapsed time "80 seconds")" and processing time " 10 seconds” and the total time “50 seconds” is predicted as the standby time (S36). Then, the printer 10 writes the standby time "50 seconds" to the NFCI/F 14 (S50).

T116 is the same as T16 in FIG. T120, T122, and T140 executed by mobile terminal 300 are the same as T20, T22, and T40 in FIG.

T130 executed by the printer 10 between T116 and T122 is the same as T30 in FIG. When the elapsed time of the target connection (that is, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100) reaches the upper limit time, the printer 10 transmits a disconnection signal to the mobile terminal 100 at T132 (that is, 40 seconds after T116). . As a result, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 is disconnected. T134 is the same as T34 in FIG.

After T134, the printer 10 receives a connection request from the mobile terminal 300 via the Wi-Fi I/F 16 at T122. As a result, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 is established at T140. T142, T144, T150 and T152 are the same as T42, T44, T50 and T52 in FIG.

In this case, as in Case A, even if the printer 10 cannot send an Invitation Request or the mobile terminal 300 cannot interpret the Invitation Request, the Wi-Fi connection between the printer 10 and the mobile terminal 300 is properly established. can be established in

(Case C; Fig. 5)
In case C of FIG. 5, the processes of T110 to T116 are executed in the same manner as in FIG. The portable terminal 300 establishes a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 50 different from the printer 10 at T160 before the waiting time "50 seconds" elapses from the timing of T116. In this case, at T162, the mobile terminal 300 deletes the connection information CIx received at T116 and the waiting time "50 seconds". As a result, the transmission instruction is not supplied to the OS program 326 and the connection request is not transmitted to the printer 10 even after the waiting time "50 seconds" has passed. According to this case, as a result of establishing a Wi-Fi connection with the printer 50 , the portable terminal 300 does not send a connection request for establishing an unnecessary Wi-Fi connection to the printer 10 . As a result, the processing load on the mobile terminal 300 can be reduced. Also, if a connection request is sent to the printer 10, the Wi-Fi connection with the printer 50 may be disconnected. Inappropriate disconnection of the Wi-Fi connection can be suppressed.

(correspondence relationship)
The printer 10 is an example of a "communication device." The mobile terminals 100 and 200 are examples of "M external devices". The mobile terminal 300 is an example of the “first terminal device (or terminal device)”. NFCI/F 14, 314 is an example of the "first wireless interface". Wi-Fi I/F 16 and Wi-Fi I/F 316 are examples of the “second wireless interface”. The target connection and waiting time are examples of the “target wireless connection” and the “first predicted time information”, respectively. The NFC link of T12 and the Wi-Fi connection of T40 in FIG. 3 are examples of the "first communication link" and the "first wireless connection", respectively. The timing of T22 in FIG. 3 is an example of "timing based on the first prediction time information". The “NFC type” Wi-Fi connection and the “manual type” Wi-Fi connection are examples of the “first type wireless connection” and the “second type wireless connection”, respectively. The predicted end time and the processing time are examples of the "predetermined time".

T40 in FIG. 3 is an example of processing implemented by the "first establishing unit". S14, S20, and S30 in FIG. 2 are an example of processing implemented by the "selector". S24, S26, S34, and S36 in FIG. 2 are an example of processing implemented by the "generation unit".

(Second embodiment)
After transmitting the standby time to one mobile terminal, the printer 10 of this embodiment also transmits the standby time to the other mobile terminals. Memory 24 of printer 10 may store wait information 32 . The printer 10 then executes the prediction process of FIG.

The standby information 32 is generated by the printer 10 and stored in the memory 24 when the NFCI/F 14 transmits the standby time in the NFCI/F 14 to the mobile terminal (for example, the mobile terminal 300). The standby information 32 includes the standby time transmitted to the mobile terminal and the transmission time when the standby time was transmitted. The standby information 32 is deleted from the memory 24 after the standby time has passed since the transmission time.

(Prediction processing; Fig. 6)
The prediction processing of this embodiment will be described. S100 is the same as S10 in FIG. When the CPU 22 determines that the number of connections has reached the upper limit number “2” (YES in S100), in S112 it determines whether the standby information 32 is stored in the memory 24 or not. When the CPU 22 determines that the standby information 32 is not stored in the memory 24 (NO in S112), in S160, the same processing as S14 to S36 in FIG. 2 is executed. On the other hand, when the CPU 22 determines that the standby information 32 is stored in the memory 24 (YES in S112), the process proceeds to S114.

In S114, the CPU 22 determines the corresponding Wi-Fi information (hereinafter referred to as "another Wi-Fi Fi information") indicates a manual type. When the CPU 22 determines that the type information included in the Wi-Fi information corresponding to the other Wi-Fi connection indicates the manual type (YES in S114), in S122 the state included in the other Wi-Fi information Determine whether the information indicates that communication is in progress.

When the CPU 22 determines that the status information included in the other Wi-Fi information indicates that communication is in progress (YES in S122), the process proceeds to S124. S124 is the same as S24 in FIG. 2, except that the total time of the remaining time, the predicted end time, and the processing time is set as the standby time. The remaining time is a time obtained by subtracting the elapsed time from the transmission time to the current time from the waiting time in the waiting information 32 . That is, the remaining time indicates the estimated time until the Wi-Fi connection is established with the mobile terminal to which the standby time is transmitted in the standby information 32 (hereinafter referred to as "standby mobile terminal"). . If the total time of the predicted end time and the processing time is predicted as the waiting time, a situation may arise in which the predicted waiting time and the remaining time are substantially equal. In this case, as a result of the transmission of the predicted time to another mobile terminal different from the mobile terminal on standby, processing for establishing a Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal on standby and processing for establishing a Wi-Fi connection with the other mobile terminal and a process for establishing a Wi-Fi connection may be performed concurrently. As a result, a Wi-Fi connection can be established with another mobile terminal before the standby mobile terminal. On the other hand, the waiting time predicted by the process of S124 is never shorter than the remaining time. For this reason, the printer 10 appropriately determines the waiting time (hereinafter referred to as the “next predicted time”) in which the Wi-Fi connection can be established next to the establishment of the Wi-Fi connection of the standby mobile terminal. can be predicted to

If the CPU 22 determines that the status information included in the other Wi-Fi information indicates non-communication (NO in S122), the process proceeds to S126. S126 is the same as S26 in FIG. 2 except that the time obtained by adding the remaining time and the processing time is set as the standby time. As a result, it is possible to appropriately predict the next waiting time in consideration of the fact that wireless communication using another Wi-Fi connection is not being performed.

If the CPU 22 determines that the type information included in the other Wi-Fi information indicates the manual type (YES in S114), the process proceeds to S132. S132 is the same as S122.

If the status information included in the other Wi-Fi information indicates that communication is in progress (YES in 1S32), the CPU 22 proceeds to S134. S134 is the same as S34 in FIG. 2, except that the total time of the remaining time, the differential time, the predicted end time, and the processing time is set as the standby time. As a result, as in S34 of FIG. 2, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the Wi-Fi connection cannot be established after the waiting time has elapsed, and to appropriately predict the next waiting time.

If the status information corresponding to another Wi-Fi connection indicates non-communication (NO in 1S32), the CPU 22 proceeds to S136. S136 is the same as S36 in FIG. 2 except that the total time of the remaining time, the difference time, and the processing time is set as the standby time.

Further, when the CPU 22 determines that the number of connections has not reached the upper limit number of "2" (NO in S100), the process proceeds to S140. S140 is the same as S40 in FIG. When any one of S140, S124, S126, S134, S136 and S160 is completed, the CPU 22 proceeds to S150. S150 is the same as S50 in FIG. When S150 ends, the prediction process of FIG. 6 ends.

(Case D; Fig. 7)
A specific case D realized by the processing of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, the printer 10 has established Wi-Fi connections with each of the mobile terminals 100 and 200 . Each of the two Wi-Fi connections is an NFC type Wi-Fi connection.

T210 to T220 are the same as T110 to T120 in FIG. The mobile terminal 300 transmits a connection request to the printer 10 via the Wi-Fi I/F 316 at T272 at timing 50 seconds after receiving the waiting time of "50 seconds". As a result, a Wi-Fi connection is established between the mobile terminal 300 and the printer 10 at T280.

In this case, between T216 and T272, the Wi-Fi connection between the mobile terminal 100 and the printer 10 is disconnected, and the other mobile terminal 400 also has a waiting time (that is, "next waiting time"). is sent. While the mobile terminal 300 is waiting for transmission of a connection request from T216 to T272, the printer 10 transmits the standby time "50 seconds" transmitted to the mobile terminal 300 and the standby time "50 seconds" at T230. The standby information 32 including the transmission time “12:00:00” is stored in the memory 24 .

The printer 10 executes the prediction process at T232 at the timing 10 seconds after the execution of the prediction process at T214 (that is, at the timing 10 seconds after the standby time "50 seconds" was transmitted at T216).

At T232, the printer 10 determines that the number of connections has reached the upper limit of "2" (YES in S100 of FIG. 2) and that the standby information 32 is stored in the memory 24 (YES in S112). . The printer 10 determines that the type information included in the other Wi-Fi information corresponding to the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 200 (that is, another Wi-Fi connection other than the target connection) is the NFC type ( YES in S114). Since the status information included in the other Wi-Fi information indicates non-communication (NO in S32), the printer 10 calculates the remaining time "40 seconds (=waiting time "50 seconds" - "10 seconds")" as the difference. The total time of the time "90 seconds (= upper limit time "120 seconds" - "30 seconds (that is, the time 10 seconds have passed since the initial elapsed time "20 seconds")") and the processing time "10 seconds" " 140 seconds” is predicted as the standby time (S136). Then, the printer 10 writes the standby time "140 seconds" to the NFCI/F 14 (S150).

At T242 immediately after T232, the printer 10 establishes an NFC link with the mobile terminal 400 different from the mobile terminal 300. FIG. At T248, the NFC I/F 14 of the printer 10 uses the NFC link established at T242 to transmit the connection information CIx in the NFC I/F 14 and the waiting time "140 seconds" to the mobile terminal 400. FIG. T250 is the same as T220 except that it is displayed on the display unit of mobile terminal 400 .

At T260, the printer 10 stops the prediction process of FIG. The printer 10 further stores in the memory 24 new standby information 32 including the standby time "140 seconds" and the transmission time when the standby time "140 seconds" was transmitted. As a result, after the Wi-Fi connection is established with the mobile terminal 300 on standby, the new standby information 32 can be used to restart the prediction process.

When the elapsed time of the target connection (that is, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100) reaches the upper limit time, the printer 10 transmits a disconnection signal to the mobile terminal 100 at T262. As a result, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 100 is disconnected. T264 is the same as T134 in FIG.

After T264, the printer 10 receives a connection request from the mobile terminal 300 via the Wi-Fi I/F 16 at T272. As a result, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 is established at T280. T282 is the same as T142 in FIG. At T284, the printer 10 resumes the prediction process. T290 and T292 are the same as T50 and T52 in FIG.

When the elapsed time of the Wi-Fi connection other than the target connection (that is, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 200) reaches the upper limit time, the printer 10 transmits a disconnection signal to the mobile terminal 100 at T362. As a result, the Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 200 is disconnected.

In addition, the mobile terminal 400 transmits a connection request to the printer 10 at T372 at a timing 140 seconds after receiving the waiting time "140 seconds".

Upon receiving the connection request from the mobile terminal 400 at T372, the printer 10 establishes a Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 400 via the Wi-Fi I/F 16 at T380. Accordingly, the printer 10 can receive print data from the mobile terminal 400 and execute printing.

According to this case, the printer 10 waits until the Wi-Fi connection is established with the mobile terminal 300 after the standby time "50 seconds" is transmitted to the mobile terminal 300 (that is, between T216 and T280). During this period, it is possible to predict a waiting time of '140 seconds' in which the Wi-Fi connection can be established next to the establishment of the Wi-Fi connection of the mobile terminal 300 (T232). The printer 10 then transmits the waiting time "140 seconds" to the portable terminal 400 (T248). As a result, the portable terminal 400 can know the estimated time until the printer 10 can establish a Wi-Fi connection next to the portable terminal 300 on standby. A Wi-Fi connection can be established with the printer 10 (T380). Therefore, the printer 10 can establish Wi-Fi connections with the two mobile terminals 300 and 400 in an appropriate order when the number of connections reaches the upper limit of "2". The mobile terminal 400 and the standby time of 140 seconds are examples of the 'second terminal device' and the 'second predicted time information', respectively. The NFC link of T242 and the Wi-Fi connection of T380 in FIG. 7 are examples of the "second communication link" and the "second wireless connection", respectively.

Although specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above. Modifications of the above embodiment are listed below.

(Modification 1) In each of the above embodiments, the printer 10 predicts the waiting time (for example, "70 seconds") (S24 in FIG. 2). Alternatively, the printer 10 may predict the time when a new Wi-Fi connection can be established (for example, "13:00:00"). The printer 10 may then store information indicating the predicted time in the NFCI/F 14 . In this modified example, the information indicating the predicted time is an example of "first predicted time information".

(Modification 2) The Wi-Fi I/F 316 of the mobile terminal 300 may support the WFD system. In this case, at T40 in FIG. 3, the printer 10 may establish a wireless connection according to the WFD method with the mobile terminal 300 operating in the CL state of the WFD method. In this case, the connection information CIx and CIy includes information identifying the printer 100 (for example, device name, MAC address). In this modified example, the wireless connection according to the WFD system is an example of the "first wireless connection (or wireless connection)".

(Modification 3) In each of the above-described embodiments, the print application 328 supplies the transmission instruction to the OS program 326 at T22, 70 seconds after receiving the waiting time "70 seconds". 326 sends the connection request to printer 10 . Alternatively, print app 328 may provide specific instructions to OS program 326 instructing periodic transmission of connection requests after receiving a wait time of “70 seconds”. As a result, the OS program 326 may periodically transmit a connection request to the printer 10 after receiving the standby time of "70 seconds". As a result, the printer 10 can establish a Wi-Fi connection with the mobile terminal 300 within the waiting time "70 seconds" during which the connection request is received after the target connection with the mobile terminal 100 is disconnected. can. It should be noted that the periodical transmission of the connection request is executed with the time when the standby time "70 seconds" elapses as an upper limit. In other words, the waiting time "70 seconds" is the time that indicates the timeout of periodical transmission of the connection request. In this modified example, the regular timing after receiving the waiting time "70 seconds" is an example of "timing based on the first predicted time information".

(Modification 4) In each of the above embodiments, the management table 30 stores the elapsed time. Alternatively, the management table 30 may not store the elapsed time. The printer 10 may then randomly select a target connection from among the two Wi-Fi connections currently established by the printer 10, regardless of the elapsed time of the Wi-Fi connection. In this modified example, the "memory" does not have to store the "elapsed time".

(Modification 5) The process of S14 in FIG. 2 may not be executed. Printer 10 may then randomly select a target connection from among the two Wi-Fi connections currently established by printer 10, regardless of the type of Wi-Fi connection. Generally speaking, the 'selection unit' includes a first type wireless connection with a fixed upper limit time and a second type wireless connection without a fixed upper limit time. wireless connection may be selected as the wireless connection of interest.

(Modification 6) The processes of S30 to S36 in FIG. 2 may not be executed. In this modified example, the 'generation unit' does not need to use the 'difference time'.

(Modification 7) The printer 10 predicts a waiting time of “0 seconds” when the target connection is “manual type” (YES in S14), and predicts the waiting time “0 seconds” when the target connection is “NFC type” (NO in S14). ), the differential time may be predicted as the waiting time. That is, the printer 10 may predict the standby time without using the predicted end time and processing time. In this modification, the 'generation unit' does not have to use any of the 'predetermined time', the 'processing time', and the 'predicted end time'.

(Modification 8) The prediction process is not limited to the process shown in FIG. For example, if the number of connections has reached the upper limit (YES in S10), the printer 10 writes a predetermined waiting time (for example, 30 seconds) to the NFCI/F 14, and if the number of connections has not reached the upper limit, (NO in S10), the waiting time "0 seconds" may be written to the NFCI/F14. In this modified example, the “selector” and the “generator” can be omitted.

(Modification 9) The “first wireless interface” does not have to be an I/F for executing NFC communication, and for example, it conforms to other communication methods such as BlueTooth (registered trademark), infrared rays, and TransferJet. It may also be an I/F for executing wireless communication. Also, the "second wireless interface" does not have to be an I/F for executing wireless communication according to the Wi-Fi system, and for example, executes wireless communication according to another communication system such as BlueTooth. It may be an I/F for

(Modification 10) The process of T162 in FIG. 5 may not be executed. Then, the mobile terminal 300 may transmit the connection request to the printer 10 50 seconds after receiving the waiting time "50 seconds".

(Modification 11) The upper limit of the number of connections of the printer 10 is not limited to "2" in the above embodiment, and may be, for example, "1" or "3" or more.

(Modification 12) In each of the embodiments described above, the CPU 22 of the printer 10 executes the program 26 (that is, software), and the CPU 322 of the mobile terminal 300 executes the print application 328, etc., so that the Each process in FIG. 6 is realized. Alternatively, any processing may be implemented by hardware such as logic circuits.
The technologies disclosed in this specification are listed below.
(Item 1)
A communication device,
a first wireless interface;
a second wireless interface different from the first wireless interface;
a control unit;
wherein the first wireless interface establishes M wireless connections between the communication device and M external devices (where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1) via the second wireless interface; and when establishing a first communication link with a first terminal device in a situation where the number M of wireless connections currently established by the communication device has reached an upper limit, the first communication link using to transmit the first predicted time information to the first terminal device,
The first predicted time information is a predicted time until a first wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the first terminal device via the second wireless interface. indicating a first prediction time;
The control unit
A target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is disconnected, and the first connection request transmitted from the first terminal device at a timing based on the first prediction time information is the second connection request. a first establishing unit that establishes the first wireless connection between the communication device and the first terminal device via the second wireless interface when receiving via the wireless interface ,Communication device.
(Item 2)
The upper limit number is an integer of 2 or more,
The control unit further
a selection unit that selects the target wireless connection to be disconnected first from the M wireless connections;
The communication device according to item 1, further comprising a generation unit that generates the first predicted time information indicating the first predicted time corresponding to the target wireless connection that has been selected.
(Item 3)
The control unit further
For each of the M wireless connections, a memory that stores the elapsed time since the wireless connection was established;
The communication device according to item 2, wherein the selection unit selects the target wireless connection having the longest elapsed time stored in the memory from among the M wireless connections.
(Item 4)
When the M wireless connections include a first-type wireless connection with a fixed upper limit time and a second-type wireless connection without a fixed upper limit time, the selecting unit selecting a wireless connection of a second type as the target wireless connection;
4. The communication device according to item 2 or 3, wherein the upper limit time is an upper limit of time from establishment to disconnection of a wireless connection.
(Item 5)
The control unit further
a memory that stores the elapsed time since the wireless connection was established for each of the M wireless connections;
subtracting the elapsed time of the target wireless connection from the upper limit time when the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is a type 1 wireless connection for which an upper limit time is determined; a generation unit that calculates the difference time by using the difference time and generates the first predicted time information using the difference time, wherein the upper limit time is the time from establishment to disconnection of wireless connection. 5. The communication device according to any one of items 1 to 4, comprising: the generating unit, which is an upper limit.
(Item 6)
The control unit further
When the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is a second-type wireless connection for which an upper limit time is not determined, the first wireless connection is performed using a predetermined predetermined time. 6. Any one of items 1 to 5, comprising: a generation unit that generates predicted time information, wherein the upper limit time is an upper limit of time from establishment to disconnection of a wireless connection. The communication device according to .
(Item 7)
7. The communication device according to item 6, wherein the predetermined time includes processing time from start to completion of processing for disconnecting wireless connection.
(Item 8)
The generating unit, when wireless communication using the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is being performed, uses a predicted end time that is a predicted time until the end of the wireless communication. 8. The communication device according to any one of items 1 to 7, wherein the communication device generates the first predicted time information.
(Item 9)
The first radio interface differs from the first terminal device during a period from when the first predicted time information is transmitted to the first terminal device until the first predicted time elapses. when establishing a second communication link with a second terminal device, using the second communication link to transmit second predicted time information to the second terminal device;
The second predicted time information is a predicted time until a second wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the second terminal device via the second wireless interface. indicating a second predicted time;
The control unit further
After the first wireless connection is established with the first terminal device, a wireless connection different from the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is disconnected, and the second prediction time is reached between the communication device and the second terminal device when a second connection request transmitted from the second terminal device at timing based on information is received via the second wireless interface; 9. The communication device according to any one of items 1 to 8, comprising a second establishing unit that establishes the second wireless connection via the second wireless interface.
(Item 10)
the first wireless interface is an interface for performing wireless communication according to the NFC (abbreviation for Near Field Communication) system;
10. The communication device according to any one of items 1 to 9, wherein the second wireless interface is an interface for performing wireless communication in accordance with the Wi-Fi system.
(Item 11)
An application program for a terminal device,
The terminal device
a first wireless interface;
a second wireless interface different from the first wireless interface;
a computer;
an OS (abbreviation of Operating System) program executed by the computer,
The application program causes the computer to:
M wireless connections are established between the communication device and M external devices (where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1), and the number M of wireless connections currently established by the communication device is the upper limit a receiving unit configured to receive predicted time information from the communication device via the first wireless interface in a situation where the number of the receiving unit that indicates an estimated time until a wireless connection can be established via the second wireless interface between
a supply unit that supplies a transmission instruction for transmitting a connection request to the OS program at the timing based on the predicted time information;
The OS program is
transmitting the connection request to the communication device via the second wireless interface in response to obtaining the transmission instruction;
the second wireless interface between the communication device and the terminal device when a target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is disconnected and the connection request is received by the communication device; An application program that establishes a wireless connection through
(Item 12)
12. The computer program according to item 11, wherein the supply unit supplies the transmission instruction to the OS program when the predicted time indicated by the predicted time information has elapsed.
(Item 13)
When a wireless connection is established between a device different from the communication device and the terminal device via the second wireless interface before the predicted time indicated by the predicted time information elapses, the prediction 13. The computer program according to item 12, wherein the transmission instruction is not provided to the OS program even after the predicted time indicated by time information has passed.

2: communication system, 10, 50: printer, 14: NFCI/F, 16: Wi-Fi I/F, 20: control unit, 22: CPU, 24: memory, 26: program, 30: management table, 32: standby Information, 100 to 400: mobile terminal, 312: display unit, 314: NFCI/F, 316: Wi-Fi I/F, 320: control unit, 322: CPU, 324: memory, 326: OS program, 328: printing application , CIx, CIy: connection information, MA1 to MA4: MAC address, SC: standby screen

Claims (13)

A communication device,
a first wireless interface;
a second wireless interface different from the first wireless interface;
a control unit;
wherein the first wireless interface establishes M wireless connections between the communication device and M external devices (where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1) via the second wireless interface; Further, in a situation where the number M of wireless connections currently established by the communication device has reached the upper limit, a first communication link is established with the first terminal device, and the first communication link is established. using to transmit the first predicted time information to the first terminal device;
The first predicted time information is a predicted time until a first wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the first terminal device via the second wireless interface. indicating a first prediction time;
The control unit
A target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is disconnected, and the first connection request transmitted from the first terminal device at a timing based on the first prediction time information is the second connection request. a first establishing unit that establishes the first wireless connection between the communication device and the first terminal device via the second wireless interface when receiving via the wireless interface ,Communication device. The upper limit number is an integer of 2 or more,
The control unit further
a selection unit that selects the target wireless connection to be disconnected first from the M wireless connections;
2. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a generator that generates the first predicted time information indicating the first predicted time corresponding to the selected target wireless connection. The control unit further
For each of the M wireless connections, a memory that stores the elapsed time since the wireless connection was established;
3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the selection unit selects the target wireless connection having the longest elapsed time stored in the memory from among the M wireless connections. When the M wireless connections include a first-type wireless connection with a fixed upper limit time and a second-type wireless connection without a fixed upper limit time, the selecting unit selecting a wireless connection of a second type as the target wireless connection;
The communication device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said upper limit time is an upper limit of time from establishment of wireless connection to disconnection. The control unit further
a memory that stores the elapsed time since the wireless connection was established for each of the M wireless connections;
subtracting the elapsed time of the target wireless connection from the upper limit time when the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is a type 1 wireless connection for which an upper limit time is determined; a generation unit that calculates the difference time by using the difference time and generates the first predicted time information using the difference time, wherein the upper limit time is the time from establishment to disconnection of wireless connection. 5. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising the generating unit being an upper limit. The control unit further
When the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is a second-type wireless connection for which an upper limit time is not determined, the first wireless connection is performed using a predetermined predetermined time. 6. The generator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the generation unit generates predicted time information, wherein the upper limit time is an upper limit of time from establishment to disconnection of a wireless connection. A communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 7. The communication device according to claim 6, wherein said predetermined time includes processing time from start to completion of processing for disconnecting wireless connection. The generating unit, when wireless communication using the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is being performed, uses a predicted end time that is a predicted time until the end of the wireless communication. 8. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first predicted time information is generated by The first radio interface differs from the first terminal device during a period from when the first predicted time information is transmitted to the first terminal device until the first predicted time elapses. establishing a second communication link with a second terminal and transmitting second predicted time information to the second terminal using the second communication link;
The second predicted time information is a predicted time until a second wireless connection can be established between the communication device and the second terminal device via the second wireless interface. indicating a second predicted time;
The control unit further
After the first wireless connection is established with the first terminal device, a wireless connection different from the target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is disconnected, and the second prediction time is reached between the communication device and the second terminal device when a second connection request transmitted from the second terminal device at timing based on information is received via the second wireless interface; The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising a second establishing unit that establishes said second wireless connection via said second wireless interface. the first wireless interface is an interface for performing wireless communication according to the NFC (abbreviation for Near Field Communication) system;
10. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said second wireless interface is an interface for performing wireless communication according to the Wi-Fi system. An application program for a terminal device,
The terminal device
a first wireless interface;
a second wireless interface different from the first wireless interface;
a computer;
an OS (abbreviation of Operating System) program executed by the computer,
The application program causes the computer to:
M wireless connections are established between the communication device and M external devices (where M is an integer equal to or greater than 1), and the number M of wireless connections currently established by the communication device is the upper limit a receiving unit configured to receive predicted time information from the communication device via the first wireless interface in a situation where the number of the receiving unit that indicates an estimated time until a wireless connection can be established via the second wireless interface between
a supply unit that supplies a transmission instruction for transmitting a connection request to the OS program at the timing based on the predicted time information;
The OS program is
transmitting the connection request to the communication device via the second wireless interface in response to obtaining the transmission instruction;
the second wireless interface between the communication device and the terminal device when a target wireless connection among the M wireless connections is disconnected and the connection request is received by the communication device; An application program that establishes a wireless connection through 12. The computer program according to claim 11, wherein said supply unit supplies said transmission instruction to said OS program when said predicted time indicated by said predicted time information has elapsed. When a wireless connection is established between a device different from the communication device and the terminal device via the second wireless interface before the predicted time indicated by the predicted time information elapses, the prediction 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the transmission instruction is not provided to the OS program even after the expected time indicated by time information has passed.

Images