KR100679456B1 - Digital still camera having a function of network server and method for driving thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a digital still camera having a network server function so as to facilitate communication with a computer, and a driving method thereof.

In the present invention, a computer that is a web browser includes an application driver, a virtual network driver, and a first interfacing unit to search for images in a digital still camera or to control a digital still camera by a user's manipulation. The digital still camera has a second interfacing unit and a network server, the second interfacing unit is connected to the first interfacing unit on the computer side, and the network server restores the communication signal provided from the second interfacing unit into network commands and accordingly. A predetermined operation is performed, and the result is converted into a communication signal and provided to the computer. As a result, a digital still camera connected to a computer serving as a client becomes a network, in particular a web server, thereby facilitating interfacing with the computer regardless of the platform provided in the computer.

Server, client, search, platform, hypertext, digital still camera, web

Description

Digital still camera having a function of network server and method for driving

1 is a block diagram of a network system using a digital still camera having a network server function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving a digital still camera having a network server function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is an embodiment of receiving image information from a digital still camera according to the present invention and displaying it on a monitor.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: computer 110: application driver

120: virtual network driver 130: first interface unit

200: digital still camera (DSC) 210: second interfacing unit

220: network server 230: video memory

240: CCD image pickup device 250: recording unit

The present invention relates to a digital still camera, and more particularly, to a digital still camera having a network server function to facilitate communication with a computer and a driving method thereof.

Conventionally, in order to interface a digital still camera (DSC) and a general computer, a specific software development kit (SDK; Software) provided by the DSC manufacturer or provided by the DSC company is used. Development Kit was the only way to use it.

Therefore, in order to connect and use DSCs of different specifications to a computer, a user creates a device driver suitable for a communication medium, an application that provides a suitable interfacing unit for the user by creating a protocol for transmitting commands and data that the DSC can receive and understand. Each of these platforms was required separately. At this time, the platform is the base system for the higher system in the computer field. For example, UNIX is the platform for applications that are deleted or run on UNIX, and MS is the application that runs on MS-WINDOWS. -WINDOWS is the platform. In some cases, an environment provided by a software is called a platform. For example, an environment provided by MS-WINDOWS is a platform of MS-WINDOWS.

In addition, in the case of a computer that does not have such an application means, the user has a burden to install a new application program and to learn it in order to use each software as needed.

Also, before purchasing a DSC, it was a hassle to make sure that it supports the platform you are using on your computer.

In addition to this hassle, in general DSC, the supported platforms are limited to Windows and MacKentosh, so computer users with other platforms may not be able to use DSC.

On the other hand, DSC manufacturers had to provide applications running on specific platforms in order to make their DSCs available to users, and to write and provide device drivers to recognize DSC on those platforms.

For this reason, it was difficult for DSC companies to meet the needs of different platforms used by multiple users, so it was common to set up DSC to support only certain platforms.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve these problems in the related art, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a DSC having a network server function.

In addition, the second object of the present invention is to use the DSC through an interface that is familiar to existing users without installing additional programs using existing network drivers and applications for network connection.

It is a third object of the present invention to provide a method for driving the above-described DSC.

A DSC according to one aspect for realizing the first object of the present invention includes a video memory storing image information obtained by photographing a captured image through a photographing unit. Computer--The computer includes an application program driver for outputting a network command for performing a predetermined function including a function for using image information stored in a digital still camera, and a virtual network driver for converting and outputting the network command into a communication signal. And an interfacing unit configured to communicate with and receive a communication signal corresponding to the network command provided from the computer, and provide a response signal of the communication signal applied to the computer. A network for performing a predetermined operation including restoring a communication signal provided from the interfacing unit to a network command, interpreting the restored network command, and processing image information stored in the image memory according to the interpreted network command. And a server, wherein the network server processes the result data obtained by performing the operation as a response signal and provides the result signal to the computer through the interfacing unit.
In addition, the driving method according to an aspect for realizing the above object of the present invention, by connecting a digital still camera including an image memory for storing the image information of the captured image taken through the photographing unit to a computer In a method of driving a camera, (i) the digital still camera via a transmission line the computer --- the computer is configured to execute network instructions for performing a predetermined function including a function for using image information stored in the digital still camera. And a virtual network driver for converting the network command into a communication signal and outputting the converted network driver. The communication signal corresponding to the network command for searching / extracting image information stored in the digital still camera is included. Receiving; (Ii) the digital still camera restores the received communication signal to a corresponding network command, interprets the restored network command, and then searches / extracts the image information stored in the image memory according to the interpreted network command. Performing; And (iii) the digital still camera converting the result of performing the operation into a network command and transmitting the result to the computer through a path opposite to the path through which the network command is transmitted. Display through the monitor.

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According to the DSC having such a network server function and its driving method, a platform provided in a computer by giving the DSC a network, in particular a web server function, and connecting the DSC to which the network server function is granted to the computer. Interface between the DSC and the computer can be facilitated.

Then, embodiments will be described so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of a network system using a digital still camera having a network server function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a network system using a digital still camera having a network server function according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an application program driver 110, a virtual network driver 120, and a first interfacing unit 130. A digital still camera comprising a computer 100, a second interfacing unit 210, a network server 220, an image memory 230, a CCD image pickup device 240, and a photographing unit 250, which are provided. 200).

More specifically, the client, especially the computer 100 having a web browsing function, outputs a network command to the DSC 200 to retrieve an image stored in the DSC or to control the DSC by a user's manipulation. . In this case, a computer generally has a multimedia function and can be connected to a network or the Internet.

The DSC 200 includes an image memory 230, a CCD photographing device 240, and a photographing unit 250 to perform a general DSC operation, and simultaneously performs a second interfacing unit 210 and a network server 220. In addition, the image memory 230 is connected to the computer 100 to be a client. In this case, when a communication signal is provided from the computer 100 serving as a client to perform the function of the network server, the communication signal is converted into a network command to perform an application operation according thereto, and the response signal is output to the computer 100.

In more detail, the network server 220 such as an HTTP server restores a communication signal via the second interface 210 to a network command and operates according to the restored network command.

For example, the computer 100 may be searched for the image data stored in the image memory 230 or the image data stored in the image memory 230 may be retrieved, and the result of the conversion may be converted into a communication signal and transmitted through the second interface 210. To the virtual network driver 120. In this case, the computer 100 as a client and the DSC 200 as a server use a serial transmission line or a parallel transmission line SCSI, USB, or the like as a transmission path for mutually applied communication signals.

As described above, in order to solve the problem caused by the conventional DSC is to understand only the instructions specifically designed for itself or its own model to simplify the program to be executed internally, in the present invention the same in many platforms A network command that can be used was used.

This is because these network commands are based on communication between different platforms from design. For example, the hypertext commands used in the world wide web (WWW) are designed to efficiently carry various multimedia information.

Each computer's built-in platform also includes an application that creates and interprets these network commands, and many platforms have HTML interpreters with the same interface as Netscape.

In addition, different devices have to be used because different communication media control different types of DSCs, but most operating systems (OS) require virtual emulation of the network through serial or parallel communication. With network drivers, you can eliminate the hassle of writing separate device drivers for each communication medium.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of driving a digital still camera having a network server function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, first, a network command is generated through an application program used by a user (step S10).

Subsequently, the network command generated in step S10 is converted into a signal transmission form that can be transmitted through the interface unit by using a virtual network driver embedded in the platform of the computer, and transmitted to the network server of the DSC side (step S20).

Subsequently, the command of the signal transmission form transmitted in step S20 is restored to a network command (step S30), and the DSC performs an operation according to the restored network command (step S40).

The result of the DSC is converted into a network command (step S50), and then the network command is converted into a signal transmission form, and the converted network command is again converted through a path opposite to the transmission path of the network command input from the computer. To the side (step S60).

Subsequently, the result of the command input by the user, for example, a command of performing a series of processes of searching and confirming image information in the DSC is fed back to the computer and displayed on the monitor (step S70).

The operation of the image signal processing apparatus of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 as follows.

First, a network command is generated by the application program driver 110 used by the user by inputting the user's command (step S10). In this case, the application program used is a program that already exists in a widely used computer, and may be, for example, a program to help a user search the Internet, and the user may use this to search and verify image information of a connected DSC. Can be.

The generated network command is converted into a form that can be transmitted through a serial transmission line or a parallel transmission line SCSI, USB, etc. by a network emulation driver that most platforms have built-in. It is delivered (step S20). In this case, a protocol for transmitting a network command through a serial transmission line or a parallel transmission line, SCSI, USB, etc. includes protocols such as ppp, slip, and flip. These are the protocols supported by most platforms, so users can use these features by changing a few settings without installing them.

In addition, an interfacing unit that allows a user to search for an image inside the DSC or send a command to control the DSC may be interpreted by an application program capable of interpreting a hypertext sent from the DSC and provided to the user interfacing unit. .

Thus, manufacturers creating DSCs can create platform-independent, consistent user interfaces by implementing a single, hypertext application without having to develop multiple applications to implement the same user interface for each platform. Can provide. In the case of a web browser that interprets the hypertext used here, since one or more products are distributed free of charge on each platform, this does not burden users to purchase separate software.

Subsequently, the communication signal, which is a command in the form of a signal transmitted through a serial transmission line or a parallel transmission line, SCSI or USB, is restored to a network command by the second interfacing unit 210 of the DSC (step S30). The restored network command is then interpreted by the network server 220 to perform a predetermined operation according to the interpreted command (step S40).

This operation is a series of retrieving the stored image data from the image memory 230, which stores the image data captured by the CCD image pickup device 240 and the image pickup unit 250 or the retrieved image data according to the operation of the general DSC. Action.

According to this operation, the result performed by the network server 220 is converted into a network command (step S50), and the network command of the result performed in step S50 is a path opposite to the transmission path of the network command applied from the computer. It is passed back to the computer 100 and displayed on the monitor. Therefore, the user can see the result of the command input by the user through the screen (steps S60 to S70).

3 is an embodiment of receiving image information from the DSC according to the present invention and displaying it on a monitor.

Referring to FIG. 3, a user on a computer can search and confirm information in a DSC having a server function, preferably image information, as if searching information on the Internet, and download the retrieved image information onto a hard disk of the computer. Down load).

As such, the data and instructions sent by DSC are independent of the platform on which the computer's environment is located, allowing the computer to display the same screen on any platform.

In addition, the recent operation system (OS) tends to integrate network browsing and local computer browsing functions into one, so the DSC depends on how to program the web server on the DSC side. It can also be used to handle video information in the same way as a program on the hard disk of the client computer.

As described above, the present invention configures a DSC capable of functioning as a network server in addition to the function of a general DSC, and receives and restores a signal containing a network command adapted to be transmitted from a computer connected to the DSC. After performing a series of operations such as retrieval / extraction of pre-stored image data according to the restored network command, it is provided to the connected computer to facilitate the interfacing operation between the DSC and the computer without distinguishing the platform provided in the computer. It can be done.

In addition, most computer operating systems (OS) include virtual network drivers that emulate a network through serial or parallel communication. This will solve the problem of using different devices.

While the foregoing has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. It will be appreciated.

As described above, even when used in connection with a computer that does not have a platform available for a specific DSC by using network commands, which are commands identically used in many platforms of the computer, in the data interface between the DSC and the computer according to the present invention, It can facilitate communication between the computer that is a client and the DSC that is a web server.

For example, the user can search and confirm various video information in the DSC as if the specific DSC is connected to any computer through the network command of the computer and search the information scattered on the Internet. Etc. can be stored on the computer's hard disk or deleted.

Claims (6)

A digital still camera comprising an image memory storing image information of an image captured by a photographing unit. The digital camera is a computer; the computer is an application program driver for outputting a network command for performing a predetermined function including a function for using image information stored in a digital still camera, and converts the network command into a communication signal and outputs the signal. Includes a virtual network driver to communicate with-- An interfacing unit receiving a communication signal corresponding to the network command provided from the computer and providing a response signal of the communication signal applied to the computer; A network for performing a predetermined operation including restoring a communication signal provided from the interfacing unit to a network command, interpreting the restored network command, and processing image information stored in the image memory according to the interpreted network command. server Including; The network server is a digital still camera, characterized in that for processing the resulting data obtained by performing the operation as a response signal to the computer through the interface. The method of claim 1 The computer further includes a computer interfacing unit for communicating with an interfacing unit of the digital still camera, wherein the virtual network driver receives a response signal of the digital still camera provided from the computer interfacing unit and converts the network signal into a network command. Digital still camera, characterized in that output to the application driver. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the application driver of the computer is a web browser. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the network server is an HTP server. In a method of driving the digital still camera by connecting a digital still camera including an image memory storing image information captured by the photographed image to a computer to a computer, (Iii) an application program driver for outputting a network command for performing a predetermined function including the function of using the image information stored in the digital still camera by the computer through the transmission line; Receiving a communication signal corresponding to a network command for retrieving / extracting an image information stored in the digital still camera from a virtual network driver that converts the network command into a communication signal and outputs the same; (Ii) the digital still camera restores the received communication signal to a corresponding network command, interprets the restored network command, and then searches / extracts the image information stored in the image memory according to the interpreted network command. Performing; And (Iii) converting, by the digital still camera, the result of performing the operation into a network command and transmitting it to the computer through a path opposite to the path through which the network command is transmitted. Including; And the computer displays the performance result on a monitor. The method of claim 5, The method of driving a digital still camera, wherein any one of the PPP, SLIP, and PIP protocols supported by the platform of the computer is used when the network command is transmitted.

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