WO2015093192A1

WO2015093192A1 - Device to be controlled, control device, and information apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2015093192A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/080016
Authority: WO
Inventors: 高橋　真毅
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社
Priority date: 2013-12-18
Filing date: 2014-11-13
Publication date: 2015-06-25
Also published as: JPWO2015093192A1

Abstract

　The present invention adds a service which is executed by a mobile terminal and controlled via a LAN by other apparatuses. In a mobile terminal (12), an SSDP server (50) supplies the URL of a service stored in a storage unit (41) to a LAN (13). When a new service is requested via the LAN (13) from other apparatuses, an application management unit (53) controls an HTML browser (52) so as to acquire a web application corresponding to the new service from a server on the Internet and activate the acquired application, and stores the URL of the new service in the storage unit (41).

Description

Controlled device, control device, and information device

The present invention relates to a controlled device, a control device, and an information device having one or more functions that can be controlled by a control device via a LAN.

In recent years, home appliances (hereinafter referred to as “information home appliances”) such as TV (television) receivers, refrigerators, air conditioners and the like having a communication function connectable to a network such as the Internet are commercially available. In addition, general-purpose and multifunctional terminals (hereinafter referred to as “smart devices”) such as smartphones, tablet terminals, slate PCs (Personal Computers), and the like have become widespread.

Furthermore, recently, information appliances compatible with DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance, registered trademark), which is a specification for cooperation between electronic devices manufactured by different manufacturers, are commercially available. Therefore, a DLNA-compatible smart device is commercially available so that a home information appliance installed in a home and a smart device that can be carried by a user can be linked using DLNA. Application software (hereinafter abbreviated as “APP (APP)”) for making it correspond is commercially available.

DLNA adopts UPnP (Universal Plug and Play (registered trademark)) as a procedure when communicating between electronic devices. In UPnP, a device having various functions (hereinafter referred to as “UPnP service”) (hereinafter referred to as “UPnP device”) and a control point for controlling the UPnP device are defined. The UPnP device publishes information related to its own UPnP service in XML format, and the control point refers to the information published by the UPnP device and uses the desired UPnP service.

The electronic device may have one function of the UPnP device and the control point, or may have both functions. The UPnP service may be configured with one or a plurality of commands (hereinafter referred to as “actions”) for realizing the UPnP service.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional network system using UPnP. In the illustrated example, the network system 100 has a configuration in which one control point 101 and two

UPnP devices

102 a and 102 b are communicably connected via the network 103.

First, the control point 101 desiring a certain UPnP service multicasts a search request designating the UPnP service to the network 103. At this time, the UPnP device 102 that provides the UPnP service responds to the control point 101. As a result, the control point 101 can find the UPnP device 102 that provides the desired UPnP service.

Next, the control point 101 requests the discovered UPnP device 102 to execute the desired UPnP service using an HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) request, and acquires the execution result as an HTTP response. Thereby, the control point 101 can control the discovered UPnP device 102 to execute a desired UPnP service. If the UPnP service is composed of multiple actions, HTTP requests can be made on an action basis.

For example, the content processing device described in Patent Document 1 uses the UPnP function to acquire command information indicating an executable command (action) from the content transmission device, and transmits the content based on the command information. It is determined whether or not the device provides a content resume function. If it is determined that the resume function is provided, the content processing apparatus acquires resume information indicating a position stopped during reproduction in an arbitrary content from the content transmission apparatus, and uses the resume information. The content transmission apparatus is requested to transfer the content from the indicated position. This makes it easy to use the resume function.

Note that the mechanism of UPnP is described in detail in Non-Patent Document 1.

Japanese Patent Publication “JP 2013-045495 (March 04, 2013)”

In DLNA, that is, UPnP, as described above, the control point uses a desired UPnP service by referring to information on the UPnP service published by the UPnP device. That is, for this reason, when a UPnP service that does not exist on the network is desired, it is necessary to newly connect a UPnP device having the UPnP service to the network.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a controlled device (UPnP device) or the like to which a control device (control point) can add a controllable function via a LAN. There is.

A controlled apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a controlled apparatus having one or more functions that can be controlled by a control apparatus via a LAN. In order to solve the above problem, identification information of the function is used. A storage device for storing; a function information providing unit for providing identification information of the function on the LAN; and an introduction for introducing the new function when the control device requests a new function via the LAN. A function that acquires information from resources on the Internet, and a function introduction unit that introduces the new function based on the obtained introduction information, and a function that adds identification information of the new function introduced by the function introduction unit to the storage device And an information adding unit.

A control device according to another aspect of the present invention is a control device that controls one or more functions in a controlled device via a LAN, and obtains function identification information from the LAN. An acquisition unit, a function control unit that controls the desired function via the LAN based on the function identification information acquired by the function information acquisition unit, and the controlled device to add a new function The function information acquisition unit re-acquires the function identification information from the LAN after the request from the addition request unit. .

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that a function that can be controlled by the control device via the LAN can be added to the controlled device.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the mobile terminal in the network system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the said network system. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the TV receiver in the said network system. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in the said TV receiver. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in the said mobile terminal. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement regarding addition of UI service in the said network system. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement regarding registration of UI service in the said mobile terminal. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the TV receiver in the network system which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the mobile terminal in the said network system. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the operation | movement regarding UI service in the said network system. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the conventional network system using UPnP.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those shown in the embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

Embodiment 1
First, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the network system according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the network system 10 of this embodiment includes a TV receiver 11 and a mobile terminal 12 that are communicably connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) 13, and the LAN 13 includes a router (gateway) 14. Via the Internet 15, and an external server 16 is communicably connected to the Internet 15.

The TV receiver 11 corresponds to an information home appliance, and the mobile terminal 12 corresponds to a smart device. The external server 16 provides an application described later. As LAN 13 and router 14, publicly known ones can be used, and the description thereof is omitted. Since the Internet 15 is well known, the description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, the LAN 13 is preferably a wireless communication network such as a wireless LAN from the viewpoint of portability of the mobile terminal 12, but may be a wired communication network.

In the present embodiment, the TV receiver 11, the mobile terminal 12, and the LAN 13 correspond to DLNA. In the present embodiment, the TV receiver 11 functions as a UPnP control point (control device), and the mobile terminal 12 functions as a UPnP device (UPnP device, controlled device).

Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, one of the TV receiver and the mobile terminal functions as a DMS (Digital Media Server) and the other is a DMP (Digital MPU). It was a simple one that functioned as a Media Player and sent content from one to the other and played back and output on the other.

In contrast, recently, TV receivers compatible with hybrid cast (Hybridcast (registered trademark)) have been commercially available. The above-mentioned hybrid cast is a new service that combines broadcasting and Web (Web), and synthesizing and displaying broadcast programs sent via radio waves and content via the network in synchronism with a TV receiver. is there. In the hybrid cast, the smart device is used as an auxiliary screen (second screen) of the TV receiver by linking the broadcast program (and the content) and an application running on the smart device. Is considered.

However, there is a possibility that the smart device does not have the application desired by the TV receiver. In this case, the smart device cannot publish the app as a UPnP service (function), and the TV receiver cannot use the UPnP service.

Therefore, the smart device needs to be disconnected from the LAN, downloaded from the site on the Internet, and reconnected to the LAN. As a result, the smart device publishes the application as a UPnP service, and the TV receiver can use the UPnP service. However, it is necessary for the user to perform the above operation, which is complicated.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the mobile terminal 12 requests the TV receiver 11 to add a new application via the LAN 13, the mobile terminal 12 downloads the new application from the external server 16 via the Internet 15 and starts it. In addition, the UPnP service has an application activation service for publishing the new application as a UPnP service. Accordingly, the TV receiver 11 can use the application activation service to add a desired application to the mobile terminal 12 and use the application as a UPnP service.

(Details of TV receiver 11)
Next, detailed configurations of the TV receiver 11 and the mobile terminal 12 of the present embodiment will be described. In the following, the UPnP service added to the mobile terminal 12 is a UI interface that provides a user interface in the mobile terminal 12 and a user interface that can be controlled by the TV receiver 11.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the TV receiver 11. As shown in the figure, the TV receiver 11 of the present embodiment is configured to include a control unit 20, a storage unit 21, a communication I / F (interface) 22, an operation unit 23, and a display unit 24.

The control unit 20 comprehensively controls various configurations in the TV receiver 11 and includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The storage unit 21 stores various data and programs, and includes a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a flash memory. Details of the control unit 20 will be described later.

The communication I / F 22 is a general network interface for performing IP communication such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and Wi-Fi (registered trademark). Specifically, the communication I / F 22 converts the data received from the control unit 20 into a signal in a format suitable for IP communication, and transmits the converted signal to the LAN 13. The communication I / F 22 converts a signal received from the LAN 13 into original format data and transmits the converted data to the control unit 20.

The operation unit 23 creates operation data and transmits it to the control unit 20 when the user operates an input device provided on the surface of the TV receiver 11. Examples of the input device include a remote controller (remote controller), a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a microphone, and the like.

The display unit 24 receives display data from the control unit 20 and performs display on the display screen based on the received display data. Specifically, the display unit 24 includes a display element such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an EL (Electroluminescence) display, and a driver circuit that drives the display element based on received display data.

Next, details of the control unit 20 will be described. The control unit 20 includes a service information acquisition unit (function information acquisition unit) 30, a service control unit (function control unit) 31, and an additional service request unit (addition request unit) 32. It is the structure provided with.

The service information acquisition unit 30 transmits a service search request on the LAN 13 to acquire UPnP service information. The service information acquisition unit 30 sends the acquired UPnP service to the service control unit 31. Further, the service information acquisition unit 30 re-transmits the service search request based on the notification from the additional service request unit 32 and re-acquires the UPnP service information.

The service control unit 31 refers to the UPnP service information from the service information acquisition unit 30 and controls the UPnP service by instructing the UPnP device that provides the desired UPnP service via the LAN 13. is there. The service control unit 31 notifies the additional service request unit 32 when the desired UPnP service does not exist.

The additional service request unit 32 requests the UPnP device via the LAN 13 to add a desired UPnP service based on the notification from the service control unit 31. The request includes the URL of the external server 16 that can download the web application (introduction information) corresponding to the desired UPnP service. When receiving the response to the request, the additional service request unit 32 notifies the service information acquisition unit 30 to that effect.

(Details of the mobile terminal 12)
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the mobile terminal 12. As illustrated, the mobile terminal 12 according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 40, a storage unit 41, a communication I / F (interface) 42, an operation unit 43, and a display unit 44. Note that the functions of the units 40 to 44 of the mobile terminal 12 are the same as the functions of the units 20 to 24 of the TV receiver 11, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Next, details of the control unit 40 and the storage unit 41 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 40 includes an SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) server (function information providing unit) 50, a Web server 51, an HTML browser (function introduction unit) 52, and an application management unit (function introduction unit, A function information adding unit) 53 is provided. The storage unit 41 stores a service DB. The service DB stores contents related to the UPnP service that the mobile terminal 12 can provide.

When the SSDP server 50 receives a service search request from another information device on the LAN 13 in order to discover the UPnP service, the SSDP server 50 notifies the contents stored in the service DB of the storage unit 41.

When the Web server 51 receives a request (HTTP request) from another information device on the LAN 13, the Web server 51 transmits a response (HTTP response) to the request to the other information device of the request source. Specifically, the Web server 51 receives an action from the other information device as the request, and the action is sent to either the HTML browser 52 or the application management unit 53 according to the URL assigned to the received action. Forward. Then, the Web server 51 receives the result for the action from the HTML browser 52 or the application management unit 53, and transfers it to the other information device as a response to the request.

The HTML browser 52 is a module that requests a web application from the external server 16 for acquisition and execution. The web application is preferably based on HTML5. In this case, the new function can be introduced (implemented) in any mobile terminal 12 having a browser.

The application management unit 53 is a module that executes the application activation service. Details of processing in the application management unit 53 will be described later.

(Processing of TV receiver 11)
FIG. 4 shows a flow of UI service search processing of the control unit 20 in the TV receiver 11 having the above-described configuration. As shown in the figure, first, the service information acquisition unit 30 transmits a request for searching for a desired UI service to the LAN 13 (S10), and waits for a response to search for the UI service (S11). At this time, if there is a response (YES in S12), the UI service can be used and can be controlled by the service control unit 31. During the provision of the UI service, the TV receiver 11 maintains a state in which communication with the Web server 51 is always possible using the Websocket protocol.

On the other hand, if there is no response (NO in S12), the additional service request unit 32 transmits a search request for the application activation service to the LAN 13 (S13), and waits for a response for the search for the application activation service (S14). ). At this time, if there is no response (NO in S15), the UI service cannot be found and cannot be added, and therefore cannot be used.

On the other hand, if there is such a response (YES in S15), the additional service request unit 32 transmits an application activation request to the LAN 13 (S16), and waits for the application activation response (S17). At this time, if there is no response (NO in S18), the UI service cannot be added and cannot be used. On the other hand, if there is a response (YES in S18), it is considered that the UI service has been added, so the process returns to the UI service search request (S10) and the above process is repeated.

(Processing of mobile terminal 12)
FIG. 5 shows a process flow of the control unit 40 in the mobile terminal 12 having the above-described configuration. As shown in the figure, when the application activation request is received from the TV receiver 11 via the LAN 13, the HTML browser 52 instructs the external server 16 corresponding to the URL included in the request according to an instruction from the application management unit 53. Access via the Internet 15 starts downloading the web application corresponding to the UI service (S20), and waits for the completion of the download (S21).

At this time, if the download is completed without error (NO in S22) and the downloaded web application can be executed without error (NO in S23), the UI service is registered as available (S24). Thereby, the UI service can be used. This registration process will be described later. Thereafter, the response of the application activation is transmitted to the TV receiver 11 via the LAN 13.

Even when a download error occurs in the HTML browser 52 (YES in S22) or a web application execution error occurs (YES in S23), the Web server 51 responds to the above-mentioned application activation. Is transmitted to the TV receiver 11 via the LAN 13. In this case, the TV receiver 11 returns to step S10 in FIG. 4, and can make a re-request to start the application.

(Operation in the network system 10)
FIG. 6 shows an example of operations related to addition of a UI service in the network system 10. As illustrated, the TV receiver 11 transmits a UI service search request to the mobile terminal 12 (T10). At this time, the mobile terminal 12 does not provide the UI service, and therefore does not transmit the search response to the TV receiver 11.

When the timeout occurs, the TV receiver 11 transmits a request for searching for an application activation service to the mobile terminal 12 (T11). At this time, since the mobile terminal 12 provides the application activation service, the mobile terminal 12 transmits the search response to the TV receiver 11 (T12).

When the TV receiver 11 receives a response to search for an application activation service, the TV receiver 11 transmits an application activation request to the mobile terminal 12 (T13). At this time, the mobile terminal 12 transmits a request for downloading a web application corresponding to the UI service to the external server 16 (T14), and the web application is downloaded from the external server 16 (T15). Then, the mobile terminal 12 performs a service registration process (T16).

FIG. 7 shows an example of the operation related to the UI service registration process (T16) in the mobile terminal 12. In the illustrated example, the downloaded web application performs the registration process using the UPnP mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 7, the HTML browser 52 activates the downloaded web application (T20). Next, the web application of the HTML browser 52 transmits a search request for an application activation service to the SSDP server 50 (T21) and receives a response to the search (T22). Thereby, the said web application can judge that the mobile terminal 12 has an application starting service, ie, the application management part 53 is provided.

Next, the web application of the HTML browser 52 transmits a request for registration of the UI service to the application management unit 53 via the web server 51 (T23) (T24). As a result, the application management unit 53 can grasp the contents of the UI service provided by the web application. Therefore, a new URL (function identification information) is assigned to the UI service (T25), and the contents of the UI service are provided. Is registered in the service DB of the storage unit 41 (T26).

Next, the application management unit 53 transmits a service registration response to the HTML browser 52 via the Web server 51 (T27) (T28). At this time, the URL of the UI service is notified to the HTML browser 52 via the Web server 51.

Then, the web application of the HTML browser 52 transmits a request for waiting for an action from the client (control point) to the web server 51 with the URL of the UI service. Thus, the service registration process is completed, and the process returns to the routine shown in FIG.

It should be noted that a function may be provided in which the HTML browser 52 directly transmits a service registration request to the application management unit 53, and the application management unit 53 directly transmits a service registration response to the HTML browser 52. In this case, steps T21 to T24, T27, and T28 in FIG. 7 can be omitted.

Next, the mobile terminal 12 transmits an application activation response to the TV receiver 11 (T17). At this time, the TV receiver 11 transmits a search request for the UI service to the mobile terminal 12 as in step T10. At this time, since the mobile terminal 12 provides the UI service, the mobile terminal 12 transmits a search response to the TV receiver 11 (T19). Thereby, the TV receiver 11 can use the UI service.

[Modification 1-1]
In this embodiment, the TV receiver 11 makes a request for searching for an application activation service when there is no response to search for a UI service (S10 to S13, T10 / T11). Regardless of whether or not there is a response, the search for the application activation service may be requested. This is suitable when the TV receiver 11 is connected to a plurality of mobile terminals 12, for example, when coupons are distributed to the mobile terminals 12 of all viewers of a certain broadcast program.

[Modification 1-2]
Further, the mobile terminal 12 may terminate the UI service by the web application in accordance with a termination instruction from the outside such as the TV receiver 11 or the user, or a termination instruction from the inside of the web application or the like.

Specifically, the application management unit 53 deletes the content of the UI service from the service DB of the storage unit 41 based on the termination instruction, instructs the HTML browser 52 to stop the web application, and the UI. The Web server 51 is instructed to cancel the assignment of the URL to the service. At this time, the application management unit 53 preferably instructs the HTML browser 52 to delete the web application. Thereby, the resource which can be utilized in the HTML browser 52 can be returned to the state before downloading the said web application.

[Embodiment 2]
Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the network system 10 of the present embodiment, the TV receiver 11 functions as a UPnP device (UPnP device), while the mobile terminal 12 functions as a UPnP control point.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 of the TV receiver 11 includes an SSDP server 50, a Web server 51, an HTML browser 52, and an application management unit 53. On the other hand, the control unit 40 of the mobile terminal 12 includes a service information acquisition unit 30, a service control unit 31, and an additional service request unit 32. In this manner, any information device connected to the LAN 13 can function as a UPnP device or function as a control point.

[Modification 2]
The display screens of the TV receiver 11 and the mobile terminal 12 are greatly different in size, resolution, display gradation, and the like. For this reason, it is desirable that the UI service provided by the TV receiver 11 and the UI service provided by the mobile terminal 12 are different. That is, it is desirable that the UPnP service provided by the information device corresponds to the type of the information device.

Therefore, in this modified example, there are a plurality of web applications for providing the UI service, which differ depending on the type of information device. Then, the HTML browser 52 selects and activates a web application corresponding to the type of its own device among the plurality of web applications.

The following methods can be considered for this.
(1) The downloaded web application itself determines the type of information device as a download destination, and activates the web application corresponding to the determined type.
(2) When the external server 16 receives an HTTP request as a request for downloading a web application, the type of the information device that is the request source is determined, and the web application corresponding to the determined type is transmitted to the request source.
(3) The name of the application activation service (UPnP service name) is changed according to the type of information device. Then, a search for an application activation service is requested with the UPnP service name corresponding to the type of information device that activates the web application.
(4) The name of the application activation service (UPnP service name) is changed according to the type of information device. And in the request | requirement of starting of an application, UPnP service name corresponding to the said web application is transmitted to the said information apparatus with URL for acquiring a web application. The information device determines whether or not the UPnP service name corresponds to the type of the information device, and when it corresponds, downloads the web application from the external server 16.

The UPnP service name is, for example, “urn: schemas-upnp-org: service: MobileXXXX” for a mobile terminal, and “urn: schemas-upnp-org: Use a naming convention such as “service: TvXXXX”. In this case, the type of the corresponding information device can be easily specified. In practice, the above methods (1) and (2) have a problem of response speed, so it is desirable to adopt the above methods (3) and (4).

In hybrid cast, applications that can be executed simultaneously with the broadcast video being displayed are limited by AIT (application control information) sent together with the broadcast. Therefore, it is also possible to limit the web application to be activated by determining whether or not the URL of the application described in the information.

[Embodiment 3]
Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the network system 10 of the present embodiment, the TV receiver 11 also functions as a UPnP device and a control point, and the mobile terminal 12 also functions.

By the way, in the network system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the TV receiver 11 functions as the control point, while the mobile terminal 12 functions as the UPnP device. Therefore, the TV receiver 11 can easily instruct the UI service of the mobile terminal 12 and obtain the result.

However, it is not easy for the TV receiver 11 to acquire operation information and the like created by the mobile terminal 12 when the user operates the operation unit 43 for the UI service. This is because a user operation on the UI service is performed asynchronously with an instruction from the TV receiver 11 for the UI service.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 12 can function as the control point while the TV receiver 11 can function as the UPnP device. Thereby, the mobile terminal 12 can easily transmit the operation information and the like by the user to the TV receiver 11.

(Configuration of TV receiver and mobile terminal)
FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of the TV receiver 11 of the present embodiment. Compared to the TV receiver 11 shown in FIG. 3, the illustrated TV receiver 11 includes an SSDP server 33, a Web server 34, an HTML browser 35, and an application management unit 36 in the control unit 20. Unlike the point that the service DB is stored in the storage unit 21, the other configurations are the same.

Note that the SSDP server 33, the Web server 34, the HTML browser 35, the application management unit 36, and the service DB of the storage unit 21 of the present embodiment are respectively the SSDP server 50, the Web server 51, the HTML browser 52, and the service DB shown in FIG. Since the application management unit 53 and the service DB of the storage unit 41 are the same, description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic configuration of the mobile terminal 12 of the present embodiment. The mobile terminal 12 shown in the figure is different from the mobile terminal 12 shown in FIG. 1 in that a service information acquisition unit 54 and a service control unit 55 are added in the control unit 40, and the other configurations are the same. .

Note that the service information acquisition unit 54 and the service control unit 55 of the present embodiment function in the same manner as the service information acquisition unit 30 and the service control unit 31 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 12 does not need to have the same function as the additional service request unit 32.

(Operation in the network system 10)
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an operation related to the UI service in the network system 10 having the above configuration. First, in the TV receiver 11, the application management unit 36 instructs the HTML browser 35 to perform the same processing as steps T <b> 14 and T <b> 15 shown in FIG. 6 based on an instruction included in the broadcast program. Thereby, the HTML browser 35 downloads a web application (hereinafter referred to as “receiver application”) corresponding to a UI service (hereinafter referred to as “receiver UI service”) for itself. The request is transmitted to the external server 16 and the receiver application is downloaded from the external server 16.

Next, in the TV receiver 11, the SSDP server 33, the Web server 34, the HTML browser 35, and the application management unit 36 execute a sequence similar to the sequence shown in FIG. 7 to activate the receiver application. The receiver UI service registration processing based on the above is performed.

Next, in the TV receiver 11, the receiver application executes the process shown in FIG. Thereby, the sequence shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is executed. As a result, in the mobile terminal 12, a web application (hereinafter referred to as “terminal application”) corresponding to a UI service (hereinafter referred to as “terminal UI service”) for its own device is activated, and the above-mentioned. The terminal UI service is registered. Thereby, the receiver application can use the terminal UI service by the terminal application.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the terminal application of the mobile terminal 12 transmits a UI service search request to the TV receiver 11 (T30). At this time, since the TV receiver 11 has already provided the receiver UI service, the SSDP server 33 transmits the search response to the mobile terminal 12 (T31). Thereby, the terminal application can use the receiver UI service by the receiver application.

Therefore, the terminal application of the mobile terminal 12 can transmit a request to execute the receiver UI service of the TV receiver 11 (T32) and receive a response (T33). Conversely, the receiver application of the TV receiver 11 can transmit a request for execution of the terminal UI service of the mobile terminal 12 (T34) and receive a response (T35). This makes it possible to link a new service provided to both the TV receiver 11 and the mobile terminal 12.

[Example of software implementation]
The control blocks (particularly the control units 20 and 40) of the TV receiver 11 and the mobile terminal 12 may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or a CPU (Central Processing). Unit) and may be realized by software.

In the latter case, the TV receiver 11 and the mobile terminal 12 include a CPU that executes instructions of a program that is software that realizes each function, and a ROM (in which the program and various data are recorded so as to be readable by a computer (or CPU)). Read Only Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (RandomAccess） Memory) for expanding the program, and the like. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via an arbitrary transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Summary]
The controlled device (mobile terminal 12 / TV receiver 11) according to aspect 1 of the present invention has one or more functions (UPnP service) that the control device (TV receiver 11 / mobile terminal 12) can control via the LAN. ), A storage device (storage units 21 and 41) that stores the identification information (URL) of the function, and a function information providing unit (SSDP) that provides the identification information of the function on the LAN. When the server 50) and the control device request a new function via the LAN, acquisition information (web application) for introducing the new function is acquired from a resource on the Internet (external server 16), Based on the acquired introduction information, a function introduction unit (HTML browser 52 / application management unit 53) for introducing the new function, and identification of the new function introduced by the function introduction unit It is a structure provided with the function information addition part (application management part 53) which adds information to the said storage device.

According to the above configuration, when a new function is requested from the control device via the LAN, introduction information for introducing the new function is acquired from resources on the Internet, and based on the acquired introduction information, The new function is introduced, and identification information of the introduced new function is added to the storage device. The identification information of the new function is provided on the LAN, so that the control device can discover and control the new function.

The function information providing unit may be provided to the control device via the LAN, or may be provided to an information device that collects information on the function. In addition, the function information providing unit may notify based on a request from the control device, or may broadcast at the time of connection to the LAN.

In the controlled device according to aspect 2 of the present invention, in the above aspect 1, the new function is preferably realized by a web application executed on a browser. In this case, the new function can be introduced in any controlled device having a browser.

In the controlled device according to aspect 3 of the present invention, in the

above aspect

1 or 2, the function introduction unit may select and introduce one of the plurality of new functions corresponding to the type of the own device. Good. In this case, a function corresponding to the type of the device can be introduced.

In the controlled device according to aspect 4 of the present invention, in any of the above aspects 1 to 3, the function introduction unit and the function information addition unit are preferably realized by a web application executed on a browser. . In this case, the present invention can be applied to any information device having a browser.

A control device according to aspect 5 of the present invention is a control device that controls one or more functions in a controlled device via a LAN, and a function information acquisition unit that acquires identification information of the function from the LAN ( A service information acquisition unit 30), a function control unit (service control unit 51) for controlling the desired function via the LAN based on the function identification information acquired by the function information acquisition unit, An additional request unit (additional service request unit 52) that requests via the LAN so that the control device adds a new function, the function information acquisition unit, after the request of the addition request unit, In this configuration, the function identification information is reacquired from the LAN.

According to the above configuration, the controlled device requests via the LAN to add a new function, and then re-acquires identification information of the function from the LAN. At this time, if a new function is added to the controlled apparatus, the identification information of the new function can be acquired, so that the new function can be controlled via the LAN.

In the control device according to aspect 6 of the present invention, in the above aspect 5, the addition request unit includes a case where information on a desired function is not included in the function information acquired by the function information acquisition unit. The request may be made.

In the control device according to aspect 7 of the present invention, in the above aspect 5, the addition request unit acquires introduction information for the controlled device to introduce the new function from resources on the Internet, and acquires the introduction The request may be made when the function information acquisition unit acquires identification information of a function introduction unit that introduces the new function based on the information.

In the control device according to aspect 8 of the present invention, in any of the above aspects 5 to 7, the addition request unit selects the type of the controlled device to which a new function should be added, and performs the request. May be. In this case, the control device can limit the controlled device to which the new function is added according to the type of the controlled device.

In addition, if it is an information apparatus provided with the controlled apparatus of the said structure, and the control apparatus of the said structure, there can exist an effect similar to the above-mentioned.

Further, if the controlled device having the above configuration and the control device having the above configuration are connected to be communicable via a LAN, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

Note that a network system in which a plurality of information devices including the controlled device having the above-described configuration and the control device having the above-described configuration is connected to be communicable via a LAN is preferable. In this case, for example, the first information device can discover and control a new function introduced into the second information device, while the second information device is introduced into the first information device. Discover and control new functions. This makes it possible to link new functions introduced to a plurality of information devices.

The controlled device according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the controlled device is realized by the computer by operating the computer as each unit included in the controlled device. A control program for the control device and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

In addition, the control device according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the control device that causes the computer to be realized by causing the computer to operate as each unit included in the control device. These control programs and computer-readable recording media on which the control programs are recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

A control method of a controlled device according to aspect 9 of the present invention is a control method of a controlled device having one or more functions that the control device can control via a LAN, and the function stored in a storage device Function information providing step for providing the identification information on the LAN, and when the control device requests a new function via the LAN, the introduction information for introducing the new function is obtained from resources on the Internet. And a function introduction step for introducing the new function based on the acquired introduction information, and a function information addition step for adding identification information of the new function introduced in the function introduction step to the storage device. Is the method. In this case, the same effects as those of the first aspect are obtained.

A control method for a control device according to aspect 10 of the present invention is a control method for a control device that controls one or more functions in a controlled device via a LAN, and obtains identification information of the function from the LAN. A function information acquisition step, a function control step for controlling the desired function via the LAN based on the function identification information acquired in the function information acquisition step, and An additional request step for requesting via the LAN to add a function, and the function information acquisition step acquires identification information of the new function from the LAN after the request in the addition request step. It is a method to do. In this case, the same effect as in the fifth aspect is obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, a new technical feature can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

In the present invention, when a new function is requested from a control device via a LAN, introduction information for introducing the new function is acquired from a resource on the Internet, and the new information is obtained based on the acquired introduction information. When the new function is introduced, the identification information of the introduced new function is added to the storage device, and the identification information of the new function is provided on the LAN, so that the control device performs the new function. Since it can be discovered and controlled, the present invention can be applied to any information device connected to the LAN.

10 Network system 11 TV receiver (control device, controlled device)
12 Mobile terminals (controlled devices, control devices)
13 LAN
14 router 15 internet 16 external server 20/40 control unit 21/41 storage unit (storage device)
23/43 Operation unit 24/44 Display unit 30/54 Service information acquisition unit (function information acquisition unit)
31.55 Service Control Unit (Function Control Unit)
32 Additional service request section (addition request section)
33 ・ 50 SSDP Server (Function Information Provider)
34/51 Web server 35/52 HTML browser (function introduction part)
36/53 Application Management Department (Function Introduction Department, Function Information Addition Department)

Claims

A controlled device having one or more functions that can be controlled by a control device via a LAN,
A storage device for storing identification information of the function;
A function information providing unit for providing identification information of the function on the LAN;
When the control device requests a new function via the LAN, the control apparatus acquires introduction information for introducing the new function from resources on the Internet, and introduces the new function based on the acquired introduction information. Function introduction part,
A controlled apparatus comprising: a function information adding unit that adds identification information of a new function introduced by the function introducing unit to the storage device.
2. The controlled device according to claim 1, wherein the function introduction unit selects and introduces a plurality of the new functions corresponding to the type of the device itself.
A control device that controls one or more functions in a controlled device via a LAN,
A function information acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of the function from the LAN;
A function control unit that controls the desired function via the LAN based on the function identification information acquired by the function information acquisition unit;
An addition request unit that requests via the LAN so that the controlled device adds a new function;
The function information acquisition unit re-acquires the function identification information from the LAN after the request from the addition request unit.
4. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the addition request unit makes a request by selecting a type of the controlled device to which a new function is to be added.
An information device comprising the controlled device according to claim 1 or 2 and the control device according to claim 3 or 4.