Communication device and its method

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a communication device used in an ad hoc network environment and a method thereof.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

As represented by the WWW (World Wide Web), the number of Internet users has increased dramatically in recent years. The Internet allows you to exchange data between any computer connected to it, or to access and use the services provided by a computer. For example, on the WWW, users can browse data published by various computers connected to the Internet specified by URLs by entering an address called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) in a browser. Will be. In addition to the WWW, you can also use services such as FTP to send and receive e-mails and exchange files with other computers by accessing the mail server.

【0003】

These applications such as WWW are server-client type systems in which the roles are divided between the server that provides the service and the client that uses the service, but other types of applications also run on the Internet. For example, in an electronic conferencing system implemented in the T.120 Recommendation standardized in ITU-T, at least from the user's perspective, multiple people are attending a conference as well as exchanging data with a particular server. You can send files and share still images with your computer.

【0004】

In order to use these applications, the user needs to know the address of the other terminal by some means and enter or set it. In the case of WWW, it is necessary to enter the URL in the browser, and in order to use e-mail, it is necessary to set the address of the mail server in the e-mail application. Since the address of the mail server is rarely changed, it is usually set by asking the administrator of the mail server for the address.

【0005】

While the use of networks such as the Internet has become popular, advances in device technology and the like have made it possible to realize information devices that are compact and can be carried comfortably. In addition, with the progress of wireless technology, mobile communication systems and wireless LANs represented by mobile phones and the like have become widespread. Under such circumstances, the development of ad hoc network technology that creates a network environment by carrying information devices without making special settings in advance has become active.

【0006】

It is desired that various applications can be used in ad hoc networks as well as conventional networks. However, in ad hoc networks, there are situations in which it is not possible to know in advance what kind of terminals exist. Also, it is difficult to ask someone in advance because the computer address may be different each time.

【0007】

For example, as described in the Windows 98® First Steps Guide, Microsoft operating systems allow users to view a list of properly configured devices that are networked as network computers. Therefore, it is possible to know the devices that can be connected even in the ad hoc network. However, a computer that can be seen as a network computer can only access the computer's local file system and cannot run other applications.

【0008】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By using features such as the network computer of Microsoft's operating system, users will be able to know which computers are in the vicinity and can communicate. However, when actually executing an application, there is a problem that not only the addresses of the computers gathered in the ad hoc network are not known, but also what kind of function it can perform is not known.

【0009】

In the following, the functions provided to other communication devices such as the computer being a mail server, the FTP server running, and the electronic conferencing application being able to be executed, and the functions to be executed when performing communication are referred to as "services". I will call it. Since it is not expected that all computers have the same configuration in reality, it is difficult to know in advance about the services that other computers can provide.

【0010】

Another problem is that it is difficult to simply select a desired computer from the list of computers even when there are a large number of computers that exist in the vicinity and can communicate with each other.

【0011】

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a means for allowing a user to easily specify an appropriate communication partner in an ad hoc generated network environment.

【0012】

[Means for solving problems]

The invention of claim 1 is a detection means for detecting a communication device capable of communicating with its own communication device, an attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information of the communication device detected by the detection means, and the attribute information acquisition means. A selection means for selecting one or a plurality of communication devices useful for the operation of the own communication device from the communication devices detected by the detection means and a selection means by the selection means based on the attribute information acquired by the detection means. The communication device is characterized by having a display means for displaying identification information for identifying the communication device.

【0013】

The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information is information related to services such as tasks and information that can be provided by the communication device detected by the detection means. Is.

【0014】

The invention of claim 3 has a service designation means for designating one service from a plurality of services, and the selection means is a communication capable of providing the service designated by the service designation means. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the device is selected based on the attribute information.

【0015】

The invention of claim 4 is a detection means for detecting a communication device capable of communicating with its own communication device, a display means for displaying identification information for identifying the communication device detected by the detection means, and the display means. The communication device is characterized by having an application execution command transmitting means for transmitting command information for causing the communication device displayed in the above to execute a predetermined application.

【0016】

The invention of claim 5 is a case where a detection means for detecting a communication device capable of communicating with its own communication device and instruction information for executing a predetermined application are received from one communication device detected by the detection means. It is a communication device characterized by having an application execution command receiving means for executing the application.

【0017】

The invention of claim 6 has a detection step of detecting a communication device capable of communicating with its own communication device, an attribute information acquisition step of acquiring attribute information of the communication device detected by the detection step, and the attribute information acquisition step. A selection step of selecting one or more communication devices useful for the operation of the own communication device from the communication devices detected by the detection step based on the attribute information acquired by the detection step, and a selection step of the selection step. It is a communication method characterized by having a display step for displaying identification information for identifying a communication device.

【0018】

The invention of claim 7 is a detection step for detecting a communication device capable of communicating with its own communication device, a display step for displaying identification information for identifying the communication device detected by the detection step, and the display step. The communication method is characterized by having an application execution command transmission step for transmitting command information for causing the communication device displayed in the above to execute a predetermined application.

【0019】

The invention of claim 8 is a detection step for detecting a communication device capable of communicating with its own communication device, and a command information for executing a predetermined application from one communication device detected by the detection step. It is a communication method characterized by having an application execution command receiving step for executing the application.

【0020】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

【0021】

(First Embodiment) The communication device of the first embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as self-device) detects a communication device (hereinafter, another person's device) which is an information device such as a computer or a mobile phone existing in the vicinity, and detects the communication device. It has a display unit that notifies the user of the detected other person's device and enables selection of a desired communication partner.

【0022】

When the self-device detects another person's device around it, it acquires the attribute information of the other person's device and displays only the other person's device selected from the detected other person's devices according to the attribute information. The "attribute information" includes services realized by other human devices. The acquisition of this attribute information may be a list of items that satisfy the conditions, or may be acquired in the form of whether or not the attribute is sent from the self-device to be displayed and whether or not the attribute is supported. Good.

【0023】

Further, by allowing the user to specify the attribute information used when selecting the other person's device to be displayed, it is possible to display only the other person's device in the required range each time.

【0024】

For example, if there are many other devices around you that have the attribute of being able to provide a service called a printer, you can change the condition to display other devices that are PostScript printers, so that only a smaller number of other devices can be provided. Will be displayed, allowing the user to more easily select a more appropriate other person's device.

【0025】

Further, when communicating and trying to realize some processing, a meaningful communication partner is limited according to the function provided by the own device.

【0026】

For example, for a computer that has only an FTP client function, only a computer that has an FTP server function is a meaningful connection partner.

【0027】

Therefore, for example, whether or not the electronic conferencing application is supported is information that does not matter for this FTP client, and therefore, even if such another person's device is displayed, it becomes extra information.

【0028】

Therefore, in the self-device having the FTP client function, only the other person's device selected according to the attribute of the self-device is displayed, such as displaying the other person's device having the FTP server function. This allows the user to be presented and select only potential partners.

【0029】

Such a function is not only always effective for the user, but is displayed especially when the display area has to be reduced in a physically small communication device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). It is effective because it is possible to reduce the amount of information.

【0030】

(Second Embodiment) The communication device of the second embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as self-device) is a display unit that displays a communication device (hereinafter, referred to as another person's device) recognized as being able to communicate with each other. Allows you to select one or more other people's devices from the displayed other people's devices, and if you select an application in the selected state, the selected application will be executed on each selected other person's device. It has an application execution unit.

【0031】

In a conventional application, for example, an FTP client application, the application is executed on the client computer, and then the address of the other party to be connected is input.

【0032】

However, if you select the other person's device displayed on the display and select the application in the selected state, the user must execute it by connecting to the selected other person's device and allowing the application to run. The procedure that does not become is simplified.

【0033】

In addition, it is possible to prevent an input error or the like that may occur when inputting the displayed address of another person's device into the application.

【0034】

In addition, on systems with a graphical user interface, such as those implemented by Microsoft operating systems, the application is represented by, for example, an icon. It is also possible to run an application by dragging and dropping the icon of the desired application onto the selected other person's device.

【0035】

Such a user interface enables intuitive operation and improves user convenience.

【0036】

[Example]

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

【0037】

(First Configuration Example of Communication Device) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication device (hereinafter, referred to as a self-device) 1 in this embodiment.

【0038】

The wireless communication unit 12 realizes a function of exchanging messages wirelessly with another communication device (hereinafter referred to as another person's device). For example, this part can be realized by using a technology such as a wireless LAN that uses an ISM band.

【0039】

The detection unit 14 sends a message to the wireless communication unit 12, receives a message from another person's device via the wireless communication unit 12, and executes a station discovery procedure for detecting a communicable other person's device existing in the vicinity.

【0040】

The attribute information acquisition unit 16 executes the procedure of acquiring the attribute information for each of the communicable other devices detected by the detection unit 14, and acquires the attribute information. At this time, it is also possible to acquire the attribute information in the form of whether or not the service specified by the service designation unit 20 can be provided. On the contrary, when there is communication from another person's device whether or not a certain service can be provided (reception of a Request message described later), a reply as to whether or not the service is possible (Reply message described later). Is transmitted via the wireless communication unit 12.

【0041】

The device selection unit 18 selects a communicable other device detected using the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit 16 based on the service type specified by the service specification unit 20, and outputs it to the display unit 22. To do.

【0042】

The display unit 22 displays identification information for identifying another person's device selected by the device selection unit 18, and presents the identification information to the user of the own device 1. In addition to displaying the identification information of the other person's device to the user, the user can select the other person's device from the displayed other person's devices, and the identification information of the selected other person's device is notified to the application execution unit. To do. At this time, the application execution unit 24 is also notified of information about the application selected to be executed on the selected other person's device.

【0043】

The application execution unit 24 requests each of the selected other devices to execute the same selected application based on the identification information notified from the display unit 22.

【0044】

On the side of the selected other person's device, the application execution unit 24 has a function of receiving the sent application execution request and executing the specified application on the other person's device.

【0045】

Of the modules shown in FIG. 5, the detection unit 14, the attribute information acquisition unit 16, the device selection unit 18, the service designation unit 20, and the application execution unit 24 can be implemented as software.

【0046】

Further, the display unit 22 uses a display device that the own device has for general purposes, for example, a CRT in a computer, as a display device, and instructs the display device to display an image necessary for the display device. Is also feasible as software.

【0047】

(Display example of communication device) FIG. 1 shows a screen displayed on the display unit 22 of the own device 1.

【0048】

In FIG. 1, three computers named Sato, Tanaka, and Suzuki and one printer named Printer A are displayed on the display unit 22 as communicable stranger devices.

【0049】

At this time, as other people's devices that actually exist in the surroundings and can communicate, in addition to the computer displaying Fig. 1, there are also three computers and two PDAs (information mobile terminals). .. However, for the self-device 1 which is a computer, the other person's device that is not displayed does not provide a meaningful service, so the other person's device is not displayed. This is the case when the self-device 1 can execute the electronic conference application and may print the data shared by the application, and the other person's device displayed by the user can execute the electronic conference application. This is because it is specified as another person's device that has the function of a printer.

【0050】

The same electronic conferencing application as self-device 1 is installed on the three computers displayed, and it is possible to connect to these computers to perform electronic conferencing. However, it does not appear on other hidden computers because the same electronic conferencing application is not installed.

【0051】

When the user tries to execute another application on the own device 1, it can be set to display only the computers that support the application. The display screen of the display unit 22 at this time is shown in FIG.

【0052】

In Fig. 2, only the computer named Sato and the computer named Hayashi and Takahashi, which are also displayed in Fig. 1, are displayed, but Tanaka and Suzuki, which were displayed in Fig. 1, are displayed. The computer and printer by name are not listed. In this way, by allowing the user to specify the application, only the necessary stranger devices can be displayed.

【0053】

(Procedure for displaying communication devices 1) Fig. 3 is an example of realizing the procedure for displaying other people's devices capable of selectively communicating in this way.

【0054】

First, the self-device 1 executes a station discovery procedure for discovering a communicable stranger device existing in the vicinity. An example of such a procedure can be realized by using the technique described in JP-A-7-87937.

【0055】

As a result of such a procedure, the self-device 1 executes a procedure for acquiring service information for each of the other devices found.

【0056】

First, self-device 1 sends a Request message containing information about the service.

【0057】

The other device n that received the Request message checks whether the service specified in the message can be provided, and sends the result to its own device 1 as a Reply message.

【0058】

The self-device 1 determines whether or not to display each other's device according to the result included in the received Reply message.

【0059】

In the case of such a procedure, every time the criteria for selecting another person's device to be displayed is changed, the procedure for acquiring service information is repeated for other people's devices around, but it is transmitted and received in one procedure. There is an advantage that the amount of information can be reduced.

【0060】

(Procedure 2 for displaying communication devices) As another procedure, when a Request message is received, a list of possible services can be sent as a Reply message.

【0061】

In this case, the amount of information that must be sent as a Reply message may be large, but by remembering that value, there is an advantage that you do not have to repeat the procedure even if you change the display. There is.

【0062】

(Other procedures for displaying communication devices) Further, as a procedure for acquiring such information, a conventionally known procedure, for example, Service Location Protocol (IETF Internet Draft, draft-ietf-svrloc-protocol) It is also possible to take a configuration using -17.txt) etc.

【0063】

(Second configuration example of communication device) Next, as another configuration example of the self-device 1, a case where it is displayed on a PDA having a wireless interface is shown.

【0064】

This PDA can run address book and schedule management applications. The user usually carries a PDA and uses it for schedule management, etc. In addition, it has an IrMC standard-compliant synchronization function so that the address and schedule information stored in the PDA can be shared with the computer so that the information stored in the computer can be referred to while working at the desk. And. Therefore, the communication partner that is meaningful for this PDA is another person's device that supports the synchronization function of the IrMC standard.

【0065】

In such a case, it is not necessary to change what is displayed as communicable, and it may be determined by the function provided by the PDA.

【0066】

Therefore, when the PDA discovers another person's device that can communicate with the surroundings, it inquires whether or not each discovered other person's device supports the synchronization function.

【0067】

As a result of making such an inquiry to the user, only the other person's device that provides the synchronization function is displayed.

【0068】

Since the user can select the other person's device that he / she actually wants to synchronize from the displayed other person's devices and synchronize the data, the selection becomes easier than when all the other people's devices are displayed. However, it will be possible to display sufficiently even on a self-device such as a PDA where it is difficult to secure a large space for display.

【0069】

Similar to PDA, mobile phones also have an address book stored in the address book among other communicable devices around them when connecting to copy this data to a PDA or computer. Show only other people's devices that you can manage.

【0070】

(Other display examples of communication devices) Various display formats are possible for the own device 1.

【0071】

For example, when the area that can be used for display on a mobile phone or the like is very limited, it is desirable to carry a mobile phone that presents only the names given to other people's devices as a list.

【0072】

In addition, when there is a margin in the size of the display area, the user can more intuitively select another person's device by displaying it together with an icon or the like indicating a service provided by another person's device.

【0073】

(Display example of other services of communication device) As for the service, it is of course possible to display not only the icon but also the name by a character string.

【0074】

If you want to choose from multiple other devices with the same functionality, not just what services are available, for example, there are multiple computers with electronic conferencing applications installed around them. Among them, when it is desired to connect only with a specific partner, it is possible to use information such as a face image of the owner of the computer as information representing the user.

【0075】

(Procedure for executing an application of a communication device) Next, when only another device having an appropriate attribute is displayed from among other devices that can communicate as described above, a procedure for connecting to a desired partner and executing an application is performed. Describe.

【0076】

The user selects one or more other people's devices from the surrounding other people's devices displayed as shown in Fig. 1. This selection method can take various forms depending on the operating system used, the display form, and the like.

【0077】

For example, you can select another person's device by using the mouse to select the area that contains the other person's device that you want to select.

【0078】

It is also possible to move the cursor to each other device you want to select and click the mouse.

【0079】

Alternatively, when using a computer equipped with a touch panel, it is also possible to touch the position of the displayed other person's device.

【0080】

Select one or more from the other person's devices displayed on the display unit 22 by any one of the above methods or any other method.

【0081】

If an application is selected in this state, the selected other device is connected, the application is executed on each of the connected other devices, and the user can use the application.

【0082】

The flow of this procedure is shown in Fig. 4.

【0083】

First, the user runs an application to build a network environment (step S1). However, this part can be configured to be executed all the time, for example, as a part of the operating system, or it can be set to be executed when the own device is started and the user does not explicitly instruct it.

【0084】

Then, as shown in Fig. 3, perform the station discovery procedure to check the surrounding communicable other devices (step S2). If another person's device is found in the station discovery procedure, the service information acquisition procedure is executed for each of the found other people's devices (step S3), and it is found that the appropriate service can be provided. Display the list of (step S4).

【0085】

The user selects the other person's device that he / she wants to actually communicate with from the displayed other person's device (step S5), and selects the application to be used with the other person's device (step S6).

【0086】

When such a procedure is performed, the application is executed on the selected stranger device (step S7).

【0087】

As a means for selecting an application, in addition to a method such as selecting from a menu such as a window in which a communicable other device is displayed, the following methods are also possible.

【0088】

That is, when an application is represented by a graphical element such as an icon, the application is moved by moving or dragging and dropping the icon or a copy of the icon onto the screen selected by the other party's device with which it communicates. It is also possible to specify.

【0089】

If there is only one other person's device to communicate with, the procedure for selecting the other person's device may be omitted and the icon may be dragged and dropped directly. When the application is selected in this way, the application execution unit 24 sends a message requesting execution of the application to the selected other device, and the application is executed on the other device that receives the message.

【0090】

When the services that can be provided change in a short time due to reasons such as the fact that only one application can be executed on one other person's device or the resources required to execute the application are restricted, it is actually the case. Before requesting the execution of an application, it is possible to perform a procedure to check whether the application can be executed again, and to request execution only to the devices for which the service can still be provided. ..

【0091】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, by using the present invention, even when communication devices having various functions are gathered in an ad hoc environment, a user who uses the communication device can easily connect to a desired partner by a simple operation. , You will be able to execute the required application and use its functions.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a figure which shows the display screen displayed on the display part in this Example.

[Figure 2]

It is a figure which shows the other display screen displayed on the display part in this Example.

[Fig. 3]

It is a figure which shows the procedure until the communication device to be displayed on the display part in this Example is selected.

[Fig. 4]

It is a figure which shows the procedure up to execution of an application.

[Fig. 5]

It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication device in this Example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Communication device 12 Wireless communication unit 14 Detector 16 Attribute information acquisition section 18 Device selection section 20 Service designation 22 Display 24 Application Execution Department