Information processing device having a communication function of performing a network connection via a wireless relay apparatus and computer readable medium for recording associated instructions

Information processing device with communication function for implementing network connection via wireless relay equipment, and computer readable medium for recording related commands

The present invention relates to an information processing device with wireless communication function. In addition, the present invention relates to a program that is suitable for use in small electronic devices, such as notebook personal computers and PDAs, etc., which are easy to carry , And has wireless communication capabilities.

Generally, an information processing device (for example, a personal computer) includes a network device, such as a wired LAN device, which is used to connect the information processing device to the network. By connecting the information processing device to the network (for example, the Internet), it becomes possible to obtain information from other computers on the network, and to share the information among other computers. Many computers use operating systems that support the network connection function. With this configuration, the current user does not have technical knowledge about the network, and the information processing device can be easily connected to the network (for example, the Internet).

Recently, small information processing devices (for example, notebook personal computers and PDAs) have the function of finding wireless LAN access points (which exist in the environment under system requirements), and implementing connections to the network (for example, See Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 10-89980).

These devices look for an access point. First, when connecting to the access point of the wireless LAN, the access point is communicable, and then the connection is made. However, in this case, the found ID and type of the access point cannot be easily identified.

The object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device and program, in which the type of the access point that has been found can be easily identified, and the user is notified when the access point is found. Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device and program, which expand useful functions by recording and controlling the found access points.

The information processing device according to the aspect of the present invention has the function of implementing a network connection via a wireless relay device, and is characterized by comprising: a first unit for searching for the wireless relay device; and a second unit for displaying information. When the first unit searches for the wireless relay device, the second unit characterizes it according to the identification information of the wireless relay device. The present invention can also be achieved by methods, computer programs, and the like.

According to the present invention, for example, in a portable information processing device, when looking for, for example, the access point of the wireless LAN of the wireless relay device (when receiving from When the beacon sent by the access point), the identification information (for example, SSID, BSSID, etc.) of the found access point is gathered under predetermined conditions, and the search frequency is updated. When searching for an access point, for example, various messages can be displayed according to the search frequency of the access point. In addition, as a function extension, it is possible to provide a function that can easily set the communication environment of the place of use based on the displayed information.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the figures.

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration to explain the outline outline of the function of the information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a communication environment shown in the system configuration shown in Fig. 1 Next, a graphic of a terminal operation example.

Wireless LAN access areas A, B, and C, each area constitutes a communication network via the IP network 10, as shown in Figure 1. Servers, such as printers, networks, and files, and wireless LAN access points (AP) 20 are provided to the wireless LAN access areas A, B, and C.

A terminal defined as a client is achieved by, for example, a portable personal computer (PC) 30. The personal computer 30 has access to the various servers mentioned above, and in addition, it is connected to the wireless LAN by wireless LAN. Take the IP network 10 connected to the access point 20 in the zone to implement the communication function of the network connection with any device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, when the personal computer 30 searches for the access points 20 of the wireless LAN access areas A, B, and C, the personal computer 30 gathers the access points found under predetermined conditions Identification information on 20 (SSID, BSSID, etc.). Then, the personal computer 30 updates and controls the search frequency of the access point 20 found on the database (DB) 31, and displays it according to the search frequency of the access point 20. For example, various messages are displayed on the display unit 32. SSID (extended service set unit (identity)) is an ID (identification information) used to group access points, etc., and BSSID (basic service set unit) is used to identify communication terminals in the MAC layer, etc. The ID, SSID, and BSSID can be identified by receiving a beacon (RB) sent from the access point 20, respectively.

The device according to the first embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration, when the access point 20 is found (that is, when the beacon (RB) sent from the access point 20 is received), with a predetermined The form is made and prepared (maintained) to inform the user of the display information of the status (in addition, it is used to set the found access point as a usable environment). Moreover, when the access point 20 is found, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a specific text (information window) that can easily recognize the type of the access point prepared in advance is displayed during a predetermined period of time. In addition, in this case, the specific text is characterized and displayed according to the search frequency of the access point, for example, the size and color of the displayed text are changed according to the search frequency of the access point. Alternatively, two or more different texts are provided for each stage corresponding to the search frequency of the access point, and the text to be displayed is switched according to the search frequency of the access point and displayed to the user. In addition, it becomes possible to set the optimal communication profile by defining the displayed text as an operation icon, and this optimal communication profile is suitable for the current communication environment and the corresponding icon operation.

The device according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration, respectively storing information related to the access point 20 in a database (DB) 31, which can be found by the personal computer 30, and is previously accessed via a communication network. Download to a predetermined storage area. Then, when the access point 20 is found, information related to the access point 20 is obtained from the database 31, and the corresponding information according to the search frequency of the access point is characterized and displayed during a predetermined period of time. For example, when a beacon (RB) from the access point (A) 20 in the wireless LAN access area A is received, the service information corresponding to the search frequency of the corresponding access point (A) 20 is displayed. Moreover, when a beacon (RB) 20 from the access point (B) in the wireless LAN access area B is received, the peculiar advertisement information corresponding to the access point (B) 20 is displayed, and when stored from the wireless LAN When the access point (C) 20 in the access area C receives the beacon (RB), if, for example, the search frequency of the corresponding access point (C) is more than a predetermined value, it is determined that the user has already Whether the registered day is a birthday. When that day is a birthday, the performance and introduction of birthday messages and other information and birthday gifts are displayed during the scheduled time period. In addition, for example, in relation to the above-mentioned search frequency, the service based on time zone, morning/afternoon, day of the week, day of the week, period, birthday, and weather information and sales guide are displayed during the predetermined time period. and many more.

The search frequency of the access point can be updated by, for example, the following situation.

(1) In the operation mode that can receive the beacon (RB) from the access point 20, in a predetermined time interval (for example, every 30 minutes and every 1 hour, etc.);

(2) When the receiving environment of the beacon (RB) changes, there is no change during the predetermined time period;

(3) At a predetermined time interval (for example, every 10 minutes, etc.) by specifying the time zone; and

(4) Under other conditions.

Next, the configuration of the above-mentioned personal computer 30 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the personal computer 30 includes a CPU 101, a host bridge 102, a main memory 103, a display controller 104, a system controller 105, a hard disk drive (HDD) 106, a wired LAN device 107, and a wireless LAN device 108. BIOS-ROM 110, and built-in controller/keyboard controller IC (EC/KBC) 111, etc.

The CPU 101 is a processor configured to control the operation of the computer and execute various application programs/utilities downloaded from the hard disk drive (HDD) 106 on the main memory 103. Moreover, the CPU 101 executes the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) stored in the BIOS-ROM 110, and the CPU 101 executes the communication control stored in the main memory 103 according to a predetermined set condition (for example, in a fixed time interval) The program 130 executes application processing related to the communication service shown in FIG. 5 (first embodiment) or FIG. 7 (second embodiment) described in detail later (see FIGS. 5 and 7).

The communication control program 130 is pre-installed on the personal computer 30 as one of the public programs. This communication control program 130 controls the communication of the corresponding computer, and includes, for example, registering and storing the network setting environment at each user site (For example, a house or office) function, in which the communication environments are different from each other as the communication profile, the function of automatically setting the network as the best communication environment by using the above communication profile, and the function of making the cable in the wired The function of automatically switching to the wired network when disconnected in the network connection state. Here, as the above-mentioned communication profile, the following items can be optionally set according to the communication environment to be used: profile name, annotations to the profile, icons, capture items (Internet settings; proxy Settings, and start webpages, etc., devices; wired network devices, wireless network devices, and infrared devices, etc., TCP/IP settings; DHCP, IP address, subnet mask, default inter-network connector, DNS Server, and WINS server, etc.), and The program starts after switching.

In addition, the communication control program 130 has application functions related to the communication service that memorizes and controls the search frequency of each access point 20 that can communicate (see Figures 5 and 7), and when the access point 20 is found, it is based on The search frequency of the corresponding access point 20 during a predetermined time period is used to display the functions of various information items related to the use of each found access point in a display form (which is characterized according to the search frequency). In this case, when the wireless LAN device 108 receives the beacon (RB) from the access point 20, the wireless LAN device 108 obtains the identification code (BSSID/SSID) of the access point 20 that has received the beacon (RB) ). The wireless LAN device 108 registers the found access point 20 (that has received the beacon (RB)) in the database (DB) 31, calculates the number of search frequencies of each registered access point 20, and manages the search frequency On the database 31, the database 31 is managed on the HDD 106 by the communication control program 130. In addition, in the first embodiment of the present invention, when the access point 20 is found, the search frequency of the found access point 20 is obtained from the aforementioned database 31.

The specific text prepared in advance (one example is shown in Figure 1) is characterized according to the search frequency of the access point (by changing the font size and color, etc.), and is displayed during a predetermined period of time On the display unit 32. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the communication control program 130 includes a processing example sequence that generates the above-mentioned specific text. The communication control program 130 containing application functions based on the communication service can be regarded as an independent program.

The host bridge 102 is a bridge device connected between the local bus of the CPU 101 and the system controller 105. The host bridge 102 combines with a memory controller to control access to the main memory 103, and the display controller 104 The control display unit (DISP) 32, for example, uses an LCD used as a display monitor of a computer.

The system controller 105 controls each device on the PCI bus and each device on the ISA bus. In addition, the system controller 105 combines with the IDE controller to control the HDD 106, and the HDD 106 has a memory database (DB), which achieves application functions related to communication services, and is managed by the communication control program 130.

The wired LAN device 107 is a wired network device that connects the device and the wired network, and the wired LAN device 107 communicates with the wired network through the wired LAN cable connected to the LAN connector 106.

The wireless LAN device 108 is a wireless network device that connects the device and a wireless network, and has a baseband unit and an RF unit. The RF unit transmits and receives wireless signals via an antenna (ANT) 109. The wireless LAN device 108, for example, implements wireless communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11a/IEEE 802.11 standards. In this embodiment, when a beacon (RB) transmitted from the access point 20 is received, the wireless LAN device 108 notifies the CPU 101.

The built-in controller/keyboard controller IC (EC/KBC) 111 is a single-chip microcomputer, and the built-in controller for power control and the keyboard controller for controlling the keyboard 13 are integrated in this single-chip microcomputer. The Tibetan controller/keyboard controller IC (EC/KBC) 111 has the function of turning on/off the computer according to the operation of the power button by the user.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the database 31 managed by the communication control program 130 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The database according to the first embodiment is displayed with a reference number 31 (A). In the first embodiment, the identification code (SSID/BSSID) and the search frequency (counter) of the found access point 20 are associated under the control of the CPU 101, and are stored in the database 31, and by Management number (No.) to manage. As described above, by using the software processing of the communication control program 130 to generate a specific text that presents the found access point 20 to the user, multiple text data corresponding to the search frequency can be stored in the main memory 103 in advance. Or HDD 106.

FIG. 5 shows the processing procedure in the first embodiment of application processing based on the communication service in the communication control program 130.

In the application related to the communication service in the first embodiment, the CPU 101 executes the application processing related to the communication service shown in FIG. 5 at predetermined time intervals, which is included in the communication control program 130 described above. In this process, when the wireless LAN device 108 receives a notification of a beacon (RB) sent from the access point 20 in a certain wireless LAN access area (for example, wireless LAN access area A) ( Step S11 in FIG. 5), the CPU 101 obtains the identification code (SSID/BSSID) of the found access point 20 according to the corresponding beacon (RB) (Step S12 in FIG. 5). If the identification code of the corresponding access point 20 has been registered in the database 31(A) shown in FIG. 4, the count of the access point 20 is increased, and the search frequency is updated. On the other hand, if the identification code (SSID/BSSID) of the found access point 20 is not registered in the database 31(A), the identification code of the found access point 20 is registered in the database 31(A) )middle. In this case, the search frequency "1" is set to count the number of search frequencies (step S13 in FIG. 5).

In addition, when the access point 20 is found, the CPU 101 characterizes the pre-prepared specific text shown in FIG. The text is displayed on the screen of the display unit 32 during a fixed period of time (step S14 in FIG. 5). For example, the size of the displayed text (for example, the information window) gradually changes according to the search frequency of the access point. Or, the display color of the displayed text is gradually changed according to the search frequency of the access point. Alternatively, different texts are prepared in each of the two or more steps corresponding to the search frequency of the access point, and the text to be displayed is switched according to the search frequency of the access point. In addition, the displayed text is defined as an operation icon, and it supports the switching of the best communication profile set to suit the current communication environment and the operation of the corresponding icon.

With application processing functions based on such communication services, in various communication environments that will be frequently used, the current communication environment and various service information, etc., can be provided to users before network connection. In addition, It is also possible to individually present the original information in each wireless LAN access area A, B, and C by changing the search frequency set for each wireless LAN access area A, B, and C. An example is shown in Figures 8A and 8B. In this example, the switch operation button is provided to the information window, and when the switch operation button is clicked, it starts to switch to the outline of the service provider, according to the access point 20 An example of gradually providing different texts by searching for frequencies is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 9A is an example when the service information is gradually changed according to the searching frequency of the access point 20, and FIG. 9B is the searching according to the access point 20 Examples of words that grow with frequency.

The second embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the second embodiment, the personal computer 30 downloads the database 31 so as to provide the wireless LAN access areas A, B, and C or specific wireless LAN access areas that can be communicated in advance via the communication network. Application functions related to communication services to a predetermined storage area. When searching for the access point 20 in the wireless LAN access area, the personal computer 30 obtains the information associated with the access point 20 from the database 31, and corresponds to the access point's search frequency. The information is characterized and displayed during a predetermined period of time. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the database 31 remembers what information is displayed under what conditions by associating them to set the identification code (SSID/BSSID) and counter (to count the number of search frequencies) ) Conditions and information, specific examples of such conditions and so on will be described later.

Fig. 7 shows a procedure of application processing related to the communication service of the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the application processing related to the communication service in the second embodiment, when the wireless LAN device 108 receives a transmission from an access point in a certain wireless LAN access area (for example, wireless LAN access area A) When the beacon (RB) of 20 is notified (step S21 in FIG. 7), the CPU 101 obtains the identification code (SSID/BSSID) of the found access point 20 (SSID/BSSID) according to the corresponding beacon (RB) (FIG. 7) Step S22). If the identification code of the corresponding access point 20 has been registered in the database 31(B) shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 101 increments the search frequency and updates the count of the access point 20 (step of FIG. 5 S13). If the identification code (SSID/BSSID) of the found access point 20 is not registered in the database 31(B), the CPU 101 invalidates the identification code of the found access point 20 or registers it in the database 31(B), and implement the same service as the first embodiment.

In addition, if when searching for the access point 20, the found access point 20 is registered in the aforementioned database 31(B), the CPU 101 obtains the search frequency, conditions, and conditions associated with the access point 20. And display information and so on. Then, the CPU 101 compares the conditions (step S24 in FIG. 7), and if the conditions match, it characterizes the corresponding display information according to the search frequency, and displays it on the screen of the display unit 32 during a predetermined period of time ( "Yes" of step S25 in FIG. 7 and step S25). For example, when the period is set (defined) in the condition, if the access point 20 originally found is within the set period, the CPU 101 characterizes the corresponding display information on the database 31(B) according to the search frequency, and displays it on the screen of the display unit 32. By using, for example, the data information managed by the computer 30 to implement the information for condition comparison, when the time zone, morning/afternoon, day of the week, day of the week, and season, etc. are set, implement the same as described above Similar display. When the service type, the advertisement type, and the advertisement type corresponding to the search frequency are set as conditions, in addition to the content, the service information, advertisement information, and advertisement information that changes according to the search frequency, etc. can be It is displayed on the screen of the display unit 32. An example is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, respectively. FIG. 9A is an example of gradually changing the service information according to the search frequency of the access point 20, and FIG. 9B is an example of text that grows according to the search frequency of the access point 20 . The above information is shown as an example, it is possible to provide various information, such as maintenance-related information, and various guide information.

As described above, according to the present invention, the type of the found access point can be easily recognized, and the user can be notified when the access point is found. In addition, it can provide an information processing device that expands useful functions by recording and controlling the found access points.

Those who are accustomed to this skill will easily think of other advantages and modifications. Therefore, the present invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative devices, and examples shown and described here. Illustrated example. Therefore, various amendments can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the additional patent application scope and its equivalents.

<p>10. . . IP network</p><p>20. . . Wireless LAN Access Point (AP)</p><p>30. . . Personal computer (PC)</p><p>31, 31(A), 31(B). . . Database (DB)</p><p>32. . . Display unit</p><p>101. . . Central processing unit</p><p>102. . . Host bridge</p><p>103. . . Main memory</p><p>104. . . Display controller</p><p>105. . . System controller</p><p>106. . . Hard Disk Drive (HDD)</p><p>107. . . Wired LAN device</p><p>108. . . Wireless LAN device</p><p>110. . . Basic Input Output System-Read Only Memory</p><p>111. . . Built-in controller/keyboard controller integrated circuit (EC/KBC)</p><p>130. . . Communication control program</p><p>109. . . Antenna (ANT)</p><p>13. . . keyboard</p>

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the entire network system to explain the outline outline of the function of the information processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the information processing device according to the embodiment in the communication environment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the database according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the processing procedure of the communication service application according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a database according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the processing procedure of the communication service application according to the second embodiment;

8A and 8B are diagrams showing examples of text configuration according to the above-mentioned various embodiments; and

9A and 9B are diagrams showing examples of text configuration according to the above-mentioned various embodiments.