Communication device, control method of communication device, and storage medium

Abstract

The present application provides a communication device, a control method of the communication device, and a storage medium. The communication device includes a first communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with an image pickup device, a second communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with the image pickup device, a reception unit configured to receive a notification from the image pickup device, and a control unit configured to control whether to perform output of a notification including at least a part of an image received from the image pickup device or output of a notification not including the image received from the image pickup device, based on whether the notification is received via the first communication unit or the second communication unit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a communication device configured to wirelessly communicate with an image pickup apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0002] In recent years, some automatic image pickup cameras are known to periodically and continuously take images without an image pickup instruction from a user. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2020-92354 discusses a device including a pan-tilt mechanism for automatically searching for a subject and automatically taking an image of the subject. Since this device discussed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2020-92354 automatically takes an image based on a judgment performed by the camera, it is difficult for a user to observe from the outside of the device in real time that image pickup has been performed. Therefore, for example, at the time of wireless connection establishment, it is possible to notify the user of what image pickup has been performed.

[0003] However, if the notification is not appropriately performed in accordance with a communication path via which the notification is transmitted, it can take too much time until the notification is displayed, and it can no longer be necessary to display the notification. SUMMARY

[0004] According to an aspect of the present embodiment, a communication device includes a first communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with an image pickup apparatus, a second communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with the image pickup apparatus, a reception unit configured to receive a notification from the image pickup apparatus, and a control unit configured to control whether to perform output of a notification including at least a part of an image received from the image pickup apparatus or output of a notification not including the image received from the image pickup apparatus, based on whether the notification is received via the first communication unit or the second communication unit.

[0005] A control method of a communication device including a first communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with an image pickup apparatus and a second communication unit configured to wirelessly communicate with the image pickup apparatus, the control method including receiving a notification from the image pickup apparatus, and controlling whether to perform output of a notification including at least a part of an image received from the image pickup apparatus or output of a notification not including the image received from the image pickup apparatus, based on whether the notification is received via the first communication unit or the second communication unit.

[0006] A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the control method of the communication device according to the above.

[0007] Further features of the present application will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a camera device and a communication device according to a first embodiment of the present application.

[0009] Figure 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a camera device according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0010] Figure 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication device according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0011] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a process of the camera device according to the first embodiment of the present application during transmission of a notification.

[0012] Figure 5A is a flowchart showing a process of the communication device receiving a notification according to the first embodiment of the present application. Figure 5B is a flowchart showing a process of the communication device switching a communication path from Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) to Wi-Fi according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0013] Figure 6 is a diagram describing a notification history according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0014] Figure 7 is a diagram showing a notification of a Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) message according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0015] Figure 8 is a diagram showing a notification of a Wi-Fi message according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0016] Figure 9 is a diagram showing an interpretation of a notification string according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0017] Figure 10 is a diagram showing a display of a notification transmitted via communication using Bluetooth LE according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0018] Figure 11 is a diagram showing a display of a notification transmitted via Wi-Fi according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Figure 12 is a diagram showing a notification history screen according to a second embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing a process of displaying a notification history screen according to the second embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Figure 14 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of deleting a notification from a notification history according to the third embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] A communication system including a camera as the image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100 according to the first embodiment and a smartphone as the communication device 110 will be described. The communication procedure before and after switching the communication path between the first communication path and the second communication path will also be described.

[0024] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100 and the communication device 110. The image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100 and the communication device 110 each include a Bluetooth communication module and a wireless LAN communication module, and communicate with each other via connection using a wireless communication system described below. In the following description, a digital camera is taken as an example of the image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100, but the image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100 is not limited to a digital camera. The image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100 can be, for example, a mobile media player or an information processing device such as a tablet device or a personal computer. In the following description, a smartphone is taken as an example of the communication device 110, but the communication device 110 is not limited to a smartphone. The communication device 110 can be, for example, a mobile media player or an information processing device such as a tablet device or a personal computer.

[0025] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100. The image-attached notification transmitting and displaying device 100 includes a Bluetooth LE communication unit 201 for Bluetooth LE as the first communication path, and a wireless LAN communication unit 202 for wireless LAN (hereinafter referred to as Wi-Fi) conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard series as the second communication path, and communicates with the communication device 110. In the following description, Bluetooth LE and wireless LAN are given as examples of wireless communication technologies for the first communication path and the second communication path. However, the present application is not limited to such communication technologies, and other wireless communication technologies can be used. For example, other short-range or low-speed communication technologies such as Zigbee or infrared communication can be used for the first communication path, and other wireless communication technologies supporting higher data rates or higher speeds such as cellular communication technologies can be used for the second communication path.

[0026] The storage unit 203 stores various types of information such as a communication program to be executed by the control unit 205 and parameters for communication. Digital image data output from the imaging unit 204 is converted into a recording format such as JPEG or MPEG by the control unit 205, and recorded on the storage unit 203.

[0027] The imaging unit 204 receives light incident on an imaging element through a lens group, and outputs information on electric charges as digital image data to the control unit 205 according to the amount of light. The imaging element is typically a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or a charge-coupled device (CCD).

[0028] The control unit 205 controls the entire imaging device 100 by executing a control program stored in the storage unit 203, and is realized by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU). Various operations of the imaging device 100 described below are realized by the control unit 205 executing a control program stored in the storage unit 203. Instead of the control unit 205 that controls the entire imaging device 100, a plurality of hardware units can share processing to control the entire imaging device 100.

[0029] After determining the notification to be transmitted, the control unit 205 transmits the notification to the communication device 110 through the Bluetooth LE communication unit 201 and the wireless LAN communication unit 202 as notification transmission units.

[0030] Figure 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the communication device 110. The communication device 110 includes a Bluetooth LE communication unit 301 and a wireless LAN communication unit 302 equivalent to the Bluetooth LE communication unit 201 and the LAN communication unit 202, respectively, of the imaging device 100, and the imaging device 100 and the communication device 110 communicate with each other using these communication units.

[0031] The storage unit 303 stores various types of information such as a communication program to be executed by the control unit 306 and parameters for communication.

[0032] The display unit 304 has a function of outputting visually recognizable information using, for example, an LCD or an LED, or a function of outputting sound using, for example, a speaker, and displays various types of information.

[0033] The operation unit 305 includes, for example, a button that accepts a user operation on the communication device 110. In the present embodiment, the display unit 304 and the operation unit 305 are included in a touch panel, and thus are configured as a common member.

[0034] The control unit 306 controls the entire communication device 110 by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 303, and is realized by, for example, a CPU. The various operations of the communication device 110 described below are realized by the control unit 306 executing the control program stored in the storage unit 303. Instead of the control unit 306 that controls the entire communication device 110, a plurality of hardware units can share the processing to control the entire communication device 110.

[0035] Next, the processing procedure from the transmission and reception of the image-attached notification between the imaging device 100 and the communication device 110 to the display of the notification to the user will be described with reference to Figure 4 and Figure 5A and 5B The processing procedure from the transmission and reception of the image-attached notification between the imaging device 100 and the communication device 110 to the display of the notification to the user will be described with reference to

[0036] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure in which the imaging device 100 transmits the notification. Figure 5A is a flowchart showing the processing procedure in which the communication device 110 receives the notification, and Figure 5B is a flowchart showing the processing procedure in which the communication device 110 switches the communication path from the communication using Bluetooth LE to the communication using Wi-Fi.

[0037] First, the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of Figure 4 will be described. The steps in the flowchart are executed by the control unit 205 that controls the respective units of the imaging device 100. However, for ease of understanding, the following will be described as if these steps are executed by the imaging device 100. The processing procedure is started in a state where the imaging device 100 and the communication device 110 are connected to each other via the communication using Bluetooth LE or wireless LAN.

[0038] First, in step S401, the imaging device 100 determines whether or not an event to be notified to the user has occurred in the imaging situation or the housing state of the imaging device 100. Examples of the event include recommended image selection that is executed in a condition where the number of captured images reaches a predetermined number, low battery level of the imaging device 100 that is at or below a predetermined level, and low storage capacity of a recording medium that is at or below a predetermined level, and the like. Examples of the event also include detection of the imaging situation in the imaging result in which backlit subjects are imaged, imaging is performed in a dark place, or imaging is performed at a too low position.

[0039] The number of captured images is counted each time an image is captured to determine whether the number of captured images reaches a predetermined number. In the case where a notification is sent in response to an event, the count is reset and the number of captured images is then started again. In the case where the number of captured images reaches the predetermined number, processing of selecting a recommended image of the user from the captured images is also performed. In the case where a recommended image of the user is selected as a result of the processing, the imaging device 100 determines that the event of a recommended image has occurred in response to completion of the selection. Whether the battery level is low is determined by detecting a change in voltage. Whether the memory capacity of the recording medium is low is determined each time an image is captured and stored. Whether imaging of a backlit subject was performed, whether imaging in a dark place was performed, or whether imaging at a too low position was performed is determined based on analysis performed by the control unit 205 using the captured images.

[0040] In the case where an event to be notified of has occurred (YES in step S401), the processing proceeds to step S402. In step S402, the imaging device 100 creates a notification message and sends a notification to the communication device 110. The notification sent by the imaging device 100 is any one of predetermined different types of notifications. The notification types corresponding to different events are predetermined in a table (not shown). For example, in the case where the event of a recommended image of the user being selected has occurred, a notification of the type for image acquisition is sent. In the case where the event of the battery level being low or the memory capacity of the recording medium being low has occurred, a notification of the type for a status notification is sent. In the case where the event of imaging of a backlit subject being performed, imaging in a dark place being performed, or imaging at a too low position being performed has occurred, a notification of the type for an error is sent. Based on the notification type, it is determined whether an image is to be attached to or associated with the notification. In the case where the notification to be sent is an image attachment notification, the notification message of the notification includes an image ID as image identification information for uniquely identifying a corresponding image saved in the storage unit 203. In the present exemplary embodiment, the notification of the type for image acquisition is determined to be a type where an image is to be attached to or associated with the notification, and the notification of the type for a status notification or the notification of the type for an error is determined to be a type where an image is not to be attached to or associated with the notification.

[0041] The image ID can be any numerical value, a directory number and a file number according to the camera file system standard, or a universally unique identifier (UUID) assigned to the image, etc.

[0042] In step S403, the imaging device 100 records information related to the sent notification on the storage unit 203 serving as a notification history recording unit. The information recorded here is called a notification history. The notification history holds a certain amount of information related to one or more notifications for events that have occurred in the past.

[0043] The processing procedure in the flowchart of Figure 5A will be described. The steps in the flowchart are executed by the control unit 306 that controls the individual units of the communication device 110. However, for ease of understanding, the following will be described as if these steps are executed by the communication device 110. The processing procedure is started in a state where the imaging device 100 and the communication device 110 are connected to each other via communication using Bluetooth LE or wireless LAN.

[0044] First, in step S501, the communication device 110 waits to receive a notification message transmitted from the imaging device 100. In step S502, the communication device 110 receives the notification message (e.g., at a reception component or unit (which can be part of the control unit 306 and / or the Bluetooth LE communication unit 301 or the wireless LAN communication unit 302) of the communication device 110). After receiving the notification message, in step S503, the communication device 110 confirms the communication path situation. In the case where Bluetooth LE is used for connection (YES in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S504. In step S504, the communication device 110 displays a notification of a character string on the display unit 304. The character string to be displayed as a notification is obtained by retrieving a notification number that is a notification content identifier from the notification message and acquiring a character string by referring to the notification character string table shown in Figure 9 In this processing, even in the case where the received notification message is an image-attached notification, an image is not displayed, but a notification character string corresponding to the notification number included in the notification message is displayed.

[0045] On the other hand, in the case where Wi-Fi is used for connection (NO in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S505. In step S505, the communication device 110 receives an image by an image acquisition unit using an image ID included in the received notification message, and in step S506, the communication device 110 displays an image-attached notification. The image acquisition unit is provided by the control unit 306, and inquires an image to the imaging device 100 using the image ID received from the imaging device 100, and acquires the image via the wireless LAN communication unit 302.

[0046] The processing procedure of the flowchart of Figure 5B will be described. The steps in the flowchart are executed by the control unit 306 that controls the individual units of the communication device 110. However, for ease of understanding, the following will be described as if these steps are executed by the communication device 110. The processing procedure is started in a state where the imaging device 100 and the communication device 110 are connected to each other via communication using Bluetooth LE or wireless LAN.

[0047] In the case where Bluetooth LE is used for connection, in step S510, the communication device 110 waits for timing for switching the communication path to Wi-Fi. In the case where the condition for switching the communication path to Wi-Fi is satisfied (Yes in step S510), the process proceeds to step S511. In step S511, the communication device 110 switches the communication path from Bluetooth LE to Wi-Fi by the communication path switching unit (or switching means). The timing for switching the communication path to Wi-Fi (the condition for switching the communication path to Wi-Fi) is when the dedicated application for operating the image pickup device 100 is activated by user operation and the application starts to work in the foreground of the communication device 110.

[0048] The switching of the communication path is performed by so-called handover. Specifically, when the dedicated application for operating the image pickup device 100 starts to work in the foreground of the communication device 110, the communication device 110 transmits a request for switching the communication path to Wi-Fi to the image pickup device 100 using Bluetooth LE. Upon receiving the request, the image pickup device 100 transmits network parameters for Wi-Fi to the communication device 110 using Bluetooth LE. The network parameters here include an SSID and a password. Further, the image pickup device 100 generates a Wi-Fi network. Specifically, the image pickup device 100 starts to broadcast a beacon including the SSID that has been transmitted to the communication device 110 using Bluetooth LE, and waits for a request for joining the Wi-Fi network from the communication device 110. On the other hand, upon receiving the network parameters including the SSID and the password, the communication device 110 requests to join the Wi-Fi network generated by the image pickup device 100. When the image pickup device 100 allows the joining of the communication device 110, a connection using Wi-Fi is established between the image pickup device 100 and the communication device 110. Thus, the switching of the communication path from Bluetooth LE to Wi-Fi is completed.

[0049] After the communication path is switched to Wi-Fi, in step S512, the communication device 110 receives the notification history from the image pickup device 100 by the notification history acquisition unit. The notification history acquisition unit is provided by the control unit 306, and transmits a notification history request to the image pickup device 100 to receive the notification history recorded on the storage unit 203 of the image pickup device 100.

[0050] All the notifications recorded in the notification history can be transmitted by the image pickup device 100. However, the information to be used in the first embodiment is information about the latest notification as described below, and thus it is preferable to transmit the latest notification in the notification history.

[0051] After receiving the notification history, in the case where the notification message includes an image ID, the communication device 110 acquires the corresponding image from the imaging device 100 by the image acquisition unit in step S513. Finally, the communication device 110 displays the image attached notification using at least a part of the received image in step S514.

[0052] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the notification history stored (step S403) by the imaging device 100 at the time of sending a notification. One notification is represented in one line, and a new line is added to the top of the history to record information each time a new notification is sent. The notification number is a number for uniquely identifying the type of the corresponding notification. The occurrence date and time is the date and time at which the notification occurred. Information about the occurrence date and time is recorded using a string or a value representing the date and time. In the present embodiment, the image ID is image identification information indicating an image attached to or associated with the notification. The image ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying an image recorded in the imaging device 100. The image ID is recorded using a value for uniquely specifying the image or a file path and an address indicating the location of the image.

[0053] It is not necessary to record the image ID for all notifications. Non-image attached notifications do not have a corresponding image, and thus the image ID is not recorded for non-image attached notifications. Figure 6 The line with the notification number 1 in the table indicates such a case. On the other hand, the notifications with the notification numbers 2 and 3 are image attached notifications.

[0054] The information in the notification can also include any information other than the above information to be stored as notification information. Examples of the information include an identifier for identifying a specific person, a specific period of time, and error information, and the like. These information can not be included in all notifications, but can be included as a combination of information to be used.

[0055] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating a notification message sent using Bluetooth LE. The message includes the notification number, the occurrence date and time, the directory number, and the file number as the image ID. The notification number and the occurrence date and time are as described above with reference to Figure 6 . The directory number and the file number are provided in accordance with the camera file system standard, and these numbers are used to identify a unique image file by combining the numbers. For example, Figure 7 The image file with the directory number "100" and the file number "1" described in the table is identified as "DCIM / 100xxxxx / yyyy0001.zzz", where xxxxx and yyyy are arbitrary strings determined by the design of the imaging device 100, and zzz is a file extension.

[0056] Figure 7The message described in the above is merely an example, and the notification is not limited to this form. For example, the message can not include the occurrence date and time. The image ID can be represented by some numerical value or string. However, since the data amount of the message that can be transmitted using Bluetooth LE is limited, it is preferable to reduce the data amount as much as possible. Therefore, it is more preferable to represent the image ID by a numerical value rather than a string.

[0057] Figure 8 is a diagram showing a notification message transmitted using Wi-Fi. The message is represented in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, and includes a notifyno variable as a notification number, a date variable as an occurrence date and time, and an imageid variable as an image ID. The notifyno variable indicates the notification number by a numerical value. The date variable indicates information on the date and time by a string. The imageid variable indicates a file path representing an image file location by a string.

[0058] Figure 8 The message described in the above is merely an example, and is not limited to this form, but can be represented in a format other than the JSON format or by a numerical sequence. The message can not include the occurrence date and time. The imageid variable can be represented in the same manner as the message for Bluetooth LE.

[0059] In the present embodiment, information related to the same content is transmitted even in different formats according to the case of using Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi. However, the information transmitted using Bluetooth LE and the information transmitted using Wi-Fi can be different content from each other. For example, in the notification information transmitted using Bluetooth LE, the directory number and the file number as the image ID are not used for notification display, and thus these information can be omitted.

[0060] Next, the notification displayed on the communication device 110 will be described with reference to Figure 10 and 11 Figure 10 is a diagram showing the notification displayed in step S504 of Figure 5A , and Figure 11 is a diagram showing the notification displayed in steps S506 and S514 of Figure 5A and 5B

[0061] In the present embodiment, when the notification is displayed in step S504, the dedicated application has not been started, and the notification is displayed using a notification function provided by an operating system in the communication device 110 such as a smartphone. Figure 10 is a diagram showing a notification area 1001 in which the notification is displayed, and a notification string 1002.

[0062] ​​Next, when the user presses the notification area 1001 or the icon of the dedicated application to start the dedicated application, as shown in Figure 11 FIG. 11A, the notification is displayed in the dedicated application. The notification display area 1101 is an area in the dedicated application as shown in Figure 11 FIG. 11B. The notification string 1102 is the string (text) described above with reference to Figure 10 FIG. 10. The additional image 1103 obtained by using the image ID included in the notification message (steps S505 and S513) is also displayed.

[0063] The user can press the notification display area 1101 or the additional image 1103 as a button, and the function to be activated by pressing the button can be to display the additional image 1103 in an enlarged size or to move the additional image 1103 to a screen for displaying a list of other high-quality photos.

[0064] The method of recording a notification in the notification history using the timing after the notification is transmitted from the imaging device 100 to the communication device 110 as the timing for recording the notification in the notification history has been described. However, the timing for recording is not limited to this. For example, the event to be notified can occur in a state where connection is not made using Bluetooth LE nor Wi-Fi. In this case, when the event to be notified occurs, the notification can be recorded in the notification history.

[0065] In the above-described method, all of the transmitted notifications are recorded in the notification history. However, the notification to be recorded in the notification history can be selected according to the type of the notification or under other conditions.

[0066] The method in which, in the case where the image is associated with the notification history and the notification is acquired through the communication path using Wi-Fi, the notification history is first acquired, and then the image is acquired using the image identification information included in the notification history has been described. Alternatively, the notification history to which the image information is directly attached can be transmitted and received. In this case, the image information can be directly recorded in the notification history recorded on the storage unit 203, or the image identification information can be recorded in the notification history recorded on the storage unit 203, and then, the corresponding image can be read from the storage unit 203 and attached to the notification history at the time of transmitting the notification history.

[0067] In the present embodiment, in communication using low-speed Bluetooth LE, the user operates an application other than the dedicated application on the communication device 110 such as a smartphone. In many cases, the smartphone provides a service via some communication with a communication object different from the imaging device 100. Therefore, the application running in the background can interfere with the user operation by forcing a change in the communication path. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the system is notified that the system is working in the background, a minimum communication is performed to avoid interference with the user operation. Further, as described above, when the system is notified that the system is shifted to the foreground according to the user operation, the system switches to a more high-speed communication path to receive and provide sufficient information to be presented to the user based on the history information.

[0068] According to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a communication system that can appropriately present an image-attached notification to a user by a function of displaying an image-attached notification without interfering with the user operation due to switching of a communication path.

[0069] In the first embodiment, when the dedicated application of the communication device 110 is started and the communication device 110 is connected to the Wi-Fi network, the latest notification is displayed again. However, the user can want to confirm more notifications in a manner of tracing the recorded notification history.

[0070] In the second embodiment, a method will be described in which, when the dedicated application of the communication device 110 is started and the communication device 110 is connected to the Wi-Fi network, all the notifications recorded in the notification history in the imaging device 100 are displayed again. A method of data transmission and reception involved in the display of the notification history will also be described.

[0071] The system configuration in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, and therefore a redundant description thereof will be omitted. The differences from the first embodiment will be described below.

[0072] Figure 12 is a diagram that describes a history screen as a history display unit. The history screen is displayed on the display unit 304 of the communication device 110 in which the notifications that have occurred in the past are displayed in a list form. Figure 12 indicates the chronological order from the top of the list Figure 6 The screen display of the notification history shown in FIG. 12. The notification occurrence dates and times (1204, 1214, and 1224) are displayed in the notification display areas 1201, 1211, and 1101, respectively.

[0073] The notification display area 1201 is an area for the earliest notification, and includes a text 1202 and an image 1203. The text 1202 indicates that the imaging subject was backlit at the timing of the notification, and the image 1203 is an image in the angle of view of the imaging unit 204 at the timing of the notification.

[0074] The notification display area 1211 is an area for the second-early notification, and includes a text 1212 indicating that the battery level of the imaging device 100 is low. In the case of a non-image-attached notification as seen in the notification display area 1211, a character string is displayed without an image.

[0075] The number of notifications displayed on the history screen is not limited to three, but all the notifications recorded on the imaging device 100 can be displayed. The history screen can have a function of scrolling the history by user operation.

[0076] In the above example, the notification occurrence date and time is displayed in the format of year-month-day-time. However, the display format of the notification occurrence date and time is not limited to this. For example, the time elapsed from the notification occurrence can be displayed, and in this case, the displayed time can be rounded to, for example, "one minute ago" or "two days ago".

[0077] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing the behavior of the communication device 110 in the case where the history screen having a plurality of notifications in the notification history is displayed. Since Figure 13 is similar to Figure 5B there are many similarities, so the differences will be described.

[0078] In step S512, the communication device 110 receives the notification history, and then in step S1302, the communication device 110 determines whether an image ID is attached to all the notifications included in the notification history. In the case where an image ID is attached to all the notifications (YES in step S1302), the processing proceeds to step S513. In step S513, the communication device 110 requests the image, and the loop of step S1301 is repeated for all the notifications.

[0079] After acquiring the images attached to all the notifications, in step S1303, the communication device 110 displays the history screen.

[0080] In the case where the notification history screen as shown in Figure 12 is displayed, generally, the communication device 110 records the received notification and uses the recorded information at the time of screen display. However, in the case where a notification including data difficult to acquire in a low-speed communication path is transmitted and received, the above display method is not realistic because it will take much time to acquire the data or the user must allow the data gap. In the present embodiment, a method in which the imaging device 100 stores the notification occurrence history is described, and once a high-speed communication path becomes available, the transmission and reception of a large amount of data is performed.

[0081] In the present embodiment, as described above, all the notifications recorded in the notification history on the imaging device 100 are displayed again after the dedicated application in the communication device 110 is started and connected to the Wi-Fi network. However, the timing for displaying the notification history screen is not limited to this. For example, the notification history screen can be called up by a user operation after the dedicated application is started.

[0082] According to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a communication system capable of appropriately presenting the image-attached notification that has occurred in the past to the user by the function of displaying the history of the image-attached notification.

[0083] The imaging device 100 in the third embodiment will be described. The imaging device 100 in the case where the image indicated by the image identification information included in the notification history has been deleted at the time of sending the notification history will be described. The imaging device 100 changes the notification history in this case.

[0084] The imaging device 100 has an image deletion unit that deletes the image from the storage unit 203. The image deletion unit has a function of, for example, deleting the image selected by the user, deleting all the recorded information from the storage unit 203, and automatically deleting the low-quality photo image to continue the automatic imaging, and the like. For example, the user can display a list of the images saved in the imaging device 100 by the function of the dedicated application installed in the communication device 110, and input an instruction for deleting the image selected from the list. In this case, upon receiving the instruction for deleting the image, the dedicated application (for example, the dedicated application can include a deletion means or a function) instructs the imaging device 100 to delete the image. The image deletion unit can also delete the image to be attached to the notification described above with respect to the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

[0085] In the above case, there can be no image to be used for displaying the notification. Therefore, in the case where there is no image to be displayed with the notification, the notification can be displayed in an incomplete state. The present embodiment is a solution to this problem.

[0086] The system configuration in the third embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and thus redundant description thereof will be omitted. The difference from the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be described below.

[0087] Figure 14This is a flowchart illustrating the process from receiving a request for notification history to sending the notification history by the camera device 100. In step S1401, the camera device 100 waits to receive a notification history request from the communication device 110. After receiving the notification history request, in step S1402, the camera device 100 reads the notification history from the storage unit 203, and in step S1403, the camera device 100 uses the image ID included in the information of the notifications in the history to determine whether the corresponding image is in the storage unit 203. In this process, although according to the present invention, it is simple to confirm the presence of all notifications included in the notification history for the presence of the corresponding image, it is more preferable to refer to the notification number of the notification and perform the confirmation of the presence of the corresponding image for the image-attached notification.

[0088] If no image represented by the image ID exists, i.e., if the image has been deleted by a certain unit ("Yes" in step S1403), the process proceeds to step S1404. In step S1404, the camera device 100 deletes the corresponding notification item from the notification history. The camera device 100 confirms the existence of the image for each notification with the image ID recorded in the notification history, and then in step S1405, the camera device 100 sends the remaining information in the notification history to the communication device 110.

[0089] This embodiment describes a method for displaying a history screen when no image corresponding to an image-attached notification exists. However, as described above with respect to the first embodiment, the same method can be used for a notification display screen. In this case, if the latest notification is deleted, a previous notification can be displayed as the latest notification, or a message indicating that no notification to display exists can be presented.

[0090] According to this embodiment, in the absence of an image corresponding to the image-attached notification, a function can be provided to prevent display inconsistencies when displaying the image-attached notification.

[0091] Although the first to third embodiments describe the case where the data attached to the notification is an image, sound, moving images or other data can also be attached to the notification.

[0092] Preferred embodiments of the invention have been described so far. However, the invention is not limited to these embodiments and is defined by the appended claims.

[0093] Other embodiments

[0094] Embodiments of the present application can also be implemented by a method of providing software (program) for performing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus through a network or various storage media, and a method of reading and executing the program by a computer or a central processing unit (CPU) of the system or the apparatus.

[0095] While the present application has been described with reference to the embodiments, it is to be understood that the present application is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A communication device comprising: a first communication unit configured to perform wireless communication with an image pickup device using a first wireless communication technique; a second communication unit configured to perform wireless communication with the image pickup device using a second wireless communication technique that supports higher data rate or higher speed wireless communication than the first wireless communication technique; a reception unit configured to receive, from the image pickup device, a notification including information for specifying an image stored by the image pickup device; and a control unit configured to control whether to perform output of a notification including at least a part of the image received from the image pickup device or output of a notification not including the image received from the image pickup device, based on whether the notification including the information for specifying the image is received via the first communication unit or via the second communication unit, wherein, in a case where the notification including the information for specifying the image is received via the first communication unit, the control unit performs control to output the notification not including the image received from the image pickup device. In a case where the notification including the information for specifying the image is received via the second communication unit, the control unit requests the image from the image pickup device via the second communication unit, and in a case where the requested image is received, performs control to output the notification including at least a part of the image received from the image pickup device.

2. The communication device of claim 1, wherein, 3. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a switching unit configured to switch between a state of being connected to the image pickup device with the first communication unit and a state of being connected to the image pickup device with the second communication unit, wherein, in a case where the switching unit performs switching from the state of being connected to the image pickup device with the first communication unit to the state of being connected to the image pickup device with the second communication unit, the control unit requests information related to a notification history from the image pickup device.

4. The communication device according to claim 3, further comprising: a deletion unit configured to delete an image stored in the image pickup device, wherein a notification corresponding to the image deleted by the deletion unit is not included in the information related to the notification history.

5. A control method of a communication device including a first communication unit configured to perform wireless communication with an image pickup device using a first wireless communication technique and a second communication unit configured to perform wireless communication with the image pickup device using a second wireless communication technique that supports higher data rate or higher speed wireless communication than the first wireless communication technique, the control method comprising: receiving, from the image pickup device, a notification including information for specifying an image stored by the image pickup device; and ​ ​ based on whether the notification including the information for specifying the image is received via the first communication unit or the second communication unit, controlling whether to perform output of a notification including at least a part of the image received from the image pickup device or output of a notification not including the image received from the image pickup device, wherein in a case where the notification including the information for specifying the image is received via the first communication unit, the controlling includes performing control to output the notification not including the image received from the image pickup device.

6. The control method of a communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in a case where the notification including the information for specifying the image is received via the second communication unit, the controlling includes requesting the image from the image pickup device via the second communication unit, and in a case where the requested image is received, performing control to output the notification including at least a part of the image received from the image pickup device.

7. The control method of the communication device according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising: switching between a state of connecting to the image pickup device with the first communication unit and a state of connecting to the image pickup device with the second communication unit, wherein in a case where switching from the state of connecting to the image pickup device with the first communication unit to the state of connecting to the image pickup device with the second communication unit is performed, the controlling includes requesting the image pickup device for information relating to a notification history.

8. The control method of the communication device according to claim 7, further comprising: deleting an image stored in the image pickup device, wherein a notification corresponding to the deleted image is not included in the information relating to the notification history.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program containing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the control method of the communication device according to any one of claims 5 to 8.

10. A computer program product comprising a program containing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the control method of the communication device according to any one of claims 5 to 8.

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