Electronics and Accessories

Abstract

To quickly ensure the operation of an accessory in returning from a power saving state while improving power saving performance of an electronic apparatus.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus 100 is removably and communicably attached with an accessory 200. The electronic apparatus has power supply means 131, 132 that can supply power to the accessory, and control means 101 that controls the power supply from the power supply means to the accessory. The electronic apparatus can make a transition from a normal operation state to a power saving state. The control means receives, from the accessory, power feed necessity information indicating whether to request the power supply from the electronic apparatus to the accessory when the electronic apparatus is in the power saving state, and when the power feed necessity information indicates the request for the power supply, causes the power supply means to perform the power supply to the accessory in the power saving state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to electronic devices such as imaging devices to which accessories can be attached. [Background technology]

[0002] Among accessories that can be attached to an imaging device as an electronic device, there are some that do not have a built-in battery and operate by receiving power supply from the imaging device. Patent Document 1 discloses control for switching the accessory from a normal operation state to a power saving state according to the state of the imaging device in order to reduce power consumption of the imaging device due to power supply to the accessory. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-5244 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in order to return an accessory from a power-saving state to a normal operating state, the accessory needs to be powered on again, and it takes time for the accessory to power up and return to the normal operating state, which can result in missed opportunities to capture images.

[0005] The present invention is directed to improving the power saving performance of an electronic device while quickly ensuring the operation of an accessory when returning from a power saving state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device to which an accessory is detachably and communicably attached. The electronic device has a power supply means capable of supplying power to the accessory, and a control means for controlling the power supply from the power supply means to the accessory. The electronic device is configured to switch from a normal operating state to a power supply state. 1.Power saving state and a second power saving state different from the first power saving state. The control means controls the electronic device to transition from the accessory to the 1. Indicates whether the electronic device should request power for the accessory when in a low-power state. 1. information and second information indicating whether to request power supply from the electronic device to the accessory when the electronic device is in a second power saving state. of Information on whether power supply is required Receive, The first information received from the accessory is When indicating a request for power supply, 1. A power supply means supplies power to an accessory in a power saving state. and when the second information received from the accessory indicates a request for power supply, causing the power supply means to supply power to the accessory in the second power saving state. It is characterized by the above.

[0007] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an accessory that is detachably and communicably attached to an electronic device. The accessory has an accessory processing means for transmitting information to the electronic device, and a power receiving means for receiving power from the electronic device. The accessory processing means transmits information to the electronic device, and the accessory receives information from the electronic device. 1. Indicates whether the electronic device should request power for the accessory when in a low-power state. and second information indicating whether to request power from the electronic device to the accessory when the electronic device is in a second power saving state different from the first power saving state. The present invention is characterized in that the power supply necessity information is transmitted. Note that a system having the above-mentioned electronic device and accessory also constitutes another aspect of the present invention.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for an electronic device to which an accessory is detachably and communicably attached. 1. Power saving state and a second power saving state different from the first power saving state. The control method includes a step of transmitting a notification to the electronic device from the accessory to the electronic device. 1. Indicates whether the electronic device should request power for the accessory when in a low-power state. 1. information and second information indicating whether to request power supply from the electronic device to the accessory when the electronic device is in a second power saving state. of Including power supply necessity information receiving a The first received from the accessory If the information indicates a request for power supply, 1. Allows accessories to be powered in low power states and when the second information received from the accessory indicates a request for power supply, causing the electronic device to supply power to the accessory in a second power saving state. The method is characterized by having a step of:

[0009] A control method according to another aspect of the present invention is applied to an accessory that is detachably and communicably attached to an electronic device. The control method includes: 1. Indicates whether the electronic device should request power for the accessory when in a low-power state. and second information indicating whether to request power from the electronic device to the accessory when the electronic device is in a second power saving state different from the first power saving state. The method further comprises a step of transmitting information on the necessity for power supply. Note that a program for causing a computer to execute a process according to the above control method also constitutes another aspect of the present invention. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the power saving performance of an electronic device while quickly ensuring the operation of an accessory when returning from a power saving state. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a camera system (a camera, a lens unit, and accessories) in a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a protocol of SPI communication in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 5 is a flowchart showing processes performed by the camera and the accessory in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing communication data in SPI communication in the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing accessory information in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing sequence of the camera system in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing accessory type information according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing factors that cause a communication request in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a communication interval in SPI communication in the first embodiment. [Figure 10] 5 is a flowchart showing a start-up process performed by the camera (camera control circuit A) in the first embodiment. [Figure 11]5 is a flowchart showing a start-up process performed by the camera (camera control circuit B) in the first embodiment. [Figure 12] 5 is a flowchart showing a process performed by an accessory in the first embodiment. [Figure 13] 4 is a flowchart showing the process performed by the camera in the first to third embodiments. [Figure 14A] 4 is a flowchart showing a process performed by an accessory in the first to third embodiments. [Figure 14B] 4 is a flowchart showing a process performed by an accessory in the first to third embodiments. [Figure 15] 4 is a flowchart showing the process performed by the camera in the first to third embodiments. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 shows an example of an I2C communication waveform. [Figure 17] 5A to 5C are diagrams showing processes performed by the camera when transmitting N bytes of data from the camera to the accessory in the first embodiment. [Figure 18] 5A to 5C are diagrams showing processes performed by the camera when the camera receives N bytes of data from the accessory in the first embodiment. [Figure 19] 4 is a diagram showing a process performed by the accessory when transmitting and receiving N bytes of data between the camera and the accessory in the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0013] 1 shows an electrical configuration of an imaging system including an imaging device (hereinafter, referred to as a camera) 100, which is an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and an accessory 200 detachably attached thereto. The accessory 200 is, for example, a microphone device or a lighting (strobe or flash) device, and includes various devices that can be attached to the camera 100. The camera 100 and the accessory 200 are electrically connected by one-to-one contact between a plurality of contacts (terminals) TC01 to TC21 of a camera connection section 141 provided on the camera 100 and a plurality of contacts TA01 to TA21 of an accessory connection section 211 provided on the accessory 200. Note that the accessory 200 may not have some of the plurality of contacts TA01 to TA21.

[0014] The camera 100 is supplied with power from a battery 111. The battery 111 is detachable from the camera 100. A camera control circuit A101 serving as a first processing means, control means, and receiving means in the camera 100, and a camera control circuit B102 serving as a second processing means are circuits that control the entire camera 100, and are configured by a processor (microcomputer) such as a CPU. The camera control circuit A101 and the camera control circuit B102 execute various controls and processes according to a computer program.

[0015] The camera control circuit A101 monitors the operation of switches and the like for operating the camera (not shown) and controls the system power supply in response to user operations. The camera control circuit A101 is configured with a low-power type processor that can operate even when the camera 100 is in a power saving state in which the power consumption is low. On the other hand, the camera control circuit B102 is responsible for controlling the image sensor 122, the display circuit 127, etc. The camera control circuit B102 is configured with a processor that stops operating in the low-power consumption state and operates in the normal operation state.

[0016] In this embodiment, the camera control circuit A101 and the camera control circuit B102 are configured by separate processors, but they may be provided in a single processor.

[0017] The system power supply circuit 112 is a circuit that generates power supplied to each circuit of the camera 100, and is composed of a DC / DC converter circuit, an LDO (Low Drop Out), a charge pump circuit, etc. A voltage of 1.8V generated by the system power supply circuit 112 that receives power supply from the battery 111 is constantly supplied to the camera control circuit A101 as a camera microcomputer power supply VMCU_C. In addition, several types of voltages generated by the system power supply circuit 112 are also supplied to the camera control circuit B102 at any timing as a camera microcomputer power supply VMCU2_C. The camera control circuit A101 controls the system power supply circuit 112 to perform on / off control of the power supply to each circuit of the camera 100.

[0018] The optical lens 121 is detachable from the camera 100. Light from a subject incident through the optical lens 121 is imaged on an imaging sensor 122 made of a CMOS sensor, a CCD sensor, or the like. The optical lens 121 and the camera 100 may be integrated. The subject image imaged on the imaging sensor 122 is encoded into a digital imaging signal. The image processing circuit 123 performs image processing such as noise reduction processing and white balance processing on the digital imaging signal to generate image data, and converts the image data into an image file in JPEG format or the like to record it in the recording memory 126. The image processing circuit 123 also generates VRAM image data from the image data to be displayed on the display circuit 127.

[0019] The memory control circuit 124 controls the transmission and reception of image data generated by the image processing circuit 123 and other data. The volatile memory 125 is a memory capable of high-speed reading and writing, such as a DDR3 SDRAM, and is used as a workspace for image processing performed by the image processing circuit 123. The recording memory 126 is a readable and writable recording medium, such as an SD card or a CFexpress card, which is detachable from the camera 100 via a connecting part (not shown). The display circuit 127 is a display disposed on the rear surface of the camera 100, and is composed of an LCD panel, an organic EL display panel, or the like. The backlight circuit 128 adjusts the brightness of the display circuit 127 by changing the amount of light of the backlight of the display circuit 127.

[0020] The accessory power supply circuit A (first power supply means) 131 and the accessory power supply circuit B (second power supply means) 132 are voltage conversion circuits that convert the voltage supplied from the system power supply circuit 112 into a predetermined voltage, and generate 3.3 V as the accessory power supply VACC in this embodiment. Note that a configuration for converting to another voltage may also be used. The accessory power supply circuit A131 is a power supply circuit with low self-consumption power, which is composed of an LDO and the like. The accessory power supply circuit B132 is a circuit composed of a DC / DC converter circuit and the like, which is capable of passing a larger current (i.e., supplying a larger power) than the accessory power supply circuit A131. The accessory power supply circuit B132 has a larger self-consumption power than the accessory power supply circuit A131. For this reason, when the load current is small, the accessory power supply circuit A131 is more efficient than the accessory power supply circuit B132, and when the load current is large, the accessory power supply circuit B132 is more efficient than the accessory power supply circuit A131. The camera control circuit A101 controls the on / off of the voltage output of the accessory power supply circuit A131 and the accessory power supply circuit B132 according to the operating state of the accessory 200.

[0021] The protection circuit 133 is composed of a current fuse element, a polyswitch element, or an electronic fuse circuit combining a resistor, an amplifier, and a switch element. The protection circuit 133 outputs an overcurrent detection signal DET_OVC when the power supply current value supplied to the accessory 200 from the accessory power supply circuit A131 and the accessory power supply circuit B132 exceeds a predetermined value and becomes excessive (abnormal). In this embodiment, the protection circuit 133 is an electronic fuse circuit, and notifies the camera control circuit A101 by the overcurrent detection signal DET_OVC when a current of 1 A or more flows. The overcurrent detection signal DET_OVC indicates an overcurrent by its Hi level. The predetermined value may be a different value from 1 A.

[0022] The camera connection unit 141 is a connector for electrically connecting to the accessory 200 via 21 contacts TC01 to TC21 arranged in a row. The contacts TC01 to TC21 are arranged in this order from one end to the other end in the arrangement direction.

[0023] TC01 is connected to the ground (GND) and serves not only as a reference potential contact but also as a contact to control the wiring impedance of the differential signals D1N and D1P. TC01 corresponds to the third ground contact.

[0024] A differential signal D1N connected to TC02 and a differential signal D1P connected to TC03 are differential data communication signals that perform data communication in pairs and are connected to a camera control circuit B102. TC02, TC03, TC07 to TCA10, TC12 to TC17, TC19, and TC20, which will be described later, are communication contacts.

[0025] TC04 as a first ground contact is connected to GND, and serves as a reference potential contact for the camera 100 and the accessory 200. TC04 is disposed on the outside in the arrangement direction of the contacts relative to TC05, which will be described next.

[0026] An accessory power supply VACC generated by the accessory power supply circuits A131 and B132 is connected via a protection circuit 133 to TC05 as a power supply contact.

[0027] An accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET is connected to TC06 as an attachment detection contact. The accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET is pulled up to the camera microcomputer power supply VMCU_C via a resistive element Rp134 (e.g., 10 kΩ). The camera control circuit A101 can detect whether the accessory 200 is attached by reading the signal level of the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET. If the signal level (electric potential) of the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET is a Hi level (predetermined electric potential), it is detected that the accessory 200 is not attached, and if it is a Lo level (GND electric potential) as an active electric potential, it is detected that the accessory 200 is attached.

[0028] When the camera 100 is powered on, the signal level (electric potential) of the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET changes from Hi level to Lo level, which serves as a trigger for various communications between the camera 100 and the accessory 200 via the contacts.

[0029] In response to detecting that the accessory 200 is in an attached state, the camera control circuit 101 supplies power to the accessory 200 via TC05, which serves as a power contact.

[0030] The communication contacts SCLK connected to TC07, MOSI connected to TC08, MISO connected to TC09, and CS connected to TC10 are signals for the camera control circuit B102 to act as the communication master and perform communication by the SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) communication method, which is the second communication method (hereinafter referred to as SPI communication). SCLK is a clock signal, MOSI is a transmission signal, MISO is a reception signal, and CS (chip select) is a communication selection signal that selects the communication partner. In this embodiment, the communication clock frequency of the SPI communication is 1 MHz, the data length is 8 bits (1 byte), the bit order is MSB first, and the communication method is full duplex.

[0031] In this embodiment, the camera 100 and the accessory 200 are compatible with two types of communication protocols as the SPI communication method. The communication protocol A is a communication method in which the camera 100 does not check whether the accessory 200 is in a communication-enabled state before outputting SCLK, and is referred to as the SPI protocol A in the following description. Fig. 2(a) shows an outline of the communication waveform of the SPI protocol A. In the figure, CS is set to Lo active.

[0032] The camera control circuit B102 changes CS to Lo level (active) at timing A1 to request the accessory control circuit 201 to perform SPI communication.

[0033] At timing A2, which is a predetermined time T_CS after timing A1, the camera control circuit B102 starts outputting SCLK and MOSI. Furthermore, when the accessory control circuit 201 detects a falling edge change of SCLK, it starts outputting MISO.

[0034] The camera control circuit B102 stops outputting SCLK at timing A3 when output of one byte of SCLK is completed.

[0035] Furthermore, the camera control circuit B102 stops outputting SCLK from timing A3 until a predetermined time T_INTERVAL has elapsed, and resumes outputting SCLK at timing A4 when T_INTERVAL has elapsed, to communicate the next 1 byte.

[0036] 3A shows the process performed by the camera control circuit B102 in the SPI protocol A. S stands for step.

[0037] In S101, the camera control circuit B102 stores a numerical value indicating the number of bytes to be communicated in an internal variable N. For example, when communicating 3 bytes, 3 is stored.

[0038] In S102, the camera control circuit B102 changes CS to Lo level to request SPI communication.

[0039] In S103, the camera control circuit B102 changes CS to the Lo level and then performs a wait process until a predetermined time T_CS has elapsed. After the predetermined time T_CS has elapsed, the process proceeds to S104.

[0040] In S104, the camera control circuit B102 performs output control of SCLK to communicate 1 byte of data, and also performs output control of MOSI data and input control of MISO data.

[0041] In S105, the camera control circuit B102 checks whether or not the internal variable N indicating the number of communication bytes is 0. If the internal variable N is 0, the process proceeds to S106, and if the internal variable N is other than 0, the process proceeds to S107.

[0042] In S107, the camera control circuit B102 subtracts 1 from the internal variable N indicating the number of communication bytes and stores the result as a new internal variable N.

[0043] In S108, the camera control circuit B102 performs wait processing until a predetermined time T_INTERVAL has elapsed since the communication of one byte of data was completed in S104. After the predetermined time T_INTERVAL has elapsed, the process returns to S104 and executes the same processing again.

[0044] In S106, the camera control circuit B102 changes CS to Hi level, and ends a series of SPI communications.

[0045] The flowchart in FIG. 3(b) shows the processing performed by the accessory control circuit 201 in the SPI protocol A.

[0046] In S201, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether CS has changed to Lo. If CS has changed to Lo, the process proceeds to S202, and if CS has not changed to Lo, the process returns to S211.

[0047] In S202, the accessory control circuit 201 performs input control of MOSI data and output control of MISO data in response to the input of the SCLK signal to communicate 1 byte of data.

[0048] In S203, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether CS has changed to Hi. If CS has changed to Hi, it determines that the SPI communication has ended, and if CS has not changed to Hi, it returns to S202 to communicate the next 1 byte.

[0049] Moreover, communication protocol B in the SPI communication method is a communication method in which the camera 100 checks whether the accessory 200 is in a communication-enabled state before outputting SCLK, and will be referred to as SPI protocol B in the following description. Fig. 2(b) shows an outline of the communication waveform of the SPI protocol B.

[0050] The camera control circuit B102 changes CS to Lo level at timing B1 to request SPI communication from the accessory control circuit 201. The camera control circuit B102 also checks the potential of MISO along with the communication request. If MISO is at Hi level, it determines that the accessory control circuit 201 is in a state where communication is possible, and if it is at Lo level, it determines that the accessory control circuit 201 is in a state where communication is not possible.

[0051] On the other hand, when the accessory control circuit 201 detects the falling edge of CS at timing B2, it controls MISO to Hi level if SPI communication is possible, and controls MISO to Lo level if communication is not possible.

[0052] Furthermore, when the camera control circuit B102 confirms that MISO is at Hi level at timing B3, it starts outputting SCLK and MOSI. Furthermore, when the accessory control circuit 201 detects a falling edge change of SCLK, it starts outputting MISO.

[0053] When the camera control circuit B102 completes output of one byte of SCLK at timing B4, it stops outputting SCLK.

[0054] After transmitting and receiving one byte of data, the accessory control circuit 201 controls MISO to Hi level if SPI communication is possible, and controls MISO to Lo level if SPI communication is not possible, as shown at timing B5 and timing B6.

[0055] The camera control circuit B102 checks the potential of MISO at timing B7. If MISO is at Hi level, it determines that the accessory control circuit 201 is in a state where communication is possible, and if it is at Lo level, it determines that the accessory control circuit 201 is in a state where communication is not possible.

[0056] The flowchart in FIG. 3(c) shows the process performed by the camera control circuit B102 in the SPI protocol B.

[0057] In S111, the camera control circuit B102 stores a numerical value indicating the number of bytes to be communicated in an internal variable N. For example, when communicating 3 bytes, 3 is stored.

[0058] In S112, the camera control circuit B102 changes CS to the Lo level to request SPI communication.

[0059] In S113, the camera control circuit B102 checks whether MISO has changed to Hi level. If MISO is at Hi level, the process proceeds to S114, and if MISO is not at Hi level, the process returns to S113.

[0060] In S114, the camera control circuit B102 performs output control of SCLK to communicate 1 byte of data, and also performs output control of MOSI data and input control of MISO data.

[0061] In S115, the camera control circuit B102 checks whether or not communication of all data has been completed (the internal variable N indicating the number of bytes communicated is 0). If the internal variable N is 0, the process proceeds to S116, and if the internal variable N is other than 0, the process proceeds to S117.

[0062] In S117, the camera control circuit B102 subtracts 1 from the internal variable N indicating the number of communication bytes and stores the result as a new internal variable N.

[0063] In S118, the camera control circuit B102 checks whether or not MISO has changed to Hi level. If MISO is at Hi level, the process proceeds to S114, and if MISO is not at Hi level, the process returns to S118.

[0064] In S116, the camera control circuit B102 changes CS to Hi level, and ends the series of SPI communications.

[0065] The flowchart in FIG. 3(d) shows the processing performed by the accessory control circuit 201 in the SPI protocol B.

[0066] In S211, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether or not CS has changed to Lo. If CS has changed to Lo, the process proceeds to S212, and if CS has not changed to Lo, the process returns to S211.

[0067] In S212, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether or not SPI communication is possible. If SPI communication is possible, the process proceeds to S213, and if SPI communication is not possible, the process proceeds to S214.

[0068] In S213, the accessory control circuit 201 controls MISO to a Hi level and proceeds to S215.

[0069] In S214, the accessory control circuit 201 controls MISO to the Lo level and returns to S212.

[0070] In S215, the accessory control circuit 201 performs input control of MOSI data and output control of MISO data in response to the SCLK signal input to communicate 1 byte of data.

[0071] In S216, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether CS has changed to Hi. If CS has changed to Hi, it determines that the SPI communication has ended, and if CS has not changed to Hi, the process returns to S212 to communicate the next 1 byte.

[0072] FIG. 4 shows the contents of communication when an operation execution command is notified from the camera 100 to the accessory 200 by SPI communication in this embodiment.

[0073] In the first byte of communication, the camera control circuit B102 transmits information CMD indicating a command number as MOSI data to the accessory control circuit B101. The accessory control circuit 201 transmits a value of 0xA5, which is information indicating a communication available state, as MISO data to the camera control circuit B102. If the accessory control circuit 201 cannot execute the communication process of the first byte, it transmits a value other than 0xA5 as MISO data to the camera control circuit B102.

[0074] In the communication of the second byte, the camera control circuit B102 transmits an argument MOSI_DATA1 corresponding to the command number CMD to the accessory control circuit 201. Then, from the third byte to the (N-2)th byte onwards, the camera control circuit B102 similarly transmits arguments MOSI_DATA2 to MOSI_DATA[N-3] corresponding to the command number CMD to the accessory control circuit 201.

[0075] In the second byte of communication, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits the command number CMD received in the first byte as MISO data to the camera control circuit B102. This allows the camera control circuit B102 to determine that the accessory control circuit 201 has correctly received the MOSI data.

[0076] Furthermore, in the communication of the third byte, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits the return value MISO_DATA1 corresponding to the command number CMD as MISO data to the camera control circuit B102. Then, from the fourth byte to the (N-2)th byte onwards, the accessory control circuit 201 similarly transmits arguments MISO_DATA2 to MISO_DATA[N-4] corresponding to the command number CMD to the camera control circuit B102.

[0077] The number of arguments and return values ​​is determined in advance for each command number. Either one or both of the arguments and return values ​​may be omitted.

[0078] In the (N-1)th byte of communication, the camera control circuit B102 transmits checksum data CheckSum_C as MOSI data to the accessory control circuit 201. The checksum data CheckSum_C is a value calculated by the following formula. CheckSum_C=EXOR(AND( SUM(CMD, MOSI_DATA1, …, MOSI_DATA[N-3]), 0xFF ), 0xFF ) In addition, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits 0x00 as the MISO data.

[0079] Next, in the Nth byte of communication, the camera control circuit B102 transmits 0x00 to the accessory control circuit 201 as the MOSI data.

[0080] In addition, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits checksum data CheckSum_A as MISO data. If the value of CheckSum_C received by the camera control circuit B102 in the (N-1)th byte communication matches the value of CheckSum_C calculated by the camera control circuit B102, the checksum data CheckSum_A is calculated by the following formula. CheckSum_A=EXOR(AND(SUM(0xA5, CMD,MIS0_DATA1,…, MOSI_DATA[N-4]), 0xFF ), 0xFF ) On the other hand, if the value of CheckSum_C received by the camera control circuit B102 in the (N-1)th byte communication does not match the value of CheckSum_C calculated by the camera control circuit B102, the following formula is used for calculation. CheckSum_A=AND(SUM(0xA5, CMD, MIS0_DATA1, …, MOSI_DATA[N-4] ), 0xFF ) A communication request signal (second input signal) / WAKE for requesting communication from the accessory 200 to the camera 100 (camera control circuit A101) is connected to TC11, which is a signal contact (communication request contact) shown in Fig. 1. The communication request signal / WAKE is pulled up to the camera microcomputer power supply VMCU_C via a resistor. The camera control circuit A101 can detect a communication request from the accessory 200 by detecting a change (falling edge) in the communication request signal / WAKE.

[0081] The SDA connected to the communication contact TC12 and the SCL connected to TC13 are signals for the camera control circuit A101 to act as the communication master and perform communication (hereinafter referred to as I2C communication) using the first communication method, the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) communication method. SDA is a data signal, and SCL is a clock signal. SDA and SCL are open-drain signals pulled up to the camera microcomputer power supply VMCU_C, and the communication frequency is 100 kbps in this embodiment.

[0082] In I2C communication, data is transmitted from both the camera 100 and the accessory 200 via the SDA. Comparing SPI communication and I2C communication, I2C communication has a slower communication speed than SPI communication. In addition, SPI communication has a faster communication speed than I2C communication, and is therefore suitable for communication of information with a large amount of data. Therefore, in the communication between the camera 100 and the accessory 200 of this embodiment, information with a large amount of data is communicated using SPI communication, and information with a small amount of data is communicated using I2C communication. For example, data is first communicated using I2C communication, and if SPI communication can be performed based on this data or if it is necessary to perform SPI communication, it is possible to control so that SPI communication is further performed.

[0083] Figures 16(a) and (b) show examples of I2C communication waveforms. Figure 16(a) shows an example of the waveform when the camera transmits N bytes of data (DATA[1] to DATA[N]) to the accessory, and Figure 16(b) shows an example of the waveform when the camera receives N bytes of data (DATA[1] to DATA[N]) from the accessory. In Figures 16(a) and 16(b), the upper waveform is SCL, and the lower waveform is SDA.

[0084] Below the SDA waveform is shown the meaning of the signal at each timing, and whether the control circuit controlling the output level of the SDA signal is the camera control circuit A101 or the accessory control circuit 201. The communication data is made up of 1-byte data and 1-bit information indicating a response. The top of the diagram shows which byte the data is from the start of communication.

[0085] The details of the communication will be described later with reference to Figs. 17 to 19, so an overview will be given with Figs. 16(a) and 16(b).

[0086] 16(a), in communication of the first and second bytes, the camera control circuit A101 notifies the accessory control circuit 201 of storage address information of the data to be transmitted. In communication of the third to (N+2)th bytes, the camera control circuit A101 transmits N bytes of data (DATA[ADDRESS] to DATA[ADDRESS+N]) to the accessory control circuit 201.

[0087] 16(b), in communication of the first and second bytes, the camera control circuit A101 notifies the accessory control circuit 201 of storage address information of the data to be received. In communication of the third to (N+3)th bytes, the camera control circuit A101 receives N bytes of data (DATA[ADDRESS] to DATA[ADDRESS+N]) from the accessory control circuit 201.

[0088] The flowchart in FIG. 17 shows the process performed by the camera control circuit A101 when transmitting N bytes of data from the camera control circuit A101 to the accessory control circuit 201.

[0089] In S3001, the camera control circuit A101 stores a numerical value indicating the number of bytes to be transmitted in the internal variable N. For example, when transmitting 3 bytes, 3 is stored. In this embodiment, 3 is stored.

[0090] In S3002, the camera control circuit A101 changes SDA to Lo level while SCL is at Hi level (START condition), thereby notifying the accessory control circuit 201 of the start of communication.

[0091] In S3003, the camera control circuit A101 sets in the upper 7 bits of the transmission data slave address information indicating the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201. In this embodiment, the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201 is assumed to be 1010000 in binary.

[0092] In S3004, the camera control circuit A101 sets information indicating that this is a WRITE communication in the lowest 1 bit of the transmission data. Setting this bit to 0 indicates a WRITE communication.

[0093] In S3005, the camera control circuit A101 transmits to the accessory control circuit 201 the data (10100000 in binary, 0xA0 in hexadecimal) set as the transmission data in S3003 and S3004.

[0094] In S3006, the camera control circuit A101 outputs SCL for one clock after transmitting one byte of data, and checks the signal level of SDA. If the signal level of SDA is Lo, it is determined to be a data reception acknowledgement (ACK) from the accessory control circuit 201, and the process proceeds to S3007. On the other hand, if the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the accessory control circuit 201 has not received the data normally, and the process proceeds to S3014.

[0095] In S3007, the camera control circuit A101 sets, as transmission data, information on the storage address of the data to be transmitted to the accessory control circuit 201 (start address information). In this embodiment, the size of the start address information is 1 byte, and the value is 0x00.

[0096] In S3008, the camera control circuit A101 transmits the set 1-byte start address information (value 0x00) to the accessory control circuit 201.

[0097] In S3009, the camera control circuit A101 outputs SCL for one clock after transmitting one byte of start address information data, and checks the signal level of SDA. If the signal level of SDA is Lo, it is determined to be a data reception acknowledgement (ACK) from the accessory control circuit 201, and proceeds to S3010. On the other hand, if the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the accessory control circuit 201 has not received the data normally, and proceeds to S3014.

[0098] In S3010, the camera control circuit A101 stores 1 in the internal variable M. The internal variable M is a variable for counting the number of pieces of transmission data.

[0099] In S3011, the camera control circuit A101 outputs one byte of SCL and changes the SDA to a desired signal level while SCL is Lo, thereby transmitting one byte of data to the accessory control circuit 201. Here, the start address information is 0x00 and the internal variable M is 1, so one byte of data corresponding to the address 0x00 is transmitted.

[0100] In S3012, the camera control circuit A101 outputs SCL for one clock after transmitting one byte of data, and checks the signal level of SDA. If the signal level of SDA is Lo, it is determined to be a data reception acknowledgement (ACK) from the accessory control circuit 201, and the process proceeds to S3013. On the other hand, if the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the accessory control circuit 201 has not received the data normally, and the process proceeds to S3014.

[0101] In S3013, the camera control circuit A101 checks whether the internal variable M has the same value as the internal variable N. If the internal variable M has the same value as the internal variable N, it determines that transmission of all data has been completed and proceeds to S3014. If the internal variable M does not have the same value as the internal variable N, it determines that there is still data remaining to be transmitted and proceeds to S3015.

[0102] In S3015, the camera control circuit A101 adds 1 to the internal variable M and returns to S3011.

[0103] In this way, after returning to S3011, the camera control circuit A101 sequentially increments the address of the data to be transmitted and transmits one byte of data corresponding to each address. In this way, by repeatedly transmitting one byte of data until the internal variable M and the internal variable N have the same value in the process of S3013, the camera control circuit A101 transmits N bytes of data to the accessory control circuit 201. When the internal variable N is set to 3 as in this embodiment, 3 bytes of data can be transmitted.

[0104] In S3014, the camera control circuit A101 changes SDA to Hi level while SCL is at Hi level (STOP condition), thereby notifying the accessory control circuit 201 of the end of communication.

[0105] The flowchart in FIG. 18 shows the processing performed by the camera control circuit A101 when the camera control circuit A101 receives N bytes of data from the accessory control circuit 201.

[0106] In S3101, the camera control circuit A101 stores a numerical value indicating the number of bytes to be received in an internal variable N. For example, when 3 bytes are to be received, 3 is stored. In this embodiment, 3 is stored.

[0107] In S3102 to S3106, the camera control circuit A101 performs the same processes as in S3002 to S3006, respectively, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0108] In S3107, the camera control circuit A101 sets, as transmission data, information on the storage address of the data received from the accessory control circuit 201 (start address information). In this embodiment, the size of the start address information is 1 byte, and the value is 0x00.

[0109] In S3108, the camera control circuit A101 transmits the set 1-byte start address information (value 0x00) to the accessory control circuit 201.

[0110] In S3109, the camera control circuit A101 outputs SCL for one clock after transmitting one byte of start address information data, and checks the signal level of SDA. If the signal level of SDA is Lo, it is determined to be a data reception acknowledgement (ACK) from the accessory control circuit 201, and proceeds to S3110. On the other hand, if the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the accessory control circuit 201 has not received the data normally, and proceeds to S3122.

[0111] In S3110, the camera control circuit A101 changes SDA to Lo level while SCL is at Hi level, similarly to S3102, and notifies the accessory control circuit 201 of a START condition.

[0112] In S3111, the camera control circuit A101 sets in the upper 7 bits of the transmission data slave address information indicating the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201. In this embodiment, the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201 is assumed to be 1010000 in binary.

[0113] In S3112, the camera control circuit A101 sets information indicating READ communication in the lowest 1 bit of the transmission data. Setting this bit to 1 indicates READ communication.

[0114] In S3113, the camera control circuit A101 transmits to the accessory control circuit 201 the data (10100001 in binary, 0xA1 in hexadecimal) set as the transmission data in S3003 and S3004.

[0115] In S3114, the camera control circuit A101 outputs SCL for one clock after transmitting one byte of data, and checks the signal level of SDA. If the signal level of SDA is Lo, it is determined to be a data reception acknowledgement (ACK) from the accessory control circuit 201, and the process proceeds to S3115. On the other hand, if the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the accessory control circuit 201 has not received the data normally, and the process proceeds to S3122.

[0116] In S3115, the camera control circuit A101 stores 1 in the internal variable M. The internal variable M is a variable for counting the number of pieces of received data.

[0117] In S3116, the camera control circuit A101 outputs one byte of SCL and reads the signal level of SDA at the timing when SCL changed from Lo to Hi. This makes it possible to receive one byte of data from the accessory control circuit 201. The received one byte of data can be stored in the volatile memory 125 as data corresponding to address 0x00, or can be used for predetermined processing.

[0118] In S3117, the camera control circuit A101 determines whether one byte of data has been received normally. If the data has been received normally, the process proceeds to S3118. If the data has not been received normally, the process proceeds to S3119.

[0119] In S3118, the camera control circuit A101 checks whether the internal variable M has the same value as the internal variable N. If the internal variable M has the same value as the internal variable N, it determines that reception of all data has been completed and proceeds to S3119. If the internal variable M does not have the same value as the internal variable N, it determines that received data still remains and proceeds to S3120.

[0120] In S3120, the camera control circuit A101 outputs one byte of SCL and controls SDA to the Lo level, thereby issuing a data reception notification (ACK) to the accessory control circuit 201 and notifying it that data communication will continue.

[0121] In S3121, the camera control circuit A101 adds 1 to the internal variable M and returns to S3116.

[0122] In this way, after returning to S3116, the camera control circuit A101 sequentially increments the address of the data to be received and receives one byte of data corresponding to each address. In this way, by repeatedly receiving one byte of data until the internal variable M and the internal variable N have the same value in the process of S3118, the camera control circuit A101 receives N bytes of data from the accessory control circuit 201. When the internal variable N is set to 3 as in this embodiment, 3 bytes of data can be received.

[0123] In S3119, the camera control circuit A101 outputs one byte of SCL and controls SDA to a Hi level, thereby notifying the accessory control circuit 201 that data communication has been completed (NACK).

[0124] In S3122, the camera control circuit A101 changes SDA to Hi level while SCL is at Hi level (STOP condition), thereby notifying the accessory control circuit 201 of the end of communication.

[0125] The flowchart in Figure 19 shows the processing performed by the accessory control circuit 201 when transmitting N bytes of data from the camera control circuit A101 to the accessory control circuit 201 and when the camera control circuit A101 receives N bytes of data from the accessory control circuit 201.

[0126] In S3201, the accessory control circuit 201 waits for SDA to change to Lo level (START condition) while SCL is at Hi level. When the accessory control circuit 201 detects the START condition, the process proceeds to S3202.

[0127] In S3202, the accessory control circuit 201 stores 0 in the internal variable M. The internal variable M is a variable for counting the number of pieces of transmitted and received data.

[0128] In S3203, the accessory control circuit 201 receives the 1-byte data transmitted from the camera control circuit A101.

[0129] In S3204, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether the upper 7 bits of the 1-byte data received in S3203 match the slave address (0x50 in this embodiment) of the accessory control circuit 201. If it matches the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201, proceed to S3205. If it does not match the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201, proceed to S3221.

[0130] In S3205, the accessory control circuit 201 controls SDA to a Lo level for the next SCL clock output after receiving one byte, thereby sending a data reception notification (ACK) to the camera control circuit A101.

[0131] In S3206, the accessory control circuit 201 determines the type of data for the next 1-byte communication based on the lowest 1 bit of the 1-byte data received in S3203. If the lowest 1 bit of data is 0, it determines that the data for the next 1-byte communication is start address information from the camera control circuit A101 to the accessory control circuit 201, and proceeds to S3207. If the lowest 1 bit of data is 1, it determines that the data for the next 1-byte communication is transmission data from the accessory control circuit 201 to the camera control circuit A101, and proceeds to S3209.

[0132] In S3207, the accessory control circuit 201 receives one byte of data transmitted from the camera control circuit A101. The received one byte of data is information indicating an address where data to be transmitted / received in subsequent communications is stored. In this embodiment, the start address information is 0x00, as described in Figs. 17 and 18.

[0133] On the other hand, in S3209, the accessory control circuit 201 uses, as the start address information, address information previously stored in the accessory control circuit 201 or address information previously notified from the camera control circuit A101.

[0134] In S3208, if the accessory control circuit 201 determines that one byte of data has been received successfully, the process proceeds to S3210. If the accessory control circuit 201 determines that one byte of data has not been received successfully, the process proceeds to S3221.

[0135] In S3210, the accessory control circuit 201 controls SDA to a Lo level for the next SCL clock output after receiving one byte of data, thereby sending a data reception notification (ACK) to the camera control circuit A101.

[0136] In S3211, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether SDA has changed to Lo level (START condition) while SCL is at Hi level. If a START condition is detected, the accessory control circuit 201 determines that the next 1-byte of data to be communicated is data to be transmitted from the camera control circuit A101 to the accessory control circuit 201, and is data indicating a slave address and communication type, and proceeds to S3212. If a START condition is not detected, the accessory control circuit 201 determines that the next 1-byte of data to be communicated is data information to be received by the accessory control circuit 201 from the camera control circuit A101, and proceeds to S3216.

[0137] In S3212, the accessory control circuit 201 receives the 1-byte data transmitted from the camera control circuit A101.

[0138] In S3213, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether the upper 7 bits of the 1-byte data received in S3212 match the slave address (0x50 in this embodiment) of the accessory control circuit 201. If it matches the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201, proceed to S3214. If it does not match the slave address of the accessory control circuit 201, proceed to S3221.

[0139] In S3214, the accessory control circuit 201 determines the type of data for the next 1-byte communication based on the lowest 1 bit of the 1-byte data received in S3203. If the lowest 1 bit of data is 0, the process proceeds to S3221. If the lowest 1 bit of data is 1, the process determines that the data for the next 1-byte communication is transmission data from the accessory control circuit 201 to the camera control circuit A101, and proceeds to S3215.

[0140] In S3215, the accessory control circuit 201 controls SDA to a Lo level for the next SCL clock output after receiving one byte, thereby sending a data reception notification (ACK) to the camera control circuit A101.

[0141] In S3222, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits to the camera control circuit A101 one byte of data corresponding to the start address information received from the camera control circuit A101 in S3207 or the start address information determined in S3209.

[0142] In S3223, the accessory control circuit 201 adds 1 to the internal variable M and proceeds to S3224.

[0143] In S3224, the accessory control circuit 201 checks the signal level of SDA after transmitting one byte of data. If the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the camera control circuit A101 has received all data (NACK), and the process proceeds to S3225. On the other hand, if the signal level of SDA is Hi, it is determined that the camera control circuit A101 is still requesting data transmission from the accessory control circuit 201, and the process returns to S3222. In this way, after returning to S3222, the accessory control circuit 201 sequentially increments the address of the data to be transmitted, and transmits one byte of data corresponding to each address. In this way, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits N bytes of data to the camera control circuit A101 by repeatedly transmitting one byte of data until a NACK is notified from the camera control circuit A101 in the process of S3224.

[0144] In S3225, the accessory control circuit 201 waits for a STOP condition in which SDA changes to Hi level while SCL is at Hi level. When the accessory control circuit 201 detects the STOP condition, it ends communication.

[0145] On the other hand, in S3216, the accessory control circuit 201 receives one byte of data, and stores the one byte of data in a non-volatile memory (not shown) as data corresponding to the start address information received from the camera control circuit A101 in S3207, or uses the data for a specified process.

[0146] In S3217, the accessory control circuit 201 adds 1 to the internal variable M and proceeds to S3218.

[0147] In S3218, if the accessory control circuit 201 determines that one byte of data has been received successfully, the process proceeds to S3219. If the accessory control circuit 201 determines that one byte of data has not been received successfully, the process proceeds to S3221.

[0148] In S3219, the accessory control circuit 201 controls SDA to a Lo level for the next SCL clock output after receiving one byte, thereby sending a data reception notification (ACK) to the camera control circuit A101.

[0149] In S3230, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether a STOP condition in which SDA changes to Hi level while SCL is at Hi level has been detected. If the accessory control circuit 201 detects a STOP condition, it ends communication. On the other hand, if the accessory control circuit 201 does not detect a STOP condition, it determines that the camera control circuit A101 will continue to transmit data to the accessory control circuit 201, and returns to S3216.

[0150] In this way, after returning to S3216, the accessory control circuit 201 sequentially increments the address of the data to be received and receives one byte of data corresponding to each address. By repeatedly receiving one byte of data in this way until a STOP condition is notified in S3220, the accessory control circuit 201 receives N bytes of data from the camera control circuit A101.

[0151] In this way, the camera connection unit 141 includes a contact TC12 for a data signal in the I2C communication method, and a contact TC13 for a clock signal in the I2C communication method, which is arranged on one side of the contact for the data signal (adjacent on one side).The camera connection unit 141 further includes a contact TC11 for a second input signal, a contact TC10 for an input selection signal in the SPI communication method, a contact TC09 for reception in the SPI communication method, a contact TC08 for transmission in the SPI communication method, a contact TC07 for a clock signal in the SPI communication method, a contact TC06 for a first input signal, and a contact TC05 for an output signal, which are arranged on the other side of the contact for the data signal TC12 (in order from the position adjacent on the other side).

[0152] The accessory 200 stores accessory information in a non-volatile memory (not shown). The accessory information is information that allows the camera 100 to identify the type of the accessory 200 and specifications related to communication and operation (function). FIG. 5 shows an example of the accessory information. The accessory information is mapped in a memory space of addresses 0x00 to 0x0F, and it is possible to read the accessory information from the accessory 200 by I2C communication. Details of the accessory information will be described later. Note that in the I2C communication of this embodiment, a checksum value for the read data is added as the final data of the communication.

[0153] 1, the FNC1 signal connected to TC14, the FNC2 signal connected to TC15, the FNC3 signal connected to TC16, and the FNC4 signal connected to TC17 are function signals whose functions can be changed according to the type of attached accessory 200. For example, if accessory 200 is a microphone device, the signal communicated via TC15 is a signal related to audio data, and if accessory 200 is a strobe device, the signal communicated via TC14 is a signal notifying the timing of light emission.

[0154] Depending on the type of the attached accessory, signals for realizing different functions may be communicated through the same contact. For example, when the accessory 200 is an accessory other than lighting, a synchronization signal for controlling a timing different from the light emission timing may be communicated through TC14. TC14 to TC17 correspond to function signal contacts. Communication using at least one of the function signal contacts is also called function signal communication. Function signal communication can be performed in parallel with I2C communication and SPI communication at a timing independent of I2C communication and SPI communication.

[0155] The accessory types referred to here are the above-mentioned microphone devices, lighting devices, etc. Accessories that realize the same purpose function, such as lighting devices with different performance, are the same type of accessory. Accessories that realize different purpose functions, such as microphone devices and lighting devices, are different types of accessories. The function signal communication is performed based on information acquired by I2C communication or SPI communication. TC18 as a second ground contact is also connected to GND, and is a contact that serves as a reference potential for the camera 100 and the accessory 200, similar to TC04. The differential signal D2N connected to TC19 and the differential signal D2P connected to TC20 are data communication signals that are paired to perform data communication, and are connected to the camera control circuit B102. For example, USB communication can be performed via TC19 and TC20.

[0156] TC21 is connected to GND and serves not only as a reference potential contact, but also as a contact to control the wiring impedance of the differential signal D2N and the differential signal D2P. TC21 corresponds to the fourth ground contact.

[0157] The contacts TC01, TC04, TC06, TC18, and TC21 are connected to, for example, a GND portion of a flexible substrate, and the GND portion of the flexible substrate is fixed with screws or the like to a metallic member that serves as the GND level of the camera 100. Examples of the metallic member that serves as the GND level include an engagement member that engages with the accessory 200 in the accessory shoe portion, a base plate (not shown) inside the camera 100, and the like.

[0158] In this embodiment, the attachment detection contact TC06 to which the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET is connected is placed next to the contact (first clock contact) TC07 that transmits the clock signal SCLK (first clock signal). Generally, noise (clock noise) associated with potential fluctuations in the clock signal is transmitted to contacts adjacent to the clock signal contact, which can cause malfunction. In particular, in a configuration in which there are many contacts and the distance between the contacts is short, as in this embodiment, the impact is greater. Therefore, by placing the attachment detection contact TC06 next to the SCLK contact TC07, the impact of clock noise can be suppressed.

[0159] The accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET is pulled up before the accessory is attached, but is set to GND potential after the accessory is attached. On the other hand, the SCLK contact TC07 that transmits the clock signal does not transmit a clock signal before the accessory is attached, so there is no fluctuation in potential, but the potential fluctuates in order to transmit the clock signal only after the accessory is attached.

[0160] When the SCLK contact TC07 transmits the clock signal, the attachment detection contact TC06 is at GND potential. Therefore, even if the attachment detection contact TC06 receives clock noise, the potential of the control circuits of the camera 100 and the accessory 200 is unlikely to fluctuate, so malfunctions can be prevented. In addition, the clock noise can be prevented from being transmitted to positions farther away than the attachment detection contact TC06. As a result, there is no need to provide a GND terminal, so the effects of clock noise can be suppressed without increasing the number of contacts.

[0161] In addition, SCL (second clock signal) is also transmitted as a clock signal to contact (second clock contact) TC13. However, the SCLK transmitted to SCLK contact TC07 has a higher frequency than SCL, and more clock noise is generated from the SCLK contact TC07 than from the SCL contact TC13. For this reason, locating the attachment detection contact TC06 next to the SCLK contact TC07 rather than next to the SCL contact TC13 is more effective in preventing malfunctions caused by clock noise.

[0162] In addition to the difference in frequency, the SCL transmitted at the SCL contact TC13 is a clock signal conforming to the I2C communication standard, and the voltage fluctuations on the signal line are driven by an open-drain connection. On the other hand, the SCLK transmitted at the SCLK contact TC07 is a clock signal conforming to the SPI communication standard, and the voltage fluctuations on the signal line are driven by a CMOS output. For this reason, the edges of the voltage fluctuations at the SCL contact TC13 tend to be gentler than those at the SCLK contact TC07, making it less likely for clock noise to occur. Therefore, placing the attachment detection contact TC06 next to the SCLK contact TC07 rather than next to the SCL contact TC13 is more effective at preventing malfunctions caused by clock noise.

[0163] In addition, there are cases where a clock signal is transmitted by transmitting differential signals D1N, D1P in pairs to the first and second differential signal contacts TC19, TC20. In this case, a clock signal (third clock signal) having a higher frequency than the SCLK contact TC07 and SCL contact TC13 may be transmitted. However, since the differential signals D1N, D1P are paired signals, they emit less clock noise than the SCLK contact TC07 and SCL contact TC13, which transmit single-ended signals. For this reason, locating the attachment detection contact TC06 next to the SCLK contact TC07, rather than next to the first and second differential signal contacts TC19, TC20, is more effective in preventing malfunctions caused by clock noise.

[0164] Note that the contact (first data contact) TC08, located next to the SCLK contact TC07 on the opposite side from the attachment detection contact TC06, transmits MOSI (first data signal). Since MOSI is a data signal, it appears to be susceptible to the effects of clock noise. However, since MOSI is a data signal that conforms to the same SPI communication standard as the clock signal transmitted by the SCLK contact TC07, the timing of the potential fluctuation is synchronized with the clock signal and it is less susceptible to the effects of clock noise. For this reason, the contact TC08 does not need to be fixed to GND potential and can be used as the MOSI contact.

[0165] The accessory 200 has a battery 205 and receives power from the battery 205, as well as from the camera 100 via the camera connection unit 141 and the accessory connection unit 211. An accessory control circuit 201 serving as an accessory processing means in the accessory 200 is a circuit that controls the entire accessory 200, and is composed of a processor (microcomputer) such as a CPU. The accessory control circuit 201 executes various controls and processes according to a computer program.

[0166] The accessory power supply circuit 202 is a circuit that generates power to be supplied to each circuit of the accessory 200, and is composed of a DC / DC converter circuit, an LDO, a charge pump circuit, etc. A voltage of 1.8V generated by the accessory power supply circuit 202 is constantly supplied to the accessory control circuit 201 as an accessory microcomputer power supply VMCU_A. Note that the voltage generated by the accessory power supply circuit 202 may be a value different from 1.8V. By controlling the accessory power supply circuit 202, on / off control of the power supply to each circuit of the accessory 200 is performed.

[0167] The charging circuit (powered means) 204 is a circuit for charging the battery 205 using power supplied from the camera 100. When the accessory control circuit 201 determines that sufficient power is being supplied from the camera 100 to perform a charging operation, it controls the charging circuit 204 to charge the battery 205. Note that, although the present embodiment describes a case in which the battery 205 is attached to the accessory 200, the accessory 200 may operate only with power supplied from the camera 100 to the accessory power supply circuit (powered means) 202 without the battery 205 being attached. In this case, the charging circuit 204 is not necessary.

[0168] The differential communication circuit 207 is a circuit for performing differential communication with the camera 100, and can transmit and receive data to and from the camera 100. The external communication IF circuit 208 is an IF circuit for performing data communication with an external device (not shown), and is an Ethernet communication IF, a wireless LAN communication IF, a public network communication IF, or the like. The accessory control circuit 201 controls the differential communication circuit 207 and the external communication IF circuit 208 to transmit data received from the camera 100 to the external device and transmit data received from the external device to the camera 100.

[0169] The functional circuit 206 is a circuit having different functions depending on the type of the accessory 200. For example, if the accessory 200 is a strobe device, the functional circuit 206 is a light emission circuit, a charging circuit, etc. If the accessory 200 is a microphone device, the functional circuit 206 is an audio codec circuit, a microphone circuit, etc.

[0170] The external connection terminal 209 is a connector terminal for connecting to an external device, and is a USB TYPE-C connector in this embodiment. The connection detection circuit 210 is a circuit for detecting that an external device is connected to the external connection terminal 209. The accessory control circuit 201 can detect the connection of an external device to the external connection terminal 209 by receiving an output signal from the connection detection circuit 210.

[0171] Power switch 203 is a switch that is operated by a user to turn on / off the power (i.e., operation) of accessory 200. Accessory control circuit 201 can detect the on / off position by reading the signal level of the terminal to which power switch 203 is connected.

[0172] The operation switch 212 is a switch operated by a user to give various instructions and perform various settings to the accessory 200, and includes a button, a cross key, a slide switch, a dial switch, a touch sensor, etc. When the operation switch 212 is operated, the accessory control circuit 201 detects the operation and executes a predetermined process according to the operation.

[0173] The accessory connection unit 211 is a connector for electrically connecting to the camera 100 via 21 contacts TA01 to TA21 arranged in a row. The contacts TA01 to TA21 are arranged in this order from one end to the other end in the arrangement direction. TA01 is connected to GND and serves not only as a reference potential contact, but also as a contact to control the wiring impedance of the differential signals D1N and D1P. TA01 corresponds to the third ground contact.

[0174] A differential signal D1N connected to TA02 and a differential signal D1P connected to TA03 are data communication signals that perform data communication in a pair and are connected to a differential communication circuit 207. TA02, TA03, and TA07 to TA10, TA12 to TA17, TA19, and TA20, which will be described later, are communication contacts.

[0175] TA04 as a first ground contact is connected to GND, and serves as a reference potential contact between the camera 100 and the accessory 200. TA04 is disposed on the outside in the arrangement direction of the contacts relative to TA05, which will be described next.

[0176] An accessory power supply circuit 202 and a charging circuit 204 are connected to TA05 as a power supply contact, and the accessory power supply VACC supplied from the camera 100 is connected thereto.

[0177] TA06, which serves as an attachment detection contact, is directly connected to GND. When the accessory 200 is attached to the camera 100, the accessory control circuit 201 sets the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET described above to a Lo level (GND potential) as an active potential. This causes the camera 100 to detect that the accessory 200 is attached.

[0178] The communication contacts SCLK, MOSI, MISO, and CS connected to TA08, TA09, and TA10, respectively, are signals that cause the accessory control circuit 201 to become a communication slave and perform SPI communication.

[0179] A communication request signal / WAKE is connected to TA11, which is a signal contact (communication request contact), for requesting communication from the accessory control circuit 201 to the camera 100. When the accessory control circuit 201 determines that communication with the camera 100 is necessary, it changes the communication request signal / WAKE from Hi level to Lo level to make a communication request to the camera 100.

[0180] When the camera control circuit 101 supplies power to the accessory 200 via TC5 in response to detecting that the accessory 200 is attached, the accessory control circuit 201 notifies the camera control circuit 101 that it has received power supply by changing the signal level (electric potential) of the communication request signal / WAKE from Hi level to Lo level.

[0181] The accessory control circuit 201 can notify the camera 100 that a cause for the accessory 200 to communicate with the camera 100 has occurred by changing the signal level (electric potential) of the communication request signal / WAKE from Hi level to Lo level even without a request from the camera. With this configuration, the camera control circuit 101 can omit the operation of periodically checking whether a cause for the accessory 200 to communicate has occurred by polling. Furthermore, when a cause for communication has occurred, the accessory 200 can communicate that fact to the camera 100 in real time.

[0182] The SDA connected to the communication contact TA12 and the SCL connected to the communication contact TA13 are signals for the accessory control circuit 201 to perform I2C communication as a communication slave.

[0183] In this way, the accessory connection unit 211 includes a contact TA12 for a data signal of the I2C communication method, and a contact TA13 for a clock signal of the I2C communication method, which is arranged on one side of the contact for the data signal (adjacent on one side).Furthermore, the accessory connection unit 211 includes a contact TA11 for a second input signal, a contact TA10 for an input selection signal of the SPI communication method, a contact TA09 for transmission of the SPI communication method, a contact TA08 for reception of the SPI communication method, a contact TA07 for a clock signal of the SPI communication method, a contact TA06 for a first input signal, and a contact TA06 for an output signal, which are arranged on the other side of the contact for the data signal TAB12 (in order from the position adjacent on the other side).

[0184] The FNC1 signal connected to TA14, which is a communication contact (functional signal contact), the FNC2 signal connected to TA15, the FNC3 signal connected to TA16, and the FNC4 signal connected to TA17 are functional signals whose functions can be changed according to the type of accessory 200. For example, if accessory 200 is a microphone device, the signal is related to audio data, and if accessory 200 is a strobe device, the signal is a signal notifying the timing of light emission.

[0185] TA18 as a second ground contact is also connected to GND, and like TA04, serves as a reference potential contact for the camera 100 and the accessory 200. Differential signal D2N connected to TA19 and differential signal D2P connected to TA20 are data communication signals that form a pair to perform data communication, and are connected to an external connection terminal 209.

[0186] TA21 is connected to GND and serves not only as a reference potential contact but also as a terminal that controls the wiring impedance of the differential signals D2N and D2P. TA21 corresponds to the fourth ground contact.

[0187] The contacts TA01, TA04, TA06, TA18, and TA21 are connected to, for example, a GND portion of a flexible substrate, and the GND portion of the flexible substrate is fixed with a metal member that serves as the GND level of the accessory 200 by a screw or the like (not shown). The metal member that serves as the GND level is, for example, a shoe mounting leg that engages with the accessory shoe portion of the camera 100, a base plate (not shown) inside the accessory 200, or the like.

[0188] 6 shows a sequence of processing that is performed when accessory 200 is attached to camera 100. Here, an overview of the processing of camera 100 (camera control circuits A101, B102) and accessory 200 (accessory control circuit 201) will be described, and details will be described later.

[0189] When the accessory 200 is attached to the camera 100, the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET becomes Lo level. This causes the camera control circuit A101 to determine that the accessory 200 is attached to the camera 100. The camera control circuit A101, having determined that the accessory 200 is attached, sets the power supply control signal CNT_VACC1 to Hi level in order to turn on the output of the accessory power supply circuit A131. The accessory power supply circuit A131 outputs the accessory power supply VACC in response to the power supply control signal CNT_VACC1 becoming Hi.

[0190] The accessory power supply circuit 202 that receives the VACC generates a power supply VMCU_A for the accessory control circuit 201. This starts up the accessory control circuit 201. The started accessory control circuit 201 initializes each block in the accessory 200. After that, when the accessory control circuit 201 becomes capable of communicating with the camera 100, it sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level.

[0191] When the communication request signal / WAKE becomes Lo level, the camera control circuit A101 detects that the accessory 200 is in a communication-enabled state. The camera control circuit A101 requests the accessory 200 to communicate accessory information via I2C communication. The accessory control circuit 201 that receives the accessory information request transmits the accessory information to the camera control circuit A101. The accessory control circuit 201 that has transmitted the accessory information sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Hi level.

[0192] The camera control circuit A101 judges whether the attached accessory can be controlled or not based on the received accessory information. It also turns on the accessory power supply circuit B132. The camera control circuit A101 then performs various settings for the camera 100, and when this is completed, notifies the camera control circuit B102 of the accessory information.

[0193] Based on the notified accessory information, the camera control circuit B102 notifies the accessory 200 of a control command (accessory control communication) through SPI communication and performs control corresponding to a function signal (function signal control). That is, the camera control circuit B102 controls the accessory 200 through SPI communication.

[0194] The accessory control circuit 201 responds to control commands sent from the camera 100 via SPI communication, and performs operations according to function signals.

[0195] Here, the accessory information exemplified in Fig. 5 will be described. The D7-D0 data at address 0x00 is information indicating the type of accessory (hereinafter referred to as accessory type information). Fig. 7 shows an example of accessory type information. For example, 0x81 indicates a strobe device, 0x82 an interface conversion adapter device, 0x83 a microphone device, and 0x84 a multi-accessory connection adapter device for attaching multiple accessory devices to the camera 100.

[0196] The adapter device is an intermediate accessory that is attached between the camera 100 and an accessory such as a strobe device or a microphone device. The interface conversion adapter device is an adapter device that converts the interface to make the camera 100 and the accessory compatible when the interface of the camera 100 and the interface of the accessory are different. The multi-accessory connection adapter device is an adapter device to which multiple accessories can be attached.

[0197] 5 is information (hereinafter referred to as accessory model information) indicating the model (type) of the accessory 200. The accessory type information described above and this information make it possible to identify the type and model of the accessory.

[0198] The D7-D0 data at address 0x02 is information indicating the version of the accessory 200's firmware.

[0199] The D7-D6 data at address 0x03 is specification information (hereinafter referred to as power-off power supply necessity information) indicating whether or not to request the accessory power supply VACC (power supply) to the accessory 200 in a power-off state (first power saving state) in which the power switch (not shown) of the camera 100 is turned off. When this information is 0, it indicates that power supply is not required, and when it is 1, it indicates a power supply request from the accessory power supply circuit A131. Also, when it is 2, it indicates a power supply request from the accessory power supply circuit B132.

[0200] The D5-D4 data at address 0x03 is specification information (hereinafter referred to as auto power off power supply necessity information) indicating whether or not to request the supply of accessory power VACC to accessory 200 when camera 100 enters a power saving state (second power saving state: hereinafter referred to as auto power off state) by the auto power off function. Camera 100 has an auto power off function that automatically turns off the power when a no-operation state in which no operation is performed continues for a predetermined time in order to reduce power consumption. When this information is 0, it indicates that power supply is not required, when it is 1, it indicates a power supply request from accessory power supply circuit A131, and when it is 2, it indicates a power supply request from accessory power supply circuit B132.

[0201] The D3-D2 data at address 0x03 is specification information indicating whether or not the accessory 200 is equipped with a battery 205. When this information is 0, it indicates that a battery is not equipped, and when this information is 1, it indicates that a battery is equipped.

[0202] The D1-D0 data at address 0x03 is specification information (hereinafter referred to as charging compatibility information) indicating whether or not the accessory 200 has a function for charging the battery 205. When this information is 0, it indicates that the accessory does not have a charging function, and when this information is 1, it indicates that the accessory has a charging function.

[0203] The D7-D0 data at address 0x04 is specification information indicating the required power of the accessory power supply VACC to which the accessory 200 is supplied from the camera 100. For example, a value obtained by multiplying this information by 10 indicates a current value, and when this information is 10, it indicates 100 mA, and when this information is 100, it indicates 1 A. As a method for reducing the amount of information in this information, this information may be simplified information associated with a current value. For example, when this information is 0, it may indicate 100 mA, when this information is 1, it may indicate 300 mA, when this information is 3, it may indicate 450 mA, and when this information is 4, it may indicate 600 mA.

[0204] The D7 data at address 0x05 is specification information indicating whether the accessory 200 is in the firmware update mode. When this information is 0, it indicates that the accessory 200 is not in the firmware update mode, and when this information is 1, it indicates that the accessory 200 is in the firmware update mode.

[0205] The D6 data at address 0x05 is specification information indicating whether or not the accessory 200 has a firmware update function. When this information is 0, it indicates that the accessory does not have a firmware update function, and when this information is 1, it indicates that the accessory has a firmware update function. The D5-D4 data at address 0x05 is specification information indicating whether or not the accessory 200 is permitted to operate when attached to an intermediate connection accessory. When this information is 0, it indicates that the operation is not permitted, and when this information is 1, it indicates that the operation is permitted.

[0206] The D3-D2 data at address 0x05 is specification information indicating whether the accessory 200 requires the camera 100 to confirm that an intermediate connection accessory is attached when the camera 100 starts up. When this information is 0, it indicates that confirmation is not required, and when it is 1, it indicates that confirmation is required.

[0207] The D1-D0 data at address 0x05 is specification information indicating whether the accessory 200 supports command notification via I2C communication. When this information is 0, it indicates that the accessory does not support command notification, and when this information is 1, it indicates that the accessory supports command notification.

[0208] The D5-D4 data at address 0x06 is specification information indicating a communication request cause acquisition method (used communication method: hereinafter referred to as cause acquisition method), which is a communication method that can be used to notify the camera 100 of the cause of a communication request after the accessory 200 has notified the camera 100 of a communication request signal / WAKE. When this information is 0, it indicates that the I2C communication method is the cause acquisition method, when it is 1, it indicates that the SPI communication method is the cause acquisition method, and when it is 2, it indicates that both the I2C communication method and the SPI communication method are the cause acquisition methods.

[0209] The D3-D0 data at address 0x06 is specification information indicating whether the accessory 200 has functions corresponding to the FNC1 signal (function signal 1), the FNC2 signal (function signal 2), the FNC3 signal (function signal 3), and the FNC4 signal (function signal 4). The D0 data corresponds to the FNC1 signal, the D1 data corresponds to the FNC2 signal, the D2 data corresponds to the FNC3 signal, and the D3 data corresponds to the FNC4 signal, and when the value of each is 0, it indicates that the corresponding function is not provided, and when the value is 1, it indicates that the corresponding function is provided.

[0210] The D7 data at address 0x0A is specification information indicating whether or not to request startup of the camera 100 when the accessory 200 notifies the camera 100 of a communication request signal / WAKE. When this information is 0, it indicates that startup is requested, and when this information is 1, it indicates that startup is not requested.

[0211] The D6-D0 data at address 0x0A is information indicating the cause of the communication request signal / WAKE that the accessory 200 notified the camera 100 of.

[0212] FIG. 8 shows an example of a cause for generating a communication request signal / WAKE (hereinafter also referred to as a communication request cause). Here, an example is shown in which the accessory 200 is a microphone device. For example, cause number 0x00 is a number indicating that the menu call switch of the operation switches 212 has been operated (pressed). Cause number 0x01 is a number indicating that the accessory 200 has completed output control of an audio signal. Cause number 0x02 is a number indicating that the accessory 200 has completed muting of an audio signal (unmuted). In this way, in this embodiment, information on the communication request cause (number) as information on the cause for generating a communication request signal / WAKE can be notified (transmitted) from the accessory 200 to the camera 100 as one piece of accessory information.

[0213] In Figure 5, the D1 data at address 0x0C is specification information indicating the SPI communication protocol that accessory 200 supports, and when this information is 0, it indicates that it supports SPI protocol A, and when this information is 1, it indicates that it supports SPI protocol B.

[0214] The D0 data at address 0x0C is specification information indicating the control logic of the CS of the SPI communication supported by the accessory 200, and when this information is 0 it indicates that the CS is Lo active logic, and when this information is 1 it indicates that the CS is Hi active logic.

[0215] The D7-D0 data at address 0x0D is specification information that indicates the time required as a communication byte interval when the accessory 200 communicates using SPI protocol A and the D7 data at address 0x05 is 0, i.e., when the accessory 200 is not in firmware update mode.

[0216] The D7-D0 data at address 0x0E is specification information indicating the time required as a communication byte interval when the accessory 200 communicates using SPI protocol A and the address 0x05D7 data is 1, i.e., when the accessory 200 is in firmware update mode.

[0217] 9(a) and (b) show the communication byte interval time (communication interval) corresponding to the data (0 to 7) at addresses 0x0D and 0x0E. Fig. 9(a) shows the communication interval for the data information at address 0x0D, and Fig. 8(b) shows the communication interval for the data at address 0x0E.

[0218] In FIG. 5, the data at address 0x0F is checksum value data indicating the sum of addresses 0x00 to 0x0E.

[0219] FIG. 10 shows a start-up process that is executed by the camera control circuit A101 from when the accessory 200 is attached to the camera 100 until the functions of the accessory 200 are enabled.

[0220] In S401, the camera control circuit A101 monitors the signal level of the accessory attachment detection signal / ACC_DET and determines (detects) whether the accessory 200 is attached. If the signal level of / ACC_DET is Hi, the camera control circuit A101 determines that the accessory 200 is not attached and returns to S401 to again determine whether the accessory is attached. If the signal level is Lo, it determines that the accessory 200 is attached and proceeds to S402.

[0221] In S402, the camera control circuit A101 controls the power supply control signal CNT_VACC1 to Hi level in order to turn on the output of the accessory power supply circuit A131. Then, the process proceeds to S403. When the power supply control signal CNT_VACC1 becomes Hi level, the accessory power supply circuit A131 outputs the accessory power supply VACC.

[0222] In S403, the camera control circuit A101 monitors the signal level of the overcurrent detection signal DET_OVC and determines whether an overcurrent is flowing. If the signal level of DET_OVC is Lo, the camera control circuit A101 determines that an overcurrent is not flowing and proceeds to S404, and if the signal level is Hi, it determines that an overcurrent is flowing and proceeds to S405, where it performs error processing.

[0223] In S404, the camera control circuit A101 monitors the signal level of a communication request signal / WAKE, which is a notification signal from the accessory 200, and determines whether or not initialization of the accessory 200 is complete. If the signal level of / WAKE is Lo level (active), the camera control circuit A101 determines that initialization is complete and proceeds to S406, and if the signal level is Hi level, it determines that initialization is not complete and returns to S404, where it again determines whether initialization is complete.

[0224] In S406, the camera control circuit A101 performs I2C communication as initial communication with the accessory 200, and reads 15 bytes of accessory information. Then, the process proceeds to S407.

[0225] In S407, the camera control circuit A101 determines, based on the accessory information read out in S406, whether or not the attached accessory 200 is a device (compatible accessory) compatible with the camera 100. If the camera control circuit A101 determines that the attached accessory 200 is a compatible accessory, it proceeds to S408, and if it determines that it is not a compatible accessory, it proceeds to S409 and performs error processing.

[0226] In S408, the camera control circuit A101 controls the power supply control signal CNT_VACC2 to Hi level in order to turn on the output of the accessory power supply circuit B132. Then, the process proceeds to S410. When the power supply control signal CNT_VACC2 becomes Hi level, the accessory power supply circuit B132 outputs the accessory power supply VACC. In this embodiment, when both the power supply control signal CNT_VACC1 and the power supply control signal CNT_VACC2 become Hi level, the output by the accessory power supply circuit B132 is supplied to the accessory power supply VACC.

[0227] In S410, the camera control circuit A101 notifies the camera control circuit B 102 of the accessory information read out in S406. This completes the start-up process in the camera 100 associated with the attachment of the accessory 200.

[0228] The flowchart in FIG. 11 shows an enabling process that is executed by the camera control circuit B102 from when the accessory 200 is attached to the camera 100 until the functions of the accessory 200 are enabled.

[0229] In S501, the camera control circuit B102 determines whether or not accessory information has been notified from the camera control circuit A 101. If the accessory information has not been notified, the camera control circuit B102 returns to S501 to determine notification again, and if the accessory information has been notified, the camera control circuit B102 proceeds to S502.

[0230] In S502, the camera control circuit B102 performs settings for the function signals FNC1 to FNC4 based on the accessory information notified from the camera control circuit A101. For example, when it is notified that the accessory 200 is a microphone device, it sets FNC1 to function as the audio data clock signal BCLK, FNC2 to function as the audio data channel signal LRCLK, and FNC3 to function as the audio data signal SDATA. As another example, when it is notified that the accessory 200 is a strobe device, it sets FNC4 to function as the strobe light emission synchronization signal XOUT. Note that predetermined settings are also performed for function signals that do not require control for the accessory 200 so as not to cause any problems in the operations of the camera 100 and the accessory 200.

[0231] In S503, the camera control circuit B102 sets the control logic of CS in SPI communication based on the accessory information notified from the camera control circuit A101.

[0232] In S504, the camera control circuit B102 determines whether or not a predetermined event has occurred for the accessory 200. If no event has occurred, the camera control circuit B102 returns to S504 to again determine whether an event has occurred, and if an event has occurred, the camera control circuit B102 proceeds to S505.

[0233] In S505, the camera control circuit B102 determines whether the event that occurred in S504 is an event that requires SPI communication with the accessory 200. If the event requires SPI communication, the camera control circuit B102 proceeds to S506, and if not, proceeds to S507.

[0234] In S507, the camera control circuit B102 determines whether or not the event that occurred in S504 is an event that requires control of the accessory 200 using a function signal. If the event requires control using a function signal, the camera control circuit B102 proceeds to S508, and if not, proceeds to S509.

[0235] In S506, the camera control circuit B102 performs SPI communication with the accessory 200. Examples of SPI communication performed here include, for example, if the accessory 200 is a microphone device, communication of an instruction to turn on the microphone operation, communication of an instruction to turn off the microphone operation, communication of an instruction to switch the microphone's sound collection directivity, and communication of an instruction to switch the microphone's equalizer function. Also, if the accessory 200 is a strobe device, communication includes communication to read out the setting information of the strobe device and communication to notify the strobe device of the setting information. When the SPI communication in S506 is completed, the camera control circuit B102 returns to S504 and determines again the occurrence of an event.

[0236] In S508, the camera control circuit B102 performs control on the accessory 200 using the function signal. For example, if the accessory 200 is a microphone device, it outputs an audio data clock signal BCLK of FNC1 and an audio data channel signal LRCLK of FNC2, and also takes in an audio data signal SDATA of FNC3. This enables the camera 100 to acquire audio data from the microphone device. Also, if the accessory 200 is a strobe device, it outputs a strobe light emission synchronization signal XOUT of FNC4 at a predetermined timing. This enables the camera 100 to instruct the strobe device to emit light. When the control using the function signal is thus completed, the camera control circuit B102 returns to S504 and again determines whether an event has occurred.

[0237] Also, in S509, the camera control circuit B102 performs a predetermined in-camera control in response to the event that occurred in S504. For example, in-camera control, when the accessory 200 is a microphone device, includes control to start or end recording of audio data in the recording memory 126, control to perform equalizer processing on the audio data, and the like. In addition, when the accessory 200 is a strobe device, there is photometry control to accumulate and acquire light emitted by the strobe device in the imaging sensor 122, control to calculate an instruction value for the amount of light emitted by the strobe device, and the like. When the in-camera control is completed in this manner, the camera control circuit B102 returns to S504 and again determines the occurrence of an event.

[0238] The above-described startup process by the camera control circuit A101 and the validation process by the camera control circuit B102 enable the camera 100 to control the accessory 200 attached thereto.

[0239] The flowchart in FIG. 12 shows the process executed by the accessory control circuit 201 from when the accessory 200 is attached to the camera 100 until various functional operations of the accessory 200 become possible.

[0240] In S601, the accessory control circuit 201 waits for the accessory power supply VACC from the camera 100 to be turned on. If the accessory 200 does not include a battery 205, it is possible to detect that the accessory power supply VACC has been turned on by the accessory control circuit 201 itself starting to operate after power is supplied to the accessory control circuit 201. If the accessory 200 includes a battery 205, the accessory control circuit 201 may detect that the accessory power supply VACC has been turned on by monitoring the voltage value of the accessory power supply VACC.

[0241] In S602, the accessory control circuit 201 performs predetermined initial settings, such as setting the operating frequency of the microcomputer, setting the input / output control ports of the microcomputer, initializing the timer function of the microcomputer, and initializing the interrupt function of the microcomputer.

[0242] When the initial setting in S602 is completed, in S603, the accessory control circuit 201 controls the communication request signal / WAKE to a Lo level, thereby notifying the camera 100 that the initial setting is completed.

[0243] In S604, the accessory control circuit 201 responds to the I2C communication from the camera 100 and transmits 15 bytes of accessory information as initial communication to the camera 100. The accessory information includes the various pieces of information shown in FIG.

[0244] When the initial communication in S604 is completed, in S605, the accessory control circuit 201 controls the communication request signal / WAKE to a Hi level.

[0245] In S606, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether or not a predetermined event has occurred. If no event has occurred, the accessory control circuit 201 returns to S606 to determine again whether an event has occurred, and if an event has occurred, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S607.

[0246] In S607, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether or not the event that occurred in S606 is an event that requires SPI communication with the camera 100. If the event requires SPI communication, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S608, and if not, proceeds to S609.

[0247] In S609, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether or not the event that occurred in S606 is an event that requires I2C communication with the camera 100. If the event requires I2C communication, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S610, and if not, proceeds to S611.

[0248] In S611, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether or not the event that occurred in S606 is an event that requires control using a function signal. If the event requires control using a function signal, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S612, and if not, proceeds to S613.

[0249] In S613, the accessory control circuit 201 determines whether or not the event that occurred in S606 is an event that requires notification to the camera 100 by a communication request signal / WAKE. If the event requires notification to the camera 100 by a communication request signal / WAKE, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S614, and if not, proceeds to S615.

[0250] In S608, the accessory control circuit 201 performs SPI communication with the camera 100. If the communication request signal / WAKE is at Lo level when the SPI communication is performed, the communication request signal / WAKE is controlled to Hi level after the SPI communication. The SPI communication performed here includes, for example, when the accessory 200 is a microphone device, a communication of an instruction from the camera 100 to turn on the microphone operation, a communication of an instruction to turn off the microphone operation, and a communication of an instruction to switch the sound collection directivity of the microphone. There is also a communication of an instruction to switch the equalizer function of the microphone. In addition, when the accessory 200 is a strobe device, there is a communication to read out the setting information of the strobe device, a communication to notify the strobe device of the setting information, and the like. When the predetermined SPI communication in S608 is completed, the accessory control circuit 201 returns to S606 and judges again the occurrence of an event.

[0251] In S610, the accessory control circuit 201 performs I2C communication with the camera 100. If the communication request signal / WAKE is at Lo level when the I2C communication is being performed, the communication request signal / WAKE is controlled to Hi level after the I2C communication. The I2C communication performed here includes, for example, communication for reading out the communication request cause (number) for the communication request signal / WAKE notified to the camera 100 from the accessory control circuit 201. When the I2C communication in S610 is completed, the accessory control circuit 201 returns to S606 and again determines whether an event has occurred.

[0252] In S612, the accessory control circuit 201 controls the camera 100 using the function signals. For example, if the accessory 200 is a microphone device, the control performed here includes control of reception of the audio data clock signal BCLK of FNC1 and the audio data channel signal LRCLK of FNC2 output from the camera 100. In addition, there is also control of output of the audio data signal SDATA of FNC3 synchronized with these signals. Also, if the accessory 200 is a strobe device, there is control of reception of the strobe light emission synchronization signal XOUT of FNC4 and control of strobe light emission in response to this. When the control using the function signals in S612 is completed, the accessory control circuit 201 returns to S606 and again determines whether an event has occurred.

[0253] In S614, the accessory control circuit 201 stores a communication request cause number for the camera 100 corresponding to the event that occurred in S606 in a volatile memory (not shown) of the accessory 200, and controls the communication request signal / WAKE to a Lo level. The communication request cause number is a unique number assigned to each cause content as shown in Fig. 8. When the Lo level control of the communication request signal / WAKE in S614 is completed, the accessory control circuit 201 returns to S606 and determines again whether an event has occurred.

[0254] In S615, the accessory control circuit 201 performs control within the accessory in response to the event that occurred in S606. The control within the accessory performed here includes control to detect the remaining battery level when the accessory 200 includes the battery 205, and control to detect operation of the operation switch 212. When the control within the accessory in S615 is completed, the accessory control circuit 201 returns to S606 and again determines whether an event has occurred.

[0255] The above-described processing by the accessory control circuit 201 enables the accessory 200 to perform various functional operations after being attached to the camera 100.

[0256] The flowchart in FIG. 13 shows the processing executed by the camera 100 (camera control circuit A101) when the power switch in the camera 100 is turned on or when any operating member is operated from the auto power off state to start up.

[0257] In S700, the camera control circuit A101 checks the on / off state of the accessory power supply circuit A131. The on / off state of the accessory power supply circuit A131 may be checked directly by reading the register of the power supply IC in the accessory power supply circuit A131 or by reading the power control I / O level, or may be checked by the value of a RAM or ROM that logically manages the power supply state. If the accessory power supply circuit A131 is off, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S701 and turns on the accessory power supply circuit A131. If the accessory power supply circuit A131 is on, the camera control circuit A101 skips S701 and proceeds to S702.

[0258] In S702, the camera control circuit A101 waits for the completion of the initial processing of the accessory 200 (the communication request signal / WAKE is Low), and when the initial processing is completed, the process proceeds to S703.

[0259] In S703, the camera control circuit A101 requests the accessory 200 to communicate accessory information, and acquires (receives) the accessory information shown in FIG. In S704, the camera control circuit A101 reads the accessory type information (D7-D0 of address 0x00) and the accessory model information (D7-D0 of address 0x01) in the accessory information acquired in S703. The camera control circuit A101 then judges whether the accessory 200 identified from this information is a compatible accessory for the camera 100. Information on the type and model of the compatible accessory is recorded in a ROM (not shown) in the camera 100, and the camera control circuit A101 compares the accessory type information and model information with the information in the ROM to judge whether the accessory 200 is a compatible accessory. If the accessory 200 is a compatible accessory, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S707, and if it is not a compatible accessory, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S705.

[0260] In S705, the camera control circuit A101 turns off the accessory power supply circuit A131. Then, the process proceeds to S706, where the display circuit 127 displays a message that a non-compatible accessory has been attached, to notify the user.

[0261] In S707, the camera control circuit A101 reads out the required power (D7-D0 of address 0x04) from the accessory information acquired in S703. Then, the camera control circuit A101 reads out the power that the camera 100 can output from a ROM (not shown) and compares it with the required power. If the result of this comparison shows that the required power is greater than the available power, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds from S705 to S706 and displays on the display circuit 127 that a non-compatible accessory has been attached to notify the user. On the other hand, if the available power is greater than the required power, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S708 and turns on the accessory power supply circuit B132.

[0262] Through the above processing, the power supply processing to the accessory 200 is completed, and in S709, the functions of the accessory 200 become available in response to the operation of the camera 100. The processing in S709 will be described later (FIG. 15(a)).

[0263] In S710, the camera control circuit A101 determines whether or not the power switch of the camera 100 has been turned off, and if it has been turned off, the process proceeds to S711, and if it has not been turned off, the process proceeds to S712.

[0264] In S712, the camera control circuit A101 determines whether or not there has been any operation on the camera 100 for a predetermined time. If the predetermined time has not elapsed without any operation, the camera control circuit A101 returns to S709 without turning off the power of the camera 100. On the other hand, if the predetermined time has elapsed without any operation (when the power of the camera 100 is turned off by the auto power off function), the process proceeds to S713.

[0265] In S711, the camera control circuit A101 reads out power off power supply necessity information (D7-D6 of address 0x03) indicating the necessity of power supply to the accessory 200 in the power off state from among the accessory information acquired in S703. Note that in the power off state, the power of the camera 100 is cut off later in S720, so there is no need to operate the camera 100 after removing the accessory 200 from the camera 100. For this reason, there is no need to include detection of attachment / detachment of the accessory 200 as a factor for returning the camera 100 from the power off state in S720. In other words, in the power off state, attachment / detachment of the accessory 200 is not detected. The process proceeds from S711 to S714.

[0266] In S713, the camera control circuit A101 reads out auto power off power supply necessity information (D5-D4 of address 0x03) indicating the necessity of power supply to the accessory 200 in the auto power off state from the accessory information acquired in S703. The process proceeds from S713 to S714.

[0267] In S714, the camera control circuit A101 turns off the accessory power supply circuit B132.

[0268] Next, in S715, the camera control circuit A101 determines the power state of the accessory 200. This determination is made because there is a possibility that the power of the accessory 200 will be cut off in S709. If the power of the accessory 200 is turned off, the process proceeds to S716, and if not, the process proceeds to S715.

[0269] In S716, the camera control circuit A101 reads out, from the accessory information acquired in S703, charging compatibility information (D1-D0 of address 0x03) indicating the presence or absence of a function for charging the battery 205. If the accessory 200 has a function for charging the battery 205 and the camera 100 is in a state capable of charging the accessory 200 in S904 in Fig. 15(a) described later, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S720.

[0270] In S904, it is determined that charging of the accessory 200 is possible when the power usage of the camera 100 falls to a predetermined value or less, but this is not limiting, and the accessory 200 may always be charged with surplus power of the camera 100. Also, the accessory 200 may be charged after the functions of the camera 100 are restricted to ensure output from the battery 111. Also, if necessary for charging, the accessory power supply circuit B132 may be turned on. Details of charging the accessory 200 will be described in Example 3.

[0271] If the camera control circuit A101 determines in S716 not to charge the battery 205 in the accessory 200, the process proceeds to S717.

[0272] In S717, the camera control circuit A101 determines whether or not it is necessary to supply power to the accessory 200 in the power off state or the auto power off state from the power off power supply necessity information acquired in S711 or the auto power off power supply necessity information acquired in S713. If power supply is necessary, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S718 and requests the accessory 200 to transition to a power saving state. On the other hand, if power supply is not necessary, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S719 and turns off the accessory power supply circuit A131.

[0273] In S720, the camera control circuit A101 transitions the camera 100 to a power saving state (power off state or auto power off state).

[0274] The flowchart in Fig. 14A shows processing that the accessory 200 (accessory control circuit 201) executes when it receives communication from the camera 100. The flowchart in Fig. 14B shows processing that the accessory control circuit 201 executes in response to a change in the internal state of the accessory 200.

[0275] In S701 of FIG. 13, the accessory power supply circuit A131 is turned on, whereby the accessory control circuit 201 starts up and starts the processing of FIGS. 14A and 14B.

[0276] 14A, the accessory control circuit 201 sets (initializes) the accessory information shown in Fig. 5, and controls the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level in S802. Then, the accessory control circuit 201 waits for communication from the camera 100 in S803. Furthermore, the accessory control circuit 201 starts monitoring changes in the internal state of the accessory 200 in S850 in Fig. 14B.

[0277] The camera 100 (camera control circuit A101) detects the Lo level of the communication request signal / WAKE in S702 of Fig. 13, and performs communication of an accessory information acquisition request in S703. When accessory information is requested from the camera 100 in S703 of Fig. 13, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds from S803 to S804, determines that the accessory information acquisition request has been received, sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Hi level, and transmits the accessory information. Furthermore, when the accessory power supply circuit A131 is turned off in S705 of Fig. 13, the power supply to the accessory 200 is cut off, and the accessory control circuit 201 stops operating.

[0278] When the accessory power supply circuit B132 is turned on in S708 of FIG. 13, the necessary power is supplied to the accessory 200, and the functional operations of the accessory 200 (strobe emission, position detection by GPS, voice acquisition by microphone, etc.) become available.

[0279] The flowchart in Fig. 15(a) shows details of the processing performed by the camera control circuit A101 in S709 in Fig. 13. The camera control circuit A101 monitors changes in the state of the camera 100 in S901, and when a request to execute a functional operation of the accessory 200 occurs (S902), it instructs the accessory 200 to execute the requested functional operation of the accessory 200 by communication in S903. In response to this, the accessory control circuit 201 determines that an instruction to execute the functional operation of the accessory 200 has been received in S808 in Fig. 14A, sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Hi level, and executes the instructed functional operation in S809. Then, in S810, it notifies the camera 100 of the execution by setting the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level.

[0280] Furthermore, when a request to stop the functional operation of the accessory 200 occurs in S902, the camera control circuit A101 instructs the accessory 200 to stop the requested functional operation of the accessory 200 by communication in S903. In response to this, the accessory control circuit 201 determines that an instruction to stop the functional operation of the accessory 200 has been received in S805 of Fig. 14A, sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Hi level, and stops the instructed functional operation in S806. Then, in S807, the camera 100 is notified of the stop by setting the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level.

[0281] 13, the camera control circuit A101 notifies the accessory 200 of a request to transition to a power saving state, and in S811 of Fig. 14A, the accessory control circuit 201 determines that the request to transition to a power saving state has been received, sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Hi level, and proceeds to S812. In S812, the accessory control circuit 201 checks whether the accessory 200 is in functional operation. In functional operation, for example, in the case of a strobe device, preparation for light emission is complete, and in the case of a GPS, location information is periodically acquired.

[0282] The accessory control circuit 201, which has determined in S812 that the function is in operation, proceeds to S813 and starts a timer. This timer is provided to transition the accessory 200 to a power saving state after a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has elapsed. That is, the function continues to operate until the timer has counted the predetermined time, and if there is communication from the camera 100 before the count is completed (S814, S815), the accessory maintains a state in which the corresponding function can be executed. Specifically, if there is a communication requesting accessory information, the accessory control circuit 201 transmits the accessory information to the camera 100. If there is a communication permitting or prohibiting charging of the battery 205 in the accessory 200 (S819 or S821), the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S820 or S822 and sets the internal state of the accessory 200 to charging permitted or charging prohibited.

[0283] When the count of the predetermined time has finished without any communication, the accessory control circuit 201 notifies the camera 100 of the passage of the predetermined time by setting the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level in S816, and transitions the accessory 200 to a power saving state. The power saving state of the accessory 200 is a state in which the power used by the accessory 200 does not exceed the amount of power that can be supplied from the camera 100. After this, the accessory control circuit 201 stops and clears the timer in S817.

[0284] At this point, the camera 100 is in a power saving state (S720), but returns to a normal operating state in response to the communication request signal / WAKE going to Lo level, and starts the processing of Fig. 13. When the camera control circuit A101 advances the processing up to S709, in S950 shown in the flowchart of Fig. 15(b), it receives the communication request signal / WAKE going to Lo level in S816 and proceeds to S951. Furthermore, in S952, it instructs the accessory 200 by communication to stop the function of the accessory 200.

[0285] 14A, determines whether communication has been received from the camera 100, determines an instruction to stop the functional operation of the accessory 200 in S805, sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Hi level, and stops the functional operation in S806. Then, in S807, sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level to notify the camera 100 of the stop of the functional operation.

[0286] 13, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds with the processes of S714 and S715, and requests the accessory 200 to transition to a power saving state in S718. The accessory control circuit 201 determines that this request has been made in S811 of FIG. 14A. At this time, the functional operation of the accessory 200 has been stopped, so the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds from S812 to S818, and transitions the accessory 200 to a power saving state. Thereafter, the camera 100 also transitions to a power saving state in S720 of FIG. 13.

[0287] As described above, in the process shown in Fig. 13, the camera 100 of this embodiment keeps the accessory power supply circuit A131 on even in the power saving state, and continues to supply power to the accessory 200. This makes it unnecessary to turn on the accessory power supply circuit A131 the next time the camera 100 and the accessory 200 are started up. This enables the imaging system to quickly return from the power saving state, making it possible to avoid missing an imaging opportunity. EXAMPLES

[0288] Accessories with built-in batteries can be powered by the battery, and are called self-powered. Accessories without built-in batteries are powered by power supplied from the camera, and are called bus-powered. Whether or not an accessory attached to a camera has a built-in battery is indicated by the power supply specifications (D3-D2 of address 0x03) in the accessory information in Figure 5. If the accessory is self-powered, the power required of the camera will be small, and if it is bus-powered, it will be large. Also, since there is a possibility that the battery will run out when the accessory is self-powered, it is necessary to obtain the remaining battery level and to take control when the remaining level falls below a certain value.

[0289] The accessory may be able to switch between self-power and bus-power by a user's operation of an operating member provided on the accessory, or may be able to switch by communication from the camera. Alternatively, the accessory may measure the temperature inside the accessory and switch when the measured temperature is outside a predetermined temperature range. In this embodiment, the accessory 200 is controlled to be bus-powered when the power switch 203 is in the on position, and to be self-powered when the power switch 203 is in the off position. Note that the camera control circuit A101 executes the process shown in FIG. 13 regardless of whether the accessory 200 is self-powered or bus-powered. However, in the self-powered state, the process of S709 is different from that in the bus-powered state, as described below.

[0290] When the user operates the power switch 203 to the OFF position while the accessory 200 is operating on bus power, the accessory control circuit 201 detects the change of the power switch 203 to the OFF position by monitoring the state of the accessory 200 in S850 of Fig. 14B, and switches to self-power in S851. As a result, the accessory 200 starts operating on power from its own battery 205.

[0291] Then, the accessory control circuit 201 changes the power supply specifications (D3-D2 of address 0x03) in the accessory information to self-power in S852. Furthermore, the accessory control circuit 201 changes the requested power (D7-D0 of address 0x04) in the accessory information to the power required for self-power in S853, and sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level to notify the camera 100 of the above change in S854.

[0292] The camera control circuit A101, which detects the Lo level of the communication request signal / WAKE in S950 of FIG. 15(b), requests the accessory 200 to communicate accessory information in S953, as in S703 of FIG. 13, and confirms the change of the power supply state to self-power by reading the communication request cause. Then, the camera control circuit A101 determines whether the camera 100 can output the requested power when the accessory 200 is driven in self-power, as in S707 of FIG. 13. If the output is not possible, the camera control circuit A101 controls the accessory power supply circuit B132 to be turned off in S955, controls the accessory power supply circuit A131 to be turned off in S956, and notifies the user in S957 that the accessory 200 is not a compatible accessory (a non-compatible accessory) as in S706 of FIG. 13. If the requested power can be output in S954, the camera control circuit A101 continues the current power supply state.

[0293] On the other hand, while the accessory 200 is operating under self-power, the accessory control circuit 201 periodically acquires the remaining charge of the battery 205. A change in the remaining charge is detected in S850 of Fig. 14B. In this case, the accessory control circuit 201 updates the remaining battery charge in S855, and notifies the camera 100 by setting the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level in S856.

[0294] 15B, the camera control circuit A101 detects a Low level of the communication request signal / WAKE in S950, and in S958 checks whether the remaining battery level in the accessory 200 has been updated from the accessory information. Furthermore, in S959, the camera control circuit A101 ends the process if the power supply specifications (D3-D2 of address 0x03) in the accessory information previously read indicate bus power, and proceeds to S960 if they indicate self power.

[0295] In S960, the camera control circuit A101 determines whether the remaining battery level of the accessory 200 is equal to or less than a predetermined value. The predetermined value may be 0% or any value other than 0%. The predetermined value may also be dynamically changed depending on the operating state of the camera 100. If the remaining battery level is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the camera control circuit A101 proceeds to S961, and if not, ends the process.

[0296] In S961, the camera control circuit A101 enables a function in the camera 100. For example, if the accessory 200 is a microphone device and the camera 100 has a built-in microphone as a function, when the battery level of the accessory 200 is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the use of the microphone device may be switched to the use of the built-in microphone. Note that if the camera 100 does not have a built-in function equivalent to the function of the accessory 200, or if the built-in function is present but switching is not necessary due to the battery level of the accessory 200, S961 may be skipped.

[0297] Thereafter, the camera control circuit A101 controls the accessory power supply circuit B132 to be turned off in S962, and controls the accessory power supply circuit A131 to be turned off in S963. Furthermore, the camera control circuit A101 causes the display circuit 127 to display that the battery of the accessory 200 is dead in S957. EXAMPLES

[0298] An accessory with a built-in battery can charge the battery using power supplied from the camera. In the embodiment, the camera 100 determines whether to charge the accessory 200. This is to stably supply a charging current from the camera 100 to the accessory 200. However, within the range of the power required by the accessory 200, the accessory control circuit 201 may selectively use the charging power for the battery 205 and the power supplied from the camera 100.

[0299] (Charging allowed) The camera control circuit A101 detects a change in the state of the camera 100 in S901 in Fig. 15(a), and when it confirms in S904 that the charging conditions are met, the process proceeds to S905. The charging conditions are, for example, that a USB is connected to the camera 100 and a power source is secured, or that the camera 100 has transitioned to a power saving state and is able to stably supply a charging current to the accessory 200. Furthermore, if there is a function in the camera 100 that cannot be used while charging, disabling that function may be a charging condition. Furthermore, charging may be possible at all times without setting any particular conditions.

[0300] In S905, the camera control circuit A101 notifies the accessory 200 of permission to charge. The accessory control circuit 201 receives permission to charge notified from the camera 100 in S803 of Fig. 14A, proceeds to S819 and S820, and sets the internal state of the accessory 200 to permission to charge.

[0301] 14B, and determines in S858 whether the accessory 200 is in a state in which charging is possible. If the accessory 200 is in a state in which charging is possible, the accessory control circuit 201 controls the charging circuit 204 in S859, and further sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level in order to notify the camera 100 that charging has started in S860.

[0302] On the other hand, if it is determined in S858 that the accessory 200 is not in a state in which charging is possible, the accessory control circuit 201 ends the process. In addition, in determining in S858 whether charging of the accessory 200 is possible, the authentication result of the battery 205 or the temperature of the accessory 200 may be used. Also, charging may be possible at all times without setting any conditions. In this case, if it is determined in S861 that the charging conditions of the accessory 200 are met, it is confirmed in S862 whether charging permission has been notified from the camera control circuit A101. If charging permission has been notified, the charging circuit 204 is controlled in S863, and further, the communication request signal / WAKE is set to Lo level in order to notify the camera 100 that charging has started in S864.

[0303] 15B, the camera control circuit A101 acquires a communication request cause from the accessory 200 and proceeds from S965 to S966. In S966, the camera control circuit A101 causes the display circuit 127 to display the start of charging of the accessory 200.

[0304] (Charging prohibited) Furthermore, if the camera control circuit A101 detects a change in the state of the camera 100 in S901 of FIG. 15A and determines in S906 that the charging conditions are not met, the process proceeds to S907 and notifies the accessory 200 that charging is prohibited.

[0305] The accessory control circuit 201 receives the charging prohibition notification from the camera 100 in S802 of FIG. 14A, proceeds to S821 and S822, and sets the internal state of the accessory 200 to charging prohibition.

[0306] 14A in S850 and S865, and controls the charging circuit 204 to stop charging in S866. Then, in S867, the communication request signal / WAKE is set to Lo level to notify the camera 100 that charging has been stopped.

[0307] 15B, the camera control circuit A101 acquires a communication request cause from the accessory 200 and proceeds from S967 to S968. In S968, the camera control circuit A101 causes the display circuit 127 to display that charging of the accessory 200 has stopped.

[0308] (Charging complete) 14B, the accessory control circuit 201 proceeds to S869, where it detects the completion of charging in S850 and S868, and sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level to notify the camera 100 of the completion of charging. In other words, when charging is completed and no further power supply from the camera 100 is required, the accessory control circuit 201 sets the communication request signal / WAKE to Lo level to request the camera 100 to stop the power supply.

[0309] 15B, the camera control circuit A101 acquires a communication request cause from the accessory 200 and proceeds from S969 to S970. In S970, the camera control circuit A101 causes the display circuit 127 to display that charging of the accessory 200 is completed.

[0310] In each of the above embodiments, the first communication method is the I2C communication method and the second communication method is the SPI communication method. However, the first and second communication methods may be communication methods other than the I2C and SPI communication methods.

[0311] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, a case has been described in which the accessory is capable of communication using both the first communication method and the second communication method, but the accessory may be capable of communication using the first communication method but not capable of communication using the second communication method.

[0312] Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, an image pickup device has been described as an example of an electronic device, but the electronic device according to the present invention includes various electronic devices other than an image pickup device.

[0313] In the above embodiment, the accessory 200 is directly attached to the camera 100, but other attachment forms are also possible. For example, the camera 100 and the main accessory may communicate with each other via an intermediate accessory such as a main accessory corresponding to the accessory 200 and an adapter device to which the camera 100 is attached. In this case, the intermediate accessory may execute communication control similar to at least a part of the communication control executed by the accessory 200 and the communication control executed by the camera 100 described in the above embodiment. In addition, the intermediate accessory may function as an information transmission path, such as outputting information corresponding to information input from the camera 100 to the main accessory and outputting information corresponding to information input from the main accessory to the camera 100. Thus, the accessories as the embodiment of the present invention include various accessories such as microphone devices, lighting devices, and adapter devices. Furthermore, the adapter device may also be included in electronic devices. (Other Examples) The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

[0314] The embodiments described above are merely representative examples, and various modifications and alterations are possible for each embodiment when implementing the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0315] 100 Cameras 101 Camera control circuit A 102 Camera control circuit B 200 Accessories 201 Accessory control circuit

Claims

1. An electronic device to which an accessory is detachably and communicatively attached, A power supply means capable of supplying power to the accessory; a control means for controlling the supply of power from the power supply means to the accessory; the electronic device is capable of transitioning from a normal operation state to a first power saving state and a second power saving state different from the first power saving state; The control means receiving power supply necessity information from the accessory, the power supply necessity information including first information indicating whether or not the electronic device requests power supply to the accessory when the electronic device is in the first power saving state, and second information indicating whether or not the electronic device requests power supply to the accessory when the electronic device is in the second power saving state; when the first information received from the accessory indicates a request for power supply, causing the power supply means to supply power to the accessory in the first power saving state; 2. An electronic device comprising: an electronic device that, when the second information received from the accessory indicates a request for power supply, causes the power supply means to supply power to the accessory in the second power saving state.

2. The power supply means includes a first power supply means and a second power supply means capable of supplying a larger amount of power than the first power supply means, 2 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein when the power supply necessity information indicates a request for power supply, power is supplied from the first power supply means to the accessory in the power saving state.

3. 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit requests the accessory to transition to a power saving state when power is to be supplied to the accessory in the power saving state.

4. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the electronic device has as its power saving states a first power saving state to which it transitions when a power switch is turned off, and a second power saving state to which it transitions when no operation is performed for a predetermined period of time.

5. The control means In the first power saving state, the attachment of the accessory is not detected, 5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein in the second power saving state, the electronic device is returned to the normal operating state in response to detection of attachment of the accessory.

6. 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the power supply from the power supply means to the accessory in the power saving state in accordance with power supply necessity information received in the normal operation state.

7. The control means receiving third information from the accessory indicating whether the accessory has a battery; 7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, when the third information indicates that the battery is present, the power supplied to the accessory is changed depending on whether the accessory is in a first state in which the accessory is powered by the battery, or in a second state in which the accessory is powered by power from the electronic device.

8. The control means 8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein, when a state of the accessory is changed, information on required power after the change is received, and power based on the required power information is supplied to the accessory.

9. The control means The electronic device according to claim 7 , wherein, when the accessory is in the first state, it is determined whether a remaining battery charge of the accessory is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and a function of the electronic device corresponding to a function of the accessory is enabled.

10. The control means receiving, from the accessory, third information indicating whether the accessory has a battery and fourth information indicating whether the accessory has a function of charging the battery; 7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when the third information indicates that the battery is present and the fourth information indicates that the battery is capable of being charged, the electronic device causes the power supply means to supply power to the accessory in the first power saving state or the second power saving state.

11. An electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 10; and an accessory that is detachably and communicatively attached to the electronic device.

12. An accessory that is detachably and communicatively attached to an electronic device, an accessory processing means for transmitting information to the electronic device; A power supply means for receiving power from the electronic device, The accessory processing means transmits to the electronic device power supply necessity information including first information indicating whether the electronic device will request power supply to the accessory when the electronic device is in a first power saving state, and second information indicating whether the electronic device will request power supply to the accessory when the electronic device is in a second power saving state different from the first power saving state.

13. The accessory described in claim 12, characterized in that when the accessory processing means receives power supply from the electronic device in the power saving state and the electronic device requests the accessory to transition to the power saving state, the accessory transitions to a power saving state in which the power consumption of the accessory does not exceed the amount of power that can be supplied from the electronic device.

14. The accessory described in claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the accessory processing means transmits to the electronic device the power supply necessity information when the electronic device is in a first power saving state due to a power switch being turned off and when the electronic device is in a second power saving state due to a predetermined period of time continuing in a non-operated state.

15. 15. The accessory according to claim 12, wherein the accessory processing means requests the electronic device to stop supplying power to the accessory when the accessory no longer requires power supply from the electronic device.

16. The accessory according to claim 12 , wherein the accessory processing unit transmits the power supply necessity information to the electronic device when the electronic device is not in the power saving state.

17. The accessory processing means comprises: The accessory according to claim 12 , further comprising: a third information indicating whether the accessory has a battery or not, transmitted to the electronic device.

18. The accessory has the battery, The accessory according to claim 17, characterized in that the accessory is switchable between a first state in which the accessory is powered by the battery and a second state in which the accessory is powered by power from the electronic device.

19. The accessory processing means comprises: The accessory of claim 18, wherein when a state of the accessory is changed, the accessory transmits changed required power information.

20. The accessory processing means: The accessory of claim 18 , wherein when the accessory is in the first state, the accessory transmits a remaining battery level of the accessory to the electronic device.

21. The accessory processing means includes:

21. The electronic device according to claim 18, further comprising: a fourth information indicating whether or not the accessory has a function of charging the battery, transmitted to the electronic device.

22. An accessory according to any one of claims 10 to 21; and an electronic device to which the accessory is detachably and communicatively attached.

23. A method for controlling an electronic device to which an accessory is detachably and communicatively attached, comprising: the electronic device is capable of transitioning from a normal operation state to a first power saving state and a second power saving state different from the first power saving state; The control method includes: causing the electronic device to receive, from the accessory, power supply necessity information including first information indicating whether or not the electronic device requests power supply to the accessory when the electronic device is in the first power saving state, and second information indicating whether or not the electronic device requests power supply to the accessory when the electronic device is in the second power saving state; causing the electronic device to supply power to the accessory in the first power saving state when the first information received from the accessory indicates a request for power supply; and when the second information received from the accessory indicates a request for power supply, causing the electronic device to supply power to the accessory in the second power saving state.

24. A method for controlling an accessory that is detachably and communicatively attached to an electronic device, comprising: A control method characterized by comprising a step of causing the accessory to transmit, to the electronic device, power supply necessity information including first information indicating whether the electronic device will request power supply from the electronic device to the accessory when the electronic device is in a first power saving state, and second information indicating whether the electronic device will request power supply from the electronic device to the accessory when the electronic device is in a second power saving state different from the first power saving state.

25. 24. A program for causing a computer of an electronic device to which an accessory is detachably and communicably attached to execute a process according to the control method according to claim 23.

26. 25. A program for causing a computer of an accessory detachably and communicably attached to an electronic device to execute a process according to the control method according to claim 24.

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