COMMUNICATION DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM

Abstract

To avoid a failure in switching of radio connection.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus has: first radio communication means for performing radio communication with a plurality of communication devices in parallel; second radio communication means for performing radio communication selectively with any one of the plurality of communication devices; control means that, on the basis of information shared through the first radio communication means, controls to establish radio communication through the second radio communication means with one communication device of the plurality of communication devices; and transmission means that, when requested from one communication device of the plurality of communication devices to establish radio communication through the second radio communication means, transmits, to a communication device not having transmitted the request, of the communication devices having established radio connection through the first radio communication means, a notification for causing the communication device to understand that the connection through the second radio communication means cannot be established.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication device that communicates with other devices via a network. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, there are communication devices capable of communication in accordance with multiple communication standards. For example, there are digital cameras capable of communication in accordance with Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (hereinafter, BLE) and Bluetooth Classic (hereinafter, BTC). Communication in accordance with BTC (hereinafter, BTC communication) enables faster wireless communication than communication in accordance with BLE (hereinafter, BLE communication).

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses that a digital camera and a smartphone can be wirelessly connected to each other in compliance with both the BLE and BTC communication standards. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-161507 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] By the way, in Bluetooth communication, a master device such as a smartphone can connect to multiple slave devices such as a digital camera. On the other hand, the communication bandwidth is limited in Bluetooth communication. Therefore, it is assumed that a smartphone communicates with multiple digital cameras when sending and receiving data that does not require high communication speed, and communicates with a single digital camera when exchanging data that requires high communication speed. For example, a smartphone can establish BLE connections with multiple digital cameras, and when receiving image data from one digital camera, it can hand over from BLE communication to the faster BTC communication only with that digital camera.

[0006] However, if multiple digital cameras that have established BLE connections with a smartphone request handover almost simultaneously, at least one of the digital cameras will fail to complete the handover with the smartphone. In this way, when multiple digital cameras are wirelessly connected to a smartphone, there is a risk that the handover process will fail.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it difficult for switching of wireless connections to fail. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, an information processing device of the present invention includes a first wireless communication means for wirelessly communicating with a plurality of communication devices in parallel, and a second wireless communication means for selectively wirelessly communicating with any one of the plurality of communication devices; a third wireless communication means capable of wireless communication at a higher speed than the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means;a control means for controlling to establish a wireless connection by the second wireless communication means with one of the plurality of communication devices based on information shared via the first wireless communication means, and when a request for establishment of a wireless connection via the second wireless communication means is received from one of the plurality of communication devices, transmitting a notification to a communication device that has established a wireless connection by the first wireless communication means and has not transmitted the request, to cause the communication device to understand that a connection by the second wireless communication means is not possible. When the third wireless communication means establishes a wireless connection with one of the plurality of communication devices, a notification is transmitted to the communication devices with which a wireless connection has been established by the first wireless communication means and to which a wireless connection by the third wireless communication means has not been established, to allow the communication devices to understand that a connection by the second wireless communication means is not possible. and a transmitting means for transmitting the Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to make wireless connection switching less likely to fail. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an imaging device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a communication device 200 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a use case in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a state transition diagram showing a communication state of the imaging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart showing transfer permission control of the imaging device and the communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing image transfer by BTC communication in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing a wireless LAN connection and a wireless LAN disconnection of the communication device 200 in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing wireless LAN connection of the digital camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] The embodiment described below is an example of a means for realizing the present invention, and may be appropriately modified or changed depending on the configuration of the device to which the present invention is applied and various conditions. Also, each embodiment may be appropriately combined.

[0013] [First embodiment] <Digital camera configuration> 1A is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a digital camera 100, which is an example of a communication device according to the present embodiment. Note that, although a digital camera is described here as an example of a communication device, the communication device is not limited to this. For example, the communication device may be an information processing device such as a portable media player, a so-called tablet device, or a personal computer.

[0014] The control unit 101 has a processor for controlling each unit of the digital camera 100 in accordance with input signals and programs described below. Note that instead of the control unit 101 controlling the entire device, the entire device may be controlled by multiple pieces of hardware sharing the processing.

[0015] The imaging unit 102 is composed of, for example, an optical system that controls an optical lens unit, an aperture, zoom, focus, etc., and an imaging element for converting light (image) introduced through the optical lens unit into an electrical image signal. As the imaging element, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or a charge coupled device (CCD) is generally used. Under the control of the control unit 101, the imaging unit 102 converts the subject light imaged by the lens included in the imaging unit 102 into an electrical signal using the imaging element, performs noise reduction processing, etc., and outputs the digital data as image data. In the digital camera 100 of this embodiment, the image data is recorded on the recording medium 110 in accordance with the DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) standard.

[0016] The non-volatile memory 103 is an electrically erasable and recordable non-volatile memory, and stores programs executed by the control unit 101, which will be described later.

[0017] The working memory 104 is used as a buffer memory for temporarily storing image data captured by the imaging unit 102, as an image display memory for the display unit 106, a working area for the control unit 101, and the like.

[0018] The operation unit 105 is used to receive instructions from the user to the digital camera 100. The operation unit 105 includes, for example, a power button for the user to instruct ON / OFF of the power supply of the digital camera 100, a release switch for instructing shooting, and a playback button for instructing playback of image data. In addition, the operation unit 105 includes operation members such as a dedicated connection button for starting communication with an external device via a wireless communication unit 111 described later. The operation unit 105 also includes a touch panel formed on a display unit 106 described later. The release switch has SW1 and SW2. When the release switch is pressed halfway, SW1 is turned ON. This accepts instructions for preparing for shooting, such as AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, AWB (auto white balance) processing, and EF (flash pre-flash) processing. When the release switch is pressed fully, SW2 is turned ON. This accepts instructions for shooting.

[0019] The display unit 106 displays a viewfinder image during shooting, displays captured image data, displays characters for interactive operations, etc. Note that the display unit 106 does not necessarily have to be built into the digital camera 100. The digital camera 100 can be connected to an internal or external display unit 106, and it is sufficient that the digital camera 100 has at least a display control function for controlling the display of the display unit 106.

[0020] The recording medium 110 can record image data output from the imaging unit 102. The recording medium 110 may be configured to be detachable from the digital camera 100, or may be built into the digital camera 100. In other words, it is sufficient for the digital camera 100 to have at least a means for accessing the recording medium 110.

[0021] The wireless communication unit 111 is an interface for connecting to an external device. The digital camera 100 of this embodiment can exchange data with the external device via the wireless communication unit 111. The external device is, for example, an information processing device capable of wireless communication, such as a smartphone or a personal computer. For example, image data generated by the imaging unit 102 can be transmitted to the external device via the wireless communication unit 111. In this embodiment, the wireless communication unit 111 includes an interface for communicating with the external device via a so-called wireless LAN in accordance with the IEEE802.11 communication standard. Hereinafter, wireless communication in accordance with the IEEE802.11 communication standard will be referred to as wireless LAN communication. The control unit 101 realizes wireless communication with the external device by controlling the wireless communication unit 111.

[0022] The wireless communication unit 111 of the digital camera 100 in this embodiment has an AP mode in which it operates as an access point in infrastructure mode, and a CL mode in which it operates as a client in infrastructure mode. By operating the wireless communication unit 111 in the CL mode, the digital camera 100 in this embodiment can operate as a CL device in infrastructure mode. When the digital camera 100 operates as a CL device, it can join a network formed by a nearby AP device by connecting to the AP device.

[0023] In addition, by operating the wireless communication unit 111 in AP mode, the digital camera 100 in this embodiment can also operate as a simple AP (hereinafter, a simple AP) with more limited functions, although it is a type of AP.

[0024] When the digital camera 100 operates as a simple AP, the digital camera 100 forms a network by itself. Devices surrounding the digital camera 100 recognize the digital camera 100 as an AP device and are able to join the network formed by the digital camera 100. In addition, it is possible to switch between the AP mode and the CL mode by determining based on information written by the communication device 200 using short-range wireless communication via the short-range wireless communication unit 112.

[0025] The short-range wireless communication unit 112 is an interface for wireless communication with an external device. For example, the short-range wireless communication unit 112 is composed of an antenna, a modulation / demodulation circuit for processing wireless signals, and a communication controller. The external device is, for example, an information processing device capable of wireless communication, such as a smartphone or a personal computer. The short-range wireless communication unit 112 outputs a modulated wireless signal from an antenna and demodulates a wireless signal received by the antenna to realize short-range wireless communication according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication standard. Hereinafter, wireless communication conforming to the Bluetooth communication standard will be referred to as Bluetooth communication. In this embodiment, the short-range wireless communication unit 112 includes a first short-range wireless communication unit 112a and a second short-range wireless communication unit 112b. Communication via the first short-range wireless communication unit 112a is Bluetooth communication conforming to Bluetooth Low Energy (hereinafter, BLE). Also, communication via the second short-range wireless communication unit 112b is Bluetooth communication conforming to Bluetooth Classic (hereinafter, BTC). Hereinafter, Bluetooth communication conforming to BLE will be referred to as BLE communication, and Bluetooth communication conforming to BTC will be referred to as BTC communication. Although both BLE and BTC are standards defined in Bluetooth, they are not compatible with each other.

[0026] Here, Bluetooth communication will be described. The connection form of Bluetooth communication is a star-shaped network of a master-slave system. In this embodiment, a communication device 200 (to be described later) is a communication device that operates as a master (hereinafter referred to as a master device), and a digital camera 100 is a communication device that operates as a slave (hereinafter referred to as a slave device). The master device manages the participation of the slave device in the network and sets various parameters for wireless connection with the slave device. The master device can connect simultaneously and in parallel with multiple slave devices, but the slave device can selectively establish a wireless connection with only one master device, and cannot connect simultaneously and in parallel with multiple master devices. In addition, master devices cannot establish wireless connections with each other, and slave devices cannot establish wireless connections with each other. In order to establish a wireless connection, one must be a master device and the other must be a slave device.

[0027] In this embodiment, the digital camera 100 pairs with the communication device 200 described later, and records the connection information of the communication device 200 in the non-volatile memory 103. Pairing is a process in which the master device and the slave device mutually register (record in a predetermined area) their connection information. The connection information is, for example, an encryption key or a MAC address. In this embodiment, the digital camera 100 determines that pairing is complete by establishing a wireless connection with the communication device 200 after registering the connection information of the communication device 200 with the digital camera 100. Note that even if the connection is disconnected after it has been established, the paired state is still maintained. In other words, the concept of pairing does not refer to whether or not there is a connection, but refers to a state in which the master device and the slave device have mutually registered their connection information.

[0028] In addition, in BLE communication, for example, the digital camera 100 can transmit and receive relatively small amounts of data, such as time information and GPS coordinate information, with an external device. In BTC communication, for example, the digital camera 100 can transmit and receive relatively large amounts of data, such as image data and video data, with an external device. In addition, BLE communication generally consumes less power than BTC communication. On the other hand, BTC communication generally has a faster communication speed than BLE communication. The digital camera 100 of this embodiment can be constantly connected to the communication device 200 via BLE. Then, BLE communication can be automatically switched to BTC communication by an operation from the digital camera 100 or the communication device 200.

[0029] In addition, Bluetooth communication has a narrower communication range (i.e., the communication distance is shorter) than wireless LAN communication. Also, Bluetooth communication has a slower communication speed than wireless LAN communication. In other words, wireless LAN communication has a faster communication speed than Bluetooth communication. On the other hand, Bluetooth communication consumes less power than wireless LAN communication.

[0030] Although the digital camera 100 in this embodiment is a type of AP, it is a simple AP that does not have a gateway function for transferring data received from a CL device to an Internet provider, etc. Therefore, even if the digital camera 100 receives data from other devices participating in the network that it has formed, it cannot transfer the data to a network such as the Internet.

[0031] Next, the external appearance of the camera 100 will be described. Fig. 1(b) is a front perspective view (lens side) of the digital camera 100, and Fig. 1(c) is a rear perspective view of the digital camera 100. In the figure, a release button 105a, a playback button 105b, a direction key 105c, a touch panel 105d, and a power lever 105e are operation members included in an operation unit 105. In addition, an image obtained as a result of imaging by the imaging unit 102, various menus, and the like are displayed on a display unit 106.

[0032] The configuration of the digital camera 100 has been described above.

[0033] <Configuration of information processing device> 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a communication device 200, which is an example of an information processing device of this embodiment. Note that, although a communication device is described here as an example of an information processing device, the information processing device is not limited to this. For example, the information processing device may be a smartphone, a digital camera with a wireless function, a tablet device, or a personal computer.

[0034] The control unit 201 has a processor for controlling each unit of the communication device 200 in accordance with input signals and programs described below. Note that instead of the control unit 201 controlling the entire device, the entire device may be controlled by multiple hardware devices sharing the processing.

[0035] The imaging unit 202 converts the subject light imaged by the lens included in the imaging unit 202 into an electrical signal, performs noise reduction processing, etc., and outputs the digital data as image data. The captured image data is stored in a buffer memory, and then the control unit 201 performs a predetermined calculation on the captured image data and records it on the recording medium 210.

[0036] The non-volatile memory 203 is an electrically erasable and recordable non-volatile memory. In the non-volatile memory 203, an OS (operating system) which is basic software executed by the control unit 201 and applications which cooperate with the OS to realize applied functions are recorded. In this embodiment, the non-volatile memory 203 also stores an application (hereinafter, an app) for communicating with the digital camera 100.

[0037] The work memory 204 is used as an image display memory for the display unit 206, a work area for the control unit 201, and the like.

[0038] The operation unit 205 is used to receive instructions from a user for the communication device 200. The operation unit 205 includes, for example, an operation member such as a power button for a user to instruct to turn on / off the power of the communication device 200, and a touch panel formed on the display unit 206.

[0039] The display unit 206 displays image data, characters for interactive operations, etc. The display unit 206 does not necessarily have to be included in the communication device 200. The communication device 200 only needs to be able to connect to the display unit 206 and have at least a display control function for controlling the display of the display unit 206.

[0040] The recording medium 210 can record image data output from the imaging unit 202. The recording medium 210 may be configured to be detachable from the communication device 200, or may be built into the communication device 200. In other words, the communication device 200 only needs to have at least a means for accessing the recording medium 210.

[0041] The connection unit 211 is an interface for connecting to an external device. The communication device 200 of this embodiment can exchange data with the digital camera 100 via the connection unit 211. In this embodiment, the connection unit 211 is an antenna, and the control unit 101 can connect to the digital camera 100 via the antenna. The connection unit 211 uses, for example, PTP / IP (Picture Transfer Protocol over Internet Protocol) or HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) as a communication protocol.

[0042] The short-range wireless communication unit 212 is an interface for wireless communication with a communication device. For example, the short-range wireless communication unit 112 is composed of an antenna, a modulation / demodulation circuit for processing wireless signals, and a communication controller. The short-range wireless communication unit 212 realizes Bluetooth communication by outputting a modulated wireless signal from an antenna and demodulating a wireless signal received by the antenna. In this embodiment, the short-range wireless communication unit 212 includes a first short-range wireless communication unit 212a and a second short-range wireless communication unit 212b. The communication via the first short-range wireless communication unit 212a is Bluetooth communication conforming to BLE. The communication via the second short-range wireless communication unit 212b is Bluetooth communication conforming to BTC. The communication device 200 of this embodiment is constantly connected to an external device by BLE via the short-range wireless communication unit 212. Then, in response to a request from the digital camera 100 to switch from BLE to BTC, the connection is switched to BTC and image data stored in the recording medium 110 of the digital camera 100 is received.

[0043] The public network connection unit 213 is an interface used when performing public wireless communication. The communication device 200 can make a call with another device via the public network connection unit 213. At this time, the control unit 201 realizes the call by inputting and outputting an audio signal via the microphone 214 and the speaker 215. In this embodiment, the public network connection unit 213 is an antenna, and the control unit 101 can connect to the public network via the antenna. It is possible to use one antenna as both the connection unit 211 and the public network connection unit 213.

[0044] The communication device 200 has been described above.

[0045] <Use Case> A use case in the first embodiment will be described below. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a use case in which an image is transferred from the digital camera 100 to the communication device 200. Here, it is assumed that the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 have been paired in both BLE and BTC.

[0046] First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 establish a connection using BLE, as shown as connection 301, by a user operation.

[0047] Here, the user can set an automatic image transfer function so that digital camera 100 automatically transfers images to communication device 200 when the power is turned off. This automatic image transfer function can be set to "enabled (ON)" or "disabled (OFF)", and in this embodiment, it is assumed that the function is set to "enabled."

[0048] Although FIG. 3(a) illustrates an example in which the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 are connected one-to-one, the communication device 200 can be connected as a master device to multiple digital cameras, which are slave devices, simultaneously.

[0049] Next, as shown in FIG. 3(b), when the user takes a photograph with the automatic image transfer function set to “on,” the image data generated by the imaging unit 102 is recorded on the recording medium 110 by the control unit 101 with the image transfer status set to “not transferred.”

[0050] Here, the image transfer status is metadata that is added to image data generated by the digital camera 100. The image transfer status can be "not transferred" or "transferred". When the image transfer status of image data is "not transferred", the image data has not been transmitted to the communication device 200. When image data with an image transfer status of "not transferred" is transmitted to the communication device 200, the image transfer status of the image data is changed to "transferred" by the control unit 101. In other words, when the image transfer status of image data is "transferred", the image data has been transmitted to the communication device 200. In this way, the digital camera 100 can prevent duplicate transmission of image data to the communication device 200 by transmitting only image data with an image transfer status of "not transferred" to the communication device 200.

[0051] Furthermore, when the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 are connected via a wireless LAN, the user can remotely control the digital camera 100 using the communication device 200. For example, the user can cause the digital camera 100 to take a picture by issuing an instruction to do so from the communication device 200. Furthermore, the user can successively display images being taken by the digital camera 100 on the display unit 206 of the communication device 200.

[0052] Finally, as shown in FIG. 3(c), after the user has finished taking pictures with the digital camera 100, the user turns off the power of the digital camera 100 and places the camera in the bag 302. At this time, the digital camera 100 performs a handover from the BLE connection to the BTC connection in response to the power being turned off. In response to establishing the BTC connection with the communication device 200, the digital camera 100 transmits the image data captured in FIG. 3(b) to the communication device 200 by BTC communication. Thereafter, in response to completing the transfer of all image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred", the digital camera 100 transitions the power state to the sleep state.

[0053] The above is a use case of the first embodiment. In this way, with the automatic image transfer function of the digital camera 100, captured image data is automatically transmitted to the communication device 200 while the user is not using the digital camera 100. This can reduce the user's effort in transferring image data.

[0054] <Digital camera state transition> The state transition of the communication function in the digital camera 100 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. It is assumed that the automatic image transfer function to the communication device 200 is set to "enabled."

[0055] The communication function state of the digital camera 100 is one of five states: a Bluetooth unpaired state 401 , a BLE unconnected state 402 , a BLE connected state 403 , a BTC connected state 404 , and a wireless LAN connected state 405 .

[0056] The Bluetooth unpaired state 401 is the initial state of the digital camera 100. When a pairing process 410 for pairing with an external device is performed by the user, the state transitions to a BLE connected state 403 upon completion of pairing. In the pairing process 410, the digital camera 100 performs pairing with the external device via both BLE and BTC.

[0057] In the BLE connected state 403, a disconnection process 411 for disconnecting the BLE connection causes the state to transition to a BLE unconnected state 402. Here, the disconnection process 411 is executed, for example, when the user performs an operation for disconnecting the BLE connection on the digital camera 100 or the communication device 200, or when a predetermined time or more has passed while the digital camera 100 is out of the communication range of the BLE communication. Note that, in the BLE connected state 403, when the user performs a cancellation operation 417 for canceling the pairing, the digital camera 100 transitions to the unpaired state 401.

[0058] In the BLE unconnected state 402, the digital camera 100 transitions again to the BLE connected state 403 by a BLE connection process 412 for establishing a BLE connection with the paired communication device 200. Note that, in the BLE unconnected state 402, if a cancellation operation 418 for canceling the pairing is performed by the user, the digital camera 100 transitions to the unpaired state 401.

[0059] In this embodiment, when the communication device 200 is connected to multiple digital cameras 100, each of the digital cameras 100 can transition to the BLE connected state 403. In other words, the multiple digital cameras 100 can communicate with the communication device 200 in parallel using BLE.

[0060] In the BLE connected state 403, the digital camera 100 can transition to a BTC connected state 404 or a WLAN connected state 405. Each state transition will now be described.

[0061] First, the transition from the BLE connected state 403 to the BTC connected state 404 is triggered by the BTC connection processing 413 when the power is turned off. In the BTC connection processing 413, processing for switching (handing over) from the BLE connection to the BTC connection is performed. For example, in the BTC connection processing 413, an encryption key for the BTC connection is transmitted and received (shared). In the BTC connected state 404, the digital camera 100 transmits image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" to the communication device 200.

[0062] In this embodiment, the communication device 200 permits only one BTC connection. That is, unlike a BLE connection, only one digital camera 100 can transition to the BTC connected state 404. This is because, when multiple digital cameras 100 transmit image data to the communication device 200 in parallel, congestion may occur, and the communication device 200 may not be able to receive the image data due to the congestion. In this embodiment, when multiple digital cameras 100 are powered off almost simultaneously while connected to the communication device 200 with a BLE connection, the communication device 200 establishes a BTC connection with the digital camera 100 that made the earliest received handover request.

[0063] In the BTC connected state 404, a disconnection process 414 for disconnecting the BTC connection causes the digital camera 100 to transition to the BLE connected state 403. Here, the disconnection process 414 is executed, for example, when all image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" has been transmitted to the communication device 200, or when the user performs an operation on the digital camera 100 or the communication device 200 for disconnecting the BTC connection.

[0064] Next, the transition from the BLE connected state 403 to the wireless LAN connected state 405 is triggered by wireless LAN handover processing 415, triggered by receiving a wireless LAN handover request from the communication device 200. In the wireless LAN handover processing 415, processing for switching (handing over) from a BLE connection to a wireless LAN connection is executed. For example, in the wireless LAN handover processing 415, an SSID, a password, an encryption key, and the like for connecting to the wireless LAN are transmitted and received (shared). In the wireless LAN connected state 405, the digital camera 100 transitions to the BLE connected state 403 by disconnection processing 416 for disconnecting the wireless LAN connection. Here, the disconnection processing 416 is executed when the user performs an operation for disconnecting the wireless LAN connection on the digital camera 100 or the communication device 200, for example.

[0065] In this embodiment, the digital camera 100 can execute the automatic image transfer function even if the power is turned off in the wireless LAN connected state 405. Specifically, the process is executed as follows. The digital camera 100 turns off the power, disconnects the wireless LAN connection and the BLE connection, and transitions to a BLE unconnected state 402. Thereafter, the digital camera 100 executes a BLE connection process 412 and transitions to a BLE connected state 403. Then, the digital camera 100 transitions to a BTC connected state 404 by executing a BTC connection process 413. After transitioning to the BTC connected state 404, the digital camera 100 transmits image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" to the communication device 200.

[0066] The above is the state transition of the communication function in the digital camera 100 in this embodiment.

[0067] In this embodiment, the image transfer status of image data generated by capturing an image in the digital camera 100 becomes "not transferred" if the following two conditions are met. 1. The automatic image transfer function in the digital camera 100 is set to "on." 2. Pairing has been performed via BLE. For example, the digital camera 100 is in a BLE unconnected state 402, a BLE connected state 403, or a wireless LAN connected state 405.

[0068] Here, as described above, in this embodiment, the communication device 200 can be BLE connected to each of the multiple digital cameras 100 in parallel. On the other hand, the communication device 200 is BTC connected to only one digital camera 100. Therefore, when the multiple digital cameras 100 are set to "enable" the automatic image transfer function, the following problem occurs. For example, when the communication device 200 is BLE connected to the multiple digital cameras 100 and two or more digital cameras 100 are turned off almost simultaneously, one device can be BTC connected to the communication device 200, but the other device cannot be BTC connected. In this case, the digital camera 100 that cannot be BTC connected to the communication device 200 is forced to stop the execution of the automatic image transfer function midway, even though it has started the automatic image transfer function.

[0069] Therefore, in this embodiment, the communication device 200 notifies the digital camera 100 of information regarding whether or not automatic image transfer is possible, thereby reducing the possibility that processing of the automatic image transfer function will be interrupted.

[0070] <Flowchart for forwarding availability> Fig. 5(a) is a flowchart showing an example of an operation for recording a parameter indicating whether automatic image transfer is possible by the BTC of the digital camera 100 in this embodiment. Fig. 5(b) is a flowchart showing an example of an operation for transmitting a parameter indicating whether automatic image transfer is possible by the BTC of the communication device 200 in this embodiment. Hereinafter, whether automatic image transfer is possible by the BTC is also referred to as "transferability."

[0071] 5(a) and 5(b), the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 have already been paired via Bluetooth. Also, it is assumed that the automatic image transfer function of the digital camera 100 is set to "enabled."

[0072] First, the process of the digital camera 100 regarding whether or not transfer is possible will be described with reference to Fig. 5(a). This process is realized by the control unit 101 executing a program recorded in the non-volatile memory 103 by loading it into the working memory 104. The process of this flowchart is started, for example, when the user turns on the power via the operation unit 105.

[0073] In step S501, the control unit 101 establishes a BLE connection with the communication device 200 via the first short-range wireless communication unit 112a. The control unit 101 waits until a BLE connection with the communication device 200 is established. In response to the establishment of the BLE connection with the communication device 200, the process of step S502 is executed.

[0074] In step S502, the control unit 101 transmits a request to the communication device 200 via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a to inquire whether the transfer is possible.

[0075] In step S503, the control unit 101 waits until a notification regarding whether or not the transfer is possible is received from the communication device 200. The notification regarding whether or not the transfer is possible is, for example, a parameter indicating "permitted" if automatic image transfer is possible, and a parameter indicating "rejected" if automatic image transfer is not possible. When the notification regarding whether or not the transfer is possible is received, the process of step S504 is executed.

[0076] In step S504, the control unit 101 records in the working memory 104 the notification regarding whether the transfer is possible or not, which was received in step S503.

[0077] The above describes the process of digital camera 100 regarding whether or not transfer is possible.

[0078] Next, a process of the communication device 200 regarding whether or not to transfer will be described with reference to Fig. 5(b). This process is realized by the control unit 201 expanding a program recorded in the non-volatile memory 203 into the working memory 204 and executing it. The process of this flowchart is started, for example, in response to the control unit 201 starting an application related to automatic image transfer.

[0079] In step S505, the control unit 201 establishes a BLE connection with the digital camera 100 via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. The control unit 201 waits until the BLE connection with the digital camera 100 is established. In response to the establishment of the BLE connection, the process of step S506 is executed.

[0080] In step S506, the control unit 201 waits until a request to inquire about the possibility of transfer is received from the digital camera 100 via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. When the request to inquire about the possibility of transfer is received, the control unit 201 records the identifier of the digital camera 100 that sent the request to inquire about the possibility of transfer and a parameter indicating that there has been a request to inquire about the possibility of notification, in the working memory 204. When the request to inquire about the possibility of transfer is received, the process of step S507 is executed.

[0081] In step S507, the control unit 201 transmits a notification regarding whether the image can be transferred to the digital camera 100 via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. As described above, the notification regarding whether the image can be transferred is, for example, a parameter indicating "permitted" if automatic image transfer is possible, and a parameter indicating "rejected" if automatic image transfer is not possible.

[0082] The above describes the process of the communication device 200 regarding whether or not to allow forwarding.

[0083] During a BLE connection, the communication device 200 sends a notification regarding whether or not a transfer is possible (whether it is permitted or rejected) to the digital camera 100, which has sent a request inquiring about whether or not a transfer is possible, each time the state of the communication device 200 regarding whether or not a transfer is possible changes.

[0084] Also, in the digital camera 100, the processes from step S503 to step S504 are executed every time a notification regarding the possibility of transfer from the communication device 200 is received.

[0085] In this way, the state regarding whether or not transfer is possible is recorded in the digital camera 100, and the communication device 200 notifies the digital camera 100 by BLE communication every time the state regarding whether or not transfer is possible changes. This makes it possible for the digital camera 100 to reduce the possibility of falling into a state in which the automatic image transfer function must be terminated midway despite having been started, based on the state regarding whether or not transfer is possible, even when multiple digital cameras 100 are currently connected to the communication device 200 via BLE.

[0086] <Automatic image transfer sequence> The sequence of automatic image transfer in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0087] 6, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 have already been paired by Bluetooth. Also, it is assumed that the automatic image transfer function is set to "enabled" in the digital camera 100.

[0088] In step S601, a user photographs a subject by operating the digital camera 100. The digital camera 100 generates image data using the imaging unit .

[0089] In step S602, digital camera 100 records the image transfer status of the image data generated in step S601 as "not transferred" in recording medium 110. Digital camera 100 also records the image data generated in step S601 in a transfer list in association with the identifier of communication device 200 with which a BLE connection has been established. Here, the transfer list is data for managing image data transferred by the automatic image transfer function.

[0090] In step S603, the user operates the operation unit 105 of the digital camera 100 to turn off the power.

[0091] In step S604, the digital camera 100 reads the transfer permission status recorded in the working memory 104 and determines whether automatic image transfer is possible. For example, if it is determined that the notification regarding the transfer permission is "permitted," the process of step S605 is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the notification regarding the transfer permission is "rejected," the digital camera 100 transitions to a power-off state.

[0092] In step S605, the digital camera 100 disconnects the BLE connection established via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a.

[0093] In step S606, the digital camera 100 starts transmitting an advertising signal via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a. The communication device 200 receives this advertising signal. This advertising signal includes information indicating a BTC connection request.

[0094] In step S607, in response to receiving the advertising signal in step S606, the communication device 200 transmits a BLE connection request via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. The digital camera 100 receives this BLE connection request.

[0095] In step S608, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 establish a BLE connection.

[0096] In step S609, the digital camera 100 requests the start of automatic image transfer via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a.

[0097] In step S610, the communication device 200 transmits a notification indicating "rejection" regarding the possibility of transfer to the BLE-connected digital cameras 100 other than the digital camera 100 that has requested the start of automatic image transfer, via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. As a result, the digital camera 100 that has not requested the start of automatic image transfer understands that the communication device 200 cannot connect to the digital camera 100 that has not requested the start of automatic image transfer. In this way, the communication device 200 transmits a notification regarding the possibility of transfer in response to a request to start automatic image transfer before the BTC connection is established. As a result, the communication device 200 can prevent the digital camera 100 that has not requested the start of automatic image transfer from executing the function at a timing when the automatic image transfer function cannot be started.

[0098] In step S611, the digital camera 100 goes into a sleep state until a BTC connection request is received from the communication device 200.

[0099] In step S612, the communication device 200 transmits a BTC connection request via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a to the digital camera 100 that has requested the start of automatic image transfer.

[0100] In step S613, the digital camera 100 returns from the sleep state in response to receiving the BTC connection request from the communication device 200 via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a in step S612.

[0101] In step S614, the communication device 200 transmits a BLE disconnection request to the digital camera 100 via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a, and disconnects the BLE connection.

[0102] In step S615, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 establish a BTC connection. As in the order of the processes in steps S614 and S615, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 disconnect the BLE connection and then establish a BTC connection, thereby reducing the probability of congestion occurring.

[0103] In step S616, communication device 200 transmits an inquiry to digital camera 100 via short-range wireless communication unit 212b to check whether there is image data in the transfer list whose image transfer status is "not transferred."

[0104] In step S617, digital camera 100 transmits a transfer list including information on image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" to communication device 200 via short-range wireless communication unit 112b. If there is no image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred", digital camera 100 stores a value (for example, zero or NULL) indicating that there is no image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" in the transfer list. In this sequence, a case will be described where there is image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred".

[0105] In step S618, the communication device 200 transmits a request to the digital camera 100, via the short-range wireless communication unit 212b, to acquire image data whose image transfer status is “not transferred”, based on the transfer list received in step S617.

[0106] In step S619, in response to a request from the communication device 200, the digital camera 100 transmits the requested image data to the communication device 200 via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a. Here, the digital camera 100 overwrites the image transfer status of the image data that has been completely transmitted to the communication device 200 with "transferred". The digital camera 100 also adds the image transfer status to a transfer list in association with the identifier of the communication device 200 that is BLE-connected, and records the image data in the recording medium 110. The digital camera 100 also records the image data that has been completely transmitted to the communication device 200 in a transfer list in association with the identifier of the communication device 200.

[0107] In step S620, upon completion of transmission of all requested image data to the communication device 200, the digital camera 100 disconnects the BTC connection with the communication device 200.

[0108] In step S621, the digital camera 100 transmits a notification indicating "allowed" regarding whether or not the transfer is permitted via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a to the BLE-connected digital cameras 100 other than the digital camera 100 that requested the start of automatic image transfer.

[0109] In step S622, in response to the BTC connection being disconnected, the digital camera 100 transitions to a sleep state.

[0110] The automatic image transfer sequence in this embodiment has been described above.

[0111] <Communication Device Flowchart> Fig. 7 shows a flowchart of the wireless LAN connection and disconnection of the communication device 200 in this embodiment. Note that in the flowchart shown in Fig. 7, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 have already been paired by Bluetooth. Also, it is assumed that the automatic image transfer function is set to "enabled" in the digital camera 100.

[0112] FIG. 7A is a flowchart when the communication device 200 is connected to a wireless LAN.

[0113] In step S701, in response to a user operation, the control unit 201 transmits a wireless LAN handover request to the digital camera 100 by BLE communication via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. In response to receiving the wireless LAN handover request, the digital camera 100 activates a simple AP and forms a network.

[0114] In step S702, the control unit 201 determines whether or not participation in the network formed by the digital camera 100 has been completed. The control unit 201 waits until participation in the network formed by the digital camera 100 has been completed. If it is determined that participation in the network has been completed, the process of step S703 is executed.

[0115] In step S 703 , the control unit 201 transmits a wireless LAN connection request to the digital camera 100 via the wireless communication unit 211 .

[0116] In step S704, the control unit 201 judges whether or not a certain time has elapsed since the process of step S703 was executed. If it is judged that the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 101 gives up on establishing a wireless LAN connection and ends the process. On the other hand, if it is judged that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process of step S705 is executed.

[0117] In step S705, the control unit 201 determines whether or not a response to the wireless LAN connection request has been received from the digital camera 100 via the wireless communication unit 211. If it is determined that a response has been received, the process proceeds to step S706. On the other hand, if it is determined that a response has not been received, the process returns to step S704.

[0118] In step S706, the control unit 201 establishes a wireless LAN connection with the digital camera 100.

[0119] In step S707, the control unit 201 executes a loop process for determining whether or not transfer is possible for all digital cameras 100 that have established a BLE connection with the communication device 200. In this embodiment, this loop process is a process in which the processes of steps S708 and S709 are repeated. This process assumes the use case shown in FIG. 3(b). In the use case shown in FIG. 3(b), when the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 have established a wireless LAN connection, the user can remotely control the digital camera 100 by the communication device 200 and take a picture. That is, the digital camera 100 that has established a wireless LAN connection with the communication device 200 is likely to take a picture and generate image data. Then, when the wireless LAN connection is disconnected and the power supply of the digital camera 100 is turned off, it is considered that the image data generated by the digital camera 100 is transmitted to the communication device 200. That is, it is considered that the digital camera 100 that has established a wireless LAN connection is more likely to transmit image data to the communication device 200 in the near future than other digital cameras 100 that have established a BLE connection. Therefore, in order to reliably receive image data from digital camera 100 with established wireless LAN connection, communication device 200 transmits a notification to digital camera 100 with no established wireless LAN connection indicating that automatic image transfer is not possible. This allows digital camera 100 with no established wireless LAN connection to understand that communication device 200 cannot establish a BTC connection with digital camera 100 with no established wireless LAN connection.

[0120] In step S708, the control unit 201 judges whether all the digital cameras with which the BLE connection is established are the same as the digital camera 100 with which the wireless LAN connection is established. If it is judged that they are not the same digital cameras, the process of step S709 is executed. On the other hand, if it is judged that they are the same digital cameras, the process of step S709 is not executed, and the loop process continues.

[0121] In step S709, the control unit 201 transmits a notification indicating "rejection" regarding whether the transfer is possible by BLE communication via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. The digital camera that has received the notification regarding whether the transfer is possible records the received information regarding whether the transfer is possible in the working memory 104, as described with reference to FIG. 5(a).

[0122] The control unit 201 performs the above loop processing for all digital cameras with which a BLE connection has been established.

[0123] The flowchart when the communication device 200 is connected to a wireless LAN in this embodiment has been described above.

[0124] If the power supply of the digital camera 100 is turned off during the wireless LAN connection, the digital camera 100 executes the automatic image transfer function. In this case, a wireless LAN disconnection request is transmitted from the digital camera 100 to the communication device 200, and the wireless LAN connection is disconnected. Then, the digital camera 100 requests the communication device 200 to start the automatic image transfer, and the automatic image transfer is started.

[0125] On the other hand, when the user disconnects the wireless LAN connection between the communication device 200 and the digital camera 100, the power of the digital camera 100 is on. In this case, the user may be operating a digital camera other than the digital camera 100 that was connected via wireless LAN. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the communication device 200 disconnects the wireless LAN connection with the digital camera 100, the communication device 200 makes the digital camera capable of automatic image transfer to another digital camera that is not connected via wireless LAN and has a BLE connection established.

[0126] FIG. 7B is a flowchart when the communication device 200 disconnects from the wireless LAN.

[0127] In step S751, the control unit 201 transmits a request to disconnect the wireless LAN connection via the wireless communication unit 211. This causes the digital camera 100 to start processing to deactivate the simple access point. Note that the digital camera 100 does not turn off the power at this time.

[0128] In step S752, the control unit 201 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the process of step S751 was executed. If it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 201 ends the process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process of step S753 is executed.

[0129] In step S753, the control unit 201 determines whether a response to the disconnection request has been received from the digital camera 100 in wireless LAN communication via the wireless communication unit 211. If it is determined that a response has been received, the process proceeds to step S754. On the other hand, if it is determined that a response has not been received, the process returns to step S752.

[0130] In step S754, the control unit 201 completes the disconnection of the wireless LAN connection with the digital camera 100.

[0131] In step S755, the control unit 201 executes a loop process for determining whether or not the data can be transferred for all digital cameras 100 that have established a BLE connection with the communication device 200. In this embodiment, this loop process is a process in which the processes of steps S756 and S757 are repeated.

[0132] In step S756, the control unit 201 judges whether all digital cameras with which a BLE connection has been established are the same as the digital camera with which the wireless LAN connection has been established. If it is judged that the cameras are not the same, the process of step S757 is executed. On the other hand, if it is judged that the cameras are the same, the process of step S755 is not executed, and the loop process continues.

[0133] In step S757, the control unit 201 transmits a notification indicating "permitted" regarding whether the transfer is possible by BLE communication via the short-range wireless communication unit 212a. In response to this, the digital camera that has received the notification regarding whether the transfer is possible records the received information regarding whether the transfer is possible in the working memory 104, as described with reference to FIG. 5(a).

[0134] The flowchart when the communication device 200 disconnects from the wireless LAN in this embodiment has been described above.

[0135] In this embodiment, the BTC image transfer function is executed when the digital camera 100 is turned off, but other state transitions may be used as a trigger. For example, the digital camera 100 may be triggered by transitioning to a power-saving mode such as a sleep state, instead of being turned off.

[0136] <Digital camera flow chart> Fig. 8 is a flowchart when the digital camera 100 is connected to a wireless LAN. In the flowchart shown in Fig. 8, the digital camera 100 and the communication device 200 have already been paired by Bluetooth. Also, it is assumed that the automatic image transfer function is set to "enabled" in the digital camera 100.

[0137] In step S801, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a handover request to a wireless LAN is received from the communication device 200 by BLE communication via the short-range wireless communication unit 112a. If it is determined that the handover request is received, the process of step S802 is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the handover request is not received, the control unit 101 waits.

[0138] In step S802, the control unit 101 activates a simple access point by the wireless communication unit 111, and forms a network.

[0139] In step S803, the control unit 101 judges whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the process of step S802 was executed. If it is judged that the predetermined time has elapsed, the process of step S811 is executed. On the other hand, if it is judged that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process of step S804 is executed.

[0140] In step S804, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a wireless LAN connection request has been received from the communication device 200 via the wireless communication unit 111. If it is determined that a wireless LAN connection request has been received, the process proceeds to step S805. On the other hand, if it is determined that a wireless LAN connection request has not been received, the process returns to step S803.

[0141] In step S805, the control unit 101 establishes a wireless LAN connection with the communication device 200 via the wireless communication unit 111.

[0142] In step S806, the control unit 101 determines whether or not to disconnect the wireless LAN connection. For example, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the user has performed an operation to disconnect the wireless LAN connection. If it is determined that the wireless LAN connection is to be disconnected, the process of this flowchart ends. If it is determined that the wireless LAN connection is not to be disconnected, the process of step S807 is executed.

[0143] In step S807, the control unit 101 determines whether or not to turn off the power. For example, the control unit 101 determines whether an operation to turn off the power has been performed by the user. If it is determined that an operation to turn off the power has been performed, the process of step S807 is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the power is not to be turned off, the process of step S806 is executed.

[0144] In step S808, the control unit 101 determines whether automatic image transfer to the communication device 200 is possible. For example, the control unit 101 reads information regarding whether transfer is possible that is recorded in the working memory 104, and determines whether it is "permitted" or "rejected." If automatic image transfer to the communication device 200 is possible (transfer possibility is "permitted"), the process proceeds to step S809. On the other hand, if automatic image transfer to the communication device 200 is not possible (transfer possibility is "rejected"), the process of this flowchart ends.

[0145] In step S809, the control unit 101 determines whether there is image data to be transmitted to the communication device 200. For example, the control unit 101 reads the transfer list recorded in the recording medium 110, and determines whether there is image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred". If it is determined that there is image data to be transmitted to the communication device 200 (image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" exists), the process of step S810 is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no image data to be transmitted to the communication device 200 (image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" does not exist), the process of this flowchart ends.

[0146] In step S810, the control unit 101 transmits a request to start automatic image transfer to the communication device 200 via the wireless communication unit 111. Then, the control unit 101 starts transmitting image data whose image transfer status is "not transferred" to the communication device 200.

[0147] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S803 that the predetermined time or more has elapsed since the simple AP was activated, in step S811, the control unit 101 notifies (displays) on the display unit 106 that the wireless LAN connection process has timed out.

[0148] The flowchart for connecting the digital camera 100 to a wireless LAN has been described above.

[0149] [Other embodiments] 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.

[0150] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the components can be modified and embodied in the implementation stage without departing from the gist of the invention. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

Claims

1. a first wireless communication means for wirelessly communicating with a plurality of communication devices in parallel; a second wireless communication means for selectively wirelessly communicating with any one of the plurality of communication devices; a third wireless communication means capable of wireless communication at a higher speed than the first wireless communication means and the second wireless communication means; a control means for controlling a communication device among the plurality of communication devices to establish a wireless connection by the second wireless communication means based on information shared via the first wireless communication means; when a request for establishment of a wireless connection via the second wireless communication means is received from one communication device of the plurality of communication devices, a notification is transmitted to a communication device that has established a wireless connection by the first wireless communication means and has not transmitted the request, to cause the communication device to understand that a connection by the second wireless communication means is not possible; a transmitting means for transmitting a notification to a communication device with which a wireless connection has not been established by the third wireless communication means, among the communication devices with which a wireless connection has been established by the first wireless communication means, to cause the communication device with which a wireless connection has not been established by the third wireless communication means to understand that a connection by the second wireless communication means is not possible, when the third wireless communication means has established a wireless connection with one of the plurality of communication devices; 13. An information processing device comprising:

2. The transmitting means, when a state regarding whether or not a connection via the second wireless communication means is possible has changed, transmits a notification to the communication device, by wireless communication via the first wireless communication means, for allowing the communication device to know whether or not a connection via the second wireless communication means is possible.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

3. When the second wireless communication means establishes a wireless connection with one of the plurality of communication devices, the first wireless communication means disconnects a wireless connection with the one of the plurality of communication devices wirelessly connected by the second wireless communication means.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is a computer.

4. The information processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the second communication means wirelessly connects to one of the plurality of communication devices in response to a wireless connection between the first communication means and the one communication device and the wireless connection is disconnected.

5. When all data to be received from one of the plurality of communication devices is received by wireless communication via the second wireless communication means, the second wireless communication means disconnects the wireless connection with the communication device, and the first wireless communication means establishes a wireless connection with the communication device.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information processing apparatus is a computer.

6. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the list of data to be received is received by wireless communication via the second wireless communication means.

7. An information processing device as described in any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that when all data to be received from one of the multiple communication devices is received by wireless communication via the second wireless communication means, the transmission means sends a notification to cause the user to know that a connection can be made via the second wireless communication means.

8. When the third wireless communication means disconnects a wireless connection with one of the plurality of communication devices, the transmission means transmits a notification to a communication device with which a wireless connection by the third wireless communication means has not been established, to allow the communication device to know that a connection by the second wireless communication means is possible.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

9. a first wireless communication means for wirelessly communicating with a plurality of communication devices in parallel; a second wireless communication means for selectively wirelessly communicating with any one of the plurality of communication devices via an access point; a third wireless communication means for selectively wirelessly communicating with any one of the plurality of communication devices without going through the access point; a control means for controlling, based on information shared with one of the plurality of communication devices connected via the first wireless communication means, to establish a wireless connection by the second wireless communication means with the communication device with which the information is shared; a transmission means for transmitting a notification to a communication device that has not established a wireless connection via the second wireless communication means, among the plurality of communication devices connected via the first wireless communication means, to cause the communication device to understand that a connection via the third wireless communication means is not possible, when the communication device that has shared the information is connected via the second wireless communication means; 13. An information processing device comprising:

10. A method for controlling information processing, comprising: a first wireless communication step for wirelessly communicating in parallel with a plurality of communication devices; a second wireless communication step for selectively wirelessly communicating with any one of the plurality of communication devices; a third wireless communication step capable of wireless communication at a higher speed than the first wireless communication step and the second wireless communication step; a control step of controlling to establish a wireless connection with one communication device of the plurality of communication devices by the second wireless communication step based on information shared by the first wireless communication step; when a request for establishment of a wireless connection is received from one of the plurality of communication devices by the second wireless communication step, transmitting a notification to the communication devices that have established a wireless connection by the first wireless communication step and have not transmitted the request, to cause the communication devices to understand that a connection by the second wireless communication step is not possible; a transmission step of transmitting a notification to a communication device with which a wireless connection has been established by the first wireless communication step and with which a wireless connection has not been established by the third wireless communication step, when a wireless connection has been established with one of the plurality of communication devices by the third wireless communication step, to cause the communication device to understand that a connection by the second wireless communication step is not possible; A control method comprising the steps of:

11. A computer readable program for causing a computer to function as each of the means of the information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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