Communication device, control method, and program

Abstract

To provide a device capable of improving user convenience by performing wireless communication in consideration of a connection form of a communication partner device.SOLUTION: If a result of a determination process indicates that a predetermined response is not detected, predetermined information is transmitted to a printing device by using a direct wireless connection between a communication device and the printing device, not through an external device, established base on communication information obtained by first wireless communication. If the result of the determination process indicates that the predetermined response is detected, a communication device is provided for transmitting the predetermined information to the printing device by using wireless connection between the communication device and the printing device through the external device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, and particularly to a communication technology capable of short-range wireless communication.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, a communication counterpart is specified by short-range wireless communication including NFC from an external device such as a digital camera or a mobile phone. Then, a system is known in which an image file held in a digital camera, a mobile phone or the like is output by an image output apparatus via wireless communication different from the short-range wireless communication.

[0003] Further, as part of network functions, some devices have a remote printing function and a firmware update function via the Internet by connecting to the Internet through an access point. Furthermore, even in a state where there is no access point, a host terminal can use an access point function included in the image output apparatus to establish a peer-to-peer (P2P) connection between the two and execute printing and scanning. A mode in which the host terminal performs P2P wireless communication using the access point included in the image output apparatus is referred to as an AP mode.

[0004] However, when the image output apparatus enters the AP mode, it establishes a P2P connection with the host terminal, the connection to the access point is disconnected, and the Internet connection becomes unavailable. As a result, the image output apparatus may no longer be able to use various functions that require the aforementioned Internet connection.

[0005] Furthermore, even the host terminal operating in the AP mode may lose its own Internet connection if the connection destination of the P2P connection cannot connect to the Internet. In such a situation, applications in the host terminal also cannot access the Internet, and for example, a browser cannot browse sites on the Internet.

[0006] Patent Document 1 discloses that when a second wireless communication device is brought close to a first wireless communication device, if the first wireless communication device is in the process of data communication via an access point, the first wireless communication device will not transition to a P2P connection with the second wireless communication device. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-182449 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0008] However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, if the first wireless communication device is not communicating with the internet via an access point, the communication settings of the first wireless communication device are changed to a P2P connection. For example, if the first wireless communication device receives a connection request from the second wireless communication device while the first wireless communication device is not communicating with the internet via an access point, the first wireless communication device will switch to a P2P connection. Subsequently, even if a user wants to connect to the internet using the first wireless communication device while a P2P connection is established between the first and second wireless communication devices, they must wait until the P2P connection is terminated in order to perform the operation they intend. Therefore, there was a risk of reduced user convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] This invention was made to solve the above problems, and is a program, In the computer of the communication device, Perform the first wireless communication with the target device. Then, the address information and communication information of the target device are acquired by the first wireless communication. The execution steps are as follows: After the first wireless communication with the target device is performed, the communication device will communicate to a predetermined network in which it is participating. Search command for locating the target device A transmission step that sends, The aforementioned search commandAfter the above is sent, search command Based on the transmission, the predetermined network Participating devices This is a response received from, and , the address information included in the response Address information of the target device obtained by the first wireless communication This matches Based on the fact that a predetermined response was not detected by the communication device, The aforementioned Acquired by the first radio communication The aforementioned A second wireless communication is performed to transmit predetermined information to the target device using a direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device, which is established based on communication information and does not involve an external device that is outside the communication device and outside the target device. The aforementioned search command An execution step of performing a third wireless communication, in which, after the transmission of the predetermined response, the predetermined information is transmitted to the target device using a wireless connection between the communication device and the target device via the external device, based on the detection of the predetermined response by the communication device, Make it run, The program is characterized in that the first wireless communication is performed using a short-range wireless communication method different from the communication method used for the second wireless communication and the communication method used for the third wireless communication. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve user convenience by performing wireless communication while taking into account the connection configuration of the communication partner device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] A diagram showing the configuration of the printing system in the embodiment. [Figure 2] A diagram showing the external appearance of terminal device 200. [Figure 3] A diagram showing the external appearance of the printing device 300. [Figure 4] A block diagram showing the configuration of terminal device 200. [Figure 5] A block diagram showing the configuration of the printing device 300. [Figure 6] A block diagram illustrating the configuration of an NFC unit. [Figure 7] A flowchart showing the processing content of Embodiment 1. [Figure 8] A flowchart showing the processing content of Embodiment 2. [Figure 9] A diagram illustrating an example of a UI of a terminal device. [Figure 10] A flowchart showing the processing content of Embodiment 3. [Description of Embodiments]

[0012] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail by way of example with reference to the attached drawings. However, the relative arrangement of components, display screens, and the like described in the present embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to only those, unless otherwise specifically stated.

[0013] [Embodiment 1] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a print processing system. This system is centered on an access point 100, and is composed of a portable terminal device 200 and a printing apparatus 300 that are connectable to the access point 100. The terminal device 200, which also functions as a communication apparatus, has at least two or more types of wireless communication units with different communication speeds. The type of the terminal device 200 is not limited as long as it is an apparatus capable of handling files to be printed, such as a personal information terminal like a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone, or a digital camera.

[0014] The printing apparatus 300, which also functions as a communication apparatus, has a reading function of placing a document on a document platen and reading the document, and a printing function of performing printing using a print engine such as an inkjet, and may further have a FAX function and a telephone function.

[0015] The printer 300 can connect to a wireless LAN in infrastructure mode. In other words, the printer 300, operating in infrastructure mode, can communicate wirelessly with the terminal device 200 via an external access point 100. The printer 300 also has an AP mode, in which both the terminal device 200 and the printer 300 can communicate via P2P wireless LAN. As mentioned above, AP mode activates the access point on the printer, and the terminal device 200 uses the printer's access point to communicate wirelessly with the printer in a peer-to-peer manner.

[0016] Figure 2 shows the external appearance of the terminal device 200. In this embodiment, a smartphone is used as an example. A smartphone is a multi-functional mobile phone that, in addition to the functions of a mobile phone, is equipped with a camera, internet browser, email function, etc. The NFC (Near Field Communication) unit 201 is a unit that performs short-range wireless communication. The user can communicate by bringing the NFC unit 201 close to the other party's NFC unit (in this embodiment, the NFC unit of the printing device 300) within a predetermined distance (about 10 cm). In other words, the terminal device 200 is capable of performing short-range wireless communication.

[0017] The wireless LAN unit 202 is a unit for wireless LAN communication and is located inside the terminal device 200. The display unit 203 is a display equipped with, for example, an LCD display mechanism. The operation unit 204 is equipped with a touch panel operation mechanism and detects user press information. Typical operation methods include the display unit 203 displaying button icons or a software keyboard, and issuing a button press event when the user presses the operation unit 204. The power key 205 is used to turn the power on and off.

[0018] Figure 3 shows the external appearance of the printing device. In this embodiment, a Multi Function Printer (MFP) with a scanning function (scanner) is used as an example. In Figure 3(a), the document tray 301 is a transparent glass-like tray used when placing a document and scanning it. The document cover 302 is a cover that prevents scanning light from leaking to the outside when scanning. The paper insertion slot 303 is an insertion slot for setting paper of various sizes. Paper set in the paper insertion slot 303 is transported to the printing unit one sheet at a time, printed, and then discharged from the paper output slot 304.

[0019] In Figure 3(b), the operation display unit 305 and the NFC unit 306 are located on the top of the document cover 302. The NFC unit 306 is a unit for short-range wireless communication and is located where the user brings the terminal device 200 close to the printer 300. The effective contact distance is a predetermined distance (approximately 10 cm) from the NFC unit 306. The wireless LAN antenna 307 has an antenna embedded in it for wireless LAN communication.

[0020] Furthermore, near-field communication refers to wireless communication methods such as NFC, where the communication range is relatively small (for example, 1 meter to a few centimeters).

[0021] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the terminal device. The terminal device 200 consists of a main board 210 that controls the entire device, a wireless LAN unit 202, an NFC unit 201, a line connection unit 206, an operation unit 204, and a display unit 203. Here, the wireless LAN unit 202, the NFC unit 201, and the line connection unit 206 all function as the communication unit of the terminal device 200.

[0022] The microprocessor-type CPU 211 located on the main board 210 operates according to the control program stored in the ROM-type program memory 213, which is connected via the internal bus 212, and the contents of the RAM-type data memory 214.

[0023] The CPU 211 controls the wireless LAN unit 202 via the wireless LAN control circuit 215 to communicate with other communication terminal devices via the wireless LAN 102. The CPU 211 controls the NFC unit 201 via the NFC control circuit 216 to detect connections with other NFC terminals via the NFC 101 and to send and receive data with other NFC terminals. The CPU 211 controls the line connection unit 206 via the line control circuit 217 to connect to the mobile phone network 105 and make calls and send and receive data.

[0024] The CPU 211 can display information on the control unit 204 and accept user input by controlling the control unit circuit 218. The CPU 211 can control the camera unit 219 to capture images and store the captured images in the image memory 220 in the data memory 214. In addition to captured images, it is also possible to store images acquired from external sources via the mobile phone network 105 or wireless LAN 102 in the image memory 220, or to transmit them externally.

[0025] The non-volatile memory 221 is composed of memory such as flash memory and stores data that needs to be preserved even after the power is turned off. For example, it stores phonebook data, various communication connection information and information on previously connected devices, as well as image data that needs to be preserved, and programs such as application software that implements various functions in the terminal device 200.

[0026] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing device. The printing device 300 consists of a main board 310 that controls the entire device, a line connection unit 322, a wireless LAN unit 308, an NFC unit 306, and an operation display unit 305. Here, the line connection unit 322, the wireless LAN unit 308, and the NFC unit 306 function as the communication unit of the printing device 300.

[0027] The microprocessor-type CPU 311 located on the main board 310 operates according to the control program stored in the ROM-type program memory 313, which is connected via the internal bus 312, and the contents of the RAM-type data memory 314.

[0028] The CPU 311 controls the scanner unit 315 to read the document and store it in the image memory 316 in the data memory 314. The CPU 311 also controls the printing unit 317 to print the image from the image memory 316 in the data memory 314 onto a recording medium.

[0029] The CPU 311 controls the wireless LAN unit 308 via the wireless LAN control circuit 318 to communicate with other communication terminal devices via the wireless LAN 102. The CPU 311 also controls the NFC unit 306 via the NFC control circuit 319 to detect connections with other NFC terminals via NFC 101 and to send and receive data with other NFC terminals. The CPU 311 also controls the line connection unit 322 via the line control circuit 321 to connect to the telephone network 323 and perform fax transmission and data transmission.

[0030] The CPU 311 controls the operation display control circuit 320, enabling it to display the status of the printing device 300 and function selection menus on the operation display unit 305, as well as to accept user input.

[0031] Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the details of the NFC unit 600 used in NFC unit 201 or NFC unit 306.

[0032] In NFC communication, when performing short-range wireless communication using an NFC unit 600, the device that first outputs an RF (Radio Frequency) field to initiate communication is called the initiator. The device that responds to the commands issued by the initiator and communicates with the initiator is called the target.

[0033] The NFC unit 600 includes an NFC controller unit 601, an antenna unit 602, an RF unit 603, a transmit / receive control unit 604, an NFC memory 605, a power supply 606, and a device connection unit 607. The antenna unit 602 receives radio waves from other NFC devices and transmits radio waves to other NFC devices. The RF unit 603 has the function of converting and demodulating analog signals to digital signals. The RF unit 603 is equipped with a synthesizer that identifies the band and channel frequencies and controls the band and channel according to frequency allocation data.

[0034] Furthermore, the NFC memory 605 is composed of, for example, non-volatile memory, and can read and write data stored in the NFC memory 605 even when power is not supplied from the power supply. Data storage control, including reading and writing data to the NFC memory 605, is realized by the NFC controller unit 601.

[0035] The transmit / receive control unit 604 performs transmit / receive control, including assembling and disassembling transmit / receive frames, adding and detecting preambles, and frame identification. The transmit / receive control unit 604 also controls the NFC memory 605, reading and writing various data and programs. When operating in active mode, which enables bidirectional communication with a device, it receives power via the power supply 606. Furthermore, it communicates with other NFC devices via the device connection unit 607, and with other NFC devices within communication range using radio waves transmitted and received via the antenna unit 602.

[0036] In this embodiment, since the terminal device 200 and the printing device need to communicate bidirectionally via NFC, NFC always operates in active mode.

[0037] In the following, the operation of bringing the NFC unit 201 of the terminal device 200 and the NFC unit 306 of the printing device 300 close together will be referred to as "NFC touch operation".

[0038] In this embodiment, a use case is described in which the user operates a terminal device 200 to select an image to be printed, and then performs an NFC touch operation on the printing device 300 to print the selected image.

[0039] Furthermore, if the printing device 300 is on the same network as the terminal, the connection is maintained and printing is performed; otherwise, a P2P connection is established with the printing device 300 to perform printing.

[0040] This embodiment will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 7. Figure 7 shows the process of printing an image specified by the terminal device 200 using the printing device 300. In this application, each step of the flowchart related to the terminal device 200 is realized by the CPU 211 reading and executing the program related to the flowchart.

[0041] The user operates the terminal device 200 to select image data and performs an NFC touch operation on the printer 300. Figure 9 shows an example of the terminal device's UI. For example, the user can launch the printing application installed on the terminal device to display the selection screen (selection UI) shown in Figure 9. The UI in Figure 9 displays thumbnail images of the image data in the terminal device 200. When the user taps the thumbnail of the image they want to print using a touch operation, a check mark appears on the thumbnail to indicate selection. Once an image is selected, the user performs an NFC touch operation on the printer 300 to start the printing process.

[0042] First, in step S1101, the terminal device 200 obtains tag information from the NFC tag of the printer 300. The tag information includes at least three types of information regarding the network settings of the printer 300. Specifically, these are: (1) the MAC address of the printer 300, (2) the SSID and password when the printer 300 is in AP mode, and (3) the current wireless mode of the printer 300. Note that (3) is either AP mode or infrastructure mode. In this invention, the tag information is related to communication and is therefore sometimes simply called communication information.

[0043] In S1102, terminal device 200 checks whether the WiFi setting is enabled. If the WiFi setting is enabled, it means that terminal device 200 is capable of WiFi communication. If the WiFi setting is enabled, proceed to S1103; otherwise, proceed to S1110.

[0044] In S1103, the terminal device checks the current wireless mode of the printer 300 (3) acquired in S1101. If it is in AP mode, it proceeds to S1112; if it is in infrastructure mode, it proceeds to S1104. In other words, if the terminal device 200 determines that the printer 300 is operating in peer-to-peer communication mode, it proceeds to S1112.

[0045] In S1104, terminal device 200 detects a printer 300 whose MAC address matches the MAC address of printer 300 obtained in S1101. Specifically, terminal device broadcasts a device discovery command to the network it is a part of and receives responses from each device participating in the network. Terminal device then executes the process in S1104 by detecting a response containing a MAC address that matches the MAC address obtained in S1101.

[0046] If the printer 300 is detected in S1104, the terminal device 200 connects to the printer 300 detected in S1104 via wireless LAN using the wireless LAN unit 202 in S1106. Specifically, the terminal device 200 determines (maintains) the access point 100 to which it is connected as the connection destination. Then, in S1109, the terminal device 200 sends a print job to the printer 300 via wireless LAN through the access point 100. Specifically, the terminal device 200 establishes a session with the printer 300 by issuing a specific command to the printer 300. Then, the terminal device 200 generates a print job based on the image data selected on the selection screen in Figure 9 and sends that print job in S1109. Note that the timing of generating the print job may be before the flowchart in Figure 7 is executed, or after the connection is established in S1106.

[0047] The printing device 300, upon receiving a print job, prints the image onto paper based on the print job and then terminates.

[0048] On the other hand, if the printing device 300 is not detected in S1104, the processing of the mobile terminal 200 proceeds from S1105 to S1107.

[0049] In S1107, the terminal device 200 writes an instruction to transition to AP mode to the NFC tag of the printer 300. The information written as the transition instruction may be an instruction to transition to AP mode, or it may be information indicating that a printer corresponding to the MAC address could not be found. When the printer 300 detects that an instruction to transition to AP mode has been written to the NFC tag, it performs the AP mode transition process.

[0050] In S1108, terminal device 200 uses the SSID and password of the access point of the printer 300, obtained in S1101, to establish a wireless LAN connection with the printer 300, which has been switched to AP mode in S1107. Specifically, terminal device 200 changes the access point connection destination from access point 100 to the access point of the printer 300. In other words, in S1108, the access point of the printer 300 is determined as the access point to connect to. This process establishes a P2P connection between terminal device 200 and printer 300, and terminal device 200 sends a print job to the printer 300 in S1109. The processing of the printer upon receiving the print job is the same as the process described above. If the printer 300 is already in AP mode at the time of NFC touch operation, the process proceeds to S1109 via S1102. The communication mode of the printer is obtained through the process in S1101.

[0051] Furthermore, if the process proceeds from S1102 to S1110, the terminal device 200 changes its WiFi setting to enable in S1110. Then, in S1111, the terminal device 200 writes an instruction to transition to AP mode to the NFC tag of the printer 300. When the printer 300 detects that the instruction to transition to AP mode has been written to the NFC tag, it performs the AP mode transition process.

[0052] Note that the processing in S1112 is the same as in S1106, so it will be omitted.

[0053] Furthermore, if the process proceeds from S1103 to S1112, the printer 300 is already in AP mode. Therefore, the terminal device 200 uses the SSID and password of the printer 300 in AP mode, obtained in S1101, to establish a connection with the printer 300, and sends a print job to the printer 300 in S1109. The printer 300, having received the print job, executes the printing process and then terminates.

[0054] Note that each step in the flowchart in Figure 7 may be performed by a printing application that provides the screen shown in Figure 9.

[0055] As shown in the flowchart above, if the connection between the printing device 300 and the terminal device is established in infrastructure mode, the connection is maintained and printing is performed. On the other hand, if the connection between the printing device 300 and the terminal device is not in infrastructure mode, the mobile terminal 200 instructs the printing device 300 to switch to AP mode and then performs printing.

[0056] As a result, in order to maintain infrastructure mode connectivity as much as possible, the internet connectivity of the printing device 300 and the terminal device 200 can also be maintained as much as possible.

[0057] Furthermore, the WiFi settings of terminal device 200 can be easily enabled or disabled by the user in the WiFi settings item within the system settings menu on terminal device 200. In this case, users who do not own access point 100 do not need to connect access point 100 and terminal device 200 via WiFi. Therefore, it is highly likely that the WiFi settings of terminal device 200 are disabled to reduce battery consumption of the terminal due to unnecessary functions. Even in such cases, S1102 checks the WiFi settings of terminal device 200, and if the WiFi settings are disabled, it enables the WiFi settings and establishes a wireless connection with printer device 300 in AP mode, thereby enabling printing in AP mode.

[0058] Furthermore, in S1103, if the mobile terminal 200 determines that the printer 300 is already operating in AP mode by checking the wireless mode of the printer 300, the mobile terminal 200 does not perform detection processing where detection of the printer 300 is not expected. Through the above process, it is possible to efficiently establish a connection between the printer 300 and the terminal device 200.

[0059] As mentioned above, the process of confirming the validity of the WiFi settings of the terminal device 200 in S1102 and the process of confirming the wireless mode of the printing device 300 in S1103 are not essential processes of the present invention, but rather processes to improve user convenience, such as speeding up processing. Therefore, even if either or both of steps S1102 and S1103 are omitted, it is still possible to achieve the objective of the present invention, which is to maintain the connection in infrastructure mode as much as possible.

[0060] Here, we will explain the processing flow of this embodiment using the screen displayed on the mobile terminal 200.

[0061] When the printing application is launched on terminal device 200, the screen shown in Figure 9(a) is displayed. If the user selects photo printing, the printing application displays a list of images stored on terminal device 200 as shown in Figure 9(b). On the other hand, if the user selects document printing, a list of documents stored on terminal device 200 is displayed.

[0062] In Figure 9(b), when the user selects an image to be printed and performs an NFC touch operation on the printer 300 using the terminal device 200, the printing application displays the screen shown in Figure 9(c). The process described in Figure 7 of this invention is executed as a result of the NFC touch operation.

[0063] Furthermore, if the user selects an image to print in Figure 9(b) and then presses the print button, Figure 9(d) will be displayed. When Figure 9(d) is displayed, if the user performs an NFC touch operation with the terminal device 200 to the printer device 300, printing will be performed using the print settings information displayed in Figure 9(d).

[0064] Furthermore, users can register a printing device with the printing application. When the user performs an NFC touch operation on a printing device 300 different from the registered printing device while the screen shown in Figure 9(d) is displayed, Figure 9(e) is displayed. At this time, the terminal device 200 and the printing device 300 are connected wirelessly by the process shown in Figure 7. The terminal device 200 then acquires functional information of the printing device 300 (for example, the paper sizes and types that the printing device 300 can handle) via the wireless connection and reflects the acquired results on the screen in Figure 9(e). In other words, the options displayed when the user presses the paper size and paper type are determined based on the functional information of the printing device 300 acquired via the wireless connection. After the user sets the print settings on the screen in Figure 9(e), pressing the print button sends a print job wirelessly to the printing device 300 that the user performed the NFC touch operation on.

[0065] [Embodiment 2] In Embodiment 1, if the terminal device 200 and the printer 300 are not on the same network, the mobile terminal 200 instructs the printer 300 to switch to AP mode. However, if the printer 300 can reconnect to the same access point as the terminal device 200, it may reconnect.

[0066] Unless otherwise specified, the configuration of each device in this embodiment is assumed to be equivalent to that of Embodiment 1, and therefore no further explanation is provided. The following explanation will be given with reference to Figure 8.

[0067] In step S1201, the terminal device 200 obtains tag information from the NFC tag of the printer 300. The tag information includes four types of information regarding the network settings of the printer 300. Specifically, in addition to (1) to (3) described above, (4) the connection history of the SSID corresponding to the access point of the printer 300 is included. Furthermore, for the connection history in (4), the password corresponding to that SSID is also stored separately in the printer 300, not in the tag.

[0068] S1202 is the same as S1104, and S1203 is the same as S1105, so a detailed explanation is omitted. If the printing device 300 is not detected in S1203, proceed from S1203 to S1206.

[0069] In S1206, the SSID of the access point to which terminal device 200 is currently connected is compared with the connection history of the access point's SSID obtained in S1201 (4) to check for any matches. If no matches are found, the process proceeds to S1207; if a match is found, the process proceeds to S1209.

[0070] Note that the processing in S1207 to S1208 and S1205 is the same as the processing in S1107 to S1108 and S1109, so a detailed explanation is omitted. If Yes is determined in S1206, in S1209 the terminal device 200 writes the SSID matched in S1206 and a connection instruction to the access point to the NFC tag of the printer device 300. When the printer device 300 detects that the connection instruction to the access point has been written to the NFC tag, it reconnects to the access point using the SSID specified by the terminal device 200 and the corresponding password stored along with the access point history. As a result, the terminal device 200 and the printer device 300 are connected to the same access point and are connected to the same network.

[0071] In S1210, terminal device 200 broadcasts within the network to detect a printer 300 whose MAC address matches the one obtained in S1201, and establishes a wireless connection with the detected printer 300. The specific processing in S1210 is the same as in S1106. Then, in S1205, terminal device 200 transmits the print job to the printer 300 via the established wireless connection. The printer 300, having received the print job, executes the printing process and then finishes.

[0072] As described above, according to Embodiment 2, the terminal device 200 can connect to the printing device 300 via the access point by utilizing the access point connection history held by the printing device 300. As a result, both the terminal device 200 and the printing device 300 can maintain an internet connection state with a higher probability.

[0073] In this embodiment, an example was shown in which the connection history of the access point of the printer 300 is maintained. However, conversely, the terminal device 200 may maintain its own connection history (SSID) of its own access point. In this case, in S1201, the terminal device 200 obtains the SSID of the access point to which the printer 300 is currently connected, rather than the connection history of the SSID corresponding to the access point of the printer 300. Then, in S1206, the terminal device 200 compares the SSID in the terminal device 200's connection history with the SSID of the access point to which the printer 300 is currently connected, obtained in S1201. If a matching SSID is included in the connection history, the terminal device 200 may reconfigure the connection destination to the access point with that SSID.

[0074] Furthermore, although the embodiments of the present invention show an example of application to a printing apparatus 300, the present invention can also be applied to digital cameras having WiFi and P2P connection functions, similar to the printing apparatus. Specifically, when it is desired to use a terminal device as a remote control for a digital camera, it becomes possible to perform operations such as pressing the shutter button on the connected digital camera from the terminal device while maintaining the internet connection between the terminal device and the digital camera as much as possible.

[0075] Furthermore, when using a terminal device as a remote control for devices such as network audio players and video recorders, it becomes possible to implement remote control functionality while maintaining the internet connection of each device as much as possible.

[0076] Therefore, the scope of application of the present invention is not limited to printing apparatus.

[0077] Furthermore, in the embodiments, an example of AP mode was presented as an example of a P2P connection between terminal devices. However, the present invention may also be applied to other P2P connection methods, such as Bluetooth® connection or Wi-Fi Direct connection, if the connection method hinders the internet connection of both or one of the terminals or devices. As a result, it is possible to achieve the effect of maintaining the internet connection of each device as much as possible.

[0078] Furthermore, while an example of AP mode was presented as an example of P2P connection between terminal devices and other devices, the printer 300 does not need to function as an AP during a P2P connection. Specifically, in a P2P connection using Wi-Fi Direct, one device acts as the host and the other as the AP, but according to the standard, which device becomes the AP changes depending on the situation. In this invention, as long as a P2P connection is possible, the objective of the invention can be achieved regardless of whether the terminal or the printer becomes the AP, so there is no need to limit the function of the printer to that of an AP. Note that when a P2P connection is executed using Wi-Fi Direct after processing in this application, negotiation is performed between the terminal device and the printer to determine which device will act as the AP.

[0079] Furthermore, while NFC was used as an example of short-range wireless communication in this explanation, Bluetooth® (registered trademark) may be used instead of NFC.

[0080] In this application, the process described is one in which the terminal device 200 searches for the printer 300 using the MAC address obtained from the printer 300. However, as an alternative method, the terminal device 200 may obtain the IP address and MAC address using NFC and search for the printer 300 using the IP address. Then, if the terminal device 200 cannot find the printer 300 using the IP address, it may try searching again using the MAC address. This process makes it possible to perform the search process efficiently.

[0081] Furthermore, device information such as the model name and type of the printer 300 may be notified to the terminal device 200 via NFC. If the device information of a printer available to the terminal device 200 does not match the device information obtained by NFC touch operation (for example, if the model names do not match), the printing application will display an error screen. Then, a message indicating that the printing process cannot continue will be displayed on the error screen. The error screen may also display a message indicating the printer available to the printing application, a message recommending the use of another printing application, etc.

[0082] In addition, functional information of the printing device 300 may be notified to the terminal device 200 via NFC. If the function selected on the screen shown in Figure 9(a), provided by the printing application of the terminal device 200, is not included in the function information acquired by NFC touch operation, the printing application displays an error screen. The error screen may also display a message indicating that processing cannot continue. Specifically, if FAX is selected in Figure 9(a) and the function information acquired from the printing device 300 by NFC touch operation does not include the scan function, the printing application stops the FAX processing and displays an error screen.

[0083] [Embodiment 3] In Embodiment 1, if the WiFi setting of the terminal device 200 is enabled and the printer 300 is not connected via WiFi, the process proceeds from S1101 to S1105 and then to S1107. At this time, in S1107, the terminal device 200 writes an instruction to switch to AP mode to the NFC tag of the printer 300, thereby switching the printer 300 to AP mode. Therefore, the user must not move the terminal away from the printer until the processing from S1101 to S1107 is completed. Specifically, the distance between the terminal device and the printer must not become such that NFC communication becomes impossible.

[0084] However, before the terminal device 200 completes the processing in S1107, the user may move the terminal device they are touching or move it away from the printer. As a result, NFC communication may fail in S1107, the instruction to switch to AP mode may fail, and a connection error may occur between the terminal device and the printer. If a connection error occurs in S1107, the user will perform the touch operation again, and the flow from S1101 to S1107 will be executed again. At this point, simply repeating the same process may cause the user to move the terminal device away from the printer again, raising concerns that another connection error may occur.

[0085] Therefore, when a connection error occurs in S1107, it is acceptable to perform a process to reduce the likelihood of such errors occurring.

[0086] Unless otherwise specified, the configuration of each device in this embodiment is assumed to be equivalent to that of Embodiment 1, and therefore no further explanation is provided. The following explanation will be given with reference to Figure 10.

[0087] Before explaining the process in Figure 10, let's first consider a scenario where a user attempts to connect terminal device 200 to printer device 300 by performing an NFC touch operation, but removes terminal device 200 from printer device 300 before the S1107 process is completed. In this scenario, printer device 300 has not properly received the instruction to switch to AP mode, and therefore has not switched to AP mode. As a result, terminal device 200 cannot connect to printer device 300. At this time, terminal device 200 stores connection error information in its non-volatile memory 221. This connection error information is updated at the end of the S1307 process, which will be described later. If a connection error occurs with printer device 300 during the S1307 process, the MAC address of the printer device 300 that was attempted to connect is saved along with a setting value indicating that a connection error occurred. On the other hand, if no connection error occurs in S1307, a setting value indicating that there was no connection error is saved. Additionally, if the S1307 process has never been performed, the initial settings used when no connection errors occurred are saved.

[0088] Next, we will explain the processing flow using this error information.

[0089] In step S1301, the terminal device 200 obtains tag information from the NFC tag of the printing device 300. The tag information includes three types of information related to the network settings of the printing device 300, similar to those in Embodiment 1.

[0090] Since S1302 and S1309 are the same as S1103 and S1112, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0091] If it is determined in S1302 that the printer 300 is not in AP mode, proceed to S1303.

[0092] In S1303, the terminal device 200 obtains connection error information stored within the terminal device 200. It then determines whether the connection error information is a setting value indicating that an error has occurred, and whether the MAC address of the printer 300 obtained in S1301 matches the MAC address of the printer 300 included in the error information. If the result in S1303 is Yes, the terminal device 200 skips S1304-S1305 and proceeds to S1307.

[0093] On the other hand, if the result in S1303 is No, the process proceeds to S1304. Since S1304-S1306 are the same process as S1104-S1106, a detailed explanation is omitted.

[0094] In S1307, the same processing as in S1107 is performed, and finally, connection error information is updated.

[0095] Since S1310 is the same process as S1109, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0096] As described above, in this embodiment, if a connection error caused by NFC touch occurred in the previous instance, it is possible to skip the relatively time-consuming process of identifying the printing device (process S1305, also called the determination process). As a result, it is possible to shorten the time required to instruct the transition to AP mode when the device is touched again. This reduces the possibility of another connection error occurring, even if the user immediately removes the terminal device 200 from the printing device 300 after making a touch operation.

[0097] Furthermore, since users are likely to immediately re-touch the device when a connection error occurs, the connection error information may include the time the error occurred. Specifically, in the determination in S1303, the difference between the current time and the error time included in the connection error information is compared. If the difference between the previous error time and the current time is within a predetermined time (for example, within 10 seconds) and the MAC addresses match, the process may proceed to S1307.

[0098] Furthermore, the current connection status of the printing device 300 may be used as a decision criterion. Specifically, the tag information acquired in S1301 may include information on whether the printing device 300 is connected in infrastructure mode, and this information may be saved as connection error information when an error occurs. Then, in the decision in S1303, if a connection error occurred in the previous S1307, and the infrastructure connection mode status of the printing device 300 acquired in S1301 matches the infrastructure connection mode status included in the connection error information, the process may proceed to S1307.

[0099] Furthermore, the criteria for deciding whether to skip the process of identifying the printer in S1303 and proceed to S1307 may be a single criterion or a combination of several such criteria, such as the MAC address, elapsed time, or a change in the printer's connection status. The criteria themselves may also be based on any indication that the printer's status may have changed, such as a change in the printer's IP address or SSID in AP mode.

[0100] [Other embodiments] The present invention can also be realized by performing the following process: supplying software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and having the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device read and execute the program. Furthermore, the computer executing the program may be a single computer, or multiple computers may cooperate to execute the program. In addition, hardware such as a circuit that executes a part of the program may be provided, and the hardware and the computer executing the software may cooperate to execute the process described in this embodiment. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0101] 100 Networks 200 terminal devices 201 NFC Unit 202 Wireless LAN Unit

Claims

1. It is a program, In the computer of the communication device, An execution step of performing a first wireless communication with the target device and obtaining the address information and communication information of the target device through the first wireless communication, After the first wireless communication with the target device is performed, the communication device transmits a search command to a predetermined network in which it is participating in order to search for the target device. After the search command has been transmitted, based on the fact that the communication device has not detected a predetermined response which is a response received from a device participating in the predetermined network based on the transmission of the search command and in which the address information included in the response matches the address information of the target device acquired by the first wireless communication, the second wireless communication is performed to transmit predetermined information to the target device using a direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device, which is established based on the communication information acquired by the first wireless communication and does not involve an external device which is outside the communication device and outside the target device. An execution step of performing a third wireless communication, in which, after the search command has been transmitted, the predetermined response has been detected by the communication device, and the predetermined information has been transmitted to the target device using a wireless connection between the communication device and the target device via the external device; Make it run, The program is characterized in that the first wireless communication is performed using a short-range wireless communication method different from the communication method used for the second wireless communication and the communication method used for the third wireless communication.

2. The program according to claim 1, characterized in that the direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device without the use of the external device is a direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device using the access point of the target device.

3. The program according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the short-range wireless communication method used for the first wireless communication is Near Field Communication (NFC).

4. The program according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the short-range wireless communication method used for the first wireless communication is Bluetooth.

5. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the communication method used for the second wireless communication and the communication method used for the third wireless communication are wireless LANs.

6. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the communication method used for the second wireless communication is Wi-Fi Direct.

7. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the short-range wireless communication method used for the first wireless communication has a different communication speed from the communication method used for the second wireless communication and the communication method used for the third wireless communication.

8. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the address information of the target device includes a MAC address.

9. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the communication information includes at least one of the SSID and password of the target device.

10. A confirmation step to confirm whether the settings for the communication methods used in the second wireless communication and the third wireless communication are valid, If it is confirmed that the above setting is not valid, the process step of performing a process to enable the above setting, The program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it further executes

11. Based on the communication between the communication device and the target device using the short-range wireless communication method, the target device newly starts operating in a predetermined mode for performing a direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device without the use of an external device. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the second wireless communication is communication using a connection between the target device and the communication device operating in the predetermined mode.

12. The program according to claim 11, characterized in that the predetermined mode is a mode in which the target device operates as an access point.

13. The program according to claim 12, characterized in that the target device transitions to the predetermined mode based on the first wireless communication.

14. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the search command is transmitted to the predetermined network by broadcast.

15. The aforementioned device is a printing device that performs printing, The program according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the predetermined information is a print job that causes the target device to perform printing.

16. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the target device is a scanner that performs scanning.

17. Further steps are performed to display a selection screen for selecting image data, The program according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the predetermined information is information based on image data selected by the user on the selection screen.

18. The program according to claim 17, characterized in that the first wireless communication with the target device is performed while the selection screen is displayed.

19. The program according to claim 17, characterized in that the first wireless communication with the target device is performed while a predetermined screen displaying print setting information is displayed after the selection screen is displayed.

20. The program according to claim 19, characterized in that a screen different from the predetermined screen is displayed based on the fact that the first wireless communication is performed with a target device that is different from a device registered in a predetermined application.

21. A method for controlling a communication device, An execution step of performing a first wireless communication with the target device and obtaining the address information and communication information of the target device through the first wireless communication, After the first wireless communication with the target device is performed, the communication device transmits a search command to a predetermined network in which it is participating in order to search for the target device. After the search command has been transmitted, based on the fact that the communication device has not detected a predetermined response which is a response received from a device participating in the predetermined network based on the transmission of the search command and in which the address information included in the response matches the address information of the target device acquired by the first wireless communication, the second wireless communication is performed to transmit predetermined information to the target device using a direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device, which is established based on the communication information acquired by the first wireless communication and does not involve an external device which is outside the communication device and outside the target device. An execution step of performing a third wireless communication, in which, after the search command has been transmitted, the predetermined response has been detected by the communication device, and the predetermined information has been transmitted to the target device using a wireless connection between the communication device and the target device via the external device; It has, A control method characterized in that the first wireless communication is performed by a short-range wireless communication method different from the communication method used for the second wireless communication and the communication method used for the third wireless communication.

22. A communication device, An execution means that performs a first wireless communication with a target device and obtains address information and communication information of the target device through the first wireless communication, After the first wireless communication with the target device is performed, the communication device transmits a search command to a predetermined network in which it is participating in order to search for the target device. After the search command has been transmitted, based on the fact that the communication device has not detected a predetermined response which is a response received from a device participating in the predetermined network based on the transmission of the search command and in which the address information included in the response matches the address information of the target device acquired by the first wireless communication, the second wireless communication is performed to transmit predetermined information to the target device using a direct wireless connection between the communication device and the target device, which is established based on the communication information acquired by the first wireless communication and does not involve an external device which is outside the communication device and outside the target device. After the search command has been transmitted, based on the detection of the predetermined response by the communication device, an execution means for performing a third wireless communication that transmits the predetermined information to the target device using a wireless connection between the communication device and the target device via the external device, It has, A communication device characterized in that the first wireless communication is performed by a short-range wireless communication method different from the communication method used for the second wireless communication and the communication method used for the third wireless communication.

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