Communication device, method for controlling same, program, and storage medium

Abstract

A communication device that connects to an access point (AP) by wireless communication, said communication device having: a connection means that connects to a plurality of access points that perform a cooperative operation by means of a prescribed communication method; a search means that searches for an external access point of the communication device and obtains information about an external access point discovered by the search; and a display control means which, when an access point corresponding to the prescribed communication method is included among the external access points discovered by the search means, performs a control to display information about the access point corresponding to the prescribed communication method so as to be distinguishable from information about an access point which does not correspond to the prescribed communication method, when displaying the information about the external access points discovered by the search means.

Description

Communication apparatus, control method therefor, program, and storage medium

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication apparatus capable of using wireless communication conforming to IEEE 802.11, a control method therefor, a program, and a storage medium.

[0002] In recent years, along with an increase in the amount of data to be communicated, development of communication technologies such as wireless LAN (Local Area Network) has been promoted. The IEEE 802.11 standard series is known as a main communication standard for wireless LAN. The IEEE 802.11 standard series includes standards such as IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be. Patent Document 1 describes a communication apparatus compatible with IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax. In addition, a mechanism of Multi-AP communication in which a plurality of APs cooperate to transmit data to STAs has been studied.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-50133

[0004] In Multi-AP communication, there has been room for improvement in suitable communication and usability.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a mechanism for improving usability for more suitably performing Multi-AP communication.

[0006] According to the present disclosure, there is provided a communication apparatus that connects to an access point (AP) via wireless communication, the communication apparatus comprising: connection means for connecting to a plurality of access points that perform cooperative operation according to a predetermined communication scheme; search means for searching for an access point external to the communication apparatus and acquiring information on the external access point found by the search; and display control means that, if the external access points found by the search include an access point compatible with the predetermined communication scheme, controls, when displaying information on the external access points found by the search, the information on the access point compatible with the predetermined communication scheme to be displayed in a distinguishable manner from information on access points not compatible with the predetermined communication scheme.

[0007] According to this disclosure, usability for more favorably performing Multi-AP communication can be improved.

[0008] Other features and advantages of the technical ideas derived from this disclosure will become apparent from the following description with reference to the attached drawings. In the attached drawings, the same or similar components are given the same reference numeral.

[0009] The attached drawings are included in the specification and constitute a part thereof, illustrating embodiments in this disclosure and used to explain the technical ideas derived from this disclosure together with their descriptions. Diagram of the configuration of a wireless communication system. Diagram of the configuration of a communication device. Diagram of the configuration of a communication device. Diagram of a user interface screen. Diagram of a user interface screen. Diagram of a user interface screen. Diagram of a user interface screen. Diagram of a user interface screen. Diagram of the configuration of a mobile terminal device. Diagram of the configuration of a mobile terminal device. Diagram of the configuration of an access point. Sequence diagram between STA and AP related to Multi-AP communication. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Diagram of the configuration of a wireless communication system. Diagram of an example of setting up a wireless network for an AP. Diagram of an example of some information about an AP. Diagram of an example of a detected AP list. Diagram of the configuration of a display AP list. Diagram of the configuration of a display AP list. Diagram of the configuration of a display AP list. Diagram of the configuration of a display AP list. Diagram of the configuration of a display AP list. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Flowchart of processing performed in the communication device. Diagram of an example of display in the operation display unit. Diagram of an example of display in the operation display unit. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation display unit.This is a diagram illustrating the sorting of APs based on signal strength. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation display unit. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation display unit. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation unit of the mobile terminal device. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation unit of the mobile terminal device. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation unit of the mobile terminal device. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation unit of the mobile terminal device. This is a diagram showing an example of the display on the operation unit of the mobile terminal device.

[0010] The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the claims. While the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these features are necessary, and the features may be combined in any way. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, identical or similar configurations are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0011] (System Configuration) Figure 1 shows an example of the system configuration according to this embodiment. In one example, this system is a wireless communication system in which multiple communication devices can communicate with each other wirelessly. The system in Figure 1 includes an MFP 100 which is a communication device, a mobile terminal device 101, a multi-AP group 110 which includes multiple access points (APs), a DHCP server 114, a DNS server 115, and a network 120. The multi-AP group 110 is described as including APs 111, 112, and 113, but the multi-AP group 110 may include more APs.

[0012] The mobile terminal device 101 is a device having wireless communication capabilities such as a wireless LAN. In the following, wireless LAN may be referred to as WLAN. The mobile terminal device 101 may be a personal information terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone terminal (smartphone), a tablet terminal, a digital camera, a personal computer, etc.

[0013] The MFP 100 is a printing device with printing capabilities, and may also have reading (scanning), fax, and telephone functions. Furthermore, the MFP 100 in this embodiment has a communication function that allows wireless communication with the mobile terminal device 101. While this embodiment describes the use of the MFP 100 as an example, it is not limited to this. For example, a scanner, projector, mobile terminal, smartphone, notebook PC, tablet terminal, PDA, digital camera, music playback device, television, smart speaker, etc., each with communication capabilities, may be used instead of the MFP 100. Note that MFP is an acronym for Multi-Function Peripheral.

[0014] AP111 is installed separately (externally) from the mobile terminal device 101 and MFP100, and operates as a WLAN base station device. Communication devices with WLAN communication capabilities can communicate in WLAN infrastructure mode via AP111. Infrastructure mode is sometimes referred to as "wireless infrastructure mode." AP111 communicates wirelessly with communication devices that it has authorized to connect to (authenticated) and relays wireless communication between those communication devices and other communication devices. AP111 can also be connected to a wired communication network, for example, and can relay communication between communication devices connected to that wired communication network and other communication devices that are wirelessly connected to AP111.

[0015] AP112 and AP113 have the same hardware configuration as AP111. Furthermore, AP111, AP112, and AP113 are APs that support Multi-AP communication, as described later, and they form a group (multi-AP group 110) and operate in a cooperative manner.

[0016] The DHCP server 114 connects to the MFP 100 via AP 111 and network 120, and provides services to the MFP 100 by responding to requests from the MFP 100. In Figure 1, the DHCP server 114 is described as being connected as a separate device from AP 111, AP 112, and AP 113, but it is also possible for AP 111, AP 112, and AP 113 to have DHCP server functionality.

[0017] The DNS server 115 is connected to the MFP 100 and mobile terminal device 101 via AP 111 and network 120, and provides name resolution services by responding to requests from the MFP 100 and mobile terminal device 101. Here, network 120 may be the so-called internet, a closed network within a company, or a mobile phone network.

[0018] (External Configuration of MFP) Figure 2A shows an example of the external configuration of MFP 100. MFP 100 has, for example, a document tray 201, a document cover 202, a paper insertion slot 203, a paper output slot 204, and an operation display unit 220. The document tray 201 is a tray on which the document to be scanned is placed. The document cover 202 is a cover that holds down the document placed on the document tray 201 and prevents light from the light source that illuminates the document during scanning from leaking to the outside. The paper insertion slot 203 is an insertion slot that can accommodate paper of various sizes. The paper output slot 204 is an output slot that discharges the paper after printing is complete. The paper set in the paper insertion slot 203 is transported to the printing unit one sheet at a time, and after printing is performed in the printing unit, it is discharged from the paper output slot 204. The operation display unit 220 is configured to include a touch panel display and is capable of accepting user operations for activating various functions and setting various settings as an MFP. The operation display unit 220 may also be configured to include physical operation keys such as character input keys, cursor keys, select keys, and cancel keys, as well as LEDs or LCDs.

[0019] The MFP 100 has a wireless communication function via WLAN and does not necessarily need to be visible from the outside, but it is configured to include a wireless communication antenna 206 for that wireless communication. The MFP 100 can perform wireless communication via WLAN, similar to the mobile terminal device 101.

[0020] (MFP Configuration) Figure 2B shows an example of the configuration of the MFP 100. The MFP 100 is configured to include a main board 211 that performs the main control of the device itself, and a wireless unit 250 which is a communication module that performs WLAN communication using at least one antenna. The MFP 100 may also be configured to include, for example, a wired LAN unit for wired LAN communication.

[0021] The main board 211 is composed of, for example, a CPU 212 (Central Processing Unit), ROM 213, RAM 214, non-volatile memory 215, image memory 216, read control unit 217, data conversion unit 218, read unit 219, and code decoding unit 221. The main board 211 also includes, for example, a printing unit 222, a paper feeding unit 223, a print control unit 224, and an operation display unit 220. These functional units within the main board 211 are interconnected via a system bus 230 managed by the CPU 212. The main board 211 and the wireless unit 250 are connected, for example, via a dedicated bus 225.

[0022] The CPU 212 is a system control unit including at least one processor, and controls the entire MFP 100. In one example, the processing of the MFP 100 described below is realized by the CPU 212 executing a program stored in the ROM 213. Dedicated hardware may be provided for each process. The ROM 213 is a non-volatile memory that stores control programs and embedded OS programs executed by the CPU 212. In this embodiment, the CPU 212 loads each control program stored in the ROM 213 into the RAM 214 and executes them under the management of the embedded OS stored in the ROM 213, thereby performing software control such as scheduling and task switching.

[0023] RAM 214 is a volatile memory composed of SRAM or the like. RAM 214 stores data such as program control variables, user-registered settings, and MFP 100 management data. RAM 214 can also be used as a buffer for various work. Non-volatile memory 215 is composed of memory such as flash memory and continues to store data even when the MFP 100 is powered off. Image memory 216 is composed of memory such as DRAM. Image memory 216 stores image data received via the wireless unit 250 and image data processed by the code decoding processing unit 221. Note that the memory configuration of MFP 100 is not limited to the above configuration. Data conversion unit 218 performs analysis of various data formats and conversion from image data to print data.

[0024] The reading control unit 217 controls the reading unit 219 (for example, a CIS (contact image sensor)) to optically read (scan) the document placed on the document table 201. The reading control unit 217 converts the image obtained by optically reading the document into electrical image data (image signal) and outputs it. At this time, the reading control unit 217 may perform various image processing such as binarization and halftone processing before outputting the image data.

[0025] The operation display unit 220 includes a touch panel display that displays images based on display control by the CPU 212, and performs functions such as generating signals in response to user operations on the touch panel display or physical operation keys.

[0026] The code-decoding processing unit 221 performs encoding and decoding processing, as well as scaling processing, for image data (JPEG, PNG, etc.) handled by the MFP 100.

[0027] The paper feed unit 223 holds paper for printing. The paper feed unit 223 can supply the set paper under the control of the print control unit 224. The paper feed unit 223 may include multiple paper feed units to hold multiple types of paper in one device, and the print control unit 224 can control which paper feed unit to use for feeding.

[0028] The print control unit 224 applies various image processing to the image data to be printed, such as smoothing, print density correction, and color correction, and outputs the processed image data to the print unit 222. The print unit 222 is configured to perform, for example, an inkjet printing process, and ejects ink supplied from an ink tank from a print head to record an image on a recording medium such as paper. The print unit 222 may also be configured to perform other printing processes such as electrophotography. Furthermore, the print control unit 224 can periodically read information from the print unit 222 and update status information, including the remaining amount of ink in the ink tanks and the status of the print head, which is stored in the RAM 214.

[0029] The wireless unit 250 is a unit capable of providing WLAN communication functions, and can provide functions similar to, for example, the wireless unit 401 of the mobile terminal device 101. That is, the wireless unit 250 converts data into packets in accordance with the WLAN standard and transmits the packets to other devices, and also restores packets from other external devices to their original data and outputs it to the CPU 212.

[0030] The wireless unit 250 is capable of communication as a Station (hereinafter referred to as STA) or Access Point (AP) compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard series. Specifically, it is capable of communication compliant with the IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be / bn standards. The wireless unit 250 includes at least one processor and at least one memory that stores a program.

[0031] The communication control unit 240 is a unit that controls the communication functions of the MFP 100 and controls the wireless unit 250. The processing of the communication control unit 240 is realized by the CPU 212 executing a control program stored in the ROM 213. The communication control unit 240 and the wireless unit 250 are interconnected, for example, via a system bus 230 and a dedicated bus 225.

[0032] (MFP operation display unit) Figures 3A to 3D schematically show an example of the screen display on the display (touch panel display) included in the operation display unit 220 of the MFP 100.

[0033] Figure 3A is an example of the home screen displayed when the MFP 100 is powered on but not performing any operations such as printing or scanning (idle state, Standby state). The area 310 at the top of the home screen is the basic menu area, where menu items selected when issuing copy or scan commands are displayed. In Figure 3A, area 310 displays a list of icons 311 to 313, corresponding to copy, scan, and print, respectively, as menu items (display items) of the basic menu. When each menu item of the basic menu is selected, a detailed menu corresponding to it is displayed, and the MFP 100 can be instructed to execute the operation / function (copy or scan) corresponding to the selected menu item. By performing operations to display other pages of the basic menu (such as sliding left or right on area 310), menu items different from icons 311 to 313 can be displayed in area 310. For example, an icon corresponding to the cloud can be displayed. The cloud is a menu item related to cloud functions that utilize internet communication.

[0034] The network display area 321 is an area that displays icons indicating the network status. In the illustrated example, the network display area 321 displays icons indicating that both wireless infrastructure and wireless direct are disabled. Furthermore, touching the network display area 321 allows you to display the communication settings menu.

[0035] Icon 322 is an operation icon that accepts instructions to perform setup on a PC / smartphone. When icon 322 is touched, the same action as when "Set up on PC / smartphone" is selected in Figure 3D, which will be described later, is performed.

[0036] Icon 323 is the operation icon to select when changing settings or performing maintenance on the MFP100.

[0037] Figure 3B shows an example of the communication settings menu screen displayed when the network display area 321 is touched on the home screen of Figure 3A. The communication settings menu screen displays the following menu items (options): "Wireless LAN", "Wired LAN", "Wireless Direct", "Bluetooth", and "Common Settings". "Wireless LAN", "Wired LAN", and "Wireless Direct" are menu items for configuring LAN settings. From these items, you can configure settings such as wired connection settings, enabling / disabling wireless infrastructure mode, and enabling / disabling P2P modes such as WFD and soft AP mode.

[0038] Figure 3C shows an example of the wireless LAN settings menu screen displayed when the "Wireless LAN" option is selected in the screen shown in Figure 3B. The wireless LAN settings menu screen displays the following menu items (options): "Enable / Disable Wireless LAN," "Wireless LAN Setup," and "Display Wireless LAN Settings." Selecting the "Enable / Disable Wireless LAN" option switches the setting of enabling or disabling the wireless infrastructure mode. Selecting the "Wireless LAN Setup" option displays the wireless LAN setup menu shown in Figure 3D. Selecting "Display Wireless LAN Settings" displays a detailed screen (wireless LAN settings display screen) that shows details such as the current wireless LAN settings and communication status.

[0039] Figure 3D shows an example of the wireless LAN setup menu screen displayed when the "Wireless LAN Setup" option is selected in the screen shown in Figure 3C. The wireless LAN setup menu screen displays the following menu items (options): "Set up with PC / smartphone," "Set up by entering a password," and "Set up using the router buttons." From these items, you can perform wireless LAN setup using the network setup mode described later, the password entry method, or the push-button method.

[0040] (External Configuration of the Mobile Terminal Device) Figure 4A shows an example of the external configuration of the mobile terminal device 101. In this embodiment, as an example, the case where the mobile terminal device 101 is a general-purpose smartphone is shown. The mobile terminal device 101 is configured to include, for example, a display unit 420, an operation unit 418, and a power key 404. The display unit 420 is a display that includes a display mechanism such as an organic EL (Electroluminescence) type or an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) type. The display unit 420 may also display information using, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode). In addition to or instead of the display unit 420, the mobile terminal device 101 may also have a function to output information by voice. The operation unit 418 is configured to include hard keys such as keys and buttons, a touch panel, etc., for detecting user operations. In this example, since the information display on the display unit 420 and the reception of user operations by the operation unit 418 are performed using a common touch panel display, the display unit 420 and the operation unit 418 are implemented in a single device. In this case, for example, button icons or a software keyboard are displayed using the display function of the display unit 420, and when the user touches these areas, the operation reception function of the operation unit 418 detects it. Alternatively, the display unit 420 and the operation unit 418 may be separated, with separate hardware for display and hardware for operation reception. The power key 404 is a hard key for receiving user operations to turn the power of the mobile terminal device 101 on or off.

[0041] The mobile terminal device 101 does not necessarily need to be visible from its external appearance, but it has a wireless unit 401 that provides WLAN communication functionality. The wireless unit 401 is configured to perform data (packet) communication in a WLAN system compliant with, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard series (IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be / bn). However, it is not limited to this, and the wireless unit 401 may also be able to perform communication in a WLAN system compliant with other standards. In this example, the wireless unit 401 is assumed to be able to communicate in both the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band. However, it is not limited to this, and the wireless unit 401 may also be able to communicate in one or more frequency bands including the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, and the 6 GHz band. Furthermore, the wireless unit 401 is assumed to be able to perform WFD-based communication, soft AP mode communication, wireless infrastructure mode communication, etc. The operation of these modes will be described later.

[0042] (Configuration of the mobile terminal device) Figure 4B shows an example of the configuration of the mobile terminal device 101. In one example, the mobile terminal device 101 has a main board 411 that performs the main control of the device itself, and a wireless unit 429 that performs WLAN communication. The main board 411 includes, for example, a CPU 412, ROM 413, RAM 414, image memory 415, data conversion unit 416, telephone unit 417, GPS 419, camera unit 421, non-volatile memory 422, data storage unit 423, speaker unit 424, and power supply unit 425. Here, CPU is an acronym for Central Processing Unit, ROM is for Read Only Memory, RAM is for Random Access Memory, and GPS is for Global Positioning System. The mobile terminal device 101 also includes a display unit 420 and an operation unit 418. These functional units within the main board 411 are interconnected via a system bus 428 managed by the CPU 412. The main board 411 and the wireless unit 429 (the aforementioned wireless unit 401) are connected, for example, via a dedicated bus 426.

[0043] The CPU 412 is a system control unit including at least one processor, and controls the entire mobile terminal device 101. The processing of the mobile terminal device 101 described below is realized, in one example, by the CPU 412 executing a program stored in the ROM 413. Note that dedicated hardware for each processing may be provided. The ROM 413 stores control programs executed by the CPU 412, embedded operating system (OS) programs, and the like. In the present embodiment, the CPU 412 executes each control program stored in the ROM 413 under the management of the embedded OS also stored in the ROM 413, thereby performing software control such as scheduling and task switching.

[0044] The RAM 414 is configured by SRAM (Static RAM) or the like. The RAM 414 stores data such as program control variables, setting values registered by a user, management data of the mobile terminal device 101, and other data. In addition, the RAM 414 can be used as various work buffers. The image memory 415 is configured by a memory such as DRAM (Dynamic RAM). The image memory 415 temporarily stores image data received via the wireless unit 429 and image data read from the data storage unit 423 for processing by the CPU 412. The non-volatile memory 422 is configured by a memory such as a flash memory, for example, and continues to store data even when the power of the mobile terminal device 101 is turned off. Note that the memory configuration of the mobile terminal device 101 is not limited to the above-described configuration. For example, the image memory 415 and the RAM 414 may be shared, or data backup or the like may be performed using the data storage unit 423. In addition, although DRAM is cited as an example of the image memory 415 in the present embodiment, other storage media such as a hard disk or a non-volatile memory may be used.

[0045] The data conversion unit 416 analyzes data in various formats and performs data conversion such as color conversion and image conversion. The telephone unit 417 controls telephone lines and processes audio data input and output via the speaker unit 424, thereby implementing telephone communication. The GPS 419 receives radio waves transmitted from satellites and acquires position information such as the current latitude and longitude of the mobile terminal device 101.

[0046] The camera unit 421 has a function of electronically recording and encoding an image input through a lens. Image data obtained by imaging with the camera unit 421 is stored in the data storage unit 423. The speaker unit 424 performs control for implementing a function of inputting or outputting audio for a telephone function, and other functions such as alarm notification. The power supply unit 425 is, for example, a portable battery, and controls power supply to the inside of the device. Power supply states include, for example, an out-of-battery state where the battery has no remaining power, a power-off state where the power key 404 is not pressed, a startup state where the device is normally activated, and a power-saving state where the device is activated but operates in a power-saving mode.

[0047] The display unit 420 displays various input operations, the operation status and status of the MFP 100, and the like based on the control of the CPU 412. The operation unit 418 receives a user operation, and then executes control such as generating an electrical signal corresponding to the operation and outputting the signal to the CPU 412.

[0048] The mobile terminal device 101 performs wireless communication using a wireless unit 429, and performs data communication with other devices such as the MFP 100. The wireless unit 429 converts data into packets and transmits the packets to other devices. Further, the wireless unit 429 restores packets from other external devices into original data and outputs the original data to the CPU 412. Each wireless unit 429 is a unit for implementing communication conforming to WLAN standards. The wireless unit 429 can operate in parallel in at least two communication modes including a wireless infrastructure mode and a P2P (WLAN) mode. Note that the frequency bands used in these communication modes may be limited by the functions and performance of the hardware.

[0049] (Access Point Configuration) Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of AP111, which has wireless LAN access point functionality. AP111 consists of a main board 510 that controls AP111, a wireless LAN unit 516, a wired LAN unit 518, and operation buttons 520.

[0050] The microprocessor-type CPU 511 located on the main board 510 operates according to the control program stored in the ROM-type program memory 513 connected via the internal bus 512 and the contents of the RAM-type data memory 514. The CPU 511 controls the wireless LAN unit 516 through the wireless LAN communication control unit 515 to perform wireless LAN communication with other communication terminal devices. Specifically, the wireless LAN unit 516 is configured to perform data (packet) communication in a WLAN system compliant with, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard series (IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be / bn) as wireless LAN communication. It is also capable of communication as an AP compatible with Multi-AP communication, which will be described later. However, it is not limited to this, and the wireless LAN unit 516 may also be capable of performing communication in a WLAN system compliant with other standards. In this example, the wireless LAN unit 516 is assumed to be capable of communication in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz frequency bands. However, it is not limited to these, and the wireless LAN unit 516 may be capable of communication in one or more frequency bands, including the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands.

[0051] Furthermore, the CPU 511 controls the wired LAN unit 518 through the wired LAN communication control unit 517 to perform wired LAN communication with other communication devices. The CPU 511 can accept user operations via the operation buttons 520 by controlling the operation control unit control unit 519. The CPU 511 includes at least one processor.

[0052] Furthermore, AP111 includes an interference wave detection unit 521 and a channel changing unit 522. The interference wave detection unit 521 performs interference wave detection processing when wireless communication is being performed in the band where DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) is implemented. The channel changing unit 522 performs channel changing processing when an interference wave is detected while wireless communication is being performed in the band where DFS is implemented, and when it is necessary to immediately switch to an available channel, etc.

[0053] AP112 and AP113 have the same configuration as AP111.

[0054] (P2P Mode (Direct Mode)) Next, we will outline the P2P (WLAN) communication method, which allows devices to communicate directly wirelessly with each other without going through an external access point in WLAN communication. P2P (WLAN) communication can be implemented using multiple methods. For example, a communication device can support multiple modes for P2P (WLAN) communication and can selectively use any of these modes to perform P2P communication (WLAN).

[0055] Two P2P modes are anticipated:

[0056] A communication device capable of performing P2P communication may be configured to support at least one of the following modes: Soft AP mode and Wi-Fi Direct (WFD) mode. On the other hand, a communication device capable of performing P2P communication is not required to support all of these modes, but may be configured to support only some of them.

[0057] A communication device with WFD communication capabilities (for example, a mobile terminal device 101) receives user input via its control panel, thereby calling a (possibly dedicated) application to implement the communication function. The communication device then displays a UI (user interface) screen provided by the application to prompt user input, and can perform WFD communication based on the received user input.

[0058] ●Soft AP Mode In soft AP mode, the communication device (e.g., mobile terminal device 101) operates as a client requesting various services. The other communication device (e.g., MFP 100) operates as a soft AP capable of performing WLAN AP functions through software configuration. The commands and parameters transmitted and received when establishing a wireless connection between the client and the soft AP are those specified in the Wi-Fi® standard, so their explanation is omitted here. In addition, the MFP 100 operating in soft AP mode determines the frequency band and frequency channel as the master station. Therefore, the MFP 100 can select which frequency band to use from 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz, and which frequency channel to use within that frequency band.

[0059] ●WFD Mode The MFP100 may be configured to start permanently as the master station in WFD mode (Autonomous Group Owner). In this case, the GO Negotiation process to determine the role is unnecessary. Also, in this case, the MFP100 determines the frequency band and frequency channel as the master station. Therefore, the MFP100 can select which frequency band to use from 5GHz and 2.4GHz, and which frequency channel to use within that frequency band.

[0060] (Wireless Infrastructure Mode) In wireless infrastructure mode, communication devices that communicate with each other (for example, the mobile terminal device 101 and the MFP 100) are connected to an external AP (for example, AP 111) that manages the network, and communication between communication devices is performed via that AP. In other words, communication between communication devices is performed via the network established by the external AP. When the mobile terminal device 101 and the MFP 100 each discover AP 111, send connection requests to AP 111, and connect, communication between these communication devices in wireless infrastructure mode via AP 111 becomes possible. Note that multiple communication devices are separate It is also possible to connect to an AP. In this case, data transfer between APs enables communication between communication devices. The commands and parameters sent and received during communication between each communication device via the access point can be those specified in the Wi-Fi standard, so an explanation of them is omitted here. In this case, AP111 determines the frequency band and frequency channel. Therefore, AP111 can select which frequency band to use from 5GHz, 2.4GHz, and 6GHz, and which frequency channel to use within that frequency band.

[0061] (Multi-AP communication) The IEEE 802.11be standard specifies Multi-Link communication, in which one Access Point (AP) establishes multiple links with one Station (STA) via multiple different frequency channels and communicates in parallel.

[0062] Furthermore, the IEEE 802.11bn standard, the successor to the IEEE 802.11be standard, is exploring methods to improve usability using Multi-AP communication.

[0063] For example, there is distributed MIMO technology, which is based on a technique called MIMO (multi-user multi-output) that uses multiple transmitting and receiving antennas simultaneously on the same channel. In distributed MIMO, in an environment with multiple access points (APs) and multiple stas (STAs), groups are formed among the APs to share information about the communication status and the status of each AP, and data is sent to the STA in parallel from multiple APs at the same time. By having multiple APs perform joint transmission, the number of spatial streams can be increased compared to the case of a single AP, and thus an improvement in throughput can be expected.

[0064] Another example is a technology that improves reception quality at the STA by having multiple APs transmit data to the STA at different times through time-division multiplexing, thereby utilizing the effects of time diversity and spatial diversity.

[0065] This type of communication technology, in which multiple access points (APs) form a group and operate in a coordinated manner, is called Multi-AP communication. APs are classified into a single Coordinator AP that manages all APs and Coordinated APs that operate under the management of the Coordinator AP.

[0066] In the following, in Multi-AP communication, the AP that manages the APs will be referred to as the "Coordinator AP" or "Sharing AP". Furthermore, the APs that operate under the management of the Coordinator AP will be referred to as the "Coordinated AP" or "Shared AP". The Coordinator AP and the Coordinated AP can send and receive signals from each other. Each of the multiple APs, including AP111 to AP113, may be connected wirelessly to perform wireless LAN communication, or connected via a wired connection to perform wired LAN communication. It is assumed that AP111 to AP113 are capable of Multi-AP communication compliant with the IEEE 802.11 series standards and support a configuration in which multiple APs cooperate to communicate with a common STA.

[0067] There are two types of Multi-AP communication methods: Co-OFDMA and Joint-TX. In the Co-OFDMA (Coordinated-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) method, the available frequency resources are separated among multiple BSSs (Basic Service Sets). For example, the frequency resources used by AP112 and MFP100 (STA) are separated from those used by AP113 and MFP100 (STA) so as not to overlap. This prevents interference between BSS communications. If the STA has the capability to simultaneously transmit and receive data across multiple frequency bands (multiple resource units within the same channel or spanning different channels, multiple channels, or multiple of the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands), then multiple APs can cooperate to transmit and receive data to the same STA. Data refers to content data such as image data, audio data, document data, and print data. In this case, for example, AP 112 can transmit packet 1 of content A to MFP 100 (STA), and AP 113 can transmit packet 2 of content A to MFP 100 (STA) in parallel.

[0068] In the Joint-TX (Joint-Transmission) method, the same signal is transmitted and received between multiple APs and one STA. At this time, the STA receives a multiplexed wave (superimposed wave, multiplexed wave, composite wave) created by combining the radio waves emitted from multiple APs in a way that is amplified by wave interference. This ensures that the STA receives a stronger signal (amplified signal) than a signal from a single AP alone. For example, the same signal is transmitted and received between AP112 and MFP100 (STA), and between AP113 and MFP100 (STA), multiplexed and amplified at the MFP100 (STA) location. For example, at the same time, AP112 transmits packet 1 of content A to MFP100 (STA), and AP113 transmits packet 1 of content A to MFP100 (STA). At this time, the radio waves for content A are transmitted in a way that multiplexes at the MFP100 (STA) location. This improves the reliability (connectivity) of communication between the STA and AP, as well as the speed of data transmission and reception.

[0069] Figure 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a process in which AP111 operates as a Coordinator AP, and Coordinated APs AP112 and AP113 cooperate to send and receive data to and from MFP100 (STA). In this sequence, the processing performed by each device is realized by the CPU of each device reading various programs stored in the memory such as ROM of each device into RAM and executing them.

[0070] In S601, AP111 to AP113 perform Multi-AP setup processing. In Multi-AP setup processing, capability information and parameters are exchanged between APs, and a group is formed for Multi-AP communication.

[0071] In S602, Multi-AP coordination processing is performed between AP111 and AP113. For example, the Multi-AP communication method is determined, the AP role (CoordinatorAP or CoordinatedAP) is determined, and parameters and network information are exchanged between APs. The Multi-AP communication method and the AP role are determined by exchanging and comparing parameters between AP111 and AP113. At that time, the CoordinatorAP (AP111) notifies the CoordinatedAPs (AP112 and AP113) of network information that should be used in common (such as the SSID (Service Set Identifier) ​​and BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) ​​that should be used in common). Note that the BSSID to be used in common is notified only in the case of the Joint-TX method.

[0072] In S603, AP112 and AP113 transmit Beacon frames (information that APs voluntarily transmit periodically) according to the network information notified in S602. The Beacon frame contains information indicating that Multi-AP communication is possible with respect to the connected STA and information indicating the Multi-AP communication method. APs that support Multi-AP communication may also transmit Beacon frames with a Multi-AP IE (Information Element) attached. The Multi-AP IE contains at least one of the following pieces of information (one or more of the following pieces of information).

[0073] - SSID used by multiple Coordinated APs belonging to the same multi-AP group (ESSID to be used in common as notified in S602) - BSSID (BSSID to be used in common by APs belonging to multi-AP group 110, as notified in S602 in the case of Joint-TX) - BSS color value (identifier) ​​for Multi-AP communication - Operating radio channel (communication channel to be used in common if it is Joint-TX. If it is Co-OFDMA, the communication channel and / or resource unit used by the source AP. In the case of Co-OFDMA, it may also include the communication channels and / or resource units used by other APs in multi-AP group 110.) - Multi-AP communication method (information that identifies whether it is Co-OFDMA or Joint-TX) Note that the storage method and configuration of this information are not limited to these, and similar information may be stored and transmitted in a similar format. Note that Multi-AP IE may be referred to by other names such as Multi-AP Element. Furthermore, Multi-AP IE may be included in wireless frames such as the S605 Probe Response frame or other Action frames.

[0074] In S604, the MFP100(STA) begins establishing a connection with the AP using wireless infrastructure mode. The MFP100(STA) sends a Probe Request frame to begin searching for the AP in order to determine whether the AP supports Multi-AP communication.

[0075] In S605, the MFP100 (STA) searches for and discovers APs by receiving Probe Response frames and Beacon frames transmitted from APs, which are responses to AP searches.

[0076] In S606, MFP100(STA) performs connection processing with at least one CoordinatedAP based on the information contained in the frame received in S605. Here, as an example, MFP100(STA) sends a connection request to AP112 and performs a connection attempt (connection processing). This connection processing includes processes such as Authentication and Association as defined in IEEE802.11. MFP100(STA) may also add Multi-AP IE to the Association Request frame it sends to indicate that it is requesting Multi-AP communication. AP112, upon receiving the Association Request frame, sends an Association Response frame in response. This establishes a wireless LAN connection between the MFP100 (STA) and AP112.

[0077] In S607, when AP112 establishes a connection with MFP100(STA), it notifies CoordinatorAP (AP111) of information indicating that it has established a connection with MFP100(STA), along with connection parameters related to the connected MFP100(STA). The connection parameters related to the connected MFP100(STA) include information used or generated during the connection process between AP112 and MFP100 (such as PMK cache, roaming information, authentication information, etc.), and the identifier of STA. Similarly, when AP113 connects with MFP100(STA), AP113 notifies CoordinatorAP (AP111) that it has established a connection.

[0078] After S607, AP111 transmits the connection parameters for MFP100(STA) transmitted in S607 to AP113. AP113 may use the transmitted connection parameters for MFP100(STA) to establish a connection with MFP100. However, in the Joint-TX method, data can be transmitted from APs that have not established a connection. In other words, APs that have not established a connection can also be sources of multiplexed radio waves. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform the process of establishing a connection between AP113 and MFP100.

[0079] In S608, the Coordinator AP (AP111) determines the transmission parameters (information necessary for determining the transmission timing and transmission power at each Coordinated AP and each antenna, and / or resource unit allocation information, etc.) based on the connection parameters (parameters received in S607) of the Coordinated AP that has connected to the MFP100 (STA), and then allocates the transmission data. The determined transmission parameter information is notified to each Coordinated AP via a Multi-AP Trigger frame. AP112 and AP113 set their own transmission parameters (transmission timing, transmission power, resource units to be used) based on the notified information. Note that the Multi-AP Trigger frame may have a different name. Furthermore, the Multi-AP Trigger frame may be an extension of the Trigger frame of the IEEE 802.11ax / be standard.

[0080] In S609, the CoordinatorAP (AP111) sends the data to be sent to the MFP100 (STA) (for example, content data such as image data, document data, and print data) to the CoordinatedAP.

[0081] In S610, when the Coordinated APs (AP112, AP113) receive data to be transmitted from the Coordinator AP (AP111), they coordinately transmit that data to the MFP100. Also, when the Coordinated APs (AP112, AP113) receive data from the MFP100 (STA), they transmit that received data to the Coordinator AP (AP111). Note that this order of data transmission and reception is just an example; for example, the reception of data from STA may occur before the transmission of data to STA.

[0082] Furthermore, the Coordinator AP may directly transmit and receive signals with the STA. For example, AP111 may operate as both a Coordinator AP and a Coordinated AP. In this case, for example, AP111 may transmit and receive wireless frames between itself and the STA while issuing instructions to AP112 or AP113 to transmit and receive wireless frames between AP112 or AP113 and the STA. Furthermore, when the Coordinator AP causes the Coordinated AP to transmit wireless frames, it may send the data to be transmitted to the Coordinated AP. However, it is not limited to this, and the Coordinated AP may, for example, directly obtain the data to be transmitted from the Internet. Furthermore, while CoordinatorAP may receive data from CoordinatedAP that CoordinatedAP has received from STA, CoordinatedAP may also forward the data received from STA to the STA's partner device without forwarding it to CoordinatorAP.

[0083] Furthermore, any AP within the same network can operate as a Coordinator AP, and it may be determined by some criteria that one of the APs will operate as a Coordinator AP. A Coordinator AP may not operate as an AP that transmits Beacon frames, but may only perform the role of a Coordinator AP, such as sending instructions to other APs. Also, each AP may operate as multiple Coordinated APs by having multiple wireless LAN communication control units 515. Furthermore, a Coordinator AP may be implemented as a logical function, and one physical AP may operate as a Coordinator AP while simultaneously operating as one or more Coordinated APs.

[0084] Figure 1 illustrates the configuration of a wireless network using a single multi-AP group to explain Multi-AP, but in reality, environments often involve a mix of multiple wireless networks. In environments with multiple wireless networks, one method for connecting the STA (MFP 100) to a desired AP is to display a list of APs detected by AP discovery (shown in S604 of Figure 6) on the operation display unit 220 of the MFP 100, allowing the user to select from the list. Specifically, for example, when the "Enter password to set up" method is selected from the menu items on the "Wireless LAN Setup" screen in Figure 3D, a list of APs detected by AP discovery is displayed on the operation display unit 220 of the MFP 100.

[0085] However, conventional communication devices compliant with the IEEE 802.11 series standards did not take into account configurations in which the STA connects to multiple APs simultaneously, resulting in a lack of convenience when connecting to APs that support Multi-AP communication.

[0086] For example, when multiple APs detected by AP discovery are displayed in a list on the operation display unit 220, the user could not identify whether the displayed AP was an AP that supported Multi-AP communication. Furthermore, in the case of the Joint-TX method, since the SSID (ESSID) is common within the same multi-AP group, it can be displayed as a single AP as before, but it could not be identified as an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. As a result, there was a problem that STA (MFP100) users could unintentionally select an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication, and thus could not enjoy the benefits of improved reliability and speed of wireless communication through Multi-AP communication.

[0087] Furthermore, for example, when displaying a list of multiple APs detected by AP discovery on the operation display unit 220, the display order of the APs did not take into account whether or not they supported Multi-AP communication. In addition, conventional methods have been used to list and display APs detected by AP discovery in descending order of signal strength, but the effects of Multi-AP communication, which communicates with multiple APs simultaneously, were not taken into consideration. As a result, there was a problem that users of STA (MFP100) could not enjoy the benefits of improved reliability and speed of wireless communication through Multi-AP communication, as APs that do not support Multi-AP communication were not differentiated from those that do.

[0088] Furthermore, in the case of the Co-OFDMA method, for example, the SSID (ESSID) may not be common within the same multi-AP group. In such cases, when displaying multiple APs detected by AP discovery in a list on the operation display unit 220, it was not possible to display them as a single AP using conventional methods. Conventionally, when multiple APs had the same SSID, it was possible to aggregate the items of multiple APs into one display, but this could not be applied to Multi-AP communication where the SSIDs may differ. As a result, there was a problem that STA (MFP 100) users may not be able to recognize how to connect to multiple APs forming a multi-AP group, and therefore may not be able to enjoy the benefits of improved reliability and speed of wireless communication through Multi-AP communication.

[0089] Figure 10 shows an example of the system configuration according to this embodiment. Figure 10 shows a wireless LAN environment in which multiple wireless networks exist. In Figure 10, in addition to the multi-AP group 110 shown in Figure 1, another multi-AP group 130 and AP 141 which does not support Multi-AP communication each construct their own wireless network (wireless LAN).

[0090] AP131 and AP132, like the other APs in the multi-AP group 110, are APs that support Multi-AP communication and operate in a coordinated manner as a group (multi-AP group 130). While this explanation assumes that the multi-AP group 130 includes AP131 and AP132, the multi-AP group 130 may include more APs.

[0091] In this embodiment, as an example, the multi-AP group 110 operates using the Co-OFDMA method. AP 111 operates as both a Coordinator AP and a Coordinated AP, and can communicate directly with the STA. The multi-AP group 130 operates using the Joint-TX method. AP 131 and AP 132 both operate as Coordinated APs.

[0092] In this embodiment, the configurations of multi-AP groups 110 and 130 are used as an example for explanation, but the configuration of the multi-AP groups is not limited to that shown in Figure 10. For example, the number of wireless networks in the multi-AP groups may be three or more. Also, the Multi-AP communication method for each multi-AP group may be any method. Furthermore, the number of APs that do not support Multi-AP communication is not limited to the example in Figure 10, and may be one or more.

[0093] Figure 11A shows the wireless network settings for each AP shown in Figure 10. AP131 and AP132 form a multi-AP group 130 using the Joint-TX method. AP131 and AP132 have a BSS Color value set to "1", for example, which is the identifier for the multi-AP group 130. In the Joint-TX method, the SSID used between Coordinated APs is common. The SSIDs of AP131 and AP132 are set to "AP-130", for example. Also, in the Joint-TX method, the BSSID is common within the multi-AP group, and is set to the MAC address value of AP131, for example.

[0094] AP111, AP112, and AP113 form a multi-AP group 110 using the Co-OFDMA method. Furthermore, AP111, AP112, and AP113 have a BSS Color value set to "2", for example, which serves as the identifier for the multi-AP group 113.

[0095] In the Co-OFDMA method, the SSIDs used between Coordinated APs do not need to be the same. In this embodiment, for example, different values ​​are set for each Coordinated AP. For example, the SSID for AP111 is set to "AP-111", the SSID for AP112 is set to "AP-112", and the SSID for AP113 is set to "AP-113". Also, in the Co-OFDMA method, the BSSIDs differ between each Coordinated AP. For example, the MAC address value of each AP is set as the BSSID for AP111, AP112, and AP113.

[0096] AP141 is an access point that does not support Multi-AP communication. AP141 does not have settings related to multi-AP groups, and therefore, the Probe Response frame does not contain information equivalent to Multi-AP IE.

[0097] The wireless network settings corresponding to each AP include signal strength. Signal strength is the radio wave strength (RSSI) detected by the wireless unit 250 when AP discovery is performed and Probe Response frames are received from each AP. The unit of radio wave strength is "dBm".

[0098] The wireless network configuration shown in Figure 11A is just one example; for example, the wireless network configuration of each AP may differ from that shown in Figure 11A.

[0099] The following describes the process by which the MFP100 searches for access points (APs) to establish wireless LAN communication and displays the search results, switching the AP display method according to the communication method of the AP discovered during the search.

[0100] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the process by which the MFP 100 searches for APs, sorts the discovered APs based on predetermined conditions, displays the sorted list of APs according to the AP's communication method, and accepts the selection of an AP to connect to. The process in Figure 7 is realized, for example, by the CPU 212 reading a program stored in the ROM 213 into the RAM 214 and executing it.

[0101] The AP search process in S701 will be described in detail later using Figure 8. The process of determining the AP display order in S703 will be described in detail later using Figures 9A and 9B and Figures 16A and 16B. The process of displaying the AP search results (list of APs found in the AP search) in S704 will be described in detail later using Figure 17. Furthermore, the process of displaying detailed AP information in S707 will be described in detail later using Figure 19.

[0102] The process shown in Figure 7 is executed when the user selects the "Enter password and set up" item from the menu items on the "Wireless LAN Setup" screen in Figure 3D. However, the timing of the execution of the process shown in Figure 7 is not limited to this. For example, the process shown in Figure 7 may be executed when the MFP 100 detects a disconnection from the AP while connected to the AP and fails to reconnect to the AP. Alternatively, the process shown in Figure 7 may be executed, for example, during the initial setup of the MFP 100 after it has been shipped.

[0103] In S701, the CPU 212 searches for an AP outside the MFP 100 in order to connect to an AP in wireless infrastructure mode. As will be described later, the CPU 212 searches for an AP by scanning while sequentially switching the frequency band and channel supported by the wireless unit 250, as controlled by the communication control unit 240. When the CPU 212 finds an AP during the AP search, it acquires information about the found AP. In the following description, information about the AP may be referred to as AP information. The CPU 212 stores the acquired AP information in the RAM 214 as a detected AP list. The detected AP list is a list of information about APs found during the AP search. Details of the detected AP list will be described later using Figure 11C. The CPU 212 may also display a screen on the operation display unit 220 indicating that an AP search is in progress while the communication control unit 240 is performing the AP search. Figure 18D shows an example of a screen displayed on the operation display unit 220 indicating that an AP search is in progress.

[0104] In S702, the CPU 212 determines whether or not an AP was found in the AP search in S701. If the CPU 212 determines that an AP has been found, it proceeds to S703. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that no AP has been found, it proceeds to S708. Specifically, the CPU 212 refers to the AP detection list stored in RAM 214 and determines that an AP has been found if the detected AP list contains at least one AP information entry. On the other hand, if the list does not contain at least one AP information entry, the CPU 212 determines that no AP has been found.

[0105] In S703, the CPU 212 determines the display order when displaying the list of APs discovered during AP discovery. In S703, the CPU 212 sorts the discovered AP list based on whether or not each AP supports Multi-AP communication, and generates an AP list for displaying the AP discovery results (hereinafter referred to as the display AP list). If the discovered AP list contains multiple APs, the display AP list is created based on whether or not each AP supports Multi-AP communication.

[0106] In S704, the CPU 212 refers to the display AP list sorted in S703 and displays the AP discovery result screen on the operation display unit 220. The AP discovery result screen displays a list of external APs discovered during the AP discovery. When displaying the list of external APs discovered during the AP discovery, the CPU 212 performs display control to display the AP list in the display order determined in S703. Furthermore, when displaying the list of external APs discovered during the AP discovery, the CPU 212 performs display control to display information related to APs that support the Multi-AP communication method in a way that makes it distinguishable from information related to APs that do not support the Multi-AP communication method. The CPU 212 then waits for user input on the AP discovery result screen. An example of the screen displayed on the operation display unit 220 in S704 will be described later using Figure 18E.

[0107] In S705, the CPU 212 determines whether to cancel the display of the AP list. If the CPU 212 determines to cancel, it displays the home screen on the operation display unit 220 and terminates the process shown in Figure 7. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines not to cancel, it proceeds to S706. For example, if the CPU 212 detects that the "Back" key or "HOME" key (not shown) on the operation display unit 220 has been pressed, it determines to cancel; otherwise, it determines not to cancel.

[0108] In S706, the CPU 212 determines whether an AP has been selected on the AP search results screen. If the CPU 212 determines that an AP has been selected, it proceeds to S707. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that no AP has been selected, it proceeds to S704.

[0109] In S707, the CPU 212 displays a detailed AP information screen on the operation display unit 220 based on the AP information obtained through AP discovery. The detailed screen displays detailed information about the AP selected by the user in the AP list (AP discovery results screen). The CPU 212 then waits for a connection instruction on the detailed screen. If the AP selected by the user supports Multi-AP communication, the CPU 212 also displays detailed information about the APs included in the multi-AP group to which the selected AP belongs on the operation display unit 220.

[0110] In this embodiment, when the CPU 212 displays detailed information of APs corresponding to Multi-AP communication on the operation display unit 220, it displays a button that accepts the selection to connect to all APs belonging to the same multi-AP group discovered by AP discovery, and a button that accepts the selection to individually select and connect to any AP within the group. An example of the detailed screen display will be described later with reference to Figures 20A and 20B.

[0111] Furthermore, if the user selects an AP in the AP list that does not support Multi-AP communication, the CPU 212 may start the connection process with the AP that does not support Multi-AP communication without displaying a detailed information screen.

[0112] In S708, the CPU 212 displays a screen (not shown) on the operation display unit 220 indicating that AP discovery has failed.

[0113] (AP Search Process) Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the details of the AP search process in S701 of Figure 7. The process in Figure 8 is realized, for example, by the CPU 212 reading the program stored in ROM 213 into RAM 214 and executing it.

[0114] In S801, the CPU 212 initializes the variable "AP detection (discovery) count," which stores the number of AP information discovered through AP search, to 0. The variable "AP detection count" is allocated in a predetermined area of ​​the RAM 214, either in the heap memory or the stack area.

[0115] Next, the CPU 212, through processing from S802 onward, searches for access points (APs) for each channel in the frequency band supported by the wireless unit 250, and obtains AP information for the APs found through the search. The CPU 212 then stores the obtained AP information in the RAM 214.

[0116] In S802, the CPU 212 searches for APs by sending Probe Request frames while sequentially switching frequency bands and channels. The Probe Request frame contains information such as an SSID with a length of 0 (i.e., blank) (wildcard SSID), security information, and supported data rates. If an AP receives a Probe Request frame with a blank SSID, all APs except those without a set SSID will return a Probe Response frame. Furthermore, the CPU 212 detects Probe Response frames sent from APs.

[0117] In S803, the CPU 212 determines whether or not it has detected a Probe Response frame transmitted from the AP. If the CPU 212 determines that it has detected one, it proceeds to S804. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it has not detected one, it returns to S802 to transmit a Probe Request frame in the next frequency band and channel. In this embodiment, an example of AP discovery is described by transmitting a Probe Request frame, but AP discovery may also be performed by detecting a Beacon frame (information that the AP voluntarily transmits periodically).

[0118] The AP information obtained from APs through AP discovery (AP information) includes at least one piece of information such as the AP's SSID, signal strength (RSSI), signal-to-signal ratio (SNR), data rate (link speed), frequency band, MAC address, authentication method, and encryption method. Furthermore, the information responded by APs that support Multi-AP communication includes Multi-AP related information (Multi-AP IE) as explained with reference to Figure 6.

[0119] Figure 11B shows an example of some of the AP information contained in a Probe Response frame or Becon frame acquired by the CPU 212. APs supporting Multi-AP communication include at least the AP's BSSID (MAC address) in the MAC header, in accordance with the format defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard. The Beacon Frame includes the CapabilityInfo field and RSN Information field indicating the encryption method, the SSID, the support rate (theoretical value of the link speed), and the Multi-AP IE. Hereafter, the BSS color value for Multi-AP communication (multi-AP identifier) ​​included in the Multi-AP IE will be referred to as the Multi-AP ID. The Multi-AP ID is an identifier with a unique value for each multi-AP group and is used to identify the multi-AP group.

[0120] In S804, the CPU 212 updates the "AP detection count" to the number of APs detected in a single Probe Request frame. In other words, in S804, the CPU 212 updates the number of APs discovered through AP discovery. If multiple APs are operating on the same channel, the AP detection count will be 2 or greater.

[0121] In S805, the CPU 212 allocates the necessary amount from the heap memory in RAM 214 to store AP information based on the Probe Response frame or Beacon frame obtained from the AP.

[0122] Figure 11C shows an example of AP information obtained from APs discovered during AP search and stored in the RAM 214 memory. Figure 11C illustrates three AP information entries, 1101 to 1103. When the CPU 212 stores AP information in the RAM 214 memory, it sets the nextEntryAdd member, which is the address indicating the storage location of the next AP information to be stored. In other words, the nextEntryAdd member is link information for linking multiple AP information entries. When the CPU 212 stores AP information, it sets nextEntryAdd to store the AP information as a list structure (detected AP list) in the RAM 214 memory. In this embodiment, the address in the memory space within RAM 214 is represented by an 8-digit hexadecimal number, and is shown as "0xXXXXXXXXX" in the figure. The AP information stored in the RAM 214 memory includes the information contained in the Probe Response frame, the nextEntryAdd member for constructing the list structure, and the Multi-AP ID for identifying the multi-AP group.

[0123] In S806, the CPU 212 determines whether the AP discovered in the AP discovery supports Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that it supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S807. On the other hand, if it determines that it does not support Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S808. The CPU 212 makes this determination based on whether the Probe Response frame obtained by the AP discovery contains Multi-AP IE. If Multi-AP IE is contained, the CPU 212 determines that the AP discovered in the AP discovery supports Multi-AP communication; if Multi-AP IE is not contained, it determines that the AP discovered in the AP discovery does not support Multi-AP communication.

[0124] In S807, the CPU 212 stores information indicating that the AP discovered during AP discovery is an AP that supports Multi-AP communication. Specifically, the CPU 212 stores the Multi-AP ID value obtained from the AP in the Multi-AP ID member within the AP information.

[0125] In S808, the CPU 212 stores information indicating that the AP discovered during AP discovery is an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. Specifically, the CPU 212 stores the value "-1" which indicates that the AP that returned the Probe Response frame does not support Multi-AP communication.

[0126] In S809, the CPU 212 stores information contained in the Probe Response frame, including members other than the Multi-AP ID, by copying it to a predetermined member within the AP information. Then, the CPU 212 decrements the AP detection count by 1.

[0127] In S810, the CPU 212 determines whether the number of detected APs is 0. If it determines that the number of detected APs is 0, it proceeds to S811. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the number is not 0, it returns to S805 to process the unprocessed Probe Response frames.

[0128] In S811, the CPU 212 determines whether it has completed scanning all frequency bands and channels supported by the wireless unit 250. If the CPU 212 determines that the scan is complete, it terminates the process shown in Figure 8. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the scan is not complete, it returns to S802 to send a Probe Request frame for the next frequency band and channel.

[0129] Through the processes described above, the CPU 212 allocates the necessary amount of memory from the heap memory in RAM 214 and stores the AP information each time an AP is found through AP search. Then, when an AP is found through AP search, the CPU 212 sets the nextEntryAddr member in the AP information of the APs found sequentially. In other words, when multiple APs are found through AP search, the CPU 212 stores the information of the multiple APs concatenated together as a detected AP list in RAM 214. Through this AP search process, as shown in Figure 11C, a detected AP list is generated in the order in which the APs were found during AP search.

[0130] Note that the AP information obtained from the AP will vary depending on the AP model, model number, settings, etc. Also, if the AP does not support the security methods (authentication methods, encryption methods) supported by the MFP100, the AP information may be excluded from the search results. Similarly, if the security methods supported by the AP are only those that the MFP100 does not support and / or has restrictions on, the AP information may also be excluded from the search results.

[0131] (Creation of the AP List for Display) Figures 9A and 9B are flowcharts showing the details of the process in S703 of Figure 7. The processes in Figures 9A and 9B are realized, for example, by the CPU 212 reading a program stored in ROM 213 into RAM 214 and executing it. The processes shown in Figures 9A and 9B include the process of generating an AP list for display (S901 to S910) and the process of rearranging the AP list for display based on predetermined conditions related to Multi-AP communication (S911). The process in S911 will be described in detail later using Figures 16A and 16B.

[0132] Furthermore, Figures 12 to 15 show an example of a displayable AP list generated in RAM 214 during the process in which CPU 212 performs the operations shown in Figures 9A and 9B, using the AP information obtained by AP search as an example where the configuration is as shown in Figure 11A.

[0133] In S901, the CPU 212 initializes the display AP list. The display AP list is a list in which APs that support Multi-AP communication are rearranged based on the detected AP list (see Figure 11C) generated by the AP discovery process, so that they can be managed in units of multi-AP groups. The display AP list, like the detected AP list, is allocated each time from heap memory allocated in a predetermined area within the RAM 214.

[0134] Furthermore, the display AP list consists of a representative entry to which one area is assigned for each multi-AP group, and individual entries containing AP information for the Coordinated APs belonging to that multi-AP group. The configuration of the display AP list will be described in detail later using Figures 12 to 15.

[0135] In S901, the CPU 212 sets the value of firstEntryAddr, which is the address indicating the storage location of the first (leading) representative entry in the display AP list, to NULL. FirstEntryAddr is stored in memory allocated within RAM 214 as the header portion of the display AP list.

[0136] In S902, the CPU 212 reads the AP information included in the detected AP list (see Figure 11C) in order from the beginning.

[0137] In S903, the CPU 212 determines whether an AP supports Multi-AP communication based on the value of the Multi-AP ID in the AP information it has read. If the CPU 212 determines that the AP supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S904. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the AP does not support Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S909. In this embodiment, in S808 of Figure 8, the CPU 212 sets the Multi-AP ID to "-1" for APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. Therefore, if the value of the Multi-AP ID is not "-1", the CPU 212 determines that the AP supports Multi-AP communication. On the other hand, if the value of the Multi-AP ID is "-1", the CPU 212 determines that the AP does not support Multi-AP communication.

[0138] In S904, the CPU 212 determines whether a representative entry with the same value as the Multi-AP ID contained in the AP information read from the detected AP list in S902 exists in the AP list for display that is being created. If the CPU 212 determines that it does not exist, it proceeds to S905. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that a representative entry with the same value as the Multi-AP ID exists, it proceeds to S906.

[0139] In S905, the CPU 212 stores a new representative entry in the display AP list based on the AP information read from the detected AP list in S902. The CPU 212 acquires a memory area for storing the representative entry in the display AP list and stores the Multi-AP ID included in the AP information read in S902 as the Multi-AP ID in the representative entry.

[0140] In this embodiment, the representative entry includes members such as a Multi-AP ID for identifying a multi-AP group, the SSID of the APs belonging to the multi-AP group, and the number of APs indicating the number of Coordinated APs belonging to the same multi-AP group. Note that if the Multi-AP communication method is the Co-OFDMA method, the SSIDs of multiple APs belonging to the same multi-AP group may be different. Therefore, when registering the representative entry for an AP whose Multi-AP communication method is the Co-OFDMA method, the SSID member is set to NULL. The representative entry may also include channel information and signal strength obtained from AP information, but 0 is set to indicate that they are not set during registration. The representative entry may also store other information about the AP, such as the security method supported by the AP.

[0141] Furthermore, when registering a representative entry, the CPU 212 sets the nextEntryAddress (link information), which is the address indicating the storage location of the next representative entry. When registering a new representative entry, the CPU 212 sets the address indicating the storage location of the newly registered representative entry in the last representative entry in the display AP list. In the case of the first representative entry, the firstEntryAddress, which is initialized to NULL by S901, is set to the address indicating the storage location of the first representative entry. In this way, the CPU 212 generates the display AP list by setting link information in multiple representative entries and linking them. The display AP list can be searched by sequentially referring to subsequent representative entries starting from firstEntryAddress and following the nextEntryAddress in order.

[0142] Furthermore, the representative entry is configured with APInfoAdd, which is an address indicating the storage location of individual entries, in order to hold information about Coordinated APs included in the same multi-AP group as a list structure.

[0143] In S906, the CPU 212 registers an individual entry containing AP information for the Coordinated AP. Here, like the representative entry, the individual entry is stored each time in heap memory allocated to a predetermined area in RAM 214. The individual entry stores information about each AP based on the AP information obtained through AP discovery. In this embodiment, the individual entry includes information such as the AP's SSID, BSSID, channel, and signal strength. The individual entry may also store other information about the AP, such as the security scheme supported by the AP. Furthermore, the individual entry has a member APInfoAdd for holding information about other Coordinated APs within the same multi-AP group as a list structure.

[0144] Then, the CPU 212 sets the address indicating the storage location of the newly registered individual entry in the APInfoAddr member within the representative entry registered in S905, and terminates processing for that AP information.

[0145] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the first representative entry 1201 and the individual entry 1202 are registered in the memory of RAM 214. The firstEntryAddr 1200 is set to the address indicating the storage location of the first representative entry 1201. The first representative entry 1201 is set to the address indicating the storage location of the individual entry 1202. In the example of Figure 12, the second representative entry is not registered. Therefore, the address indicating the storage location of the next representative entry is set to NULL in the first representative entry 1201. The representative entry 1201 is also set to the address indicating the storage location of the individual entry 1202. In the example of Figure 12, the second individual entry is not registered. Therefore, the address indicating the next individual entry is not set in the first individual entry 1202.

[0146] In S909, the CPU 212 determines whether a representative entry with the same SSID as the SSID included in the AP information read in S902 already exists (is registered) in the AP list for display that is being created. If the CPU 212 determines that it exists, it proceeds to S906. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it does not exist, it proceeds to S910. The difference from S904 is that the registration determination of the representative entry is made based on the SSID rather than the Multi-AP ID.

[0147] In S910, the CPU 212 registers (stores) the representative entry read in S902 as a new representative entry in the display AP list. The processing in S910 is the same as the processing in S905, except that the Multi-AP ID member of the representative entry is "-1" and the SSID is stored.

[0148] Figure 13 shows the state in which the second representative entry 1203 and individual entry 1204 have been registered in the display AP list based on the AP information for AP141. The first representative entry 1201 has an address set to indicate the storage location of the second representative entry 1203. The second representative entry 1203 also has an address set to indicate the storage location of the individual entry 1204. In the example in Figure 13, since the third representative entry is not registered in the display AP list, the address indicating the storage location of the next representative entry is set to NULL in the second representative entry 1203.

[0149] In S907, the CPU 212 sequentially refers to the detected AP list and determines whether it has finished reading all AP information. If the CPU 212 determines that it has finished, it proceeds to S908. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it has not finished, it proceeds to S902. In S907, the CPU 212 determines that it has finished reading all AP information if nextEntryAddr in the AP information in the detected AP list (see Figure 11C) is NULL, and determines that it has not finished otherwise.

[0150] In S908, the CPU 212 updates the members in the representative entry with the same settings if there is only one individual entry linked to each representative entry, or if the APs within the individual entries have the same settings. For example, if the representative entry is for a multi-AP group and the Multi-AP communication method is Joint-TX, the SSID, BSSID, and channel are common to all APs, so this AP information is also stored in the representative entry. By storing common AP information in the representative entry in this way, the CPU 212 can refer to and display information for the multi-AP group without referring to each individual entry. Also, if multiple individual entries are linked to the representative entry, the CPU 212 updates the "Number of APs" member in the representative entry with the number of individual entries.

[0151] Figure 14 shows an example of the configuration of a display AP list in which representative entries and individual entries have been registered for all APs discovered by AP discovery. In Figure 14, the display AP list shows the state in which the representative entry 1201 for the multi-AP group, which has a common SSID within the group, and the representative entry 1203 for the standalone AP 141, which does not support Multi-AP communication, have been updated. Here, representative entry 1205 is the entry for the multi-AP group 110. Since the SSID and channel differ between the Coordinated APs in the multi-AP group 110, the information (members) of representative entry 1205 remains at the value at the time of registration.

[0152] In S911, the CPU 212 refers to the display AP list generated by the processing in S901 to S910 and executes a process to rearrange the display AP list based on predetermined conditions for Multi-AP. The process in S911 will be described below with reference to Figures 16A and 16B.

[0153] (Rearranging the AP List for Display) Figures 16A and 16B are flowcharts showing an example of the processing in S911 of Figure 9B. Figures 16A and 16B show details of the process of rearranging the AP list for display based on predetermined conditions related to Multi-AP. In this embodiment, the predetermined condition is to prioritize APs that support Multi-AP communication over APs that do not support Multi-AP communication and rearrange the display order so that they are displayed higher in the display list. The processing in Figures 16A and 16B is realized, for example, by the CPU 212 reading a program stored in ROM 213 into RAM 214 and executing it.

[0154] In S1601, the CPU 212 initializes variables that are temporarily used to sort the display AP list. These variables are also stored in memory allocated to a predetermined area in the RAM 214. The variables temporarily used to sort the display AP list include Ptr, lastEnt, prevPtr, and N. Ptr is a variable that indicates the address of the representative entry being processed. lastEnt is a variable that indicates the address of the last representative entry in the display AP list. prevPtr is a variable that indicates the address of the representative entry immediately preceding the representative entry being processed. N is a variable that indicates the number of representative entries. In the case of Figure 11C, during the initialization process, Ptr is set to the address stored in firstEntryAddr, i.e., the address of the first representative entry 1201, and N is set to 3. Also, prevPtr is set to the address of firstEntryAddr.

[0155] Next, in the processing of S1602 to S1615, the CPU 212 sequentially refers to the display AP list for a number of representative entries N, and performs the process of moving the representative entries of APs that do not support Multi-AP communication to the end of the display AP list. The representative entries included in the display AP list are treated as C language structures. In the following explanation, the sign "->" indicates the address of a member of the structure. Also, in the following explanation, the expression with the sign "*" attached to the member name corresponds to a C language pointer, and indicates the address in the memory space where that member is stored.

[0156] In S1602, the CPU 212 reads the contents of the AP list for display. Specifically, the CPU 212 reads the contents of the representative entry pointed to by the variable Ptr.

[0157] In S1603, the CPU 212 determines whether the representative entry read from the display AP list is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that it is not the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S1604. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S1613. Specifically, the CPU 212 determines that it is not the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication if the Multi-AP ID member of the representative entry indicated by the variable Ptr is "-1". On the other hand, the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication if the Multi-AP ID member of the representative entry indicated by the variable Ptr is not "-1".

[0158] If the representative entry read from the AP list for display is the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication, the CPU 212 rearranges the AP list in S1605 to S1612 so that the representative entry is linked to the end of the AP list for display. On the other hand, if the representative entry indicated by the variable Ptr is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, the CPU 212 determines that rearranging the representative entry is unnecessary and updates the values ​​of prevPtr and Ptr in S1613 to S1614.

[0159] In S1604, the CPU 212 determines whether the representative entry for an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is the last entry in the display AP list. If the CPU 212 determines that it is the last entry in the display AP list, it terminates the processing shown in Figures 16A and 16B. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it is not the last entry in the display AP list, it proceeds to S1605. Specifically in S1604, the CPU 212 performs the processing indicated by "Ptr->nextEntryAddr=NULL?". If the nextEntryAddr of the representative entry for an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is not NULL, the CPU 212 determines that it is not the last entry in the display AP list. On the other hand, the CPU 212 determines that if the nextEntryAddr of the representative entry for an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is NULL, it is the last AP in the display AP list.

[0160] In S1605, the CPU 212 determines whether the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is the first (leading) representative entry in the AP list for display. If the CPU 212 determines that it is the first representative entry, it proceeds to S1607. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it is the first representative entry, it proceeds to S1606. Specifically in S1605, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "prevPtr = firstEntryAddr ?". The CPU 212 determines that the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is the first representative entry if its prevPtr is the same address as firstEntryAddr. On the other hand, the CPU 212 determines that the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is not the first representative entry if its prevPtr is not the same address as firstEntryAddr.

[0161] In S1606, the CPU 212 sets the link information of the representative entry immediately preceding the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication to the address of the representative entry immediately following the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. Specifically in S1606, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "prevPtr->nextEntryAddr = *Ptr->nextEntryAddr". That is, the CPU 212 updates the value of prevPtr->nextEntryAddr.

[0162] In S1607, the CPU 212 sets the address of the first representative entry in the AP list to point to the representative entry immediately following the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. Specifically, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "firstEntryAddress = *Ptr->nextEntryAddress". That is, the CPU 212 updates firstEntryAddress to point to the representative entry immediately following the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication.

[0163] In S1608, the CPU 212 sets the link destination of the last representative entry in the display AP list to the address of the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. Specifically, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "lastEnt->nextEntryAddr=Ptr". That is, the CPU 212 updates the link information (nextEntryAddr) of the last representative entry in the display AP list pointed to by the variable lastEnt to the value of the address (Ptr) of the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication.

[0164] In S1609, the CPU 212 assigns the value of Ptr to the variable lastEnt, updates it to indicate the end of the list, and then updates nextEntryAddr to NULL to indicate that it is the end of the AP list for display. Specifically, the CPU 212 performs the operations indicated by "lastEnt = Ptr" and "lastEnt -> nextEntryAddr = NULL". Then, the CPU 212 updates nextEntryAddr to NULL to indicate that it is the end of the AP list for display.

[0165] In the subsequent processing steps S1610 to S1612, the CPU 212 updates the value of the variable Ptr in order to proceed to the processing of the next representative entry. However, the processing is divided depending on whether the representative entry indicated by Ptr was the first representative entry in the display AP list.

[0166] In S1610, the CPU 212 determines whether the address of the representative entry immediately preceding the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is the same as the address of the first representative entry in the AP list for display. If the CPU 212 determines that the addresses are the same, it proceeds to S1612. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the addresses are not the same, it proceeds to S1611. Specifically, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "prevPtr = firstEntryAddr ?". That is, the CPU 212 determines whether prevPtr is the same address as firstEntryAddr.

[0167] In S1611, the CPU 212 updates the representative entry for APs that do not support Multi-AP communication with the value updated in S1606. Specifically, the CPU 212 performs the operations indicated by "Ptr = *prevPtr -> nextEntryAddr" and "N = N-1". That is, the CPU 212 then subtracts 1 from N.

[0168] In S1612, the CPU 212 updates Ptr to the value stored in firstEntryAddr, which was updated in S1607, and subtracts 1 from N. Specifically, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "Ptr = *firstEntryAddr" and "N = N-1". The processes in S1611 to S1612 update the entry to point to the subsequent representative entry.

[0169] In S1613, the CPU 212 sets the link destination of the representative entry immediately preceding the representative entry of the AP that supports Multi-AP communication to the address of the representative entry of the AP that supports Multi-AP communication. Specifically in S1613, the CPU 212 performs the process indicated by "prevPtr = Ptr".

[0170] In S1614, the CPU 212 sets the link destination of the representative entry of the AP corresponding to Multi-AP communication to the address of the representative entry one position after the representative entry of the AP corresponding to Multi-AP communication. Then, the CPU 212 subtracts 1 from N. Specifically, the CPU 212 executes the process indicated by "Ptr = *Ptr -> nextEntryAddr" and "N = N-1".

[0171] In S1615, the CPU 212 determines whether N is 0 or not. If the CPU 212 determines that N is 0, it terminates the processing shown in Figures 16A and 16B. If the CPU 212 determines that N is not 0, it returns to S1602 because there are still unprocessed representative entries.

[0172] In S1615, the CPU 212 determines whether N is 0 or not. If the CPU 212 determines that N is 0, it terminates the processing shown in Figures 16A and 16B because processing has been completed for all representative entries. If the CPU 212 determines that N is not 0, it returns to S1602 because there are unprocessed representative entries.

[0173] As described above, through the processing in S1604 to S1612, the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication is rearranged so that it is linked to the end of the display AP list. In other words, through the processing in S1604 to S1612, APs that support Multi-AP communication are given priority over APs that do not support Multi-AP communication and are rearranged to be higher up in the display AP list.

[0174] Refer to Figure 15. Figure 14 shows an example of the configuration of the display AP list before sorting. Figure 15 shows an example of the configuration of the display AP list after sorting by the processes shown in Figures 16A and 16B.

[0175] In Figure 14, representative entry 1201 is the representative entry corresponding to multi-AP group 130. Representative entry 1203 is the representative entry corresponding to AP 141. Representative entry 1205 is the representative entry corresponding to multi-AP group 110. The AP list 1210 in Figure 14 is the display AP list before sorting, consisting of the above representative entries 1201, 1203, and 1205.

[0176] As a result of the sorting process shown in Figures 16A and 16B, as shown in Figure 15, in this embodiment, the representative entry 1203 of AP 141, which does not support Multi-AP communication, is sorted to the end of the display table AP list 1210. In other words, the representative entries 1201 and 1205 of APs that support Multi-AP communication are sorted higher in the display AP list 1210 than the representative entry 1203 of AP 141, which does not support Multi-AP communication.

[0177] (Display of AP information based on the AP list for display) Figure 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing in S704 of Figure 7. The processing in Figure 17 is realized, for example, by the CPU 212 reading the program stored in ROM 213 into RAM 214 and executing it. Figure 17 shows the process of displaying a list of APs found by AP search by referring to the AP list for display sorted by the processing in S911. The AP list for display referred to in this flowchart is described as having a list structure as illustrated in Figure 15. Furthermore, display examples will be described later using Figures 18A to C and 18E to H.

[0178] In S1701, the CPU 212 reads the representative entries of the display AP list in order from the beginning.

[0179] In S1702, the CPU 212 determines whether the representative entry read in S1701 is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S1703. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S1714. Specifically, if the Multi-AP ID of the representative entry read in S1701 is "-1", the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. On the other hand, if the Multi-AP ID is not "-1", the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication.

[0180] If the retrieved representative entry is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, the processing will differ depending on whether the SSID is common among the APs within the multi-AP group.

[0181] In S1703, the CPU 212 determines whether the SSIDs are common within the group of APs that support Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that the SSIDs are common, it proceeds to S1704. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the SSIDs are not common, it proceeds to S1709. Specifically in S1703, if the SSID of the representative entry is set to NULL, the CPU 212 determines that the SSIDs are not common. On the other hand, if the SSID of the representative entry is not set to NULL, the CPU 212 determines that the SSIDs are common.

[0182] In S1704, the CPU 212 displays an image (icon) on the operation display unit 220 indicating that the AP read from the display AP list supports Multi-AP communication. The image information (icon) indicating support for Multi-AP communication will be described later using Figures 18A to C.

[0183] In S1705, the CPU 212 displays the common SSID within the multi-AP group stored in the representative entry on the operation display unit 220.

[0184] In S1706, the CPU 212 displays a frame that surrounds the display area of ​​the icon displayed in S1704 and the SSID displayed in S1705.

[0185] In S1707, the CPU 212 draws the area within the frame displayed in S1706 with a predetermined background pattern. That is, it highlights the area within the frame displayed in S1706. Here, the predetermined background pattern can be any pattern as long as the icons and SSIDs are recognizable. The predetermined background pattern is a pattern that allows for the identification of APs that support Multi-AP communication and APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. In addition, the displayed area within the frame may have a different background color from other display areas.

[0186] In this way, when displaying AP discovery results, APs that support Multi-AP communication are clearly identified by image information (icons), and the differences between them and APs that do not support Multi-AP communication are highlighted.

[0187] In S1708, the CPU 212 determines whether it has finished reading the representative entry from the display AP list. If the CPU 212 determines that it has finished, it terminates the process shown in Figure 17. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it has not finished, it proceeds to S1702.

[0188] From S1709 onward, the CPU 212 displays APs that constitute a multi-AP group with different SSIDs as the AP discovery result. In this case, in order to display the SSIDs on a Coordinated AP basis with different SSIDs, the CPU 212 performs the display process while referring to individual entries (e.g., individual entries 1206, 1208, 1209) linked from a representative entry (e.g., representative entry 1205).

[0189] In S1709, the CPU 212 determines whether multiple individual entries are linked to a representative entry. If the CPU 212 determines that they are linked, it proceeds to S1710. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that they are not linked, it proceeds to S1706. Specifically, the CPU 212 determines that they are not linked if the member APInfoAddr of the representative entry is NULL. On the other hand, the CPU 212 determines that they are linked if the member APInfoAddr is not NULL.

[0190] In S1710, the CPU 212 sequentially reads the individual entries linked to the representative entry.

[0191] In S1711, the CPU 212 displays image information (icons) on the operation display unit 220 indicating that the CoordinatedAP unit supports Multi-AP communication.

[0192] In S1712, the CPU 212 displays the SSID on the operation display unit 220.

[0193] In S1713, the CPU 212 updates the address indicated by APInfoAddr with the value of the member in the AP information currently being read in order to read subsequent individual entries. Then, the CPU 212 returns to S1709 and repeats the display process until APInfoAddr becomes NULL, that is, until all AP information for the same multi-AP group has been read.

[0194] In S1714, the CPU 212 displays the SSID of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication, which is stored in the representative entry, on the operation display unit 220. In the case of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication, if the AP's SSID is different, the representative entry will also be different, so it is sufficient to simply refer to the member SSID in the representative entry and display it on the operation display unit 220.

[0195] Furthermore, the process of displaying the frame (rectangle) and background pattern in S1706 and S1707 may be omitted. For example, if the display area of ​​the operation display unit 220 is small or the display capabilities such as resolution are low, it is acceptable to display only icons.

[0196] Figures 18A to 18C show examples of image information that can distinguish APs that support Multi-AP communication from APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. As shown in Figures 18A to 18C, the image information is in the form of icons.

[0197] As shown in Figures 18A and 18B, the icon is a motif (graphic) that indicates the overlapping waveforms of multiple radio waves. In Multi-AP communication, multiple APs and STAs that support Multi-AP communication connect and communicate simultaneously. Therefore, by displaying a graphic (icon) of overlapping waveforms of multiple radio waves, it is possible to distinguish between APs that support Multi-AP communication and APs that do not. Also, as shown in Figure 18C, the image information may be an icon that combines the waveform of a single radio wave with a circular graphic. The CPU 212 may display the icon in Figure 18C according to the display area (display size) of the operation display unit 220. Note that this disclosure is applicable not only to the icons shown in Figures 18A to C, but also to any image information that can distinguish between APs that support Multi-AP communication and APs that do not support Multi-AP communication.

[0198] Figure 18E shows an example of the AP search result screen displayed on the operation display unit 220 in S704, when the AP search result has the configuration of the display AP list illustrated in Figure 15. The AP search result screen displays a list of AP information (SSIDs) found during the AP search. The information for each AP is displayed in a way that allows user selection. On the AP search result screen, APs 131 to 132 belonging to multi-AP group 130, which share a common SSID within the multi-AP group, are displayed as a single item enclosed in a rectangular frame. In addition, the AP search result screen displays a list of SSIDs for APs 111 to 113 belonging to multi-AP group 110, which do not share a common SSID. That is, each SSID of APs 111 to 113 is displayed in a frame that is displayed as a single item, which is a single choice.

[0199] On the AP discovery results screen, the icon shown in Figure 18A is displayed adjacent to the SSID of the AP that supports Multi-AP communication. This allows the user to identify that the group (single item) AP-130 and AP111-113 supports Multi-AP, as shown in the example in Figure 18E. Also, since the icon shown in Figure 18A is not displayed for AP-140, the user can identify that AP-140 does not support Multi-AP. In this way, when the CPU 212 displays a list of APs discovered by AP discovery, it displays information about APs that support the Multi-AP communication method in a way that can be distinguished from information about APs that do not support the Multi-AP communication method. This makes it possible to identify APs that support Multi-AP communication. Furthermore, through the processing shown in S1706-S1707, a rectangular frame and background pattern are displayed as image information for each Multi-AP group on the AP discovery results screen. In other words, in the process shown in Figure 17, the CPU 212 performs display control to identify that multiple access points (AP111 to AP113) form a single multi-AP group. For example, the CPU 212 may display the SSIDs of APs that support Multi-AP communication in a different color as image information than the SSIDs of APs that do not support Multi-AP communication.

[0200] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the display AP list is rearranged (see Figures 16A and 16B) so that the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication is linked before the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. Through this rearrangement process, the CPU 212 controls the display on the AP discovery result screen so that the SSIDs of APs that support Multi-AP communication are displayed higher than the SSIDs of APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. Therefore, even in an environment where multiple wireless networks exist, it is possible to easily select an AP that supports Multi-AP communication.

[0201] (Detailed display when access point is selected) Figure 19 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing in S707 of Figure 7. Figure 19 shows the process of displaying detailed information about the selected AP when the user selects an AP from the AP discovery results screen (Figure 18E). The process in Figure 19 is realized, for example, by the CPU 212 reading a program stored in ROM 213 into RAM 214 and executing it.

[0202] In addition, in the flowchart of Figure 19, the display AP list referenced by the CPU 212 refers to the members that constitute the list structure of the RAM 214 as shown in Figure 15.

[0203] In S1901, the CPU 212 reads the representative entry of the AP selected by the user on the AP discovery results screen from the AP display list.

[0204] In S1902, the CPU 212 determines whether the read representative entry is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S1903. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it is not the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S1912. Specifically, if the member Multi-AP ID of the representative entry is "-1", the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that does not support Multi-AP communication. On the other hand, if the member Multi-AP ID of the representative entry is not "-1", the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication.

[0205] In S1903, CPU 212 reads the members "Multi-AP ID" and "Number of APs" from the representative entry and displays them on the first line of the AP details.

[0206] The following information displayed from the second line onwards in the AP details will be processed differently depending on whether the SSID is common to all APs within the group.

[0207] In S1904, the CPU 212 determines whether the SSIDs are common within the group of APs that support Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that the SSIDs are common, it proceeds to S1905. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the SSIDs are not common, it proceeds to S1909. Specifically in S1904, if the SSID of the representative entry is not NULL, it is determined that the SSIDs are common. On the other hand, if the SSID of the representative entry is NULL, it is determined that the SSIDs are not common.

[0208] In S1905, the CPU 212 reads the member "SSID" in the representative entry and displays the common SSID within the multi-AP group on the second line of the AP details. Furthermore, the CPU 212 displays information about the Coordinated APs belonging to the multi-AP group on the third line and beyond of the AP details, according to the number of "APs".

[0209] In S1906, the CPU 212 determines whether an individual entry is registered within the representative entry. If the CPU 212 determines that an individual entry is registered, it proceeds to S1907. On the other hand, if it determines that an individual entry is not registered, it terminates the process shown in Figure 19. Specifically, the CPU 212 determines that an individual entry is not registered if the member APInfoAddr within the representative entry is NULL. On the other hand, the CPU 212 determines that an individual entry is registered if the member APInfoAddr within the representative entry is not NULL.

[0210] In S1907, the CPU 212 refers to the individual entry pointed to by APInfoAddr. The CPU 212 then obtains the BSSID and signal strength information from the individual entry for each Coordinated AP and displays this information on the operation display unit 220. The CPU 212 also displays image information (icon) on the operation display unit 220 indicating that Multi-AP communication is supported.

[0211] In S1908, the CPU 212 updates the APInfoAddr of the representative entry with the APInfoAddr value of the individual entry currently being read, in order to read subsequent AP information. If the last individual entry is being read, the APInfoAddr of the representative entry is updated to NULL, which is the APInfoAddr of the last individual entry.

[0212] On the other hand, for groups with different SSIDs within a multi-AP group, the CPU 212 displays detailed information for each Coordinated AP in the S1909-S1911 process. The difference from the S1905-S1908 process is that the SSID is displayed for each AP because each AP within the multi-AP group has a different SSID. In addition, the CPU 212 displays image information (icon) indicating that it supports Multi-AP communication for each Coordinated AP belonging to the multi-AP group.

[0213] In S1909, the CPU 212 determines whether an individual entry is registered within the representative entry. If the CPU 212 determines that an individual entry is registered, it proceeds to S1910. On the other hand, if it determines that an individual entry is not registered, it terminates the process shown in Figure 19. Specifically, the CPU 212 makes this determination based on whether the member APInfoAddr within the representative entry is NULL.

[0214] In S1910, the CPU 212 refers to the individual entry pointed to by APInfoAddr. The CPU 212 then obtains the BSSID and signal strength information from the individual entry for each Coordinated AP and displays this information on the operation display unit 220. The CPU 212 also displays image information (icon) on the operation display unit 220 indicating that Multi-AP communication is supported.

[0215] In S1911, the CPU 212 updates the APInfoAddr of the representative entry with the APInfoAddr value of the individual entry currently being read in order to read subsequent AP information. If the last individual entry is being read, the APInfoAddr of the representative entry is updated to NULL, which is the APInfoAddr of the last individual entry.

[0216] The processing in S1912 to S1914 is the process of displaying detailed AP information when the read representative entry does not support Multi-AP communication. If the read representative entry does not support Multi-AP communication, information about the multi-AP group (group identifier, number of APs in the group) and image information indicating that it supports Multi-AP communication will not be displayed as detailed AP information.

[0217] In S1912, the CPU 212 determines whether an individual entry is registered within the representative entry. If the CPU 212 determines that an individual entry is registered, it proceeds to S1913. On the other hand, if it determines that an individual entry is not registered, it terminates the process shown in Figure 19. Specifically, the CPU 212 makes this determination based on whether the member APInfoAddr within the representative entry is NULL.

[0218] In S1913, the CPU 212 refers to the individual entry pointed to by APInfoAddr. The CPU 212 then obtains the BSSID and signal strength information from the individual entry for each Coordinated AP, and displays this obtained information on the operation display unit 220.

[0219] In S1914, the CPU 212 updates the APInfoAddr of the representative entry with the APInfoAddr value of the individual entry currently being read, in order to read subsequent AP information. If the last individual entry is being read, the APInfoAddr of the representative entry is updated to NULL, which is the APInfoAddr of the last individual entry.

[0220] Figures 20A and 20B show examples of the detailed screen displayed by S707 when an AP compatible with Multi-AP communication is selected by the user in the AP discovery results screen illustrated in Figure 18E. Figure 20A shows an example of the detailed screen when AP130 in Figure 18E is selected. Figure 20B shows an example of the detailed screen when any of AP111, AP112, or AP113 in Figure 18E is selected. Figure 22B shows the display content 2002 of the entire multi-AP group, which is displayed by scrolling the detailed screen when the detailed information of the AP does not fit on one screen. As shown in Figures 20A and 20B, the detailed screen displays detailed information of the AP selected by the user, such as the number of APs included in the multi-AP group, the AP's SSID, BSSID, and signal strength.

[0221] In this embodiment, the detailed screen displays the identifier of the multi-AP group, the number of APs belonging to the group, the SSID, the BSSID for each Coordinated AP, and the signal strength as detailed AP information, but this is not limited to this example. For example, the detailed screen may also display information such as the security settings supported by the AP. Furthermore, depending on the size of the display area, the number of items in the detailed AP information may be reduced, or the detailed AP information may be displayed using graphics or other methods.

[0222] As shown in Figure 18A, if the SSID is common within the multi-AP group, the connect button 2001 is displayed on the details screen. The connect button 2001 is a button that accepts the selection to connect to all Coordinated APs within the multi-AP group found during AP discovery via Multi-AP communication. When the CPU 212 receives a selection to connect to all APs in the multi-AP group via the connect button 2001, it executes the connection process to all APs in the multi-AP group. The connection process to the APs is executed by the process shown from S606 onwards in Figure 6. If the connection to all APs in the multi-AP group is successful, the CPU 212 displays a screen indicating connection completion on the operation display unit 220.

[0223] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 20B, if the SSIDs within the multi-AP group are not common, the details screen displays a button 2003 that accepts a selection to connect to all APs in the multi-AP group found by the AP search, and a button 2004 that accepts a selection to connect to any AP selected by the user. If the user selects button 2004, the CPU 212 establishes a wireless connection with the AP selected by the user from the displayed AP details without using Multi-AP communication. In other words, the details screen shown in Figure 20B can be said to be a screen that accepts either a selection to connect to multiple APs included in the multi-AP group using the Multi-AP communication method, or a selection to connect to an individual AP included in the multi-AP group without using the multi-AP communication method. The AP connection process is performed by the process shown from S606 onwards in Figure 6. If the "Connect Individually" button 2004 is selected, the CPU 212 connects to a single AP by requesting a connection in the Association Request frame sent to the AP without adding Multi-AP IE, as shown in S606 of Figure 6. When the CPU 212 successfully connects to a multi-AP group or an individual AP, it displays a screen indicating connection completion (Figure 20C) on the operation display unit 220. In Figure 20B, the display item (AP-111) corresponding to AP111 in the multi-AP group (identifier: 2) is hatched to indicate that the AP has been selected.

[0224] As described above, according to this embodiment, when displaying a list of APs discovered by AP discovery, APs that support Multi-AP communication are displayed in a way that allows them to be distinguished from APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. In this form, when performing Multi-AP communication, the user can recognize whether or not an AP supports Multi-AP communication. This improves the usability when performing Multi-AP communication.

[0225] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when displaying a list of APs discovered through AP discovery, multiple APs with different SSIDs within a multi-AP group are displayed adjacent to each other. This type of display also improves usability when performing multi-AP communication.

[0226] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when APs discovered by AP discovery are displayed in a list on the screen of the operation display unit 220, APs that support Multi-AP communication are displayed higher than APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. This display also improves the usability when performing Multi-AP communication.

[0227] <Second Embodiment> The second embodiment will now be described in terms of its differences from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, an example was described in which APs that support Multi-AP communication are displayed higher in the display list than APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. However, the display order when displaying AP discovery results is not limited to this. For example, APs may be displayed in order of highest signal strength, taking Multi-AP communication into consideration. By displaying AP discovery results in order of highest signal strength, it is possible to prevent users from mistakenly connecting to an AP that supports Multi-AP communication when the signal strength of that AP is low. This improves the usability of an MFP that can communicate with APs that support Multi-AP communication.

[0228] The following describes the process by which the MFP 100 in this embodiment displays AP search results in descending order of radio wave intensity obtained from APs through AP search.

[0229] Figure 21 is a flowchart showing the process of rearranging the AP list for display in this embodiment. The process in Figure 21 corresponds to S911 in Figure 9B. The process in Figure 21 is achieved, for example, by the CPU 212 reading the program stored in the ROM 213 into the RAM 214 and executing it.

[0230] In this embodiment, the CPU 212 refers to the AP list for display before sorting (Figure 14), creates a list sorted by signal strength, and sorts the AP list for display based on the magnitude of the signal strength. The list sorted by signal strength will be described later using Figures 22A and 22B.

[0231] In S2101, the CPU 212 initializes variables that will be temporarily used to sort the AP list for display. The variables used in this process are also allocated in memory in a predetermined area within the RAM 214. In S2101, the CPU 212 sets the variable i to the number of representative entries N, allocates a table from the RAM 214 for creating a radio wave strength sorted list as shown in Figure 22A, and initializes all items to 0. In this embodiment, for example, the number of representative entries N = 3, and the radio wave strength sorted list also has enough memory to store information about three representative entries.

[0232] In S2102, the CPU 212 determines whether the variable i is 0 or not. If the CPU 212 determines that the variable i is 0 (that processing has finished for all representative entries), it proceeds to S2108. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that the variable i is not 0, it proceeds to S2103.

[0233] In the subsequent S2103-S2107 processing, the CPU 212 sequentially refers to the display AP list for a number of representative entries N, determines the signal strength for each representative entry, and stores it in the signal strength sorted list. For APs that support Multi-AP communication, one signal strength is stored in the signal strength sorted list for each multi-AP group.

[0234] In S2103, CPU 212 reads the contents of the representative entry.

[0235] In S2104, the CPU 212 determines whether the representative entry read in S2103 is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication. If the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S2105. On the other hand, if the CPU 212 determines that it is not the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication, it proceeds to S2107. Specifically, if the member Multi-AP ID of the representative entry is "-1", the CPU 212 determines that it is not the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication. On the other hand, if the member Multi-AP ID of the representative entry is not "-1", the CPU 212 determines that it is the representative entry of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication.

[0236] In S2105, the CPU 212 refers to the signal strength of each Coordinated AP stored in its individual entry, calculates the signal strength for the multi-AP group, and stores it in the signal strength sorted list.

[0237] As an example of a first method for calculating the signal strength for APs that support Multi-AP communication, in this embodiment, the value of the AP with the highest signal strength among the Coordinated APs belonging to the group is used as the signal strength of the multi-AP group. For example, as shown in Figure 14, for the multi-AP group 130, the signal strength (-69 dBm) of AP 131 (individual entry 1202) is the highest within the group. Therefore, the signal strength of AP 131 is adopted and stored at the top of the signal strength sorted list.

[0238] In S2106, the CPU 212 subtracts 1 from the value of variable i, which represents the remaining number of representative entries, and returns to S2102. Similarly, for the multi-AP group 110, when variable i = 1, the signal strength (-66 [dBm]) of AP 111 (individual entry 1206) is the highest within the group, so this value is adopted and stored as the third entry in the signal strength sorting list.

[0239] In S2107, the CPU 212 refers to the signal strength of APs that do not support Multi-AP communication and stores it in a list sorted by signal strength. In this embodiment, considering the case where there are multiple APs with the same SSID, the CPU obtains the value of the AP with the highest signal strength from one or more individual entries linked to the representative entry. In the example shown in Figure 14, there is only one AP (SSID: "AP-140"), AP141, so the signal strength (-68 [dBm]) stored in individual entry 1204 is adopted.

[0240] Figure 22A shows an example of a list sorted by signal strength after processing S2102 to S2107. For APs that support Multi-AP communication, the value of the AP with the highest signal strength within the multi-AP group is used. In this embodiment, the list sorted by signal strength includes the Multi-AP ID (or "-1" if not supported), SSID (or NULL if not the same within the multi-AP group), Multi-AP connection method, and signal strength to identify the multi-AP group, but other information may also be included.

[0241] In S2108, the CPU 212 sorts the APs in order of signal strength, from highest to lowest. In S2108, the CPU 212 compares the signal strength of each AP in the signal strength sort list and sorts them by moving the APs with the highest signal strength to another signal strength sort list. Figure 22B shows an example of the signal strength sort list in Figure 22A sorted in descending order of signal strength.

[0242] In S2109, the CPU 212 sequentially refers to the AP signal strength sorted list, which is sorted in descending order of AP signal strength, to find an entry in the display AP list (Figure 14) that matches the Multi-AP ID or SSID, and sorts the display AP list.

[0243] In this embodiment, when the APs detected by AP discovery are displayed in a list on the operation display unit 220, for multi-AP groups, the display order of the APs is rearranged based on the signal strength of the AP with the highest signal strength within the group. This improves the usability of MFPs that can communicate with APs that support multi-AP communication.

[0244] <Third Embodiment> (Other Radio Wave Strength Calculation Methods) The third embodiment will be described below in terms of its differences from the second embodiment. The method for calculating the radio wave strength for APs that support Multi-AP communication is not limited to the first calculation method described above. In this embodiment, a method for calculating the radio wave strength different from the first calculation method will be described. In this embodiment, a second calculation method will be described in which the radio wave strength of the AP with the highest radio wave strength in the group is corrected based on the number of Coordinated APs belonging to the same multi-AP group. When the Multi-AP communication method is the Joint-TX method, multiple APs that perform cooperative operation transmit radio waves. Therefore, compared to the case of a single AP, an improvement in radio wave strength can be expected. In this embodiment, the radio wave strength obtained from the AP with the highest radio wave strength in the multi-AP group is multiplied by the number of APs belonging to the same group, and the corrected value is taken as the radio wave strength of the multi-AP group. That is, the method for determining the radio wave strength in S2105 of Figure 21 can be replaced with the second calculation method described below.

[0245] Here, the radio wave intensity x, expressed in the logarithmic dBm unit, is converted to a radio wave intensity value P in mW units based on the following calculation formula (Equation 1), and then corrected by multiplying it by the number n of access points belonging to the multi-AP group.

[0246] Radio wave strength P = 10^(x [dBm] / 10) [mW] ... (Equation 1) Specifically, in the example in Figure 22A, in the case of a multi-AP group 130 using the Joint-TX method, the value of AP131, which has the highest radio wave strength, is -69 [dBm]. Therefore, the radio wave strength P of AP131 is calculated as follows.

[0247] The radio wave strength P = 10^(-69 / 10) = 0.000000126 [mW]. Since n = 2, the corrected radio wave strength for the multi-AP group can be calculated as 10 * LOG(0.000000126 * 2) = -66 [dBm].

[0248] Figure 22C shows an example of a list sorted by signal strength after the above correction process has been performed. Here, for multi-AP groups using the Joint-TX method, the signal strength of the AP with the highest signal strength within the multi-AP group has been corrected to a value proportional to the number of APs belonging to the group. Furthermore, if the Multi-AP communication method is the Co-OFDMA method, the value of the AP with the highest signal strength within the group is adopted, as in the second embodiment.

[0249] Figure 22D shows an example where the list of radio wave strengths in Figure 22C has been sorted in descending order of radio wave strength. However, the processing here is the same as in the second embodiment, so the explanation is omitted.

[0250] In this embodiment, a method for correcting the signal strength of the AP with the highest signal strength within a multi-AP group has been described. However, the correction may also be performed based on the average value of the signal strength of each AP within the multi-AP group, and then adjusted according to the number of APs in the multi-AP group.

[0251] In this embodiment, when the APs detected by AP discovery are displayed in a list on the operation display unit 220, the display order of the APs is rearranged considering that the radio wave strength is improved by Multi-AP communication. This improves the usability of MFPs that can communicate with APs that support Multi-AP communication.

[0252] <Fourth Embodiment> The third embodiment will now be described in terms of its differences from the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, when the SSIDs of multiple APs included in a single multi-AP group are different, the AP discovery results display the APs belonging to the multi-AP group adjacent to each other. However, they may also be displayed as a single option. This configuration improves the usability of an MFP that can communicate with APs that support Multi-AP communication.

[0253] Figures 23A and 23B show an example of the AP search result screen displayed on the operation display unit 220 in S704 of this embodiment, when the AP search result has the configuration of the display AP list illustrated in Figure 15.

[0254] In this embodiment, an icon indicating that an AP discovered during AP discovery supports Multi-AP communication is displayed for each multi-AP group. In addition, in this embodiment, the AP discovery results screen displays checkboxes that can be selected on a per-multi-AP group basis.

[0255] As shown in Figure 23A, the AP discovery results screen displays multiple Coordinated APs as a single entity for multi-AP groups 110 where the SSIDs are not common within the group. The AP discovery results screen also displays an icon indicating that multi-AP group 110 supports Multi-AP communication, and a checkbox 2300 that accepts selection of multi-AP group 110. In other words, in this embodiment, when displaying the AP discovery results screen, the CPU 212 performs display control so that information on multiple APs 111 to 113 can be displayed as a single option (checkbox 2300) that can be selected. In Figure 23A, AP-130 has an icon indicating multi-AP compatibility, while AP-140 does not. Therefore, the user can identify that AP-130 supports multi-AP and AP-140 does not. Figure 23B shows the state in which multi-AP group 110 has been selected by user operation on checkbox 2300.

[0256] In this embodiment, in the flowchart shown in Figure 17, the CPU 212 executes the following process. The CPU 212 omits the process in S1711. Also, in S1707, the CPU 212 displays an icon indicating that it supports Multi-AP communication and a checkbox at the first display position within the multi-AP group.

[0257] The above process improves usability when performing Multi-AP communication by displaying APs with different SSIDs within a multi-AP group discovered through AP discovery as a single option on the AP discovery results screen.

[0258] <Fifth Embodiment> (Other Display Examples of AP Discovery Results) When displaying a list of APs on the AP discovery results screen, in the first embodiment, in addition to displaying icons, the display area was divided by frames for each multi-AP group as a method for displaying APs that support Multi-AP communication in an identifiable manner. In this embodiment, a method for displaying other APs that support Multi-AP communication in an identifiable manner will be described.

[0259] Figures 18F to 18H show examples of the AP search result screen display in this embodiment.

[0260] Figure 18F shows an example where text information indicating that the AP supports Multi-AP communication is displayed on the AP discovery results screen. The text information includes the identifier of the multi-AP group to which the AP supporting Multi-AP communication belongs (Multi-AP ID). To display this information, the CPU 212 further performs the process of displaying the "Multi-AP ID" in S1705 and S1712 of the flowchart in Figure 17. Note that Figure 18F shows an example where the surrounding frame and background pattern are not displayed, but they may be displayed in the same way as in the first embodiment.

[0261] In addition to the icon and SSID indicating support for Multi-AP communication as shown in the first embodiment, displaying the identifier of the multi-AP group makes it easier for users to identify the multi-AP group.

[0262] Figure 18F illustrates an example in which the identifier of a multi-AP group is displayed as character information that identifies it as corresponding to Multi-AP communication on the AP discovery results screen, but it is not limited to this. Figure 18G shows an example in which the number of APs included in a multi-AP group is displayed as character information that identifies it as corresponding to Multi-AP communication on the AP discovery results screen. To perform this display, the CPU 212 further performs the process of displaying the "number of APs" in S1705 and S1712 of the flowchart in Figure 17. Furthermore, the CPU 212 may sort the AP list for display in descending order of the number of APs included in the multi-AP group, and display the groups with the most APs at the top, as shown in the figure.

[0263] Figure 18H shows an example of displaying a modification image to modify the characters indicating the SSID of a multi-AP group on the AP discovery results screen. In the example in Figure 18H, the modification image is an underline. By modifying the SSID of an AP that supports Multi-AP communication with an underline in this way, it is possible to distinguish between APs that support Multi-AP communication and APs that do not support Multi-AP communication. To perform this display, the CPU 212 displays the SSID on the AP discovery results screen and then displays an underline on the displayed SSID in steps S1705 and S1712 of the flowchart in Figure 17.

[0264] As shown in Figures 18F to 18H, the display of the AP discovery results screen also allows for the identification of APs that support Multi-AP communication from APs that do not support Multi-AP communication when displaying a list of APs detected by AP discovery.

[0265] <Sixth Embodiment> In the first to fifth embodiments, an example was described in which a list of AP discovery results is displayed on the operation display unit 220 of the MFP 100. However, this disclosure is also applicable when displaying AP discovery results in a mobile terminal device 101 using network setup mode.

[0266] (Processing in Network Setup Mode) The MFP 100 of this embodiment can operate in network setup mode, which is a mode for performing network setup of the MFP 100, by receiving a predetermined operation from the user. When the MFP 100 is operating in network setup mode, it operates as a setup access point that is valid during operation in network setup mode by using the communication control unit 240. This setup access point is a different access point from the access point that is enabled in AP mode as described above. The SSID of this setup access point shall include a predetermined string that can be recognized by the setting application of the mobile terminal device 101. Furthermore, this setup access point shall be an access point that does not require a password for connection. In addition, the MFP 100 operating in network setup mode shall use a predetermined communication protocol (setup communication protocol) in communication with the mobile terminal device 101 connected to the setup access point. Specifically, the setup communication protocol is, for example, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). Other specific examples of communication protocols for setup include HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and DPP (Device Provisioning Protocol). After the MFP100 starts operating in network setup mode, it stops operating in network setup mode and disables the setup access point after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. This is because, as mentioned above, the setup access point is an access point that does not require a password, and if it is enabled for a long time, the possibility of connection requests from inappropriate devices increases. The setup access point may be an access point that requires a password. In that case, the password used to connect to the setup access point shall be a fixed (user-unchangeable) password that the configuration application has known in advance.

[0267] The following describes an example in which the mobile terminal device 101 displays the AP discovery results screen on the display unit 420 of the mobile terminal device 101 when it uses network setup mode to configure the wireless LAN settings of the MFP 100.

[0268] Figures 24A to 24D schematically show examples of screen displays on the display (touch panel display) included in the display unit 420 of the mobile terminal device 101. Figure 24A is an example of the home screen displayed when the mobile terminal device 101 is powered on (idle state). In Figure 24A, display items corresponding to camera, browser, print, and settings are displayed. The "Settings" display item is related to changing the settings of the mobile terminal device 101. When any of the display items on the home screen are selected by the user, the mobile terminal device 101 executes the corresponding setting or function.

[0269] Figure 24B is an example of the settings screen that appears when "Settings" is selected on the screen shown in Figure 24A. It displays a menu for configuring various settings related to the operation of the MFP100, including LAN settings.

[0270] Figure 24C shows an example of the LAN settings menu screen displayed when "LAN settings" is selected in the settings screen shown in Figure 24B. The LAN settings menu screen shown in this embodiment displays "Wireless LAN settings," "Wireless Direct settings," and "LAN settings information display" as menu items. Note that the LAN settings menu screen may also be configured to include settings related to wired LAN.

[0271] Figure 24D is an example of the screen displayed when "Wireless LAN Settings" is selected in the LAN settings screen shown in Figure 24C. The screen in Figure 2D displays a message regarding the operation method for switching the MFP100 into network setup mode.

[0272] When the user touches the icon 322 displayed on the operation display unit 220 of the MFP 100 in accordance with the message shown in Figure 24D, the MFP 100 starts operating in network setup mode. Then, when the mobile terminal device 101 discovers the SSID of the setup access point, it connects to the MFP 100 in network setup mode using a passwordless wireless setting. At this time, when the mobile terminal device 101 discovers the SSID of the setup access point, it may transition from the screen shown in Figure 24D without waiting for the user's screen operation, or it may wait for the user to touch the "Next" button before transitioning. Furthermore, if multiple SSIDs of setup access points are found, the mobile terminal device 101 can be configured to display a screen (not shown) for selecting the MFP 100 to be set up, allowing the user to make a selection.

[0273] A mobile terminal device 101 connected to the MFP 100 in network setup mode accesses the MFP 100 using the SNMP protocol, instructs it to search for access points, and obtains the AP information discovered by the MFP 100 as MIB information.

[0274] Then, the mobile terminal device 101 displays APs that support Multi-AP communication and APs that do not support Multi-AP communication, based on AP information acquired from the MFP 100 via MIB.

[0275] Figure 24E shows an example of the AP discovery result screen displayed on the display unit 420 by the mobile terminal device 101 when the AP discovery result is the same configuration as the display AP list illustrated in Figure 15, similar to the first embodiment. The display unit 2401 in Figure 24E displays a list of APs. The display unit 2102 displays APs that support Multi-AP communication with icons to identify them, similar to Figure 18E. The display unit 2102 also prioritizes displaying APs that support Multi-AP communication at the top of the list.

[0276] Furthermore, when the mobile terminal device 101 displays the AP search results, the same display method and display order as described in the second to fourth embodiments of the MFP 100 can be applied.

[0277] In the process described above, the MFP 100 performs AP discovery (corresponding to S701 in Figure 7), while the mobile terminal device 101 performs the determination of the display order from S703 onwards and the processing related to displaying the AP discovery results (corresponding to S704). Specifically, when the CPU 212 receives an AP discovery request via a predetermined MIB, it performs AP discovery processing in the same manner as the flowchart shown in Figure 8. The CPU 212 then responds to the predetermined MIB request from the mobile terminal device 101 with AP information corresponding to the AP list in Figure 11C. The mobile terminal device 101 then sorts the AP information, displays a list of APs, and displays detailed AP information in the same manner as the processes shown in Figures 9A and 9B, 16A and 16B, 17, 19, and 21. Detailed AP information is displayed on the display unit 420 when the user presses the "Connect" key on the screen shown in Figure 24E. The mobile terminal device 101 displays detailed AP information on the display unit 420, similar to the display example in Figure 20A or Figure 20B.

[0278] The above process provides multiple methods for displaying APs that support Multi-AP communication in an identifiable manner in a system where network setup of a communication device (MFP 100) is performed from an external communication device (mobile terminal device 101). This improves the usability for performing Multi-AP communication.

[0279] Furthermore, the various controls described above, which were explained as being performed by the CPU of each device, may be performed by a single piece of hardware, or multiple pieces of hardware (for example, multiple processors or circuits) may share the processing to control the entire device.

[0280] Furthermore, although the technology of this disclosure has been described in detail based on its preferred embodiments, the technology of this disclosure is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms that do not depart from the gist of the technology of this disclosure are also included. Moreover, each of the embodiments described above is merely one example of the technology of this disclosure, and it is possible to combine each embodiment as appropriate.

[0281] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiments used the application of the technology of this disclosure to an MFP as an example, this is not limited to this example, and it can be applied to any wireless device capable of Multi-AP communication. In other words, the technology of this disclosure can be applied to personal computers, PDAs, tablet terminals, mobile phone terminals such as smartphones, music players, game consoles, e-book readers, smartwatches, and various measuring devices (sensor devices) such as thermometers and hygrometers. The technology of this disclosure can also be applied to digital cameras (including still cameras, video cameras, network cameras, and security cameras), printers, scanners, and drones. The technology of this disclosure can also be applied to video output devices, audio output devices (e.g., smart speakers), media streaming players, and wireless LAN adapters that can be connected via USB terminals or LAN cable terminals. A video output device includes, for example, a set-top box, which acquires (downloads) videos and still images from the internet specified by a URL instructed by a communication device and outputs them to a display device connected via a video output terminal such as HDMI®. This enables streaming playback on display devices and mirroring (displaying content shown on a communication device on a display device). Video output devices include media players such as televisions, hard disk recorders, Blu-ray recorders, and DVD recorders, as well as head-mounted displays, projectors, televisions, display devices (monitors), and signage devices. Furthermore, the technology disclosed herein is applicable to Wi-Fi-connected devices, such as so-called smart home appliances, including air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, ovens, microwave ovens, lighting fixtures, heating appliances, and cooling appliances.

[0282] (Other Embodiments) The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

[0283] The technical ideas derived from this disclosure are not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed, but are intended to encompass various modifications of the exemplary embodiments, or substitutions with equivalent structures or functions. The scope of the following claims should be interpreted in the broadest way to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

[0284] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2025-050557, filed on March 25, 2025, and all of its contents are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A communication device that connects to an access point (AP) by wireless communication, comprising: connection means for connecting to a plurality of access points that operate in a coordinated manner according to a predetermined communication method; search means for searching for an access point outside the communication device and acquiring information about the external access point discovered by the search; and, if the external access point discovered by the search means includes an access point that corresponds to the predetermined communication method, display control means for displaying information about the access point that corresponds to the predetermined communication method in a manner that can be distinguished from information about an access point that does not correspond to the predetermined communication method.

2. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the display control means displays image information that can distinguish information relating to an access point corresponding to the predetermined communication method from information relating to an access point that does not correspond to the predetermined communication method.

3. The communication device according to claim 2, characterized in that the image information is at least one of an icon, color, decorative image, or background pattern that indicates that it corresponds to the predetermined communication method.

4. The communication device according to claim 3, characterized in that the icon is a motif indicating that multiple waveforms are superimposed.

5. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, if the external access points discovered by the search means include a plurality of access points corresponding to the predetermined communication method, and the plurality of access points form a single group, the display control means controls to display in a way that makes it identifiable that the plurality of access points form a single group.

6. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the display control means controls the display of character information that can be distinguished from information about an access point that does not correspond to the predetermined communication method.

7. The communication device according to claim 6, characterized in that the character information is at least one of the following: an identifier capable of identifying the group to which the access point corresponding to the predetermined communication method belongs, and the number of access points included in the group.

8. If the external access point discovered by the search means includes multiple access points, the display control means further controls the display order of information about the multiple access points discovered by the search means based on whether or not each access point corresponds to at least the predetermined communication method, characterized in that the communication device according to claim 1.

9. The communication device according to claim 8, wherein, if the plurality of access points discovered by the search means include a first group and a second group corresponding to the predetermined communication method, the display control means further controls the display order based on the number of access points included in the first group and the second group.

10. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein if the external access points discovered by the search means include a plurality of access points corresponding to the predetermined communication method, and the plurality of access points form a single group, the display control means further controls the display to allow selection of information regarding the plurality of access points as a single option.

11. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the predetermined communication method is a method of transmitting or receiving data of a single content via the plurality of access points that form a multi-AP group and perform the cooperative operation.

12. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the predetermined communication method is a communication method using a Multi-AP communication method compliant with IEEE 802.11bn.

13. The communication device according to claim 12, characterized in that the predetermined communication method is the Co-OFDMA (Coordinated-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) method in the Multi-AP communication method.

14. The communication device according to claim 12, characterized in that the predetermined communication method is the Joint-TX (Joint Transmission) method in the Multi-AP communication method.

15. The communication device according to any one of items 1 to 14, characterized in that an access point that does not support the predetermined communication method communicates using a communication method compliant with one or more of IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be.

16. The communication device according to claim 9, wherein if at least one of the first group and the second group corresponds to the Co-OFDMA (Coordinated-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) scheme in the predetermined communication compliant with IEEE 802.11bn, the display control means controls the display order based on the number of access points included in the first group and the second group.

17. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the information relating to the access point corresponding to the predetermined communication method includes at least one of the following: SSID (Service Set Identifier), BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier), encryption method, channel information, and BSS color in wireless communication.

18. A control method performed in a communication device that connects to an access point (AP) by wireless communication, comprising: connection means for connecting to a plurality of access points that perform cooperative operation according to a predetermined communication method; a search step for access points outside the communication device and for acquiring information about the external access points discovered by the search; and, if the external access points discovered by the search include access points that correspond to the predetermined communication method, a display control step for displaying information about the external access points discovered by the search in such a way that the information about the access points that correspond to the predetermined communication method is distinguishable from information about access points that do not correspond to the predetermined communication method.

19. A program for causing a computer to function as one of the means of a communication device described in any one of claims 1 to 17.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as one of the means of a communication device described in any one of claims 1 to 17.

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