Patent Application
20050280862
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-178483, filed Jun. 16, 2004, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio video (AV) apparatus including a television (TV) receiver, a set-top box (STB), a digital versatile disk (DVD) recorder and a personal computer (PC) and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to an apparatus connected to a network for use.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known, in recent years, resources possessed by storage devices connected to a network can be used by connecting the aforementioned AV apparatus to the network.
For the AV apparatus connected to a network to use a resource possessed by a storage device connected to the same network, it is necessary for a user to register information indicating a storage device connected to the network and information indicating a resource possessed by each storage device preliminarily.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-222335 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,556,875 have disclosed device control systems which enable a device object to use information possessed by another device object on a network easily by using an application program without depending on the kind of the device object and the kind of a communication path.
However, because the device control systems disclosed by the Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-222335 and the U.S. Pat. No. 6,556,875 require specialized application programs, it is not difficult to say that inconvenience in handling for the user has been eliminated completely but currently, they are not suitable for a practical use.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an AV apparatus comprising: an address allocating portion configured to allocate an address to a device connected to a network; a storage portion configured to store a management table in which identification information of the device to which the address has been allocated by the address allocating portion and the address allocated to the device are corresponded with each other; a first display control portion configured to display a screen for selecting the device connected to the network with reference to the management table stored in the storage portion; an issuing portion configured to issue a communication request to the device selected on the screen displayed by the first display control portion; a determining portion configured to determine whether or not a response from the device to the communication request issued by the issuing portion is valid; and a second display control portion configured to, when the determining portion determines that the response is valid, carry out display based on the response from the device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an AV apparatus connected to a network, comprising: a first step of allocating an address to a device connected to the network; a second step of storing a management table in which identification information of the device to which the address has been allocated and the address allocated to the device are corresponded with each other; a third step of displaying a screen for selecting the device connected to the network with reference to the management table; a fourth step of issuing a communication request to the device selected on the displayed screen; a fifth step of determining whether or not a response from the device to the issued communication request is valid; and a sixth step of, when it is determined that the response is valid, carrying out a display based on the response from the device.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the TV receiver 11, a signal processing portion 11b executes channel selection and demodulation processing on a television broadcasting signal received by an antenna 11a so as to restore a picture signal, and a picture is displayed on a display portion 11c. The signal processing portion 11b also demodulates an audio signal, and an audio is reproduced from a speaker (not shown).
The entire operation of the TV receiver 11 including the above-described receiving operation is controlled totally by a control portion 11d. The control portion 11d incorporates a central processing unit (CPU) and the like so as to control respective portions such that contents of operation sent from a operating portion 11e or a remote controller 11f is reflected.
In this case, the control portion 11d uses a memory portion 11g. That is, the memory portion 11g contains mainly a read only memory which stores a control program to be executed by the CPU of the control portion 11d, a write only memory which provides the CPU with a work area, and a nonvolatile memory which store various kinds of management tables, setting information, control information and the like.
The control portion 11d is connected to the hub 12 through a communication control portion 11h. The control portion 11d includes a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server function and a hypertext markup language (HTML) browser function, and is capable of communicating with the devices 13, 14 connected to the HUB 12.
The device 13 comprises a hard disk drive (HDD) portion 13a in which resource information, attribute information about the resource and the like are recorded, and recording/reproduction of information is carried out to/from the HDD portion 13a under the control of a control portion 13b. Further, the control portion 13b is connected to the HUB 12 through a communication control portion 13c, and has a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) server function.
The device 14 also has a hard disk drive (HDD) 14a in which resource information, attribute information about the resource and the like are recorded, and recording/reproduction of information is carried out to/from the HDD portion 14a under the control of a control portion 14b. Further, the control portion 14b is connected to the HUB 12 through a communication control portion 14c, and has an HTTP server function.
That is, if the processing is started (step S1) and in step S2, the device 13 is connected to the HUB 12, the control portion 11d executes allocation of an internet protocol (IP) address to the connected device 13 by using the DHCP server function.
Thereafter, in step S4, the control portion 11d generates a management table A in which identification information of the device 13 to which the IP address has been allocated [media access control (MAC) address] and the allocated IP address are corresponded with each other, writes the generated table to the memory portion 11g and terminates the processing (step S5).
After the IP address has been allocated as described above, the device 13 becomes capable of communicating with the control portion 11d of the TV receiver 11 through a network by means of transmission control protocol (TCP)/IP.
The device selection screen indicates all the devices 13, 14 to which the IP address has been allocated as shown in
In step S10, the control portion 11d waits for the predetermined device 13 or 14 to be selected from the device selection screen. For example, when it is determined that the device 13 is selected (YES), it is determined whether or not the selected device 13 is valid in step S11, and when it is determined that it is not valid (NO), the processing is terminated (step S17).
When it is determined that the device 13 selected in the step S11 is valid (YES), the control portion 11d, in step S12, assumes that the selected device 13 has the HTTP server function, acquires an IP address (192.168.0.xxx) allocated to the device 13 from the management table A, and issues an HTTP request (http://192.168.0.xxx) to the acquired IP address.
Thereafter, the control portion 11d waits for a response from the device 13 which has issued the HTTP request in step S13, and determines whether or not there is a valid response in step S14.
Then, when it is determined that such a valid response is obtained (YES), the control portion 11d displays the response on the display portion 11c by using the HTML browser function as shown in
When it is determined that an effective response can not be obtained in the step S14 (NO), the control portion 11d determines that information of the device cannot be presented by using the HTML browser in step S16, causes the display portion 11c to display an error message as shown in
According to the above-described embodiment, the TV receiver 11 allocates the IP address to the devices 13, 14 connected to the network by means of the DHCP server function, and generates the management table A in which the identification information of the devices 13, 14 to the IP address has been allocated and the allocated IP address are corresponded with each other. Thus, the TV receiver 11 can easily present the devices 13, 14 connected to the network with reference to the management table A.
When the user selects a desired device 13 from the presented devices 13, 14, the TV receiver 11 makes HTTP request to the selected device 13. If a normal response is obtained, the response is displayed by means of the HTML browser. Thus, the user can easily use information of the selected device 13.
Here, the control portion 11d of the TV receiver 11 not only creates the management table A in which the IP address allocated to the devices 13, 14 connected to the network and the MAC address of the devices 13, 14 are corresponded with each other but also creates a management table B in which the MAC address of each device 13, 14 and final date of allocating the IP address to the devices 13, 14 are corresponded with each other, and then stores it in the memory portion 11g.
Such a management table B is provided, whereby the TV receiver 11 can determine whether or not the device connected to the network is a device connected to the network first or whether or not it is a device which is not connected to the network for a specified period or more since the last IP address is allocated.
Because such a determination is achieved, the HTTP request is automatically issued to the device connected to the network first or the device which is not connected for a specified period or more since the last IP address is allocated, so that the information of that device can be presented to the user by using the HTML browser.
Thereafter, the control portion 11d registers the identification information (MAC address) of the device 13 to which the IP address has been allocated and the allocated IP address in the management table A in the memory portion 11g.
In step S22, the control portion 11d compares the MAC address registered in the management table A with the MAC address registered in the management table B of the memory portion 11g, and in step S23, determines whether or not the address meets a predetermined determination condition.
The determination condition includes whether or not the MAC address registered in the management table A coincides with the MAC address registered in the management table B, that is, whether or not the device 13 is connected to the network first, and whether or not the device 13 is a device which is not connected for a specified period or more since the last IP address is allocated if the MAC address registered in the management table A coincides with the MAC address registered in the management table B.
If in step S23, it is determined that it does not meet the predetermined determination condition (NO), the control portion 11d updates the content of the management table B in step S24, and terminates the processing (step S31).
If in the step S23, it is determined that it meets the predetermined determination condition (YES), the control portion 11d updates the content of the management table B in step S25, then assumes that the connected device 13 has the HTTP server function in step S26, and issues an HTTP request to the IP address allocated to the device 13.
Thereafter, the control portion 11d waits for a response from the device 13 which has issued the HTTP request in step S27, and determines whether or not there is any valid response in step S28.
If it is determined that the valid response is acquired (YES), the control portion 11d causes the display portion 11c to display the response by using the HTML browser function as shown in
If it is determined that any valid response can be obtained in the step S28 (NO), the control portion 11d determines that the information of the device cannot be presented by using the HTML browser in step S30, causes the display portion 11c to display an error message shown in
In the above-described embodiment, it is described that the TV receiver uses the information of the devices 13, 14 connected to the network. However, this is not restricted to the TV receiver 11 but the information can be applied widely to, for example, an AV apparatus including an STB, a DVD recorder, a PC and the like.
Further, the devices 13, 14 are not restricted to devices which store information in the HDD portions 13a, 14a, but may be those that store the information in, for example, a DVD, or a tape.
In the meantime, the present invention is not restricted to the above-described embodiment but may be embodied by modifying its components within a scope not departing from the gist of the invention at application stage. In addition, by combining plural components disclosed in the above-described embodiment appropriately, various aspects of the present invention can be formed. For example, it is permissible to delete some components from all the components shown in the embodiment. Moreover, it is permissible to combine components of different embodiments appropriately.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-178483 | Jun 2004 | JP | national |
