Patent Application
20090289758
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-132061, filed May 20, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to a wireless connecting technique, and particularly relates to a wireless device, a wireless control system and a wireless control method which can easily make wireless connection for which authentication is required.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a wireless communication function is increasingly contained in various devices so that the devices can be installed more flexibly. When the devices which contain the wireless communication functions are wirelessly connected to each other, a wireless authenticating operation should be set in advance. In this case, various methods for realization can be used, according to the wireless standard to be used. In the case of wireless LAN, switches provided to both devices are pressed so that authentication is conducted. In the case of wireless USB, both devices are connected physically by a USB cable so that authentication information is exchanged and authentication is conducted. Remote operation commands of the devices are stored in a remote control module in advance, and the devices are remotely controlled by using the stored remote operation commands. In this case, when a new device is operated by the remote control module, a remote operation command of the new electronic device is registered in the remote control module so that the new electronic device can be operated. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-143670 discloses a technique in which a remote operation command is transmitted from a new electronic device to be operated to a remote control module and the new electronic device is operated by the remote control module.
However, when the device which is controlled by the remote control module is wirelessly connected to another device by using the technique disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-143670, the user should go to the device and operate it. When this device is very large and heavy, or when the device is installed in a place where the user cannot work easily, the setting becomes very difficult. Normally, the remote control module is attached to the respective devices, but the user should operate them separately, and when the number of devices to be used increases, the operation becomes very complicated.
A general architecture that implements the various feature of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, a wireless control system having an electronic device with a wireless communication function and a remote control module for remotely operating the electronic device, wherein the remote control module includes: a remote communication module configured to remotely operate the electronic device; a storage module configured to store authentication information including information for identifying the electron device and for wirelessly connecting to the electronic device; a proximity communication module configured to perform proximity communication between the electronic device and another device having the wireless communication function of the same wireless standard as that of the electronic device; and control module configured to transmit the authentication information to the other device via the proximity communication module and receive remote control command information for remotely operating the other device from the other device via the proximity communication module so as to store it in the storage module in order to allow the other device to start a process for establishing wireless connection with the electronic device based on the authentication information.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The wireless control system includes a television (electronic device) 10 and a remote control module 20. Further, the system includes a DVD player (another device: wireless device) 30. The remote control module 20 is a dedicated controller attached to the television 10. The remote control module 20 can add remote operation commands (remote command information), and stores a remote operation command of another device such as the DVD player 30 therein so as to be capable of remotely controlling it. In this embodiment, the television 10 and the DVD player 30 are used, but the electronic device is not limited to them, and thus this embodiment can be applied to any devices (for example, a wireless device A and a wireless device B) as long as they make wireless connection using a wireless communication system for which authentication is required at the time of the connection (for example, wireless LAN, wireless USB, wireless HD).
The television 10 and the DVD player 30 have a wireless connecting function, and after they authenticate wireless connection so as to establish the wireless connection, they can transmit/receive video signals or the like by module of the wireless communication. The remote control module 20 is a remote control module which operates the television 10, and stores the remote operation command of the television 10 in advance therein. The remote control module 20 can transmit/receive data via proximity communication of the DVD player 30, such as a wireless IC tag reader/writer 112. In the case of the proximity communication, a contact or non-contact communication system can be used besides the wireless IC tag. For example, data may be transmitted/received by using a cable. The remote control module 20 stores authentication information for wireless connection to the television 10 therein. The authentication information includes information for identifying the television 10 and is for the wireless connection to the television 10, and varies according to a connection system (described later: see
The remote control module 20 includes a storage module 120, a wireless IC tag (proximity communication module) 123, a control module (control module) 124, and a remote control wireless module (remote communication module) 125. The storage module 120 has an authentication information storage module 121 and a remote command information storage module 122. The authentication information storage module 121 stores authentication information in the case where another device (for example, the DVD player 30) is wirelessly connected to the television 10. The authentication information is information for necessary authentication in the case where wireless connection is established. As shown in
The wireless IC tag 123 is a wireless device which performs proximity wireless communication. When the wireless IC tag 123 is moved closer to an opposing communication device, data can be transmitted/received therebetween. The control module 124 executes a process for transmitting the remote operation command to the television 10, a process for transmitting the authentication information about the television 10 to the wirelessly connected device (for example, the DVD player 30) via the wireless IC tag 123, and a process for receiving the remote operation command from the wirelessly connected device (for example, the DVD player 30) so as to store it in the remote control command information storage module 122. The remote control wireless module 125 is a communication device which transmits the remote operation command to the television 10.
The DVD player 30 has a control module (control module) 111, an IC tag reader/writer (proximity communication module) 112, the wireless module (second wireless communication function) 113 and a remote control wireless module 114. The control module 111 performs control so as to receive the authentication information from the remote control module 20 via the IC tag reader/writer 112 and transmit the remote operation command of the DVD player 30 to the remote control module 20. The control module 111 is wirelessly connected to the television 10 via the wireless module 113 based on the received authentication information. Further, the control module 111 performs control so as to receive the remote operation command from the remote control module 20 via the remote control wireless module 114. The authentication information is information for authenticating the wireless connection requiring authentication, and varies according to the connection system of the wireless connection (described later, see
A wireless control method to which the wireless control system and the wireless device are applied according to one embodiment of the present invention having the above structures is described below with reference to
A user moves the remote control module 20 close to the IC tag reader/writer 112 of the DVD player 30 (block S101). In this case, the remote control module 20 may be brought into contact with the IC tag reader/writer 112 of the DVD player 30. In the case of cable connection or the like, the remote control module 20 is connected to the DVD player 30 by a cable. The control module 124 of the remote control module 20 reads the previously stored authentication information about the television 10 from the authentication information storage module (see
When the DVD player 30 receives the authentication information about the television 10 (see
When the DVD player 30 establishes the wireless connection with the television 10, it transmits a remote operation command for remote operation of the DVD player 30 to the remote control module 20 via the IC tag reader/writer 112 (block S104).
The remote control module 20 stores the received remote operation command in the remote control command information storage module 122. According to this embodiment, the timing of the transmission of the remote operation command from the DVD player 30 to the remote control module 20 is after the connection between the DVD player 30 and the television 10 is established. However, the timing is not limited to this, and the remote operation command may be transmitted from the DVD player 30 to the remote control module 20 simultaneously with the reception of the authentication information by the DVD player 30 from the remote control module 20.
When the connection between the DVD player 30 and the television 10 is established, a sound may be played, an LED may be turned on, or the connection may be displayed on a display or the like of the DVD player 30 so that the user easily recognizes the establishment of the connection.
A process in the case where the connection between the television 10 and the DVD player 30 is cut off is described below with reference to
When the television 10 is wirelessly connected to the DVD player 30 (block S201), the control module 101 of the television 10 monitors the wireless connection between the television 10 and the DVD player 30.
When the control module 101 of the television 10 determines that information transmitted from the DVD player 30 by the wireless communication stops for a predetermined period, it determines that the wireless connection between the DVD player 30 and the television 10 is cut off (block S202). When the television 10 determines that the wireless connection between the DVD player 30 and the television 10 is cut off, it posts the cutting-off of the wireless connection with the DVD player 30 to the remote control module 20 (block S203). When receiving the post of the cutting-off of the wireless connection, the remote control module 20 erases the remote operation command stored in the remote control command information storage module 122 of the remote control module 20 (block S204). When the remote operation command is stored in the remote control command information storage module 122 of the remote control module 20, protection can be set. When the remote operation command is protected so as to be stored in the remote control command information storage module 122, it is not erased (at the time when the remote control module 20 receives the post of the cutting-off of the wireless connection, it determines whether the remote operation command is protected). The protected remote operation command is not to be erased, and is maintained in the remote control command information storage module 122. When a device (DVD player or the like) is frequently used, even if the wireless connection is cut off, it is expected to be used. For this reason, the remote operation command is not erased, so as to be kept.
When the remote operation command is erased, it can be erased by operating a stand-alone button of the remote control module 20, without being limited to the above embodiment. According to the embodiment, all remote operation commands which are not protected are erased, but setting can be arbitrarily changed in such a manner that when the capacity of the storage module in the remote control module 20 becomes insufficient, the remote operation command is erased. When the determination is made that the wireless connection between the DVD player 30 and the television 10 is cut off, this case corresponds to a case where the wirelessly connected devices (television 10 and the DVD player 30) are separated by not less than a communicable distance, a case where a shielding material which shields a radio is present between the wirelessly connected devices, or a case where the power source(s) of any one or both of the wirelessly connected devices is (are) turned off.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless device, a wireless control system and a wireless control method which can improve user's convenience. A module can be accomplished in software and hardware.
According to the embodiment, the wireless connection can be easily established by transmitting/receiving authentication information via the remote control module 20 without connecting the wirelessly connectable devices by cable for which authentication is required. At the same time, the device with which the wireless connection is established can set a remote operation of a device which could not be remotely operated by the remote control module 20. According to the embodiment, the wireless connection between the DVD player 30 and the television 10 is started by the communication between the remote control module 20 and the IC tag reader/writer 112 of the DVD player 30. However, the wireless communication is not limited to this and may be started by pressing a predetermined button.
A module can be accomplished in software and hardware.
The present invention is not directly limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be embodied by changing components without departing from the gist.
The plurality of components disclosed in the above embodiment are suitably combined so that various inventions can be formed. For example, some components may be deleted from the components in the embodiment. Further, the components in different embodiments may be combined suitably.
While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not Intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-132061 | May 2008 | JP | national |
