JP6571922B2 - COMMUNICATION DEVICE, ITS CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device having a short-range wireless communication function, a control method thereof, and a program.

  In recent years, communication devices having various wireless communication functions have appeared on the market. For example, there are communication apparatuses such as smartphones equipped with NFC (Near Field Communication), wireless LAN, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and image forming apparatuses such as printers. Patent Document 1 proposes a communication device that analyzes and processes information received via a short-range wireless communication function such as NFC. Specifically, it has been proposed to analyze data received via NFC and automatically execute an application. In order to realize such control, the communication device needs to receive information according to a data format called NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) via NFC. When the communication apparatus receives data defined according to NDEF (NDEF message), it can use various services by analyzing and processing the data according to NDEF rules. The communication device of Patent Document 1 processes the information of the NDEF message based on the description information of the record for automatically starting the application in the NDEF message. Note that details such as the format of NDEF and NDEF records are defined by the NFC Forum, which is a standard organization.

  Patent Document 2 proposes an image forming apparatus that easily executes printing from a communication device such as a smartphone that supports NFC. When the image forming apparatus detects that the communication apparatus is located within the NFC communication area, the image forming apparatus establishes NFC communication and performs information exchange for shifting to a higher-speed communication method such as a wireless LAN. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus establishes higher-speed communication such as a wireless LAN with the communication apparatus using the exchanged information, receives print data through the communication, and performs printing. Establishing a wireless LAN connection using connection information exchanged by NFC communication in this way is referred to as wireless handover.

  As one method for realizing wireless handover, a method of passing connection information to an access point to which the image forming apparatus is connected from the image forming apparatus to the communication apparatus by NFC communication is conceivable. The communication device establishes a wireless LAN connection with the access point using the received connection information, thereby enabling communication with the image forming device via the access point. In this method, connection information exchanged by NFC communication stores an SSID (Service Set Identifier) for uniquely identifying the access point on wireless LAN communication. Furthermore, information such as the authentication method, encryption method, and key set for the access point is also stored. These pieces of connection information are stored in advance as NDEF in the NFC module of the image forming apparatus. When the NFC module of the communication apparatus reads the connection information, the wireless handover process is executed in the communication apparatus.

JP 2013-45462 A JP 2013-184296 A

  However, the above prior art has the following problems. For example, a service provider using NFC may want to start an application corresponding to any NDEF message on the communication device side by passing data in which a plurality of NDEF messages are recorded to the communication device. However, the conventional technology does not assume a case in which a plurality of NDEF messages as described above are simultaneously received by a communication device and any corresponding application is started. In such a case, in the above prior art, if there is an application linked to the application described in the first information, the application is started. If there is no such application, refer to other information. It ends with an error without doing. That is, even when other information is correct, the other information is not used, and a case where the application cannot be started appropriately occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem, and a mechanism for suitably starting an application by using any of information related to a plurality of applications included in received data related to short-range wireless communication. The purpose is to provide.

According to the present invention, an acquisition step of acquiring data including a first NDEF message and a second NDEF message from the NFC tag by reading the NFC tag using the NFC interface to a computer of a communication apparatus having an NFC interface. A first determination step of interpreting the acquired data and determining whether or not a first application corresponding to the identification information of the application included in the acquired first NDEF message exists in the communication device. And a second determination step for determining whether or not the first application has been activated when it is determined in the first determination step that the first application is present in the communication device; when the first application is determined to be already started in the second determination step, the Passes the data to the first application, the first application in the second determination step when it is determined that not already been started, start the first application, and passes the data to the first application A program for causing the computer to execute a control step for performing control , wherein the control step further includes a first corresponding to the application identification information included in the first NDEF message in the first determination step. If it is determined that no application exists in the communication device, the NFC linkage processing based on the first NDEF message is not performed, and the application corresponding to the application identification information included in the second NDEF message is performed. Determine whether two applications are present in the communication device If it is determined by the determination that the second application exists in the communication device, it is further determined whether or not the second application has been started, and the second application has been started. Data is transferred to the second application according to the determination that the second application exists in the communication device and the second application is started according to the determination that the second application is not started. Then, by performing control to pass data to the second application, the control step requests the first application or the second application to perform NFC cooperation processing based on the acquired data, while the first application It is determined that neither the application nor the second application exists in the communication device. In response to the disconnection, a request for acquisition of the application is transmitted to the external server, control is performed to complete the NFC cooperation process triggered by reading of the NFC tag, and the first application or the first received the data The second application executes a handover process for establishing a second type of wireless communication having a higher communication speed than the wireless communication using the NFC interface, and uses the established second type of wireless communication to perform external processing. It communicates with a device, and completes the NFC cooperation processing requested in the control step .

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an application can be started suitably using either of the information regarding the some application contained in the data relevant to the received short-distance wireless communication.

The figure which shows the structural example of the hardware of the communication apparatus 100 which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows the structural example of the software of the communication apparatus 100 which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the NDEF message 300 which concerns on one Embodiment. A figure showing an example of NFC data 400 concerning one embodiment. The flowchart of the application automatic starting of the communication apparatus 100 which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the error message displayed on the screen in the communication apparatus 100 which concerns on one Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the present embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. .

<Hardware configuration of communication device>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, the following cases are assumed. That is, the user touches an NFC (Near Field Communication) reader 107 of the communication apparatus 100 on the NFC of the image forming apparatus, and receives NFC data from the image forming apparatus. The communication apparatus 100 automatically executes the print application A or B based on NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) data in the received NFC data. Then, the application executes a handover and transmits information related to the print job to the printing apparatus. That is, according to the present embodiment, the communication apparatus 100 receives NFC data from an image forming apparatus that is an external apparatus, and activates a corresponding application according to the NFC data. The activated application uses a service provided by the image forming apparatus via short-range wireless communication.

  First, a hardware configuration of the communication apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The communication device 100 may be a portable communication terminal, for example, a smartphone, an information processing terminal, a mobile phone, or the like. The communication device 100 includes a CPU 101, a RAM 102, a flash ROM 103, a microphone 104, an operation panel 105, a LAN I / F 106, an NFC reader 107, and a speaker 108.

  The CPU 101 reads a control program stored in the flash ROM 103 and controls the overall operation of the communication apparatus 100. Further, the flash ROM 103 stores data, various programs, or various information tables. The RAM 102 is used as a temporary area such as the main memory or work area of the CPU 101. The operation panel 105 displays various types of screens such as an operation screen and a setting screen. In addition, the operation panel 105 has a touch panel function, and a user can input various instructions to the communication apparatus 100 by performing a touch operation, a drag operation, or a flick operation.

  The LAN I / F 106 executes LAN communication with an external apparatus such as an image forming apparatus. For example, data stored in the flash ROM 103 is transmitted to an external device under the control of the CPU 101. The NFC reader 107 reads NDEF from NFC provided in the external device. This reading process is executed by positioning the NFC reader 107 of the communication apparatus 100 within the NFC NFC communication range of the external apparatus. Here, the communication range of NFC is generally a distance of about several centimeters to 10 centimeters. Therefore, when the user desires to read NDEF, the user touches or holds the NFC reader 107 of the communication apparatus 100 with respect to the NFC provided in the external apparatus such as the image forming apparatus.

  The microphone 104 is used for inputting audio data from the outside. The audio data is processed by the CPU 101. The speaker 108 is used to reproduce audio data processed by the CPU 101. The audio data may be stored in the flash ROM 103 or received from the LAN I / F 106. Further, it may be data generated by other methods.

  In the communication apparatus 100, one CPU 101 uses one memory (RAM 102) to execute the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 to be described later, but other modes may be used. For example, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 to be described later may be executed in cooperation with a plurality of CPUs and a plurality of memories.

<Software configuration of communication device>
Next, the software configuration of the communication apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. Each functional unit illustrated in FIG. 2 is realized by the CPU 101 executing a control program stored in the ROM 103 or the Flash ROM 103.

  The communication device 100 includes an operation control unit 201, a storage unit 202, a LAN communication unit 203, an NFC reader control unit 204, an application unit 205, and an application (application) ID management unit 207. The operation control unit 201 controls the operation panel 105, for example, displays an operation screen on the operation panel 105, or accepts an input of a user instruction via the displayed operation screen. In addition, the operation control unit 201 notifies other functional units of the received user instruction or updates an operation screen to be displayed according to the received user instruction.

  The storage unit 202 stores designated data in the RAM 102 or the Flash ROM 103 or reads stored data according to an instruction from another functional unit. In addition, an application 206 described later and an application ID 312 corresponding to the application 206 are managed in association with each other. The associated information is stored in the ROM 103 or HDD.

  The LAN communication unit 203 controls LAN communication executed by the LAN I / F 106. The NFC reader control unit 204 controls the NFC reader 107. The application unit 205 includes a plurality of applications. In this embodiment, it is assumed that at least one application 206 exists. Various other applications may exist in the application unit 205. The application 206 is open to public servers and on-premises servers, and can be installed in the communication apparatus 100 by accessing the server from the LAN I / F 106 or the like. Alternatively, the application 206 may be preinstalled in the communication apparatus 100 in advance.

<NDEF message>
Next, an example of the NDEF message 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The NDEF message 300 includes an activation record 301 for activating an application on the communication device 100 and an application (application) unique record 302 including data for executing processing after the application is activated. The application on the communication device 100 here is not limited to the application 206 but refers to one of a plurality of applications that may exist in the application unit 205.

  The activation record 301 stores instruction information for activating the application 206 for the communication device 100 that has read the NDEF message. Furthermore, the activation record 301 includes at least a header 311 and an application ID 312. Here, header information of the activation record is stored in the header 311 and is information indicating that the activation record 301 is a record that plays a role of activating an application. In addition, the application ID 312 stores information for specifying an application on the communication apparatus 100, and the communication apparatus 100 determines an application to be activated based on the information of the application ID 312. Note that the activation record 301 stores information of a format defined by the NFC forum.

  As described above, the application unique record 302 stores information necessary for the application to execute a target process after the application of the communication apparatus 100 is activated based on the activation record 301. The application unique record 302 can uniquely define the format for each application. The communication apparatus 100 executes a desired process using the application unique record 302 after the application is activated. For example, when the application performs wireless handover, information such as the SSID of the access point and the authentication method, encryption method, and key set in the access point are stored.

<NFC data>
Next, an example of the NFC data 400 held by the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The NFC data 400 includes at least one NDEF message 300. FIG. 4 shows an example in which two NDEF messages 300 a and 300 b corresponding to application A and application B are stored in the NFC data 400. In the present embodiment, the communication device 100 receives NFC data 400 from an external device. In addition, the communication device 100 temporarily stores the received NFC data 400 in the storage unit 202.

  In the present embodiment, the reason why two NDEF messages are included in the NFC data 400 is as follows. When the image forming apparatus supports application A or application B that provides a printing function, one of the applications is automatically activated to provide a printing function including wireless handover. As a result, if at least one of the application A and the application B is installed in the communication apparatus 100, the printing function of the image forming apparatus can be used. That is, by including messages corresponding to a plurality of applications in the NFC data 400 in this way, it is not necessary to switch the NFC data according to the specification of the other party (communication device). Thereby, in the image forming apparatus, the processing load can be reduced and the memory resources can be efficiently used.

<Processing procedure>
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a processing procedure for automatic application activation of the communication apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. The process described below shows a flow of a process for automatically starting an application based on NFC data received from the external terminal by the communication apparatus 100 and a process when an exception occurs. The processing described below is realized by the CPU 101 of the communication apparatus 100 reading out the control program stored in the flash ROM 103 to the RAM 102 and executing it.

  First, in step S <b> 501, the NFC reader control unit 204 determines whether a read has occurred to the NFC reader 107 and the NFC data 400 has been received via the NFC reader 107. This process occurs, for example, when the user touches the communication apparatus 100 with respect to the image forming apparatus. If no read has occurred (No in S501), this determination process is repeated to wait until the communication apparatus 100 receives the NFC data 400. Even when the NFC data 400 is empty, it may be determined that no read has occurred.

  When the NFC data is acquired, the process proceeds to S502, where the NFC reader control unit 204 executes an NDEF message analysis process. Here, one message among a plurality of NDEF messages included in the NFC data is analyzed. Note that selection of which message to analyze from a plurality of NDEF messages may be performed in the order of records, for example. In step S503, the NFC reader control unit 204 determines whether the analysis of the NDEF message is successful based on the analysis result. Here, the NFC reader control unit 204 determines whether or not it is an NDEF message instructing automatic activation of an application by referring to the activation header 511. Here, if the analysis processing of the NDEF message 300 is successful, the process proceeds to S504, and if not, the process proceeds to S509.

  In step S504, the NFC reader control unit 204 determines whether there is an application corresponding to the received application ID 312 in the information in which the application ID held by the recording unit 202 is managed. If there is a corresponding application, the process proceeds to S505, and if not, the process proceeds to S509. In the present embodiment, if the application A or the application B is installed in the communication apparatus 100, it is determined that there is a corresponding application.

  If the analysis of the NDEF message 300 fails or if the application 206 corresponding to the received application ID 312 does not exist, the NFC reader control unit 204 determines whether or not the next NDEF message 300 exists in S509. Here, if the next NDEF message 300 exists, an analysis process is performed again on the NDEF message 300. If there is no next NDEF message 300, there is no data to be processed by the communication apparatus 100, and the process related to the automatic activation of the application is terminated. In this embodiment, the case where the application A or the application B is not installed in the communication apparatus 100 is applicable.

  If there is an application 206 that matches the received application ID 312, the NFC reader control unit 204 checks with the application unit 205 whether or not the application has been started in S <b> 505. If the application has been executed, the process advances to step S506, and the NFC reader control unit 204 instructs the application unit 205 to pass the application unique record 302 that is information necessary for the operation of the application to the application 206. Thereby, in the present embodiment, the application A or the application B performs a wireless handover based on the information stored in the application unique record 302, and printing is performed on the image forming apparatus.

  On the other hand, when the application 206 is not executed, the process proceeds to S507, and the NFC reader control unit 204 activates the application 206. In step S508, the NFC reader control unit 204 determines whether the application has been successfully activated. If the activation is successful, the process proceeds to S506, and the NFC reader control unit 204 instructs the application unit 205 to pass the application unique record 302, which is information necessary for processing, to the application 206. Here, information described before the record (record skipped) is not passed to the application. The skipped record corresponds to a record of a message that has been analyzed but did not hold the corresponding application. If activation of the application fails, the process proceeds to S510, and the NFC reader control unit 204 displays an error message shown in FIG. 6 indicating that the automatic activation of the application has failed because the communication device 100 cannot process NFC data. The data is output to 105 or the like, and the process is terminated. However, this error message output need not be executed. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the communication apparatus 100 may display a message 600 including the error message on the operation panel 105 as an error message. Although an example in which an error message is displayed on the screen has been described here, the error message may be output by voice output.

  As described above, the communication device according to the present embodiment receives data related to short-range wireless communication including messages corresponding to each of a plurality of applications from the external device via short-range wireless communication. Further, the communication device analyzes one of a plurality of messages included in the received data, activates the application if the application corresponding to the analyzed message is held, and analyzes if not held. Not parse other messages. As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if an application corresponding to the analyzed message is not held, the application can be activated if an application corresponding to another message received at the same time is held. In other words, according to the present embodiment, when NFC data including a plurality of NDEF messages is received, the subsequent operation is not terminated with an error if there is a valid message in the entire NFC data without terminating the error for each message. Can be executed continuously.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the application 206 does not exist in the communication apparatus 100, the application 206 may be acquired from the public server via the LAN I / F 106 without causing an error. Note that the server is not limited to a public server, and may be another external server such as an on-premises server.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

  100: Communication device, 105: Operation panel, 404: NFC data, 600: Error display

Claims (12)

In a computer of a communication device having an NFC interface,
An acquisition step of reading an NFC tag using the NFC interface and acquiring data including a first NDEF message and a second NDEF message from the NFC tag ;
A first determination step of interpreting the acquired data and determining whether or not a first application corresponding to the identification information of the application included in the acquired first NDEF message exists in the communication device;
A second determination step of determining whether or not the first application has been activated when it is determined in the first determination step that the first application exists in the communication device;
If it is determined in the second determination step that the first application has been started, data is passed to the first application, and the first application has not been started in the second determination step. If it is determined that there is no, then starts the first application, and a control step of performing control to pass data to the first application, the
A program for causing the computer to execute,
The control step further includes determining that the first application corresponding to the application identification information included in the first NDEF message does not exist in the communication device in the first determination step. Without determining whether the second application corresponding to the identification information of the application included in the second NDEF message exists in the communication device without performing the NFC cooperation process based on the NDEF message. If it is determined that the second application exists in the communication device, it is further determined whether or not the second application has been started, and it is determined that the second application has been started. The data is passed to the second application and the second application In accordance with the determination that the application exists in the communication device and is not started, the control step is performed by starting the second application and passing data to the second application. Requests NFC cooperation processing based on the acquired data to the first application or the second application, while it is determined that neither the first application nor the second application exists in the communication device. Accordingly, a request for obtaining the application is transmitted to the external server, and control is performed to complete the NFC cooperation process triggered by reading the NFC tag.
The first application or the second application that has received the data executes a handover process for establishing a second type of wireless communication having a higher communication speed than the wireless communication using the NFC interface, and A program which communicates with an external device using the established second type of wireless communication and completes the NFC cooperation processing requested in the control step . The first NDEF message and the second NDEF message that are data included in the NFC tag include one or more records, and one NDEF message notifies the application of a record related to one application. program of claim 1, and a record that stores should do information is characterized in that it is stored. It said control step, when performing control to start the first or second application corresponding to the acquired identification information of the application, the application to the start, the NDEF message the acquired identification information is stored claim 2 including transmit information of the record storing information to be notified to the application and the information to be notified to the application that is included in the NDEF message, wherein the identification information is not stored is characterized not to send The program described in. The program is
An output step of outputting an error message to the operation unit when activation of the first application or the second application fails in the control step;
Program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that further the computer to perform the communication device. A method for controlling a communication device having an NFC interface,
An acquisition step of reading an NFC tag using the NFC interface and acquiring data including a first NDEF message and a second NDEF message from the NFC tag ;
A first determination step of interpreting the acquired data and determining whether or not a first application corresponding to application identification information included in the acquired first NDEF message exists in the communication device;
A second determination step of determining whether or not the first application has been activated when it is determined in the first determination step that the first application exists in the communication device;
If it is determined in the second determination step that the first application has been started, data is passed to the first application, and the first application has not been started in the second determination step. If it is determined that there is no, and the control step of activating the first application, performs control to pass data to the first application,
Only including,
The control step further includes determining that the first application corresponding to the application identification information included in the first NDEF message does not exist in the communication device in the first determination step. Without determining whether the second application corresponding to the identification information of the application included in the second NDEF message exists in the communication device without performing the NFC cooperation process based on the NDEF message. If it is determined that the second application exists in the communication device, it is further determined whether or not the second application has been started, and it is determined that the second application has been started. The data is passed to the second application and the second application In accordance with the determination that the application exists in the communication device and is not started, the control step is performed by starting the second application and passing data to the second application. While requesting the NFC cooperation processing based on the acquired data to the first application or the second application,
When it is determined that neither the first application nor the second application exists in the communication device, an NFC cooperation is triggered by reading the NFC tag by sending a request for obtaining an application to an external server. Control to complete the process,
The first application or the second application that has received the data executes a handover process for establishing a second type of wireless communication having a higher communication speed than the wireless communication using the NFC interface, and A control method comprising communicating with an external device using the established second type of wireless communication to complete the NFC cooperation processing requested in the control step . The first NDEF message and the second NDEF message that are data included in the NFC tag include one or more records, and one NDEF message notifies the application of a record related to one application. The control method according to claim 5 , wherein a record storing information to be stored is stored . The controlling step, when performing control to start the first or second application corresponding to the acquired identification information of the application, the application to the start, the NDEF message the acquired identification information is stored claim 6 including transmits information of the record storing information to be notified to the application, the information to be notified to the application that is included in the NDEF message, wherein the identification information is not stored is characterized not to send The control method described in 1. 8. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising an output step of outputting an error message to the operation unit when the first application or the second application fails in the control step. The control method described in 1. A communication device,
An NFC interface;
Obtaining means for reading an NFC tag using the NFC interface and obtaining data including a first NDEF message and a second NDEF message from the NFC tag ;
First determination means for interpreting data acquired by the acquisition means and determining whether or not a first application corresponding to the application identification information included in the acquired first NDEF message exists in the communication device. When,
Second determination means for determining whether or not the first application has been activated when the first determination means determines that the first application exists in the communication device;
When it is determined by the second determination means that the first application has been started, data is passed to the first application, and the first application has not been started by the second determination means. If it is determined that there is no, then it starts the first application, and a control means for controlling to pass data to the first application,
I have a,
The control means is further configured so that the first determination means determines that the first application corresponding to the application identification information included in the first NDEF message does not exist in the communication device. Without determining whether the second application corresponding to the identification information of the application included in the second NDEF message exists in the communication device without performing the NFC cooperation process based on the NDEF message. If it is determined that the second application exists in the communication device, it is further determined whether or not the second application has been started, and it is determined that the second application has been started. The data is passed to the second application and the second application The control means is configured to start the second application and control to pass data to the second application when it is determined that the communication device is present in the communication apparatus and has not been started. While requesting the NFC cooperation processing based on the acquired data to the first application or the second application,
In response to the determination that neither the first application nor the second application exists in the communication device, NFC cooperation is triggered by reading the NFC tag by sending a request for acquisition of the application to an external server. Control to complete the process,
The first application or the second application that has received the data executes a handover process for establishing a second type of wireless communication having a higher communication speed than the wireless communication using the NFC interface, and A communication apparatus that communicates with an external apparatus by using the established second type of wireless communication and completes the NFC cooperation process requested by the control means . The first NDEF message and the second NDEF message that are data included in the NFC tag include one or more records, and one NDEF message notifies the application of a record related to one application. The communication apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein a record storing information to be stored is stored . Wherein, when performing control to start the first or second application corresponding to the acquired identification information of the application, the application to the start, the NDEF message the acquired identification information is stored claim 10 including transmit information of the record storing information to be notified to the application and the information to be notified to the application that is included in the NDEF message, wherein the identification information is not stored is characterized not to send The communication apparatus as described in. 12. The display device according to claim 9 , further comprising a display unit configured to display an error message on the operation unit when the control unit fails to start the first application or the second application. The communication device described.

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