JP2003050773A - Device control device, device control method, device, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a device control device, a device control method, a program, and a storage medium which can provide a user interface for controlling a device with a simple configuration and improve operability of the device. SOLUTION: A device 101 (10) is connected by wireless communication.
1 '), the device controller 102 receives the user interface data from the device 101 (101') by wireless communication,
3, a user interface screen is displayed. When the user inputs an instruction to control the device with the mouse 104 based on the displayed user interface screen, the device is controlled by transmitting the instruction to the device by wireless communication. .

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device control device, a device control method, a device, a program, and a storage medium for controlling a device via wireless communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a user interface of a device such as a printer or a scanner has a hardware device (LCD, LED, S) depending on its device function.
(W, etc.) is assigned a fixed function.

Further, a device and a device control device for controlling the device are fixedly assigned one to one. Although the device control device performs control operation, it does not have an input / output function of data used by the device.

[0004]

However, in the above conventional example, the user interface of the device is designed by fixedly assigning the function to the hardware device (LCD, LED, SW, etc.) depending on the device function. Therefore, it was necessary to add or change the hardware and change the hardware control program specific to the model in order to change the function of the device or change the user interface accompanying the expansion. Moreover, it is difficult to make changes according to the user's preference.

Further, since the device and the device control device are fixedly assigned one to one, a device control device for each device having a different function is required.

Although the device control device performs control operation, it does not have an input / output function of data used by the device. Therefore, when performing the attaching / detaching operation of the data medium, the user has to go to the device. There wasn't.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and can provide a user interface for controlling a device with a simple structure and improve the operability of the device. A device control device, a device control method, and a device. , A program, and a storage medium are provided.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a device control apparatus for controlling a device via wireless communication, which receives user interface data from the device via wireless communication. A display unit for displaying a user interface screen, an input unit for inputting an instruction to control the device based on the displayed user interface screen, and the input instruction transmitted to the device via the wireless communication, And a control means for controlling.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a device controlled by a device control device via wireless communication, and transmitting means for transmitting user interface data of the device via wireless communication. , And a device control unit for controlling the device based on the received instruction information, and a receiving unit for receiving instruction information for controlling the device from the device control apparatus via wireless communication.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a device control method for controlling a device by wireless communication, the method comprising receiving user interface data from the device by wireless communication and displaying a user interface screen. A step of inputting an instruction to control the device based on the displayed user interface screen, and a control step of transmitting the input instruction to the device by the wireless communication and controlling the device And

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device control system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, 10
1, 101 ′ are devices to be controlled, and in the present embodiment, for example, are photodirect printers. 1
Reference numeral 02 denotes a device control device for controlling the devices 101 and 101 ′, which is a control panel unit or PDA in this embodiment.

Here, the devices 101 and 101 'and the device control apparatus 102 communicate with each other via wireless communication means capable of bidirectional communication. In addition, the device control device 10
Reference numeral 2 has an LCD display 103, a mouse 104, and input devices such as switches (not shown). Then, the user looks at the display on the LCD display 103 and uses the mouse 1
04, operating the input device, the device 101, 10
Control 1 '.

The device 101 (101 ') and the device control apparatus 102 are also configured to be connected to the Internet from a wireless base station (not shown) via a wireless communication means capable of bidirectional communication. .

Next, the hardware structure and software module configuration of the device 101 (101 ') controlled by the device control apparatus 102 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware structure of the device 101. As shown, the CPU 20
1, ROM 202, RAM 203, wireless interface 204, device control circuit 205, power supply control circuit 206 are connected via a bus 208. Where C
The PU 201 executes the program code stored in the ROM 202, and the wireless interface 204,
The device control circuit 205 and the power supply control circuit 206 are controlled. The wireless interface 204 communicates with the device control apparatus 102, and the device control circuit 205 controls, for example, the printer engine. Furthermore,
The power supply control circuit 206 controls the power supply 207 according to the ON / OFF instruction of the power supply.

Even if the power supply 207 is in the power-off state, it is assumed that power is supplied to a portion other than the device control circuit 205 that performs communication control by the wireless interface 204.

When an instruction to turn on the power of the device 101 is sent from the device controller 102 via the wireless interface 204, the CPU 20
1 interprets this instruction and controls the power supply 207 to supply power to the whole through the power supply control circuit 206. When an instruction to turn off the power is sent from the device control apparatus 102 via the wireless interface 204, the CPU 201 interprets the instruction and stops the control operation of each unit and the program processing operation, and the power control circuit 2
The power supply 207 is controlled via 06 to stop supplying power to the whole. As a result, power is supplied only to the portion other than the device control circuit 205 that controls communication by the wireless interface 204.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the software modules and the like of the device 101. The wireless interface hardware 301 shown in FIG. 3 is the same as the wireless interface 204 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, an interface driver 302 controls the wireless interface hardware 301. A communication protocol stack 303 stacks the communication protocol of the wireless interface. A connection management module 304 manages and controls the connection with the device control apparatus 102. Reference numeral 305 is device identification information necessary for the device control apparatus 102 to identify the device 101. 306 is a security management module,
When establishing a connection, the user authentication of the user who operates the device control apparatus 102 is confirmed. 307 is H
A TTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) stack, which is used when transferring user interface data, which will be described later. A user interface server 308 communicates user interface data with the device control apparatus 102 by HTTP and receives a control instruction command. Reference numeral 309 denotes user interface data written on the user interface virtual panel on the LCD display 103 of the device control apparatus 102.

Reference numeral 310 is a command analysis module,
The user interface server 308 communicates with the device control apparatus 102, analyzes the received command instructing device control, and sends the command to the device control 311. Reference numeral 311 is a device control module for performing device control. Reference numeral 312 denotes a script generation / analysis module, in which the user interface server 308 communicates with the device control apparatus 102, generates a processing script from the received command, analyzes it at runtime, converts it into a command, and sends it to the command analysis module 310. . 31
3 is a status management module for device control 3
It receives the status information of the device from 11, and generates and manages the status to be sent to the device control apparatus 102. 314
Is a file system that performs file processing when accessing the file data of the device control apparatus 102. A power supply control module 315 controls the power supply 207.

The device control 311 controls the printer engine and forms print data, for example. Further, in this case, the virtual panel displays the printer operation panel, and the print format, layout, and setting are input.

Here, the user interface server 308 is a Web server, and the user interface data 309 is HTML (Hyper Text Markup Languag).
It can consist of the data described in e). Also, the connection management module 304 transmits its own information using the device identification information 305 when establishing a connection with the device control apparatus 102. This is, for example, a device ID and a serial number. Also,
It also disconnects and restarts communication when it goes out of the communication range, disconnects connection by a user operation of the device control apparatus 102, and processes and manages by a connection establishment instruction. The security management module 306 holds authentication information such as a password and requests the other party for a confirmation operation in the connection establishing operation. If the authentication information has not been set, a request is made to set it and the entered authentication information is held.

The user interface server 308 also communicates with the browser of the device controller 102,
The user interface data 309 is transmitted as virtual panel data to be displayed and input by the device control apparatus 102, and the input operation is performed by the command analysis module 31.
0, or it is sent to the script generation / analysis module 312 and converted into a device control command or a script. The status management module 313 also sends the status information of the device 101 to the device control apparatus 102. This is, for example, the power status of the printer, the print execution status, the paper, the ink status, and the like.

When the input data from the device control apparatus 102 is received, if it is a device operation instruction to be executed immediately, the command analysis module 310.
To the device control module 311 or the power supply control module 3
Then, the control operation is performed. If it is not the device operation instruction to be immediately executed but a series of operations is performed at the time of execution instruction (script processing), it is sent to the script generation / analysis module 312. The script generation / analysis module 312 converts the input instruction into a script, holds the script, and sequentially executes a series of processes described in the script when the script execution instruction is received. The status management module 313 acquires and holds the device status information from the device control module 311, and the user interface server 308 transmits the device status information to the device control apparatus 102 when an instruction from the user is received. The device control module 311 performs control instructions from the command analysis module 310 and transfers of status information to the status management module 313, and also performs data access to the file media of the device control apparatus 102 via the file system 314. This may operate as a result of operating instructions via the user interface server 308. For example, this is a case where a print data file is transmitted to a photo direct printer.

Next, the above device 101 (101 ')
The hardware structure and software module configuration of the device control apparatus 102 for controlling the device will be described.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware structure of the device control apparatus 102. As shown, CP
U401, ROM402, RAM403, wireless interface 404, LCD control circuit 405, input device control circuit 407, memory card controller 40
9. The power supply control circuit 411 is connected via the bus 414. Here, the CPU 401 executes the program code stored in the ROM 402 and controls the wireless interface 404, the LCD control circuit 405, the input device control circuit 407, the memory card control circuit 409, and the power supply control circuit 411. The wireless interface 404 communicates with the device 101, and
The CD control circuit 405 controls the LCD 406 that displays the user interface screen. Further, the input device control circuit 407 controls the input device 40 operated by the user.
9, the memory card control circuit 409 controls the CPU 40
1 performs conversion processing when the memory card 410 is accessed. Further, the power supply control circuit 411 controls the power supply 413 according to the user's power switch operation and internal power ON / OFF processing.

The input device 408 is, for example, the mouse 104 shown in FIG. 1 or a physical switch (not shown),
The user input operation is performed on the virtual panel displayed by the browser on the LCD 406.

The memory card is, for example, Compa.
ct Flash, SmartMedia (registered trademark), Memory Stick and the like.

In response to the operation of the power switch 412 by the user, when the power is turned on, the power control circuit 411 immediately starts.
Starts the power supply to the device controller 102 and turns it off
In the operation, the CPU 401 is notified, the CPU 401 performs the process of stopping the program of each part, and then accesses the power supply control circuit 411 to stop the supply of the power supply 413.

The device controller 102 loads the user interface data received from the device 101 via the wireless interface 404,
This is displayed on the LCD as a virtual panel, and the user controls the device 101 by giving an instruction on the virtual panel using the input device 408. This corresponds to, for example, displaying the control panel of the photo direct printer and operating it with a pointing device or a switch to execute setting and printing.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the software modules and the like of the device control apparatus 102. The wireless interface hardware 50 shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an interface for communicating with the device 101, which is the same as the wireless interface 404 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, an interface driver 502 controls the wireless interface hardware 501. A communication protocol stack 503 stacks the communication protocol of the wireless interface. A connection management module 504 manages and controls the connection with the device 101. 505 is HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Proto)
col) stack, which is used when transferring user interface data and the like described later. Reference numeral 506 is a browser, which uses HTTP for user interface data.
Communicates with the device 101, analyzes and displays the data, receives a user operation, and transmits a control instruction command or the like to the device 101.

A local I / O manager 507 manages control of a display device and an input device connected to the device control device 102. Reference numeral 509 denotes the same input device hardware as the input device 408 shown in FIG.
An input device driver 509 controls the input device hardware 508. 510 is the same LCD controller hardware as the LCD 406. An LCD driver 511 controls the LCD controller hardware 510. Reference numeral 512 denotes an LCD drawing library, which LC draw commands drawn on the LCD by the browser 506 or the like via the local I / O manager 507.
The D driver 511 converts into a low-level process that can be executed. Reference numeral 513 is the same memory card control circuit hardware as the memory card 410. Reference numeral 514 denotes a memory card driver, which is a memory card control circuit hardware 513.
To control. A power switch 515 is the same as the power switch 412. A power control module 516 controls the power in response to an operation by the power switch 515.

Here, the browser 506 is a Web browser, interprets data such as HTML sent as user interface data, displays it on the LCD, and converts user input on the input device 408 into control commands and the like. After that, it transmits to the device 101. When the device 101 supports disconnection and establishment of connection by user selection, the command is also included.

The connection management module 504 manages the connection state with the device 101 of the communication partner and a plurality of pieces of communicable device information within the communication range as internal device table data. In addition, it also performs communication disconnection and resumption when it goes out of the communication range, connection disconnection by user operation, and processing and management according to the connection establishment instruction. Along with this, a device list for selecting a device for establishing a connection to the user,
Status display, selection and input operation of power ON / OFF, notification to the user when communication is disconnected are also local I
Via the / O manager 507. This information is
Manage based on device table data.

The local I / O manager 507 manages the entire local input / output as an I / O subsystem of this system. This is necessary for resource management when a host program such as the browser 506 and the connection management module 504 uses the input / output device. When the device 101 requests access to the memory card data 412, the memory card driver 514 is released to perform data communication.

Further, the power source control 516 controls the stop sequence when the power source is turned off. This is done by sending an instruction to turn OFF to the actual power source after performing stop processing of each program and task.

Next, the device 101 having the above structure
The operation of the device control apparatus 102 will be described.
First, as the operation of the device 101, the operation of the connection management module 304 and the user interface server 308 will be mainly described, but related software modules will be referred to as necessary.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device 101. Even when the device 101 is in a power-off state, it is assumed that power is supplied to the communication-related part when the power is electrically connected. In this state, the user interface server 308 starts the communication with the device control apparatus 102 (step S601).
Then, the process waits for the device control apparatus 102 to issue identification information of the device 101, a status request (step S602), and a power ON instruction (step S604). Here, when the identification information and the status are requested, the device identification information 305 and the status management module 31
Send status managed by 3 (step S603)
If there is a power-on instruction, the security management module 306 makes an authentication request (step S605).
If the authentication is OK (step S606), the process proceeds to the power ON process (step S607). If the authentication is NG, the identification information of the device, the status request (step S602), and the power ON instruction (step S6).
Wait for 04) to take place.

In the power ON process (step S607), the internal status is set to the power ON state, the internal state is initialized, and then the power supply to the entire device 101 is started. Thereafter, it is considered that the connection with the device control apparatus 102 has been established, the internal operation mode is set to the normal mode, and each program (task) is initialized,
It is activated (step S608). Next, the user interface data 30 from the device controller 102
9 is waited for (step S609), and if there is a request, transmission is performed (step S610), and the process proceeds to normal operation processing (step S611).

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing details of the normal operation processing of the device shown in FIG. at this point,
The device 101 establishes a connection with the device control apparatus 102, and the device control apparatus 102 displays the user interface data 309 on the LCD 406 and considers that user input is possible. In this state,
Waiting for reception of any instruction or request from the device control apparatus 102 by a user operation (step S701), and upon reception, each device processing corresponding to the instruction or request is performed. If it is a power OFF instruction (step S702), a power OFF process (step S703) is performed. This will stop each program, task, power supply,
It returns to step S601 shown in FIG.

In the communication disconnection detection (step S704), when the connection management module 304 detects that the communication with the device control apparatus 102 is disconnected at the communication protocol level or lower, it is considered that the internal connection is disconnected, Connection disconnection process (step S70)
Perform 6). As a result, each program and task are interrupted and post-processing is performed, and then the communication is restarted (step S707). Then, when the restart of the communication process is detected, the process is restarted from step S608 shown in FIG. This series of operations corresponds to the case where the user holds the device control apparatus 102 and moves out of the communicable range.

Also, a connection disconnection instruction (step S
705) is a case where the connection management module 304 disconnects the connection, performs connection disconnection processing (step S708) similarly to step S706, and waits for a connection establishment instruction (step S709). Then, when the connection establishment instruction is received, the process is restarted from step S608 shown in FIG. This series of operations corresponds to an instruction to disconnect and reestablish a connection by a user operation on the device control apparatus 102.

The operation thereafter is performed by the device controller 10
The second browser 506 corresponds to the control operation of the device 101 by the user viewing and operating the virtual panel displayed on the LCD 406 by the user interface data 309.

When new user interface data is requested (step S710), the user interface server 308 transmits new user interface data 309 (step S711). This corresponds to a case where another panel screen linked to is requested by an operation on the virtual panel. When the device status is requested (step S712), the status management module 313 transmits the status information (step S713). This corresponds to the case where the status is required in the device control sequence. If it is a script mode instruction (step S714), the script generation / analysis module 312 sets the operation mode to the script mode (step S715). If the instruction is for the normal mode (step S71)
6), the operation mode is set to the normal mode, and the held script is deleted (step S717).

Here, the normal mode is a mode in which a received control command is executed each time, and the script mode is a time when a control command is described in a script as a series of control operations and a script execution instruction is given. In this mode, the modes are sequentially executed in the order described.

If it is a script execution instruction (step S
718), the operation mode is the script mode (step S
719), the script is analyzed and executed (step S720), the operation mode is returned to the normal mode,
The executed script is deleted (step S721).
When a control command is received (step S72)
2) If the operation mode is the script mode (step S723), the script generation / analysis module 312
Describes a control command in a script (step S7)
25). If it is not the script mode (if it is the normal mode), the control command is executed (step S7).
24) Then, it returns to the receiving operation again. This corresponds to, for example, the photo direct printer receiving a status request and returning the status, or receiving a print execution command and executing printing.

Next, the operation of the device control apparatus 102 for controlling the above-mentioned device 101 via the wireless interface 404 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of the device control apparatus 102. First, after power-on processing (step S801), device identification information and status are confirmed (step S802). This is, for example, a device ID, a serial number, and power ON / OFF state information. As a result, the connection management module 5
Reference numeral 04 generates a connectable device list within the communication range as a device table. If the device table is empty (step S803), that is, if a connectable device is not found, the LCD 406 displays that there is no connected device (step S804), and device identification information and status confirmation are performed again (step S802). If the device table is not empty, the device list and status are displayed (step S805),
The user selects a device to connect to and instructs to turn on the power (step S806).

If the status of the device selected by the user is power OFF (step S807), power ON
The N instruction is transmitted (step S808), and if there is an authentication request (step S809), the authentication process is performed and the authentication information is transmitted (step S810). This corresponds to, for example, displaying a password request dialog on the LCD 406 and inputting and transmitting. If the authentication is rejected, the authentication result = NG is displayed (step S81).
2) Then, the process returns to the device identification information and status confirmation (step S802). If the authentication is OK, it is considered that the connection with the selected device is established (step S813), the browser 506 is activated,
User interface data is requested and loaded to the device, and a control command according to a user operation or an instruction regarding script mode operation is sent (step S814). Further, following these processes, the connection management module 504 also performs a connection management operation (step S815).

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing details of the identification information and status confirmation shown in FIG. When the device control apparatus 102 requests the device identification information and status information (step S901) and receives them (step S901).
902) Information is added to or updated in the device table.
If there are still other connectable devices, this is repeated (step S904) and processing is performed for all devices within the communication range.

Incidentally, this specific method depends on each wireless interface standard.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing details of the connection management operation shown in FIG. When the connection management module 504 detects the communication disconnection (step S1001), it is regarded as the connection disconnection, and the connection disconnection is displayed on the LCD 406 (step S100).
2) and each program and task process,
Then, the process returns to step S802, and the device identification information and status confirmation operation is performed again.

If the communication disconnection is not detected, the identification information and the status are confirmed (step S1003). This corresponds to performing this operation periodically and polling and monitoring the device status within the communication range. If the device table is empty (step S1004) and there is no device to be connected, the LCD 406 indicates no connected device.
Is displayed (step S1005), and the process similarly returns to step S802 shown in FIG. 8 to perform device identification information and status confirmation operation.

When a device list display request is input by a user operation (step S1006), the device list and the status of the device are displayed based on the device table data (step S1007).
Connection operation and power operation for the device are possible while this list is displayed. When the device list is being displayed (step S1008), user input is detected (step S1009). If the user input is to erase the device list display (step S101)
0), erase the device list and status display on the LCD 406 (step S1011). If the device power is OFF (step S1012), a power OFF instruction is transmitted (step S1013). If it is a disconnection instruction (step S101)
4) Sending a disconnection instruction (step S)
1015). Further, if it is the connection probability instruction (step S1016), the connection probability instruction is transmitted (step S1017).

The above-described operation corresponds to the operation on the device 101 side, and performs coordinated power supply, connection, and device control.

In the present embodiment, the example in which the script is generated by the device 101 in the script mode is shown. However, the script is generated by the device control apparatus 102, transferred to the device 101, and then executed. May be.

Further, in the above description of the operation with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10, one operation algorithm has been described, but it may be divided into a plurality of task algorithms and may be configured to be executed in cooperation in inter-task communication. .

Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (eg, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), a device composed of one device (eg, copier, facsimile). Device).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium having a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to supply a computer (CPU or MP) of the system or apparatus.
It goes without saying that U) is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk,
Hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-
ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

Moreover, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code. It is needless to say that this also includes a case where the above) performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By implementing the user interface as a virtual panel in the device control device, the following effects can be obtained. (1) A user interface can be configured with an LCD display and a general-purpose input / output device, and it is not necessary to provide a unique user interface device for each device. (2) Appearance according to user preference and level,
It becomes possible to design in function (simple mode, high spec mode, etc.). (3) It is possible to flexibly change the user interface and improve the function with respect to the function change and the function increase of the main body. (4) It can be designed so that a plurality of different devices can be operated by the same scheme.

Further, by writing the virtual panel in a general-purpose language, it is possible to provide a device control apparatus having a high degree of freedom in the development environment and portability.

Further, the cost can be reduced by constructing the user interface with a general-purpose functional device.

Further, since it is possible to connect via the Internet, it becomes possible to control the device from a remote place via the popular Internet connecting means.

Further, the script processing function allows a series of operations to be instructed in a short time, and the device control apparatus can be used by another device during that time.

Further, when the connection is automatically established by the plug and play, the connection is established, so that the user's operation becomes unnecessary.

By providing the device control device with a memory media slot, the following effects can be obtained. (1) User operation becomes easy. (2) The degree of freedom in installing the main body can be improved.

By making it possible to identify and select a plurality of devices, the following effects can be obtained. (1) It becomes possible to select and control an arbitrary device within the reach of the wireless communication means. (2) It is possible to prevent unintended operation on the device.

By enabling the remote power ON / OFF, the following effects can be obtained. (1) User operation becomes easy. (2) The degree of freedom in installing the main body can be improved.

Also, the device status information is displayed,
By selecting the power ON / OFF control, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The device status can be monitored (especially from a remote place). (2) It is possible to prevent erroneous operation.

Further, since the device does not have the user interface device, it is possible to prevent an operation from a third party who does not have the device control device.

Further, since the device has an authentication mechanism,
It is possible to prevent operation by a third party who does not have authentication.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a device control system in the present embodiment.

2 is a schematic diagram showing a hardware structure of a device 101. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of software modules and the like of the device 101.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a hardware structure of a device control apparatus 102.

5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of software modules and the like of the device control apparatus 102. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device 101.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of normal operation processing of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the device control apparatus 102.

9 is a flowchart showing details of the identification information and status confirmation shown in FIG.

10 is a flowchart showing details of the connection management operation shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

101, 101 'device control device 103 LCD display 104 mice 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 204 wireless interface 205 Device control circuit 206 power supply control circuit 207 power supply 208 bus 301 Wireless interface hardware 302 wireless interface driver 303 Communication protocol stack 304 Connection management device identification information 305,306 Security management 307 HTTP stack 308 User Interface Server 309 user interface data 310 Command analysis 311 device control 312 Script generation / analysis 313 status 314 file system 315 power supply control 401 CPU 402 ROM 403 RAM 404 wireless interface 405 LCD control circuit 406 LCD 407 Input device control circuit 408 input device 409 Memory card control circuit 410 memory card 411 Power control circuit 412 power switch 413 power supply 501 wireless interface hardware 500 wireless interface driver 503 Communication protocol stack 504 Connection management 505 HTTP stack 506 browser 507 Local I / O manager 508 input device hardware 509 Input device driver 510 LCD controller hardware 511 LCD driver 512 LCD drawing library 513 Memory card control circuit hardware 514 memory card driver 515 power switch 516 Power control

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B014 GD31 GD41 HC03 HC05                 5B069 AA01 BA04 BB14 CA03 CA19                       JA02 LA05 NA09                 5K034 AA06 AA14 AA20 DD03 EE03                       FF11 LL02                 5K048 AA04 BA01 DA02 DB01 EB02                       EB07 FB10 FB15 GC06 HA01                       HA21

Claims (25)

[Claims] 1. A device control apparatus for controlling a device via wireless communication, comprising display means for receiving user interface data from the device via wireless communication and displaying a user interface screen, and the displayed user interface. A device control apparatus comprising: input means for inputting an instruction to control the device based on a screen; and control means for transmitting the input instruction to the device via the wireless communication to control the device. . 2. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays by a Web browser function. 3. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit converts the input instruction into a script, transmits the script to a device, and controls the device. 4. A connection is established when the device is confirmed, the connection is released when the device cannot be confirmed, and the wireless communication means is initialized,
The device control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising connection control means for reestablishing a connection when the device is confirmed again. 5. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a memory card slot, a memory card read unit, and a write unit, which wirelessly communicates data recorded in the memory card with a device. 6. A device for identifying identification information unique to a device, a connection with the identified device is established to start wireless communication, and a list of a plurality of identified devices is displayed on the display device for the user. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a selecting unit. 7. The device control apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising means for acquiring the status of the device, and displaying a list of the acquired statuses on the display means. 8. The status of the device includes a power status, and the power is turned on or off from the displayed list.
The device control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the F operation is selected to control power ON / OFF of the device. 9. The device control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device control apparatus is connected to the Internet via the wireless communication. 10. A device controlled by a device control device via wireless communication, comprising: a transmitting unit for transmitting user interface data of the device via wireless communication; and a device input on a screen based on the user interface data. A device comprising: receiving means for receiving instruction information for controlling the device from the device control device via wireless communication; and device control means for controlling the device based on the received instruction information. 11. A device control method for controlling a device by wireless communication, comprising: a display step of receiving user interface data from the device by wireless communication and displaying a user interface screen; and a display step based on the displayed user interface screen. A device control method comprising: an input step of inputting an instruction to control a device; and a control step of transmitting the input instruction to the device by the wireless communication to control the device. 12. The device control method according to claim 11, wherein the displaying step is performed by a Web browser function. 13. The device control method according to claim 11, wherein in the control step, the input instruction is converted into a script, transmitted to a device, and the device is controlled. 14. A connection is established when the device is confirmed, the connection is released when the device cannot be confirmed, wireless communication is initialized, and the connection is reestablished when the device is confirmed again. The device control method according to claim 11, further comprising a connection control step. 15. A step of identifying identification information unique to a device, a step of establishing a connection with the identified device and starting wireless communication, displaying a list of the identified devices, and allowing a user to select the device. The device control method according to claim 11, further comprising: 16. The device control method according to claim 15, further comprising a step of acquiring the status of the device, and displaying a list of the acquired statuses. 17. The status of the device includes a power status, and the power is turned on or off from the displayed list.
17. The device control method according to claim 16, wherein the FF operation is selected to control power ON / OFF of the device. 18. A program for a device control method for controlling a device by wireless communication, comprising a display module for receiving user interface data from the device by wireless communication and displaying a user interface screen, and a displayed user interface screen. A program for a device control method, comprising: an input module for inputting an instruction to control the device based on the above; and a control module for transmitting the input instruction to the device by the wireless communication to control the device. 19. The program of the device control method according to claim 18, wherein the display module is displayed by a Web browser function. 20. The program of the device control method according to claim 18, wherein the control module converts the input instruction into a script, transmits the script to the device, and controls the device. 21. A connection is established when the device is confirmed, the connection is released when the device cannot be confirmed, wireless communication is initialized, and the connection is reestablished when the device is confirmed again. The device control method program according to claim 18, further comprising a connection control module. 22. A module for identifying identification information unique to a device, a module for establishing a connection with the identified device and starting wireless communication, displaying a list of the identified devices, and allowing a user to select the device. 19. The device control method program according to claim 18, further comprising: 23. The device control method program according to claim 22, further comprising a module for acquiring the status of the device, and displaying a list of the acquired statuses. 24. The status of the device includes a power status, and the power is turned on or off from the displayed list.
24. The device control method program according to claim 23, wherein the FF operation is selected to control power ON / OFF of the device. 25. A computer-readable storage medium in which the program according to any one of claims 18 to 24 is stored.