Information Processing System, Information Processing Terminal, and File Management Method

• US 20070185626A1
• Filed: 01/26/2007
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kaneko, Yasuyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,869,907 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/2
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

There is provided an information processing system having a first terminal, a second terminal, and a wireless communication device which wirelessly connects the first terminal and the second terminal with each other for communication, where the first terminal and the second terminal respectively have a file system, the information processing system including a GUI providing unit that provides a display screen of the second terminal with a GUI of the file system, an operation reception unit that receives a user operation carried out on a GUI screen provided by the GUI providing unit, an operation determination unit that determines whether the user operation received by the operation reception unit is an operation relating to the first terminal or not, and an activation unit that, upon the operation determination unit determining that the user operation is an operation relating to the first terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the first terminal to the first terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect the first terminal and the second terminal with each other via the wireless communication device.

Claims

1. An information processing system including a first terminal, a second terminal, and a wireless communication device which wirelessly connects the first terminal and the second terminal with each other for communication, wherein the first terminal and the second terminal respectively have a file system, the information processing system comprising:

a GUI providing unit that provides a display screen of the second terminal with a GUI of the file system;

an operation reception unit that receives a user operation carried out on a GUI screen provided by said GUI providing unit;

an operation determination unit that determines whether the user operation received by said operation reception unit is an operation relating to the first terminal or not; and

an activation unit that, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation is an operation relating to the first terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the first terminal to the first terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect the first terminal and the second terminal with each other via the wireless communication device.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein said GUI providing unit displays an icon for the first terminal on the display screen such that whether the power supply of the first terminal is turned on or off can be identified.

3. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein said operation determination unit determines whether the user operation is an operation to move or copy a file to the first terminal or not, and said activation unit, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation is the operation to move or copy a file to the first terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the first terminal to the first terminal, and simultaneously carries out the process to wirelessly connect the first terminal and the second terminal with each other.

4. The information processing system according to claim 3 comprising a stopping unit that, upon the file having been moved or copied, or upon a predetermined timing subsequent thereto, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn off the power supply of the first terminal to the first terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to disconnect the wireless connection between the first terminal and the second terminal.

5. The information processing system according to claim 3, comprising:

a state determination unit that determines whether there is reached a state where the first terminal and the second terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other as a result of the process carried out by said activation unit;

a buffering unit that, upon said state determination unit determining that there is not reached the state where the first terminal and the second terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other, stores information on the user operation in a memory; and

a control unit that, upon said state determination unit determining that there is reached the state where the first terminal and the second terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other after said buffering unit stores the information on the user operation in the memory, moves or copies the file specified by the user operation to the first terminal according to the information on the user operation stored in the memory.

6. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second terminal includes an information storage unit that stores hierarchical structures of files managed by the file systems of the first terminal and the second terminal, and said GUI providing unit displays a file of the first terminal and a file of the second terminal as icons on the display screen of the second terminal based on the information on the hierarchical structures stored in said information storage unit.

7. An information processing system including a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal, a wireless communication device which wirelessly connects the first terminal, the second terminal, and the third terminal with each other for communication, wherein the first terminal, the second terminal, and the third terminal respectively have a file system, the information processing system comprising:

a GUI providing unit that provides a display screen of the second terminal with a GUI of the file system;

an operation reception unit that receives a user operation carried out on a GUI screen provided by said GUI providing unit;

an operation determination unit that determines whether a user operation received by said operation reception unit is an operation relating to at least either one of the first terminal and the third terminal or not; and

an activation unit that, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation is an operation relating to at least either one of the first terminal and the third terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the terminal to be operated to the terminal to be operated, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect the terminal to be operated and the second terminal with each other.

8. The information processing system according to claim 7, wherein the second terminal includes an information storage unit that stores hierarchical structures of files managed by the file systems of the first terminal and the third terminal, said GUI providing unit displays a file of the first terminal and a file of the third terminal as icons on the display screen of the second terminal based on the information on the hierarchical structures stored in said information storage unit, said activation unit, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation received by said operation reception unit is an operation to move or copy a file from the first terminal to the third terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the first terminal and the third terminal to the first terminal and the third terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect the first terminal, the second terminal, and the third terminal with each other, and after the file is moved or copied from the first terminal to the second terminal, the file is moved or copied from the second terminal to the third terminal.

9. The information processing system according to claim 8, comprising:

a first state determination unit that determines whether there is reached a state where the first terminal and the second terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other as a result of the process carried out by said activation unit;

a buffering unit that, upon said first state determination unit determining that there is not reached the state where the first terminal and the second terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other, stores information on the user operation in a memory; and

a control unit that, upon said first state determination unit determining that there is reached the state where the first terminal and the second terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other after said buffering unit stores the information on the user operation in the memory, moves or copies the file specified by the user operation from the first terminal to the second terminal according to the information on the user operation stored in the memory.

10. The information processing system according to claim 8, comprising:

a second state determination unit that determines whether there is reached a state where the second terminal and the third terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other as a result of the process carried out by said activation unit;

a buffering unit that, upon said second state determination unit determining that there is not reached the state where the second terminal and the third terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other, stores information on the user operation and the file acquired from the first terminal in a memory; and

a control unit that, upon said second state determination unit determining that there is reached the state where the second terminal and the third terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other after said buffering unit stores the information on the user operation and the file in the memory, copies or moves the file stored in the memory from the second terminal to the third terminal according to the information on the user operation stored in the memory.

11. The information processing system according to claim 7, wherein the second terminal includes an information storage unit that stores hierarchical structures of files managed by the file systems of the first terminal and the third terminal, said GUI providing unit displays a file of the first terminal and a file of the third terminal as icons on the display screen of the second terminal based on the information on the hierarchical structures stored in said information storage unit, said activation unit, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation received by said operation reception unit is an operation to move or copy a file from the first terminal to the third terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the first terminal and the third terminal to the first terminal and the third terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect the first terminal and the third terminal with each other, and the file is directly moved or copied from the first terminal to the third terminal.

12. The information processing system according to claim 7 comprising a stopping unit that, upon the file having been moved or copied, or upon a predetermined timing subsequent thereto, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn off the power supply of the terminal to be operated to the terminal to be operated, and simultaneously carries out a process to disconnect the wireless connection to the terminal to be operated.

13. An information processing terminal comprising:

a GUI providing unit that provides a display screen with a GUI of a file system;

an operation reception unit that receives a user operation carried out on a GUI screen provided by said GUI providing unit;

an operation determination unit that determines whether a user operation received by said operation reception unit is an operation relating to other terminal or not; and

an activation unit that, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation is an operation relating to other terminal, controls a wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the other terminal to the other terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect to the other terminal via the wireless communication device.

14. The information processing terminal according to claim 13, wherein said GUI providing unit displays an icon for the other terminal on the display screen such that whether the power supply of the other terminal is turned on or off can be identified.

15. The information processing terminal according to claim 13, wherein said operation determination unit determines whether the user operation is an operation to move or copy a file to the other terminal, and the activation unit, upon said operation determination unit determining that the user operation is the operation to move or copy a file to the other terminal, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the other terminal to the other terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to wirelessly connect to the other terminal via the wireless communication device.

16. The information processing terminal according to claim 15 comprising a stopping unit that, upon the file having been moved or copied, or upon a predetermined timing subsequent thereto, controls the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn off the power supply of the other terminal to the other terminal, and simultaneously carries out a process to disconnect the wireless connection to the other terminal.

17. The information processing terminal according to claim 15, comprising:

a state determination unit that determines whether there is reached a state where the other terminal can wirelessly communicate as a result of the process carried out by said activation unit;

a buffering unit that, upon said state determination unit determining that there is not reached the state where the other terminal can wirelessly communicate, stores information on the user operation in a memory; and

a control unit that, upon said state determination unit determining that there is reached the state where the other terminal can wirelessly communicate after said buffering unit stores the information on the user operation in the memory, moves or copies the file specified by the user operation to the other terminal according to the information on the user operation stored in the memory.

18. The information processing terminal according to claim 13 comprising an information storage unit that stores a hierarchical structure of files managed by the file system of the other terminal, wherein said GUI providing unit displays a file of the other terminal as an icon on the display screen based on the information on the hierarchical structure stored in said information storage unit.

19. A file management method for an information processing system including a vehicle onboard machine installed on a vehicle, an information processing terminal provided outside the vehicle, and a wireless communication device which wirelessly connects the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal with each other to wirelessly communicate a file wherein the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal respectively have a file system, the file management method comprising:

a first step of providing a display screen of the information processing terminal with a GUI of the file system;

a second step of receiving a user operation carried out on a GUI screen provided by said first step;

a third step of determining whether the user operation received by said second step is an operation to move or copy a file to the vehicle onboard machine;

a fourth step of, upon said third step determining that the user operation is the operation to move or copy a file to the vehicle onboard machine, controlling the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn on a power supply of the vehicle onboard machine to the vehicle onboard machine, and simultaneously carrying out a process to wirelessly connect the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal with each other via the wireless communication device;

a fifth step of determining whether there is reached a state where the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other via the wireless communication device as a result of the process carried out by said fourth step; and

a sixth step of, upon said fifth step determining that there is reached the state where the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other, moving or copying the file specified by the user operation to the vehicle onboard machine.

20. The file management method according to claim 19, comprising a seventh step of, upon the file having been moved or copied, or upon a predetermined timing subsequent thereto in said sixth step, controlling the wireless communication device to transmit an instruction to turn off the power supply of the vehicle onboard machine to the vehicle onboard machine, and simultaneously carrying out a process to disconnect the wireless connection between the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal.

21. The file management method according to claim 19, comprising:

an eight step of, upon said fifth step determining that there is not reached the state where the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other, storing information on the user operation in a memory;

a ninth step of again determining whether there is reached the state where the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other after said eighth step has stored the information on the user operation in the memory; and

a tenth step of, upon said ninth step determining that there is reached the state where the vehicle onboard machine and the information processing terminal can wirelessly communicate with each other, moving or copying the file specified by the user operation to the vehicle onboard machine according to the information on the user operation stored in the memory.