WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE, PROGRAM, AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20120191780A1
• Filed: 01/13/2012
• Published: 07/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: SATO, Masanori, Itoh, Katsutoshi, Yamaura, Tomoya, Suzuki, Hideyuki
• Granted Patent: US 9,559,853 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

There is provided a wireless communication device including a wireless communication unit, a communication control unit configured to control a process of detecting a nearby wireless communication device by the wireless communication unit, a connection process to the nearby wireless communication device detected in the detection process, and communication of content data with the nearby wireless communication device connected in the connection process, and a storage unit that stores content data. The communication control unit, on the basis of information received from the nearby wireless communication device in the detection process, determines if one of the content data in the storage unit or content data in the nearby wireless communication device has been updated relative to the other, and controls the connection process performed when the update is determined.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device comprising:

a wireless communication unit;

a communication control unit configured to control a process of detecting a nearby wireless communication device by the wireless communication unit, a connection process to the nearby wireless communication device detected in the detection process, and communication of content data with the nearby wireless communication device connected in the connection process; and

a storage unit that stores content data, wherein

the communication control unit, on the basis of information received from the nearby wireless communication device in the detection process, determines if one of the content data in the storage unit or content data in the nearby wireless communication device has been updated relative to the other, and controls the connection process performed when the update is determined.

2. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the information received in the detection process is attribute information including an identifier and the last update time of the content data in the nearby wireless communication device.

3. The wireless communication device according to claim 2, further comprising a hash processing unit configured to hash attribute information of the content data stored in the storage unit, wherein

the attribute information received from the nearby wireless communication device in the detection process has been hashed, and

the communication control unit determines the presence or absence of an update by comparing the hashed attribute information received in the detection process with the attribute information hashed by the hash processing unit.

4. The wireless communication device according to claim 2, wherein the attribute information is communicated using an extension field of a Service_Discovery_Query in procedures of Service_Discovery defined in Wi-Fi Direct.

5. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the storage unit further stores history information indicating the last point in time when content data was communicated with the nearby wireless communication device, and

the communication control unit identifies the nearby wireless communication device from a device ID included in the information received in the detection process, and determines if the content data in the storage unit has been updated since the last point in time concerning the nearby wireless communication device indicated by the history information.

6. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless communication unit, when the communication control unit has determined the presence of an update, transmits to the nearby wireless communication device update notification information indicating the presence of the update, and

the communication control unit controls the connection process in accordance with a connection request transmitted from the nearby wireless communication device based on reception of the update notification information.

7. The wireless communication device according to claim 6, wherein the update notification information is communicated using an extension field of a Service_Discovery_Query in procedures of Service_Discovery defined in Wi-Fi Direct.

8. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless communication unit, when the communication control unit has determined the presence of an update, transmits a connection request to the nearby wireless communication device, and

the communication control unit controls the connection process started upon transmission of the connection request.

9. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein

the wireless communication unit operates as a master unit of a wireless network, and

the wireless communication unit, when the communication control unit has determined the presence of an update, requests the nearby wireless communication device to join the wireless network.

10. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit configured to, when the communication control unit has determined the presence of an update, notify the user of the update, wherein the communication control unit controls the connection process in accordance with a check operation of the user performed in response to the notification of the update.

11. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication control unit starts the detection process in accordance with an instruction of a user to start the detection process.

12. The wireless communication device according to claim 11, wherein the communication control unit starts the detection process at a timing specified by the user.

13. The wireless communication device according to claim 11, wherein the communication control unit starts the detection process at predetermined intervals.

14. A program for causing a computer to function as:

a wireless communication unit;

a communication control unit configured to control a process of detecting a nearby wireless communication device by the wireless communication unit, a connection process to the nearby wireless communication device detected in the detection process, and communication of content data with the nearby wireless communication device connected in the connection process; and

a storage unit that stores content data, wherein

the communication control unit, on the basis of information received from the nearby wireless communication device in the detection process, determines if one of the content data in the storage unit or content data in the nearby wireless communication device has been updated relative to the other, and controls the connection process performed when the update is determined.

15. A wireless communication system comprising:

a first wireless communication device; and

a second wireless communication device, the second wireless communication device including

a wireless communication unit,

a communication control unit configured to control a process of detecting the first wireless communication device by the wireless communication unit, a connection process to the first wireless communication device detected in the detection process, and communication of content data with the first wireless communication device connected in the connection process, and

a storage unit that stores content data, wherein

the communication control unit, on the basis of information received from the first wireless communication device in the detection process, determines if one of the content data in the storage unit or content data in the first wireless communication device has been updated relative to the other, and controls the connection process performed when the update is determined.

16. A wireless communication device comprising:

a wireless communication unit;

a communication control unit configured to control a process of detecting a nearby wireless communication device by the wireless communication unit, a connection process to the nearby wireless communication device detected in the detection process, and communication of content data with the nearby wireless communication device connected in the connection process; and

a storage unit that stores content data, wherein

the communication control unit, on the basis of information transmitted from the wireless communication unit to the nearby wireless communication device in the detection process, controls the connection process performed when one of the content data in the storage unit or content data in the nearby wireless communication device has been updated relative to the other.