Information processing apparatus, method thereof, network system, record medium, and program

• US 7,103,660 B2
• Filed: 02/23/2001
• Issued: 09/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Ikuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Geckil, Mehmet B.
• Application Number:
  US09/792,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20010051930A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,020 Days
• Field of Search: 709/225, 709/226, 709/229, 713/200, 713/201, 713/202
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2805 Home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43632 involving a wired protocol, e.g. IEEE 1394 high-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus H04L12/40052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems

Abstract

An information processing apparatus for controlling an electronic device connected on a network which includes a device attribute information obtaining part for obtaining device attribute information about the electronic device from the electronic device through the network, an operation range assigning part for assigning the operation range of each user for the electronic device corresponding to the device attribute information obtained by the device attribute information obtaining part and storing the assigned operation range, and a controlling part for controlling the electronic device through the network in the operation range that has been assigned by the operation range assigning part.

Claims

1. A network system for mutually connecting a first electronic device and a second electronic device through a network,

wherein the first electronic device comprises:

a device attribute information obtaining part for obtaining device attribute information about the second electronic device therefrom through the network;

an operation range assigning part for assigning an operation range of each user of the second electronic device corresponding to the device attribute information obtained by the device attribute information obtaining part and storing the assigned operation range; and

a controlling part for controlling the second electronic device through the network in the operation range assigned by the operation range assigning part, and

wherein the second electronic device comprises;

a device attribute information storing part for storing device attribute 10 information about the second electronic device; and

a device attribute information transmitting part for transmitting the device attribute information stored in the device attribute information storing part to the first electronic device through the network corresponding to a request of the first electronic device.

2. A network system for mutually connecting a first electronic device and a second electronic device through a network, wherein the first electronic device comprises:

a device attribute information obtaining part for obtaining device attribute information about the second electronic device therefrom through the network;

an operation range assigning part for assigning an operation range of each user of the second electronic device corresponding to the device attribute information obtained by the device attribute information obtaining part and storing the assigned operation range; and

a transferring part for transferring the operation range of each user stored by the operation range assigning part to the second electronic device through the network, and

wherein the second electronic device comprises;

a device attribute information storing part for storing device attribute information about the second electronic device;

a device attribute information transmitting part for transmitting the device attribute information stored in the device attribute information storing part to the first electronic device through the network corresponding to a request of the first electronic device; and

an operation range obtaining part for obtaining the operation range of each user from the first electronic device through the network.

3. An information processing apparatus for controlling an electronic device connected on a network, comprising:

a device attribute information obtaining part for obtaining device attribute information about the electronic device from the electronic device through the network;

an operation range assigning part for assigning an operation range of each user for the electronic device corresponding to the device attribute information obtained by the device attribute information obtaining part and storing the assigned operation range;

a controlling part for controlling the electronic device through the network in the operation range that has been assigned by the operation range assigning part;

a user name inputting part for inputting a user name of a user who uses the electronic device;

an authenticating part for authenticating the user name that has been input by the user name inputting part; and

an owner determining part for determining whether or not the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is an owner registered by an owner registering part;

wherein, when the determined result of the owner determining part represents that the user name is not the owner registered by the owner registering part, the operation range assigning part does not permit the user to assign the operation range of each user.

4. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

a control information obtaining part for obtaining control information for controlling the electronic device from the electronic device through the network;

wherein the controlling part controls the electronic device corresponding to the control information obtained by the control information obtaining part.

5. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

a control information storing part for prestoring control information for controlling the electronic device;

wherein the controlling part controls the electronic device corresponding to the control information pre-stored in the control information storing part.

6. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the owner registering part is operable to register the user as the owner who is capable of using the entire operation range of the electronic device, and

wherein the operation range assigning part assigns the operation range of each user for the electronic device corresponding to a command issued by the owner registered by the owner registering part.

7. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

a guest registering part for permitting a particular user as a guest to use at least part of the operation range of the electronic device; and

an anonymous registering part for permitting an anonymous user to use at least part of the operation range of the electronic device.

8. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising:

a guest determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the guest registered by the guest registering part; and

wherein, when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is the guest registered by the guest registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the guest.

9. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:

an anonymous determining part for determining whether the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is not the guest registered by the guest registering part;

wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the anonymous user.

10. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 9,

wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has not been registered by the anonymous registering part, the controlling part does not control the electronic device.

11. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

a user registering part for registering user information about the user who uses the electronic device;

a user information inputting part for inputting the user information about the user who uses the electronic device; and

an authenticating part for authenticating whether the user information that has been input by the user information inputting part has been registered by the user registering part;

wherein, when the user information has been authenticated by the authenticating part, the controlling part reads the operation range corresponding to the user information from the operation range assigning part and controls the electronic device in the operation range.

12. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein, when the user information has not been authenticated by the authenticating part, the controlling part does not control the electronic device.

13. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:

a display controlling part for controlling a display of the operation range of each user stored by the operation range assigning part.

14. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3,

wherein the device attribute information includes one of a device ID of the electronic device, a type of the electronic device, and information about a function of the electronic device.

15. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3,

wherein the network includes an IEEE 1394 serial bus.

16. An information processing apparatus for controlling an electronic device connected on a network, comprising:

a device attribute information obtaining part for obtaining device attribute information about the electronic device from the electronic device through the network;

an operation range assigning part for assigning an operation range of each user for the electronic device corresponding to the device attribute information obtained by the device attribute information obtaining part and storing the assigned operation range;

a transferring part for transferring the operation range of each user stored by the operation range assigning part to the electronic device through the network;

a guest registering part for permitting a particular user as a guest to use at least part of the operation range of the electronic device;

an anonymous registering part for permitting an anonymous user to use at least part of the operation range of the electronic device;

a user name inputting part for inputting a user name of each user who uses the electronic device;

an authenticating part for authenticating the user name that has been input by the user name inputting part;

a guest determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the guest registered by the guest registering part, wherein, when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is the guest registered by the guest registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the guest; and

an anonymous determining part for determining whether the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is not the guest registered by the guest registering part wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the anonymous user,

and wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has not been registered by the anonymous registering part, the information processing apparatus does not control the electronic device.

18. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:

a control information storing part for prestoring control information for controlling the electronic device;

wherein the information processing apparatus controls the electronic device corresponding to the control information pre-stored in the control information storing part.

19. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:

an owner registering part for registering the user as the owner who is capable of using all of the operation range of the electronic device;

wherein the operation range assigning part assigns the operation range of each user for the electronic device corresponding to a command issued by the owner registered by the owner registering part.

20. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 19, further comprising:

an owner determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the owner registered by the owner registering part.

21. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 20,

wherein, when the determined result of the owner determining part represents that the user name is not the owner registered by the owner registering part, the operation range assigning part does not permit the user to assign the operation range of each user.

22. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:

a user registering part for registering user information about the user who uses the electronic device;

a user information inputting part for inputting the user information about the user who uses the electronic device; and

an authenticating part for authenticating whether the user information that has been input by the user information inputting part has been registered by the user registering part;

wherein, when the user information has been authenticated by the authenticating part, the information processing apparatus reads the operation range corresponding to the user information from the operation range assigning part and controls the electronic device in the operation range.

23. The information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 22,

wherein, when the user information has not been authenticated by the authenticating part, the information processing apparatus does not control the electronic device.

24. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:

a display controlling part for controlling a display of the operation range of each user stored by the operation range assigning part.

25. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16,

wherein the device attribute information includes one of a device ID of the electronic device, a type of the electronic device, and information about a function of the electronic device.

26. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 16,

wherein the network includes an IEEE 1394 serial bus.

17. An information processing apparatus as claimed in 16, further comprising:

a control information obtaining part for obtaining control information for controlling the electronic device from the electronic device through the network;

wherein the information processing apparatus controls the electronic device corresponding to the control information obtained by the control information obtaining part.

27. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

an operation range assigning part for assigning an operation range of each user;

a controlling part for controlling the information processing apparatus in the operation range assigned by the operation range assigning part;

a guest registering part for permitting a particular user as a guest to use all or part of the operation range of the information processing apparatus;

an anonymous registering part for permitting an anonymous user to use all or part of the operation range of the information processing apparatus;

a user name inputting part for inputting a user name of the user who uses the information processing apparatus;

an authenticating part for authenticating the user name that has been input by the user name inputting part;

a guest determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the guest registered by the guest registering part, wherein when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is the guest registered by the guest registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the guest; and

an anonymous determining part for determining whether the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is not the guest registered by the guest registering part, wherein when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the anonymous user;

wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has not been registered by the anonymous registering part, the controlling part does not control the information processing apparatus.

28. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 27, further comprising:

an owner registering part for registering the user as an owner who is capable of using all of the operation range of the information processing apparatus;

wherein the operation range assigning part assigns the operation range of each user for the information processing apparatus corresponding to a command issued by the owner registered by the owner registering part.

29. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 28 further comprising:

a user name inputting part for inputting a user name of a particular user who uses the information processing apparatus;

an authenticating part for authenticating the user name that has been input by the user name inputting part;

an owner determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the owner registered by the owner registering part.

30. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 29,

wherein, when the determined result of the owner determining part represents that the user name is not the owner registered by the owner registering part, the operation range assigning part does not permit the user to assign the operation range of each user.

31. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 27, further comprising:

a user registering part for registering user information about the user who uses the information processing apparatus;

a user information inputting part for inputting the user information about the user who uses the information processing apparatus; and

an authenticating part for authenticating whether the user information that has been input by the user information inputting part has been registered by the user registering part;

wherein, when the user information has been authenticated by the authenticating part, the controlling part reads the operation range corresponding to the user information from the operation range assigning part and controls the information processing apparatus in the operation range.

32. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 31,

wherein, when the user information has not been authenticated by the authenticating part, the controlling part does not control the information processing apparatus.

33. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 27, further comprising:

a display controlling part for controlling a display of the operation range of each user stored by the operation range assigning part.

34. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 27,

an operation range assigning part for assigning an operation range of each user;

a controlling part for controlling the information processing apparatus in the operation range assigned by the operation range assigning part;

a user registering part for registering user information about a user who uses the information processing apparatus;

a user information inputting part for inputting the user information about the user who uses the information processing apparatus; and

an authenticating part for authenticating whether the user information that has been input by the user information inputting part has been registered by the user registering part;

wherein, when the user information has been authenticated by the authenticating part, the controlling part reads the operation range corresponding to the user information from the operation range assigning part and controls the information processing apparatus in the operation range;

wherein, when the user information has not been authenticated by the authenticating part, the controlling part does not control the information processing apparatus.

35. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 34, further comprising:

an owner registering part for registering the user as an owner who is capable of using all of the operation range of the information processing apparatus;

wherein the operation range assigning part assigns the operation range of each user for the information processing apparatus corresponding to a command issued by the owner registered by the owner registering part.

36. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 35 further comprising:

a user name inputting part for inputting a user name of a user who uses the information processing apparatus;

an authenticating part for authenticating the user name that has been input by the user name inputting part; and

an owner determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the owner registered by the owner registering part.

37. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 36,

wherein, when the determined result of the owner determining part represents that the user name is not the owner registered by the owner registering part, the operation range assigning part does not permit the user to assign the operation range of each user.

38. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 34, further comprising:

a guest registering part for permitting a particular user as a guest to use all or part of the operation range of the information processing apparatus; and

an anonymous registering part for permitting an anonymous user to use all or part of the operation range of the information processing apparatus.

39. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 38, further comprising:

a user name inputting part for inputting a user name of the user who uses information processing apparatus;

an user name authenticating part for authenticating the user name that has been input by the user name inputting part; and

a guest determining part for determining whether the user name authenticated by the authenticating part is the guest registered by the guest registering part;

wherein, when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is the guest registered by the guest registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the guest.

40. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 39, further comprising:

an anonymous determining part for determining whether the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part when the determined result of the guest determining part represents that the user name is not the guest registered by the guest registering part;

wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has been registered by the anonymous registering part, the operation range assigning part assigns at least part of the operation range to the anonymous user.

41. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 40,

wherein, when the determined result of the anonymous determining part represents that the anonymous user has not been registered by the anonymous registering part, the controlling part does not control the information processing apparatus.

42. An information processing apparatus as claimed in claim 34, further comprising:

a display controlling part for controlling a display of the operation range of each user stored by the operation range assigning part.