Electronic apparatus capable of executing wireless communication, and program applied to the apparatus

• US 7,546,147 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2004
• Issued: 06/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: 2BCom LLC (Markman Advisors LLC)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Jitsuishi, Yasuyo, Kusubashi, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Harper; Vincent P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Au; Gary
• Application Number:
  US10/937,479
• Publication Number:
  US 20050070335A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,734 Days
• Field of Search: 455/455, 455/456.3, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4535 using an address exchange platform which sets up a session between two nodes, e.g. rendezvous servers, session initiation protocols [SIP] registrars or H.323 gatekeepers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

Before issuing a device name acquisition request, a wireless communication control utility displays device addresses acquired by responses to a station discovery request, as a list of the addresses of connectable devices on an LCD, and presents the list to the user, who is then able to select a device. A user who recognizes the correspondence between device addresses and devices can quickly and easily select a device.

Claims

1. An electronic apparatus capable of executing wireless communication, comprising:

a communication unit configured to transmit a station discovery request to remote devices capable of data transmission by wireless communication and to receive one or more device addresses corresponding to one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request;

a display unit configured to display a list of the one or more device addresses corresponding to the one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request; and

a processing unit configured to receive a selection from a user of a desired remote connection partner from among the one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request, the selection being made based solely on the list of the one or more device addresses, and, if a user selection is received, the processing unit being further configured to cause the communication unit to transmit a connection request to the selected remote connection partner before transmitting a name acquisition request to the selected remote connection partner, wherein the communication unit is adapted to transmit a device name acquisition request to one or more of the responsive devices if no connection partner is selected based upon the device addresses.

2. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is adapted to display on the display unit a device name which corresponds to each displayed device address.

3. The electronic apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

an acquired-name management unit configured to store, display, and track changes to device names corresponding to received device addresses known from previous name acquisition operations.

4. The electronic apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a registered-name management unit configured to register names assigned by a user to devices having a communication function capable of responding to the station discovery request.

5. The electronic apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing unit further acquires the registered name, and lists and displays the registered name with its corresponding device address.

6. The electronic apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processing unit lists and displays rows of corresponding device data, wherein the corresponding device data comprises:

the addresses of the devices which respond to the station discovery request;

the device names acquired by the device name acquisition request;

the registered names acquired by the registered-name management unit; and

acquisition states of the device names and the registered names.

7. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication unit and the remote devices communicate via a short-range wireless communication standard.

8. The electronic apparatus of claim 7, wherein the short-range wireless communication standard comprises the Bluetooth standard.

9. A method for executing wireless communication, comprising:

transmitting a station discovery request to remote devices capable of data transmission by wireless communication;

receiving device addresses of the remote devices which respond to the station discovery request;

displaying a list of the one or more device addresses corresponding to the one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request;

receiving a selection from a user of a desired remote connection partner from among the one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request, the selection being made based solely on the list of the one or more device addresses;

transmitting, if a user selection is received, a connection request to the selected remote connection partner before transmitting a name acquisition request to the selected remote connection partner; and

transmitting a device name acquisition request to the devices which respond to the station discovery request after listing and displaying the list of device addresses if no remote connection partner is selected based upon the device addresses.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

listing and displaying a list of device names acquired by the device name acquisition request, wherein each device name is listed with its corresponding device address.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

storing, displaying, and tracking changes to device names corresponding to received device addresses known from previous name acquisition operations.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising registering names assigned by a user to devices having a communication function capable of responding to the station discovery request.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

acquiring the registered name; and

listing and displaying the registered name with its corresponding device address.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising listing and displaying rows of corresponding device data, wherein the corresponding device data comprises:

the addresses of the devices which respond to the station discovery request;

the device names acquired by the device name acquisition request;

the registered names acquired by the registered-name management unit; and

acquisition states of the device names and the registered names.

15. An electronic apparatus capable of executing wireless communication, comprising:

means for transmitting a station discovery request to remote devices capable of data transmission by wireless communication;

means for receiving a list of device addresses of the remote devices which respond to the station discovery request;

means for displaying a list of the one or more device addresses corresponding to the one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request;

means for receiving a selection from a user of a desired remote connection partner from among the one or more remote devices that respond to the station discovery request, the selection being made based solely on the list of the one or more device addresses;

means for transmitting, if a user selection is received, a connection request to the selected remote connection partner before transmitting a name acquisition request to the selected remote connection partner; and

means for transmitting a device name acquisition request to the devices which respond to the station discovery request after listing and displaying the list of device addresses if no remote connection partner is selected based upon the device addresses.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

means for listing and displaying a list of device names acquired by the device name acquisition request, wherein each device name is listed with its corresponding device address.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

means for storing, displaying, and tracking changes to device names corresponding to received device addresses known from previous name acquisition operations.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising means for registering names assigned by a user to devices having a communication function capable of responding to the station discovery request.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

means for acquiring the registered names; and

means for listing and means for displaying the registered names with corresponding device addresses.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising means for listing and means for displaying rows of corresponding device data, wherein the corresponding device data comprises:

the addresses of the devices which respond to the station discovery request;

the device names acquired by the device name acquisition request;

the registered names acquired by the registered-name management unit; and

acquisition states of the device names and the registered names.