Operation terminal communicating with an information processing apparatus using electric power of the information processing apparatus

• US 8,379,155 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2010
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Morioka, Yuichi, Takano, Hiroaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Natnael, Paulos M
• Application Number:
  US12/840,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20110025921A1
• Time in Patent Office: 944 Days
• Field of Search: 348/730, 348/552, 348/553, 348/725, 348/723, 348/724, 318/315, 318/312, 340/539.1, 340/12.5, 340/12.51, 340 1324- 1326, 340 101- 103
• US Class Current: 348/730
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42206 characterized by hardware details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4436 Power management, e.g. shutting down unused components of the receiver power management in computer systems G06F1/3203; hibernate or awake process in computer systems G06F9/4418
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/63 Generation or supply of power specially adapted for television receivers

Abstract

There is provided an information processing apparatus including a reception section for receiving a trigger packet, which is a packet smaller than a command packet including a command for designating processing to be executed by the information processing apparatus, from an operation terminal via a wireless signal, a trigger packet acquisition section for acquiring the trigger packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section, an electric power-supply packet generation section for generating an electric power-supply packet for supplying electric power, when the trigger packet is acquired by the trigger packet acquisition section, and a transmission section for transmitting the electric power-supply packet generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a reception section to receive a trigger packet, which is a packet smaller than a command packet including a command for designating processing to be executed by the information processing apparatus, from an operation terminal via a wireless signal;

a trigger packet acquisition section to acquire the trigger packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section;

an electric power-supply packet generation section to generate an electric power-supply packet for supplying electric power, when the trigger packet is acquired by the trigger packet acquisition section; and

a transmission section to transmit the electric power-supply packet generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a trigger packet reception-notification section to generate a trigger packet reception-notification packet for indicating that the trigger packet is received, when the trigger packet is acquired by the trigger packet acquisition section,

wherein the transmission section further transmits the trigger packet reception-notification packet generated by the trigger packet reception-notification section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the electric power-supply packet generation section sequentially generates a predetermined number of the electric power-supply packets, and

wherein the transmission section sequentially transmits the predetermined number of the electric power-supply packets generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an electric power-supply stop request packet-acquisition section,

wherein the reception section further receives an electric power-supply stop request packet for indicating that the transmission of the electric power-supply packet is to be stopped from the operation terminal via a wireless signal,

wherein the electric power-supply stop request packet-acquisition section acquires the electric power-supply stop request packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section,

wherein the electric power-supply packet generation section sequentially generates a plurality of the electric power-supply packets until the electric power-supply stop request packet is acquired by the electric power-supply stop request packet-acquisition section, and

wherein the transmission section sequentially transmits the plurality of the electric power-supply packets generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a command packet acquisition section, wherein the reception section further receives the command packet transmitted from the operation terminal by using electric power acquired from the electric power-supply packet,

wherein the command packet acquisition section acquires the command packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section,

wherein the electric power-supply packet generation section sequentially generates a plurality of the electric power-supply packets until the command packet is acquired by the command packet acquisition section, and

wherein the transmission section sequentially transmits the plurality of the electric power-supply packets generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a command packet acquisition section; and

a processing execution section,

wherein the reception section further receives the command packet transmitted from the operation terminal by using electric power acquired from the electric power-supply packet,

wherein the command packet acquisition section acquires the command packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section, and

wherein the processing execution section executes processing designated by a command included in the command packet acquired by the command packet acquisition section.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

an electric power-supply determination section to determine whether electric power-resupply request information for indicating retransmission of the electric power-supply packet is added to the command packet acquired by the command packet acquisition section,

wherein, when it is determined by the electric power-supply determination section that the electric power-resupply request information is added to the command packet, the electric power-supply packet generation section re-generates the electric power-supply packet, and

wherein the transmission section retransmits the electric power-supply packet generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

a storage section; and

an electric power-supply determination section to determine whether electric power-resupply request information for indicating retransmission of the electric power-supply packet is added to the command packet acquired by the command packet acquisition section,

wherein, when it is determined by the electric power-supply determination section that the electric power-resupply request information is added to the command packet, the electric power-supply packet generation section re-generates the electric power-supply packet,

wherein the transmission section retransmits the electric power-supply packet generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal, and

wherein, when it is determined by the electric power-supply determination section that the electric power-resupply request information is added to the command packet, the processing execution section causes the command included in the command packet acquired by the command packet acquisition section to be stored into the storage section, and when it is determined by the electric power-supply determination section that the electric power-resupply request information is not added to the command packet, the processing execution section obtains a combined command by combining an Nth command, wherein N represents an integer of 2 or more, included in the command packet acquired by the command packet acquisition section with a first command to an N−

1th command stored in the storage section and executes processing designated by the obtained combined command.

9. An operation terminal comprising:

an input section to accept input of operation information including a command for designating processing that an information processing apparatus is caused to execute;

a command acquisition section to acquire the command from the operation information the input of which is accepted by the input section;

a trigger packet generation section to generate, when the command is acquired by the command acquisition section, a trigger packet which is a packet smaller than the command packet including the command; and

a transmission section to transmit the trigger packet generated by the trigger packet generation section to the information processing apparatus via a wireless signal.

10. The operation terminal according to claim 9, further comprising:

a reception section to receive a trigger packet reception-notification packet for indicating that the trigger packet is received via a wireless signal, from the information processing apparatus which received the trigger packet via a wireless signal; and

a trigger packet transmission result acquisition section to acquire the trigger packet reception-notification packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section,

wherein the trigger packet generation section sequentially generates a plurality of the trigger packets until the trigger packet reception-notification packet is acquired by the trigger packet transmission result acquisition section, and

wherein the transmission section sequentially transmits the plurality of the trigger packets generated by the trigger packet generation section to the information processing apparatus via a wireless signal.

11. The operation terminal according to claim 9, further comprising:

an electric power-supply packet acquisition section to acquire an electric power-supply packet for supplying electric power from the information processing apparatus which received the trigger packet via a wireless signal;

a capacitor section to acquire electric power from the electric power-supply packet acquired by the electric power-supply packet acquisition section and accumulating the electric power;

an electric power-supply control section to supply the electric power accumulated by the capacitor section to the transmission section; and

a command packet generation section to generate a command packet,

wherein the transmission section further transmits the command packet generated by the command packet generation section by using the electric power supplied from the electric power-supply control section.

12. The operation terminal according to claim 11, further comprising:

a monitor section for monitoring the electric power accumulated in the capacitor section; and

an electric power-supply stop request packet-generation section to generate, when it is determined by the monitor section that the electric power exceeds a predetermined value, an electric power-supply stop request packet for indicating that the transmission of the electric power-supply packet is to be stopped,

wherein the transmission section further transmits the electric power-supply stop request packet generated by the electric power-supply stop request packet-generation section to the information processing apparatus.

13. The operation terminal according to claim 11, wherein, when a plurality of commands are acquired by the command acquisition section and the command packet generation section refers to the plurality of the commands as a first command to an Nth command, wherein N represents an integer of 2 or more, sequentially from the beginning, the command packet generation section adds electric power-resupply request information for indicating retransmission of the electric power-supply packet to the first command to the N−

1th command and refers to the first command to the N−

1th command added with the electric power-resupply request information as a first command packet to an N−

1th command packet, and the command packet generation section does not add the electric power-resupply request information to the Nth command and refers to the Nth command not added with the electric power-resupply request information as an Nth command packet, and

wherein the transmission section sequentially transmits the first command packet to the Nth command packet which are generated by the command packet generation section to the information processing apparatus.

14. The operation terminal according to claim 11,

wherein, when the command packet generation section divides the command into a plurality of commands and refers to the plurality of commands acquired by the division as a first command to an Nth command, wherein N represents an integer of 2 or more, sequentially from the beginning, the command packet generation section adds electric power-resupply request information for indicating retransmission of the electric power-supply packet to the first command to an N−

1th command and refers to the first command to the N−

1th command added with the electric power-resupply request information as a first command packet to an N−

1th command packet, and the command packet generation section does not add the electric power-resupply request information to the Nth command and refers to the Nth command not added with the electric power-resupply request information as an Nth command packet, and

wherein the transmission section sequentially transmits the first command packet to the Nth command packet which are generated by the command packet generation section to the information processing apparatus.

15. The operation terminal according to claim 9, wherein the transmission section transmits the trigger packet to the information processing apparatus via a wireless signal by using at least one of:

electric power acquired from an electric power-supply packet that is transmitted from the information processing apparatus at every predetermined time period,

electric power acquired from a piezoelectric element generated by holding down a button provided to the operation terminal,

electric power acquired by electromagnetic induction,

and electric power acquired from a solar battery.

16. An information processing system comprising an information processing apparatus and an operation terminal,

wherein the operation terminal has

an input section to accept input of operation information including a command for designating processing that the information processing apparatus is caused to execute,

a command acquisition section to acquire the command from the operation information the input of which is accepted by the input section,

a trigger packet generation section to generate, when the command is acquired by the command acquisition section, a trigger packet which is a packet smaller than the command packet including the command, and

a transmission section to transmit the trigger packet generated by the trigger packet generation section to the information processing apparatus via a wireless signal, and

wherein the information processing apparatus has

a reception section to receive the trigger packet from the operation terminal via a wireless signal,

a trigger packet acquisition section to acquire the trigger packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section,

an electric power-supply packet generation section to generate an electric power-supply packet for supplying electric power, when the trigger packet is acquired by the trigger packet acquisition section, and

a transmission section for transmitting to transmit the electric power-supply packet generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal.

17. An information processing method performed by an information processing system which includes an information processing apparatus having a reception section, a trigger packet acquisition section, an electric power-supply packet generation section, and a transmission section, and an operation terminal having an input section, a command acquisition section, a trigger packet generation section, and a transmission section,

the information processing method comprising the acts executed by the operation terminal of:

accepting input of operation information including a command for designating processing that the information processing apparatus is caused to execute, which is performed by the input section;

acquiring the command from the operation information the input of which is accepted by the input section, which is performed by the command acquisition section;

generating, when the command is acquired by the command acquisition section, a trigger packet which is a packet smaller than the command packet including the command, which is performed by the trigger packet generation section; and

transmitting the trigger packet generated by the trigger packet generation section to the information processing apparatus via a wireless signal, which is performed by the transmission section, and

the information processing method further comprising the acts executed by the information processing apparatus of;

receiving the trigger packet from the operation terminal via a wireless signal, which is performed by the reception section;

acquiring the trigger packet from the wireless signal received by the reception section, which is performed by the trigger packet acquisition section;

generating an electric power-supply packet for supplying electric power, when the trigger packet is acquired by the trigger packet acquisition section, which is performed by the electric power-supply packet generation section; and

transmitting the electric power-supply packet generated by the electric power-supply packet generation section to the operation terminal via a wireless signal, which is performed by the transmission section.