Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication system, wireless communication method, X-ray sensor, and program storage medium

• US 9,264,841 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2011
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Nonaka, Hideki
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Wesley
• Assistant Examiner(s): TALUKDER, MD K
• Application Number:
  US13/207,238
• Publication Number:
  US 20120045991A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,651 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/525, 378/19, 378/98.8, 378/116
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4494 Means for identifying the diagnostic device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

A wireless communication apparatus includes an X-ray sensor that transmits X-ray image data, a wireless access point that receives the X-ray image data from the X-ray sensor by wireless communication, and an entry apparatus that communicates with the X-ray sensor by short-range communication. A wireless setting apparatus sets wireless communication parameters for starting the wireless communication between the X-ray sensor and the wireless access point to the wireless access point and sets the same wireless communication parameters as those set to the wireless access point to the X-ray sensor by performing short-range wireless communication from the entry device.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus used in an X-ray imaging system including an X-ray sensor and a wireless access point containing a region code and configured to perform RF wave wireless communication, the communication apparatus comprising:

a setting unit configured to acquire a region code, which is corresponding to the region code contained in the access point, and to set wireless communication parameters to within a range of a channel corresponding to the region code;

a transmitter configured to transmit the wireless communication parameters to the X-ray sensor by another communication different from the RF wave wireless communication; and

a receiver configured to receive the image data from the X-ray sensor through the wireless access point,

wherein the X-ray sensor is configured to transmit the image data to the wireless access point by the RF wave wireless communication based on the set wireless communication parameters.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication parameters set by the setting unit include a service set identifier (SSID), an encryption key, and channel information.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter uses, as the another communication, one of Infrared Data Association, Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification, and TransferJet to transmit the wireless communication parameters to the X-ray sensor.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter performs short-range wireless communication with the X-ray sensor, and the setting unit sets the wireless communication parameters in response to reception of a signal of the short-range wireless communication from the X-ray sensor.

12. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the setting unit is configured to acquire a region code which is the same as the region code contained in the access point.

16. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the setting unit is configured to acquire the region code from the wireless access point.

5. An X-ray sensor capable of receiving wireless communication parameters from an entry apparatus and of transmitting image data by RF wave wireless communication via an access point, the X-ray sensor comprising:

a generation unit configured to generate an X-ray strength distribution as digital X-ray image data;

a communication unit configured to communicate with the entry apparatus by using another communication different from the RF wave wireless communication to acquire the wireless communication parameters in which a region code contained in the access point is included; and

a RF wave communication unit configured to transmit the digital X-ray image data with the access point by the RF wave wireless communication using the wireless communication parameters.

6. The X-ray sensor according to claim 5, wherein the X-ray sensor does not perform the wireless communication by the RF wave communication unit until the wireless communication parameters reflecting the region code is set within the X-ray sensor.

17. The X-ray sensor according to claim 5, wherein the communication unit uses, as the another communication, one of Infrared Data Association, Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification, and TransferJet to acquire the wireless communication parameters from the entry apparatus.

7. A wireless communication system, comprising:

an access point storing a region code;

an X-ray sensor configured to generate digital X-ray image data;

a wireless setting apparatus configured to acquire a region code which is corresponding to the region code stored in the access point and to set wireless communication parameters to within a range of a channel corresponding to the region code;

an entry apparatus configured to transmit the wireless communication parameters to the X-ray sensor by another communication different from the RF wave wireless communication,

wherein the X-ray sensor wirelessly transmits the digital X-ray image data to the access point by RF wave wireless communication within the set wireless communication parameters.

8. The wireless communication system according to claim 7, further comprising an X-ray generation apparatus configured to illuminate the X-ray sensor with X-rays.

13. The wireless communication system of claim 7, wherein

the wireless setting apparatus is configured to acquire a region code which is same as the region code contained in the access point.

9. A communication method for a wireless communication system including an X-ray sensor capable of transmitting digital X-ray image data by wireless communication and an access point capable of receiving the digital X-ray image data by the wireless communication, the wireless communication method comprising:

acquiring a region code contained in the access point;

setting wireless communication parameters to within a range of a channel corresponding to the region code;

transmitting the wireless communication parameters to the X-ray sensor by another communication different from the RF wave wireless communication; and

wirelessly transmitting the digital X-ray image data from the X-ray sensor to the access point by RF wave wireless communication within the set wireless communication parameters.

14. The communication method of claim 9,

wherein the acquiring includes acquiring a region code which is the same as the region code contained in the access point.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer-readable program to control a wireless communication system including an X-ray sensor capable of transmitting digital X-ray image data by wireless communication and an access point capable of receiving the digital X-ray image data by the wireless communication, the program causing a computer to:

acquire a region code contained in the access point;

set wireless communication parameters to within a range of a channel corresponding to the region code;

transmit the wireless communication parameters to the X-ray sensor by using another communication different from the RF wave wireless communication; and

wirelessly transmit the digital X-ray image data from the X-ray sensor to the access point by RF wave wireless communication within the set wireless communication parameters.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10,

wherein the program causes the computer to acquire a region code which is the same as the region code contained in the access point.

11. An X-ray sensor, comprising:

a generation unit configured to generate an X-ray strength distribution as digital X-ray image data;

a communication unit configured to communicate with an entry apparatus by another communication different from the RF wave wireless communication to acquire wireless communication parameters in which a region code contained in an access point is included; and

a RF wave communication unit configured to transmit the digital X-ray image data to the access point by RF wave wireless communication using the wireless communication parameters.