U.S. patent application number 11/521311 was filed with the patent office on 2007-01-11 for communication terminal and communication system.
Invention is credited to Yukihiro Kawada, Hiroshi Tanaka, Masahiro Terada.
Application Number | 20070010244 11/521311 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18862821 |
Filed Date | 2007-01-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070010244 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tanaka; Hiroshi ; et
al. |
January 11, 2007 |
Communication terminal and communication system
Abstract
The communication terminal and a communication system is capable
of eliminating necessity of complicated setting inputs related to
communication in a communication terminal in performing dial-up
connection to a communication apparatus on a network from the
communication terminal. Since the communication terminal and the
communication system are provided with a receiving device which
receives connection information such as a dial-up telephone number,
attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway information
and a DNS that is required for making communication connection to a
photograph sharing service on the Internet from a cellular phone
and a transmitting and receiving device (transmitting and receiving
device) which sends and receives information such as an image to
and from the photograph sharing service based on the connection
information received from the cellular phone, it becomes possible
to eliminate necessity of complicated setting inputs related to
communication in an electronic camera in performing dial-up
connection to the Internet from the electronic camera.
Inventors: |
Tanaka; Hiroshi; (Asaka-shi,
JP) ; Terada; Masahiro; (Asaka-shi, JP) ;
Kawada; Yukihiro; (Asaka-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BIRCH STEWART KOLASCH & BIRCH
PO BOX 747
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22040-0747
US
|
Family ID: |
18862821 |
Appl. No.: |
11/521311 |
Filed: |
September 15, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10020240 |
Dec 18, 2001 |
|
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11521311 |
Sep 15, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/425 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/00307 20130101;
H04M 1/275 20130101; H04N 1/00281 20130101; H04N 1/00244 20130101;
H04M 1/72412 20210101; H04M 1/2747 20200101; H04N 1/00132 20130101;
H04N 2201/0039 20130101; H04M 1/27453 20200101; H04N 1/00127
20130101; H04M 1/2757 20200101; H04N 1/00148 20130101; H04M 1/72445
20210101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/425 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 7/20 20060101
H04Q007/20 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 27, 2000 |
JP |
2000-397729 |
Claims
1. A communication terminal which is capable of sending and
receiving information to and from a communication apparatus on a
network via a cellular phone, the communication terminal
comprising: a receiving device which receives connection
information for making communication connection to the
communication apparatus on the network from the cellular phone; and
a transmitting and receiving device which sends and receives
information to and from the communication apparatus on the network
based on the connection information received from the cellular
phone, wherein said communication terminal is separate from the
cellular phone and is locally positioned relative to the cellular
phone when receiving the connection information.
2. The communication terminal according to claim 1, further
comprising a displaying device which shows the user the connection
information received from the cellular phone.
3. The communication terminal according to claim 1, further
comprising: a recording device which records a batch file in which
a file name to be sent or received or a content of a service is
written in advance, wherein the transmitting and receiving device
reads out the batch file related to the communication apparatus on
the network to and from which information is sent or received and
sends the batch file to the communication apparatus on the
network.
4. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the
connection information includes at least one of a dial-up telephone
number, attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway
information and a DNS.
5. The communication terminal according to claim 1, further
comprising: an inputting device with which a user designates the
communication apparatus on the network based on the connection
information received from the cellular phone, wherein the
transmitting and receiving device sends and receives information to
and from the designated communication apparatus on the network
based on the connection information received from the cellular
phone.
6. The communication terminal according to claim 5, further
comprising a displaying device which shows the user the connection
information received from the cellular phone.
7. A communication terminal which is capable of sending and
receiving information to and from a communication apparatus on a
network via a cellular phone, the communication terminal
comprising: a receiving device which receives a menu of
destinations of communication for making communication connection
to the communication apparatus on the network; an inputting device
which sets the communication apparatus on the network based on the
menu received from the cellular phone; and a transmitting and
receiving device which sends information of the designated
communication apparatus on the network to the cellular phone,
causes the cellular phone to send connection information to the
communication apparatus on the network and thereafter connects
communication with the designated communication apparatus on the
network to send and receive information, wherein said communication
terminal is separate from the cellular phone and is locally
positioned relative to the cellular phone when receiving the menu
of destinations.
8. The communication terminal according to claim 7, further
comprising: a recording device which records a batch file in which
a file name to be sent or received or a content of a service is
written in advance, wherein the transmitting and receiving device
reads out the batch file related to the communication apparatus on
the network to and from which information is sent or received and
sends the batch file to the communication apparatus on the
network.
9. The communication terminal according to claim 7, wherein the
connection information includes at least one of a dial-up telephone
number, attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway
information and a DNS.
10. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein said
communication terminal is a digital camera unit.
11. The communication terminal according to claim 10, wherein said
digital camera further comprises: a display for displaying
connection information received from the cellular phone, wherein
the user selects a destination for a digital photographic image
based on the displayed connection information.
12. The communication terminal according to claim 10, wherein said
digital camera further comprises: a mode switching element, which
switches between a photographing mode for generating a digital
image, and a communication mode for communicating a digital image
to a destination based on connection information received from the
cellular phone.
13. The communication terminal according to claim 7, wherein said
communication terminal is a digital camera unit.
14. The communication terminal according to claim 13, wherein said
digital camera further comprises: a display for displaying a menu
of destinations received from the cellular phone, wherein the user
selects a destination for a digital photographic image based on the
displayed menu of destinations.
15. The communication terminal according to claim 13, wherein said
digital camera further comprises: a mode switching element, which
switches between a photographing mode for generating a digital
image, and a communication mode for communicating a digital image
to a destination based on the menu of destinations received from
the cellular phone.
Description
[0001] This application is a Divisional of co-pending application
Ser. No. 10/020,240 filed on Dec. 18, 2001 and for which priority
is claimed under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 120. This application claims
priority of Japanese Application No. 2000-397729 filed Dec. 27,
2000 under 35 U.S.C .sctn. 119, the entire contents of which are
hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a communication terminal
and a communication system and, in particular, to a communication
terminal and a communication system that are capable of sending and
receiving information such as an image to and from a communication
apparatus on a network via a cellular phone.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-341302
discloses an electronic image pick-up apparatus for picking up an
image of a subject, which outputs control information for
controlling a portable terminal communicating with a communication
apparatus wirelessly based on a predetermined operation applied to
the electronic image pick-up apparatus.
[0006] However, with this electronic image pick-up apparatus, the
electronic image pick-up apparatus functions as a main user
interface to control a cellular phone. In addition, although the
electronic image pick-up apparatus is capable of storing telephone
numbers, if necessary, it causes a lot of futility in terms of
system configuration to manage telephone numbers in the electronic
image pick-up apparatus whose main function is not wireless
communication. Further, in order to make connection to the Internet
or the like and send and receive information, setting of TCP/IP or
the like and setting for dial-up connection must be carried out.
Thus, there has been caused inconvenience in that it is difficult
and complicated to input the information and carry out the settings
via an inputting device and a displaying device for confirmation of
the electronic image pick-up apparatus that is generally not
provided with special purpose character input keys and the
like.
[0007] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-136612
discloses an electronic camera that is configured to associate
photographed electronic image information with peculiar designated
destination number information (ID number, telephone number or the
like) that is a destination of transmission of the information and
store both the electronic image information and the designated
destination number information. With this electronic camera, a
telephone number of a destination of transmission of an image is
recorded together with recorded image data and the image is sent to
the destination of transmission of the telephone number using some
transmitting device.
[0008] However, even if the electronic camera is used, it causes a
lot of futility in terms of system configuration to manage
telephone numbers in the electronic image pick-up apparatus whose
main function is not wireless communication. Moreover, various
settings for making communication connection to the Internet or the
like must be carried out. Thus, there has been caused inconvenience
in that it is difficult and complicated to do so.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention has been devised in view of these
problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a
communication terminal and a communication system that are capable
of eliminating necessity of complicated setting inputs related to
communication in the communication terminal in performing dial-up
connection to a communication apparatus on a network such as the
Internet from the communication terminal.
[0010] In order to attain the above-described object, the present
invention is directed to a communication terminal which is capable
of sending and receiving information such as an image to and from a
communication apparatus on a network via a cellular phone, which is
characterized by comprising: a receiving device which receives
connection information such as a dial-up telephone number,
attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway information
and a DNS for making communication connection to a communication
apparatus on a network from the cellular phone; and a transmitting
and receiving device which sends and receives information such as
an image to and from the communication apparatus on the network
based on the connection information received from the
above-described cellular phone.
[0011] According to the present invention, since the communication
terminal is provided with a receiving device which receives
connection information such as a dial-up telephone number,
attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway information
and a DNS for making communication connection to a communication
apparatus on a network from the cellular phone and a transmitting
and receiving device which sends and receives information such as
an image to and from the communication apparatus on the network
based on the connection information received from the
above-described cellular phone, it becomes possible to eliminate
necessity of complicated setting inputs related to communication in
the communication terminal in performing dial-up connection to the
Internet or the like from the communication terminal.
[0012] In addition, in order to attain the above-described object,
the present invention is also directed to a communication system
which is capable of sending and receiving information such as an
image to and from a communication apparatus on a network via a
cellular phone, which is characterized by comprising: a cellular
phone provided with a recording device which records connection
information such as a dial-up telephone number, attribute
information, a URL, an IP address, gateway information and a DNS
for making communication connection to a communication apparatus on
a network, a transmitting device which sends the above-described
connection information to a communication terminal, a first
receiving device which receives the information such as an image
from the above-described communication terminal and a first
transmitting and receiving device which sends and receives
information to and from the communication apparatus on the network;
and a communication terminal provided with a second receiving
device which receives connection information for making
communication connection to the communication apparatus on the
network from the above-described cellular phone and a second
transmitting and receiving device which sends and receives the
information such as an image to and from the communication
apparatus on the network based on the connection information
received from the above-described cellular phone.
[0013] According to the present invention, since the communication
system comprises a cellular phone provided with a recording device
which records connection information such as a dial-up telephone
number, attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway
information and a DNS for making communication connection to a
communication apparatus on a network, a transmitting device which
sends the above-described connection information to a communication
terminal, a first receiving device which receives the information
such as an image from the above-described communication terminal
and a first transmitting and receiving device which sends and
receives information to and from the communication apparatus on the
network and a communication terminal provided with a second
receiving device which receives connection information for making
communication connection to the communication apparatus on the
network from the above-described cellular phone and a second
transmitting and receiving device which sends and receives the
information such as an image to and from the communication
apparatus on the network based on the connection information
received from the above-described cellular phone, it becomes
possible to eliminate necessity of complicated setting inputs
related to communication in the communication terminal in
performing dial-up connection to the Internet or the like from the
communication terminal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The nature of this invention, as well as other objects and
advantages thereof, will be explained in the following with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference
characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the
figures and wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a view showing a communication system including an
electronic camera and a cellular phone in accordance with the
present invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the electronic
camera;
[0017] FIG. 3 illustrates indications of various setting modes
provided in a mode switching dial;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of
the electronic camera;
[0019] FIG. 5 is an external view of the cellular phone;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of
the cellular phone;
[0021] FIG. 7 is a table showing information of a telephone
directory recorded by a nonvolatile memory of the cellular
phone;
[0022] FIG. 8 illustrates selection menus of destinations of
dial-up connection displayed on a displaying device of the
electronic camera;
[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates a display example of browser software to
be displayed on the displaying device of the electronic camera;
[0024] FIG. 10 illustrates a directory structure of image files and
print order files recorded in a recording medium of the electronic
camera;
[0025] FIG. 11 illustrates a description example of a print order
file;
[0026] FIG. 12 is a table showing information of a telephone
directory recorded by the nonvolatile memory of the cellular phone;
and
[0027] FIG. 13 illustrates TCP/IP information to be set on a screen
of a personal computer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0028] Preferred embodiments of a communication terminal and a
communication system in accordance with the present invention will
be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0029] FIG. 1 shows a communication system including a
communication terminal and a cellular phone in accordance with the
present invention.
[0030] According to the figure, the communication system is
composed of an electronic camera 10 that is a communication
terminal provided with an image pick-up device, a wireless
communication apparatus and the like, a cellular phone 40 that is a
communication apparatus provided with a wireless communicating
device, a recording device and the like, base stations 42 to be
direct destinations of connection of the cellular phone 40 via a
public line, cellular phone public line 44 for the cellular phone
40, an access point 46 for the electronic camera 10 to perform
dial-up connection to a network, a communication network such as
the Internet 48, a photograph sharing service 90 that is a server
to be a destination of communication for sending and receiving
information such as an image to and from the electronic camera 10
and a photograph laboratory 92.
[0031] The electronic camera 10 is capable of sending and receiving
information such as an image to and from the cellular phone 40 by a
short distance wireless communication apparatus. In addition, the
cellular phone 40 is capable of sending and receiving information
to and from the access point 46 by a communicating device of the
cellular phone public line 44. Therefore, the electronic camera 10
is capable of making communication connection to the access point
46 by PPP (Point to Point Protocol) via the cellular phone 40 and
the cellular phone public line 44, making communication connection
using TCP/IP via the Internet 48 and sending and receiving image
data, service information and the like to and from the server of
the photograph sharing service 90, the photograph laboratory 92 and
the like.
[0032] FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of an electronic
camera that is a form of a communication terminal provided with a
wireless communication apparatus.
[0033] According to the figure, the electronic camera 10 is
provided with a photographing lens 102 for imaging a subject image
on an image pick-up device, a displaying device 168 which displays
various kinds of information such as image data, a communication
status and a frame number indication 104, a power switch 106 for
inputting activation and stop of functions of the electronic camera
10, a release button 107 with which a user instructs photographing,
a mode switching dial 108 for switching to set various mode
provided in the electronic camera 10, an erasing button 109 for
designating a desired item in erasing the desired item from items
displayed on the displaying device 168, a setting button 110 for
designating a desired item from items displayed on the displaying
device 168, an increment button 111 that is operated for
incrementing a frame number or the like displayed on the displaying
device 168 and a decrement button 112 that is operated for
decrementing a frame number or the like displayed on the displaying
device 168.
[0034] In addition, the electronic camera 10 is also provided with
an antenna 156 for sending and receiving a carrier wave and data
when information such as image data and voice data is sent to or
received from an external communication apparatus by wireless
communication, a communication connector 162 that is used when wire
communication is performed and a detachable recording medium 177
that records information such as an image.
[0035] FIG. 3 is a view showing an indication of various setting
modes provided in the mode switching dial 108.
[0036] According to the figure, on the mode switching dial 108,
there are shown a communication mode for carrying out wireless
communication with other communication apparatuses (shown as
Wireless in FIG. 3), a photographing mode for carrying out
photographing (shown as Cam in FIG. 3), a reproducing mode for
carrying out reproduction of a recorded image (shown as Play in
FIG. 3) and a set-up mode for setting the photographing mode, the
number of photographing pixels, an automatic turning-off time of a
power source, a volume of alarm sound or the like. Thus, a user can
set processing mode of the electronic camera 10 in the
predetermined mode by switching the mode switching dial 108.
[0037] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of
the electronic camera 10.
[0038] An image processing portion of the electronic camera 10 is
provided with an image pick-up device 150 which images an image of
a subject on a light-receiving surface to photoelectrically convert
it and output the converted image as image data, an image
processing device 153 which performs processing such as change of
an image size, sharpness correction, gamma correction, contrast
correction and white balance correction and an A/D converter 154
for converting an analog image signal to digital image data.
[0039] A communicating device of the electronic camera 10 which
sends and receives image data or the like to and from other
communication apparatuses by communication is composed of a
transmitting and receiving device 157 for short distance (including
functions of a transmitting device and a receiving device) which
sends or receives information such as image data on a carrier wave,
an antenna 156 for sending and receiving a carrier wave and data
and a communication connector 162 for sending information such as
image data to other communication apparatuses via a communication
cable.
[0040] In addition, the electronic camera 10 is provided with a
compressing and decompressing device 167 which performs processing
for controlling to compress information such as image data with a
method represented by JPEG and Motion JPEG or controlling to extend
and develop compressed data, an OSD 169 for displaying on screen
data or the like of various characters and messages, which are
displayed on the displaying device 168, together with an image, a
D/A converter 170 for converging digital image data to a YC signal,
an RGB signal or the like for display and a frame memory 171 for
temporarily storing image data.
[0041] In addition, the electronic camera 10 is provided with an
inputting device 172 on which a release button, a communication
button, a transmission button, a function switch, a crucifix key, a
decision switch, a mode switching switch and the like are provided,
an I/O 173 that is an interface for inputting and outputting
setting information or the like of the inputting device 172, a
recording medium insertion portion 178 for detachably inserting a
recording medium 177 and a recording medium interface 179 for
recording information such as image data in the recording medium
177 and reading the image data therefrom. Further, the recording
medium 177 is a detachable recording medium represented by a
semiconductor recording medium such as a memory card, a magnetic
recording medium, represented by an MO or the like, and an optical
recording medium or the like.
[0042] In addition, the electronic camera 10 is provided with an
information processing device 180 which performs control of the
entire electronic camera 10 and, at the same time, performs control
such as sampling timing control of image data, recording control of
image data, pattern recognition of image data, processing for
reading type of machine information or peculiar identification
information of the electronic camera 10, generating processing of a
random number for identification, communication control and display
control, a system memory 181 including an ROM in which peculiar
identification information such as a type name and a serial number
of the electronic camera 10, an operation program and various
constants are stored and an RAM that is a storing device to be a
work area when a program is executed and a nonvolatile memory 182
that is capable of rewriting information and continuously storing
stored information even after the power source is cut off.
[0043] Further, protocol stack software for dial-up (PPP, TCP/IP),
a packet driver, browser software, a Chinese character font and the
like can also be recorded in the above-described system memory
181.
[0044] In addition, the electronic camera 10 is provided with a
calendar clock 190 recording the passing moments, a light-emitting
device 193 which emits light to a subject and supplements shortage
of an amount of light and a light emission controlling device 194
which performs adjustment of light emitting timing and an mount of
light to be emitted of the light-emitting device 193.
[0045] The information processing device 180 of the electronic
camera 10 and its peripheral circuits are connected by a bus 199,
whereby information can be communicated at high speed among
them.
[0046] Photographing processing of the electronic camera 10
configured as described above will be described.
[0047] An image to be photographed is imaged on a light receiving
surface of an image pick-up device 150 with a lens 102 and an
imaged subject image is photoelectrically converted and outputted
to the image processing device 153. Image data obtained in this way
is applied to amplification and processing for reducing noise by
the image processing device 153, converted to digital data by the
A/D converter 154 and, then, temporarily stored in the frame memory
171.
[0048] The information processing device 180 instructs that the
image data stored in the frame memory 171 be sequentially
communicated to the D/A converter 170 and displays it on the
displaying device 168 together with information generated by the
OSD 169.
[0049] When a user presses the release button 107 provided in the
inputting device 172, the information processing device 180 enters
a mode for photographing a subject. Then, the information
processing device 180 transfers the image data stored in the frame
memory 171 to the compressing and decompressing device 167 and
outputs an instruction to carry out compressing processing of the
image data on predetermined conditions. The information processing
device 180 then applies processing for sequentially recording the
image data in the recording medium 177 to the recording medium
interface 179.
[0050] Further, although the present invention has been described
with reference to an embodiment in which a communication terminal
is an electronic camera, the present invention is not limited to an
electronic camera but the object of the present invention can also
be attained by a communication terminal such as an audio player
that is provided with a wireless communication function and is
capable of recording voice information.
[0051] FIG. 5 is an external view of a cellular phone.
[0052] As shown in the figure, the cellular phone 40 is provided
with an antenna 452 for wirelessly communicating with a public
line, an antenna 456 for sending and receiving information to and
from the electronic camera 10 or the like existing in a short
distance, a displaying device 468 for displaying various kinds of
information such as communication information and a schedule,
inputting devices 472 for inputting, designating and selecting
personal information such as a telephone number, characters and a
schedule, a speaker 495 for functioning as a telephone receiver
and, at the same time, outputting voices and a microphone 497 for
inputting voices.
[0053] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of
the cellular phone.
[0054] According to the figure, an information transmission and
reception portion of the cellular phone 40 is provided with the
antenna 452, a transmitting and receiving device 453 for a public
line (including functions of a transmitting device and a receiving
device) and a transmission and reception buffer 454 for temporarily
storing information sent and received on a real time basis that are
for wirelessly communicating with a public line, and the antenna
456, a transmitting and receiving device 457 (including functions
of a transmitting device and a receiving device) and a transmission
and reception buffer 458 that are used as short distance wireless
communicating devices.
[0055] In addition, the cellular phone 40 is provided with a
displaying device 468 for displaying information such as an image
and characters, a display controlling device 469 for outputting an
image signal for display to the displaying device 468 based on an
instruction of an information processing device and an I/O 473 for
reading various kinds of information inputted by a user via the
inputting devices 472 to transfer the information to the
information processing device, which will be described later, and
outputting a display instruction to a notifying device such as an
LED based on an instruction from the information processing
device.
[0056] In addition, the cellular phone 40 is provided with an
information processing device (CPU) 480 for performing overall
control of the cellular phone 40, a rewritable nonvolatile memory
482 for recording various constants concerning processing of a
cellular phone and connection information such as a dial-up
telephone number, attribute information, a URL (Uniform Resource
Locators), an IP (Internet Protocol) address, a gateway information
DNS (Domain Name System) in making communication connection to a
communication apparatus on a network, a memory 484 including an ROM
in which a program for operating the information processing device
480 and various constants are recorded and an RAM that becomes a
work area when the information processing device 480 executes
processing, a calendar clock 490 recording the passing moments and
a power source 491 for supplying power to each circuit including
the information processing device 480.
[0057] The information processing device 480 and each peripheral
circuit including the transmission and reception buffer 454, the
transmission and reception buffer 458, the display controlling
device 469, the I/O 473, the nonvolatile memory 482, the memory
484, the calendar clock 490 and the like inside the cellular phone
40 are connected by a bus 499, whereby the information processing
device 480 can control respective peripheral circuits.
[0058] The wireless communicating device for short distance is a
communicating device using an electric wave, an ultrasonic wave,
light such as an infrared ray and a carrier wave. If an electric
wave is used, the wireless communicating device may be based on a
specification of wireless communication such as a wireless LAN
(Local Area Network).
[0059] Further, although the present invention has been described
with reference to an example in which a cellular phone is used, the
present invention may be a communication terminal such as a
personal computer and an electronic notebook as long as it is a
communication apparatus provided with a recording device, a
communicating device and the like.
[0060] A table of FIG. 7 shows information of a telephone directory
recorded in the nonvolatile memory 482 of the cellular phone
40.
[0061] As shown in the figure, the information of a telephone
directory includes setting information required for dial-up
connection such as an attribute item showing classifications of
communication device such as telephone, facsimile and dial-up, a
name item showing names destinations of communication, a telephone
number item showing ordinary telephone numbers or telephone numbers
or the like of access points for dial-up connection, an IP address
item showing information on whether or not a network parameter is
automatically set, a DNS item showing DNS information or the like
of destinations of communication, an item showing address
information in converting a computer name into an IP address and
items showing default URLs for accessing for the first time after
connecting the Internet.
[0062] A procedure with which a user sends an image recorded in the
recording medium 177 of the electronic camera 10 to the photograph
laboratory 92 via the cellular phone 40 to receive a print service
will be hereinafter described.
[0063] The user inputs a power source of the cellular phone 40 and
sets the cellular phone 40 in a state in which communication is
possible via short distance wireless communication and the cellular
phone telephone public line 44. Next, the user operates the mode
switching dial 108 of the electronic camera 10 to set it in a
communication mode and operates the power switch 106 to put the
electronic camera 10 in an activated state.
[0064] The electronic camera 10 automatically starts wireless
communication with the cellular phone 40 of a user existing in the
vicinity and wireless communication is established between
respective communication apparatuses. When the communication
apparatuses enters a state in which they can carry out
communication mutually, the information processing device 480 of
the cellular phone 40 reads out the information of a telephone
directory such as attribute information of dial-up recorded in the
nonvolatile memory 482 and sends it to the electronic camera 10 via
the transmitting and receiving device 457.
[0065] When the transmitting and receiving device 157 of the
electronic camera 10 receives the information of a telephone
directory, the information processing device 180 instructs the
displaying device 168 to display the received information of a
telephone directory.
[0066] FIG. 8 illustrates selection menus of dial-up connection
destinations displayed on the displaying device of the electronic
camera.
[0067] According to the figure, the displaying device 168 of the
electronic camera 10 shows names of servers in destinations of
communication such as Sato Photograph Laboratory and Image Sharing
Service. A user can easily select a desired destination of
communication by operating the increment button 111, the decrement
button 112, the setting button 110 and the like.
[0068] When the user selects a desired destination of
communication, a processing program of the electronic camera 10
activates software required for communication such as browser
software, a protocol stack and a packet driver and starts
connection with the access point 46 via the cellular phone 40 using
information of a telephone directory such as a number or the like
of a dial-up attribute received from the cellular phone 40.
[0069] When the electronic camera 10 and the access point 46 start
communication directly via the cellular phone 40, a contract ID and
a password of the user are sent to the access point 46, whereby
connection to the Internet becomes possible.
[0070] In addition, instead of the electronic camera 10 receiving
the information of a telephone directory for connecting to the
Internet 48 from the cellular phone 40 to directly perform dial-up
connection as described above, the cellular phone 40 may perform
processing of dial-up connection.
[0071] In this case, when a user selects a desired destination of
communication, the processing program of the electronic camera 10
activates software required for communication such as browser
software, a protocol stack and a packet driver and sends
information on a name of a server in the selected destination of
communication to the cellular phone 40. Upon receiving the
information on the server in the destination of communication, the
cellular phone 40 reads out a telephone number for dial-up of a
corresponding telephone directory and starts connection with the
access point 46 via the cellular phone public line 44. When the
connection is completed and communication is established, since the
cellular phone 40 makes communication open to the electronic camera
10, it becomes possible for the electronic camera 10 and the access
point 46 to carry out communication directly.
[0072] Further, the contract ID and the password for connecting the
Internet 48 may be recorded in the nonvolatile memory 482 or the
like of the cellular phone 40, read out when the cellular phone 40
is connected to the access point 46 and sent by the cellular phone
40 to establish communication or may be recorded in a nonvolatile
memory of the electronic camera 10.
[0073] When communication is established as described above, the
electronic camera 10 is connected to the Internet 48 and sends
destination information, which is a server name of a destination of
communication designated by the user in advance converted to a URL
or a domain name, and address information and data of the
electronic camera 10 in the origin of transmission on the
Internet.
[0074] Then, the electronic camera 10 receives menu information
from, for example, the photograph laboratory 92 in a destination of
connection via the cellular phone 40 and the browser software of
the electronic camera 10 displays a service menu shown in FIG. 9 on
the displaying device 168. The user selects a desired service from
the displayed service menu, browses images in accordance with Web
menus or uploads images and voice information recorded in the
electronic camera 10, whereby it becomes possible to easily receive
various services such as upload and download.
[0075] Other embodiments of a communication terminal and a
communication system will be hereinafter described.
[0076] In the above-described embodiment, a user selects a desired
service menu after the electronic camera 10 and the Internet 48 are
connected. On the other hand, if a user decides a service that the
user receives in advance, a batch file in which information of the
service to be received is written in advance is prepared as
described below and connection with the Internet 48 is started.
[0077] FIG. 10 shows a directory structure of image files and print
order files that are recorded in the recording medium 177 of the
electronic camera 10 in advance.
[0078] As shown in the figure, a print order file "PRT-INFO.TXT" (a
form of a batch file describing contents of processing) is stored
in a directory "\Root\ORDER" of the recording medium 177 (recording
device). In addition, various image files are recorded in a
directory "\Root\IMAGE".
[0079] FIG. 11 shows an example of a description of a print order
file.
[0080] As shown in the figure, information such as a file name, the
number of prints and a print type is written for each job in the
print order file. When the electronic camera 10 receives a menu of
destinations of communication for making communication connection
to a communication apparatus on a network from the cellular phone
40, the information processing device 180 of the electronic camera
10 displays the menu information of the destination of
communication on the displaying device 168. When the user
designates a desired destination of communication via the inputting
device 172, the information processing device 180 of the electronic
camera 10 instructs the electronic camera 10 to connect
communication with a communication apparatus on the above-described
designated network.
[0081] Then, the electronic camera 10 reads out a print order file
related to an apparatus on the network of the above-described
designated destination of communication and an image file described
in the print order file from the above-described recording medium
177 and, at the same time, sends them to a communication apparatus
on the network.
[0082] In this way, since the electronic camera 10 is arranged to
automatically send the print order file and the image file, which
are prepared in advance, to the photograph laboratory 92 after
dial-up connection is established, operation burdens for the user
is reduced. Further, if an image or music information is
downloaded, it becomes possible to send only a batch file to a
predetermined server (communication apparatus) on a network to
automatically download a desired image file, music information or
the like.
[0083] In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, the attribute of a
telephone directory recorded in the cellular phone 40 may be
subdivided with the addition of an item for writing a service name,
an item for writing a server type, an item for writing a
communication protocol and the like. Thus, when the cellular phone
40 receives information of a print order service from the
electronic camera 10, it automatically selects "xx photograph
laboratory" as a destination of connection of "Print Service" to
automatically upload the above-described print order file and image
file.
[0084] In addition, when TCP/IP information such as an IP address
and a DNS number is inputted in the cellular phone 40, if TCP/IP
information set on a screen of a personal computer as shown in FIG.
13 is directly transmitted to the cellular phone 40 from the
personal computer, it becomes possible to input accurate
information without an error.
[0085] As described above, according to the communication terminal
in accordance with the present invention, since the communication
terminal is provided with a receiving device for receiving
connection information such as a dial-up telephone number,
attribute information, a URL, an IP address, gateway information
and a DNS for making communication connection to a communication
apparatus on a network and a transmitting and receiving device for
sending and receiving information such as an image to and from the
communication apparatus on the network based on the connection
information received from the above-described cellular phone, it
becomes possible to eliminate necessity of complicated setting
inputs related to communication in the communication terminal in
performing dial-up connection to the Internet or the like from the
communication terminal.
[0086] In addition, according to the communication system in
accordance with the present invention, since the communication
system is composed of a cellular phone provided with a recording
device which records connection information such as a dial-up
telephone number, attribute information, a URL, an IP address,
gateway information and a DNS for making communication connection
to the communication apparatus on the network, a transmitting
device which sends the above-described connection information to a
communication terminal, a first receiving device which receives the
information such as an image from the above-described communication
terminal and a first transmitting and receiving device which sends
and receives information to and from the communication apparatus on
the above-described network and a communication terminal provided
with a second receiving device which receives connection
information for making communication connection to the
communication apparatus on the network from the above-described
cellular phone and a second transmitting and receiving device which
sends and receives the information such as an image to and from the
communication apparatus on the network based on the connection
information received from the above-described cellular phone, it
becomes possible to eliminate necessity of complicated setting
inputs related to communication in the communication terminal in
performing dial-up connection to the Internet or the like from the
communication terminal.
[0087] The present invention is not limited to the above
embodiments and various changes and modifications can be made
within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, to
apprise the public of the scope of the present invention the
following claims are made.
[0088] It should be understood, however, that there is no intention
to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the
contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternate
constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope
of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.
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