Abstract:
For enabling to deal with various kinds of events, but without knowing the meaning of the event issued by network equipments, an event notifying equipment notifies URL for an event receiving equipment to access a HTML file corresponding to the event, in the form of an event parameter, thereby providing a HTML file for indicating a reason of generating the event and a HTML file for prompting a process corresponding to the event, in response to a request from a Web browser. An event receiving apparatus is able to execute the event process only by accessing to the URL included in the event parameter.

Description:
The present application claims priority from Japanese patent application No. JP 2005-076238 filed on Mar. 17, 2005, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a network apparatus and an event processing method, in particular, enabling to notify and/or receive an event through a network. 
     Upon an appearance of a digital television, installing the Web browser therein, and also a recorder enabling to set a program recording with using the Web browser from a personal computer (PC), etc., on the market, advancement or improvement is achieved upon network-enabled audio/visual (AV) equipment. Also, UPnP Device Architecture is a regulation for providing devices, for example, for mutually finding out the equipments connected to the network, thereby operating, or an event notification of notifying conditional change(s), which is/are generated within the network equipments, on the network, and it is adopted into the AV equipments and printers; i.e., it becomes a kind of standard regulation in that industry (shown in the following Non-Patent Document 1). 
     [Non-Patent Document 1] UPnP Device Architecture 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Although the UPnP Device Architecture provides the device for the event notification, however for the network equipment of receiving the event therefrom, it is necessary to know the meaning and the processing method thereof, for every event, so as to execute the process fitting to that event. For that reason, a controller for operating other network equipments has an implementation of installing the processes in advance, fitting to the events to be generated in any kind of the equipments to be operated, but being limited within a certain degree thereof, such as, a camera or a printer, etc. In case when increasing the equipments, i.e., the operable targets, it can be deal with, for the PC, by installing control applications therein, fitting to that operable targets. However, on the contrary to the above, it is difficult to install the program, newly, in such as, a television, for example, after being shipped as a product (i.e., a installed-type equipment). Then, according to the present invention, there is provided a device for an event notification, which needs no interpretation of meaning of the event notified, and processing thereof, and thereby making also such installed-type equipments being operable fitting to the events, which are generated within the various kinds of network equipments. 
     Within the present invention, the network equipment for notifying an event to other network equipment (hereinafter, being called by an “event notifying apparatus”) provides a cause or reason of generating the event, a method for processing and/or a user interface for an event processing thereof, in the form of a Web page. And, when notifying the event, the notification is made, through displaying the reason of generating the event, and/or including a URL (Uniform Resource Locater) for accessing a Web page for prompting a process for dealing with the event to a user into an event parameter. The network equipment for receiving the event (hereinafter, being called by a “event receiving apparatus”) comprises a Web browser, and it notifies the user that it receives the event from other network equipment, through a popup icon or the like, when receiving the event. When the user shows an intention of executing the event process by means of a remote controller or the like, the Web browser is initiated, and then access is made to the URL included in the event parameter, thereby displaying a screen. The user is able to know the reason of generating the event, or conduct the operation of the event process, with using the browser. 
     According to the present invention, there is no need of meanings relating to respective events, nor definition of an event for enabling the event process, nor regulation for the processing protocol, between the event notifying apparatus and the event receiving apparatus. The event notifying apparatus notifies the URL for accessing a HTML (HyperText Markup Language) corresponding to the event, in the form of an event parameter, and also provide a HTML file for showing the reason of generating the event corresponding to the request from the Web browser, and/or a HTML file for prompting the process corresponding to the event. The event receiving apparatus enables the event process, but only accessing to the URL included in the event parameter, by means of the Web browser. In this manner, applying the event processing method of the Web method therein enables the event receiving apparatus to conduct the event process, by taking no consideration about the kind of the event notifying apparatus. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Those and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a view for showing the entire configuration of a network; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram for showing the structures of an event notifying apparatus; and 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram for showing the structures of an event receiving apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be fully explained, by referring to the attached drawings,  FIGS. 1 to 3 .  FIG. 1  shows a home network, which is built up with network equipments according to the present invention.  FIG. 2  is the block diagram which shows an example of the structures of the event notifying apparatus according to the present invention. And,  FIG. 3  is the block diagram which shows an example of the structures of the event receiving apparatus according to the present invention. 
     In  FIG. 1 , reference numerals  101 ,  102  and  103  depict network equipments, which are connected with a network  100 . The reference numerals  102  and  103  depict event notifying apparatuses, each notifying other network equipments of the change within an inner condition of itself, etc. The reference numeral  101  depicts an event receiving apparatus for receiving an event, which is issued by other network equipments. Further, a reference numeral  104  depicts an event message, which the event notifying apparatus  102  issues. This includes a URL of an event process Web page, which the apparatus  102  provides, in the form of an event parameter. 
     A reference numeral  105  depicts a Web page obtain message, which the event receiving apparatus  101  issues. A reference numeral  108  is a Web screen, which can be obtained by means of the Web page obtain message  105 , and as an example thereof, it shows a page for showing a picture, which is picked up by a camera of the network equipment  102 . In the similar manner, a reference numeral  106  is an event message, which the event notifying apparatus  103  issues. This includes a URL of the event process Web page, which the apparatus  103  provides, in the form of the event parameter. A reference numeral  107  is a Web page obtain message, which the event receiving apparatus  101  issues. And, a reference numeral  109  is a Web screen, which can be obtained by means of the Web page obtain message  107 . As an example, there is shown a setup screen of the network equipment  103 . 
       FIG. 2  is the block diagram for showing the structures of the event notifying apparatus. A reference  200  depicts the event notifying apparatus, corresponds to those  102  and  103  in  FIG. 1 . Herein, parts depending on separate functions of the apparatus are omitted from. A reference numeral  201  depicts a network means for conducting transmission of data between the other network apparatuses through the network. A reference numeral  202  depicts an event producing means for producing an event and notifying the event to the network through the network means,  203  a Web server,  204  a file storing means for storing information, such as, the HTML file, which the Web server transmits upon requests from other network equipments, for example,  205  an event correspondence storing means for managing URL information corresponding to the events, and  206  a means inherent or unique to the equipment (an equipment unique means), for converting operation of the equipment into control protocol unique to the equipment, which is required from the Web browser of the other network equipment to the Web server, or for requesting the event producing means to notify the conditional change generated within the equipment to the network, in the form of the event. 
     Within the event notifying apparatus  200 , a request is made from the equipment unique means  206  to the event producing means  202  when the conditional change is generated, to be an object of event notification. The event producing means  202  required to issue an event obtains the URL of the Web page for executing the process corresponding to the event to be issued, by referring to the event correspondence means  205 , and issues it to the other network equipment as the event parameter. As a method for notifying the event, the URL is added into a user parameter region or area, in accordance with the event protocol of the UPnP, for example. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram for showing the structures of the event receiving apparatus. A reference numeral  300  depicts the event receiving apparatus, and it corresponds to  101  shown in  FIG. 1 . A reference numeral  301  depicts a network means for transmitting data between the other networks apparatuses through the network. A reference numeral depicts a means for receiving the event notified through the network. A reference numeral  302  depicts a display means for producing signals, which outputs a user I/G screen that the event receiving means produces and a Web browser screen of  304 , for the purpose of monitoring thereof. The reference numeral  304  is a Web browser. A reference numeral  305  depicts a monitor. A reference numeral  306  depicts an input means, and it transmits the input signal  305 , which is inputted through a infrared remote controller, a mouse, and/or a keyboard, etc., to the Web browser  304 . 
     In the event receiving apparatus  300 , receipt of the event is displayed on the monitor with using an icon or the like, thereby notifying it to a user through the display means  302 , when the event is inputted into the event receiving means through the network means  301 . When the user noticing the receipt of the event shows an intention of the event process with using the input apparatus, such as, the remoter controller, then the event receiving means  303  takes out the URL from the invention parameter received, and delivers it to the Web browser, so as to obtain the Web page for the event process, thereby displaying it to the user through the display means  302 . Through the Web screen displayed, the user can notice the content of the event. Also, the user can operate the Web screen through the input means  306 , so as to make remote control upon the network equipment generating the event. 
     For example, in the network, to which the camera  102  and the printer  103  are connected, as is shown in  FIG. 1 , it is assumed that the camera generates an event of detecting an object (an object detection event) when something moves on the front thereof, and that the printer generates an event when an operation error generated therein. With the event notification of the UPnP, the event and/or the operation parameter are regulated for each kind of the equipments, such as, the printer, or the camera, for example, and the equipment receiving the event executes the process, subjectively or actively, corresponding to the event. 
     Namely, in case when the event receiving apparatus  101  receives the object detection event of the camera  102 , there is a necessity for the event receiving apparatus  101  to determine what the event received is, thereby to display the operation corresponding to that, such as, an image of the camera  102 , on the monitor, for example. Also, in case when receiving the event from the printer  103 , there is a necessity to determine the events received, and thereby execute the process corresponding to that. 
     On the contrary thereto, with the method according to the present invention, processing of the event is left to the event notifying apparatus, i.e., a side of notifying the event. Further, there is included the URL for accessing the Web page executing the process of the event generated by itself within the event notification, in the form of the event parameter. For that reason, the event receiving apparatus is able to deal with the various kinds of the events, but only with provision of the Web browser. 
     Also, with the event notification protocol according to the present invention, it is possible to deal with, by defining an event process URL tag, such as, &lt;e:url&gt; within a region of an event notification protocol vender of the UPnP, so as to put the event processing URL therein, for example. In this instance, for the UPnP-enable equipments, it is possible to install the event processes therein, according to the present invention, easily. 
     With applicability of the present invention into industry, it can be applied widely, such as, an event notification, and an event receiving process through the network, for example. 
     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential feature or characteristics thereof. The present embodiment(s) is/are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the forgoing description and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore to be embraces therein.