In recent years, there have been increasing cases where electronic devices, such as digital cameras and printers, having a wireless LAN station function are connected to a wireless LAN and are used as communication devices. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for providing a digital camera with a wireless LAN function and facilitating image sharing.
Further, a standard called Wi-Fi Direct® has been established by Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi Direct defines a protocol for determining whether individual electronic devices operate as a wireless LAN access point or a wireless LAN station. By executing the protocol, an electronic device operating as a wireless LAN access point and an electronic device operating as a wireless LAN station may be automatically determined. The use of Wi-Fi Direct eliminates the necessity of separately providing an access point, and electronic devices are able to directly communicate with each other to execute various services (image sharing, printing, etc.), thereby improving the user-friendliness.
Furthermore, a function of searching for the content of a service provided by a different device in an application layer (service discovery function) is defined as an optional function of Wi-Fi Direct. With the service discovery function, a user of an electronic device is able to know, before performing connection processing, information on a service provided by an electronic device with which the electronic device the user is operating is to be connected, thereby improving the user-friendliness.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds