JP2000270040A - Network-connected oa equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide network-connected OA equipment which can stop unnecessary protocol operations. SOLUTION: In a statistic information table, an area for storing cumulative print frequencies by protocols is prepared; and a protocol by which a print request is received (SA11) is retrieved (SA12, SA13) and its print frequency is counted up (+1) (S14). A protocol use state monitor started (SB12) a time (t) (SB11) later start time t0 to refer to this table (SB13) for the respective protocols and if the protocol whose print frequency is '0' is present (SB14), the protocol is reported to a task management part. The task management part sets the field of the corresponding protocol in the protocol use flag of an operation parameter part to 'nonuse' (SB15) and performs initialization (SB16). Consequently, the protocol having been set to 'nonuse' does not operate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a network-connected OA device, and more particularly, to a network communication device capable of communicating with a plurality of protocols.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an OA device connectable to a network, a plurality of protocols can be simultaneously implemented and operated as a protocol used in a network interface (I / F), and which protocol is used in a user environment. Even it is ready to use. On the other hand, protocols that are not used by the user may also be activated, and LAN (Local Area Network)
k) An extra load may be applied. In addition, there is a case where a packet is periodically transmitted unexpectedly beyond the ISDN and a communication fee is charged. In order to cope with such a problem, there is a method in which the operation can be manually stopped for each protocol.

[0003]

However, in the prior art, since the operation of unused protocols is manually stopped, a user who has little knowledge of the network or a user who does not recognize the function in the operation manual is not. You may continue to use it without knowing that your protocol is working. NIC (Networ
k The memory on the Information Center is wasted and performance is affected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object to provide a network-connected OA device capable of automatically stopping useless protocol operations without being conscious of the user. It was made for the purpose.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network interface capable of performing communication according to a plurality of protocols, recording the number of times of use for each of the protocols within a predetermined period. The operation of the protocol is stopped for a protocol of a predetermined number or less.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network interface capable of communicating with a plurality of protocols, recording a printing date and time according to each protocol, and a protocol for printing a predetermined period after the last printing date and time. Is stopped.

[0007] A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a network interface capable of communicating with a plurality of protocols is provided, a protocol used on the network is detected, and the operation of the unused protocol is stopped. It was done.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of a network-connected OA device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer device 1 shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment, in which 1 is a printer device, 2 is a printer main body, 3 is a network I / F,
4, 5, 10 are servers, 6 is UNIX (registered trademark),
7, 8 are clients, 9 is a public network, 31 is a protocol section, 31P is a lower protocol section (protocol), 31S
Is a higher-level protocol unit (service), 32 is a LAN driver, 33 is a protocol usage status monitoring unit, 34 is a statistical information table, 35 is an operation parameter unit, 36 is a clock unit, 3
Reference numeral 7 denotes a task management unit.

The printer device 1 is connected to a network environment such as Ethernet (registered trademark), and transmits and receives print data and commands to and from the clients 7 and 8 on the network. And a printer main body 2 that interprets commands and performs image processing and prints out. Further, the network I / F unit 3 has an LA that transmits and receives packets to and from a cable via a LAN controller.
There is an N driver unit 32 and a protocol unit 31 that interprets the contents of the packet and performs processing according to the contents.

[0010] The protocol unit 31 is broadly divided into a lower protocol unit 31P that performs connection management and order control with a communication partner, and an upper protocol unit 31S that performs print requests and print data transfer. Hereinafter, the part that performs processing of this lower protocol is called "protocol",
The part that performs the processing of the upper layer protocol is called a “service”. When operating the protocol 31P and the service 31S on the network I / F 3, the service 31S and the protocol 31P are bound.
Which protocol each service uses is defined.

The protocol 31P is "TCP / IP" in a UNIX system, "IPX / SPX" in a Novell "NetWare" system, and "NetBEUI" in a Microsoft "WindowsNT" system.
For example, there are many cases that differ depending on each system environment.

The service 31S includes “LPD”, “FTPD”, and “HTTP” that operate on “TCP / IP”.
D "," SMTP "," PSERVER "," NPRINTER "," Net "operating on" IPX / SPX ".
There are “SMB” operating on “BEUI”. For example, one of the printing services for “NetWare” environment includes “P
There is a print server service called “SERVER.” This service periodically monitors a queue on a “NetWare” file server to check whether a print job exists.
A broadcast packet is periodically issued to notify the entire network that this service is operating on “are”.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the initialization processing in the network I / F 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and this initialization processing is performed for each protocol. Network I / F3 under the user
When the is used for the first time, the start time t0 at that time is recorded in the timer unit 36 of the nonvolatile storage device, and the operation parameter unit 35 of the nonvolatile storage device uses or does not use the protocol for each protocol. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the task management unit 37 reads this parameter at startup (S
1, S2), and activate only the protocol set to "use" (S3). Then, a timer is set so that the protocol use state monitoring unit 33 is activated after the time t.

FIG. 4 shows a network connection O according to the invention.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the device A,
FIG. 4A is a flowchart of the print reception process.
FIG. 5B is a flowchart of the printing use status monitoring. In the statistical information table 34 of the non-volatile storage device, an area for storing the cumulative number of times of printing for each protocol is prepared, and 0 is set for all protocols as an initial value of the protocol. . The service receiving the print request (SA11) searches the table 34 for the protocol bound to the service (SA11).
12, SA13), the number of times of printing is counted up (+
1) is performed (S14). This is updated each time printing is performed. The print time is stored in a non-volatile storage device as appropriate, so that the print time remains even after the power is turned off.

After a lapse of time t from the start time t0 (SB11), the protocol use state monitoring unit 34 is started (SB12), and this table 34 is provided for each protocol.
(SB13), and if there is “0” in the count of the number of times of printing (SB14), the protocol is notified to the task management unit 37. Task management unit 3
In step 7, in the protocol use flag of the operation parameter section 35, the field of the protocol is set to "not used" (SB15), and restart is performed (SB1).
6). The network I / F 3 restarts and performs the initialization processing shown in FIG. As a result, the protocol set to “not used” does not operate.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the environment of the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when a user performs printing from a client, for example, the user does not use the "NetWare" function at all. Such a protocol (a packet issued periodically) is automatically suppressed according to the environment.

FIG. 5 shows a network connection O according to the invention.
FIG. 5A is a flowchart for explaining another embodiment of the device A, FIG. 5A is a flowchart for print reception processing, and FIG. 5B is a flowchart for print use status monitoring.
The operation parameter section 35 of the non-volatile storage device has parameters for each protocol indicating whether the protocol is used or not. As shown in FIG. 3, at the time of activation, the task management section 37 reads this parameter (S1, S2), and activates only the protocol set to "use" (S3). And
A timer is set so that the protocol usage monitoring unit 33 starts every Ti time.

Statistical information table 34 of the nonvolatile storage device
Has an area for storing the last print date and time for each protocol, and 0 is set for all protocols as the initial value of the protocol.
The service that has received the print request (SA21) searches the table 34 for the protocol bound to the service (SA22, SA23), and records the date and time at that time (SA24). This is updated each time printing is performed. Further, since the printing date and time is stored in a non-volatile storage device as appropriate, it remains even after the power is turned off.

Then, periodically (every time Ti) (S
B21), the protocol usage monitoring unit 33 is activated (S21).
B22), refer to this table 34 for each protocol (SB23), and if there is a protocol before the time Tx with respect to the current time among the final print times for each protocol (SB24), The task management unit 37 is notified of the protocol. The task management unit 37 sets the field of the protocol in the protocol use flag of the operation parameter unit 35 to “not used” (SB25), and restarts (SB26). The network I / F 3 restarts and performs the initialization processing shown in FIG. As a result, the protocol set to “not used” does not operate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, it is detected that there is no printing for a predetermined period for each protocol, and the protocol which has not been printed is automatically stopped.

FIG. 6 shows a network connection O according to the invention.
FIG. 6A is a flowchart for explaining another embodiment of the device A, and FIG. 6A is a flowchart of an initialization process.
(B) is a flowchart of protocol detection. The protocol use flags of the operation parameter section 35 are set to “not used” for all protocols (S
A31). At the time of initialization at the time of startup, the network I / F 3 first requests the LAN driver 32 to detect a protocol flowing on the network for an arbitrary time Tc (S32).

The LAN driver 32 sets a promiscuous mode, which will be described later (S33), and collects all packets flowing on the cable during the time Tc (S34). If a protocol supported by the network I / F 3 is detected (S35, S36), the protocol is set to "use" (S37). As a result, undetected protocols remain "not used". At the time of activation, the task management unit 37 reads this protocol use flag (S39), and activates only the protocol set to "use" (S4).
0, S41).

Normally, in the LAN driver section 32,
Receives data flowing on the cable, looks at the destination address on the packet, if it is itself, captures the packet, then checks the type of protocol from the packet header and sends the data to each protocol. Have passed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, all packets are fetched irrespective of the address (this is called a promiscuous mode, which is a mode used by packet analysis tools and the like). It checks the type of protocol from the header of the packet, and if the destination address is itself, passes the data to a higher-level protocol. At this time, the protocol ( For example, "TCP /
If a packet of "IP", "IPX / SPX", "NetBEUI") is detected, it is determined that the protocol is being used.

[0025]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, by stopping the operation of the unused protocol, the load on the network due to unnecessary packets can be reduced. In an environment where a WAN is configured via an ISDN router, unexpectedly packets are periodically issued via an ISDN to prevent an increase in communication charges charged by a telephone company. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of a network connection OA device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of the printer device 1 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a network interface shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;
6 is a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the initialization process in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a network-connected OA device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of a network-connected OA device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining another embodiment of the network-connected OA device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer apparatus, 2 ... Printer body, 3 ... Network I / F, 4, 5, 10 ... Server, 6 ... UNIX, 7,
8 client, 9 public network, 31 protocol part
31P: Lower protocol section, 31S: Upper protocol section, 32: LAN driver, 33: Protocol usage monitoring section, 34: Statistical information table, 35: Operation parameter section, 36: Clock section, 37: Task management section.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04L 29/08 H04L 13/00 307A F-term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 HH03 HJ08 HK11 HK15 HK19 HN05 HN15 5B021 AA01 EE01 5B089 GA13 HA06 HB02 KA07 KA16 KC30 KC60 KF06 MB02 5K032 AA03 BA02 CC01 CC11 CD01 5K034 AA07 EE09 EE10 EE11 EE12 EE13 FF13 HH63 HH65 JJ23 JJ24 LL01 LL02 TT02

Claims (3)

[Claims] A network interface capable of communicating with a plurality of protocols is provided, and the number of times of use of each of the protocols within a predetermined period is recorded. A network-connected OA device that stops operation of a protocol. 2. A network interface capable of communicating with a plurality of protocols is provided, printing date and time of each protocol are recorded, and operation of the protocol for printing after a predetermined period from the last printing date and time is stopped. A network-connected OA device, characterized in that: 3. A network-connected OA device comprising a network interface capable of communicating with a plurality of protocols, detecting a protocol used on a network, and stopping operation of the unused protocol. .