JP2005236893A - Terminal location detection apparatus, terminal location detection method, terminal location detection program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily specify a geographical location where each terminal is installed, without utilizing a radio communication function in a network whereon terminals are connected by a cable. <P>SOLUTION: This apparatus is provided with a terminal install location management means and a means for assigning an IP address to a terminal. The terminal install location management means comprises: an information register means for registering a corresponding relationship between a port of a switch or the switch and a terminal install location; a terminal address acquisition means for acquiring a MAC address of a detection target terminal to which the IP address is assigned by the IP address assigning means; a switch information acquisition means for acquiring a MAC address learning table from the switch; a means for specifying a port or a switch to which the detection target terminal is connected, from the MAC address learning table acquired by the switch information acquisition means and the MAC address of the detection target terminal; and a means for specifying and making corresponding the location to install the detection target terminal from the corresponding relationship registered by the information register means and the port or the switch to which the detection target terminal is connected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal position detection device, a terminal position detection method, a terminal position detection program, and a recording medium, and in particular, is effective when applied to detection of a terminal position in a wired network in which a terminal and a switch are connected by a cable. Technology.

  Conventionally, as a method for specifying the geographical (spatial) position of a terminal on a network including a plurality of terminals and switches, there is a method using a wireless communication function such as a wireless LAN (for example, non-patent). Reference 1).

  In the terminal location method using the wireless communication function, as shown in FIG. 18, access points 9A, 9B, and 9C are installed for each of partial locations (spaces) 7A, 7B, and 7C in the network. . At this time, the access points 9A, 9B, and 9C are connected to the ports 801, 802, and 804 of the switch 8 by cables 5A, 5B, and 5C, as shown in FIG. 18, for example. Further, the terminal position detection device 1 is connected to the switch 8. At this time, correspondence information between the access points 9A, 9B, and 9C and the locations 7A, 7B, and 7C is registered in the terminal position detection device 1 in advance. In addition, information related to the terminal 6 having a wireless communication function, for example, the MAC address of the terminal 6 is registered in the terminal position detection device 1.

  When detecting the position of the terminal 6 in the network as shown in FIG. 18, that is, where the terminal 6 is located, first, a detection signal is sent from the terminal position detection device 1 to the terminal 6. . When the terminal 6 receives the detection signal, the terminal 6 transmits a signal for informing the location to all the access points 9A, 9B, 9C. When each of the access points 9A, 9B, 9C receives a signal transmitted from the terminal 6, the access point 9A, 9B, 9C transmits the received intensity to the terminal position detecting device 1. Then, the terminal position detection device 1 compares the reception strengths transmitted from the access points 9A, 9B, 9C, selects the access point having the strongest reception strength, and stores the location information corresponding to the access point in the above-mentioned manner. The location of the terminal 6 is assumed. In the example shown in FIG. 18, since the terminal 6 is located at the location 7B, the reception point 9B installed at the location 7B has the highest reception strength of the signal transmitted from the terminal 6. Therefore, the terminal position detection device 1 knows that the terminal 6 is in the location 7B.

  However, when specifying the position of the terminal using the wireless communication function, since the communication band of the wireless communication function is narrow, when transferring large capacity data such as voice, image, video, the transfer time becomes long. There is a problem that communication quality such as packet loss is likely to deteriorate. In particular, in recent years, with the lower prices of terminals such as personal computers and network devices and the speedup of communication lines such as the Internet, a small network (home network) has been built in the home, etc. Opportunities to communicate are increasing. Also, in the home network, for example, a service for receiving a telephone call closest to the user when a telephone call is received, a service for transferring music and moving images in accordance with the movement of the user, and the like have been proposed.

  As described above, in a service in which the data transfer destination is changed according to the position or movement of the user on the home network or the like, for example, communication with stable quality is performed even for data having a large capacity such as audio data or video data. For this reason, it may be necessary to communicate with a wired LAN cable that is wider than wireless communication.

However, conventionally, even when a cable is connected to the terminal to perform wired communication, in order to detect the position of the terminal, a wireless communication function as described in Non-Patent Document 1 must be used. Don't be. That is, in order to detect only the position of the terminal, a wireless communication function must be added to the terminal.
Chen.Y and Kobayashi.H, "Signal Strength Based Indoor Geolocation", IEEE Int Conf Commun, 2002

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that, as described in the background art, in the case of a terminal that performs communication using a wireless communication function, it is easy to specify a geographical (spatial) position, In the case of large-capacity data communication, communication quality such as packet loss is likely to deteriorate. As another problem, when communication is performed by connecting a cable to the terminal, it is possible to prevent deterioration in quality in communication of large-capacity data, but in order to specify the position of the terminal, a wireless communication function is added to the terminal. There is also a point that the cost of the entire network becomes high.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal position detection device and a terminal position detection capable of easily specifying a geographical (spatial) position where each terminal is installed in a network in which terminals are connected by a cable. It is to provide a method.

  An object of the present invention is to identify a geographical position (spatial) where each terminal is installed without using a wireless communication function in a network in which terminals are connected by a cable. The object is to provide a detection device and a terminal position detection method.

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  The outline of the invention disclosed in the present application will be described as follows.

  (1) One or two or more switches having two or more ports and a terminal connected to the switch port by a cable, and at least a switch to which the terminal is connected is connected to the port. Detects the location of the terminal on a network that maintains a table (hereinafter referred to as the MAC address learning table) that associates the MAC (Media Access Control) address of a directly connected terminal or other switch with the port. A terminal position detecting device comprising: means for managing an installation position of the terminal; and means for assigning an IP address to the terminal, wherein the means for managing the installation position of the terminal is a port of the switch or the switch Information registration means for registering the correspondence between the installation location of the terminal and the IP address by means for assigning the IP address A terminal address acquisition means for acquiring a MAC address of a terminal to which the terminal is assigned (hereinafter referred to as a detection target terminal), a switch information acquisition means for acquiring the MAC address learning table from the switch, and a MAC acquired by the switch information acquisition means The means for identifying the port or switch to which the detection target terminal is connected from the address learning table and the MAC address of the detection target terminal, the correspondence registered by the information registration means, and the detection target terminal are connected A terminal position detecting device comprising means for identifying and associating an installation position of the detection target terminal from a port or a switch.

  (2) In the above (1), the means for specifying the port or switch to which the detection target terminal is connected is the MAC address of the detection target terminal from the MAC address learning table acquired by the switch information acquisition means. Means for extracting a table including: means for determining whether a port associated with a MAC address of the detection target terminal of the extracted table is also associated with a MAC address of another switch; and the detection target terminal When the port associated with the other MAC address is also associated with the MAC address of another switch, the detection target terminal is directly connected with reference to the MAC address learning table of the other associated switch. And a means for identifying the switched switch.

  (3) One or two or more switches having two or more ports and a terminal connected to the switch port by a cable, and at least a switch to which the terminal is connected is connected to the port. Detects the location of the terminal on a network that maintains a table (hereinafter referred to as the MAC address learning table) that associates the MAC (Media Access Control) address of a directly connected terminal or other switch with the port. A terminal position detecting method for registering a correspondence relationship between a port of the switch or the switch and an installation position of the terminal; a step for assigning an IP address to a terminal connected to the switch; and the step 2. Obtain the MAC address of the terminal to which the IP address was assigned in step 2 (hereinafter referred to as the detection target terminal) Step 3, Step 4 for acquiring the MAC address learning table from the switch, Port from which the detection target terminal is connected based on the MAC address learning table acquired in Step 4 and the MAC address of the detection target terminal Step 5 for specifying the switch, and the correspondence relationship registered in Step 1 and the port or switch to which the detection target terminal specified in Step 4 is connected are specified and associated with each other. A terminal position detection method comprising:

  (4) In the step (3), the step 5 includes a step 7 for extracting a table including the MAC address of the detection target terminal from the MAC address learning table acquired in the step 4; Determining whether the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is associated with the MAC address of another switch; and determining whether the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is another switch. When the MAC address is associated with the MAC address, the step 9 of referring to the MAC address learning table of the other associated switch, the step 8 and the step 9 are repeated, and the detection target terminal is directly connected. And step 10 for identifying the designated switch.

  (5) In the above (3) or (4), when there is a search request for the installation position of the terminal from the outside, or at a predetermined time interval, the processing of each step is performed, and the terminal and the installation position Update the correspondence of.

  As described in (1) above, the terminal position detection device of the present invention is based on the MAC address of the detection target terminal, the MAC address learning table held by the switch, and the correspondence registered by the information registration means. The installation position of the detection target terminal is specified. Therefore, it is possible to easily specify the position where the detection target terminal is installed without using a conventional wireless communication function.

  In addition, if the terminal position detection device includes each unit as described in (2) above, for example, even in a network in which switches holding the MAC address learning table are connected in multiple stages, the detection target The installation position of the terminal can be easily specified.

  In addition, when the installation position of the detection target terminal is specified using the terminal position detection device as described in (1), the steps described in (3) may be executed. be able to. In the case of the terminal position detection device as described in (2) above, each step described in (4) may be executed.

  In addition, when the port to be connected is changed from one port to another, for example, there are terminals that automatically reacquire the IP address, but depending on the type of terminal, the IP address is manually reacquired Some terminals must be done. When the IP address is automatically acquired or when the user manually acquires the IP address, the correspondence between the MAC address of the terminal and the installation position is updated by acquiring the IP address, If the IP address is not reacquired, the actual position of the terminal and the correspondence held by the terminal position detection device will not match. Therefore, for example, when searching for the position of the terminal from the outside, position information different from the position where the terminal is actually installed may be returned. In order to prevent such a problem, it is only necessary to refer to the MAC address learning table, analyze which port the terminal is currently connected to, and update the correspondence between the terminal and its installation position. However, depending on the switch, the MAC address of the terminal may disappear from the MAC address learning table if the terminal does not communicate for a certain period of time. Thus, when updating the correspondence between the terminal and its installation position, for example, as described in (5) above, when there is a search request for the installation position of the terminal from the outside, or a predetermined time interval Then, communicating with the terminal, causing the switch to learn the port to which the terminal is currently connected, obtaining the MAC address learning table, and performing the steps as described in (3) or (4) Just do it.

  Further, if a program for causing a computer to execute the steps described in (3) to (5) above is prepared, a general-purpose device (computer) such as a personal computer can be used as the terminal position detection device. it can. In this case, the program can be provided using, for example, a magnetic, electrical, or optical recording medium, or can be provided through a network such as the Internet.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail together with embodiments (examples) with reference to the drawings.
In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, parts having the same function are given the same reference numerals and their repeated explanation is omitted.

  In the terminal position detection device of the present invention, the installation position of the detection target terminal is specified based on the MAC address of the detection target terminal, the MAC address learning table held by the switch, and the correspondence registered by the information registration unit Thus, the position where the terminal is installed is detected without using the wireless communication function.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal position detection apparatus according to the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a terminal location detection device, 101 is a DHCP server, 102 is a terminal location management means, 102A is an information registration means, 102B is a terminal address acquisition means, 102C is a switch information acquisition means, 102D is an information processing means, 102E Is a data management means, 102F is an information search means, 103 is a processing control means, and 2 is an intelligent switch.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a terminal position detection apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a DHCP server 101 that assigns IP addresses to terminals connected to a network, and an installation position (hereinafter referred to as a location) of the terminals connected to the network. A terminal location management unit 102 that detects and manages, and a process control unit 103 that controls processing performed by the DHCP server 101 and the terminal location management unit 102 are configured.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the terminal location management means 102 includes an information registration means 102A for registering the correspondence relationship between the port of the intelligent switch 2 and a location, a terminal for detecting a location (hereinafter referred to as a detection target terminal). ) Terminal address acquisition means 102B for acquiring the MAC address, switch information acquisition means 102C for acquiring the MAC address learning table from the intelligent switch 2, MAC address and MAC address learning table of the detection target terminal, and Information processing means 102D for performing processing for specifying the location of the detection target terminal from the correspondence relationship between the port and location registered by the information registration means 102A, the correspondence relationship between the port and the location, the correspondence relationship between the detection target terminal and the location, etc. Hold Provided that the data management unit 102E, and an information retrieval unit 102F for retrieving the location of the terminal on the network from the outside.

  Further, the processing control means 103 is connected to the intelligent switch 2 on the network, for example, as shown in FIG.

  The intelligent switch 2 has a plurality of communication ports 201, 202, 203, 204 such as Ethernet ports (Ethernet is a registered trademark). The intelligent switch 2 has a function of learning the MAC address of a terminal connected under each port 201, 202, 203, 204. The learned MAC address is associated with the port and stored in a learning table (hereinafter referred to as a MAC address learning table). The intelligent switch 2 includes an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) agent that can acquire the MAC address learning table from the outside using the SNMP.

  2 and 3 are schematic diagrams for explaining a detection method using the terminal position detection device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a preparation procedure, and FIG. 3 is a terminal position detection procedure. FIG.

  In order to detect the location (installation position) of the terminal on the network using the terminal position detection apparatus 1 of the present invention, first, the terminal position detection apparatus 1 is installed as shown in FIG. 2 (step 301). ). Next, the intelligent switch 2 is installed and connected to the terminal position detection device 1 (step 302). Next, a cable is connected to each port 201, 202, 203, 204 of the intelligent switch 2, and the cable is wired to a position (location) where a terminal is installed (step 303). Next, the information registration means 102A registers the location information of the laying destination of the cable connected to each port 201, 202, 203, 204 of the intelligent switch 2 in the terminal position detecting device 1 in association with each port. (Step 304).

  At this time, the location can be arbitrarily defined by the terminal position detection device 1 or a network administrator. Therefore, for example, the first floor of a house or building can be defined as a first location and the second floor as a second location. In addition, for example, a room on one floor is a first location, a room next to it is a second location, a specific area in a room is a first location, and another specific area is a second location. It can also be defined as follows.

  Once the terminal position detection device 1 is prepared in advance by the above procedure, a terminal is connected to the intelligent switch 2 to construct a network, and the location of the terminal is detected. Therefore, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the DHCP server 101 and the terminal location management means 102 of the terminal location detecting device 1 are activated (step 401). Next, the cable laid at each location is connected to the terminal that has activated the DHCP client function (step 402). The step 402 may activate the DHCP client function after connecting the cable to the terminal.

  In order to connect a terminal connected to the intelligent switch 2 via the cable to another terminal on the network or the Internet, it is necessary to assign an IP address to the terminal. Then, next, an IP address is assigned to the terminal connected to the intelligent switch 2 (step 403). Here, the processing of step 403 will be briefly described. When the cable is connected to a terminal that has activated the DHCP client function and the terminal is connected to the network, the terminal transmits an application request for an IP address by broadcast as a discover packet to the network. When the processing control means 103 of the terminal position detection apparatus 1 receives this discover packet, it is determined that the request is an IP address application request and is transferred to the DHCP server 101. The DHCP server 101 has a list of IP addresses (IP address pool). When an application is made from the terminal, one IP address is selected from the IP address pool and assigned to the terminal (DHCP client). Reply as a packet. After receiving the offer packet, the terminal (DHCP client) transmits a Request packet again by broadcast in order to express an intention to use the IP address. The DHCP server 101 that acknowledges this returns a PACK packet. At this time, the DHCP server 101 sends back the PACK packet and simultaneously records the MAC address / IP address pair of the terminal (DHCP client) in a release file.

  If an IP address is assigned to the terminal connected to the network in step 403, the location of the terminal to which the IP address is assigned is specified (step 404).

  The procedure for specifying the location of the terminal in step 404 will be briefly described. First, the MAC address and the assigned IP address of the terminal (hereinafter referred to as a detection target terminal) by which the terminal address acquisition unit 102B specifies the location. To get. The MAC address and IP address acquisition method includes, for example, capturing a PACK packet transmitted from the DHCP server 101 to the terminal in cooperation with the processing control unit 103, and detecting the MAC address of the detection target terminal from the PACK packet. And there is a way to get the assigned IP address. When this method is used, the MAC address and IP address of the detection target terminal can be obtained instantaneously. In addition, for example, there is a method of analyzing a release file of the DHCP server 101. In the release file, pairs of MAC addresses of all terminals to which IP addresses including the detection target terminal are assigned and assigned IP addresses are recorded. Therefore, the terminal address acquisition unit 102B can acquire the MAC address and IP address of the detection target terminal newly connected to the network by acquiring and analyzing the release file at regular time intervals.

  Further, the MAC address and IP address of the detection target terminal acquired by the terminal address acquisition unit 102B are sent to the information processing unit 102D. At this time, the information processing unit 102D causes the switch information acquiring unit 102C to identify the port to which the detection target terminal is connected. The switch information acquisition unit 102C acquires the MAC address learning table from the intelligent switch 2, acquires a port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal, and passes the port information to the information processing unit 102D. .

  When the information processing unit 102D receives the port information associated with the detection target terminal, this time, for example, the pre-registration data held by the data management unit, that is, the correspondence between the port and the location is registered. Refer to the data. Then, the location information corresponding to the port to which the detection target terminal is connected is acquired.

  Thereafter, for example, it is checked whether or not the MAC address of the detection target terminal is registered in a table (hereinafter referred to as a terminal location management table) indicating the correspondence between the MAC address of the terminal and the location. A set of the MAC address of the terminal and the acquired location information is added to the terminal location management table. If the MAC address of the detection target terminal is registered, the already registered location information is compared with the acquired location information. At this time, if the location information is the same, the process ends. If the location information is different, the already registered location information is updated to the acquired location information.

  If the location of the terminal connected to the network is specified by the procedure as described above, the location of the terminal can be specified without using the conventional wireless communication function. Hereinafter, several examples of network configurations will be given, and specific processing procedures for specifying the location of the terminal will be described for each case.

  4 to 6 are schematic diagrams for explaining the terminal position detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4A is a network configuration for detecting the terminal position by the terminal position detection device. 4 is a block diagram showing an example, FIG. 4B is a table showing an example of location information to be registered in advance, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a specific processing procedure of the step of specifying the location of the terminal, and FIG. FIG. 6B is a table showing an example of a MAC address learning table, and FIG. 6C is a table showing an example of a terminal location management table.

  In the first embodiment, using the terminal position detection device 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, one intelligent switch 2 and each port 201, 202, 203, 204 of the intelligent switch 2 In the network composed of the first terminal 6A, the second terminal 6B, the third terminal 6C, and the fourth terminal 6D directly connected by the cables 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D, the locations of the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D A case of specifying (detecting) will be described.

  At this time, it is assumed that two locations of the first location 7A and the second location 7B are defined on the network as shown in FIG. The cables 5A and 5B connected to the first port 201 and the second port 202 of the intelligent switch 2 are installed in the first location 7A, and are connected to the third port 203 and the fourth port 204. Assume that the cables 5C and 5D are laid at the second location 7B. That is, in the case of the first embodiment, the correspondence relationship between each port 201, 202, 203, 204 of the intelligent switch 2 registered in step 304 and the location is a position information correspondence table as shown in FIG. Given in.

  After the preliminary preparation and the procedures from step 401 to step 403 are completed in this way, when performing the process of step 404, for example, as shown in FIG. An address is acquired (step 40401). At this time, for example, as described above, the MAC address and the IP address are obtained by capturing the PACK packet returned from the DHCP server 101 in cooperation with the processing control unit 103 in the terminal address acquisition unit 102B. get. Further, instead of capturing the PACK packet, it may be obtained from a release file as shown in FIG. 6A held by the DHCP server 101.

  The MAC address and IP address of the detection target terminal acquired in step 40401 are passed to the information processing means 102D. Next, the MAC address learning table as shown in FIG. 6B is acquired from the intelligent switch 2 by the switch information acquisition means 102C (step 40402). Then, a port number corresponding to the MAC address of the detection target terminal is acquired from the acquired MAC address learning table (step 40403). At this time, for example, if the MAC address of the detection target terminal is the MAC address of the second terminal 6B, the second terminal 6B is connected from the MAC address learning table shown in FIG. It can be seen that the second port 202 is present.

  Next, referring to the position information correspondence table registered in advance, the location information corresponding to the port number obtained in step 40403 is obtained (step 40404).

  Next, for example, referring to a terminal location management table representing the correspondence between the MAC address of the terminal and the location information held by the data management unit 102E, the location information corresponding to the MAC address of the detection target terminal is included. (Steps 40405 and 40406). At this time, if not included, the MAC address of the detection target terminal is associated with the location information acquired in step 40404 and added to the terminal location management table (step 40407), and the process of step 404 is terminated. .

  On the other hand, if the location information corresponding to the MAC address of the detection target terminal is already included in the terminal location management table, then the location information associated with the location information acquired in step 40404 Are the same (step 40408). At this time, if they are the same, there is no change in the correspondence between the MAC address of the detection target terminal and the location information, so the processing of step 404 is terminated as it is. If the location information is different, the location information associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal in the terminal location management table is updated to the location information acquired in step 40404 (step 40409), and the step 404 Terminate the process. Then, when these processes are performed on the MAC addresses of the first terminal 6A, the second terminal 6B, the third terminal 6C, and the fourth terminal 6D, as shown in FIG. A terminal location management table in which the MAC address of each terminal 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D is associated with the location information is obtained.

  A terminal location management table in which the MAC address of each of the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D obtained by the procedure as described above is associated with location information is held by, for example, the data management unit 102E. Then, for example, when a search request for the location of each terminal 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D on the network is received from a terminal outside the network via the information search means 102F, the terminal location management is performed. By referring to the table, the location of each terminal on the network can be easily notified.

  At this time, if the IP address acquired together with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is also registered in the terminal location management table, a terminal outside the network searches for the location of the terminal on the network. Sometimes, it is possible to search by specifying the IP address instead of the MAC address.

  As described above, according to the terminal position detection method of the first embodiment, the MAC address of the detection target terminal acquired from the DHCP server, the MAC address learning table acquired from the intelligent switch 2, the position information registered in advance. Since the location of the detection target terminal is specified using the correspondence table, the position (location) of the terminal can be easily specified even in a network without a wireless communication function.

  In addition, since the location of the terminal can be easily specified even in a wired network, it is possible to prevent a reduction in communication quality even in a service that transfers a large amount of data such as voice and video.

  Further, when the location of a terminal is specified by the method described in the first embodiment, the terminal position detection device 1 is also realized by a computer and a program that causes the computer to execute the processing of step 304 and step 404. can do. At this time, the program can be provided by, for example, a magnetic, electrical, or optical recording medium, or can be provided through a network such as the Internet.

  7 to 9 are schematic diagrams for explaining an application example of the first embodiment. FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating a state of a network at a certain time, and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a second terminal. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a state where the terminal is moved to another location, FIG. 8A is a terminal position management table before moving the second terminal, and FIG. 8B is an IP address assignment after moving the second terminal. The terminal location management table when requested again, FIG. 8C shows the terminal location management table when no IP address assignment is requested after moving the second terminal, and FIG. 9 shows the update processing of the terminal location management table It is a flowchart which shows a procedure.

  In the terminal position detection method of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D are connected to the cables 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D, and IP addresses are assigned. The procedure for specifying the location of each of the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D and creating the terminal location management table immediately after requesting is described. However, in an actual network, the types of terminals to be connected as time passes May change, or the connection location may change even on the same terminal. As such an example, for example, as shown in FIG. 7A, there is a second terminal 6B that is initially installed in the first location 7A and connected to the second port 202 of the intelligent switch 2. Consider a case in which, after the period has elapsed, as shown in FIG. 7B, it is installed at the second location and connected to the fourth port 204 of the intelligent switch 2.

  At this time, if the location of each of the terminals 6A, 6B, and 6C is specified in the network configuration shown in FIG. 7A, the terminal location management table is as shown in FIG. 8A. Yes. After that, when the network configuration shown in FIG. 7B is reached, if the second terminal 6B whose location has been changed requests the IP address assignment again, the second terminal 6B is triggered again by the request. In order to associate the MAC address with location information, a process as shown in FIG. 5 is performed. The terminal location management table is as shown in FIG. 8B, and the location information corresponding to the MAC address of the second terminal 6B should be updated to the second location 7B. In this way, when the terminal is reconnected to a different port, if the IP address assignment is requested again automatically or manually, the correspondence between the MAC address managed in the terminal location management table and the location information Reflects the correspondence between the actual terminal and the location, so it is considered that correct location information can be obtained when the location of the terminal is searched from the outside.

  However, depending on the type of terminal, when the port to be connected is changed, an IP address assignment is not automatically requested again, and there is a case where no manual request is made. In such a case, for example, the actual second terminal 6B is installed in the second location 7B as shown in FIG. 7B, but the terminal location management table shows that in FIG. 8C. As such, it remains associated with the first location 7A. Therefore, when location information is returned by referring to the terminal location management table when searching for the location of the terminal by a request from an external terminal, incorrect location information may be returned.

  In order to prevent such a problem, it is necessary to analyze the MAC address of the intelligent switch 2 instead of the terminal location management table and specify the location of the terminal to be searched according to the type of terminal. However, depending on the type of the intelligent switch 2, the MAC address of a terminal that has not communicated with another terminal via the intelligent switch 2 for a certain period of time may be deleted from the MAC address learning table. Therefore, in such a case, before obtaining the MAC address learning table, first, as shown in FIG. 9, it is necessary to communicate with a terminal that searches for the location. A Ping command is sent to the address (step 40410). Next, a MAC address learning table is acquired from the intelligent switch 2 (step 40411). Next, a port number associated with the MAC address of the terminal to be searched is acquired from the acquired MAC address learning table (step 40412). Next, the location information corresponding to the port number is acquired by referring to the position information correspondence table registered in advance (step 40413). The location information acquired in step 40413 is returned to the terminal that requested the search as location information corresponding to the MAC address of the terminal to be searched (step 40414). At this time, the location information in the terminal location management table is updated to the location information obtained in step 40414 (step 40415).

  Note that the processing from step 40410 to step 40415 is not limited to when a search request is received from a terminal outside the network, but may be performed periodically, for example. When periodically performing, instead of a search request from a terminal outside the network, a release file as shown in FIG. 6A is obtained from the DHCP server 101 and an IP address is assigned to the terminal. For the MAC address, the processing from step 40410 to step 40415 may be performed.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining a modified example of the terminal position detection method of the first embodiment, and is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the network that detects the position of the terminal.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, a network in which the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D are directly connected to the ports 201, 202, 203, and 204 of the intelligent switch 2 is taken as an example. In the above, the method of specifying the location of each of the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and there are two in each of the ports 201, 202, 203, 204 of the intelligent switch 2. A switch having the above ports may be connected, and the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, etc. may be connected to the switch. As an example of such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the cable 5A connected to the first port 201 of the intelligent switch 2 is connected to the port 804 of the switch 8 in the first location 7A. Think about the case. At this time, if the switch 8 has two or more empty ports 801, 802, 803, the first terminal 6A and the second terminal 6B can be connected to these empty ports. However, in this case, in the MAC address learning table of the intelligent switch 2, the MAC address of the terminal connected to the free ports 801, 802, and 803 is associated with the first port 201, so the free ports 801 and 802 , 803 must be installed in the same location (first location 7A). Thus, by connecting the cable 5A connected to the port 201 of the intelligent switch 2 to the other switch 8, the maximum number of terminals that can be connected to the network in one location can be increased. .

  FIGS. 11 and 12 are schematic diagrams for explaining a terminal position detection method according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11A is a network configuration in which the terminal position detection apparatus detects the position of the terminal. FIG. 11B is a table showing an example of location information registered in advance, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a specific processing procedure of the step of specifying the location of the terminal.

  In the second embodiment, using the terminal position detection device 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 11A, a network in which intelligent switches 2A and 2B are installed in the first location 7A and the second location 7B, respectively. The case where the location of the terminal connected to the port of each intelligent switch 2A, 2B is specified (detected) will be described.

  At this time, the intelligent switch (hereinafter referred to as the first intelligent switch) 2A at the first location 7A is connected to the fourth port 204A and the terminal position detecting device 1 as shown in FIG. It is assumed that it is connected with. In the intelligent switch (hereinafter referred to as a second intelligent switch) 2B at the second location 7B, for example, a fourth port 204B and the terminal position detection device 1 are connected by a cable 5B.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 11A, a first terminal 6A and a second terminal 6B are installed in the first location 7A, and the first intelligent switch 2A is connected to the first terminal 6A by cables 5C and 5D, respectively. It is assumed that they are connected to the 2 port 202A and the third port 203A. Similarly, for example, a third terminal 6B and a fourth terminal 6D are installed in the second location 7B, and are connected to the second port 202B and the third port 203B of the second intelligent switch 2B by cables 5E and 5F, respectively. Suppose that

  In such a network, when specifying the location of each of the connected terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D, first, advance preparation is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. At this time, in step 304 performed in advance preparation, instead of the correspondence relationship between each port and location described in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11B, it is installed in each location 7A, 7B. A position information correspondence table showing the correspondence between the MAC addresses of the intelligent switches 2A and 2B and locations is registered. When such a position information correspondence table is registered, MAC addresses are registered in the MAC address learning tables of the terminals connected to the first intelligent switch 2A or the second intelligent switch 2B, that is, the intelligent switches 2A and 2B. Are assumed to be installed at the same location as each of the intelligent switches 2A and 2B. Further, instead of registering the position correspondence table, location information may be described in a MIB (Management Information Base) of each intelligent switch 2A, 2B.

  Also in the case of the network configured as in the second embodiment, the basic processing is the same as that in the first embodiment, and after the advance preparation is completed, as shown in FIG. Processing up to step 403 is performed, and IP addresses are assigned to the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D connected to the intelligent switches 2A and 2B.

  In step 404 for specifying the location of each of the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D to which the IP address is assigned, first, as shown in FIG. 12, the MAC address of the detection target terminal and the assigned IP address are determined. Obtain (step 40401), and then obtain the MAC address learning table of each intelligent switch 2A, 2B (step 40402). When this processing is performed by the terminal position detection device 1, it may be performed by the method described in the first embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a table including the MAC address of the detection target terminal is extracted from the acquired plurality of MAC address learning tables (step 40416).

  Next, the location information associated with the MAC address of the intelligent switch holding the MAC address learning table extracted in step 40416 is acquired by referring to the position information correspondence table registered in advance (step 40417).

  Thus, after identifying the location associated with the MAC address of the intelligent switch to which the detection target terminal is connected, the processing from step 40405 to step 40409 is performed similarly to the processing described in the first embodiment. To create and update a terminal location management table in which the MAC address and location of the detection target terminal are associated with each other. When the terminal position detection apparatus 1 performs the processing from step 40405 to step 40409, the procedure and method described in the first embodiment may be used, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, according to the terminal position detection method of the second embodiment, even when an intelligent switch is installed at each location on the network, there is no wireless communication function as in the first embodiment. Also, the position (location) of the terminal can be easily identified.

  Also, when the location of the terminal is specified by the method described in the second embodiment, the terminal position detection device 1 is also executed by a computer and a program that causes the computer to execute the processes of steps 304 and 404. Can be realized. At this time, the program can be provided by, for example, a magnetic, electrical, or optical recording medium, or can be provided through a network such as the Internet.

  Although detailed description is omitted, also in the case of the terminal position detection method of the second embodiment, depending on the type of the terminal, as described above, the actual location and the terminal position can be changed by changing the connection position of the terminal. The location information held in the detection device may not match. Therefore, for example, the procedure shown in FIG. 8, that is, when there is a location search request from an external terminal, or communicates with a terminal connected periodically, and the MAC address of each intelligent switch 2A, 2B After updating the learning table, the location information of the terminal position management table may be updated.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining a modified example of the terminal position detection method according to the second embodiment, and is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the network that detects the position of the terminal.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11A, the cables 5A and 5B connected to the fourth ports 204A and 204B of the intelligent switches 2A and 2B are directly connected to the terminal position detection device 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other switches or hubs may be installed between the terminal position detection device 1 and the intelligent switches 2A and 2B. As an example of such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the terminal position detecting device 1, the second port 802 of the switch 8, and the fourth port 204A of the first intelligent switch 2A are connected, and the switch 8 A network in which the fourth port 804 of the second intelligent switch 2B and the fourth port 204B of the second intelligent switch 2B are connected is considered. Even in such a case, if the MAC address learning table of each intelligent switch 2A, 2B can be acquired in step 40402, the location of the terminal connected to each intelligent switch 2A, 2B can be specified. In the case of such a network, more locations can be set by connecting other intelligent switches to the ports 801 and 803 between the switches 8.

  In this way, by connecting a switch or hub directly to the terminal position detecting device 1 and connecting the intelligent switch to a port of the switch or hub, for example, the number of communication ports of the terminal position detecting device 1 is small. Even in this case, it is possible to cope with a network having a large number of terminals or a network having a large number of locations.

  14 to 16 are schematic diagrams for explaining a terminal position detection method according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a network that detects the position of the terminal. a), FIG. 15B, and FIG. 15C are the MAC address learning tables of each intelligent switch on the network, and FIG. 16 is a flow for explaining the extraction procedure of the MAC address learning table to which the detection target terminal is directly connected. FIG.

  In the third embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, each location 201 is connected to each port 201 </ b> A, 201 </ b> B of the first intelligent switch 2 </ b> A connected to the terminal position detection device 1. In the network in which the intelligent switches 2B and 2C installed in the network are connected, the location of the terminal connected to the intelligent switches 2B and 2C installed in each location will be described (detected).

  In the case of such a network, the advance preparation and the specific procedure of the location of the terminal are basically the same as those described in the second embodiment. However, in the case of a network like the third embodiment, the MAC address of one terminal may be learned by a plurality of intelligent switches. That is, when performing the process of step 40416 described in the second embodiment, since there are a plurality of MAC address learning tables including the MAC address of the detection target terminal, which intelligent switch the detection target terminal is directly connected to Can't judge whether Therefore, when specifying the location of a terminal in a network like the present Example 3, the process which specifies the intelligent switch to which the said detection target terminal is directly connected is required.

  In the network of the third embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, the first terminal 6A and the second terminal 6B are installed in the first location 7A, and the third terminal 6C and the fourth terminal are installed in the second location. It is assumed that 6D is installed, and among the terminals 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D, for example, the second terminal 6B is a newly connected detection target terminal. At this time, the second terminal 6B acquires an IP address from the DHCP server 101 in the procedure as described in the first embodiment. At this time, the second terminal 6B is connected to the third port 203B of the second intelligent switch 2B, and the second intelligent switch 2B is connected to the second port 202A of the first intelligent switch 2A. . As a result, as shown in FIG. 15A, the MAC address learning table of the first intelligent switch 2A has the MAC address of the second intelligent switch 2B and the first terminal 6A of the first port 6A. Three MAC addresses and the MAC address of the second terminal 6B are associated with each other. Then, as shown in FIG. 15B, the MAC address learning table of the second intelligent switch 2B has the MAC address of the first terminal 6A in the second port 202B and the second address in the third port 203B. The MAC address of the terminal 6B is associated.

  When the MAC address learning table as shown in FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B is acquired in the step 40402 in the process shown in FIG. 12, the second terminal that is the detection target terminal in both tables Since there is a port associated with the 6B MAC address, the location cannot be specified as it is. Therefore, in the next step 40416, first, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, the MAC address learning table of the first intelligent switch 2A is referred to, and the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is specified (step 40416a). Next, it is determined whether the port identified in step 40416a is also associated with the MAC address of another intelligent switch (step 40416b). At this time, if the MAC address of another switch is also associated, the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is identified by referring to the MAC address learning table of the associated switch (step 40416c).

  Then, by repeating the processing of step 40416b and step 40416c, if a port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal finds a MAC address learning table that is not associated with the MAC address of another switch, the table It is determined that the switch to be held is a switch to which the detection target terminal is directly connected (step 40416d).

  In the case of the third embodiment, the detection target terminal is the second terminal 6B, and referring to the MAC address learning table of the first intelligent switch 2A in the step 40416, the port with which the detection target terminal is associated is It is identified as the first port 201A. Next, when the MAC address associated with the first port 201A is checked in the step 40416, the MAC address of the second intelligent switch 2B is included. Therefore, referring to the MAC address learning table of the second intelligent switch 2B in the step 40416c, the port associated with the detection target terminal is identified as the third port 203B. When the MAC address associated with the third port 203B is checked again in the step 40416b, only the MAC address of the detection target terminal (second terminal 6B) is included, and the MAC addresses of other switches are included. Absent. Therefore, in the step 40416d, it is specified that the detection target terminal is directly connected to the second intelligent switch 2B.

  If one switch (MAC address learning table) is specified in this way, then the location of the detection target terminal can be specified by the procedure described in the second embodiment.

  As described above, according to the terminal position detection method of the third embodiment, even when intelligent switches are installed in multiple stages, as in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, there is no wireless communication function. The position (location) of the terminal can be easily identified.

  Also, when the location of the terminal is specified by the method described in the third embodiment, the terminal position detection device 1 is also executed by a computer and a program that causes the computer to execute the processes in steps 304 and 404. Can be realized. At this time, the program can be provided by, for example, a magnetic, electrical, or optical recording medium, or can be provided through a network such as the Internet.

  Although detailed description is omitted, also in the case of the terminal position detection method of the second embodiment, depending on the type of the terminal, as described above, the actual location and the terminal position can be changed by changing the connection position of the terminal. The location information held in the detection device may not match. Therefore, for example, the procedure shown in FIG. 8, that is, when there is a location search request from an external terminal or periodically communicates with a terminal connected to each intelligent switch 2A, 2B, 2C. After updating the MAC address learning table, the location information of the terminal location management table may be updated.

  FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram for explaining a modified example of the terminal position detection method according to the third embodiment, and is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the network that detects the position of the terminal.

  In the third embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the network in which the intelligent switches 2B and 2C are installed in the locations 7A and 7B has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. An intelligent switch may be installed. As an example of such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, the second intelligent switch 2B is installed only in the first location 7A, and the first intelligent switch 2A directly connected to the terminal position detection device 1 is used. There is a network in which the second intelligent switch 2B installed at the first location 7A is connected to the first port 201A. In such a network, the terminals 6A and 6B at the first location 7A are directly connected to the ports 202B and 203B of the second intelligent switch 2B installed at the first location 7A. The terminals 6C and 6D at the second location 7B are directly connected to the ports 203A and 204A of the first intelligent switch 2A.

  As described above, the terminal position detection method described in the third embodiment does not have to have intelligent switches installed at all locations, as shown in FIG. 14, but only at a specific location. An intelligent switch may be installed. Even in a network in which intelligent switches are connected in multiple stages in a state that does not belong to a specific location to increase the number of ports and the number of locations defined on the network is increased, the terminal is operated in the procedure as in the third embodiment. Can be easily identified. Further, the intelligent switch is not limited to the two stages as shown in FIG. 14, and may be connected to three or more stages. In this case, the location of the terminal is specified by the procedure as in the third embodiment. Can do.

  The present invention has been specifically described above based on the above-described embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the terminal position detection apparatus concerning this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the detection method using the terminal position detection apparatus of this invention, and is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a prior preparation. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the detection method using the terminal position detection apparatus of this invention, and is a flowchart which shows the detection procedure of the position of a terminal. FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram for explaining a terminal position detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a network in which the terminal position detection device detects the position of the terminal; 4 (b) is a table showing an example of location information registered in advance. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the detection method of the terminal position of Example 1 by this invention, and is a flowchart which shows an example of the specific process sequence of the step which specifies the location of a terminal. FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram for explaining a terminal position detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6A is a table showing an example of a release file of a DHCP server, and FIG. 6B is a MAC address learning table; FIG. 6C is a table showing an example, and FIG. 6C is a table showing an example of the terminal location management table. FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram for explaining an application example of the first embodiment, FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating a state of a network at a certain time, and FIG. 7B is a diagram in which the second terminal is moved to another location. It is a figure which shows a state. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the application example of the said Example 1, Fig.8 (a) is a terminal location management table before moving a 2nd terminal, FIG.8 (b) is after moving a 2nd terminal, FIG. 8C is a terminal location management table when the IP address assignment is not requested after moving the second terminal, when the IP address assignment is requested again. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the application example of the said Example 1, and is a flowchart which shows the update process procedure of a terminal location management table. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the modification of the terminal position detection method of the said Example 1, and is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of the network which detects the position of a terminal. FIG. 11A is a schematic diagram for explaining a terminal position detection method according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a network in which the terminal position detection device detects the position of a terminal; 11 (b) is a table showing an example of location information registered in advance. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the detection method of the terminal position of Example 2 by this invention, and is a flowchart which shows an example of the specific process sequence of the step which specifies the location of a terminal. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the modification of the terminal position detection method of the said Example 2, and is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of the network which detects the position of a terminal. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the detection method of the terminal position of Example 3 by this invention, and is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the network which detects the position of a terminal. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for explaining a terminal position detection method according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 15A, 15B, and 15C illustrate MAC address learning of each intelligent switch on the network. It is a table. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the terminal position detection method of Example 3 by this invention, and is a flowchart explaining the extraction procedure of the MAC address learning table to which the detection target terminal is directly connected. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the modification of the terminal position detection method of the said Example 3, and is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of the network which detects the position of a terminal. It is a figure explaining the detection method of the position of the terminal using the conventional radio column function.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Terminal position detection apparatus 101 ... DHCP server 102 ... Terminal position management means 102A ... Information registration means 102B ... Terminal address acquisition means 102C ... Switch information acquisition means 102D ... Information processing means 102E ... Data management means 102F ... Information search means 103 ... Processing control means 2, 2A, 2B, 2C ... Intelligent switch 201, 202, 203, 204 ... Intelligent switch port 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F ... Cable 6, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D ... Terminal 7A ... 1st location 7B ... 2nd location 8 ... Switch 801, 802, 803, 804 ... Switch port 9A, 9B, 9C ... Access point

Claims (7)

One or two or more switches having two or more ports and a terminal connected to the switch port by a cable, and at least a switch to which the terminal is connected is directly connected to the port. The location of the terminal (hereinafter referred to as the MAC address learning table) in a network that holds a table (hereinafter referred to as a MAC address learning table) in which the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the terminal or other switch is associated with the port. A terminal position detection device that detects a location)
Means for managing the correspondence between the terminal and location, and means for assigning an IP address to the terminal;
Means for managing the correspondence between the terminal and the location, information registration means for registering the correspondence between the port of the switch or the switch and the location;
Terminal address acquisition means for acquiring a MAC address of a terminal (hereinafter referred to as a detection target terminal) to which an IP address is assigned by means for assigning the IP address;
Switch information acquisition means for acquiring the MAC address learning table from the switch;
From the MAC address learning table acquired by the switch information acquisition means and the MAC address of the detection target terminal, means for specifying the port or switch to which the detection target terminal is connected;
A terminal position comprising: a correspondence relationship registered by the information registration means and a means for identifying and associating the installation position of the detection target terminal from a port or a switch to which the detection target terminal is connected Detection device. 2. The terminal position detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein means for identifying a port or switch to which the detection target terminal is connected is selected from the MAC address learning table acquired by the switch information acquisition means. Means for extracting a table containing addresses;
Means for determining whether the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal of the extracted table is also associated with the MAC address of another switch;
When the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is also associated with the MAC address of another switch, refer to the MAC address learning table of the other switch associated with the detection target Means for identifying a switch to which the terminal is directly connected. One or two or more switches having two or more ports and a terminal connected to the switch port by a cable, and at least a switch to which the terminal is connected is directly connected to the port. Terminal location that detects the location of the terminal on a network that holds a table (hereinafter referred to as a MAC address learning table) that associates the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the selected terminal or other switch with the port A detection method,
Registering the correspondence between the switch port or the switch and the installation position of the terminal;
Assigning an IP address to a terminal connected to the switch;
Obtaining a MAC address of a terminal to which an IP address is assigned in step 2 (hereinafter referred to as a detection target terminal);
Obtaining the MAC address learning table from the switch; and
Step 5 for identifying the port or switch to which the detection target terminal is connected from the MAC address learning table acquired in Step 4 and the MAC address of the detection target terminal;
Step 6 of identifying and associating the installation location of the detection target terminal from the port or switch connected to the detection target terminal identified in Step 4 and the correspondence relationship registered in Step 1 The terminal position detection method characterized by this. 4. The terminal position detection method according to claim 3, wherein the step 5 includes extracting a table including the MAC address of the detection target terminal from the MAC address learning table acquired in the step 4.
Determining whether the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal in the extracted table is also associated with the MAC address of another switch; and
When the port associated with the MAC address of the detection target terminal is also associated with the MAC address of another switch, referring to the MAC address learning table of the other associated switch;
A terminal position detecting method, comprising: repeating step 8 and step 9 to identify a switch to which the detection target terminal is directly connected.   5. The terminal position detection method according to claim 3, wherein when each of the terminals is requested to search for the installation position of the terminal, or at a predetermined time interval, the process of each step is performed, and the terminal is detected. And a terminal position detection method, wherein the correspondence relationship between the installation position and the installation position is updated.   A terminal position detection program for causing a computer to execute each step according to any one of claims 3 to 5.   A recording medium in which the terminal position detection program according to claim 6 is recorded in a computer-readable state.

Images