JP2006352754A - Peer-to-peer communication control apparatus and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the policy control of peer-to-peer communication over a plurality of groups. <P>SOLUTION: The peer-to-peer communication control apparatus includes: a connection request reception section 11 that receives a connection request of the peer-to-peer communication and carries out a response in response to a result of adaptability decision of a communication policy; a tree structure storage section 13 that stores a tree structure wherein a group being a policy control unit of the peer-to-peer communication is arranged on trees; a tree path decision section 12 that discriminates a tree path between groups to which two communication terminals making the peer-to-peer communication of the connection request respectively belong on the basis of the tree structure; a policy storage section 15 that stores the communication policy which is applied to each group, respectively; and a policy decision section 14 that uses the decided tree path so as to decide the adaptability of the communication policy as to the peer-to-peer communication on the connection request on the basis of the communication policy of each group on the tree path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a peer-to-peer communication control device and a computer program.

As a conventional control technology for peer-to-peer communication, a communication control technology for forming only a group (consisting of one or a plurality of communication terminals) which is a policy control unit of peer-to-peer communication and permitting only peer-to-peer communication between communication terminals belonging to the same group It has been known. In this conventional communication control technique, a communication terminal needs to receive permission from a community manager when joining a group, and can belong to a plurality of groups. As other peer-to-peer communication control techniques, techniques described in Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 are known.
JP 2004-272724 A JP 2004-146773 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-312331

  However, in the conventional communication control technique described above, it is not realized that communication policies are linked between a plurality of groups, and policy control of peer-to-peer communication across a plurality of groups cannot be performed. For this reason, for example, groups are formed according to the organizational units (business divisions, departments, sections, etc.) of companies, and these groups are hierarchized in the same way as the corporate organizational structure, realizing peer-to-peer communication within a hierarchical group aggregate. It is desirable to establish a communication control technology that enables this.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a peer-to-peer communication control apparatus that enables policy control of peer-to-peer communication across a plurality of groups.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer program for realizing the peer-to-peer communication control apparatus of the present invention using a computer.

  In order to solve the above problems, a peer-to-peer communication control device according to the present invention receives a connection request for peer-to-peer communication and makes a response according to a communication policy suitability determination result, and a policy for peer-to-peer communication. A tree structure storage means for storing a tree structure in which groups as control units are arranged on the tree, and a tree path between the groups to which two communication terminals performing peer-to-peer communication requested for connection belong respectively. Using a tree path determination unit that is determined based on a tree structure stored in a storage unit, a policy storage unit that stores a communication policy to be applied to each group, and a tree path determined by the tree path determination unit The policy description indicates the conformity of the communication policy for the peer-to-peer communication requested for connection. And policy determination means for determining based on the communication policy of each group on the tree route stored in the unit, further comprising a characterized.

  In the peer-to-peer communication control apparatus according to the present invention, the communication policy includes a plurality of constraints, and the policy determination unit determines suitability for each of the constraints, and the connection request is made based on the determination result. In addition, it is determined whether or not the communication policy conformity for the peer-to-peer communication is acceptable.

  In the computer program according to the present invention, a tree structure in which groups which are policy control units of peer-to-peer communication are arranged on a tree is stored in a tree structure storage means, and a communication policy to be applied to each group is a policy. Stored in the storage means, accepts a connection request for peer-to-peer communication, and receives a response according to a communication policy conformity determination result, and two communication terminals that perform peer-to-peer communication requested for connection, respectively. A tree path determination function for determining a tree path between the groups to which the group belongs, based on the tree structure stored in the tree structure storage unit, and the peer-to-peer communication requested for connection using the determined tree path Each conformity of the communication policy is stored in the policy storage means on the tree path. And determining the policy decision function a communication policy based on the loop, characterized in that to realize the computer.

In the computer program according to the present invention, the communication policy includes a plurality of constraints, and the policy determination function determines suitability for each of the constraints, and based on the determination result, the peer-to-peer requested for the connection is determined. It is characterized by determining whether or not the communication policy conformity about communication is acceptable.
As a result, the above-described peer-to-peer communication control apparatus can be realized using a computer.

  According to the present invention, policy control of peer-to-peer communication across a plurality of groups can be realized. Thus, for example, a group (consisting of one or a plurality of communication terminals) that is a policy control unit of peer-to-peer communication is formed in accordance with an organizational unit (business unit, department, section, etc.) of a company, and similarly to the corporate organizational structure The groups can be hierarchized to realize peer-to-peer communication within the hierarchized group aggregate.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system including a peer-to-peer communication control device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a peer-to-peer communication control device 1 and a communication terminal 2 are connected to a communication network 3. The communication terminal 2 is a terminal that performs peer-to-peer communication, and is, for example, a personal computer, a portable terminal, or a server computer.

  In the communication system of FIG. 1, a group 4 that is a policy control unit for peer-to-peer communication is defined. One group 4 includes one or a plurality of communication terminals 2. Each group 4 is hierarchized on a tree, and its tree structure is determined in advance.

  The communication system shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, an in-house communication system having a communication network 3 as a LAN (local area network). In this case, each group 4 is formed in accordance with the organizational unit (business division, department, section, etc.) of the company, and is hierarchized on the tree similarly to the corporate organization structure.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the peer-to-peer communication control apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the peer-to-peer communication control device 1 includes a connection request receiving unit 11, a tree path determination unit 12, a tree structure storage unit 13, a policy determination unit 14, and a policy storage unit 15.

  The connection request receiving unit 11 receives a connection request for peer-to-peer communication from the communication terminal 2. The tree path determination unit 12 stores the tree path between the groups 4 to which the two communication terminals 2 performing the peer-to-peer communication requested for connection (tree path) are stored in the tree structure storage unit 13. Judgment based on. The tree path between the groups 4 determined here is used to determine the communication policy, and is not related to the actual communication path.

  The tree structure storage unit 13 stores in advance tree structure data representing a tree structure in which the group 4 is arranged on the tree. FIG. 3 shows an example of the tree structure of group 4. The tree structure shown in FIG. 3 consists of N hierarchies. Each group 4 is given a group address indicating a position on the tree. For example, the group 4-1 in the uppermost first hierarchy has a group address “(1: a)”. The group 4-2 in the second hierarchy is a group address “(1: a)-(2: a)”, and the group 4-3 is a group address “(1: a)-(2: b)”. The group 4-101 in the (N-1) th layer has a group address “(1: a)-(2: b)-(3: a)... (N-1: b)”. The tree structure data consists of group addresses for each group 4.

  The tree path determination unit 12 determines a tree path between the groups 4 to which the two communication terminals 2 that perform peer-to-peer communication belong, based on the tree structure data.

  The policy determination unit 14 uses the determined tree path to determine the compatibility of the communication policy for the connection-requested peer-to-peer communication and the communication policy of each group on the tree path stored in the policy storage unit 15. Judgment based on. This determination result is notified to the connection request receiving unit 11. The connection request reception unit 11 makes a response for accepting the connection request for the peer-to-peer communication if the determination result of the communication policy is acceptable, and accepts the connection request for the peer-to-peer communication if the determination result of the communication policy is unacceptable. No response. If the connection request is accepted, the peer-to-peer communication is started.

  The policy storage unit 15 stores in advance communication policy data representing a communication policy to be applied to each group 4. A communication policy consists of one or more constraints. FIG. 4 shows definitions of various restrictions of the communication policy used in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, eight types of constraints are defined. FIG. 5 shows an example of communication policy data. The example of FIG. 5 is for the group 4-101 (group address “(1: a)-(2: b)-(3: a)... (N-1: b)”) shown in FIG. It is a communication policy. In FIG. 5, the communication policy data is composed of set values for each restriction of the communication policy. Each set value shown in FIG. 5 is a value for convenience.

  The policy determination unit 14 determines whether the communication policy of each group conforms to the communication policy data of each group on the tree path between the groups 4 to which the two communication terminals 2 that perform peer-to-peer communication belong. judge. Then, based on the determination result, whether or not the communication policy conformity for the peer-to-peer communication requested to be connected is determined.

Next, the policy control operation related to the communication policy used in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be sequentially described for each restriction of the communication policy.
(No. 1) Partner group that can communicate unconditionally This is a designation of a partner group that can communicate unconditionally while ignoring other communication policies. If the partner group is set, the policy determination unit 14 passes the suitability for peer-to-peer communication with the partner group unconditionally regardless of other communication policies.

(No. 2) Intra-group communication This is designation of whether communication between the communication terminals 2 in the same group 4 is possible. If the setting value is “permitted”, the policy determination unit 14 accepts the suitability for the peer-to-peer communication between the communication terminals 2 in the same group 4. On the other hand, if the set value is “impossible”, the compatibility of the peer-to-peer communication between the communication terminals 2 in the same group 4 is rejected.

(No. 3) Number of hierarchies traced down The child elements that can be accepted as communication partners are designations of up to several hierarchies. In the determination of the communication policy of “the number of layers that can be traced down”, the policy determination unit 14 passes the conformity with respect to the peer-to-peer communication with the child element group 4 up to the number of layers of the set value, and exceeds the number of layers. Fail conformance for peer-to-peer communication with group 4 of child elements. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6 (1), when the number of layers to be traced down related to the group 4-201 is set to 1, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-201 is a child element one layer below. The communication terminals 2 in the groups 4-202 and 4-203 can communicate with each other, but cannot communicate with the child element group 4 in the lower hierarchy. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6 (2), when the number of layers to be traced down related to the group 4-201 is set to 2, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-201 has a child element up to the second hierarchy. Can communicate with the communication terminals 2 of the groups 4-202, 4-203, and 4-204, but cannot communicate with the child element group 4 in a lower hierarchy.

(No. 4) Number of hierarchies traced up The parent element that can be accepted as a communication partner is the designation of how many hierarchies. In the determination of the communication policy of “the number of layers that can be traced up”, the policy determination unit 14 passes the conformity with respect to the peer-to-peer communication with the group 4 of the parent element up to the set number of layers, and exceeds the number of layers. Fail conformance for peer-to-peer communication with group 4 of parent elements. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7 (1), when the number of layers to be traced up related to the group 4-201 is set to 1, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-201 Although communication is possible with the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-301, it is not possible to communicate with the parent element group 4 of a higher hierarchy. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 7 (2), when the number of layers to be traced up related to the group 4-201 is set to 2, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-201 The communication terminals 2 in the groups 4-301 and 4-302 can communicate with each other, but cannot communicate with the parent element group 4 in a higher hierarchy.

(Item No. 5) Upper limit of length of tree path The group that can be accepted as a communication partner is the designation of how many ahead on the tree path. In the determination of the communication policy of “the upper limit of the length of the tree path”, the policy determination unit 14 passes the conformity with respect to peer-to-peer communication with the group 4 up to the upper limit value of the set value, and exceeds the upper limit value. The suitability for peer-to-peer communication with the previous group 4 is rejected. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, when the upper limit value of the length of the tree path related to the group 4-401 is set to 1, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-401 Although it is possible to communicate with the communication terminals 2 of the next groups 4-411 and 4-421, it is not possible to communicate with the group 4 further ahead. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, when the upper limit value of the length of the tree path related to the group 4-401 is set to 2, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-401 Although communication with the communication terminals 2 of the groups 4-411, 4-402, 4-403, 4-421, 4-431, and 4-432 up to two ahead is possible, the group 4 further ahead Cannot communicate with.

(Item No. 6) Permitted via upper layer This is a designation of whether or not it is possible to transit to a higher layer on the tree path. In the determination of the communication policy of “permission to upper layer”, the policy determination unit 14 rejects the suitability for peer-to-peer communication that is a tree path via the group 4 whose setting value is “impossible”. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9 (1), when permission to pass to the upper layer related to the group 4-502 is set to be disabled, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-501 Although it can communicate with the communication terminal 2, it cannot communicate with the group 4 (group 4-503 etc.) via the group 4-502 on the tree path. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 9 (2), when permission to transit to the upper layer related to the group 4-502 is set to be permitted, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-501 It is possible to communicate with the communication terminal 2 of the group 4 (group 4-503 etc.) via the group 4-502.

(Item No. 7) Permitted via lower hierarchy This is a designation of whether or not a lower hierarchy can be routed on the tree path. In the determination of the communication policy of “permission to lower hierarchy”, the policy determination unit 14 rejects the suitability for peer-to-peer communication that is a tree path via the group 4 whose setting value is “impossible”. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10 (1), when permission to transit to a lower hierarchy related to the group 4-511 is set to be disabled, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-501 Although it can communicate with the communication terminal 2, it cannot communicate with the group 4 (group 4-512 etc.) via the group 4-511 on the tree path. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 10 (2), when permission to transit to the upper layer related to the group 4-511 is set to be permitted, the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-501 It is possible to communicate with the communication terminal 2 of the group 4 (group 4-512 or the like) via the group 4-511.

(Item No. 8) Relative position restriction This is the designation of the relative hierarchy depth on the tree of group 4 that can be accepted as a communication partner. In the determination of the communication policy of “relative position restriction”, the policy determination unit 14 accepts the suitability for the peer-to-peer communication with the group 4 that is not less than the depth of the hierarchy restricted by the relative position restriction value of the setting value. Fail conformance for peer-to-peer communication with group 4 below the depth of the hierarchy.

When the group 4 at the top of the tree is the root node, the number of hierarchies (hierarchy depth) counted from the root node of a certain group 4 (for convenience, group 4-x) is n, and relative to the group 4-x Let the position limit value be m. At this time, the depth y of the hierarchy of the group 4 allowable as the communication partner of the group 4-x is expressed by the following equation.
y ≧ nm

For example, in the case of the depth n = 3 of the group 4-x, when the relative position limit value m = 0,
y ≧ 3-0 = 3
It becomes. Accordingly, the group 4-x can communicate with the group 4 having a hierarchy depth of 3 or more (3, 4, 5, 6...).
As another example, when the depth n = 3 of the hierarchy of the group 4-x and the relative position limit value m = 2,
y ≧ 3-2 = 1
It becomes. Therefore, the group 4-x can communicate with the group 4 having a hierarchy depth of 1 or more (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...).
As yet another example, when the depth n = 3 of the group 4-x and the relative position limit value m = −2,
y ≧ 3-(− 2) = 5
It becomes. Therefore, the group 4-x can communicate with the group 4 having a depth of 5 or more (5, 6,...).

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11 (1), when the group 4-601 is a root node and the relative position limit value related to the group 4-621 (hierarchy depth is 3) is set to 0, Since the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-621 is “y ≧ 3-0 = 3”, it is different from the communication terminal 2 of the group 4 (groups 4-622, 4-631, etc.) of the same hierarchy (three levels) or higher. Although communication is possible, it is not possible to communicate with group 4 (groups 4-611, 4-612, 4-601, etc.) below the same layer (three layers).

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, when the group 4-601 is a root node and the relative position limit value related to the group 4-621 (hierarchy depth is 3) is set to 1, Since the communication terminal 2 of the group 4-621 is “y ≧ 3-1 = 2”, it is different from the communication terminal 2 of the group 4 (groups 4-611, 4-622, 4-631, etc.) having two or more layers. Although communication is possible, it is not possible to communicate with a group 4-601 that is lower than two layers.

  The policy determination unit 14 determines that the connection-requested peer-to-peer communication is performed only when all of the restrictions on the conformity determination regarding the connection-requested peer-to-peer communication among the restrictions of the item numbers 2 to 8 are passed. It is determined that the communication policy conformance is acceptable.

  According to the embodiment described above, policy control of peer-to-peer communication across a plurality of groups can be realized. Thus, for example, a group (consisting of one or a plurality of communication terminals) that is a policy control unit of peer-to-peer communication is formed in accordance with an organizational unit (business unit, department, section, etc.) of a company, and similarly to the corporate organizational structure The groups can be hierarchized to realize peer-to-peer communication within the hierarchized group aggregate.

Further, a program for realizing the functions of the peer-to-peer communication control apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed. Communication control processing may be performed. Here, the “computer system” may include an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.
Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” means a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a writable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, a portable medium such as a CD-ROM, a hard disk built in a computer system, etc. This is a storage device.

Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” means a volatile memory (for example, DRAM (Dynamic DRAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. Random Access Memory)), etc., which hold programs for a certain period of time.
The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design changes and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the communication system provided with the peer to peer communication control apparatus 1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the peer to peer communication control apparatus 1 which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the tree structure of the group 4 which concerns on the embodiment. It is a chart which shows the definition of various restrictions of a communication policy used in the embodiment. It is a chart which shows the example of the communication policy data memorize | stored in the policy memory | storage part 15 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the restriction | limiting of the communication policy which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the restriction | limiting of the communication policy which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the restriction | limiting of the communication policy which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the restriction | limiting of the communication policy which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the restriction | limiting of the communication policy which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the restriction | limiting of the communication policy which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Peer to peer communication control apparatus, 2 ... Communication terminal, 3 ... Communication network, 4 ... Group, 11 ... Connection request reception part, 12 ... Tree path | route determination part, 13 ... Tree structure memory | storage part, 14 ... Policy determination part, 15 ... Policy storage

Claims (4)

A connection request accepting means for accepting a connection request for peer-to-peer communication and performing a response in accordance with a communication policy conformity determination result;
A tree structure storage means for storing a tree structure in which groups that are policy control units of peer-to-peer communication are arranged on a tree;
Tree path determination means for determining a tree path between the groups to which each of the two communication terminals performing peer-to-peer communication requested for connection belongs based on the tree structure stored in the tree structure storage means;
Policy storage means for storing a communication policy to be applied to each group;
Using the tree path determined by the tree path determination means, the compatibility of the communication policy for the peer-to-peer communication requested for connection is determined, and the communication policy of each group on the tree path stored in the policy storage means is determined. Policy judging means for judging based on;
A peer-to-peer communication control apparatus comprising: The communication policy consists of a plurality of constraints,
The policy determination unit determines suitability for each of the constraints, and performs pass / fail judgment of suitability of a communication policy for the connection-requested peer-to-peer communication based on the determination result.
The peer-to-peer communication control apparatus according to claim 1. A tree structure in which groups that are policy control units of peer-to-peer communication are arranged on a tree is stored in the tree structure storage means, and a communication policy to be applied to each group is stored in the policy storage means,
A connection request accepting function for accepting a connection request for peer-to-peer communication and performing a response according to the conformity determination result of the communication policy;
A tree path determination function for determining a tree path between the groups to which each of two communication terminals performing peer-to-peer communication requested for connection belongs based on a tree structure stored in the tree structure storage unit;
A policy that uses the determined tree path to determine conformity of a communication policy for the peer-to-peer communication requested for connection based on the communication policy of each group on the tree path stored in the policy storage unit Judgment function,
A computer program for causing a computer to realize the above. The communication policy consists of a plurality of constraints,
The policy determination function determines suitability for each of the constraints, and performs pass / fail judgment of suitability of a communication policy for the connection-requested peer-to-peer communication based on the determination result.
The computer program according to claim 3.

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