JP4964486B2 - Management device, managed device, mediation device, remote management system, communication method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote management system including a management device and a managed device managed by the management device via a network, a communication method in the remote management system, and a program for executing the communication method.

  Conventionally, image processing devices such as printers, facsimile (FAX) devices, digital copiers, scanner devices, digital multifunction devices, network home appliances, vending machines, medical equipment, power supply devices, air conditioning systems, gas, water, electricity, etc. There has been proposed a remote management system in which an electronic device having a communication function or the like connected to a mediating device having a communication function is remotely managed by a management device via a network.

  For example, in an image forming apparatus that forms an image on plain paper or the like using a photosensitive member electrostatic process (electrophotographic process), a trouble (abnormality) occurrence rate in a mechanism that performs the photosensitive member electrostatic process is high, and performance is maintained. A regular overhaul is required, and a service system for maintenance management is adopted. In this maintenance management, a remote management system in which a communication function is provided in the image forming apparatus itself or a managed apparatus in which the above-described mediation apparatus is connected to the image forming apparatus and a management apparatus are connected via a network is configured. When an abnormality occurs in the image forming apparatus, the abnormality can be detected by a detection unit such as a sensor and notified (reported) to the management apparatus by the communication function or the intermediary device. As a result, measures such as repair can be taken immediately after the abnormality is detected.

When the managed device is excluded from the management target by the management device, the managed device is not managed by the management device, but if the notification to the managed device is not successful, the managed device is the managed device Will continue to operate. As a case where the notification to the managed device is not successful, there is a communication path failure or the like when the managed device is not powered on. In such a case, it is necessary for the service person to go to the user and delete the management target registration information from the operation panel of the managed apparatus.
JP 2004-163891 A

  In a remote management system in which a management device and a managed device are connected via a network, the management device sets the managed device as unmanaged and notifies the managed device (the fact that it is set as unmanaged If the notification is not successful, the managed device continues to operate as a managed device. However, in the management apparatus, since the managed apparatus is already out of the management target, the communication contents from the managed apparatus cannot be managed. In this case, a system capable of notifying the managed device that the managed device is an unmanaged device is desired.

  In the present invention, when there is an access from a managed device that is set to be not managed in the management device, in response to the access, the management device notifies the managed device that the device is not managed. In response to receiving the notification, the managed device stops access to the management device.

That is, according to the present invention, in a remote management system including a management device and a managed device that holds registration information indicating that the management device is a management target and is managed via the network by the management device. And the management device is
Storage means for storing identification information of the managed device in association with registration information of the managed device;
In response to an input for erasing the registered information of the managed device, erasing means for erasing the registered information of the managed device stored in the storage means;
In response to reception of a message including identification information of the managed device from the managed device, a search is performed as to whether registration information of the managed device is stored in the storage unit based on the identification information. Determination means for determining whether or not the device is a managed device to be managed;
A remote management system comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit a message indicating that the device is a non-managed device to the managed device in response to the determination by the determining unit that the device is a non-managed device. Is done.

  According to the present invention, the managed device includes stop means for stopping transmission of a message to the management device in response to receiving a message indicating that the device is a non-managed device from the management device. be able to.

  According to the present invention, in response to receiving a message indicating that the managed device is the non-managed device from the managed device, the managed device has an erasing unit that erases registration information held by the managed device. Can be included.

  Further, according to the present invention, the managed device includes an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality, an abnormality notification unit that notifies the management device of the detected abnormality, and a message that notifies the abnormality notified by the abnormality notification unit. On the other hand, it may further include display means for displaying a notification failure when a message indicating that the device is not the management target device is received from the management device.

According to the present invention, the management device, the managed device managed by the management device via a network, and the communication between the management device and the managed device are mediated, and the managed device A remote management system that holds registration information indicating that it is a management target, and includes a mediation device that is managed by the management device as having the mediation of communication effective, the management device comprising:
Storage means for storing identification information of the intermediary device in association with registration information of the managed device;
In response to an input for erasing the registered information of the managed device, erasing means for erasing the registered information of the managed device stored in the storage means;
In response to receiving a message including the identification information of the mediation device from the mediation device, by searching whether or not registration information of the managed device is stored in the storage unit based on the identification information Determining means for determining whether or not a managed device to be managed;
A remote management system comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit a message indicating that the device is a non-managed device to the intermediary device in response to the determination by the determining unit that the device is a non-managed device. You can also.

  In this case, the intermediary device can include stop means for stopping transmission of the message to the management device in response to receiving a message indicating that the device is a non-management target device from the management device.

In addition, the intermediary device may include erasure means for erasing registration information held by the mediation device in response to receiving a message indicating that the device is an unmanaged device from the management device.

  Further, in response to receiving a message indicating that the device is not the management target device from the management device, the mediation device transmits a message indicating the device that is not the management target to the managed device. Means for transmitting.

  According to the present invention, a communication method in a remote management system and a program for executing the communication method are also provided. The communication method includes a step of determining by the determining means of the management device and a step of transmitting a message by the transmitting means. Furthermore, it includes a step of stopping the managed device by the stopping unit and a step of deleting by the erasing unit. In addition, a step of detecting an abnormality by the abnormality detection unit, a step of notifying the management device of the abnormality detected by the abnormality notification unit, and a message notifying the abnormality notified by the display unit from the management device to a non-managed device When a message indicating that there is a message is received, a notification failure is displayed.

  The program causes the management device to execute the determination step and the transmission step. The program is composed of a first program and a second program. The first program is stored in the management apparatus, and the second program is stored in the managed apparatus. The first program causes the management apparatus to execute the determination step and the transmission step. The second program causes the managed device to execute the steps of stopping, erasing, detecting, notifying, and displaying the managed device.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to stop the managed device from operating as a management target device, and it is possible to stop unnecessary communication.

  Further, according to the present invention, by deleting the registration information held in the managed device, the notification to the management device can be stopped even when the notification to the management device is necessary.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to display on the display means of the managed device, for example, on the operation panel, that the notification to the management device has failed and notify the user that the notification has failed. .

  In addition, according to the present invention, even a managed device that does not have a communication function can be managed by the management device by using the mediation device, and unnecessary communication is stopped and is no longer managed. In this case, the notification to the management device can be stopped.

  According to the present invention, the notification from the managed device to the mediation device can be stopped by notifying the managed device from the managed device that the managed device is not managed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a configuration example of a remote management system using an electronic device as a managed device will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one configuration example of a remote management system.

  Remote management systems include printers, fax machines, digital copiers, scanners, digital multifunction peripherals and other image forming devices, network home appliances, vending machines, medical equipment, power supplies, air conditioning systems, gas, water, electricity, etc. An electronic device having a communication function in a system or the like is a managed device 100, and includes the managed device 100 and a management device 102 that functions as a server device that manages the managed device 100 via the network 101. Is done.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, only a part of the plurality of managed devices 100 has a communication function for performing communication via the network 101. Other managed devices are connected to a mediation device 103 having a communication function via a local area network (LAN), and the mediation device 103 communicates with the management device 102 via the network 101 such as the Internet. In this embodiment, the management device 102 can centrally and remotely manage each managed device 100 via the mediation device 103. In managing the managed device 100, various hierarchical structures can be configured using the mediation device 103 according to the usage environment.

  FIG. 1 shows three installation environments. In the installation environment A, an intermediary device 103a that can establish a connection with the management device 102 using, for example, HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), is connected to the intermediary device 103a via a LAN. A hierarchical structure including managed devices 100a and 100b that do not have a communication function is formed.

  In the installation environment B, four managed devices 100c, 100d, 100e, and 100f are installed. Since the load increases when one mediation device 103 is installed, the two mediation devices 103b and 103c are used, The management devices 100c and 100d are connected to the mediation device 103b via the LAN, the managed devices 100e and 100f are connected to the mediation device 103c via the LAN, the mediation device 103c is connected to the mediation device 103b, and the mediation device 103b is connected to the managed device. In addition to 100c and 100d, a hierarchical structure is formed in which the intermediary device 103c can be followed.

  In the installation environment C, the managed devices 100g and 100h have a communication function. Therefore, the mediation device 103 is unnecessary, and the managed devices 100g and 100h are directly connected to the network 101. Although not shown in FIG. 1, another managed device may be connected to the managed devices 100g and 100h. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in order to enhance security in each environment, firewalls 104a, 104b, 104c, etc. are provided between the network 101 and the managed devices 100g, 100h having the intermediary devices 103a, 103b and communication functions. It is possible to install a system that prevents outside intrusion into the computer network in the organization.

  The management apparatus 102 has an application program for performing control management of each of the mediation apparatuses 103a, 103b, and 103c and the managed apparatuses 100a to 100h connected via the network 101. The managed devices 100a to 100h, the management device 102, and the mediation devices 103a to 103c constituting the remote management system are mutually implemented by RPC (remote procedure call) which is a procedure for executing processing on different machines on the network. A request to be a processing request for the method of the application program can be transmitted and a response to the request can be received.

  More specifically, when the management device 102 transmits a request from the management device 102 to the mediation device 103c, the request is transmitted to the mediation device 103c via the network 101 and the mediation device 103b. The request is processed by the mediation device 103c, and a response as a result is generated. The response is transmitted from the mediation device 103c to the management device 102 via the mediation device 103b and the network 101, and the management device 102 can obtain a result for the request. The request in this case can include causing the mediation device 103c to transmit various requests to the managed device 100e and obtain a response from the managed device 100e.

  In order to realize the above RPC, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), HTTP, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), an execution program, and the like are protocols for accessing objects in a remote environment using XML (extensible Markup Language). So far, such as COM (Component Object Model) that implements the linkage between DLLs using object-oriented technology, CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) that enables communication between objects across the boundaries of platforms and programming languages Use known protocols (communication standards), technologies, and specifications It is possible.

  For example, the management apparatus 102 can monitor / manage the managed apparatus 100 via the network 101 using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) based on UDI (User Datagram Protocol) / IP. In this case, the management apparatus 102 can include an SNMP manager that monitors / manages the state of the managed apparatus 100 connected to the network 101 and the state of network traffic. Correspondingly, the managed device 100 can be provided with an SNMP agent that passes a Management Information Base (MIB) that defines an item to be managed to the SNMP manager in response to a request from the SNMP manager.

  Communication between the management device 102 and each of the mediation devices 103a to 103c and the managed devices 100g and 100h can be performed using identification information of the management device 102, each of the mediation devices 103a to 103c and the managed devices 100g and 100h. . Specifically, it can be performed using a pipe, a BOIS (Basic Input Output System), a socket, or the like. The pipe is a function that associates a file descriptor (identifier) of a certain process with a file descriptor (identifier) of another process. The BIOS is a program that provides a function for an application program to access a device. The socket generally refers to a network API (Application Program Interface) used in TCP / IP. In communication using a socket, a connection (communication path) can be opened using this socket, and communication can be performed using a method for reading and writing such as read / write for file input / output.

  The management device 102 can be a device including a CPU, ROM, RAM, nonvolatile memory, network interface card (NIC), and the like. Further, like the management apparatus 102, the mediation apparatus 103 can be an apparatus including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a nonvolatile memory, a NIC, and the like. The managed devices 100g and 100h having the communication function can be devices provided with each unit (CPU, NIC, etc.) included in the mediation device 103, or units such as the CPU and RAM provided in the managed devices 100g, 100h. It is also possible to implement a communication function by using the CPU to execute an application program or a program module. These devices are described in detail below.

  The configuration of the management apparatus 102 will be described with reference to FIG. The management apparatus 102 includes a modem 200, a communication terminal 201, a proxy server 202, an input terminal 203, a database 204, and a controller 205. The communication terminal 201 communicates with the managed devices 100g and 100h and the mediation devices 103a to 103c shown in FIG. 1 via a public line, and transmits and receives data. The modem 200 converts a signal transmitted from the management apparatus into a signal used in the public line, converts a signal received from the public line into a signal used in the management apparatus, and modulates and demodulates data to be transmitted and received. The proxy server 202 communicates with the managed devices 100g and 100h and the mediation devices 103a to 103c shown in FIG. 1 via a network such as the Internet, and performs security management in addition to data transmission / reception.

  The input terminal 203 includes an input device that receives input of various data by an operator. Examples of the input device include a keyboard and a mouse. The input data can include identification information such as an IP address and a call destination telephone number used when the managed device or the intermediary device communicates with the management device. The database 204 exists in the HDD in the management apparatus and the HDD in the server connected to the management apparatus, and includes identification information such as an IP address and a call destination telephone number of the managed apparatus and the intermediary apparatus, the managed apparatus and the intermediary apparatus. Data received from the terminal, data input from the input terminal 203, and the like are stored. The controller 205 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls processing by the management device.

  With reference to FIG. 3, the management apparatus 102 is demonstrated in detail. The storage means 300 shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the database 204 shown in FIG. 2 constituting the management apparatus. The storage unit 300 stores the registration information of the managed device included in the data received from the managed device or the mediating device and the data input from the input terminal 203 in association with the identification information of the managed device or the mediating device. The identification information may be a Mac address unique to a card used for the communication terminal 201 or the like in addition to the IP address and the call destination telephone number. Since the managed device or the intermediary device transmits the identification information included in the message, the identification information can be acquired by extracting it from the message. In the management device, for example, by receiving a message including a registration request from the managed device, the identification information is extracted from the message, the registration information is generated from the registration request, and the information is associated and stored as a list. it can. In addition, the storage unit 300 stores, as data, a message indicating that the managed device or the intermediary device is an unmanaged device. This message is read in response to reception of a message from a device that is determined to be an unmanaged device by the determination unit 302 described below, and is transmitted to the device.

  The erasing unit 301 and the determination unit 302 shown in FIG. 3 are included in the controller 205 shown in FIG. The erasure unit 301 erases the registration information of the managed device stored in the storage unit 300 when the operator inputs from the input unit 303 corresponding to the input terminal 203 to delete the registration information of the managed device. The determination unit 302 receives a message including identification information of the managed device from the managed device, and searches the storage unit 300 to determine whether or not the registered information of the managed device is stored based on the identification information. . The search determines whether the device is a managed device. The determination unit 302 determines that the device is a management target if registration information of the managed device is stored in the storage unit 300, and determines that the device is not a management target if not stored.

  The reception unit 304 and the transmission unit 305 illustrated in FIG. 3 correspond to the modem 200, the communication terminal 201, and the proxy server 202 illustrated in FIG. The receiving unit 304 receives a message including identification information of the managed device from the managed device. Also, polling (inquiry as to whether there is a transmission request) transmitted by the managed device or the intermediary device is received. When the determining unit 302 determines that the managed device is an unmanaged device, the transmitting unit 305 transmits a message indicating that the managed device is an unmanaged device to the managed device. The transmission unit 305 can transmit a transmission request in response to polling from a managed device or an intermediary device.

  Next, an image forming apparatus will be described as an example of a managed apparatus with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 400 includes a controller board 401, an HDD (hard disk drive) 402, an NV-RAM (nonvolatile RAM) 403, a PI (personal interface) board 404, a PHY (physical media interface) 405, an operation panel 406, a plotter / scanner. An engine board 407, a power supply unit 408, a finisher 409, an ADF (automatic document feeder) 410, a paper feed bank 411, and other peripheral devices 412 are provided.

  The controller board 401 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls each function via a PCI-BUS (Peripheral Components Interconnect-Bus) 413. The PI board 404 and the PHY 405 communicate with the outside, and can be, for example, a communication board. The PI board 404 has an interface conforming to the RS485 standard, and is connected to a public line via a line adapter. The PHY 405 is an interface for communicating with an external device via a LAN. The operation panel 406 functions as an operation unit and a display unit.

  The engine board 407 receives power supply from the power supply unit 408, and generates a signal for notifying the controller board 401 that various initial settings have been completed and preparation for transmission / reception of commands with the controller board 401 is completed. The engine board 407 includes a scanner engine and a plotter engine.

  The image forming apparatus 400 is installed with a program including the highest application module layer and the service module layer below it. This program is stored in the HDD 402 and the RAM on the controller board 401 shown in FIG. 4, and is read and executed by the CPU on the controller board 401 as necessary. This CPU executes the above program to detect abnormality detection means for detecting abnormality, abnormality determination means for determining the type of abnormality, abnormality transmission means for transmitting abnormality to the management apparatus, and transmission of abnormality has been transmitted. An abnormally transmitted state setting means for setting the state, an apparatus state confirmation means for confirming the state of the apparatus, an abnormality release detecting means for detecting that the abnormality has disappeared, an abnormality canceling transmitting means for transmitting that the abnormality has disappeared, an abnormal transmission Can be made to function as an abnormally transmitted state canceling means for canceling the setting that the transmission has been completed. Note that the image forming apparatus 400 can include an abnormality detection unit such as a sensor on the engine board 407.

  Here, the configuration of the managed device 100 directly connected to the network 101 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The managed device 100 illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a transmission unit 500 that transmits a message to the management device, and a reception unit 501 that receives a message from the management device. Further, a stop unit 502, an erasing unit 503, an abnormality detection unit 504, an abnormality notification unit, and a display unit 505 are included. The receiving unit 501 receives a message indicating that the device is not a management target device from the management device. The stop unit 502 receives a message indicating that the device is not a management target device, and stops the transmission of the message to the management device by the transmission unit 500.

  The erasure unit 503 receives the message indicating that the device is not a management target device, and erases the registration information held by the managed device 100. The abnormality detection unit 504 monitors the state of hardware resources and detects an abnormality when an abnormality occurs. The abnormality notification unit notifies the management apparatus of the detected abnormality as a message, but is included in the transmission unit 500 and is not shown here. The display unit 505 displays notification failure or the like. If the notification fails, the display unit 505 can display an error message.

  The managed device 100 includes storage means 506 for storing data, and stores registration information indicating that the data is a management target of the management device as one of the data. The transmission unit 500, the reception unit 501, and the abnormality notification unit correspond to the PI board 404 and PHY 405 in the image forming apparatus 400 illustrated in FIG. The stop unit 502 and the erasing unit 503 are included in the controller board 401 in the image forming apparatus 400 shown in FIG. The abnormality detection unit 504 may be included in the controller board 401, but may be a sensor or the like provided on the engine board 407. The display unit 505 corresponds to the operation panel 406 in the image forming apparatus 400 shown in FIG.

  The state of the hardware resources such as the operation panel 406 and the engine board 407 shown in FIG. 4 is monitored by the abnormality detection unit 504 shown in FIG. When an event indicating an abnormality occurs in any hardware resource, the abnormality detection unit 504 detects the event. Different processing may be performed depending on the type of event, and in this case, the abnormality detection unit 504 may include an event determination unit for determining the type of event.

The configuration of the managed device 100 directly managed by the management device 102 has been described with reference to FIG. 5, but the managed device managed via the mediation device 103 performs communication with the mediation device 103. Transmission means and reception means, abnormality detection means, abnormality notification means included in the transmission means, and display means. Storage of registration information, deletion of registration information, and suspension of communication with the management apparatus can be performed by the mediation apparatus 103 described below. Further, even if the remote management system is configured to include the mediation device 103, the managed device 100 may be configured as illustrated in FIG.

  The configuration of the intermediary device 103 connected to the network 101 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Specifically, the intermediary device 103 includes the above-described CPU, ROM, RAM, NIC, and the like, but causes them to function as a transmission unit 600, a reception unit 601, a stop unit 602, and an erasing unit 603. In addition to transmitting a message to the management device, the transmission unit 600 transmits a message indicating that the device is not a management target device to the managed device. The receiving unit 601 receives a message indicating that the device is not a management target device from the management device.

  The stopping unit 602 and the erasing unit 603 have the same functions as the stopping unit 502 and the erasing unit 503 shown in FIG. The storage unit 604 stores registration information indicating that a managed device connected to the mediation device 103 via a LAN or the like is a management target of the management device. Since a plurality of managed devices are connected to the mediation device 103, the storage unit 604 stores the identification information of these managed devices in association with each registered information.

  Requests and messages transmitted and received between the management device and the managed device and between the management device and the mediation device are, for example, SOAP (Simple Object Access) described in XML (extensible Markup Language) format which is a structured language. Protocol) request and SOAP message. In this case, each apparatus can be equipped with a library for processing SOAP, a library for processing data described in the XML format, and a library for processing HTTP.

  A general process in the remote management system will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence of data transmission / reception performed between the management apparatus 102, the mediation apparatus 103, and the image forming apparatus 400 that is a managed apparatus. The mediation device 103 connected to the network polls the management device 102 (S700). The intermediary device 103 associates its own identifier, generates an HTTP message including a SOAP message for inquiry, and transmits the HTTP message to the management device 102. Next, the management device 102 receives an HTTP message from the mediation device 103. Upon receipt of this HTTP message, an HTTP message including a SOAP message indicating a charging counter acquisition request is generated as a transmission request. This HTTP message is transmitted to the mediation apparatus 103 which is the transmission source (S701). Note that the mediation apparatus 103 as the transmission source is identified based on the identifier included in the HTTP message received by the management apparatus 102.

  When the mediation device 103 receives the HTTP message from the management device 102, the mediation device 103 generates a SOAP message indicating a charging counter acquisition request based on the HTTP message. The mediation apparatus 103 transmits the generated SOAP message to the image forming apparatus 400, which is a managed apparatus connected to itself (S702). The image forming apparatus 400 receives the SOAP message from the mediation apparatus 103, extracts the charge counter acquisition request included in the SOAP message, and reads the charge counter data stored in the storage means such as NV-RAM.

  A SOAP message including the read accounting counter data is generated, and the generated SOAP message is transmitted to the mediation apparatus 103 (S703). Upon receiving the SOAP message from the image forming apparatus 400, the mediation apparatus 103 generates an HTTP message based on the SOAP message and transmits the HTTP message to the management apparatus 102 (S704).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence in which data is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 400 to the management apparatus 102 via the mediation apparatus 103. In response to the user call key being pressed, the image forming apparatus 400 generates a SOAP message, which is user call information for notifying a user call request, and transmits it to the mediation apparatus 103 (S800). When the mediation device 103 receives the SOAP message from the image forming device 400, the mediation device 103 associates the identifier of the mediation device 103 and generates an HTTP message including the SOAP message. This HTTP message is transmitted to the management apparatus 102 (S801).

  When the management apparatus 102 receives an HTTP message including a SOAP message from the mediation apparatus 103 and the reception ends normally, the management apparatus 102 does not normally end the call result indicating that the user call is successful. If it is (abnormally terminated), an HTTP message including a SOAP message indicating the call result indicating that the user call has failed is generated and transmitted to the mediation apparatus 103 of the transmission source (S802). Upon receiving the HTTP message from the management apparatus 102, the mediation apparatus 103 generates a SOAP message indicating the call result based on the HTTP message, and transmits it to the image forming apparatus 400 where the user call key is pressed (S803).

  When the image forming apparatus 400 receives the SOAP message indicating the call result from the mediation apparatus 103, the image forming apparatus 400 determines whether the call result indicated by the SOAP message is successful or unsuccessful, and displays the message indicating the determination result on the character display on the operation panel. Display on the instrument.

  When the mediation device 103 determines that no response is received from the management device 102 even after a predetermined time has elapsed, that is, when the response from the management device 102 is not received within the predetermined time, the user call has failed. A SOAP message indicating the call result is generated and transmitted to the image forming apparatus 400 (S804). When the image forming apparatus 400 receives the SOAP message indicating the call result indicating failure, the image forming apparatus 400 interprets the call result indicating failure included in the SOAP message, and displays the message including the call result on the characters on the operation panel. Display on the display.

  If the image forming apparatus 400 determines that there is no response from the mediation device 103 even after a preset time has elapsed, that is, if the response from the mediation device 103 is not received within the predetermined time, the user call fails The result of the call is displayed on the character display on the operation panel.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the mediation apparatus 103 performs polling periodically. In the management apparatus 102, when the operator deletes the registration information of the image forming apparatus 400, the polling after the deletion notifies the image forming apparatus 400 that it is no longer a management target by making a return request.

  This will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The mediation device 103 transmits a message for polling to the management device 102 (S900). In the management apparatus 102, a return request is generated by erasing the registration information by the operator. This return request is for notifying the managed device 100 that it has become an unmanaged device. The return request is configured to include the message data stored in the storage unit 300, and is held for a predetermined period so that it can be notified immediately when polling is performed.

  The receiving unit 304 receives the message and sends it to the determining unit 302 (S901). The determination unit 302 determines whether or not the managed device 100 is a management target from the identification information included in the message. Here, since the registration information has been erased by the erase input by the operator, the registration information of the managed device 100 cannot be searched from the storage means 300 and is determined to be an unmanaged device. The determination unit 302 determines that the device is not a management target, and sends a return request held for a predetermined period to the transmission unit 305 (S902). The transmission unit 305 receives the return request and transmits the return request to the mediation apparatus 103 (S903).

  In the intermediary device 103, after the return request is received by the reception unit 601, the transmission unit 600 transmits the return request to the managed device 100 (S904). The mediation apparatus 103 returns a return response indicating that the return request has been received to the management apparatus 102 (S905).

  After receiving the return request, the intermediary device 103 extracts a message indicating that the device is an unmanaged device included in the return request, and deletes the registration information stored in the storage unit 604 based on the message. Erases. Further, the stopping unit 602 stops the polling performed by the mediation device 103 to the management device 102 and the notification of the abnormality received from the managed device 100. The erasing unit 603 specifies the head address and the data length of the registration data to be erased in the storage unit 604, and erases that portion of the data. For example, if the registered data is “01010100” and the data format at the time of erasure is “00000000”, the erasing means 603 changes the data in that portion to “00000000”. Further, the stopping unit 602 gives a stop signal to the transmitting unit 600 that is to perform polling to stop polling (S906).

  The managed device 100 is informed that it is an unmanaged device by the return request received from the mediation device 103. When the managed device 100 includes the stopping unit 502, the erasing unit 503, and the storage unit 506 for storing the registration information shown in FIG. 5, the registration information is deleted and the transmission to the management device 102 is stopped in the same manner as described above. Can be made. As a result, the intermediary device 103 does not receive a message notifying an unnecessary abnormality from the managed device 100.

  When a message for polling is not transmitted from the managed device 100, the management device 102 does not transmit the return request to the mediation device 103 even if there is a return request. The managed device 100 may not be used for the convenience of the user who owns the managed device 100, and there is no guarantee that the management device 102 can send a return request. Therefore, the return request is discarded after a predetermined period has elapsed.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when a message for polling is transmitted from the mediation device 103 after the return request is discarded (S1000, S1001), the managed device 100 is excluded from management by the management device 102. Since there is no return request to the managed device 100, the management device 102 does not respond. However, when an abnormality occurs in the managed device 100, the managed device 100 transmits a message notifying the abnormality to the mediation device 103 (S1002). Since the intermediary device 103 holds registration information indicating that it is a management target of the management device 102, the mediation device 103 transmits a message notifying this abnormality to the management device 102 (S1003). This message includes a response request. Upon receiving the message, the management device 102 transmits a message indicating that the device is not a management target device to the mediation device 103 as a response (S1004). The mediation device 103 transmits the response message received from the management device 102 to the managed device 100 (S1005).

  Also in this case, the management apparatus 102 reads the message data from the storage unit 300 and sends it to the transmission unit 305 in response to the determination by the determination unit 302 and the determination that the apparatus is not a management target. The transmission means 305 transmits the data to the mediation apparatus 103 as a response message.

  The communication sequence for notifying the management apparatus 102 shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 that the management apparatus 102 is excluded from the management target is not managed, and is executed by executing a program. Can do. This program can be stored as a first program in the management apparatus 102, stored as a second program in the managed apparatus or the intermediary apparatus, and executed by these apparatuses. The program can be recorded on a recording medium such as a RAM or an HDD, and can be provided as a recording medium.

  Although the present invention has been described with the embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, etc. It can be changed within the range that can be conceived by a trader, and any embodiment is included in the scope of the present invention as long as the effects and effects of the present invention are exhibited.

  The present invention includes network home appliances, vending machines, and medical devices. The present invention is applicable to power supply devices, air conditioning systems, gas, water, electricity and other metering systems, various electronic devices such as computers, and computers that control the electronic devices.

The figure which showed the structural example of the remote management system of this invention. The figure which showed the physical structure of the management apparatus which comprises the remote management system of this invention. The figure which showed the detailed structure of the management apparatus which comprises the remote management system of this invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a physical configuration of an image forming apparatus as an example of a managed apparatus. The figure which showed the detailed structure of the to-be-managed apparatus which comprises the remote management system of this invention. The figure which showed the detailed structure of the mediation apparatus which comprises the remote management system of this invention. The figure which showed an example of the communication sequence of the data transmission / reception performed between each apparatus of a remote management system. The figure which showed another example of the communication sequence of data transmission / reception. The figure which showed the 1st communication sequence for notifying that it is a non-management object with respect to the communication from the management apparatus made into the non-management object in the management apparatus. The figure which showed the 2nd communication sequence for notifying that it is not management object with respect to the communication from the management apparatus made into management object non-management object.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 100a-100h ... Managed apparatus, 101 ... Network, 102 ... Management apparatus, 103, 103a-103c ... Mediation apparatus, 104a-104c ... Firewall, 200 ... Modem, 201 ... Communication terminal, 202 ... Proxy server, 203 ... Input terminal 204 ... Database 205 ... Controller 300 ... Storage means 301 ... Erasing means 302 ... Determining means 303 ... Input means 304 ... Receiving means 305 ... Transmitting means 400 ... Image forming apparatus 401 ... Controller Board, 402 ... HDD, 403 ... NV-RAM, 404 ... PI board, 405 ... PHY, 406 ... Control panel, 407 ... Plotter / scanner engine board, 408 ... Power supply unit, 409 ... Finisher, 410 ... ADF, 411 ... Supply Paper bank, 412 ... peripheral equipment 413 ... PCI-BUS, 500 ... transmission means, 501 ... reception means, 502 ... stop means, 503 ... deletion means, 504 ... abnormality detection means, 505 ... display means, 506 ... storage means, 600 ... transmission means, 601 ... reception Means, 602 ... Stop means, 603 ... Erase means, 604 ... Storage means

Claims (16)

A management device, which holds registration information indicating that the management target of the management device, a said management apparatus used in a remote control system including a managed device to be managed through the network by the management device ,
Storage means for storing identification information of the managed device in association with registration information of the managed device;
In response to an input for erasing the registered information of the managed device, erasing means for erasing the registered information of the managed device stored in the storage means;
In response to receiving a message from the managed device asking whether there is a transmission request including identification information of the managed device, registration information of the managed device is stored in the storage unit based on the identification information. Determining means for determining whether or not the device is a managed device by searching whether or not
If it is determined that the managed device Ri unmanaged by said determining means, in response to the message, the object management apparatus Signals the device unmanaged to said managed device sending the return request, the to erase the registration information該被management apparatus to the management apparatus holds, and a transmitting means for Ru stops the transmission of the message to the management device, the management device. Mediating communication between a management device, a managed device managed by the management device via a network, and the management device and the managed device, the managed device being a management target of the management device holds registration information indicating to a said management apparatus used in a remote control system including a mediating apparatus to be managed as an active intermediary of the communication by the management device,
Storage means for storing identification information of the intermediary device in association with registration information of the managed device;
In response to an input for erasing the registered information of the managed device, erasing means for erasing the registered information of the managed device stored in the storage means;
Whether or not registration information of the managed device is stored in the storage unit based on the identification information in response to reception of a message inquiring whether there is a transmission request including the identification information of the mediation device from the mediation device Determining means for determining whether or not it is a managed device to be managed by searching
Return to notify the when it is determined that the managed device by Ri outside the managed to the determining means, in response to the message, the said managed device is turned device unmanaged to the mediation device sending a request, the intermediary device to erase the registration information which the intermediary device is held, and a transmission means for Ru stops the transmission of the message to the management device, the management device. The managed device used in a remote management system including a management device and registered information indicating that the management device is a management target and managed by the management device via a network. And
Transmitting means for transmitting a message for inquiring whether or not there is a transmission request including identification information of the managed device to the management device;
In response to receiving a return request for notifying that the managed device, which has been transmitted by the management device as a response to the message, is an unmanaged device, the registration information held by the managed device is deleted. Erasing means to perform,
A managed device including stop means for stopping transmission of the message to the management device by the transmission means in response to reception of the return request . The managed device receives the return request for an abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality, an abnormality notifying means for notifying the detected abnormality to the management apparatus, and a message notifying the abnormality notified by the abnormality notifying means. The managed device according to claim 3 , further comprising display means for displaying a notification failure when the notification is made. Mediating communication between a management device, a managed device managed by the management device via a network, and the management device and the managed device, the managed device being a management target of the management device The intermediary device used in a remote management system that holds registration information indicating and includes an intermediary device that is managed by the management device as having the mediation of communication effective .
A transmission means for transmitting a message for inquiring about the presence or absence of a transmission request including identification information of the mediation apparatus to the management apparatus;
In response to receiving a return request for notifying that the managed device that has been transmitted by the management device as a response to the message has become an unmanaged device, the registration information held by the mediation device is deleted. Erasing means;
In response to receiving the return request, the intermediary device includes stop means for stopping transmission of the message to the management device by the transmission means . The transmitting means is responsive to said return request received to notify that it is now the unmanaged device from the management device, the relative managed device, sending the return request, claim 5 An intermediary device according to 1 . The stopping means stops sending the message notifying the abnormality to the management apparatus when the return request is received for the message notifying the abnormality notified from the managed apparatus. The intermediary device according to claim 5 or 6. A remote management system comprising the management device according to claim 1 and the managed device according to claim 3 or 4. The management apparatus according to claim 2, the mediation apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, and a return request for notifying that the mediation apparatus has become a device that is not managed by the management apparatus. A remote management system including a managed device for receiving. The management device and the managed device in a remote management system including a management device and a managed device that holds registration information indicating that the management device is a management target and is managed by the management device via a network A communication method between the management device,
Whether or not registration information of the managed device is stored based on the identification information in response to receiving a message inquiring whether there is a transmission request including the identification information of the managed device from the managed device. Determining whether it is a managed device to be managed by searching; and
If it is determined that the managed device Ri unmanaged by said determining means, in response to the message, the object management apparatus Signals the device unmanaged to said managed device sending the return request, the to erase the registration information該被management apparatus to the management apparatus holds and executes the steps of transmitting Ru is stopped in the message to the management device, communication method. The management device and the managed device in a remote management system including a management device and a managed device that holds registration information indicating that the management device is a management target and is managed by the management device via a network A communication method between the managed devices,
Transmitting a message inquiring about the presence or absence of a transmission request including identification information of the managed device to the management device;
In response to receiving a return request for notifying that the managed device, which has been transmitted by the management device as a response to the message, is an unmanaged device, the registration information held by the managed device is deleted. And steps to
And a step of stopping transmission of a message inquiring whether there is a transmission request to the management apparatus in response to reception of the return request . Detecting an abnormality, and notifying the detected the abnormality to the management apparatus, to a message informing the notified the abnormality, upon receiving the return request, further comprising: displaying a failure notification The communication method according to claim 11 , wherein the communication method is executed. A communication method executed by a remote management system, comprising: processing steps executed by a management device according to claim 10; and processing steps executed by a managed device according to claim 11 or 12. The management device and the managed device in a remote management system including a management device and a managed device that holds registration information indicating that the management device is a management target and is managed by the management device via a network A computer-readable program for executing a communication method between the management apparatus,
Whether or not registration information of the managed device is stored based on the identification information in response to receiving a message inquiring whether there is a transmission request including the identification information of the managed device from the managed device. Determining whether it is a managed device to be managed by searching; and
If it is determined that the managed device Ri unmanaged by said determining means, in response to the message, the object management apparatus Signals the device unmanaged to said managed device sending the return request, the to erase the registration information該被management apparatus held in the management apparatus, a computer readable program for executing the steps of transmitting Ru is stopped in the message to the management device. The management device and the managed device in a remote management system including a management device and a managed device that holds registration information indicating that the management device is a management target and is managed by the management device via a network A computer-readable program for executing a communication method between the managed device and the managed device
Transmitting a message inquiring about the presence or absence of a transmission request including identification information of the managed device to the management device;
In response to receiving a return request for notifying that the managed device, which has been transmitted by the management device as a response to the message, is an unmanaged device, the registration information held by the managed device is deleted. And steps to
In response to receiving the return request, stopping sending a message asking whether there is a transmission request to the management device;
A computer-readable program that executes The program further includes a step of detecting an abnormality to the managed device, a step of notifying the management device of the detected abnormality, and when the return request is received for a message informing the notified abnormality. The program according to claim 15, further comprising: displaying a notification failure.

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