JP2000349819A - Mobile terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To receive the distribution of needed software and data and to transmit the management information of the hardware and the software to a management server by connecting a retrieved management server and a mobile terminal device via a network and starting to communicate with the management server. SOLUTION: In the case communication 1 is started and a communication monitoring agent senses it, a management agent starts to operate to look for a server communicating while sharing with the communication 1 for management. When the communicating server is found, communication is started with the communication 1. Then, when the communication is started, the upload of management information and the download of needed software and data are automatically started. When it is detected that a mobile terminal device starts to communicate with another device in this way, a management service is retrieved via a network, the retrieved management server and the mobile terminal device are connected via the network, and communication is started with the management server.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal device which is not normally connected to a network and is assumed to move, and particularly to a case where the terminal device connects to a network and starts communication with another device. In addition, the present invention relates to a terminal device for automatically performing communication between management servers by sharing the connection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A mobile terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a mobile terminal) is different from a "semi-fixed" terminal (for example, a Desktop PC) used in a company, and is different from a wired line (for example, a LAN ( I cannot connect to the network using Local Area Network)). Also, when connecting to a network, it is common to connect to the network where the target server is located via a public line in many cases.
However, due to the use of the public line, "charging" is inevitably caused by using the network. For this reason, it is necessary for the user of the terminal to reduce the number and time of connecting to the network as much as possible and to devise so as not to increase the amount to be charged.

[0003] Similarly, in the case of a mobile terminal, it is assumed that the mobile terminal operates only with resources mounted on the terminal. For this reason, power supplies are currently the most resource-intensive bottlenecks, and users usually try to minimize extra work in order to conserve power.

Conventionally, a mobile terminal has been connected to a management server via a network to distribute software and data, manage hardware configuration, and check installed software. The user had to explicitly launch the terminal software and connect to the required server explicitly. However, as a user of the terminal, it is necessary to connect to the network to perform the management, so for the reasons mentioned at the beginning, do not connect for the management that does not benefit you. Is common. In addition, since management is not possible unless a user connects, when trying to manage a mobile device, a situation where the user does not connect to the management server indefinitely occurs, and from the viewpoint of the administrator, the mobile device is It was very difficult to manage.

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, several methods have already been proposed. For example, with respect to “distribution of software to a terminal”, which is one of the management elements for a terminal, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-32618 discloses a method in which the management server determines in advance whether there is information to be distributed to a client (terminal). When a client (terminal) is connected, if there is no information to be distributed, the line is immediately disconnected on the management server side. In addition, in order to minimize the burden on the user who uses the terminal, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-333914 discloses a management operation (in this example, software distribution) during a time when there is a high probability that the user does not use the terminal. To do.

[0006]

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-326
In the method of 18, the user using the terminal needs to be aware of the management server and connect. However, since many users do not like complicated operations, there is a problem that reliable operation of the management function cannot be guaranteed. Also, JP-A-10-333914
According to the method described above, the management can be performed at a time when the user is not using it, but for that purpose, it is necessary to keep some circuits in a standby state without completely turning off the power of the terminal. Because of this really makes the consumption of electricity is large,
There is a problem that the time used by the user is limited due to the limit of the battery capacity mounted on the terminal.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems by automatically connecting a mobile terminal to a management server without receiving special attention from the user, receiving necessary software and data distribution, and providing hardware. An object of the present invention is to enable management information and software management information to be sent to a management server. Another object of the invention is to provide
In addition to information distribution, by collecting information on specific files and data in the terminal according to instructions from the server side, it will be possible for users to automatically collect data created offline. is there.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mobile terminal device which allows a user of the mobile terminal device to connect the mobile terminal device to another user via a network in order to execute business. Monitoring means for monitoring the communication port of the mobile terminal device to detect that it has connected to the device and has started communication with the other device, and the mobile terminal device starts communication with the other device by the monitoring means When it is detected that the management server has been operated, a management server that searches the management server via the network, connects the searched management server to the mobile terminal device via the network, and starts communication with the management server. I have it.

[0009] Further, after the communication with the management server is started, the management means transfers software information or data stored in the mobile terminal device to the management server.

[0010] Further, the management means, after starting communication with the management server, transfers the hardware configuration information of the mobile terminal device to the management server via a network.

[0011] Further, the management means, after starting communication with the management server, transfers software configuration information of the mobile terminal device to the management server via a network.

[0012] Further, after starting communication with the management server, the management means collects specific files and data in the mobile terminal device or files and data in a specific directory, and collects the collected files and data. The data is transferred to the management server.

[0013] Further, the mobile terminal device receives software information and data transferred from the management server after starting communication with the management server.

Further, the mobile terminal device has means for acquiring the position information of the terminal itself when communication with the management server is started, and transfers the acquired information to the management server by the management means. Based on the location information transferred from the server, optimal software information and data for the location selected by the management server are received.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The system envisaged by the present invention is based on the assumption that an outside salesperson or a mobile person is traveling.
This is a system where daily work is performed using a terminal at the destination. Many terminals are already used in a company system, and the terminals use a management server to distribute software and data, manage hardware and software configuration information, and the like. As described above, various methods are used to manage terminals that are almost fixed in the enterprise, but mobile terminals (hereinafter, mobile terminals are also simply referred to as terminals) are managed. Unless you return to the company from outside and connect to the LAN, there is almost no management. Since these terminals always move with the user, they are usually not connected to the network where the management server exists. The connection to the network is made only when it is necessary for performing a task (for example, checking an e-mail), and there is no connection to the network to manage the terminal being used. This is because connecting a terminal to a network consumes resources of the terminal, for example, a battery of the terminal, and a line usage fee is required for connecting using a public line. As a user, it is common for users to feel less important in managing terminals that do not directly affect their work than in their own work.

However, when a large number of mobile terminals are introduced and operated, it is very important to grasp and manage the status of each terminal from the viewpoint of the operation manager.
In this embodiment, in order to solve the dilemma between the user using the terminal and the administrator mentioned above, when the user connects to the network in business, the configuration information of the mobile terminal is automatically obtained. The management information is sent to the management server, and the management server distributes software and data to the mobile terminal if necessary.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a system to which the present invention is applied. In the system of FIG. 1, a mobile terminal is connected to a mobile business server or a distribution / management server via a network such as a public line or the Internet while moving. Note that the distribution / management server is simply referred to as a management server. When this system is used, the following operation can be seen from a user using a mobile terminal.
As shown in FIG. 1, a user starts accessing a business server to perform a business. In FIG. 1, the mobile terminal accesses the business server, but may access a remote database or start an e-mail business. A communication monitoring agent that monitors communication is resident in the mobile terminal, and waits while monitoring the start of communication (this is invisible to the user).
When the communication of FIG. 1 starts and the communication monitoring agent detects it, the management agent
In order to find a server to communicate with in a form of sharing with other communications,
Initiate the activity (also invisible to the user). When a server to be communicated is found (in this case, the distribution / management server A), the communication is started as shown in FIG. When the communication starts, the upload of management information and the download of necessary software and data are automatically started (this is also invisible to the user). Only download, mobile users may need to move immediately after the required work is completed, so "download refusal" can be done by a dialog as to whether to download. Thus, from the viewpoint of the user using the mobile terminal, the business using the terminal can be performed without recognizing the situation of being "managed". In order to realize such a thing, an agent program (hereinafter abbreviated as an agent) of a communication monitoring agent or a management agent is provided in a mobile terminal.
Is previously stored in a storage area (for example, a nonvolatile memory or a hard disk) in the terminal. When the terminal is started, the agent is also started automatically, the communication monitoring agent monitors whether the terminal is connected to the network, and the management agent tells the current status of the terminal, what information is transmitted to the management server, etc. Is automatically determined.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the management server and the mobile terminal. The management server includes an OS (operating system), communication control software, and a management application, and further includes a communication device, a terminal authentication DB, and a terminal management data DB. The mobile terminal includes an OS (operating system), communication control software, a communication monitoring agent for monitoring a communication port, a management agent for managing the mobile terminal, an AP (application program) group of a user to be managed, and a modem. Communication device, hardware in a terminal to be managed, and a management information storage (memory, hard disk, etc.) for storing management information.

The processing performed mainly by the communication monitoring agent and the management agent will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The agent resident on the mobile terminal automatically starts up at the same time when the mobile terminal is started. If it is not resident, it is read from an external storage device or the like and starts resident (211).
The communication monitoring agent monitors the communication port of the mobile terminal and checks the status of the communication port to determine whether communication is performed (212). As a result of the check, when the communication starts due to the start of the e-mail service and the communication monitoring agent detects that the communication port is connected to the network, the management agent starts the operation (21
3). When the operation is started, first, a communication destination (management server) is searched (215).

There are several ways to search the management server. For example, a method in which after connecting to a network, a terminal transmits a broadcast packet for searching for a management server from the terminal to the network, and accesses the server that responded first. There is also a method in which all addresses of a server to be accessed are stored in the client in advance, and polling is performed until these addresses are connected in a certain order. As a method for improving the efficiency by improving this method, the position information of each management server is recorded in advance in a list in which addresses are recorded, and when the terminal side can obtain the position information, the obtained position information and the management server A method is also conceivable in which the terminal automatically determines the closest management server by comparing it with the position information and calls the management server. Whichever method is used, in this system, the client terminal automatically searches for the server and establishes a connection.

As a result of the port status check (212),
If the communication port is not connected to the network and communication is not being performed, the timer is checked, and if the timer value has passed a certain period of time, the management agent notifies the server side of the hardware. And periodically collect software management information. The management information to be collected here is, for example, in the case of hardware,
Information such as the type of U, clock speed, amount of installed memory, the maximum capacity of the hard disk, the current capacity, the name and type of the installed driver, and in the case of software, the name and version of the software Information. These collected data are temporarily stored in the terminal.

The management agent automatically collects the management information (311), determines whether or not it is the first collection (312),
If it is determined that the management information has been collected for the first time in the terminal, the collected management information is all stored in the DB in the terminal (313), the timer is reset (317), and the process returns to step 212. If the management information has already been collected, the management information already stored in the DB is compared with the management information collected this time (314). If there is a change, the part is managed in the DB. Reflected in the information (315),
The changed part is registered as management information data to be sent to the management server next time (316), and the timer is reset (31).
7) Return to step 212.

The search result is checked (215). When the search is successful and the terminal is connected to the server, communication with the management server is started (216), and the user is authenticated first (217). User authentication is performed by transmitting an authentication request from the terminal to the management server, performing an authentication process by the management server, and transmitting an authentication approval to the terminal.
When the authentication is completed, the terminal determines whether there is information to be sent to the management server (218), and if there is information to send, transmits the extracted management information to the server (219). On the server side, after receiving the data sent from the mobile terminal, the received data is stored and managed for each terminal in the form of a DB or file as management information. Note that the management server can specify to the mobile terminal whether to send all the stored data to the management server or to send specified information to the management server. The information for this designation is sent from the management server to the terminal when the management server returns a response to the terminal when the terminal connects to the management server.

Next, after receiving the management information from the terminal, the management server determines whether there is information to be transmitted to the terminal (22).
0) If there is information to be transmitted to the terminal, first, it is confirmed whether the information can be distributed to the terminal (221).
This confirmation is performed by determining that distribution is rejected when a message instructing the end of management of the management server is transmitted from the terminal, and determining that distribution is not rejected when this message is not transmitted. When this message is sent, the management server performs management termination processing in accordance with the message, and sends a message to the terminal to instruct management termination processing / line disconnection, which means reception of distribution refusal.

If distribution is allowed, the management server downloads the distribution information to the terminal (222). The management server registers in advance software and data to be distributed in units of “package”. When distributing, in addition to the method in which the administrator instructs the distribution of the registered package in advance, the necessary software and data are determined based on the hardware and software management information notified from the terminal. There are distribution methods. As a result, it is possible to prevent already distributed contents from being redundantly distributed, and to avoid unnecessary communication time. On the other hand, when there is information that must be distributed, by automatically distributing this information, necessary software and data can always be stored in the terminal.

Some of the software and data to be distributed depend on the current “location” of the terminal. For example, suppose that a certain product group is a product in which market competition is intense and prices change at very short intervals, and furthermore, there is a price difference depending on regions. To distribute and utilize such data, the server determines where the terminal is located and distributes only the necessary data to the current location, or distributes all the data collectively A method is conceivable. Comparing the former method and the latter method, the former requires less data to be distributed than the latter, and is more efficient. As described above, in order to efficiently distribute software and data depending on the position, it is necessary to notify the server of the position data on the terminal side and to distribute software and data most suitable for the position data. Need to be There are several ways to determine the location of the terminal. For example, position information can be obtained in units of latitude and longitude using a GPS (global posisioning system). Also mobile phones and PHS
(Personal Handy phoneSystem), etc., when communicating between the terminal and the server, the carrier identifies which antenna (base station) the terminal's telephone is communicating with. If you use the service you get, it will be roughly (minimum 1 km, maximum 10 km for mobile phones. P
In the case of HS, the minimum position is 100m and the maximum position is 500m. By these means, the terminal obtains the location information and sends it to the management server, so that software and data suitable for the location can be distributed to the terminal.

Further, in the case of performing such distribution, depending on the size of software and data to be distributed, a load at the time of communication may hinder a task which the user originally wants to execute now. Can be considered. In order to prevent this, the management agent on the terminal checks the CPU usage rate and network usage rate at regular intervals so that the user does not affect the execution of applications used in business. ing. For example, when a user performs a business using e-mail or the like, e-mail is transmitted and received. In this case, the communication monitoring agent in the terminal automatically detects the communication, and the management agent in the terminal searches for and connects to the management server and starts the communication. The management agent, based on the above check result, Dynamically adjust the speed at which the management agent and the management server are communicating so that mail can be sent and received smoothly. As described above, the management agent has a function of dynamically adjusting the load on the CPU and the network so as not to hinder the work actually used by the user.

In the business using a mobile terminal,
It is conceivable that a user who uses the terminal performs work using the terminal offline. In this case, the result of performing the task is stored in the memory or storage in the terminal. When the terminal is connected to the management server, the management agent in the terminal collects the files and data and sends it to the management server when the terminal is connected to the management server. It has the function to do. The terminal determines whether there is a collection instruction from the management server (2).
23) If there is an instruction, the management agent collects files and data and sends them to the management server (224).

For example, the result of performing a task on a terminal is recorded in a specific directory as the result of the task,
By giving the management server an instruction to automatically collect the data stored in the directory when connected, the business results of each terminal can be collected on the management server side . Conventionally, when trying to perform a business in this way, the user on the terminal side accesses the management server at a certain timing and sends the business result,
After returning to the office, they connected to the company network or their own PC and sent the work results to the management server. However, if this method is used, when users execute business applications such as e-mail that require communication, they can automatically connect to the management server and collect data from the terminal. Data can be collected automatically during normal work without the user being aware of the problem.

Also, by applying the collection function, log information in the mobile terminal is periodically collected in the management server, and the management server analyzes the usage status and problems of the hardware and software in the terminal. Then, if necessary, it is possible to notify the administrator or to automatically send software for taking measures at the next connection to the terminal. As a result, it becomes possible to detect abnormalities on the terminal side in advance and take necessary countermeasures, and when viewing the terminal from the user, the terminal can always be used in the best situation without being aware of it .

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a message sequence between the mobile terminal and the management server. When the terminal monitors the communication port and detects that communication is being performed, the terminal performs management server search (10). Numbers in parentheses are message types in the message specifications shown in FIG. The management server sends a message of the management server address reply (1010) to the terminal. The terminal recognizes the first received management server address reply message and ignores the other management server address reply messages. The terminal sends a message of the user authentication request (20) to the management server, and the management server sends a message of user authentication approval (1020) to the terminal. Next, if there is terminal position information, the terminal notifies the terminal position (60).
Is sent to the management server, and then a message of sending (30) the configuration information collected by the terminal is sent. The terminal can send a message of rejection of distribution (80) to the management server in order to reject distribution of information from the management server. The management server that has received this message sends a message of delivery rejection receipt (1050) to the terminal. When receiving the message of the delivery rejection receipt, the terminal disconnects the line between the management servers. If the management server does not receive the message of the delivery refusal, the information delivery (103
The terminal sends the message of (0), and the terminal sends the message of notification (70) of the distribution status. Upon receiving this message, the management server again transmits the information to the terminal (10) to transmit the next distribution information.
Send the message of 30). The terminal and the management server exchange the message of the notification of the distribution status (70) and the message of the information distribution (1030) to the terminal as many times as necessary. Next, the terminal sends a message of the distribution end / collection inquiry (40) to the management server. Upon receiving the message, the management server ends the transmission of the distribution information to the terminal, and checks whether the terminal needs a collection instruction to collect data of a result of performing a job at the terminal. As a result of the check, if a collection instruction is necessary, the management server sends a message of the collection instruction (1040) to the terminal. Terminal collects information (5
The message of 0) is sent to the management server, and the collected information in the terminal is sent to the management server. The management server notifies the information collection status and the collection status notification (10
70) is sent to the terminal. The management server and the terminal exchange the message of the notification of the collection status (1070) and the message of the collection information increase (50) as many times as necessary. When the transmission of the collected information is completed, the terminal sends a message of the disconnection notice (80) (same as the distribution refusal (80)) to the management server, and in response to this, the management server approves the disconnection (1050) (delivery rejection received). (Same as (1050)). Thus, the process between the mobile terminal and the management server ends.

FIG. 5 shows the contents of a message exchanged between the client and the server shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, a table described as “terminal → management server” indicates the content of a message flowing from the mobile terminal to the management server. Also, in FIG. 5, a table described as “management server → terminal” indicates the content of a message flowing from the management server to the mobile terminal. The meaning of each item is as follows. “Message type”: A unique code indicating which message type. This code corresponds to the number in parentheses in FIG. “Additional information”: indicates additional information such as data embedded in the message. “Operation details of terminal”: An outline of how these messages operate when this message is sent to the management server or the mobile terminal.

FIG. 6 shows a part to be mounted in the mobile terminal.
FIG. 3 is an example and a block diagram created corresponding to a protocol stack layer of an OSI communication protocol. This figure shows an example in which a TCP / IP protocol, which is a mainstream communication protocol recently, is used. The common interface for communication (Socket interface) is a boundary between the fourth layer and the fifth layer in the OSI communication protocol. In this figure, when data is transmitted from the terminal to the management server, data flows from the upper layer (upper) to the lower layer (lower), is processed in each layer, and The data is actually converted into data flowing on the line and transmitted to the server. When receiving data from the management server, the data sent from the management server flows to the lowest layer, and is processed in each layer as it goes from the lower layer to the upper layer. It is converted into the form of data that can be handled by the AP used by the management agent. In this figure, the parts directly related to the present invention are the "communication monitoring agent" layer and the "management agent".
Layer. The “communication monitoring agent” is an agent that monitors a “communication device” layer immediately below the layer and monitors whether communication has occurred, the state of the communication, and the like. The monitoring result is sent to the “management agent”. The “management agent” is a core part of the present invention. Management Agent
Is a main body of an agent that realizes various functions in the present invention. The “management agent” starts and ends communication, searches for servers, transfers data, and the like based on information from the “communication monitoring agent”.

As described above, by using the present system, processing such as automatic maintenance and management, and software distribution and collection can be performed for a mobile terminal that has been difficult to maintain and manage until now.

[0035]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) It is possible to automatically collect management information of hardware and software of a mobile terminal without being particularly aware that the user of the terminal performs management. As a result, these terminals, which have been difficult to manage until now, can be centrally managed from the management server. (2) Software, data, and files can be delivered to the mobile terminal without the user using the terminal being particularly conscious. As a result, in order to distribute software, users need to bother connecting to the management server or moving to the location of the management server and connecting to a network such as a LAN. And easily. (3) It is possible to automatically deploy distributed data and files to a mobile terminal without paying special attention to the user of the terminal, and to install or upgrade software. As a result, software distribution and software upgrade can be performed for a terminal not connected to the management server at substantially the same timing as the connected terminal. (4) For the mobile terminal, the management server side can select appropriate software, files, and data based on the information on the current position of the terminal, and distribute it to the terminal. As a result, the information most needed by the terminal can be appropriately distributed. (5) With respect to the mobile terminal, data and files in the terminal at the location designated by the management server can be automatically collected by the management server without paying particular attention to the user of the terminal. As a result, it is possible to periodically collect the results of business applications performed offline and log information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of a system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of processing of a mobile terminal and a management server.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a flowchart following the flowchart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a message sequence between a mobile terminal and a management server.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing contents of a message exchanged between a mobile terminal and a management server.

FIG. 6 is a communication layer block diagram in a mobile terminal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a management server and a mobile terminal.

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Claims (7)

[Claims] A mobile terminal device detects that a user of the mobile terminal device has connected to another device via a network and started communication with the other device for business execution. Monitoring means for monitoring a communication port of the mobile terminal device for performing communication, and when the monitoring means detects that the mobile terminal device has started communication with the other device, a management server via the network And connecting the searched management server and the mobile terminal device via the network,
A mobile terminal device comprising a management unit for starting communication with the management server. 2. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein, after starting communication with the management server, the management means transfers software information or data stored in the mobile terminal device to the management server. Mobile terminal device characterized by the following. 3. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the management unit transfers the hardware configuration information of the mobile terminal device to the management server via a network after starting communication with the management server. A mobile terminal device characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the management unit starts communication with the management server and then transfers software configuration information of the mobile terminal device to the management server via a network. Mobile terminal device characterized by the following. 5. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the management unit starts communication with the management server, and then starts a specific file or data in the mobile terminal device or a file or a file in a specific directory. Collect data,
A mobile terminal device for transferring the collected files and data to the management server. 6. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal receives software information and data transferred from the management server after starting communication with the management server. apparatus. 7. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal device has means for acquiring position information of the own terminal when communication with the management server is started, and the mobile terminal device acquires the position information by the management means. To the management server, and receives optimal software information and data for the position selected by the management server based on the position information transferred from the management server.