JP2002094680A - Remote controlled maintenance system, its control method and memory medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote controlled maintenance system, its control method and memory medium which can surely execute a remote controlled maintenance of OA apparatus, even if some of sub-units are temporarily out of a waiting state in the remote controlled maintenance of OA apparatus, utilizing a wireless communication system capable of data communication between the sub-units connected to the OA apparatus and their main unit. SOLUTION: At a specified time or upon receipt of an instruction from a hot computer at a monitoring point, a main unit repetitively sends a massage until registered sub-units answer. If there is any sub-unit not answering over a specified time from the starting of this sending, the main unit judges this sub-unit to be out of a waiting state and transmits the message again when detecting that this sub-unit recovers the waiting state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a remote maintenance system using a wireless communication system capable of performing data communication, a control method thereof, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a system for remotely maintaining OA equipment such as a copying machine from a host computer via a public line, a system for connecting the OA equipment to the host computer using wireless communication, and a system connected to the OA equipment. There has been proposed a system for wirelessly communicating between a slave unit and a master unit containing a public line. In these systems, O
In order to remotely maintain the A device, the OA device itself or the slave unit connected to the OA device is placed in a state of intermittently receiving and responding to a signal from the host computer or the master unit (hereinafter, referred to as a “standby state”). I have to put it.

[0003]

However, in the conventional system, if the OA device itself or the slave unit connected to the OA device is out of the standby state due to a change in the installation environment or the like, the host computer or the parent computer may not operate. A system error occurs because the signal transmitted from the device is not acknowledged.

An object of the present invention is to provide remote maintenance of an OA device using a wireless communication system capable of performing data communication between a child device connected to the OA device and its master device. An object of the present invention is to provide a remote maintenance system, a control method thereof, and a storage medium capable of reliably performing remote maintenance of an OA device even if there is a child device temporarily out of a standby state among the child devices.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a remote maintenance system according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a base unit that communicates with a host computer via a communication line;
A slave unit that performs data communication with the master unit by wireless communication and is connected to an image forming apparatus, wherein the slave unit is in a standby state for receiving and responding to a signal transmitted from the master unit. When the signal is received from the machine,
In a remote maintenance system configured to communicate with the image forming apparatus to acquire information on the image forming apparatus and send the information to the host computer via the master, First transmitting means for repeatedly transmitting a first message to the slave unit until the slave unit responds, determining means for determining that the slave unit that has not responded to the transmission is out of the standby state, Detecting means for detecting that the mobile device has returned to the standby state, and second transmitting means for transmitting a second message to the mobile device when the detecting device detects the mobile device that has returned to the standby state. It is characterized by the following.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to the first aspect, the first transmitting means repeatedly transmits a first message to the slave unit until the slave unit responds. It is characterized by the following.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the remote maintenance system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the determination unit switches the slave unit that has not responded for a predetermined time or more from the start of the transmission from a standby state. It is characterized in that it is determined that it has come off.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the determining means determines that the standby state is normal for another slave unit. It is characterized by doing.

A remote maintenance system according to a fifth aspect is the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein each of the first message and the second message is transmitted from the slave unit. An information notification request message for requesting the parent device to notify the information.

A remote maintenance system according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the detecting means is provided for a slave unit that has not received and responded to the first message. On the other hand, a detection signal for detecting whether the standby state of the slave unit is normal or not is transmitted, and if a slave unit that has received and responded to the detection signal is detected, the slave unit enters the standby state. It is characterized in that it is determined that it has returned.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the master unit stores the determined standby state of the slave unit. A third transmitting unit that intermittently transmits a signal to the slave unit, a receiving unit that receives a response from the slave unit to a signal from the third transmitting unit, and performs a position registration process of the slave unit. Means, when receiving a third message requesting a location registration process of the slave unit as a response from the slave unit that has received the signal, performs the location registration process of the slave unit, and terminates the location registration process. And updating means for updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit by the storage means assuming that the standby state of the slave unit is normal, wherein the detecting unit stores the standby state of the slave unit before the update. Is The handset when serial standby state has been disconnected and detects that it has returned to the standby state.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, when the slave unit temporarily returns from the standby state and then returns. And a third transmitting means for transmitting a third message indicating that the mobile device has returned to the standby state, wherein the master unit stores storage means for storing the determined standby state of the slave unit, and the third message Receiving means for receiving the third message, and updating means for updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit by the storage means assuming that the standby state of the slave unit is normal at the same time when the reception of the third message is completed, The detecting means detects that the child device has returned to the standby state after confirming that the standby state of the child device was out of the standby state before the update. And it features.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the slave unit is connected to an information processing apparatus instead of the image forming apparatus, The remote maintenance of the information processing device is performed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the wireless communication system is a personal handy phone system. I do.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the wireless communication system is a self-operating mode of a personal handy phone system. -It is characterized by a cordless telephone system.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the remote maintenance system according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects, the wireless communication includes data communication, and the data communication method is PIAFS. It is characterized by.

In order to achieve the above object, a control method according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention provides a control device for communicating with a host computer via a communication line, and performing data communication with the master device by wireless communication. A slave connected to the image forming apparatus, wherein the slave is in a standby state for receiving and responding to a signal transmitted from the master, and receiving the signal from the master when the slave receives the signal. A method for controlling a remote maintenance system configured to communicate with a forming apparatus to acquire information on the image forming apparatus and to send the information to the host computer via the master unit, wherein the master unit includes: A first transmitting step of transmitting a first message to the slave unit, a determining step of determining that a slave unit that has not responded to the transmission is out of the standby state, and a standby state of the slave unit A detecting step of detecting that the mobile device has returned, and a second transmitting step of transmitting a second message to the mobile device when detecting a mobile device that has returned to the standby state in the detecting process. I do.

The control method according to claim 14 is the control method according to claim 13.
In the control method described above, the first transmitting step repeatedly transmits a first message to the child device until the child device responds.

According to a fifteenth aspect, a control method according to the thirteenth aspect is provided.
In the control method according to the fourteenth aspect, the determining step determines that the slave unit that has not responded for a predetermined time or more after the start of the transmission has departed from the standby state.

The control method according to claim 16 is the control method according to claim 13.
16. The control method according to any one of Items 15 to 15, wherein the determining step determines that the standby state is normal for the other slave units.

According to a seventeenth aspect, a control method according to the thirteenth aspect is provided.
17. The control method according to any one of claims 16 to 16, wherein each of the first message and the second message is an information notification request message that requests the slave to notify the master of the information. It is characterized by being.

A control method according to claim 18 is a control method according to claim 13.
18. The control method according to any one of claims 17 to 17, wherein the detecting step includes periodically determining whether or not the standby state of the slave unit that does not receive and respond to the first message is normal. Send a detection signal to detect
When detecting a slave that has received and responded to the detection signal, the slave determines that the slave has returned to the standby state.

The control method according to claim 19 is the control method according to claim 13.
18. The control method according to any one of claims 17 to 17, wherein the master unit stores a standby state of the determined slave unit, and a third step of intermittently transmitting a signal to the slave unit.
A transmitting step, a receiving step of receiving a response from the slave to the signal in the third transmitting step, a step of performing a position registration process of the slave, and a response from the slave receiving the signal. When receiving a third message requesting the location registration processing of the slave, the location registration processing of the slave is performed, and upon completion of the location registration processing, the standby state of the slave is determined to be normal and the storage unit Updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit according to the above, wherein the detection step includes storing the standby state of the slave unit when the standby state is out of the standby state before the update. It is characterized in that it is detected that it has returned to the standby state.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the control method according to the thirteenth aspect.
18. The control method according to any one of claims 17 to 17, wherein the slave unit transmits a third message indicating that the slave unit has returned to the standby state when the slave unit temporarily returns from the standby state and then returns. A transmitting step of storing the standby state of the child device determined, and a receiving step of receiving the third message;
Updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit in the storage step assuming that the standby state of the slave unit is normal at the same time as the end of receiving the third message,
The detection step is characterized in that after confirming that the standby state of the slave unit has been out of the standby state before the update, the slave unit detects that the slave unit has returned to the standby state.

A control method according to claim 21 is a control method according to claim 13.
21. The control method according to any one of claims 20 to 20, wherein the slave unit is connected to an information processing device instead of the image forming device, and performs remote maintenance of the information processing device.

In order to achieve the above object, a storage medium according to claim 22 of the present invention provides a master unit that communicates with a host computer via a communication line, and performs data communication with the master unit by wireless communication. A slave unit connected to the image forming apparatus, wherein the slave unit is in a standby state for receiving and responding to a signal transmitted from the master unit, and receiving the signal from the master unit to perform the image forming. A program for executing a method of controlling the master unit of a remote maintenance system configured to communicate with a device to acquire information on the image forming apparatus and to send the information to the host computer via the master unit. Wherein the program includes: a first transmission module that transmits a first message to the child device; and a standby device that does not respond to the transmission. A determination module for determining the off-state, a detection module for detecting that the handset is returned to the standby state, upon detecting a handset has returned to the standby state by the detection module, the to the handset 2
And a second transmission module for transmitting the message of (1).

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the system used in the remote maintenance system 1 is a digital cordless telephone system which is a self-operating mode of a personal handy phone system (hereinafter referred to as PHS (registered trademark)).

The remote maintenance system 1 includes a public network 101,
Communication lines 102 and 10 connected to public network 101
3. Master device 104 accommodating communication line 102 and master device 10
4 is registered with a number and a position, and the child devices 105 and 1 can communicate with the public network 101 by wireless communication via the parent device 104.
06, 107, copying apparatuses 108, 109, 110 connected to the slave units 105, 106, 107, and a host computer 111 at a monitoring base for remote maintenance.
In this remote maintenance system 1, copying apparatuses 108, 109,
The remote units 105, 106, and 107 are placed in a state (hereinafter, referred to as a "standby state") in which signals from the main unit 104 can be received and responded for remote maintenance of 110.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of each slave unit of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG.

Each of the slave units 105, 106, and 107 has an antenna 201 for transmitting and receiving radio waves and an RF unit 20 for transmitting and receiving.
2, a modulation / demodulation unit 203 for modulating transmission data and demodulating received data, and TDMA for disassembling / assembling frames.
A channel CODEC (code / decode) unit 204 for performing (Time Division Multiple Access) processing, error detection processing, scrambling processing, and data privacy processing;
A communication control processing unit 205 that performs communication protocol processing from layer 1 to layer 3 of the HS, and a PI that performs error detection of data during data communication and correction processing by a retransmission request
AFS (PHS Internet Access Forum Standard) data processing unit 206 and a control unit 207 that performs various control processes
And a memory 208 for temporarily storing transmission / reception data, a data communication interface unit 209 for connecting and communicating with the copiers 108, 109, and 110, and a power supply unit 210 for supplying power to each unit of the main body.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the parent machine 104 of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG.

Base unit 104 includes an antenna 301 for transmitting and receiving radio waves and an RF unit 302 for transmitting and receiving (transmitting means
Transmission means), a modulation / demodulation section 303 for modulating transmission data and demodulation of reception data, and a channel CODEC section 30 for performing TDMA processing such as frame disassembly / assembly, error detection processing, scrambling processing, and data privacy processing.
4, a PIAFS data processing unit 306 that performs a communication protocol process in PHS layer 1 to layer 3 and a PIAFS data processing unit 306 that performs data error detection and correction by a retransmission request during data communication. A control unit 307 (determining means) for performing control processing; a memory 308 for temporarily storing transmission / reception data and storing various data; and a communication line interface unit 309 for connecting to a communication line
And a modulation / demodulation unit 310 in the communication line interface unit 309, which modulates / demodulates data when transmitting / receiving data, and information transmitted from the slave units 105, 106, 107, thereby enabling the slave units 105, 106, 107 to wait. Monitoring and when the slave units 105, 106, 107 are out of the standby state, a standby return detection unit 311 (detection means) for detecting that the slave units have returned to the standby state; and the slave units 105, 106, 10
7 is provided with a message storage memory 312 for storing the transmitted message when there is no response to the predetermined message transmitted to 7, and a power supply unit 313 for supplying power to each unit of the base unit 104. As shown in FIG. 4, the standby state information of each slave unit registered as shown in FIG. 4 is sequentially stored in a predetermined area of the memory 308 as normal when the standby state is normal, and as non-standby when out of the standby state. Shall be performed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a data notification request process of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG. It should be noted that this embodiment is executed when a predetermined time comes or when an instruction is given from a host computer which is a monitoring base.
Sends a data notification message to the slave units 105, 106, and 107 to notify them of data of various information of the copying apparatuses 108, 109, and 110 connected to each slave unit.

Master unit 104 transmits the above-described data notification message to each of slave units 105, 106, and 107 (step S501). The parent device 104 is a child device 105, 106, 107
It is determined whether or not the data of various information notified from each of the above has been received (step S502). Step S5
As a result of the determination of No. 02, if there is a reception, it is determined that the standby state of the child device is normal, and the data of the various information and the standby information of the child device are stored in the memory 308 (step S503). ), And proceed to step S506.

On the other hand, for the slave unit that has not received the data, the process from step S501 is performed again during the predetermined time (NO in step S504), and the data is not received even after the predetermined time has elapsed. Case (Y in step S504)
ES) determines that the child device is out of the standby state, stores the standby information of the child device in the memory 308, and stores the data notification message transmitted to the child device together with the number of the child device as a message. It is stored in the memory 312 (step S505), and the process proceeds to step S506.

In the following step S506, the parent machine 104
When a slave unit that has returned to the standby state is detected by any one of the detection processes in FIGS. 6 to 8 described below, the control unit 307 determines, from among the messages stored in the message storage memory 312, The message corresponding to the child device is read out (step S507), the message is retransmitted to the child device (step S508), and this process is immediately terminated.

According to the present embodiment, when a predetermined time comes, or when an instruction is given from a host computer which is a monitoring base, the master unit 104 becomes a slave unit 105, 106,
The message is repeatedly sent until 107 is answered. If there is a slave unit that has not responded for a predetermined time after the transmission is started, it is determined that the slave unit is out of the standby state, and the slave unit is determined to be out of the standby state. Since the message is transmitted again when it is detected that the apparatus has returned to the standby state, even if there is a slave unit temporarily out of the standby state, remote maintenance of the copying apparatus can be reliably performed. The transmitted message and the retransmitted message are transmitted to the copiers 108, 109, and 110 connected to each slave unit.
This is a message for notifying the user of various types of information, so that remote maintenance of the state of the copying apparatus can be reliably performed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the standby recovery detection processing in step S506 in FIG.

When it is time to check the standby state, which is regularly performed (step S601), the master unit 104 sets a predetermined slave unit, that is, the message storage memory 3 in step 505.
A signal for detecting whether the standby state is normal or not is transmitted to the child device of the number registered in No. 12 (step S602), and it is determined whether or not the child device has responded to this signal. (Step S603). Step S603
As a result of the determination, the responding child device determines that the standby state is normal (step S604), and proceeds to step S606.
The slave unit that has not responded is determined to be out of the standby state (step S605), and similarly, step S606 is performed.
Proceed to.

In the following step S606, the memory 308
Collation and update of the standby state information of the child device stored in the. The child device whose standby state has been updated to the normal state in the memory 308 in this process is determined to have returned to the standby state, and the process from step S507 is performed, and the child device 105 registered in the parent device 104, Wait for all comparisons and updates of 106 and 107 (YE in step S607).
S), this process ends.

According to the present embodiment, a signal for periodically detecting whether the standby state is normal or not is transmitted to the child device determined to be out of the standby state, and Since it is detected at the stage of responding to the slave that has responded that the slave has returned from standby, remote maintenance of the copier connected to the slave that is temporarily out of the standby state can be reliably performed.

FIG. 7 is another flowchart of the standby return detection processing of step S506 in FIG.

Among the slave units 105, 106, and 107, the slave unit in the standby state receives the signal intermittently transmitted from master unit 104 (YES in step S701), and requests base unit 104 to perform a location registration request. Send a message (step S
702). Master device 104 that has received the position registration request signal from the child device completes position registration with this child device (step S703), and at the same time, determines that the standby state of this child device is normal (step S703). Step S704) and proceed to step S705.

In the following step S705, the memory 308
Collation and update of the standby state information of the child device stored in the. In this process, the determination result in step S704 is updated as the standby state information of the child device stored in the memory 308, and the standby state information stored in the memory 308 before the update indicates that the child device has changed from the standby state. If it is off, it is determined that it has returned to the standby state,
This processing ends.

According to the present embodiment, master unit 104 intermittently transmits a signal when a slave unit is out of the standby state, and sends a position registration request from the slave unit in the standby state in response to this signal. When the message is received, the location registration processing of the child device is started, and at the same time as the completion of this process, the standby state of the child device is determined to be normal, and the memory 30
8 to check the standby state information of the slave unit
Update is performed, and based on the result, whether or not the slave unit has returned to the standby state is detected.Therefore, it is possible to perform remote maintenance on the copying apparatus connected to the slave unit that has temporarily been out of the standby state. it can.

FIG. 8 is still another flowchart of the standby return detection processing in step S506 in FIG.

The child device that has temporarily recovered from the standby state and returned has returned to the standby state (step S801).
Is sent to the parent device 104 (step S80).
2). Upon receiving the standby return message from the child device (step S803), master device 104 determines that the standby state of the child device has become normal (step S80).
4), proceed to step S805.

In the following step S805, the memory 308
Collation and update of the standby state information of the child device stored in the. In this process, the standby state information stored in the memory 308 before the update confirms that the slave unit has been out of the standby state but the standby state has become normal after the update (step S805). The process ends.

According to the present embodiment, when master unit 104 receives a standby return message from a slave unit that is temporarily out of the standby state, master unit 104 determines that the standby state of the slave unit is normal. Then, the standby state information of the slave unit stored in the memory 308 is collated and updated, and based on the result, whether or not the slave unit has returned to the standby state is detected. Remote maintenance can also be reliably performed on the copying machine connected to the slave unit.

In the processing of FIGS. 5 to 8 described above,
The child device may be connected to the information processing device instead of the image forming device, and the various types of information to be communicated may belong to the information processing device. Further, although PHS and digital cordless are used as a medium for wireless communication, the same processing can be performed using another medium for wireless communication. Although the PIAFS is used as the data communication method, the same processing can be performed with other methods.

It is also said that the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus using a storage medium storing software program modules for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments. Not even. In this case, the program module itself read from the storage medium implements the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

The program module in each of the above embodiments is stored in the host computer 111. Examples of a storage medium for supplying the program module include a floppy disk (registered trademark), a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a CD. -ROM,
A CD-R, DVD, MO, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, or the like can be used.

[0055]

As described above in detail, according to the remote maintenance system of claim 1, the control method of claim 13, and the storage medium of claim 22, the master unit responds to the message sent to the slave unit. If there is a slave that did not respond to the slave, the slave is determined to be out of the standby state, and a message is transmitted again when it is detected that the slave has returned to the standby state. Even if there is a slave unit that is out of the standby state, the remote maintenance of the copying machine, which is one of the OA devices, can be reliably performed.

According to the remote maintenance system of the fifth aspect and the control method of the seventeenth aspect, the transmitted message and the retransmitted message notify various kinds of information of the copying apparatus connected to each slave unit. According to the remote maintenance system of the sixth aspect and the control method of the eighteenth aspect, the remote maintenance system can reliably perform the remote maintenance of the state of the copying apparatus because it is a message for receiving the message. It is assumed that a signal for detecting whether the standby state is normal or not is transmitted periodically to the slave unit which has responded, and that the slave unit which has responded to the signal has returned to the standby state when responding to this signal. Therefore, remote maintenance of the copying machine connected to the slave unit temporarily out of the standby state can be reliably performed.

According to the remote maintenance system of claim 7 and the control method of claim 19, when the master unit receives a location registration request message from the slave unit as a response to the signal intermittently transmitted to the slave unit, The location registration process of the child device is performed, and at the same time as the completion of this process, the standby state information of the child device that is stored assuming that the standby state of the child device is normal is updated, and further stored before the update. If the standby state of the slave unit is out of the standby state, it is determined that the slave unit has returned to the standby state. Maintenance can be performed.

According to the remote maintenance system of the eighth aspect and the control method of the twentieth aspect, when a standby return message is received from a child unit that has temporarily recovered from the standby state and has returned from the standby state, the parent unit sets the remote unit of the child unit. After updating the standby state information of the child device stored as normal in the standby state, and further confirming that the standby state of the child device stored before the update is out of the standby state, the child device is updated. Since it is determined that the machine has returned to the standby state,
Remote maintenance can also be reliably performed on a copying apparatus connected to a slave unit that has temporarily been out of the standby state.

According to the remote maintenance system of the ninth aspect and the control method of the twenty-first aspect, the slave unit is connected to an information processing apparatus instead of the image forming apparatus, and performs remote maintenance of the information processing apparatus. Therefore, remote maintenance of the entire OA equipment can be reliably performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a remote maintenance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of each slave unit of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a parent device 104 of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing slave unit standby state information stored in a memory 308 of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a data notification request process of the remote maintenance system 1 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a standby return detection process in step S506 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is another flowchart of the standby return detection process in step S506 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is still another flowchart of the standby return detection process in step S506 of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote maintenance system 101 Public network 102,103 Communication line 104 Parent machine 105,106,107 Child machine 108,109,110 Copier 111 Host computer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP04 BB11 HH01 HJ08 HJ10 HK08 HK11 HK19 HN05 HN15 HV05 HV22 HV35 HV40 HV56 2H027 EJ13 EJ15 HB18 ZA07 5B042 GA12 GA35 GB05 KK15 JJ23 KK14 RR16 VV01 VV03

Claims (22)

[Claims] A master unit that communicates with a host computer via a communication line; and a slave unit that performs data communication with the master unit by wireless communication and is connected to the image forming apparatus.
The slave unit, when receiving the signal from the master unit in a standby state of receiving and responding to the signal transmitted from the master unit, communicates with the image forming apparatus and transmits information of the image forming apparatus. A remote maintenance system configured to acquire and send the information to the host computer via the master unit, wherein the master unit transmits a first message to the slave unit; Determining means for determining that the child device that has not responded to the transmission has departed from the standby state; detecting means for detecting that the child device has returned to the standby state; and a child returned to the standby state by the detection means. And a second transmitting means for transmitting a second message to the slave unit when the remote unit is detected. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first transmitting means transmits a first signal to the slave unit.
2. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the message is repeatedly transmitted until the slave responds. 3. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the slave unit that has not responded for a predetermined time after the transmission is started is out of a standby state. 4. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines that the other handset is normal in the standby state. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the first message and the second message is an information notification request message that requests the slave to notify the master of the information. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The detecting means periodically transmits a detection signal for detecting whether the standby state of the slave unit is normal or not to a slave unit that has not received and responded to the first message. And detecting a slave unit that has received and responded to the detection signal to determine that the slave unit has returned to the standby state.
The remote maintenance system according to the paragraph. 7. The master unit includes a storage unit that stores the determined standby state of the slave unit, a third transmission unit that intermittently transmits a signal to the slave unit, and the third transmission unit. Receiving means for receiving a response from the slave unit to the signal by
Means for performing the position registration process of the slave unit, and performing the position registration process of the slave unit when a third message requesting the position registration process of the slave unit is received as a response from the slave unit that has received the signal. Updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit by the storage unit assuming that the standby state of the slave unit is normal at the same time as the end of the location registration process. 6. The storage of the standby state according to claim 1, wherein, before the update, when the standby state is out of the standby state, it is detected that the child device has returned to the standby state. Remote maintenance system. 8. The child device further comprises: third transmission means for transmitting, when temporarily returning from the standby state and then returning to the standby state, a third message indicating the return to the standby state, The device includes a storage unit configured to store the determined standby state of the slave unit, a receiving unit configured to receive the third message, and that the standby state of the slave unit is normal upon completion of the reception of the third message. Update means for updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit by the storage means, wherein the detection state is out of the standby state before the update in the storage of the standby state of the slave unit. The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the remote maintenance system detects that the child device has returned to the standby state after confirming the following. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slave unit is connected to an information processing apparatus instead of the image forming apparatus, and performs remote maintenance of the information processing apparatus. Remote maintenance system. 10. The wireless communication method is a personal communication method.
10. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the remote maintenance system is a handy phone system. 11. The wireless communication method is a personal communication method.
The remote maintenance system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the remote maintenance system is a digital cordless telephone system which is a self-operating mode of a handy phone system. 12. The remote maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication includes data communication, and the data communication method is PIAFS. 13. A master unit that communicates with a host computer via a communication line, and a slave unit that performs data communication with the master unit by wireless communication and is connected to an image forming apparatus, wherein the slave unit includes: When receiving the signal from the master unit in a standby state of receiving and responding to the signal transmitted from the master unit, the communication unit communicates with the image forming apparatus to acquire information on the image forming apparatus, and A method of controlling a remote maintenance system configured to send the information to the host computer via a device, wherein the master device transmits a first message to the slave device; A judging step of judging that the slave unit that has not responded to the transmission has departed from the standby state; a detecting step of detecting that the slave unit has returned to the standby state; Upon detecting a slave having returned to the state, the control method characterized by a second transmission step of transmitting a second message to the handset. 14. The control method according to claim 13, wherein in the first transmitting step, a first message is repeatedly transmitted to the slave unit until the slave unit responds. 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the determining step determines that a slave unit that has not responded for a predetermined time after the transmission is started is out of a standby state.
4. The control method according to 4. 16. The control method according to claim 13, wherein in the determining step, the other slaves determine that the standby state is normal. 17. The first message and the second message
17. Each of the above messages is an information notification request message requesting that the slave unit notify the master unit of the information.
The control method described in the section. 18. The detecting step includes transmitting a detection signal for periodically detecting whether the standby state of the slave unit is normal or not to a slave unit that has not received and responded to the first message. 18. The control method according to claim 13, wherein when detecting a slave that has received and responded to the detection signal, the slave determines that the slave has returned to the standby state. 19. The master unit stores a determined standby state of the slave unit, a third transmission step of intermittently transmitting a signal to the slave unit, and a third transmission step. Receiving the response from the slave unit to the signal by the above, performing the location registration process of the slave unit, and requesting the location registration process of the slave unit as a response from the slave unit that has received the signal. When the message is received, the location registration process of the slave unit is performed, and at the same time when the location registration process is completed, the standby state of the slave unit is determined to be normal and the storage of the standby state of the slave unit by the storage unit is updated. The detecting step detects that the child device has returned to the standby state when the standby state has been released before the update in the storage of the standby state of the child device. That The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, symptoms. 20. The child device further comprising: a third transmission step of transmitting, when temporarily returning from the standby state and then returning to the standby state, a third message indicating the return to the standby state, The master unit stores a determined standby state of the slave unit, a reception step of receiving the third message, and a standby state of the slave unit upon completion of the reception of the third message. An update step of updating the storage of the standby state of the slave unit in the storage step as normal, and wherein the detection step is that the standby state of the slave unit was out of the standby state before the update. 18. The control method according to claim 13, further comprising: detecting that the slave unit has returned to the standby state after confirming the condition. 21. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the slave unit is connected to an information processing device instead of the image forming device, and performs remote maintenance of the information processing device. Control method. 22. A master unit that communicates with a host computer via a communication line, and a slave unit that performs data communication with the master unit by wireless communication and is connected to the image forming apparatus. When receiving the signal from the master unit in a standby state of receiving and responding to the signal transmitted from the master unit, the communication unit communicates with the image forming apparatus to acquire information on the image forming apparatus, and A storage medium storing a program for executing a method of controlling the master unit of the remote maintenance system configured to send the information to the host computer via the master unit, wherein A first transmission module for transmitting the first message; a determination module for determining that the child device that has not responded to the transmission has departed from the standby state; A detection module that detects that the mobile device has returned to the standby state, and a second transmission module that transmits a second message to the mobile device when the detection module detects the mobile device that has returned to the standby state. A storage medium characterized by the above-mentioned.