JP2002099473A - Method and device for collecting service information of network, and record medium storing service information collection program of network - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid useless service trial to improve usability by exchanging service information between a terminal and another terminal not only during connection to a network but also even under connection, and notifying a user the state change of service provision impossibility. SOLUTION: The service information capable of providing one terminal included in a service information request message transmitted by a broadcast from one terminal to the other terminal is acquired in the terminal 2-i, the service information capable of being provided by the other terminals included in service information response message transmitted from the other terminals respectively is acquired by one terminal in response to the service request message, and the service information capable of being provided by the other terminals included in the service information response message respectively is added to one terminal to be acquired even in the other terminal by transmitting the service information response message by the broad cast.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for collecting service information on a network.
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for collecting various service information scattered on a wired network, a wireless network, or a mixed network thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, by connecting various devices via a network, the functions of one device are provided as services to other devices, and various functions are realized throughout the network by complementing each other's lack of functions. That is being done. For example, sharing a printer or facsimile apparatus connected to a network with a personal computer on the network is a typical example.

[0003] On the other hand, such a tendency of networking tends to enter not only offices but also private spaces (so-called home networks) in homes and the like, and the types of network-compatible devices are also limited to personal computers and peripheral devices. In addition to devices, home appliances such as television receivers and audio devices, as well as so-called white goods such as refrigerators with built-in information processing functions have come to be used.

[0004] Such a tendency is necessary especially in a home network, in which a so-called hot plug (hot-line connection) function is required, which enables easy connection of network-compatible devices, particularly, connection and disconnection of a network-enabled device while the power is on. And various technologies are being proposed.

[0005] For example, although not particularly limited, in the Bluetooth, which is one of the wireless network technologies, the above-described hot plug is realized using a protocol called SDP (Service Discovery Protocol). When a Bluetooth-compatible network terminal is connected to the network, the terminal uses the SDP to send a "SD" to another terminal.
A "P request" message is transmitted, and a "SDP response" message returned from another terminal is received.

[0006] These messages (SDP request and SDP response) include information on the service of each source terminal, and the terminal that has received the SDP request and the terminal that has received the SDP response include the information in the message. By capturing and retaining service information stored in the network, all service information received on the network can be grasped.

For example, assuming that a terminal newly connected to a network is A, and that terminals B to D are already connected to the network, first, terminal A connects from terminal A to The SDP request is transmitted. This SDP request is a so-called broadcast (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as “BC”) message that does not specify a destination (address), and all the terminals (terminals B to D) on the network use this SDP request.
The request is to be received.

[0008] The service information of the terminal A is stored in the SDP request, and the terminals B to D receive the SDP request, add the service information of the terminal A to the service list, and respond to the SDP request. And returns an SDP response storing the service information of the terminal itself.

The return address of the SDP response is SD
This is the source address of the P request, and the SDP responses from the terminals B to D are delivered to the specific terminal that sent the above SDP request, that is, in this case, the terminal A, and therefore, the terminal A ＤD are sequentially fetched, and a service list is constructed using the service function information of the terminals B〜D stored therein.

Therefore, by exchanging the SDP message (SDP request and SDP response), the terminal A newly connected to the network grasps the services of all the terminals B to D originally connected to the network. And the terminals B to D originally connected to the network can also grasp the service of the terminal A newly connected to the network, and eventually all the terminals (terminals A to D) on the network Will be able to share each other's services.

[0011]

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, when a terminal is newly connected to the network, the service function of the terminal is notified to all other terminals using an SDP request. While SDP
Since the service function of the other terminal is notified only to the newly connected terminal using the response, the terminal (terminals B to D in the above example) already connected to the network. Is unable to notify each other of changes in service functions, for example, if any terminal that is already connected to the network fails and cannot provide its service to other terminals, There is no way to notify other terminals in advance and only rely on passive measures such as returning an error when using the service, and it is not possible to use the service unless you actually try to access it There is an inconvenience of not knowing.

[0012] This will be described in detail. Now, some icons representing available services are displayed on a display of a certain terminal (terminal A for convenience) on the network. And For example, the icon is an icon imitating a printer or an icon imitating a facsimile machine. The user of terminal A selects the printer icon when trying to receive the printer service, or selects the facsimile icon when trying to receive the facsimile service.

Now, in the above-mentioned prior art, these icons are displayed when the terminal A is connected to the network.
It is created based on an SDP response returned from another terminal that provides a printer service or a facsimile service. Therefore, at the time of the connection, these printer services and facsimile services are supposedly received. However, as time elapses, for example, the printer may run out of paper, run out of toner, or become jammed. May occur, or in a facsimile machine, a failure such as a line failure may occur, but in the above-described conventional technology, icons are disabled when these failures occur. When the user selects the icon on the terminal A, the user cannot know the trouble when, for example, an error message such as “The printer does not respond” is displayed. there were.

Therefore, the present invention can exchange service information not only at the time of connection to a network, but also with other terminals even during connection, so that a state change such as a service cannot be provided. Is notified to the user, and unnecessary service trials are avoided to improve usability.

[0015]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, it is possible to provide one terminal included in a service information request message transmitted by broadcast from one terminal to another terminal. Service information acquired by the other terminal, and a service that can be provided by each of the other terminals included in the service information response message transmitted from each of the other terminals in response to the service information request message The information is acquired by the one terminal, and the service information response message is transmitted by broadcasting, so that the one terminal can provide service information that can be provided by each of the other terminals included in the service information response message. In addition to the above, it can be obtained by other terminals. In a preferred aspect, the service information request message is transmitted periodically, or a timer is provided which is reset under a predetermined condition, and the service is provided when the timer value reaches a predetermined value. An information request message is transmitted, or the predetermined condition is a time when the service information request message or the service information response message is received.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the specification or examples of various details and examples of numerical values, character strings, and other symbols are merely reference for clarifying the idea of the present invention, and all or some of them Obviously, the idea of the invention is not limited.
In addition, well-known techniques, well-known procedures, well-known architectures, and well-known circuit configurations (hereinafter, “known matters”) will not be described in detail, but this is also for the purpose of simplifying the description, It does not intentionally exclude all or some of the matters. Such a well-known matter can be known to those skilled in the art at the time of filing the present invention, and is naturally included in the following description.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall conceptual configuration of a network system to which the present embodiment is applied. In this system, a network 1 is connected to a number of network terminals 2 — i (for convenience, 8 in the figure, i is 1 to 8) that also serve as a service information collection device and that are compatible with Bluetooth, for example. Network 1
May be a wired, wireless or a mixed type network of them, but in the case of a network using Bluetooth, between Bluetooth-compatible terminals, connection between terminals by packet communication using a radio wave as a medium. In particular, service information of each terminal can be exchanged using SDP.

Each of the terminals 2_i may be a personal computer or a peripheral device thereof, or a so-called white goods such as a refrigerator having a built-in information processing function, or a home appliance such as a television receiver or an audio device. May be. The terminal 2_i includes a terminal configured to provide all or a part of the function of the terminal to another terminal, for example, a terminal configured to provide a print service to another terminal.

In the following, the terminal providing the service will be referred to as a server terminal,
If the terminal using the service is referred to as a client terminal, the terminal 2_i can be a server terminal or a client terminal (first type) or a server terminal. Type that operates exclusively (second type) or type that operates exclusively for client terminals (third type)
Can be divided into three.

For example, in the case of a personal computer or a portable information terminal, an external service such as a printer is appropriately used. In this respect, these personal computers and portable information terminals are the third type. If internal resources (such as a shared folder in a hard disk) such as a personal computer and a portable information terminal are made available to the outside, they also operate as server terminals in that the public folder service is provided to the outside. Therefore, it is also a first type for both server and client. On the other hand, a terminal such as a printer does not use other services on the network by itself, so a server-dedicated terminal (second type) exclusively providing a service (printer service) to other terminals on the network. Works as Thus, each terminal 2 connected to the network 1
_I operates on either the client terminal (third type) or the server terminal (second type) or a terminal having both of them (first type), and the operation type of the terminal is Depends on features.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an electrical block configuration of the terminal 2_i. In addition, this block configuration
Although not particularly limited, the internal configuration of an information processing terminal such as a personal computer or a portable information terminal is simplified and schematically illustrated. In FIG. 2A, the terminal 2_i is
In addition to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a program memory 12, a work memory 13, a data memory 14, an external input / output unit (abbreviated as “external I / O”) 15 via a bus 11, Part 1
6, the display unit 17 and the communication unit 18 are connected.

The CPU 10 functions as a first transmission unit, a second transmission unit, and an acquisition unit, and
By loading the operating system and application programs stored in the application memory 2 into the work memory 13 and executing them, required functions described in the application programs (for example, functions such as editing and printing of document documents) can be combined with hardware. It is realized by organic coupling with software. Program memory 12
Stores the operating system and application programs in advance, as described above.
For example, a semiconductor storage element such as a flash memory or a read-only memory or a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk is used.

On the other hand, the data memory 14 stores the user-specific variable data in a non-volatile manner (to retain the stored information even when the power is turned off), and is a flash memory or a battery-backed random access memory. (Or a part of a storage device such as a hard disk if provided). Data memory 14
The user-specific variable data stored in the terminal is variable data required when executing the above-described operating system or application program, and in particular, unique address information (hereinafter abbreviated as “abbreviation“ ID ”), service information that can be provided by the own terminal, service information of all terminals connected to the network 1, and the like.

The external I / O 15 is a general-purpose port for connecting a peripheral device. The input unit 16 is an input user interface unit such as a keyboard, a pointing device, or a touch panel, and the display unit 17 is an output user interface unit that displays images, character strings, icons, and the like and presents information to the user. is there. In addition, the communication unit 18 includes a first transmitting unit and a second transmitting unit.
And performs packet communication with the communication unit 18 of another terminal on the network 1 by supporting the communication method of the Bluetooth standard.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing another example of the configuration of the main part of the terminal 2_i. For example, the main part configuration in the case where the terminal 2_i provides a print service (so-called printer) FIG. That is, the functional unit 19 is a part that provides a print service, and the functional unit 19
This is used instead of the external I / O 15 in FIG. Now, assuming that the terminal 2_1 is a client terminal of a print request source for convenience and the terminal 2_2 is a server terminal having a function unit 19 having a print function, a print request from the terminal 2_1 is transmitted via the network 1 to the terminal 2_2. Is transmitted to the communication unit 18 of the terminal 2_2, and the functional unit 19 of the terminal 2_2 prints out a print target object such as a document provided from the terminal 2_1 while receiving operation control from the CPU 10 via the bus 11. .

FIG. 3 shows the OSI (Open System) of the terminal 2_i.
m Interconnection (open type interconnection between systems) is a diagram showing a reference model. In the illustrated reference model, the lowest layer is a physical layer (such as a communication unit compatible with Bluetooth) 21 and an OS (operating system) layer 2
2. Device driver (Bluetooth compatible driver software) layer 23, various protocol (TCP / IP etc.) layer 2
4 are stacked, and a service management protocol 25 supporting SDP and various applications (for example, word processing software) 26 are stacked thereon.

For example, when printing a document document, the various application software 26 uses the service management protocol 25 to execute various protocol layers 2.
4. The document data to be printed is transmitted to another terminal that provides the print service via the device driver layer 23, the operating system layer 22, and the physical layer 21. Other terminals that provide a print service also have a similar reference model structure, and the other terminals
Document data to be printed is received via the OS layer 22, the device driver layer 23, the various protocol layers 24, and the service management protocol 25, and the print function unit (FIG. 2)
(See (b) function section 19) to print the document data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of two data tables stored in the data memory 14 of the terminal 2_i. (A) One data table is the own terminal service information data table 27, and the own terminal service information data table 27 has the address field 2
7a, a service name field 27b and a service parameter field 27c, and the address field 27a has its own terminal (in the figure, it is referred to as terminal A for convenience).
(For example, xxx) is stored in the service name field 27b, and the name of a service (for example, “printer” or the like) that can be provided to another terminal, or a code representing the service name. Is stored in the service parameter field 27c, and the parameters of the service (for example, terminal manufacturer name,
Resolution, paper size, etc. ) Is stored.

On the other hand, (b) the two data tables are the other terminal service information data table 28, which also has an address field 28a, a service name field 28b, and a service parameter field 28c. However, this is different from the above-mentioned own terminal service information data table 27 in that the field information is dynamically registered and updated according to the service information acquired from another terminal.

For example, taking the other terminal service information data table 28 stored in the data memory 14 of the terminal A as an example, a plurality of terminals B to D which can operate as server terminals now exist in the same network 1. If you do
By obtaining service information from these terminals B to D,
The address (example: 0001) and service name (example: Sb) of terminal B and service parameters (example: Pb1,
Pb2}) is generated, and a first record R1 is generated,
Also, the address (example: 0002) and service name (example: Sc) of terminal C and the service parameter (example: Pc)
1, Pc2}) is generated, and the address (eg, 0003) and service name (eg, Sd) of terminal D and service parameters (eg,
A third record R3 storing Pd1, Pd2 ‥‥) is generated.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing notification of service information between terminals according to the present embodiment. As an example, a request for service information by an SDP request from terminal A to other terminals B to D, and a description of each terminal B 4A to 4D show service information response cases based on SDP responses. Now, as shown in (a), the SDP request output from terminal A is a broadcast (BC) message, and this SDP request is transmitted to all terminals B to
D. Therefore, the service information of the terminal A (the contents of the own terminal service information data table 27 in FIG. 4A) included in the SDP request
Since D is notified, the terminals B to D can grasp the service information of the terminal A by this SDP request.

By the way, as shown in (b) to (d),
Each of the terminals B to D receiving the SDP request returns an SDP response as a response. In the present embodiment, the SDP response is not addressed to a specific terminal but is broadcast to all terminals. (B
C) It is significantly different from the above-mentioned prior art in that it is transmitted in a message.

Therefore, (b) the SDP response transmitted from terminal B is received not only by terminal A, but also by terminals C and D. Similarly, (c) the SDP response from terminal C is transmitted by terminals A, B and D, and
(D) Since the SDP response from the terminal D is received by the terminals A, B, and C, the SDP response returned from a certain terminal X
The response is received by all the terminals without omission, and as a result, the service information (the own terminal service information data table 27 of the terminal X) included in the SDP response is obtained.
Can be notified to all terminals. Thus, all terminals connected to the network 1
SD returned from each terminal in response to SDP request
Since the P response is received, all the service information on the network 1 is registered in the other terminal service information data table 28, and the table information can be constantly maintained in the latest state. When the status change occurs, the user can be notified immediately by changing the service icon to an unusable state or the like, and unnecessary service trials can be avoided to improve usability. The special advantage is obtained.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a message packet structure of an SDP request and an SDP response. The message packet 30 (service information request message, service information response message) has a destination address field 3
0a, a source address field 30b, a control field 30c, a packet type field 30d, an own terminal service information field 30e, and the like.
A broadcast address representing all terminals in the network 1 is set in the destination address field 30a, and the address of the source terminal of the message packet 30 is set in the source address field 30b. Also, predetermined control information is set in the control field 30c, and type information indicating whether the message packet 30 is an “SDP request” or an “SDP response” is set in the packet type field 30d. In the own terminal service information field 30e, information of a service that can be provided to another terminal in the source terminal that transmitted the message packet 30 as an “SDP request” or as an “SDP response”, that is, in the source terminal, The contents of the own terminal service information data table 27 are set.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart of the service information request processing program. When this program is started, first, a service information request packet (SDP request) is transmitted by broadcast (step S1).
1) Wait for a response from another terminal (step S12). Then, a service information response packet from another terminal (SDP
Response), the service information included in the service information response packet is extracted and added to the service list (other terminal service information data table 28) (step S13). If there is no, terminate the program.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart of the service information response processing program. When this program is started, first, it is determined whether a service information request packet (SDP request) has been received (step S2).
1) When the service information request packet is received, the contents of the own terminal service information data table 27 are read out, the service information packet of the own terminal in which the contents are set in the own terminal service information field 30e is generated, and transmitted by broadcast. After (Step S22), the service information request packet reception determination process is performed again (Step S22).
Return to 21).

According to the service information request processing program and the service information response program, all terminals on the network 1 receive an SDP request (service information request message) transmitted from a certain terminal by broadcast, and The terminal service information is stored in a service list (other terminal service information data table 2).
8) can be additionally registered, and furthermore, the network 1
Since all the above terminals send SDP response (service information response message) by broadcast,
This SDP response is received by all terminals on the network 1, and the service information of the source terminal of the SDP response can be additionally registered in the service list (other terminal service information data table 28) of each terminal.

Accordingly, the contents of the other terminal service information data table 28 can be maintained and maintained at the latest state. For example, when a failure such as running out of paper, toner shortage, or paper jam occurs in the terminal providing the print service. Alternatively, when a failure such as a line failure occurs in a terminal that provides a facsimile service, all terminals on the network 1 receive an SDP response broadcast from these terminals and transmit the other terminal service information data. The contents of the table 28 can be updated, and measures such as disabling the print service icon and the facsimile service icon can be taken. As a result, the user can be notified of the above-mentioned trouble, and unnecessary service attempts can be avoided. It is possible to improve usability.

The update interval of the other terminal service information data table 28 depends on the frequency of the SDP response flowing on the network 1, and the SDP response responds to the SDP request transmitted from the terminal newly connected to the network 1. In the above-described embodiment, the other terminal service information data table 28 is not updated until a new terminal is connected to the network 1. . The embodiments described below improve this point.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart of a service information periodic request processing program. When the program is started, first, it is determined whether or not the timer value TM is equal to or more than a predetermined value Tr (step S31). And T
If not more than r, TM is increased by a predetermined offset value t (step S32), and the program is terminated.
On the other hand, if the timer value TM is equal to or greater than the predetermined value Tr, the above-described service information request processing (see FIG. 7A) is executed (step S33), and thereafter, TM is reset to 0 (step S34) and To end.

According to this, each time the timer value TM reaches the predetermined value (Tr), the above-described service information request processing (see FIG. 7A) is executed (step S33). A request can be transmitted, and accordingly, all terminals on the network 1 can issue an SDP response by broadcasting. Therefore, even when a new terminal is not connected to the network 1, each terminal can forcibly transmit an SDP response at every predetermined time (Tr), and the other terminal service information data table 28 is periodically stored. It can be updated to keep its contents up to date.

FIG. 8B is a flowchart of a timer reset processing program for resetting the timer value (TM) of the above program to zero. In this program, for example, the timer value (TM) is set to 0 when the terminal is activated, when a service information request packet is received from another terminal, or when a service information response packet is received from another terminal. Reset. Therefore, according to this, the timer value (TM) can be initialized when the terminal is started, when a service information request packet is received from another terminal, or when a service information response packet is received from another terminal. There is an advantage in that excessive transmission of SDP requests can be prevented and network congestion can be prevented.

[0043]

According to the present invention, since both the service information request message and the service information response message are broadcast messages addressed to all terminals on the network, the service information contained in these messages is all It can be obtained and managed on the terminal. Therefore, the service information response message can be shared and service information can be exchanged with other terminals not only when the terminal is connected to the network but also during the connection. The user can be notified of the change, and unnecessary service trials can be avoided to improve usability. Further, according to a preferred aspect, the service information request message is periodically transmitted, so that the frequency of exchanging service information can be increased, and the accuracy of notification of a state change such as a service provision failure can be increased. . Alternatively, a timer that is reset under a predetermined condition is provided, and the service information request message is transmitted when the timer value reaches a predetermined value. For example, by setting a predetermined condition when the service information request message or the service information response message is received, it is possible to prevent excessive service information request message transmission and avoid network congestion. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall conceptual configuration of a network system to which the present embodiment is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an electrical block configuration of a terminal 2_i.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an OSI reference model of a terminal 2_i.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of two data tables stored in a data memory 14 of a terminal 2_i.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating notification of service information between terminals according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a message packet structure of an SDP request and an SDP response.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a service information request processing program and a service information response processing program.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a service information periodic request processing program and a timer reset processing program.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 network 2_i terminal (service information collection device) 10 CPU (first transmission unit, second transmission unit, acquisition unit) 18 communication unit (first transmission unit, second transmission unit) 30 message packet (service information Request message, service information response message)

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A service information collecting method used on a network connecting a plurality of terminals, the service information collecting method comprising: a service information request message broadcasted from one terminal to another terminal; The other terminal obtains service information that can be provided by the one terminal included in the other terminal, and the service information response message transmitted from each of the other terminals in response to the service information request message The one terminal obtains service information that can be provided by each of the other terminals, and the other terminal included in the service information response message by transmitting the service information response message by broadcast In addition to the service information that can be provided by each of the above-mentioned one terminal, A method for collecting service information on a network, characterized in that service information can be acquired. 2. The service information collecting method on a network according to claim 1, wherein the service information request message is transmitted periodically. 3. The service information request message according to claim 1, further comprising a timer that is reset under a predetermined condition, wherein the service information request message is transmitted when the timer value reaches a predetermined value. A service information collection method on a network according to any of the above. 4. The service information collecting method on a network according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined condition is a time at which the service information request message or the service information response message is received. 5. A first transmitting means for transmitting a service information request message by broadcast to another terminal on a network connecting a plurality of terminals, and responding to the service information request message transmitted from the other terminal. Second transmitting means for transmitting a service information response message by broadcast to the other terminal, and a service information request message transmitted from the other terminal or another terminal in response to the service information request message A service information collection device on a network, comprising: acquisition means for acquiring service information that can be provided by the other terminal included in the service information response message transmitted from the network. 6. The service information collecting device on a network according to claim 5, wherein said first transmitting means periodically transmits said service information request message. 7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first transmission unit includes a timer reset under a predetermined condition, and transmits the service information request message when the timer value reaches a predetermined value. The service information collection device on a network according to claim 5 or claim 6. 8. The service information collecting apparatus on a network according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined condition is a time when the service information request message or the service information response message is received. 9. A first transmitting means for transmitting a service information request message by broadcast to another terminal on a network to which a plurality of terminals are connected, and responding to the service information request message transmitted from the other terminal. Second transmitting means for transmitting a service information response message by broadcast to the other terminal; and a service information request message transmitted from the other terminal or another terminal in response to the service information request message. A program for realizing an acquisition unit for acquiring service information that can be provided by the other terminal included in the service information response message transmitted from the storage medium.