JP2002158673A - Network system and information equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable use of the latest piece of shared information by the respective pieces of information equipment connected with a network, even under an environment, etc., where pieces of information equipment to be connected with the network are not fixed. SOLUTION: Pieces of the information equipment 100a, 100b are connected with the network via a network interface 110 and a communication processing part 120, names of the information equipment connected with the network are acquired and stored by an equipment list acquiring part 130, update states of the shared information the update of which is managed by other piece of equipment are acquired and stored by an update state information acquiring part 140, the fact that the present equipment is connected with the network is notified to the information equipment in the network by a connection notifying part 150, the present equipment manages the shared information the update of which is managed by the present equipment and the update is notified to other equipment, when the present equipment shared information 1600 is updated by a present information managing part 160, the shared information the update of which is managed by other equipment is acquired and stored by another equipment information acquiring part 170.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an environment in which a plurality of information devices dynamically participate in a network when the content of information held by a certain information device is used from another device.
The present invention relates to a network system and information device that makes information held by devices other than its own device as new as possible.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system has been used in which a plurality of information devices such as computers are connected to a network, and information is shared and utilized by each information device (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H08-163,087).
000-112802, JP-A-2000-1633
No. 00, JP-A-4-75439, JP-A-4-75439
257039, JP-A-7-114495,
JP-A-9-54719, JP-A-9-114714
JP, JP-A-10-111825, JP-A-200
0-222268, JP-A-2000-267921
Reference). By the way, in an environment where the information devices connected to the network are not constant, for example, in a home network, the power of the information devices is turned on / off at an arbitrary timing, and the information devices are often physically disconnected from the network. In an environment where the server is disconnected, assuming that the shared information is always held in the server as in a general server / client system, the shared information can be used when the server goes down. Disappears. Also, in an environment such as a home network that includes a plurality of personal computers and includes a portion connected by a low-speed line such as wireless, a plurality of application software are simultaneously operating on the personal computer, and the shared information is shared. Simultaneous synchronization may result in a shortage of processing capacity, or a heavy load on communication processing may hinder the operation of application software.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-222268 discloses that in a process of synchronizing a file group of two or more computers, the independence from a database management unit which may be different in each computer is improved. The master holds a superset of shared data and the slave holds multiple subsets of shared data in an environment in which the master holds a superset of shared data and the slave holds a subset of the shared data, with the aim of reducing the communication time between the two. An application mode is adopted in which the data update in the device is reflected on the master shared data. This achieves synchronization of shared data in a so-called server-client type system configuration on the premise of a master and slave device configuration.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-267921 discloses that a program for processing a data file having a shared relationship stored in a plurality of computers connected via a network always has a data file having the same contents in the network. A network file transmission system that can operate on computers, and a network that can operate with the latest data file just before the programs stored in each computer become incapable of network connection even if network connection between computers is not possible Even if a file transmission system is obtained and a program that needs to be processed each time a shared data file is updated is stored on a plurality of computers connected to a network, the data file to be processed Monitor update status of In order to obtain a simplified network file transmission system that does not need to implement the functions to be managed for each program, the network file management unit, network file transfer unit, data File,
The network file management unit has an online transmission unit, a download transmission unit, and a program starting unit inside. With such a configuration, the intended purpose is achieved.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 000-222268, there is a problem that synchronization of shared data cannot be realized in a system configuration in which a master information device is not present. Further, according to the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-267921, a device configuration in a network is automatically acquired, and shared information in its own information device and shared information in another information device can be separately managed. In an application form in which connection to and disconnection from a network is dynamically performed, there is a problem that update management of shared information is difficult. In addition, since it is not possible to manage up to which version of the shared information in another information device holds a copy of the shared information in another information device, when the information device holding the original shared information has left the network Has the problem that the latest information cannot be used among the information devices in the network.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible for each information device connected to a network to use the latest shared information even in an environment where information devices connected to the network are not fixed. .

[0007]

According to the present invention, in a network system to which a plurality of information devices are connected,
In each of the information devices, a network interface that controls a communication process between the information devices, a communication processing unit that controls information exchange between the network interface and an element that performs a process for synchronizing shared information, and a network connected to a network. A device list acquisition unit that acquires the name of the information device that is stored and saves it as device list information, and an update status information acquisition that acquires the update status of the shared information stored by another device via the communication processing unit and saves it as update status information Unit, a connection notification unit that notifies an information device in the network that the own device has been connected to the network via the communication processing unit, and own device shared information that is shared information that manages updates in the own device. Own device information management unit that notifies the other device of the update via the communication processing unit when it is performed, and obtains the shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit Network system characterized in that it comprises an other device information acquisition unit that stores as another machine sharing information is provided. The network interface controls communication processing between information devices. The communication processing unit controls information exchange between the network interface and an element that performs a process for synchronizing shared information. The device list obtaining unit obtains the names of information devices connected to the network and stores them as device list information. The update status information obtaining unit obtains, via the communication processing unit, the update status of the shared information managed by another device for updating, and stores it as update status information.
The connection notification unit notifies the information device in the network that the own device has been connected to the network via the communication processing unit. The own device information management unit notifies another device via the communication processing unit of the update when the own device shared information, which is shared information for managing updates in the own device, is updated. The other device information acquisition unit acquires the shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit and stores the shared information as the other device shared information.

[0008] Here, instead of the own device information management unit,
A management unit with own device information difference that holds and manages the shared information held by the own device and the own device difference information that is the update difference, and obtains the difference information of the shared information instead of the shared information obtaining unit Then, it may be configured to include an acquisition unit with other device information difference that updates the other device shared information. Further, the information processing apparatus may further include an external device information acquisition control unit that controls the shared information acquisition unit to acquire the shared information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Further, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the other device information difference acquisition unit is configured to further include another device difference information acquisition control unit that controls to acquire the shared information of the other device and the difference information thereof. You may.
Further, instead of the acquisition unit with the other device information difference, a configuration may be adopted in which an other device information management unit that controls the timing of updating the other device shared information based on the acquired difference information is provided. Also, instead of the update status information acquisition unit, the update status of the shared information held by the other device is acquired via the communication processing unit and stored as the update status information, and which information device copies the latest shared information. If the latest copy status included in the determination result indicates that it is newer than the latest copy status held by the own device, the device that is the transmission source of the received determination result is received. May have a second update state information acquisition unit that acquires a copy of the shared information of the corresponding device from the other device shared information held by the device.

According to the present invention, a network interface for controlling a communication process between information devices, a communication processing unit for controlling information exchange between the network interface and an element for performing a process for synchronizing shared information, A device list acquisition unit that acquires the name of an information device connected to the network and saves it as device list information, and acquires an update state of shared information saved by another device via the communication processing unit and saves the updated information as update state information An update status information acquisition unit,
A connection notification unit that notifies an information device in the network that the own device is connected to the network via the communication processing unit, and when the own device shared information that is shared information for managing updates in the own device is updated. Own device information management unit for notifying the other device of the update via the communication processing unit, and obtaining the other device information for obtaining the shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit and storing it as the other device shared information And an information device comprising: The network interface controls communication processing between information devices. The communication processing unit controls information exchange between the network interface and an element that performs a process for synchronizing shared information. The device list obtaining unit obtains the names of information devices connected to the network and stores them as device list information. The update status information obtaining unit obtains, via the communication processing unit, the update status of the shared information managed by another device for updating, and stores it as update status information. The connection notification unit notifies the information device in the network that the own device has been connected to the network via the communication processing unit. The own device information management unit notifies another device via the communication processing unit of the update when the own device shared information, which is shared information for managing updates in the own device, is updated. The other device information acquisition unit acquires the shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit and stores the shared information as the other device shared information.

Here, in place of the own device information management unit,
A management unit with own device information difference that holds and manages the shared information held by the own device and the own device difference information that is the update difference, and obtains the difference information of the shared information instead of the shared information obtaining unit Then, it may be configured to include an acquisition unit with other device information difference that updates the other device shared information. Further, the information processing apparatus may further include an external device information acquisition control unit that controls the shared information acquisition unit to acquire the shared information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Further, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the other device information difference acquisition unit is configured to further include another device difference information acquisition control unit that controls to acquire the shared information of the other device and the difference information thereof. You may.
Further, instead of the acquisition unit with the other device information difference, a configuration may be adopted in which an other device information management unit that controls the timing of updating the other device shared information based on the acquired difference information is provided. Also, instead of the update status information acquisition unit, the update status of the shared information held by the other device is acquired via the communication processing unit and stored as the update status information, and which information device copies the latest shared information. If the latest copy status included in the determination result indicates that it is newer than the latest copy status held by the own device, the device that is the transmission source of the received determination result is received. May have a second update state information acquisition unit that acquires a copy of the shared information of the corresponding device from the other device shared information held by the device.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Prior to a detailed description of an embodiment according to the present invention, an outline will be given. In an environment where a plurality of information devices such as computers dynamically participate in a network, a certain information device is The present invention relates to an information sharing type network system and an information device that acquire new contents held by a device other than the own device when the content of the held information is used from another information device. here,
The dynamic environment is not a general client / server type, but an environment in which which information device is connected to or disconnected from the network is not constant. For example, a plurality of personal computers, portable It is like a home network composed of terminals, set-top boxes and the like. The network may be a wired or wireless network.

An embodiment according to the present invention uses update history information and update status information of shared information in order to obtain the latest shared information that can be obtained in a network. It has means for comparing the new and old with the shared information in the device connected to the network, and the basic feature is to acquire the latest shared information that can be obtained in the network using the comparison result. It is also characterized by having an element for controlling the timing of acquiring all or a part of the latest shared information that can be acquired from within the network. In an environment to which the embodiment according to the present invention is applied, a plurality of information devices holding information to be shared are connected via a network, and each device holds data stored in another device in addition to data for managing updates in the own device. It also holds a copy of the shared information. Here, the reason that a copy of the shared information held by another device is also held is that, in the environment assumed in the present invention, each device does not always participate in the network, and even if any device is disconnected from the network. This is because the content of the shared information held by the disconnected device can be used by another device. In this way, a network system in which a plurality of identically configured information devices are connected is configured, and the shared information such as data held by each information device is updated to the same one, that is, the shared information of each information device is shared. It synchronizes information.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which five information devices 101 to 105 are connected by a network. Each of the information devices 101 to 105 holds a copy of the shared information that is updated and managed by each of the other devices, in addition to the shared information that manages the update in its own device. For example, the information device 101
The device 101 itself holds shared information D1 (own information shared by the information device 101) for managing updates, and further stores the shared information D1.
2-Shared information D2 to D that each manage updates
5 (the shared information of the devices 102 to 105) is held as D2 'to D5'. Here, “′” added to the shared information indicates that the shared information is copied. The environment to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied is assumed to include a plurality of (two or more) information devices participating in a network as shown in FIG. 1. The configuration of each information device and the operation of each information device for realizing the system can be described in an environment where two information devices are connected. Therefore, in the description of each embodiment described below, mainly two information devices are used. A case where two information devices are connected via a network will be described. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, in an environment where a plurality of information devices 100 having the same configuration are connected via a network, a network interface 11 for controlling communication processing between the devices is provided in each information device.
0, a communication processing unit 120 that controls information exchange between the network interface 110 and an element that performs a process for synchronizing shared information, and a device name of an information device connected to the network. A device list acquisition unit 130 to be stored and the communication processing unit 12
0, the update state of the shared information held by the other apparatus is acquired, and the update state information acquisition unit 140 that stores the update state information as the update state information 1400, and that the own apparatus is connected to the network via the communication processing unit 120 Via a communication notifying unit 150 that manages the update by the connection notification unit 150 for notifying the device in the network of the device, and the shared information 1600 that manages the update by the device itself. Own device information management unit 160 for notifying another device of the update
There is provided another device information acquisition unit 170 which acquires shared information for managing updates by another device via the communication processing unit 120 and stores it as other device shared information 1700. Device list acquisition unit 130,
The update state information acquisition unit 140, the connection notification unit 150, the own device information management unit 160, and the other device information acquisition unit 170 are elements that perform a process for synchronizing shared information. In the following, 2
In order to distinguish one information device 100, one is 100a,
Let the other be 100b. When the elements in each device are distinguished from each other, a or b is added to each element and they are described as, for example, 130a and 140b. Is unnecessary, it is described without distinguishing devices, such as 100 and 110. To further add, the information device 100a and the information device 1
00b has the same configuration.

Hereinafter, the operation of the first embodiment will be described in detail. First, when a certain information device 100 is connected to a network, the network interface 110
Detecting the connection to the network, and transmitting a signal indicating the connection to the connection notification unit 150 via the communication processing unit 120. The connection notification unit 150 receives the signal indicating that the own device has been connected to the network, and
To the device list acquisition instruction. The device list obtaining unit 130 that has received the device list obtaining instruction obtains a list of devices participating in the network, and obtains device list information 1300.
Save as For example, if a personal computer has a Microsoft Windows operating system (hereinafter referred to as Windows),
A list of devices can be obtained by sequentially acquiring the names of devices in the network using an application interface (hereinafter, referred to as an API) of Windows.

The device list information 1300 includes, for example,
{("Device 1", 1), ("Device 2", 1), ("Device 3", 0),. . . }, It is described as a list in which a character string of a device name and a connection state (1 indicates connection, 0 indicates disconnection) are paired. When the already connected information device 100 is disconnected from the network, if the network interface 110 has a disconnection detection function, the disconnected devices other than the own device described in the device list information 1300 The connection state of the device is changed from 1 to 0. For devices other than the disconnected device, that is, devices that are continuously participating in the network, the device list obtaining unit 130 has a function of periodically obtaining a device list, so that a list of devices that are participating in the network can be obtained. To obtain the device list information 13
Update 00.

Next, in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the information device 100b has updated its own device shared information 1600 managed by itself. This updating means, for example, the information device 10
If the information 0b is a personal computer and the information to be shared is a file under a specific folder, the file creation, deletion, update and the like are performed. Alternatively, when the information to be shared is a database file, addition, deletion, modification, and the like of a record correspond. When an update occurs in the information device 100b, the own device information management unit 160b detects the update in the information device 100b, and notifies the other device in the network that the update has occurred via the communication processing unit 120b and the network interface 110b. Notify. In this operation, for example, if the information device 100a is a personal computer on which the Microsoft Windows operating system operates and the information device 100a and the information device 100b are connected via an IP network, the change of the file system is detected. The information device 100b can detect the update using the Windows API, and the information device 100b can notify the information device 100a of the update by broadcasting to the network using the communication processing API such as Winsock. . When notifying the update, the information device 100b transmits, for example, an update file name, an update date and time, an update version, and the like as the update notification. When the information device 100b transmits the update notification to the network, the information device 100b
a receives the update notification issued by the information device 100b by the network interface 110a and the communication processing unit 120a. The communication processing unit 120a sends the update notification from 100b to the update state information acquisition unit 140a. The update state information acquisition unit 140a acquires the update state in the information device 100b from the update notification from the information device 100b, and saves it as update state information 1400a.

The update status information 1400a is a table indicating the update status of the shared information held by each information device connected to the network, and is, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the update status information 1400a inside the information device 100a holds the latest status and the latest copy status for each piece of shared information in each information device that has been connected to the network. Here, the latest state is the last update date and time or the latest version of the own device shared information 1600 held by each information device, and the latest copy state is the last updated date and time of the other device shared information 1700a held by the information device 100a. Or version. The names of the devices that have been connected to the network can be obtained from the device list information 1300a. Information device 100a
8 updates the update status information 1400a in the information device 100a from FIG. 8 to FIG.
Change as follows. The difference between the update state information 1400a in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 is that, if the latest state of the information device 100b is a date and time expression, the version expression is changed from “2000.09.25 18:00” to “2000.10.01 09:30”. Then, "00
An example is shown in which “00000004” changes to “00000005”.

The update status acquisition unit 140a changes and stores the update status information 1400a, and then updates the update status information 1401a.
0a is compared with the latest copy status, and if the latest status indicates newer, the communication processing unit 1
An acquisition instruction is transmitted to the other device information acquisition unit 170a via the device 20a so as to acquire the shared information held by the information device 100b, that is, the own device shared information 1600b of the information device 100b. Upon receiving the acquisition instruction, the other device information acquisition unit 170a sends the shared information 160 to the information device 100b via the communication processing unit 120a and the network interface 110a.
0b is requested to be transmitted.

[0020] Shared information 1600b to the information device 100b
Is transmitted via the network interface 110b and the communication processing unit 120b.
Is transmitted to the own device information management unit 160b.
00b to the information device 100a via the communication processing unit 120b and the network interface 110b.
The other device information acquisition unit 170a of the information device 100a includes a network interface 110a and a communication processing unit 120a.
The shared information of the information device 100b is received via the PC and stored as part of the shared information 1700a of the other device. Here, when the information device 101 in FIG. 1 corresponds to the information device 100a and the information device 102 corresponds to the information device 100b, the copy of the shared information in the information device 100b is D2 ′. This is because the other device shared information 1700a held by the information device 100a can also include D3 ', D4', and D5 '. By the above operation, the information device 1
00a creates and updates therein a copy of the shared information 1600b held by the information device 100b.

In the above description, the device list information 130
0 and the update state information 1400 are separately stored, but of course, as an actual storage form, they may be stored as one file. In this case, the contents of the update status information 1400 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are stored as one file, and the device name portion is also used as the device list information 1300. According to the first embodiment, in an environment where an information device dynamically participates in a network, even if any device is disconnected from the network, the shared information managed by the device can be completely used by another device. The problem of disappearing can be avoided. Also,
Even if the shared information in the device may be updated while the device is disconnected, when the device is connected to the network again, the update status of the shared information is transmitted to another device, Since it is possible to determine whether or not to update the copy of the shared information in another device, it is possible to prevent a load for performing communication processing and a waste of network load.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the first
Instead of the own device information management unit 160 in the embodiment, the own device shared information 1600 that is updated and managed by the own device and the own device difference information 1601 that is an update difference thereof is also held and managed by the own device information difference management. Having the unit 161 and, instead of the shared information acquiring unit 170, having the acquiring unit 171 with other device information difference that also acquires the difference information 1701 of the shared information and updates the other device shared information 1700, This is different from the first embodiment. So, below,
The operation of the own device information difference-added management unit 161 and the other device information difference-added acquisition unit 171 will be mainly described.

In FIG. 3, when an update to the own device shared information 1600 occurs in the information device 100b, the management unit 161b with own device information difference updates the difference to the own device shared information 1600b when updating the own device shared information 1600b. It is separately stored as difference information 1601b. For example, in a case where the own device shared information 1600b is a database file, the database file itself is updated, and information of a record that is newly added, deleted, or corrected is recorded as an update difference. As the record information that is the update difference, at least the device name, the information indicating the latest state and the record number are stored, and when the correction is made, the information specifying the field and the contents of the correction are also stored. Furthermore, own device difference information 1
601b stores the update difference as a list, and each element of the list is, for example, {“100b”, latest state, record number, correction content, (device 1, 0), (device 2, 0)
0),. . . As shown in｝, information indicating which device in the network has completed the update transmission is also held. Here, the device name and the latest state in each element of the list are the first
This is the same as the update state information in the embodiment.

After the update and storage of the own device shared information 1600b and the own device difference information 1601b are completed, the own information difference management unit 161b sends an update notification to the network via the communication processing portion 120b and the network interface 110b. To the other device, here 100a. The update notification includes the device name, the latest state, the record number, the correction content, and the like among the list elements of the above-described own device difference information 1601b. In the information device 100a, the acquisition unit 171a with the other device information difference is connected to the information device 1 via the network interface 110a and the communication processing part 120a.
The notification of the update of the shared information within 00b is received. Then
The acquiring unit 171a with the other device information difference stores the other device shared information 17
It is checked whether or not a copy of the shared information of the information device 100b exists in the information device 100a. If the copy does not exist, a request is made to the information device 100b for the shared information 1600b of the information device 100b via the network interface 110a and the communication processing portion 120a. Is transmitted.

The device 100 is stored in the other device shared information 1700a.
If a copy of the shared information of the information device 100b exists, the acquiring unit 171a with the other device information difference sets the latest copy status of the difference information of the information device 100b existing in the other device difference information 1701a and the update received from the information device 100b. The device 10 compares the latest state included in the notification and transmits difference information newer than the difference information included in the other device difference information 1701a.
0b. Here, the content of the other device difference information 1701a is the own device difference information 1601 in the above-described 100b.
The format is the same as b. When requesting the difference information, the device 100a includes information indicating that the difference information is requested and the device 100a included in the other device difference information 1701a.
The value of the latest copy status of the difference information of b is sent to the device 100b.

When the other device information difference acquisition unit 171a requests the information device 100b to transmit shared information or difference information, the information device 100b causes the own device shared information difference management unit 161b to send the information to the network interface 110b. And a request from the information device 100a is detected via the communication processing portion 120b and the own device shared information 16b.
00b or own device difference information 1601b
Send to The request from the device 100a is the own device shared information 1
When indicating transmission of 600b, in the device 100b,
The management unit with own information difference 161b is connected via the network interface 110b and the communication processing unit 120b.
The own device shared information 1600b is sent to the device 100a. Since this is a process of copying the shared information as it is, the process is the same as that of the first embodiment.

When the request from the information device 100a indicates the transmission of the own device difference information 1601b, the own device information difference-added management unit 161b transmits the own device difference information indicating that the value is newer than the latest copy status value received from the device 100a. Information 1601
The element in b is transmitted to the information device 100a. In the information device 100a, the management unit 171a with the other device information difference
Receives the transmission content from the information device 100b and adds it to the other device difference information 1701a. Further, the management unit with other information difference 171a sequentially applies updates included in the difference information obtained from the information device 100b to the other equipment shared information 1700a, and updates the other equipment shared information 1700a. Through the above operation, the information device 100a can reflect the update of the shared information generated in the information device 100b on the copy of the shared information in the information device 100a.

According to the second embodiment, an update of another device can be transmitted only by a difference. Accordingly, when the size of the shared information is very large, the load of the communication processing can be reduced as compared with the first embodiment in which the entire shared information is copied. However, instead of reducing the amount of communication, processing inside the information device, such as saving of a difference and updating of a shared information copy based on the difference, is increased compared to the first embodiment. That is, the second embodiment is suitable when the processing capacity of the device is high, when there is a restriction on the bandwidth of the network, and the like, and the environment suitable for the first embodiment is different. is there.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a network system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the point that the other device information acquisition control unit 180 that controls the operation of the shared information acquisition unit 170 for acquiring the shared information is added to the first embodiment. This is different from the operation of the embodiment. Therefore, the operation of the other device information acquisition control unit 180 will be mainly described below. The third embodiment operates in the same manner as the first embodiment, but after the information device 100a receives the update notification from the information device 100b, the other device information acquisition control unit 180a sets the information device It controls the timing for acquiring the latest shared information 1600b from 100b. That is, the other device information acquisition control unit 1
80a first receives the update notification from the information device 100b, determines the start of acquisition of shared information in the other device information acquisition control unit 180a, and instructs the other device information acquisition unit 170a to start acquisition.

The other device information acquisition control section 180a determines the start of acquisition of shared information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. As the predetermined condition, for example, a regular acquisition start timing is provided by a timer.
The processing load of a is monitored, and it is determined that the acquisition can be started when the processing load becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value. The communication load of the network is monitored and the acquisition is started when the communication load becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value. The acquisition start is determined by the determination or the acquisition start operation by the user. The operation after the other device information acquisition control unit 180a instructs the acquisition start is the first operation.
The operation is the same as that of the embodiment. According to the third embodiment, the copy of the shared information is not started immediately after the update occurs in the device in the network, but is performed at the timing determined by the other device information acquisition control unit 180.
As a result, when the update occurs frequently, the communication process for acquiring the shared information and the update process in the device become a very heavy load, and hinder the operation of the application software in each device. Such a problem can be avoided.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the second
In the embodiment, the acquisition unit 171 with other device information difference
Is added with the other device difference information acquisition control unit 190 that controls the operation of acquiring the shared information and the difference information of the other device, and the operation due to the addition of the other device difference information acquisition control unit 190 is the above-described operation. This is different from the operation of the second embodiment. Therefore, in the following, the other device difference information acquisition control unit 1
The operation of 90 will be described.

The fourth embodiment operates in the same manner as the second embodiment, except that the information device 100a receives an update notification from the information device 100b, and then receives the other device difference information acquisition control section 190a. Controls the timing of acquiring the latest difference information from the information device 100b. That is, the other device difference information acquisition control unit 190a first receives the update notification from the device 100b, and receives the other device difference information acquisition control unit 190a.
The acquisition start of the difference information is determined in a, and the acquisition start is instructed to the management unit 171a with the other device information difference. The other device difference information acquisition control unit 190a determines to start acquiring difference information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The predetermined condition is the same as the method in which the other device information acquisition control unit 180 determines to start acquisition of shared information in the third embodiment. The operation after the other device difference information acquisition control unit 190a determines the start of difference acquisition is the same as that of the second embodiment. According to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the effect of the second embodiment, that is, the communication load and the processing load in the device are concentrated, in addition to the reduction of the communication load by transmitting the update contents by the difference. Or it is possible to avoid persistence.

Next, the fifth embodiment and the sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
An embodiment will be described. FIGS. 6 and 7 are block diagrams of network systems according to the fifth and sixth embodiments of the present invention, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the fifth embodiment and the sixth embodiment, the other device information difference in the second embodiment and the fourth embodiment are respectively described. Acquisition unit 1
In place of the other device information difference acquisition unit 1, the other device information management unit 172 controls the timing of updating the other device shared information 1700 based on the acquired difference information.
The operation of having the other device information management unit 172 instead of the operation unit 71 is different from the operations of the second and fourth embodiments. Therefore, the operation of the other device information management unit 172 will be mainly described below.

In the fifth and sixth embodiments, the operations from the occurrence of the update in the information device 100b to the acquisition of the difference information are performed in the second and fourth embodiments, respectively. This is the same as the operation of the embodiment. However, even if the difference information is obtained, the other device shared information 1700a is not immediately updated based on the difference information, and the other device information management unit 172a controls the update timing of the other device shared information 1700a. In other words, after acquiring the difference information from the information device 100b, the other device information management unit 172a uses the same method as the other device information acquisition control unit 180 in the third embodiment to execute when the predetermined condition is satisfied. Then, the timing for reflecting the difference information in the other device shared information 1700a is determined.
The operation of the other device information management unit 172a after the update start of the other device shared information 1700a is determined is the same as the operation of the other device information difference management unit 171a in the second embodiment and the fourth embodiment, respectively. The same is true. According to the fifth embodiment and the sixth embodiment, in addition to the effects of the second embodiment and the fourth embodiment, respectively, the processing load in the device can be more accurately adjusted. It becomes possible to control.

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a network system according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, in the seventh embodiment of the present invention, the first
In the sixth to sixth embodiments, the update state information acquisition unit 14
The difference from the first to sixth embodiments is that a second update state information acquisition unit 141 is provided instead of 0.
Therefore, the following mainly describes the second update state information acquisition unit 14
1 will be described.

The second update state information acquisition section 141 has the function of the update state information
400 is compared between information devices, and which information device holds the newest copy of the shared information managed by the information device disconnected from the network is determined. As described in the first embodiment, when the device list obtaining unit 130 updates the device list information 1300, the second update state information obtaining unit 141 obtains the information disconnected from the network from the update state information 1400. The shared information managed by the device is searched to determine which information device other than the disconnected information device holds the latest copy of the shared information. After the determination, the second update status information acquisition unit 141 notifies the network of the name of the disconnected information device, the latest copy status, and the name of the own device as a determination result.

The second update state information acquisition section 141 receives the judgment result transmitted by the other apparatus via the network interface 110 and the communication processing section 120, and holds the latest copy state included in the judgment result. If it indicates that the status is newer than the latest copy status, the other device shared information 1700 held by the device that is the transmission source of the received determination result
To obtain a copy of the shared information of the corresponding device. According to the seventh embodiment, even if one of the information devices is suddenly disconnected from the network, it is possible to make the latest copy of the shared data copy held by the remaining information devices available. Become. Thus, in an environment where connection and disconnection of information devices to the network can occur frequently and at an arbitrary timing, when the latest state of the shared information copy held by each device is different, It is possible to match the shared information copy in the latest shared information or shared information copy as long as it can be obtained by the devices participating in the network. still,
In the above embodiments, various information devices connectable to a network, such as a computer and a portable information terminal device, can be used as the information devices.

As described above, according to each of the above-described embodiments, a device that always performs a service such as a server is not indispensable, and even in a situation where the device configuration of a network dynamically changes like a home network. The shared information can be updated as much as possible and can be used from each device. Also, in the case of an ad hoc system such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), the shared information can be effectively used.
In addition, by having the device list acquisition unit and the connection notification unit, it is possible to automatically acquire the device configuration in the network, and further, the own device information management unit, the other device information management unit,
The shared information of the own device, shared information of the other device, etc. and the function of the update status information acquisition unit allow the shared information in the own device and the shared information in the other device to be managed separately, so that connection to and disconnection from the network is performed dynamically. Even in such an application form, there is an effect that the update management of the shared information is facilitated. Also, since it is possible to manage up to which version of the shared information in another device holds the copy of the shared information in another device, even if the device holding the original shared information is disconnected from the network, Of the devices, the latest copy can be used.

[0039]

According to the present invention, for example, in an environment where information devices connected to the network are not fixed, such as in a home network, or when a plurality of personal computers are connected via a low-speed line such as a wireless network. Also in the environment, each information device connected to the network can use the latest shared information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a network system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a network system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a network system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a network system according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a table showing an update state of shared information in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a table showing an update state of shared information in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100a, 100b, 101 to 105: Information device 110: Network interface 120: Communication processing unit 130: Device list acquisition unit 140: Update status information acquisition unit 141: Second update State information acquisition unit 150: connection notification unit 160: own device information management unit 161: management unit with own device information difference 170: other device information acquisition unit 171: management with other device information difference Unit 172: Other device information management unit 1300: Device list information 1400: Update status information 1600: Own device shared information 1601: Own device difference information 1700: Other device shared information 1701 ..Other device difference information 180 ・ ・ ・ Other device information acquisition control unit 190 ・ ・ ・ Other device difference information acquisition control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) // H04L 12/24 H04L 13/00 307A 5K034 F term (reference) 5B082 HA03 5B085 BE01 BE03 5B089 JA35 JB15 KA12 KA13 KB04 KC15 KC60 5K030 GA17 KA07 LB02 5K033 AA09 CB01 DA01 DB11 DB12 5K034 AA19 AA20 DD01 DD02 FF01 GG02 GG06 HH17 HH26 MM39 NN12

Claims (12)

[Claims] In a network system to which a plurality of information devices are connected, a network interface for controlling a communication process between the information devices is provided in each of the information devices;
A communication processing unit that controls information exchange between the network interface and an element that performs processing for shared information synchronization, a device list obtaining unit that obtains information device names connected to a network and saves the device list information, An update status information acquisition unit that acquires an update status of shared information stored by another device via the communication processing unit and saves the update status information as update status information, and that the own device is connected to a network via the communication processing unit. A connection notification unit for notifying information devices in the network, and a self-device for notifying another device via the communication processing unit of the update when the self-device shared information, which is shared information for managing updates on the self-device, is updated A network comprising: an information management unit; and an other device information obtaining unit that obtains shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit and stores the information as shared information of the other device. Click system. 2. A self-equipment information difference management section, which holds and manages shared information held by the self-equipment and self-equipment difference information that is an update difference thereof, instead of the self-equipment information management section, The network system according to claim 1, further comprising: an acquisition unit with other device information difference that acquires difference information of the shared information and updates the other device shared information, instead of the shared information acquisition unit. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an other-device information acquisition control unit that controls the shared information acquisition unit to acquire the shared information when a predetermined condition is satisfied.
The described network system. 4. An other device difference information acquisition control unit that controls the acquisition unit with other device information difference to acquire the shared information of the other device and the difference information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. 3. The network system according to claim 2, wherein: 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: an other device information management unit that controls a timing of updating the other device shared information based on the obtained difference information, in place of the other device information difference-added acquisition unit. Or the network system according to 4. 6. In place of the update status information acquisition unit, an update status of shared information held by another device is acquired and stored as update status information via the communication processing unit. Receiving the result of the determination as to whether a copy of the information is held, and indicating that the state of the latest copy included in the result of the determination is newer than the state of the latest copy held by the own device, the source of the received result of the determination; The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a second update state information acquisition unit configured to acquire a copy of the shared information of the corresponding device from other device shared information held by the device. Network system. 7. A network interface for controlling communication processing between information devices, a communication processing unit for controlling information exchange between the network interface and an element for performing processing for synchronizing shared information, and a network. A device list acquisition unit that acquires an information device name and saves it as device list information, and an update status information acquisition unit that acquires an update status of shared information stored by another device via the communication processing unit and saves the update status information. The connection notification unit that notifies the information device in the network that the own device has been connected to the network via the communication processing unit, and the own device shared information that is shared information for managing updates in the own device has been updated. Sometimes, the own device information management unit that notifies the other device of the update via the communication processing unit, and the shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit is acquired and shared with the other device. An information device, comprising: another device information acquisition unit that stores the information as information. 8. An own device information difference management unit for holding and managing shared information held by the own device and own device difference information that is an update difference thereof, instead of the own device information management unit, The information device according to claim 7, further comprising an acquisition unit with other device information difference that acquires difference information of the shared information and updates the other device shared information, instead of the shared information acquisition unit. 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: an other-device information acquisition control unit that controls the shared information acquisition unit to acquire the shared information when a predetermined condition is satisfied.
Information equipment described. 10. A different-device difference information acquisition control unit that controls the acquisition unit with other-device information difference to acquire shared information of the other device and the difference information when a predetermined condition is satisfied. 9. The information device according to claim 8, wherein: 11. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: an other device information management unit that controls a timing at which the other device shared information is updated based on the obtained difference information, instead of the other device information difference acquisition unit. Or the information device of 10. 12. In place of the update status information acquisition unit,
Acquiring the update status of the shared information held by the other device via the communication processing unit and storing it as update status information, receiving a determination result as to which information device holds the latest copy of the shared information, If the status of the latest copy included in the determination result indicates that it is newer than the status of the latest copy held by the own device, the corresponding device is obtained from the other device shared information held by the device that is the transmission source of the received determination result. The information device according to any one of claims 7 to 11, further comprising a second update state information acquisition unit that acquires a copy of the shared information.