JP2013037545A - Communication device, communication system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate management of management information on a managed device set as a management target in a communication network by a communication device that does not manage the management information.SOLUTION: An equipment information acquisition unit 16 serves as a functional unit realized in a control device 10 of an equipment management device 1 and acquires the ID of an intermediate device from the intermediate device in a LAN and the ID of an image formation device 2 and the ID of an intermediate device managing the image formation device from the image formation device. A list information generation unit 17 assigns the intermediate device to the image formation device on the basis of the respective IDs and generates list information indicating whether or not each image formation device is registered as a management target of the assigned intermediate device. Then, an equipment information selection/registration unit 18 selects an unregistered image formation device to be registered as a management target and registers the selected image formation device as a management target of the assigned intermediate device.

Description

  The present invention is a communication device connected to a communication network and acquiring and managing status information of a managed device set as a management target on the communication network, a communication system including the managed device and the communication device, The present invention relates to a program that is executed by a computer that controls a communication apparatus.

  When managing a plurality of managed devices existing in a local area network (LAN) or a network including the Internet (also referred to as “communication network”), for example, as a managed device, a facsimile machine, a printer, a copying machine, When managing image forming devices including multifunction peripherals that have both device functions, create a group of image forming devices for each department, determine the administrator for each group, and each administrator in the group in charge There is an operation method for managing an image forming apparatus on site. With regard to the above-described operation method, when a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a LAN are grouped, there is a device management system (for example, see Patent Document 1) that can display and list each group in a tree hierarchical structure. there were.

In addition, a technique is used in which an image forming apparatus on a network in a customer environment is accessed via the Internet and the state of the image forming apparatus is managed remotely.
Conventionally, in a LAN to which an image forming apparatus is connected, a remote management apparatus that remotely manages the image forming apparatus in the LAN is connected via the Internet, and management is performed from the remote management apparatus via a firewall provided in the LAN. When a command is received, there is a device that collects status information from the image forming apparatus and transmits it to the remote management device (for example, see Patent Document 2).

However, in the conventional technology, information that is set by the customer managed by the device management apparatus, for example, information such as the detailed log of the image forming apparatus and the installation location is to be managed by the remote management apparatus via the mediation apparatus. There was a problem that the work could not be performed easily.
The intermediary device is not handled by an administrator on the customer side, but is operated by a customer engineer (CE) on the service providing side.
Therefore, only the information necessary to provide services to the customer side is retained and managed, and detailed information on the customer side (personal information, information set and managed by the customer side) is collected and retained. I try not to.

Accordingly, the management information items of the image forming apparatus held by the mediating apparatus are often smaller than those held by the device management apparatus.
However, if detailed information set on the customer side is to be managed by the remote management device at the customer's request, it can be set as a management target on the customer side without going through the CE. Can greatly improve the performance.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and allows management information of a managed device set as a management target in a communication network to be easily managed by another communication device that does not manage the management information. The purpose is to be able to.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a communication device that is connected to a communication network and acquires and manages status information of a managed device set as a management target in the communication network. Specific information in the communication network of the communication device from the communication device of the communication device, specific information in the communication network of the managed device from the managed device in the communication network, and the communication network of the communication device whose management target is the managed device Acquisition means for acquiring the specific information at each of the devices, and whether or not another communication device is assigned to the managed device based on the specific information acquired by the acquisition means, and is registered as a management target in the assigned communication device. A creation unit that creates a list information indicating whether or not a managed device that is not registered as a management target in the assigned communication device based on the list information created by the creation unit Providing selection means for the selection to be recorded, a communication apparatus provided with a registration means for registering the managed device selected by the selection means as a managed to a communication device assigned above.

  In addition, a communication system in which a managed device and a communication device that acquires and manages the status information of the managed device set as a management target in the communication network are connected to the communication network. Specific information in the communication network of the communication device from other communication devices in the network, specific information in the communication network of the managed device from the managed device in the communication network, and the communication device whose management target is the managed device An acquisition unit that acquires specific information in the communication network, and another communication device is allocated to the managed device based on the specific information acquired by the acquisition unit, and is registered as a management target in the allocated communication device. A creation unit that creates list information indicating whether or not the managed device is managed, and a managed device that is not registered as a management target in the assigned communication device is managed based on the list information created by the creation unit. Providing selection means for the selection of registering, the communication system comprising a registration means for registering the managed device selected by the selection means as a managed to a communication device assigned above as.

  Further, the communication device connected to the communication network is acquired from another communication device in the communication network to the computer that controls the communication device that acquires and manages the status information of the managed device set as the management target in the communication network. Specific information in the communication network, and specific information in the communication network of the managed device and specific information in the communication network of the communication device whose management target is the managed device are respectively acquired from the managed device in the communication network Based on the acquisition function and each piece of specific information acquired by the acquisition function, another communication device is assigned to the managed device, and list information indicating whether the assigned communication device is registered as a management target is created. Based on the creation function and the list information created by the creation function, a selection is made to register a managed device that is not registered as a management target in the assigned communication device as a management target. A selection function that provides a program for implementing a registration function for registering the managed device that has been selected as the managed in the communication device assigned the by the selection function.

The communication device and the communication system according to the present invention can easily manage the management information of the managed device set as the management target in the communication network even by other communication devices that are not managing the management information.
In addition, the program according to the present invention can easily manage management information of a managed device set as a management target in a communication network in a computer that controls the communication device, even in other communication devices that do not manage the management information. It is possible to realize a function for

It is a block diagram which shows main function structures with the structure of the apparatus management apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management system which is one Embodiment of invention. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a block diagram which shows the main structures of the mediation apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data content of the management object apparatus information shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data content of the list information shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of data contents of management target device information stored in the mediation device illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of processing for registering an image forming apparatus as a management target from the device management apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2 to a remote management apparatus via an intermediary apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of changes in list information and map information when an image forming apparatus is registered as a management target in the remote management apparatus via the mediation apparatus from the device management apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of another processing example in which an image forming apparatus is registered as a management target in the remote management apparatus via the mediation apparatus from the device management apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the management system of the embodiment, a device management apparatus 1, an image forming apparatus 2, an information processing apparatus 3, and a mediation apparatus 4 are connected to each other in a local area network (LAN) 5 so as to communicate with each other. Each intermediary device 4 is communicably connected to a remote management device 7 via the Internet 6.

In this management system, each of the devices 1 to 3 in the LAN 5 is a network environment on the customer side, the information processing device 3 uses the image forming device 2, and the device management device 1 provides information such as the status of the image forming device 2. Get and manage.
The mediating device 4 acquires and manages information such as the state of the image forming device 2 and notifies the remote management device 7 via the Internet 6.
The remote management device 7 is a service providing side, acquires and manages information such as the state of the image forming device 2 on the customer side via the mediation device 4, and performs maintenance services and the like when a failure occurs in the image forming device 2. Provide service.

A plurality of device management apparatuses 1 are installed as in this embodiment, for example, for managing the image forming apparatus 2 in each department for each department on the customer side, and for all image forming apparatuses by the IT management department This is to divide the one for managing 2 collectively.
Each department has an administrator, and each administrator can manage the image forming apparatus 2 in the department by referring to information managed by the respective device management apparatus 1. The information managed by the device management apparatus 1 includes unique information used only by the customer, for example, information on the installation location of the image forming apparatus 2.

On the other hand, a plurality of mediation devices 4 are installed because of the number of image forming apparatuses 2 that can be managed by one mediation device 4 due to the limitation on the storage capacity of the storage device installed in one mediation device 4. There are cases where the number of image forming apparatuses 2 that manage a data amount equal to or larger than the storage capacity of the storage device of one intermediary device 4 is managed in the user environment.
The LAN 5 is a communication network in which the devices 1 to 4 communicate with each other by wired or wireless communication.
Also, wired or wireless communication is possible in the communication on the Internet 6.

In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 2 corresponds to a managed apparatus in the LAN 5.
The LAN 5 is a customer-side network environment and is also called an intranet.
The device management apparatus 1 and the mediation apparatus 4 correspond to a communication apparatus that acquires and manages status information of the image forming apparatus 2 (managed apparatus) set as a management target in the LAN 5.
The management system corresponds to a communication system in which the image forming apparatus 2 that is a managed apparatus is connected to the device management apparatus 1 and the mediating apparatus 4 that are communication apparatuses to be managed.
In this embodiment, the case where the LAN 5 and the Internet 6 are used will be described. However, the present invention can be similarly implemented using other communication networks.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main functional configuration along with the configuration of the device management apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
The device management apparatus 1 is a communication device having a server function, and includes a control device 10, a storage device 11, an input device 12, a display device 13, and a communication device 14, and each device 10 to 14 has a bus 15. And are connected so as to be able to exchange data with each other.
The control device 10 is realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls the entire device management device 1, and includes functional units of a device information acquisition unit 16, a list information creation unit 17, and a device information selection / registration unit 18. It has. Although not shown, a timer for measuring the date and time is also provided.

Each of the units 16 to 18 is a functional unit realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the storage device 11 using the RAM as a work area.
The device information acquisition unit 16 functions to connect to the LAN 5 using the communication device 14 and acquire and manage the status information of the image forming apparatus 2 that is a management target set as a management target in the LAN 5.
Also, specific information on the LAN 5 of the mediating device 4 from the mediating device 4 in the LAN 5 is managed, and specific information on the LAN 5 of the image forming device 2 from the image forming device 2 in the LAN 5 and the image forming device 2 are managed. The function of the acquisition means which acquires the specific information in LAN5 of the intermediary apparatus 4 which is located respectively is fulfilled.

The specific information is unique information for identifying each image forming apparatus 2 and each intermediary apparatus 4 in the LAN 5 (or also on the Internet 6), and includes an identification number (ID), a MAC address, and an IP address. Identification information.
In addition, if it is within the LAN 5, a name uniquely assigned to the image forming apparatus 2 or the mediating apparatus 4 by the customer side may be used.

  The list information creation unit 17 assigns the mediation device 4 to the image forming device 2 based on the specific information of the mediation device 4 and the image forming device 2 acquired by the device information acquisition unit 16 and manages the mediation device 4 by the assigned mediation device 4. It fulfills the function of creating means for creating list information indicating whether or not it is registered as a target.

The device information selection / registration unit 18 selects, based on the list information created by the list information creation unit 17, a selection to register the image forming apparatus 2 that is not registered as a management target in the assigned mediating apparatus 4 as a management target. And the function of a registration unit for registering the image forming apparatus 2 selected by the selection unit using the communication device 14 as a management target in the assigned mediating device 4.
Furthermore, the control device 10 manages based on the association information stored in the storage device 11 and includes the status information of the image forming device 2 from the other device management device 1 or the mediation device 4 associated with the own device. It also functions as means for acquiring information and updating the contents of the management information managed by the own device based on the acquired management information.

Further, the control device 10 functions as means for starting the acquisition operation when a preset condition is satisfied.
The storage device 11 is a storage device including a hard disk device (HDD), and stores a program (not shown) executed by the CPU of the control device 10, managed device information 20, and list information 21.
That is, the storage device 11 corresponds to a storage unit that stores the list information created by the list information creation unit 17 in the storage device 11.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of data contents of the management target device information 20 of FIG.
The management target device information 20 is a device information map including various types of information of each image forming apparatus 2 searched from within the LAN 5.
In this embodiment, the case where the items included in the management target device information 20 are common to other device management apparatuses 1 will be described, but some items may be different from each other. That is, the managed device information 20 corresponds to management information.

As shown in FIG. 5, the management target device information 20 includes various information related to the image forming apparatus 2 such as an image forming apparatus ID, a model name, a MAC address, an IP address, a system state, an update date, and an installation location. Contains information.
The image forming apparatus ID is unique identification information assigned to identify the image forming apparatus 2 and is, for example, GA00-150001.

The model name is a product name of the image forming apparatus 2, for example, the printer 11.
Further, the MAC address is a unique address on the network assigned to a device (for example, a network board) that performs communication control of the image forming apparatus 2, and is, for example, 11-11-11-11-XX-11. .
The IP address is a unique address on the network assigned to the image forming apparatus 2, for example, 192.168 .. X. 1.

Further, the system status is information on the operation status of the image forming apparatus 2 (including the fault status when a fault occurs). For example, when each part inside the image forming apparatus 2 is operating normally, the system status is normal. Is stored.
The update date and time of the system state is, for example, 20xx. xx. xx yy: yy. These x and y are variables and are integers of 1 or more.

The information on the system status and update date / time is collected when it is periodically collected from the image forming apparatus 2 by the operation from the device management apparatus 1 or when it is notified each time a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus 2. Is updated.
Further, the installation location is information indicating the location where the image forming apparatus 2 is installed, and is, for example, next to the entrance (next to the entrance / exit of the department).
Although illustration is omitted, in addition to the above information, the management target device information 20 includes device manager information, floor information, and office information as information specific to the customer environment.

Further, the usage status of the image forming apparatus 2 includes a job log, an access log, a client log, a key card log, and a user-specific counter log.
By referring to the management target device information 20, information regarding each image forming apparatus 2 of the LAN 5 can be specified, and the system state in the image forming apparatus 2 can be known. For example, if a failure has occurred, measures can be taken to eliminate the failure.
In the management target device information 20, although not shown, the specific information of the mediation device 4 in which each image forming apparatus 2 is registered as a management target is also stored correspondingly.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the data contents of the list information 21 of FIG.
The list information 21 is based on the specific information of the mediating device 4 collected from the LAN 5, the specific information of the image forming device 2, and the specific information of the mediating device 4 in which the image forming device 2 is registered as a management target. This is mapping information in which the mediating device 4 is assigned to the forming device 2 based on a predetermined condition, and information indicating whether or not the mediating device 4 is registered as a management target in the assigned mediating device 4 is stored in association therewith.

The list information 21 includes the image forming apparatus ID of the image forming apparatus 2 in the LAN 5, the assigned intermediate apparatus ID of the intermediate apparatus 4, and the image forming apparatus 2 as a management target of the remote management apparatus 7 by the intermediate apparatus 4. Each information of the remote management device registration state indicating whether or not it is registered is stored in association with each other.
In this case, identification information (ID) of each device is used as the specific information.

As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the mediation device 4 whose mediation device ID is CHU1234-1234501 is assigned to the image formation device 2 whose image formation device ID is GA00-150001, and remote management is performed via the mediation device 4. This indicates that the device 7 has already been registered as a management target.
Further, the mediating device 4 whose mediating device ID is CHU1234-1234501 is assigned to the image forming device 2 whose image forming device ID is GA00-150003, and the remote management device 7 via the mediating device 4 as a management target. Indicates that it is not registered.

Further, the request for registration indicates that the remote management apparatus 7 is requested to manage the image forming apparatus 2 through the designated mediating apparatus 4.
By referring to the list information 21, it is possible to know which image forming apparatus 2 is registered as a management target of the remote management apparatus 7 by the intermediary apparatus 4 assigned to each image forming apparatus 2. The user can select which image forming apparatus 2 is registered in the remote management apparatus 7 as a management target.

Returning to FIG. 1, the input device 12 is an input device including a keyboard and a pointing device, and is a device for a user to input various operation information.
The display device 13 is a display device including a CRT and an LCD, and is a device that displays various information and a work screen to the user.
The communication device 14 is a device that controls communication with the other device management device 1, the image forming device 2, the information processing device 3, and the mediation device 4 via the LAN 5.

Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 2 will be briefly described.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a main configuration of the image forming apparatus 2 shown in FIG.
The image forming apparatus 2 includes a control device 30, an operation display device 31, a storage device 32, a communication device 33, and an engine device 34, and each of the devices 30 to 34 is connected to be able to exchange data with each other via a bus 35. Has been.
The control device 30 is realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The control device 30 controls the entire image forming apparatus 2, and is based on image reading, image formation, conveyance, and sensor detection notifications from the engine device 34. Various states and failures are detected for each unit in the device itself, and processing for notifying the device management device 1 or the mediating device 4 of the state information and failure information is also performed.

Since the process of notifying the status information and the fault information is well known, detailed description is omitted.
The operation display device 31 is an operation panel including an input unit for a user to input various operation information and a display unit for displaying various information and a work screen to the user.
The storage device 32 is a storage device including a hard disk device (HDD), and includes various data including image data and various management information to be managed by the remote management device 7 via the device management device 1 or the mediation device 4. Is a storage device.

The communication device 33 is a device that controls communication with the device management device 1, another image forming device 2, the information processing device 3, and the mediation device 4 via the LAN 5.
The engine device 34 includes a scanner engine for image reading and a print engine for image printing, and performs operations including image reading, image formation during image printing, and paper conveyance.
Further, the engine device 34 includes sensors at various places, and detects various states including image reading, image formation, and conveyance by each sensor, and notifies the control device 30 of them.

Next, the configuration of the mediating device 4 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of the intermediary device 4 illustrated in FIG. 2.
The intermediary device 4 includes a control device 40, a storage device 41, an input device 42, a display device 43, and a communication device 44. The devices 40 to 44 are connected to each other via a bus 45 so as to exchange data with each other. Yes.
The control device 40 is realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The control device 40 controls the entire mediating device 4 and acquires management information including status information for managing the image forming device 2 to obtain a remote management device. 7 and a control process for exchanging various information including management information with the device management apparatus 1.

The control device 40 also functions as a means for returning specific information of the image forming apparatus 2 to be managed that is managed by the self apparatus based on a request from the device management apparatus 1 of the LAN 5.
The storage device 41 is a storage device including a hard disk device (HDD), and stores various types of data including management information for managing the image forming apparatus 2 and information about the own device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of data contents of the management target device information 46 stored in the mediation device 4 of FIG.
The management target device information 46 is managed by the mediating device 4, and includes various information regarding the plurality of image forming devices 2 registered as management targets in the remote management device 7 by the mediating device 4. It is the apparatus information map which memorize | stores each information of MAC connection, IP address, and the apparatus connection system which is a communication connection system correspondingly.

For example, the image forming apparatus ID GA00-150001 of the image forming apparatus 2 to be managed, the MAC address 11-11-11-11-XX-11 of the image forming apparatus 2, and the IP address 192.168.168. X. 2 and HTTP information that is a device connection method with the image forming apparatus 2 are stored in association with each other.
This managed device information 46 has a smaller number of items than the managed device information 20 held by the device management apparatus 1.

This is based on a policy that personal information on the customer side is not sent to the mediation device 4 because the mediation device 4 is not handled by a customer side administrator but is operated by a customer engineer (CE) on the service providing side. ing.
On the other hand, since the device management apparatus 1 is operated by a customer-side administrator, there is no problem even if customer-side information is input.
Returning to FIG. 4, the input device 42 is an input device including a keyboard and a pointing device, and is a device for the user to input various operation information.

The display device 43 is a display device including a CRT and an LCD, and is a device that displays various information and a work screen to the user.
The communication device 44 is a device that controls communication with the device management apparatus 1, the image forming apparatus 2, and the information processing apparatus 3 via the LAN 5 and communication with the remote management apparatus 7 via the Internet 6.
The control device 40 measures the connection start interval with a timer, and when the connection start time is reached, starts a connection to the remote management device 7 and receives a management command transmitted from the remote management device 7.

On the other hand, when the acquisition is started, the LAN 5 is searched, and management information of the image forming apparatus 2 to be managed or management information of all the image forming apparatuses 2 is acquired and managed.
Then, the management command from the remote management device 7 is analyzed, and management information corresponding to the analysis result is transmitted to the remote management device 7.
In this way, the management information for managing the image forming apparatus 2 is collected from the management target image forming apparatus 2 of the LAN 5 and notified to the remote management apparatus 7.

Next, processing for registering the image forming apparatus 2 as a management target from the device management apparatus 1 to the remote management apparatus 7 via the mediation apparatus 4 will be described.
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of processing for registering the image forming apparatus 2 as a management target in the remote management apparatus 7 from the device management apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
In the device management apparatus 1, the device information acquisition unit 16 in FIG. 1 searches the mediation device 4 from the LAN 5 using the communication device 14 by mediation device search (a in FIG. 8). 4 (b, c in FIG. 8), the intermediary device ID and IP address (or MAC address) specific information of the intermediary device 4 is obtained.

  Further, the device information acquisition unit 16 in FIG. 1 searches the image forming apparatus 2 from the LAN 5 using the communication device 14 by searching for the image forming apparatus (d in FIG. 8), and the searched image forming apparatus 2 (E in FIG. 8), the intermediary device registered as the management target of the remote management device 7 and the specific information of the image forming device ID and IP address (or MAC address) of the image forming device 2 The identification information of the intermediary device ID 4 and the IP address (or MAC address) is acquired.

When the acquisition is completed, the device information acquisition unit 16 in FIG. 1 creates and registers the management target device information 20 having the data contents shown in FIG. 5 (f in FIG. 8).
Next, the list information creation unit 17 in FIG. 1 creates the list information 21 shown in FIG. 6 based on each of the acquired specific information (g in FIG. 8) and stores it in the storage device 11.
In the creation of the list information 21, processing for assigning the mediation device 4 to the image forming apparatus 2 is performed. The conditions for the assignment processing include “IP address”, “host name”, “installation location (office information, floor information)”. "Image manager name" and "model name".

For example, there are the following two types of allocation processing: A process of assigning based on a selection input from the input device 12 of the device management apparatus 1.
In this process, an administrator who operates the device management apparatus 1 selects and inputs from the input device 12 while referring to the contents of the list information 21 displayed on the display device 13, and sets the mediation device 4 to each image forming apparatus 2. assign.
For example, when the allocation condition is an IP address, the same number of image forming apparatuses 2 are allocated to the plurality of mediation apparatuses 4 in the order of the IP address.

2. The process of assigning with a certain algorithm.
In this process, the list information creation unit 17 of the device management apparatus 1 assigns the image forming apparatuses 2 equally to the mediation apparatus 4.
As information used for allocation, any of IP address, host name, installation location, administrator name, and model name can be used as selection information.
In the assignment process in this case, the image forming apparatus 2 is assigned to the mediating apparatus 4 according to the following procedures (1) to (4).

(1) The number of image forming apparatuses 2 managed by the device management apparatus 1 is divided by the number of intermediary apparatuses 4, and the management number N (N is an integer value of 1 or more) per intermediary apparatus 4 is obtained. calculate.
(2) The arrangement of the image forming apparatuses 2 is sorted based on selection information of any of IP address, host name, installation location, administrator name, and model name.
(3) The first N mediating apparatuses 4 are assigned to the first N of the image forming apparatuses 2 rearranged by sorting.
(4) In the same manner as described above, N image forming apparatuses 2 are allocated by the number of intermediary apparatuses 4 recognized by the device management apparatus 1.

Next, when the list information 21 is created as described above, the user registers the management information from the input device 12 as the management target for the remote management device registration status information of the list information 21 that has not been registered. The intermediary device selection process to be changed during the registration request is executed (h in FIG. 8).
In this way, when the remote management device 7 wants to manage the management target device information 20 of the image forming device 2 in the list information 21 through the mediation device 4, the remote management device registration status information is in the registration request state. The intermediary device 4 can be recognized as a registration target.
Thereafter, the device information selection / registration unit 18 in FIG. 1 transmits a device registration request to the corresponding intermediary device 4 during the registration request of the list information 21 (i, m in FIG. 8).

On the other hand, when the mediation device 4 receives a device registration request from the device management device 1, image formation to be registered as a management target from the device management device 1 by acquiring management information with the device management device 1 (j, n in the figure). Map information that associates the specific information of the device 2 (here, the image forming device ID) with the request for registration is acquired, and the map information is transmitted by device registration communication with the remote management device 7 (k, o in the figure). The remote management device 7 registers the image forming device 2 as a management target based on the map information, and succeeds in the registration by communication of response to the device management device 1 via the mediating device 4 (l, p in the figure). The apparatus management apparatus 1 is notified of the image forming apparatus ID.
In the device management apparatus 1, the registration result is reflected in the list information 21 based on the notification.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of changes in the list information 21 and map information when the image forming apparatus 2 is registered as a management target in the remote management apparatus 7 from the device management apparatus 1 shown in FIG. is there.
For example, the list information of the data contents as shown in FIG. 9A is created, and the user has registered the image forming apparatus IDs not registered in the remote management apparatus 7 as “GAxxx-xxxx5”, “GAxxx-xxxx6”, “GAxxx”. A case will be described in which the image forming apparatuses 2 of “-xxxx7” and “GAxxx-xxxx8” are registered as management targets.

As shown in FIG. 9B, the user requests registration for each image forming apparatus 2 whose image forming apparatus IDs are “GAxxx-xxxx5”, “GAxxx-xxxx6”, “GAxxx-xxxx7”, and “GAxxx-xxxx8”. Change in.
Then, the mediation device 4 with the mediation device ID “CHUyyyy-yyyyyy2” has the image forming device IDs “GAxxx-xxxx5”, “GAxxx-xxxx6”, and “GAxxx-xxxx7” as shown in FIG. Map information for which registration is requested for each image forming apparatus 2 is created.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9D, the intermediary device 4 whose mediation device ID is “CHUyyyy-yyyyyy1” is a map for which registration is requested for the image formation device 2 whose image formation device ID is “GAxxx-xxxx8”, as shown in FIG. Information is created.
Then, when each is registered in the remote management device 7 by the procedure described in the above sequence, the contents of the list information 21 are as shown in (e) of FIG. 9 with the image forming device ID “GAxxx-xxxx5”. "GAxxx-xxxx6", "GAxxx-xxxx7", and "GAxxx-xxxx8" are rewritten to registered.

In this way, in the remote management device 7, the management target device information 20 including the detailed information of the image forming device 2 can also be set as a management target.
Accordingly, without the need for the operator on the service providing side, detailed management information of the image forming apparatus 2 in the LAN 5 can be easily managed by the intermediary apparatus 4 that does not manage the management information when necessary on the customer side. Can be managed.

Next, another process for registering the image forming apparatus 2 as a management target in the remote management apparatus 7 from the device management apparatus 1 via the mediation apparatus 4 will be described.
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of another process for registering the image forming apparatus 2 as a management target in the remote management apparatus 7 from the device management apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
In the device management apparatus 1, the device information acquisition unit 16 of FIG. 1 searches for the mediation device 4 from the LAN 5 using the communication device 14 by mediation device search (a in FIG. 10). 4 (b, c in FIG. 10), the intermediary device ID and IP address (or MAC address) specific information of the intermediary device 4 is obtained.

  Further, the device information acquisition unit 16 in FIG. 1 searches the image forming apparatus 2 from the LAN 5 using the communication apparatus 14 by searching for the image forming apparatus (d in FIG. 10), and the searched image forming apparatus 2 (E in FIG. 10), the intermediary device registered as the management target of the remote management device 7 and the specific information of the image forming device ID and IP address (or MAC address) of the image forming device 2 The identification information of the intermediary device ID 4 and the IP address (or MAC address) is acquired.

When the acquisition is completed, the device information acquisition unit 16 in FIG. 1 creates and registers the management target device information 20 having the data contents shown in FIG. 5 (f in FIG. 10).
Next, the list information creating unit 17 in FIG. 1 creates the list information 21 shown in FIG. 6 based on each of the acquired specific information (g in FIG. 10) and stores it in the storage device 11.
In creating the list information 21, processing for assigning the mediation device 4 to the image forming apparatus 2 is performed in the same manner as described above.

Next, when the list information 21 is created as described above, the user registers the management information from the input device 12 as the management target for the remote management device registration status information of the list information 21 that has not been registered. The intermediary device selection process to be changed during the registration request is executed (h in FIG. 10).
In this way, when the remote management device 7 wants to manage the management target device information 20 of the image forming device 2 in the list information 21 through the mediation device 4, the remote management device registration status information is in the registration request state. The intermediary device 4 can be recognized as a registration target.

  Thereafter, the device information selection / registration unit 18 in FIG. 1 specifies specific information (here, the image forming device ID) of the image forming device that is registered as a management target together with the device registration request by the corresponding mediation device 4 during the registration request of the list information 21. ) And map information corresponding to the request for registration are respectively transmitted (i, l in FIG. 10).

On the other hand, when the mediating device 4 receives the map information together with the device registration request from the device management device 1, the mediation device 4 transmits the map information by device registration communication with the remote management device 7 (j, m in FIG. 10), and remote management is performed. The apparatus 7 registers the image forming apparatus as a management target on the basis of the map information, and communicates a response to the device management apparatus 1 via the mediating apparatus 4 (k and n in FIG. 10), thereby successfully registering the image formation. The device ID is notified to the device management device 1.
The device management apparatus 1 reflects the registration result in the list information 21 based on each notification.

  In this embodiment, for the image forming apparatus 2 registered as a management target in the remote management apparatus 7 as described above, the same contents as the management target apparatus information managed by the apparatus management apparatus 1 are managed. Therefore, the management information of the device management apparatus set as the management target in the LAN can be easily managed even by the mediating apparatus and the remote management apparatus that are not managing the management information.

1: Device management device 2: Image forming device 3: Information processing device 4: Mediation device 5: LAN 6: Internet 7: Remote management device 10, 30, 40: Control device 11, 32, 41: Storage device 12, 42: Input device 13, 43: Display device 14, 33, 44: Communication device 15, 35, 45: Bus 16: Device information acquisition unit 17: List information creation unit 18: Device information selection registration unit 20, 46: Management target device information 21: List information 31: Operation display device 34: Engine device

JP 2006-11668 A JP 2009-32277 A

Claims (6)

A communication device that connects to a communication network and acquires and manages status information of a managed device set as a management target in the communication network,
Specific information in the communication network of the communication device from other communication devices in the communication network, and specific information in the communication network of the managed device from the managed device in the communication network and the managed device Acquisition means for respectively acquiring specific information in the communication network of the communication device to be managed;
Creation means for assigning the other communication device to the managed device and creating list information indicating whether the assigned communication device is registered as a management target based on each specific information obtained by the obtaining device When,
Selection means for selecting to register a managed device that is not registered as a management target in the assigned communication device based on the list information created by the creation unit;
A communication apparatus comprising: a registration unit configured to register the managed device selected by the selection unit as a management target in the allocated communication device.   The registration means includes means for sending a registration request to the assigned communication device and sending and registering specific information of a managed device to be registered as a management target based on a request from the assigned communication device. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the registration means includes means for transmitting and registering specific information of a managed apparatus to be registered as a management target together with a registration request to the assigned communication apparatus.   The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the creating unit includes a unit that allocates the other communication device to the managed device based on a preset condition. A communication system in which a managed device and a communication device that acquires and manages status information of a managed device set as a management target in the communication network are connected to a communication network,
The communication device
Specific information in the communication network of the communication device from other communication devices in the communication network, and specific information in the communication network of the managed device from the managed device in the communication network and the managed device Acquisition means for respectively acquiring specific information in the communication network of the communication device to be managed;
Creation means for assigning the other communication device to the managed device and creating list information indicating whether the assigned communication device is registered as a management target based on each specific information obtained by the obtaining device When,
Selection means for selecting to register a managed device that is not registered as a management target in the assigned communication device based on the list information created by the creation unit;
A communication system comprising: a registration unit that registers a managed device selected by the selection unit as a management target in the allocated communication device. A computer connected to a communication network and controlling a communication device that acquires and manages status information of a managed device set as a management target in the communication network,
Specific information in the communication network of the communication device from other communication devices in the communication network, and specific information in the communication network of the managed device from the managed device in the communication network and the managed device An acquisition function for acquiring specific information in the communication network of the communication device to be managed, and assigning the other communication device to the managed device based on the specific information acquired by the acquisition function, A creation function that creates list information indicating whether or not the communication device is registered as a management target, and a list that is not registered as a management target in the assigned communication device based on the list information created by the creation function. A selection function for selecting a management device to be registered as a management target, and a registration device for registering a managed device selected by the selection function as a management target in the assigned communication device Program for realizing the door.

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