JP2020024730A - Remote communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a remote communication system that can improve security when an image forming apparatus is controlled from an electronic apparatus present outside a network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.SOLUTION: When, in a remote communication system, connection established between a connection terminal 40 and a session relay system and connection established between an image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system are associated with a session ID, and thereby a remote session is relayed by the session relay system, the image forming apparatus 20 executes, with the connection terminal 40, a session communication state test for the communication state through the remote session, and the connection terminal 40 notifies a user of a result of execution of the session communication state test (S343).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 18

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote communication system that executes communication between an image forming apparatus and an electronic device existing outside a network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a system for executing communication between an image forming apparatus and an electronic device existing inside a LAN (Local Area Network) to which the image forming apparatus belongs (for example, see Patent Document 1). The system described in Patent Literature 1 displays a UI (User Interface) screen generated by an electronic device on an image forming apparatus, and causes the image forming apparatus to execute printing based on print data stored in the electronic apparatus. .

JP 2006-238199 A

  However, the system described in Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that the image forming apparatus is controlled from an electronic device existing inside the LAN to which the image forming apparatus belongs, and the network of the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs. There is a problem in terms of security in controlling the image forming apparatus from an external electronic device.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a remote communication system capable of improving security when controlling an image forming apparatus from an electronic device existing outside a network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.

  The remote communication system of the present invention is an image forming apparatus, an electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming device belongs, a session relay system for relaying a session between the image forming device and the electronic device, Session management means for managing the session, wherein the session relay system notifies the session management means of a first session ID and a second session ID for identifying communication by the session in the session relay system. The session management unit executes notification of the first session ID to the electronic device and notification of the second session ID to the image forming apparatus, and the electronic device executes the session relay. Establish a connection with the system using the first session ID. The image forming apparatus establishes a connection using the second session ID with the session relay system, wherein the session relay system establishes a connection with the electronic device, A remote communication system that relays the session by associating a connection established with an image forming apparatus with the first session ID and the second session ID, wherein the session management unit includes: When a start of a communication state test via a session is requested by the electronic device, a first test ID as the first session ID, a second test ID as the second session ID, Request from the session relay system, and the image forming apparatus transmits the electronic device and the session relay system. The connection established between the system and the connection established between the image forming apparatus and the session relay system is associated by the first test ID and the second test ID, so that the session is established. When relayed by the session relay system, the test of the communication state via the session is executed with the electronic device, and the electronic device notifies the execution result of the test. .

  With this configuration, the remote communication system according to the present invention is configured such that, of the electronic devices existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs, only the electronic device for which the first session ID is notified from the session management unit is included in the session relay system. Since a session with the image forming apparatus relayed by the image forming apparatus is established, security when the image forming apparatus is controlled from an electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs can be improved. Further, in the remote communication system of the present invention, a test of a communication state via a session between the image forming apparatus and the electronic device relayed by the session relay system is executed between the image forming apparatus and the electronic device. End-to-end communication reliability of a session relayed by the relay system can be ensured, and a session of stable quality can be established.

  In the remote communication system according to the present invention, the session management unit acquires a communication status of the information for the test from the image forming apparatus and the session relay system, and the electronic device determines that the execution result of the test is an error. In some cases, the communication status acquired by the session management means may be notified.

  With this configuration, the remote communication system according to the present invention is configured such that when an execution result of a test of a communication state through a session between the image forming apparatus and the electronic device relayed by the session relay system is an error, the test Since the communication status of the information in the image forming apparatus and the session relay system is notified, it is possible for the user to recognize which part of the session path has a problem.

  In the remote communication system according to the present invention, when the start of the test is requested by the electronic device, the session management unit may cause the image forming apparatus to install an application for executing the test.

  With this configuration, the remote communication system according to the present invention is configured such that, when a start of a communication state test via a session between the image forming apparatus and the electronic device relayed by the session relay system is requested by the electronic device, the test is performed. Is installed in the image forming apparatus, it is possible to execute a communication state test via a session established between the image forming apparatus having no application and the electronic device.

  In the remote communication system according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus may uninstall the application when the session ends.

  With this configuration, the remote communication system according to the present invention is configured such that an application for executing a test of a communication state via a session between the image forming apparatus and the electronic device relayed by the session relay system at the start of the test Is installed in the image forming apparatus, and is uninstalled from the image forming apparatus at the end of this test. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the storage capacity of the image forming apparatus from being used more than necessary.

  In the remote communication system of the present invention, the first test ID and the second test ID may be the same test ID.

  With this configuration, the remote communication system of the present invention does not need to associate two different test IDs in the session relay system, so that the processing of the test ID in the session relay system can be simplified.

  In the remote communication system of the present invention, the first session ID and the second session ID may be the same session ID.

  With this configuration, the remote communication system of the present invention does not need to associate two different session IDs in the session relay system, and thus can simplify the processing of the session ID in the session relay system.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION The remote communication system of this invention can improve the security at the time of controlling an image forming apparatus from the electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.

It is a block diagram of a remote communication system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in the case of an MFP. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a connection terminal shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functions realized by the remote maintenance system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating functions realized by the session relay system illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when a user of a connection terminal logs in to a remote maintenance system. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when executing remote maintenance via the remote maintenance system. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when starting a remote session. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of establishing a device-side session shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram for establishing a connection terminal side session shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a remote session approval screen displayed in the operation illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when the image forming apparatus operates in response to a request from a connection terminal via a remote session. 13A is a diagram showing HTTP data processed by the server application in the operation shown in FIG. FIG. 14B is a diagram showing HTTP data for relaying the HTTP data shown in FIG. 13A over the Internet. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when ending a remote session. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram for ending the device-side session shown in FIG. 14. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when a communication state test via a remote session is executed. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram of the server application confirmation shown in FIG. 16. 17 is a sequence diagram of the session communication state test shown in FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram for ending the remote session shown in FIG. FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram for terminating the session on the connection terminal side shown in FIG. 19. FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram of ending the session via XMPP shown in FIG. 19. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a test approval screen displayed in the operation illustrated in FIG. 16. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of an application installation approval screen displayed in the operation illustrated in FIG. 16.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of the remote communication system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a remote communication system 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a remote communication system 10 includes an image forming apparatus 20, a gateway 30 that connects a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs to a network such as the Internet, and an image forming apparatus. Remote communication that controls communication between a connection terminal 40 as an electronic device existing outside the network to which the device 20 belongs, an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10, and a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10. And a control system 15.

  The remote communication control system 15 includes a remote maintenance system 50 that is a cloud service that performs remote maintenance on an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 in response to an instruction from a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10. A cloud that relays a direct interconnection between an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 and a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10, that is, a peer-to-peer session (hereinafter, referred to as a “remote session”). And a session relay system 60 as a service.

  The remote communication system 10 can include an image forming apparatus in addition to the image forming apparatus 20 in a network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. The remote communication system 10 can include a network to which the image forming apparatus belongs in addition to a network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. The image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 is, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a printer dedicated machine, a copy dedicated machine, a fax dedicated machine, a scanner dedicated machine, and the like.

  The gateway 30 constitutes a firewall that prevents attacks inside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs from outside the network. Therefore, communication between the image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 and the remote maintenance system 50 is performed by the image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 via the XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). Maintained by staying connected.

  The remote communication system 10 can include a connection terminal other than the connection terminal 40. The connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10 is, for example, a computer such as a PC (Personal Computer).

  The remote maintenance system 50 is configured by, for example, a server computer. The remote maintenance performed by the remote maintenance system 50 is, for example, maintenance such as checking a counter of the image forming apparatus and installing firmware on the image forming apparatus. The remote maintenance system 50 not only executes remote maintenance but also manages remote sessions. That is, the remote maintenance system 50 constitutes a session management system.

  The session relay system 60 is configured by, for example, a server computer.

  The image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 and the remote maintenance system 50 can communicate with each other via a network such as the Internet. The image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 and the session relay system 60 can communicate via a network such as the Internet. The connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10 and the remote maintenance system 50 can communicate via a network such as the Internet. The connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10 and the session relay system 60 can communicate via a network such as the Internet. The remote maintenance system 50 and the session relay system 60 can communicate via a network such as the Internet.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus 20 in the case of an MFP.

  The image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes an operation unit 21 that is an input device such as a button for inputting various operations, and a display unit 22 that is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information. , A scanner 23 which is a reading device for reading an image from a document, a printer 24 which is a printing device for printing an image on a recording medium such as paper, and an external facsimile apparatus (not shown) and a communication line such as a public telephone line. A facsimile communication unit 25 that is a facsimile device that performs facsimile communication with a communication unit 26 that is a communication device that communicates with an external device via a network or directly by wire or wirelessly without passing through a network; Memory, HDD (Hard Dis) Drive) and a storage unit 27 is a nonvolatile storage device such as, and a control unit 28 for controlling the entire image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 28 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing programs and various data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area of the CPU. I have. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27.

  The control unit 28 executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27 to execute a server application 28a used from a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10 via a remote session, and a session relay system 60 ( And a Cloud Hub Agent 28b for controlling communication with the server.

  The control unit 28 can implement a server application other than the server application 28a by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27.

  As the server application realized by the control unit 28, for example, various setting statuses of the image forming apparatus 20 are notified to the outside of the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, and from the outside of the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. There is a Web Server that receives various settings of the image forming apparatus 20. As a server application realized by the control unit 28, for example, data of a screen (for example, a Web page) displayed on the display unit 22 of the image forming apparatus 20 is transmitted to the outside of the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. In addition, there is a Remote APP Server that receives an operation on a screen displayed based on this data from outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, and operates the image forming apparatus 20 according to the received operation.

  The server application realized by the control unit 28 can be identified by the application ID.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the connection terminal 40.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the connection terminal 40 includes an operation unit 41 that is an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse to which various operations are input, and a display unit 42 that is a display device such as an LCD for displaying various information. A communication unit 43, which is a communication device that communicates with an external device via a network or directly via a wired or wireless connection without using a network, and a non-volatile memory such as a semiconductor memory or HDD for storing various information. And a control unit 45 for controlling the entire connection terminal 40.

  The control unit 45 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM storing programs and various data, and a RAM used as a work area of the CPU. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 44.

  The control unit 45 executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 44 to execute a login process to the remote maintenance system 50, and a remote unit that instructs the remote maintenance system 50 to perform remote maintenance. A maintenance instruction unit 45b, a client 45c that uses a server application of the image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 via a remote session, and a remote session control unit 45d that controls the remote session are realized.

  The control unit 45 can realize a client other than the client 45c by executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 44.

  As a client realized by the control unit 45, for example, the setting status notified from the Web Server as a server application is displayed on the display unit 42, and various settings input from the operation unit 41 are transmitted to the Web Server. There is a Web Browser to instruct the Web Browser. As a client realized by the control unit 45, for example, a screen based on data of a screen received from a Remote APP Server as a server application is displayed on the display unit 42, and the screen is transmitted from the operation unit 41 to the display unit 42. There is an application such as a Remote APP Client that transmits the input operation to the Remote APP Server.

  The client realized by the control unit 45 can be identified by the application ID. Note that the application ID for identifying the client realized by the control unit 45 is the same as the application ID for identifying the server application of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the client.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing functions realized by the remote maintenance system 50.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a remote maintenance system 50 includes a login permission determining unit 51 that determines whether to permit a user to log in by executing a specific program, and a remote maintenance unit that performs remote maintenance. 52 and a session management unit 53 for managing a remote session.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating functions realized by the session relay system 60.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the session relay system 60 realizes a Cloud Hub 61 that controls communication with an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 by executing a specific program. The session relay system 60 can realize a Cloud Hub in addition to the Cloud Hub 61 by executing a specific program.

  The session relay system 60 realizes a Web Agent 62 that controls communication with a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10 by executing a specific program. The session relay system 60 can realize a Web Agent other than the Web Agent 62 by executing a specific program.

  The session relay system 60 stores a Master 63 that determines which Cloud Hub is to be connected to the image forming apparatus and which Web Agent is connected to the connection terminal by executing a specific program, and a log related to a remote session. And a session management database 64 to be implemented.

  The Cloud Hub included in the session relay system 60 and the Web Agent included in the session relay system 60 have a one-to-one relationship. That is, the number of Cloud Hubs included in the session relay system 60 and the number of Web Agents included in the session relay system 60 are the same.

  When an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 connects to the session relay system 60, the Master 63 determines which Cloud Hub is to be connected to the image forming apparatus. However, a detailed description of the operation of Master 63 will be omitted below.

  Similarly, when a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10 connects to the session relay system 60, the Master 63 determines which Web Agent to connect to this connection terminal. However, a detailed description of the operation of Master 63 will be omitted below.

  Next, the operation of the remote communication system 10 will be described.

  First, the operation of the remote communication system 10 when the user of the connection terminal 40 logs in to the remote maintenance system 50 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system 10 when the user of the connection terminal 40 logs in to the remote maintenance system 50.

  The user of the connection terminal 40 can instruct a login to the remote maintenance system 50 by inputting a user ID and a password via the operation unit 41. Upon receiving an instruction to log in to the remote maintenance system 50, the login unit 45a of the connection terminal 40 notifies the remote maintenance system 50 of the user ID and password input via the operation unit 41, as shown in FIG. Then, the process of logging in to the remote maintenance system 50 is executed (S101).

  When a login is requested from the connection terminal 40, the login permission determination unit 51 of the remote maintenance system 50 determines whether to permit the user to log in based on the combination of the user ID and the password notified from the connection terminal 40. Based on the determination (S102), the determination result is returned to the connection terminal 40 (S103).

  Next, the operation of the remote communication system 10 when performing remote maintenance via the remote maintenance system 50 will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system 10 when performing remote maintenance via the remote maintenance system 50.

  When the user of the connection terminal 40 is logged in to the remote maintenance system 50, a specific image forming apparatus via the remote maintenance system 50 (hereinafter, described as the image forming apparatus 20 in the operation illustrated in FIG. 7). ) Can be instructed via the operation unit 41. When receiving the remote maintenance instruction via the remote maintenance system 50, the remote maintenance instruction unit 45b of the connection terminal 40 changes the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 instructed via the operation unit 41 as shown in FIG. By notifying the remote maintenance system 50, the remote maintenance system 50 instructs the remote maintenance instructed via the operation unit 41 (S121).

  When the remote maintenance is instructed from the connection terminal 40, the remote maintenance unit 52 of the remote maintenance system 50 performs the maintenance instructed from the connection terminal 40 to the image forming apparatus 20 designated as the target of the remote maintenance from the connection terminal 40. Request is made by XMPP (S122).

  When maintenance is requested from the remote maintenance system 50, the control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 executes the maintenance requested by the remote maintenance system 50 (S123), and sends the execution result of the maintenance to the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP. Notification is made (S124).

  When the result of the maintenance is notified from the image forming apparatus 20, the remote maintenance unit 52 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the connection terminal 40 of the execution result notified from the image forming apparatus 20 (S125).

  Next, the operation of the remote communication system 10 when starting a remote session will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system 10 when starting a remote session. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of the device-side session establishment shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of the connection terminal-side session establishment shown in FIG.

  When logging in to the remote maintenance system 50, the user of the connection terminal 40 specifies a specific client (hereinafter, described as a client 45c in the description of the operations illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10) and specifies the client. The start of a remote session with the image forming apparatus (hereinafter, described as the image forming apparatus 20 in the description of the operations illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10) can be instructed via the operation unit 41. Upon receiving the instruction to start the remote session, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 receives the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 instructed via the operation unit 41 and the operation, as shown in FIGS. The remote maintenance system 50 is requested to start a remote session by notifying the remote maintenance system 50 of the application ID of the client 45c specified via the unit 41 (S141).

  When the user of the connection terminal 40 instructs the start of the remote session with the image forming apparatus 20 via the operation unit 41, the user instructs the start of the remote session with the image forming apparatus 20 via the operation unit 41. Beforehand, it is preferable that the user of the image forming apparatus 20 is separately informed in advance that the user desires to start a remote session with the image forming apparatus 20 by a method such as a telephone.

  Upon receiving the request in S141, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 specified by the device ID notified in S141 of the application ID notified in S141, thereby executing the remote session. Is requested by XMPP (S142).

  Among the server applications of the image forming apparatus 20, the server application 28a specified by the application ID notified in S142 receives the request in S142, and accepts an instruction as to whether or not to approve the start of the remote session. Screen 70 (see FIG. 11) is displayed on the display unit 22 (S143).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the remote session approval screen 70.

  The remote session approval screen 70 shown in FIG. 11 includes a message 71 asking whether to approve the remote session, a YES button 72 for accepting an instruction to approve the start of the remote session, and a A NO button 73 for receiving an instruction is provided. The user of the image forming apparatus 20 can press either the YES button 72 or the NO button 73 via the operation unit 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, when the YES button 72 is pressed via the operation unit 21, the server application 28a notifies the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP that the remote session has been approved (S144).

  Although not shown, if the NO button 73 is pressed via the operation unit 21 on the remote session approval screen 70 displayed on the display unit 22 in S143, the remote communication system 10 Works. First, the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 notifies the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP that the remote session has not been approved. Next, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the connection terminal 40 that the remote session has not been approved. Then, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 displays on the display unit 42 that the remote session has not been approved.

  Upon receiving the notification in S144, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 requests connection information from the session relay system 60 by using an API (Application Program Interface) (S145).

  Upon receiving the request of S145, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 generates a session ID for identifying communication by the remote session in the session relay system 60 (S146), and uses the generated session ID as connection information for remote maintenance. The system 50 is notified by the API (S147). As the session ID, for example, random identification information such as one obtained by encoding a random number sequence generated by a hash algorithm such as HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) in BASE64 encoding so as to be handled on HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is used. Adopted.

  When the session ID is notified in S147, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 generates a token for the remote maintenance system 50 to recognize the validity period of the remote session (S148), and generates the token and S147. Is notified to the image forming apparatus 20 by XMPP (S149).

  Next, the session management unit 53 notifies the connection terminal 40 that the token and the session ID have been acquired (S150).

  When notified of the token and the session ID in S149, the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 activates the Cloud Hub Agent 28b in which the token and the session ID notified in S149 are set (S171).

  Next, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b requests the session relay system 60 to establish a session by notifying the session relay system 60 of the set token and the session ID (S172).

  Among the Cloud Hubs of the session relay system 60, the Cloud Hub 61 associated with the session ID notified in S172, upon receiving the request in S172, authenticates with the token notified in S172 to the remote maintenance system 50 by the API. Request (S173). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 executes the authentication requested in S173 (S174), and notifies the session relay system 60 of the authentication result by the API (S175).

  When notified of successful authentication in S175, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 stores a log indicating that a session with the image forming apparatus 20 has started in the session management database 64 (S176), and stores the log in S176. The log is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by the API (S177). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S177 as a log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S177 (S178), and indicates that the log has been managed. An API is returned to the relay system 60 (S179).

  When notified of the success of the authentication in S175, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 that a session with the image forming apparatus 20 has been established (S180). That is, an HTTP-based WebSocket connection is established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60.

  After the process of S141, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 requests the remote maintenance system 50 for the connection information by polling until the connection information can be acquired from the remote maintenance system 50 (S201).

  Upon receiving the request in S201, if the token has been generated in S148, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 stores the token and the session ID notified from the session relay system 60 in S147 in the connection information. To the connection terminal 40 (S202).

  When the token and the session ID are notified in S202, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 activates the client 45c in which the token and the session ID notified in S202 are set (S203).

  Next, the client 45c requests the session relay system 60 to establish a session by notifying the session relay system 60 of the set token and the session ID (S204).

  Among the Web Agents of the session relay system 60, the Web Agent 62 associated with the session ID notified in S204, upon receiving the request in S204, notifies the Cloud Hub 61 of the token and session ID notified in S204. Requesting the Cloud Hub 61 to establish a session (S205).

  Upon receiving the request of S205, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 requests the remote maintenance system 50 to authenticate with the token notified in S205 by using the API (S206). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 executes the authentication requested in S206 (S207), and notifies the session relay system 60 of the authentication result by the API (S208).

  When notified of successful authentication in S208, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 stores a log indicating that a session with the connection terminal 40 has been started in the session management database 64 (S209), and stores the log stored in S209. Is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by the API (S210). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S210 as a log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S210 (S211), and reports that the log has been managed to the session. A reply is sent to the relay system 60 by the API (S212).

  When notified of successful authentication in S208, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the Web Agent 62 that a session with the connection terminal 40 has been established (S213). Therefore, the Web Agent 62 notifies the connection terminal 40 that the session with the connection terminal 40 has been established (S214). That is, an HTTP-based WebSocket connection is established between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60.

  The session relay system 60 is established between the WebSocket connection established with the image forming apparatus 20 by the operation shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 and the connection terminal 40 by the operation shown in FIGS. The WebSocket connection is associated by a session ID. Therefore, a remote session is established by the operations shown in FIGS.

  Next, an operation of the remote communication system 10 when the image forming apparatus 20 operates in response to a request from the connection terminal 40 via a remote session will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram of an operation of the remote communication system 10 when the image forming apparatus 20 operates in response to a request from the connection terminal 40 via a remote session.

  When the remote session is established by the operations shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the user of the connection terminal 40 can instruct a request to the image forming apparatus 20 via the operation unit 41. Upon receiving the request instruction to the image forming apparatus 20, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 generates an HTTP request for notifying the request instructed via the operation unit 41 as shown in FIG. 12 (S231). .

  Here, the structure of the HTTP request generated in S232 will be described.

  FIG. 13A is a diagram showing HTTP data 80 processed by the server application 28a. FIG. 13B is a diagram showing HTTP data 90 for relaying the HTTP data 80 shown in FIG. 13A over the Internet.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the HTTP data 80 includes an HTTP header 81 and an HTTP body 82. The HTTP data 90 includes an HTTP header 91 for relaying on the Internet, and HTTP data 80 as an HTTP body 92. Note that the HTTP header 91 includes an application ID 91a for specifying the server application 28a.

  The client 45c generates HTTP data having the same structure as the HTTP data 90 shown in FIG. 13B as an HTTP request for notifying a request instructed via the operation unit 41. Here, the session ID is stored in a location corresponding to the HTTP header 91.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 transmits the HTTP request generated in S231 to the session relay system 60 through a WebSocket connection (S232).

  Among the Web Agents of the session relay system 60, the Web Agent 62 associated with the session ID included in the HTTP request transmitted in S232 transmits the HTTP request to the Cloud Hub 61 when the HTTP request is transmitted in S232. It passes (S233). Therefore, the Cloud Hub 61 transmits the HTTP request to the image forming apparatus 20 via the WebSocket connection corresponding to the session ID included in the HTTP request (S234).

  Upon receiving the HTTP request in S234, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b of the image forming apparatus 20 identifies the server application 28a corresponding to the application ID included in the HTTP request (S235).

  Next, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b generates an HTTP request by removing the HTTP header for relaying on the Internet from the HTTP request transmitted in S234 (S236). Here, the HTTP request generated in S236 is HTTP data having the same structure as the HTTP data 80 shown in FIG.

  Next, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b passes the HTTP request generated in S236 to the server application 28a identified in S235 (S237).

  Upon receiving the HTTP request in S237, the server application 28a generates an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request (S238). Here, the HTTP response generated in S238 is HTTP data having the same structure as the HTTP data 80 shown in FIG.

  Next, the server application 28a passes the HTTP response generated in S238 to the Cloud Hub Agent 28b (S239).

  When the HTTP response is passed in S239, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b generates an HTTP response in which an HTTP header for relaying on the Internet is attached to the HTTP response passed in S239 (S240). Here, the HTTP response generated in S240 is HTTP data having the same structure as the HTTP data 90 shown in FIG. The session ID is stored at a location corresponding to the HTTP header 91.

  The Cloud Hub Agent 28b transmits the HTTP response generated in S240 to the session relay system 60 via a WebSocket connection (S241).

  Among the Cloud Hubs of the session relay system 60, the Cloud Hub 61 associated with the session ID included in the HTTP response transmitted in S241 transmits the HTTP response to the Web Agent 62 when the HTTP response is transmitted in S241. Hand over (S242). Therefore, the Web Agent 62 transmits the HTTP response to the connection terminal 40 via the WebSocket connection corresponding to the session ID included in the HTTP response (S243).

  Therefore, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 can receive the HTTP response transmitted in S243.

  Next, the operation of the remote communication system 10 when ending the remote session will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system 10 when ending the remote session. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram for terminating the device-side session shown in FIG.

  The user of the connection terminal 40 can use a specific server application (hereinafter, FIGS. 14 and 15) of a specific image forming apparatus (hereinafter, described as the image forming apparatus 20 in the description of the operations illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15). In the description of the operation described in (1), the server application 28a will be described). When the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 receives the instruction to end the remote session, the remote session token and the session ID specified via the operation unit 41 are transmitted to the client 45c as shown in FIGS. Requesting the client 45c to end the remote session (S261). Therefore, the client 45c requests the session relay system 60 to end the remote session requested in S261 through the WebSocket connection (S262).

  Among the Web Agents of the session relay system 60, the Web Agent 62 associated with the session ID included in the request in S262, when the end of the remote session is requested in S262, passes this request to the Cloud Hub 61 (S263). Therefore, the Cloud Hub 61 requests the remote maintenance system 50 to terminate the remote session identified by the token included in the request by the API (S264).

  Upon receiving the request of S264, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 requests the image forming apparatus 20 of the target of the remote session requested by S264 to end this remote session by XMPP (S265).

  Next, the session management unit 53 notifies the session relay system 60 of the reception of the request for terminating the remote session by using the API (S266).

  The Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 stores the log indicating that the session with the connection terminal 40 has been ended in the session management database 64 when notified of the reception of the request for terminating the remote session in S266 (S267). The log stored in S267 is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by an API (S268). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S268 as a log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S268 (S269), and indicates that the log has been managed. An API is returned to the relay system 60 (S270).

  When receiving the reply in S270, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the Web Agent 62 of the end of the WebSocket connection between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 (S271). Therefore, the Web Agent 62 notifies the connection terminal 40 of the end of the WebSocket connection between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 (S272).

  Upon receiving the notification in S272, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 notifies the remote session control unit 45d of the end of the WebSocket connection between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 (S273), and ends its operation. .

  Therefore, the remote session control unit 45d can display on the display unit 42 that WebSocket connection between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 has been completed, for example.

  Upon receiving the request of S265, the server application 28a of the remote session of the request received in S265 among the server applications of the image forming apparatus 20 notifies the token and session ID of the remote session to the Cloud Hub Agent 28b. This requests the Cloud Hub Agent 28b to end the remote session (S291). Therefore, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b requests the session relay system 60 to terminate the remote session requested in S291 by a WebSocket connection (S292).

  Upon receiving the request of S292, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 requests the remote maintenance system 50 to terminate the remote session identified by the token included in the request (S293).

  Upon receiving the request of S293, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the session relay system 60 of the reception of the request for terminating the remote session by using the API (S294).

  The Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 stores the log indicating that the session with the image forming apparatus 20 has been completed in the session management database 64 when notified of the reception of the request for terminating the remote session in S294 (S295). The log stored in S295 is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by the API (S296). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S296 as a log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S296 (S297), and indicates that the log has been managed in the session. An API is returned to the relay system 60 (S298).

  Upon receiving the reply in S298, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 and the end of the WebSocket connection with the session relay system 60 to the image forming apparatus 20 (S299).

  Upon receiving the notification of S299, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b of the image forming apparatus 20 ends its operation.

  The session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 determines that the log indicating the end of the session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 has been notified from the session relay system 60, and that the connection terminal 40 and the session relay When it is confirmed that the log indicating the end of the session between the systems 60 has been notified from the session relay system 60, the remote session of the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 via the session relay system 60 ends. Judge that you have done. If the session management unit 53 determines that the remote session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 via the session relay system 60 has not ended, the image management apparatus 53 and the connection terminal via the session relay system 60 Do not allow the establishment of 40 new remote sessions.

  Next, an operation of the remote communication system 10 when a communication state test via a remote session (hereinafter, referred to as a “session communication state test”) is performed will be described.

  FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system 10 when the session communication state test is executed. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram of the server application confirmation shown in FIG. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram of the session communication state test shown in FIG. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram for ending the remote session shown in FIG. FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram of the connection terminal-side session end shown in FIG. FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram of terminating the session via XMPP shown in FIG.

  When the user of the connection terminal 40 is logged in to the remote maintenance system 50, the client for executing the session communication state test (hereinafter, described as the client 45c in the description of the operations illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 21). ) To operate the execution of a session communication state test via a remote session with a specific image forming apparatus (hereinafter, described as the image forming apparatus 20 in the description of the operations shown in FIGS. 16 to 21). An instruction can be given via the unit 41. When receiving the instruction to execute the session communication state test, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 receives the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 specified via the operation unit 41 as shown in FIGS. Then, by informing the remote maintenance system 50 of the application ID of the client 45c specified via the operation unit 41, the start of the session communication state test is requested to the remote maintenance system 50 (S311).

  When the user of the connection terminal 40 instructs the execution of the session communication state test with the image forming apparatus 20 via the operation unit 41, the execution of the session communication state test with the image forming apparatus 20 is performed by the operation unit 41. It is preferable that the user of the image forming apparatus 20 be separately informed beforehand instructing the user of the image forming apparatus 20 that the execution of the session communication state test with the image forming apparatus 20 is desired, for example, by a method such as a telephone.

  Upon receiving the request in S311, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 identified by the device ID notified in S311 of the application ID notified in S311, and An inquiry is made by XMPP as to whether the server application specified by the ID is installed in the image forming apparatus 20 (S312).

  Upon receiving the inquiry in S312, the remote session control unit 28c of the image forming apparatus 20 determines whether the server application specified by the application ID notified in S312 is installed among the server applications of the image forming apparatus 20. Judgment is made (S313), and the judgment result is notified by XMPP (S314).

  Upon receiving the notification in S314 indicating that the target server application is installed, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the application ID notified in S311 to start the session communication state test. Approval is requested to the image forming apparatus 20 by XMPP (S315).

  Upon receiving the request in S315, the remote session control unit 28c of the image forming apparatus 20 displays a test approval screen 75 (see FIG. 22) for receiving an instruction as to whether to approve the start of the session communication state test. (S316).

  FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of the test approval screen 75.

  The test approval screen 75 shown in FIG. 22 includes a message 75a for asking whether to approve the start of the session communication state test, a YES button 75b for receiving an instruction to approve the start of the session communication state test, and a session communication A NO button 75c is provided for accepting an instruction for disapproval of the start of the state test. The user of the image forming apparatus 20 can press either the YES button 75b or the NO button 75c via the operation unit 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 to 21, when the YES button 75b is pressed via the operation unit 21, the remote session control unit 28c notifies the remote maintenance system 50 that the session communication state test has been approved by XMPP. (S317).

  Although not shown, when the NO button 75c is pressed via the operation unit 21 on the test approval screen 75 displayed on the display unit 22 in S316, the remote communication system 10 Operate. First, the remote session control unit 28c of the image forming apparatus 20 notifies the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP that the session communication state test has not been approved. Next, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the connection terminal 40 that the session communication state test has not been approved. Then, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 displays on the display unit 42 that the session communication state test has not been approved.

  Upon receiving the notification in S314 indicating that the target server application has not been installed, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the application ID notified in S311 and thereby specifies the application ID. The XMPP requests the image forming apparatus 20 to approve the installation of the server application (S318).

  Upon receiving the request in S318, the remote session control unit 28c of the image forming apparatus 20 accepts an instruction as to whether to approve the installation of the server application specified by the application ID notified in S318 or not. (See FIG. 23) is displayed on the display unit 22 (S319).

  FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the application installation approval screen 76.

  The application installation approval screen 76 shown in FIG. 23 includes a message 76a asking whether to approve the installation of the server application for the remote session, and a YES button 76b for receiving an instruction to approve the start of the server application installation. And a NO button 76c for accepting an instruction for disapproval of the start of installation of the server application. The user of the image forming apparatus 20 can press either the YES button 76b or the NO button 76c via the operation unit 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 to 21, when the YES button 76 b is pressed via the operation unit 21, the remote session control unit 28 c notifies the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP that the installation of the target server application has been approved. Notification is made (S320).

  Although not shown, when the NO button 76c is pressed via the operation unit 21 on the application installation approval screen 76 displayed on the display unit 22 in S319, the remote communication system 10 Works. First, the remote session control unit 28c of the image forming apparatus 20 notifies the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP that the installation of the target server application has not been approved. Next, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the connection terminal 40 that the session communication state test has not been approved. Then, the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 displays on the display unit 42 that the session communication state test has not been approved.

  Upon receiving the notification in S317 or S320, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 requests connection information from the session relay system 60 by using an API (Application Program Interface) (S321).

  Upon receiving the request of S321, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 generates a session ID for identifying the communication by the remote session in the session relay system 60 (S322), and uses the generated session ID as connection information for remote maintenance. The system 50 is notified by an API (S323). As the session ID, for example, random identification information such as one obtained by encoding a random number sequence generated by a hash algorithm such as HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) in BASE64 encoding so as to be handled on HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is used. Adopted.

  When the session ID is notified in S323, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 generates a token for the remote maintenance system 50 to recognize the validity period of the remote session (S324).

  When the fact that the remote session has been approved is notified in S317, the session management unit 53, after the processing in S324, uses the XMPP to send the token generated in S324 and the session ID notified in S323 to the image forming apparatus 20. (S325).

  When the notification that the installation of the target server application has been approved is received in S320, the session management unit 53, after the processing of S324, the token generated in S324, the session ID notified in S323, and the target The server application is notified to the image forming apparatus 20 by XMPP (S326).

  Upon receiving the server application transmitted in S326, the remote session control unit 28c of the image forming apparatus 20 installs the server application in the image forming apparatus 20 itself (S327).

  The server application specified by the application ID notified from the connection terminal 40 to the remote maintenance system 50 in S311 will be described below as the server application 28a.

  After the processing of S325 or S327, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the connection terminal 40 that the token and the session ID have been acquired (S328).

  When the token and the session ID are notified to the image forming apparatus 20 in S325 or S326, the remote communication system 10 performs the same operation as the operation illustrated in FIG. Therefore, an HTTP-based WebSocket connection is established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60.

  Further, after the process of S311, the remote communication system 10 executes the same operation as the operation shown in FIG. Therefore, an HTTP-based WebSocket connection is established between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60.

  Thereafter, the remote communication system 10 can execute communication via the remote session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 relayed by the session relay system 60, similarly to the operation illustrated in FIG. Therefore, the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 starts a session communication state test via the remote session with the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 (S341). For example, the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 and the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 first specify the server application 28a to the client 45c via a remote session relayed by the session relay system 60 in a session communication state test. The client 45c that has received the specific information from the server application 28a transmits the specific information to the server application 28a, and then the server application 28a that has received the specific information from the client 45c transmits the specific information to the client 45c. The information is transmitted a plurality of times alternately with each other, such as transmitting the information, and so on, and it is confirmed whether or not the transmission and reception of the information are correctly performed a plurality of times.

  The session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 acquires the communication status of information for a session communication status test (hereinafter, referred to as “test communication status”) from the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60. Here, the test communication state refers to, for example, when the information for the session communication state test was transmitted from the image forming apparatus 20 to the session relay system 60, or the session communication state test transmitted from the image forming apparatus 20. , The information for the session communication state test was transmitted from the session relay system 60 to the connection terminal 40, and the session communication transmitted from the connection terminal 40. When the information for the state test is received by the session relay system 60, when the information for the session communication state test is transmitted from the session relay system 60 to the image forming apparatus 20, the information is transmitted from the session relay system 60. The session communication status test Information for contains information that was received any time by the image forming apparatus 20.

  The server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 performs the session communication if the session communication state test started in S341 is normally completed, or even if a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the session communication state test started in S341. If the status test does not end normally, the execution result of the session communication status test started in S341 is notified by display on the display unit 22 (S342). Here, the server application 28a executes the session communication status test started in S341 if the session communication status test does not end normally even after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the session communication status test started in S341. In step S342, the result is an error.

  Similarly, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 determines whether the session communication state test started in S341 ends normally, or even if a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the session communication state test started in S341. If the session communication state test does not end normally, the execution result of the session communication state test started in S341 is notified by display on the display unit 42 (S343). Here, if the session communication state test does not end normally even after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the session communication state test started in S341, the client 45c executes the session communication state test started in S341. The fact that the execution result is an error is notified in S343.

  When the execution result of the session communication state test notified in S343 is an error, the client 45c transmits the test communication status acquired from the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 by the remote maintenance system 50 to the remote maintenance system 50. Request (S344). Upon receiving the request in S344, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 transmits the test communication status requested in S344 to the connection terminal 40 (S345). Therefore, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 notifies the test communication status transmitted from the remote maintenance system 50 in S345 by displaying it on the display unit 42 (S346).

  Upon ending the operation in S342, the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 requests the Cloud Hub Agent 28b to end the remote session by notifying the token and session ID of the target remote session to the Cloud Hub Agent 28b (S361). . Therefore, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b requests the session relay system 60 to end the remote session requested in S361 through a WebSocket connection (S362).

  Upon receiving the request in S362, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 requests the Web Agent 62 to end the remote session requested in S362 (S363).

  Further, upon receiving the request of S362, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 requests the remote maintenance system 50 to terminate the remote session identified by the token included in the request (S364).

  Upon receiving the request in S364, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the session relay system 60 of the reception of the request for terminating the remote session by using the API (S365).

  The Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 stores the log indicating that the session with the image forming apparatus 20 has been completed in the session management database 64 when notified of the reception of the request for ending the remote session in S365 (S366). Then, the log stored in S366 is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by the API (S367). Therefore, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S367 as a log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S367 (S368), and indicates that the log has been managed. An API is returned to the relay system 60 (S369).

  Upon receiving the reply in S369, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 of the termination of the WebSocket connection between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 (S370).

  Upon receiving the notification in S370, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b of the image forming apparatus 20 ends its operation.

  Upon receiving the request in S363, the Web Agent 62 of the session relay system 60 notifies the connection terminal 40 and the connection terminal 40 of the end of the WebSocket connection with the session relay system 60 (S391).

  Upon receiving the notification in S391, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 ends its operation.

  After the processing of S391, the Web Agent 62 of the session relay system 60 notifies the Cloud Hub 61 that the session with the connection terminal 40 has been completed (S392).

  Upon being notified in S392 that the session with the connection terminal 40 has ended, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 stores a log indicating that the session with the connection terminal 40 has ended in the session management database 64 (S393). ), The log stored in S393 is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by the API (S394). Therefore, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S394 as a log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S394 (S395), and indicates that the log has been managed in the session. A reply is sent to the relay system 60 by API (S396).

  Upon receiving the reply in S396, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the Web Agent 62 that the reply has been received from the remote maintenance system 50 (S397).

  When the YES button 472 is pressed via the operation unit 21, the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 notifies the remote maintenance system 50 of the acceptance of the instruction to approve the disconnection of the remote session by XMPP (S411).

  The session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the session relay system 60 of the token and the session ID of the target remote session if the log notified in S394 has not yet been received when the notification in S411 is received. By doing so, it requests the session relay system 60 to end the remote session (S412). Therefore, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 requests the Web Agent 62 to end the remote session requested in S412 (S413).

  After the processing in S413, the remote communication system 10 executes the same processing as the processing in S391 to S397 described above.

  Next, the Web Agent 62 of the session relay system 60 notifies the end of the remote session to the Cloud Hub 61 (S414). Therefore, the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 notifies the remote maintenance system 50 of the end of the remote session (S415).

  Upon receiving the notification in S415, the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 of the end of the remote session by XMPP (S416).

  Note that, when the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 receives the notification of S411 and has already received the log notified in S394, the session management unit 53 does not execute the processes of S412 to S415 described above.

  If the session management unit 53 receives the notification in S411 and has not yet received the log notified in S394, the processing in S412 to S415 is executed because the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 determines in S361 Notification of the log from the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 by requesting the end of the remote session to the Cloud Hub Agent 28b (S394), and approval of disconnection of the remote session via the XMPP from the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 This is because the notification of the reception of the instruction (S411) is executed asynchronously, and it is not determined which is executed first.

  The session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 determines that the log indicating the end of the session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 has been notified from the session relay system 60, and that the connection terminal 40 and the session relay When it is confirmed that the log indicating the end of the session between the systems 60 has been notified from the session relay system 60, the remote session of the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 via the session relay system 60 ends. Judge that you have done. If the session management unit 53 determines that the remote session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 via the session relay system 60 has not ended, the image management apparatus 53 and the connection terminal via the session relay system 60 Do not allow the establishment of 40 new remote sessions.

  If the server application 28a has been installed in S327, the control unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 20 ends the Cloud Hub Agent 28b and, after receiving the notification in S416, uninstalls the server application 28a (S371). .

  As described above, in the remote communication system 10, the image forming apparatus 20 establishes a WebSocket connection using the session ID with the session relay system 60 (S171 to S180), and the connection terminal 40 A WebSocket connection using a session ID is established with the system 60 (S201 to S214). The session relay system 60 establishes a connection between the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20. The remote session is relayed by associating the established connection with the session ID (S231 to S243). With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 is configured such that only the connection terminal 40 whose session ID is notified from the remote maintenance system 50 among the connection terminals existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, is transmitted by the session relay system 60. Since the remote session with the relayed image forming apparatus 20 is established, security when the image forming apparatus 20 is controlled from the connection terminal 40 existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs can be improved.

  In the remote communication system 10, a session ID used by a WebSocket connection established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60, and a session ID used by a WebSocket connection established between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60. Are the same session ID. With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 does not need to associate two different session IDs in the session relay system 60, so that the processing of the session ID in the session relay system 60 can be simplified. The session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 and the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 May be different from each other as long as they are associated with each other in the session relay system 60.

  In the remote communication system 10, at least one of a WebSocket connection established between the session relay system 60 and the connection terminal 40 and a WebSocket connection established between the session relay system 60 and the image forming apparatus 20 are SSL ( The connection may be an encrypted communication connection such as Secure Sockets Layer. With this configuration, at least a part of the path of the remote session between the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20 that is relayed by the session relay system 60 is encrypted. On the other hand, occurrence of unauthorized use such as cracking can be suppressed.

  In the remote communication system 10, when the user of the connection terminal 40 is logged in to the remote maintenance system 50, the remote maintenance system 50 receives a request for starting a remote session (S141) from the connection terminal 40, and If the request for starting the remote session is not received from the MFP, the notification of the session ID to the image forming apparatus 20 (S149) and the notification of the session ID to the connection terminal 40 (S202) are not executed. With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 allows the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20 to be relayed by the session relay system 60 only when the user of the connection terminal 40 can log in to the remote maintenance system 50. Since the remote session is established, the security of the remote session can be improved.

  In the remote communication system 10, when the user of the image forming apparatus 20 does not approve the start of the remote session, the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the image forming apparatus 20 of the session ID (S 149) and sends the notification to the connection terminal 40. Is not executed (S202). With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 allows the connection between the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20 to be relayed by the session relay system 60 only when the user of the image forming apparatus 20 approves the start of the remote session. Since the remote session is established, the security of the remote session can be improved. If the user of the image forming apparatus 20 does not approve the start of the remote session, the remote maintenance system 50 sends a notification of the session ID to the image forming apparatus 20 and a notification of the session ID to the connection terminal 40. A configuration in which any one is not performed may be adopted.

  In the remote communication system 10, the session relay system 60 changes the session ID every time a session ID is requested from the remote maintenance system 50 (S145) (S146). With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 changes the session ID every time a remote session between the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20 is established, which is relayed by the session relay system 60. Can be improved.

  The remote communication system 10 displays the same screen as the screen displayed on the image forming apparatus 20 on the connecting terminal 40 existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, so that the image forming apparatus 20 Since the apparatus 20 is operated, the image forming apparatus 20 can be easily operated at low cost from the connection terminal 40 existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. For example, by displaying the setting screen of the image forming apparatus 20 on the display unit 42, the connection terminal 40 can perform various settings for the image forming apparatus 20, such as setting of an address book of the image forming apparatus 20, and the like. Of users can be executed. In addition, the connection terminal 40 displays, for example, a confirmation screen of various information of the image forming apparatus 20 on the display unit 42, thereby confirming an error that has occurred in the image forming apparatus 20 and checking the number of sheets printed by the image forming apparatus 20. The user of the connection terminal 40 can cause the user of the connection terminal 40 to check and check various information of the image forming apparatus 20 such as the remaining amount of toner in the image forming apparatus 20. In addition, the connection terminal 40 displays, for example, a screen for installing software on the image forming apparatus 20 on the display unit 42, thereby installing firmware on the image forming apparatus 20, installing an application on the image forming apparatus 20, and the like. The user of the connection terminal 40 can install various software on the image forming apparatus 20.

  Since the connection terminal 40 can communicate with various applications in the image forming apparatus 20 through a remote session, various functions other than maintenance for the image forming apparatus 20 can be realized.

  The remote communication system 10 performs a test of a communication state via a remote session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 relayed by the session relay system 60, that is, the session communication state test is performed by the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40. (S341), the end-to-end communication reliability of the remote session relayed by the session relay system 60 can be ensured, and a remote session of stable quality can be established. For example, in the remote communication system 10, the session communication state test is executed between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 before the full-scale remote session is established. In this case, when the remote session established in earnest is disconnected, the cause of the disconnection of the remote session is not that the application for using the remote session has a problem, but the image forming apparatus 20. The user can be made aware of the possibility that the network to which he belongs is unstable.

  If the execution result of the session communication state test of the communication state via the remote session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 relayed by the session relay system 60 is an error, the remote communication system 10 Since the communication status of the information for the test in the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 is notified (S346), it is possible for the user to recognize which part of the path of the remote session has a problem. For example, the remote communication system 10 can cause a user to recognize that there is a problem in a connection point between the LAN to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs and the Internet.

  In the remote communication system 10, the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 for the session communication state test, and the connection terminal 40 and the session for the session communication state test The session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the relay systems 60 is the same session ID. With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 connects the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 for the session communication state test, and the session ID for the session communication state test. Since there is no need to associate the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 with the session relay system 60, the processing of the session ID in the session relay system 60 can be simplified. . Note that the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60 for the session communication state test, and the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 for the session communication state test. The session ID used by the WebSocket connection established therebetween may be different from each other as long as they are associated with each other in the session relay system 60.

  The remote communication system 10, when requested by the connection terminal to start a session communication state test of the communication state via the remote session between the image forming apparatus and the connection terminal relayed by the session relay system 60, Since the server application for executing the state test is installed in the image forming apparatus (S327), the session in the communication state via the remote session established between the image forming apparatus having no server application and the connection terminal. A communication status test can be performed.

  The remote communication system 10 executes the session communication state test only when the installation of the server application for executing the session communication state test is approved by the user of the image forming apparatus on the application installation approval screen 76. Since the server application is installed in the image forming apparatus, the security of the session communication state test can be improved.

  The remote communication system 10 treats the approval of the user of the image forming apparatus of the installation of the server application for executing the session communication state test as the approval of the start of the session communication state test from the user of the image forming apparatus. Thus, the burden on the user of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. Note that even when the remote communication system 10 receives the approval of the user of the image forming apparatus for installing the server application for performing the session communication state test, the remote communication system 10 performs the session communication state test from the user of the image forming apparatus. A configuration in which start approval is also accepted may be used.

  In the remote communication system 10, a server application for executing a session communication state test is installed on the image forming apparatus at the start of the session communication state test, and the server application is transmitted from the image forming apparatus at the end of the session communication state test. Since the program is uninstalled (S371), it is possible to prevent the storage capacity of the image forming apparatus from being used more than necessary.

  In this embodiment, the remote communication system 10 can execute remote maintenance as shown in FIG. However, the remote communication system 10 may not be able to execute the remote maintenance as shown in FIG.

  In the remote communication system 10, in the present embodiment, the session management means is realized by the remote maintenance system 50. However, in the remote communication system 10, the session management means may be realized by a system other than the remote maintenance system 50, such as the session relay system 60.

Reference Signs List 10 remote communication system 20 image forming device 28a server application (application)
40 connection terminal (electronic equipment)
53 session management means 60 session relay system

Claims (14)

An image forming apparatus;
An electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs;
A session relay system that relays a session between the image forming apparatus and the electronic device,
The session relay system relays the session by associating a connection established with the image forming apparatus with a connection established with the electronic device,
The remote communication system, wherein the image forming apparatus and the electronic device execute a test of a communication state through the session. Comprising session management means for managing the session,
The session relay system notifies the session management unit of a first session ID and a second session ID for identifying communication by the session in the session relay system,
The session management unit executes a notification of the first session ID to the electronic device and a notification of the second session ID to the image forming apparatus,
The electronic device establishes a connection using the first session ID with the session relay system;
The image forming apparatus establishes a connection using the second session ID with the session relay system;
The session relay system associates a connection established with the electronic device with a connection established with the image forming apparatus by using the first session ID and the second session ID. The remote communication system according to claim 1, wherein the session is relayed. The session management means, when the start of the test is requested by the electronic device, a first test ID as the first session ID, a second test ID as the second session ID, To the session relay system,
The image forming apparatus and the electronic device may be configured such that a connection established between the electronic device and the session relay system and a connection established between the image forming device and the session relay system are the first test. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the test of the communication state through the session is performed when the session is relayed by the session relay system by being associated by an ID and the second test ID. A remote communication system as described.   The remote communication system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the image forming apparatus and the electronic device notifies a result of the execution of the test.   The remote communication system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device notifies a communication status of the information for the test.   The remote communication system according to claim 5, wherein the electronic device notifies the communication status when an execution result of the test is an error.   7. The remote communication system according to claim 5, wherein the electronic device notifies the communication status acquired from the image forming apparatus and the session relay system. 8. The communication status is
Information on when the information for the test was transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the session relay system,
The remote communication system according to claim 7, further comprising: information indicating when the information for the test is received by the session relay system, the information being transmitted from the image forming apparatus. The communication status is
Information on when the information for the test was transmitted from the session relay system to the image forming apparatus,
The remote communication system according to claim 7, further comprising: information indicating when the information for the test is received by the image forming apparatus, the information being transmitted from the session relay system. The communication status is
Information on when the information for the test was transmitted from the session relay system to the electronic device,
10. The information according to claim 7, further comprising at least one of information transmitted from the electronic device and indicating when the information for the test was received by the session relay system. A remote communication system as described.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the session management unit causes an application for executing the test to be installed in the image forming apparatus when the start of the test is requested by the electronic device. A remote communication system as described.   The remote communication system according to claim 11, wherein the image forming apparatus uninstalls the application when the session ends.   The remote communication system according to claim 3, wherein the first test ID and the second test ID are the same test ID.   The test is characterized in that the image forming apparatus and the electronic device alternately transmit information a plurality of times to each other, and confirm whether the information transmission and reception are correctly performed a plurality of times. The remote communication system according to claim 1.

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