JP6019978B2 - Communication device and management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a communication device that can be connected to another device so that they can communicate with each other via a communication line, a management device that manages a device via a network, and a communication between the management device and a managed device. The present invention relates to a management system including an intermediary device.

In a service configuration in which network devices connected to the user environment are managed from a remote location such as a service provider, an intermediary device is installed in the user environment, and the mediator device acquires device information of the devices on the network and provides the service provider There is known a system that effectively transmits data.
The intermediary device as described above is responsible for connecting to multiple network devices connected to the user's private network and periodically acquiring the device information necessary for management, and notifying the acquired information to the service provider. Remotely managed by the service provider.

  In addition, the intermediary device as described above often has a function of an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) manager, and cooperates with various devices to be managed having an SNMP agent function. Since the MIB (Management Information Base) information stored in these devices includes the device information of the device, it is possible to grasp the device information of the devices on the network by acquiring the MIB. is there.

However, conventionally, there have been the following problems as a method for dealing with an increase in the number of managed devices.
The SNMP manager only acquires standard MIBs including public information that does not depend on the vendor of the device manufacturer. And, for private MIBs for which vendors determine their own specifications, generally only customers who use the devices can grasp the private MIBs, and for the devices of other vendors, the specifications of the private MIBs are not disclosed. It has been difficult to incorporate a mechanism for acquiring a private MIB into a product in advance.

  Therefore, conventionally, in a multi-vendor network environment, standard device information that can be commonly acquired from devices of multiple vendors based on acquisition information for acquiring device information and extended device information that can be acquired for each vendor's device There is a communication device (see, for example, Patent Document 1) that acquires device information including, manages the device information in association with each vendor, and transmits the device information to the acquisition device.

However, the device information acquired by the above-described conventional communication device is non-uniform with different data formats and counting units depending on the model of the vendor and model, and such non-uniform device information is There was a problem that it was difficult to use in an integrated manner even if they were compiled.
For example, an example in which the remaining toner value and the total color counter value in the image processing apparatus are different for each vendor device of the image processing apparatus will be described below.

(Toner level)
Company A: Recording from 100 to 0 in increments of 1 B Company: Recording from 1 to 0 in increments of 0.01 Recording company C: Qualitative values in increments of 1/4 (MAX, near end 1, near end 2) , End) (total color counter value)
Company A: There is a standard MIB indicating the total color counter value.
Company B: Records the sum of the standard MIB of the total color printer counter value and the private MIB of the total color scanner counter value.
Company C: Records the value obtained by subtracting the private MIB of the total monochrome counter value from the standard MIB of the total counter value.

In recent years, services that propose optimal placement of managed devices in the MPS business have become active, and more detailed information included in private MIBs can be obtained from other companies' machines in order to compare with information that can be obtained from own machines. In addition, vendor-independent data is required.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and device information in which various data formats and counting units are different depending on the manufacturer and model from a plurality of devices having different manufacturers and models connected on a communication line. It is intended to be able to output information in a unified format specified in advance.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention achieves the above-mentioned object, in a communication apparatus, model identification information acquisition means for acquiring model identification information of the device from the device on the communication line, model identification information of the device, and device information acquired from the device The first storage means for storing the information in association with the access method to the device, and the device that has acquired the model identification information by the model identification information acquisition means is accessed by the access method corresponding to the model identification information. Refer to device information acquisition means for acquiring device information from the device, and second storage means for storing the model identification information of the device and the rules for converting the device information acquired from the device into a predetermined format in association with each other. to, above the device information acquired by the device information acquiring means according to the rules corresponding to the model identification information of the device obtained by the model identification information acquiring means Conversion means for converting into a predetermined format, a receiving unit that initiates a connection to the management device for managing device via a network, receives a management command sent from the management device based on the start of the connection, Transmitting means for transmitting device information obtained by the receiving means according to the management command and converted by the converting means to the management apparatus is provided.

  According to the above configuration, device information with different data formats and different counting units is acquired from a plurality of devices of different manufacturers and models connected on the communication line, and specified in advance. The information can be output in a unified format.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the mediation apparatus 1 illustrated in FIG. 2, a functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 3, and a partial hardware configuration together with a data center 2. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a management system including an intermediary device that is an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the mediation apparatus 1 and the data center 2 which are shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a data classification registration table. It is a figure which shows the example of a conversion information table. It is a figure which shows the example of an access information table. It is a figure which shows the example of a data ID management table. It is a figure which shows the example of the converted apparatus information table. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a first example of processing in which the mediation device 1 acquires device information of the image processing device 3 and transmits the device information to the data center 2. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating a second example of processing in which the mediation device 1 acquires device information of the image processing device 3 and transmits the device information to the data center 2. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a management system including an intermediary device which is an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention.
This management system has a data center 2 on a wide area communication line, and has a first customer environment 10, a second customer environment 11, and a third customer environment 12 each having a local communication line. Examples of the wide area communication line include a network such as the Internet. The on-site communication line is a customer network in a relatively narrow area that connects each device in the customer environment. For example, there is a network such as a local area network (LAN).

  The first customer environment 10 connects a mediation device 1a, a gateway 4 and an information processing device (PC) 5 to a local communication line. In addition, in this local communication line, there are image processing apparatuses 3a and 3b manufactured by company A, image processing apparatuses 3c and 3d manufactured by company B, and image processing apparatuses 3e and 3f manufactured by company C as managed devices. It is connected.

Similarly to the first customer environment 10, the second customer environment 11 also includes an intermediary device 1b connected to the local communication line and image processing devices 3g and 3h that are managed devices. Similarly to the first customer environment 10, the third customer environment 12 also includes an intermediary device 1c connected to the local communication line and image processing devices 3i and 3j that are managed devices.
In the first customer environment 10 to the third customer environment 12, a plurality of information processing devices (PCs) used by users who use the respective image processing devices and other network devices are also connected. Their illustration is omitted.

The intermediary device 1 a is connected between the image processing devices 3 a to 3 f on the local communication line and the data center 2 on the wide area communication line connectable via the gateway 4 in the local communication line in the first customer environment 10. It corresponds to a communication device having a role of mediating communication.
The mediation device 1a controls the mediation device 1a itself according to the control content instructed by the management command received from the data center 2, and each of the management commands addressed to the image processing devices 3a to 3f received from the data center 2 is subjected to image processing. Control processing to be transmitted to the devices 3a to 3f can be performed.
Further, after the mediation device 1a obtains device information 74a to 74f such as setting information, operation history, and counter from the image processing devices 3a to 3f, and performs processing for converting the device information into a predetermined format. A function of transmitting to the data center 2 is provided.

The mediation device 1b and the mediation device 1c also correspond to communication devices that perform the same functions as the mediation device 1a, and each piece of device information of the image processing device 3g and the image processing device 3h in the second customer environment 11 and the third customer environment 12 Each device information of the image processing device 3i and the image processing device 3j is acquired, and each device information is converted into a predetermined format and then transmitted to the data center 2.
The image processing apparatuses 3 a to 3 j are devices such as a scanner, a printer, a copying machine, a projector, and a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions including image reading, printing, copying, and facsimile communication. The device information 74a to 74f of the image processing devices 3a to 3f and all or part of the device information of the image processing devices 3g to 3j are managed by the data center 2, respectively.

The gateway 4 is a device that performs protocol conversion when the mediation device 1a and the data center 2 communicate via a network.
The PC 5 is a device for the user 6 or customer engineer (CE) 7 to set various data including access information and conversion information for the mediation device 1a. The access information is data used when the mediation device 1a acquires device information from the image processing devices 3a to 3f.
The conversion information is information indicating the content of processing for converting the device information acquired by the mediation device 1a from the image processing devices 3a to 3f into a predetermined format.

The user 6 is a network administrator or a device manager in the first customer environment 10 and has access information for the image processing apparatuses 3a to 3f and information on specifications of each piece of device information.
The customer engineer 7 is an engineer dispatched from a service provider that provides device management of the image processing apparatuses 3a to 3f, and has knowledge about the operation method of the mediation apparatus 1a and the data ID management table 72 of the data center 2. ing. That is, it is an operator who can create conversion information.

On the other hand, the data center 2 has a management device installed on a wide-area communication line by a service provider that provides various device management functions of the image processing apparatuses 3a to 3j , that is, a management device function that manages devices via a network. Fulfill. Also, the first customer environment converted device information table 75 to the third customer environment converted device information table 77 that receive and register the converted device information of the image processing devices 3a to 3j respectively from the mediation devices 1a to 1c are registered. A customer-specific utilization database (DB) 8 is provided. Further, a customer crossing utilization database (DB) 9 that stores a data type registration table 70, a conversion information table 71, and a data ID management table 72 is provided. Details of data stored in these tables will be described later.

In the data center 2, for example, the customer-specific utilization DB 8 and the cross-customer utilization DB 9 may be stored and held in a hard disk device. An example of cross-customer utilization of data in the cross-customer utilization DB 9 is reporting.
For example, when SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is applied as a communication protocol on the management system , the mediation devices 1a to 1c have an SNMP manager function, and the image processing devices 3a to 3j have an SNMP agent function. .

Therefore, by transmitting a management command from the data center 2 to appropriate mediation devices 1a to 1c, the device information can be acquired from the image processing devices 3a to 3j according to the SNMP protocol.
The image processing apparatuses 3a to 3j store device information in the MIB format.

In the management system shown in FIG. 2, an example of a system in which three customer environments of the first customer environment 10 to the third customer environment 12 are connected is shown, but even when more customer environments are connected. The processing described below can be applied to each customer environment. Of course, there may be one or two customer environments, and the number is arbitrary. The same applies to the number of devices to be managed arranged in the customer environment.
In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the mediation devices 1a to 1c and the image processing devices 3a to 3j, symbols without alphabets are used. The same applies to the device information 74a to 74f.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the intermediary device 1 and the data center 2 illustrated in FIG.
The mediation device 1 and the data center 2 in FIG. 2 have a central control device 20, a storage device 21, a memory device 22, an interface device 23, an input device 24, and a display device 25, as shown in FIG. They are connected by a communication line 26 such as a bus so that they can exchange data with each other.
The central control device 20 is a CPU that executes a program read from the storage device 21 in an executable manner in the memory device 22 and executes various control processes. By executing the control process, the central control device 20 realizes various functions in the mediation device 1 in the mediation device 1 in FIG. 2 and realizes various functions in the data center 2 in the data center 2.

The storage device 21 is a device that stores various data including a program executed by the central control device 20 and data necessary for the execution, and includes, for example, a hard disk device (HDD).
In the mediation device 1 of FIG. 2, the storage device 21 stores programs for realizing various functions as the mediation device 1 and various types of information including access information and conversion information.
In the data center 2 of FIG. 2, the storage device 21 stores a program for realizing various functions in the data center 2, a customer-specific utilization DB 8, and a cross-customer utilization DB 9.
The memory device 22 is, for example, a memory such as a ROM or a RAM. When a program activation instruction is issued from the central control device 20, the memory device 22 reads the program from the storage device 21, and stores the program in an executable manner.

The interface device 23 is a device used as an interface for connecting to a wide area communication line and a local communication line.
The interface device 23 controls communication with the image processing device and the PC in the customer environment and communication with the data center 2 via the gateway 4 or directly in the mediation device 1 of FIG. On the other hand, the data center 2 controls communication with the intermediary devices 1a to 1c via the gateway 4 or directly.

The input device 24 is a device such as a keyboard and a pointing device, for example, and is used by a user to input various operation instructions.
The display device 25 is a display device such as a CRT or LCD, for example, and displays a screen such as a GUI (Graphical User Interface) realized by the central control device 20 executing a program.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the intermediary device 1 shown in FIG. 2, the functional configuration of the image processing device 3, and a part of the hardware configuration together with the data center 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, the mediation device 1 includes a mediation device control unit 30, a request matrix holding unit 31, a management command analysis unit 32, as functional units realized by the central control device 20 illustrated in FIG. 3. Each unit of the data center communication function unit 33 is included.

  The data center communication function unit 33 includes a data reception function unit 34, a data response transmission function unit 35, and a timer 36. Further, the intermediary device 1 includes an image processing device search unit 37, an access / conversion information storage unit 38, an image processing device state monitoring unit 39, a device communication function unit 40, and a device information storage unit 41.

  The mediating device control unit 30 controls the entire mediating device 1 and executes the instruction content of the management command analyzed by the management command analysis unit 32. Also, a process of converting the device information acquired from the image processing apparatus to be managed into a predetermined format is executed. That is, the mediation device control unit 30 functions as a conversion unit. Although details will be described later, this conversion can be performed based on the rules stored in the access / conversion information storage unit 38.

The request matrix holding unit 31 stores the management command received by the data reception function unit 34.
The management command analysis unit 32 analyzes the instruction content of the management command and notifies the mediation device control unit 30.

  The data reception function unit 34 starts a connection to the data center 2 based on the measurement result of the timer 36, and receives a management command transmitted from the data center 2 based on the start of the connection. In addition, the access information and conversion information requested to the data center 2 are received. The access information is information indicating the storage destination of the device information acquired from the image processing device 3 and the method of accessing the device information. The conversion information is information indicating a rule for converting the device information acquired from the image processing apparatus 3 into a predetermined format.

  The device information is information such as setting contents, operation state, and operation history of the image processing apparatus. For example, various measurement values in the image processing apparatus 3 are included. The number of images formed for printing (monochrome / color) and copying (monochrome / color), the number of images forming for printing (color) and copying (color), the amount of toner used for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Further, error information at the time of failure may be included in the device information.

The data response transmission function unit 35 transmits the execution result of the management command to the data center 2 as a response. This response includes device information of the image processing apparatus acquired according to the management command. When the device information is transmitted, it is transmitted to the data center 2 as converted device information converted into a predetermined format by the mediation device control unit 30. The data response transmission function unit 35 functions as a transmission unit.
The timer 36 measures the connection start interval with the data center 2.

The image processing device search unit 37 is connected to the image processing device 3 on the local communication line based on the access information stored in the access / conversion information storage unit 38 as the device information acquisition process of the mediating device control unit 30 starts. To obtain the vendor ID and model ID of the image processing apparatus 3. That is, the image processing device search unit 37 functions as a model identification information acquisition unit.
The access / conversion information storage unit 38 includes access information that associates the model ID of the image processing apparatus with the access method to the device information acquired from the image processing apparatus, the model ID of the image processing apparatus, and the image processing apparatus. Stored is conversion information that associates a rule for converting the acquired device information into a predetermined format. That is, the access / conversion information storage unit 38 functions as a first storage unit and a second storage unit. Details of each information will be described later.

  The image processing apparatus status monitoring unit 39 determines whether or not the status of the image processing apparatus to be managed satisfies a certain monitoring condition, and requests the device communication function unit 40 when the certain monitoring condition is satisfied. Then, predetermined device information is acquired from the image processing device 3, and the operation of the image processing device to be managed is monitored based on the information. When an abnormality is detected, a request is made to the data center communication function unit 33 as necessary, and the contents are notified to the data center 2.

The device communication function unit 40 communicates with an image processing device to be managed, and acquires device information from the image processing device. Although details will be described later, this acquisition can be performed by accessing the image processing apparatus based on the access information stored in the access / conversion information storage unit 38. The device communication function unit 40 functions as a device information acquisition unit. The device communication function unit 40 is also in charge of communication with the PC 5 and receives access information and conversion information set and input from the PC 5. The device communication function unit 40 functions as a device information acquisition unit.

  The device information storage unit 41 stores device information acquired from the image processing apparatus and device information that has been converted into a predetermined format.

Next, the image processing apparatus 3 is configured as an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, and includes a controller 50, an image forming unit 51, and an operation display unit 52. The controller 50 includes a system control unit 53, a storage device 54, a memory 55, a message analysis / execution unit 57, and a device message reception unit 56. The image forming unit 51 includes an image forming unit 58 and a transport unit 59, and the image forming unit 58 and the transport unit 59 include a sensor 60 and a sensor 61, respectively.
The operation display unit 52 serves both as an input device for the user to input various operation information to the image processing device 3 and a display device for displaying various messages and work screens to the user.

The system control unit 53 is a functional unit realized by a CPU (not shown) developing a program stored in the storage device 54 in the memory 55 and executing the program. The system control unit 53 controls the entire image processing apparatus 3. .
The storage device 54 is a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk device (HDD) or NV-RAM (nonvolatile RAM), for example, and various data including a program executed by a CPU (not shown) and the above-described device information. It is a device that stores etc.
The memory 55 is a volatile storage device such as a RAM, and provides a working storage area when a CPU (not shown) executes various processes.

The device message receiving unit 56 receives the management command and request transmitted from the device communication function unit 40.
The message analysis / execution unit 57 analyzes the management command and request received by the device message reception unit 56, executes processing based on the analysis result, and returns a response. This process includes a process of acquiring device information stored in the storage device 54 and transmitting it to the mediation device 1.

The image forming unit 58 of the image forming unit 51 is an image forming engine that performs image forming at the time of image formation. The sensor 60 provided therein monitors the operation status of the image forming unit 58 and reflects the result in the device information.
The transport unit 59 is a control unit that transports a sheet of a recording medium to which the toner image of the image formed by the image forming unit 58 is transferred. The sensor 61 provided in the inside monitors the operation state of the transport unit 59 and reflects the result in the device information.
When the image processing apparatus 3 is configured as an image processing apparatus other than the image forming apparatus, an engine unit suitable for the function is provided instead of the image forming unit 51.

Next, data stored by the data center 2 and the intermediary device 1 for acquiring and managing device information from the image processing device 3 will be described.
First, FIG. 4 shows an example of the data type registration table.
This data type registration table is a table that defines what data is managed in the data center 2 and is stored in the data center 2 as indicated by reference numeral 70 in FIG. The contents are basically set by an engineer or the like according to the specifications of the management service to be provided by the data center 2. However, automatic generation is not prevented.

As shown in FIG. 4, the data type registration table registers the data type ID, the data type name, the data type, and the data of each item of the quantification rule or qualification rule in association with each other.
Among these, the data type ID is identification information of the data type managed in the data center 2. Note that various types of data are not necessarily stored in the image processing apparatus 3 to be managed as they are. Any information obtained by performing some conversion (processing) on the device information stored in the image processing apparatus 3 may be used.
The data type name is the name of data indicated by the data type ID. For example, the data type ID “000001” is data of the data type name “total counter”.

The data type indicates the data type when data is stored. For example, the data type of the data type name “total counter” is “Counter32”.
The quantification rule or the qualification rule indicates the content represented by the data value of the corresponding item. This means what kind of data the device information stored in various shapes and items depending on the model of the image processing apparatus should be finally processed. That is, it is information that defines the format of data to be finally obtained. Note that in the sense of aligning data with a predetermined scale, such data conversion or processing can be referred to as “normalization” of data.

  For example, for the total count value with the data type ID “000001”, the sum of the total number of black-and-white and color prints of the printer and the total number of black-and-white and color readings of the scanner is 1 per print output or scan. It is stipulated that data should be counted as a counted value.

For the total color count value with the data type ID “000002”, the total number of color prints of the printer and the total number of color readings of the scanner are totaled as a value counted as one count in one print output or scan. It is stipulated.
For the toner remaining amount (magenta) with the data type ID “001010”, it is defined that the remaining amount of magenta toner should be tabulated as a ratio (percentage) to the maximum value.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an example of the conversion information table.
The conversion information table may be stored in any location as long as the conversion information table is stored in a location that can be referred to from the mediation apparatus 1. Even if it is stored locally in the intermediary device 1, it may be stored in the data center 2 as shown by reference numeral 71 in FIG. You may memorize | store in the memory | storage means provided in the other apparatus.

Further, the contents of the conversion information table are basically registered in the table by referring to the data type registration table shown in FIG. 4 by the customer engineer 7 who knows the specifications of the image processing apparatus 3 to be managed. The method of obtaining the parameters being registered is registered. Formulas and conversions indicating which device information stored in the image processing device can be converted (processed) and how data can be obtained according to the quantification rules or qualification rules registered in the data type registration table You can register the conditions. Note that the contents of the conversion information table can be automatically generated.

In this conversion information table, as shown in FIG. 5, data of each item of data type ID, vendor ID, model ID, and conversion information is registered in association with each other.
Among these, the data type ID is the same as the data type ID in the data type registration table shown in FIG.

The vendor ID is identification information indicating a company that manufactures the image processing apparatus. In order to identify the model, the model ID is basically sufficient, but since the model name may coincide by chance at different manufacturers, the vendor ID is also used here for identifying the model.
The model ID is identification information indicating the model of the image processing apparatus. Even if the hardware is the same model, if the device information storage mode or tabulation mode has changed due to firmware update, a different model ID may be assigned to each firmware version.
The above vendor ID and model ID are model identification information.

  The conversion information is information that defines how to convert the device information to be acquired in order to calculate the data indicated by the data type ID and the acquired device information. In the example of FIG. 5, it is indicated that the device information of the corresponding ID should be acquired using the data ID registered in the access information table shown in FIG. In addition, the rules for how to convert the acquired device information are shown by the formula of the four arithmetic operations.

Since device information stored for each model of the image processing apparatus is different, conversion information suitable for the corresponding model is prepared for each model.
Further, the conversion information provides a conversion rule for the device information and searches the access information table shown in FIG. 6 to obtain an access method to the device information through which device information is necessary. It can be said that it provides key information.

In the example of FIG. 5, for the total counter value with the data type ID “000001”, the device information with the data ID “A000000XXXX” and the device information with the data ID “A000000YYYY” are acquired for the ModelXXX manufactured by Company A. It is specified that these should be added. On the other hand, in the case of AAA-BBB Model manufactured by Company B, it is stipulated that three pieces of device information with data IDs “B003333XXXX”, “B003333YYYY”, and “B003333ZZZZ” should be acquired and added.
In addition to the four arithmetic operations as shown in FIG. 5, it is also possible to define a rule for converting qualitative data such as “full” or “near end” into quantitative data. Conversely, it is possible to define rules for converting quantitative data into qualitative data.

Next, FIG. 6 shows an example of the access information table.
This access information table only needs to be held in a location that can be referred to from the mediation apparatus 1. However, since it is a table for registering community names used for purposes such as passwords in SNMP and authentication passwords themselves, it is necessary to prevent access from third parties. In that sense, it is not preferable that the data center 2 aggregates information from each intermediary device 1.

  The contents of the access information table are basically acquired from the image processing apparatus 3 by the user 6 who knows the specifications of the image processing apparatus 3 to be managed and the authentication information for accessing the image processing apparatus 3. The device information that needs to be registered is registered. The acquisition method can be indicated by which OID (object ID) data should be accessed among the data held by the image processing apparatus 3 in the MIB format. In addition, community name and V2.2c. If additional information such as extended information for 3 is required, it is also registered. Further, it is not hindered to automatically generate the contents of the access information table.

As shown in FIG. 6, the access information table includes a data ID, a vendor ID, a model ID, an OID, a community name, and V2.2c. The data of each item of the extended information for 3 is registered correspondingly.
Of these, the data ID is an ID for identifying an item of device information. Even if device information represents the same content or exactly the same content, if the model of the image processing apparatus 3 is different, the storage position may be different. Register.

The vendor ID and model ID are the same as those in the conversion information table of FIG.
The OID is information indicating in which part of the data held in the MIB format in the corresponding model the corresponding device information exists. That is, it is understood that desired device information can be obtained by accessing data having the OID using SNMP.

The community name is a community name used when accessing device information of the corresponding model using SNMP.
V2.2c. The extended information for 3 is extended information such as an authentication password used when accessing device information of the corresponding model using SNMP. If extended information is unnecessary, “None” may be registered.

Based on the above information, for example, when it is desired to acquire device information with the data ID “A000000XXXX”, SNMP is used to access data having an OID of “1.3.6.1.2.1.2.1...” Using “public” as the community name. You can see that The vendor ID and model ID are for reference in this table, and may not be registered.
In addition, even if information on the same device information is registered in duplicate in the access information table by giving a plurality of data IDs, the data ID is indicated from the data ID included in the conversion information of the conversion information table. There is no particular problem if a device information acquisition method is obtained.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an example of the data ID management table.
This data ID management table can be stored in the data center 2 and updated based on information notified from each mediation apparatus 1. This is for facilitating the creation of the access information table in the intermediary device 1 by sharing a portion of the access information table that can be shared.

In this data ID management table, as shown in FIG. 7, data items of data ID, vendor ID, model ID, and OID are registered in association with each other. The significance of these items is the same as in the access information table.
The information in this range is information on the specifications of the image processing apparatus, and is not set individually by the user of the image processing apparatus, so it can be shared. On the other hand, it is useful information for acquiring individual device information.
The usage of this data ID management table will be described later.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example of the converted device information table.
This converted device information table is a table for managing device information stored in the data center 2 and notified from each intermediary device 1. The device information stored here is, of course, information converted into a predetermined format according to the conversion information registered in the conversion information table.

In the converted device information table, as shown in FIG. 8, a customer ID, a device ID, a data type ID, a data value, and an acquisition date and time are registered.
Among these, the customer ID is identification information for specifying the customer environment shown in FIG. Here, it shows which customer's device information the device information is.

The device ID is identification information for specifying an individual device. Here, the image processing apparatus from which the device information is acquired is shown.
The data type ID is the same as that in the data type registration table of FIG. Here, the type of data acquired is shown.
The data value is a value of the acquired device information after conversion.
The acquisition date / time indicates the date / time when the device information is acquired.

  When the data center 2 is notified of the device information of the image processing device 3 from the mediation device 1, the data center 2 registers the information related to the notification in the converted device information table. In FIG. 2, there is a converted device information table for each customer environment, but FIG. 8 shows an example in which these tables are combined into one table.

Next, a process in which the mediation device 1 acquires device information of the image processing device 3 and transmits it to the data center 2 will be described.
First, a process when the contents of the access information table and the conversion information table are set from the PC 5 by the user 6 or the CE 7 to the intermediary device 1 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating a first example of processing in which the mediation device 1 acquires device information of the image processing device 3 and transmits the device information to the data center 2.

When there is an input for setting conversion information to be registered in the conversion information table shown in FIG. 5 from the PC 5 (S11), the intermediary device 1 registers this in the conversion information table and transmits a response to the PC 5 (S12).
When there is an input for setting access information to be registered in the access information table shown in FIG. 6 from the PC 5 (S13), this is registered in the access information table and a response is transmitted to the PC 5 (S14).

  These processes can be repeated any number of times in no particular order. Further, the intermediary device 1 transmits the conversion information registered in the conversion information table and the access information registered in the access information table to the data center 2 at an appropriate timing, and registers them in the conversion information table and access information table of the data center 2. (S15). The data to be transmitted here is data excluding customer-specific information such as community names and extended information shown in FIG.

Upon receiving this, the data center 2 registers in the conversion information table and the data ID management table shown in FIG. 7 and returns a receipt response (S16). The information registered here can be referred to from an arbitrary intermediary device 1 in the process of FIG. 10 described later.
In this way, the information set for a certain intermediary device 1 is transmitted to the data center 2 to be registered, and can be referred to from other intermediary devices 1, so that the data ID management table is stored in each intermediary device 1. It is possible to substantially reduce the effort of sharing and creating contents. Of course, such sharing may be performed between the mediation apparatuses 1 in different customer environments.

  Further, the mediation device 1 should acquire device information from the image processing device 3 and transmit it to the data center 2 by operating the input device 24, detecting arrival of a predetermined time by the timer 36, detecting a management command from the data center 2, and the like. When this is detected, the data type ID of the data to be transmitted and the acquisition destination image processing device are specified (S21), and the processing from step S22 onward for data transmission is started. This process can be started at an arbitrary timing as long as necessary data is registered in the conversion information table and the access information table. The image processing apparatus may be specified by specifying the device ID, the address, and the like to such an extent that the image processing apparatus 3 can be accessed.

First, the mediation apparatus 1 requests the specified image processing apparatus 3 to acquire the vendor ID and model ID of the image processing apparatus 3 (S22). Note that the vendor ID and model ID can usually be acquired by the standard MIB, and therefore it is not necessary to refer to the access information table for this request.
On the other hand, the image processing apparatus 3 returns a vendor ID and a model ID, and the mediation apparatus 1 receives this (S23). The received vendor ID and model ID are stored, for example, in the memory device 22 of FIG.

Next, the intermediary device 1 refers to the conversion information table and specifies the data ID of the device information to be acquired in order to obtain the data to be transmitted to the data center 2 based on the vendor ID and model ID acquired in step S23. (S24). Specifically, the conversion information table may be searched using the data type ID specified in step S21 and the vendor ID and model ID acquired in step S23 as keys, and the data ID included in the corresponding conversion information may be acquired.
Next, the intermediary device 1 refers to the access information table and identifies a method for acquiring device information having the data ID identified in step S24 (S25). If multiple pieces of device information are required, the acquisition method is specified for all of them. This may simply searches the access information table data ID as a key.

Next, the mediating apparatus 1 accesses the image processing apparatus 3 according to the acquisition method specified in step S25, and requests device information (S26). Upon receiving this access, the image processing device 3 returns device information, and the mediation device 1 receives this (S27).
Next, the intermediary device 1 converts the acquired device information according to the conversion rule registered in the conversion information table (S28). This conversion rule is indicated by the conversion information referred to in step S24.

  Thereafter, the intermediary device 1 notifies the data center 2 of the converted device information (S29). The data center 2 registers this information in the converted device information table shown in FIG. 8, and returns a receipt response (S30). In step S29, the intermediary device 1 may transmit other information to be registered in the converted device information table, such as the customer ID, device ID, data type ID, and acquisition date.

In this way, the data center 2 can acquire and store the device information of the image processing apparatus 3 to be managed in a state converted into a predetermined format. In other words, even when the model of the image processing apparatus 3 to be managed is different and device information in which various data formats and counting units differ depending on the manufacturer or model is stored, a unified format specified in advance is stored. It can be obtained as information.
Therefore, the collected information can be compared based on a unified standard, and efficient management can be performed.

Next, processing when the mediation apparatus 1 acquires access information and conversion information from the data center 2 will be described.
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a second example of processing in which the mediation device 1 acquires device information of the image processing device 3 and transmits the device information to the data center 2.

  In this process, as in the case of step S21 in FIG. 9, when the mediating apparatus 1 detects that the device information is acquired from the image processing apparatus 3 and should be transmitted to the data center 2, the data type ID of the data to be transmitted And the acquisition destination image processing apparatus is specified (S41), and the process after step S42 for data transmission is started.

  First, the mediation apparatus 1 requests the specified image processing apparatus 3 to acquire the vendor ID and model ID of the image processing apparatus 3 (S42). On the other hand, the image processing apparatus 3 returns a vendor ID and a model ID, and the mediation apparatus 1 receives this (S43). This part is also the same as steps S22 and S23 in FIG.

  Next, the intermediary device 1 transmits the data type ID specified in step S41 and the vendor ID and model ID acquired in step S43 to the data center 2, and requests conversion information corresponding to these (S44). . On the other hand, the data center 2 returns conversion information corresponding to each ID received with reference to its own conversion information table, and the mediation apparatus 1 receives this (S45). In the conversion information table of the data center 2, it is assumed that the conversion information set in each mediating apparatus 1 is collected by the processing in step S15 in FIG.

  Next, the intermediary device 1 transmits to the data center 2 the data ID of the device information determined to be acquired based on the conversion information received in step S45, and requests access information corresponding to these (S46). On the other hand, the data center 2 returns the access information corresponding to the received data ID with reference to its own data ID management table, and the mediation apparatus 1 receives this (S47). In the data ID management table of the data center 2, it is assumed that the access information set in each intermediary device 1 is collected by the processing in step S15 in FIG.

  Thereafter, the intermediary device 1 acquires any authentication information necessary for accessing the image processing device 3 in accordance with the acquired access information (S48). This is because the access information acquired from the data center 2 does not include community names or extended information. This authentication information can be acquired from an authentication information management unit (not shown) that manages the authentication information of the image processing apparatus 3 in the mediation apparatus 1.

  Next, according to the authentication information acquisition method specified by the access information acquired in step S47, the mediating apparatus 1 accesses the image processing apparatus 3 using the authentication information acquired in step S48 and requests device information (S49). ). Upon receiving this access, the image processing device 3 returns device information, and the mediation device 1 receives this (S50).

Next, the mediating apparatus 1 converts the acquired device information according to the conversion rule specified by the conversion information acquired in step S45 (S51).
Thereafter, the intermediary device 1 notifies the data center 2 of the converted device information (S52). The data center 2 registers this information in the converted device information table shown in FIG. 8, and returns a receipt response (S53). These processes are the same as steps S29 and S30 in FIG.

In this way, in the data center 2, as in the case of FIG. 9, the device information of the image processing apparatus 3 to be managed can be acquired and stored in a state converted into a predetermined format.
Note that the contents of the conversion information table and the data ID management table provided in the data center 2 are not necessarily created based on the information transmitted from the mediation apparatus 1. You may create based on the information which the operator of the data center 2 input.

Although the description of the embodiment has been completed above, in the present invention, the specific configuration of each unit, the content of processing, the data format, and the like are not limited to those described in the embodiment.
For example, in steps S44 and S46 in FIG. 10, the mediating apparatus 1 does not request conversion information and access information from the data center 2, but requests transmission of the conversion information table and the data ID management table itself. Also good. Then, these tables may be downloaded and stored locally (the data ID management table is changed to an access information table), and thereafter the same processing as in FIG. 9 may be performed.

Further, it is not necessary to directly acquire model identification information such as a vendor ID and model ID from the target image processing apparatus from which device information is acquired. For example, if a vendor ID or model ID is registered in the list of managed devices in association with the device ID, the model identification information of the desired device may be acquired from the list.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the mediation devices 1a to 1c are image processing devices as devices for acquiring device information has been described. However, in general devices such as communication devices such as facsimile devices and information processing devices such as personal computers. Can be carried out in the same manner as described above.
Moreover, it is needless to say that the configurations of the embodiment and the modified examples described above can be arbitrarily combined and implemented as long as they do not contradict each other.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a-1c: Mediation apparatus 2: Data center 3a-3j: Image processing apparatus 4: Gateway 5: Information processing apparatus 6: User 7: Customer engineer 8: Utilization database classified by customer 9: Cross-customer utilization database 10: 1st customer environment 11: Second customer environment 12: Third customer environment 20: Central control device 21: Storage device 22: Memory device 23: Interface device 24: Input device 25: Display device 26: Communication line 30: Mediation device control unit 31: Request Matrix holding unit 32: Management command analysis unit 33: Data center communication function unit 34: Data reception function unit 35: Data response transmission function unit 36: Timer 37: Image processing device search unit 38: Access / conversion information storage unit 39: The image processing apparatus state monitoring section 40: pair-device communication function unit 41: device information storage unit 50: controller 51 Image forming unit 52: Operation display unit 53: System control unit 54: Storage device 55: Memory 56: Device message receiving unit 57: Message analysis / execution unit 58: Image forming unit 59: Conveying unit 60, 61: Sensor 70: Data Type registration table 71: Conversion information table 72: Data ID management tables 74a to 74f: Device information 75: First customer environment converted device information table 76: Second customer environment converted device information table 77: Third customer environment converted Device information table

JP 2011-159127 A

Claims (6)

Model identification information acquisition means for acquiring the model identification information of the device from the device on the communication line;
Referring to the first storage means for storing the model identification information of the device and the method of accessing the device information acquired from the device in association with each other, the device that has acquired the model identification information by the model identification information acquisition means Device information acquisition means for acquiring device information from the device accessed by an access method corresponding to the model identification information;
The device information acquired by the device information acquisition unit with reference to the second storage unit that stores the model identification information of the device and the rule for converting the device information acquired from the device into a predetermined format. Converting means for converting the data into the predetermined format according to a rule corresponding to the model identification information of the device acquired by the model identification information acquisition means ;
Receiving means for starting a connection to a management device for managing devices via a network and receiving a management command transmitted from the management device based on the start of the connection;
A transmission unit that transmits the device information converted by the conversion unit, acquired according to the management command received by the reception unit, to the management device;
A communication apparatus comprising: The communication device according to claim 1 ,
The management device and a rule corresponding to the access method corresponding to the first model identification information and該機type identification information to be stored in the memory means, model identification information and該機type identification information stored in the second storage means A communication apparatus comprising means for obtaining from The communication device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
Accepting inputs of model identification information stored in the first storage means, an access method corresponding to the model identification information, model identification information stored in the second storage means, and rules corresponding to the model identification information Means for storing the input information in the first or second storage means;
The first access method corresponding to the stored model identification information and該機type identification information in the storage means, said management device and a rule corresponding to the model identification information and該機type identification information stored in the second storage means And a communication device. A management system comprising a management device that manages devices via a network, and an intermediary device that mediates communication between the management device and a managed device,
In the mediating device,
Model identification information acquisition means for acquiring model identification information of the device from the managed device;
Referring to the first storage means for storing the model identification information of the device and the method of accessing the device information acquired from the device in association with each other, the device that has acquired the model identification information by the model identification information acquisition means Device information acquisition means for acquiring device information from the device accessed by an access method corresponding to the model identification information;
The device information acquired by the device information acquisition unit with reference to the second storage unit that stores the model identification information of the device and the rule for converting the device information acquired from the device into a predetermined format. Converting means for converting the data into the predetermined format according to a rule corresponding to the model identification information of the device acquired by the model identification information acquisition means;
Receiving means for starting a connection to the management device and receiving a management command transmitted from the management device based on the start of the connection;
A transmission unit that transmits the device information converted by the conversion unit , acquired according to the management command received by the reception unit, to the management device ;
A management system characterized by comprising: The management system according to claim 4 ,
In the mediating device,
Model management information stored in the first storage means, an access method corresponding to the model identification information, model identification information stored in the second storage means, and rules corresponding to the model identification information A management system comprising means for obtaining from The management system according to claim 4 or 5 ,
In the mediating device,
Accepting inputs of model identification information stored in the first storage means, an access method corresponding to the model identification information, model identification information stored in the second storage means, and rules corresponding to the model identification information Means for storing the input information in the first or second storage means;
Model management information stored in the first storage means, an access method corresponding to the model identification information, model identification information stored in the second storage means, and rules corresponding to the model identification information And a means for transmitting to the management system.

Images