JP7121352B2 - remote communication system - Google Patents

Description

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

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a system that executes communication between an image forming apparatus and an electronic device existing inside a LAN (Local Area Network) to which the image forming apparatus belongs (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-100003). A system described in Patent Document 1 causes an image forming apparatus to display a UI (User Interface) screen generated by an electronic device, and causes the image forming apparatus to execute printing based on print data accumulated in the electronic device. .

JP 2006-238199 A

However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, it is assumed 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 to which the image forming apparatus belongs is controlled. In order to control the image forming apparatus from an external electronic device, there is a problem in terms of security.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention 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.

A remote communication system of the present invention includes an image forming apparatus, an electronic device existing outside a 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, a session management system for managing the session, wherein the session relay system notifies the session management system of a first session ID and a second session ID for identifying communication by the session in the session relay system. and the session management system notifies the electronic device of the first session ID and notifies the image forming apparatus of the second session ID, and the electronic device performs the session relay A connection using the first session ID is established with the system, the image forming apparatus establishes a connection using the second session ID with the session relay system, and the session relay system establishes a connection using the second session ID with the session relay system. The system associates a connection established with the electronic device and a connection established with the image forming device by the first session ID and the second session ID, thereby performing the session. is relayed.

With this configuration, in the remote communication system of the present invention, among the electronic devices existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs, only the electronic device to which the first session ID has been notified from the session management system is connected to the session relay system. Since a session is established with the image forming apparatus relayed by , it is possible to improve security when controlling the image forming apparatus from an electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.

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 session IDs different from each other in the session relay system, so it is possible to simplify session ID processing in the session relay system.

In the remote communication system of the present invention, a connection using the first session ID established between the session relay system and the electronic device, and a connection established between the session relay system and the image forming apparatus. , and at least one of the connections using the second session ID may be encrypted communication connections.

With this configuration, in the remote communication system of the present invention, since at least a part of the path of the session between the electronic device and the image forming apparatus, which is relayed by the session relay system, is encrypted, it is possible to crack the image forming apparatus. It is possible to prevent unauthorized use such as

In the remote communication system of the present invention, the session management system receives a session start request from the electronic device when a user of the electronic device is logged in to the session management system, and is at least notification of the first session ID to the electronic device and notification of the second session ID to the image forming apparatus when the session start request is not received from the electronic device; You don't have to run one.

With this configuration, in the remote communication system of the present invention, the session between the electronic device and the image forming apparatus relayed by the session relay system only when the user of the electronic device can log in to the session management system. Since it is established, the security of this session can be improved.

In the remote communication system of the present invention, the session management system notifies the electronic device of the first session ID, At least one of notification of the second session ID to the forming device may not be performed.

With this configuration, the remote communication system of the present invention establishes a session between the electronic device and the image forming apparatus that is relayed by the session relay system only when the user of the image forming apparatus approves the start of the session. security for this session can be improved.

In the remote communication system of the present invention, the session relay system obtains the first session ID and the second session ID in response to a request for the first session ID and the second session ID from the session management system. The session relay system notifies the session management system of the session ID, and each time the session management system requests the first session ID and the second session ID, the session relay system transmits the first session ID and the At least one of the second session IDs may be changed.

With this configuration, the remote communication system of the present invention sets at least one of the first session ID and the second session ID each time a session between the electronic device and the image forming apparatus relayed by the session relay system is established. This session can be made more secure because one is changed.

In the remote communication system of the present invention, the electronic device receives screen data to be displayed on the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus via the session, displays a screen based on the data, and receiving an operation on the screen displayed based on the data and transmitting the operation to the image forming apparatus via the session, wherein the image forming apparatus responds to the operation received from the electronic device via the session; may work.

With this configuration, the remote communication system of the present invention displays the same screen as the screen displayed on the image forming apparatus on the electronic apparatus existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs, thereby allowing the electronic apparatus to Since the image forming apparatus is operated, the image forming apparatus can be easily operated at low cost from an electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.

The remote communication system of the present invention can improve security when controlling an image forming apparatus from an electronic device existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus belongs.

1 is a block diagram of a remote communication system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when it is 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 showing functions realized by the session relay system shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of operations of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when a user of a connection terminal logs in to the remote maintenance system; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of operations of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when remote maintenance is performed via the remote maintenance system; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when starting a remote session; FIG. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of device-side session establishment shown in FIG. 8; FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of session establishment on the connection terminal side shown in FIG. 8; 9 is a diagram showing an example of a remote session approval screen displayed in the operation shown in FIG. 8; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when the image forming apparatus operates in response to a request from a connected terminal via a remote session; FIG. 13A shows HTTP data processed by the server application in the operation shown in FIG. 12; FIG. (b) A diagram showing HTTP data for relaying the HTTP data shown in FIG. 13(a) on the Internet. 2 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the remote communication system shown in FIG. 1 when terminating a remote session; FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram of device-side session termination shown in FIG. 14; FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

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

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

As shown in FIG. 1, the 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 for controlling communication between a connection terminal 40 as an electronic device existing outside the network to which 20 belongs, an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10, and a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10. a control system 15;

The remote communication control system 15 is a remote maintenance system 50 that is a cloud service that performs remote maintenance on the image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10 in accordance with an instruction from a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10. , an image forming apparatus included in the remote communication system 10, and a cloud that relays a direct interconnection between 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, which is a service.

The remote communication system 10 can include image forming apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus 20 in the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. The remote communication system 10 can include a network to which the image forming device belongs in addition to the network to which the image forming device 20 belongs. The image forming apparatuses included in the remote communication system 10 are, for example, image forming apparatuses such as MFPs (Multifunction Peripherals), dedicated printers, dedicated copiers, dedicated fax machines, and dedicated scanners.

The gateway 30 constitutes a firewall that prevents attacks on the inside of 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 communicating with the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). Maintained by staying connected.

The remote communication system 10 can include connection terminals other than the connection terminal 40 . A 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. Remote maintenance performed by the remote maintenance system 50 is, for example, maintenance such as checking the counter of the image forming apparatus and installing firmware to the image forming apparatus. The remote maintenance system 50 not only performs remote maintenance, but also manages remote sessions. That is, the remote maintenance system 50 constitutes the session management system of the present invention.

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

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of image forming apparatus 20 when it is an MFP.

The image forming apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 2 includes an operation unit 21, which is an input device such as buttons for inputting various operations, and a display unit 22, which is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for displaying 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 device (not shown) via a communication line such as a public telephone line. and a communication unit 26, which is a communication device that communicates with an external device directly by wire or wirelessly via a network or not via a network, and various and a control unit 28 for controlling the image forming apparatus 20 as a whole.

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 for the CPU. there is The CPU executes programs stored in the ROM or storage unit 27 .

By executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27, the control unit 28 controls a server application 28a that is used via a remote session from a connection terminal included in the remote communication system 10, and a session relay system 60 ( See FIG. 1.) and the Cloud Hub Agent 28b that controls communication between them.

By executing programs stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27, the control unit 28 can implement server applications other than the server application 28a.

As a server application realized by the control unit 28, for example, various setting conditions of the image forming apparatus 20 are notified to the outside of the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, and from outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs. There is a web server that accepts various settings of the image forming apparatus 20 . Further, 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 for 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.

A server application implemented by controller 28 can be identified by an application ID.

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

As shown in FIG. 3, the connection terminal 40 includes an operation unit 41, which is an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various operations, and a display unit 42, which is a display device such as an LCD for displaying various information. , a communication unit 43 that is a communication device that communicates directly with an external device by wire or wirelessly via a network or without a network, and a semiconductor memory that stores various information, a non-volatile such as an HDD and a control unit 45 that controls the entire connection terminal 40 .

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

The control unit 45 executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 44 to provide a login unit 45a for executing login processing to the remote maintenance system 50, and a remote maintenance unit for instructing the remote maintenance system 50 to perform remote maintenance. A maintenance instructing 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 implemented.

By executing a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 44, the control unit 45 can implement a client other than the client 45c.

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 sent to this Web Server. There is a web browser pointing to it. As a client realized by the control unit 45, for example, a screen based on screen data received from a Remote APP Server as a server application is displayed on the display unit 42, and the operation unit 41 responds to this screen. There is an application such as a Remote APP Client that sends input operations to this Remote APP Server.

A client implemented by the controller 45 can be identified by an application ID. 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 this client.

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

As shown in FIG. 4, the remote maintenance system 50 includes login permission determination means 51 for determining whether or not to permit a user's login by executing a specific program, and remote maintenance means for executing remote maintenance. 52 and session management means 53 for managing remote sessions.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing functions realized by the session relay system 60. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the session relay system 60 implements a Cloud Hub 61 that controls communication with image forming apparatuses included in the remote communication system 10 by executing a specific program. The session relay system 60 can implement a Cloud Hub in addition to the Cloud Hub 61 by executing a specific program.

The session relay system 60 implements a Web Agent 62 that controls communication with connection terminals included in the remote communication system 10 by executing a specific program. The session relay system 60 can implement 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 to which Cloud Hub the image forming apparatus is to be connected and to which Web Agent to connect the connected terminal by executing a specific program, and logs related to remote sessions. A session management database 64 is realized.

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 session relay system 60 and the number of Web Agents included in session relay system 60 are the same.

When an image forming device included in the remote communication system 10 connects to the session relay system 60, the Master 63 determines which Cloud Hub to connect this image forming device to. However, detailed description of the operation of the 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 this connection terminal to. However, detailed description of the operation of the Master 63 will be omitted below.

Next, 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 into 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 into the remote maintenance system 50. As shown in FIG.

A user of the connection terminal 40 can instruct to log in to the remote maintenance system 50 by inputting a user ID and a password via the operation unit 41 . Upon receiving the instruction to log in to the remote maintenance system 50, the login means 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. By doing so, the process of logging into the remote maintenance system 50 is executed (S101).

When a login is requested from the connection terminal 40, the login permission determination means 51 of the remote maintenance system 50 determines whether or not to permit the login of the user based on the combination of the user ID and password notified from the connection terminal 40. (S102), and 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. As shown in FIG.

When the user of the connection terminal 40 logs in to the remote maintenance system 50, a specific image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as the image forming apparatus 20 in the explanation of the operation shown in FIG. 7) via the remote maintenance system 50. ) can be instructed through the operation unit 41 . When the remote maintenance instruction unit 45b of the connection terminal 40 receives the remote maintenance instruction via the remote maintenance system 50, as shown in FIG. By notifying the remote maintenance system 50, the remote maintenance system 50 is instructed to perform the remote maintenance instructed via the operation unit 41 (S121).

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

When maintenance is requested by 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 maintenance execution result to the remote maintenance system 50 by XMPP. Notify (S124).

When the maintenance execution result is notified from the image forming apparatus 20, the remote maintenance means 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 operations of the remote communication system 10 when starting a remote session. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of device-side session establishment shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of connection terminal side session establishment shown in FIG.

When the user of the connection terminal 40 logs in to the remote maintenance system 50, the user designates a specific client (hereafter referred to as the client 45c in the explanation of the operations shown in FIGS. 8 to 10) and (hereinafter referred to as the image forming apparatus 20 in the description of the operations shown in FIGS. 8 to 10). When the remote session control unit 45d of the connection terminal 40 receives the instruction to start the remote session, the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 instructed via the operation unit 41 and the operation By notifying the remote maintenance system 50 of the application ID of the client 45c instructed via the unit 41, the remote maintenance system 50 is requested to start a remote session (S141).

Note that 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 . It is preferable to inform the user of the image forming apparatus 20 of his desire to start a remote session with the image forming apparatus 20 in advance by, for example, a telephone method.

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 completing the remote session. XMPP requests approval of the start of the (S142).

Of the server applications of the image forming apparatus 20, upon receiving the request of S142, the server application 28a specified by the application ID notified in S142 performs a remote session approval process for accepting 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. As shown in FIG.

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 disapproval of the start of the remote session. and a NO button 73 for receiving instructions. A user of image forming apparatus 20 can press either YES button 72 or NO button 73 via 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, when 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 performs the following operations. 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 means 45d of the connection terminal 40 displays on the display section 42 that the remote session has not been approved.

Upon receiving the notification of S144, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 requests connection information from the session relay system 60 by 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 this remote session communication in the session relay system 60 (S146), and performs remote maintenance using the generated session ID as connection information. The API notifies the system 50 (S147). As the session ID, for example, a random number sequence generated by a hash algorithm such as HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) is BASE64-encoded so that it can be handled on HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). Adopted.

When the session ID is notified in S147, the session management means 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 the session ID notified in step S149 to the image forming apparatus 20 by XMPP.

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

When the server application 28a of the image forming apparatus 20 is notified of the token and session ID in S149, it activates the Cloud Hub Agent 28b set with the token and session ID notified in S149 (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 session ID (S172).

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

When the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 is notified of the success of the authentication in S175, it stores a log indicating that the session with the image forming apparatus 20 has started in the session management database 64 (S176), and stores it in S176. The log and the token are notified to the remote maintenance system 50 by API (S177). Therefore, the session management means 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 notifies the session manager that this log has been managed. It replies to relay system 60 by API (S179).

When the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 is notified of the success of the authentication in S175, it notifies the image forming apparatus 20 that a session has been established with the image forming apparatus 20 (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 means 45d of the connection terminal 40 requests the remote maintenance system 50 for the connection information by polling until the connection information can be obtained from the remote maintenance system 50 (S201).

When the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 receives the request of S201 and has already generated a token in S148, it combines this token and the session ID notified from the session relay system 60 in S147 into connection information. is notified to the connection terminal 40 (S202).

When the remote session control means 45d of the connection terminal 40 is notified of the token and session ID in S202, it activates the client 45c set with the token and session ID notified in S202 (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 session ID (S204).

Of the Web Agents of the session relay system 60, the Web Agent 62 associated with the session ID notified in S204 receives the request in S204 and notifies the Cloud Hub 61 of the token and session ID notified in S204. to request 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 via API for authentication using the token notified in S205 (S206). Therefore, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 executes the authentication requested by S206 (S207), and notifies the session relay system 60 of the authentication result by API (S208).

When the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 is notified of the success of the authentication in S208, it stores a log indicating that the session with the connection terminal 40 has started in the session management database 64 (S209), and stores the log stored in S209. is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 through the API together with the token (S210). Therefore, the session management means 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 notifies the session manager that this log has been managed. It replies to the relay system 60 by API (S212).

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

Session relay system 60 establishes a WebSocket connection with image forming apparatus 20 by the operations shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 and connection terminal 40 by the operations shown in FIGS. associated WebSocket connection by a session ID. Accordingly, a remote session is established by the operations shown in FIGS. 8-10.

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

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

FIG. 13(a) is a diagram showing HTTP data 80 processed by the server application 28a. FIG. 13(b) shows HTTP data 90 for relaying the HTTP data 80 shown in FIG. 13(a) on the Internet.

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

The client 45c generates HTTP data having the same structure as the HTTP data 90 shown in FIG. Here, the session ID is stored in a location corresponding to the HTTP header 91. FIG.

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 by WebSocket connection (S232).

Of 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. Pass (S233). Accordingly, the Cloud Hub 61 transmits this HTTP request to the image forming apparatus 20 through the WebSocket connection corresponding to the session ID included in this HTTP request (S234).

When the HTTP request is transmitted 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 this 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 sent 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. 13(a).

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

When the server application 28a receives the HTTP request in S237, it generates an HTTP response corresponding to this 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. 13(a).

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, Cloud Hub Agent 28b generates an HTTP response by attaching an HTTP header for relaying on the Internet 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. 13(b). A session ID is stored in 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 by WebSocket connection (S241).

Of 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 sends the HTTP response to the Web Agent 62 when the HTTP response is transmitted in S241. Pass (S242). Therefore, the Web Agent 62 transmits this HTTP response to the connection terminal 40 through the WebSocket connection corresponding to the session ID included in this 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 of device-side session termination shown in FIG.

A user of the connection terminal 40 can access a specific server application (hereinafter referred to as FIG. In the description of the operation shown in FIG. Upon receiving the instruction to end the remote session, the remote session control means 45d of the connection terminal 40 transmits the token and session ID of the remote session instructed via the operation unit 41 to the client 45c as shown in FIGS. to request the client 45c to terminate the remote session (S261). Therefore, the client 45c requests the session relay system 60 to terminate the remote session requested in S261 by WebSocket connection (S262).

Of the Web Agents of the session relay system 60, the Web Agent 62 associated with the session ID included in the request in S262 passes this request to the Cloud Hub 61 when the termination of the remote session is requested in S262 (S263). Therefore, the Cloud Hub 61 requests the remote maintenance system 50 to terminate the remote session identified by the token included in this request via 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, which is the target of the remote session requested of S264, to terminate the remote session by XMPP (S265).

Next, the session management means 53 notifies the session relay system 60 of the reception of the remote session end request by API (S266).

When the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 is notified in S266 that the remote session termination request has been accepted, it stores a log indicating that the session with the connection terminal 40 has been terminated in the session management database 64 (S267), The log stored in S267 is notified to the remote maintenance system 50 together with the token by API (S268). Therefore, the session management means 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 notifies the session manager that this log has been managed. It replies to relay system 60 by API (S270).

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

Upon receiving the notification of S272, the client 45c of the connection terminal 40 notifies the remote session control means 45d of termination of the WebSocket connection between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 (S273), and terminates its own operation. .

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

Of the server applications of the image forming apparatus 20, upon receiving the request of S265, the server application 28a that is the target of the remote session requested in S265 notifies the Cloud Hub Agent 28b of the token and session ID of this remote session. By doing so, the Cloud Hub Agent 28b is requested to terminate 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 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 this request via API (S293).

Upon receiving the request of S293, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 notifies the session relay system 60 of the fact that the remote session termination request has been received by the API (S294).

When the Cloud Hub 61 of the session relay system 60 is notified in S294 that the remote session termination request has been accepted, it stores a log indicating that the session with the image forming apparatus 20 has terminated in the session management database 64 (S295). , and notifies the log stored in S295 together with the token to the remote maintenance system 50 through the API (S296). Therefore, the session management means 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 manages the log notified in S296 as the log of the remote session identified by the token notified in S296 (S297), and notifies the session manager that this log has been managed. It returns to relay system 60 by API (S298).

Cloud Hub 61 of session relay system 60, upon receiving the reply in S298, notifies image forming apparatus 20 of termination of the WebSocket connection between image forming apparatus 20 and session relay system 60 (S299).

The Cloud Hub Agent 28b of the image forming apparatus 20 ends its own operation upon receiving the notification of S299.

It should be noted that the session management unit 53 of the remote maintenance system 50 receives notification from the session relay system 60 of the log indicating the end of the session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the session relay system 60, the connection terminal 40 and the session relay. When it is confirmed that a log indicating the end of the session between the systems 60 has been notified from the session relay system 60, the remote session between the image forming apparatus 20 and the connection terminal 40 via the session relay system 60 is terminated. judge that it did. If session management means 53 determines that the remote session of image forming apparatus 20 and connection terminal 40 via session relay system 60 has not ended, session management means 53 determines that the remote session of image forming apparatus 20 and connection terminal 40 via session relay system 60 has not ended. Do not allow 40 new remote sessions to be established.

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 relays the session. A WebSocket connection using a session ID is established with the system 60 (S201 to S214), and 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-S243). With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 allows only the connection terminal 40 to which the session ID has been notified from the remote maintenance system 50, among the connection terminals existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, to be sent by the session relay system 60. Since a remote session is established with the relayed image forming apparatus 20, security can be improved 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.

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 and the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between the connection terminal 40 and the session relay system 60 session ID is 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 the processing of the session IDs in the session relay system 60 can be simplified. Note that the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between image forming apparatus 20 and session relay system 60 and the session ID used by the WebSocket connection established between connection terminal 40 and session relay system 60 are 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 the WebSocket connection established between the session relay system 60 and the connection terminal 40 and the WebSocket connection established between the session relay system 60 and the image forming apparatus 20 uses SSL ( It may be a connection for encrypted communication such as Secure Sockets Layer). With this configuration, the remote communication system 10 encrypts at least a part of the route of the remote session between the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20 relayed by the session relay system 60, so that the image forming apparatus 20 On the other hand, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of unauthorized use such as cracking.

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

In the remote communication system 10, if 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 (S149) and sends the session ID to the connection terminal 40. session ID (S202) is not executed. With this configuration, in the remote communication system 10, only when the user of the image forming apparatus 20 approves the start of the remote session, the session relay system 60 relays the connection between the connection terminal 40 and the image forming apparatus 20. Since a remote session is established, the security of this 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 does not notify the image forming apparatus 20 of the session ID and notifies the connection terminal 40 of the session ID. A configuration in which either one is not executed is also possible.

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

The remote communication system 10 displays the same screen as the screen displayed on the image forming apparatus 20 on the connection terminal 40 existing outside the network to which the image forming apparatus 20 belongs, thereby enabling image formation from the connection terminal 40. Since the device 20 is operated, the image forming device 20 can be easily operated at low cost from the connection terminal 40 existing outside the network to which the image forming device 20 belongs. For example, the connection terminal 40 displays a setting screen of the image forming apparatus 20 on the display unit 42 to make various settings for the image forming apparatus 20 such as settings of the address book of the image forming apparatus 20 . can be executed by users of Also, the connection terminal 40 displays, for example, a confirmation screen of various information of the image forming apparatus 20 on the display unit 42 to confirm an error occurred in the image forming apparatus 20 and check the number of sheets printed by the image forming apparatus 20. The user of the connection terminal 40 can be made to confirm various information of the image forming apparatus 20 , such as the amount of toner remaining in the image forming apparatus 20 . In addition, the connection terminal 40 displays, for example, a screen for installing software to the image forming apparatus 20 on the display unit 42, thereby performing installation of firmware on the image forming apparatus 20, installation of applications on the image forming apparatus 20, and the like. A user of the connection terminal 40 can be caused to 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 remote sessions, various functions other than maintenance of the image forming apparatus 20 can be realized.

In this embodiment, the remote communication system 10 can perform remote maintenance as shown in FIG. 7 via a remote maintenance system 50 as a session management system. However, the remote communication system 10 may not be able to perform remote maintenance via the session management system.

10 remote communication system 20 image forming apparatus 40 connection terminal (electronic device)
50 Remote maintenance system (session management system)
60 session relay system

Claims (6)

an image forming apparatus;
an electronic device existing outside a 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;
a session management system that manages the session;
The session relay system provides a first session ID and a second session for identifying communication by the session in the session relay system when the electronic device requests the session management system to start the session. generating an ID and notifying the session management system of the first session ID and the second session ID ;
the session management system notifying the electronic device of the first session ID and notifying the image forming apparatus of the second session ID;
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;
By associating the connection established with the image forming apparatus and the connection established with the electronic device by the first session ID and the second session ID, the session relay system , relay said session, and
The image forming device includes a server application that transmits screen data displayed on the image forming device to the electronic device via the session,
The electronic device comprises a client that is an application that receives the data from the server application via the session and displays a screen based on the data,
the client receives an operation on a screen displayed by the client based on the data and transmits the operation to the server application via the session;
The remote communication system, wherein the server application receives the operation from the client via the session and operates the image forming apparatus according to the operation. an image forming apparatus;
an electronic device existing outside a 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;
a session management system that manages the session;
The session relay system provides a first session ID and a second session for identifying communication by the session in the session relay system when the electronic device requests the session management system to start the session. generating an ID and notifying the session management system of the first session ID and the second session ID ;
the session management system notifying the electronic device of the first session ID and notifying the image forming apparatus of the second session ID;
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;
By associating the connection established with the image forming apparatus and the connection established with the electronic device by the first session ID and the second session ID, the session relay system , relay said session, and
The image forming device transmits screen data displayed on the image forming device to the electronic device via the session,
The electronic device receives the data from the image forming apparatus through the session, displays a screen based on the data, accepts an operation on the screen, and performs the image formation through the session. send to the device,
The remote communication system, wherein the image forming apparatus receives the operation from the electronic device via the session and operates according to the operation. The session management system notifies the electronic device of the first session ID and sends the second session ID to the image forming apparatus when the user of the image forming apparatus does not approve the start of the session. 3. The remote communication system according to claim 2, wherein at least one of notification of a session ID is not performed. a connection using the first session ID established between the electronic device and the session relay system, and a second session ID established between the image forming apparatus and the session relay system; The connection used is an HTTP-based WebSocket connection,
The session relay system associates a WebSocket connection established with the image forming apparatus and a WebSocket connection established with the electronic device by the first session ID and the second session ID. 4. The remote communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said session is relayed by: 5. Communication between the image forming device and the session management system is maintained by keeping the image forming device connected to the session management system. A remote communication system according to any one of the preceding claims. 6. The remote communication system according to claim 5, wherein said session management system is a system for performing remote maintenance on said image forming apparatus.

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