Communication device, communication system, communication method and computer program product

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9686361-B2
Application number	US-201514636351-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2015
Priority date	Mar 5, 2014
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

According to an embodiment, a communication device includes a connection establishment unit, a forwarder, and a generator. The connection establishment unit is configured to receive, from a terminal device, a connection request containing identification information of the terminal device, establish a communication connection with the terminal device, and store the identification information and terminal connection information. The forwarder is configured to receive, from a first terminal device, a message to be transmitted from the first terminal device to a second terminal device, and forward the message to the second terminal device, based on forwarding information containing the terminal connection information corresponding to the identification information of the first terminal device, and the terminal connection information corresponding to the identification information of the second terminal device. The generator is configured to generate the forwarding information, based on a request from the forwarder or the connection establishment unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication device that communicates with a plurality of terminal devices, including a first terminal device and a second terminal device, via a network, the communication device comprising:
processing circuitry coupled to a memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
receive, from the first terminal device, a connection establishment request containing at least terminal identification information of the first terminal device;
establish a communication connection with the first terminal device, the communication connection established with the first terminal device being maintained absent an explicit operation of interrupting the communication connection;
store the terminal identification information of the first terminal device and first terminal connection information indicating the communication connection established with the first terminal device so that the terminal identification information of the first terminal device and the first terminal connection information are associated with each other;
receive, from the second terminal device, a connection establishment request containing at least terminal identification information of the second terminal device;
establish a communication connection with the second terminal device, the communication connection established with the second terminal device being maintained absent an explicit operation of interrupting the communication connection;
store the terminal identification information of the second terminal device and second terminal connection information indicating the communication connection established with the second terminal device so that the terminal identification information of the second terminal device and the second terminal connection information are associated with each other;
generate forwarding information containing the first terminal connection information and the second terminal connection information;
receive, from the first terminal device, a message to be transmitted from the first terminal device to the second terminal device using the communication connection established with the first terminal device;
specify the communication connection established with the second terminal device based on the forwarding information contained in the received message; and
forward the received message containing the forwarding information to the second terminal device using the specified communication connection.

2. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to, when the forwarding information is not contained in the message received from the first terminal device, add the generated forwarding information to the message and forward the added message to the second terminal device.

3. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to, when receiving, from the first terminal device, the connection establishment request containing the terminal identification information of the first terminal device and the terminal identification information of the second terminal device, generate the forwarding information based on the terminal identification information of the first terminal device and the terminal identification information of the second terminal device contained in the connection establishment request and notify the first terminal device of the forwarding information using the communication connection established with the first terminal device.

4. A communication system comprising:
a plurality of communication devices each communicating with a plurality of terminal devices via a network; and
a connection adjusting device, wherein
each of the plurality of communication devices is the communication device according to claim 1 ,
the connection adjusting device is configured to generate connection designation information for designating the communication device with which the terminal devices are to establish a communication connection, among the plurality of communication devices, and
each of the plurality of terminal devices is configured to transmit a connection request to the connection adjusting device, and transmit, based on the connection designation information received from the connection adjusting device in response to the connection request, the connection establishment request to the designated communication device.

5. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the communication connection established with the first terminal device and the communication connection established with the second terminal device is a communication socket established by utilizing a Web Socket protocol.

6. The communication device according to claim 5 , wherein each of the first terminal connection information and the second terminal connection information is a communication socket ID that is a file descriptor for allowing a file system of the communication device to access the communication socket.

7. The communication device according to claim 5 , wherein
the received message includes a Websocket header and a payload, and
the forwarding information is contained in the payload.

8. A communication method to be executed in a communication device that communicates with a plurality of terminal devices, including a first terminal device and a second terminal device, via a network, the method comprising:
receiving, from the first terminal device, a connection establishment request containing at least terminal identification information of the first terminal device;
establishing a communication connection with the first terminal device, the communication connection established with the first terminal device being maintained absent an explicit operation of interrupting the communication connection;
storing the terminal identification information of the first terminal device and first terminal connection information indicating the communication connection established with the first terminal device so that the terminal identification information of the first terminal device and the first terminal connection information are associated with each other;
receiving, from the second terminal device, a connection establishment request containing at least terminal identification information of the second terminal device;
establishing a communication connection with the second terminal device, the communication connection established with the second terminal device being maintained absent an explicit operation of interrupting the communication connection;
storing the terminal identification information of the second terminal device and second terminal connection information indicating the communication connection established with the second terminal device so that the terminal identification information of the second terminal device and the second terminal connection information are associated with each other;
generating forwarding information containing the first terminal connection information and the second terminal connection information;
receiving, from the first terminal device, a message to be transmitted from the first terminal device to the second terminal device using the communication connection established with the first terminal device;
specifying the communication connection established with the second terminal device based on the forwarding information contained in the received message; and
forwarding the received message containing the forwarding information to the second terminal device using the specified communication connection.

9. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a program executed by a computer that communicates with a plurality of terminal devi

Assignees

• Toshiba Kk

Inventors

• Ajitomi Daisuke
• Minami Keisuke
• Kawazoe Hiroshi
• Aizu Hiroyuki

Classifications

• H04L67/141 Primary

  Setup of application sessions (admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70) · CPC title

• H04L45/74

  Address processing for routing · CPC title