Information processing system, cloud server, device control method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with device control program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9866407-B2
Application number	US-201514954312-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2015
Priority date	Dec 1, 2014
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

A cloud server acquires a stop period indicating a period during which a management server refrains from providing services; transmits connection requests to said management server if not in the stop period; establishes first communication session when establishment requests including the same address information as address information of connection destination included in the connection request are received from a relay device receiving connection requests forwarded from the management server after transmission of connection requests; transmits jobs to a control target device via first communication session; after first communication session is established, in response to acquisition of result of jobs executed by the control target device, if in the stop period, disconnects first communication session after the stop period finished; and if jobs are generated in the stop period, transmits to the control target device jobs generated in the stop period, via first communication session established before the stop period starts.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information processing system comprising:
a cloud server and a management server disposed outside a firewall; and
a relay device disposed inside the firewall and connected to a control target device disposed inside the firewall,
the cloud server including a first controller CPU and a first communication portion, wherein
said first controller CPU includes functions comprising:
a stop period acquiring portion configured to cause said first communication portion to acquire a stop period indicating a period during which said management server refrains from providing a service;
a cloud-side session establishing portion configured to cause said first communication portion to establish a first communication session with said relay device;
a job generating portion configured to generate a job to be executed by said control target device; and
a job transmitting portion configured to cause said first communication portion to transmit said generated job to said control target device via said first communication session,
said cloud-side session establishing portion including,
a connection requesting portion configured to, in the case of not being in said stop period, transmit to said management server a connection request including address information of a connection destination and address information of a connection source for identifying said control target device,
an establishment request receiving portion configured to, after said connection request has been transmitted, establish said first communication session in the case where an establishment request is received from said relay device receiving said connection request forwarded from said management server, the establishment request including the same address information as said address information of the connection destination included in said connection request,
a cloud-side session disconnecting portion configured to, after said first communication session has been established, in response to acquisition of a result of a job executed by said control target device, disconnect said first communication session on the condition of not being in said stop period, and in the case of being in said stop period, disconnect said first communication session after said stop period has finished, and

said job transmitting portion being configured to, in the case where said job is generated in said stop period, transmit the job generated in said stop period to said control target device, via said first communication session established before said stop period starts.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein:
said management server includes a second controller CPU and a second communication portion;
said second controller CPU including functions comprising:
a server-side session establishing portion configured to, based on a request from said relay device, cause said second communication portion to establish an always-on session with said relay device,
a tunnel connection requesting portion configured to, in response to an event that said second communication portion receives said connection request from said cloud server, cause said second communication portion to transmit said connection request to said relay device via said always-on session; and

said relay device includes a third controller CPU, a third communication portion, and a fourth communication portion,
said third controller CPU including functions comprising:
an always-on session establishing portion configured to cause said third communication portion to establish said always-on session with said management server,
a first session establishing portion configured to, in response to an event that said third communication portion receives said connection request from said management server via said always-on session, cause said third communication portion to establish said first communication session with said cloud server by using said address information of the connection destination included in said connection request,
a second session establishing portion configured to cause said fourth communication portion to establish a second communication session with said control target device specified by said address information of the connection source included in said connection request received from said management server, and
a relay portion configured to, by using said first communication session and said second communication session, relay communications between said cloud server and said control target device.

3. The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein
said job transmitting portion includes a sequential transmitting portion configured to, in the case where a plurality of said jobs are generated in said stop period, sequentially transmit to said control target device said plurality of the jobs generated in said stop period, via said first communication session.

4. The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein:
there are a plurality of said control target devices;
said connection requesting portion is configured to, in the case of not being in said stop period, transmit to said management server a connection request including address information being for identifying a control target device to execute said job, among said plurality of the control target devices, as address information of a connection source;
said cloud-side session establishing portion further includes a connection state association portion configured to, during the time that said first communication session is established, associate session identification information for identifying said first communication session with said address information of the connection source; and
said job transmitting portion is configured to, on the condition that there exists session identification information associated by said connection state association portion with the same address information of the connection source as the address information of the control target device designated as a device to execute a job generated in said stop period, transmit the job generated in said stop period, via said first communication session specified by the session identification information.

5. The information processing system according to claim 4 , wherein
said first controller CPU included in said cloud server further includes a function comprising a disconnecting portion configured to, in the case where a plurality of pieces of session identification information are associated with a piece of device identification information by said connection state association portion, cause said first communication portion to disconnect a first communication session specified by session identification information other than a piece of session identification information selected from among said plurality of pieces of session identification information.

6. An information processing system comprising:
a cloud server and a management server disposed outside a firewall; and
a relay device disposed inside the firewall and connected to a control target device disposed inside the firewall,
the relay device including a first controller CPU, a first communication portion, and a second communication portion, wherein
said first controller CPU includes functions comprising:
an always-on session establishing portion configured to cause said first communication portion to establish an always-on session with said management server;
a stop period acquiring portion configured to cause said first communication portion to acquire stop period indicating a period during which said management server refrains from providing a service;
a first session establishing portion configured to, in response to an event that said first communication portion receives from

Assignees

• Konica Minolta Inc

Inventors

• Matsuhara Kenji
• Kubota Hirokazu
• Anezaki Kazuya
• Sakiyama Daisuke
• Asai Yuki
• Masuda Satoshi

Classifications

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• H04L67/141

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

• H04L12/4633 Primary

  Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling · CPC title

• H04L67/145

  avoiding end of session, e.g. keep-alive, heartbeats, resumption message or wake-up for inactive or interrupted session · CPC title