Network system and device

• US 20060190521A1
• Filed: 02/23/2006
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Kojima, Atsushi
• Granted Patent: US 7,673,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B

Abstract

A network system includes devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system, in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices. In the network system, each device includes: a master device checking unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to check that a device functioning as the master device exists in the system; an ordinal rank judging unit configured to judge the ordinal rank of the device when no device functioning as the master device exists; and a first control unit configured to control the device to function as the master device when the ordinal rank of the device is judged to be the highest by the ordinal rank judging unit.

Claims

1. A network system comprising:

a plurality of devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the devices includes;

a master device checking unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to check whether a device functioning as the master device exists in the system;

an ordinal rank judging unit configured to judge the ordinal rank of the device when no device functioning as the master device exists in the system; and

a first control unit configured to control the device to function as the master device when the ordinal rank of the device is judged to be the highest in the system.

2. The network system according to claim 1, wherein:

each of the devices further includes a master device communication information storing unit configured to store master device communication information for communicating with the device functioning as the master device, and

the master device checking unit checks whether the device functioning as the master device exists in the system by communicating with the device functioning as the master device according to the master device communication information stored in the master device communication information storing unit.

3. The network system according to claim 2, wherein each of the devices further includes a master device communication information supplying unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to supply the master device communication information to devices functioning as general devices.

4. The network system according to claim 1, wherein:

each of the devices further includes a higher-level device checking unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to check whether a higher-level device of an immediately higher ordinal rank than the device itself exists in the system, and

the master device checking unit checks whether the device functioning as the master device exists in the system when the higher-level device is not found to exist in the system by the higher-level device checking unit.

5. The network system according to claim 4, wherein:

each of the devices further includes a higher-level device communication information storing unit configured to store higher-level device communication information for communicating with the higher-level device, and

the higher-level device checking unit checks whether the higher-level device exists in the system by communicating with the higher-level device according to the higher-level device communication information stored in the higher-level device communication information storing unit.

6. The network system according to claim 5, wherein each of the devices further includes a higher-level device communication information supplying unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to supply the higher-level device communication information to devices functioning as general devices.

7. The network system according to claim 1, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data generating unit which generates the shared data when the device is shifted from a state for functioning as a general device to a state for functioning as the master device by the first control unit.

8. The network system according to claim 7, wherein:

each of the devices further includes a shared data storing unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to store the shared data supplied from the device functioning as the master device, and

the shared data generating unit generates the shared data based on the shared data stored in the shared data storing unit.

9. The network system according to claim 1, wherein each of the devices further includes:

an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of each device in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of each device in the system;

a master replacement reporting unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to report to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device that the higher-level device should function as the master device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device; and

a second control unit configured to control the device to function as the master device when the report indicating that the device itself should function as the master device is received from a current master device while the device is functioning as a general device.

10. The network system according to claim 9, wherein each of the devices further includes:

a characteristic information acquiring unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to acquire the characteristic information from the devices in the system; and

a characteristic information supplying unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to supply the characteristic information to the master device.

11. The network system according to claim 10, wherein:

the characteristic information supplying unit supplies the characteristic information to the master device when the device joins the network and functions as a general device, and the ordinal rank determining unit determines the ordinal rank of each device in the system when the characteristic information is acquired from the devices in the system by the characteristic information acquiring unit while the device is functioning as the master device, based on the acquired characteristic information.

12. The network system according to claim 9, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data transferring unit configured to transfer the shared data to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device.

13. The network system according to claim 1, wherein each of the devices further includes:

an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of each device in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of each device in the system;

an ordinal rank reporting unit configured to report the ordinal rank to each device when the ordinal rank is determined by the ordinal rank determining unit; and

a third control unit configured to control the device to function as a general device when the report indicating the ordinal rank is received from a different device while the device is functioning as the master device.

14. The network system according to claim 13, wherein each of the devices further includes:

a characteristic information acquiring unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to acquire the characteristic information from the devices in the system; and

a characteristic information supplying unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to supply the characteristic information to the master device.

15. The network system according to claim 14, wherein:

the characteristic information supplying unit supplies the characteristic information to the master device when the device joins the network and functions as a general device, and

the ordinal rank determining unit determines the ordinal rank of each device in the system when the characteristic information is acquired from the devices in the system by the characteristic information acquiring unit while the device is functioning as the master device, based on the acquired characteristic information.

16. The network system according to claim 13, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data transferring unit configured to transfer the shared data to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device.

17. The network system according to claim 1, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices is a communication device having a function of transmitting data to a destination specified by address data, and

the shared data is address book data including the address data.

18. A network system comprising:

a plurality of devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the devices includes;

an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of each device in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of each device in the system;

a master replacement reporting unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to report to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device that the higher-level device should function as the master device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device; and

a second control unit configured to control the device to function as the master device when the report indicating that the device itself should function as the master device is received from master device while the device is functioning as a general device.

19. The network system according to claim 18, wherein each of the devices further includes:

a characteristic information acquiring unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to acquire the characteristic information from the devices in the system; and

a characteristic information supplying unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to supply the characteristic information to the master device.

20. The network system according to claim 19, wherein:

the characteristic information supplying unit supplies the characteristic information to the master device when the device joins the network and functions as a general device, and

the ordinal rank determining unit determines the ordinal rank of each device in the system when the characteristic information is acquired from the devices in the system by the characteristic information acquiring unit while the device is functioning as the master device, based on the acquired characteristic information.

21. The network system according to claim 18, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data transferring unit configured to transfer the shared data to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device.

22. The network system according to claim 18, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data acquiring unit configured to operate when the device is shifted from a state for functioning as a general device to a state for functioning as the master device to acquire the shared data from a device functioning as the master device until the shift.

23. The network system according to claim 18, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices is a communication device having a function of transmitting data to a destination specified by address data, and

the shared data is address book data including the address data.

24. A network system comprising:

a plurality of devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the devices includes;

an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of each device in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of each device in the system;

an ordinal rank reporting unit configured to report the ordinal rank to each device when the ordinal rank is determined by the ordinal rank determining unit; and

a third control unit configured to control the device to function as a general device when the report indicating the ordinal rank is received from a different device while the device is functioning as the master device.

25. The network system according to claim 24, wherein each of the devices further includes:

a characteristic information acquiring unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to acquire the characteristic information from the devices in the system; and

a characteristic information supplying unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to supply the characteristic information to the master device.

26. The network system according to claim 25, wherein:

the characteristic information supplying unit supplies the characteristic information to the master device when the device joins the network and functions as a general device, and

the ordinal rank determining unit determines the ordinal rank of each device in the system when the characteristic information is acquired from the devices in the system by the characteristic information acquiring unit while the device is functioning as the master device, based on the acquired characteristic information.

27. The network system according to claim 24, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data transferring unit configured to transfer the shared data to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device.

28. The network system according to claim 24, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices further includes a shared data acquiring unit configured to operate when the device is shifted from a state for functioning as a general device to a state for functioning as the master device to acquire the shared data from a device functioning as the master device until the shift.

29. The network system according to claim 24, wherein:

the system is configured so that data to be shared by the plurality of devices is supplied from the master device to the general devices, and

each of the devices is a communication device having a function of transmitting data to a destination specified by address data, and

the shared data is address book data including the address data.

30. A device which is used as a node forming a network system including a plurality of devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein the device comprises:

a master device checking unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to check that a device functioning as the master device exists in the system;

an ordinal rank judging unit configured to judge the ordinal rank of the device when no device functioning as the master device exists in the system; and

a first control unit configured to control the device to function as the master device when the ordinal rank of the device is judged to be the highest in the system by the ordinal rank judging unit.

31. A device which is used as a node forming a network system including a plurality of devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein the device comprises:

an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of each device in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of each device in the system;

a master replacement reporting unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to report to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than the device that the higher-level device should function as the master device when the devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device; and

a second control unit configured to control the device to function as the master device when the report indicating that the device itself should function as the master device is received from a current master device while the device is functioning as a general device.

32. A device which is used as a node forming a network system including a plurality of devices connected to a network each of which is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which a device of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and devices of the other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein the device comprises:

an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of each device in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of each device in the system;

an ordinal rank reporting unit configured to report the ordinal rank to each device when the ordinal rank is determined by the ordinal rank determining unit; and

a third control unit configured to control the device to function as a general device when the report indicating the ordinal rank is received from a different device while the device is functioning as the master device.