Verification method of manufacturer and model for remote diagnostics, maintenance and control system over SNMP

• US 7,580,985 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2002
• Issued: 08/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Fong, Avery
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder; Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MINH CHAU
• Application Number:
  US10/143,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20050246425A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,661 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/223
• US Class Current: 709/208
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1232 Transmitting printer device capabilities, e.g. upon request or periodically
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1284 Local printer device

Abstract

The present invention relates to querying an interfacing device to determine the manufacturer and model of the interfacing device. The querying is accomplished by first inputting signals with known communication means of particular manufacturers. By comparing the responses of the interfacing device to these signals and comparing them to anticipated responses, the manufacturer of the interfacing device can be determined. The anticipated response is the known response to the inputted signals of a particular manufacturer. In other words, the manufacturer of an interfacing device can be deducted according to its reaction to predetermined input signals. The interfacing device is then queried in a similar fashion to determine the model.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring an image forming device attached to a local area network by a first monitoring device, the method comprising:

obtaining, by the first monitoring device, from a memory associated with the monitoring device, an address of the image forming device;

accessing, by the first monitoring device, the image forming device using the obtained address to obtain a first code identifying a manufacturer of the image forming device;

determining, by the first monitoring device, whether the obtained first code matches one of a plurality of codes stored in the memory associated with the monitoring device by parsing the first code;

if the determining step determines a match, (1) storing, in the memory, a name of the manufacturer corresponding to the first code, (2) accessing the image forming device to obtain a description of the image forming device, (3) searching the obtained description for a model of the image forming device, and (4) obtaining device information from the image forming device based on the name of the manufacturer and the model of the image forming device, if obtained;

creating, in the memory, a device object, the device object including the device information and the name of the manufacturer of the image forming device, if the determining step determines a match, and the model of the image forming device, if the model was obtained in the searching step;

obtaining, by the created device object, a unique identification for the image forming device;

transmitting, by the first monitoring device, the device information stored in the device object to a second monitoring device over a wide-area network for storage in a digital repository;

accessing, by the first monitoring device, the image forming device to obtain status information of the image forming device; and

periodically transmitting, by the first monitoring device, the status information to the second monitoring device over the wide area network for storage in the digital repository,

wherein the image forming device is one of a printer, a scanner, a digital copier, and a stamping machine.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first code is an enterprise code of the image forming device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the description of the image forming device comprises obtaining the description using SNMP.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the first code comprises obtaining the first code using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the address of the image forming address is the IP address of the image forming device.

6. A monitoring device for monitoring an image forming device attached to a local area network, the monitoring device configured to:

obtain, from a memory associated with the monitoring device, an address of the image forming device;

access the image forming device using the obtained address to obtain a first code identifying a manufacturer of the image forming device;

determine whether the obtained first code matches one of a plurality of codes stored in the memory associated with the monitoring device by parsing the first code;

if a match is determined, (1) store, in the memory, a name of the manufacturer corresponding to the first code, (2) access the image forming device to obtain a description of the image forming device, (3) search the obtained description for a model of the image forming device, and (4) obtain device information from the image forming device based on the name of the manufacturer and the model of the image forming device, if obtained;

create, in the memory, a device object, the device object including the device information and the name of the manufacturer of the image forming device, if a match was determined, and the model of the image forming device, if the model was obtained in the search of the description;

obtain, by the created device object, a unique identification for the image forming device;

transmit the device information stored in the device object to a second monitoring device over a wide-area network for storage in a digital repository;

access, by the monitoring device, the image forming device to obtain status information of the image forming device; and

periodically transmit the status information to the second monitoring device over the wide area network for storage in the digital repository,

wherein the image forming device is one of a printer, a scanner, a digital copier, and a stamping machine.

7. The monitoring device of claim 6, further configured to obtain an enterprise code of the image forming device as the first code.

8. The monitoring device of claim 6, further configured to obtain the description of the image forming device using SNMP.

9. The monitoring device of claim 6, further configured to obtain the first code using SNMP.

10. The monitoring device of claim 6, further configured to obtain the IP address of the image forming device as the address.

11. A monitoring device for monitoring an image forming device attached to a local area network, comprising:

means for obtaining, from a memory associated with the monitoring device, an address of the image forming device;

means for accessing the image forming device using the obtained address to obtain a first code identifying a manufacturer of the image forming device;

means for determining whether the obtained first code matches one of a plurality of codes stored in the memory associated with the monitoring device by parsing the first code;

if the means for determining determines a match, (1) means for storing, in the memory, a name of the manufacturer corresponding to the first code, (2) means for accessing the image forming device to obtain a description of the image forming device, (3) means for searching the obtained description for a model of the image forming device, and (4) means for obtaining device information from the image forming device based on the name of the manufacturer and the model of the image forming device, if obtained;

means for creating, in the memory, a device object, the device object including the device information and the name of the manufacturer of the image forming device, if the means for determining determines a match, and the model of the image forming device, if the model was obtained by the means for searching;

means for obtaining, by the created device object, a unique identification for the image forming device;

means for transmitting the device information stored in the device object to a second monitoring device over a wide-area network for storage in a digital repository;

means for accessing, by the monitoring device, the image forming device to obtain status information of the image forming device; and

means for periodically transmitting the status information to the second monitoring computer over the wide area network for storage in the digital repository,

wherein the image forming device is one of a printer, a scanner, a digital copier, and a stamping machine.

12. A computer program product embodied on one or more storage media, for monitoring an image forming device attached to a local area network, the computer program product causing a first monitoring device to perform the steps of:

obtaining, from a memory associated with the monitoring device, an address of the image forming device;

accessing the image forming device using the obtained address to obtain a first code identifying a manufacturer of the image forming device;

determining whether the obtained first code matches one of a plurality of codes stored in the memory associated with the monitoring device by parsing the first code;

if the determining step determines a match, (1) storing, in the memory, a name of the manufacturer corresponding to the first code, (2) accessing the image forming device to obtain a description of the image forming device, (3) searching the obtained description for a model of the image forming device, and (4) obtaining device information from the image forming device based on the name of the manufacturer and the model of the image forming device, if obtained;

creating, in the memory, a device object, the device object including the device information and the name of the manufacturer of the image forming device, if the determining step determines a match, and the model of the image forming device, if the model was obtained in the searching step;

obtaining, by the created device object, a unique identification for the image forming device;

transmitting the device information stored in the device object to a second monitoring device over a wide-area network for storage in a digital repository;

accessing the image forming device to obtain status information of the image forming device; and

periodically transmitting the status information to the second monitoring device over the wide area network for storage in the digital repository,

wherein the image forming device is one of a printer, a scanner, a digital copier, and a stamping machine.