Communication system, information-processing device, and program

• US 7,634,552 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2006
• Issued: 12/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Aoki, Kazuma, Matsuda, Makoto, Ohara, Kiyotaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer; Firmin
• Assistant Examiner(s): BUI, JONATHAN A
• Application Number:
  US11/427,087
• Publication Number:
  US 20070005748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,266 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/218, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A communication system is configured to include at least one information-processing device, at least one information-providing server and a management server. The management server manages whether contents to be transmitted to the information-processing device, which has been registered with the information-providing server, are available in the information-providing server. The information-processing device requests the management server to check availability of specified contents at intervals of a transmission period predetermined for each of the specified contents and receives a check result therefrom. If a plurality of transmission services is to be started, the information-processing device requests the management server to check availability of the contents corresponding to the plurality of transmission services at intervals of a single transmission period which is determined based on the transmission periods predetermined for the contents corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of transmission services.

Claims

1. A communication system, comprising:

an information-processing device configured to receive contents;

an information-providing server configured to send the contents to the information-processing device; and

a management server configured to check whether the contents to be received by the information-processing device exist in the information-providing server, wherein the information-processing device, the information-providing server, and the management server are interconnected via a network, and

wherein the information-processing device comprises;

a registration request sending system configured to send a registration request for registering one of a start and a stop of a transmission service to the information-providing server, wherein the transmission service is for sending specified contents from the information-providing server to the information-processing device;

a registration-completed information receiving system configured to receive registration-completed information from the information-providing server, wherein the registration-completed information is for informing that the registration of one of the start and the stop of the transmission service has been completed in response to the registration request;

an existence checking request sending system configured to send an existence checking request to the management server at intervals of a transmission period predetermined for each of the specified contents, wherein the existence checking request is for checking whether each of the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

an existence judging system configured to receive a check result from the management server in response to the existence checking request and to judge whether the received check result indicates that the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

a transmission requesting system configured to send a transmission request to the information-providing server for requesting a transmission of the specified contents from the information-providing server to the information-processing device when the existence judging system indicates that the specified contents exist;

a specified contents receiving system configured to receive the specified contents from the information-providing server in response to the transmission request; and

a transmission period updating system configured to update each of the transmission periods with a representative period determined based on the transmission period of each of the specified contents of two or more transmission services,

wherein the information-providing server comprises;

a transmission service registering system configured to receive the registration request from the information-processing device for registering one of the start and the stop of the transmission service;

a registration-completed information sending system configured to send the registration-completed information to the information-processing device when the transmission service registering system completes registering one of the start and the stop of the transmission service;

an existence information sending system configured to send an existence information to the management server for indicating that the specified contents of the transmission service exist in the information-providing server when the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

an transmission request receiving system configured to receive the transmission request from the information-processing device; and

a specified contents sending system configured to send the specified contents to the information-processing device, in response to the transmission request receiving system receiving the transmission request, and

wherein the management server comprises;

an existence information receiving system configured to receive the existence information from the information-providing server;

an existence checking request receiving system configured to receive the existence checking request from the information-processing device; and

a check result sending system configured to determine whether the existence information receiving system has received the existence information and to send the determination result to the information-processing device as the check result when the existence checking request receiving system receives the existence checking request.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the information-processing device comprises

a transmission period data information request sending system configured to send a transmission period information request to the management server for requesting a transmission period information which comprises the transmission period of each of the specified contents of the transmission service when the registration-completed information receiving system receives the registration-completed information and

a transmission period information receiving system configured to receive the transmission period information from the management server,

wherein the transmission period updating system is configured to update each of the transmission periods with the representative period that is determined based on the two or more transmission periods included in the transmission period information, and

wherein the information-providing server comprises a transmission period data sending system configured to send transmission period data representing the transmission period of the specified contents when the transmission service registering system completes the registration of the start of the transmission service, and

wherein the management server comprises:

a transmission period data receiving system configured to receive the transmission period data from the information-providing server; and

a transmission period information sending system configured to send the transmission period data as the transmission period information to the information-processing device.

3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the information-processing device comprises

a transmission period information requesting system configured to send a representative period information request to the management server for requesting the representative period when the registration-completed information receiving system receives the registration-completed information,

wherein the transmission period updating system is configured to update each of the transmission periods with the representative period included in the representative period information,

wherein the information-providing server comprises a transmission period data sending system configured to send transmission period data representing the transmission period of the specified contents to the management server when the transmission service registering system completes the registration of the start of the transmission service,

wherein the management server comprises:

a transmission period determining system configured to determine the representative period based on the two or more transmission period data sent from the information-providing server; and

a transmission period informing system configured to send the representative period information to the information-processing device when the management server receives the representative period information request from the information-processing device.

4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the minimum one of the transmission periods is the representative period.

5. An information-processing device connected to an information-providing server configured to send contents via a network to the information-processing device, the information-processing device is connected to a management server configured to check whether the contents exist in the information-providing server, the information-processing device comprising:

a registration request sending system configured to send a registration request for registering one of a start and a stop of a transmission service to the information-providing server, wherein the transmission service is for sending specified contents from the information-providing server to the information-processing device;

a registration-completed information receiving system configured to receive registration-completed information from the information-providing server, wherein the registration-completed information is for informing that the registration of one of the start and the stop of the transmission service has been completed in response to the registration request;

an existence checking request sending system configured to send an existence checking request to the management server at intervals of a transmission period predetermined for each of the specified contents, wherein the existence checking request is for checking whether each of the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

an existence judging system configured to receive a check result from the management server and to judge whether the received check result indicates that the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

a transmission requesting system configured to send a transmission request to the information-providing server for requesting a transmission of the specified contents from the information-providing server to the information-processing device when the existence judging system indicates that the specified contents exist;

a specified contents receiving system configured to receive the specified contents from the information-providing server; and

A transmission period updating system configured to update each of the transmission periods with a representative period determined based on the transmission period of each of the specified contents of two or more transmission services.

6. The information-processing device according to claim 5, further comprising a transmission period data information request sending system configured to send a transmission period information request to the management server for requesting a transmission period information which comprises the transmission period of each of the specified contents of the transmission service when the registration-completed information receiving system receives the registration-completed information;

and

a transmission period information receiving system configured to receive the transmission period information from the management server,

wherein the transmission period updating system is configured to update each of the transmission periods with the representative period that is determined based on the two or more transmission periods included in the transmission period information.

7. The information-processing device according to claim 5, further comprising

a transmission period information requesting system configured to send a representative period information request to the management server for requesting the representative period when the registration-completed information receiving system receives the registration-completed information,

wherein the transmission period updating system is configured to update each of the transmission periods with the representative period included in the representative period information.

8. The information-processing device according to claim 5, wherein the minimum one of the transmission periods is the representative period.

9. A computer usable medium having instructions stored thereon that are readable by a computer, the computer being connected with an information-providing server configured to send contents via a network to the computer, the computer being connected with a management server configured to check whether the contents exist in the information-providing server, the instructions causing the computer to execute the steps of:

sending a registration request for registering one of a start and a stop of a transmission service to the information-providing server, wherein the transmission service is for sending specified contents from the information-providing server to the information-processing device;

receiving registration-completed information from the information-providing server, wherein the registration-completed information is for informing that the registration of one of the start and the stop of the transmission service has been completed in response to the registration request;

sending an existence checking request to the management server at intervals of a transmission period predetermined for each of the specified contents, wherein the existence checking request is for checking whether each of the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

receiving a check result from the management server and to judge whether the received check result indicates that the specified contents exist in the information-providing server;

sending a transmission request to the information-providing server for requesting a transmission of the specified contents from the information-providing server to the information-processing device when the existence judging system indicates that the specified contents exist;

receiving the specified contents from the information-providing server; and

updating each of the transmission periods with a representative period determined based on the transmission period of each of the specified contents of two or more transmission services.