Network system and device
First Claim
1. A network system comprising:
- a plurality of devices connected to a network, each of the devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices with highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the other devices includes;
a master device checking unit configured to operate when one of the other devices is functioning as one of the general devices check whether the one of the devices functioning as the master device exists in the system;
a control unit configured to control the one of the other devices to function as the master device when an ordinal rank of the one of the other devices is judged to be highest in the system; and
a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the one of the other devices has a higher ordinal rank than the master device in the system, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of the each of the devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value.
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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.
55 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A network system comprising:
a plurality of devices connected to a network, each of the devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices with highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the other devices includes; a master device checking unit configured to operate when one of the other devices is functioning as one of the general devices check whether the one of the devices functioning as the master device exists in the system; a control unit configured to control the one of the other devices to function as the master device when an ordinal rank of the one of the other devices is judged to be highest in the system; and a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the one of the other devices has a higher ordinal rank than the master device in the system, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of the each of the devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A network system comprising:
a plurality of devices connected to a network, each of the devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices with highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the other devices includes; an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the one of the devices is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of the each one of the devices in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of the each one of the devices in the system; a master replacement reporting unit configured to operate when the one of the devices is functioning as the master device to report to a higher-level device of an ordinal rank higher than one of the devices 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; a control unit configured to control the one of the devices to function as the master device when the report indicating that the one of the devices itself should function as the master device is received from a master device while the one of the devices is functioning as a general device, and a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the report indicates that the each of the other devices itself should function as the master device is received from the current master device while the one of the devices is functioning as a general device, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of the each of the devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A network system comprising:
a plurality of devices connected to a network, each of the devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein each of the other devices includes; an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the one of the devices is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of the each one of the devices in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of the each one of the devices in the system; an ordinal rank reporting unit configured to report the ordinal rank to the each one of the devices when the ordinal rank is determined by the ordinal rank determining unit; a control unit configured to control the one of the devices to function as a general device when the report indicating the ordinal rank is received from a different device while the one of the devices is functioning as the master device, and a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the one of the devices has a higher ordinal rank than the existing master device in the system, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of the each of the devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A device which is used as a node forming a network system including a plurality of other devices connected to a network, each of the other devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein the device comprises:
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a master device checking unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as a general device to check that one of the other devices 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 one of the other devices functioning as the master device exists in the system; a 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; and a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the device functions as the master device, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of each of the devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value.
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31. A device which is used as a node forming a network system including a plurality of other devices connected to a network, each of the other devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein the device comprises:
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an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of the each one of the other devices in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of the each one of the other devices 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 other devices ranked by the ordinal rank determining unit include such a higher-level device; and a 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; and a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the device functions as the master device, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of each of the other devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value.
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32. A device which is used as a node forming a network system including a plurality of other devices connected to a network, each of the other devices is assigned an ordinal rank in the system in which one of the devices of the highest ordinal rank functions as a master device and other devices of the devices with other ordinal ranks function as general devices, wherein the device comprises:
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an ordinal rank determining unit configured to operate when the device is functioning as the master device to determine the ordinal rank of the each one of the other devices in the system based on characteristic information representing characteristics of the each one of the other devices in the system; an ordinal rank reporting unit configured to report the ordinal rank to the each one of the devices when the ordinal rank is determined by the ordinal rank determining unit; and a control unit configured to control the device to function as a general device when the report indicating the ordinal rank is received from one of the other devices while the device is functioning as the master device; and a priority reassigning unit configured to reassign the other ordinal ranks of the each of the other devices connected to the network when the one of the other devices functions as the master device, wherein the reassigning the other ordinal ranks further includes updating the ordinal rank of each of the other devices connected to the network based on a corresponding master aptitude value.
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Specification