Method and system for monitoring network connected devices with multiple protocols

• US 7,899,900 B1
• Filed: 08/22/2002
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza; Faruk
• Application Number:
  US10/225,290
• Time in Patent Office: 3,113 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-224, 709227-228, 707 3- 4, 707/7, 707/102, 707/722, 707/755, 707/758
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/022 Multivendor or multi-standard integration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/026 using e-messaging for transporting management information, e.g. email, instant messaging or chat
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00002 Diagnosis, testing or measuring; Detecting, analysing or monitoring not otherwise provided for error detection, error correction or monitoring in digital computers or digital computer components G06F11/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00015 Reproducing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00042 Monitoring, i.e. observation H04N1/00029 - H04N1/00039 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00058 using a separate apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0009 Storage

Abstract

A method of monitoring a device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network is described. The method includes accessing the device using a first communication protocol, receiving information from the accessed device, parsing the received information to extract parameter values representing an operational status of the device, storing a data string associated with each of the extracted parameter values. The operational status information corresponding to the extracted parameter values is retrieved from a database. The monitored device is accessed using a second communication protocol if the first communication protocol is not configured to retrieve information requested from the accessed device.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring an image output device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, the method comprising:

transmitting, periodically by a monitoring device using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the image output device using an HTTP communication protocol;

receiving, by the monitoring device, the information from the image output device in a form of a web page file obtained through the HTTP communication protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

obtaining, from a memory, based on a manufacturer and model of the image output device, a keystring associated with a desired parameter;

searching, automatically by the monitoring device, the web page file received from the image output device to locate and extract, from the web page file, a value for the desired parameter using the keystring obtained from the memory; and

storing the extracted value of the desired parameter.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the receiving step comprises receiving from the image output device information related to a manufacturer, model, and a unique identifier of the image output device.

3. A method of monitoring an image output device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, the method comprising:

obtaining, from a memory, based on a manufacturer and a model of the image output device, a keystring associated with a desired parameter;

transmitting, periodically by a monitoring device using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the image output device using an HTTP communication protocol;

receiving, by the monitoring device, the information from the image output device in a form of a web page file obtained through the HTTP communication protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

searching, automatically by the monitoring device, the web page file received from the image output device to locate and extract, from the web page file, a value for the desired parameter using the keystring obtained from the memory;

storing the extracted value of the desired parameter; and

accessing the image output device using a second communication protocol if the HTTP communication protocol is not configured to obtain the information used to search for the desired parameter from the image output device.

4. The method as in claim 3, further comprising:

repeating the receiving, search, storing, and accessing steps for each image output device among said distinct devices; and

updating a database with information received from the image output device.

5. A method for retrieving information from a monitored image output device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, the method comprising:

transmitting, periodically using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the monitored image output device using an HTTP protocol;

receiving, by the monitoring device, the information from the monitored image output device, the received information being in a form of a web page file obtained through the HTTP protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

storing data corresponding to the received information in a storage device;

creating a data structure having a plurality of fields using the received information, said data structure identifying a desired parameter sought from the received information;

retrieving the desired parameter by mapping information in said web page file to corresponding data stored in said storage device, the data structure including

a first field, among a plurality of fields, having a reference to a position within said web page file to identify the desired parameter; and

a second field, among the plurality of fields, having a reference to a unique feature of the monitored device, wherein said second field is mapped to corresponding data stored in said storage device, wherein the first and second fields are determined based on a manufacturer and model of the image output device.

6. The method as in claim 5, wherein the position is a tag-based value in HTML format.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to monitor an image output device by executing the steps of:

transmitting, periodically by the computer using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the image output device using an HTTP communication protocol;

receiving, by the computer, the information from the image output device in a form of a web page file obtained through the HTTP communication protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

obtaining from a memory, based on a manufacturer and a model of the image output device, a keystring associated with a desired parameter;

searching the web page file received from the image output device to locate and extract, from the web page file, a value for the desired parameter using the keystring obtained from the memory; and

storing the extracted value of the desired parameter.

8. An apparatus for monitoring an image output device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

a processor configured to obtain, from a memory, based on a manufacturer and a model of the image output device, a keystring associated with a desired parameter, and to transmit, periodically using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the image output device using an HTTP communication protocol to receive information in a form of a web page file from the image output device through the HTTP communication protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

a parser configured to automatically search the web page file received from the image output device to locate and extract the desired parameter using the keystring obtained from the memory; and

a storage device configured to store the extracted value of the desired parameter,

wherein said processor is configured to select a second communication protocol to receive information from the image output device when said HTTP communication protocol is not configured to obtain the information used to search for the desired parameter from the image output device.

9. The apparatus as in claim 8, further comprising:

a display device for displaying the state information, using the operational status information extracted from the storage device, to a user in a user-friendly format.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to create a data structure to retrieve information from a monitored image output device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network by executing the steps of:

transmitting, periodically by the computer using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the monitored image output device using an HTTP protocol;

receiving, by the computer, the information from the monitored image output device, the received information being in a form of a web page file obtained through the HTTP protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

storing data corresponding to the received information in a storage device;

creating a data structure having a plurality of fields using the received information, said data structure identifying a desired parameter sought from the received information;

retrieving the desired parameter by mapping information in said web page file to corresponding data stored in said storage device, the data structure including

a first field, among a plurality of fields, having a reference to a position within said web page file to identify the desired parameter; and

a second field, among the plurality of fields, having a reference to a unique feature of the monitored device, wherein said second field is mapped to corresponding data stored in said storage device, wherein the first and second fields are determined based on a manufacturer and model of the image output device.

11. An apparatus for enabling retrieval of information from a monitored image output device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to

transmit, periodically using an IP address of the image output device, a request for information to the monitored image output device using an HTTP protocol;

receive the information from the monitored image output device, the received information being in the form of a web page file obtained through the HTTP protocol, the web page file consisting of a plurality of characters;

store data corresponding to the received information in a storage device;

create a data structure having a plurality of fields using the received information, said data structure identifying a desired parameter sought from the received information;

retrieve the desired parameter by mapping information in said web page file to corresponding data stored in said storage device, the data structure including

a first field, among a plurality of fields, having a reference to a position within said web page file string to identify the desired parameter; and

a second field, among the plurality of fields, having a reference to a unique feature of the monitored device, wherein said second field is mapped to corresponding data stored in said storage device, wherein the first and second fields are determined based on a manufacturer and model of the image output device.

12. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the unique feature of the monitored device includes a device model or a unique device identifier.

13. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein said second data structure further includes:

a reference to a type of information received from the image output device; and

a reference to specific delimiter associated with the received information to extract data corresponding to the received information from the storage device.