Information-processing apparatus and program thereof

• US 8,166,149 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2008
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Ishimoto, Kan
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Jungwon
• Application Number:
  US12/342,705
• Publication Number:
  US 20090172143A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• Field of Search: 709/250, 709/223, 709/220, 709/245, 358/1.15, 370/401, 702/188
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/3015 Name registration, generation or assignment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4535 using an address exchange platform which sets up a session between two nodes, e.g. rendezvous servers, session initiation protocols [SIP] registrars or H.323 gatekeepers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

An information-processing apparatus which is capable of transmitting device identifiers of devices connected with LANs to terminals without using a broadcast command is provided. A server is connected with a World Area Network. A managing terminal and printers are connected with a LAN. The server receives a device identifier of the printer connected with any one of the LANs. The server receives an inquiry for a device identifier from a terminal connected with any one of the LANs. The server stores appended information, which is appended to the device identifier while the device identifier is transferred to the server, in a manner that the appended information is associated with the device identifier. The server transmits to the terminal the device identifier whose appended information as stored in a storage coincides with the appended information that is appended to the inquiry while the inquiry is transferred to the server. The managing terminal can obtain the device identifier of the printer connected with the same LAN as the managing terminal itself by transmitting the inquiry to the server.

Claims

1. An information-processing apparatus configured to connect with any one of mutually connected networks, comprising:

a storage that stores device identifiers and a plurality of device-appended information, wherein each of the device-appended information is associated with a device identifier to which a device-appended information has been appended;

a processor; and

memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the processor to provide

a receiver that receives, from a client terminal connected with one of the mutually connected networks, the device identifier to which the device-appended information is appended while the device identifier is transferred to the information-processing apparatus, and receives from a terminal connected with one of the mutually connected networks an identifier-inquiry to which terminal-appended information is appended while the identifier-inquiry is transferred to the information-processing apparatus; and

a transmitter that transmits to the terminal, in a case where one of the stored device-appended information coincides with the terminal-appended information appended to the identifier-inquiry, the device identifier that is associated with the coincided device-appended information,

wherein the receiver receives the device identifier from the client terminal when a device driver for the device identified by the device identifier is installed into the client terminal.

2. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the device-appended information and the terminal-appended information includes an IP address of a gateway that connects one network to another network that are included in the mutually connected networks.

3. The information-processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the transmitter transmits to the terminal, in a case where the IP address included in the terminal-appended information appended to the identifier-inquiry coincides with the IP address included in the stored device-appended information, the device identifier that is associated with the coincided device-appended information.

4. The information-processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory further has instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause processor to provide

an acquisition module for acquiring device-domain information that is associated with each of the device-appended information and terminal-domain information that is associated with the terminal-appended information from a domain-information managing apparatus, wherein

the storage stores each of the device-domain information which is associated with each of the device-appended information associated with each of the device identifiers, and

the transmitter transmits to the terminal, in a case where one of the stored device-domain-information coincides with the terminal-domain information associated with the terminal-appended information appended to the identifier-inquiry, the device identifier associated with the device-appended information associated with the coincided device-domain information.

5. A network system comprising:

the information-processing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, the information-processing apparatus being connected with any one of mutually connected networks;

a device connected with one of the mutually connected networks;

a terminal connected with one of the mutually connected networks and configured to transmit to the information-processing apparatus an identifier-inquiry;

a client terminal configured to store a device identifier of the device when a device driver is installed for using the device into the client terminal;

wherein the client terminal transfers the device identifier of the device to the information-processing apparatus when the device driver is installed.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to:

receive, from a client terminal connected with one of mutually connected networks, a device identifier to which device-appended information is appended while the device identifier is transferred to the computing device;

store the device identifier and the device-appended information in a manner that the device identifier is associated with the device-appended information, wherein the computing device is configured to store device identifiers and a plurality of device-appended information;

receive from a terminal connected with one of the mutually connected networks an identifier-inquiry with which terminal-appended information is appended while the identifier-inquiry is transferred to the computing device;

transmit to the terminal, in a case where one of the stored device-appended information coincides with the terminal-appended information appended to the identifier-inquiry, the device identifier associated with the coincided device-appended information,

wherein the device identifier is received from the client terminal when a device driver for the device identified by the device identifier is installed into the client terminal.