Management device, medium for the same, and management system

• US 8,732,344 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Miyazawa, Masafumi
• Primary Examiner(s): TSENG, CHENG YUAN
• Application Number:
  US13/616,207
• Publication Number:
  US 20130007309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 710/8
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823

Abstract

A management device configured to communicate with at least one second management device and at least one terminal device via a network includes an acquiring system configured to acquire first management information managed by the management device, a receiving system configured to receive second management information managed by each of the at least one second management device from each of the at least one second management device, a management information request receiving system configured to receive a management information request for the first management information and the second management information from the at least one terminal device, and a sending system configured to send, to the at least one terminal device, the first management information acquired by the acquiring system and the second management information received by the receiving system in response to the management information request being received by the management information request receiving system.

Claims

1. A first peripheral device comprising:

a memory configured to store first management information of the first peripheral device; and

a processor configured to perform;

receiving, by the first peripheral device, second management information of a second peripheral device that is broadcasted by the second peripheral device;

receiving, by the first peripheral device, a management information request from a terminal device; and

transmitting, from the first peripheral device, management information to the terminal device in response to the management information request, the management information including the first management information of the first peripheral device stored in the memory and the second management information of the second peripheral device received from the second peripheral device.

2. The first peripheral device according to claim 1,

wherein the processor is configured to receive a plurality of pieces of second management information of a plurality of second peripheral devices, the plurality of pieces of second management information comprising the second management information broadcasted by the second peripheral device and one or more pieces of different second management information transmitted by one or more different second peripheral devices, and

wherein the transmitting of the management information comprises transmitting, to the terminal device, the management information that includes the first management information of the first peripheral device stored in the memory and the plurality of pieces of second management information of the plurality of second peripheral devices received from the plurality of second peripheral devices.

3. The first peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive the second management information of the second peripheral device broadcasted by the second peripheral device, prior to receiving the management information request from the terminal device.

4. The first peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to perform broadcasting the first management information of the first peripheral device to the second peripheral device.

5. The first peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit the first management information of the first peripheral device to a plurality of second peripheral devices that comprises the second peripheral device and one or more different second peripheral devices; and

receive a plurality of pieces of second management information of the plurality of second peripheral devices, the plurality of pieces of second management information comprising the second management information broadcasted by the second peripheral device and one or more pieces of different second management information transmitted by one or more different second peripheral devices, and

wherein the transmitting of the management information comprises transmitting, to the terminal device, the management information that includes the first management information of the first peripheral device stored in the memory and the plurality of pieces of second management information of the plurality of second peripheral devices received from the plurality of second peripheral devices.

6. The first peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit the first management information of the first peripheral device to the second peripheral device, prior to receiving the management information request from the terminal device; and

receive the second management information of the second peripheral device broadcasted by the second peripheral device, prior to receiving the management information request from the terminal device.

7. The first peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving of the management information request comprises receiving the management information request broadcasted by the terminal device.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

storing first management information of a first peripheral device in a memory of the first peripheral device;

receiving, by the first peripheral device, second management information of a second peripheral device that is broadcasted by the second peripheral device;

receiving, by the first peripheral device, a management information request from a terminal device; and

transmitting, from the first peripheral device, management information to the terminal device in response to the management information request, the management information including the first management information of the first peripheral device stored in the memory and the second management information of the second peripheral device received from the second peripheral device.

9. A terminal device comprising:

a processor configured to perform;

transmitting a management information request to a plurality of peripheral devices comprising a first peripheral device and a second peripheral device; and

receiving a plurality of management information groups from the plurality of peripheral devices in response to the management information request,

wherein the receiving of the plurality of management information groups comprises;

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a first management information group including first management information of the first peripheral device and second management information of the second peripheral device, the second management information being acquired by the first peripheral device from the second peripheral device; and

receiving, from the second peripheral device, a second management information group including the second management information of the second peripheral device and the first management information of the first peripheral device, the first management information being acquired by the second peripheral device from the first peripheral device.

10. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting of the management information request comprises broadcasting the management information request to the plurality of peripheral devices.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

transmitting a management information request to a plurality of peripheral devices comprising a first peripheral device and a second peripheral device; and

receiving a plurality of management information groups from the plurality of peripheral devices in response to the management information request, and

wherein the receiving of the plurality of management information groups comprises;

receiving, from the first peripheral device, a first management information group including first management information of the first peripheral device and second management information of the second peripheral device, the second management information being acquired by the first peripheral device from the second peripheral device; and

receiving, from the second peripheral device, a second management information group including the second management information of the second peripheral device and the first management information, of the first peripheral device, the first management information being acquired by the second peripheral device from the first peripheral device.

12. A system comprising:

a first peripheral device comprising;

a first memory configured to store first management information of the first peripheral device; and

a first processor coupled to the first memory;

a second peripheral device comprising;

a second memory configured to store second management information of the second peripheral device; and

a second processor coupled to the second memory; and

a terminal device comprising a third processor,

wherein the first peripheral device, the second peripheral device and the terminal device are configured to be connected with each other via a communication network;

wherein the first processor is configured to;

regularly broadcast the first management information via the communication network,

receive the second management information that is regularly broadcasted by the second peripheral device;

update the second management information upon receiving the second management information from the second peripheral device; and

transmit, when failing to receive the second management information to be regularly broadcasted by the second peripheral device and when receiving a management information request from a terminal device, a first management information group to the terminal device in response to the management information request,

wherein the first management information includes the first management information of the first peripheral device stored in the first memory and the last updated second management information of the second peripheral device received from the second peripheral device,

wherein the second processor is configured to;

regularly broadcast the second management information via the communication network;

receive the first management information that is regularly broadcasted by the first peripheral device;

update the first management information upon receiving the first management information from the first peripheral device; and

transmit, when failing to receive the first management information to be regularly broadcasted by the first peripheral device and when receiving a management information request from a terminal device, a second management information group to the terminal device in response to the management information request,

wherein the second management information group includes the second management information of the second peripheral device stored in the second memory and the last updated first management information of the first peripheral device received from the first peripheral device, and

wherein the third processor is configured to;

transmit a management information request to a plurality of peripheral devices comprising the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device;

receive, from the first peripheral device, the first management information group including the first management information of the first peripheral device and second management information of the second peripheral device, the second management information being acquired by the first peripheral device from the second peripheral device; and

receive, from the second peripheral device, the second management information group including the second management information of the second peripheral device and the first management information of the first peripheral device, the first management information being acquired by the second peripheral device from the first peripheral device.