Cooperation system

• US 10,601,904 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2018
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nosaki, Takefumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Algibhah, Hamza N
• Application Number:
  US16/121,466
• Publication Number:
  US 20180375929A1
• Time in Patent Office: 567 Days
• Field of Search: 709232
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A cooperation system in cooperation with a cloud system includes: a server connected to a local network; and an image processing apparatus connected to the local network, the image processing apparatus being configured to send processing-target data to the server, and to receive processed data from the server, the processed data being obtained by processing the processing-target data by one of the server and the cloud system.

Claims

1. A cooperation system in cooperation with a cloud system, comprising:

an image processing apparatus connected to a local network and configured to output target data to be processed over the local network; and

a server comprising;

a communication interface connected to the local network and the cloud system,

a graphics accelerator,

a memory that stores a program for processing the target data, and

a processor configured to;

upon receipt of the target data from the image processing apparatus via the communication interface, determine whether the received target data contains a certain keyword,

upon determining that the target data does not contain the certain keyword, determine whether the cloud system is available for processing the target data, and upon determining that the cloud system is available, control the communication interface to send the target data to the cloud system,

upon determining that the target data contains the certain keyword, or the target data does not contain the certain keyword and the cloud system is not available, determine which of the graphics accelerator and the processor processes the target data, based on a state of the graphics accelerator, and

upon determining that the graphics accelerator processes the target data, control the graphics accelerator to process the target data, and upon determining that the processor processes the target data, execute the stored program to process the target data.

2. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein the certain keyword is a keyword to identify the target data as one that should not be transmitted to outside of the local network.

3. The cooperation system according to claim 2, wherein the certain keyword is set in advance for identifying the target data as one that should not be presented to outside of the local network.

4. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

the processor is configured to:

control the communication interface to send, to the cloud system, an execute-processing request to process the target data, and

determine whether the cloud system is available for processing the target data based on presence or absence of a response from the cloud system within a set period of time in response to the execute-processing request.

5. The cooperation system according to claim 4, wherein

the memory stores a threshold data table containing a plurality of time thresholds, and

the set period of time corresponds to one of the plurality of time thresholds of the threshold data table.

6. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

the image processing apparatus is further configured to:

display a processing-menu window through which a selection of one of the server and the cloud system to process the target data can be made.

7. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

when the cloud system is determined to be available for processing the target data, upon receipt of an instruction to process the target data by the cloud system from the image processing apparatus, the processor

controls the communication interface to send the target data to the cloud system.

8. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

when the cloud system is determined to not be available for processing the target data, upon receipt of an instruction to process the target data by the server, the processor

controls the graphics accelerator to process the target data or executes the stored program to process the target data.

9. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein the processor determines that the graphics accelerator processes the target data when there is a remaining resource of the graphics accelerator.

10. The cooperation system according to claim 9, wherein the processor determines the remaining resource used to process the target data by accessing a resource-managing data table that manages the remaining resource of the accelerator.

11. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

upon receipt of the target data, the processor performs an OCR function to recognize the certain keyword included in the target data.

12. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

upon determining that the cloud system is available, before sending the target data to the cloud system, the processor controls the communication interface to send a confirmation message to the image processing apparatus.

13. The cooperation system according to claim 1, wherein

upon determining that the target data contains the certain keyword or the target data does not contain the certain keyword and the cloud system is not available, the processor registers a job for processing the target data in a queue depending on an available resource of the server.

14. A method of assisting, by a server, an image processing apparatus to execute processing, the server being configured to relay data exchanged between the image processing apparatus and a cloud system connected with each other via a network, the method comprising:

receiving, by the server, target data to be processed from the image processing apparatus;

determining, by the server, whether the target data contains a certain keyword;

upon determining that the target data does not contain the certain keyword, determining, by the server, whether the cloud system is available for processing the target data, and upon determining that the cloud system is available, transferring the target data from the server to the cloud system in order to process the target data by the cloud system;

upon determining that the target data contains the certain keyword, or the target data does not contain the certain keyword and the cloud system is not available, determining which of a graphics accelerator of the server and a processor of the server processes the target data, based on a state of the graphics accelerator; and

upon determining that the graphics accelerator processes the target data, processing the target data using the graphics accelerator, and upon determining that the processor processes the target data, executing a program to process the target data; and

sending, from the server to the image processing apparatus, processed data generated by processing the target data by one of the cloud system and the server.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

upon receipt of the target data, performing an OCR function to recognize the certain keyword included in the target data.

16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

upon determining that the cloud system is available, before transferring the target data to the cloud system, sending a confirmation message from the server to the image processing apparatus.

17. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

upon determining that the target data contains the certain keyword or the target data does not contain the certain keyword and the cloud system is not available, registering a job for processing the target data in a queue depending on an available resource of the server.