US 11,683,364 B2
Distributed device management system and distributed device management method
Hirofumi Noguchi, Musashino (JP); Yoji Yamato, Musashino (JP); Tatsuya Demizu, Musashino (JP); and Misao Kataoka, Musashino (JP)
Assigned to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 16/967,921
Filed by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Feb. 13, 2019, PCT No. PCT/JP2019/005094
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 6, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/159964, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 22, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. JP2018-023748 (JP), filed on Feb. 14, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0037085 A1, Feb. 4, 2021
Int. Cl. H04L 67/10 (2022.01); G16Y 30/00 (2020.01); G16Y 20/00 (2020.01); G16Y 40/00 (2020.01); H04L 67/51 (2022.01); H04L 67/52 (2022.01); H04L 67/60 (2022.01); H04L 67/568 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 67/10 (2013.01) [G16Y 20/00 (2020.01); G16Y 30/00 (2020.01); G16Y 40/00 (2020.01); H04L 67/51 (2022.05); H04L 67/52 (2022.05); H04L 67/568 (2022.05); H04L 67/60 (2022.05)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A distributed device management system for specifying, from among a plurality of devices connected to a network, a device capable of supplying predetermined data used for providing a service, the system comprising:
a plurality of device management function units, including one or more processors, disposed so as to be geographically distributed and configured to manage states of the plurality of devices located in respective areas in which the plurality of device management function units are disposed; and
a device specifying function unit, including one or more processors, connected to the plurality of device management function units, that is configured to receive a request for the service, to transmit an inquiry to the plurality of device management function units, and to specify the device capable of supplying the predetermined data,
wherein the device specifying function unit comprises a device inquiry cache to record a response log including a type of data which was previously requested for the service and an identifier of a first device management function unit, under which the device capable of supplying the predetermined data is placed, and in a case where the predetermined data coincides with the type of data included in the response log, the device specifying function unit transmits the inquiry to the first device management function unit associated with the predetermined data in the response log, and
wherein:
the first device management function unit includes adjacent management-function-unit information, that includes a second device management function unit located in a second area geographically adjacent to but different from a first area in which the first device management function unit is located,
the first device management function unit is assigned to manage the first area that includes a first set of devices, the second device management function unit is assigned to manage the second area that includes a second set of devices, and
in a case where there is no device included in the first set of devices capable of supplying the predetermined data placed when the inquiry is received from the device specifying function unit, the first device management function unit transfers the inquiry to the second device management function unit based on the second device management function unit being assigned to manage the second area geographically adjacent to the first area, and the second device management function unit determines whether any device in the second set of devices is capable of supplying the predetermined data.