JP6642600B2 - Request transmission device, device, request transmission system, request transmission method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a request transmission device, a device, a request transmission system, a request transmission method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a device capable of expanding a function by installing an application program.

  On the other hand, cloud services have recently attracted attention. As for the service related to the device, if the service can be provided as a service provided through a network, such as a cloud service (including, for example, a service provided by a Web service or an ASP (Application Service Provider)), the device can be provided. The possibility of providing further added value to the user can be expected.

  The application program installed in the device can control the device at an arbitrary timing via an API (Application Program Interface) or the like mounted on the device. On the other hand, an application that provides a service provided via a network, such as a cloud service, is arranged in a network environment external to a network environment such as an intranet of a company or the like in which the device is installed. . Therefore, when such an application controls a device, it is necessary to transmit a request to the device via a network.

  However, a firewall is generally installed between an intranet such as a company and an external network environment. Therefore, a request from the external network environment is blocked by the firewall.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a new form of a method of transmitting a request to a device via a network.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problem, the request transmission device receives a request for any of a plurality of devices connected via a network, and stores the request in a request storage unit; In response to receiving the notification information notifying the change in the state of the device , among the requests stored in the request storage unit, the request for the device that is the source of the notification information or the device associated with the device And a reply unit for sending a reply in response to the notification information .

  A new form can be provided for a method of transmitting a request to a device via a network.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a device according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing the example of hardware constitutions of the mediation device in an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a processing procedure of a setting process for the mediation device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a service information storage unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a client information storage unit. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of a processing procedure of message transmission processing. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a message storage unit.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the information processing system 1 of FIG. 1, the mediation device 20 is communicably connected to the user environment E1 and the service providing environment E2 via a communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), an intranet, or the Internet. ing.

  The mediation device 20 is a computer that mediates between the user environment E1 and the service providing environment E2. Hereinafter, the function or service provided by the mediation device 20 is referred to as “mediation service”. For example, the mediation device 20 provides a mediation service as a cloud service on the Internet. Alternatively, the mediation device 20 may be installed in a company of the user environment E1 like a private cloud. It should be noted that there are various types of services provided via a network, such as a web service and a service provided by an ASP (Application Service Provider), in addition to the cloud service. This will be described as a representative example of a service provided via a network.

  The service providing environment E2 is a system environment in an organization that provides a service via a network. The service providing environment E2 includes a service providing device 30. The service providing device 30 provides a predetermined service realized by cooperating with the device 10 in the user environment E1 via a network. Note that the service providing device 30 may also be installed in the user environment E1 similarly to the mediation device 20. That is, the service providing environment E2 may be included in the user environment E1.

  The user environment E1 is a system environment or a network environment in a user company of the device 10 or the like. In the user environment E1, a plurality of devices 10 including the devices 10a and 10b and the administrator terminal 40 are connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The device 10 according to the present embodiment is a multifunction peripheral that realizes two or more functions of printing, scanning, copying, facsimile (FAX) communication, and the like using a single housing. However, the device 10 having any one function alone may be used as the device 10. In addition, as illustrated below, another type of device may be used as the device 10 as long as the device has a communication function. In the present embodiment, the devices 10a and 10b have a parent-child relationship or a hierarchical relationship with respect to communication with the mediation device 20. That is, the device 10 serving as a parent (upper layer) also performs communication with the device 10 serving as a child (lower layer). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that device 10a is a parent (hereinafter, referred to as “parent device 10a”) and device 10b is a child (hereinafter, “child device 10b”). The parent device 10a and the child device 10b may be the same type of device or different types of devices. In addition, when the parent device 10a and the child device 10b are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as “devices 10”.

  The administrator terminal 40 is a terminal used by an administrator user of the device 10 in the user environment E1. Examples of the administrator terminal 40 include a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a tablet terminal, a smartphone, and a mobile phone.

  The user environment E1 has a firewall (FW) 50 with an external network. The firewall 50 basically blocks requests from outside the user environment E1. Therefore, when the service providing apparatus 30 wants to transmit a request to the device 10 in order to cooperate with the device 10, the service providing device 30 cannot directly transmit the request to the device 10. Therefore, in the present embodiment, transmission of a request from the service providing device 30 to the device 10 is mediated by the mediation device 20.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2, the device 10 has hardware such as a controller 11, a scanner 12, a printer 13, a modem 14, an operation panel 15, a network interface 16, and an SD card slot 17.

  The controller 11 has a CPU 111, a RAM 112, a ROM 113, an HDD 114, an NVRAM 115, and the like. The ROM 113 stores various programs, data used by the programs, and the like. The RAM 112 is used as a storage area for loading a program, a work area for the loaded program, and the like. The CPU 111 implements various functions by processing a program loaded in the RAM 112. The HDD 114 stores programs, various data used by the programs, and the like. The NVRAM 115 stores various setting information and the like.

  The scanner 12 is hardware (image reading means) for reading image data from a document. The printer 13 is hardware (printing means) for printing print data on printing paper. The modem 14 is hardware for connecting to a telephone line, and is used for transmitting and receiving image data by facsimile communication. The operation panel 15 is hardware including input means such as buttons for receiving input from a user, display means such as a liquid crystal panel, and the like. The network interface 16 is hardware for connecting to a network such as a LAN (whether wired or wireless). The SD card slot 17 is used for reading a program stored in the SD card 80. That is, in the device 10, not only the program stored in the ROM 113 but also the program stored in the SD card 80 can be loaded into the RAM 112 and executed. Note that the SD card 80 may be replaced with another recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory). That is, the type of recording medium corresponding to the positioning of the SD card 80 is not limited to a predetermined type. In this case, the SD card slot 17 may be replaced by hardware corresponding to the type of the recording medium.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the mediation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The intermediary device 20 in FIG. 3 includes a drive device 200, an auxiliary storage device 202, a memory device 203, a CPU 204, and an interface device 205, which are mutually connected by a bus B.

  A program for realizing the processing in the mediation device 20 is provided by a recording medium 201 such as a CD-ROM. When the recording medium 201 storing the program is set in the drive device 200, the program is installed from the recording medium 201 to the auxiliary storage device 202 via the drive device 200. However, the program need not always be installed from the recording medium 201, and may be downloaded from another computer via a network. The auxiliary storage device 202 stores installed programs and also stores necessary files and data.

  The memory device 203 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 202 and stores it when there is an instruction to start the program. The CPU 204 executes functions related to the mediation device 20 according to a program stored in the memory device 203. The interface device 205 is used as an interface for connecting to a network.

  Note that the service providing apparatus 30 may also have hardware as shown in FIG. Further, the mediation device 20 and the service providing device 30 may be realized by one computer. Further, each of the mediation device 20 and the service providing device 30 may be realized by a plurality of computers.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the information processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 4, each device 10 includes a communication unit 121, a message processing unit 122, and the like. Master device 10a further includes a sorting unit 123, a transfer unit 124, and the like. Each of these units is realized by a process that causes the CPU 111 of each device 10 to execute one or more programs installed in the device 10.

  The communication unit 121a of the master device 10a transmits to the intermediation device 20 information for notifying a change in the state of the master device 10a. As an example of the change of the state, the start or completion of the execution of the job in the master device 10a, the occurrence of an abnormality, and the like are given. The transition to the power saving state, the return from the power saving state, and the like are also examples of the change in the state of the master device 10a. Hereinafter, information (notification information) notified from the parent device 10a to the mediation device 20 is referred to as an “event”. The reason why the event is transmitted to the mediation device 20 is to cause the service providing device 30 or the like to detect a change in the state of the parent device 10a. That is, the service providing apparatus 30 may provide a predetermined service according to a change in the state of the parent device 10a.

  The communication unit 121b of the slave 10b realizes the same function as the communication unit 121a except that the communication partner is the master 10a. That is, the event of the slave 10b is transmitted to the communication unit 121a. Therefore, the communication unit 121a transmits not only the event of the parent device 10a but also the event of the child device 10b to the mediation device 20.

  The message processing unit 122 executes a process in response to a request to execute a process for the device 10 from the service providing device 30. In the present embodiment, a request for service execution from the service providing apparatus 30 to the device 10 is referred to as a “message”. There may be a plurality of types of messages from the service providing device 30. Therefore, the message processing unit 122 may be realized by a different program for each type of message. That is, the message processing unit 122 may be realized by a plurality of programs.

  The message from the service providing apparatus 30 to the master device 10a or the slave device 10b is received by the communication unit 121a of the master device 10a as a representative.

  The classification unit 123 classifies the transfer destination of the message received by the communication unit 121a. This is because the message returned from the mediation device 20 is not necessarily for the parent device 10a but may be for the child device 10b.

  The transfer unit 124 transfers the message addressed to the slave 10b to the communication unit 121b of the slave 10b.

  The mediation device 20 includes a portal unit 221, a message receiving unit 222, a transmitting unit 223, and the like. These units are realized by a process that causes the CPU 204 to execute one or more programs installed in the intermediary device 20. The mediation device 20 also uses a message storage unit 231, a service information storage unit 232, a client information storage unit 233, and the like. Each of these storage units can be realized using the auxiliary storage device 202 or a storage device connected to the mediation device 20 via a network.

  The portal unit 221 registers setting information for the mediation service and the like. The setting information is stored in the service information storage unit 232 or the client information storage unit 233. The service information storage unit 232 stores information on a service provided by the service providing unit 31. The client information storage unit 233 stores information about each device 10. The client information storage unit 233 also stores information indicating a parent-child relationship between the devices 10. The information indicating the parent-child relationship is an example of related information between the devices 10.

  The message receiving unit 222 receives a message from the service providing device 30. That is, the service providing apparatus 30 transmits a message for the device 10 to the message receiving unit 222. The message receiving unit 222 stores the received message in the message storage unit 231 in association with the received message.

  The transmission unit 223 receives an event from the device 10 and transfers the event to a preset transmission destination. In response to the reception of the event from the device 10, the transmission unit 223 also sends the message stored in the message storage unit 231 to the device 10 or the device 10 associated with the device 10 in a parent-child relationship. Reply in response to the event. That is, the message from the service providing apparatus 30 to the device 10 is transmitted to the device 10 in response to the reception of the event from the device 10. This is because a response to the reception of the event from the device 10 can pass through the firewall 50 of the user environment E1.

  The service providing device 30 includes a service providing unit 31. The service providing unit 31 is realized by a process in which one or more programs installed in the service providing apparatus 30 cause the CPU of the service providing apparatus 30 to execute. The service providing unit 31 provides a predetermined service realized by cooperating with the device 10. Note that the service providing unit 31 may be usable in the form of SaaS (Software as a Service).

  Hereinafter, a processing procedure executed in the information processing system 1 will be described. First, a setting process performed on the mediation device 20 to receive the mediation service will be described. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a setting process for the mediation device.

  In step S101, the service providing unit 31 requests the portal unit 221 of the intermediary device 20 to register service information. The service information refers to information on a service provided by the service providing unit 31. The portal unit 221 registers the received service information in the service information storage unit 232.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the service information storage unit. 6, the service information storage unit 232 stores a service name, a service URL, a client list, and the like for each service provided by the service providing unit 31. The service name is identification information of the service. The service URL is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for accessing the service. The client list is a list of identification information of the devices 10 that use the service or cooperate with the service. Hereinafter, the identification information of the device 10 is referred to as “machine number”. The machine number may be any information that can identify each device 10, such as a manufacturing number, a serial number, a MAC address, or an IP address.

  The service name and the service URL are information included in the service information registration request from the service providing unit 31. Therefore, in step S102, the service name and the service information are registered.

  On the other hand, an instruction to use the service provided by the service providing unit 31 is input to the administrator terminal 40 by the administrator user asynchronously with the registration of the service information. In the service use instruction, the name of the service to be used, the machine number of the device 10 associated with the service, and the like are specified. A plurality of machine numbers may be specified.

  In response to the input of the service use instruction, the administrator terminal 40 transmits a service use request to the portal unit 221 (S111). In the use request, a service name, a machine number, and the like are specified.

  Upon receiving the service use request, the portal unit 221 registers the machine number specified in the use request in the client information storage unit 233 (S112).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the client information storage unit. 7, the client information storage unit 233 stores, for each device 10, a device number, a child device number, and the like. The slave unit number is the machine number of the slave unit of the device 10. In step S104, a record is registered for each machine number specified in the service use request, and the machine number is stored in each record. In the present embodiment, a record is registered for each of the parent device 10a and the child device 10b, and a device number is stored.

  Subsequently, the portal unit 221 registers the machine number specified in the service use request in the service information storage unit 232 in association with the service name specified in the use request (S113). That is, in the service information storage unit 232, one or more machine numbers specified in the use request are stored in the “client list” of the record in which the service name is stored.

  Subsequently, the administrator user inputs an instruction to register information indicating a parent-child relationship between the devices 10 in the user environment E1 (hereinafter, referred to as “parent-child information”) to the administrator terminal 40. The parent-child information is, for example, information including the machine number of the master device 10a and the machine number of the slave device 10b. A plurality of slave units may be associated with one master unit. Further, the parent-child relationship may be two generations or more (two layers or more). That is, a child device may be further set for the child device 10b.

  In response to the parent-child information registration instruction, the administrator terminal 40 transmits a parent-child information registration request to the portal unit 221 (S114). The portal unit 221 registers the received parent-child information in the client information storage unit 233 (S115). Specifically, the device number of the child device 10b is stored in the “child device number” of the record for the parent device 10a. In the case where a child device exists in the child device 10b, the device number of the child device is stored in the “child device number” of the record for the child device 10b. That is, the client information storage unit 233 can recursively store the parent-child relationship over a plurality of generations (a plurality of hierarchies). By registering the parent-child information in the client information storage unit 233, the devices 10 having the parent-child relationship are associated with each other by the parent-child relationship.

  As described above, the correspondence between the service provided by the service providing unit 31 and the device 10 and the parent-child information between the devices 10 are registered in the mediation device 20. This allows the use of the mediation service. That is, the message from the service providing unit 31 can be transmitted to the device 10.

  Next, a processing procedure executed to transmit a message from the service providing apparatus 30 to the device 10 will be described. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure of message transmission processing.

  When a certain message is to be delivered to the device 10 using the service, the service providing unit 31 specifies the service name and transmits the message to the message receiving unit 222 of the intermediary device 20 (S201). Here, it is assumed that there is no firewall between the intermediary device 202 and the service providing device 30 that blocks a request from the service providing unit 3131.

  When receiving the message, the message receiving unit 222 stores (stores) the message and the service name in the message storage unit 231 in association with each other (S202).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the message storage unit. As shown in FIG. 9, the message storage unit 231 stores a message and a service name in association with each other. FIG. 9 shows an example in which the message “request 1” is stored in association with the service name “service A”.

  Thereafter, if any state change occurs in the base unit 10a asynchronously or irrespective of the message, the communication unit 121a of the base unit 10a sends the machine number of the base unit 10a together with the event indicating the state change to the intermediary device 20. The information is transmitted to the transmission unit 223 (S203). The event and the like are transmitted in a request format in the communication protocol. Further, the events to be notified may be limited. That is, instead of notification of events for all state changes, only events required by the service providing unit 31 or the like that cooperates with the device 10 may be notified. The type of the event to be notified (the type of change in state) may be set in the device 10 at the time of setting the cooperation with the service providing unit 31 or the like.

  In response to receiving the event and the machine number, the transmission unit 223 transfers the event in the service information storage unit 232 to the service URL of the record including the machine number in the “client list”. As a result, the event on the device 10 side is transmitted to the service side. This processing is not shown for convenience.

  Subsequently, the transmission unit 223 acquires the slave unit number associated with the unit number received with the event from the client information storage unit 233 (FIG. 7) (S204, S205). In the present embodiment, the machine number of slave 10b, which is associated with the machine number of master 10a, is acquired. If the parent-child relationship extends over a plurality of generations, the descendant machine numbers are acquired recursively.

  Subsequently, the transmission unit 223 transmits the service name associated with at least one of the acquired slave unit number and the unit number received with the event (hereinafter, referred to as “master unit number”). Is acquired from the service information storage unit 232 (S206, S207). That is, the service name of the record including at least one of the slave unit number and the master unit number in the “client list” is acquired. There may be more than one corresponding service name. The transmitting unit 223 stores which service name is acquired based on which machine number, that is, the correspondence between the machine number and the service name.

  Next, the transmission unit 223 acquires a message stored in the message storage unit 231 in association with the acquired service name for each acquired service name (S208, S209). That is, the message transmitted from the service providing unit 31 related to the service name is acquired.

  Subsequently, the transmission unit 223 generates response information in which the acquired message is associated with a machine number associated with the transmission source service name of the message (S210). When a plurality of messages are obtained, a machine number associated with the transmission source service name of the message is associated with each message. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the machine numbers of the master unit 10a and the slave unit 10b are associated with the service name of the message transmitted in step S201 in the service information storage unit 232. . Accordingly, response information in which the respective machine numbers of the parent device 10a and the child device 10b are associated with the message is generated. Further, the parent-child information of the parent device 10a and the child device 10b is also included in the response information.

  Subsequently, the transmission unit 223 returns the generated response information to the communication unit 121a of the parent device 10a as a response to the event in step S203 (S211).

  The communication unit 121 of the master device 10a requests the separation unit 123 to separate the transfer destination of the message included in the returned response information (S212). The classification unit 123 classifies the transfer destination for each message included in the response information. The classification unit 123 transfers the message associated with the device number of the own device (master device 10a) to the message processing unit 122a of the own device (S213). The message processing unit 122a executes a process according to the message. For a message associated with a device number other than its own device, the classification unit 123 sets the child device of the parent device 10a as a transfer destination based on the parent-child information included in the response information. In the present embodiment, the child device of parent device 10a is child device 10b. Therefore, the classification unit 123 requests the transfer unit 124 to transfer the response information by designating the machine number of the slave unit 10b (S214). When a plurality of slave units exist in the master unit 10a and the unit numbers of the respective slave units are included in the response information, the respective unit numbers of the plurality of slave units are designated, and the transfer of the response information is transferred. Required by unit 124.

  The transfer unit 124 transfers the response information to the communication unit 121b of the child device 10b associated with the specified device number (S215). The communication unit 121b transfers the message included in the received response information to the message processing unit 122b (S216). Note that the child device 10b may also include the sorting unit 123 and the transfer unit 124. In this case, in response to the reception of the response information by the communication unit 121b of the child device 10b, the child device 10b may execute the same processing as steps S213 and S214 in the parent device 10a. When a child device exists in the child device 10b, the transfer unit 124 of the child device 10b may execute the same processing as in step S215. That is, when the parent-child relationship extends over a plurality of generations, the message is transferred along a route from the parent to the child, from the child to the grandchild.

  When the parent-child relationship is limited to only two generations (only parent and child), the response information transmitted from the transmission unit 223 may not include the parent-child information. This is because the master device 10a that has received the response information can determine that all of the device numbers of the other devices 10 included in the response information are slave devices of the own device.

  Note that, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the presence or absence of a message is inquired along with the transmission of an event. However, step S203 may be an inquiry by periodic polling.

  However, according to the present embodiment, in one round trip communication between the device 10 and the mediation device 20, an event is notified in the upward communication from the device 10 to the mediation device 20, and the mediation device 20 transmits The message is transmitted in the communication in the downward direction to. Therefore, the amount of information to be notified or transmitted per round trip can be increased. As a result, communication between the device 10 and the mediation device 20 can be made more efficient.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which a message notification destination is specified based on correspondence information between a preset service name and a device number. May be specified. That is, each time a message is transmitted, the service providing unit 31 may specify a machine number to be notified of the message. In this case, the message storage unit 231 may store the machine number in association with the message instead of the service name. In the present embodiment, in consideration of the fact that the machine name is associated with the service name, the specification of the service name at the time of message transmission may be considered to be substantially the specification of the message notification destination. it can.

  Further, the parent-child information need not be registered in the mediation device 20 in advance. For example, in step S203, the parent and child information may be transmitted from the device 10 when an inquiry about the presence / absence of a message is performed with the notification of the event. However, in this case, it is necessary to register the parent-child information at least in each device 10 communicating with the mediation device 20. Therefore, when the frequency of the change in the parent-child relationship of the device 10 is high, it is considered that managing the parent-child information centrally in the mediation device 20 is advantageous in terms of maintainability.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the image forming apparatus is the device 10 has been described. However, if the device 10 has a communication function, such as a projector, a digital camera, a mobile phone, or a smartphone that can perform network communication, other devices can be used. May be applied to the present embodiment.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the message from the service providing unit 31 is returned to the device 10 in the response to the event notification from the device 10. Therefore, a message from the service providing unit 31 can be transmitted to the device 10 across the firewall 50.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, not one of the devices 10 but one of the devices 10 acquires not only a message to the own device but also a message to another device. Therefore, the network load can be reduced as compared with the case where polling or the like is performed by each device 10.

  In the present embodiment, the mediation device 20 is an example of a request transmission device. Message receiving section 222 is an example of a receiving section. The transmission unit 223 is an example of a reply unit. The communication unit 121 is an example of a transmission unit. The message storage unit 231 is an example of a request storage unit. The client information storage unit 233 is an example of a related storage unit.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described in full detail, this invention is not limited to such a specific embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is carried out within the range of the gist of this invention described in the claim.・ Change is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing system 10 Equipment 11 Controller 12 Scanner 13 Printer 14 Modem 15 Operation panel 16 Network interface 17 SD card slot 20 Intermediary device 30 Service providing device 31 Service providing unit 40 Administrator terminal 50 Firewall 80 SD card 111 CPU
112 RAM
113 ROM
114 HDD
115 NVRAM
121 communication unit 122 message processing unit 123 classification unit 124 transfer unit 200 drive device 201 recording medium 202 auxiliary storage device 203 memory device 204 CPU
205 Interface device 221 Portal unit 222 Message receiving unit 223 Transmission unit 231 Message storage unit 232 Service information storage unit 233 Client information storage unit B Bus

JP-A-2002-342201

Claims (8)

A receiving unit that receives a request for any one of a plurality of devices connected via a network, and stores the request in a request storage unit.
In response to receiving the notification information notifying the change in the state of any of the plurality of devices , among the requests stored in the request storage unit, the source device of the notification information , or associated with the device A reply unit that returns a request for the device that is included in a response to the notification information ,
Request transmission device having Having a related storage unit for storing related information between the devices,
The reply unit, in response to receiving the notification information from any of the plurality of devices, among the requests stored in the request storage unit, the device of the transmission source of the notification information , or the device based on the relevant information 2. The request transmitting device according to claim 1, wherein a request for a device associated with the request information is returned in a response to the notification information . A transmission unit that transmits the notification information to the request transmission device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A transfer unit that transfers the request included in a response returned from the request transmission device to the notification information to another device. A receiving unit that receives a request for any one of a plurality of devices connected via a network, and stores the request in a request storage unit.
In response to receiving the notification information notifying the change in the state of any of the plurality of devices , among the requests stored in the request storage unit, the source device of the notification information , or associated with the device A request transmission device having a reply unit that returns a request for the device that is included in a response to the notification information ,
A transmission unit that transmits the notification information to the request transmission device,
A device having a transfer unit that transfers the request included in a response returned from the request transmission device to the notification information to another device,
Including request transmission system. A receiving procedure for receiving a request for any of a plurality of devices connected via a network, and storing the request in a request storage unit,
In response to receiving the notification information notifying the change in the state of any of the plurality of devices , among the requests stored in the request storage unit, the source device of the notification information , or associated with the device A request transmission method, wherein the computer executes a reply procedure of returning a request for the device that is included in a response to the notification information . A transmission procedure for transmitting the notification information to the request transmission device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A request transmission method, wherein the device executes a transfer procedure of transferring the request included in a response returned from the request transmission device to the notification information to another device. A receiving procedure for receiving a request for any of a plurality of devices connected via a network, and storing the request in a request storage unit,
In response to receiving the notification information notifying the change in the state of any of the plurality of devices , among the requests stored in the request storage unit, the source device of the notification information , or associated with the device A request for a device that is included in a response to the notification information ,
A program that causes a computer to execute. A transmission procedure for transmitting the notification information to the request transmission device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A program for causing a device to execute a transfer procedure of transferring the request included in a response returned from the request transmission device to the notification information to another device.

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