WO2008059897A1

WO2008059897A1 - Information processing device, information processing method, information processing program and computer readable recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2008059897A1
Application number: PCT/JP2007/072127
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroaki Shibasaki
Original assignee: Pioneer Corporation
Priority date: 2006-11-14
Filing date: 2007-11-14
Publication date: 2008-05-22

Abstract

In an information processing device, a specifying section (101) specifies specific apparatus and region. A generating section (102) specifies a repeater for communication with the region specified by the specifying section (101) and generates identification information by combination of information which specifies the repeater and information which specifies the apparatus. A transmitting section (103) transmits the identification information generated by the generating section (102) to a repeater point. The notifying section (104) notifies whether there is the apparatus within the region specified by the specifying section (101), based oninformation returned from the repeater.

Description

Specification

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing program, and computer-readable recording medium

Technical field

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a computer-readable recording medium for confirming the presence / absence of a device through communication with a relay station. However, use of the present invention is not limited to the above-described information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing program, and computer-readable recording medium.

Background art

In a conventional cellular phone network, a communication relationship is established between base stations, and each terminal realizes communication with other terminals via the base station. Here, each terminal can be identified and communicated by address, but if the owner of the terminal is moving, the location cannot be identified. Therefore, in order to know the location of the terminal owner, a mechanism for acquiring location information is required, such as equipping the terminal with GPS. In addition, there is a case where a signal is transmitted from the terminal side as needed and the terminal is monitored via the transmitted signal (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-36492

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0004] However, when GPS is installed in each terminal, the cost of the terminal increases, and it is necessary to continuously communicate with GPS. For example, when a signal is sent from a terminal at any time, communication must be continued at any time. Therefore, an example is the problem of increased communication costs.

[0005] In addition, there is a case where it is only necessary to know whether or not there is an owner of a specific device in a specific area where the above-described detailed position information is not required. Do not acquire such location information from the terminal! / In a simple form, you cannot confirm whether the terminal owner is in a certain area! / The problem is an example. Means for solving the problem

[0006] An information processing apparatus that is advantageous for the invention of claim 1 includes a designation unit that designates a specific device and a region, and a relay device that communicates with the device located in the region designated by the designation unit. A creation means for creating identification information for identifying the device in the region by a combination of information for identifying and identifying the relay device and information for identifying the device, and an identification created by the creation means A transmission means for transmitting information to the relay station; and notification means for notifying the presence or absence of the device in the area based on the information returned from the relay station.

[0007] In addition, the information processing method that focuses on the invention of claim 6 includes a designation step of designating a specific device and a region, and communication with the device located in the region designated by the designation step. Creating identification information identifying the device in the area by combining information identifying the relay device and information identifying the device, and a creation step created by the creation step A transmission step of transmitting identification information to the relay device; and a notification step of notifying presence / absence of the device in the area based on information returned from the relay device.

[0008] An information processing program according to the invention of claim 7 causes a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 6.

[0009] Furthermore, the computer-readable recording medium is characterized in that

The information processing program described in 7 is recorded.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus that is effective in an embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 2] FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing of the information processing method which focuses on the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a system configuration for applying monitoring processing by the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal.

[FIG. 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the monitoring process of a mobile terminal by assigning a destination IP address. Is.

Explanation of symbols

[0011] 101 Designated part

102 Creation Department

103 Transmitter

104 Lost mouth

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0012] Exemplary embodiments of an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a computer-readable recording medium are described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus that is useful for an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus according to this embodiment includes a designation unit 101, a creation unit 102, a transmission unit 103, and a notification unit 104.

[0014] The designation unit 101 designates a specific device and region. To specify a specific device, for example, specify the device with the ID number assigned to each device. In addition, to specify a region, it is necessary to specify a region name or an ID that identifies a repeater that manages communication in that region.

[0015] Creation unit 102 identifies a repeater when communicating with a device located in an area designated by designation unit 101. Then, identification information is created by a combination of the information specifying the repeater and the information specifying the device. This repeater is a repeater between communication devices such as a base station, and can be specified by information specifying these repeaters. In addition, the creation unit 102 may create identification information using an IP address. Further, the creating unit 102 may create an IP address including a character string indicating a relay device and a character string indicating a device as identification information.

[0016] Note that the IP address is information for identifying a corresponding terminal or facility in order to communicate with a terminal or facility connected to the communication network in a communication network such as the Internet or a telephone. The identification information is generally expressed as a character string using alphabets and numbers. A typical example is an email address. In addition, The separate information is not limited to being created by the IP address, but may be created by including it in the header part of the data transmitted by the IP address or a part of the data.

Transmitting section 103 transmits the identification information created by creating section 102 to the relay device. The notification unit 104 notifies the presence / absence of the device in the area designated by the designation unit 101 based on the information returned from the repeater. Specifically, the confirmation result of whether or not communication with the device specified by the identification information created by the creation unit 102 is possible is returned from the relay device. Therefore, the notification unit 104 notifies the presence / absence of the device based on the confirmation result.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing of the information processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, the designation unit 101 designates a specific device and area (step S201). Next, the creation unit 102 specifies a relay device for communication with the area designated by the designation unit 101 (step S202). Then, identification information is created by a combination of information specifying the repeater and information specifying the device (step S203).

Next, the transmission unit 103 transmits the identification information created by the creation unit 102 to the relay machine (step S204). Then, based on the information returned from the relay device, the notification unit 104 notifies the presence / absence of equipment in the area designated by the designation unit 101 (step S205), and ends the series of processes.

[0020] According to the embodiment described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can make an inquiry to a repeater using identification information as to whether or not a specific device exists in a specific area. Then, the information processing apparatus determines whether or not the specific device exists in the specific area in response to the reply from the repeater. Therefore, even if the device does not acquire the location information and return it to the inquiry source, it can be seen that it is within the communication range of the repeater.

[0021] Using the information processing apparatus as described above, for example, by designating a mobile phone terminal as a predetermined device, monitoring whether or not the owner of the mobile phone terminal is in a predetermined area Power S can be. In addition, even if a given communication device is carried by a child, even if he / she gets lost with his / her guardian, he / she can specify a region and be within the communication range of the repeater for each region. Can be confirmed. Therefore, the lost child search can be realized with a simple mechanism. Example

In this embodiment, a case will be described in which a mobile terminal equipped with the function of the information processing apparatus described above realizes a system that can monitor the location of another mobile terminal.

[0023] (System configuration)

The system configuration of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a system configuration for applying the monitoring process by the information processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3, this system includes mobile terminals 300 and 302 to 304 having the function of an information processing device, base stations AAA and BBB as relay devices, and a communication device 301. .

Note that, as shown in FIG. 3, the following IDs are set for each portable terminal.

• Mobile device 300: XX005

• Mobile device 302: XX001

• Mobile device 303: XX002

• Mobile device 304: XX003

[0025] These mobile terminals 300, 302 to 304 generate an IP address by combining the ID of the base station that specifies the transmission destination and the ID of the mobile terminal. By using this IP address, information can be transmitted only to a specific mobile terminal located in a specific area. Specifically, the mobile terminal transmits the information provided with the IP address via the communication device 301 to a base station (for example, the base station AAA) having a designated area as a communicable area. Information is then transmitted from this base station to the mobile terminal corresponding to the IP address.

[0026] On the other hand, when each mobile terminal 300, 302 to 304 is located in a communicable area (for example, area A or area B) of any base station, it identifies information transmitted from the base station. It can be received according to information (IP address). In other words, unless specified by identification information (IP address), information transmitted from the base station cannot be received even if it is located in the communicable area (for example, area A) of the base station. . Conversely, even if the position of the mobile terminal moves after reception and the base station is changed, the transmitted information can be received as is if it is specified in the identification information (IP address).

As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, as an example, a case where the mobile terminal 300 monitors any of the mobile terminals 302 to 304 will be described. At this time, supervise a specific area. A viewing area and a specific mobile terminal are set as monitoring terminals.

[0028] Further, when receiving an instruction for a specific area (here, area A) from the mobile terminal 300, the communication device 301 searches for a base station AAA having the area A as a communicable area. Then, the search result is provided to the mobile terminal 300 of the transmission source. That is, on the mobile terminal 300 side, if the name of the monitored area is designated, it is possible to acquire information on the base station having the corresponding communicable area. In addition, if the base station in the monitoring area can be identified in advance, you can designate the base station as the monitoring area from the beginning.

In the present embodiment, monitoring processing of a specific mobile terminal in a specific area is realized using each device as described above. Hereinafter, the detailed configuration of the mobile terminal and the details of the monitoring process will be described in order.

[0030] (Hardware configuration of mobile terminal)

First, the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal. As described above, the mobile terminals 300 and 302 to 304 are equipped with the functions of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the mobile terminals 300 and 302 to 304 are respectively a CPU 401, a ROM 402, a RAM (memory) 403, a magnetic disk drive 404, a magnetic disk 405, and an optical disk drive. '406, optical disc 407, audio I / F (interface) 408, microphone 409, speaker 410, human power device 411, video I / F 412, power camera 413, display 414 Communication I / F415. Each component 415 is connected by a bus 420! /.

First, the CPU 401 governs overall control of each terminal in the mobile terminals 300 and 302 to 304. The ROM 402 records programs such as a boot program and an information processing program. The RAM 403 is used as a work area for the CPU 401.

The magnetic disk drive 404 controls reading / writing of data with respect to the magnetic disk 405 according to the control of the CPU 401. The magnetic disk 405 records data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 404. For example, HD (node disk) or FD (flexible disk) can be used as the magnetic disk 405.

[0034] The optical disk drive 406 is connected to the optical disk 407 according to the control of the CPU 401. Control data read / write. The optical disc 407 is a detachable recording medium from which data is read according to the control of the optical disc drive 406. As the optical disc 407, a writable recording medium can be used. Further, the removable recording medium may be the power of the optical disc 407, MO, memory card, or the like.

Audio I / F 408 is connected to microphone 409 for audio input and speaker 410 for audio output. The sound received by the microphone 409 is A / D converted in the sound I / F 408. In addition, sound is output from the speaker 410. Note that the sound input from the microphone 409 can be recorded on the magnetic disk 405 or the optical disk 407 as sound data.

[0036] Examples of the input device 411 include a remote controller, a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel that are provided with a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numerical values, various instructions, and the like. Further, the input device 411 can be connected to another information processing terminal such as a digital camera or a mobile phone terminal to input / output data.

The video I / F 412 is connected to a video input camera 413 and a video output display 414. Specifically, the video I / F 412 includes, for example, a graphic controller that controls the entire display 414, a buffer memory such as VRAM (Video RAM) that temporarily records image information that can be displayed immediately, and a graphic controller. It is configured by a control IC that controls display of the display 414 based on the output image data.

[0038] The camera 413 captures an image and outputs it as image data. An image captured by the camera 413 can be recorded on the magnetic disk 405 or the optical disk 407 as image data. The display 414 displays icons, cursors, menus, windows, or various data such as characters and images. As this display 414, for example, a CRT, TFT liquid crystal display, plasma display or the like can be adopted.

[0039] Communication I / F 415 is connected to a network via radio and functions as an interface with CPU 401 provided in each of portable terminals 300 and 302-304. The communication I / F 415 is further connected to a communication network such as the Internet via radio, and also functions as an interface between the communication network and the CPU 401. Communication networks include LAN, WAN, public network and mobile phone network. Specifically, the communication I / F 415 is, for example, an FM tuner. 1. It is configured by a wireless information processing device and other information processing devices.

If each configuration of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the hardware configuration of the mobile terminals 300, 302 to 304, the designating unit 101 may include, for example, the CPU 401, the ROM 402, and the input device. The function is realized by 411. Further, the creation unit 102 realizes its function by, for example, the CPU 401, the ROM 402, and the RAM 403. Further, the transmission unit 103 can realize its function by, for example, the CPU 401, the ROM 402, and the communication I / F 415. For example, the CPU 401, the ROM 402, the audio I / F 408, and the video I / F 412 realize the function of the missed mouth.

[0041] (IP address generation example)

Next, an example of generating an IP address in the mobile terminal 300 will be described. As described above, the mobile terminal 300 generates an IP address by combining the ID of the base station in the monitoring area and the ID of the monitoring terminal, and transmits information to the monitoring terminal using this IP address.

Specifically, for example, an IP address for an individual (specific terminal) in a communicable area of the base station is generated by combining the following character strings. These IP addresses may be composed of arbitrary character strings as long as they are unique.

(1) Unique ID string indicating the communication base station

(2) Character string indicating a specific person / device

[0043] Further, in the configuration of the IP address, the first half part may be constituted by a character string indicating a base station in the monitoring area, and the second half part may be constituted by a unique character string indicating an individual (mobile terminal). The character string used as the base station ID may be a generally defined character string or a character string recognized only by some devices. Using a character string that can be recognized only by some devices / specific users increases the security as a means of preventing malicious broadcasts. The ratio between the first half and the second half of the IP address need not be halved, but may be determined as appropriate, or other character strings may be added! /, Or even! /.

[0044] (When a monitoring terminal exists in the monitoring area)

Next, the operation of the mobile terminal will be described for each specific situation. First, in FIG. 3, a case where the mobile terminal 300 monitors whether or not the mobile terminal 302 exists in the area A, that is, a case where a monitoring terminal exists in the monitoring area will be described. [0045] As described above, the mobile terminal 300 first selects a monitoring area and a monitoring terminal, and sets the base station ID (here, "AAA" for the base station AAA) as the communication area as the monitoring area, An IP address is generated in combination with the ID of the monitoring terminal (here, “XX001” of the mobile terminal 302). Then, the mobile terminal 300 transmits information to the monitoring terminal: mobile terminal 302 using the generated IP address.

[0046] The base station AAA receives information transmitted from the mobile terminal 300 via the communication device 301. Base stations (base station AAA and base station BBB) have a function to determine information (such as base station ID) related to the base station contained in the IP address of the received information. Therefore, the base station ID included in the IP address of the received information is determined, and it is determined whether this information is the information transmitted to the base station. If it is information addressed to its own base station, the information is transmitted to the mobile terminal 302 specified by the IP address.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal 302 exists in the communicable area: area A of the base station AAA. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 302 receives the information transmitted from the base station AAA, and identifies the ID embedded in the IP address. Then, the mobile terminal 302 that is the monitoring terminal returns the information indicating that the information has been received (hereinafter referred to as reply information) directly to the mobile terminal 300 or returns it to the mobile terminal 300 via the base station AAA. . In other words, the base station AAA has both an inquiry function to the monitoring terminal and a forwarding function of this monitoring result.

[0048] Note that the mobile terminal 302 may receive only the IP address prior to receiving the information transmitted from the base station AAA. In that case, when the received IP address includes the ID of the mobile terminal 302 itself, the information transmitted from the base station AAA is received. Note that the reply information may include information (for example, a communication address) specifying the mobile terminal 302 in addition to the information indicating that the transmitted information has been received. Further, the reply information may include the base station AAA ID included in the IP address received in advance.

Then, base station AAA transmits the return information from portable terminal 302 to portable terminal 300. When the mobile terminal 300 receives the reply information from the base station AAA, the mobile terminal 300 notifies the user of the content of the received reply information using the display 414 and the speaker 410. For example, if the information indicates that communication is possible, the voice guidance that communication is possible and the communication The area may be displayed on the display 414 as map information. In this example, the mobile terminal 300 is located outside the monitoring area: area A. However, the same monitoring process is performed even when the mobile terminal 300 is located inside the area A. Can be done.

[0050] It should be noted that, after transmitting information to the mobile terminal 302, the base station AAA is not able to receive reply information from the mobile terminal 302 even if a predetermined time has elapsed. Alternatively, information indicating that communication is impossible may be transmitted to the mobile terminal 300. In this case, the mobile terminal 300 shifts to the processing when there is no monitoring terminal in the monitoring area to be described later! / (Described later in detail).

[0051] (When there is no monitoring terminal in the monitoring area)

Next, in FIG. 3, a case where the mobile terminal 300 monitors whether or not the mobile terminal 304 exists in the region B, that is, a case where no monitoring terminal exists in the monitoring region will be described.

[0052] First, the mobile terminal 300 generates an IP address as the monitoring area: region B and the monitoring terminal: mobile terminal 304, as in the case where the monitoring terminal exists in the monitoring area described above. Information to the base station BBB. Since there is no mobile terminal 304 in area B of the base station BBB, the mobile terminal 300 sends information indicating that the monitoring terminal does not exist or cannot communicate through the communication device 301 from the base station BBB. Receive.

[0053] The mobile terminal 300, which has determined that there is no monitoring terminal in the monitoring area, has returned information indicating that the monitoring terminal does not exist or cannot communicate, and other base stations in the vicinity of the base station BBB. Information (for example, a plurality of base stations such as AAA) may be acquired, and information may be transmitted sequentially to the base stations using the IP address that identifies the mobile terminal 304 set as the monitoring terminal. Make an inquiry in the same way as for BBB.

[0054] Here, the other base stations in the vicinity of the base station BBB are base stations close to the conditions next to the base station BBB in the monitoring area designated by the user. For example, the monitoring area initially designated by the user may be selected in the order of the base station, with the ratio of the area included in the communicable area! Also, based on the base station BBB selected by the user as a reference, the base station BBB and a part of the communicable area overlap! May be. In addition, select base stations in order of base station BBB and location or communication area. You may do it. In addition, the user selects all the base stations within a predetermined range from the area specified first!

[0055] The above-described inquiries are sequentially made until a base station with a reply of information indicating that communication is possible is confirmed. Then, when a response indicating that communication is possible is received from any of the base stations, the inquiry is terminated. In addition, when a predetermined number of inquiries have been made, the inquiry may be set to end even if there is no reply indicating that communication is possible.

[0056] (Contents of mobile terminal monitoring process)

Next, the contents of the mobile terminal monitoring process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing monitoring processing of a mobile terminal by assigning a destination IP address. Here, as an example, a case where the mobile terminal 302 located in the region A is monitored from the mobile terminal 300 will be described.

In the flowchart of FIG. 5, first, in the mobile terminal 300, the monitoring area and the monitoring terminal

Specify (monitored mobile terminal) (step S501). Here, the monitoring area is assumed to be area A, and the monitoring terminal is assumed to be the mobile terminal 302. Next, an inquiry character string is generated (step S 50 2). This inquiry character string includes a character string that identifies the monitoring base station, that is, the base station that is the destination (here, a character string that identifies the base station AAA), and a character string that identifies the monitoring terminal (here, the mobile terminal 302 is identified). Generated by a combination of characters 歹 IJ).

Next, a broadcast IP address including this inquiry character string is generated (step S503). Then, this broadcast IP address is transmitted to the base station AAA (step S504). After the transmission, the base station AAA performs an inquiry process to the mobile terminal 302. As shown in FIG. 3, since the mobile terminal 302 exists in the communication area A of the base station AAA, the reply from the mobile terminal 302 reaches the base station AAA.

Therefore, the mobile terminal 300 receives this reply (step S505). Then, based on the received content, the monitoring result is notified to the user of portable terminal 300 (step S506). In other words, the user is notified as a monitoring result whether or not there is a mobile terminal 302 to be monitored, and the series of monitoring processing ends.

[0060] According to the present embodiment described above, a specific individual (mobile terminal) in a specific place is not affected. In addition, by acquiring information regarding the presence / absence of a response from the terminal, it is possible to realize whether or not the monitoring terminal exists in the monitoring area by inquiring to the base station.

[0061] That is, the monitoring terminal side must be present in the communicable area of the base station without acquiring location information autonomously and returning it to the inquiry source (in this case, the mobile terminal 300). Power to confirm S Therefore, in the past, a general technology for specifying a specific person / device located at a specific location and transmitting information has not been provided. On the other hand, the information processing apparatus and information According to the processing method, information processing program, and computer-readable recording medium, information can be sent to a specific person / terminal at a specific location using a base station or a relay station. Can do.

[0062] More specifically, the present invention can be applied to an application for inquiring whether a specific device is in an area where there is a specific device such as lost child search, business personnel or device management. For example, since it is possible to check whether a child who has a mobile phone terminal is within the communication range of a certain relay device via the relay device, the lost child search can be realized with a simple mechanism. it can.

[0063] Further, in the above-described embodiment, the portable terminal 300 as shown in FIG.

A force S using 302 to 304 may be used, and as another embodiment, a navigation device having the function of an information processing device may be used. In particular, in the case of a navigation device mounted on a vehicle including two wheels and four wheels, traffic information such as traffic jam information and road closure information is obtained by monitoring a specific base station and a specific navigation device. be able to.

[0064] Further, in the above-described embodiment, it is determined whether or not the information is transmitted to the base station by referring to the IP address of the information received by the base station AAA. Then, when it is information transmitted to its own base station, the power that explains the case of transmitting information to the mobile terminal 302 specified by the IP address Base station AAA refers to its IP address and The transmitted information can be received by the monitored portable terminal (eg, portable terminal 302) specified by the IP address without determining whether the information is transmitted to the base station.

[0065] In the above-described case, for example, the base station AAA that has received the information transmitted from the mobile terminal 300 does not determine whether the information is transmitted to its own base station. It is transmitted to the mobile terminal 302 located in the communicable area of the own device. Base station AA A force The mobile terminal 302 that has received the transmitted information first confirms that the received information is an IP address that includes the ID of one of the base stations.

[0066] Then, the mobile terminal 302 makes an inquiry to the base station AAA existing in the communicable area where the mobile terminal 302 itself is located! /, And acquires the ID of the base station AAA. Then, it is determined whether the ID of the base station included in the IP address matches the ID of the base station AAA in the communicable area where the mobile terminal 302 itself is located.

[0067] If the base station IDs match, it is next determined whether the IP address includes the ID of the mobile terminal 302 itself. If it is determined that the ID of the mobile terminal 302 is included, the transmitted information is received. After that, the mobile terminal 302 returns reply information to the mobile terminal 300 that is the transmission source. The reply information may include information (for example, a communication address) that identifies the mobile terminal 302. Furthermore, the ID of the base station included in the IP address of the transmitted information may be returned as reply information.

Note that the information processing method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. The program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed through a network such as the Internet.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] A designation means to designate a specific device and region,

The relay device in the case of communicating with the device located in the area designated by the designation means is identified, and the information in the region is combined with the information identifying the relay device and the information identifying the device. Based on information sent back from the relay device, creating means for creating identification information for identifying a device, transmission means for transmitting the identification information created by the creating means to the relay device, and Notification means for notifying the presence or absence of the device in the area;

An information processing apparatus comprising:

[2] The notification means returns a confirmation result as to whether or not communication with the device specified by the identification information is possible from the repeater, and based on the confirmation result, the 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein presence / absence of presence / absence is notified.

[3] The relay machine power returned information was information indicating that the device does not exist.

The creating means creates neighborhood identification information by combining information for identifying a relay station in a neighboring area adjacent to the relay machine and information for identifying the device,

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit transmits the neighborhood identification information created by the creation unit to a relay station in the neighborhood area.

[4] The information processing apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the creation unit creates the identification information using an IP address.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the creating unit creates an IP address including a character string indicating the relay device and a character string indicating the device as the identification information.

[6] Designation process to designate specific equipment and region;

A relay machine for communication with the device located in the area designated by the designation step is identified, and the combination of the information for identifying the relay machine and the information for identifying the apparatus is used in the area. A creation step for creating identification information for identifying a device; a transmission step for sending the identification information created in the creation step to the relay device; A notification step of notifying the presence / absence of the device in the area based on information returned from the repeater;

An information processing method comprising:

An information processing program causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 6.

8. A computer-readable recording medium on which the information processing program according to claim 7 is recorded.