JPH06104902A - Automatic address assignment method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Eliminates the time and effort required to move or install terminals. [Structure] An address automatic assigning method when moving to a terminal connected to a local area network (LAN), which has an address server having a free address search / address file automatic updating function, and a RAR from the terminal
An RARP server that receives the P packet and makes an address assignment request to the address server is provided. Further, an address server having an empty address search / address file automatic updating function and a communication relay device for checking the terminal address and making an address assignment request to the address server if necessary are provided. Further, terminal software for temporarily determining an address when moving and an address server having a function of checking the terminal address, determining whether to use it, and automatically updating the address file are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a local area network (hereinafter referred to as a LAN), and more particularly to an automatic address assigning method when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of assigning an address when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN, a conventional technology will be described taking the case of the TCP / IP protocol as an example.

Usually, as shown in FIG. 14, an address is assigned to each terminal 1401, 1402, 1403. IP
The address is determined by a combination of the network address and the host address. In FIG. 14, there is a network A having a network address 192.9.200 and a network B having a network address 192.9201, and the two networks are connected by a router 1404.

Conventionally, these addresses are set by the network administrator so that the same network address does not exist and the same host address does not exist in one network. . By this, one terminal having one certain address can be specified. The address set in the terminal is described in the address file, and the file is owned by one or several terminals on the Internet. This file is used for address inquiry and so on.

Here, the terminal 14 belonging to the network A
Considering moving 01, 1402 to the network B, the following procedure is performed by the network administrator. (1) Obtain the network address of the destination location. (2) Search for an unused host address in the destination network. (3) The address obtained in (1) and (2) above is set in the terminal. (4) Delete the description of the previous address on the management file. (5) Register the newly assigned address in the management file.

A technique relating to the address assigning method when moving to the terminal connected to the LAN is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-216543.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional techniques, there is a problem that the user of the terminal cannot move freely because the network administrator has to do some work even if he tries to move the terminal. there were.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of eliminating the trouble required when moving or newly installing a terminal.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the means (1) of the present invention is an automatic address assigning method when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN, which is a method for searching for an empty address. An address server having an address file automatic update function and an RA that receives an RARP packet from a terminal and makes an address request to the address server
A feature is that an RP server is provided.

The means (2) of the present invention is an automatic assigning method when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN, and an address server having a free address search / address file automatic updating function and a terminal address It is characterized in that a communication repeater for checking and requesting an address assignment to the address server is provided if necessary.

The means (3) of the present invention is an automatic assigning method at the time of moving to a terminal connected to a LAN, and terminal software for temporarily determining an address at the time of moving and checking / use of the terminal address are provided. It is characterized in that an address server having a judgment / address file automatic updating function is provided.

That is, according to the present invention, when a terminal whose address is set under a certain system, such as an IP address of TPC / IP, moves, a new address according to the system is automatically notified. Is. The terminal requests the address server (directly, through the RARP server, or through the communication relay) to give an address to the address server at the time of starting the communication, and the address server which has received the request searches for an empty address and returns a new address. , Or whether or not to use the address presented by the terminal is determined and returned, and the address file owned by the terminal is updated.

[0014]

According to the above-mentioned means (1), an address having an empty address search / address file automatic updating function
By providing a server and a RARP server that receives RARP packets from terminals and requests address assignment to address servers, addresses are automatically selected and assigned / configured, which eliminates the time and effort required when moving / installing terminals. It can be lost.

According to the means (2), an address server having a free address search / address file automatic updating function and a communication relay for checking the terminal address and, if necessary, requesting the address assignment to the address server. By providing a device, an address is automatically selected and assigned / set, so that it is possible to eliminate the trouble of moving or newly installing a terminal.

According to the means of (3), by providing terminal software for temporarily determining an address when moving and an address server having a function of checking the terminal address, determining whether to use it, and automatically updating the address file, Since it automatically selects and assigns / configures, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of moving or newly installing a terminal.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. First, the LAN according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a LAN according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a is related to the constituent elements of the LAN, and a1 is a cable serving as a data transmission path. a2 is a terminal, which is a central processing unit (CP) such as a personal computer or a workstation.
It is a device equipped with U) and equipped with data processing capability. a
A LAN adapter 3 is a device attached to the terminal a2 when the terminal a2 is connected to the LAN, and performs data processing for communication.

Reference numeral a4 is a transceiver for transmitting a signal from the terminal a2 to the cable a1. Further, it is a device for transmitting a signal on the cable a1 to the terminal a2. Reference numeral a5 denotes a transceiver cable, which is a cable for connecting the transceiver a4 and the LAN adapter a3. A packet is a format for transmitting data on the network.

Reference numeral b relates to a LAN connecting device. b1 is a repeater, which connects two cables,
It is a device that transfers the data flowing on one cable to the other cable. The b2 is a bridge, which is a device that connects two cables and transmits data flowing on one cable to the other cable. When transmitting that data,
It has the ability to look at a MAC address (described later) and determine whether the data should be sent or not. The router b3 is a device that connects two cables and transmits the data flowing on one cable to the other cable. When transmitting the data, it has an ability to look at an address (described later), determine where to send the data, and perform processing.

Reference character c relates to the area of the LAN.
c1 is a segment area, which is a range formed by one cable. c2 is a network area,
It is the range where the segment areas are combined within the range that does not exceed the router. c3 is the Internet area, which is the entire constructed LAN.

Next, the terms related to the address will be described. (1) MAC address (Media Access Control Add
ress) is a number assigned to the LAN adapter a3 at the time of manufacture and is unique to the device. (2) The address is assigned by the communication protocol to identify the terminal on the network, and is usually a LAN.
The person who builds the (3) The network address is a number assigned to a network and is unique to that network. (4) The host address is a number given to a terminal in the network and is unique to the terminal in the network. (5) The IP address is an address in TCP / IP (described later).

Next, terms relating to the protocol will be described. (1) TCP / IP was originally a communication protocol used for communication between UNIX machines, and is now an industry standard protocol. (2) Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (hereinafter referred to as "Reverse Address Resolution Protocol")
RARP) is a protocol for a terminal on a network using TCP / IP to obtain its own IP address from its own MAC address. (3) The RARP server is on the network and
In ARP, in response to the request from the terminal, the IP of the terminal
A device that teaches addresses.

For each embodiment, several files for address management are used. The file will be described below.

(A) Address file This file is held by the address server and contains the addresses and names of all terminals on the Internet. Also, the structure of the address file may change depending on the protocol used. In this case, the address file can be searched and updated by changing the program.

(B) MAC Address File In the MAC address file of the address server, the MAC addresses of all terminals on the Internet and the names of the terminals corresponding thereto are written.

(C) Address search file This is a file in which addresses currently used are written in order in accordance with a certain rule in order to search for empty addresses (addresses that are not used).

The devices constituting the LAN by optical (wireless) communication according to the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of the transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the present invention.

The transmitting / receiving device is a device for transmitting a signal from / to a terminal by transmitting / receiving light.
As shown in FIG. 5, a transmitter 20 that drives a light emitting (transmitting) element by a carrier wave from the modulator 202 and emits light (radio).
1. A modulator 202 that modulates a data signal into a carrier wave; a P / S converter 2 that converts a parallel bit stream to a serial bit stream or a serial bit stream to a parallel bit stream.
03, 207, a central processing unit (CPU) 204 for controlling CSMA access for optical (wireless) communication, a memory 205, a data bus 206, an interface 2 with a terminal
08, a receiving unit 209 that receives an optical (radio) signal, converts it into an electric signal and transmits it to the demodulation unit 210, and a demodulation unit 210 that demodulates a carrier wave and extracts a data signal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of the communication repeater according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the communication repeater of the present invention uses a carrier wave from a modulator 302 to drive a light emitting (transmitting) element to send light (radio) to a transmitting / receiving device, and a data signal as a carrier wave. A modulator 302 for modulating, a P / S converter 303 for converting a parallel bit stream into a serial bit stream, or a serial bit stream into a parallel bit stream,
307, central processing unit (CPU) 304, memory 30
5, a data bus 306, a wired LAN interface 308, a reception unit 309 that receives an optical (wireless) signal from a transmission / reception device, converts it to an electric signal and transmits it to a demodulation unit 310, a demodulation unit that demodulates a carrier wave and extracts a data signal And 310.

The interface 30 with the wired LAN
Reference numeral 8 is an interface for connecting to a wired LAN. It is necessary to change according to the format of the wired LAN.

The CPU 304 controls the Ethernet data link layer for the transceiver side interface. Further, depending on the method, a process for automatically assigning an address may be performed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of the address server according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, this address server has an expansion slot 401, a CPU 402, and an expansion slot 401 which are interfaces for inserting a LAN board and connecting to a bus.
A hard disk controller (HD) that controls access to the memory 403 and hard disk drive.
C) 404, address file, hard disk (HDD) 405 storing various programs, and data bus 406.

The CPU 402 processes and responds to an inquiry from a terminal or a communication repeater. It also updates the address file.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an automatic address assignment when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Processing flowchart showing the processing procedure of
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the data content of the packet of the first embodiment. In FIG. 7, M1 is the MAC address of the terminal, A
1 is the address that the terminal has been using so far, and A2 is the address that is newly given to the terminal. The first embodiment is a case where TCP / IP is used as a communication protocol.

In the LAN system according to the first embodiment of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the router 501 is connected between the terminal 501 and the RARP server 502 between the first cable 505 and the second cable 506, The address server 504 is connected to the second cable 506.

The terminal 501 is a central processing unit (C) such as a personal computer or a workstation.
PU) and has data processing capability.

Next, a processing procedure for automatically assigning an address when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The mobile or newly installed terminal 501 transmits a RARP packet (125 in FIG. 7) to the network at the same time as it is activated and waits for a reply (step 111).

When the RARP server 502 receives the RARP packet (step 112), the packet having the MAC address of the requesting terminal 501 as data (FIG. 7).
No. 126) is transmitted to the address server 504 (step 113).

The address server 504 receives the packet from the RARP server 502 (step 11).
4) First, an unused address is searched from the address search file (step 115) and determined (step 116). The address server 504 writes the determined address and the MAC address of the requesting terminal in the data and returns it to the RARP server 502 (step 11).
7, 127 in FIG. 7).

After the reply, the name of the terminal 501 that requested the address is checked from the MAC address file (step 11
8) Then, the address of the terminal 501, which has been used up to now, is rewritten from the address file to the address to be newly used (step 119). Further, the address to be newly used is written in the address search file, and the address used by the terminal 501 until now is deleted (step 120).

When the RARP server 502 receives the reply from the address server 504 (step 121), the new address of the terminal 501 and the MA are received from the data of the packet.
The C address is read and written in the reply RARP packet (128 in FIG. 7) and is returned to the terminal 501 (step 12).
2).

The terminal 501 that has received the reply from the RARP server 502 (step 123) holds the notified new address (step 124).

As can be seen from the above description, the first embodiment
According to this, an address server 504 having a free address search / address file automatic update function and a terminal 501
By providing the RARP server 502 which receives the RARP packet from the device and requests the address server to assign the address, the address is automatically selected and assigned / set. Therefore, the trouble of moving or newly installing the terminal 501 is eliminated. be able to.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is an automatic address assignment when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Processing flowchart showing the processing procedure of
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the data contents of the packet of the second embodiment. In FIG. 10, M1 is the MAC address of the terminal, A1 is the address of the terminal used up to now, A2 is the newly assigned address of the terminal, and N1 is the name of the terminal.

In the LAN system according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the address server 802 is connected to the first cable 807, and the first router 803 is provided between the first cable 807 and the second cable 808. Is connected, and the second router 8 is connected between the first cable 807 and the third cable 809.
04 is connected, the first cable repeater 805 is connected to the second cable 808, and the second cable repeater 806 is connected to the third cable 809. The first communication repeater 805 and the terminal 801A are connected to each other by the optical space transmission, and the second communication repeater 806 and the terminal 801B are connected to each other by the optical space transmission.

Each of the terminals 801A and 801B has a central processing unit (CPU) such as a personal computer or a workstation, and has data processing capability.

Next, a processing procedure for automatically assigning an address when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

When the terminal starts up, a packet having data defined in advance as shown in FIG.
231) of 0) is transmitted (step 211).

Upon receiving the packet (step 212), the communication repeater compares the network address of the terminal with its own network address (step 213), and if they are the same, instructs the terminal to retain the current address as it is. A notification is given (step 214, 232 in FIG. 10). If they are different, the address server is requested to give a new address (step 215, 233 in FIG. 10).

When the address server 802 receives the request (step 216), it searches the address search file (step 217) and determines the address to be given (step 218). After the address is determined, the address held by the terminal until now is deleted from the address search file, and a new address is written (step 21).
9). Also, the address that has been used up to now of the terminal is rewritten from the address file to the address that is to be newly used (step 220).

After determining the new address, the address server 80
2 notifies the communication relay 805 of the new address (step 221, 234 in FIG. 10).

The communication repeater 805 which has received the new address (step 222) notifies the terminal 801 of the address (step 223, 235 in FIG. 10).

The terminal 801 which has received the reply from the communication repeater 805 (step 224) holds the current address as it is if it is a notification to hold the current address (step 225), or the current address if it is a new address notification. To a new address (step 226).

As can be seen from the above description, this embodiment 2
According to the above, by providing an address server 802 having a free address search / address file automatic updating function, and a communication relay 805 that checks a terminal address and makes an address assignment request to the address server 802 if necessary. Since addresses are automatically selected and assigned / set, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of moving and newly installing the terminal 801.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 11 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the third embodiment, FIG. 12 is a processing flowchart showing a processing procedure of automatic address assignment when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 13 is a packet of the third embodiment. It is a figure which shows the data content of. In FIG. 13, A1 is the address of the terminal used up to now, A2 is the newly assigned address of the terminal, and N1 is the name of the terminal.

In the LAN system according to the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the address server 1102 is connected to the first cable 1105, and the first cable 1105 and the second cable 1105 are connected.
The first router 1103 is connected to the cable 1106, the second router 1104 is connected to the first cable 1105 and the third cable 1107, and the second cable 11 is connected.
The terminal 1101A is connected to 06, and the third cable 11
A terminal 1101B is connected to 07.

Each of the terminals 1101A and 1101B has a central processing unit (CPU) such as a personal computer or a workstation, and has data processing capability.

Next, a processing procedure for automatically assigning an address when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

In the third embodiment, the application of the terminal is A, and the application A is set to the correspondence relationship between the place on the premises where the LAN is constructed and the network address. Also, give the address of the address server.

When the terminal 1101A or 1101B is moved or newly installed, first, the application A
To start. Since the application A asks the place, the place where the user is now is input (step 311).

From the input location, A obtains the network address of that location (step 312). Also,
It is tentatively decided by generating a random number of the host address (step 313), and the combination with the network address is used for the terminal 1101A or 1101.
The temporary address of B is set (step 314).

Next, an inquiry packet asking whether or not the temporarily determined address may be used is transmitted to the address server 1102 (step 315, FIG. 1).
331 of 3).

The address server 1102 is the terminal 110.
When the packet of the inquiry from 1A or 1101B is received (step 316), the address search file is searched to see if the address is already used (step 317).

If already used, the terminal 1101
A or 1101B is notified that the address cannot be used (step 318, 332 in FIG. 13). If not used, the terminal 1101A or 110
1B is notified that the address can be used (step 319, 332 in FIG. 13). Then, the newly used address is written in the address search file, and the address used so far is deleted (step 320). In addition, the address file is updated by rewriting the previously used address to a new address (step 321).

Application A (step 32
2) When the address server 1102 returns a notification that the temporary address can be used, the temporary address is held as it is as a new address (step 323). If it is an unusable notification, it starts over from the step of determining a new host address. This is repeated until an available reply is received (step 324).

As can be seen from the above description, the third embodiment is provided.
According to the above, by providing terminal software for tentatively determining an address when moving and an address server 1102 having a function of checking the terminal address, determining whether to use it, and automatically updating an address file, an address is automatically selected and assigned. Since the setting is performed, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of moving or newly installing the terminal 1101A or 1101B.

Although the present invention has been specifically described based on the embodiments above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the invention. Nor.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of moving and newly installing a terminal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a local area network (LAN) by optical (wireless) communication according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing a functional configuration of a transmission / reception device according to the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram showing a functional configuration of a communication repeater according to the present invention,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an address server according to the present invention,

FIG. 5 is a block configuration diagram showing a system configuration of Embodiment 1 of the present invention,

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart showing a processing procedure of automatic address assignment when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing data contents of a packet according to the first embodiment,

FIG. 8 is a block configuration diagram showing a system configuration of Example 2 of the present invention,

FIG. 9 is a processing flowchart showing a processing procedure of automatic address assignment when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing data contents of a packet according to the second embodiment,

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 12 is a processing flowchart showing a processing procedure of automatic address assignment when moving to a terminal connected to a LAN according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing data contents of a packet according to the third embodiment,

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a conventional problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

a ... related to LAN components, a1 ... cable,
a2 ... Terminal, a3 ... LAN adapter, a4 ... Transceiver, a5 ... Transceiver cable, b ... LAN connection device, b1 ... Repeater, b2 ... Bridge, b
3 ... Router, c ... LAN area, c1 ...
Segment area, c2 ... Network area, c3 ...
Internet area, 201, 301 ... Transmitter, 20
2, 302 ... Modulator, 203, 207, 303, 307
... P / S converters, 204, 304 ... Central processing unit (C
PU), 205, 305 ... Memory, 206, 306 ... Data bus, 208, 308 ... Interface, 209,
309 ... Receiving unit, 210, 310 ... Demodulating unit, 401 ... Expansion slot, 402 ... CPU, 403 ... Memory, 404
… Hard Disk Controller (HDC), 405
... hard disk (HDD), 406 ... data bus,
501 ... Terminal, 502 ... RARP server, 503 ... Router, 504 ... Address server, 505 ... First cable,
506 ... Second cable, 801A, 801B ... Terminal, 8
02 ... Address server, 803 ... First router, 804 ...
Second router, 805 ... First communication repeater, 806 ... Second communication repeater, 807 ... First cable, 808 ... Second cable, 809 ... Third cable, 1101A, 1101B ...
Terminal, 1102 ... Address server, 1103 ... First router, 1104 ... Second router, 1105 ... First cable,
1106 ... 2nd cable, 1107 ... 3rd cable.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Koji Nishimura 1-26 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo NTT DATA Telecommunication Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazukatsu Yanaka 1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Chome 26-5 NTT Data Communications Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takami Shiramizu 3-12 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (72) Yoshiki Iwasaki, Kanagawa 3-12 Moriya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama City, Japan Victor Company of Japan (72) Inventor Naoki Yamashita 3--12, Moriya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A local area network (LAN)
A method of automatically assigning an address when moving to a terminal connected to a computer, which has an address server having a free address search / address file automatic update function, and an R from the terminal.
An automatic address assigning method characterized by providing a RARP server that receives an ARP packet and makes an address assigning request to an address server. 2. A local area network (LAN)
It is an automatic assigning method when moving to a terminal connected to, and an address server that has a free address search / address file automatic updating function, and checks the terminal address and assigns an address to the address server if necessary An automatic address assigning method characterized by providing a communication repeater for making a request. 3. A local area network (LAN)
It is an automatic assignment method when moving to a terminal connected to the terminal, terminal software that temporarily determines the address when moving, and an address server that has a function of checking the terminal address, judging whether to use it or updating the address file automatically. An automatic address assigning method characterized by being provided.