JPH1185647A - Network electronic equipment and network electronic equipment system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a network electronic device capable of avoiding concentration of communication requests from a plurality of electronic devices to a server. SOLUTION: A client requests data from a server. In this case, when the server is busy, it is not possible to immediately respond to the data request from the client. The next access time is calculated from the statistical data, and the next access time is notified. The client makes a data request to the server again at the notified time. The server answers the request from the client. If the request cannot be answered, repeat the above procedure. If the client requests data from the server at regular time intervals, such as every day, the client memorizes the time when data communication was successful with the server, and accesses the time thereafter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a control technique for electronic equipment capable of network communication by connecting to a server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic device (hereinafter, referred to as an electronic device) capable of network communication uses an HTTP (Hy Hy) used in the WWW.
Per Text Transfer Protocol) A technology has been used in which a client mechanism is inserted to receive data required by an electronic device from a server or to transmit data in the electronic device to a server. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing such a communication environment. Examples of electronic devices include printers, copiers, scanners, and digital video cameras. By connecting such a device to a network, more advanced information processing can be performed.

[0003]

By the way, a client (also referred to as an agent) mechanism such as HTTP is inserted into an electronic device, and a WWW server [HTT] is sent from the electronic device.
P, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), etc.], the more the number of electronic devices, the more concentrated the access to the server becomes, and the following problems occur. First, if all the electronic devices with a network function (hereinafter, referred to as clients) access at the same time, a collision of a plurality of requests occurs on the WWW server side, and the client side cannot access. On the other hand, processing on the server side becomes complicated, and in the worst case, the server may go down.

[0004] Next, when a client is shipped as a product, it is difficult to predict how many clients will access the server and when. Therefore, even if the time at which the client starts up at the time of product release is randomly determined in advance. Concentration on one server is inevitable. Further, when a client receives data from a server, the client may only be able to receive data halfway due to a busy communication. In that case, it will be received again from the beginning. In addition, when sending data from the client to the server, because of a busy communication,
Sometimes data can only be sent halfway. In that case,
Again, data will be transmitted from the beginning.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a network electronic device capable of avoiding a concentration of communication requests from a plurality of electronic devices to a server. Next, a second object of the present invention is to provide a network electronic device capable of properly transmitting and receiving all data properly even when data transmission / reception is inconvenient between a client and a server for some reason. is there. Further, a third object of the present invention is to provide a network electronic device system that can avoid concentration of communication requests to a server in a network to which a plurality of electronic devices are connected.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an electronic device capable of performing network communication by accessing a server receives a notification from the server that processing of a request from the electronic device cannot be performed. When you do
The first object is achieved by accessing again at the time designated by the server.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device capable of performing network communication by accessing a server, wherein a failure occurs when the electronic device receives data from the server, and the electronic device is only partially connected. If the data could not be received, it stores the data received halfway, requests the server to receive it from the point where it could not be received, and combines the data already received with the data received halfway from the server again. The second object is achieved by making the data normal.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device capable of performing network communication by accessing a server, wherein a failure occurs when the electronic device transmits data to the server, and the data is only transmitted halfway. If the data could not be sent, the server sends the data again from the point where it could not be sent in response to the request from the server, and the server already combines the data already sent and the data that was sent again. By making the data normal, the second
Achieve the objectives.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device capable of performing network communication by accessing a server, and when transmitting a large amount of data between the electronic device and the server, the transmitting side transmits all data. When transmission and reception cannot be performed at once, the second object is achieved by dividing data into a predetermined capacity and repeating transmission and reception until all data can be transmitted and received.

[0010] According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device capable of performing network communication by accessing a server. When the electronic device accesses the server and acquires information, the electronic device is connected to the same network. The first object is achieved by functioning as a server of another electronic device.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the electronic device functions as a server when the other electronic device connected to the same network accesses the server and obtains information when the electronic device is capable of network communication. In this case, the first object is achieved by functioning as a client of the server.

According to the present invention, when one of the plurality of electronic devices connected to the same network accesses the server and acquires information, the electronic device functions as a server and the other electronic device functions as a server. The third object is achieved by a network electronic device system in which the electronic device functions as a client of the server.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a first embodiment according to the case where the server is busy will be described with reference to FIG. (1) First, a client requests data from a server. (2) In this case, when the server is busy, the server cannot immediately respond to the data request from the client, so the client accesses the next based on the number of currently accessed clients and past statistical data. Calculate the time to perform and notify the client of the next access time. (3) Then, the client issues a data request to the server again at the notified time. (4) The server answers the request from the client. If the request cannot be answered, repeat the procedure from (2). If the client requests data from the server at a certain time interval, such as every day, the client memorizes the time when the data communication was successful with the server, and accesses the time thereafter.

In the first embodiment, in response to a request from the server to access the server again at the specified time, the client waits until the specified time,
Access the specified time again. Therefore, the server can control the access time of the client, and it is possible to avoid concentration of access even when there are a plurality of clients. Also, from the client's point of view, it is possible to avoid the problem that access is concentrated and connection cannot be established if access is made at a time designated by the server. Also, even if a plurality of electronic devices including a client function for accessing the server at a previously input time are released, the server is instructed on the next access time at the time of the first connection. Can also avoid the problem of continuing to access at the same time.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, an example in which the transfer amount is subdivided according to the second embodiment will be described. (1) A client requests data from a server. (2) Then, since the amount of data requested by the client is large, the server side transmits the data with the data amount restricted to the client. At that time, the server also informs the client of the total amount of data that the client is requesting. (3) Since the client has received only a limited amount of data, it requests the server again from the interrupted data. (4) The server sends data to the client. If the data amount is still large, the limited data is transmitted to the client. The client repeats the steps (3) and (4) until all the data is received. (5) The client that has received all the data rearranges the data and makes the data normal.

In the second embodiment, since a large-capacity file or the like is divided and transmitted between a client and a server, it is possible for the server to process a request from one client and then receive a request from another client. The problem of being unable to do so can be avoided. In addition, since the data can be divided and processed, the server and the client can not only perform the work of transferring and receiving data, but also can work efficiently together with other processing.

The third embodiment is a case where the server is busy and cannot handle the data amount requested by the client at one time, and will be described with reference to FIG. (1) A client requests data from a server. (2) If the server determines that it is busy for some reason and has no time to answer all of the client's requests, it returns limited data that can be processed to the client.
Not only the data, but also the total amount of data and the next time the client should access it. The notification time is calculated based on the number of currently accessed clients and past statistical data. (3) The client sends a request to the server again to receive the data that was interrupted at the notified time. (4) The server answers the request from the client. If the request cannot be answered, repeat the procedure from (2). (5) The client that has received all the data rearranges the data and makes the data normal.

In the third embodiment, when the server is busy and cannot process the data amount requested by the client at one time, the data can be appropriately processed again by the request from the client side.

The fourth embodiment is a case where reception of a client has failed, and will be described with reference to FIG. (1) A client requests data from a server. (2) The server notifies the client of the total amount of data and transmits the data to the client. For some reason, a trouble occurs in which communication is interrupted before the client receives all data. (× in the figure
(3) The client knows that not all data has been received from the total amount of data it wants to receive and the capacity it received. The client saves the data (data 1) received halfway without deleting it. The client requests the server to receive data again from the location where it could not. (4) The server sends data to the client from the location requested by the client. The client stores the received data (data 2). (5) The client combines the data 1 and the data 2 into one normal data.

In the fourth embodiment, the client can only receive data halfway, and even if communication is interrupted, the data received halfway is not discarded. The problem of not being able to do so can be avoided. In addition, since the server does not need to transmit data from the beginning, the load on the server is reduced.

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. (1) The electronic device A, which is a printer having both a server and a client function, makes a data request to an external server. (2) The external server transmits data to the electronic device A. (3) Then, the electronic device A compares the content of the received data with the content of the data held by itself, and if the data is new data, sends the data to the electronic device B that will make a similar data request. Notify that it was received. (4) In response, the electronic device B requests the electronic device A to transmit data. (5) The electronic device A uses the server function and the electronic device B
Send data to.

The electronic device A that issues a data request to an external server is set in advance under a condition that the machine that has both the server and client functions is the machine started first. I have. If this function is not provided, the electronic device B also needs to make a data request to an external server like the electronic device A, so that a load is imposed on the external server and the network between the external server and the electronic device.

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to avoid a situation in which accesses from a plurality of connected network electronic devices are concentrated on the server and a state in which connection is not possible continues.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when data from the server can be received only halfway, the data received halfway is not discarded. Data can be reduced, and the load on both the network electronic device and the server can be reduced. In addition, the time for reception can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when data can only be transmitted halfway to the server, the data sent halfway is not discarded. Can be data,
The load on both the network electronic device and the server can be reduced. Further, the transmission time can be shortened.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the transmission and reception of a large amount of data is performed by dividing the data into a predetermined amount, the data can be transmitted and received without interrupting the operation of other electronic devices connected to the network. .

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, one of the electronic devices holds data acquired from an external server, and the other
By functioning as a server for electronic devices existing in the AN, external network loads can be reduced.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the electronic device connected to the network only needs to acquire data from the electronic device functioning as another server, and does not need to use an external congested network. . Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the download can only be performed partway due to a cause such as a busy communication.

According to the invention described in claim 7, since a large number of clients in the same LAN do not intensively access a specific external server, the load on the external server can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an apparatus according to second and third embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a relationship between a conventional electronic device capable of network communication and a server.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device capable of performing network communication by accessing a server, wherein when receiving a notification from the server that processing of a request from the electronic device cannot be performed, the electronic device is accessed again at a time designated by the server. A network electronic device, characterized in that: 2. An electronic device capable of network communication by accessing a server, wherein a failure occurs when the electronic device is receiving data from the server, and data can be received only halfway. Sometimes, the data received halfway is stored, a request is made to the server to receive the data from a location where the data could not be received, and the data already received and the data received halfway from the server are combined into normal data. A network electronic device, characterized in that: 3. An electronic device capable of network communication by accessing a server, wherein a failure occurs while the electronic device is transmitting data to the server, and the data can be transmitted only halfway. In response to a request from the server, retransmit the data from the part that could not be transmitted, and make the data already transmitted and the data from the middle of the retransmission together on the server side as normal data A network electronic device characterized by the above. 4. An electronic device capable of network communication by accessing a server, wherein when a large amount of data is transferred between the electronic device and the server, if the transmitting side cannot transmit and receive all data at once. A network electronic device which repeats transmission and reception until all data is transmitted and received after dividing the data into a predetermined capacity. 5. An electronic device capable of network communication by accessing a server, wherein when the electronic device accesses a server and acquires information, the electronic device is connected to another electronic device connected to the same network. A network electronic device characterized by functioning as a server. 6. An electronic device capable of network communication, wherein when another electronic device connected to the same network accesses a server and acquires information, the electronic device functions as a server when the electronic device functions as a server. A network electronic device that functions as a client. 7. When a certain electronic device accesses a server and obtains information from among a plurality of electronic devices connected to the same network, this electronic device functions as a server, and another electronic device functions as a server of the server. A network electronic device system that functions as a client.