Server, device operation system, device control method, device operation method, and device control program

Abstract

To appropriately select an information appliance.SOLUTION: A device operation system S comprising an operation target device 300, a plurality of information appliances 200a, 200b connected to the operation target device 300, and a cloud server 100 connected to the plurality of information appliances 200a, 200b via a network comprises: a storage section 60 storing a device management DB 61 in which the plurality of information appliance 200a, 200b are associated with the device 300; a reception section 30 for receiving operation of the device 300; information acquisition sections 1, 101a, 101b for acquiring appliance information indicating states (CPU use rate, memory use rate, connectivity with the device 300) of the plurality of information appliances 200a, 200b; and a determination section 2 that when the reception section 30 receives operation of the device 300, determines the information appliance 200b to be connected of the plurality of information appliances 200a, 200b on the basis of the appliance information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a server, a device operation system, a device control method, a device operation method, and a device control program, and relates to, for example, an apparatus for operating an operable device from an external network. [Background technology]

[0002] When on-premise devices (IoT devices) cannot be accessed from the cloud, they can be accessed by connecting to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) or by installing an IoT_Gateway device. Also, when there are multiple on-premise IoT_Gateway devices, devices can be accessed from the cloud via one of the IoT_Gateway devices.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a plurality of devices and a plurality of gateways are provided within a LAN (Local Area Network), and a cloud server manages a specific device via one of the gateways. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-4418 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the background art described above, a cloud server fixes the gateway that manages a device to one of multiple gateways. In this case, if the cloud server instructs the gateway to manage a device when the gateway is busy with other processing and resource usage is high, the processing of the instructed gateway (information equipment) becomes slow.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a server, a device operation system, a device control method, a device operation method, and a device control program that are capable of appropriately selecting information devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The above-mentioned problems of the present invention can be solved by the following means.

[0008] (1) A server (cloud server) comprising: a plurality of information devices communicatively connected to a device to be operated; and a server (cloud server) connected to the plurality of information devices via a network (e.g., an internal company network), the server comprising: a reception unit that receives operations for the device to be operated; an information acquisition unit that acquires device information indicating the state of each of the information devices; a determination unit that, when the reception unit receives an operation for the device to be operated, determines, based on the device information, an information device among the plurality of information devices that will relay a first command related to the operation to the device to be operated; and a communication unit that transmits the first command to the information device determined by the determination unit.

[0009] (2) The server described in (1) above, in which the plurality of information devices and the device to be operated are connected on-premises, the server and the plurality of information devices are connected on-premises, the reception unit receives the operation using an identification code (URL) that identifies the device to be operated without specifying the information device, and the communication unit transmits the operation to the specific information device using an IP address.

[0010] (3) The server described in (1) above further comprises a memory unit storing data associating the plurality of information devices with the device to be operated, wherein the reception unit receives a second command (operation command) specifying an operation for the device to be operated, and further comprises a command generation unit that generates the first command to operate the device to be operated based on the second command, information about the device to be operated, and the data.

[0011] (4) The server according to (1) above, wherein the information acquisition unit periodically acquires, as the device information, one or a combination of CPU usage rate, memory usage rate, and communication connectivity with the device to be operated.

[0012] (5) The server according to (4), wherein the determination unit does not determine an information device having poor connectivity for communication with the operation target device as an information device to be relayed.

[0013] (6) The server according to (4), wherein the determining unit determines an information device with a low CPU utilization rate and a low memory utilization rate as a relay target.

[0014] (7) The cloud server according to (4), wherein the determination unit determines, as a relay target, an information device having a low average value of the CPU utilization rate and the memory utilization rate.

[0015] (8) The cloud server described in (1) above, wherein the communication unit transmits to the specific information device using an IP address, and the determination unit determines an information device whose IP address has the same subnet as the device to be operated as the relay target.

[0016] (9) The cloud server described in (1) above, wherein the device to be operated requires authentication information to communicate with the information equipment, and further includes a memory unit in which the authentication information is stored, and the communication unit transmits the authentication information to the information equipment.

[0017] (10) A cloud server according to (1) above, further comprising a memory unit for storing pairing information required for the short-range wireless communication when the connection between the device to be operated and the information equipment is short-range wireless communication, and the communication unit transmits the pairing information to the information equipment.

[0018] (11) The cloud server described in (1) above, wherein the communication unit transmits the first command to a second information device that can operate the device to be operated when an error signal is received despite the communication unit having transmitted the first command to the first information device determined by the determination unit.

[0019] (12) A device operation system including a device to be operated, a plurality of information devices communicatively connected to the device to be operated, and a server (cloud server) network-connected to the plurality of information devices on-premises, the device operation system including: a memory unit storing data associating the plurality of information devices with the device to be operated; a reception unit receiving an operation of the device to be operated; an information acquisition unit acquiring device information indicating the states of the plurality of information devices; a determination unit determining an information device to connect from among the plurality of information devices based on the device information when the reception unit receives an operation of the device to be operated; and a command generation unit generating a first command to operate the device to be operated based on the device information regarding the information device determined by the determination unit, information regarding the device to be operated, and the data.

[0020] (13) A server control program for causing a CPU of a plurality of information devices connected to a device to be operated and a cloud server connected to the plurality of information devices via a network to execute the following steps: accepting an operation for the device to be operated; acquiring device information indicating the status of the plurality of information devices; when an operation for the device to be operated is accepted, determining, based on the device information, an information device among the plurality of information devices that will communicate with the device to be operated; and transmitting a first command related to the operation to the specific information device determined in the determination step. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately select an information device. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of a device operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 10 is a table illustrating an example of a device management DB. [Figure 3] 10 is a table illustrating an example of an API management unit DB. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an information device at the time of startup. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation at the time of setting up an information device. [Figure 6A] 10 is a flowchart (1) illustrating an operation when the cloud server receives an operation instruction from a client PC. [Figure 6B] 10 is a flowchart (2) illustrating the operation when the cloud server receives an operation instruction from the client PC. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] In the following embodiments, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that each drawing is merely a schematic illustration to allow a sufficient understanding of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples. In addition, in each drawing, common or similar components are given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations thereof will be omitted.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present invention, a device operation system (S) includes an operation target device (device 300), a plurality of information devices (200a, 200b) communicably connected to the operation target device (device 300) on-premise, and a cloud server (100) networked to the plurality of information devices (200a, 200b) on-premise, the device operation system (S) includes a storage unit (60) storing data (device management DB 61) associating the plurality of information devices (200a, 200b) with the operation target device (device 300), the information acquisition unit (1, 101a, 101b) acquiring device information indicating the state of each of the information devices (200a, 200b); a determination unit (2) determining, when the reception unit (30) receives an operation of an operation target device (device 300), an information acquisition unit (1, 101a, 101b) determining, based on the device information, an information device (200b) from among the plurality of information devices (200a, 200b) that will relay a first command related to the operation to the operation target device; and a communication unit (40) transmitting the first command to the information device 200b determined by the determination unit (2).

[0025] (Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a device operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device operation system S includes a plurality of devices 300,...,305, a plurality of information devices 200a, 200b, a cloud server 100, and a client PC. The plurality of devices 300,...,305 and the plurality of information devices 200a, 200b are connected to each other on-premises so as to be able to communicate with each other. For example, the plurality of devices 300,...,305 and the plurality of information devices 200a, 200b are connected to each other via short-range wireless communication such as a wireless local area network (LAN) or Bluetooth (registered trademark), a wired LAN, or a universal serial bus (USB). The plurality of information devices 200a, 200b and the cloud server 100 are connected to a network (internal network) on-premises so as to be able to communicate with each other, and the other party is specified by an IP address. The cloud server 100 and the client PC are connected to each other on a wide area network (WAN), and the other party (and thus the device operation command) is specified by a uniform resource locator (URL). In this embodiment, it is not assumed that the information devices 200a and 200b are connected to each other.

[0026] The devices 300, . . . , 305 are, for example, a patrol lamp such as a PATLITE (registered trademark), a temperature sensor, a speaker, a camera, and the like.

[0027] The information devices 200a and 200b are, for example, personal computers (PCs), and function as gateway devices of the same configuration by executing a program (program product). The information devices 200a and 200b implement the functions of agent units 110a and 110b, application units 120a and 120b, and network units 130a and 130b. The agent units 110a and 110b are functional units that act as intermediaries between the cloud server 100 and the application units 120a and 120b. The application units 120a and 120b are functional units that control the devices 300,..., 305 based on commands from the cloud server 100.

[0028] Agent units 110a and 110b include information acquisition units 101a and 102a. Information acquisition units 101a and 102a periodically acquire connectivity for communication with devices 300, . . . , 305 and utilization rates (CPU utilization rate, memory utilization rate) of their own resources (CPU and memory). Agent units 110a and 110b then transmit the acquired connectivity and utilization rates to cloud server 100.

[0029] The application units 120a and 120b include reception units 121a and 121b. The reception units 121a and 121b function as command execution units that receive an API (Application Programming Interface) received from the cloud server 100 and execute operation commands. The network units 130a and 130b are hardware resources that execute communication with the devices 300, . . . , 305 and the cloud server 100.

[0030] The cloud server 100 is a PC including a control unit 50, a storage unit 60, and a network unit 40. The network unit 40 is a communication unit that communicates with the client PC 400 and the information devices 200a and 200b using an API. The network unit 40 receives instructions from the client PC 400 using an identification code (URL) that identifies the destination, and specifies the information devices 200a and 200b using their IP addresses. The storage unit 60 stores a device management DB 61, pairing information 62, and an API management DB 63.

[0031] The pairing information 62 is authentication information required when the devices 300, . . . , 305 and the network units 10a, 130b communicate with each other by short-range wireless communication. The information devices 200a, 200b use the pairing information 62 downloaded in advance from the cloud server 100.

[0032] FIG. 2 is a table showing an example of the device management DB 61. As shown in FIG. The device management DB 61 lists the following items in rows: information device (PC), PC address, device ID, device name, connection means, device address, and priority. The information device item stores "PCa" indicating information device 200a and "PCb" indicating information device 200b. The address (PC address) item for PCa stores the IP address "10.0.1.2," and the PC address for PCb stores the IP address "10.0.2.4."

[0033] Four types of devices (temperature sensor, speaker, patrol lamp, and camera) can be connected to PCa (information device 200a). The device ID field stores "Thermo1," "Sperker1," and "PatoLamp1" from the top row, and "Camera1" in the bottom row. The device name field stores the character strings "temperature sensor," "speaker," and "patrol lamp" in the top row, and "camera" in the bottom row. The connection method for the temperature sensor and speaker is "near-field wireless communication," and the connection method for the patrol lamp and camera is "network." The device address of the temperature sensor is "Thermol1," the device address of the speaker is "Speaker1," the device address of the patrol lamp is "10.0.1.7," and the device address of the camera is "10.0.2.8."

[0034] Furthermore, two types of devices (patrol lamp and camera) can be connected to PCb (information device 200b). The device ID field stores "PatoLamp1" and "Camera1". The device name field stores the character strings "patrol lamp" and "camera". The connection method for the patrol lamp and camera is "network". The device address of the patrol lamp is "10.0.1.7", and the device address of the camera is "10.0.2.8".

[0035] The following explanation is about the item "Priority" in the rightmost column. The patrol lamp and camera can be connected to either of the two information devices (PCa, PCb). Therefore, the patrol lamp and camera are assigned a priority order. The priority order (priority) is determined in ascending order of IP address proximity. For example, priority is given to devices with the same IP address subnet. In this embodiment, the patrol lamp connected to the information device PCa is assigned a priority of "1," and the camera connected to the information device PCb is assigned a priority of "2." Conversely, the camera connected to the information device PCa is assigned a priority of "2," and the camera connected to the information device PC2 is assigned a priority of "1." Note that the temperature sensor and speaker are connected to only one information device (PCa), and are therefore assigned a priority of "1."

[0036] FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of the API management unit DB 63. The API management DB 63 lists items such as IoT device, operation command, type, description, and return value in the row direction. The "IoT Device" item lists, in columns, "Thermo1" which indicates a temperature sensor, "Speaker1" and "Speaker2" which indicate speakers, and three "PatoLamp1", "PatoLamp1", and "PatoLamp1" which indicate police lights.

[0037] In the "Operation Command" section, the "Thermo1" row stores "Current_Temp", the "Speaker1" row stores "Speak_mp3<file>", and the "Speaker2" row stores "Speak_text<text>". In addition, the three "PatoLamp1" rows store the operation commands "WARN", "ALART", and "CLEAR", respectively.

[0038] The "Type" field contains "GET" in the rows for "Thermo1," "Speaker2," and "PatoLamp1," while only the row for "Speaker1" contains "POST." The "Description" field contains a description of the operation command, and the "Return Value" field contains the return value. For example, the row for the operation command "Current_Temp" contains the description "Returns the current temperature" and the return value "Current temperature (Celsius)." The row for the operation command "Speak_mp3<file>" contains the description "Plays the Mp3 file when an Mp3 file is posted" and the return value "200: Success." The row for the operation command "Speak_text<text>" contains the description "Speaks the text content aloud" and the return value "200: Success."

[0039] The line for the operation command "WARN" of "PatoLamp1" stores the explanation "Turn on the yellow light" and the return value "200: Success". The line for the operation command "ALART" stores the explanation "Turn on the red light" and the return value "200: Success". The line for the operation command "CLEAR" stores the explanation "Turn off the patrol lamp light" and the return value "200: Success".

[0040] Returning to the explanation of the configuration in FIG. 1, the control unit 50 is a CPU that realizes the functions of the edge management unit 10, the API generation unit 20, and the reception unit 30 by executing a program.

[0041] The reception unit 30 receives an operation command (second command) for operating a device to be operated (for example, device 300) as an API (Web API) from the client PC 400. At this time, the client PC 400 specifies the operation command (FIG. 3) and device address (FIG. 2) of the device 300 to be operated, but does not specify the PC address (FIG. 2) or Gateway device ID indicating the location of the information devices 200a and 200b.

[0042] Specifically, the client PC 400 sends the operation command in the URL format of https: / / [domain name] / [tenant name] / [group name] / [IoT device] / [operation command]. Here, https: / / [domain name] specifies the cloud server 100, and [tenant name] / [group name] indicates the group that contains the information devices 200a, 200b and devices 300, ..., 305. The [IoT device] and [operation command] are stored in the first and second columns of the API management unit DB 63 (Figure 3).

[0043] The edge management unit 10 is a functional unit that manages data processed at the periphery of the network (information devices 200a, 200b and devices 300, . . . , 305). The edge management unit 10 includes an information acquisition unit 1, a determination unit 2, and a command generation unit 3.

[0044] The information acquisition unit 1 acquires either the connectivity of communication with the devices 300,...,305 acquired by the information devices 200a, 200b, or the resource usage rates (CPU usage rate and memory usage rate) of the information devices 200a, 200b, or a combination of these. The determination unit 2 selects and determines one of the information devices 200a, 200b to relay an operation command (second command) for operating the devices 300,...,305 to one of the information devices 200a, 200b. For example, the determination unit 2 determines the information device 200a, which has good connectivity for communication with the specified device 300, as the relay target. To this end, the determination unit may determine, as the relay target, an information device 200 whose IP address subnetwork is the same as that of the device 300 to be operated.

[0045] The determination unit 2 may also determine, as the relay target, the information device 200a, 200b that has the lower resource usage rate. Specifically, the determination unit 2 may determine, as the relay target, the information device 200a, 200b that has the lower CPU usage rate, or the information device 200a, 200b that has the lower memory usage rate. The determination unit 2 may also determine, as the relay target, the information device 200a, 200b that has the lower average CPU usage rate and memory usage rate.

[0046] The command generation unit 3 generates a command (first command) for operating the device 300 to be operated, based on the operation command (second command) received by the reception unit 30, information about the device 300 to be operated, and the device management DB 61. The API generation unit 20 organizes the first command generated by the command generation unit 3 into an API format. At this time, the cloud server 100 specifies the information devices 200a and 200b using their IP addresses (PC addresses in the second column of the device management DB 61 (FIG. 2)).

[0047] FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of information device 200 at startup. This flow starts when the information devices 200 (200a, 200b (FIG. 1)) are powered on or reset. The information device 200 determines whether the Agent program has been installed (S1). If it has not been installed (No in S1), the information device 200 repeats the determination in S1. In other words, the information device 200 waits until the Agent program is installed.

[0048] If the Agent program is installed (Yes in S1), the information device 200 searches for a device corresponding to the information device itself (S2). At this time, the information device 200 performs pairing with the devices 300, ..., 305 using the pairing information 62 (FIG. 1) downloaded together with the Agent program. After the processing of S2, the information device 200 determines whether or not a corresponding device has been found (S3). If a corresponding device has been found (Yes in S3), the information device 200 downloads a script program for handling the device from the cloud server 100 (S4) and ends the processing. On the other hand, if a corresponding device has not been found (No in S3), the information device 200 immediately ends the processing.

[0049] FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of information device 200 when it is set up. The information device 200 transmits connectable device information to the cloud server 100 (S11). The cloud server 100 receives the connectable device information (S12) and transmits an application program (e.g., a driver program) corresponding to the device to the information device 200 (S13). The information device 200 sets up the received application program (S14) and returns a response (success response or failure response) to the cloud server 100 (S15). The cloud server 100 receives the response (S17) and determines whether the setup was successful (S17).

[0050] If the setup is not successful (No in S17), the cloud server 100 returns the process to S13 and repeats the transmission of the application program. On the other hand, if the setup is successful (Yes in S17), the cloud server 100 transmits a script program related to the application program (S18). The information device 200 downloads the script program (S19). After the process of S18, the cloud server 100 registers the script program in the device management DB 61 and the API management unit DB 63 (S20) and ends the process.

[0051] 6A and 6B are flowcharts for explaining the operation of cloud server 100 when it receives an operation instruction from client PC 400. FIG. The cloud server 100 receives an API instruction from the client PC 400 (S31). At this time, as described above, the cloud server 100 receives the operation command (second command) in the URL format of https: / / [domain name] / [tenant name] / [group name] / [IoT device] / [operation command]. After processing S31, the cloud server 100 extracts multiple (two) information appliances 200 capable of device operation, assigning priorities to them (S32). At this time, the cloud server 100 refers to the "priority" in the rightmost column of the device management DB 61 (FIG. 2).

[0052] The information devices 200 transmit device information (for example, connectivity for communication with the device 300 and resource usage rates (CPU usage rate, memory usage rate) of their own devices (information devices 200a, 200b)) to the cloud server 100 (S33). The cloud server 100 acquires the device information transmitted by the information devices 200 (S34) and determines the number of information devices that have good connectivity for communication with the device 300 (S35).

[0053] If there are no information devices with good connectivity (0 in S35), the cloud server 100 ends the process. If there is one information device with good connectivity (1 in S35), the cloud server 100 transmits a command (first command) to the information device with good connectivity (S36). As a result, the cloud server 100 relays the operation command (second command) received in S31 to the information device 200 with good connectivity. If there are two information devices with good connectivity (2 in S35), the cloud server 100 determines whether the resource usage rate of the information device with priority 2 is low (S37). If the resource usage rate of the information device set to priority 2 is high (No in S37), the cloud server 100 transmits a command to the information device with priority 1 (S38). On the other hand, if the resource usage rate of the information device set to priority 2 is low (Yes in S37), the cloud server 100 transmits a command to the information device with priority 2 (S39). By sending the commands in S36, S38, and S39, the information device 200 receives the commands (S40) and sends a response (success response or failure response) to the cloud server 100 (S41).

[0054] Cloud server 100 receives the response from information device 200 (S42) and determines whether the command execution was successful or not based on the response content (S43). If the command execution by information device 200 is successful (Yes in S43), cloud server 100 returns a success response (HTTP:200) to client PC 400 (FIG. 1) (S44) and ends the processing. Note that if device 300 connected to information device 200 (200a) is a temperature sensor, cloud server 100 returns the current temperature (Celsius) (S44).

[0055] On the other hand, if the command execution is not successful (No in S43), cloud server 100 determines whether the connectivity of the non-instructed information device 200 is OK (S45 (FIG. 6B)). If the connectivity of the non-instructed information device 200 is poor (No in S45), cloud server 100 returns a failure response (error signal) to the client PC (S46).

[0056] On the other hand, if the connectivity of the information device 200 not specified is good (Yes in S45), the cloud server 100 instructs the information device 200 not specified initially to execute the command (S47) and performs a retry. For example, if the command was initially sent to the information device 200a (first information device) with good connectivity (S36), the cloud server 100 transmits the command to the information device 200b (second information device) with poor connectivity. Furthermore, if the command was initially sent to the information device 200a (first information device) with priority 1 (S38), the cloud server 100 transmits the command to the information device 200b (second information device) with priority 2. Conversely, if the command was initially sent to the information device 200b (first information device) with priority 2 (S39), the cloud server 100 transmits the command to the information device 200a (second information device) with priority 1.

[0057] After processing S47, cloud server 100 determines whether the command execution was successful or not based on the response (success response, failure response (error signal)) returned from information device 200 (S48). If cloud server 100 receives the error signal and determines that the command execution was not successful (No in S48), it returns a failure response (error signal) to client PC 400 (S49) and ends the processing. If the command execution was successful (Yes in S48), cloud server 100 returns a success response (HTTP:200) to client PC 400 (S50) and ends the processing.

[0058] As described above, in the device operation system S (FIG. 1) of this embodiment, the client PC 400 transmits an operation command (second command) in URL format to the cloud server 100. As a result, the cloud server 100 operates the device 300 to be operated via one of the plurality of information appliances 200a, 200b. The multiple information devices 200a, 200b periodically acquire information on their communication connectivity with the device 300 and the utilization rates (CPU utilization rate and memory utilization rate) of their own resources (CPU, memory). The cloud server 100 specifies, by IP address, an information device with good communication connectivity with the device 300 or an information device with a low utilization rate, and transmits a command (first command) to operate the device 300 via the API. Furthermore, when there are multiple information devices with good communication connectivity with the device 300, the cloud server 100 selects the information device with the low utilization rate.

[0059] (Comparative Example) In the above embodiment, the client PC 400 sent the operation command (second command) to the cloud server 100 in the URL format https: / / [domain name] / [tenant name] / [group name] / [IoT device] / [operation command] without specifying the information devices 200a and 200b.

[0060] In this comparative example, the client PC 400 transmits the command to the cloud server 100 in the URL format of https: / / [Domain Name] / [Tenant Name] / [Group Name] / [Information Device ID] / [IoT Device] / [Operation Command]. That is, in this comparative example, a new [Information Device ID] is inserted. As a result, if the information devices 200a and 200b specified by the information device ID have high resource usage rates (CPU usage rate and memory usage rate) for other jobs, the processing of the specified operation command will be slow. Also, it is not possible to avoid the information device 200a in a faulty state and use the other information device 200b.

[0061] In contrast, in the embodiment, the cloud server 100 selects information devices 200a, 200b that have good connectivity for communication with the device 300 to be operated or information devices 200a, 200b with low resource usage (CPU and memory). Therefore, when an instruction is given to operate the device 300 to be operated, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the resource usage is high and the processing speed of the device operation is slow. Also, it is possible to avoid the information device 200a in a faulty state and use another information device 200b.

[0062] (Variation) The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, for example, as follows: (a) In the above embodiment, the information devices 200 (200a, 200b) function as gateway devices and are connected to the cloud server 100 on-premises. The information devices 200 (200a, 200b) and the cloud server 100 may be connected via a VPN (Virtual Private Network). [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 1 Information acquisition section 2 Decision Section 3 Command Generation 10 Edge Management Department 20 API generation unit (transmission control unit) 30 Reception 40, 130a, 130b Network section (communication section) 50 control section 61 Device Management DB 62 Pairing Information 63 API management department DB 100 Cloud Servers 121a, 121b Reception unit (command execution unit) 120a, 120b Application section 200,200a,200b Information equipment 300,305 Device (Device to be operated) 400 client PCs

Claims

1. A plurality of information devices communicably connected to an operation target device, and a server connected to the plurality of information devices via a network, a reception unit that receives an operation for the operation target device; an information acquisition unit that acquires device information indicating the status of each of the information devices; a determination unit that, when the reception unit receives an operation for the operation target device, determines, based on the device information, an information device among the plurality of information devices that is to relay a first command related to the operation to the operation target device; a communication unit that transmits the first command to the information device determined by the determination unit; A server comprising:

2. the plurality of information appliances and the operation target device are connected on-premises, the server and the plurality of information devices are connected on-premises, the receiving unit receives the operation by using an identification code that identifies an operation command for operating the device to be operated, without specifying the information equipment. The server of claim 1 .

3. a storage unit that stores data associating the plurality of information appliances with the operation target device; the receiving unit receives a second command that specifies an operation for the operation target device; a command generating unit that generates the first command for operating the operation target device based on the second command, information related to the operation target device, and the data; The server of claim 1 .

4. The information acquisition unit periodically acquires, as the device information, one or a combination of a CPU usage rate, a memory usage rate, and connectivity of communication with the operation target device. The server of claim 1 .

5. The determination unit does not determine an information device having poor connectivity for communication with the operation target device as an information device to be relayed. The server of claim 4.

6. The determination unit determines an information device with a low CPU utilization rate and a low memory utilization rate as a relay target. The server of claim 4.

7. The determination unit determines an information device having a low average value of the CPU utilization rate and the memory utilization rate as a relay target. The server of claim 4.

8. the communication unit transmits the information to the specific information device using an IP address, The determination unit determines, as a relay target, an information device whose IP address has the same subnetwork as that of the operation target device. The server of claim 1 .

9. the operation target device requires authentication information to communicate with the information appliance; further comprising a storage unit in which the authentication information is stored, The communication unit transmits the authentication information to the information device. The server of claim 1 .

10. When the connection between the operation target device and the information equipment is short-range wireless communication, a storage unit for storing pairing information necessary for the short-range wireless communication; The communication unit transmits the pairing information to the information device. The server of claim 1 .

11. When an error signal is received despite the communication unit having transmitted the first command to the first information device determined by the determination unit, the communication unit transmits the first command to a second information device operable for the device to be operated. The server of claim 1 .

12. A device operation system including a device to be operated, a plurality of information devices communicably connected to the device to be operated, and a server connected to the plurality of information devices via a network, a storage unit that stores data associating the plurality of information appliances with the operation target device; a reception unit that receives an operation of the device to be operated; an information acquisition unit that acquires device information indicating the states of the plurality of information devices; a determination unit that, when the reception unit receives an operation of the operation target device, determines an information device to connect from among the plurality of information devices based on the device information; a command generating unit that generates a first command for operating the operation target device based on the device information related to the information device determined by the determining unit, information related to the operation target device, and the data; A device operation system comprising:

13. A device control method executed by a plurality of information devices connected to an operation target device and a server connected to the plurality of information devices through a network, comprising: a receiving step of receiving an operation of the operation target device; an information acquisition step of acquiring device information indicating the states of the plurality of information devices; a determination step of determining an information device to be connected from among the plurality of information devices based on the device information when the operation is accepted in the acceptance step; a communication step of transmitting a first command related to the operation to the specific information device determined in the determination step; A device control method that performs

14. A device operation method in a device operation system including a device to be operated, a plurality of information devices connected to the device to be operated on-premises, and a cloud server connected to the plurality of information devices via a network on-premises, a data storage step of storing data associating the plurality of information appliances with the operation target device in a storage unit; a receiving step of receiving an operation of the operation target device; an information acquisition step of acquiring device information indicating the states of the plurality of information devices; a determination step of determining an information device to be connected from among the plurality of information devices based on the device information when the operation of the operation target device is accepted in the accepting step; a command generating step of generating a first command for operating the operation target device based on the device information on the information device determined in the determining step, information on the operation target device, and the data; How to operate the device.

15. A plurality of information devices connected to the device to be operated, and a CPU of a cloud server connected to the plurality of information devices through a network, a step of receiving an operation for the operation target device; acquiring device information indicating the states of the plurality of information devices; a step of determining, when an operation for the operation target device is received, an information device that will communicate with the operation target device from among the plurality of information devices based on the device information; a step of transmitting a first command relating to the operation to the determined specific information device; A device control program for executing the above.

Images