Communication management system and communication management method

Abstract

Users can easily find out the communication status of their own network and the networks associated with them. [Solution] A communication management system 40 comprising a storage device 42 that stores data representing the status of communication conducted by at least one of a plurality of information processing devices via networks 5 and 6, acquired by a predetermined information processing system, and a processing unit 41 that performs a request reception process to receive a predetermined evaluation request from any of the plurality of information processing devices, an evaluation value calculation process to calculate an evaluation value representing the communication status of at least one of the plurality of information processing devices based on the acquired data, and an output process to output information representing the calculated evaluation value to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0005] , , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication management system and a communication management method.

Background Art

[0002] Many organizations such as companies conduct business using communication networks such as the Internet and intranet. On the other hand, due to the complexity of communication networks and the need for security measures, etc., in order to safely carry out business, the management and monitoring of communication networks have become very important.

[0003] As a technology for communication monitoring in a network, for example, in Patent Document 1, a capture unit that holds flow information based on traffic data of communication flowing through a monitored network, and for communication in the monitored network based on the flow information, there are a plurality of traffic analysis functions that perform analysis from different viewpoints, and a load state determination process for determining the load state of the capture unit is performed, and according to the determination result by the load state determination process, a resource control unit that controls the traffic analysis functions constituting the analysis unit is disclosed. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​This invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a communication management system and a communication management method that enable users to easily know the communication status of their own and related networks. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One of the present inventions for solving the aforementioned problems is a communication management system comprising: a storage device that stores data representing the status of communication performed by at least one of a plurality of information processing devices via a predetermined network, acquired by a predetermined information processing system; and a computing device that performs a request reception process for receiving a predetermined evaluation request from any of the plurality of information processing devices; an evaluation value calculation process for calculating an evaluation value of the communication status of at least one of the plurality of information processing devices based on the acquired data; and an output process for outputting information representing the calculated evaluation value to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, users can easily find out the communication status of their own network and the network associated with them. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the configuration of the communication system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the hardware and functions of a communication management system. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of agent host information. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of network location information. [Figure 5] This flowchart illustrates an example of the network test data acquisition process. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of network test information. [Figure 7]This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process for acquiring overall information. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of a method for evaluating communication status according to this embodiment. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of a communication status display screen that appears on a user terminal (requesting terminal) where nearby terminals exist. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of a communication status display screen that appears on a user terminal (requesting terminal) where no nearby terminals exist. [Figure 11] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a personal information acquisition process. [Figure 12] This figure shows an example of a personal communication status display screen that appears on the requesting terminal. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of the communication system 1 according to this embodiment. This communication system 1 is composed of a plurality of user terminals 10 (10A, B), which are information processing devices used by each user within a predetermined organization; one or more information provision systems 20, which are information processing devices managed by each business operator and accessed by each user; a communication monitoring system 30; and a communication management system 40 that performs various processing in cooperation with the communication monitoring system 30.

[0012] The information provision system 20 is, for example, an ICT service provided by each service provider, such as an application or a web page. The information provision system 20 provides information in the form of, for example, SaaS (Software as a Service).

[0013] Each user terminal 10 communicates with each information provision system 20 to access or receive various data from the information provision system 20, thereby enabling each user to perform their assigned tasks.

[0014] In this embodiment, each user terminal 10 is present within a predetermined area (e.g., a building or a facility), and it is assumed that its physical location and network environment (such as the network load status, the communication path of data within the network, etc.) affect the communication status of the user terminal. Note that the position of each user terminal 10 may be changeable. Also, each user terminal 10 is assumed to include a device (a position acquisition system such as GPS (Global Positioning System)) for acquiring its own current position information, but other configurations may also be adopted. For example, each user terminal 10 may acquire position information by communicating with a predetermined network (or its base station).

[0015] Each user terminal 10 and each information providing system 20 are communicably connected via a first communication network 5. Also, each other user terminal 10 and each information providing system 20 are communicably connected via the first communication network 5 and a second communication network 6.

[0016] The communication monitoring system 30 is communicably connected to the first communication network 5 and the second communication network 6. The communication monitoring system 30 is an information processing system that monitors the communication in the first communication network 5 and the second communication network 6. The communication monitoring system 30 monitors, for example, the data communication performed between the user terminal 10 and each information providing system 20. The communication monitoring system 30 executes communication monitoring, for example, in the form of SaaS (Software as a Service).

[0017] Here, some of the user terminals 10, i.e., user terminals 10A, store a predetermined program (monitoring agent 50) provided corresponding to the communication monitoring system 30. The monitoring agent 50 is activated based on a monitoring request received from the communication monitoring system 30 at a predetermined timing, and executes a network test to investigate the communication status via a network (the first communication network 5 or the second communication network 6) between the user terminal 10A storing the monitoring agent 50 and each information providing system 20. For example, the monitoring agent 50 obtains information regarding the communication status by attaching a predetermined monitoring packet to the communication data between the user terminal 10A and each information providing system 20. The communication monitoring system 30 accumulates data of the test results (hereinafter referred to as network test data) for each executed test. The network test consists of a series of tests repeated one or more times.

[0018] On the other hand, in the communication system 1, there are also user terminals 10B other than the user terminals 10A equipped with the monitoring agent 50, that is, user terminals 10B that do not store the monitoring agent 50. The user terminal 10A equipped with the monitoring agent 50 can access the communication monitoring system 30, while the user terminal 10B not equipped with the monitoring agent 50 cannot access the communication monitoring system 30. The user terminal 10A equipped with the monitoring agent 50 is, for example, an information processing device managed by an administrator within an organization. The user terminal 10B not equipped with the monitoring agent 50 is, for example, an information processing device managed by a general user other than the administrator.

[0019] The communication management system 40 receives data regarding the communication status output by the communication monitoring system 30 via the second communication network 6 and the first communication network 5. The communication management system 40 includes, for example, a Web server, a database server, etc.

[0020] When the communication management system 40 receives a predetermined evaluation request from each user terminal 10, it provides each user terminal 10 with information about the communication status based on the data regarding the communication status and the location information of each user terminal 10. This allows users using user terminal 10B that do not have a monitoring agent 50 to know the communication status in the communication system 1.

[0021] The first communication network 5 is, for example, the Internet. The second communication network 6 is, for example, a wired or wireless communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), or dedicated line.

[0022] Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware and functions of the communication management system 40. The communication management system 40 includes a computing device 41 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a storage device 42 such as RAM (Random Access Memory) or ROM (Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or SSD (Solid State Drive), an input device 43 consisting of a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc., an output device 44 for screen display consisting of a monitor (display), etc., and a communication device 45 consisting of a NIC (Network Interface Card), wireless communication module, USB (Universal Serial Interface) module, or serial communication module, etc. The user terminal 10, information provision system 20, and communication monitoring system 30 also have similar hardware.

[0023] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 stores agent host information 300, network location information 400, and network test information 600.

[0024] Agent host information 300 is information about the monitoring agent 50 stored in the user terminal 10.

[0025] Network location information 400 is information regarding the location of the user terminal 10.

[0026] The network test information 600 is information about network test data related to a network test performed by the monitoring agent 50 in response to a monitoring request from the communication monitoring system 30. In this embodiment, the network test information 600 is created by the network test data acquisition process described later.

[0027] (Agent host information) Figure 3 shows an example of agent host information 300. The agent host information 300 includes the record ID 301, the ID 302 of each host (user terminal 10) equipped with the monitoring agent 50, the hostname 303 of each host, the update time 304 of the monitoring agent 50 on each host, and the user 305 associated with each host.

[0028] The agent host information 300 may also be updated, for example, by each user terminal 10 transmitting location information acquired at a predetermined time (e.g., at a predetermined time interval or time) to the communication management system 40. Alternatively, the agent host information 300 may be updated, for example, by the communication management system 40 sending a request to each user terminal 10 to acquire location information, and each user terminal 10 returning the location information to the communication management system 40.

[0029] (Network location information) Figure 4 shows an example of network location information 400. Network location information 400 includes the ID 401 of the location information record (linked to the ID 601 of the network test information 600 described later), the ID 402 of the network test information 600 that targets that location information, the latitude 403 of that location information, the longitude 404 of that location information, and the time 405 when the location information was acquired.

[0030] Next, as shown in Figure 2, the communication management system 40 has the following functional units: a request receiving unit 201, an evaluation value calculation unit 202, a nearby terminal identification unit 203, an administrator function unit 204, an output unit 205, a detailed output unit 206, and a scheduled data acquisition unit 207.

[0031] The request receiving unit 201 receives a predetermined evaluation request from one of the multiple user terminals 10. The request receiving unit 201 also receives an evaluation request from a user terminal 10B that does not have a monitoring agent 50.

[0032] The evaluation value calculation unit 202 calculates an evaluation value of the communication status of at least one of the user terminals 10 among the multiple user terminals 10 based on the network test information 600. Specifically, the evaluation value calculation unit 202 calculates an evaluation value of the communication status of the user terminal 10 equipped with the monitoring agent 50 based on the network test information 600.

[0033] The nearby terminal identification unit 203 attempts to identify a user terminal 10 from among multiple user terminals 10 that is equipped with a monitoring agent 50 and has a similar communication environment to the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request.

[0034] For example, the nearby terminal identification unit 203 attempts to identify a user terminal 10 that is located within a predetermined distance from the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request. Alternatively, for example, the nearby terminal identification unit 203 attempts to identify a user terminal 10 whose processing load (network load, communication path, etc.) generated by communication via the communication networks 5 and 6 is similar to that of the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request.

[0035] The evaluation value calculation unit 202 calculates an evaluation value for the communication status of the identified user terminal 10.

[0036] The administrator function unit 204 receives input of various data from administrators of the communication management system 40.

[0037] The output unit 205 causes the output device of the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request to output information (evaluation information) representing the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation value calculation unit 202. The evaluation information may be expressed in any format, such as numerical values, words, or symbols.

[0038] Specifically, the output unit 205 includes an overall portal display unit 208 that displays a portal screen relating to evaluation information for all user terminals 10 equipped with a monitoring agent 50, and a personal portal display unit 209 that displays a portal screen relating to evaluation information for the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request and user terminals 10 with a similar communication environment to that user terminal 10.

[0039] The detailed output unit 206 displays the contents of the network test information 600. Specifically, the detailed output unit 206 includes a detailed display unit 210 that displays data for all user terminals 10 equipped with monitoring agents 50, and a personal detailed display unit 211 that displays data for the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request.

[0040] The scheduled data acquisition unit 207 updates the agent host information 300 and network test information 600 as needed.

[0041] The functions of each functional unit in the communication management system 40 described above are realized by the hardware of the communication management system 40, or by the arithmetic unit 41 of the communication management system 40 reading and executing each program stored in the storage device 42. These programs are stored in storage devices such as secondary storage devices, non-volatile semiconductor memory, hard disk drives, SSDs, or recording media readable by each device, such as IC cards, SD cards, and DVDs. Each device may be realized in whole or in part using virtual information processing resources provided using virtualization technology or process space isolation technology, such as virtual servers provided by a cloud system. Furthermore, all or part of the functions provided by these devices may be realized by services provided by the cloud system via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), for example. Next, the processing performed in the communication system 1 will be described.

[0042] The communication management system 40 performs network test data acquisition processing, overall information acquisition processing, and personal information acquisition processing, respectively.

[0043] The network test data acquisition process collects data from the communication monitoring system 30 and generates network test information 600.

[0044] The overall information acquisition process responds to evaluation requests from user terminal 10 by providing communication information for the entire communication network to the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request.

[0045] The personal information acquisition process, in response to an evaluation request from a user terminal 10, provides the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request with information regarding the communication status of the user terminal 10 and user terminals 10 located in the vicinity of the user terminal 10.

[0046] The following explains each of these processes.

[0047] <Network test data acquisition process> Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the network test data acquisition process. The network test data acquisition process is executed repeatedly at predetermined timings (for example, at predetermined time intervals (every 10 minutes, etc.), at predetermined times) (s11).

[0048] The communication management system 40 connects to the communication monitoring system 30 and identifies all network tests performed by the communication monitoring system 30 (s13). For example, the communication management system 40 calls the API (Application Programming Interface) of the communication monitoring system 30 to obtain the test IDs of all network tests. Alternatively, the communication management system 40 may obtain only the test IDs for the most recent period.

[0049] The communication management system 40 connects to the communication monitoring system 30 and retrieves the execution result data of each test acquired in s13. For example, the communication management system 40 calls the API (Application Programming Interface) of the communication monitoring system 30 and retrieves the test result data associated with each test ID.

[0050] The communication management system 40 stores the data acquired in s15 in the network test information 600 (s17).

[0051] (Network test information) Figure 6 shows an example of network test information 600.

[0052] Network test information 600 is created for each network test. Network test information 600 contains data such as an ID 601 assigned to each network test information 600, a test ID 603 for each network test, a count ID 602 ​​representing the sequential number of each test repeated in each network test, a name 604 for each network test, a type 605 for each network test (for example, the type of trigger method, such as whether it is a test performed periodically or a test performed by a predetermined trigger), the maximum latency 606 measured for each network test, the minimum latency 607 measured for each network test, the average latency 608 measured for each network test, the jitter 609 measured for each network test, the loss 610 measured for each network test, the date and time 611 when each network test was performed, a health score 612 calculated for each network test, a response time 613 measured for each network test, an experience score 614 measured for each network test, the number of errors that occurred for each network test 615, and the ID 616 of the monitoring agent 50 that performed each network test.

[0053] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 can identify the information provision system 20 under test based on the test ID 603 by using predetermined data that stores the correspondence between the test ID 603 and the information provision system 20 under test. This data may be held by the communication monitoring system 30 or by the communication management system 40.

[0054] <Overall Information Acquisition Process> Next, Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the overall information acquisition process.

[0055] The overall information acquisition process is initiated when a predetermined evaluation request is received from any of the user terminals 10 (hereinafter referred to as the requesting terminal).

[0056] For example, the overall information acquisition process is initiated when a predetermined input is received from the user via a predetermined portal screen (s31). Alternatively, for example, the overall information acquisition process is initiated when the user makes a selection in the overall information confirmation field 1230 of the personal communication status display screen 1200, which will be described later (s33). Note that the user terminal 10 that sends the evaluation request may not be equipped with a monitoring agent 50.

[0057] In the overall information acquisition process, the communication management system 40 first acquires the current location information of the requesting terminal (s35). Specifically, the communication management system 40 sends a predetermined instruction request to the requesting terminal, and the requesting terminal acquires its own location information (latitude and longitude). The requesting terminal transmits the acquired location information to the communication management system 40. The evaluation request may also include the requesting terminal's current location information.

[0058] The communication management system 40 identifies the number of network tests performed by a user terminal 10A (hereinafter referred to as a nearby terminal) equipped with a monitoring agent 50, which is located close to the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request (s37).

[0059] For example, the communication management system 40 identifies the number of network location information 400 where the distance between the location identified by its latitude 403 and longitude 404 and the location identified by the location information (latitude and longitude) acquired in s35 is less than or equal to a predetermined distance (e.g., 50m). The communication management system 40 may also include the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request as a nearby terminal.

[0060] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 may determine the distance based on information other than latitude and longitude. For example, the communication management system 40 may pre-set multiple areas in which each user terminal 10 may exist, and consider user terminals 10 belonging to the same area to be within a predetermined distance of each other. In addition, the communication management system 40 may calculate the distance taking into account not only horizontal components such as latitude and longitude, but also vertical components (such as altitude).

[0061] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 may identify nearby terminals not by distance, but based on the similarity of the processing load generated by communication via the communication networks 5 and 6 (network load, data communication path, etc.). For example, the communication management system 40 may repeatedly have each user terminal 10 execute a test program or command related to the communication environment (for example, one that checks the communication delay and communication path for a predetermined packet) at predetermined timings (or acquire test result data that each user terminal 10 has voluntarily collected), and receive and store the test results from each user terminal 10. The communication management system 40 designates the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request and the user terminal 10 whose test values ​​are close (the difference is less than or equal to a predetermined value) as nearby terminals, and identifies the number of tests performed by these nearby terminals.

[0062] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 may identify nearby terminals by taking into account both physical distance and the similarity of processing load. For example, the communication management system 40 may identify nearby terminals based on the sum of values ​​obtained by multiplying each of the physical distance and the similarity of processing load by predetermined weight values.

[0063] The communication management system 40 determines whether the number of network tests performed by the nearby terminal is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (for example, 3) (s39).

[0064] If the number of network tests performed by nearby terminals is greater than or equal to a predetermined number (s39:YES), the communication management system 40 executes the process in s41. If the number of network tests performed by nearby terminals is not greater than or equal to a predetermined number (s39:NO), the communication management system 40 executes the process in s47.

[0065] In s41, the communication management system 40 acquires the network test data for the network test identified in s37. For example, the communication management system 40 acquires the contents of each network test information 600 record identified in s37 (e.g., average latency 608, jitter 609, loss 610).

[0066] Based on the network test data acquired in s41, the communication management system 40 calculates statistical values ​​of the communication data of nearby terminals as evaluation values ​​for each type of communication data (s43).

[0067] For example, the communication management system 40 classifies each network test data acquired in s41 according to the information provision system 20 under test, and calculates the average value of latency (average latency 608), the average value of jitter (jitter 609), and the average value of packet loss (loss 610) for each information provision system 20. Note that the average values ​​shown here are just examples of statistical values, and other types of statistical values ​​such as medians may also be calculated. In addition, statistical values ​​of other communication data (health score 612, response time 613, etc.) may also be calculated.

[0068] The communication management system 40 generates evaluation information based on the evaluation values ​​calculated in s43 (s45). Subsequently, the processing in s47 is performed.

[0069] Figure 8 shows an example of evaluation values ​​and evaluation information for the communication status according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the communication management system 40 evaluates the latency as "normal" if the average value of the communication latency is 100ms or less, as a "warning" if the average value of the communication latency is 300ms or less, and as a "fault" if the average value of the communication latency exceeds 300ms. The communication management system 40 also evaluates the loss as "normal" if the average value of the loss is 1% or less, as a "warning" if the average value of the loss is 10% or less, and as a "fault" if the average value of the loss exceeds 10%. Furthermore, the communication management system 40 evaluates the jitter as "normal" if the average value of the jitter is 10ms or less, as a "warning" if the average value of the jitter is 30ms or less, and as a "fault" if the average value of the jitter exceeds 30ms. The communication management system 40 determines that if all three types of evaluation information are "normal," the communication evaluation information is "normal" if any of the three types of evaluation information are "warning," and the communication evaluation information is "fault" if any of the three types of evaluation information are "fault." Note that the evaluation values ​​and evaluation information patterns described here are just examples.

[0070] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 7, at s47, the communication management system 40 acquires network test data for all user terminals 10A equipped with monitoring agents 50. Specifically, the communication management system 40 acquires the contents of all records of the network test information 600.

[0071] Based on the network test data acquired in s37, the communication management system 40 calculates statistical values ​​of the communication data of each user terminal 10 as evaluation values ​​for each type of communication data, similar to s43 (s49).

[0072] The communication management system 40 generates evaluation information (s51) based on the evaluation values ​​calculated in s49, similar to the processing in s45.

[0073] The communication management system 40 then displays the evaluation values ​​and evaluation information calculated and generated in processes s45 and s51 on the requesting terminal's screen (communication status display screen) (s53). For example, the communication management system 40 sends screen information including the evaluation values ​​and evaluation information to the requesting terminal, and the requesting terminal displays the communication status display screen on the output device 44 based on the received screen information.

[0074] (Communication status display screen) Figure 9 shows an example of a communication status display screen 900 displayed on a user terminal 10 (requesting terminal) where a nearby terminal exists. This communication status display screen 900 has, for each information provision system 20 that is the subject of the test, a display field for evaluation information of communication related to nearby terminals (first display field 910) and a display field for evaluation information of communication related to all user terminals 10A equipped with monitoring agents 50 (second display field 920).

[0075] The first display area 910 displays evaluation information for communication related to nearby terminals (indicated by ○ for "normal", △ for "warning", and × for "failure"; the same applies hereafter).

[0076] The second display area 920 shows the percentage 921 of user terminals 10 (user terminals 10 equipped with monitoring agents 50) in the communication system 1 whose communication evaluation information was "normal", the percentage 922 of user terminals 10 whose communication evaluation information was "warning", and the percentage 923 of user terminals 10 whose communication evaluation information was "failure".

[0077] Furthermore, this communication status display screen 900 has a personal communication status confirmation field 930 for displaying a personal communication status display screen (described later), which is a screen that displays only the communication status of the requesting terminal.

[0078] (Communication status display screen) Figure 10 shows an example of a communication status display screen 1000 displayed on a user terminal 10 (requesting terminal) where no nearby terminals exist. This communication status display screen 1000 has a display field (third display field 1010) for each information provision system 20 that is the target of each test, which contains evaluation information on the communication of all user terminals 10A equipped with a monitoring agent 50.

[0079] The third display column 1010 shows the percentage 1011 of user terminals 10A equipped with a monitoring agent 50 in the communication system 1 whose communication evaluation information was "normal", the percentage 1012 of user terminals 10A whose communication evaluation information was "warning", and the percentage 1013 of user terminals 10A whose communication evaluation information was "failure".

[0080] Furthermore, this communication status display screen 1000 has a personal communication status confirmation field 1030 similar to the communication status display screen 900 described above.

[0081] <Personal Information Acquisition Process> Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process for acquiring personal information.

[0082] The personal information acquisition process is initiated when a predetermined evaluation request is received from any of the user terminals 10 (requesting terminals).

[0083] For example, the personal information acquisition process is initiated when the user specifies the personal communication status confirmation fields 930 and 1030 on the communication status display screens 900 and 1000 (s71). Note that the user terminal 10 that sends the evaluation request may not be equipped with a monitoring agent 50.

[0084] First, the communication management system 40 obtains the current location information of the requesting terminal, similar to s35 (s73).

[0085] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 identifies the hostname of the requesting terminal by having the requesting terminal execute a command to obtain the hostname (identification information such as the agent ID) (s75).

[0086] The communication management system 40 attempts to obtain network test data for the monitoring agent 50 corresponding to the hostname identified in s75 from the network test information 600 (s77). For example, based on the agent host information 300, the communication management system 40 obtains all of the network test information 600 for which the agent ID corresponding to the hostname 303 obtained in s75 is set to agent ID 616.

[0087] If network test data can be obtained (s79:Yes), the communication management system 40 executes the process in s81. If network test data cannot be obtained (s79:No), the communication management system 40 executes the process in s91.

[0088] In step s91, the communication management system 40 displays a message on the requesting terminal's screen indicating that there is no data regarding the communication status of the host in question, and the personal information acquisition process is terminated.

[0089] Meanwhile, in s81, the communication management system 40 identifies the monitoring agent 50 of the requesting terminal. Specifically, the communication management system 40 obtains the agent ID 302 of the record related to the requesting terminal in the agent host information 300.

[0090] Then, the communication management system 40 obtains information on the latest network test performed by the monitoring agent 50 identified in s81 (s83). Specifically, the communication management system 40 obtains all records from the network test information 600 that have the same agent ID 616 as the agent ID 302 obtained in s81. From the obtained records, the communication management system 40 identifies the latest record for each corresponding information provision system 20 that is being tested.

[0091] The communication management system 40 creates network location information 400 corresponding to the latest network test acquired in s83 (s85). For example, the communication management system 40 sets the ID 401 of the new network location information 400 to ID 601 (sequential number) of the network test information 600 acquired in s83, sets the ID 402 to ID 601 of the network test information 600 acquired in s83, sets the latitude 403 to the current latitude acquired in s73, sets the longitude 404 to the current longitude acquired in s73, and sets the time 405 to the current time.

[0092] The communication management system 40 calculates statistical values ​​for each type of communication data of the requesting terminal as evaluation values, based on the latest network test data acquired in s83, similar to the process in s43. Then, the communication management system 40 generates evaluation information for the communication of nearby terminals based on the calculated evaluation values ​​for each type of communication data of the requesting terminal (s87).

[0093] The communication management system 40 then displays the evaluation value and evaluation information generated in the processing of s87 on the screen of the requesting terminal (personal communication status display screen) (s89). For example, the communication management system 40 sends screen information including the evaluation value and evaluation information to the requesting terminal, and the requesting terminal displays the communication status display screen on the output device 44 based on the received screen information.

[0094] (Personal communication status display screen) Figure 12 shows an example of a personal communication status display screen 1200 displayed on the requesting terminal. For each information provision system 20 that is the subject of each test, the personal communication status display screen 1200 has a display field for evaluation information of the communication related to the requesting terminal (fourth display field 1210) and a second display field 1220 similar to the second display field 920 of the communication status display screen 900.

[0095] Furthermore, the personal communication status display screen 1200 has an overall information confirmation field 1230 for displaying a communication status display screen that shows the communication status of all user terminals 10.

[0096] As described above, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment receives an evaluation request from one of the multiple user terminals 10 (the requesting terminal), calculates an evaluation value (average value of latency, loss, jitter, etc.) of the communication status of at least one of the multiple user terminals 10 based on the network test information 600 obtained from the communication monitoring system 30, and outputs information representing the calculated evaluation value ("normal", "warning", "failure", various graphics, etc.) to the output device of the requesting terminal.

[0097] In other words, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment generates evaluation information based on the evaluation value of the communication status of each user terminal 10 and sends it back to the requesting terminal when an evaluation request is received from any of the user terminals 10. As a result, each user can easily find out the communication status of the network they are using by referring to information that concisely represents the communication data managed by the communication monitoring system 30.

[0098] Thus, according to the communication management system 40 of this embodiment, users can easily find out the communication status of their own network and the network associated with them.

[0099] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment receives an evaluation request from a user terminal 10B (requesting terminal) among the multiple user terminals 10 that does not have a monitoring agent 50, calculates an evaluation value of the communication status of user terminal 10A that has a monitoring agent 50 based on network test information 600, and outputs evaluation information based on the evaluation value related to user terminal 10A that has a monitoring agent 50 to the output device of the requesting terminal.

[0100] Thus, even when the communication management system 40 of this embodiment receives an evaluation request from a user terminal 10B that does not have a monitoring agent 50, it calculates the evaluation value of another user terminal 10A that does have a monitoring agent 50 and outputs the evaluation information to the output device of the requesting terminal.

[0101] This allows users of user terminal 10B who do not have a monitoring agent 50 and can directly access data on communication status, such as general users who do not have administrator privileges to configure the monitoring agent 50, to easily know the communication status of their own network and the network associated with them.

[0102] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment includes a monitoring agent 50 among the multiple user terminals 10, and attempts to identify a user terminal 10A (neighboring terminal) whose communication environment is similar to that of the user terminal 10B (requesting terminal) that sent the evaluation request. If a neighboring terminal is identified, the system calculates an evaluation value of the communication status of the neighboring terminal based on the network test information 600 obtained from the communication monitoring system 30, and outputs evaluation information related to the evaluation value of the neighboring terminal to the output device of the requesting terminal.

[0103] In this way, even when an evaluation request is received from a nearby terminal that does not have a monitoring agent 50 and cannot directly access data on communication status, the evaluation value of the nearby terminal, which is considered to have a similar communication environment to the requesting terminal, is calculated and the evaluation information is provided to the requesting terminal. This allows the user of the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request to infer the communication status of that nearby terminal.

[0104] Specifically, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment includes a monitoring agent 50 among a plurality of user terminals 10, and attempts to identify user terminals 10A (nearby terminals) that are within a predetermined distance from user terminal 10B (requesting terminal).

[0105] In this way, by identifying user terminals 10A that are close to the requesting terminal as nearby terminals, evaluation information regarding user terminals 10A that are considered to have a similar communication environment to the requesting terminal can be provided to the requesting terminal.

[0106] Specifically, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment includes a monitoring agent 50 among a plurality of user terminals 10, and attempts to identify user terminal 10A (neighboring terminal) whose processing load generated by network communication is similar to that of user terminal 10B (requesting terminal).

[0107] In this way, by identifying user terminals 10A with similar processing loads (network load conditions and data communication paths) as nearby terminals, evaluation information regarding user terminals 10A that are considered to have a similar communication environment to the requesting terminal can be provided to the requesting terminal.

[0108] Furthermore, if the communication management system 40 of this embodiment cannot identify a nearby terminal, it calculates an evaluation value of the communication status of a user terminal 10A equipped with a monitoring agent 50, other than a nearby terminal, based on the network test information 600 obtained from the communication monitoring system 30, and outputs information representing the evaluation value for the user terminal 10A equipped with the monitoring agent 50 to the output device of the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request.

[0109] This allows the user of the user terminal 10 that sent the evaluation request to know the network status of that communication system, even if there are no nearby terminals, by calculating an evaluation value of the communication status of each user terminal 10 and providing the evaluation information to the requesting terminal.

[0110] Furthermore, the communication management system 40 of this embodiment calculates evaluation values ​​for the communication status of the user terminal 10A equipped with the monitoring agent 50 and the nearby terminal, respectively, based on the network test information 600 acquired from the communication monitoring system 30, and outputs the information representing the evaluation value for the user terminal 10A equipped with the monitoring agent 50 and the information representing the evaluation value for the nearby terminal to the output device of the requesting terminal, in association with each other.

[0111] In this way, by outputting evaluation information related to nearby terminals and evaluation information related to the user terminal 10 equipped with the monitoring agent 50 to the output device of the requesting terminal, the user can compare the communication status of nearby terminals that are close to the communication status of their own user terminal 10 with the communication status of other user terminals 10, and understand their own relative communication status within the entire network.

[0112] The above description of embodiments is for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the present invention and does not limit it. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and equivalents thereof are included.

[0113] For example, some of the hardware components of each device in this embodiment may be provided in other devices.

[0114] Furthermore, each program of each device may be provided in other devices, a program may consist of multiple programs, or multiple programs may be integrated into a single program.

[0115] Furthermore, the timing of creating the network location information 400 (identification of the location of the user terminal 10 when the network test was performed), as described in this embodiment, is just one example (s85). For example, when the monitoring agent 50 performs a network test, it may obtain the time of the test and the current location of the corresponding user terminal 10, and the network location information 400 may be created based on this obtained information. Alternatively, for example, the communication management system 40 may check the execution of a network test by accessing the communication monitoring system 30 at any time, and when it detects the execution of a network test, it may obtain information on the current location of the user terminal 10A related to the monitoring agent 50 that performed the network test, and associate the network test with the location information.

[0116] Furthermore, while the method for calculating evaluation values ​​representing communication status and the method for expressing evaluation information described in this embodiment are examples, it is preferable that the evaluation values ​​and their expression methods be understandable even to users who do not have specialized knowledge regarding communications. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0117] 10 User terminal, 40 Communication management system, 50 Monitoring agent, 201 Request receiving unit, 202 Evaluation value calculation unit, 203 Nearby terminal identification unit, 205 Output unit

Claims

1. A storage device that stores data representing the status of communication conducted by at least one of a plurality of information processing devices via a predetermined network, acquired by a predetermined information processing system, and A request reception process that receives a predetermined evaluation request from any of the above-mentioned multiple information processing devices, Based on the acquired data, an evaluation value calculation process is performed to calculate an evaluation value of the communication status of at least one of the multiple information processing devices. A computing device that performs output processing to output information representing the calculated evaluation value to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. A communication management system equipped with the following features.

2. The storage device stores data representing the status of the communication acquired by a program in an information processing device, which is one of the plurality of information processing devices and is provided in accordance with the information processing system. The aforementioned computing device is From among the plurality of information processing devices, an information processing device other than the information processing device equipped with the program receives the evaluation request, In the evaluation value calculation process, an evaluation value of the communication status of the information processing device equipped with the program is calculated based on the acquired data. In the output process, the information representing the calculated evaluation value related to the information processing device equipped with the program is output to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. The communication management system according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned computing device is Further, a nearby terminal identification process is performed to attempt to identify a nearby terminal among the plurality of information processing devices that is equipped with the program and has a similar communication environment to the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. If the aforementioned nearby terminal can be identified, In the evaluation value calculation process, an evaluation value of the communication status of the nearby terminal is calculated based on the acquired data. In the output processing described above, the information representing the calculated evaluation value for the nearby terminal is output to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. The communication management system according to claim 2.

4. The aforementioned computing device is In the aforementioned nearby terminal identification process, an attempt is made to identify a nearby terminal among the plurality of information processing devices that is equipped with the program and is located within a predetermined distance from the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. The communication management system according to claim 3.

5. The aforementioned computing device is In the aforementioned nearby terminal identification process, an attempt is made to identify a nearby terminal among the plurality of information processing devices that is equipped with the program and whose processing load generated by communication via the network is similar to that of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. The communication management system according to claim 3.

6. The aforementioned computing device is If the aforementioned nearby terminal could not be identified, Based on the acquired data, an evaluation value of the communication status of information processing devices equipped with the program, other than the nearby terminal, is calculated. In the output process, the information representing the calculated evaluation value related to the information processing device equipped with the program is output to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. The communication management system according to claim 3.

7. The aforementioned computing device is In the evaluation value calculation process, based on the acquired data, evaluation values ​​of the communication status of the nearby terminal and the information processing device equipped with the program other than the nearby terminal are calculated, In the output processing described above, the information representing the calculated evaluation value for the nearby terminal and the information representing the evaluation value for the information processing device equipped with the program are associated and output to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. The communication management system according to claim 3.

8. A communication management method using an information processing device comprising a storage device that stores data representing the status of communication performed by at least one of a plurality of information processing devices via a predetermined network, and an arithmetic unit, wherein the arithmetic unit A request reception process that receives a predetermined evaluation request from any of the above-mentioned multiple information processing devices, Based on the acquired data, an evaluation value calculation process is performed to calculate an evaluation value of the communication status of at least one of the multiple information processing devices. The process involves outputting information representing the calculated evaluation value to the output device of the information processing device that sent the evaluation request. Communication management methods.

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