Relay Device for Terminal Management via Unicast Discovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing terminal management systems are unable to collect information from terminal devices when they cannot communicate directly with the management device, due to network restrictions.
Innovation Solution
A relay device performs unicast communication with terminal devices to obtain determination information such as device names and vendor names, determines if they are supported devices, and then collects terminal information from these devices, which is relayed to the terminal management device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the terminal management device attempts to communicate directly with terminal devices on local networks, then information collection is possible, but communication fails when network access is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a relay device as an intermediary component that bridges the terminal management device and terminal devices on local networks. The relay device receives management requests from the terminal management device, forwards them to appropriate terminal devices through the network, and relays responses back to the management device. This intermediary approach enables reliable information collection from terminal devices even when direct communication from the management device is blocked by network restrictions or firewalls.
2Productivity
If broadcast communication is used to discover terminal devices, then all devices can be contacted, but network load increases unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the terminal device discovery process into two distinct phases: first, the relay device obtains determination information (such as device type or compatibility status) from terminal devices through unicast communication; second, based on this determination information, the relay device selectively performs broadcast communication only with terminal devices that are determined to be supported. This segmentation approach prevents unnecessary broadcast communications and reduces network load while maintaining efficient device discovery.
3Measurement precision
If unicast communication is performed with all terminal devices to obtain determination information, then supported devices can be identified, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the relay device first obtain determination information from terminal devices before initiating the main information collection process. The relay device sends determination requests to terminal devices and uses the responses to identify which devices are supported for management. Only after this preliminary identification does the relay device proceed with broadcast communication or detailed information collection from supported devices. This preliminary action filters out unsupported devices early, reducing overall communication overhead while ensuring accurate device compatibility determination.
Data Source
AI summary
A non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-readable program instructions executable by a processor of a relay device communicable with a terminal management device and one or more terminal devices. The program instructions are configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the relay device to perform unicast communication with each terminal device, thereby obtaining at least one of a device name and a vendor name of each terminal device as determination information, determine, based on the determination information, whether each terminal device is a supported terminal device to be managed by the terminal management device, and perform unicast communication with one or more individual terminal devices each determined to be the supported terminal device, thereby obtaining terminal information from each supported terminal device, the terminal information regarding each supported terminal device being collected by the terminal management device via the relay device.