JP4649461B2 - Terminal device operation confirmation method, operation confirmation device, operation confirmation system, and operation confirmation program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation confirmation technique for a terminal device.

Conventionally, there is a technique in which an operation confirmation device transmits a confirmation message to a partner terminal device through a network, and determines whether the partner terminal device is operating based on whether or not this response message is received. Examples of this technology include PING (Packet Internet Groper) and EtherOAM (Ethernet Operations, Administration and Maintenance) (see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).
RFC792, "Internet Control Message Protocol", September 1981 McFarland, M., Salam, S., and Checker, R. `` Ethernet OAM: key enabler for carrier class metro ethernet services '' IEEE Communications Magazine, Volume 43, Issue 11, pp 152-157, nov. 2005

  However, when the operation confirmation device sends confirmation messages to hundreds of thousands of terminal devices and confirms the operation, if the network is congested, the confirmation message is sent to the actually operating terminal device. Even if a confirmation message is received, a response message from the other party's terminal device may not be received. Conventionally, the operation confirmation device has transmitted confirmation messages to the dark clouds many times. Therefore, it has been difficult for the operation confirmation device to ensure high reliability for operation confirmation as to whether or not each terminal device is in operation.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, suppress network congestion, and ensure high reliability for operation confirmation as to whether or not each terminal device is operating.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is configured such that an operation confirmation device that transmits a confirmation message to a group of terminal devices connected to a network and confirms the operation of each of the terminal devices includes the operation confirmation target. Dividing the terminal device group into a plurality of blocks; selecting a block for transmitting the confirmation message from the plurality of blocks; transmitting a confirmation message to each of the terminal devices of the selected block; When there is a terminal device that has not received a response message for the transmitted confirmation message, the terminal device is determined to be a terminal device that may not be operating, and the determination result is recorded in the storage unit; Re-sending the confirmation message to the terminal device that may not be in operation; When the response message is received from any one of the terminal devices, the period for transmitting the confirmation message is the initial value of the transmission period or the transmission period when the previous confirmation message is transmitted. A step of setting a longer cycle, a step of selecting a block for transmitting the confirmation message next from the plurality of blocks, and a step of transmitting the set confirmation message to each terminal device of the selected block; As a result of executing the operation confirmation process including all of the plurality of blocks, the terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message is determined to be an inactive terminal device, and the determination result is output. To do.

  The invention according to claim 5 is an operation confirmation device that transmits a confirmation message to a group of terminal devices connected to a network and confirms the operation of each of the terminal devices, and divides the terminal device group into a plurality of blocks. From the plurality of blocks, a transmission order control unit that selects a block for transmitting the confirmation message next, a transmission unit that transmits the confirmation message to each of the terminal devices of the divided blocks, and the terminal device, A receiving unit that receives a response message to the confirmation message, a response processing unit that records a reception result of the response message in response result information, and a terminal device that has not received the response message with reference to the response result information Any terminal device among the terminal devices that have transmitted the confirmation message again and did not receive the response message When the response message is received, the period for transmitting the confirmation message is set to an initial value of the transmission period or a period longer than the transmission period when the confirmation message was transmitted last time, and the set transmission period When there is a terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message as a result of executing all of the plurality of blocks, a transmission message control unit that transmits a confirmation message at An operation determining unit for determining and an output unit for outputting the determination result are provided.

  The invention according to claim 6 includes the operation confirmation device according to claim 5 and one or more terminal devices that transmit a response message to the confirmation message from the operation confirmation device. It was.

  In this way, the operation confirmation device transmits the confirmation message by dividing the terminal device group that is the target of operation confirmation into a plurality of blocks, so that the network congestion caused by the transmission of the confirmation message to many terminal devices Promotion can be suppressed. In addition, the operation confirmation device transmits a confirmation message again to a terminal device that has not received a response message from the terminal device (a terminal device that may not be operational) in the first transmission of the confirmation message. Therefore, the operation confirmation apparatus can improve the reliability of the operation confirmation for the terminal apparatus that cannot receive the response message due to the influence of network congestion. At this time, the operation confirmation device lengthens the transmission cycle of the confirmation message when the response message is received from any one of the terminal devices that could not receive the response message for the first time. In other words, when there is a high possibility that the network is congested, the operation confirmation device lengthens the period for sending confirmation messages, so that the network congestion is prevented and the operation confirmation reliability of each terminal device is increased. It can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device operation confirmation method according to the first aspect, as a result of the operation confirmation device executing the operation confirmation processing for all of the plurality of blocks, a response message to the confirmation message is obtained. When there is a terminal device that has not been received, the step of transmitting the confirmation message to the terminal device is executed a predetermined number of times, and as a result, the terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message is an inactive terminal device. It is characterized by judging.

  In this way, the operation confirmation device transmits confirmation messages to the terminal device that has not received the response message, so that even if the network is congested, operation confirmation of each terminal device can be performed. Reliability can be improved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device operation confirmation method according to the first aspect, as a result of the operation confirmation device executing the operation confirmation processing for all of the plurality of blocks, a response message to the confirmation message is obtained. When the number of terminal devices that have not been received exceeds a predetermined number, the terminal device group is further divided into a plurality of blocks, and the step of executing the operation check process is executed a predetermined number of times. A terminal device that has not received a response message to the message is determined to be an inactive terminal device.

  In this way, the operation confirmation device has a large number of terminal devices that have not received the response message, and even when the confirmation message is transmitted again to this terminal device group, the occurrence of network congestion due to the transmission of the confirmation message. Can be suppressed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the terminal device operation confirmation method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the operation confirmation device is a terminal device that may be out of operation. From any terminal device, when the confirmation message is not received, the period for transmitting the confirmation message is shorter than the transmission period when the confirmation message was transmitted last time, and is shorter than the initial value of the transmission period. It is characterized by setting a long cycle.

  In this way, when the operation confirmation device determines that there is a low possibility of congestion in the network, the confirmation message transmission cycle can be shortened, so the operation confirmation of each terminal device can be performed quickly. Can do.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an operation confirmation program that causes an operation confirmation device that is a computer to execute the terminal device operation confirmation method according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  According to such a program, it is possible to cause a general computer to execute the terminal device operation confirmation method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

  According to the present invention, the operation confirmation device can suppress network congestion at the time of operation confirmation of each terminal device, and can improve the reliability of operation confirmation of each terminal device.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described. FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operation confirmation system according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating response result information of a block bi in FIG. . The outline | summary of an operation confirmation system is demonstrated using Fig.1 (a) and (b). In addition, the number of the operation confirmation apparatus 100 and the terminal device 200 is not limited to the number shown to Fig.1 (a).

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the operation confirmation system performs operation confirmation on the terminal device 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G, 200H, 200I) and the terminal device 200, respectively. The apparatus 100 is comprised. The operation confirmation device 100 and the terminal device 200 are realized by a computer having a function of performing data transmission / reception via the network 300. When the operation confirmation device 100 transmits a confirmation message to the terminal device 200 and receives a response message from the terminal device 200, the operation confirmation device 100 determines that the terminal device 200 is operating. On the other hand, when the operation confirmation apparatus 100 does not receive the response message, the terminal apparatus 200 determines that there is a high possibility that the terminal apparatus 200 is not operating.

  The confirmation message here is a PING confirmation message using Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), but UDP-PING for confirming communication at a specific UDP (User Datagram Protocol) port, A confirmation message such as TCP-PING for confirming communication at a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) port may be used.

  Here, the operation confirmation device 100 first converts the terminal device 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G, 200H, 200I) that is the operation confirmation target into a plurality of blocks (for example, the block b1 to the block bn). N blocks). Here, a case will be described as an example where the terminal devices 200A, 200B, and 200C are the block b1, the terminal devices 200D, 200E, and 200F are the block bi, and the terminal devices 200G, 200H, and 200I are the block bn.

  The operation confirmation device 100 transmits a confirmation message for each divided block to the terminal devices 200 belonging to the block. Then, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 records the presence / absence of reception of a response message for the confirmation message in the response result information. The response result information at this time is, for example, as shown in FIG. “◯” indicates that there is a response, “×” indicates that there is no response, and “−” indicates that there is no message transmission. Here, it is assumed that the operation confirmation device 100 does not transmit the next confirmation message to the terminal device 200 that has responded (received the response message).

  For example, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 performs the second operation on the terminal apparatus 200 (terminal ID “3, 5 to 8” in FIG. 1B) that has not obtained a response message as a result of the transmission of the first confirmation message. Send confirmation message. The transmission cycle at this time is the same as the transmission cycle of the first confirmation message. As shown in FIG. 1B, the terminal device 200 (the terminal ID “6, 7” in FIG. 1B) to which the operation confirmation device 100 returns a response message in response to the second confirmation message is received. If there is, the operation confirmation device 100 determines that there is a possibility that the network 300 is congested, and makes the transmission cycle for transmitting the next confirmation message longer than the previous transmission cycle. That is, in the operation confirmation apparatus 100, there is no response to the first confirmation message, but there is a response to the second confirmation message. The operation confirmation apparatus 100 is affected by the congestion of the network 300. The response message may not have been received. Therefore, in order to reduce the influence of this congestion, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 makes the transmission cycle when transmitting the next confirmation message longer than the previous transmission cycle.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the terminal device 200 (the terminal ID “3, 5, 8” in FIG. 1 (b)) that has not received a previous response (for example, the second time) is confirmed again. Even if a message is transmitted, if there is no response, the possibility of congestion occurring in the network 300 is low, so the message transmission cycle is shortened. That is, if there is no response continuously for a plurality of times, there is a high possibility that this terminal device 200 is not actually operating (not operating) rather than the influence of the congestion of the network 300. Makes the transmission cycle when the next confirmation message is transmitted shorter than the previous transmission cycle.

  The operation confirmation device 100 transmits the confirmation message a plurality of times in this way, and when there is a terminal device 200 that cannot receive the response message, the operation confirmation device 100 determines that this terminal device 200 is an inactive terminal device. On the other hand, the terminal device 200 that has transmitted such a confirmation message a plurality of times and has received the response message is determined to be an active terminal device. By doing in this way, the operation check device 100 can accurately check the operation of each terminal device 200 even when the network 300 is congested. When it is determined that there is a possibility that congestion has occurred in the operation confirmation device 100, the transmission cycle of the confirmation message is lengthened (that is, the number of confirmation messages transmitted per hour is reduced). It can suppress the congestion of the network 300 by itself.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the operation confirmation device 100 divides the terminal device 200 into n blocks, and as a result of confirming the operation, the operation confirmation device 100 further adds n ′ for the terminal device 200 group that has not responded. The confirmation message may be transmitted again in divided blocks. In this way, even when there are a large number of terminal devices 200 that have not received a response as a result of the operation confirmation, the congestion of the network 300 due to the transmission of the confirmation message itself can be suppressed.

<Configuration>
Next, the configuration of the operation confirmation apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the operation confirmation device 100 includes response results from the input / output unit 11 that controls input / output of various data, the processing unit 12 that controls the entire operation confirmation device 100, and the terminal devices 200. The storage unit 13 stores the response result information 132 and the like, and the communication unit 14 transmits and receives the confirmation message and the response message via the network 300 (see FIG. 1).

  The input / output unit 11 includes an input / output interface that controls input / output of various data to / from an input device or an output device (not shown) connected to the operation confirmation device 100. The processing unit 12 is realized by a program execution process by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) included in the operation confirmation apparatus 100, a dedicated circuit, or the like. Further, the storage unit 13 includes a storage medium such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), and a flash memory. When the operation confirmation device 100 is realized by a program execution process, the storage unit 13 stores an operation confirmation program for realizing the function of the operation confirmation device 100. The communication unit 14 includes a network interface card for transmitting and receiving data via the network 300.

<Input / output unit>
The input / output unit 11 controls input / output of various data as described above. For example, the input / output unit 11 outputs setting information input from the input device to the control unit 121 (described later). Further, a determination result (response result information) as to whether or not each terminal device 200 is an active terminal is output to an external output device.

<Processing unit>
The processing unit 12 includes a control unit 121, a transmission order control unit 122, a transmission message control unit 123, a congestion determination unit 124, a response processing unit 125, an operation determination unit 126, and a display unit 127. Is done.

  The control unit 121 controls each component of the processing unit 12.

  The transmission order control unit 122 determines the transmission order of confirmation messages to the terminal device 200. For example, after randomly determining the transmission order of confirmation messages to the terminal device 200, the group of terminal devices 200 arranged in the determined transmission order is divided into n blocks. Then, the transmission order control unit 122 records the identification information (IP (Internet Protocol) address or the like) of the terminal device 200 divided into blocks in the terminal information 131 of the storage unit 13.

  The transmission message control unit 123 controls the transmission cycle s when transmitting a confirmation message to the terminal device 200. For example, when the congestion determination unit 124 described later determines that there is a possibility of congestion in the network 300, the transmission message control unit 123 increases the transmission cycle s. That is, a transmission cycle longer than the transmission cycle when the previous confirmation message is transmitted is set. On the other hand, when the congestion determination unit 124 determines that the possibility that congestion has occurred is low, the transmission message control unit 123 shortens the transmission cycle s when transmitting the confirmation message. Note that the ratio when the transmission cycle s is lengthened or shortened is stored in the storage unit 13 and can be changed via the input / output unit 11.

  The congestion determination unit 124 refers to the response result information 132 and determines whether or not there is a high possibility that the network 300 is congested. For example, when there is no response to the first confirmation message from the operation confirmation device 100, when there is a response to the second confirmation message, the congestion determination unit 124 causes congestion in the network 300. Judging that there is a high possibility. On the other hand, when there is no response even when the second confirmation message is transmitted, the congestion determination unit 124 determines that the possibility that the network 300 is congested is low.

  The response processing unit 125 records a response result (whether or not a response message is received) to the confirmation message to each terminal device 200 in the response result information 132. For example, after the operation confirmation device 100 transmits a confirmation message, when a response message is not received even after a predetermined time has elapsed, “no response” is recorded in the response result information 132 regarding the terminal device 200, and within a predetermined time When a response message is received, record “response”.

  The operation determination unit 126 determines whether each terminal device 200 is operating from the response result information 132 in the storage unit 13. For example, the terminal device 200 that has not responded to the second confirmation message is determined as a non-operating terminal device. On the other hand, the terminal device that responded to the first confirmation message and the terminal device 200 that did not respond to the first confirmation message but responded to the second confirmation message are in operation. Judged as a terminal device. Then, this determination result is recorded in the response result information 132.

  The display unit 127 outputs the determination result recorded in the response result information 132 via the input / output unit 11. For example, the operation result of each terminal device 200 is output to an output device (not shown) via the input / output unit 11.

<Storage unit>
The storage unit 13 stores terminal information 131 and response result information 132. This terminal information 131 is information indicating the identification information of the terminal device 200 that performs operation confirmation in the operation confirmation device 100 and the transmission order of confirmation messages. For example, the transmission order control unit 122 divides the terminal device 200 group that is the target of operation confirmation into blocks, and then registers information as shown in Table 1 below. The terminal information 131 shown in Table 1 indicates that the terminal device 200 with the terminal ID “1, 2, 3, 4,...” Belongs to the block b2. The terminal information 131 is referred to when the transmission message control unit 123 transmits a confirmation message. For example, the transmission message control unit 123 refers to the terminal information 131 and transmits the confirmation messages in the order of the terminal device 200 group in the block b1 → the terminal device 200 group in the block b2 →... → the terminal device 200 group in the block bn. .

  The response result information 132 is information indicating a reception result of the response message from each terminal device 200 and an operation / non-operation determination result of each terminal device 200 derived from the reception result. For example, the response result information 132 is information indicating a response result for each confirmation message to the terminal device 200 for each terminal ID of the terminal device 200 included in the block bi (FIG. 1B). And a determination result of whether each terminal device 200 is operating / not operating. For example, the response result information 132 includes the response result shown in FIG. 1B, the terminal device 200 with the terminal ID “3, 5, 8” is not operating, and the terminal ID “1, 2, 4, 6, 7 ”includes a determination result indicating that the terminal device 200 is operating.

<Communication Department>
The communication unit 14 includes a transmission unit 141 that transmits a confirmation message and a reception unit 142 that receives a response message to the confirmation message. The transmission unit 141 transmits the confirmation message output from the control unit 121 to the terminal device 200 via the network 300 (see FIG. 1). In addition, the reception unit 142 outputs a response message received from the terminal device 200 via the network 300 to the control unit 121.

<Operation procedure>
Next, the operation procedure of the operation confirmation apparatus 100 will be described using FIG. 3 with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG. Here, the operation confirmation device 100 divides the terminal device 200 group that is the operation confirmation target into n blocks. The operation confirmation device 100 will be described by taking as an example a case where the process of transmitting a confirmation message again to the terminal device 200 that has not responded twice to the confirmation message is executed x times. Furthermore, the initial value of the transmission cycle s when the confirmation message is transmitted in the operation confirmation apparatus 100 is assumed to be s1. The values of n, x, and s1 are received in advance via the input / output unit 11 and set in the storage unit 13 in advance.

  First, the transmission order control unit 122 of the operation confirmation apparatus 100 determines the transmission order of the terminal apparatus 200 group, and divides the terminal apparatus 200 group that has determined the transmission order into n blocks (S101). Then, the transmission order control unit 122 records the identification information of the terminal device 200 divided into the blocks in the terminal information 131 of the storage unit 13. The operation confirmation device 100 may set the number of terminal devices 200 per block, and may divide the block with reference to the set value when dividing the block.

  Next, the transmission message control unit 123 sets “1” to the variable h and sets “1” to the variable i (S102). That is, the initial value of the variable is set. The variable h is a variable for counting the number of processes of S103 to S111, and the variable i is a variable used when selecting a block that is a transmission target of a confirmation message.

  And the transmission message control part 123 transmits a confirmation message with the transmission period s with respect to the terminal device 200 of block bi via the transmission part 141 (S103). That is, the transmission message control unit 123 selects a block for transmitting a confirmation message, and transmits the confirmation message to each terminal device 200 in this block. When the transmission message control unit 123 receives a response message to the confirmation message via the reception unit 142, the response processing unit 125 records the response result in the response result information 132. Here, the transmission message control unit 123 determines that the terminal device 200 that has not responded is a terminal device that may not be operating, and records this determination result (response result) in the response result information 132. On the other hand, the terminal device 200 that has responded is determined to be an active terminal device, and this determination result (response result) is recorded in the response result information 132. Here, the transmission message control unit 123 refers to the response result information 132, and again transmits the transmission cycle s to the terminal device 200 that has not responded among the terminal devices 200 of the block bi that transmitted the confirmation message in S103. A confirmation message is transmitted (S104).

  Then, the congestion determination unit 124 determines whether there is a terminal device 200 that has received the response message among the terminal devices 200 that have transmitted the confirmation message in S104 (S105). Here, when there is a response from the terminal device 200 that transmitted the confirmation message in S104 (Yes in S105), that is, there is a response from any of the terminal devices 200 among the terminal devices 200 that may not be operating. If so, the congestion determination unit 124 determines that there is a high possibility that the network 300 is congested (S106), and the transmission message control unit 123 lengthens the transmission cycle s of the confirmation message (S107). Then, the process proceeds to S110. Here, when the transmission message control unit 123 increases the transmission cycle s, the transmission cycle initial value s1 or a cycle longer than the transmission cycle s when the previous confirmation message is transmitted is set.

  On the other hand, when no response is received from any of the terminal devices 200 that transmitted the confirmation message in S104 (No in S105), the congestion determination unit 124 may cause congestion in the network 300. Is determined to be low (S108), and the transmission message control unit 123 shortens the transmission cycle s of the confirmation message (S109). Then, the process proceeds to S110. Here, it is preferable that the transmission cycle s shortened by the transmission message control unit 123 is not shorter than the initial value s1. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the congestion of the network 300 from being promoted, and to reduce the load of the operation confirmation process in the operation confirmation apparatus 100.

  Next, the transmission message control unit 123 increments i (S110). That is, the transmission message control unit 123 selects a block for transmitting a confirmation message next. When the incremented value of i becomes n (Yes in S111), that is, when the transmission message control unit 123 performs the processing of S103 to S111 for all the blocks (blocks b1 to bn), h Is incremented (S112).

  On the other hand, when the incremented value of i has not yet reached n (No in S111), that is, when there is a block that has not yet been processed in S103 to S111, the process returns to S103. Then, a confirmation message is transmitted with the transmission cycle changed in S107 or S109.

  After S112, when the transmission message control unit 123 determines that the value of h has become x (Yes in S113), the operation determination unit 126 refers to the response result of each terminal device 200 indicated in the response result information 132. Then, operation determination of each terminal device 200 is performed (S115). For example, the operation determination unit 126 determines that the terminal device 200 that has not responded continuously for a predetermined number of times in the response result information 132 is an inactive terminal device. On the other hand, the operation determining unit 126 determines that the terminal device 200 that has received a response even once is an operating terminal device. Then, the operation determination unit 126 records this determination result in the response result information 132.

  Thereafter, the display unit 127 reads the determination result (operation determination result) indicated in the response result information 132 via the control unit 121 and the response processing unit 125, and outputs the result to the output device or the like via the input / output unit 11 (S116). ).

  On the other hand, after S112, when the transmission message control unit 123 determines that the value of h has not yet become x (No in S113), that is, the terminal device 200 that has not responded to the confirmation message twice in succession. In addition, when the process of transmitting the confirmation message again is not executed x times, the transmission order control unit 122 sets n ′ pieces of terminal apparatuses 200 that have not received a response to the confirmation message in the response result information 132. Divide into blocks (S114). Then, the transmission message control unit 123 executes the processes after S103 for each of the n ′ blocks. That is, the transmission message control unit 123 replaces the value of n with n ′ and executes the processes after S103.

  By doing in this way, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 can improve the reliability of the operation confirmation of each terminal apparatus 200 even when the network 300 is congested.

  Note that the operation confirmation device 100 may not be divided into n or n ′ blocks when the number of terminal devices 200 that are transmission targets of confirmation messages is less than a predetermined number. For example, the operation confirmation device 100 executes the process of dividing the terminal device 200 that has not responded twice to the confirmation message twice, but the number of the terminal devices 200 that are the transmission target of the confirmation message. This block division may not be performed at a stage when becomes a predetermined number or less. When there is a terminal device 200 that has not received a response message to the confirmation message as a result of the transmission of the confirmation message for all blocks, the operation confirmation device 100 transmits a confirmation message to the terminal device 200 a predetermined number of times. As a result, the terminal device 200 that has not received a response message to the confirmation message may be determined as an inactive terminal device.

  Further, the confirmation message transmission procedure of the operation confirmation apparatus 100 is not limited to the above-described procedure. 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining a procedure for transmitting a confirmation message of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG. In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 first transmits the first confirmation message to the terminal apparatus 200 group in the block b1 in the transmission cycle s1 → a response to this confirmation message is obtained. The second confirmation message is transmitted with the transmission cycle s1 to the terminal device group 200 (block b1 ′) that did not exist → the first confirmation with the transmission cycle s2 (cycle longer than the transmission cycle s1) to the terminal device group 200 of block b2 The procedure of transmitting a message → sending the second confirmation message in the transmission cycle s2 to the terminal device group 200 (block b2 ′) that did not respond to the confirmation message is executed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 first transmits a first confirmation message to the terminal apparatus 200 group in the block b1 with the transmission period s1 → confirms also to the terminal apparatus 200 group in the block b2 with the transmission period s1. Send a message → Send a second confirmation message in a transmission cycle s1 to the terminal device group 200 (blocks b1 ′ and b2 ′) that did not receive a response to the confirmation message in blocks b1 and b2 → block b3 A procedure of transmitting a confirmation message to the terminal apparatus 200 group at the transmission cycle s2 may be used. That is, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 first transmits a first confirmation message to a plurality of blocks, and then collectively confirms the second confirmation with the terminal apparatus 200 group that has not returned a response to the first confirmation message. A message may be transmitted. At this time, the operation confirmation device 100 transmits confirmation messages in order, such as block b1, block b2, block b3..., And the number of terminal devices 200 that have not returned a response to the confirmation message exceeds a predetermined number. In this case, the second confirmation message may be transmitted together to the terminal devices 200 that have not returned this response. By doing in this way, even if the number of terminal devices 200 that have returned a response to the confirmation message per block is small, the operation confirmation device 100 can collectively transmit the second confirmation message. It is possible to efficiently check the operation of the terminal device 200 group to be checked by the device 100.

  Further, the operation confirmation apparatus 100 may repeat the process shown in FIG. 3 every predetermined period.

  The operation confirmation apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can be realized by a program for executing the processing as described above, and the program is stored in a computer-readable storage medium (CD-ROM or the like) and provided. It is possible. It is also possible to provide the program through a network.

(A) is the figure which showed the example of a structure of the operation confirmation system of this Embodiment, (b) is the figure which illustrated the response result information of the block bi of (a). It is a functional block diagram of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement procedure of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG. It is the figure explaining the transmission procedure of the confirmation message of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG. It is the figure explaining the transmission procedure of the confirmation message of the operation confirmation apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Input / output part 12 Processing part 13 Storage part 14 Communication part 100 Operation confirmation apparatus 121 Control part 122 Transmission order control part 123 Transmission message control part 124 Congestion judgment part 125 Response processing part 126 Operation judgment part 127 Display part 131 Terminal information 132 Response Result information 141 Transmission unit 142 Reception unit 200 (200A to 200I) Terminal device 300 Network

Claims (7)

An operation confirmation device that transmits a confirmation message to a group of terminal devices connected to the network and confirms the operation of each of the terminal devices,
Dividing the operation check target terminal device group into a plurality of blocks;
Selecting a block for transmitting the confirmation message from the plurality of blocks;
Transmitting a confirmation message to each of the terminal devices of the selected block;
When there is a terminal device that has not received a response message with respect to the transmitted confirmation message, the terminal device is determined to be a terminal device that may not be operating, and the determination result is recorded in the storage unit When,
Transmitting the confirmation message again to the terminal device that may not be in operation;
When the response message is received from any one of the terminal devices that may not be operating, the period for transmitting the confirmation message is transmitted as the initial value of the transmission period or the previous confirmation message is transmitted. A step of setting a cycle longer than the transmission cycle when
Selecting a block next to transmit the confirmation message from the plurality of blocks;
Transmitting the set confirmation message to each of the terminal devices of the selected block;
When there is a terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message as a result of executing the operation confirmation process for all the plurality of blocks, the terminal device is determined to be an inactive terminal device, and the determination A terminal apparatus operation check method, characterized in that a result is output. The operation check device is
As a result of performing the operation confirmation process for all the plurality of blocks, when there is a terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message, the step of transmitting the confirmation message to the terminal device is executed a predetermined number of times, As a result, the terminal device operation confirmation method according to claim 1, wherein a terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message is determined to be an inactive terminal device. The operation check device is
As a result of executing the operation confirmation processing for all of the plurality of blocks, when the number of terminal devices that have not received a response message to the confirmation message exceeds a predetermined number, the terminal device group is further divided into a plurality of blocks. 2. The step of dividing and executing the operation confirmation process is executed a predetermined number of times, and as a result, a terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message is determined as an inactive terminal device. The terminal device operation confirmation method according to 1. The operation check device is
Among the terminal devices that may not be in operation, when the confirmation message is not received from any terminal device, the period for transmitting the confirmation message is the transmission period when the confirmation message is transmitted last time. The terminal apparatus operation confirmation method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the terminal apparatus is set to a period that is shorter and longer than an initial value of the transmission period. An operation confirmation device that transmits a confirmation message to a group of terminal devices connected to a network and performs operation confirmation of each of the terminal devices,
A transmission order control unit that divides the terminal device group into a plurality of blocks, and selects a block for transmitting the confirmation message next from the plurality of blocks;
A transmission unit that transmits the confirmation message to each of the terminal devices of the divided blocks;
A receiving unit that receives a response message to the confirmation message from the terminal device;
A response processing unit for recording the reception result of the response message in response result information;
Referring to the response result information, the confirmation message is transmitted again to the terminal device that did not receive the response message, and the response is received from any terminal device among the terminal devices that did not receive the response message. When a message is received, the period for transmitting the confirmation message is set to an initial value of the transmission period or a period longer than the transmission period when the confirmation message was transmitted last time, and the confirmation message is set at the set transmission period. A transmission message control unit to transmit;
As a result of executing all of the plurality of blocks, when there is a terminal device that has not received a response message to the confirmation message, an operation determination unit that determines that this terminal device is an inactive terminal device;
An operation confirmation apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs the determination result.   6. An operation confirmation system comprising: the operation confirmation apparatus according to claim 5; and one or more terminal apparatuses that transmit a response message to the confirmation message from the operation confirmation apparatus.   An operation confirmation program for causing an operation confirmation apparatus, which is a computer, to execute the terminal apparatus operation confirmation method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images