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JP-7854970-B2 - Communication systems, controllers, server devices and methods

JP7854970B2JP 7854970 B2JP7854970 B2JP 7854970B2JP-7854970-B2

Inventors

  • 田中 康之

Assignees

  • 株式会社東芝

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20230807

Claims (11)

  1. Controllers that can be installed in edge devices, The system comprises a communication device connected to the controller and a server device connected via a network, The server device is A first receiving means for receiving first information specific to the controller and second information specific to the communication device, The system includes a determination means that determines whether the communication device can be connected to the controller based on the first and second information received, The aforementioned controller, A second receiving means that receives connection feasibility information, including the aforementioned determination result, from the server device via the communication device, Includes control means for rejecting the connection of the communication device based on the received connection availability information , The server device further includes storage means for storing determination information, which includes conditions for a controller to which a communication device can be connected, in association with information specific to the communication device. The determination means determines that the communication device can be connected to the controller if the first information satisfies the conditions included in the determination information in correspondence with the second information. Communication system.
  2. The controller includes power supply means for supplying power to the communication device when the communication device is connected, The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the control means stops supplying power to the communication device by controlling the power supply means when it refuses to connect to the communication device.
  3. When the communication device is connected to the controller, a pairing process is performed to pair the communication device with a user terminal used by the user. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the first and second information is transmitted from the communication device to the server device via the user terminal after the pairing is completed.
  4. The second receiving means receives the connection availability information from the server device via the communication device and the user terminal. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein the control means stops supplying power to the communication device if the connection availability information is not received by the second receiving means before a predetermined first period has elapsed.
  5. The communication system according to claim 4, wherein the control means resumes power supply to the communication device after a predetermined second period has elapsed following the cessation of power supply to the communication device due to the failure of the second receiving means to receive the connection availability information.
  6. The connection availability information is accompanied by an electronic signature generated by the server device. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the controller further includes authentication processing means for verifying the electronic signature attached to the received connection availability information.
  7. The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising authentication processing means for issuing a token used for communication with the communication device if the controller does not reject the connection of the communication device.
  8. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is connected to the controller via a connection interface provided on the edge device.
  9. In a controller provided in an edge device and to which a communication device is connected, A receiving means that receives connection feasibility information including the result of a server device connected to the communication device via a network determining whether the communication device can be connected to the controller based on first information specific to the controller and second information specific to the communication device, The system comprises control means for rejecting the connection of the communication device based on the received connection availability information , The server device is Includes storage means for storing determination information that includes conditions for a controller to which a communication device can be connected, in association with information specific to the communication device, If the first information satisfies the conditions included in the determination information in correspondence with the second information, it is determined that the communication device can be connected to the controller. controller.
  10. In a server device connected via a network to a communication device connected to a controller provided in an edge device, Receiving means for receiving first information specific to the controller and second information specific to the communication device, Storage means and The system comprises a determination means for determining whether the communication device can be connected to the controller based on the first and second information received, The controller rejects the connection of the communication device based on the connection availability information including the determination result . The storage means stores determination information, including conditions for a controller to which a communication device can be connected, in association with information specific to the communication device. The determination means determines that the communication device can be connected to the controller if the first information satisfies the conditions included in the determination information in correspondence with the second information. Server device.
  11. A method performed by a communication system comprising a controller provided in an edge device, a communication device connected to the controller, and a server device connected via a network, The server device determines whether it can connect the communication device to the controller based on first information specific to the controller and second information specific to the communication device. The controller comprises the step of rejecting the connection of the communication device based on connection availability information including the determination result , The server device includes storage means for storing determination information, which includes conditions for a controller to which a communication device can be connected, in association with information specific to the communication device. The aforementioned determination step includes determining that the communication device can be connected to the controller if the first information satisfies the conditions included in the determination information in correspondence with the second information. method.

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to communication systems, controllers, server devices, and methods. In technologies known as IoT (Internet of Things), edge devices (edge terminals) need to be connected to a network. If these edge devices lack communication capabilities, they can be connected to the network by connecting the controller (host controller) installed in the edge device to a communication device. Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that connects the appropriate communication device to the controller installed in the edge device without requiring complicated configuration procedures. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-191825Patent No. 7100916 A diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a communication system according to the embodiment.A diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a host controller.A diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a communication device.A diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a user terminal.A diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a server device.A diagram showing an example of the host controller hardware configuration.A diagram illustrating an example of a specific type of communication system.A diagram showing specific examples of lighting fixtures.A sequence chart illustrating an example of the processing procedure for a communication system.A diagram showing an example of the data structure of judgment information.A diagram showing an example of the data structure of connection information.A diagram illustrating another example of the functional configuration of a communication device.A diagram illustrating another example of the host controller's functional configuration.A sequence chart illustrating an example of the processing procedure for a communication system when pairing is performed in advance between the communication device and the user terminal.A diagram showing an example of a power supply jig.This diagram illustrates the configuration of an edge device that has a separate power supply board from the host controller. The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 shows an example of the system configuration of the communication system according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 1 comprises a host controller 10, a communication device 20, a user terminal 30, and a server device 40. In this embodiment, we assume a scenario where edge devices are used in a technology known as IoT. The host controller 10 is mounted on the edge device and configured to control its operation. In this embodiment, the host controller 10 (or the edge device comprising it) is assumed to lack communication functionality for communicating with a server device (hereinafter referred to as the IoT server) that provides IoT services. In this case, a communication device 20 having communication functionality for communicating with the IoT server can be connected to the host controller 10. Through such a communication device 20, the host controller 10 can be connected to the IoT server via a predetermined network, thereby realizing the functions of an edge device in IoT described above. The host controller 10 and the communication device 20 are connected via a connection interface provided on the edge device, such as a USB connector or a pin slot connector. However, communication between the host controller 10 and the communication device 20 may be conducted using serial methods such as I2C, URT, and SPI, or parallel methods. The user terminal 30 is an electronic device such as a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer (PC) used by a user, and has the function of communicating with the communication device 20. Furthermore, the user terminal 30 is connected to the server device 40 via the network 50, enabling communication. In this embodiment, as described above, the host controller 10 and the communication device 20 are connected, allowing the edge device equipped with the host controller 10 to be used in IoT. However, for example, due to requests from the host controller 10 vendor or security considerations, it may be necessary to connect only appropriate communication devices 20 to the host controller 10. Therefore, the server device 40 in this embodiment has a function to determine whether the communication device 20 can be connected to the host controller 10 (i.e., whether the communication device 20 is appropriate for the host controller 10). Information including the determination result from the server device 40 (hereinafter referred to as connection feasibility information) is transmitted (provided) from the server device 40 to the host controller 10. Furthermore, the communication device 20 shown in Figure 1 and the user terminal 30 may be communicated wirelessly or via a wired connection. Wireless communication could be based on, for example, Bluetooth® or Wi-Fi®, while wired communication