The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Feb. 18, 2014

Filed:

Apr. 24, 2009
Applicants:

Toshitaka Sato, Ibaraki, JP;

Yuuki Kasai, Beijing, CN;

Masayuki Amano, Hirakata, JP;

Tadashi Matsumoto, Osaka, JP;

Inventors:

Toshitaka Sato, Ibaraki, JP;

Yuuki Kasai, Beijing, CN;

Masayuki Amano, Hirakata, JP;

Tadashi Matsumoto, Osaka, JP;

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 15/16 (2006.01); G06F 11/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract

A first unit and a second unit manage a plurality of devices (a first device), respectively. In addition, the first and second units, repeat to transmit a keep-alive packet and to confirm a response each other, and thus detect each other's malfunction. When the second unit malfunctions, the first unit detects the malfunction of the second unit and transmits a connection command to the connection unit. The connection unit connects a lower net Nia and a lower net Nib when receiving the connection command. Then, the first unit communicates with the first device as heretofore, and further communicates with a second device via the connection unit. Thus, even if a master unit malfunctions, the device management system can maintain to manage without stopping a management of a slave unit which had been managed by the master unit until then.


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