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Network Device, Method of Controlling Network Device, and

1. 3 m s euluL pejeusisep eui wo 4 3senbe4 e 3194 51 pe3eusisep u1 40 SO 924 0 8uipuodseJ409 uee4os uoneuunuoo e r 93ed qoM e YUM Suipuodsey peyioeds e uey 940UJ 40 03 jenb SSM SI OcvrS p91oeuuoo euo Ajuo 51 5 ssoooJg 3 um s 8 SIs Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 9 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 FIG 9 First Setting nformation Transmission Process Generating a connection setting file based on the present security setting Starting transmission of the connection setting file to the designated terminal Changing connection vvith another wireless terminal to an inhibition state Has the designated terminal completed downloading S510 S520 S530 S540 Has the limit time elapsed Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 10 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 Second Setting Information Transmission Process S610 Searching for connection setting use softvvare corresponding to OS S620 Generating a connection setting file based on the present security setting S630 Starting transmission of the connection setting file and connection setting use software to the designated terminal S640 Changing connection vvith another wireless terminal to an inhibition state S650 Has the designated terminal YES completed downloading NO S660 Has the limit time elapsed YES
2. US 2013 0132576 A1 May 23 2013 Sheet 11 of 12 Patent Application Publication IA D oBeJ01S 007 uomnq Sum3 s 5 yun uone4edo 4 1 uoneoiunuiuoo p9JIM puoo s uoneoiunuiuoo 75114 sn Aeyds p esed q M semyos sn 3um s uonoeuuoo nun oauoo uonnqugsiq pun o43uo9 lA p S3e4o3 yun Aejay pun S3uisin3sip i ssouppe di yun Suisin8sip SNG hun MOC 4919S q9M yun Uolssiwsues 49A49S d HG uoneuuojur 3um s yun Sunnq nsiq pun SulAInON pun BUIYOJIMS yun eseo 9J yu yun Suniqiuuj yun Sunday yun PUNT yun uonesiunwwoy TT SIs Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 12 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 FIG 12 Simple Setting Process S1000 1 Is connection to a designated terminal detected S020 Cutting off an existing connection S030 Temporary Connection Preparation Process S1050 S080 Is there a DNS request DNS Disguise Process S100 Is an IP address reguiring accessing via DGW specified Responding to the specified address by disguising as the transmission origin disguising as the specified destination S1010 NAS Initial Setting Process S140 Connection Recovery Process S1020 Restarting an existing connection US 2013 0132576 Al NETWORK DEVICE METHOD OF CONTROLLING NETWORK DEVICE AND RECORDING MEDIUM ON WHICH PROGRAM FOR CONTROLLING NETWO
3. 0007 Meanwhile in the case of using set up software it is typical to distribute the software by means of media such as CDs For vendors with distribution of such media there is room for improvement from a cost aspect and for users the operations of preparing of the media and installing the soft ware are doubtless cumbersome jobs BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0008 An object of the present invention brought about taking the above described circumstances into consideration is to make available a network device and a control method and a control program for the network device that enable IP communications among network devices to be executed even for users without advanced knowledge and even without bringing software into the picture 0009 Inthe following various means effective for resolv ing the issues discussed above will be described with advan tages and effects being indicated as necessary 0010 Anetwork device according to the present invention is a network device for use connected to a network the net work device comprising a distributing unit for assigning an IP address to a terminal being another network device con nected to said network device and distributing the assigned IP address to the terminal and for notifying the terminal to transmit all access requests to said network device itself a distribution control unit for actuating the distributing unit based on the generation of a predetermined starting e
4. request designating as the addressee any given IP address other than the IP address of said self network device the notifying unit answers the access request by having the IP address designated by the access request be the IP address of transmission origin instead of the IP address of said self network device and provides data held by said self network device to the terminal 4 The self network device according to claim 3 wherein if said accepting unit has accepted from the terminal an access request designating the IP address of said self network device as the addressee said notifying unit provides data held by said self network device to the terminal 5 The self network device according to claim 3 wherein said notifying unit provides the terminal with display infor mation that can be displayed on the terminal 6 The self network device according to claim 3 further comprising a user operable operating unit said operating unit for generating said starting event according to a predeter mined operation 7 The self network device according to claim 3 further comprising a relay unit for relaying packets transmitted received between a terminal connected to a predetermined net work and an apparatus connected to another network different from the predetermined network and a switching unit for switching said self network device between a relay mode in which said switching unit actu ates said relay unit together with said distributi
5. a case where the OS operating on the designated terminal TE1 has a specification to download a connection setting file in a predetermined form instead of permitting the download of a communication program The operating systems of this type include for example 1OS The second setting information transmission process is executed in a case where the OS operating on the designated terminal TE1 has a specification to permit the download of a communication program The operating sys tems ofthis type include for example Android and Windows 0086 FIG 9 represents procedural flows of a first setting information transmission process As shown in FIG 9 as the first setting information transmission process is started the CPU 110 first generates a connection setting file on the basis ofthe current security setting S510 The connection setting file is a file in an Extensible Markup Language XML format and a Hyper Text Markup Language HTML format includ ing setting information generated on the basis of the current security setting 0087 Having generated the connection setting file the CPU 110 starts transmission of the connection setting file to the designated terminal TE1 as a process by the settings information transmission unit 1140 S520 Having started the transmission of the connection setting file the CPU 110 May 23 2013 changes as a process by the inhibiting unit 116 an operation state ofthe access point AP to a connection
6. process is the same as that of the above described step S540 10093 Having changed the access point AP to the connec tion inhibition state the CPU 110 shifts the process to steps S650 and S660 The processes of steps S650 and S660 are the same as those of the above described steps S540 and S550 and therefore the description is not provided here 0094 When the connection setting use software 131 and the connection setting file are downloaded onto the desig nated terminal TE1 as a result of the second setting informa tion transmission process the content of the connection set ting file is displayed on the display ofthe designated terminal TE1 by the Web browser 211 A screen for checking with the user the applicability of executing the dovvnloaded connec tion setting use softvvare 131 is overlapped on the screen displaying the connection setting file VVhen an operation is performed by the user to instruct execution of the connection setting use software 131 the software is executed on the designated terminal TE1 and the setting information is set to the designated terminal TE1 0095 Returning to FIG 4 at this point if no access request is made from the designated terminal TE1 vvithin a predeter mined period of time from the operation of the simple setting button 170 in the connection setting process Yes for S060 the CPU 110 performs a connection recovery process S140 Likewise the CPU 110 performs the connection recovery pr
7. unit 114 for notifying the requesting terminal of information for accessing the network device AP when the accepting unit has accepted the request regardless of the content of the request 230 Wireless communication I F 240 250 260 Display unit Operation unit US 2013 0132576 A1 May 23 2013 Sheet 1 of 12 Patent Application Publication FIG 1 INT e lt LLI LE z LLI d o x N T LLI LH US 2013 0132576 A1 May 23 2013 Sheet 2 of 12 Patent Application Publication esn Ae dsip osed semyos esn 3unjes uono uuoo uo3inq Sum s lduls pun uoned do yun o43u09 uonnquasiq pun Aejoy wun M Q 49A49S GOH yun 3unnqulsiq Moneomnuiuoo pun 3ulqu93IMS yun Sunigiuu pun A49A02994 1luur qun Suisinssip SS9Jppe die qun Suisinssip SNG 4 4 S GSM yun Uolssiwsues uonpuuo lul 3um o yun 3 yun se 1 yw pun Sundeoov pun uoneolunuluuoo SS JIAA US 2013 0132576 A1 May 23 2013 Sheet 3 of 12 Patent Application Publication 097 057 022 yun uoneJedo yun Aejdsig 3 uoneoiunuiuoo 659 9 1 uinipeul e8eJ01S 10211 2 SNA DI Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 4 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 FIG 4 Connection standby state changing to an open connection use ESSID s there a request for wireless connection
8. when a ter minal that has received a response to the name resolving request makes an access request with the IP address of the network device designated as the addressee it is possible to provide the terminal with data that the network device itself holds Further providing a terminal with data that a network device holds is also possible in instances in which the network device s own IP address is designated by the terminal In particular if the earlier described means and the present means are utilized in tandem a terminal can be provided with data the network device itself holds no matter what IP address is designated 0018 In the network device according to the present invention the notifying unit provides display information that can be displayed on the requesting terminal 100191 The configuration described above enables the noti fying unit to provide display information to be displayed on the display unit of the terminal making it possible to for example automatically display the network device settings information on the terminal Thus by means of the displayed content the user can carry out confirmation input and similar operations 100201 A network device involving the present invention is furnished with an operation unit that enables operation by a user with the operation unit generating a starting event according to a predetermined operation 0021 Accordingly by having user operation be a starting event confirma
9. 0 is described with reference to FIG 6 In the temporary connection setting process the DHCP server 1180 generates IP address information to be supplied to the designated ter minal TE1 that has established a wireless connection to a virtual port for the access point AP S250 Further the DHCP server 1180 transmits the IP address information generated in step S250 to the designated terminal TE1 S260 The DHCP client 213 of the designated terminal TE1 receiving the IP address information sets the IP address information to the designated terminal TE1 itself This enables IP communica tions between the access point AP and the designated terminal TE1 0069 Then the DHCP server 1180 transmits to the des ignated terminal TE1 connected to the access point AP DNS designation information that designates an inquiry destina tion ofa DNS as the access point AP S270 The DHCP client 213 of the designated terminal TE1 receiving the DNS des ignation information registers the IP address of the access point AP as the inquiry destination of the DNS Then the DHCP server 1180 transmits to the designated terminal TE1 DGW designation information that designates the access point AP as the DGW S280 The DHCP client 213 of the designated terminal TE1 receiving the DGW designation information registers the IP address of the access point AP as the DGW This completes the temporary connection setting process 100701 3 Transmission of Access Poin
10. 090 With the DNS disguising process the communication destination of the designated terminal turns out to be the network attached storage NAS If there is no DNS request after the step S090 or in step S080 No for S080 the CPU 110 shifts the process to step S100 In step S100 the IP address disguising unit 1142 determines whether an IP address in need of an access to the WAN side via the network attached storage NAS that is the DGW is designated S100 Here if the designated terminal is US 2013 0132576 Al involved in communications via the network attached storage NAS as the DGW Yes for S100 the IP address disguising unit 1142 disguises an IP address to feign the connecting destination to which the designated terminal tries to connect so that the netvvork attached storage NAS itself communi cates vvith the designated terminal S110 Meanvvhile ifthe designated terminal directly access by designating the IP address of the netvvork attached storage NAS No for S110 the process is shifted directly to step S1010 0116 In step S1010 the Web server of the settings infor mation transmission unit 1140 notifies the Web browser 211 used on the designated terminal of information for carrying out an initial setting of the netvvork attached storage NAS The user ofthe designated terminal operates the VVeb brovvser 211 to carry out the initial setting for example a setting process such as the account name and the passvvord of an adminis
11. 40 S430 The Web page to be transmitted is screen data for checking with the user for presence of intention to download setting informa tion The Web page is stored as webpage display information 132 on the flash ROM 130 for each of the kinds of OSs possibly operating on a designated terminal TE1 likewise in the case of the above described connection setup use software 131 The CPU 110 determines a Web page for response in accordance with the kind of an OS operating on the desig nated terminal It is possible to determine the kind of OS US 2013 0132576 Al operating on the designated terminal TE1 by checking a User Agent included in the HTTP request transmitted from the designated terminal TE1 0082 As described above the present embodiment is con figured so that when satisfying two conditions the CPU 110 transmits a Web page to a designated terminal TE1 that sat 1sfies the conditions where a first condition is that one des ignated terminal is connected to the access point AP and a second condition is that the RSSI ofthe designated terminal TE1 connected to the access point AP is equal to or greater than a specified value It may be alternatively configured to adopt only one of the first and second conditions as the con dition for the CPU 110 to transmit a Web page 0083 Having transmitted the Web page the CPU 110 determines whether a download request is received from the designated terminal TE1 S440 The dow
12. No for S540 the CPU 110 stands by for the completion of the download until the time from starting the transmission of the connection setting file reaches the limit time No for S550 0089 Ifthe limit time has elapsed without completing the download Yes for S550 the CPU 110 cancels the transmis sion of the connection setting file and ends the first setting information transmission process As a result the virtual port is recovered from a non limitation state to a limitation state in step S140 This configuration prevents an illegitimate user s access when it takes a long time to download a connection setting file due to for instance an adverse condition of the communication environment thereby making it possible to enhance the security The process of step 5550 however may be eliminated Further the limit time for step S550 may be determined with the limitation release time specified as the starting point as in the case ofthe above described step S060 In this case the limit time for step S550 may be the same limit time as that determined for the above described step S060 or longer than that 0090 When a connection setting file is downloaded onto the designated terminal TE1 as a result of the first setting information transmission process the contents ofthe connec tion setting file is displayed on the display of the designated terminal TE1 by the Web browser 211 Ifthe operating system of the designated terminal TE1 is for ex
13. RK DEVICE IS RECORDED BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 100011 1 Field of the Invention 0002 present invention relates to network devices employed connected to a network and to control methods and recording media on which control programs are recorded for controlling such network devices 0003 2 Description of the Related Art 0004 For network devices to carry out Internet Protocol IP communications with each other in a network it is nec essary for the devices each to comprehend the IP addresses of the other communication partners The reason is that it is impossible to designate a transmission destination without the IP address of the communication partner being known 0005 Methods for figuring out the IP address of a com munication partner include for example techniques such as examining the network configuration to comprehend the address in a manual operation based on knowledge about the network and installing set up software in a terminal that will be connected to a network device Reference is made to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No 2005 107707 0006 Inthe case of figuring out an IP address by a manual operation however for a user with an insufficient level of knowledge relating to the network the address comprehend ing operation itself will present difficulties and even a user with a high level of knowledge concerning the network will be faced with a cumbersome time consuming job
14. US 20130132576A1 a2 Patent Application Publication qo Pub No US 2013 0132576 A1 as United States Haba et al 54 NETWORK DEVICE METHOD OF CONTROLLING NETWORK DEVICE AND RECORDING MEDIUM ON WHICH PROGRAM FOR CONTROLLING NETWORK DEVICE IS RECORDED 71 72 Applicant Buffalo Inc Nagoya shi JP Inventors Yoshifumi Haba Nagoya shi JP Hideki Ishii Nagoya shi JP 73 21 22 Assignee Buffalo Inc Nagoya shi JP Appl No 13 677 323 Filed Nov 15 2012 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Novi 2252011 Ijmaa 2011 254787 Publication Classification 51 mt CI G06F 15 173 2006 01 Web browser 7 5 client DHCP client Storage medium 43 Pub Date May 23 2013 52 U S CI CPC GO6F 15 17306 2013 01 H04L 61 2007 2013 01 US en 709 225 57 ABSTRACT Anaccess point AP that is an embodiment ofa network device assigns an IP address to a terminal connected to the access point AP itself The access point AP includes a distributing unit 118 that distributes the IP address to terminal and has functionality to notify the terminal to transmit all access requests to the network device AP itself a distribution control unit 120 for switching the functionality ofthe distributing unit 118 to be operative on the basis of the generation of a prede termined starting event an accepting unit 112 for accepting any given access request from the terminal and a notifying
15. ample iOS the user performs an operation to select setting information from among the displayed contents of the connection setting file thereby causing the designated terminal TE1 to register the selected setting information with the memory of the desig nated terminal TE1 itself to set the setting information 0091 FIG 10 represents procedural flows of a second setting information transmission process As shown in FIG 10 as the second setting information transmission process is started the CPU 110 first searches a plurality of pieces of connection setting use software 131 recorded on the flash US 2013 0132576 Al ROM 130 for connection setting use software 131 corre sponding to the OS operating on the designated terminal TE1 S610 0092 Having retrieved the connection setting use soft ware 131 the CPU 110 generates a connection setting file on the basis ofthe current security setting S620 This process is the same as that of the above described step S520 refer to FIG 9 Having generated the connection setting file the CPU 110 starts transmission of the retrieved connection set ting use software 131 and the generated connection setting file to the designated terminal TE1 as a process by the set tings information transmission unit 1140 S630 Having started the transmission the CPU 110 changes the operation state ofthe access point AP to a connection Inhibition state as a process by the inhibiting unit 116 S640 This
16. and the terminal are able to comprehend their partner s IP address Accordingly the terminal s exploiting the given information enables IP communications between network devices to be executed even for users without advanced knowledge and even without bringing software into the picture By IP com munications between network devices for example a termi nal can be operated to change the settings ofa network device or data that a network device holds can be acquired from the network device 0012 In the network device according to the present invention when the accepting unit has accepted a name resolving request from the requesting terminal as the given access request the notifying unit notifies the requesting ter minal of information including the IP address of the network device itself as the information 0013 With the configuration described above if the access request from a terminal is for example a name re solving request that requires searching for an IP address based on a given domain name the notifying unit responds to the request with the IP address of the network device itself With this configuration when a terminal makes a name resolving request it is possible to carry out IP communica tions with the IP address of the network device designated as the connecting destination 0014 In the network device according to the present invention when the accepting unit has accepted from the requesting terminal an ac
17. case and instructing an operation for connecting the wireless terminal TE to the access point AP Such operation causes the wireless terminal TE to transmit to the access point AP a request for connection including the open connection use ESSID of the detected access point AP In the following descriptions the time at which a virtual port in anon limitation state is newly disposed is defined as limi tation release time 0067 The access point AP determines whether there is a request for wireless connection made to the virtual port from a wireless terminal TE S050 If the access point AP deter mines that there is a request for wireless connection made to the virtual port from the wireless terminal TE Yes for S050 it applies a temporary connection process S070 to the wire less terminal TE that has made the request for wireless con nection In the following description a wireless terminal TE that has transmitted a request for wireless connection to the virtual port is called a designated terminal TE1 In contrast if the access point AP determines that there is no request for wireless connection made to the virtual port from any wire less terminal TE No for S050 it measures time since step May 23 2013 S010 and stands by to receive a request for wireless connec tion from any wireless terminal TE S050 until a predeter mined period of time elapses No for S060 0068 Here a temporary connection setting process S07
18. cess request with any given IP address other than the IP address of the network device itself designated as the addressee the notifying unit responds to the access request with the IP address designated by the access request as the transmission origin IP address instead of the IP address of the network device itself and provides data that the network device itself holds 0015 With the configuration described above if the access request from a terminal designates any given IP address the notifying unit feigns the IP address of the trans mission origin in responding to the access request and returns a response in place of the connecting destination so that the terminal determines the aforementioned response to be a response from the connecting destination This configuration makes it possible to establish IP communications with the network device as the communication partner even when the terminal makes an access request with any given IP address US 2013 0132576 Al designated Therefore the configuration enables the network device to provide the terminal with predetermined data such as settings information 0016 In the network device according to the present invention when the accepting unit has accepted from the requesting terminal an access request with the IP address of the network device designated as the addressee the notifying unit provides data held by the network device itself 0017 With the configuration described above
19. e been transmitted the access point AP carries out a response disguised as the response of an access destination device Herein a DGW means a device designated as a packet transmission destination when packets are transmitted from a terminal on the LAN sideifa communication path in order for the packets to arrive at the access destination device is unknown If the DGW receives packets from the aforemen tioned wireless terminal TE it transfers the packets to an apparatus connected to the WAN side The details of the processes performed by the DNS disguising unit 1141 and the IP address disguising unit 1142 are set forth in the procedural flows of FIG 4 0052 The distributing unit 118 functions as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP server 1180 and a DGW unit 1181 In response to a request from a DHCP client on a wireless terminal TE connected to the access point AP the DHCP server 1180 transmits to the wireless terminal TE information containing an IP address assigned to the wireless terminal TE The DGW unit 1181 functions as a just de scribed DGW 0053 Therelay unit 119 has a network address translation NAT function that is a function that converts between the local IP address of a wireless terminal TE connected to the wireless communications I F 160 and the global IP address of adevice connected to Internet INT Further the relay unit 119 employing a routing function relays packets between the WAN I F 150 and
20. eration The following is the description of a configuration for the access point AP to provide the wireless terminal TE with settings information A 2 Configurational Outline of Access Point AP 0044 FIG 2 represents the configurational outline of an access point AP As shown in FIG 2 the access point AP includes a central processing unit CPU 110 flash read only memory ROM 130 random access memory RAM 140 a WAN interface I F 150 a wireless communication I F 160 anda simple settings button 170 that is an operation unit The aforementioned CPU 110 and components are interconnected via a bus 0045 By loading into the RAM 140 and executing firm ware and associated programs stored in the flash ROM 130 the CPU 110 controls the overall operations of the access point AP And by executing such programs the CPU 110 functions as a wireless communications unit 111 an accept ing unit 112 a restriction releasing unit 113 a notifying unit 114 a restriction restoring unit 115 a prohibiting unit 116 a switching unit 117 a distributing unit 118 a relay unit 119 and a distribution control unit 120 These functional units will be described in detail later 0046 Software 131 for making connection settings is recorded on the flash ROM 130 The connection settings software 131 is a program used to configure the wireless terminal TE with settings information generated by the access point AP The connection settings software 131 is t
21. ess of the switchover state Therefore it is possible to realize IP communications between the network device and the terminal even when the non relay mode is selected May 23 2013 0024 A method of controlling a network device used con nected to a network the network device control method including the network device assigning based on the gen eration of a predetermined starting event an IP address to a terminal being another network device connected to the net work device itself and distributing the IP address to the terminal the network device accepting from the terminal an access request for accessing an arbitrary other network device and the network device when having accepted the access request notifying the terminal of information for accessing the network device itself regardless of the content of the given access request 0025 Arecording medium according to the present inven tion is a computer readable non volatile recording medium on which is recorded a program for controlling a network device used connected to a network the program for causing the network device to execute a distribution step of assign ing based on the generation of a predetermined starting event an IP address to a terminal being another network device connected to the network device and distributing the assigned IP address to the terminal an accepting step of accepting from the terminal an access request for accessing an arbitrary other net
22. etects that the simple setting button 170 has been pressed it sets up new virtual port with ABC being the ESSID Ordinarily the ESSID is contained in the beacons that the access point AP transmits Therefore a wire less terminal TE having received a beacon is able even with out having the particular specifications to transmit to the access point AP a connection request with ABC being the ESSID In other words when the access point AP detects the pressing of the simple setting button 170 it puts the virtual port into a non restricted state in which no restriction is placed on the target for connection to the access point AP The virtual port is utilized in the connection settings process 0055 It should be noted that having the post change ESSID be ABC is in order that in situations where on the wireless terminal TE a plurality of access points are detected by means ofa passive scan or active scan the access point AP virtual port will be displayed at the uppermost level in a list displaying the detected access points The access point dis play list on the wireless terminal TE is often displayed arranged in ASCII code sequence The fact that the is the next smallest ASCII code after the space symbol means that when a user in a later described connection settings process employs a wireless terminal TE to carry out an operation for establishing a connection relationship between the wireless terminal TE and
23. formation transmission unit 1140 has a VVeb server function for example In instances where from a Web brovvser 211 running on a vvireless terminal TE connected to the access point AP there has been a data acquisition request designating through Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP the access point AP itself the settings information transmis sion unit 1140 transmits the webpage display information 132 stored in the flash ROM 130 to the VVeb brovvser 211 Based on the vvebpage display information 132 the VVeb brovvser 211 displays the settings screen for the access point AP on a display unit 250 in the vvireless terminal TE The DNS dis guising unit 1141 has functionality that in response to an inquiry from another device for name resolution through DNS returns the IP address of the access point AP itself at all times Herein DNS refers to a mechanism for converting into an IP address a domain name used for identifying a device connected to the Internet Employing a program called a DNS client the wireless terminal TE transmits to a DNS server name resolving requests for converting domain names into an IP address and the DNS server responds to the DNS client with an IP address corresponding to the domain name for which a name resolving request has been made The IP address disguising unit 1142 has functionality whereby with respect to a wireless terminal TE from which packets desig nating the access point AP as a default gateway DGW hav
24. forming an IP address disguising process in steps S100 through S110 Then the CPU 110 actu ates a VVeb server function The reason is that the VVeb server Tunction is used in a setting process S130 and therefore it is necessary to actuate the function before the setting process This completes the temporary connection preparation pro cess 0066 After the temporary connection preparation process S030 the limit release unit 113 nevvly disposes a virtual port having an open connection use ESSID and shifts to a connec tion standby state S040 Accordingly in the connection standby state the virtual port receiving a request for connec tion including the open connection use ESSID from a wire less terminal TE establishes a connection relationship with the wireless terminal TE that has transmitted the request for connection For example a user of the wireless terminal TE is allowed to use it to detect an access point AP thereby estab lishing a connection relationship between the wireless termi nal TE and the detected access point AP 1 e the virtual port on the basis of the user s manual operation The manual operation in this case includes for example the user operat ing the operation unit 260 by using a GUI displayed on a display that is an example of the display unit 250 of the wireless terminal TE selecting an access point AP from a list of the detected access points that is a list of ESSIDs of the access points in this
25. icient knovvledge about the vvireless communication is allovved to set the setting information to the designated terminal TE1 with just a simple operation Furthermore the non limitation state of the access point AP is recovered to a limitation state by the generation of a predetermined event for example elapsing of a predetermined period oftime and completion of downloading the setting information and thereby the security is secured Further it is unnecessary to install any specific program in the designated terminal TE1 thus contributing the usability B Second Embodiment 101071 Next a second embodiment ofthe netvvork device is described FIG 11 shovvs the outline configuration of a net work attached storage NAS as the second embodiment The configuration of the netvvork attached storage NAS is approximately the same as that of the access point AP of the first embodiment 0108 The netvvork attached storage NAS is different from the access point AP vvhere the former includes a storage device 200 as shovvn in FIG 11 Here the storage device 200 is for example an HDD or an SDD A CPU 110 has func tionality as a storage device control unit 122 disposed for controlling the storage device 200 0109 The present embodiment further includes a first wired communication interface I F 180 and a second wired communication interface I F 190 in place of the WAN I F 150 and wireless communication I F 160 The first wired communicat
26. inhibition state in which establishing of a connection relationship is inhibited between the access point AP and a wireless terminal TE other than the designated terminal TE1 S530 Thus changing to the connection inhibition state establishes a connection rela tionship between the access point AP and another wireless terminal TE other than the designated terminal TE1 making it possible to prevent execution of a new connection setting process As a result it is possible to prevent provision of any setting information to a wireless terminal TE other than the designated terminal TE1 to which the setting information is to be provided Therefore for example even if an illegitimate user perceives a legitimate user performing a connection set ting for the wireless terminal TE and tries to connect his her wireless terminal to the access point AP with any method by following the performing of the legitimate user the illegiti mate user will be unable to wirelessly connect it to the access point AP and unable to obtain any setting information as a result 0088 Having changed the access point AP to the connec tion inhibition state the CPU 110 determines whether the download of the connection setting file has been completed on the designated terminal TE1 S540 In step S540 if the download has been completed Yes for 5540 the CPU 110 ends the first setting information transmission process In contrast if the download has not been completed
27. ion I F 180 is an interface included also in a typical netvvork device vvhile the second vvired communica tion I F 190 is a setting specific interface specifically disposed for the present embodiment The CPU 110 has functionality ofa communication unit 121 disposed for controlling the first and second wired communication I Fs 180 and 190 0110 The storage device control unit 122 writes data received from the first wired communication I F 180 to the storage device 200 The storage device control unit 122 also reads data from the storage device 200 in accordance with an instruction from a terminal connected to the first wired com munication I F 180 and transmits the data to the terminal The second wired communication I F 190 includes an interface for example an Ethernet port disposed for connecting a network attached storage NAS to a designated terminal and is used for setting the network attached storage NAS Here the designated terminal is defined as a device used for setting a network attached storage NAS 0111 FIG 12 represents procedural flows of a simple setting process executed by the network attached storage NAS of the present second embodiment using the second May 23 2013 wired communication I F 190 Note that the same signs as in FIG 4 are used for the steps in which the same process is performed and the description is partially not provided 0112 Referring to FIG 12 the CPU 110 stands by until a physical connectio
28. is switched on to relay commu nications between the network system 21 and Internet INT The present embodiment is configured to connect the router RT to the access point AP and therefore the router function ality is switched to be inoperative It may alternatively be configured so that such switchover of the router function is automatically performed by the access point AP determining whether a router RT exists on the Internet INT side 1 e the WAN side This functionality makes it possible to prevent existence of a plurality of routers in the network system Network address translation NAT is typically carried out between the WAN side and the LAN side of a router and therefore in using a network application that requires requesting connection through the WAN side it is often the case that port forwarding settings are carried out on the router with universal plug and play UPnP or the like Here in the case of using a plurality of routers port forwarding is not set in an upper level router even if port forwarding is set in a May 23 2013 lower level router and therefore no connection through the WAN side can be established Provision of automatic switchover of the router function makes it possible to prevent occurrence of the above described problem even if a user is not specifically aware of it 0043 Here an access point AP is enabled to provide a wireless terminal TE with settings information in response to a simple user op
29. mined starting event and the end of the process 0122 In the above described configurations the network device receiving a trigger that is a predetermined starting event such as pressing of a button included in the network device itself causes the DHCP server 1180 DNS disguising unit 1141 and IP address disguising unit 1142 to be set tem porarily operative This configuration enable the Web browser 211 specific software or the like to simply monitor a power state 0123 In summary the embodiments of the present inven tion have been described The present invention however is in no way limited to the embodiments set forth in the above description and rather may be embodied in various manners possible within the scope and spirit of the present invention For example the elements disposed in the embodiments cor responding to the components of each means disposed for solving the above described problems may appropriately be combined eliminated and or modified in higher levels of concept in modes that are capable of solving at least a part of the aforementioned problems or in modes that render at least a part of the above described effectiveness Further the present invention can be realized as for example a method for controlling the network device a program for controlling the network device an access point device a method of providing a communication setting a method of a communi cation setting a program for an access poin
30. n step of when the access request from the terminal has been accepted in said accepting step noti fying the terminal of information for accessing said self network device regardless of the content of the access request 13 A network access point comprising a start instruction accepting interface for accepting a con nection settings process start instruction and a central processing unit CPU configured with distributing unit circuitry for causing the CPU to func tion as a conditionally operable distributing unit assigning an IP address to a terminal wirelessly US 2013 0132576 Al May 23 2013 13 accessing the network access point and delivering the assigned IP address to the wirelessly accessing termi nal control circuitry for actuating the conditionally operable distributing unit function of the CPU in response to a start instruction accepted through said start instruc tion accepting interface acceptance unit circuitry for causing the CPU to func tion as a conditionally operating acceptance unit accepting any given access request from a wirelessly accessing terminal conditional upon said distributing unit being actuated and notifying unit circuitry for causing the CPU to function as a notifying unit sending to a wirelessly accessing terminal in response to said acceptance unit accept ing an access request from the terminal and irrespec tive of the content of the access request information enabling the terminal
31. n with the designated terminal i e Linkup is detected in the second wired communication I F 190 S1000 When a Linkup is detected Yes for S1000 the CPU 110 cuts off 1 e Linkdown the existing connection S020 Here the existing connection is the connection between the network attached storage NAS and a terminal that are interconnected via the first wired communication I F 180 The cutoff of the connection makes it possible to prevent an extraneous interrupt process during a setting process pre venting the processing speed from deteriorating and an abnor mal ending of the setting process 0113 Then the CPU 110 executes a temporary connec tion preparation process S030 The temporary connection preparation process enables a temporary connection setting process quickly after connection to the designated terminal Then the accepting unit 112 determines presence absence of arequest for connection from the designated terminal S050 If there is no request for connection from the designated terminal No for S050 the accepting unit 112 waits for a request for connection from the designated terminal until a predetermined period of time elapses No for S060 Here when the predetermined period elapses Yes for S060 the CPU 110 executes the connection recovery process S140 returns to communications using the first wired communica tion I F 180 that is the existing connection S1020 and ends the simple setting process The endi
32. nating the access point AP as the DGW S100 and S110 This process enables the access point AP to transmit setting information even in communications via a connection by directly speci fying the IP address instead of performing a name solution using a DNS A user is allowed to simply connect to the access point AP by using the above described DNS disguising pro cess and IP address disguising process even if the user has no high level of knowledge about the network 0102 Further the user is allowed to simply obtain and input setting information by using the Web browser 211 to connect from the designated terminal TE1 to the access point AP and by transmitting the setting information from the Web server of the settings information transmission unit 1140 included in the access point AP to the Web browser 211 by a format that can be displayed thereon 0103 Further the user s operation of the simple setting button 170 is used as a predetermined starting event and thereby it is possible to recognize the user s starting the process and smoothly perform the subsequent operations 0104 Further the connection is cut off when a predeter mined period of time elapses after transitioning to the con nection standby state S060 This configuration limits the time of an open connection state to a predetermined period making it possible to enhance the security 0105 Further the above described access point AP is con figured so that the dist
33. ng ofthe process when the predetermined period elapses prevents the normal function as the network attached storage NAS from stopping for an extended period of time 0114 Tf there is a request for connection from the desig nated terminal Yes for S050 the distributing unit 118 per forms the temporary connection setting process S070 The temporary connection setting process enables IP communi cations between the network attached storage NAS and the designated terminal and enables a DNS disguising process and an IP address disguising process these are described later The accepting unit 112 determines whether there is a DNS request from the designated terminal S080 The des tination of the DNS inquiry of the designated terminal is designated as the IP address of the network attached storage NAS by the aforementioned temporary connection setting process S070 Therefore when the designated terminal makes a name resolving request for the domain name it inquires of the network attached storage NAS 10115 Ifthe accepting unit 112 accepts a name resolving request from the designated terminal Yes for S080 the DNS disguising unit 1141 of the network attached storage NAS performs a DNS disguising process that is notifies the des ignated terminal of the IP address of the network attached storage NAS itself instead of the IP address of an original connecting destination to which the designated terminal pri marily tries to connect S
34. ng unit and a non relay mode in which said switching unit does not actuate said relay unit and does not actuate said distributing unit wherein when said starting event is generated said distribution control unit actuates said distributing unit irrespective of the state of switching by the switching unit between the relay mode and the non relay mode May 23 2013 8 The self network device according to claim 1 wherein if said accepting unit has accepted from the terminal an access request designating the IP address of said self network device as the addressee said notifying unit provides data held by said self network device to the terminal 9 The self network device according to claim 1 further comprising a user operable operating unit said operating unit for generating said starting event according to a predeter mined operation 10 The self network device according to claim 1 compris ing a relay unit for relaying packets transmitted received between a terminal connected to a predetermined net work and an apparatus connected to another network different from the predetermined network and a switching unit for switching said self network device between a relay mode in which said switching unit actu ates said relay unit together with said distributing unit and a non relay mode in which said switching unit does not actuate said relay unit and does not actuate said distributing unit wherein when said starting event is gene
35. nload request is transmitted by a user giving an instruction to approve a down load on a download confirmation screen displayed on the display of the designated terminal TE1 In step S440 if a download request is not received No for S440 the CPU 110 stands by to receive it until a predetermined limit period of time elapses S450 If the limit time elapses without receiv ing a download request Yes for S450 the CPU ends the setting process It will be appreciated that the above described steps S430 through S450 may be eliminated 0084 In contrast if a download request is received Yes for 5440 the CPU 110 executes a setting information trans mission process as a process by the settings information transmission unit 1140 S460 The setting information trans mission process is for transmitting setting information to the designated terminal TE1 The process is performed in accor dance with the kind of the OS operating on the designated terminal TE1 Thus the setting process ends 0085 The setting information transmission process the aforementioned S460 is described here In the setting infor mation transmission process different processes are executed dependently on the kind ofthe OS operating on the designated terminal TE1 The process may be categorized into a first setting information transmission process and a second setting information transmission process The first setting informa tion transmission process is executed in
36. nnected to Internet INT via the router RT In the present embodiment the access point AP supports a process termed a connection settings process below of readily furnishing the wireless terminal TE with settings information including encryption settings and authentication information for car rying out communications secured at a predetermined level 0040 The access point AP includes a simple setting button 170 as an operation unit The simple setting button 170 is for use in giving a starting instruction of a connection setting process to the access point AP 0041 Tnthe present embodiment the wireless terminal TE is a general purpose mobile telephone furnished with a dis play and a wireless communications interface It should be understood that the category of device as the wireless termi nal TE is not particularly limited It is sufficient that the wireless terminal TE be furnished with a display and a wire less communications interface the terminal may be for example a personal computer a personal digital assistant PDA a portable game console etc 0042 The access point AP may be made capable of switching between operative and inoperative a router func tion thereof that relays communications between two net works In this case if a router RT exists on the Internet INT side i e on the wide area network WAN side the router function is switched off In contrast if no router function exists the router function RT
37. no access has been made No for S120 the CPU 110 shifts the process to step S060 0075 The setting process the aforementioned S130 is described here FIG 8 shows the procedural flows of the setting process As described above the starting ofthe setting process means that a user uses a vvireless terminal TE to perform an operation to connect it to the access point AP i e a virtual port by using a VVeb brovvser 211 so that vvireless terminal TE transmits an HTTP request Accordingly the CPU 110 first executes the process of assuming whether the HTTP request has been transmitted on the basis of an opera tion of a user having the right authority such user is also called legitimate user hereinafter 0076 Specifically when the setting process is started as shown in FIG 8 the CPU 110 determines whether there is only one designated terminal TE1 that has established a con nection relationship with the access point AP within a prede termined period of time since the above described limitation release time S410 The predetermined period of time may be set as the same period as the limit time of the above described step 060 or set shorter than the limit time of the above described step 060 Note that the CPU 110 may stand by until the predetermined period elapses in a case where it has not elapsed 0077 In step S410 if there are two or more designated terminals TE1 that have connected to the access point AP No for 5410
38. nting procedural flows of a second settings information transmission process in the configuration process 0036 FIG 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a simplified configuration of a network attached storage NAS as a second embodiment of the network device and 0037 FIG 12 is a flowchart representing procedural flows ofa simple settings process executed by the network attached storage NAS US 2013 0132576 Al DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A First Embodiment A 1 Configurational Outline of Network System 21 0038 FIG 1 represents one example of the configura tional outline of a network system 21 built using an access point AP as a network device The present embodiment is configured so that the network system 21 is built using a wireless local area network LAN in compliance with IEEE802 11 As shown in FIG 1 the network system 21 includes an access point AP and a wireless terminal TE Further the access point AP is connected to a router RT provided with a broadband router function via a wired cable such as an Ethernet registered trademark cable and is con nected to the Internet INT It will be appreciated that there may be a plurality of wireless terminals TE in the network system 21 A plurality of wireless terminals TE is connectible to Internet INT simultaneously via the access point AP 0039 The access point AP relays wireless communica tions from the wireless terminal TE The access point AP is co
39. ocess S140 when completing the setting process S130 0096 Here the connection recovery process S140 is described with reference to FIG 7 In the connection recovery process the CPU 110 performs a process to end the Web server function of the settings information transmission unit 1140 S290 The process makes it possible to reduce a load on the CPU 110 Then the CPU 110 ends the DHCP server 1180 S300 Having been actuated in the temporary connec tion preparation process the DHCP server 1180 is used for temporarily assigning an IP address to a terminal for perform ing the connection Further in order to perform a DNS dis guising process and an IP address disguising process the DHCP server 1180 perform a process for setting the access point AP as a DNS server and a DGW to the terminal If the DHCP server 1180 is continuously set to be operative a situation may arise in which a connection to the DNS server and the DGW is disabled the connection that must primarily be enabled In order to prevent such situation the DHCP server 1180 is ended to be re actuated on an as required basis 0097 Then the DNS disguising process and the IP address disguising process are ended S310 and so is the connection recovery process 0098 Referring to FIG 4 after the connection recovery process S410 the limit recovery unit 115 erases the connec May 23 2013 tion setting use ESSID S150 The limiting of connection with a wireless te
40. om munication I F 160 is controlled by the wireless communica tions unit 111 of the CPU 110 0048 The simple setting button 170 is a button for a user to give the access point AP an instruction to start a connection US 2013 0132576 Al setting process It will be appreciated that an interface for accepting an instruction to start the connection setting pro cess from the user is not limited to a button Such interface may be for example a graphic user interface GUI provided that the access point AP has a display Alternatively the interface may be a contact type or noncontact type integrated circuit IC card or means that uses an infrared communica tion That is the interface may be confieured as input means that allows the user to directly give the access point AP an instruction to start a connection setting process in the mode of the user directly touching or that of short range communica tions from nearby the access point AP Such configuration makes it possible to prevent an ill intentioned third party from giving the access point AP an instruction to start a connection setting process against the intent of the user of the access point AP From this viewpoint shorter ranges over which an instruction to start the connection settings process can be given to the access point AP are the more desirable The aforementioned range is for example desirably within 10 m from the access point AP and more desirably within 5 m and furthe
41. ommunications using HTTP with a Web server program operating on an external electronic device via the wireless communication I F 240 inresponse to a user input to the operation unit 260 Then the Web browser 211 displays the obtained data on the display unit 250 Further a DNS client 212 that is a program executed by the CPU 210 transmits a name resolving request to a DNS server via the wireless communication I F 240 and receives from the DNS server an IP address corresponding to the host name and the domain name 0058 Meanwhile when the wireless communication I F 240 establishes communication on a data link layer a DHCP client 213 that is a program executed by the CPU 210 broad casts a DHCP discovery packet and receives a DHCP provi sion packet from a DHCP server 1180 existing on the net work Then the DHCP client 213 transmits a DHCP request packet and receives a DHCP acknowledgement packet from the DHCP server 1180 Thereafter in response to information transmitted from the DHCP server 1180 the DHCP client 213 sets the IP address the DGW and the DNS server A 4 Connection Setting Process 0059 A connection setting process executed at an access point AP is described here The connection setting process is performed by an access point AP to provide a wireless termi nal TE with setting information for carrying out wireless communications in a network system 21 with a predeter mined level of security FIG 4 shows procedural flow
42. ow the ESSID that the access point AP is configured with that is to wireless ter minals TE in which the same ESSID as the ESSID that the access point AP is configured with has been set 0050 The wireless communications unit 111 controls communications with a wireless terminal TE connected to the access point AP that are carried out by radio The accepting unit 112 carries out acceptance of packets transmitted from the wireless terminal TE The restriction release unit 113 in instances where the wireless terminals TE able to connect to the access point AP are restricted controls the wireless com munications unit 111 to momentarily enable connection access regardless of the wireless terminal TE it is from In instances where connection access to the access point AP regardless of the wireless terminal TE it is from has been rendered possible by the restriction releasing unit 113 the restriction restoring unit 115 reverts back to a state in which originally connectible wireless terminals TE are restricted When a connection has been established between the access point AP and a single wireless terminal TE the prohibiting May 23 2013 unit 116 prohibits another wireless terminal TE from newly establishing a connection with the access point AP 0051 The notifying unit 114 functions as a settings infor mation transmission unit 1140 a domain name system DNS disguising unit 1141 and an P address disguising unit 1142 The settings in
43. pable of interactively communicating with a wireless terminal or a wired terminal connected to the access point AP the device such as a telnet server and a secure shell SSH server In this case a program operating on a terminal connected to the network device may use a telnet client or an SSH client in place of the Web browser 211 C 4 Modification Example 4 0121 A network device is also applicable to a system for monitoring power consumption in a home using the network device and reporting the monitoring result to a terminal In this case the network device can be connected via a network or a dedicated bus to an apparatus such as a power distribu tion board the apparatus that is provided with functionality of a power consumption monitor and that is capable of manag ing a power usage state The aforementioned network device is capable of obtaining power usage information from the aforementioned apparatus capable of managing the power usage state Here the power usage information may be obtained in response to the above described predetermined starting event or periodically at predetermined temporal intervals The case of obtaining the power usage information in response to the predetermined starting event makes it pos sible to obtain the information with high real time respon siveness The case of pre obtaining the power usage informa tion at the predetermined temporal intervals shortens the processing time between the predeter
44. r desirably within 1 m The most desirable configura tion ofthe range is zero meters 0 m that is a configuration with which the user is allowed to give the access point AP an instruction to start the connection setting process only when the user touches the access point AP 100491 The access point AP is able to perform vvireless communications in a restricted state A restricted state is a state in which a wireless terminal TE connecting to the access point AP is restricted Restriction on a connecting vvireless terminal TE can be implemented in a variety of forms Once a vvireless terminal TE has been restricted in some vvay the access point AP can be said to be in a restricted state In the present embodiment the vvireless communications unit 111 has as functionality for restricting a connecting vvireless ter minal TE an ANY connection refusal function and a service set identifier SSID concealment function The ANY con nection refusal function is a function that refuses a connection request from a wireless terminal TE in which the SSID is blank or that has been configured as ANY The SSID con cealment function is a function according to which SSIDs herein extended service set identifiers ESSIDs are not contained in the beacons periodically transmitted from the access point AP By means of these functions wireless termi nals TE connecting to the access point AP are limited to wireless terminals TE of users who kn
45. ransmitted to the wireless terminal TE and is executed thereon Connec tion settings software 131 is prepared per category of operat ing system OS in advance consideration of a plurality of OSs possibly used for wireless terminals TE Such OSs include for example iOS Android registered trademark of Google Inc and Windows registered trademark of Microsoft Corp It will be appreciated that the OS cat egory may include a concept comprehending differences among versions of an OS Further information 132 for dis playing webpages is recorded on the flash ROM 130 The webpage display information 132 is used to display in a Web browser a settings screen used for variously setting the access point AP The webpage display information 132 is transmit ted by a later described settings information transmission unit 1140 that is one function of the notifying unit 114 to a Web browser 211 on the wireless terminal TE and is used for displaying the setting screen of the access point AP 0047 The WAN interface I F 150 is an interface for connecting the access point AP to an external network by way ofa fixed line In the network system 21 shown in FIG 1 the WAN TF 150 is connected to the LAN side of the router RT The wireless communication I F 160 is a control circuit for carrying out wireless communications in compliance with a wireless LAN standard and includes hardware such as a modulator an amplifier and an antenna The wireless c
46. rated said distribution control unit actuates said distributing unit irrespective of the state of switching by the switching unit between the relay mode and the non relay mode 11 A method of controlling a self network device used connected to a network said self network device control method comprising said self network device assigning based on the generation of a predetermined starting event an IP address to a terminal being another network device connected to said self network device and distributing the IP address to the terminal said self network device accepting from the terminal an access request for accessing any given other network device and said self network device when having accepted the access request notifying the terminal of information for accessing said self network device regardless of the content of the access request 12 A computer readable non volatile recording medium on which is recorded a program for controlling a self network device used connected to a network the program for causing the self network device to execute a distribution step of assigning based on the generation of a predetermined starting event an IP address to a termi nal being another network device connected to said self network device and distributing the assigned IP address to the terminal an accepting step of accepting from the terminal an access request for accessing any given other network device and a notificatio
47. ribution control unit 120 temporarily switches the functionality of the distributing unit 118 to be operative in the temporary connection preparation process S030 even when operating in the non relay mode in which the functionality of the relay unit 119 is switched to be inop erative by the switching unit 117 to thereby switch the func tionality of the distributing unit 118 to be inoperative This configuration facilitates an access to the access point AP by the functionality of the distributing unit 118 as those of the DHCP server 1180 and DGW unit 1181 the functionality of US 2013 0132576 Al the DNS disguising unit 1141 and that of the IP address disguising unit 1142 executing the processes in steps S050 through S100 With this it is possible to simplify the setting to be carried out by the user for performing the process of setting between a wireless terminal TE and the access point AP in step S130 0106 The access point AP is configured so as to allow the user to press the simple setting button 170 to change the access point AP 1 e the virtual port to a non connection state and then operate the vvireless terminal TE to establish a connection relationship betvveen the designated terminal TE1 and the access point AP Furthermore the user is allovved to set setting information to the designated terminal TE1 just by performing an operation to access any given URL using the VVeb brovvser 211 That is the user even vvith an insuff
48. rminal TE using an open connection use ESSID to a predetermined period of time makes it possible to enhance the security of the connection A 5 Advantages 0099 With the above described access point AP the func tionality of the distributing unit 118 is switched to be opera tive in accordance with an operation on the simple setting button 170 Further IP communications are enabled by dis tributing an IP address to a designated terminal TE1 to which the DHCP server 1180 of the distributing unit 118 is con nected Further the DHCP server 1180 transmits to the ter minal information for designating the access point AP as an inquiry destination for a DNS and as a DG W thereby allow ing the user to set the inquiry destination for a DNS and the DGW to the designated terminal TE1 even if the user is not specifically conscious 0100 Having received an inquiry about a DNS from the designated terminal TE1 the access point AP responds to the inquiry with the IP address of the access point AP itself regardless of the domain name designated by the inquiry refer to S080 and S090 shown in FIG 4 This process makes it possible to guide to the access point AP a Web browser accessing a server on Internet INT using a DNS 0101 Further the settings information transmission unit 1140 responds to a terminal by feigning a response from the requested connecting destination the terminal trying to access from the designated terminal TE1 by desig
49. rocess S030 With the temporary connection preparation process a temporary connection is enabled for performing a connection setting process The temporary connection preparation process S030 is described with reference to FIG 5 0064 In the temporary connection preparation process the distribution control unit 120 sets the distributing unit 118 US 2013 0132576 A1 to be operative This vvill actuate the DHCP server 1180 S210 The DHCP server 1180 makes it possible to set an IP address to a vvireless terminal TE with which a vvireless connection is established This enables IP communications between the access point AP and the wireless terminal TE with which the wireless connection is established Further the functionality of the DHCP server 1180 makes it possible to distribute setting information for specifying a DNS server to the wireless terminal TE with which the wireless connec tion is established Furthermore the functionality of the DHCP server 1180 makes it possible to distribute setting information for designating a DGW to the wireless terminal with which the wireless connection is established 0065 Next the CPU 110 actuates a DNS disguising func tion S220 The reason is that it is necessary to actuate the Tunction before performing a DNS disguising process in steps S080 through S090 Then the CPU 110 actuates an IP address disguising function The reason is that it is necessary to actu ate the function before per
50. s of the connection setting process 100601 1 Cutting Off Existing Connection 0061 In the connection setting process when the CPU 110 included in the access point AP detects pressing of the simple setting button 170 as a process by the accepting unit 112 Yes for step S010 also simply noted S010 hereinaf ter the CPU 110 executes an existing connection cutoff process S020 to cut off all connections including the exist ing wireless connections including an IP communication connection associated with the cutoff of the wireless connec tion established between the access point AP and the wire less terminal TE as well as the IP communication connection between the access point AP and the router RT Ifthe CPU 110 detects no pressing of the simple setting button 170 No for 010 it ends the process Once cutting off of the existing wireless connections with the wireless terminal TE newly establishing of a wireless connection with a predetermined wireless terminal s TE and transmitting of information such as an IP address from the DHCP server 1180 make it possible to accomplish the purpose ofa connection setting process that facilitates transmitting receiving of information between the access point AP and a wireless terminal TE with which the wireless connection is established 0062 2 Establishment of New Connection with Desig nated Terminal TE1 0063 After step S020 the CPU 110 performs a temporary connection preparation p
51. ssume whether a designated terminal TE1 is a legitimate user s or an illegitimate user s on the basis of the response speed of wireless communication instead of or in addition to the RSSI For example the CPU 110 may assume a designated terminal TE1 with the response speed being lower than the specified value to be an illegitimate user s An illegitimate user is usually outside a room where the access point AP is disposed and therefore the communications between the designated terminal TE1 of the illegitimate user and the access point AP are performed across a wall of the room and thus the response speed is reduced 0080 In step S420 if the RSSI is less than the specified value No for S420 the designated terminal TE1 connected to the access point AP is possibly an illegitimate user s Accordingly the CPU 110 ends the setting process That is the CPU 110 transmits no setting information to the desig nated terminal TE1 with the RSSI being lower than the speci fied value among the designated terminal TE1 connected to the access point AP This configuration makes it possible to restrict provision of the setting information to the designated terminal TE1 of an illegitimate user enabling securing of the security 0081 Incontrast ifthe RSSI is equal to or greater than the specified value Yes for S420 the CPU 110 transmits a Web page to the designated terminal TE1 by a process of the settings information transmission unit 11
52. t and a recording US 2013 0132576 Al medium on which the aforementioned program is recorded in addition to the netvvork device VVhat is claimed is 1 A self network device for use connected to a network said self netvvork device comprising a distributing unit for assigning an IP address to a terminal being another non self netvvork device connected to the self network device and distributing the assigned IP address to the terminal and for notifying the terminal to transmit all access requests to said self network device a distribution control unit for actuating said distributing unit based on the generation of a predetermined starting event an accepting unit for accepting any given access request from the terminal and a notifying unit for if said accepting unit has accepted a given access request from the terminal after said distrib uting unit has been actuated notifying the terminal of information for accessing said self network device regardless of the content of the given access request 2 The self network device according to claim 1 wherein if said accepting unit has accepted a name resolving request from the requesting terminal as the given access request said notifying unit notifies the terminal of information including the IP address of said self network device as said accessing information 3 The self network device according to claim 1 wherein if said accepting unit has accepted from the terminal an access
53. t AP Settings Infor mation 0071 Whenaname resolving request from the designated terminal TE1 is accepted at the access point AP via the virtual port Yes for S080 after the temporary connection setting process S070 the DNS disguising unit 1141 performs a DNS disguising process S090 Here the DNS disguising process is for notifying of the IP address of the access point AP itself instead of the IP address of an apparatus at the connecting destination when the designated terminal TE1 uses the domain name to inquire of the access point AP about the IP address of the apparatus at the connecting destination With this functionality the designated terminal TE1 is enabled to obtain from the access point AP information held by the access point AP by using the functionality asa common DNS client 212 After the DNS disguising process S090 the CPU 110 shifts the process to step S100 In contrast if no name resolving request is made from the designated terminal No for S080 the CPU 110 shifts the process directly to step S100 0072 In step S100 the IP address disguising unit 1142 determines whether an IP address is designated for a packet received from the designated terminal TE1 the IP address requiring access to the WAN side by way of the access point AP itself that is the DGW If determining that the access is to becarried out with the access point AP itself as the DGW Yes for S100 the IP address disguising unit 1142 feigns
54. the IP address to impersonate the originally designated connecting destination by using the IP address so that the access point AP responds S110 Then the IP address disguising unit 1142 shifts the process to step 5120 In contrast if determining that a packet designating the access point as the DGW is not transmitted froma wireless terminal TE No for S100 that is if a direct access is carried out with the IP address of the US 2013 0132576 Al access point AP designated the IP address disguising unit 1142 shifts the process directly to step S120 without ezecut ing the process of step S110 0073 In step S120 the accepting unit 112 determines whether there has been an access from the designated termi nal TE1 that has established a connection relationship with the access point AP S120 For example after a wireless terminal TE establishes a connection relationship with the virtual port the user of the wireless terminal TE uses a Web browser 211 to operate the terminal for connection to a given Uniform Resource Locator URL the Web browser installed in the wireless terminal TE In this case the wireless terminal TE accesses the access point AP that is transmits an HTTP reguest thereto 100741 Instep S120 ifan access is made Yes for S120 the CPU 110 executes a setting process to add the setting infor mation to the designated terminal TE1 that has made the access S130 The setting process is described in detail later If
55. the access point AP instead of the designated terminal TE1 of a legitimate user being connected to the access point AP 0079 Accordingly the CPU 110 determines whether a received signal strength indicator RSST of the designated terminal TE1 that has connected to the access point AP is equal to or greater than a specified value S420 in order to more accurately assume the legitimacy of the user of the designated terminal TE1 A legitimate user is one who has actually pressed the simple setting button 170 of the access point AP and therefore the user must be close to it Therefore the designated terminal TE1 of the legitimate user must be closer to the access point AP than is the designated terminal TE1 of an illegitimate user who has connected to the access point AP from outside As a result the RSSI of the designated terminal TE1 of the legitimate user is higher than the RSSI of the designated terminal TE1 of the illegitimate user Accord ingly the specified value of the RSSI in step 420 is set at a level that would not normally be detected unless a designated terminal TE1 is located closely to the access point AP and thereby it is possible to correctly assume that a designated terminal TE1 with the RSSI being equal to or greater than a specified value is a legitimate user s and that a designated terminal TE1 with the RSSI being less than the specified value is an illegitimate user s It will be appreciated that it is possible to a
56. the access point AP the user will be able to find the access point AP easily on the display list User con venience is improved as a result Thus it is desirable to set the post change ESSID to a value whereby it is placed in an upper level on the display list A 3 Configurational Outline of Wireless Terminal TE 0056 FIG 3 shows the outline configuration of a wireless terminal TE Referring to FIG 3 the wireless terminal TE includes as hardware a CPU 210 a storage medium 220 RAM 230 a wireless communication I F 240 a display unit 250 and an operation unit 260 The CPU 210 develops a program on the RAM 230 the program stored on the storage medium 220 and executes the program thereby controlling the entire operation of the wireless terminal TE Here the storage medium 220 comprehends for example a magnetic storage medium such as a hard disk drive and a semicon ductor non volatile storage medium such as a solid state drive SSD The display unit 250 is for example a display and a graphic chip and displays a screen for prompting a user operation by means of a graphic user interface GUI and a result of processing of the CPU 210 The operation unit 260 accepts a user input and transmits the input information to the May 23 2013 CPU 210 The operation unit 260 comprehends for example a key board a mouse and a touch panel 100571 A Web browser 211 that is a program executed by the CPU 210 obtains data by performing c
57. the wireless communications I F 160 in accordance with a routing table The switching unit 117 has functionality to switch the access point AP between a relay mode in which the functioning of the relay unit 119 is ren dered operative and at the same time the functioning of the distributing unit 118 is rendered operative and a non relay mode in which the relay unit 119 functioning is rendered inoperative and the distributing unit 118 functioning is ren US 2013 0132576 Al dered inoperative Herein the relay mode is equivalent to the case of the just described router function being switched on while the non relay mode is equivalent to the case of the just described router function being switched off In the present embodiment because a router RT is connected to the access point AP the switching unit 117 puts the access point into non relay mode The distribution control unit 120 con trols the distributing unit 118 to render the functioning of the distributing unit 118 operative or inoperative regardless of switchover state by the switching unit 117 0054 The access point AP supports the multiple SSIDs That is the access point AP enables a single physical access point AP to operate as a virtual access point that is a plurality of logical access points With the access point AP SSIDs may be established on a per virtual access point basis Such access points are termed virtual ports in the present speci fication If the CPU 110 d
58. there is a possibility of the wireless terminal TE of a user establishing a connection relationship with the access point AP the user other than the legitimate user that is the user with no right authority such user is also called illegiti mate user hereinafter Accordingly the CPU 110 ends the setting process That is the CPU 110 transmits none of the setting information to any designated terminal TE1 that has connected to the access point AP This configuration makes it possible to restrict provision of any setting information to the designated terminal TE1 of an illegitimate user 0078 In contrast if there is only one designated terminal TE1 that has connected to the access point AP Yes for S410 the connection is assumed to be performed on the basis of the operation of a legitimate user the user who has pressed the simple setting button 170 of the access point AP The reason is that the user who has pressed the simple setting button 170 of the access point AP will of course connect thereto There fore the fact that there is one designated terminal TE1 that has connected to the access point AP can be defined as a condition for assuming the legitimacy of the user of a designated ter May 23 2013 minal TE1 Even in a case where there is only one designated terminal TE1 that has connected to the access point AP how ever there is a small possibility that the designated terminal TE1 of an illegitimate user has connected to
59. tion of a user s intention to start an IP con nection is made possible 0022 A network device involving the present invention is furnished with a relay unit for relaying packets transmitted received between a terminal connected to a predetermined network and an apparatus connected to another network dif ferent from the predetermined network and a switching unit that carries out a switching process whereby a relay mode in which the relay unit is actuated and also the distributing unit is actuated is switched with a non relay mode in which the relay unit is not actuated nor is the distributing unit actuated wherein the distribution control unit actuates the distributing unit when a starting event is generated regardless of the switching status of the relay mode and the non relay mode according to the switching unit 0023 In a case where a network device has such mode switchover function a so called router bridge switchover function neither the network device nor a terminal within the LAN is able to figure out the IP address of each other making it impossible to perform IP communications between them when the mode switching function is changed to a non relay mode a bridge mode in which no packets are relayed between different networks The network device according to the present invention is however configured so that the dis tribution control unit sets at least the functionality of the distributing unit to be operative regardl
60. to a virtual port YES s an IP address requiring accessing via DGVV specified Responding to designated P address by Teigning transmission origin impersonating designated destination S120 s there an access request from the designated terminal S130 S140 Connection Recovery Process S150 Changing back ESS D Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 5 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 FIG 5 Temporary Gonnection Preparation Process S210 Starting DHCP server function S220 Starting DNS disguising function S230 Starting IP address disguising function S240 Starting Web server function Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 6 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 FIG 6 Temporary Connection Setting Process Generating designated terminal use IP address information 250 S260 Transmitting the designated terminal use IP address information S270 Transmitting DNS server information to designated terminal S280 Transmitting DGVV information to designated terminal Patent Application Publication May 23 2013 Sheet 7 of 12 US 2013 0132576 A1 FIG 7 Connection Recovery Process Ending Web server function Ending DHCP server function Ending disguising function US 2013 0132576 A1 May 23 2013 Sheet 8 of 12 Patent Application Publication pe3eusisep euin yu SeH 9u Jo SQ 0 3uipuodse 400 sseooJg n SSeo04g uoissiussueJ
61. to access the network access point
62. trator of the network attached storage NAS Then when the user carries out an operation to end the initial set ting the CPU 110 of the netvvork attached storage NAS executes the connection recovery process S140 to restart the existing connection S1030 and ends the simple setting pro cess Note that the operation to end the initial setting compre hends for example an operation to close the VVeb brovvser screen an operation to select a setting complete icon dis played in the VVeb brovvser screen and an operation to disen gage a physical connection betvveen the designated terminal and the second vvired communication I F 190 101171 As described above the second embodiment makes it possible to perform a simple setting by using as a trigger the physical connection i e a linkup between a designated terminal and a second wired communication I F 190 that is the specific port for setting As such utilization of a charac teristic that is a wired connection further simplifies the work as much as the elimination of a button operation It will be appreciated that the benefit of needing no specific software and the like is the same as with the first embodiment C Modification Examples C 1 Modification Example 1 0118 A network device has been described as an access point AP in the first embodiment and as a network attached storage NAS in the second embodiment whereas it may certainly be another kind of apparatus that is provided
63. vent an accepting unit for accepting any given access request from the terminal and a notifying unit for when the accepting unit has accepted an access request from the terminal after the distrib May 23 2013 uting unit has been actuated notifying the terminal of infor mation for accessing said network device itself regardless of the content of the access request 0011 With the configuration described above when a pre determined starting event is generated the distribution con trol unit that the network device provides renders the func tionality of the distributing unit operative The distributing unit then distributes an IP address to a terminal that is another network device whereby an IP address is assigned to the terminal The distributing unit notifies the terminal having the IP address to transmit all access requests to the network device and therefore the accepting unit accepts any given access request from the terminal After an acceptance the notifying unit notifies the terminal of information for access ing the network device regardless of the content of the access request from the terminal According to the information with which it has been notified the terminal is able to comprehend the IP address and related information for accessing the net work device As described above the network device assigns an IP address to the terminal and thus comprehends the IP address of the terminal Therefore the network device
64. with network connectivity It may be for example a camera a television TV and a TV tuner that are provided with net work connectivity Also such cases render benefits of a ter minal simply performing the IP connection to a network device and of the terminal setting operating and the like the network device C 2 Modification Example 2 0119 The connection between a network device and a terminal may be via a wired connection or a wireless connec tion If the network device is connected to a terminal via a wired connection the linkup between a setting specific port included in the network device and the terminal is handled as a predetermined starting event as described for the second embodiment and thereby a simple connection with a higher level of security can be realized Alternatively the predeter mined starting event may be for example the timing when a predetermined period elapses after actuating the network device In this case a starting event may be reported by a May 23 2013 light emitting diode LED or the like to facilitate an intuitive understanding of a starting event for the user C 3 Modification Example 3 0120 first and second embodiments are configured so that the settings information transmission unit 1140 includes a Web server as a part ofthe functionality Such functionality however is not limited to examples set forth in the present specification and rather may use any given device ca
65. work device and a notification step of when the access request has been accepted in the accepting step notifying the terminal of information for accessing the network device regardless of the content of the given access request BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0026 FIG 1 is an explanatory diagram representing a network system 21 built using an access point AP as a first embodiment of a network device 0027 FIG 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a sim plified configuration of the access point AP 0028 FIG 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a sim plified configuration of a wireless terminal TE 0029 FIG 4 is a flowchart representing procedural flows of a connection setting process executed by the access point AP 0030 FIG 5 is a flowchart representing procedural flows of a temporary connection preparation process in the connec tion setting process 0031 FIG 6 is a flowchart representing procedural flows of a temporary connection setting process in the connection setting process 0032 FIG 7 is a flowchart representing procedural flows of a connection recovery process in the connection setting process 0033 FIG 8 is a flowchart representing procedural flows of a configuration process in the connection setting process 0034 FIG 9 is a flowchart representing procedural flows of a first settings information transmission process in the configuration process 0035 FIG 10 is a flowchart represe

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