Patent ID: 11962653
Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 13:
14. A device monitoring method performed in a network system, the network system having a plurality of devices, the plurality of devices including a first device and a second device, the first device and the second device being connected to a communication network, the device monitoring method comprising:
receiving a message addressed to the second device from the first device, the message being transmitted from the first device to the second device;
determining whether the message received from the first device contains a device control command that controls the second device;
determining whether or not to transmit the message to the second device based on a predetermined condition, in response to a determination result that the message contains the device control command; and
transmitting the message to the second device, in response to the predetermined condition being satisfied,
wherein the predetermined condition includes a first condition that the first device, that is a source of transmission of the message addressed to the second device, is registered as having a predetermined function in a device list, the device list containing information about whether or not each of the plurality of devices has the predetermined function,
the device monitoring method further comprises:
generating the device list based on a response message responding to a determination message transmitted to each of the plurality of devices, the determination message being for determining whether or not each of the plurality of devices has the predetermined function; and
updating the device list generated in the generating of the device list, and

the updating of the device list includes:
transmitting the determination message to each of the plurality of devices;
receiving the response message in response to each determination message;
determining whether or not a determination result indicating whether or not a device has the predetermined function based on the response message matches registration information of the device in the device list; and
updating a registration state of the device in the device list based on the determination result in response to the determination result not matching the registration information.