Patent ID: 7542434
Filing Date: 2009-06-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A communication apparatus constituting one node having a layered structure consisting of at least a first lower layer having a first register, a first upper layer that manages the first lower layer and a second upper layer that manages a second lower layer of a specific dominated node connected to a network, wherein an operation of the first lower layer is controlled by data stored in the first register, the apparatus comprising: a communication device included in the lower layer of said node that transmits/receives a signal to/from another node which is connected to the network and generates a first instruction and a second instruction; a first generating device included in the upper layer that generates a first control signal in accordance with the first instruction received from said another node via the network; a first writing device that writes the first control signal to the first register to control the operation of the first lower layer; a management information reading device that reads management information representing management status of a dominated node stored in the dominated node connected via the network; and a management information writing device that writes identification information of the one node into a storage area of the management information in the dominated node via the network when the management information does not include identification information of other dominating node, and when the identification information of the one node is written into the dominated node as a part of the management information, the communication apparatus operates as a proxy of the specific dominated node, and the communication apparatus further comprises: a second generating device included in the second upper layer that generates a second control signal for controlling the second lower layer of the specific dominated node in accordance with the second instruction received from said another node via the network; and a second writing device that writes the second control signal to a second register of the second lower layer of the specific dominated node via the network to control the operation of the second lower layer.