Patent ID: 6781988
Filing Date: 2004-08-24
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A monitoring system comprising:a monitoring apparatus monitoring a plurality of apparatuses; each of the monitoring apparatus and the apparatuses to be monitored having an address holding unit which holds a group address of a group to which each apparatus belongs; a data frame to be transmitted between the monitoring apparatus and the apparatuses to be monitored having an identifier which specifies a communication between two apparatuses or group broadcast, the data frame being provided with a group address when the identifier specifies the group broadcast, wherein the address holding unit in each of the apparatuses to be monitored is capable of setting at any time a group address to which the associated apparatus to be monitored belongs; wherein display data is prepared for displaying, selectively, on a display device, a plurality of different connection relations among the monitoring apparatus and the apparatuses to be monitored, and for each of the thus-prepared display data of the plurality of different connection relations, monitoring range data is produced for defining a monitoring range of the respective apparatuses to be monitored, said monitoring range data being held in a monitoring range holding unit of the monitoring apparatus; and wherein a selection is made to display a disaccord notice on the display when the data frame is provided with the group address and a transmitter address identifying an apparatus to be monitored that transmitted the data frame, and the transmitting apparatus to be monitored is not defined in the monitoring range data.