Patent ID: 7464157

Claim:
An information transfer system comprising: an electrical-equipment communication apparatus operable to communicate with electrical equipment; and an information communication apparatus communicably connected, via a network, to the electrical-equipment communication apparatus, wherein the electrical-equipment communication apparatus includes a transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving information, via the network, to and from the information communication apparatus, wherein the information communication apparatus includes: a transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving information, via the network, to and from the electrical-equipment communication apparatus; and a trigger generating means for generating a communication request trigger for requesting communication with the electrical-equipment communication apparatus, wherein the transmitting and receiving means of the electrical-equipment communication apparatus periodically transmits periodically-transmitted information including an address identifying a position, on the network, of the electrical-equipment communication apparatus, the address being sequentially switched, and the periodically-transmitted information being periodically transmitted to and received by the information communication apparatus based on a connectionless-type protocol, wherein, the transmitting and receiving means of the information communication apparatus receives the periodically-transmitted information, and when the communication request trigger is generated by the trigger generating means, transmits request information based on the connectionless-type protocol, to a transmission-origin address of the periodically-transmitted information, the request information indicating a request for obtaining, from the electrical-equipment communication apparatus, state information indicating a state of the electrical-equipment at a time when the communication request trigger is generated, wherein the transmitting and receiving means of the electrical-equipment communication apparatus receives the request information transmitted by the transmitting and receiving means of the information communication apparatus, and transmits request-confirmation information based on the connection-type protocol to the information communication apparatus, the request-confirmation information indicating the state of the electrical-equipment, and wherein the transmitting and receiving means of the information communication apparatus receives the request-confirmation information transmitted by the transmitting and receiving means of the electrical-equipment communication apparatus, and transmits the request-response information based on the connection-type protocol to the transmission-origin address of the request-confirmation information, the request-response information indicating a content of a control for the electrical-equipment included in the communication-request trigger generated by the trigger generating means.