Patent ID: 7987279

Claim:
A control-relay apparatus that controls a device to be controlled, according to a control request received from a management device, the control-relay apparatus comprising: a processor, comprising: a request receiving part that receives, from the management device, control request data containing data indicating a condition that a device to be controlled should satisfy, and data indicating contents of control with respect to a device that satisfies the condition, and stores the control request data in a recording part accessible from the control-relay apparatus in a state where the condition and the contents of control are associated with each other; an information obtaining part that obtains device data relating to a state or a property of a device communicable with the control-relay apparatus; and a device control part that, when the state or the property of the device indicated by the device data obtained by the information obtaining part satisfies the condition indicated by the control request data recorded in the recording part, performs control with respect to the device indicated by the device data, the control including the contents of control associated with the condition indicated by the control request data wherein the information obtaining part obtains data indicating a communication format of a device communicable with the control-relay apparatus and records the data in association with the device in the recording part, the control-relay apparatus further comprising: a converting part that, when a state or a property of the device indicated by the device data obtained by the information obtaining part satisfies the condition indicated by the control request data recorded in the recording part, determines a communication format for the device satisfying the condition by referring to the recording part, and converts the contents of control indicated by the control request data to contents in conformity with the communication format, wherein with respect to the device satisfying the condition, the device control part executes the control indicated by the control request data converted by the converting part.