Patent ID: 7580704

Claim:
A communication system including a first and a second apparatuses communicating with each other over a first communication service, and a third and a fourth apparatuses communicating with each other over a second communication service, the communication system comprising: the first apparatus including a communication unit configured to communicate with the third apparatus via short-range communication, and to communicate with the second apparatus via the first communication service, a setup information obtaining unit configured to obtain setup information from the third apparatus used to connect with the third apparatus over the second communication service, and a connection request unit configured to send a connection request accompanied by the setup information received from the third apparatus to the second apparatus over the first communication service, to enable the fourth apparatus to connect to the third apparatus over the second communication service; the second apparatus including a communication unit configured to communicate with the fourth apparatus via short-range communication and to communicate with the first apparatus via the first communication service, a connection request unit configured to send the connection request accompanied by the setup information, received from the first apparatus to the fourth apparatus, to enable the fourth apparatus to connect to the third apparatus over the second communication service using the setup information; the third apparatus including a communication unit configured to communicate with the first apparatus via short-range communication, and to communicate with the fourth apparatus via the second communication service, and a setup information sending unit configured to send the setup information to the first apparatus in response to a request for obtaining the setup information from the first apparatus; and the fourth apparatus including a communication unit configured to communicate with the second apparatus via short-range communication, and to communicate with the third apparatus via the second communication service, and a connection processing unit configured to connect the fourth apparatus to the third apparatus over the second communication service upon receiving the connection request from the second apparatus and the setup information.