Patent ID: 7340243

Claim:
A connection information management system for managing connection information used in communications among IC cards, wherein each IC card comprises: a first notification unit configured to notify another IC card of the ID of the IC card and connection information of a terminal device having the IC card connected thereto; an acceptance unit configured to accept notification concerning the ID of the another IC card and connection information of a terminal device having the another IC card connected thereto from the another IC card; a second notification unit configured to notify a server of the ID and the connection information of the another IC card through a network after communication is terminated between the IC card and the another IC card; a request unit configured to request from the server, connection information of a terminal device having the another IC card connected thereto while specifying the ID of the another IC card prior to establishing data communication between the IC card and the another IC card; and an acquisition unit configured to acquire the requested connection information from the server, and wherein the server comprises: an acceptance unit configured to accept notification of the ID and the connection information of the another IC card; a database configured to store the accepted ID and connection information of the another IC card while associating the ID and the connection information with each other; a search unit configured to search the connection information stored in the database for the connection information corresponding to the ID specified by the request from the requesting IC card; and a notification unit configured to notify the requesting IC card of the search acquired connection information.