(51) Int Cl.: H04L 29/12 ( ) H04L 12/28 ( )

Transkript

1 (19) TEPZZ_89 9 8B_T (11) EP B1 (12) EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION (4) Date of publication and mention of the grant of the patent: Bulletin 1/12 (1) Int Cl.: H04L 29/12 (06.01) H04L 12/28 (06.01) (21) Application number: (22) Date of filing: (4) Remote management apparatus and method of setting IP address Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung und Verfahren zum Einrichten einer IP-Adresse Appareil de gestion à distance et procédé pour la configuration d une adresse IP (84) Designated Contracting States: DE GB IT NL () Priority: KR (43) Date of publication of application: Bulletin 08/09 (73) Proprietor: Samsung Techwin Co., Ltd Kyongsangnam-do (KR) (72) Inventor: Jang, Chuel-jin Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do (KR) (74) Representative: Cork, Robert Venner Shipley LLP 0 Aldersgate London EC1A 4HD (GB) (6) References cited: US-A US-A DROMS R: "AUTOMATED CONFIGURATION OF TCP/IP WITH DHCP" IEEE INTERNET COMPUTING, IEEE SERVICE CENTER, NEW YORK, NY, US, vol. 3, no. 4, 1999, pages 4-3, XP ISSN: EP B1 Note: Within nine months of the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to that patent, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations. Notice of opposition shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). Printed by Jouve, 7001 PARIS (FR)

2 1 EP B1 2 Description [0001] The present invention relates to a remote management apparatus and a method of setting an IP (Internet Protocol) address thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a remote management apparatus and a method of setting an IP address thereof that can automatically provide an IP address to a server when the server is detected. [0002] Recently, home network systems, in which a plurality of control devices are connected to networks installed in houses or buildings and the control devices are mutually controllable, have been increasingly utilized. Home network systems extend control regions of controllers by remotely controlling a plurality of control devices through terminals accessible to the Internet in places outside houses or buildings. [0003] A home network is a system in which various home devices are provided with respective separate communication functions, and can communicate with one another as well as connect to the Internet. A home network is capable of controlling major home devices such as refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, TV receivers, digital cameras, digital camcorders, and so forth, through the wired/wireless Internet. [0004] A monitoring system monitors images received from a home network system and a plurality of monitoring cameras, remotely controls home devices or surveillance cameras, and a display device that is mainly used as such a remote management device. In order to control the home devices, the display device should allocate respective IP addresses to the home devices. [000] However, in the conventional remote management device, an IP address should be allocated to each home device, and in the case of adding any home device to the system, the user should set the IP address of the added home device. This causes inconvenience to the user, and it is difficult for a user who uses the network for the first time to set the IP address of the home device. [0006] US 04/ discloses a method of allocating IP addresses and detecting duplication of IP addresses in an ad-hoc network environment. [0007] US 0/00148 discloses a home appliance network system comprising a home server and a plurality of home appliances. [0008] IEEE Internet Computing vol. 3, no. 4, 1999, pages 4-3 discloses automated configuration of TCP/IP with DHCP. [0009] The present invention provides a remote management apparatus and a method of setting an IP address thereof, which can automatically provide an IP address to a device constituting a network to control the device. [00] Additional objects and aspects of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. [0011] According to the invention, there is provided a remote management apparatus according to claim 1 and a method of setting an IP address according to claim 9. [0012] The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present invention may be achieved by providing a determination unit to determine whether an IP address of a server connected through a network coincides with an IP address intended to be used for communications with the server, and a control unit to perform an IP address mapping for the server and automatically allocate the mapped IP address to the server if the IP address of the server and the IP address intended to be used for communications with the server do not coincide with each other. [0013] The control unit may perform the mapping of last figures of IP addresses except the already used IP addresses among pre-allocated IP addresses in either an ascending order or a descending order. [0014] The control unit may allocate the mapped IP addresses to servers corresponding to received hello packets in the order of hello packet reception. [001] The remote management apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention may further include a transmission/reception unit to receive the hello packet from the server, transmitting data that includes IP address information allocated by the control unit to the server, and receiving an IP ACK that is a response to the transmitted data from the server. If the determination unit determines that the IP ACK has not been received, the control unit may control the transmission/reception unit to retransmit the data that includes the allocated IP address information to the server. [0016] The hello packet may include at least one of a server name, an IP address of a server, and state information of a server, and the determination unit may determine whether the IP address of the server has already been set to the IP address intended to be used for the communications with the server on the basis of state information of the server. If it is determined that the IP address of the server has already been set, the control unit may communicate with the server by using the set IP address of the server, without performing the IP mapping. [0017] The state information may be "1" in the case where the IP address of the server has been set, and "0" in the case where the IP address of the server has not been set. [0018] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention may also be achieved by a method of setting an IP address, which includes determining whether an IP address of a server connected through a network coincides with an IP address intended to be used for communications with the server, and performing an IP address mapping of the server and automatically allocating the mapped IP address to the server if the IP address of the server and the IP address intended to be used for communications with the server do not coincide with each other. [0019] The allocating may include performing the mapping of IP addresses except the already used IP address- 2

3 3 EP B1 4 es among pre-allocated IP addresses in either an ascending order or a descending order. [00] The allocating may include allocating the mapped IP addresses to servers corresponding to received hello packets in the order of hello packet reception. The method of setting an IP address according to embodiments of the present invention may further include receiving the hello packet from the server, transmitting data that includes IP address information allocated by the control unit to the server, and receiving an IP ACK that is a response to the transmitted data from the server. In this case, if the determination unit determines that the IP ACK has not been received, the allocating step may include re-transmitting the data that includes the allocated IP address information to the server through the receiving step. [0021] The hello packet may include at least one of a server name, an IP address of a server, and state information of a server, and the determining step may include determining whether the IP address of the server has already been set to the IP address intended to be used for the communications with the server on the basis of state information of the server. In this case, if it is determined that the IP address of the server has already been set, the allocating step may include communicating with the server by using the set IP address of the server, without performing the IP mapping. [0022] The state information may be "1" in the case where the IP address of the server has been set, and "0" in the case where the IP address of the server has not been set. [0023] The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention may also be achieved by a method of a network host to assign IP addresses to respective servers, including: providing a network; providing a plurality of addressable or re-addressable servers, each server being connected to the network; waiting for an hello packet to arrive at the host over the network from one of the servers; determining if the hello packet includes an original IP address of the one server, and (a) if the hello packet does not include an original IP address, then addressing the one server by allocating and transmitting an intended IP address to the one server, or (b) if the hello packet includes an original IP address, then determining if any IP address has already been allocated to the one server by the network host and, if no IP address has already been so allocated, then re-addressing the one server by allocating and transmitting an intended IP address to the one server to replace the original IP address at the server; and waiting for a new hello packet from another one of the servers. [0024] The method may further include generating the intended IP address by arithmetically incrementing or decrementing a numerical field of an IP address previously allocated by the host or the corresponding numerical field of a starting IP address predetermined by the host. [002] The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present invention may be achieved by providing a network host for connection to servers via a network, including: a comparator to determine if an original IP address included in an hello packet received from a server is the same as any intended IP address of the server that is stored in a memory; and a controller to allocate a new intended IP address to the server if the original IP address is not the same as any intended IP address of the memory. [0026] The new intended IP address may be arithmetically equal to an increment or a decrement of an IP address previously allocated by the host and not equal to any IP address stored in the memory. [0027] The network new intended IP address optionally is not stored in the memory. [0028] These and/or other objects and aspects of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of a remote management apparatus to which the present invention can be applied; and FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic address setting method of a remote management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0029] Throughout the drawings, like reference numbers should be understood to refer to like elements, features, and structures. [00] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of a remote management apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. The remote management apparatus includes a transmission/reception unit 1, a determination unit 1, and a control unit 1. The remote management apparatus can be a display device such as a wall pad, which can control and monitor devices having IPs (Internet Protocols), but the remote management apparatus is not limited thereto. [0031] The transmission/reception unit 1 transmits/receives data to/from a plurality of servers 0 (illustrated as 0-1, 0-2,... 0-n) that are connected through a local network 1. [0032] The transmission/reception unit 1 of the remote management apparatus 0 receives a hello packet from one server 0, and transmits a hello ACK to the server 0 in response to the received hello packet (the hello packet and hello ACK are illustrated in FIG. 2, to be described in more detail below). Then, the transmission/reception unit 0 transmits to the server 0 data that includes IP address information to be allocated to the server 0, and receives an IP ACK from the server 0 in response to the IP address information. The hello packet includes the name of the server 0, the IP address of the server 0, and state information of the server 0. The transmission/reception unit 0 may be part 3

4 EP B1 6 of a network host. [0033] On the basis of the hello packet received through the transmission/reception unit 1, the determination unit 1 determines whether the original IP address of the server 0 is the IP address that the remote management apparatus 0 intends to use. The determination unit 1 makes this determination by comparing the corresponding IP addresses with each other. For example, the determination may be made by comparing the original IP address to intended addresses stored in a memory that is part of the determination unit 1. The IP address of the server 0 included in the hello packet may have a null value or may not be set to a specified value. On the other hand, the IP address may be preset as a default when the server is manufactured, or may be preset by another remote management apparatus. In addition, the determination unit 1 determines whether the IP ACK transmitted from the server 0 has been received. [0034] If the determination unit 1 determines that the IP address of the server 0 which is included in the hello packet is different from the IP address that the remote management apparatus 0 intends to use, the control unit 1 performs an IP address mapping, while if the determination unit 1 determines that the IP address of the server 0 coincides with the IP address that the remote management apparatus 0 intends to use, the control unit 1 controls the server 0 by using the IP address already allocated to the server 0. [003] The control unit 1 performs the mapping of the IP addresses of the servers 0 by arranging last figures of the IP addresses, except for the IP addresses which have already been used by the remote management apparatus 0, among the pre-allocated IP addresses in either an ascending order or a descending order. In this case, the control unit 1 allocates the mapped IP addresses to the servers in the order of hello packet reception from the servers 0. Here, the same gateway address as the remote management unit 0 is allocated to the servers 0. The control unit 1 controls the transmission/reception unit 1 to transmit data that includes allocated IP address information to the servers which have transmitted the hello packets. [0036] In addition, if it is determined that the IP ACK has not been received through the transmission/reception unit 1, the control unit 1 controls the transmission/reception unit 1 to re-transmit the data that includes the allocated IP address information to the server 0. [0037] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic address setting method of a remote management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0038] Referring to FIG. 2, the transmission/reception unit 1 first receives a hello packet transmitted from the server 0 at operation S2. Here, the hello packet may include the name of the server 0, the original IP address of the server 0, state information of the server , and so forth. The original IP address of the server 0 included in the hello packet may have a null value (for example, the numerical value of zero) or may not be set to a specified value (for example, the hello packet may contain no field corresponding to an IP address). Also, the IP address may be preset as a default when the server 0 is manufactured, or may have been preset by another remote management apparatus. [0039] Then, the transmission/reception unit 1 transmits a response packet (i.e., a hello ACK) to the server 0 in response to the hello packet received from the server 0 at operation S2. [00] At operation S2 the determination unit 1 determines whether the IP address of the server 0, as specified in the hello packet, coincides with the IP address that the remote management apparatus 0 intends to use. If the determination unit 1 determines that the IP address of the server 0 contained in the hello packet coincides with the IP address that the remote management apparatus 0 intends to use for the server 0, the control unit 1 controls the server 0 by using the IP address already allocated to the server 0. [0041] However, if at operation S2 the determination unit 1 determines that the IP address of the server 0 that was included in the hello packet is different from the IP address that the remote management apparatus 0 intends to use, the control unit 1 performs an IP address mapping and allocates the mapped IP address to the server 0 that transmitted the hello packet at operation S2. [0042] The mapping of the IP addresses for the servers is performed by arranging last figures of the IP addresses in either an ascending order or a descending order. IP addresses which have already been used by the remote management apparatus 0 among the pre-allocated IP addresses are not part of the mapping operation. The control unit 1 allocates the mapped IP addresses to the servers 0 in the order of hello packet reception from the servers, and allocates the same gateway address as the remote management unit 0 to the servers 0. For example, if the last digits of the IP addresses are...1,...2,...3,... and server 0-7 (which might be, for example, a television) is the first server to send a hello packet, then the address ending in 1 could be assigned to the server 0-7. Another example is presented below. [0043] On the assumption that the IP address of the remote management apparatus 0 is set to " " and the gateway address is set to " ", the control unit 1 arranges the IP addresses, except for the IP addresses having been used by the remote management apparatus 0 (in this example, addresses including ), among the pre-allocated IP addresses in either an ascending order or a descending order. That is, the control unit 1 performs the mapping of the IP addresses for the servers by arranging the IP addresses in an ascending order or in a descending order, from " " to " ", except for " " that is the 4

5 7 EP B1 8 IP address of the remote management apparatus 0. [0044] Then, the control unit 1 allocates the mapped IP addresses to the servers 0 in the order of hello packet reception. For example, in the case of mapping the IP addresses in an ascending order and receiving the hello packets in the order of server-1 to server-4, the control unit 1 allocates by turns the IP addresses " " to " " to server through server [004] Thereafter, the control unit 1 operates the transmission/reception unit 1 to transmit data including the allocated IP address information to the server 0 that has transmitted the hello packet at operation S. Then, the server 0 sets the IP address allocated from the remote management apparatus 0 as the IP address of the server 0 at operation S260. [0046] Then, at operation S270, the transmission/reception unit 1 receives an IP ACK that is the response to the data including the allocated IP address information from the server 0. [0047] The determination unit 1 determines whether the IP ACK transmitted from the server 0 has been received at operation S280. [0048] If the IP ACK has not been received, the control unit 1 operates the transmission/reception unit 1 to retransmit the data including the allocated IP address information to the server 0 at operation S290. That is, if it is determined that the IP ACK has not been received through the transmission/reception unit 1, the control unit 1 re-transmits the data including the allocated IP address information, which was transmitted at operation S to the server 0 which transmitted the hello packet. In this case, it is preferable that the control unit 1 re-transmits the data including the IP address information only to the server 0 that has not transmitted the IP ACK. [0049] The servers 0 connected to the remote management apparatus 0 may include home devices such as digital cameras, digital camcorders, TV receivers, air conditioners, PCs, and so forth. [000] In the remote management apparatus and the IP address setting method of the present inventive concept, IP addresses may automatically be allocated to servers 0 connected to one remote management apparatus 0, as described above. However, it is also possible to automatically allocate IP addresses to servers connected to plural remote management apparatuses. [001] When allocating IP addresses to plural servers connected to two remote management apparatuses to control the servers, the first remote management apparatus allocates the IP addresses to the servers in the same manner as that described at operations S2 to S290. [002] In this case, the second remote management apparatus determines that the IP address has already been allocated to the server, on the basis of state information included in the hello packet received from the server, sets connection for communications with the server by using the IP address of the server included in the hello packet, and then transmits/receives data to/from the server. Here, the state information included in the hello packet is information that reports whether the IP address of the server set through operations S2 to S290 is an existing IP address. [003] That is, the determination unit 1 determines whether the IP address of the server has been set on the basis of the state information included in the hello packet, and if it is determined that the IP address of the server has been set, the control unit 1 communicates with the server by using the already set IP address of the server without performing the IP mapping. Here, the state information is, for example, "1" in the case where the IP address of the server has been set, and "0" in the case where the IP address of the server has not been set. [004] As described above, in the case where an IPbased device is added to a network in which a remote management apparatus takes part, the IP address of the added device is automatically set, and this gives convenience of use. [00] Also, in the case of controlling servers through a plurality of remote management apparatuses connected to the same local network, the IP addresses of the servers are automatically set only once, and then the plurality of remote management apparatuses set connections for communications with the servers by using the already set IP addresses, so that a procedure of additionally allocating the IP address to the server through the respective remote management apparatuses can be omitted. [006] Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims. Claims 1. A remote management apparatus (0) of a network (1) to which a plurality of servers (0) are connected, the apparatus (0) comprising: a determination unit (1) for determining, when a new server is added to the network (1), whether an original Internet protocol IP address of the new server corresponds to an IP address intended to be used for communications with the new server; and a control unit (1) for performing an IP address mapping for the new server and for automatically allocating the intended IP address to the new server according to the IP address mapping if the determination unit (1) determines that the original IP address of the new server and the intended IP address do not correspond to each other;

6 9 EP B1 wherein the intended IP address is one of preallocated IP addresses which are not currently being used by any of the plurality of servers (0) and the remote management apparatus (0) when the new server is added to the network (1). 2. The remote management apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the IP address mapping of last figures of the pre-allocated IP addresses, except IP addresses already allocated by the control unit, in either an ascending order or a descending order. 3. The remote management apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the intended IP address is arithmetically equal to an increment or a decrement of the preallocated IP address and is not equal to any IP address stored in the memory. 4. The remote management apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transmission/reception unit (1) for receiving a hello packet from the new server, the hello packet comprising information on the original IP address of the new server, for transmitting information on the intended IP address allocated by the control unit to the new server, and for receiving from the new server an IP acknowledgement (ACK) signal that acknowledges receipt of the transmitted information on the intended IP address at the new server; wherein if the determination unit determines that the IP ACK signal has not been received at the transmission/reception unit, the control unit controls the transmission/reception unit to re-transmit the information on the intended IP address allocated by the control unit to the new server.. The remote management apparatus of claim 4, wherein the control unit is arranged to allocate the intended IP addresses to the new server in the order of reception of hello packets received from the new server. 6. The remote management apparatus of claim 4 or, wherein: the hello packet further comprises at least one of an identifier of the new server and state information on the new server; the determination unit determines whether the original IP address of the new server is set to the intended IP address on the basis of the state information on the new server; and if the determination unit determines from the state information that the original IP address of the new server has already been set to the intended IP address, the control unit communicates with the new server by using the original IP address of the new server, without performing the IP address mapping. 7. The remote management apparatus of claim 6, wherein the state information has a flag "1" if the determination unit determines that the original IP address of the new server has already been set to the intended IP address, and the state information has a flag "0" if the determination unit determines that the original IP address of the new server has not been set to the intended IP address. 8. The remote management apparatus of any of the previous claims, wherein the intended IP address is not stored in the memory. 9. A method of setting an Internet protocol IP address in a network to which a plurality of servers are connected, the method comprising: determining by a remote manager, when a new server is added to the network, whether an original IP address of the new server corresponds to an IP address intended to be used for communications with the new server; and performing by the remote manager an IP address mapping for the new server and automatically allocating the intended IP address to the new server according to the IP address mapping if the original IP address of the new server and the intended IP address do not correspond to each other, wherein the intended IP address is one of preallocated IP addresses which are not currently being used by any of the plurality of servers and the remote management apparatus when the new server is added to the network.. The method of claim 9, wherein the automatically allocating the intended IP address is performed based on last figures of the pre-allocated IP addresses in either an ascending order or a descending order. 11. The method of claim 9 or, wherein the pre-allocated addresses are IP addresses intended to be used for communications with a plurality of new servers, including the new server, any one of which is not included in the plurality of servers connected to the network, and wherein the automatically allocating the intended IP address is performed when the intended IP addresses are allocated to the plurality of new servers in the order of reception of hello packets respectively transmitted from the plurality of new servers, respectively, the hello packets comprising respective original IP addresses of the plurality of new servers. 6

7 11 EP B The method of claim 9, or 11 further comprising: receiving a hello packet from the new server, the hello packet comprising information on the original IP address of the new server, transmitting information on the intended IP address allocated by the control unit to the new server, and receiving from the new server an IP acknowledgement (ACK) signal that acknowledges receipt of the transmitted information on the intended IP address at the new server; wherein if it is determined that the IP ACK signal has not been received, the information on the intended IP address is re-transmitted to the new server. 13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the hello packet further comprises at least one of an identifier of the new server, and state information on the new server; wherein the determining comprises determining whether the original IP address of the new server is set to the intended IP address on the basis of the state information on the new server; and wherein if it is determined from the state information that the original IP address of the new server has already been set to the intended IP address, communicating with the new server by using the original IP address of the new server, without performing the IP address mapping. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the state information has a flag "1" if it is determined that the original IP address of the new server has already been set to the intended IP address, and the state information has a flag "0" if it is determined that the original IP address of the new server has not been set to the intended IP address. Patentansprüche 1. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung (0) eines Netzwerks (1), mit dem mehrere Server (0) verbunden sind, wobei die Vorrichtung (0) Folgendes umfasst: eine Ermittlungseinheit (1) zum Ermitteln, wenn ein neuer Server zu dem Netzwerk (1) hinzugefügt wird, ob eine ursprüngliche Internet-Protokoll-IP-Adresse des neuen Servers einer IP-Adresse entspricht, die zur Verwendung für die Kommunikation mit dem neuen Server vorgesehen ist, und eine Steuereinheit (1) zum Durchführen einer IP-Adressenabbildung für den neuen Server und zum automatischen Zuteilen der vorgesehenen IP-Adresse zu dem neuen Server gemäß der IP-Adressenabbildung, falls die Ermittlungseinheit (1) ermittelt, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers und die vorgesehene IP-Adresse einander nicht entsprechen, wobei die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eine von im Voraus zugeteilten IP-Adressen ist, die aktuell nicht von einem der mehreren Server (0) und der Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung (0) benutzt werden, wenn der neue Server zu dem Netzwerk (1) hinzugefügt wird. 2. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Steuereinheit die IP-Adressenabbildung von letzten Zahlen der im Voraus zugeteilten IP-Adressen, ausgenommen von IP-Adressen, die bereits von der Steuereinheit zugeteilt wurden, in aufsteigender oder absteigender Reihenfolge durchführt. 3. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, wobei die vorgesehene IP-Adresse arithmetisch gleich einem Inkrement oder einem Dekrement der im Voraus zugeteilten IP-Adresse ist und keiner im Speicher gespeicherten IP-Adresse gleich ist. 4. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, die ferner eine Sende-/Empfangseinheit (1) aufweist zum Empfangen eines Hallo-Pakets von dem neuen Server, wobei das Hallo-Paket Informationen über die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers aufweist, zum Senden von Informationen über die vorgesehene IP-Adresse, die dem neuen Server von der Steuereinheit zugeteilt wurde, und zum Empfangen eines IP-Quittungs-(ACK)-signals von dem neuen Server, das den Empfang der gesendeten Informationen über die vorgesehene IP-Adresse an dem neuen Server quittiert, wobei die Steuereinheit die Sende-/Empfangseinheit zum erneuten Senden der Informationen über die vorgesehene IP-Adresse, die dem neuen Server von der Steuereinheit zugeteilt wurde, ansteuert, falls die Ermittlungseinheit ermittelt, dass das IP- ACK-Signal an der Sende-/Empfangseinheit nicht empfangen wurde.. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 4, wobei die Steuereinheit angeordnet ist, um dem neuen Server die vorgesehenen IP-Adressen in der Reihenfolge des Empfangs der von dem neuen Server empfangenen Hallo-Paketen zuzuteilen. 6. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 4 oder, wobei: das Hallo-Paket ferner eine Kennung des neuen Servers und/oder Zustandsinformationen über den neuen Server aufweist, die Ermittlungseinheit auf der Basis der Zustandsinformationen über den neuen Server er- 7

8 13 EP B1 14 mittelt, ob die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers auf die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wurde, und, falls die Ermittlungseinheit anhand der Zustandsinformationen ermittelt, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers bereits auf die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wurde, die Steuereinheit durch Verwenden der ursprünglichen IP-Adresse des neuen Servers mit dem neuen Server kommuniziert, ohne die IP- Adressenabbildung durchzuführen. 7. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach Anspruch 6, wobei die Zustandsinformationen ein Flag "1" haben, falls die Ermittlungseinheit ermittelt, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers bereits auf die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wurde, und die Zustandsinformationen ein Flag "0" haben, falls die Ermittlungseinheit ermittelt, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers nicht auf die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wurde. 8. Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die vorgesehene IP- Adresse nicht im Speicher gespeichert ist. 9. Verfahren zum Einrichten einer Internet-Protokoll- IP-Adresse in einem Netzwerk, mit dem mehrere Server verbunden sind, wobei das Verfahren Folgendes umfasst: Ermitteln, wenn ein neuer Server zu dem Netzwerk hinzugefügt wird, durch eine Fernverwaltungseinheit, ob eine ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers einer IP-Adresse entspricht, die zur Verwendung für die Kommunikation mit dem neuen Server vorgesehen ist, und durch die Fernverwaltungseinheit Durchführen einer IP-Adressenabbildung für den neuen Server und automatisches Zuteilen der vorgesehenen IP-Adresse zu dem neuen Server gemäß der IP-Adressenabbildung, falls die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers und die vorgesehene IP-Adresse einander nicht entsprechen, wobei die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eine von im Voraus zugeteilten IP-Adressen ist, die aktuell nicht von einem der mehreren Server und der Fernverwaltungsvorrichtung benutzt werden, wenn der neue Server zu dem Netzwerk hinzugefügt wird.. Verfahren nach Anspruch 9, wobei die automatische Zuteilung der vorgesehenen IP-Adresse auf der Basis letzter Zahlen der im Voraus zugeteilten IP- Adressen in aufsteigender oder absteigender Reihenfolge durchführt wird Verfahren nach Anspruch 9 oder, wobei die im Voraus zugeteilten Adressen IP-Adressen sind, die zur Verwendung für die Kommunikation mit mehreren neuen Servern, einschließlich dem neuen Server, vorgesehen sind, von denen keiner zu den mehreren Servern zählt, die mit dem Netzwerk verbunden sind, und wobei das automatische Zuteilen der vorgesehenen IP-Adresse durchgeführt wird, wenn die vorgesehenen IP-Adressen jeweils den mehreren neuen Servern in der Reihenfolge des Empfangs von Hallo-Paketen, die jeweils von den mehreren neuen Servern gesendet werden, zugeteilt werden, wobei die Hallo-Pakete jeweilige ursprüngliche IP- Adressen der mehreren neuen Server aufweisen. 12. Verfahren nach Anspruch 9, oder 11, das ferner Folgendes aufweist: Empfangen eines Hallo-Pakets von dem neuen Server, wobei das Hallo-Paket Informationen über die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers aufweist, Senden von Informationen über die vorgesehene IP-Adresse, die dem neuen Server von der Steuereinheit zugeteilt wurde, und Empfangen eines IP-Quittungs-(ACK)-signals von dem neuen Server, das den Empfang der gesendeten Informationen über die vorgesehene IP-Adresse an den neuen Server quittiert, wobei die Informationen über die vorgesehene IP-Adresse erneut an den neuen Server gesendet werden, falls ermittelt wird, dass das IP- ACK-Signal nicht empfangen wurde. 13. Verfahren nach Anspruch 11 oder 12, wobei das Hallo-Paket ferner eine Kennung des neuen Servers und/oder Zustandsinformationen über den neuen Server aufweist, wobei das Ermitteln das Ermitteln auf der Basis der Zustandsinformationen über den neuen Server, ob die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers auf die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wird, aufweist und wobei, falls anhand der Zustandsinformationen ermittelt wird, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers bereits auf die vorgesehene IP- Adresse eingerichtet wurde, durch Verwenden der ursprünglichen IP-Adresse des neuen Servers mit dem neuen Server kommuniziert wird, ohne die IP- Adressenabbildung durchzuführen. 14. Verfahren nach Anspruch 13, wobei die Zustandsinformationen ein Flag "1" haben, falls ermittelt wird, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers bereits auf die vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wurde, und die Zustandsinformationen ein Flag "0" haben, falls ermittelt wird, dass die ursprüngliche IP-Adresse des neuen Servers nicht auf die 8

9 1 EP B1 16 vorgesehene IP-Adresse eingerichtet wurde. Revendications 1. Appareil de gestion à distance (0) d un réseau (1) auquel une pluralité de serveurs (0) sont connectés, l appareil (0) comportant : une unité de détermination (1) servant à déterminer, quand un nouveau serveur est ajouté au réseau (1), si une adresse IP de protocole Internet initiale du nouveau serveur correspond à une adresse IP prévue pour être utilisée à des fins de communications avec le nouveau serveur ; et une unité de commande (1) servant à effectuer une mise en correspondance d adresses IP pour le nouveau serveur et servant à attribuer automatiquement l adresse IP prévue au nouveau serveur en fonction de la mise en correspondance d adresses IP si l unité de détermination (1) détermine que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur et l adresse IP prévue ne correspondent pas l une par rapport à l autre ; dans lequel l adresse IP prévue est l une des adresses IP pré-attribuées qui ne sont pas en cours d utilisation par l un quelconque de la pluralité de serveurs (0) et l appareil de gestion à distance (0) quand le nouveau serveur est ajouté au réseau (1). 2. Appareil de gestion à distance selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l unité de commande effectue la mise en correspondance d adresses IP des derniers chiffres des adresses IP pré-attribuées, à l exception des adresses IP déjà attribuées par l unité de commande, soit dans un ordre croissant soit dans un ordre décroissant. 3. Appareil de gestion à distance selon la revendication 1 ou la revendication 2, dans lequel l adresse IP prévue est égale du point de vue arithmétique à un incrément ou à un décrément de l adresse IP pré-attribuée et n est pas égale à une adresse IP quelconque enregistrée dans la mémoire transmises se rapportant à l adresse IP prévue au niveau du nouveau serveur ; dans lequel, si l unité de détermination détermine que le signal ACK IP n a pas été reçu au niveau de l unité de transmission/réception, l unité de commande ordonne à l unité de transmission/réception de retransmettre les informations se rapportant à l adresse IP prévue attribuée par l unité de commande au nouveau serveur.. Appareil de gestion à distance selon la revendication 4, dans lequel l unité de commande est agencée pour attribuer les adresses IP prévues au nouveau serveur dans l ordre de réception de paquets Hello reçus en provenance du nouveau serveur. 6. Appareil de gestion à distance selon la revendication 4 ou la revendication, dans lequel : le paquet Hello comporte par ailleurs au moins l un parmi un identifiant du nouveau serveur et des informations d état se rapportant au nouveau serveur ; l unité de détermination détermine si l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur est configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue en fonction des informations d état se rapportant au nouveau serveur ; et si l unité de détermination détermine d après les informations d état que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur a déjà été configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue, l unité de commande communique avec le nouveau serveur en utilisant l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur, sans effectuer la mise en correspondance d adresses IP. 7. Appareil de gestion à distance selon la revendication 6, dans lequel les informations d état ont un fanion «1» si l unité de détermination détermine que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur a déjà été configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue, et les informations d état ont un fanion «0» si l unité de détermination détermine que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur n a pas été configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue. 4. Appareil de gestion à distance selon la revendication 1, comportant par ailleurs une unité de transmission/réception (1) servant à recevoir un paquet Hello en provenance du nouveau serveur, le paquet Hello comportant des informations se rapportant à l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur, servant à transmettre des informations se rapportant à l adresse IP prévue attribuée par l unité de commande au nouveau serveur, et servant à recevoir en provenance du nouveau serveur un signal d accusé de réception (ACK) IP qui accuse réception des informations 0 8. Appareil de gestion à distance selon l une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l adresse IP prévue n est pas enregistrée dans la mémoire. 9. Procédé permettant de configurer une adresse IP de protocole Internet dans un réseau auquel une pluralité de serveurs sont connectés, le procédé comportant : l étape consistant à déterminer par un gestion- 9

10 17 EP B1 18 naire à distance, quand un nouveau serveur est ajouté au réseau, si une adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur correspond à une adresse IP prévue pour être utilisée à des fins de communications avec le nouveau serveur ; et l étape consistant à effectuer par le gestionnaire à distance une mise en correspondance d adresses IP pour le nouveau serveur et à attribuer automatiquement l adresse IP prévue au nouveau serveur en fonction de la mise en correspondance d adresses IP si l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur et l adresse IP prévue ne correspondent pas l une par rapport à l autre, dans lequel l adresse IP prévue est l une des adresses IP pré-attribuées qui ne sont pas en cours d utilisation par l un quelconque de la pluralité de serveurs et l appareil de gestion à distance quand le nouveau serveur est ajouté au réseau.. Procédé selon la revendication 9, dans lequel l étape consistant à attribuer automatiquement l adresse IP prévue est effectuée en se basant sur les derniers chiffres des adresses IP pré-attribuées soit dans un ordre croissant soit dans un ordre décroissant. 11. Procédé selon la revendication 9 ou la revendication, dans lequel les adresses pré-attribuées sont des adresses IP prévues pour être utilisées à des fins de communications avec une pluralité de nouveaux serveurs, comprenant le nouveau serveur, dont l un quelconque n est pas compris dans la pluralité de serveurs connectés au réseau, et dans lequel l étape consistant à attribuer automatiquement l adresse IP prévue est effectuée quand les adresses IP prévues sont attribuées à la pluralité de nouveaux serveurs dans l ordre de réception de paquets Hello transmis respectivement en provenance de la pluralité de nouveaux serveurs, respectivement, les paquets Hello comportant des adresses IP initiales respectives de la pluralité de nouveaux serveurs IP n a pas été reçu, les informations se rapportant à l adresse IP prévue sont retransmises au nouveau serveur. 13. Procédé selon la revendication 11 ou la revendication 12, dans lequel le paquet Hello comporte par ailleurs au moins l un parmi un identifiant du nouveau serveur, et des informations d état se rapportant au nouveau serveur ; dans lequel l étape consistant à déterminer comporte l étape consistant à déterminer si l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur est configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue en fonction des informations d état se rapportant au nouveau serveur ; et dans lequel, s il est déterminé d après les informations d état que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur a déjà été configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue, l étape consistant à communiquer avec le nouveau serveur utilise l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur, sans effectuer la mise en correspondance d adresses IP. 14. Procédé selon la revendication 13, dans lequel les informations d état ont un fanion «1» s il est déterminé que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur a déjà été configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue, et les informations d état ont un fanion «0» s il est déterminé que l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur n a pas été configurée comme étant l adresse IP prévue. 12. Procédé selon la revendication 9, ou la revendication ou la revendication 11 comportant par ailleurs : l étape consistant à recevoir un paquet Hello en provenance du nouveau serveur, le paquet Hello comportant des informations se rapportant à l adresse IP initiale du nouveau serveur, l étape consistant à transmettre des informations se rapportant à l adresse IP prévue attribuée par l unité de commande au nouveau serveur, et l étape consistant à recevoir en provenance du nouveau serveur un signal d accusé de réception (ACK) IP qui accuse réception des informations transmises se rapportant à l adresse IP prévue au niveau du nouveau serveur ; dans lequel, s il est déterminé que le signal ACK 4 0

11 EP B1 11

12 EP B1 REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader s convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard. Patent documents cited in the description US A [0006] US A [0007] Non-patent literature cited in the description discloses automated configuration of TCP/IP with DHCP. IEEE Internet Computing, 1999, vol. 3 (4), 4-3 [0008] 12