Device control system, network constructed by the system, and program executed on device constructing the system

A device control system in which at least one host device and at least one target device are connected to each other via a communications network,

• the target device including:
• a storage unit operable to store a plurality of pieces of program code required for control of the target device;
• a managing unit operable to manage program code information associated with the pieces of program code;
• an obtaining unit operable to obtain, from the host device, device information of the host device including information associated with a system environment and a free space of a predetermined memory area;
• an information parser for parsing the device information and the program code information, and determining, from out of the pieces of program code, a piece of program code that is suitable for the system environment of the host device and is storable in the memory area of the host device;
• and
• a reporting unit operable to report the piece of program code determined by the information parser to the host device, wherein
• the pieces of program code stored in the storage unit correspond to possible system environments of the host device, and two or more pieces of program code of different data sizes correspond to at least one of the possible system environments, and
• the host device including:
• an information managing unit operable to manage the device information;
• a reading unit operable to read the piece of program code reported by the reporting unit from the target device, and to cause the read piece of program code to be stored in the memory area;
• and
• a controller for controlling the target device by using the piece of program code stored in the memory area.

A network constructed by at least one device control system in which a plurality of devices are connected to each other via a communications network, wherein

• each of the plurality of devices is operable to serve as a host device operable to control another one of the devices and as a target device to be controlled by another one of the devices,
• each of the devices includes, as the target device:
• a storage unit operable to store a plurality of pieces of program code required for control of the target device;
• and
• a managing unit operable to manage program code information associated with the pieces of program code, wherein
• the pieces of program code stored in the storage unit correspond to possible system environments of the host device, and two or more pieces of program code of different data sizes correspond to at least one of the possible system environments, and
• each of the devices includes, as the host device:
• an obtaining unit operable to obtain the program code information from the target device;
• a predetermined memory area operable to store one of the pieces of program code;
• an information parser for checking a system environment of the host device and a free space in the memory area, parsing the program code information, and determining, from out of the pieces of program code stored in the target device, a piece of program code that is suitable for the system environment and is storable in the memory area;
• a reading unit operable to read the piece of program code determined by the information parser from the target device, and to cause the read piece of program code to be stored in the memory area;
• and
• a controller for controlling the target device by using the piece of program code stored in the memory area.

A network constructed by at least one device control system in which a plurality of devices are connected to each other via a communications network, wherein

• each of the plurality of devices is operable to serve as a host device operable to control another one of the devices and as a target device to be controlled by another one of the devices,
• each of the devices includes, as the target device:
• a storage unit operable to store a plurality of pieces of program code required for control of the target device;
• a managing unit operable to manage program code information associated with the pieces of program code;
• an obtaining unit operable to obtain, from the host device, device information of the host device including information associated with a system environment and a free space of a memory area;
• an information parser for parsing the device information and the program code information, and determining, from out of the pieces of program code, a piece of program code that is suitable for the system environment of the host device and is storable in the memory area of the host device;
• and
• a reporting unit operable to report the piece of program code determined by the information parser to the host device, wherein
• the pieces of program code stored in the storage unit correspond to possible system environments of the host device, and two or more pieces of program code of different data sizes correspond to at least one of the possible system environments, and
• each of the devices includes, as the host device:
• an information managing unit operable to manage the device information;
• a reading unit operable to read the piece of program code reported by the reporting unit from the target device, and to cause the read piece of program code to be stored in the memory area;
• and
• a controller for controlling the target device by using the piece of program code stored in the memory area.

A program executed on a main host device which is included in a plurality of host devices and is operable to control a target device via a communications network, the target device being operable to store a plurality of pieces of program code required for control of the target device and program code information associated with the pieces of program code, wherein the pieces of program code correspond to possible system environments of each of the host devices, and wherein two or more pieces of program code of different data sizes correspond to at least one of the possible system environments, the program comprising:

• a first obtaining step of obtaining the program code information from the target device;
• a first determining step of determining a system environment of the main host device and a free space of a predetermined memory area of the main host device;
• a step of parsing the program code information;
• a program code determining step of determining, based on the determination result in the first determining step and the parse result in the parsing step, from out of the pieces of program code stored in the target device, a piece of program code that is suitable for the system environment of the main host device and is storable in the memory area of the main host device;
• a first storing step of reading the determined piece of program code from the target device, and causing the read piece of program code to be stored in the memory area of the main host device;
• and
• a first controlling step of controlling the target device by using the stored piece of program code.

A program executed on a target device that is controlled by a host device via a communications network, wherein the host device stores device information including information associated with a system environment and a free space of a predetermined memory area of the host device, wherein the target device is operable to store a plurality of pieces of program code required for control of the target device and program code information associated with the pieces of program code, wherein the pieces of program code correspond to possible system environments of each of the host devices, and wherein two or more pieces of program code of different data sizes correspond to at least one of the possible system environments, the program comprising:

• a step of obtaining the device information from the host device;
• a step of parsing the device information and the program code information;
• a step of determining, based on the parse result in the parsing step, from out of the pieces of program code stored in the target device, a piece of program code that is suitable for the system environment of the host device and is storable in the memory area of the host device;
• and
• a step of sending the determined piece of program code to the host device.