Apparatus, system, and method of controlling connection among terminals and recording medium storing connection control program

Abstract

When a request for participating in a session being performed by a plurality of participating terminals is received from a terminal that is not participated in the session, a system extracts identification information of one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the participating terminal for each one of the plurality of participating terminals, and determines whether identification information of the terminal that sends the request is included in the extracted candidate terminal identification information to generate a determination result. The determination result is used to determine whether to allow the terminal that sends the request to connect with the plurality of participating terminals to participate in the session.

1 . A connection control system for controlling connections among a plurality of terminals through a network, the system comprising:
 a storage device to store identification information for identifying a terminal, and identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the terminal, for each one of the plurality of terminals;   a network interface to receive a request for participating in a session being performed by a plurality of participating terminals, from a participation requesting terminal that is not participating in the session; and   a controller to:
 extract identification information for identifying at least one candidate terminal that is associated with the participating terminal for each one of the plurality of participating terminals, from the storage device, to obtain extracted candidate terminal identification information of the participating terminals; 
 determine whether the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the participating terminals includes identification information for identifying the participation requesting terminal to generate a first determination result; and 
 determine whether to allow the participation requesting terminal to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network to participate in the session, based on the first determination result. 
   
     
     
         2 . The connection control system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 specify one of the plurality of participating terminals having a largest value of distance of a shortest path with respect to the participation requesting terminal to obtain the largest value of distance of the shortest path between the specified one of the plurality of participating terminals and the participation requesting terminal;   determine whether the obtained largest value of distance is less than a predetermined value to generate a second determination result; and   determine whether to allow the participation requesting terminal to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network based on the second determination result in addition to the first determination result.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to define a value of a distance of the shortest path between the terminal and the candidate terminal that are associated with each other, to be a predetermined value, wherein the obtained largest value of distance is defined based on the predetermined value. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the network interface further transmits information indicating the obtained largest value of distance to the participation requesting terminal when the controller determines that the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the controller further extracts identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the participation requesting terminal; and   the network interface transmits information indicating that the participation requesting terminal is participating in the session, to the one or more candidate terminals identified by the extracted identification information, when the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein, when the network interface receives a request for notifying the participation requesting terminal of the session being performed by the plurality of participating terminals, from a first terminal of the plurality of participating terminals before the request for participating in the session is received from the participation requesting terminal,
 the controller is further configured to:
 extract identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the first terminal that sends the request, from the storage device, to obtain extracted candidate terminal identification information of the first terminal; 
 determine whether the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the first terminal includes the identification information of the participation requesting terminal; and 
 transmit information regarding the session being performed by the plurality of participating terminals to the participation requesting terminal, when the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the first terminal includes the identification information of the participation requesting terminal. 
   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the network interface further transmits information to be used for connecting with a relay terminal that exchanges contents data among the participating terminals through the session, to the participation requesting terminal, when the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals. 
     
     
         8 . A transmission system, comprising:
 a plurality of participating terminals each participating in a session to exchange contents data through a network;   a participation requesting terminal that transmits a request for participating in the session being performed by the plurality of participating terminals, wherein the participation requesting terminal is not participating in the session; and   connection controlling means for controlling connections among a plurality of terminals through the network, the connection controlling means including:
 means for managing identification information for identifying a terminal, and identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the terminal, for each one of the plurality of terminals; 
 means for receiving the request for participating in the session being performed by the plurality of participating terminals, from the participation requesting terminal; 
 means for extracting identification information for identifying at least one candidate terminal that is associated with the participating terminal for each one of the plurality of participating terminals to obtain extracted candidate terminal identification information of the participating terminals; 
 means for determining whether the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the participating terminals includes identification information for identifying the participation requesting terminal to generate a first determination result; and 
 means for determining whether to allow the participation requesting terminal to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network to participate in the session, based on the first determination result, 
   wherein the participation requesting terminal causes an output device to output information indicating whether the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals, based on information received from the connection controlling means.   
     
     
         9 . The transmission system of  claim 8 , wherein the connection controlling means further includes:
 means for specifying one of the plurality of participating terminals having a largest value of distance of a shortest path with respect to the participation requesting terminal to obtain the largest value of distance of the shortest path between the specified one of the plurality of participating terminals and the participation requesting terminal; and   means for determining whether the obtained largest value of distance is less than a predetermined value to generate a second determination result,   wherein the means for determining whether to allow the participation requesting terminal to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network determines based on the second determination result in addition to the first determination result.   
     
     
         10 . The transmission system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a relay terminal to relay contents data among the plurality of participating terminals through the session.   
     
     
         11 . A connection control method of controlling connections among a plurality of terminals through a network, the method comprising:
 managing identification information for identifying a terminal, and identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the terminal, for each one of the plurality of terminals;   receiving a request for participating in a session being performed by a plurality of participating terminals, from a participation requesting terminal that is not participating in the session;   extracting identification information for identifying at least one candidate terminal that is associated with the participating terminal for each one of the plurality of participating terminals to obtain extracted candidate terminal identification information of the participating terminals;   determining whether the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the participating terminals includes identification information for identifying the participation requesting terminal to generate a first determination result; and   determining whether to allow the participation requesting terminal to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network to participate in the session, based on the first determination result.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 specifying one of the plurality of participating terminals having a largest value of distance of a shortest path with respect to the participation requesting terminal to obtain the largest value of distance of the shortest path between the specified one of the plurality of participating terminals and the participation requesting terminal;   determining whether the obtained largest value of distance is less than a predetermined value to generate a second determination result; and   determining whether to allow the participation requesting terminal to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network based on the second determination result in addition to the first determination result.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 defining a value of a distance of the shortest path between the terminal and the candidate terminal that is associated with the terminal, which are respectively managed, to be a predetermined value,   wherein the obtained largest value of distance is defined based on the predetermined value.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 transmitting information indicating the obtained largest value of distance to the participation requesting terminal when the determining determines that the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals through the network.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 extracting identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the participation requesting terminal; and   transmitting information indicating that the participation requesting terminal is participating in the session, to the one or more candidate terminals identified by the extracted identification information, when the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 receiving a request for notifying the participation requesting terminal of the session being performed by the plurality of participating terminals, from a first terminal of the plurality of participating terminals before the request for participating in the session is received from the participation requesting terminal;   extracting identification information for identifying one or more candidate terminals that are associated with the first terminal that sends the request to obtain extracted candidate terminal identification information of the first terminal;   determining whether the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the first terminal includes the identification information of the participation requesting terminal; and   transmitting information regarding the session being performed by the plurality of participating terminals to the participation requesting terminal, when the extracted candidate terminal identification information of the first terminal includes the identification information of the participation requesting terminal.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 transmitting information to be used for connecting with a relay terminal that exchanges contents data among the participating terminals through the session, to the participation requesting terminal, when the participation requesting terminal is allowed to connect with the plurality of participating terminals.