As shown in FIG. 5, in the communication system 1b as well, processing signals transmitted from the functional units (in the case of the SW 10b, the software unit 101) are first collected to the signal sorting unit 250 included in a nearby device 20b-1, similarly to the communication system 1a according to the first embodiment. Upon acquiring each processing signal, the signal sorting unit 250 identifies a functional unit to which the processing signal is to be transmitted, by referring to destination information added to the processing signal. Then, the signal sorting unit 250 transmits the processing signal via a communication port that is connected to a device that includes the functional unit to which the processing signal is to be transmitted. Note that if the functional unit to which the processing signal is to be transmitted is included in the device (i.e., the nearby device 20b-1) that includes the signal sorting unit, the signal sorting unit 250 transmits the processing signal directly to the functional unit, not via a communication port.
As described above, in the communication system 1b according to the second embodiment of the present invention, communication between the functional units need not be performed via the OLT function management unit 200 that is included in a remote device 20b-2. Therefore, the communication system 1b can suppress occurrence of communication delay.
Third Embodiment
The following describes a third embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
Configuration of Communication System
