JP2001054152A - Time correction system and method for key telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To always keep time information accurate in a key telephone system by acquiring time information from an SNTP(simple network time protocol) server that conducts time service without the need for a channel toll. SOLUTION: A control section 11 allows an SNTP client section 112 to generate a time request packet addressed to an SNTP server at every prescribed time interval and transmits the packet to a provider 2 via a dialup router trunk 12 only when a channel is busy (at connection to a provider 2). Then a master set 1 receives time information from the SNTP sever 4 and corrects the time information used by the master set 1 on the basis of the time information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and a method for correcting the time of a telephone device, and more particularly to a method and a method for correcting the time of a telephone device using an Internet service provider.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many key telephone apparatuses of this type have a time display function in a telephone terminal, and an error is inevitably generated in the time measurement using a real-time clock in the apparatus, so that an accurate time can be obtained. If the display was desired, the time had to be manually adjusted at appropriate intervals.

As a method for addressing this problem, for example,
A telephone number 117 as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-108861.
For example, there is a time adjustment method using a time information notification service. In other words, when the maintenance person calls number 117,
The private branch exchange reads a time signal message by voice of the public telephone network, extracts time information, and sets the time information in a clock circuit inside the private branch exchange.

[0004]

However, in the time adjustment method using the time information notification service such as the telephone number 117, a person who regularly calls the number 117 is required, and a call charge is required every time a call is made. Problem occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an SNTP (Simple) that automatically provides time service without paying a line usage fee only for time correction.
The present invention is to obtain time information from a Network Time Protocol server so that time information used in the key telephone apparatus can always be kept accurately.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a time adjustment method for a key telephone apparatus according to the present invention comprises a provider for providing Internet service via a line, a plurality of telephones, and a plurality of terminals. In a time adjustment method of a key telephone device that manages the time of the plurality of telephones, the main device includes an access unit that accesses an SNTP server connected via the provider. Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not connection is made to the provider at regular intervals; and transmission means for creating and transmitting a time information request packet to an SNTP server via the provider if the monitoring means connects to the provider. , By the transmitting means,
When a time information packet is received from the NTP server via the provider, the time information packet is corrected as a current time.

[0007] Further, the present invention is characterized in that there is provided a means for directly using the currently used time if the monitoring means is not connected to the provider.

The time adjustment method for a key telephone apparatus according to the present invention comprises a provider for providing Internet service via a line, a plurality of telephones, and a main unit connected to a plurality of terminals. In the time adjustment method for a key telephone device that manages the time of
A dial-up router trunk unit for dial-up connection with the provider; and a control unit for LAN connection with the dial-up router trunk unit, wherein the control unit generates a time information request packet addressed to the SNTP server when a predetermined time comes. First transmission means for transmitting to the dial-up router trunk unit, and correction means for correcting the current time based on the time information in the time information packet when receiving the time information packet, wherein the dial-up router trunk unit comprises: A second transmitting unit that transmits the time information request packet received from the control unit to the provider if the time information packet corresponding to the time information request packet is received from the line; A third transmitting a time information packet to the control unit; It is characterized with the signal means.

Further, the main unit has a notifying means for notifying the plurality of telephones of a time corrected by the correcting means at predetermined time intervals.

Further, the dial-up router trunk unit is characterized in that it has a discarding unit for discarding the time information request packet received from the control unit unless the dial-up router trunk unit is connected to the provider.

Further, there is provided a method of correcting the time of a key telephone device for managing the time of a plurality of telephones in a main unit connected to a provider for providing Internet service via a line, a plurality of telephones, and a plurality of terminals. An interrupt occurs at a predetermined time interval, and when the interrupt occurs, a time information request packet is generated to the SNTP server. If a dial-up line is connected, the time information generated by the provider is generated. A request packet is transmitted, and when a time information packet is received from the SNTP server via the provider, the current time is corrected based on the time information in the received time information packet.

Further, in the time adjustment method for a key telephone device, the generated time information request packet is not transmitted unless a dial-up line is connected.

[0013] Further, in the time correction method for a key telephone device, the main device notifies the plurality of telephones of the time corrected based on the time information at predetermined time intervals.

[0014]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention is an ISDN line ISDN31.
And the Internet 32 which is the Internet, and LA
A LAN 33 which is an N interface (for example, Ethernet (registered trademark)); a main unit 1 of a key telephone device connected to the ISDN 31; a provider 2 which provides Internet services connected to the ISDN 31 and the Internet 32; 32, an SNTP server 4 also connected to the Internet 32, and telephones 21 and 22, which are key telephones connected to the telephone device 1.
2 and personal computers 23 and 24 connected to LAN 33
And

The main unit 1 is a control unit 11 for controlling the operation of the key telephone unit under program control using a processor.
And a dial-up router trunk unit 1 having a dial-up router function and an ISDN line interface
2, a telephone interface 13 for connecting to the telephone 21, a LAN interface unit 14 for connecting the control unit 11 and the dial-up router trunk unit 12 according to a protocol defined by IEEE802.3, and a storage unit 15. Consists of

The control unit 11 includes a time information management unit 111 for managing time used in the key telephone apparatus and an SNTP client unit 112 for periodically generating a time information request packet for the SNTP server 4. Be composed.

The key telephone device at this time is the main device 1, telephones 21 and 22, and personal computers 23 and 24.
Means the configuration including.

The time information management unit 111 transmits the managed time information to the telephone 2 through the telephone interface 13.
1 and 22, and the time is displayed on the LCD (not shown) of the telephones 21 and 22. Note that the time information managed by the time information management unit 111 is used as the recording time of a built-in voice mail (not shown) in the main device 1 of FIG.

The storage unit 15 stores IP packet information necessary for obtaining time information from the SNTP server 4 in advance. That is, the storage unit 15 stores the destination S
It stores NTP IP address information, IP address information of the main device 1, command information indicating a request for time information, and the like.

The content of the time information sent from the SNTP server 4 is based on RFC which is an Internet standardization rule.
(Request for Comments), which is packet data expressing the elapsed time from 0:00 on January 1, 1900. Therefore, the control unit 11
Received this packet data, January 1, 1900
By calculating from 0:00 on the day, the time is set in the time register (not shown in FIG. 1) in the main device 1 and the time of the time register is started.

In the dial-up router trunk unit 12, the telephone number of the provider is stored in a storage unit (not shown) in advance. The telephone number is preset from the PC 23 when the provider is determined. Therefore,
When connection is required, the dial-up router trunk unit 12 sends a PPP (Point to Point Pr) by using a preset telephone number of the provider.
Otocol: a protocol for making an IP connection over a public line), and provides a means for accessing the Internet to application software of the personal computer 23. In this case, the dial-up router trunk unit 12
When connected to a provider, a state indicating connection with the provider is stored in the connection state area of the storage unit in the dial-up router trunk unit 12 until the connection is disconnected.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, when the key telephone device is used for the first time, the current time is manually input from the telephone 21. Then, the time data is transferred to the control unit 11 via the telephone interface 13, and
The control unit 11 having received the time data passes control to the time management unit 111. The time management unit 111 operates by setting the received time data in a time register (not shown in FIG. 1) in the main device 1 that counts time.
Similarly, a time interval for automatically resetting the time of main device 1 is also manually input from telephone 21. Then, the input data is transferred to the control unit 11 via the telephone interface 13, and the control unit 11 having received the data transfers the control to the time management unit 111. The time management unit 111 sets time interval data in a time request timer (not shown in FIG. 1) in the main device 1,
Let it work. That is, the control unit 11 is interrupted at regular intervals, and the interruption control is passed to the time management unit 111.

Thereafter, when an interrupt occurs due to timeout of the time request timer, the control unit 11 passes control to the SNTP client unit 112. The SNTP client unit 112 reads information necessary for a time information request from the storage unit 15 and generates a time information request packet (FIG. 2).
Steps S1 and S2).

Then, the SNTP client unit 112 of the control unit 11 transmits the generated time information request packet to L
The data is sent to the dial-up router trunk unit 11 through the AN interface unit 14. At this time, the dial-up router trunk unit 11 determines whether or not the line is connected to the provider 2 by searching the connection state area of the storage unit in the dial-up router trunk unit 11. If the line is not connected, the time information request packet is discarded by the dial-up router trunk unit 11 and waits until an interruption due to the next timeout occurs (step S3).

On the other hand, if the personal computer 23 uses the WWW server 3 via the provider 2 before the control unit 11 issues this time information request packet, the personal computer 2
3 indicates that WWW is stored in a predetermined packet field.
The IP address of the server is set, and the packet is sent to the dial-up router trunk unit 12. Then
Upon receiving the packet, the dial-up router trunk unit 12 calls the provider 2 using the telephone number of the provider registered in advance, and connects to the ISDN 31 via the ISDN 31. That is, the line between the main device 1 and the provider 2 is in a connected state. In this case, by connecting to the provider 2, the dial-up router trunk unit 12 stores the fact that it is being connected to the provider in the connection state area of the storage unit in the dial-up router trunk unit 12 until the line is disconnected.

When the time information request packet generated in step 2 is passed to the dial-up router trunk unit 12 while the line between the main unit 1 and the provider 2 is connected, the dial-up router trunk unit 12 By searching the status area, it is determined that the line is in a connected state, and a time information request packet is transmitted to the connected provider 2. The received provider is IP
The time information request packet is transmitted to the SNTP server that is the destination of the address (step S4).

Then, when the line of the provider 2 is connected,
In response to the transmitted time information request packet, the SNTP server 4 returns a time information packet containing time information to the main device 1 via the provider 2 (step S).
5).

The returned time information packet is transmitted to the main unit 1
Received by the dial-up router trunk unit 12 of L
It is passed to the control unit 11 through the AN interface unit 14. The control unit 11 controls the SNTP client unit 1
4, the SNTP client unit 14 decodes the received packet, and passes time information in the packet to the time management unit 111. The time management unit 111 replaces the received time information with the current time, and sets the current time in a time register (not shown) (step S6).

That is, the personal computer 23 is connected to the WWW server 3
While the user is accessing the free SNTP server 4 using the ISDN line and the Internet, no extra line usage fee is charged. Also, when the line is not connected, the SNTP server 4 is not accessed even if the time comes, so that the line usage fee is not charged.

On the other hand, the time management unit 111 reads out the current time set in the time register by a timer interrupt (for example, every one second) for sending out the telephone, and the telephone interface 13 is connected to the telephones 21 and 22. Via the LAN 3 to the personal computers 23 and 24.
3 via Then, the telephone 21 and the telephone 22 display the time on their respective display units. The personal computer 23 and the personal computer 24 adjust the time managed internally.

When the control unit 11 receives a call from the telephone 21 and receives it via the telephone interface 13, it determines that the call is made by a telephone number, and via the dial-up router trunk unit 12 and the ISDN 31 the other party's telephone Connected to

In the above description, WWW via the provider
Although the server has been described as an example, it goes without saying that access to each server (for example, a mail server or the like) using a provider is also included in the present invention.

In the present invention, the line is described using the ISDN line. However, it is needless to say that the same is applied to the case where the analog line is used, except that the connection tool is different.

Therefore, if the time interval for accessing the SNTP server 4 is set small (for example, 30 seconds,
Minutes), access can be made almost while the line is in use, and accurate time can be obtained, and can be displayed on the respective display units of the telephones 11 and 12.

That is, time information is obtained when browsing a WEB (WWW server) or transmitting / receiving an e-mail using the dial-up router unit, so that time information notification as in the related art is performed. Unlike services,
There is no line connection just for time adjustment. Therefore, there is no problem that the user is charged only for adjusting the time.

In addition, since the key telephone apparatus accesses an SNTP server on the Internet, which serves as a reference, the time can be obtained accurately without time deviation.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the time information is obtained from the SNTP server in the Internet and the time in the key telephone device is set. This has the effect that it is possible to always use the correct time.

Further, according to the present invention, the time information is obtained only when the line is connected to the Internet service provider, so that there is no telephone charge just for obtaining the time information. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation when the main device of FIG. 1 requests time information from an SNTP server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main apparatus 2 Provider 3 WWW server 4 SNTP server 11 Control part 12 Dial-up router trunk 13 Telephone interface 14 LAN interface part 15 Storage part 21, 22 Telephone 23, 24 Personal computer 31 ISDN 32 Internet 33 LAN 111 Time management part 112 SNTP client part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 3/42 H04M 11/00 303 11/00 303 H04L 11/20 102A F-term (Reference) 2F002 AA00 AF02 FA16 GA06 GC07 GC22 5K024 AA06 AA79 CC01 5K030 GA11 HA08 HB15 HC04 HC14 JA08 JT01 KA14 KA21 LB02 LD18 MA04 MD04 5K049 AA06 AA15 BB01 BB02 BB05 BB17 CC05 EE01 FF01 FF11 FF43 FF46 HH07 5K101 MM07

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A time adjustment method for a key telephone device comprising a provider for providing Internet service via a line, a plurality of telephones, and a main device connected to a plurality of terminals, and managing the time of the plurality of telephones. , An access unit for accessing an SNTP server connected via the provider, wherein the main unit monitors whether or not the provider is connected to the provider at regular intervals; and Transmitting means for creating and transmitting a time information request packet to the SNTP server via the provider if connected, and receiving the time information packet from the SNTP server via the provider by the transmitting means, the time information is transmitted to the current time; And a correcting means for correcting the time. Time adjustment method. 2. The time correction method for a key telephone device according to claim 1, further comprising means for directly using a currently used time if the monitoring means does not connect to the provider. 3. A time correction method for a key telephone device comprising a provider for providing Internet service via a line, a plurality of telephones, and a main device connected to a plurality of terminals, and managing the time of the plurality of telephones. , The main device includes a dial-up router trunk unit for dial-up connection with the provider, and a control unit for LAN connection with the dial-up router trunk unit, and the control unit sends an address to the SNTP server when a predetermined time comes. First transmission means for generating a time information request packet and transmitting the time information request packet to the dial-up router trunk unit, and correction means for correcting the current time based on the time information in the time information packet when the time information packet is received, If the dial-up router trunk unit is connected to the provider, the A second transmitting unit that transmits the time information request packet received from the unit to the provider, and a time information packet that is transmitted to the control unit when a time information packet corresponding to the time information request packet is received from the line. 3. A time adjustment method for a key telephone device, comprising: 4. The key telephone according to claim 1, wherein said main unit has a notifying unit for notifying said plurality of telephones of a time corrected by said correcting unit at predetermined time intervals. Device time adjustment method. 5. The button according to claim 3, wherein said dial-up router trunk unit has a discarding unit for discarding said time information request packet received from said control unit when not connected to said provider. Time adjustment method for telephone equipment. 6. A time correction method for a key telephone device which manages the time of a plurality of telephones in a main unit connected to a provider for providing Internet service via a line, a plurality of telephones, and a plurality of terminals. An interrupt occurs at a predetermined time interval, and when the interrupt occurs, a time information request packet is generated to the SNTP server. If a dial-up line is connected, the time information generated by the provider is generated. Sends a request packet and sends the SN
When the time information packet is received from the TP server via the provider, the time is corrected as the current time based on the time information in the received time information packet. 7. The time correction method according to claim 6, wherein the generated time information request packet is not transmitted unless a dial-up line is connected. 8. The key telephone device according to claim 6, wherein the main device notifies the plurality of telephones of a time corrected based on the time information at predetermined time intervals. Time adjustment method.