JP2578427B2 - Network terminal - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a network terminal device connected to a local area network (LAN).

[Prior Art] Conventionally, communication terminals (facsimile devices and the like) installed at geographically distant places such as a corporate head office and branch offices are connected via a public network as shown in FIG. It is common.

In FIG. 9, 1 is a public network such as a telephone network or a digital data network, 2 is a communication terminal device installed at the head office, and 3, 4, and 5 are communication terminal devices installed at each branch office.

However, in the case where the scale of the business establishment is relatively large and a plurality of communication terminal devices are installed in the same business establishment, the tenth case is considered.
The configuration shown in the figure is more advantageous.

In FIG. 10, when the communication terminal devices 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 installed in the same office perform in-house communication,
When communicating with each other via a local area network (hereinafter, referred to as LAN) 6 and communicating with communication terminal devices 2, 4, 5 and the like outside the office, they communicate with each other via a gateway 7 and a public network 1. Communicate.

This system is a reasonable system because it uses a high-speed and low-cost LAN in intra-office communication where communication frequency is high, and uses a public network only during off-site communication.

In general, in a network system, communication management information is collected to investigate and manage the state of use of the system, and is used for maintenance of devices. The communication management information includes statistical information (the number of transmission / reception data, the number of transmission / reception errors, and the like) and operation history information (a history of internal operations recorded in time series) in each device.

In a LAN system or the like, it is often the case that a dedicated network management device is connected to the LAN to collect the communication management information.

On the other hand, some communication terminals such as facsimile machines have a communication management function of registering a history such as a destination number and a communication time for each transmission and reception, and outputting a result as necessary.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional method has the following disadvantages.

(1) The network management device for managing the inside of the LAN is relatively expensive and is difficult to introduce into a system other than a large-scale system from the viewpoint of economy.

(2) Since the communication management function of the facsimile apparatus is output only to its own apparatus, it is necessary to collect the communication management information of each terminal individually from each terminal at the center station such as the head office when centralized management is desired. is there.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve this problem, a network terminal device according to the present invention includes a LAN interface for connecting to a local area network (LAN) to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected, and a public terminal. A public network interface for connecting to a line, storage means for storing management information of the plurality of terminal devices, and the plurality of terminals from a communication terminal device connected to the public line via the public network interface When there is a device management information output request, the management information of the plurality of terminal devices is collected through the LAN interface, and the collected management information is stored in the storage unit. Control means for outputting management information to the communication terminal device via the public network interface.

[Operation] In this configuration, management information of a plurality of terminal devices connected to the local area network is efficiently output to communication terminal devices connected to the public line.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 11 is a public line, 12 is a LAN transmission line, 13 is a gateway device (hereinafter referred to as GW), 14a to 14d are terminal adapter devices (hereinafter, referred to as TA), and 15a to 15d are various communication terminal devices such as facsimile machines. .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the block configuration of the GW of the present embodiment shown in FIG.

In the figure, 11 is a public line similar to that of FIG. 1, 12 is a LAN transmission line, 1
3 indicates a gateway device (GW).

Inside the GW 13, reference numeral 16 denotes a public network interface control unit, reference numeral 17 denotes a CPU that controls the entire GW, reference numeral 18 denotes a LAN interface control unit, reference numeral 19 denotes a ROM that stores a transmission control program and the like of the CPU 17, reference numeral 20 denotes A LOG storage unit that stores communication management information (hereinafter, referred to as LOG) of a plurality of terminal adapter devices (TAs) connected to the LAN.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the block configuration of the TA of the present embodiment shown in FIG.

In the figure, 12 is the same LAN transmission line as in FIG. 1, 14 is a terminal adapter (TA), and 15 is a communication terminal.

Inside TA 14, 21 is a LAN interface control unit, 12 is a CPU, 23 is a terminal interface control unit, and 24 is a RO
M and 25 are LOG storage units for storing communication management information (LOG) of the own device.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of communication data used in the LAN transmission line 2. Where 41 is the destination address,
42 is a transmission source address, and 43 is a data area in which various communication control commands and data are written.

Next, referring to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 8,
An example of communication management information processing in the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of registering the LOG of the own device which the TA always performs.

First, in step S51, it waits for a LOG registration event (for example, a transmission request from a communication terminal device or a reception notification from a LAN) to occur, and if this event occurs, the process proceeds to step S52 to store the LOG information in the LOG. Register to Part 25.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing local LOG information output processing in the TA.

If there is a LOG output request in step S61, step S6
Proceed to 2 to read LOG information from the LOG storage unit 25. Next, in step S63, the LOG information is output to the communication terminal device 15 via the terminal interface control unit 23.

Next, the log collection processing of all the TAs in the LAN in the GW and the output processing to the public network will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

If there is a LOG output request in step S71, step
Proceed to S72 to transmit a LOG request command to the TA. Subsequently, at step S73, the LOG information from the TA is received, and at step S74.
To store the LOG information in the LOG storage unit 20.

Then, for all TAs in the LAN, the above steps S72 to S72 are performed.
After performing the processing of S74 (step S75), the already collected LA
The LOG information in N is output to the public line via the public network interface 16 (step S76).

Next, the operation of the TA that receives the request for the LOG information and returns the LOG information of the own device will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

If a LOG request command is received from another device via the LAN interface 21 in step S81, the process proceeds to step S82, and the LO
Reads the LOG information of the own device from G storage unit 25, and reads the next step S8
Return the LOG information to the requesting device in Step 3 (Step
S83).

By the above processing, the communication management information in the LAN can be output to any communication terminal device, and the communication management information of all the devices in the LAN can be collectively transmitted to the communication terminal device connected to the public network. It is possible to output.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, when a communication terminal device connected to a public line requests output of management information of a plurality of terminal devices via a public network interface,
Management information of a plurality of terminal devices is collected via a LAN interface, the collected management information is stored, and the stored management information of the plurality of terminal devices is output to a communication terminal device via a public network interface. The latest management information of a plurality of connected terminal devices is transmitted to a communication terminal device connected to a public line requiring the management information.
When the management information is needed, it can be efficiently output.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a terminal adapter device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a format diagram of LAN communication data used in this embodiment, FIGS. 5 to 8 are communication management process control flow charts of this embodiment, and FIGS. FIG. 2 is a network configuration diagram for explaining a conventional technique. In the figure, 1 ... public network, 2,3,4,5 ... communication terminal device, 11 ...
... Public line, 12 ... LAN transmission line, 13 ... Gateway device, 14,14a-14d ... Terminal adapter device, 15,15a-15d ...
... Communication terminal device, 16 ... Public network interface, 17,25
…… CPU, 18,21 …… LAN interface, 19,24 …… RO
M, 20, 25... LOG storage unit, 23... Terminal interface.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A LAN interface for connecting to a local area network (LAN) to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected, a public network interface for connecting to a public line, and management information of the plurality of terminal devices. Storage means for performing, when there is a request to output management information of the plurality of terminal devices from the communication terminal device connected to the public line via the public network interface, the plurality of terminal devices via the LAN interface Control means for collecting the management information of the terminal device, storing the collected management information in the storage means, and outputting the stored management information of the plurality of terminal devices to the communication terminal device via the public network interface. A network terminal device comprising: