JPH01204533A - Information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure the information communication line with excellent reliability and to attain stable information communication by using plural information communication networks selectively in response to the state of transmission line to apply information communication. CONSTITUTION:Information communication terminal equipments provided respectively to two offices A, B are connected via separate information communication networks 11, 12 built up by plural communication companies respectively. Then the information communication terminal equipments provided respectively to the offices A, B are built up similarly to those of a conventional system basically, but transmission line selectors 7a, 7b are provided especially and the information communicated via selectively the plural information communication networks 11, 12 in response to the state. Thus, the information communication between plural offices is ensured stably with high reliability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an information communication system that communicates information such as voice and data via an information communication network.

(Prior Art) Recently, with the liberalization of the telecommunications business, information and communication networks have been constructed by various telecommunications companies.

However, when constructing an information communication system between multiple offices, the information communication network of one telecommunications company is generally borrowed.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of this kind of conventional information communication system, and shows an example of an information communication system constructed between two business establishments A and B.

Note that the suffix a is added to equipment, etc. at office A.

Similarly, the suffix b is added to the equipment, etc. of office B.

Private branch exchanges (P
BX) 3a and 3b house various data terminals 2a and 2b such as a plurality of telephones 1a and LB, FAX machines, and data processing devices installed in the offices A and B, respectively. Through these private branch exchanges 3a and 3b, mutual communication between the plurality of telephones 1a and lb, and the plurality of terminals 2
a.

Mutual data communication between 2b is performed.

An information communication network 11 borrowed from the telecommunications company is connected to the private branch exchanges 3a, 8b via multiplexers 4a, 4b.

In addition, 5a and 5b in the figure are the above-mentioned information communication network 11.
and terminate the information communication network 11 at the office A.
, B, respectively.

This is a line termination device connected to 4b.

Here, the multiplexing devices 4a, 4b transmit signals (voice/data) transmitted from the private branch exchanges 3a, 3b between the two business establishments A, B via the information communication network II, for example, in time. It manages information communication through divided control.

According to the conventional information communication system configured in this manner, the telephones 1a, lb or the data terminals 2a, 2b housed in each office A, B, respectively, are operated under the control of the private branch exchanges 3a, 3b. Also, under multiplexing control by the multiplexers 4a and 4b, voice and data information communication can be performed via the information communication network borrowed from the communication company. Furthermore, since there is no need for two offices A and B to construct a new information communication network between them, it is possible to construct an information communication system at a low cost.

However, such information communication systems have the following problems. That is, the communication networks of various communication companies are installed independently, and the information communication system is constructed by borrowing only this one information communication network (one route) within the membrane. For this reason, it is necessary to secure in advance an information communication network with a line capacity that sufficiently takes into account the amount of information (traffic) communicated between offices A and B.

Further, information and communication networks borrowed in this manner are often implemented as underground cables, for example in urban areas.

Therefore, for example, if a fire or cable cut accident occurs in the underground cable (information communication network), communication between the two offices A and B will be immediately interrupted. Furthermore, if an abnormality occurs in the information communication network due to other circumstances, the information transmission quality may be significantly degraded, leading to a risk of communication failure. Therefore, it is strongly desired to implement countermeasures to avoid such problems.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In this way, in the conventional information communication system, information communication is only carried out by borrowing the information communication network made up of communication companies, so it is difficult to avoid problems such as failures in the information communication network. There was a serious problem in how to deal with this situation and ensure stable information communication.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an information communication system that can ensure reliable and stable information communication between multiple business establishments. be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention connects information communication terminals installed in a plurality of business offices via a plurality of information communication networks respectively constructed by various communication companies, for example. However, information is communicated selectively through the plurality of information communication networks according to the status of these information communication networks.

For example, when the signal quality deteriorates during information communication via an information communication network, this is detected and the information communication is performed via another information communication network.

(Function) According to the present invention, the information communication network used for information communication is selectively controlled depending on the state of the information communication network connected between a plurality of information communication terminals, such as the traffic amount and bit error rate. Can be switched. Information communication will then be performed via this selected information communication network. As a result, even if an accident such as a cable fire occurs in the information communication network, it will be possible to communicate information via another information communication network set up on a different route, making this information communication reliable. It is possible to ensure sufficient stability and stability.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information communication system according to an embodiment.

Note that the same parts as those of the conventional information communication system shown in FIG. 4 will be described with the same reference numerals.

The feature of this system is that the information communication terminals installed at the second office A and B are connected via separate information communication networks 11 and 12 respectively constructed by multiple communication companies. That's what I did. The information communication terminals provided in each of the offices A and B are basically configured in the same way as the conventional system, but transmission path selection devices 7a and 7b are particularly provided to connect the plurality of information communication networks 11 and 12. The feature is that information is communicated selectively.

That is, the transmission path selection devices 7a, 7b are provided between the private branch exchanges 3a, 3b and the multiplexing devices 4a, 4b, and are controlled by a transmission path monitoring section 17, which will be described later, to provide information communication. This is to selectively control the network.

The transmission path monitoring section 17 includes, for example, a bit error rate measuring device 8.
A, a traffic monitoring section 9a, a switching control device 10a, etc., and is provided along with an information communication terminal at one office.

The bit error rate A11 in this transmission path monitoring section 17
The J-determiner 8a measures the bit error rate of a signal transmitted via the information communication network 11.12 under the control of the multiplexer 4a, 4b.

Furthermore, the traffic monitoring unit 9a monitors the amount of traffic communicated via the information communication network 11.12.

Note that the bit error rate and traffic amount are measured and monitored for each information communication network 11 and 12, respectively. The switching control device 10a switches between the information communication networks 11. 12, and controls the operation of the transmission path selection devices 7a and 7b according to the result of the determination.

The transmission path selection control signal from this switching control device 10a is given to the transmission path selection device 7a of one of the information communication terminals provided with the transmission path monitoring section 17, and is also applied to the information communication network 11.12. The signal is also simultaneously applied to the transmission path selection device 7b of the other information communication terminal via a dedicated control signal line 14 provided separately.

Thus, the transmission path selection device 7a of each information communication terminal.

7b receives a transmission path selection control signal given from the transmission path monitoring section 17, and selects the information communication networks 11 and 12 in synchronization with each other in accordance with this signal.

According to this system configured in this way, for example, real-time communication such as voice is assigned to one of the plurality of information communication networks 11 and 12 mentioned above, and waiting-type communication such as data is assigned to the other. multiplexed communication is performed. This allocation control is performed by transmitting signals from the exchanges 3a and 3b to the telephones.

(2) The information communication network 11.12 determines whether the signal is an immediate type signal given from b or a waiting type signal given from the data terminals 2a, 2b, and sends out the signal according to the determination result. This is done by specifying the selection.

Now, if a failure occurs in one of the information communication networks, the quality of communication information via that information communication network will deteriorate significantly. Then, the bit error rate measuring device 8a detects an increase in the bit error rate due to deterioration of communication information quality.

Furthermore, if information communication via the information communication network is interrupted due to an accident with a communication cable, the traffic will be suddenly lost.

When the switching control device 10a detects such an unexpected situation, it issues the transmission path selection control signal in order to have another information communication network handle the information communication via the information communication network where the communication failure occurred.

Note that the multiple information and communication networks 11 and 12 mentioned above are each borrowed separately from multiple communication companies, and are rarely installed via the same route, so it is difficult to prevent communication failures from occurring at the same time. It is extremely rare for this to occur.

Therefore, even if a failure occurs in one information communication network, it can be said that the other information communication network is functioning almost normally.

Thus, the transmission path selection device 7a of each information communication terminal.

7b is the voice described above according to the transmission path selection control described above;
and data via the other normal information communication network, respectively. As a result, the real-time voice and the standby data are multiplexed by the multiplexers 4a and 4b, and the information is communicated via the other normal information communication network. In this case, it goes without saying that the waiting time data is temporarily stored in a buffer device (not shown) and transmission is controlled.

As described above, switching control of the information communication network is performed, an information communication path is secured, and the telephones 1a, lb
Voice communication between the data terminals 2a and 2b and data communication between the data terminals 2a and 2b are performed.

When the information and communications network that caused the communication failure returns to normal, the transmission path is switched again, with immediate voice communication using one information and communication network and standby voice communication using the other information and communication network. data communication will take place.

In this case, information is communicated via multiple information communication networks at the same time, and the information communication of the information communication network in which a communication failure has occurred is made to be handled by another information communication network. It goes without saying that the present invention is similarly applicable even when information is communicated using a communication network alternatively.

In this way, according to this system, a plurality of information communication terminals that perform information communication are interconnected via a plurality of independent information communication networks, and information communication is provided for information communication according to the state of the transmission path. It is used to select and control networks.

Therefore, it becomes possible to secure an information transmission path through a constant information communication network, and its reliability can be stably ensured.

Therefore, it is possible to improve protection against communication failures, ensure a stable information communication path at all times, and enable stable business execution.

Furthermore, since a plurality of information communication networks can be selectively used, system costs can be reduced by, for example, making effective use of inexpensive information communication networks. Furthermore, since there is no need to provide extra communication capacity for each information communication network, it is possible to reduce communication costs in this respect as well.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, it is also possible to control network switching according to the amount of information communication traffic via the information communication network.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a transmission path monitoring section 17 and a transmission path monitoring section 18 similar to the transmission path monitoring section 17 are provided in the other information communication terminal to control switching of the information communication network described above. You may also do so. In this case, one transmission path monitoring section may be used primarily, and the other transmission path monitoring section may be used as a slave. In this way, it is possible to improve the reliability of the control system and ensure more reliable information communication.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, multiplexing devices 4a are individually associated with a plurality of information communication networks.

It is also possible to construct an information communication system by providing 4b, lea, and 18b.

Furthermore, although an example in which two information communication networks are used has been described here, it is also possible to selectively use three or more information communication networks.

Further, it can be similarly applied not only to information communication between two information communication terminals in two offices, but also to information communication between many information communication terminals.

In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, information communication is performed by selectively using a plurality of information communication networks according to the transmission path conditions, so that it is possible to prevent accidents such as cable fires, etc. It is possible to effectively deal with the problems, to ensure reliable information communication channels at all times, and to perform stable information communication, resulting in great practical effects. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing one embodiment of the information communication system of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing other embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a conventional information communication system. FIG. la, 1b--telephone, 2a, 2b--data terminal, 3a. 3 b--Private branch exchange, 4a, 4b, lea,
18b--Multiple multiplexer, 5a, 5b, 6
a, 6b...Line termination device, 7a, 7b...Transmission path selection device, 8a, 8b...Bit error rate measuring device, 9a, 9b...Traffic monitoring unit, LOa,
LOb...Switching control device, 11.12...Information communication network, 14...Control signal line, 17.18...
・Transmission path monitoring section. Application agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of information communication networks, a plurality of information communication terminals that selectively communicate information via these information communication networks, and a state of the information communication networks is monitored to enable information transmission between the plurality of information communication terminals. An information communication system comprising means for selectively controlling an information communication network to be provided.