JPH01261039A - Group address management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a limited number of group addresses and to effectively and flexibly attain multi-cast communication by assigning and releasing the group addresses to/from a terminal equipment group corresponding to a network management device. CONSTITUTION:A center terminal equipment 2a or 2b gives a request of assignment of a group address to a network management device 4 when the necessity of broadcasting the same content to plural loudspeaker terminal equipments along loudspeaker terminal equipments 3a-3d takes place. The network management device 4 receiving the request assigns the group address not assigned yet to the loudspeaker terminal equipment group. Thus, a logical communication path is set with the loudspeaker terminal equipment group to attain broadcast. When the broadcast is finished, the release of assigned group address is requested from the center terminal equipment 2a or 2b to the network management device 4 and the group address set to the loudspeaker terminal equipment group is invalidated and released. Thus, the group address is assigned to desired terminal equipments 3a-3d as necessary, only in response to the request from the center terminal equipments 2a, 2b.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] This invention is mainly applicable to local area networks (Local Area Networks).
In AN) system, a group address management method in which a common address is assigned to a group of corresponding terminals for the purpose of multicast communication, that is, specifying multiple terminals at once and performing broadcast communication [Prior art] Conventionally, group Address assignment was determined at the time of system configuration, and was fixed or semi-fixed for each terminal.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of this conventional method. In the figure, 1 is a transmission line, 2 is a center terminal, and each of the public address terminals 38 to 38 installed in each section of the campus or building
It provides broadcasting of audio, music, etc. to 3C. As shown in the figure, a unique address is set for each terminal 2, 3a-3c at the time of system configuration, and a group address common to any terminal group is set for each loudspeaker terminal 3a-3c. In this case, #11, which is assigned to the public address terminals 3a and 3b as group address ■, to #14, which is assigned to all public address terminals 3a to 3C as group address ■, are set to each public address terminal 3a to 3C during system configuration, similar to the above-mentioned unique addresses. .

In the above configuration, when each of the loudspeaker terminals 3a to 3C is designated individually for broadcasting, a logical communication path is set up from the center terminal 2 to the desired loudspeaker terminal using a unique address prior to broadcasting. . Thereby, the broadcast signal can be transmitted to the desired amplification terminal. Similarly, if a communication channel is set using, for example, the group address I, the same content can be simultaneously broadcast to the public address terminals 3a and 3b.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional system, it was necessary to allocate a group address to each terminal group at the time of system configuration, and to set this group address in each terminal. Therefore,
Terminals are fixed within a campus or building, and if a section moves, the assignment of group addresses to each terminal must be changed. Also,
When there are a large number of terminals, the number of combinations increases exponentially, so a large number of group addresses tend to be consumed, resulting in an increase in address length and a complicated group address setting mechanism at each terminal.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a group address management system that can effectively and flexibly realize multicast communication using a limited number of group addresses.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A group address management system according to the present invention includes a network management device that manages group address assignment, and responds to a group address assignment request and cancellation request from any terminal. , the network management device allocates and cancels group addresses to corresponding terminal groups.

[Operation] In this invention, the network management device manages the group address as a shared resource of the system, and when a terminal needs to transmit the same content to multiple other terminals, the terminal can communicate with the network management device. A request is made to allocate a group address to the corresponding terminal group, and in response to this request, the network management device allocates an unallocated group address to the corresponding terminal group. The terminal that made the request performs multicast communication using the assigned group address, and after the communication is completed, the network management device invalidates the group address assignment by requesting cancellation of the group address assignment.

By managing group addresses as described above,
It is not necessary to prepare enough group addresses to cover all combinations of terminals, and it is sufficient to prepare a limited number of group addresses that must be valid at the same time.This reduces the number of addresses, that is, the number of address bits. can be reduced. Also, compared to the conventional method of assigning group addresses in a fixed or semi-fixed manner, groups can be formed more flexibly, so the settings of each terminal can be changed even when moving sections. There will be no need.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A system configuration diagram of the embodiment is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a transmission path, 2a and 2b are center terminals, 38 to 3d are public address terminals, and 4 is a network management device that manages group address assignment.
In response to a group address assignment request from the center terminal 2a or 2b, an unassigned group address is assigned, the group address is set in each corresponding public address terminal, and the group address is notified to the requesting center terminal. Further, when a request to release the group address assigned as described above is received from the center terminal 2a or 2b, the group address set for the corresponding loudspeaker terminal group is invalidated and the group address is released.

Also.

If there is a loudspeaker terminal in the group of loudspeaker terminals to which assignment of a group address has been requested that overlaps with a group of loudspeaker terminals to which a group address has already been assigned, the request will not be accepted, and only if there is no overlap, the request will be accepted.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, when the center terminal 2a or 2b needs to broadcast the same content to a plurality of amplification terminals among the amplification terminals 38 to 3d, it requests the network management device 4 to allocate a group address to the corresponding group of amplification terminals.

Upon receiving this, the network management device 4 allocates the unassigned group address to the relevant public address terminal group, sets the group address to each public address terminal, and notifies the requesting center terminal 2a or 2b of the group address. . As a result, it is possible to set up a logical communication path with the corresponding group of loudspeaker terminals using the group address and broadcast to them, as in the past. When the broadcast is completed, the center terminal 2a or 2b requests the network management device 4 to release the group address assignment, thereby invalidating and releasing the group address set for the corresponding public address terminal group by the above assignment. Ru.

As described above, a group address can be assigned to a desired loudspeaker terminal only when necessary in response to a request from a center terminal, without assigning a group address to a terminal in a fixed or semi-fixed manner.

Further, for example, one center terminal 2a is a public address terminal 3a,
3b and 3c, even if the other center terminal 2b requests the network management device 4 to allocate a group address in order to broadcast to the public address terminals 3b and 3c, the public address terminals 3b and 3c 3c is already in use, the network management device 4 does not accept this request.

On the other hand, if the center terminal 2b requests assignment of a group address for broadcasting to the loudspeaker terminals 3c and 3d while the center terminal 2a is broadcasting to the loudspeaker terminals 3a and 3b using the group address, the network management device 4 If there is an assigned group address, it can be accepted, and the center terminal 2b can broadcast to the public address terminals 3c and 3d using the assigned group address. This allows for unified management of things like prohibiting double broadcasts.

The network management device 4 manages group address allocation as described above, but in this case, broadcast channels and communication channels for group address allocation control are transmitted without interference between channels by frequency division or time division multiplexing. Needless to say, they coexist on Route 1.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention includes a network management device that manages group address assignment, and in response to a group address assignment request and cancellation request from any terminal, the network Since the management device allocates and releases group addresses to the corresponding terminal group, group addresses can be assigned in response to requests from any terminal without having to be fixedly or semi-fixably assigned to terminals. A group address can be assigned to a desired terminal only when necessary, and multicast communication can be effectively and flexibly realized using a limited number of group addresses.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing a conventional example. 1 is a transmission path, 2a and 2b are center terminals, 30 to 3d are public address terminals, and 4 is a network management device. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a network system in which a unique address is assigned to each terminal, a network management device that manages group address assignment in a group address management method that assigns a common address to a group of corresponding terminals in order to specify multiple terminals at once. The network management device is characterized in that, in response to a group address assignment request and a cancellation request from any terminal, the network management device allocates a group address to a corresponding terminal group and cancels the same. Group address management method.