JPH04207253A - Visual telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a visual telephone set with a useful function by automatically switching manual/automatic incoming according to the designation of an incoming operation mode at an incoming side when information representing such designation is included in the call setting signal of incoming. CONSTITUTION:When an opposite dial is inputted by a user at an outgoing side, a processor 1 generates a prescribed call setting signal, and it is transmitted to a network via the Dch of an ISDH I/F 4. Call setting, transmission capability, a Ch identifier, an incoming number, and user/user information are included in the call setting signal. The incoming number is analyzed by the exchange of the network, and an incoming notice is sent to an incoming subscriber line. An incoming operation mode information(manual/automatic operation designation) password is included in the user/user information. By employing such constitution, it is possible to use a general visual telephone set as remote supervisory equipment by switching a mode to the automatic incoming from a remote place at need. Also, the incoming mode can be designated by attaching the password, which protects privacy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a video telephone capable of simultaneously transmitting audio and video.

(Conventional technology) Due to international standardization by the CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee), construction of the I5DN (Integrated Service Digital Network) is progressing, and in the future it will be used in general households as a basic communication network to replace the current telephone network. It is also expected that it will become popular.

In this I SDN, a single line has multiple information (B) channels used for transmitting information between terminals and one channel used for transmitting signal information used to control call origination and reception between terminals and the network (exchange). By multiplexing and transmitting the signal (D) channel, it is easy to realize multimedia communication.

The ISDN basic interface specified in CCITT Recommendation 1.430 has a 2B+D channel structure that multiplexes two channels with a capacity of 64 Kbps and a D channel with a capacity of 16 Kbps. A major feature is that it can be transmitted using a two-wire metallic cable.

By the way, one type of terminal equipment that can effectively utilize the features of the above-mentioned I5DN is a video telephone. This videophone allows audio and video to be transmitted over a single line by assigning one B channel for transmitting digitally encoded audio and the other B channel for transmitting digitally encoded video. simultaneous communication is possible.

The second type of videophone allows people to make voice calls without seeing each other's facial expressions, so it can be expected to lead to more intimate communication.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) The above-mentioned videophones are required to be able to perform simultaneous audio and video communication on a single line, are expensive, and have more functions. Ta.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a video phone that is equipped with more useful functions while making the most of the basic configuration of the video phone.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for transmitting a call setting signal by including information specifying an incoming call operation mode on the calling side, On the receiving side, if the incoming call setup signal includes information specifying the incoming call operation mode, the incoming call operation mode is automatically switched between manual incoming call and automatic incoming call in accordance with the specification. This makes it possible to specify the incoming call operation mode.

(Function) According to the present invention, it normally operates in the manual call receiving operation mode as a general video phone, and can be switched to automatic call reception from a remote location if necessary, so that the general video phone can be used as, for example, a remote monitoring device. You can.

In addition, when receiving calls automatically, by setting the call to silent, and by adding a password to the information specifying the receiving operation mode, it is possible to specify the receiving mode only by the user on the receiving side of Tobe Meido Yakushi or from a remote location. You can also protect your privacy.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a video telephone to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a microprocessor 1 executes connection control for making and receiving calls with the video telephone, and this control software is stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 2. microprocessor 1
and ROM2 perform connection control for voice and video communications by exchanging 15DN call control signals (messages) with the network (exchange) in accordance with the provisions of CCITT Recommendation Q, 931. The call control signal of the microprocessor 1 is connected as 16 Kbps serial data to the D channel of the 15DN interface 4, which will be described later. The dial key 3 is used to input the called party's number when making a call. When the user presses the dial key, the microprocessor 1 incorporates the called party's number into the call setting signal for the call request. Also, dial key 3 is
It also includes function keys for specifying the incoming call operation mode. l5DN interface (ISDN)
1/F) 4 multiplexes two B channels with a transmission capacity of 64 Kbps and a D channel with a transmission capacity of 15 Kbps, in accordance with the channel structure of the ISDN basic interface specified in CCITT Recommendation 1.430.
In addition to separating, for the D channel, the CCI
It has a data link control function defined in TT Recommendation Q.921, and controls the transmission of control signals transmitted between the microprocessor 1 and the network.

On the other hand, the two B channels are multiplexed and separated by the 15DN I/F 4, and for example, the B1 channel is connected to the audio codec 6, the B2 channel is connected to the image codec 9,
Applies to audio and video communications between videophones.

The voice communication system is composed of a handset (transceiver) 5 and a voice codec 6, and receives analog voice signals from the handset 5 according to CCITT Recommendation G.

According to the μmlaw encoding method specified in G.71164
Audio codec 6 that converts to Kbps digital signal
It is connected to the B1 channel of 15DN I/F4 via.

The video signal system includes a color television camera 7 using, for example, a CCD, a color display using, for example, an LCD, and an image codec 9. The image codec 9 uses the digital encoding method for color video signals specified in CCITT Recommendation H.
It is compressed to 4Kbps, and the transmitted and received signals are 15DN.
It is transferred between the image codecs of the other party's video phone via the B2 channel of I/F4.

Next, the ringer 10 is used to sound a ringing tone when a call is received, and the start and stop of the ringing is controlled by the microprocessor 1.

The operation will be explained below.

On the calling side, when the user dials the other party, the microprocessor 1 generates a call setting signal shown in FIG. 2 and transmits it to the network via the D channel of the 15DN I/F 4. This call setup signal includes CCIT
According to the Layer 3 signal coding regulations of T Recommendation Q, 931, the layer 3 signal type 2a field contains "unrestricted digital" and "circuit switched" indicating the attributes of communication information, and the channel identifier 2C field. "B channel unit" indicating that two B channels are used at the same time, and "recipient number" indicating the called party number in the field of called number 2 are required information elements, indicating whether the user or the receiving operation mode The above information is included when the user performs an operation to specify the , and is omitted when there is no user operation.

The operation to specify the incoming call operation mode is to
It is also possible to use one of the function keys provided at 3 for this specification. Naturally, it is also possible to specify by a combination of symbol keys such as * and # and numeric keys.

When a call setup signal is generated by the microprocessor 1 as a result of the calling operations by the caller and the user as described above, the call setup signal is transmitted to the network and is sent to the network exchange as shown in FIG. 3a. The called number is analyzed and a call setup signal is sent to the called subscriber's line as an incoming call notification.

When the receiving side receives a call setting signal from the network, the microprocessor 1 analyzes the contents of the received call setting signal to identify the incoming call and check the presence or absence of user-to-user information elements.

In the case of FIG. 3a, CCITT Recommendation Q is adopted because the user-user information element is not included.

As stipulated by G.931, a call setup acceptance signal and a paging signal are transmitted to the network, and the paging signal is sounded at the same time. Similar to conventional telephones, when the incoming caller goes off-hook, the called party sends a response signal to the network, and immediately after this, B1, B2
Audio and video communication is possible using these two channels.

On the other hand, if the calling side does not specify the incoming call operation mode, the receiving side receives a call setup signal from the network, and the microprocessor 1 analyzes the received signal, as shown in Figure 3. As a result, as an operation when no user-user information element is included, a response signal is transmitted following transmission of a call setup acceptance signal in response to the user not going off-hook.

Immediately after that, audio and video communication using the two channels B1 and B2 becomes possible.

In this case, the receiving side may, for example, make a ringtone sound for several seconds upon automatic response. Or it may be silent. This selection can also be specified by the user-user information from the calling side. Naturally, this ringing control can be performed regardless of the designation of the incoming call operation mode.

In addition, by adding a password to the operation mode information for the user/user information that specifies the incoming call operation mode, the second incoming caller compares the password with the pre-registered password, and only when they match, automatically responds. In case of mismatch, normal manual response action can be taken. In this way, the video telephone can be used as a remote monitoring device for the purpose of crime prevention, etc., and will not be misused by a third party.

When using this incoming call operation mode, the receiving side may be able to set a mode in which automatic response is permitted or rejected.

For example, when the user is away from home, it is preferable to use the incoming call operation mode, but when the user is at home, it may be preferable not to automatically receive the call using the incoming call operation mode. Therefore, an automatic call prohibition switch may be provided as a switch of the video telephone.

Furthermore, as a modification of the present invention, it is also possible to realize a video telephone equipped with a one-way voice and video communication function. According to the second function, when using a videophone for remote monitoring, if only the audio and video of the called party is transmitted to the calling party, and at the same time the transmission of the audio and video of the calling party is prohibited, one-way communication is possible. Therefore, it is even more effective when the videophone is used for the purpose of crime prevention or the like.

Further, in this one-way communication, it is also possible to make one-way communication of either audio or video. At the same time, it is also possible to perform one-way communication for both.

In order to realize one-way communication, the transmission system operations of the audio codec and image codec of the video telephone on the calling side may be stopped, and a code equivalent to no signal may be transmitted.

Specifically, from the transmission system's point of view, two signal sources are prepared, for example, a source of an nurturing signal and a source of a code equivalent to no signal. , just switch. Alternatively, a one-way communication network service may be used. In one-way communication using network services, the information channel for transmitting information between one terminal is used in the secondary direction from the terminal on the receiving side, and only in one direction from the network to the terminal on the originating side. Compared to two-way communication,
It also has the effect of reducing communication costs.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when making a call, the receiving side can select the receiving operation mode of manual response or automatic response. You can. In addition, if necessary, by specifying silent incoming calls and assigning a password to these incoming call operation mode specifications, it is possible to prevent misuse by a third party.
This makes it possible to expand the scope of use of the videophone.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a video telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of a call setting signal, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the operating procedure. 1... Microprocessor 4... l5DN I/F 6... Audio codec 9... Image codec

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) It has a plurality of information channels for transmitting audio and video between terminals and a signal channel for transmitting call control signals for controlling incoming and outgoing calls between terminals and the network, and In a videophone connected to a communication network where user information can also be transmitted between terminals on the signal channel, when making a call, the receiving operation mode information, which allows the called party to select manual or automatic call receiving, is added to the call setup signal. A video phone characterized in that, when the user information of the incoming call operation mode information is included, the incoming call mode of manual incoming call or automatic incoming call is selected according to the incoming call mode information. (2) The video telephone set according to claim 1, characterized in that in the manual call reception mode, a ring tone sounds and the call is accepted by the user's response operation, and in the automatic call reception mode, the call is automatically accepted without ringing. (3) In claim 1, when making a call, a password is assigned to the incoming call mode information included in the user information, and the incoming call is provided with a password registered in advance and the incoming call setting information included in the user information of the incoming call setting signal. A video phone characterized in that the mode information is checked against a password, and only when a match is found, the incoming call mode is switched to the incoming call mode specified by the incoming call mode information. (4) A video telephone having a two-way audio and video communication mode and a one-way audio and video communication mode, the communication mode being set to be selectable when making or receiving a call.