KR20100102697A - Internet telephone terminal employing a software automatic connection based on broadband wireless internet, and a control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A VoIP terminal using a soft automatic connection based on broad band wireless internet, which automatically selects software per VoIP provider, and a method for controlling the same are provided to automatically connect to a server through broadband width wireless internet, thereby providing a soft phone mode VoIP service. CONSTITUTION: A wireless internet transceiver(110) is connected to broadband wireless internet. A memory unit(143) stores software per VoIP provider, a user ID/password, address book information, and all kinds of setting data. A control unit(141) connects to a server of the VoIP subscribed to a user and attempts an automatic connection based on the subscriber ID/password. The control method selects one of software among the VoIP provider software.

Description

INTERNET TELEPHONE TERMINAL EMPLOYING A SOFTWARE AUTOMATIC CONNECTION BASED ON BROADBAND WIRELESS INTERNET, AND A CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR}

The present invention relates to an Internet phone terminal using a broadband wireless Internet and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to an automatic telephone server of an operator (for example, Skype or Naver phone) that provides Internet-based telephone service through a broadband wireless internet. The present invention relates to an internet telephone terminal and a control method thereof capable of providing an internet telephone service of a soft phone type by itself.

The present invention is derived from the research conducted as part of the Small and Medium Business Administration's technology innovation development project [Task Management Number: S1045367, Task name: Development of All IP based WiBro (Mobile WiMAX) Internet Phone]

Advances in telecommunications technology have made Internet telephony services more affordable than traditional circuit-based telephony services. Internet telephony services include personal computer (PC) to personal computer (PC), PC to phone, and phone to phone. Currently, the Internet telephone service has been developed in a telephone-to-phone manner and can be given a separate telephone number. As a result, current Internet telephony services have features that are not significantly different from traditional line-based telephony services.

In the telephone-to-phone system of the Internet telephone service, a dedicated identification number (telephone number) is obtained from an internet telephone company, so that the user can use the internet telephone service as easily as using a telephone of a line type. However, in the case of a PC-to-PC or PC-to-phone method, which is called a soft phone method, the user must access a server of the Internet telephone service provider using a personal computer (PC) that can be connected to the Internet. In this case, the user connects a separate dedicated terminal to the PC or connects a headset with a microphone to a sound card mounted on the PC, and a personal computer (PC) must have software provided by the corresponding Internet phone service provider. Such a PC-to-PC method or a PC-to-phone method has an inconvenience in user convenience as compared to a phone-to-phone Internet phone service.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of the PC-to-PC or PC-to-phone system, there may be a method of wirelessly connecting the Internet phone terminal connected to the PC using Bluetooth or a wireless LAN.

As an example of such a wirelessization method, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-0117112 sets a wireless LAN card in an ad-hoc mode in a personal computer equipped with both a wired LAN card and a wireless LAN card, to a wireless access pointer (AP). It is used as a portable internet phone terminal by mounting a mini messenger on a personal digital assistant (PDA) equipped with a wireless LAN card.Wireless Internet telephone service through interworking between a messenger installed in a personal computer and a mini messenger installed in a portable terminal. The technology for providing is disclosed.

The apparatus for providing a wireless Internet telephony service includes accessing the wireless LAN according to a wired LAN for communicating with a messenger server, a wireless LAN for communicating with a mobile terminal, an input unit for inputting information, and control information input from the input unit. And a service control unit for switching to a point function and controlling the mobile terminal to transmit / receive data with the messenger server through the wired LAN when the portable terminal accesses the wireless LAN.

However, the wireless communication method is not only limited to the communication distance between the terminal and the personal computer (PC) but also the terminal price increases, and a personal computer (PC) for accessing the service is essential to use the Internet telephony service. There is a disadvantage.

On the other hand, recently, a VoIP telephone terminal using the wireless Internet has been proposed. For example, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-0067340 discloses a communication terminal for a wireless internet telephone.

The wireless Internet telephony communication terminal apparatus is a communication terminal apparatus for transmitting and receiving data through a wireless internet network, a display unit for displaying status information and operation information of the terminal apparatus, and an operation program for operating the communication terminal apparatus. Registers the communication terminal device to an access point of the Internet network, transmits and receives data through the access point, and sets a frequency of a clock signal when the data to be transmitted or received is not generated for a threshold time. And a voice transmitter for transmitting the voice data to the terminal controller or receiving and transmitting the voice output from the terminal controller.

However, such a conventional wireless Internet telephone terminal has a disadvantage in that the usable area is limited due to the limitation of the area where the wireless Internet telephone terminal can be wirelessly connected to the network. In addition, the conventional wireless Internet phone terminal, there is no specific method for providing a telephone service in the same manner as a conventional portable communication terminal for providing a telephone service by accessing the cellular network. In other words, even when a voice call service is provided through a wireless Internet network through a VoIP method, a method for allowing a user to use a telephone service in a manner similar to using a normal telephone without consciousness is required.

Technical challenge

Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and automatically connects to a server of an operator providing an Internet-based telephone service through a broadband wireless Internet, and uses a softphone method for the user for the Internet telephone service. It is an object of the present invention to provide an internet phone terminal and a control method thereof, by providing an interface and ensuring mobility, and allowing a user to conveniently use an internet type telephone service at a low cost.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it will be readily appreciated that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the claims.

Technical solution

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet telephone terminal, comprising: an Internet telephone terminal connected to a broadband wireless internet to provide a telephone service through the Internet, the wireless internet transmitting and receiving means for accessing the broadband wireless internet; Input means for inputting a text or an image including a voice; Output means for outputting a text or an image including a voice; Memory means for storing Internet telephone service provider-specific software, subscriber's registration ID and password, address book information and various setting information; And controlling access to the Internet through the wireless Internet transmission / reception means, accessing a server of at least one Internet telephone service provider to which the user has subscribed, and attempting automatic connection using the registration ID and password stored in the memory means. And control means for controlling the online state, and controlling any one of the software of at least one Internet telephony service provider to attempt a call with a telephone number or ID input by the user.

Preferably, the control unit is connected to the server of all the Internet phone service providers for which the user has set up automatic connection, performs user authentication using the ID and password corresponding to each Internet phone service provider, and the subscriber registered in the address book. Update their status online.

Preferably, the control means is further configured to perform a software call so that a telephone call can be attempted through a server of the same Internet telephone service provider subscribed to by the subscriber selected in the address book when the user selected in the address book is online. Choose.

Preferably, the wireless Internet transmission and reception means may be composed of an internal module or an external module.

In addition, the service control method in the Internet phone terminal for achieving the above object is a service control method in the Internet phone terminal connected to the broadband wireless Internet to provide a telephone service over the Internet, (a) at least one subscribed Storing the ID and password corresponding to each Internet telephone service provider; (b) automatically accessing the Internet through a wireless Internet transmission and reception means; (c) automatically accessing a server of the at least one subscribed Internet telephone service provider and performing user authentication using the registered ID and password; (d) updating whether or not the subscribers registered in the address book are online when the user authentication is completed; And (e) selecting at least one internet telephone service provider and attempting to make a call using a phone number or ID input by the user.

Preferably, the step (e) includes a telephone call made through a server of the same Internet telephone service provider subscribed to by the subscriber when the ID (ID) of the subscriber selected from the address book for the user to attempt a telephone call is online. Try.

[Favorable effect]

The Internet phone terminal according to the present invention includes an IEEE 802.16d / e (WiBro, Mobile WiMAX, etc.) service connection module for accessing a broadband wireless Internet network, a memory for storing various programs and information, and a central processing unit (CPU). And input and output means and voice handset means. In addition, the Internet phone terminal according to the present invention includes an automatic connection module that performs an authentication procedure and automatically performs an initial operation so that a user can use a phone after automatically connecting to each Internet phone service provider. Therefore, the present invention can alleviate the inconvenience that the user has to go through the Internet phone service provider's server every time the Internet phone is used, and in the same way as the general telephone in the broadband wireless Internet access environment, Can be used.

1 is a block diagram of an Internet telephone terminal according to the present invention;

2 is a perspective view of an internet telephone terminal according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a service control method in the Internet telephone terminal according to the present invention.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereby those skilled in the art may easily implement the technical idea of the present invention. There will be. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of an Internet telephone terminal according to the present invention.

Internet telephony terminal according to the present invention, the wireless Internet transceiver 110 for wirelessly connecting to the Internet network to transmit and receive data packets; An input unit 120 including a microphone 121 and a keypad 122 and an emergency button 123 selectively provided as necessary, and converting an input signal such as a voice signal and a text into an electrical signal; An output unit configured to include a speaker 131 and a display unit 132 such as a liquid crystal display, which allows a user to listen to or watch image data such as voice data and images and texts received through the wireless Internet transceiver 110. 130); The signal input from the input unit 120 is converted into a data packet capable of internet transmission and transmitted through the wireless internet transceiver 110, and data such as voice and image received by the wireless internet transceiver 110 A controller 140 controlling the output to be output through the output unit 130; And other information terminals in order to use the Internet telephone terminal of the present invention as a wireless Internet modem in another information terminal (for example, a laptop or a PC) through the wireless Internet transceiver 110 connected to the control unit 140. And a USB interface unit 150 for providing a communication interface with and supplying power for the Internet telephone terminal of the present invention. In addition, the Internet telephony terminal according to the present invention may further include a USIM interface unit having an insertion hole to selectively insert the USIM interface module 160 in which the wireless Internet service user authentication information is stored if necessary.

The wireless Internet transceiver 110 is connected to the control unit 140 and transmits the converted data packet to transmit a voice, image, text, etc. signal to the Internet network, and also receives the data packet transmitted through the Internet network. It consists of a broadband wireless Internet transmission / reception module providing a wireless standard environment of IEEE 802.16d or IEEE 802.16e type. Although the wireless Internet transceiver has been described as a broadband wireless Internet transceiver module that satisfies the wireless standards of the IEEE 802.16d or IEEE 802.16e type, it will be apparent that the wireless Internet transceiver may be configured with other wireless Internet transceiver modules. In addition, the wireless Internet transceiver is installed in the Internet phone terminal of the present invention, or may be configured in the form of a USB dongle can be configured separately from the Internet phone terminal of the present invention through a USB interface. The configuration of the broadband wireless Internet transmission / reception module in an internal or external manner may be selected by a designer, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The input unit 120 includes a microphone 121 for inputting a voice signal, a keypad 122 for inputting a phone number or a character, and a user such as a police station or a fire station in advance in case of an emergency such as a fire or an intruder. It can be configured as an emergency button 123 to be able to directly contact the number set in the. Here, the keypad 122 and the emergency button 123 may be replaced by a touch screen, and such modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The output unit 130 is connected to the controller 140, and includes a speaker 131 for outputting a voice signal transmitted from the controller 140, and a display unit 132 for displaying an image or a text signal. The display unit may be a liquid crystal display (LCD).

The controller 140 converts a voice signal into a data packet form to enable mutual transmission and reception in the Internet network and a microprocessor 141 for processing all data generated in the Internet phone terminal of the present invention (VoIP: Voice over). IP) module 142, a memory 143 for storing data and various programs, and for automatically performing a user authentication procedure on the Internet that a user must perform each time in order to use a soft phone-type Internet telephone service. Through the input unit 120 and the automatic connection module 144 for automatically connecting to the server of at least one or more Internet telephony service providers based on information (for example, ID and password) previously set in the terminal. And a data processing module 145 for encoding the input signal and decoding the data received by the wireless internet transceiver 110. The VoIP module 142, the automatic access module 144, and the data processing module 145 may be configured by software stored in the memory 143. In this case, the VoIP module 142 and the automatic access module 144 may be configured. ) And data processing module 145 may be operated by running on microprocessor 141.

The USB interface unit 150 is a USB interface module 151 for data communication with another information device (for example, a laptop, a PC, etc.) and for supplying power to the Internet telephone terminal of the present invention through a USB cable. A power module 152 is included. By connecting the other information device to the Internet phone terminal of the present invention through the USB interface, the other information device can be connected to the Internet network through the wireless Internet transceiver of the Internet phone terminal of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing the exterior of the Internet telephone terminal according to the present invention. The Internet telephone terminal according to the present invention may have a design similar to a general portable telephone. In FIG. 2, 121 denotes a microphone, 122 denotes a keypad, 123 denotes an emergency button, 131 denotes a speaker, 132 denotes a display, and 170 and 180 denote USB module insertion holes, respectively. In addition, 110 denotes a wireless Internet transmission / reception module configured in the form of a USB dongle.

The operation of the Internet access terminal of the automatic access method according to the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a service control method in the Internet telephone terminal according to the present invention.

First, the user must access the Internet telephone service provider's server to subscribe to the service when the Internet phone terminal is initially used, and download and install software provided by each Internet telephone service provider from each server. Here, the user may subscribe to a plurality of Internet telephone service providers. In addition, a user must store IDs and passwords registered with each Internet phone service provider in correspondence for each Internet phone service provider and store them in the memory of the Internet phone terminal of the present invention. In addition, the user should set whether to automatically connect to each Internet telephone service provider when the Internet telephone terminal is initialized. Therefore, the memory of the Internet phone terminal stores software for each Internet phone provider, an ID (ID) and password corresponding to each Internet phone provider, setting information for automatic connection, and address book information such as a phone number.

When power is applied in this state (310), the controller 140 controls to automatically connect to the Internet network through the wireless Internet transceiver 110 (312). In other words, the control unit performs an authentication procedure for accessing the network through the wireless Internet transceiver to use the Internet.

When the automatic connection to the Internet network is completed, the automatic connection module 144 of the control unit connects to each Internet telephone service provider's server for each Internet telephone service provider that the user has previously set up. Then, the automatic connection module 144 of the control unit calls the ID and password for each Internet phone service provider stored in the memory 143 in advance, and transmits them to the server of the connected Internet phone service provider to authenticate the user. To be performed. When the user authentication for one Internet telephony service provider is completed, the user authentication procedure is repeated for all Internet telephony service providers for which automatic access is established until the user authentication process is completed (314).

If authentication is successful in the process of performing user authentication for each of these Internet telephony service providers, the online status of the user registered in the address book is automatically updated. In addition, if the user registered in the address book subsequently comes online while his Internet telephone terminal is online, the user state of the address book is automatically changed to the online state. This address book update is the same as the procedure performed in the normal messenger program, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, after going online through user authentication for each Internet phone service provider, when the address book update is completed, the user is ready to use the phone.

As such, in the standby state where the phone can be used, the user can select a destination terminal through the address book stored in the memory and make a call or enter a phone number directly to make a call.

First, a case in which a user makes a phone call to input a phone number will be described. The user selects any one of a plurality of installed software for each Internet telephone service provider. That is, the user selects an operator to use the Internet telephony service (316). The user then enters the phone number to attempt the call. It is also possible to enter the phone number first and then select the Internet phone service provider to use.

The control unit controls that the call can be attempted to the telephone number input only through the software of the Internet telephone service provider selected by the user, and controls not to attempt a call to another Internet telephone service provider (318). After the call is made through the above process, when the call ends, the controller switches to the initial call waiting state.

Meanwhile, when the user attempts to make a call through the address book, the controller checks whether the address book is selected from the user address book or the soft phone service address book (320). Here, the user address book is address book information registered by the user, and information such as a name, a home phone number, a mobile phone number, an Internet terminal phone number, and an Internet phone service subscription ID may be stored in correspondence. In addition, the soft phone service address book is information of a subscriber who has subscribed to an Internet telephone service, and a name, a registration ID, and online / offline status information may be stored in correspondence.

When the user selects a call destination from the user's address book (322), the control unit controls to select any one of the plurality of installed Internet phone service provider-specific software (324). That is, the user can select a carrier to use the Internet phone service. Then, a call is attempted to the telephone number of the call destination selected by the user. In this case, when a specific Internet telephony service provider is selected as a default, the step of selecting any one of a plurality of installed Internet telephony service provider-specific software may be omitted.

The control unit controls that the call can be attempted to the selected telephone number only through the software of the Internet telephone service provider selected by the user, and controls not to attempt a call to another Internet telephone service provider (326). After the call is made through the above process, when the call ends, the controller switches to the initial call waiting state.

On the other hand, when the user selects the call destination from the soft phone service address book (328), the Internet phone service provider to be used is selected according to whether or not the user is subscribed to the same Internet phone service provider as the selected call destination (330). If you are subscribed to the same Internet phone service provider as the calling party, select the software so that the call can be attempted through the same Internet phone service provider. However, when not subscribed to the same Internet telephone service provider as the calling party, the software of the Internet telephone service provider designated by default is selected or the software of the Internet telephone service provider selected by the user is selected.

If the calling party is offline, the service is displayed. If the calling party is online, the control unit controls the call to be attempted with the selected ID only through the software of the selected Internet telephone service provider. The call service provider controls the call not to be attempted (334). After the call is made through the above process, when the call ends, the controller switches to the initial call waiting state.

On the other hand, the incoming call processing in the Internet phone terminal is performed in the same manner as a normal Internet phone terminal, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the method of the present invention as described above can be written in a computer program. And the code and code segments constituting the program can be easily inferred by a computer programmer in the art. In addition, the written program is stored in a computer-readable recording medium (information storage medium), and read and executed by a computer to implement the method of the present invention. The recording medium may include any type of computer readable recording medium.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited by.

The present invention is used to automatically connect to a server of an operator (for example, Skype or Naver phone, etc.) that provides Internet-based telephone service through a broadband wireless Internet to provide a soft-phone Internet telephone service by itself. .

Claims (8)

An Internet telephone terminal connected to a broadband wireless Internet and providing telephone service through the Internet, Wireless internet transmitting and receiving means for connecting to a broadband wireless internet; Input means for inputting a text or an image including a voice; Output means for outputting a text or an image including a voice; Memory means for storing Internet telephone service provider-specific software, subscriber's registration ID and password, address book information and various setting information; And Control access to the Internet through the wireless Internet transmission and reception means, access the server of at least one Internet telephone service provider to which the user subscribes, and attempts to automatically connect using the registration ID and password stored in the memory means online. A control means for controlling a state to control a state in which at least one software of at least one Internet telephone service provider is selected and attempting to make a call with a telephone number or ID input by a user; Internet phone terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, The control means, The user accesses the servers of all the Internet phone service providers for which the user has set up automatic access, performs user authentication by using the ID and password corresponding to each Internet phone service provider, and updates whether the subscribers registered in the address book are online. Internet phone terminal. The method of claim 2, The control means, When the user selected in the address book to attempt a phone call is online, selecting the software such that the telephone call is attempted through a server of the same Internet telephone service provider subscribed to by the subscriber selected in the address book. terminal. The method of claim 2, The wireless Internet transmitting and receiving means is an Internet telephone terminal, characterized in that composed of a built-in module. The method of claim 2, The wireless Internet transmitting and receiving means is an Internet telephone terminal, characterized in that composed of an external module. A service control method in an Internet telephone terminal connected to a broadband wireless Internet and providing a telephone service through the Internet, (a) storing corresponding registration IDs and passwords for each of at least one subscribed Internet telephone service provider; (b) automatically accessing the Internet through a wireless Internet transmission and reception means; (c) automatically accessing a server of the at least one subscribed Internet telephone service provider and performing user authentication using the registered ID and password; (d) updating whether or not the subscribers registered in the address book are online when the user authentication is completed; And (e) selecting at least one internet telephone service provider and attempting to make a call using a phone number or ID input by a user; Service control method in the Internet phone terminal comprising a. The method of claim 6, Step (c) and step (d), A service control method for an Internet telephone terminal, characterized in that performed by all Internet telephone service providers for which a user has set up automatic connection. The method of claim 6, In step (e), When the user's ID (ID) selected from the address book is online to attempt to make a phone call, the Internet telephone terminal, characterized in that the user tries to make a phone call through the server of the same Internet telephone service provider subscribed to the subscriber. Service control method.

Images