JP2001345804A - Telephone system, terminal adapter device and telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a telephone system, a terminal adapter device and a telephone set, with which reliability in call connection can be improved by solving the problem in the conventional telephone systems utilizing the Internet that reliability is low due to disabling the connection of a call, when the data packet of a tone signal expressing a telephone number is damaged. SOLUTION: For the telephone system, the terminal adapter device and the telephone set, when calling a telephone set 1c connected to a telephone line network 7 from a telephone set 1a, a terminal adapter device 2a converts the tone signal of a telephone number inputted from the telephone set 1a into a data packet and outputs this data packet via the Internet 3 to a gateway 6 plural number of times, and while utilizing this tone signal, the gateway 6 calls the telephone set 1c via the telephone line network 7 plural number of times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone system for transmitting information such as voice via the Internet, a terminal adapter device, and a telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, access to the Internet has become easier, and various Internet application technologies have been developed. As one of such Internet application technologies, there is one that realizes a telephone function. Conventionally, SIP has been used as a protocol for realizing such a telephone function.
(Session Initiation Protorol) and H.E. Internet phones employing H.323 have been considered. Such an Internet telephone protocol is made in consideration of an extended function other than the one-to-one communication, so that the system is complicated.

[0003] On the other hand, as a protocol for realizing the basic functions as simply as possible, NOTASIP (Noth
ing Other Than A Simple Internet Phone). The Internet telephone using NOTASIP enables the use of the main functions of the existing telephone without exchanging data other than voice,
The system is simplified because it is assumed that functions that cannot be performed by existing telephones will not be realized. Furthermore, this N
In Internet telephone using OTASIP, PST
Interconnection can be easily established between N (public telephone network) and the Internet.

[0004] An Internet telephone system using NOTASIP will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a basic system of an Internet telephone using NOTASIIP includes a telephone 1, a terminal adapter device 2, the Internet 3, a telephone directory server 4, a DNS (Domain Name Server) 5, a gateway, and the like. 6 and a telephone network 7.

[0005] Hereinafter, each part will be described in detail. Telephone 1
Is a normal telephone. Terminal adapter device 2
Is connected to the telephone 1 and the Internet 3. The terminal adapter device 2 outputs an instruction to call the other party's telephone 1 to another terminal adapter device 2 or the gateway 6 via the Internet 3. When a call is connected via the Internet 3, the terminal adapter device 2 encodes a voice signal input from the telephone 1 to generate a data packet, and transmits the data packet via the Internet 3. I do. The terminal adapter device 2 decodes and extracts a voice signal from a data packet arriving via the Internet 3 and outputs the signal to the telephone 1. The process in which the terminal adapter device 2 calls the other party's telephone by another terminal adapter device 2 or the gateway 6 will be described later in detail.

[0006] The telephone directory server 4 stores a telephone number and an address (for example, I
(P address or domain name) and identification information indicating an audio codec system that can be encoded and decoded by the other party. The telephone directory server 4 receives telephone number information from the terminal adapter device 2 via the Internet 3 and transmits an address corresponding to the telephone number. The DNS 5 stores a domain name and an IP address in association with each other. The gateway 6 is provided between the Internet 3 and the telephone network 7, extracts a voice signal from a data packet received via the Internet 3, and transmits the audio signal via the telephone network 7. Also,
The gateway 6 encodes a voice signal received from the telephone line network 7 to generate a data packet, and transmits the data packet via the Internet 3.

[0007] Here, the terminal adapter device 2a responds to an instruction from the telephone 1a and receives the telephone 1b or 1 of the other party.
The procedure for calling c will be described. The terminal adapter device 2a receives an input of a telephone number by a tone signal (DTMF voice signal) from the telephone 1a, accesses the telephone directory server 4 via the Internet 3, and
The IP address or domain name corresponding to the input telephone number is obtained from a. Here, when the domain name is obtained, the user further accesses DNS5,
The corresponding IP address may be obtained. The terminal adapter device 2a accesses the IP address via the Internet 3. The obtained IP address includes the IP address of another terminal adapter device 2b or gateway 6.

When the IP address corresponding to the telephone number is another terminal adapter device 2b, the terminal adapter device 2a is connected to the other terminal adapter device 2b. Is instructed to call the telephone 1b.

If the IP address corresponding to the telephone number is the IP address of the gateway 6,
The terminal adapter device 2a encodes a tone signal input from the telephone 1a to generate a data packet,
It transmits to this gateway 6. In this case,
The gateway 6 extracts a tone signal from the data packet received from the terminal adapter device 2a and outputs the tone signal to the telephone network 7. Then, an exchange (not shown) provided in the telephone line network 7 calls the telephone 1c based on the tone signal.

In a conventional Internet telephone, a call is connected by such processing of the terminal adapter device 2, a telephone call is started, and a voice codec system which can be supported by the other party obtained together with the IP address from the telephone directory server 4 is obtained. According to the identification information, the codec of the audio signal is selected, and the audio signal encoded by the codec is transmitted as a data packet.

[0011]

However, in the conventional telephone system via the Internet, if a data packet including a tone signal is lost or an error occurs on the Internet for some reason,
This tone signal cannot be received on the gateway side, the telephone cannot be called through the telephone line network, and the call cannot be connected. As described above, the conventional telephone system using the Internet has a problem that the reliability of connection of a call to a telephone connected through a telephone line network is low. Also, in certain telephone services, D
Some of them acquire numerical information or the like using a TMF tone signal, and if the tone signal cannot be transmitted reliably, there is a problem that use of such a service becomes difficult and convenience is low.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a telephone system capable of improving the reliability of connection of a call to a telephone connected to a telephone line network and improving convenience. I do.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art is connected to a telephone, transmits and receives a voice signal to and from the telephone, and exchanges the voice signal and the data packet with each other. A terminal adapter device for converting and transmitting and receiving data packets via the network, thereby transmitting and receiving voice signals of the telephone via the network;
A gateway device provided between the network and the telephone line network, for converting voice signals and data packets into and out of each other. Means for recognizing whether the signal is a signal, and according to the result of the recognition, when the audio signal is a tone signal,
Means for repeating the data packet of the tone signal by a preset number of times and transmitting the data packet to the gateway device via a network.

Further, the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art is connected to a telephone, transmits and receives a voice signal to and from the telephone, and converts the voice signal and the data packet to each other. Means for recognizing whether or not the voice signal input from the telephone is a tone signal, in a terminal adapter device for transmitting and receiving data packets via the network, thereby transmitting and receiving voice signals of the telephone via the network; Means for repeatedly transmitting a data packet of the tone signal a preset number of times when the voice signal is a tone signal in accordance with the result of the recognition.

Further, the present invention for solving the problems of the above-mentioned prior art is directed to calling a destination telephone via a telephone network to a gateway device provided between the network and the telephone network. A terminal adapter device for transmitting an instruction to perform over a network, when a tone signal representing a telephone number is input from a telephone, converts the tone signal into a data packet, and sets the data packet in advance as the instruction. It is characterized in that it is repeatedly transmitted as many times as it has been performed.

Further, the present invention for solving the problems of the above-mentioned conventional example provides a call originating telephone to a gateway device provided between a network and a telephone line network via the telephone line network. A telephone that transmits an instruction to perform over a network, receives a telephone number, converts a tone signal of the telephone number into a data packet, and repeats the data packet as a predetermined number of times as the instruction. It is characterized by transmission.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The telephone system according to the embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the general NOTA SIP telephone system shown in FIG. 1, but the operation of the terminal adapter device 2 is different from the conventional one. Therefore, the operation of the terminal adapter device 2 according to the present embodiment will be described below. The buffer 24 is divided and managed into a reception area and a transmission area.

The terminal adapter device 2 of the present embodiment
Is a telephone interface 21 as shown in FIG.
It comprises a network interface 22, a control unit 23, and a buffer 24, which are bus-connected to each other. The telephone interface 21 is connected to the telephone 1, generates a data packet by encoding a voice signal input from the telephone 1, and stores the data packet in a transmission area of the buffer 24. Also, this telephone interface 21
The data packet received via the network is taken out of the reception area of the buffer 24, decoded, converted into an audio signal, and output to the telephone 1.

The network interface 22 is connected to a network such as the Internet,
To send the data packet input from. The network interface 22 transmits a packet addressed to the own station among data packets arriving via the network.
The data is acquired using the P address and stored in the reception area of the buffer 24.

The control unit 23 takes out a data packet to be transmitted from the transmission area of the buffer 24 and outputs the data packet to the network interface 22. The process of the control unit 23 will be described later in detail. The buffer 24 includes a first ring buffer as a reception area and a second ring buffer as a transmission area.

Here, the operation of the control unit 23 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The terminal adapter device 2 sequentially reads the data packets stored in the transmission area of the buffer 24 and starts the processing shown in FIG. 3, and the audio signal included in the read data packet is a tone signal (DTMF signal). Is determined (S1). If the signal is a tone signal (if Yes), the data packet is continuously transmitted to the network interface 22 a predetermined number of times (n times).
(S2), and the process ends. Further, processing S1
In the case where the voice signal included in the read data packet is not a tone signal (if No), the read data packet is transmitted to the network interface 2.
Output to 2.

Next, the operation of calling in the telephone system according to the present embodiment will be described. When the user of the telephone 1a calls the other party's telephone 1c, the telephone 1a is operated to input the telephone number of the telephone 1c. Then, the terminal adapter device 2a receives the input of the telephone number by the voice signal of the tone signal, accesses the telephone directory server 4, and acquires the IP address corresponding to the telephone number.
Here, the IP address returned from the telephone directory server 4 is the IP address of the gateway 6. Then, the telephone interface 21 of the terminal adapter device 2a
Generates a data packet by encoding a tone signal representing a telephone number input from the telephone 1a,
Since the data packet read from the buffer 24 by the control unit 23 is a tone signal, the data packet is output to the network interface 22 a predetermined number of times (n times). Then, the data packet including the tone signal indicating the telephone number is transmitted to the gateway 6.
, And is received n times. Here, even if the data packet is lost on the Internet 3, 1 out of n times
If the data packet reaches gateway 6 even if
The gateway 6 can call the telephone 1c via the telephone network 7.

When the telephone 1c is called and the telephone 1c performs an incoming call operation, a communication path from the telephone 1a to the telephone 1c via the terminal adapter device 2a, the Internet 3, the gateway 6, and the telephone line network 7. Is formed. The voice signal uttered to the receiver of the telephone 1a is encoded by the terminal adapter device 2a and converted into a data packet, reaches the gateway 6 via the Internet 3, and the data packet is transmitted to the gateway 6 by the gateway 6. The signal is converted into a signal and reaches the telephone 1c via the telephone line network 7. Conversely, the voice signal uttered to the receiver of the telephone set 1c is encoded by the gateway 6 and converted into a data packet, arrives at the terminal adapter device 2a via the Internet 3, and is transmitted by the terminal adapter device 2a. It is converted into a signal and reaches the telephone 1a. During this time, the data packet including the general voice signal other than the tone signal is 1
Since it is transmitted only once, the network load does not become extremely high. However, even if this general audio signal is to be transmitted with high quality even when the load on the network is increased, the processing in FIG. 4 is executed instead of the processing in FIG. The data may be output to the network interface 22 continuously (m times) (S4).

In the present embodiment, when receiving a data packet having the same content a plurality of times, the gateway 6 selects one of them and discards the other data packet.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, not only the tone signal of the telephone number when calling the telephone 1 of the other party, but also the tone signal continuously for a preset number of times after the call is connected. Sent. Therefore, regardless of whether the other party is connected to the terminal adapter device 2 or connected via the telephone line network 7, after the call is connected, the tone signal is transmitted a plurality of times to increase the arrival rate of the tone signal. For example, a tone signal can be transmitted more reliably to a service that transmits number information using the tone signal, and the convenience can be improved. In this case, when the terminal adapter device 2 also receives a data packet having the same content a plurality of times, it selects one of them and discards the other data packet.

The number n of transmitting tone signal data packets is preferably about 3. In the case of a general voice signal, m = 2 in consideration of the load on the network.
Although it is preferable to set these values, these values may be appropriately set according to the network bandwidth and the like.

In the above description, the number of transmissions is changed depending on whether or not the terminal adapter device 2 includes a tone signal with reference to the data packet from the telephone 1. If the telephone 1 can be directly connected to the network, the telephone 1 may perform the processing shown in FIG. 3 or FIG.

[0028]

According to the present invention, a terminal adapter device for converting a tone signal of a telephone number input from a telephone into a data packet and transmitting the data packet a predetermined number of times via a network, and the terminal adapter device Therefore, the reliability of connection of a call to a telephone connected to a telephone network can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the tone signal of the input telephone number is converted into a data packet and transmitted through the network a predetermined number of times, so that the telephone is connected to the telephone network. The reliability of the connection of the call to the other party's telephone can be enhanced, the tone signal can be more reliably transmitted to various services, and the convenience can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram illustrating an example of a general NOTASIP telephone system.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a terminal adapter device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a control unit 23.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a control unit 23.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 telephone, 2 terminal adapter device, 3 internet, 4 telephone directory server, 5 DNS, 6 gateway, 7 telephone line network, 21 telephone interface, 22 network interface, 23 control unit, 24 buffer.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yasuaki Nakanishi 7-3-16 Kikuna, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term within Oi Electric Co., Ltd. 5K030 GA11 HA08 HB01 HC01 HD03 JA03 JT01 KA03 KA19 LA19 LB01 5K051 GG02 HH25 HH27 JJ13 5K101 LL02 MM06 SS06 SS07 UU03 UU19

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An audio signal of a telephone connected to a telephone, transmitting and receiving an audio signal to and from the telephone, mutually converting the audio signal and a data packet, and transmitting and receiving the data packet via a network. A terminal adapter device for transmitting / receiving data via a network, and a gateway device provided between the network and the telephone line network for mutually converting voice signals and data packets. Means for recognizing whether or not the voice signal input from the telephone is a tone signal; and, if the voice signal is a tone signal,
Means for repeating the tone signal data packet a preset number of times and transmitting the data packet to the gateway device via a network. 2. A voice signal of a telephone connected to a telephone, exchanging a voice signal with the telephone, converting the voice signal and a data packet to each other, and transmitting and receiving the data packet via a network. In a terminal adapter device for transmitting and receiving signals via a network, means for recognizing whether or not a voice signal input from the telephone is a tone signal, and the voice signal is a tone signal according to a result of the recognition. And a means for repeatedly transmitting the data packet of the tone signal a preset number of times. 3. A terminal adapter device for transmitting, via a network, an instruction to call a telephone on the other side via a telephone network to a gateway device provided between the network and the telephone network. When a tone signal representing a telephone number is inputted from a telephone, the tone signal is converted into a data packet, and the data packet is repeatedly transmitted as the instruction a preset number of times. . 4. A telephone for transmitting, via a network, an instruction for calling a telephone on the other side via a telephone network to a gateway device provided between the network and the telephone line network. A telephone which converts a tone signal of the telephone number into a data packet when receiving the input of the number, and repeatedly transmits the data packet as the instruction a predetermined number of times.